Lisa Burstein's Blog, page 9

Why I Love the Author Community

I want to tell you guys a story. It’s sort of a fairytale.

About a week a ago I received a response to a tweet about The Next Forever being available from Daisy Whitney, author of the super-awesome Mockingbirds series that said:

I was floored. I LOVE the Mockingbirds series. Sure she is going to be publishing the BREAK-UP ALBUM with my publisher and my editor this year, but she didn’t have to buy my book. It was very nice of her and I thanked her.

I kind of thought that would be it, but then a few days later she tweeted she was starting my book (eeeee!)

and then a few days after that she tweeted the tweet below to ALL OF HER FOLLOWERS (7,000 of them)

I couldn’t believe it. It was so nice and so unexpected and so generous. She didn’t have to do any of it and then it got better. She agreed to let me use her quote.

“Sharp, heartfelt and sexy with characters so well-developed and nuanced that they feel completely real.” – Daisy Whitney, author of The Mockingbirds and When You Were Here

How awesome is that?

And, Daisy isn’t even the only author who has amazed me with her generosity lately.

There have been so many who have supported me by posting reviews and tweets and FB posts, especially my girls at Entangled Publishing who I could NEVER do this without, but there was also another fairytale.

Nyrae Dawn author of Charade http://www.nyraedawn.com/ came through in a really big way for me right before The Next Forever came out and totally didn’t have to.

The schedule for this book was CRAZY and we were doing the read-through for it up until the weekend before it came out. That meant there were no galleys to send to authors to get blurbs. I knew Nyrae a little bit from twitter and I LOVED Charade, so I went out on a limb and asked her if she would be willing to blurb The Next Forever.

This was 3 days before it came out. I told her I completely understood if she didn’t have time because the schedule was so tight. I also said that if she couldn’t make it by the time the book came out that was fine too.

Then I crossed my fingers.

An email came back from her saying that she’d love to read and blurb it. I was so excited and knew that even if the book came out without a blurb on the cover, it would have a great one in the next couple of weeks. But then she AMAZED me by finishing it over one night and sending me the blurb the next day just so it could be on the cover for release.

“An honest, raw, sexy night of self discovery. I loved Joe and Amy’s story!”- Nyrae Dawn, Bestselling author of Charade

These two women are super-talented authors who certainly don’t need to do anything for someone so new to the game like me, but they did and I am so grateful.

Why I love the author community is that you learn that people can be really wonderful even when they don’t have to be.

Why I love the author community is that now that I’m a part of it, I can hopefully give back too.

Do you guys have any author, writer, blogger fairy-tale stories?

WIN Jewelry inspired by The Next Forever

To celebrate the release of my New Novella The Next Forever, I will be giving away jewelry inspired by the story.

“An honest, raw, sexy night of self discovery. I loved Joe and Amy’s story!”- Nyrae Dawn, Bestselling author of Charade

One night in college can change everything…

Away at college, Amy just wants one night alone without her high school sweetheart, Joe. So when he invites her to go to the library, she heads off on her own instead. How she ended up at a house party with the mysterious bad-boy Trevor is another story…

Joe so isn’t going to the library. He needs space from Amy, too, so he’s decided to rush a fraternity, to get back the swagger he had in high school. But it doesn’t take long for the brothers to invite him to the real rush—where the beer is flowing and one particular girl has set her eyes on Joe.

Over the course of one wild night, both Amy and Joe will have to decide if their futures belong with two new people, or whether the next forever will have their first loves in it.

First Prize

Second Prize (Choice of Brown or Black)

Third Prize

Go to my website for all the details! http://www.lisaburstein.com/Contests.html

BLURRED by, TARA FULLER COVER REVEAL

Cash is haunted by things. Hungry, hollow things. They only leave him alone when Anaya, Heaven’s beautiful reaper, is around. Cash has always been good with girls, but Anaya isn’t like the others. She’s dead. And with his deteriorating health, Cash might soon be as well.

Anaya never breaks the rules, but the night of the fire she recognized part of Cash’s soul—and doomed him to something worse than death. Cash’s soul now resides in an expired body, making him a shadow walker—a rare, coveted being that can walk between worlds. A being creatures of the underworld would do anything to get their hands on.

The lines between life and death are blurring, and Anaya and Cash find themselves falling helplessly over the edge. Trapped in a world where the living don’t belong, can Cash make it out alive?

Goodreads: http://www.goodreads.com/book/show/16129272-blurred

Amazon: http://www.amazon.com/Blurred-Kissed-Death-Tara-Fuller/dp/162061085X/ref=sr_1_5?ie=UTF8&qid=1358452006&sr=8-5&keywords=Tara+Fuller

Barnes & Noble: http://www.barnesandnoble.com/w/blurred-tara-fuller/1113749206?ean=9781620610855

The Book Depository: http://www.bookdepository.com/Blurred-Tara-Fuller/9781620610855

Sexy Sentence Sunday- The Next Forever

When I was writing The Next Forever, this is how I pictured the lead hero Joe:

Just wanted to put that in your mind as you read this sexy excerpt from Joe’s point of view in

The Next Forever

Amy was sleeping.

I watched her chest rise and fall under the covers. Her bare shoulder peeked out as white as a full moon.

She was so beautiful when she slept—when it was just her body, blood, bone, breath. I loved her mind, too, don’t get me wrong. Like no one else, she could get into the crevices of mine, but there was also Amy under the spell of sleep—under my spell, in a lot of ways.

My hand ran lightly through her hair. I kissed her forehead, trying to make the dreams inside of it come true.

There were other things I wanted to say, and I’m sure there were other things she wanted to say, but I also knew that our silence was just as important. This thing between us that we had built up over years and years, filled with memories and knowing glances.

Earlier, when we reached the dorm, my hands were all over her before she’d gotten the door to her room closed. I was already absorbed in one of my favorite ways to keep my hands steady, by making her shake, by making her shiver.

“Joe,” she whispered, “I’m so sorry.”

I kissed her words away. “No talking,” I said.

We fell onto her bed. Clothes flying. Her lips started tracing where they had been on my chest and stomach. I stopped her, pulled her chin up, and kissed her neck, her chest, trailing down her stomach with my tongue until I felt her wilt.

This is all I want. She is all I want.

I could tell when we were like this that she felt the same. I knew that if life were as simple as locking her door and ordering takeout, we could stay like that for the rest of our lives. I knew that life wasn’t that simple, but for the next forever maybe it could be.

She flipped me over so I was lying on the bed. She was so strong—or maybe I just let her be. My whole body tensed at the sight of her naked silhouette and the way her skin felt on mine.

Maybe words made things too complicated. Maybe plans made things too boring. I couldn’t help that I wanted to know I would be with her when things got difficult, but I could try to not push her so much. At least with the things I asked of her. While it sometimes seemed like Amy’s words fought against me, her body never did.

And before she slept, her body had been begging for mine. If I was asking her body to be with me forever, then the way it had folded with mine said it was screaming yes, yes, yes.

Buy on :AMAZON

Buy on : Barnes & Noble

Add to: Goodreads

Which of your books should/can I read first?

 

 

Hey Guys,

So now that I will have 3(!!!) books out from the PRETTY AMY universe of characters, people are starting to ask questions. Are these book sequels, prequels? Do I have to read PRETTY AMY before I read THE NEXT FOREVER or DEAR CASSIE?

The answer is NO! These novels include characters from PRETTY AMY but are complete and separate stories- also know as Companion Novels.

You could read THE NEXT FOREVER first and then read PRETTY AMY and people are

You could read DEAR CASSIE and then read PRETTY AMY and people are

Or, you could read THE NEXT FOREVER and THEN DEAR CASSIE and then PRETTY AMY

Basically each book is a stand-alone story and can be read as such.

I hope that answers all your questions!

PRETTY AMY and THE NEXT FOREVER are out NOW!!!

DEAR CASSIE comes out March 5, 2013.

For info, blurbs and buy links for all my books check out my website: http://www.lisaburstein.com/Books.html

My New NOVELLA- The Next Forever!

Hello Friends!

I am happy to announce my new Novella- The Next Forever went on sale on  1/14!!!

Here’s the cover and blurb!

“An honest, raw, sexy night of self-discovery. I loved Joe and Amy’s story.”- Nyrae Dawn, Bestelling author of Charade

One night in college can change everything…

Away at college, Amy just wants one night alone without her high school sweetheart, Joe. So when he invites her to go to the library, she heads off on her own instead. How she ended up at a house party with the mysterious bad-boy Trevor is another story…

Joe so isn’t going to the library. He needs space from Amy, too, so he’s decided to rush a fraternity, to get back the swagger he had in high school. But it doesn’t take long for the brothers to invite him to the real rush—where the beer is flowing and one particular girl has set her eyes on Joe.

Over the course of one wild night, both Amy and Joe will have to decide if their futures belong with two new people, or whether the next forever will have their first loves in it.

Now for those of you that read PRETTY AMY, this is Joe and Amy from that book in college. If you haven’t read it, it is a NEW story that you don’t need to have read PRETTY AMY to be able to read.

As a special bonus, it also includes the whole first chapter of DEAR CASSIE

ENJOY!

AMAZON

B & N

Goodreads

DEAR CASSIE Diary Contest WINNER!!!

The winning entry below will be published in the final print version  of Dear Cassie!!!!!

I personally LOVED all the finalists, so I am so glad I had you guys to help me choose and the winner with the most votes is:

Entry #2 Monica Fumarolo

People have said I’m mad for fourteen years, but I never really started believing it until now. Because now, right now, I should be excited. Ecstatic. Over the moon and completely happy because they say tomorrow is the biggest day of my life.They would say that, though, because they also say I’m mad. That a man in a blue box didn’t really fall out of the sky and into my life twice, save all of humanity, change everything, then disappear again. If meeting the Raggedy Doctor and helping him save the world weren’t the biggest days of my life, then I really don’t think a wedding can top that.Even if it is my wedding. Even if it is to Rory.Amelia Pond became Amy Pond, and now I’m about to become Mrs. Amy Williams. I think I had an easier time accepting the fact that the Doctor landed outside this very house in a time machine that looks like a police box.And that’s the thing that makes me start to believe that everyone else really was right about me all along. I mean, Rory really is great. He is a good guy and he loves me and he’s all kinds of dependable and reliable and stable. He even put up with an entire childhood of being forced to play Raggedy Doctor by me, trying to bring my imaginary friend to life just to make me happy. If he was willing to do all that, even when we were just kids, then I know that he’ll do just about anything for me.I know that we’ll have a very nice life together here in Ledworth, with him as a nurse in hospital and me doing…something. I’m sure I’ll find something…Only that’s not true. I’m not sure. Because as nice as Ledworth is, it’s just Ledworth. Here I’m the crazy girl who was a kiss-o-gram and stayed up all night in the garden when she was a little girl, waiting for a time machine to come take her away because an equally crazy man who ate fish fingers and custard promised he would come back.He did come back, technically, I suppose. He came, the Atraxi left, and there’s no longer an alien living in my house (I hope). It was dangerous and insane. It was brilliant. And I want more of that. I want to have big adventures and do more impossible things and see more impossible places. I want to know who the Doctor is and why he came here and why he picked me and why he stopped and took the time for me and a crack in my wall.

I want to see more cracks in the universe, whatever that means. It sounds like something that only ever happens once in Ledworth if you’re really lucky, and now that it has, how can I ever dream of something so big happening in my life again as long as I stay here?When I say it like that, though, it sounds all wrong. It sounds like I don’t even care about Rory, but I do. It’s just…it’s hard to say what it is exactly. I’m scared. I know I want to marry him. I do know that, but it’s tomorrow. TOMORROW. It’s really here. Years of dating, months of planning, and there’s nothing left to do but wake up in the morning, put on that dress, and walk down the aisle. It’s only a few hours away now.What I guess all of this comes down to, though, is a plea for more time. More time for something to happen. The first time the Doctor left, it was hard. I suddenly felt even more alone here than ever before, even more so than when I was just the Scottish girl trapped in an English town. I still refused to give up on him though. I waited twelve years and then something amazing did happen. And now it’s been another two and I think if I had more time, I could keep waiting if I knew for sure that it would mean incredible, impossible things were in store.But wishing only does so much. It can’t make time machines show up or adventures unfold, so it’s probably just as well that I go to bed because tomorrow it really is time to grow up.Or maybe not. Because I just looked out the window, and you’ll never guess what’s in the garden. Or who.

DEAR CASSIE Diary Contest Finalists!- VOTE

I decided to go with 4 entries instead of 5 to make it easier to vote. Thank you to all the entrants! Please let me know which entry you think should be published in DEAR CASSIE. Voting ends 11/13 at 12pm PST!

Take Our Poll

Entry 1 C. Isabel Bandeira

Dear Diary,

My Dad sucks.

Thanks to him, I’m doomed to an eternity of creepy-stalker-like

peeking in on my boyfriend as he sleeps on top of a mountain.

Oh, I know the bards are telling the story the way he wants them

to—that I just loved seeing Endymion asleep so much that I begged Dad

to stick him in an immortal coma. Let me be the first to tell you,

that’s the biggest load of b.s. this side of the temple. Dad’s just

afraid of what will happen if the Olympus PR machine gets ahold of the

real story.

Which is: Dad is a control freak god who doesn’t want me to have a life.

First, if your daughter tells you she wants you to grant immortality

to her boyfriend, you don’t go and put him in an immortal SLEEP.

That’s messed up on so many levels. Maybe not by Olympian “I’ll just

have an affair with someone related to me” or “I’ll fall in love with

mortals and then turn them into plants or barnyard animals” standards,

but still. My family is so screwed up.

Second, oh my gods, I did NOT choose to be the ‘maiden huntress.’ Dad

picked that title for me. I grew out of being a tomboy a millennia

ago, the day I started wearing mini togas. Killing or sticking

boyfriends in deity-induced comas are not good ways to preserve your

daughter’s virginity. Hello, this is the third century BC. The old

ways totally don’t fly anymore. And what a double standard. Apollo

sleeps around with every nymph on the planet and Dad’s all proud that

he “takes after his old man.”

Venus suggested I just do it with Endy in his sleep and see if that

shocks some sense into Dad. He’d have to give up on the virginal

goddess of the moon bunk at that point. It’s tempting, but still

super-creepy. Gods, it feels weird to get advice like that from my

aunt-sister-whatever, even if she is the goddess of love.

I wish I were one of those normal human kids. Then, I could just run

off with Endy and we’d live in the mountains doing sheep-farmer-y

things. Like… watching the sheep graze and making cheese and stuff.

It might even be fun to be all human housewife-y. I think I can

cook—at least, as much as Hestia was able to teach me. And I

definitely can hunt. No wolves would dare come near our flocks. But,

noooooo, I’m a ‘goddess’ and have to behave like all the other good

little Olympian brats.

Maybe I should quit. See how everyone deals without a moon for a

little while. That’ll show them. I just…

…

Sorry, that was Mom calling, reminding me not to do anything rash to

get on Dad’s bad side. She’s never going to get over that whole being

turned into a swan thing.

I have to go—night shift is about to start. If I hurry, maybe I can

get a few minutes of stalking Endy at twilight before I have to hit

the sky.

Pray for me (or is that to me? It’s so darn confusing when you’re a

goddess.) I need all the help I can get.

Lot of love,

Diana

Entry 2: Monica Fumarolo

People have said I’m mad for fourteen years, but I never really started believing it until now. Because now, right now, I should be excited. Ecstatic. Over the moon and completely happy because they say tomorrow is the biggest day of my life.They would say that, though, because they also say I’m mad. That a man in a blue box didn’t really fall out of the sky and into my life twice, save all of humanity, change everything, then disappear again. If meeting the Raggedy Doctor and helping him save the world weren’t the biggest days of my life, then I really don’t think a wedding can top that.Even if it is my wedding. Even if it is to Rory.Amelia Pond became Amy Pond, and now I’m about to become Mrs. Amy Williams. I think I had an easier time accepting the fact that the Doctor landed outside this very house in a time machine that looks like a police box.And that’s the thing that makes me start to believe that everyone else really was right about me all along. I mean, Rory really is great. He is a good guy and he loves me and he’s all kinds of dependable and reliable and stable. He even put up with an entire childhood of being forced to play Raggedy Doctor by me, trying to bring my imaginary friend to life just to make me happy. If he was willing to do all that, even when we were just kids, then I know that he’ll do just about anything for me.I know that we’ll have a very nice life together here in Ledworth, with him as a nurse in hospital and me doing…something. I’m sure I’ll find something…Only that’s not true. I’m not sure. Because as nice as Ledworth is, it’s just Ledworth. Here I’m the crazy girl who was a kiss-o-gram and stayed up all night in the garden when she was a little girl, waiting for a time machine to come take her away because an equally crazy man who ate fish fingers and custard promised he would come back.He did come back, technically, I suppose. He came, the Atraxi left, and there’s no longer an alien living in my house (I hope). It was dangerous and insane. It was brilliant. And I want more of that. I want to have big adventures and do more impossible things and see more impossible places. I want to know who the Doctor is and why he came here and why he picked me and why he stopped and took the time for me and a crack in my wall.

I want to see more cracks in the universe, whatever that means. It sounds like something that only ever happens once in Ledworth if you’re really lucky, and now that it has, how can I ever dream of something so big happening in my life again as long as I stay here?When I say it like that, though, it sounds all wrong. It sounds like I don’t even care about Rory, but I do. It’s just…it’s hard to say what it is exactly. I’m scared. I know I want to marry him. I do know that, but it’s tomorrow. TOMORROW. It’s really here. Years of dating, months of planning, and there’s nothing left to do but wake up in the morning, put on that dress, and walk down the aisle. It’s only a few hours away now.What I guess all of this comes down to, though, is a plea for more time. More time for something to happen. The first time the Doctor left, it was hard. I suddenly felt even more alone here than ever before, even more so than when I was just the Scottish girl trapped in an English town. I still refused to give up on him though. I waited twelve years and then something amazing did happen. And now it’s been another two and I think if I had more time, I could keep waiting if I knew for sure that it would mean incredible, impossible things were in store.But wishing only does so much. It can’t make time machines show up or adventures unfold, so it’s probably just as well that I go to bed because tomorrow it really is time to grow up.Or maybe not. Because I just looked out the window, and you’ll never guess what’s in the garden. Or who.

Entry 3: T. Loveless

Dear Blank Page -

I’m only filling this page in hopes that one day someone will read it and know everything I felt for her.

Despite the inability to blink, or talk, or show emotion, she’s my everything. Tucked up against her sweet heart at night, listening to her breathe, feeling her warmth, the memories remind me of how lucky I was.

I don’t remember my humble beginnings, only that I came to life at the store the minute she inserted the stuffing a clerk handed over. Little Emma laughed at the way it tickled her, smiled as she chose what I should wear. She never saw a grimace as the clerk sewed me shut.

Since that day, Emma kept me close. She pushed me into her backpack every morning, liked how I sat on her lap during Kindergarten classes. She always put me on the swing next to her at the playground because the other kids didn’t know what to think about her missing leg, leaving her with few friends. Held my body in the air against the bullies who made fun of her. I’d watch her grow, listen to her most inner secrets, keep watch over her at night. Together we practiced handwriting, lovely tea parties with dolls and the stuffed dragon, watched cartoons on Saturday morning.

Emma laughed so easily. A tickle, the thrill of jumping into a pile of leaves during fall. Shaking a finger at the cat for seeing me as a personal pillow. Her eyes always shined with the joy of youth. How she loved her hugs and kisses!

I was in the car that day. She’d forgotten me in the seat, excited about the first day of class in a new grade.

But life has no way of telling us when it all ends. She jumped out of the van, falling forward and never got up. Her mother rushed Emma’s tiny form to the hospital, paced the hallways even as she held me tight, her nose buried in my fur to keep the smell of little Emma close.

I don’t understand all the words, but things like “congenital” and “heart” were thrown around.

I miss the smell of Emma after a bath, being dragged through mud, dancing to strange little songs, trying to whistle for the dog. I miss her whispers in my ears, the tight hugs during thunderstorms and watching the snow turn the world white.

Now Emma sits in the coffin, waiting one last time for me. Her mother whispered into my ear that I would never be separated from the little girl I love so much.

If anyone ever reads this, know I love Emma, and will keep her safe in the dark.

Mr. Teddy

Entry 4: Shannon Duffy

Dear Diary,

Let me first say that writing in diaries suck. No pun intended, since I’m Damon Salvatore, the best vampire that ever trolled the Earth, and the absolute king of sucking—blood that is—and yours if you laugh about me writing in this stupid thing. But with Klaus up to…well Klaus debauchery, all this witchy voodoo going on with Bonnie, along with werewolves, vampire hunters prowling Mystic Falls, and let’s face it, Elena being sired to me, I’m admittedly not my usual stellar self.

Don’t kid yourself though. I’m still awesome and infinitely more dashing and intelligent than my brother Stefan of course—just, well, confused. You’d think after 150 years I’d have a better handle on this weak emotion stuff, but since I met Elena, my vampire swagger is turning into some serious pussy shit. That’s what I get for allowing my humanity to shine through. And since I’m baring my soul—whoops, don’t have one of those. Since I’m spilling, sometimes I feel like going back to the days of my don’t-give-a-shit-ness and late-night parties where I partook in lapping up the blood buffet line at chez Damon. Those girls I compelled to enjoy the sting of my bite expected nothing from me. None of that love crap or feelings.

So what’s stopping me?

One word: Elena.

And if you’re curious, dear diary, about why if Elena is so special that I don’t just go for it? Well, I tried the whole love thing once before with Katherine. Didn’t work out so well. And who am I to try being with Elena anyway? She of all people who thinks with her heart—even after it stopped beating. I’m just not wired that way. And I’m not gonna start going around kissing babies and opening shelters for lost kittens if we hook up either. I’m Damon Salvatore, damn it. I may be able to quench my blood lust and drink plasma from the bag for a while to make her happy—because she’s worth it—but being with her isn’t going to change who I am. And I definitely won’t be like my brother Stefan—I don’t want to be like him and eat chipmunks and road kill blood for breakfast.

Speaking of Stefan, how does he get brownie points for being the good guy? What part of him being the ripper don’t people understand? Even Caroline is all Team Stelena. And I don’t begrudge my brother for his inner Mr. Hyde. So Stefan goes on bender, raging murder sprees. Shit happens. I of all people get that. He’s a vampire not a puppy. Point is? We both are. So, why do I get all the bad vampire rap? People need to back the hell off on the ‘Damon’s the devil’ crap.

Bottom line? Stefan loves Elena. I love Elena. And last I checked, three is a crowd. Things are gonna end badly because like they say, anything good and worth having, is worth fighting for—and worth the risk of losing. So, brother, if you stumble on this rambling note I wrote after drinking way too much whiskey, know this: I’ve decided that I won’t back down from what I want this time, which is Elena in case you missed it. You may have won Katherine, the self-absorbed tramp vamp, but I’ve got this. I won’t give Elena up without a fight.

Remember, love sucks—and may the best Salvatore vampire win.

I got Hacked

Hello Friends!

Last week my twitter account was hacked. I have started a new one @LisaBurstein (that was the same as my old one, but the hacker changed the name) ANYWAY, just wanted to let you all know so you could go refollow me if you’re interested.

If nothing else this has taught me how tenuous internet security can be.

Love you all,

Lisa

DEAR CASSIE “Get Published” Diary Contest- UPDATE

I have changed the rules so now you can enter with ANY CHARACTER- even one from your own writing! Please see other details below:

Since DEAR CASSIE is told in diary format, I have an EPIC CONTEST to celebrate DEAR CASSIE’ s cover reveal- with a chance FOR YOU TO BE PUBLISHED in the final book!

I want you guys to share diary entries me. That’s right, choose ANY character from books, TV, movies, a cereal box- YOUR OWN WRITING- and write a 500-750 length diary entry from their point of view.

As an example, I have received a diary entry from the POV of Caroline Forbes from The Vampire Diaries, but you can choose ANYONE!

We will choose the top 5 and then let the masses vote on their favorite. The favorite will be published in the final version of DEAR CASSIE. You read that right, published with the author’s name! The additional four will win $20 book buying gift cards.

So get diary-ing! Send you entries to prettyamystories@yahoo.com by January 1st!

Voting for the top 5 will begin January 7th, with the winner being announced January 14th!

YAY!