Suze Reese's Blog, page 6

Blogger Awards! Yep, that's me! Two! Two!

Donnelle, over at A Little Dversion, recently honored me with the Kreativ Blogger award! I have to admit I got a similar award early on while setting up this blog and was buried too deep to acknowledge it properly. First let me accept your cheer and praises! (Thank you! Thank you! No need to throw flowers.Cash will do!)

But also allow me to apologize for skipping the other and let me do both of them proper-like right now!

Here are the rules for Kreative Blogger:
1. link back to the one who gave you this award
2. share 10 random facts about yourself
3. pass the award on to 6 other people


The One Lovely Blog Award came from the lovely folks at The Feather and the Rose, and with that I link back to the one giving the honor and then pass it on to 15 other lovely bloggers.

Having the two awards like that put me in a little quandry. Do I accept the one and ignore the other? Do I accept the first and pretend I didn't see the second for a few days? Or do I accept both and mess up the system. Well, if there's one thing I am, it's a system messer-upper. So I am going to both accept and pass on both awards. You, dear blogger award recipients can decide to accept one or both, answer questions or not, and pass on to as many as you'd like. How's that for messing with things?

So first, my ten random facts for Kreativ Blogger:

1. I actually love to write more than I love to read and I've never quite understood why that's weird.
2. I love, love, love cheesecake. Plus anything with the word cheese in it.
3. The best though is chocolate. I can't even think about chocolate cheesecake.
4. I used to be very limber. Not so much in my olden days, but in junior high guys used to ask me to do freak things like put my leg behind my head and what we called Chinese splits (which means the legs go out sideways. Not sure why that's considered Chinese.) Anyway, I complied, thinking they thought it was cool. Took me a while to figure out that it was like asking a circus act to perform.
5. I am disabled when it comes to video games. I literally can not make objects move on a screen, unless they are letters and words in a document. Lame, I know.
6. This is getting hard.
7. No, that is NOT cheating.
8. Okay, I'll play fair. I have a nephew who is my age. He married my niece, who is five years my junior. I also have a brother (her dad) who is 18-years older than me. And my mom is ancient and wonderful.
9. She can not do Chinese splits.
10. I am frequently in my pajamas when my children return home from school. Which is just about to happen again. But I have been working all day. Really.

And now I'm going to select fifteen blogs for BOTH awards! Awesome, right? Two awards for the price of one!

1. Teralyn Rose Pilgrim
2.  A Reader's World
3. Confessions of a Young Adult Writer
4. Jaime Morrow
5. Pidgin Pea's BookNook
6. Cortney Pearson
7. CP Slayer
8. Leigh Covington
9. J.A. Bennett
10. Canda Mortensen
11. Andthentherewasthatonetime 
12. Jenny's Imaginary World
13. Miss Cole Seeks Publisher
14. The Little Hen House
15. And just for kicks, even though expect TAMN is too buys kicking it up in Hawaii/Cabo/Caribean to respond, I seriously hope she decides to have some fun with this: Seriously So Blessed

I HEART YA #3: Work Zone, No Reading Allowed

Welcome to the 3rd weekly I HEART YA Blog Carnival! (and apologies my scheduled post didn't post as scheduled!) I HEART YA is a Blog Carnival for readers, writers, and lovers of young adult fiction. Every Tuesday there will be a blogging prompt that celebrates my favorite reading genre --YA fiction. Bloggers are invited to write their own take on the topic and post a link in the comment section, or if you prefer just put your thoughts in the comments. Either way, if you own a blog, grab the button to show your pride, and add your link to the list below. If you're not sure what to do, go to the I HEART YA tab for more details. 


I realize the picture to the right is an odd start to this post, but stay with me. My inspiration for this week's prompt come from my college-age daughter, who reminded me of a condition that I'm fairly certain is genetic: compulsive over-bloated non-stop devourage of books. Especially when they're good. Or in other words, neither of us can stop reading when we get our hands on a good book, even for things like food, water, exercise, sleep, work or school. 


The result? We're both forced to limit our intake. She tells me she spent an entire Saturday reading a Bound by C.K. Bryant. And she loved it. But did not study or complete any of her big university assignments. So she has put herself on restriction. No more (fiction) books until the end of the semester. Just the big fat boring ones. Poor baby. I've had to do the same thing when I have a deadline. I'm fine nibbling when the book doesn't really pull me in. But if it does, it's time to say goodbye to any real-life activities. Of course, there's no way to tell what the story will do to you until it does it.


So what about you? Are you a nibbler or a devourer? Or does it depend? And what's the worse thing you've blown off for the sake of a book? 


Now it's your turn! 


And don't forget: 1. Add your link to the linkytool (Only once is necessary. Links will be removed after two months of not participating.) 2. Add your link to the comment section so we know you participated this week. 3. Grab the button if you haven't already. 4. Check out the other blog posts. Ready...set...go!

Putting the Fantastic in Fantasy Artistry

While we wait on the new cover design for ExtraNormal (I realize some of us (ME!) might be more anxious than others) I'd like to pay tribute to the amazing artist, Eve Ventrue, who is doing the design. She continues to take my breath away with her work, even when I've seen it a dozen times. To get the complete mind-blowing, eye-pleasing package, go to her website: http://eve-ventrue.weebly.com

This is from her very humble bio: "Creating amazing works of original art at a prolific rate is what I do best. My clients come to me with a variety of artistic needs and I collaborate with them to create exciting finished works of art. I have performed numerous private commissions, all done quickly and to the satisfaction of the client. I work mainly in various releases of Photoshop with a focus on cutting edge sci-fi/fantasy, including the steampunk, space opera and paranormal romance genres. I enjoy focusing on character and figurative conceptual art. In addition to my design and production skills, I am fluent in German."

So am I the only one who reads that and thinks, "Photoshop!?! What the?! You use PHOTOSHOP for these?"

And then I think, "Photoshop. You keep using that word. I don't think it means what you think it means." (Heavy Spanish accent required. If you're not familiar with that line please come speak to me after class.)

But in all seriousness, there is serious genius at work here.

And now on to the true wonder: (please respect Eve's copyright on these images)







Words really aren't needed to express my excitement. These images can do that for me. And oh my do they do it -- big time.

I HEART YA #2: Who's Your Freak?

Welcome to the 2nd weekly I HEART YA Blog Carnival! I HEART YA is a Blog Carnival for readers, writers, and lovers of young adult fiction. Every Tuesday there will be a blogging prompt that celebrates my favorite reading genre --YA fiction. Bloggers are invited to write their own take on the topic and post a link in the comment section, or if you prefer just put your thoughts in the comments. Either way, if you own a blog, grab the button to show your pride, and add your link to the list below. If you're not sure what to do, go to the I HEART YA tab for more details.

So here we go! Keep your hands in the car at all times and have fun! (Not really. I ALWAYS put my hands in the air on carnival rides.)

I don't think it's a stretch to say that Stephenie Meyers ushered in the beginning of a vampire, and to a lesser-degree, werewolf love fest in YA fiction.

For a while publishers were telling authors they didn't want to see anything but vamps. Then they reversed course and said they didn't want to have anything to do with vamps. Since writing a book doesn't happen in a day, that's a frustrating thing for an author. The best we can do is try to predict what readers will want a year or so in the future.

Fortunately, there is a whole slew (hmm...I don't think I've ever actually written that word. Slew. Kinda like it!) of paranormal creatures in the list of options these days. We have mythological stories, witches, time travelers, mermaids, aliens, and more. I suspect a lot of it has to do with indie authors who are now willing and able to say: "To heck with the publishers demands. I'm just going to write my story and get it out there."



And personally I'm glad. I think variety is always a good thing.

With that said, I'm obviously an alien fan, (Go Aliens!!!) And wouldn't even mind if aliens suddenly became the new IT genre.The go-to story that everybody just HAS to read. But I'm biased. And honestly, I hope to see the best books rise to the top, regardless of whether they have aliens or nerds or whales as the main character.

So what about you? Do you have a favorite paranormal character? Is there a new one that has captured your interest? Do you predict one type breaking out from the pack?

And don't forget: 1. Add your link to the linkytool (only once is necessary) 2. Add your link to the comment section. 3. Grab the button. Ready...set...go!

The Song In My Head and Random Connections

You know how sometimes a song gets stuck in your head and you don't even realize it's there for like half a day and then suddenly you notice it and you think "Dang this could get annoying" and then you go to bed and the track is still playing over and over while you try to fall asleep and you wake up in the morning and it's still there and you think "I might die."?

It happens all the time to me. And this time this particular song has been hanging out in my brain for over a week. I've lost count of the days. But it is seriously trapped. I'm told that if you sing a song in its entirety it will leave, but that hasn't happened. I tried to show it the holes in my ears and my nose and my mouth but it didn't care. It just hangs out, taking up valuable space.

I have a theory about why it's being so stubborn, and I'm hoping that putting the theory in writing will do what singing the whole thing is supposed to do. Let it complete its mission and then find some other brain to occupy. The deal with this one is that it has so many pertinent applications to my life right now, that the lyrics just keep coming to mind, like the background music on a television show.

I'm also hoping this will be kinda like a story where you have a major plot and a bunch of subplots and they all tell their own little stories but in the end they come together. That's the plan in my head anyway. We'll see how it goes.

The picture's a clue to the song I'm talking about. My trouble started with this phrase popping into my head in relation to one of the latest twists on my road to publication:

The road is long
With many a winding turn
That leads us to who knows where
Who knows when


If you've followed this blog at all, I think no explanation is needed. However, I guess you probably also know that my long, winding road isn't limited to my road to publication. The truth is I lead an insane life. I have several friends who call me every few days just to learn the latest because, they've told me, if they wait too long to call they'll miss two or three major stories/crisis. I'm not complaining mind you. I wouldn't trade my life for anything. But I do admit it tends to get a little on the difficult, crazy, weird, unbelievable side sometimes. Like every few minutes. And so that long winding road phrase just keeps playing and playing. 


But there's more. There's this phrase. 


But I'm strong
Strong enough to carry him

So I ask you, how cool is this? Y'all know a little about my battles with the Big C and the Big Red, even though I meant, and still mean, to keep kind of quiet about it. I don't want that to define me. But anyway, I just learned last week that my middle name means "Healthy and Strong". Really! And I never knew. It just seemed really significant. And yeah, "But I'm strong!" pops in my head with every little thing now. 
And moving on. We have the next phrase:
So on we go
His welfare is of my concern
No burden is he to bear
We'll get there
For I know
He would not encumber me
He ain't heavy, he's my brother
Ever since I started working at home, I've developed a habit of lunch dates with my women friends. I've had two this week. Headed for a third tomorrow. Have one more planned for next week. My kids are starting to make fun. But here's the thing. All these women are old friends. Some of us go back to when our biggest worries were zits and boys. Now we've been through divorces, losing children, losing jobs, health crisis...you name it and we've been through it.  But every one of them is strong. Stronger than they would have been without their struggles. While we eat we laugh and talk and hug and cry and vent. And then we go home feeling buoyed ready to tackle the day's challenges. So you can see why "So on we go..." would pop up in my brain from time to time.
And moving on:
If I'm laden at all
I'm laden with sadness
That everyone's heart
Isn't filled with the gladness
Of love for one another
This phrase leads us back to ExtraNormal. The reason I know every word of this song is because of a teacher by the name of Mr. Chavez. He taught choir at Orange Grove Junior High, which happens to be in the town of Hacienda Heights, in Southern California, where I happened to grow up. Hacienda Heights is known for being a pretty diverse place. But my memory of junior high is that it wasn't a terribly tolerant place. Which, when I look back, makes it pretty cool that this big husky man--who we both feared and loved--would pick a selection of songs with themes just like this one. It just seems right that a bunch of students who have been taught to be suspicious of one another would stand shoulder to shoulder every day and sing this song. 
Oh, and you're probably wondering where this leads back to ExtraNormal. Well, I'll tell you. I've had a lot of choir teachers, and they've all had an impact on my life in one way or another. But it seemed appropriate that I use Mr. Chavez in ExtraNormal. He doesn't have a big role. He's just the teacher in the opening scene - Mira adjusting to a choir classroom. But that classroom happens to be set in a town very much like Hacienda Heights, called Los Robles. Which may or may not have been the name of the elementary school I attended. 
Mira comes from a place with almost no diversity. And when she comes across some snobs at the school, she comments that she figured a place with this much diversity should be pretty tolerant of each other's differences. Which is what Mr. Chavez is still trying to teach. At least in ExtraNormal. (If anybody knows the man could you drop me a note?)
 And finally, perhaps the most significant reason of all that this song won't leave my head is because I have a little (well, veeeery tall but always in my head little) nephew who took off last week for what I think is his third tour of duty. Now most soldiers know they're going to see battle. And their families worry. And they're all amazingly brave and generous. But my nephew happens to be an EMT, and not just any EMT but one who goes looking for battles. He flies in on a helicopter, snatches up the wounded, drags them to safety, and works to keep them alive. 


So while most moms worry about the number of battles their son or daughter will see, my sis knows that her boy is going to go find them on a regular basis. When she suggested that he'd done his service and should maybe focus on things like, oh...staying alive...he said, "Somebody's got to save those boys. And there's nothing I'd rather do". Wow. What do you say to that?

I'll end with this video. Dare you not to cry. 

I HEART YA #1: Memory Lane When Periods Are More Than Punctuation

Welcome to the I HEART YA Blog Carnival, which starts today! Hooray! I HEART YA is a Blog Carnival for readers, writers, and lovers of young adult fiction. Every Tuesday there will be a blogging prompt that celebrates my favorite reading genre --YA fiction. Bloggers are invited to write their own take on the topic and post a link in the comment section, or if you prefer just put your thoughts in the comments.Either way, if you own a blog, grab the button to show your pride, and add your link to the list below. If you're not sure what to do, go to the I HEART YA tab for more details.


For the first post, I thought I'd take a quick walk down YA fiction memory lane. According to Wikipedia, YA fiction started in the '70s, picked up steam in the '80s, and became a full-blown genre in the 90's. Okay, that's not exactly how they say it, but I'm giving the Cliff notes version. And it just so happens that I was a young person in the seventies. Yeah, I know, I'm a dinosaur. In fact, I happen to remember the release of one of the originals. Yes, I'm talking about "Are You There God? It's me, Margaret." 






Apparently it is a story of a young girl coming to terms with her religion. But I don't remember any of that. There were two things that made the book popular among my crowd. The use of the words (please turn away if you tend to be sensitive) ahem *bra* and *period*. And not the punctuation persuasion. 


That Judy Blume dared put those topics into print caused the book to go viral in our version of social media (otherwise known as recess). The book was only spoken of in whispers. We begged and borrowed from one another and the school library. When some of us got tired of waiting we'd save our lunch money and sneak away to the town book store to get our own copy. The book was always wrapped in brown paper, so no one would know what we were reading. We'd slip into the house with it tucked under our shirt (backpacks were considered lame) and dash to our rooms where we'd read under the covers. 


And that is my first memory of a book that pulled me in and wouldn't let go. One that you'd read from cover to cover without coming up for air. Then do it again.


I did plenty of reading in those days: Little House on the Prairie, Hardy Boys, Nancy Drew. (Just writing that list makes me feel ancient!) I was about 13 when I read all 899 pages of Alex Haley's Roots. Reading was just something I did. But it wasn't a social activity. There certainly wasn't anything the equivalent of Margaret.  


When I got out of high school I left the young adult genre entirely (not that I knew that's what I was doing, since I didn't even know there was a young adult genre). It wasn't until I had children in junior high that I started paying attention to books geared towards young adults. I started reading my oldest's school reading assignments, and found them intriguing enough. But when I think back to my first experience with YA fiction (besides Margaret and Little House on the Prairie), this is the book that comes to mind:



I ordered it online, thinking it was something my daughter would enjoy. And when it arrived in the mail, BAM I was a little girl hiding away in my room and ignoring all requests for food and bedtimes and trivial things like that.

And that's when I discovered that there was a whole world of YA fiction out there begging to be devoured.

So what about you? What was your first? Not the first you read, but the first that comes to mind when you think of YA fiction. The one that held on tight and wouldn't let go until you got to the final chapter and closed the book with a sigh--hungry and tired and wishing it hadn't ended.

So now it's time to party! Add your blog to the link, grab your badge, put your thoughts in the comments section, and be sure to link to your own blog so we can get to know one another!

New Carnival! I HEART YA! Come and Play!

Here are a few things I love:

Partays!

YA Fiction!

Discovering great new books!

Discovering great new blogs!

Making great new friends!

So what's the best way to do all those things?

Host a blog carnival, of course!

If you want to join the fun, grab a I HEART YA blog button (don't you love how it can be either "I heart ya" or "I heart YA"? I'm a sucker for a play on words. Anyway, grab the button for your own blog and add your blog link to the link list below. Then come back on Tuesdays for a writing prompt. We'll celebrate the characters, stories, writing process, and even the reading process of YA fiction.

You can either put your thoughts in the comment section, or write your own blog post and post the link in comments. Then make sure you check out the other blogs.


If you're like me and need a reminder to make it back here on Tuesdays, make sure you follow me on this blog, on Twitter, or on Facebook.


Oh, and use twitter hashtag #IHEARTYA with your link!.

PARTAY! PARTAY! PARTAY!

See you on Tuesday!

Push 'em back! Push 'em back! Waaaay Back!

I do realize the cheer in the title of this post has something to do with buff guys in tight clothes pushing each other around on a big field. And this blog is not about any of that. But it's appropriate to this post for two reasons:

1. ExtraNormal happens to have some cheerleaders and football players in it.

2. Using a cheer might just make this news sound fun and exciting.

Say it with me now, "Push 'em back. Push 'em back. Waaaay back!"

See? Don't you feel excited?

I hope you do. Because here's my "exciting" news:

The release date for ExtraNormal is being pushed back. Pushed back. Pushed back. Waaay back!

Exciting isn't it? Can't you just hear the roar of the crowd?

What? They sound angry? Dang it. I'm sorry. Really truly sorry.

But I hope you'll agree that it's better to release an excellent product than an iffy product. And I hope that some day you'll forgive me. And that when ExtraNormal is released you'll agree that it's been worth the wait.

Truth be told, I was planning on doing a soft release with the old cover, but last night I got a "sneak peak" of the new cover, and it was obvious that I just had to wait. ExtraNormal deserves this cover, and so do the readers. Really. It was just a rough draft, but I sat and stared at it for like half an hour.

So here's the new schedule:


Jan. 28:           Nothing. Nada. Maybe a little tomato throwing. With huge apologies, ExtraNormal won't quite be ready for release.TBD:               ExtraNormal New Cover Reveal! (Soon! Very soon!)Apr. 1:            ExtraNormal Release Day!Apr. 1 - 15:     An ExtraNormal Blog Tour

If any of you are interested in taking part in the cover reveal or blog tour let me know. There will be prizes and fun and ExtraNormal kind of stuff!

A True Love Story and my Big Huge News

I'm finally ready to give my big news regarding the cover of ExtraNormal. Except that to understand how wonderful my news is I have to also tell a love story. A true and wonderful love story.  I hope you'll bear with me to the end.

The love story is your basic boy meets girl, boy marries girl story...




...fast forward almost 30 years. Yep, thirty years. And those two kids are still wild about each other.


Little did they know when they set off on their journey that the boy would be required to sit by the girl's side when her heart failed and required open-heart surgery. And again when doctor's found an apple-sized cancerous lump in her breast. But the boy was as faithful and diligent as a boy could possibly be. He played Mr. Mom to their five beautiful children. He told her that she was beautiful even when she was bald and her body was mutilated. He cleaned house and cooked meals and did everything he could to make her life happy.



Even when times were good and she was healthy, he stayed at the same job for more than 25 years so that his girl could be a stay-at-home mom to their kids.

And he supported her in her dreams, even when those dreams were kind of crazy.

Which brings us to Christmas of this year. I (the not-so-young-anymore girl) spent my holiday perusing image after image for my cover. Every once in a while I would go to the site of a very talented artist by the name of Eve Ventrue and let out a sigh. Finally, on Christmas Day, my forever-wonderful husband told me that he wanted me to commission a cover from Eve as my Christmas gift. I sputtered and blustered and refused. I told him there were thousands of books out there and there was no way of knowing if I'd even sell enough to earn the money back. He said it didn't matter if I sold a single book, as long as I was proud of it.

And so, tearfully and happily I am ringing in the new year with a wonderful husband and Eve Ventrue on my team. And if you have any doubt of her talent, take a look at her website. I'm so excited I could bust! We're just getting started with the sketching, and I am so pleased to know that ExtraNormal is going to get the cover it deserves.

Stay tuned as I'll be announcing cover reveals, book releases, blog tours, contests and all that good stuff!

I'm loving 2012 already!

Happy New Year!

Mistakes vs. Learning Opportunities

I've mentioned in a few places that I've made a decision to change the cover of ExtraNormal. The decision did not come easily, and I still wax and wane over it. (Now that I put that it writing I'm not absolutely sure what it means - doesn't waxing involve some type of housework?)

Anyway, I try to live by the philosophy that there are no mistakes, only learning opportunities. I also happen to have tons of learning opportunities. It's too early to tell the full story behind this particular one. There are contracts to sign and what not. But suffice it to say I will--hopefully--have an exciting announcement to make soon.

I can say that what I've learned is to be a bit leery of stock photos for covers. Not that they are inherently bad. Many great covers are made from stock photos. In fact, my former publisher used stock photos for my last incredible cover. But the downside is that it doesn't belong to you. Anyone can come along and use the same photo and BAM you're no longer original. Plus you might find your product being confused with something that makes you kind of uncomfortable.

In this case I'm grateful for the opportunity to come up with something a hundred times better. And we'll leave it at that.

In the meantime, I'm a little flummoxed. (Another word that looks funny in writing--isn't a flummox related to a cow?)  Anyway, for the last several weeks I've been working toward the goal of preparing my ARC. Well, wouldn't you know I finally have it ready, (hooray!) but I'm missing the little detail of a cover. That's not a huge problem. ARCs don't have to have a cover. But I'd like to include my announcement with the invite to read the ARC. Plus, I'm won't know how or when to schedule a blog tour until I know the date for my new cover reveal.

So after weeks of rush, rush, rush, I'm now trying to figure out what to do with my time. Not that there's any shortage of projects. They're just out of sequence from my original plan.

As you can see I've changed my blog header. (Photoshop is providing TONS of learning ops, bless it.). After writing this blog...I don't know. I'll figure it out. Hopefully whatever it is won't have too big of a learning curve.

Oh, and if you're a blogger who doesn't mind a cover-less read, let me know. I've got a fantastic ARC sitting here twiddling its thumbs.