Meradeth Houston's Blog, page 23

Cover Reveal: THE ISLAND by S. Usher Evans

Introducing the brand-spankin' new cover for The Island, made by Anita over at Race-Point.com.  

About the BookPrince Galian is third in line to the throne, but prefers his place as a resident at the Royal Kylaen Hospital. When his father urges him to join the military to help reclaim their colony, Galian is forced to put aside his oath to Do No Harm and fight a war he does not believe in.

Across the great Madion Sea, Captain Theo Kallistrate dreams of a day when she is no longer bound by conscription to fight for her country's independence. But when the Kylaens threaten, honor and duty call her to the front lines to fight off the oppressors.

When an air skirmish goes wrong, both Theo and Galian crash on a remote island hundreds of miles from either nation. Grievously injured, Theo must rely on Galian's medical expertise, and Galian must rely on Theo's survival skills, to live another day in a harsh and unforgiving terrain.

Can they put aside their differences long enough to survive? Or will the war that brought them to the island tear them apart?

The Island is the first in a new romance trilogy by S. Usher Evans, author of the Razia series and Empath. Preorder Today for Kindle, Paperback, Hardcover and more!

PreviewGalianI landed with a soft thump on the sandy beach a little ways from my plane, and immediately dropped to my knees, releasing a loud breath. My hands shook and my heart pounded, but I thanked my lucky stars that I was alive and had practiced parachuting out of my plane a few extra times during my training.Once my pulse returned to normal, I stood and released myself from the parachute straps, leaving the long trail of lines and white parachute laid out on the beach. I approached the wreckage of my plane. Pieces of it lay in a long trail as it had skidded across the sand. I picked up a metal piece that had a bullet hole in it and then tossed it aside. Besides the nose and engine being smashed to smithereens, the back of the plane was fine. I cracked open the back hatch and pawed through my emergency supplies. I found everythingÑincluding the medical bag Dr. Maitland gave meÑto be intact. Again, I thanked whatever was up there looking out for me. Of all the outcomes that could've happened from the battle, crash-landing on an island with my supplies was better than most. A burning smell reached my nose, and I stepped back, searching my plane for any sign of fire. Then I noticed the black column of smoke rising up from the treetops. Despite everything, worry knotted in my chest. What had happened to the other pilot? I hadn't seen another parachute. Was he even still alive? He was my enemy, but still a fellow human being. I couldn't help but hear Dr. Maitland in my ear.I don't have the luxury of differentiating between Kylaen and Raven patients. Guilt gnawed at me. I looked down at the medical bag and sighed. Dr. Maitland was rightÑI was a doctor first and a warrior second. Shouldering my bag, I stumbled off the sandy beach onto the firmer forest ground. The trees were tall and thick and everything around me was green. It was late summer, but there was definitely a chill in the air since I was so far north. I was thankful for my extra layer under my jumpsuit. I walked into a clearing, covering my nose from the smell. One of the two wings had been shorn off in the crash and was the source of the black smoke. The rest of the plane was mashed and mangled some ways away. I saw the pilot in the cockpit through the shattered glass, and his helmeted head hung motionless. I was sure that he was dead. I couldn't see how anyone could have survived such a crash. And then he moved.TheoI woke slowly, the sound of unfamiliar animals coming to me first, followed by a cold breeze. As I tried to move, pain shot up from every corner of my body. I looked up at the blue sky, barely visible through a thick canopy of trees. I smelled leaking fuel, and wondered if my ship would explode or if I'd bleed to death first.I relaxed into my seat and prepared for the inevitable. Even if the Raven government sent a search party for me (which they wouldn't), I doubted they'd come in time to save my life. Still, I took some solace in the fact that I killed another son of that mass murdering king.A noise startled me and I turned my head slowly to find the source. I couldn't believe my eyes. The stupid princeling was alive and standing in front of my ship.Fear and anger gripped at me. How was it possible that I was badly injured and he appeared to be walking just fine? I hated that the last thing I was going to see in this world was Prince Galian standing in a clearing, his pale skin flushed and his eyes sparkling withÉamusement?I was dying and thisÊguyÊwas laughing at me."What's so funny?" I snarled through my helmet. "Serves you right." He was smirking as if he had something to smirk about."For what?" "Shooting me down. Looks like you're in worse shape than I am, too." "Go to hell." He laughed again and hoisted himself up onto the broken nose of my plane. I was in too much pain to fight back, and my gun was nowhere to be found. "Yep," he observed, with a smirk on his face. Up close, he was every bit as handsome as I'd seen in pictures. "You definitely got what you deserved. Shouldn't have shot at me.""You shouldn't have invaded my country."His eyes widened for a moment and I thought I'd finally done something to wipe that smile off his face. To my supreme annoyance, he tilted his head back and let out a throaty laugh. "Oh, you are witty," he said, nodding. "And technically right. But it wasn't my decision. I was, as they say, just following orders." "And I was just following orders when I blew your ass out of the sky.""Aren't we at an impasse then?" He seemed to be enjoying this conversation. He looked down at the side of my ship and read the inscription. "Theo, huh? Well, you must be a pretty high ranking pilot then. I hear the Ravens only allow you to put your name on your ship after you've survived plenty of battles." I moved out of anger, but the pain in my legs came roaring up my body. "Please let me die in peace," I asked, unable to look at him. "Oh, you aren't going to die today."Preorder today for Amazon Kindle, Paperback, and Hardcover.About the AuthorS. Usher Evans is an author, blogger, and witty banter aficionado. Born in Pensacola, Florida, she left the sleepy town behind for the fast-paced world of Washington, D.C.. There, she somehow landed jobs with BBC, Discovery Channel, and National Geographic Television before finally settling into a "real job" as an IT consultant. After a quarter life crisis at age 27, she decided consulting was for the birds and rekindled a childhood passion for writing novels. She sold everything she owned and moved back to Pensacola, where she currently resides with her two dogs, Zoe and Mr. Biscuit.
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The Myth of the Winter Break in Academia

I get this comment all the time: "You get so much time off! Six weeks for the holidays, and the whole summer!" And every. Single. Time. I roll my eyes. No offense or anything, but lets get real here. No, I don't get time off as a professor/teacher. Just because I don't have to be in a classroom doesn't mean I got to relax for the last six weeks. Yes, I got some awesome and amazing travel in, but I also worked. Every. Single. Day. I wrote and submitted two grants. Wrote a ton of lectures (though not nearly as many as I'd planned). Prepared for the coming semester where I'm teaching a brand new class. Read articles every day. Did research (not anywhere as much as I'd hoped). And didn't take nearly enough time to just chill. I'm rather kicking myself about that now, to be honest. I needed more time to regroup, as 2015 kind of kicked my butt. And class start today and another break-neck semester begins. Sigh. Work-life balance, where art thou?

So, word to the wise, don't ask a teacher what they did over "break" like it was a vacation. Chances are you'll get an irritated look ;)

Guest Post: Top 10 Writing Tips by Deek Rhew author of BIRTH OF AN AMERICAN GIGALO

It's always a pleasure to have awesome authors swing by my blog and talk about their new releases. Especially talented authors who are able to share some great tips. Take it away Deek!

Hi, Meradeth and thanks for hosting me today!

There have been a million writing tips coughed up like hairballs on the carpet by a million writers over the years. I myself have been a gluttonous consumer of any tidbit that would help turn my scribbles to something more than just regurgitate mundane monotony. Now, as I'm poised on brink of being pubbed for the first time, I get to pass on a little of what I've learned.

So, without further ado, here are my...

Top 10 Writing Tips!
Tip #10: Drink copious amounts of caffeine. If I were a vehicle, my engine wouldn't be powered by something as typical as gasoline or diesel, but by the jet fuel otherwise known as caffeine. My tanker truck doesn't say "BPA" or "Enron" on its shiny hull, but "Starbucks." Man do I love that stuff. Like most people in the writing biz, I work full-time to pay the bills and don't have the luxury of picking when I get to write. Instead, I snag it when it becomes available. Usually early-early in the morning or late at night and, brotha, there is nothing like a cup of dark roast to keep my eyelids open! Tip #9: Have a fat cat literary cat by your side. My bride, Erin Rhew, and I are way lucky to have a fat tabby cat that's willing to sit with us hour-by-hour as we dole out the words. Sometimes we get distracted by Facebook or Twitter, especially when the words are slow, but there isn't anything like catching a selfie with a cuddly—albeit a bit surly—literary cat.

Tip #8: Peanut butter! I LOOOOOOOVVVE peanut butter! In the afternoon when my stomach starts to growl and I need a distraction, nothing beats a scoop of PB. If you need an even bigger pick-me-up, add some chocolate chips and a Coke Zero. Now we're cooking with gas!

Tip #7: Have characters you love. I love my characters. I like their good elements, flawed elements, and their evil elements. Okay, I especially like the evil elements (see tip #6). You have to love your characters, find them interesting, and let them grow and fail. All we, as authors, do is document their progress. "Love" is kind of an interesting word. Maybe find them interesting, at least. I sure don't "love" Erebus, my main bad douche from 122, but I couldn't imagine this world without him!

Tip #6: Have a really great bad guy. I've always said that the most interesting characters are the bad guys. There is no Luke Skywalker, Spiderman, or Thor without Darth Vader, Lex Luthor, and Loki. As I mentioned in Tip #6, Erebus is my big-time bad guy in 122, along with his boss, Laven Michaels. You do NOT want to be in a room with either of these guys, but wow, do I love writing for them. I just hope I don't get anything they said wrong. No, I wouldn't want to do that. <gulp>

NOTE: My inner geek is VERY proud that Word fixed "Skywalker" for me when I misspelled it. #GeeksUnite

Tip #5: Music. Before I switched my major to something geeky—and that would, ya know, pay the bills—I was a music major. Tunes—beat, harmony, melody, tempo—they are in my bones, and there is nothing that will focus my thoughts and feelings like a great playlist. I listen to everything from grunge to jazz to a cappella, and depending on what mood I need to be in for a scene, I have a playlist to go with it. Spotify is easily the best $10 a month business expense we have. This only applies to raw material. For edits I have to have:

Tip #4: Quiet. While raw material is pure emotion and imagination, edits are the other side of the brain. Does this make sense? Can this be said better? Does this need to be expanded? Is this telling? Can this be cut? Is this passive? On and on and on. Distractions simply don't cut it for edits, so find some place that you can concentrate. My time spent writing is about ten-to-one edits vs raw material, so most of the time, I need quiet.

Tip #3: Know your tools. What the smay is this all about? I'm not talking about drills and hammers, my friends. I'm talking about your writing software, your thesaurus, your lookup tools. This seems odd, but I can't tell you how much better my life has been since I spent 30 minutes watching a video on my edition of Word. It seems really straight-forward, but there are hidden features that solve problems you "live" with. One of the things I learned about is Office Live. Heard of it? Probably not. But if you had you'd know that you can keep your Office documents in the cloud for free and multiple people can work on them at the same time. That there are online versions of Word, Excel, and Power Point and, yep, they are all free. You will NEVER lose a file again. Keep them in the cloud and work on them, seamlessly with the software you use. You may think you know your tools, but take a few minutes and check them out on YouTube. You might be surprised.

Tip #2: Write what scares you. I remember when I was writing the rough draft of "Birth of an American Gigolo" and first getting to know Lindsey and Dios and Angel, I thought, these guys are going to get me ostracized from the writing world. There are some seriously controversial subjects that unfold in its 113 pages, and I actually considered not trying to publish this book at all, or at the very least cutting way back on some of what happens. Instead, I let it all hang out. The characters had a story to tell and by gum I was their faithful transcriber. I love what happens and now wouldn't dream of trying to take that away from them. So push the limits of what you're comfortable with.

Don't let your limits be your characters' limits.

Tip #1: Marry a beautiful and smart writer/grammarian. I joke that I got struck by lightning while winning the lottery twice when Erin agreed to be my wife. Yes, she's beautiful, but behind her contagious laughter, charming smile, and large blue eyes lies a wickedly sharp mind and smart wit. She's a brilliant writer and knows grammar like no one's business. I've learned SO much from her and grown as an author by leaps and bounds from her tutelage. Yes, I love these things about her. But what she is to my mind, she's even more to my heart.

Erin is my Ideal Reader and my staunchest supporter. Let's face it, writing is a long, often tedious task. You spend hours and hours deciding how to word things and spend even longer yo-yoing back and forth between thinking you're pretty good and hoping people will find the pages you write worthy of being fish wrap. When I write, I write for her. When I read something aloud, I think of her as being my audience and wonder if my characters will touch her heart, make her laugh, or give her chills. Everyone needs someone like that in their lives. Everyone. So, my friends, go find your Erin. (Sorry, this one is spoken for!) You, your life, and your writing will be immeasurably improved by her!

That's all I've got for today. Thanks for hosting me, Meradeth!



Birth of an American Gigolo, the deets from Deek!

Okay, so what the heck is "Birth of an American Gigolo" about?

Here's the blurb from the back of the book:

An old party girl shoehorned into domestic divaship, infuriated by her husband's cheating and his holier-than-thou, tree-hugging, no-tits and no-hips girlfriend, inflicts her wrath by training a local boy in the fine art of seduction. She and her new boy toy turned love god start a gigolo business as a distraction for the neglected and mistreated housewives of Alabaster Cove.

Lindsey, the queen of Alabaster CoveIn a nutshell, it's about screwing up. Lindsey compromised her principles and force herself into being something she's not. In college, she had a scare and crammed herself into a life of domestication. Years later, she's stuck in a smelly armpit of a marriage and a life that's foreign and dismal. But when she finds out her husband is a cheater and liar, she and her inner, long-dormant party animal load the cannons and battens down the hatches. Together, they concoct a plan to revenge themselves out of the cesspool of their existence and create a new throne from which to plant her royal tush and rule the town.


George is nowhere in sight!

What isn't it about? Sex! There is a little of course, because, well, it's about an angry and betrayed party girl and her boy toy. But if you're looking for long descriptions of people's kibbles and bits and how they sizzle and sauté them into a goulash of passion and uninhibited fornication, then you'd better look for a different blend of Chex Mix, cause, brother, this ain't it.

Okay, domestic diva...check. No George Michael in sight...check. Humorous situations where an angry party girls runs over a scooter with a Hummer...check.


Alright, my friends, first, check out the amazeballs cover by Anita from Race-Point.com:

Birth of an American Gigolo by Deek Rhew
Bask in the glory that is awesome, spellbinding art. <cue Hallelujah Chorus>
Visit the "Birth of an American Gigolo" home page. Birth of an American Gigolo
Take a gander at Goodreads! 

Cruise on over to Amazon. "Birth" is available January 19, 2016!


About the Author Deek RhewDeek lives in a rainy pocket in the Pacific Northwest with the stunning YA author bride, Erin Rhew, and their writing assistant, a fat tabby named Trinity. They enjoy lingering in the mornings, and often late into the night, caught up Erin’s fantastic fantasy worlds of noble princes and knights and entwined in Deek’s dark underworld of the FBI and drug lords.
He and Erin love to share books by reading aloud to one another. In addition, they enjoy spending time with friends, running, boxing, lifting weights, and exploring the little town--with antique shops and bakeries--they call home.
Connect with Deek!

After Reading: OBLIVION by Jennifer L. Armentrout

I knew the moment Katy Swartz moved in next door, there was going to be trouble. Lots of it. 

And trouble’s the last thing I need, since I’m not exactly from around here. My people arrived on Earth from Lux, a planet thirteen billion light years away. Plus, if there’s one thing I know, it’s that humans can’t be trusted. We scare them. We can do things they only dream about, and honestly, we make them look weak as hell. ‘Cuz they are. 

But Kat is getting to me in ways no one else has, and I can't stop myself from wanting her—or wanting to use my powers to protect her. She makes me weak, and I’m the strongest of our kind, tasked with protecting us all. So this one simple girl…she can mean the end for us. Because the Luxen have an even bigger enemy—the Arum, and I need to stay on my game. 
Falling for Katy—a human—won't just place her in danger. It could get us all killed, and that’s one thing I’ll never let happen... (Goodreads)

I haven't made it a secret that I love the Lux series by Armentrout. They are such fun, fast reads, and there's nothing better than one of the novels to curl up with and completely forget the world. So reading a good deal of the series from Deamon's point of view? Yeah, I pre-ordered this one and was elated to get it on my kindle. The book didn't disappoint. It was a blast to see things through Deamon's perspective, and made quite a few of the situations from the other books make more sense. Also, it's been a good while since I devoured the regular series, so I didn't have all the details from them fresh in my mind, making it less redundant than it would have been otherwise. At any rate, it was a fun read and I enjoyed it. I do feel like I would have liked a little more depth to the nature of the characters--I mean, they're not from here, so how does that influence them? What other factors play on their emotions? At times this comes through, but I felt like there could have been a great deal more of this. Otherwise they don't seem too much different than human teens who happen to have different abilities. Or maybe I'm just thinking of Roswell (the TV show) a bit too much, where I felt like they delved into these sticky issues with more depth. Anyhow, overall, I had fun reading this one :)

Monday Mishmash

Thanks to Kelly Hashaway for hosting this fun weekly theme! I'm at a loss for other things to write about, so here's my random list!

I'm home! Finally. It was a long month of travel, work, and the holidays. Now, back to the regular day job :) But this does mean that I'm back with my cute puppy, and that's all kinds of good.I'm waiting to hear more from my agent regarding submissions. I'd managed not to think about this too much before now, but now I'm doing my best not to check my email obsessively. Send chocolate if you can...Austin was an amazing place to visit last week. Mainly because I got to spend a ton of time in the lab, which is basically like home to me. I learned a ton, and am jealous that their Anthropology department has a Starbucks downstairs :)It's my goal to get some solid writing in this week before school starts. I have a lot of lectures to prepare, but if it kills me, I'm going to get a writing schedule working for this coming semester. Let's see if I manage this ;)This made me laugh while in Texas: A bit hard to read, but it says "Department of Lycanthropology"
(from someone in the anthro department with my kind of humor :)

Getting Words on Paper

This has been running through my head a ton lately. Even to the point where I made this, and made it my save-screen on my phone:

It's been difficult to find time lately. Travel. Family. The holidays. The end of last semester. Grants. Preparing for next semester.

Excuses galore!

It's rather amazing actually. I wouldn't trade a lot of it for anything, but I know I need to get myself in gear. And this is my second post on this same topic in as many weeks :) Can you tell what's on my mind? Anyhow, what's your favorite excuse for not getting your butt-in-chair?

BookFish Book Blitz: Dear Diary, E.P. Thompson Here by Judith Natelli McLaughlin

Hi everyone! How is 2016 treating you all so far? I'm on the last leg of my journeys this week, and I've hit the point where living out of a suitcase is getting a little taxing :) Still, lots of fun to be had! (And a ton of work to do!) Today, I'm joining up with some other lovely people from BookFish (who published TRAVELERS) and spreading the word about a soon to be released title:


Dear Diary,

E. P. Thompson here.

Worst. Year. Ever. First semester in sixth grade, and my best friend Debbie has dropped me because my boobs aren’t big enough. Well, she didn’t say that exactly, but I just know that’s the reason. Then I got paired with Adam Berry, the biggest pencil-protecting geek of the decade, for the never-ending, semester-long math project. And as if that’s not bad enough, Thomas Maxwell, the cutest boy in my grade, only pays attention to me when I’m making a total fool of myself. Ugh.

Weirdest thing of all: it seems Lucas C. Tanner Middle School has a full-on, bona fide thief! Now all the teachers are going crazy and all the students are too, because Mrs. Peule has promised to make this year a living nightmare until the culprit is caught. We have to find out who is ruining sixth grade. Like, now!

Well, at least the criminal activity has taken the focus off my lack of bra ownership. Sigh.

I have to go. I’ll write again soon. Promise.

And a little about Judith:
Judith Natelli McLaughlin grew up reading a solid diet of Laura Ingalls Wilder, Louisa May Alcott, and Shel Silverstein. Her mom was famous for telling her, "You are never alone if you have a book," and her dad, a lover of words, was always reciting poetry to her.

She went on to write, illustrate, and publish her own poetry book,Poems on Fruits and Odes to Veggies—Where Healthy Eating Starts With a Poem. Her other works include a women’s fiction novel titled This Moment and a soon to be released children’s chapter book, Mackenzie Goode Makes A Mistake—A Big One.

She lives in New Jersey with her husband Brian; her three daughters Katie, Lindsay, and Maggie; and her faithful writing companion, a Westie named Duke.

GOODREADS : TWITTER : WEBSITE : YOUTUBE

Looks cute, doesn't it? :)

The Writing Retreat

So it's a new year and one of the things I'd like to spend some more time on this coming year would be getting in a better writing habit. I'd like to establish a habit of when I get my writing time in, which has always been a struggle. My schedule is very different from day to day, and the massive upheavals of the last year or more have left me with little time to get things into a more orderly schedule. I'd like that to change. I'm mid-way through a very fun book (currently without a title, because those never work out for me, but it's basically Sherlock meets Orphan Black meets Bond, so yeah, very British, haha!), and I'd really like to get it done sometime soon.

I thought that I'd get a whole lot of writing in over my holiday break, but thus far I've pretty much only opened the file and read a couple of pages back to get myself caught up to speed. And...then no words. It's amazing how things come up. And I really don't have any legit excuses right now! What I'd really like is a few days where I can lock myself away, preferably somewhere warm, and just forget the outside world and WRITE. It's been so long since I got to do that. Really, one of the fabulous writing retreats I see online sounds pretty much ideal right now. A few days away from the world, with all the time in the world to focus on words? Sounds like heaven!

So, who has gone on a retreat? Any recommendations? Thoughts? Let's hear it! :)

My completely non-legit excuse for not writing. Family vacation :) Which amazing and wonderful and not writing.

2015 in Review

It's funny, but I've been thinking about this post for the past few weeks. There is so much that happened this year. Soooooo much. Looking back is almost mind boggling. Just to give you an idea:

I got my tenure-track job, which was amazing and so stressful. I still feel like I'm recovering from that process.I taught my first semester as a tenure-track professor, which is a million kinds of awesome. And more work than I care to think about...having grad students is both amazing and insanity-inducing as I try to figure everything out.I set up my new lab, well as much as I could thus far, which is incredible, and I love having my own space to work. Though dealing with all the construction, ordering, and other headaches was eye-opening. I applied for my first really huge grant for research. And didn't get it (which is the norm, so I'm not too bummed...terribly).I got an agent! Cristi is incredible and I feel so crazy blessed to have her represent my work.I went on submission with Coincidences. I think I should feel more stressed about that than I do, but somehow it's really kind of a relief to have an agent handle that aspect of things. I can just write :)I wrote a short story once a month for Lightening Quick Reads. That was a ton of fun (if a ton of work too :)TRAVELERS was released!I bought a house, which I love and couldn't be happier about.I got a dog, who has stollen my heart and I think is officially the cutest puppy ever. I'll spare the rest of the list. Needless to say 2015 has been BUSY to an extreme that is over the top, even for me (which I don't mean to sound snooty, but I'm kind of a busy gal and always have been). It's also been a year filled with heartbreak. The ending of my 13 years with my husband took me out at the knees. I don't talk about things like that much here, but seriously, that's been one of the hardest things I've ever done/gone through/survived. I am trying to focus on the positive, as in some ways it was the healthiest decision for me, but dang...not so easy. Lately it's been tempered by some other good things, which I'm not ready to share yet, but still, there's been a lot of stress this past year. I'm moving forward. 
2015 was a good year for me. I may not have read as many fiction books (I usually average around 40+ novels, but only hit 35 this year, though that's not including a LOT of critique work I did for friends, which I love more than I can say). I didn't get another novel written, though I'm about halfway through one. But I do feel stronger. I'm happier than I have been in a very long time (if a lot more frazzled and missing some hair :). I am looking forward to 2016 with a passion, and hoping that it tops this year in many ways. Bring it on!
What is the best thing that happened to you during 2015?

Happy Holidays from Me!

This week is a mad scramble of family, wrapping paper, and far too crowded malls :) But it's fun, and I've escaped the snow (for the time being), and I love getting to see my family. And there will be tamales and other good foods. It's been a very long and crazy year, filled with twists and turns and backflips, so it's nice to have a few days of something familiar (even if it's not relaxing...is being at your parent's home ever actually relaxing? Because it's not for me, but I do wonder). Anyhow, to all those who are celebrating the season, or have just finished their celebrations, I want to wish you all a massive Happy Holidays!

And now to go and wrangle my mom's dog into his leash!

Oh, and because yes, I do have books available, might I interest you in something fun to read by the fire? Lots of fun things available over on Amazon!