Lisa Burstein's Blog, page 19
February 15, 2012
COVER REVEAL- Gravity by Melissa West
So excited to be a part of the cover reveal for my fellow Entangled author Melissa West. Enjoy!
GRAVITY by Melissa West (October 2012)
In the future, only one rule will matter:
Don't. Ever. Peek.
Seventeen-year-old Ari Alexander just broke that rule and saw the last person she expected hovering above her bed – arrogant Jackson Locke, the most popular boy in her school. She expects instant execution or some kind of freak alien punishment, but instead, Jackson issues a challenge: help him, or everyone on Earth will die.
Ari knows she should report him, but everything about Jackson makes her question what she's been taught about his kind. And against her instincts, she's falling for him. But Ari isn't just any girl, and Jackson wants more than her attention. She¹s a military legacy who¹s been trained by her father and exposed to war strategies and societal information no one can know – especially an alien spy, like Jackson. Giving Jackson the information he needs will betray her father and her country, but keeping silent will start a war.
Pre-order from Amazon: http://www.amazon.com/Gravity-Melissa-West/dp/1620610914/ref=cm_cr_pr_product_top
Add to Goodreads: http://www.goodreads.com/book/show/12844575-gravity
February 14, 2012
PRETTY AMY TEASER TUESDAY 4
Happy Valentines Day Y'all. In honor of LOVE here is a short excerpt about one of the things Amy loved- books! 
There were shelves stacked with the books I'd loved as
a child. All the girls I'd wanted to be like. A pile of yellow
hardback Nancy Drew books, shiny paperback Ramona
books, a pale purple copy of Margaret. Ramona didn't care;
she told the world to piss off with her short hair and freckles.
Margaret, with her hair like spun gold, cared too much. Nancy,
the fiery redhead, was too smart to worry about anything.
As I got older, I had to live in images. Started living
with an outlined face and body layered upon me by a huge
overhead projector lit by the sun. Staying with me constantly,
reminding me and everyone else of what I was not.
February 9, 2012
Video- How to hide embarassing books on your Kindle
Wow, people really have a lot of time on their hands to worry about this stuff. And also, reading books you like is NOT embarrassing.
How to hide embarassing books on your Kindle
February 7, 2012
PRETTY AMY TEASER TUESDAY 3
Hi Guys,
Here's a short exchange between Cassie and Amy after they find out their dates have stood them up for Prom. Hope you enjoy!
"She's so fucking clueless," Cassie said, plopping down on the grass. She pulled out a handful of blades and burned them with her lighter. "Maybe he'll come home if I burn his house down."
I nodded. Not that I wanted her to burn his house down, but a small grass fire might attract some attention.
"This is so typical," she said, lighting a cigarette. "I didn't even want to go. Fucking Lila."
"We don't know they're not coming," I said. I wasn't ready to let myself believe that this was going to be my memory of prom night for the rest of my life.
"Well, maybe we don't," she said, taking a long drag, "but I do."
I stared at my nails. I had painted them in the same light blue as my dress. I thought about how the nail polish was still sitting on my nightstand, how when I got home I would scrub my nails raw and throw it away.
We looked up, startled by a crash that came from the back of the house.
Cassie shook her head. "You should never climb a trellis in heels."
"You think Lila's breaking in?"
She grabbed another handful of grass and lit it up. "You know what would be classic?" she asked, smiling like she was trying to keep a bird from flying out from behind her teeth. "She finds him in there with some other girl." She watched me for a moment, gauging my reaction. "Don't tell me that wouldn't make you happy."
It would have, so I didn't.
Don't forget to "Like" me on Facebook to get all the deets on upcoming giveaways and contests! And add my book on Goodreads if you like what I have to say!
https://www.facebook.com/LisaBursteinAuthor
http://www.goodreads.com/book/show/13375237-pretty-amy
February 1, 2012
I have a website! You WIN a $25 Amazon Gift Card!
I have an author website!!!!!! I want you to look at it. There's pretty colors and prom dresses and a super cute picture of my cat Sam.
Click here: www.lisaburstein.com
Not convinced? Well, how about a chance to WIN one of the following:
1st prize: a $25 AMAZON gift card and an ARC of PRETTY AMY
2nd prize: an ARC of PRETTY AMY
3rd prize: a line-edit critique of a query letter or first ten pages of a manuscript (i got and agent and a publishing contract with mine
)Thought you might like that. Go to www.lisaburstein.com for the all the details. And, make sure you check out the picture of my cat Sam on the "About" page.
He really is super cute.
January 31, 2012
PRETTY AMY TEASER TUESDAY 2
Hey guys, going a little shorter this time around. Please enjoy the first three lines from my debut novel, PRETTY AMY coming May 2012 from Entangled Publishing.
Unfortunately, I am only myself. I am only Amy Fleishman.
I am one of the legions of middle-class white girls who search malls for jeans that make them look thinner, who search drugstores for makeup to wear as a second skin, who are as sexy and exotic as blueberry muffins.
I am a walking, talking True Life episode. Your high-school guidance counselor's wet dream, and one of the only girls I know to get arrested on prom night.
Don't forget to "Like" me on Facebook to get all the deets on upcoming giveaways and contests! And add my book on Goodreads if you like what I have to say!
https://www.facebook.com/LisaBursteinAuthor
http://www.goodreads.com/book/show/13375237-pretty-amy
January 26, 2012
My favorite writing book
As a student of writing, I have read MANY, MANY writing books. I think a lot of them are very helpful. Usually, I just take small bits of knowledge from each one I peruse, but there is one book that is THE book. One book that is so dogeared and stained that I am almost embarrassed by how terribly its been treated, considering i love it so.
Writing Down The Bones (link)
This book is amazing. It can inspire even the most blocked writer. It came to me at a point in my life where I was wondering if I could actually do this. That is write something that was longer than 10 pages . I was living in NYC and working at a publisher as an assistant, and all I wanted to be doing was writing the books we were publishing. I wanted to, but I didn't know if I could. This book helped me get there, by helping me filling countless notebooks and then finally write a book!
It's always there when I need a writing pick-me-up. Come to think of it, I might just go read it right now…
Whatis your favorite writing book?
Don't forget to "Like" me on Facebook to get all the deets on upcoming giveaways and contests! And add my book on Goodreads if you like what I have to say!
https://www.facebook.com/LisaBursteinAuthor
http://www.goodreads.com/book/show/13375237-pretty-amy
January 24, 2012
PRETTY AMY TEASER TUESDAY
I plan on posting something from or about the book each Tuesday until it comes out. It might be a few lines, it might be a short scene like the one below, or where I got the idea for a character or plot point. It might also just be a picture of my cat- who sat on my lap through most of the drafting process. I hope you enjoy!
I walked out of the store, lit a cigarette, and headed quickly toward home, hoping to avoid seeing anyone I knew. Then I remembered that prom had been the night before and that anyone I knew would probably be sleeping, in a hotel room or on their best friend’s floor, the music still buzzing in their heads, hung over and happy.
That was where I wanted to be. That was where I wanted to be with Aaron. Twenty-four hours ago, I had been in a bubble bath shaving my legs and daydreaming about slow dancing under sparkly lights. Now I just wished I could go back there, live in that before for a little while longer.
I was a block away from my house when I saw Joe walking toward me. I threw my cigarette in the gutter. His suit jacket was off, his purple tie around his head like a headband. His cummerbund was missing. Maybe Leslie had kept it as a souvenir.
I looked down and walked faster.
“Where’s your dress?” he asked. I could tell he was still drunk, which was probably the only reason he even bothered to stop. It was the most he had said to me in three years—well, not counting last night.
“Where’s yours?” I asked, channeling Cassie. Afraid that if I let my guard down, he would be able to tell what had happened, would be able to break me right in two.
“You used to be nice,” he said, putting his hands in his pockets. He did that when they started to shake. That was why he loved playing volleyball. I wished he’d never told me that.
“Go away, Joe,” I said.
“Exactly,” he said. His pupils were big; big black moons in his hazel eyes. He shook his head. “You used to be you.”
He was definitely drunk, but not too drunk for me to know what he meant. “What do you want?”
“You ever find your date?” he asked, slurring.
Things had gotten so past finding my date. At least he didn’t know that yet. At least he was still living in the before.
I looked at him with the eyes I used anytime I walked past him on my way to Gas-N-Go to buy cigarettes, or saw him in the hall at school, or stood across from him in gym class, waiting to be picked for a team. Eyes that said, I can’t see you.
He wobbled forward. He took his hands out of his pockets to steady himself, but they were still shaking. It had started after his dad left. I wished he’d never told me that, too.
I wished I’d never told him any of the things I told him, either.
“Happy prom, Amy,” he said, walking past me, starting to whistle.
He had a day of sleep ahead of him—that beautiful, warm, liquid sleep that comes from a night without any—then waking up to his mom making him fresh waffles and asking him all about his special, perfect night.
I had no idea what I had ahead of me.
Don’t forget to “Like” me on Facebook to get all the deets on upcoming giveaways and contests! And add my book on Goodreads if you like what I have to say! :)
https://www.facebook.com/LisaBurstein...
http://www.goodreads.com/book/show/13...
PRETTY AMY TEASER TUESDAY
So I was going to just do ten-line tuesday, but its my blog and I get to make my own rules. So here's a short scene from the first few chapters of my debut novel, PRETTY AMY coming May 2012 from Entangled Publishing.
I plan on posting something from or about the book each Tuesday until it comes out. It might be a few lines, it might be a short scene like the one below, or where I got the idea for a character or plot point. It might also just be a picture of my cat- who sat on my lap through most of the drafting process. I hope you enjoy!
I walked out of the store, lit a cigarette, and headed quickly toward home, hoping to avoid seeing anyone I knew. Then I remembered that prom had been the night before and that anyone I knew would probably be sleeping, in a hotel room or on their best friend's floor, the music still buzzing in their heads, hung over and happy.
That was where I wanted to be. That was where I wanted to be with Aaron. Twenty-four hours ago, I had been in a bubble bath shaving my legs and daydreaming about slow dancing under sparkly lights. Now I just wished I could go back there, live in that before for a little while longer.
I was a block away from my house when I saw Joe walking toward me. I threw my cigarette in the gutter. His suit jacket was off, his purple tie around his head like a headband. His cummerbund was missing. Maybe Leslie had kept it as a souvenir.
I looked down and walked faster.
"Where's your dress?" he asked. I could tell he was still drunk, which was probably the only reason he even bothered to stop. It was the most he had said to me in three years—well, not counting last night.
"Where's yours?" I asked, channeling Cassie. Afraid that if I let my guard down, he would be able to tell what had happened, would be able to break me right in two.
"You used to be nice," he said, putting his hands in his pockets. He did that when they started to shake. That was why he loved playing volleyball. I wished he'd never told me that.
"Go away, Joe," I said.
"Exactly," he said. His pupils were big; big black moons in his hazel eyes. He shook his head. "You used to be you."
He was definitely drunk, but not too drunk for me to know what he meant. "What do you want?"
"You ever find your date?" he asked, slurring.
Things had gotten so past finding my date. At least he didn't know that yet. At least he was still living in the before.
I looked at him with the eyes I used anytime I walked past him on my way to Gas-N-Go to buy cigarettes, or saw him in the hall at school, or stood across from him in gym class, waiting to be picked for a team. Eyes that said, I can't see you.
He wobbled forward. He took his hands out of his pockets to steady himself, but they were still shaking. It had started after his dad left. I wished he'd never told me that, too.
I wished I'd never told him any of the things I told him, either.
"Happy prom, Amy," he said, walking past me, starting to whistle.
He had a day of sleep ahead of him—that beautiful, warm, liquid sleep that comes from a night without any—then waking up to his mom making him fresh waffles and asking him all about his special, perfect night.
I had no idea what I had ahead of me.
Don't forget to "Like" me on Facebook to get all the deets on upcoming giveaways and contests! And add my book on Goodreads if you like what I have to say!
https://www.facebook.com/LisaBursteinAuthor
http://www.goodreads.com/book/show/13375237-pretty-amy
January 19, 2012
Why Rejection is Good
As a writer rejection comes with the territory. It took me a long time to understand that rejection was good for me. (I'm still learning).
Rejection started for me at a early age- way before I was a writer. When I would come home crying that a boy at school didn't like me, my mother would say, "That's why there's chocolate and vanilla." As in some people like one thing, some people like another.
Since I turned 21 I have amended this statement to: "That's why there's chocolate and vodka." As in I eat and drink a lot of it when I get rejected.
That aside, here are the reasons why rejection is good:
1. It lets you know what you're doing wrong. If you're lucky the people who reject you will tell you why. (I make voodoo dolls out of people who do not)
2. It lets you know what you're doing right. If you're lucky people will tell you what they like even though they rejected you. (I loooove these people)
3. It lets you know that you need to work harder. Usually you do. Usually rejection is not about talent at all, but about trying again and again and again. (It took me 5 years, two agents and an unknown number of publishers to sell my "first" novel)
4. It gives you motivation. There is nothing better than the push that comes from someone rejecting your work.(well after you eat chocolate and drink vodka and lick your wounds) It makes you want to show them and yourself that you can do it!
5. It makes small successes sweeter.
What would you add?
Someone please send this to me when I get my first bad review, along with a case of chocolate and vodka 
Don't forget to "Like" me on Facebook to get all the deets on upcoming giveaways and contests! And add my book on Goodreads if you like what I have to say!
https://www.facebook.com/LisaBursteinAuthor
http://www.goodreads.com/book/show/13375237-pretty-amy
