R.A. Desilets's Blog, page 3

Excerpt: Girl Nevermore

Purchase your copy on Amazon

Girl Nevermore is my dark contemporary young adult novel based on real life events. When I was much younger, my best friend at the time tried to take her own life while sitting next to me in class. She went to the bathroom with the pass that hung by the door, was gone for a while, and came back a completely different person.

She slowly started fading away as she

YA Gets Real: Wizard School

The rolling hills fly past us as we head down the lush landscape and into a deep valley. I'm adoring the drive, and my mind rushes with the ideas of how the next four years will play out. To think, my parents had been keeping this a secret my whole life.

"We wanted you to grow up as a normal girl," Mom said.

"That meant keeping your past a secret from you." My dad nodded.

I grin as I look up

Goodbye 2016, and Hello 2017.

I apparently make vlogs now! I have no idea what the world is coming to, but I am making a commitment to post three vlogs a month for the next year. We'll see how it goes.

In this one, I review 2016, state some of my accomplishments, and uh ... Hang out with some cats? I also look ahead to January 2017, where I'll be um ... Hanging out with more cats?
Watch the video. It's funny and stuff.

With Dreams So Powerful

I woke up this morning from a dream not with a yawn or a stretch, but with tears running down my face. The dream made me angry, sad, hurt, and confused. When you have dreams as powerful as that, there's no way to avoid your emotions.

Last night, I struggled to actually sleep. I tossed and turned, awoken every hour due to pain. A customer jokingly said to me yesterday that he didn't want to live

YA Gets Real: Don't Go Inside the House

The lone house loomed at the end of the street, dark and foreboding. Night crept around the car's headlights, trying to shut off what little light illuminated the front of the building. As Trevor cut the engine, a crow cawed in the distance.

"This doesn't look anything like the brochure." Katie held up the bed and breakfast pamphlet, one that promised pampering and relaxation. She glanced

Managing Mischief

I think about when I was younger and how, for the most part, I was a fairly well behaved kid. It wasn't because my parents were huge disciplinarians, but because of self-regulation. I felt a tremendous amount of guilt whenever I did anything relatively "bad" or "destructive." The guilt was crippling. A tingling feeling would invade the base of my neck and travel up to my brain, numbing me from

An Existential Existence

I haven't updated in a really long time, and perhaps I am now due to an existential crisis about what it means to truly exist and be conscious and simply "be" because I watched a marathon of Westworld. It made me think about life in a slightly different way, and I suppose I was already starting to do this, but it reinforced this idea of never winning. As it stands, there's a strange peace in

New Release: In a Blue Moon

Today, I am super excited to announce the release of In a Blue Moon (Blue Moon #1). This book has been in the making for quite some time. I got early feedback from readers telling me I should shop it prior to self-publishing. I've spent over two years querying agents and publishing houses.

At the end of the day, there are a lot of fairy tale retellings, and In a Blue Moon is hitting the market

On Wattpad: The End Diary

I'm super excited to tell you guys about The End Diary being available on Wattpad. I'm updating it regularly, and already have five parts up for you to read and enjoy. I've been busy working behind the scenes, but it's only fair that my readers get something from me sooner rather than waiting any longer.

Here's a little Q&A I put together regarding why you should check out The End Diary.

What

Mad Max Fury Road: All Show No Tell

My characters tend to be emotional teens who are stuck inside their heads. When I was in high school, I had a hard time seeing the world outside of myself. I overthought and over-analyzed everything (probably still do). Because of this, when I write contemporary young adult novels, my characters tend to have the same self-reflection and existentialism.

Recently, I've been moving in another