Jen Naumann's Blog, page 9

The Small Things Blog Hop

You're certainly not going to find me as perky this Friday as I was last week for VikLit's blog hop (sign up for the hop below). Last week was simply excellent and I'm still celebrating all the things that went down.

But this week has been a bit slower, so I'm going to have to dig for things to shout about. I haven't really had much time for reading, writing or a video blog this week, which was a bummer. Okay, positive things. Let's see....yesterday I sent off for a printed copy of 'Cheating Death' and Monday I officially launched the blog hop tour for it. And earlier in the week I made a customer happy with her brand new book cover design.

Sadly, I can't brag about losing weight this time as I barely lost any. In a moment of pure weakness last weekend, I was swept up by all the fun and cheated on my diet. As a result, I got majorly ill. I chalk it up to lesson learned.
Even JT is disappointed in meBut I'm basically down to my high school weight and found out that in exactly 2.5 weeks I'll be able to finally enjoy the things I've been craving for the past month (bread, cheese, pasta, M&Ms, alcohol...I'm probably gaining weight just thinking about it).
Other mentionables:

1. I almost finished the first season of Supernatural. Can't believe how much I love the show.
2. My youngest daughter's volleyball team took home the championship in a tournament. 
3. We got to spend time with our oldest daughter and her family. 
4. I was able to drive the Mustang out of the snow-covered yard.
5. I finally got to see Zero Dark Thirty.

Okay, now that I look at all these things together, I guess it was a pretty decent week. Minus the royal "mess" up on my diet.

Hope all of you had a great week and enjoy an even better weekend!

Celebrate The Small Things Blog Hop

Happy Friday, everyone! WARNING: my post this week for VikLit's "celebrate the small things" blog hop is filled with so much awesomeness, your screen may explode.

1. My editor wasn't so fond of the ending for Cheating Death and I've gotten a lot of crap for some of my harsh endings, so I rewrote it into something tear-inducing. I was a total mess when I wrote it, but I think everyone will love it. Or at least I hope.

2. I made the book trailer for Cheating Death. And I'm so proud of my creation. It was a lot of work, but it definitely projects the feeling I was aiming for.

3. I organized and hopefully successfully launched the blog hop tour for Cheating Death. Thank you to all of those who are participating! Find more info on the blog hop here.

4. I'm coming up on my one year anniversary of being a published author, and I will have released four books in that time. Seriously, can I just maybe take a nap now?
5. I was hired by a fellow author to create her book cover. Together we chose the most stunning image and I can't wait to share it at some point! I swear to you I'm a high every time I work on it.

6. I lost another five pounds this week, which means I am up to ten pounds in just two weeks. Plus I'm that much closer to being able to eat pizza and drink beer again. On a limited basis, of course...there's no way I'm going to screw up my weight and have to do this all over again.

7. I was given the okay to start exercising again, and that means I'm back to watching Supernatural episodes! I can't believe I didn't get into this show sooner. The paranormal stories are just awesome. And I'm so in love with Dean, Sam and their crazy-hot dad. Jeffrey Dean Morgan's smile can melt my soul into a mere puddle.
8. I got my first pair of Uggs. I was tired of my feet getting cold in cheap boots from all this snow and my daughter was tired of me borrowing her Uggs all the time, so I used birthday money from my in-laws and bought my own. They are heavenly.

8. I finished John Green's Looking for Alaska. That man can write. But why does he feel the need to reduce his readers to a blubbering mess each time? Review to come on next week's video blog.

9. My husband and I painted the outdated den that's filled with a million nooks and crannies. We also put new flooring in it, therefore finishing one of the last rooms in the house that needs remodeling. We were so relieved and exhausted that we celebrated with a small glass of alcohol. And boy, did it taste delicious.

So that's about it for my awesome week. If you're a blogger and want to take the time to celebrate the small things in your life, be sure to sign up below!

Debut of Official Book Trailer for 'Cheating Death'!

I've been waiting so long for this moment, I could just die. I finally get to share my newest book trailer with all of you! These are a ton of work, but also a ton of fun. This is another reason why I love being an indie author—I get to choose everything from the music to the images (which is as addicting as I would imagine crack to be). Sadly, only a few of the images are my own this time, but I found some excellent photography work that I thought was quite stunning. And the music was composed by a man named Bjorn Lynne. The tune is both haunting and beautiful—I could listen to it all day long (and I literally did).
So kick back, grab a cold beer—or soda—and enjoy!

This Week's Video Blog

This week I review the Beautiful Creatures movie I was finally able to see as well as my final thoughts on the third book in Lauren Oliver's Delirium series (Requiem). I also share my 2.5 seconds of fame.

The Sunshine Award

I have just received The Sunshine Award from author/blogger C. J. Sullivan!


The Sunshine Award is an award given by bloggers to other bloggers. The recipients of the Sunshine Award are “bloggers who positively and creatively inspire others in the blogsphere.” The way the award works is this: thank the person who gave you the award, and link back to them. Then answer questions about yourself. Finally, select up to 10 of your favorite bloggers, link their blogs to your post, and let them know they have been awarded the Sunshine Award!

Thanks, C. J., for thinking of me! You rock! Check out her blog, Journey of a Soul, here. She's flipping adorable.
And now my answers:

What inspired you to start blogging?

After I become so active on Twitter, I decided there were things I wanted to say that just didn't fit in the limited 140 word count. And now I can't seem to shut up.

How did you come up with the name of your blog?

I wanted something easy that people would remember and I know my last name can be a real stinker to spell. Since I'm such a huge fan of anything dealing with paranormal, I decided to keep it simple and added on the "YA" since I primarily write young adult (although I have a few new adult in the works).

What is your favorite blog that you like to read?

Emma Meade's. We have so much in common and she makes me laugh.

Tell about your dream job.

Honestly, I'm living it. I've wanted to be a writer since I was eight. I have my own hours and I can write from anywhere in the world. I especially love summer time when I can retreat to our lake home with the kids. I don't have anyone telling me what to do or how to do it (with the exception of my editors, whose opinions I value). You know you're in love with your job when your family begs you to step away from it at times.

Is your glass half full or half empty?

Ever since I left my "day" job, I've been trying like hell to keep it half full. There's not much to gain from negativity.

If you could go anywhere for a week’s vacation, where would you go?

I'd have to say Italy. Something about the coast looks so stunning and romantic. I'd love to explore the cobble stone streets and eat some of their delicious food and drink their wine...

What food can you absolutely not eat?

Mushrooms and onions. Don't even get me started. Sick.

Dark chocolate or milk chocolate?

MILK all the way.

How much time do you spend blogging?

Probably five hours or better a week. I also co-blog on two other websites, so I keep busy!

Do you watch TV – if so, what are some of your favorite shows?

I've cut way back in the past few months and have only found time for The Walking Dead (my favorite show of all time) and Saturday Night Live. But during the year I also watch Dexter, Breaking Bad, Homeland and Nurse Jackie. And I watch old episodes of Supernatural when I'm working out. Some of my favorites that have ended are X-Files, Charmed, Buffy the Vampire Slayer and Sex and the City.

Now to pass on the award! These guys are amazing and full of positive energy, so please take a moment to check them out!


Jolene PerryLauryn AprilLeigh MooreEmma MeadeClover AutreyTabitha MartinDeanne SlettenJulie FlandersVikLitS. K. Anthony

The Small Things Blog Hop

Happy Friday! Once again I'm posting as part of VikLit's blog hop. You can sign up to participate on the link at the bottom. It's a great way to remember accomplishments don't have to be anything major in order to celebrate them and to pick your spirits up if you're feeling a bit down.

There are all kinds of awesome things to celebrate this week. Not only did I post a more successful, calmer, less eye-rolling video blog, but I finished the first draft of my fifth book! Oh yeah, I'm doing "virtual" cartwheels (because I'm too old and out of shape to do real ones). The book deals with mind control and is something I started back in November, but hit a major writer's block on for months. One of the best parts is that the first draft sits at 80k words, which is much heftier than my other books usually start out being. And as if it was meant to be, I got the edits back on my fourth book the very next day!

To celebrate, I went with a friend to see the Beautiful Creatures movie. FINALLY. I'll share my thoughts on the movie in next week's video blog.

Yesterday we bought my son-in-law's old Mustang as my commuter car (the Tahoe is a gas guzzler but a necessity for living on a road that doesn't always get plowed in the winter). The car may be an older model, but it's my very first Mustang and I've wanted one for as long as I can remember!

I finished reading two books this week (it's an amazing feeling to find time for this once again). On my second vlog I reviewed Beautiful Darkness (the sequel to Beautiful Creatures). I plan to review Lauren Oliver's Requiem (that I devoured in a little over 24 hours) also on next week's vlog.


We also finished my son's science fair project, which means we are DONE WITH SCIENCE FAIR FOREVER!
Oh man, that is such an amazing feeling. And not to beat a dead, overweight horse, but there were those five pounds I lost on the first week of my diet that has me doing a happy dance. It won't be long before I'm allowed to have an ice cold beer...I can taste it already!

Writer Wednesday: Emma Meade

I met the lovely and talented Emma Meade through Twitter quite some time back. Although separated by a very large pond, we discovered a mutual passion for anything paranormal/supernatural and I quickly became hooked on Emma's books. While busy preparing to release a sequel to her first vampire novel, Under the Desert Moon, she was kind enough to take a minute to answer a few questions. Because that's how awesome she is.
1. Your new release End of the Line was originally a short story that appeared in The Awakening & Other Stories (a collection of short stories). Are there any others that you think you may possibly turn into a full length novel at some point?

End of the Line is probably my favourite of the whole lot, though The Knocking is a close second. That one is about my Grandad and still gets me when I read it. I'd like to go back to Cassie's story (End of the Line) and see if I can figure out where she went from there. One day - hopefully I'll get back to her. I have so many stories, novels and half completed novels lying around the place, I want to get to them in 2013 and see what I can publish from that lot first.

2. Who or what inspires you as an author?

I get my inspiration from other books, TV shows, films and music - music plays a key role. I love to create imaginary worlds. Some of my characters feel like real people to me.

3. What are some of your favorite books?

I know a lot of people will roll their eyes, but I adore the Twilight books, especially the first one. I found Twilight quite randomly back in 2008. I'd been browsing YouTube looking up fan videos for various TV shows (as far as I can remember) and I stumbled upon a fan video based on the first book. I was so intrigued, I went Googling and hopped it to the nearest bookshop to buy Twilight. I fell in love instantly with Forks and the love story. It took me completely in and will probably always be among my favourite books.
Others I love include Dark Angel and Flowers in the Attic by Virginia Andrews, The Forbidden Game by L.J. Smith, The Stand by Stephen King, anything written by Marian Keyes, and the Tegan's Blood books by L.H. Cosway. (The latter are both amazing Irish authors).

4. From what you've seen, is the publishing world in Ireland different from the United States?
I don't think it's very different. It's obviously on a much smaller scale over here. Some publishers in Ireland will still accept unsolicited manuscripts, but for the most part it's still better to have a literary agent if you're going the traditional route.

5. How many books have you written at this point in your career and what are you working on now?
Hmm, I need to think about this. I guess one novel published and a couple of short story collections. But I also have half a dozen finished and unfinished novels that have yet to be edited and prepared for publishing. I am trying to get into those later this year. Fingers crossed they can be polished enough to see the light of day.

6. If one of your books could be made into a movie, which one would you like to see it happen to and why?

I'd love to see Under the Desert Moon made into a film. I fell in love with the Arizona setting when I wrote it and the characters feel like a part of me. :)

7. What do you like to do in your "down" time?
I don't get much of that - but I guess I like to catch up on my favourite shows like The Walking Dead and The Vampire Diaries. Chilling out with a few friends on a Friday evening and catching up over wine and nibbles is always a good way of winding down. Then I have my two little nieces who don't know the meaning of giving Auntie Emma 'down time'.

8. What are some of your favorite movies and television shows?

Buffy is still my all time favourite TV show, closely followed by Roswell, Friends, The X-Files, The Vampire Diaries and Dark Angel. Movies would have to include Reality Bites, The Last of the Mohicans, The Lost Boys, The Goonies, Stand By Me, Dirty Dancing and Twilight.

9. Are you the type of author that listens to music while you write? If so, what type of music or what songs?

I have to have a quiet space to write usually but I definitely use music to inspire me to write. If I'm stuck or just not feeling it I just put on my iPod and go to the appropriate playlist. That gets the creative juices flowing. The stories about Alex and Tristan from the Night Sighs collection are all down to Bruce Springsteen. Without him, those characters wouldn't be alive.

10. If you could be a character in any book, who would you choose and why?

Jenny from The Forbidden Game by L.J. Smith. She has a darkly gorgeous Shadow Man in love with her willing to give her the world, in fact all nine of them.

11. If the zombie apocalypse were to happen, who would you choose (real or fictional) for your survival team?

My Dad, Buffy, Willow, Rick and Daryl (The Walking Dead), Max and Alec (Dark Angel) and the aliens from Roswell. :)

To win a digital copy of Emma's collection of short stories, The Awakening & Other Stories, leave a comment below! Winner to be announced 4/3/13 


Ways to follow Emma: Twitter, Goodreads, her website
Where to find her book: Amazon, Barnes & Noble 


Emma Meade lives in Ireland and loves vampires, slayers, witches, ghosts, aliens & shadow men (or at least the youngest of the Shadow Men), and regular people who live extraordinary lives (think Slayerettes and you’re on the right track). Writing supernatural short stories, watching marathon re-runs of Buffy and attempting to complete novels are some of her favourite ways of escaping reality.

Video Blog, Take Two

Personally, I think I came off as a bit of a nut job in my first video last week. So I cleaned up and tried again, this time even reviewing a couple of books and discussing my thoughts on sequels.

The Battle Continues

So here we are on week two of my strict diet. I had my first weigh in and discover I lost 5 pounds and 6.5 inches! Yay! Although things are going pretty well... There, I said it. Or rather my soul-sister Emma did. But still. After spending five hours helping my son with a science fair project, a beer would be nice. Or after a long day of running and finally getting to sit back at a restaurant, I have to say the margaritas around me were looking amazing. Is that so wrong? But as one of my Twitter friends recently pointed out, I only have three episodes of The Walking Dead to enjoy before I will be off this strict died and I can eat my ice cream again. Or some chocolate. Or anything deliciously sweet. While I'm sharing with you, I have a confession to make. I cheated. With a chocolate chip. Or make that three. While cleaning up behind my son's mess the other day, I saw them on the counter. They were just sitting there all alone, so beautiful and innocent, calling to me. And I ate them. All three. And damn they tasted good. Something tells me I'll put some pounds on quickly after I'm given the okay to indulge in some of my favorites. It's funny how my mouth waters just from walking past the candy isle at Walmart, or even from looking up recipes for broccoli online (yeah, that actually happened...I've officially gone to the dark side). And I know it's not going to get any easier. Maybe I should post a picture of Gwen Stefani on my mirror so I will be reminded that soon I will look just like her.
Yeah, okay, I'll never look like Gwen. But a girl can pretend. So BACK OFF! (Warning, this diet makes me a bit cranky!)

Here's to hoping I only have a few weeks left before all my dreams will come true and I can go back to eating things that put a smile on my face. Until then, I will continue to do exactly as I'm told. No alcohol, Red Bull, ice cream, pasta, bread, Mexican or any other food and drink that make me completely insane with a primal hunger just thinking about.
But maybe, just maybe, I will allow myself the tiniest of indulgences. Maybe next week I will break down and have four chocolate chips. Just don't tell my weight coach.

Celebrate the Small Things Blog Hop

Once again, I'm flabbergasted that it's Friday. How does time slip by so quickly? Is losing track of time a sign that you're going insane? Anyway, I'm here again as part of the awesome Vikki's blog hop (see info below on how to sign up). Another great week went by with many things to be thankful for. 
Career wise, I did sign up for my first writer's convention in Madison, Wisconsin this April and discovered I will meet a few Twitter friends while there. Yay! Although I'm a bit freaked about having to drive five hours by myself and then navigate through a big city (I'm a country girl after all), I think all the information, classes and networking will make the trip well worth it. I also revived a story on mind control that was nearly completed and made it into something I'm really excited about and can't wait to get out there. I know it's time to work on the sequels to Shymers and The Day Zombies Ruined My Perfectly Boring Life, but I feel a lot of pressure to complete them and writer's block has kicked in. I hope to tackle them this summer when at our lake home where my mind is bit more relaxed.And finally, I created my first video blog. It was almost as painful as dental surgery. Almost. But I have heard so many people say that they love it when they get to "meet" their favorite authors and see them in person, so I thought I should give it a try. I was super nervous when doing it and seemed to roll my eyes an excessive amount of times. I promise to work on that with my next installment.
If you watched that video then you already know I started an intense diet this week. The weight loss won't be anything too dramatic, just a chance to lose those last extra pounds that exercising and watching what I eat don't seem to touch. But my favorite foods/drinks are Red Bull, ice cream, chocolate, alcohol and pizza/pasta, none of which I can consume for probably an entire month. This diet has taken more will power than I thought I was capable of. It's day four, and I haven't cheated. Not even once. But I nearly went postal last night when my son found the Snickers ice cream bar I hid from myself in the freezer and seconds later I found a Red Bull my husband put in the soda drawer. Really? I hope my family can work with me a little better in the weeks to come. And I hope after I adjust to these smaller portions of food, I will no longer feel like this all the time...