K.C. Sprayberry's Blog, page 134
March 5, 2017
Underage Drinking

Teens experiment with a lot of things. They’re maturing at a fast rate. Curiosity overwhelms good sense. Their friends are partying, which often includes alcohol and they don’t want to be left behind. To say that teens will probably try alcohol is a truth we all must accept. Yet, most teens only try booze and usually drop it after a couple of times getting drunk.
Other teens, however, discover alcohol fills a hole in their lives. They feel like they’re popular, as if their problems have all gone away. One and all, they will deny that they’ve substituted the high of being drunk for those problems, which are still there in addition to the addiction to alcohol that will ruin their lives.


Erin Sellers, an eighteen-year-old high school senior, hates teen drinking. She and her three friends – Bill, her guy, Shari and Jake - decide to use Twitter to stop a group, the Kewl Krew, from using their high school as the local bar. But the members of this group are just as determined to stop anyone from messing up their fun. Despite veiled threats to her safety, Erin continues her crusade.
To make matters worse for her, the stress of school and extracurricular work mounts and suddenly, shockingly, booze-fueled tragedy strikes. Erin is now under greater pressure as she spends all hours to produce a mural and other work to commemorate the death of a teen friend. Bill, Jake and Shari support her in all this...
But more tragedy lurks nearby… until it’s time to softly say goodbye.

Get Softly Say Goodbye on Amazon
The sound of liquid gurgling and a thunk distracts me as my art teacher, Mr. Janks, says he has a major announcement. An overwhelming urge prods me to confront the offender, but she'll deny my accusation, even though everyone in the vicinity knows she just chugged some vodka.
Do it!My hands clench into fists. Tell Laura to quit!
High school drunks totally piss me off. The urge to deal with the offender overcomes common sense. I start to turn around to give her a piece of my mind but stare in shock at my teacher instead.
About the K.C. Sprayberry
Born and raised in Southern California’s Los Angeles basin, K.C. Sprayberry spent years traveling the United States and Europe while in the Air Force before settling in northwest Georgia. A new empty nester with her husband of more than twenty years, she spends her days figuring out new ways to torment her characters and coming up with innovative tales from the South and beyond.

She’s a multi-genre author who comes up with ideas from the strangest sources. Those who know her best will tell you that nothing is safe or sacred when she is observing real life. In fact, she considers any situation she witnesses as fair game when plotting a new story.
Social Media Links:
Website
Goodreads
Amazon Author Page
Google +
Manic Readers
AUTHORSdB
Readers Gazette
Published on March 05, 2017 00:00
March 1, 2017
Character Death in YA Fiction
I was asked recently if it was all right to have a character die in a teen novel. The question brought out memories of well-written novels over the past several decades where that happened. My response was short but very much on point…
Yes, you may kill off a character in a teen novel.
The reality of that situation, however, is far from easy. This isn’t a situation where you can suddenly decide a character that isn’t working out is about to die and do it in a manner designed to shock the reader. Nor is it a situation where you open the novel with a death, simply to grab the reader’s attention. Killing off a character must be carefully plotted and only used if there is no other recourse for your story.
The best example for killing off a character for me began with Softly Say Goodbye. Erin is a strong person in her own right but she’s deeply attached to boyfriend, Bill. Attached to the point where she depended on him so much that she wouldn’t move forward without his advice. Theirs was a strong relationship, what some may call a lifetime relationship, and Erin was fully committed to the guy she loved.
Therein lay my problem. I could foresee her weakening as a character and being unable to bring about a satisfying ending to the book if she was still with Bill. Breaking up wouldn’t work, as they were very much the same when it came to thoughts and ideals. The storyline already had them separating as she went to college and he enlisted in the Marines after graduation. That might have provided Erin an outlet to take a stand alone, but she would still have Bill in the background, giving her the necessary strength.
Killing Bill and his best bud, Jake, seemed to be the only way to motivate Erin and her closest friend, Shari. Yet, I stalled, looked for other options. That pivotal point was written and rewritten dozens of times, in an effort not to kill a beloved character.
None of those options worked. Erin continued to become weaker as a main character if Bill was there for her to lean on.
There was only one method left to prove Erin was a strong individual, capable of standing on her own and willing to take on the Kewl Krew. After fighting this over and over again, I proceeded to write what I now call the “Bill and Jake are dead” scene.
Don’t get me wrong. The decision to come to this point wasn’t easy. I thought it was the hardest decision I would make regarding this book. I was wrong.
The hardest decision I had to make was how to write the scene. Dare I do this in the moment, where the reader was caught up in an act so horrific that it would be embedded in their memory forever? Should I make the scene happen out of sight, where Erin and the reader learn about it after it has happened?
Again, I toyed with different scenes. Erin witnesses the accident that takes her guy. She’s in the vehicle with him. She and Shari are part of the problem and their boyfriends could possibly be intoxicated. Nothing seemed to work.
The final “Bill and Jake are dead” scene was a “Hail Mary pass” situation. I’d discarded this idea early on, thinking that I’d cheat the reader of the lovely, descriptive scene of Erin witnessing the loss of the guy she loved. Yet, once I started writing it, I realized this was a scene that would become a hallmark for the book.
Once the decision was made on how the scene would be written, I developed background, created the moment when Erin would discover how she’d lost the guy she loved so much. This particular scene, in all its goriness, never made it into the book. It took quite a while to craft but it was for background only, for a dialogue bit where she learned how her guy dies.
I was now at the point where I could craft a death scene in a teen novel that would be memorable but not one that would be unnecessary. Again, I took my time, going back over early chapters and inserting bits of information that would make this seem to be the only solution. After writing the scene, and crying copious tears, I put that away and worked on other stories for a week or two, in order to return and see if what I’d written was as powerful as I thought it was.
It was and I was able to continue this book to a satisfying ending where my girl remained strong but was also still grieving a guy she loved so deeply.
So, yes, you can craft a death scene of a beloved character in a teen book. There is only one thing you need to be aware of while doing this…
Is this scene necessary?
About the K.C. Sprayberry

Born and raised in Southern California’s Los Angeles basin, K.C. Sprayberry spent years traveling the United States and Europe while in the Air Force before settling in northwest Georgia. A new empty nester with her husband of more than twenty years, she spends her days figuring out new ways to torment her characters and coming up with innovative tales from the South and beyond.
She’s a multi-genre author who comes up with ideas from the strangest sources. Those who know her best will tell you that nothing is safe or sacred when she is observing real life. In fact, she considers any situation she witnesses as fair game when plotting a new story.
Social Media Links:
Website
Goodreads
Amazon Author Page
Google +
Manic Readers
AUTHORSdB
Readers Gazette
Published on March 01, 2017 00:00
February 28, 2017
Diverse Friendship to Romance
The 2017 #TuesdayBookBlog continues with more fun, excitement, and tension!

They each came from different sides of the “tracks.” Music brought them together and healed their aching hearts.
Get An Angel Sang Tonight on Amazon!
Christmas was almost here.
Caryn O’Brien and Johnson Angel lost the music in their lives when circumstances tore them away from each other. Together, they were a talented team, but separate, all they had were empty spaces in their souls. It didn’t help that the gulf between them was being forced open even wider by the bigotry and anger that surrounded them.
They had no way of knowing that those very things, which drove them apart, would also bring them together.
Caryn O’Brien stood in front of the choir, at the front of her church. On Christmas Eve she would celebrate her twenty-third birthday the same way she had done it since she was seven—by singing a solo of the one holiday song that meant so much to her.
She bowed her head forward, letting her copper colored hair conceal her face. It was better this way, so no one could see her excruciating pain. The source of said pain wasn’t visible. How does one show that their heart has shattered? How does a person get over the worst betrayal of their life? No matter how hard she tried, she couldn’t bring her voice to the level of intensity required to make this song memorable.
I’ve loved Silent Night since the first time I heard it. Why can’t I sing it right now?
The organ player wasn’t getting the beat right. Her pathetic attempt to put everything in her heart into the music was failing miserably. All the classes she’d taken since fourth grade to improve her voice and make her into a singer had been nothing but a waste of time and money.
I’m lost without Johnson. He’s the reason I have always sounded so good.
Published on February 28, 2017 00:00
February 27, 2017
Dem Rules
There are rules to writing a novel, novella, or short story. I’m sure you’ve heard that you can break the rules, and that is true… as soon as you learn to follow those rules.
One of the biggest set of rules I see broken on a regular basis are the ones for submitting your book to a publisher.
Let’s talk about how that’s done, and what you should never think about doing.
The very first thing you should do is research the publisher you're submitting to. See if they accept the genre you're submitting. Find out who is in charge of submissions. Don't decide "ah, here's the publisher's email. I never go small. We're starting at the top." And you're more than likely making a poor impression that will result in no contract offer. The CEO of any company rarely deals with the personnel interviews, and that is what your submission is.
The Cover Letter:
You never start out with “Yo, you gonna like this book. It done be the best book yo ever gonna read.” Why? Because about three seconds after I see that, my eyebrows will rise into my hairline. I’ll glance at the rest of the cover letter, which could be the most fabulous introduction to a book that I’ve ever read but I won’t really read most of it. All I’m doing at this point is getting to the little button that says, “Thanks but no thanks.” Your submission is done. You’re pretty much done with this publisher, so move on and learn. If you’re very lucky, the publisher might tell you why they declined to offer a contract, but getting a notice that won’t happen in a generic form letter is more than likely what will arrive in your inbox. If the publisher bothers to send a notice. Some will delete your submission and forget you exist, without telling you a thing.
Partial or full manuscript submission?
That is the question. For many years, it was the norm to send the first three chapters along with a detailed synopsis to the publisher you were querying. That was also when we were sending manuscripts through the post office. Now, many publishers prefer the full manuscript to a query. So, if you ignore their submissions guidelines and send a query anyway, because that’s what you’ve been told by experts A, B, and C, you are about to make another faux pas.The only expert on a publisher's submissions policies is the person handling those submissions.
Again, if you’re lucky, you’ll receive a generic thanks but no thanks response from the publisher.
Is your book submission ready?
This one is a biggie. If you’ve made it through the cover letter and the publisher is actually reading your submission, it’s always good to have it proofread by a trusted beta reader or critique group before you submit. Personally, I go with the three strikes rule—in other words, if I see three major errors (misused homophones, numerous run on sentences, poor spelling and grammar), I will be declining to offer a contract. Why? Because you didn’t care enough about your work to make sure it was ready for submission.
Finally… Don’t pester the publisher about why they didn’t offer you a contract. The person you’re addressing is busy. They have a job and it’s not dedicated to responding to your questions. Think of a submission that was declined by a publisher as a job interview that didn’t go well. That prospective employer has moved on, as has the publisher. More than likely, they can’t give you a definitive reason why they declined your book, just that they didn’t feel it would be successful.
Remembering that submitting a book is the same as going on a job interview will take you far in the publishing industry.
Published on February 27, 2017 00:00
February 26, 2017
Summer Romance… on the Beach!

The 2017 Everybody YA #SundayBookBlog continues with more fun, excitement, and tension!
Sand, sun, surf, and the perfect guy. Oh, and of course, you need the perfect song to complete your day. Such is how things are in 1972 when teens Beth and Trane discover how romantic the summer solstice truly is…


A special bikini puts courage into Beth to approach the guy of her dreams. Trane looks forward to the waves and talking to a girl who has caught his eye. The Summer of ’72 on the longest day of the year, two teens discover love on the beach, amid adventure and fun.
Get Summer Breeze on Amazon!

“Oh, that is so gorgeous!”
Beth Ramsey ignored the tiny, square bedroom lost in the sixties to admire her slim figure in a mirror hanging on her door. The orange bikini she now wore offset her dark tan so well. The tiny gold clasp holding the top on tight might cause problems later, if she didn’t lather up that area with a lot of Swedish Tanning Secret. But she was prepared with not one but three tubes of the lotion that had helped her achieve the healthy glow on her skin.
“I can’t wait until Trane sees me.” She blew a kiss at her reflection and yanked on a pair of short shorts that were nothing more than a pair of her old jeans she’d cut off. A flimsy, see through, white blouse would provide some protection against the wind later, when she returned home from what she planned to be a celebration of the summer solstice on Malibu beach tonight.
Published on February 26, 2017 00:00
February 23, 2017
Release Day! Secret Society

Canoples Investigations is about to find a new group of space investigators to add to their crew. Are they ready for the displaced yet intrepid girls from Mother Ship?

Get Secret Society on Amazon!
Blurb
Mother Shipdestroyed. Innumerable losses. A mysterious invitation. Problems at every turn. And the threat of returning violence.
Corina Amberchuck refuses to believe her parents are responsible for the loss of Mother Ship. When no one will help her prove that she’s right, she reaches out on a memorized band width, connecting with the infamous BD Bradford for help.
Excerpt
We left Earth long after the evacuation. No one would come ever again to save those left on the severely polluted planet. The original departure had happened so long ago that I had not yet been born, even though Believers tried to make all of us think that it was only a decade earlier.
Eleven years have passed since the day Mother Ship and her escorts escaped Earth. I am now sixteen, ready to step up for my training, but still a year or
so exists before I can do that. All that is my responsibility these days is to do the best job possible furnishing sustenance for those who live on the ships, and keep an eye out for Believers.

About the Author
Born and raised in Southern California’s Los Angeles basin, K.C. Sprayberry spent years traveling the United States and Europe while in the Air Force before settling in northwest Georgia. A new empty nester with her husband of more than twenty years, she spends her days figuring out new ways to torment her characters and coming up with innovative tales from the South and beyond.
She’s a multi-genre author who comes up with ideas from the strangest sources. Those who know her best will tell you that nothing is safe or sacred when she is observing real life. In fact, she considers any situation she witnesses as fair game when plotting a new story.
Website
Goodreads
Amazon Author Page
Google +
Manic Readers
AUTHORSdB
Readers Gazette
Published on February 23, 2017 13:50
February 22, 2017
Wildcat Crew – A New Teen Mystery Series
Coming in early May, during Mystery Month sponsored by Booklist, is a new teen series. Set in the 1970s, a group of intrepid teens take on unusual events and solve to the best of their abilities, without all the modern conveniences of a twenty-first century teen.
Wildcat Crew consists of Marnie Wildwood, Les—don’t call her Leslie—Johnson, Tish Ramone, and Garth Michaelson. They’re nosy and won’t give up, even if their parents are always telling them to be careful. These teens live in Southern California but aren’t your typical teens. Their interests, when they’re not solving mysteries vary from sports to exploring the nearby desert.
Their first adventure hits very close to home. Three girls in their high school class vanish only five days before graduation. Wildcat Crew can’t help but think this might be a great case to redeem their tarnished reputation, after they were given the chore of figuring out who put trashcans on the library’s roof.
Blurb
Finally moving on from the horror of the Manson killings, the Los Angeles area has begun to return to normal. Until, that is, the small bedroom community of Monrovia skyrockets into the news. This sleepy little area, nestled up against the foothills, is probably best known for their football team, but that was yesterday’s news.
Three girls have vanished. Notes left behind have an “H” and a “S” with red dripping off them. People’s minds automatically go to the horror of 1969 and wonder if someone else is about to initiate “Helter Skelter.”
A group of teens, Wildcat Crew, doesn’t think so. Despite the police looking at a trouble teen, they focus on another teen whose past has some dark secrets. As the city moves toward the summer solstice, these intrepid investigators work diligently on solving this case before someone else vanishes into the canyon.

Excerpt
The moon hung low on a dark California night. June could be a mix of summer’s warmth with just enough of the coolness left over from spring to force the native Californians to retreat to their homes and huddle beneath blankets.
Fools they were, and The Mastermind would be the one to remind them of their folly. For he was the one who would wake them up from their quiet, peaceful lives and thrust them into the terror of his making. No one would rest easily until he had sated his hunger.
He crept along a quiet street. Homes were lit up and the images of families having an ordinary evening without any idea of what he was about to unleash on them played through his mind. His plan was very simple—no one had noticed his first attempt at fame a mere four years ago, because of the Manson Family’s rampage.
They will now. No one will ever ignore me again.
Published on February 22, 2017 00:00
February 21, 2017
Toxic Friends

The 2017 #TuesdayBookBlog continues with more fun, excitement, and tension! We’re also in #MysteryThrillerWeek!

Most teens have a close circle of friends, people they trust with their deepest, darkest secret. Then there are those friends you want to help, be with because they have such rotten lives, but you really don’t trust them. Yet, if you hold back, they always seem to know and keep at you until you reveal something that later might be a huge issue.
Get The Lie on Amazon!
For high school siblings, Amy and Bryce, the night began with a football game. Bryce was stuck at home with a cold, brought on by an uncaring coach. Amy was in the stands, playing with the band whose funding had been taken away and given to the football team.
Her best friend, Jane, brought the band together to play a prank on the team in protest.
The prank went wrong. Horribly, tragically wrong.
And the lie that started it all would not stop.
It’s Friday night football in Georgia. Me and my buds, the band geeks, sit in the stands. We wear our uniforms, in the sucky orange and black. Most of us play the trombone or saxophone. A few of the girls, me included, hold flutes.
The hat I have to wear with this horrible uniform bunches my hair against my neck. I scratch at the blonde mess, hoping nothing dislodges the clip I’ve used to keep it in place. Several strands work loose and blow around to tickle my nose.
“Ugh.” I shove those strands up under my hat.
My slender hands tremble. I clench them tight around my flute and will my tapping foot to stop. Everyone knows that’s an indicator of how nervous I am, but I can’t help myself. I’ve never been able to tell a lie and not have someone discover what I’m doing in a few minutes. Someone once told me that my face has all of my thoughts written across it. I was six at the time and spent weeks staring at the mirror, trying to see if they were right. Actually, I still don’t know what that expression means, only that I’m a terrible liar so I tend to tell the truth and take trouble if it’s coming my way.
“Is everything ready?” Jane asks.
Pimples ravage her face, an affliction she’s had since sixth grade with no end in sight. She has more problems, ones she’s only confided in to me. Not that I ever wanted that info, but she insisted.
It’ll be okay. Nothing bad is going to happen.
Published on February 21, 2017 00:00
February 20, 2017
Teen Mysteries
Welcome to #MondayBlogs and #MysteryThrillerWeek!
Teen mysteries are becoming very popular in recent years. A few of the newer books in this genre are following the method used in the Nancy Drew and Hardy Boys books.
What is it about a well written teen mystery that draws the reader?
First, you need a great group of teens dedicated to figuring out the answer to a puzzling situation. This can involve a crime but more often than not, the teens will be delving into a secret that has puzzled them for quite a while.
Once your character(s) have identified what their problem is, you need to set them off on an adventure in a somewhat familiar locale, or you can send them on the hunt in a place where they’ve never been. Be warned though, an unfamiliar place will set up obstacles for your intrepid investigator(s) and those will have to be worked into the plot.
Be sure to let the reader see the clues, but don’t make things too easy for your teens. Give them obstacles to overcome, such as nosy neighbors, adults who think they’re just playing around, or even an antagonist determined to keep them from snooping around.
One thing you should be sure to include is someone to advise these intrepid investigators. An adult they trust, be it a local member of law enforcement or favorite aunt or uncle, or even one of their parents. Ensure your teens to see a few heart thumping moments, but mortal danger should be minimized. Always be ready to show the reader why this teen investigator is someone they would want to be like.
Once the clues have been gathered, don’t go immediately for the “ah ha!” moment. Let your investigator figure out logically who is behind the trouble and then allow them to reveal the culprit.
One more important thing to remember. Many of the elements of an adult mystery can be used in a teen mystery, with some judicious attention paid to the danger faced.
Published on February 20, 2017 00:00
February 19, 2017
Overcoming Psychological Abuse

The 2017 Everybody YA #SundayBookBlog continues with more fun, excitement, and tension! We’re also in #MysteryThrillerWeek!


#2 Preditors & Editors Readers Poll 2015
Psychological abuse leaves no visible scars. The victims often find themselves wondering what they have done wrong to bring this upon them. The long term effects of this type of abuse can be as devastating as physical abuse, but without anything for a person to understand why the individual cringes when certain words or phrases are said. How does one overcome this abuse? How do teens withstand the belittling commentary of a person who is supposed to protect them?
When their younger twin siblings were murdered by their cold-blooded father, Shane and Keri’s own twin connection deepened. Their father shamed Shane and Keri into silence, and then went on to bring four more children into a house shuddering under the weight of his unpredictable temper.
Ten years later, what should have been a regular visitation turns into a horrific nightmare. Trapped in the Superstition Mountains with an addicted and dangerous father, Keri’s faith and determination wavers, but she knows she must save her brothers and sisters and return all of them to the home they love.
She now faces one insurmountable obstacle. He can’t afford to let her go.
Get Lost & Scared on Amazon!
Carly and I sneak up the walkway to the backdoor of the house where I live with my parents and five siblings. We’ve done nothing wrong. There is no reason for us to be sneaking into my house, except one… him.
“Are you sure about this?” she whispers.
“Yeah.” I cast a guilty glance at the driveway.
Shane’s truck isn’t here. He must still be hanging with his best bud, Axe. Heat rushes up my face whenever I think about that hunk. Axe not Shane. Big Bro is anything but a hunk. Well, he is kind of cute, and a lot of girls like him, but a hunk? Give me a break. None of the girls hot for him know that he stinks up a bathroom or dumps his clothes all over the place for me to pick up.
I’ll forgive Carly for thinking like that. She’s good for Shane, if he’d just get over the “everybody will hate us for dating” thing. Big deal if she’s African American and we’re white. Nobody cares about that anymore.
“Your dad will pop a cork if he catches me in the house,” Carly says. “You know he hates… you know.”
We never talk about that. So what if my dad is the biggest bigot in the world? The rest of my family is totally cool with me having Carly around. They like her. She’s funny, and an awesome bestie.
We both stop in front of the back door. I reach out a hand, but don’t turn the knob when I hear shouting.
Published on February 19, 2017 00:00