Amber Garza's Blog, page 10

Delaney’s Gift Series Makeover (and final book)

I feel like I’ve been writing about Delaney and Sam forever. And in reality I have been writing about them for years. The story first started several years ago when I participated in the 3 Day Novel Contest. The contest takes place over Labor Day weekend. You have from midnight on Thursday to midnight on Monday to write a complete novel. I decided to write a modern day retelling of Samson and Delilah in the bible. In that story Sam was truly a bad guy and Delaney was good. Sam seduces Delaney, cuts her hair and takes her gift. The story didn’t win, and I ended up shelving it, thinking I’d revisit it at some point. A couple years later, I decided to pull out the story, tweak it a little and make it YA.  I decided to set the story in a fictional world and make Delaney a warrior sworn to protect that town.  Then I added in nine other warriors each with different gifts, and that’s how the Delaney’s Gift Series was born. Originally I planned for Sam to be a bad guy even in this series. But as I wrote him, I started to fall for him, and that’s when he softened and changed. I can honestly say that Sam is my first true book boyfriend. I hope you have loved him too.

The last book in the series will release this week and it’s bittersweet for me. I will miss Delaney, Sam, Micah, Ariel, Jax and the rest of the warriors. But I’m glad that their story has resolved and I’m happy that the series is complete. In honor of the last book coming out, my graphic artist and I decided to remake all the covers – give them a little bit more magic. So here are the new covers, starting with Betray! My graphic artist, Lisa Eneqvist did a great job, Renae Lamb’s picture is lovely, and my model Brittany Norris is perfect as always.

If you haven’t started this series yet, you can get Dazzle for free at any online retailer!

It was just a typical afternoon until…

I’m often asked how I come up with the ideas for my stories, and I never quite know how to answer that. Stories and characters come to me a lot of different ways. Sometimes characters just pop into my head with personalities and pasts all intact. Then it’s just a matter of coming up with a plot that will work with that unique individual. Other times a show I’m watching or book I’m reading will spur on an idea. Or a life experience of mine will fuel a storyline. Oftentimes, though, it’s a combination of a lot of these things which I form into one idea.

However, this book was different. I know the exact moment I came up with the storyline for this book. It was last summer and I had brought my kids to the gym. My daughter was swimming, my son was in the basketball court playing a basketball game, and I was laying out by the pool reading a book. I looked up from the pages to check on my daughter and my gaze landed on a teenage couple in the water. The guy was teaching the girl to swim. I was mesmerized. He was so kind and tender with her as he held her in the water. I found myself wondering about them. What was their story? Why did this teenage girl not already know how to swim? What was their relationship like?

And just like that HEAD ABOVE WATER took shape in my mind. I wanted to write a story about a love like that. About a boy who would teach his girlfriend to swim with encouragement and gentleness. The couple in the book looks nothing like the couple at the gym, and I never did find out their story, so any similarities would just be coincidences. But that couple definitely inspired me.

With the basics of the story in my mind I set out to come up with characters and Tag and Harper came very easily. Their back stories, secrets and tainted pasts took time. In fact, I didn’t learn of Tag’s until halfway through the rough draft. But that is typical for me. I hope you have enjoyed their story as much as I have enjoyed writing it.

And if you haven’t read it, what are you waiting for? ;)

Want to go to the beach?

It may be winter time, but you can warm up with Tag and Harper in HEAD ABOVE WATER. A sexy lifeguard, a girl afraid of the water, and a sizzling romance. What more could you want to beat the rainy day blues?

Sometimes all you need is someone to hold you up.

Harper Elliott knows what it feels like to drown. To be unable to breath, to feel the crushing weight of your lungs collapsing while waves crash over your head and the surface is just out of reach. The ocean has stolen way too much from her and her family. Even though she lives just miles from the beach she rarely ever steps foot on it, and never goes in the water.

Until she meets Tag Williams, the sexy lifeguard with the funny name, kind smile, genuine eyes and smoking hot body. He makes Harper want to do more than just stick her toes in to test the waters. He makes her want to jump in with both feet.

But if she does, can she trust Tag to keep her head above water?

To purchase at Amazon click here

Be Still

I am not good at being still. I’m a doer. I like to take action. Heck, I’m a self-published author, meaning I do everything from writing my books, to formatting them, to uploading them, to marketing them. I am not a person who likes to sit around and let others do things for me. I like to be in control.

But right now in my spiritual life God is teaching me to “Be still and know that He is God.” (Psalms 46:10) Easier said than done, I’m afraid.

After my last blog post, my health took another unexpected turn. I ended up with an infection that you contract from the hospital or antibiotic use. It’s a scary infection and it kind of rocked my world. I was ready for 2014 to be my healthy year, not start with another illness. The truth is that at first I was angry, and in some moments I still am. I feel kind of like Job in the bible- just being pummeled by illness after illness. For the first few days of this infection I wallowed in self-pity and a woe is me attitude. In fact, if I’m being entirely honest, it’s easy for me to slip back into that at any given moment like a turtle hides in it’s shell. When I’m out and about I find myself jealous of all the people around me seemingly healthy, and wonder why I have to be the one sick. But God is teaching me to have a positive attitude, to enjoy every minute I have on this earth, and most importantly to be still and know that he is God.

The infection I have is very resistant to antibiotics and I’m now on my second round. Some days I think I will never get rid of this. But then God reminds me that he’s got this. He’s handling it. He’s working on my behalf. He reminds me in the sweetest ways. Like through a message on FB from a friend, or from my sweet friends who bring my family dinner every night, or from a word spoken over me when I ask for prayer at church. He keeps reminding me that He is with me, even when I feel so alone and scared. He is with me and He loves me and He is in control of all things. God works everything for the good of those who love him.

So when I feel like I’m drowning in the waves of anxiety and distress, I can just throw my arm up and know that He will pull me out of the storm. I don’t have to claw my way out when I’m too weak to do it. No, I can trust that He will be my strength.

This is sometimes hard for the control freak in me. I want to research this infection like a mad woman and fix this myself. And, of course, I have done my homework and I am doing all that I can to fight the infection. But while I’m doing what the doctors have told me, I also have to relax, to rest in God almighty, to trust, to listen, to learn, to grow. I can come out of this stronger than I was going in. I can glean what God is trying to teach me. Instead of asking him why this is happening, I can ask him what I can learn through this trial.

I think for me I need to learn not to fear tomorrow. Not to fear what could happen, but to live in the moment.

When I was a little girl I was in love with the music of Twila Paris. And there was a song I used to sing that said:

There Is An Ocean Surrounding Me

Mostly the Water Is Calm

Just Enough Breeze to Keep Me Sailing

I Feel Safe and Warm

Angry Winds Blow Suddenly

How This World Can Threaten Me

Then the Master Speaks With Sure Authority

Chorus

Peace Be Still, Peace Be Still

Peace Be Still to the Wind and the Waves

Peace Be Still, Peace Be Still

Peace Be Still and the Ocean Obeys

As a child, I don’t know if I really got these lyrics but now I do. I can choose to be bowled over by the waves of uncertainty and panic, or I can call out my God, the King of Kings who has all authority over the heavens and the earth and I can let Him speak peace over the chaos. What the enemy intends for evil I can allow to be used for good. Then God is the one with the victory.

If you are going through a storm right now, know that God is with you. That He loves you more than you know. That His peace is the peace that surpasses understanding.

Be still and know that He is God….

What I Learned in 2013

In June of 2012 I quit my day job to write full time. It was super exciting since being an author has been my dream since I was a little girl. By December 2012, I was making enough money that it seemed like I wouldn’t have to return to work in 2013, but could continue writing full time. So, I went into 2013 very excited for what the future had in store. But things quickly took an unexpected turn when I got sick exactly a week into the year. It started with extreme dizziness, fatigue, loss of appetite and intermittent fevers. The doctors told me it was just an inner ear infection and would go away on its own. But after a month, I decided to see an ENT. The ENT administered an MRI and VNG test and both came back normal, meaning it wasn’t a neurological issue or tumor and it wasn’t an inner ear infection. Next I had a myriad of other tests, including vision tests and CT scan. Nothing showed anything abnormal, yet I was still dizzy all the time. By summer time I decided to just focus on my kids and give up trying to figure out what was wrong. I started seeing a chiropractor and got a little better. In the fall of this year I started seeing an acupuncturist and got great results from that. I felt really hopeful that I was on the mend. Then I started getting pain the right side of my abdomen. Doctors told me it was muscular and so I treated it that way for over a month. Finally when no improvement had been made I went in for an ultrasound. Long story short, my gallbladder was removed in emergency surgery right before it was in danger of rupturing. As I made my recovery I was really hopeful that my health issues were behind me. However, the pain in my right side never subsided and still remains 6 weeks later. I am now undergoing tests to find out what is wrong. I have now had 2 tests and have 2 more coming in the next few weeks.

On the bright side of this year, things have been going amazingly well with my writing. I published 6 books this year! And they are selling well and getting great reviews. When I think about this it makes my heart soar! Also, my family is doing great. My marriage is strong, my son is in high school and my daughter in middle school. It’s been good on the home front.

It’s odd to have horrible hardship in the midst of incredible blessing. On the one hand I feel so blessed to be doing what I love; to be able to pursue my dream! On the other hand, it is hard to enjoy my blessings when I feel so sick and anxious about my health. It’s hard to reconcile the two.

As many of you know I am a Christian. My faith in God and his great provision for me has gotten me through so many hard times. This year I have leaned on him so much. I’ve clung to him and put all my hope in him. However, I would be lying if I said that it was easy. I have struggled with my faith. I have struggled with doubt, fear and anxiety. Sometimes I have felt crippled by it even. And it has made me feel ashamed. Ashamed because I should be stronger. I should have more joy. I should have more faith. I shouldn’t allow worry to consume me. But even knowing these things in my head, it’s hard to convince my heart.

This year I’ve learned that life is unpredictable. I can plan all I want, but things may not happen like I’d hoped. I can worry so much it makes me sick, but it’s not going to change the outcome. What’s going to happen will happen. Health problems aren’t something you can plan for, prevent or control. If only.

The only thing I can control is my reaction to it. And I have to confess that hasn’t been very pretty this year. But with God’s help I’m working on it.

I don’t know what 2014 holds, but I’m hopeful. I’m hopeful that God will heal me, that my body will be restored. But if not, I’m hopeful that I will find freedom in it. That I will learn to roll with the punches, to not get so anxious. That I will, as the saying goes, let go and let God. I’m hopeful that fear and anxiety won’t control me.

What are the challenges you’ve faced in 2013? How have they helped you to grow and change? What are your hopes and dreams for 2014? I’d love to hear from you in the comments below!

I need your help!

A few months ago I asked for your help in deciding who to write about for the Valentine’s anthology I’m participating in with other amazing authors such as Lila Felix, Shelly Crane and more. Most of you voted for Maverick from Tripping Me Up. I do plan to write Maverick’s story whether I do it now or later so you will get his story regardless. But recently I’ve received tons of emails from readers wanting to know what happens to Tripp and Hadley after high school. So I was thinking that maybe I should write the Valentine’s novella about them. But since you originally voted on this story, I’m going to give you one last chance to have your say! Who should I write about? I will choose the couple with the most votes at the beginning of next week because then I have to write the book!!

Thanks for your input!

Take Our Poll

A Secret Fate by Susan Griscom

Blurb:

“Well, fate was cruel, wasn’t it?”

Cael and Addison’s fate has taken an unexpected turn.

Gerry, Addie and Cael almost captured Careen’s murderer only to lose Cael in the battle—a battle that nearly cost him his life. But despite his survival, he faces a new challenge, thanks to Gerry’s handiwork: will Cael remember Addie or is their love lost with him?

Addie’s family and friends think she should keep the relationship a secret from Cael so he isn’t forced into feelings he can’t remember. Just what she needs, more secrets and on top of everything else, someone stole the crystal. How is she supposed to get over the loss of her lover, a lover she’d barely had for only a few short months and deal with the secret of the lost crystal at the same time?

Aiden wants nothing more than to help Addie overcome her grief and get over Cael. Or is that all he wants? What happens when too many people know the secret and someone slips up?

My Review:

I was fortunate enough to receive an ARC of this book. After reading Whisper Cape and Reflections I was anxious to find out what happened with Cael and Addie and Maia and Gerry. Reflections ended with a cliffhanger so I just had to know where Cael went and if he made it back to Addie.

This book didn’t disappoint. Cael was just as swoon-worthy as he was in the last two books. Maia and Gerry were just as cute as always. There was a lot of mystery and suspense as in the other two books. And the ending was satisfying and wrapped everything up nicely.

I highly recommend this series. They are hot, sexy reads with heart-pumping suspense and a great mystery!

Buy NOW

Ack! Brand New Covers!

The Prowl Trilogy was my first published series. The books are spooky teen Christian thrillers revolving around a seventeen-year-old girl named Kenzie who gets herself involved in something very evil. I always have to be so vague when relating what these books are about because there is so much mystery behind them, and I don’t want to spoil it for any potential readers. I wrote the books after going through a period of time where I read Ted Dekker and Frank Peretti almost exclusively. I loved their bone chilling stories and the fact that I couldn’t sleep a wink after finishing one of their books. But I also loved how each of their stories leaves you with a sense of hope. I wanted to do the same, but for teenagers, so Prowl, Entice and Unveil were born.

However, as I continued to write other books and moved into other genres this series has taken a back seat. It’s not one I market much and sometimes it gets lost in the shuffle. Recently I decided to give the books a little makeover in hopes of reviving the series a little.

Hope you enjoy the covers as much as I do!

Cover design: White Rabbit Designs and Creations

And below you can take a look at the full wraps. Paperbacks will be available sometime in the next couple of weeks.

Falling in love. Hard.

I tend to fall in love with all the heroes in my books. It’s a fact that my husband may not love, but he puts up with it. I guess it helps that they are fictional, even though they totally seem real to me.

I loved Tripp in TRIPPING ME UP, and since it has been my bestselling book so far I would guess that many of you love him too. There is just something so sweet and tortured about him. After releasing TMU, I had no plans to revisit the characters in that book. However, after many emails and messages requesting Paige’s story, I decided it could be fun to write. I had no idea what Colt’s story would be, but I started writing and waited for him to reveal all his darkest secrets to me.  Then something unexpected happened.

I fell for Colt. Hard.

And not the same way I’d fallen for Tripp or Beckett or Ryker or Asher. No, I mean, I became completely addicted to him. I thought about him all the time. I couldn’t get him out of my mind. In fact, I wrote the rough draft of WINNING ME OVER in 2 weeks and then had a total book hangover for weeks afterward. Usually, I finish a book and immediately start a new one. But I’ve been sort of paralyzed after writing Colt and Paige’s story. I miss Colt like no other character. I want to just write about him forever and ever. But I know I can’t. I have to move on, no matter how difficult.

But now I’m tossing Colt out there into the big, wide world. Now it’s your turn to fall in love with him. Give him a big hug and kiss for me. I’m actually jealous of you.

But remember, I had him first.

It’s a typical boring night at work when I first meet the mysterious and sexy Colt Lancaster. Minutes after he leaves, I’m robbed at gunpoint by a masked man. I suspect the two events are related. No matter how hard Colt tries to convince me that it was all just a coincidence, my gut tells me otherwise. However, the more I get to know him the more I want to believe him. Just when he’s about to win me over, a condemning secret from his past is exposed. Then again, everyone deserves a second chance. Don’t they?

Click to buy at Amazon

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Psst! You! Yeah, you! I have a super awesome surprise to share!

Last year I released my one and only adult suspense novel. It’s called ENGRAVED and it truly is one of my absolute favorite books I’ve ever written. It is dark, mysterious, scary, and full of action, suspense and romance. Not only that but it is a book that is very close to my heart. However, I don’t feel like the cover really conveys the essence of what is on the inside. When I chose the picture for the original cover I thought it depicted the missing girl in the story and I absolutely loved what my cover artist did with it. But I’ve realized over time that it just doesn’t look mysterious or scary enough, and readers don’t really get a sense of the story from it. So I’ve had the cover redone, and I changed some things to the story and interior formatting. Hope you enjoy the new revamped ENGRAVED!

Cover: White Rabbit Designs and Creations

ENGRAVED is available in Kindle, Nook and paperback!

Buy your copy today!!

Amazon

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