Leah Raeder's Blog, page 3

My next book, Black Iris, is available for preorder.

All right, you lovely people. The cat’s out of the bag. My next book is a New Adult queer romance/suspense novel titled Black Iris, and it’s available for preorder right now.

Here’s our temporary cover and blurb to whet your appetite:

The next dark and sexy romantic suspense novel from the USA TODAY bestselling author of Unteachable.

Laney Keating’s senior year of high school sucked. It started with one moment of weakness, one stupid gesture for a hopeless crush. Then the rumors started. Slut, they called her. Queer. Pillhead. Psycho. Mentally ill, messed up, so messed up even her own mom decided she wasn’t worth sticking around for.

If Laney could erase that whole year, she would. College is her chance to start with a clean slate.

She’s not looking for new friends, but they find her: charming, handsome Armin, the only guy patient enough to work through her thorny defenses—and fiery, filterless Blythe, the bad girl and partner in crime who becomes closer than a sister.

But Laney knows nothing good ever lasts. When a ghost from her past resurfaces—the bully responsible for everything, the boy who broke her down completely—she decides maybe it’s time to live up to her own legend. And Armin and Blythe are going to help.

Because that was the plan all along.

Because the rumors are true. Every single one of them. And Laney is going to show them just how true. She’s going to show them all.

Preorder

Black Iris is tentatively scheduled for publication in May 2015 by Atria Books. We’ll be doing a simultaneous print and ebook release.

You can preorder now at these retailers:

Amazon
Simon & Schuster

And check the book out on Goodreads, where I sometimes post teasery stuff.

Black Iris Inspiration

Want a glimspe into my head as I write? Here’s my inspiration…

Pinterest

Follow Leah’s board Black Iris on Pinterest.

Soundtrack

The Massive Black Iris Inspiration Playlist

I’ll just leave this here.

New Unteachable cover reveal + poster giveaway!

I don’t even know how I was able to keep this gorgeousness under wraps for the past few weeks, but here it is: the new cover for the Atria edition of Unteachable. Before I show you—oh, screw it, I can’t contain myself any longer.

How fucking beautiful is that? Designer Lucy Kim knocked it way the hell out of the park. It captures the spirit of my original cover perfectly, but with less “WTF is that? …is that a face?” Maise looks so bold and vulnerable at the same time and I just want to freaking hug her. And Lucy. And my editor Sarah, my agent Jane, and every single one of you who’s made this dream come true for me.

I love you guys.

I’ll be updating this post later with more details, new buy links, and a giveaway of a giant signed poster of this incredible new cover, but I had to share this with you first.

Hope you love it to pieces the way I do.

Updated buy links

Amazon Kindle
Amazon Paperback PRE-ORDER (releases November 11, 2014)
iTunes
Barnes & Noble Nook
Simon & Schuster Bookstore

Signed poster giveaway

These beautiful matte 20″x30″ poster prints of the new cover just came in…and I’m going to give one away. No restrictions. Open internationally. I’ll sign the poster if you’d like, but if you’d prefer it unsigned, that’s fine, too.

a Rafflecopter giveaway

Thank you all from the bottom of my heart. I’m beyond happy right now, I can’t even…words. Words are hard. As a bonus treat, and really the only way I can express myself at the moment, here’s the playlist I listened to obsessively while writing Unteachable.

See ya, Rainbowface. I’ll miss you.

Two-book deal for Unteachable & my new NA romance.

In case that’s hard to read:

Leah Raeder’s UNTEACHABLE, a gritty romance about a fiery eighteen year-old high school student’s passionate relationship with the one man who is supremely off limits, to Sarah Cantin at Atria, in a two book deal, by Jane Dystel at Dystel & Goderich Literary Management.

There it is. All shiny and true. Atria bought Unteachable and my untitled NA romance WIP.

Things I know:

Unteachable will be republished under the Atria imprint in the very near future.
There will be a cover change. GOODBYE, RAINBOWGIRLFACE.
NACR2 should follow later this year.

That’s it. More news to come as soon as I get it!

Major gooey thank-yous to my badass agent Jane Dystel and my insanely cool new editor Sarah Cantin at Atria. Mad love to Aestas, Jenny & Gitte, Natasha, and every awesome romance book blogger who reviewed me. Big ups to the YA book bloggers, too: Emily May, Wendy Darling, Faye, Steph, Dahlia, and too many to list.

Most importantly, thank you to every single one of you who picked up Unteachable, read it, reviewed it, talked about it, and made this happen. Reading a self-pub book is still a dice toss, especially when the cover looks like someone puked up a string of partially-digested Christmas lights. (There’s that “lyrical prose” I’m known for.) You guys took a risk on me, and you made my dream of being traditionally published come true…long after I thought it was a lost cause. In return, I promise to fill pages and pages with the most poetic smut I’m capable of producing.

I love you guys.

And now, back to writing.

All things queer and wonderful.

My insane girlcrush on Ellen Page has reached new heights after watching her achingly sincere coming out speech this Valentine’s Day. Haters and homophobes love to say things like, “What’s the point?” and, “Why does this deserve attention? Straight people don’t come out as straight.”

Well, Jerky McHatesthegays, it’s necessary because awareness and visibility are key to making queerness normal, and accepted. Because “straight” is the assumed norm. Because people who don’t fit neatly into the “straight” category are still denied equal rights and opportunities. Because Russia. Because every inch of this earth isn’t safe yet to be yourself.

I’m not a celebrity (despite what my mom and Dahlia think), and I’m not exactly in the closet (have you seen my debut cover? SO MUCH RAINBOW), but Ellen’s courageous speech inspired me to say something, too. You never know who’s out there, reading, listening, wishing they didn’t feel so alone.

So, I’m queer.

I tell people that I’m bi because it’s a simpler concept to grasp, but I’m waaaaaaaay more on the gay side of bi than the straight. I’m in an awesome long-term relationship with a man I love dearly, and I’ve had relationships with both men and women before this, and I have mad girlcrushes like erry day (ELLEN PAGE YOU ARE SO FUCKING CUTE MARRY ME). But yeah. In my heart of hearts, I know I’m pretty fucking far from straight. And it’s something I struggle with. Ironically, I feel alienated from both worlds: I can’t just say, “Hey everyone, I’m bi!” and feel the loving embrace of the QUILTBAG community and progressive-minded people, because believe it or not, bisexuality is something those folks still struggle with understanding and accepting, too. Ever heard the old saw, “You’re either gay, straight, or lying?” Some say being bi is just a phase (gee, where have I heard THAT before), or that your problems aren’t as serious/legitimate because you don’t identify as 100% gay. And if I’ve been with a man for six years, how dare I claim I’m queer? I’m safely ensconced in my cocoon of hetero privilege, right? Sure. Except for how disingenuous and conflicted I feel inside. Except for how I hate the way it makes people assume things about me. Except for how it’s easier and safer to just not say anything and let them assume. Except for how I feel like a double exile, not fully accepted by either world, stranded out here on my own deserted Queer Island.

(Queer Island is kinda like Monkey Island but with fewer pirates and more sad.)

In high school I was open about it, and I identified as 100% gay. My first high school was big and diverse enough that most people were fairly accepting. It also helped that I was a theater nerd, and half the people in drama club were superfabulously queer, too. But in sophomore year my family moved to a smaller town with a more insular, narrow-minded community, and the kids at that high school were not tolerant. At all. They made fun of how I dressed (“Why do you wear boys’ clothes? Are you a hermaphrodite?”). They started rumors (“She likes you.” “Ew!”). They even played a nasty trick on Valentine’s Day: a jock boy bought me a rose during lunch and had it delivered to me in front of the whole cafeteria, but he signed a girl’s name on the card. And I was still young and dumb enough to actually fall for it. I blushed, and smiled shyly, and looked up…and saw the jocks snickering and saying those words I’d learned to fear.

Dyke. Fag. Lezzie.

That was my new identity. I wasn’t the fiery, smart-mouthed girl who embraced the weirdness of what she was. I was just a disgusting freak. They figured out exactly what I secretly longed for, and made it a weapon. And the whole school knew. It was incredibly isolating. I felt like I was in a bubble, an invisible force field filled with grossness, and no one wanted to get near. The only person I talked to was a nerdy boy in English who thought it was cool that I played video games. He was an outcast, too. Outcasts have a way of staying near each other for herd protection, like the last kids picked in dodgeball. But that one boy didn’t make up for every time I had to walk the halls between classes and hear those words, feel those stares, and know the entire fucking world knew exactly how disgusting and pathetic I was.

At least I had the internet. I had friends online who were going through the same shit. We got each other through those dark years more or less intact. I didn’t have the It Gets Better videos, and I’m not sure those videos are sending the right message, anyway. Does it actually get better? Sort of. The world slowly, slowly changes. It happens over generations. Polls show that support for same-sex marriage and QUILTBAG rights is highest with younger people. There’s an entrenched mindset of hate and intolerance that we can chip away at, but for the most part it’s a matter of cultural shift over time. Like a glacier, massive and slow, but unstoppable.

I think the actual message we should be sending out is you get better. You get older, and tougher, and thicker-skinned. You change faster than the world does. You will adapt, and survive, with all your scars. And I think Ellen is exactly right: it’s the responsibility of people like us, those who’ve survived and achieved their dreams, to stand up and be counted. To put a human face on social issues. To show kids that you can survive. Maybe you’ll be a little fucked up, but your scars will give you character. Your experiences are worth sharing.

So, hi. I’m queer. My teen years sucked. So did my 20s. My 30s are okay so far, now that I’ve stopped giving a fuck about most things, but it’s still kinda shitty having to struggle with this. Sometimes I feel like I’m still in fucking high school, my ears perking every time I hear the word dyke or fag or lesbian, hoping they’re not talking about me. My hackles still go up any time someone comments on my clothes, or hair, or lifestyle. “Why don’t you have kids? Why aren’t you married? Why don’t you ever wear a dress?”

Why the fuck does it matter? Why are you still asking me these questions? Why do you care how I live?

When the hell does high school actually end?

Gaying up New Adult

This stuff has been weighing on me a lot lately, so I decided to confront it in my writing. The novel I’m currently working on grapples with these issues. Sexual identity. Questioning. Experimenting. Dealing with the fallout. Hatred and intolerance. And, you know, some really fucking hot girl-on-girl sex scenes, because dammit, New Adult is way too fucking heteronormative. It’s time to gay it up.

I want to see more queerness in New Adult. I want to see characters who are more like me: those who defy easy classification, who don’t neatly fit into Slot A or B, who eschew the restrictive binary gender roles that we’ve had shoved down our throats since childhood. But almost as importantly, I want these characters and stories to be genuine. Not agenda-driven. Not something that feels like a PSA or an after-school special. Back in HS, the only queer fiction and film I could find was so cheesy and messagey it made me feel even more ridiculous for seeking it out. And when you’re already a freak, and the only art that accepts you for who you are is hokey as fuck, it pretty much affirms your freakishness. Its heart is in the right place, but we can do better. We can tell stories with the nuance and elegance and subtlety that we take for granted in heteronormative storytelling. Preaching and pontificating merely emphasize the otherness of not being straight. The abnormality of it. I want to read stories where queerness is part of a character’s identity in an organic way. Where it feels natural and normal.

Because that’s what it is for us. It’s natural and normal. Full stop.

Unteachable: The Reading: The Results.

YOU KNEW THIS DAY WOULD COME.

So I finally sat down with my fellow menace to sincerity, Dahlia Adler, and listened to all of your entries for the Unteachable Read-Aloud Contest of Ultimate Doom ‘n Stuff, and as Wesley Brown would say…you are all VERY talented.

I’m gonna cut right to the chase and give you our chat transcript as we listened to these. Enjoy. I know we did. And I’m not culling the us-struggling-with-technology bits because they’re funny so deal with it.

Pre-Show Banter


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DAHLIA: Are you there, God? It’s me, Margaret.

LEAH: lololol hi

DAHLIA: I thought you wanted to skype. I got dressed up in my best pajamas.

LEAH: Yeah, this is easier than google+ hangouts or whatever the fuck they were trying to send me to


Dude wat. Are you cray cray

DAHLIA: You’re hilariously bad at technology

LEAH: I am NOT


YOU are bad at technology

DAHLIA: Why am *I* bad at technology?

LEAH: Because you’re a bitch.

DAHLIA: If the cray cray is about the pajamas, I was kidding. If it’s about the skype, you literally said skype.


Takes one to know one


Which is what I would’ve said in 2004


back when I used Facebook chat unironically

LEAH: lul


Okay, let me send you all these files, sec.


You’re gonna need something that can play AMR files cuz one of them is an AMR


videolan.org player works

DAHLIA: If you’re somehow making me download porn I am only a little bit amused

LEAH: Dahlia


I would not even have to trick you into downloading porn, be honest

Entry #1

After some more flailing about (and Dahlia being a horrible person, because she’s good at that), we finally got to Entry #1: Ami!

/misc/ut_reading_contest/ami.m4a


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LEAH: Okay, this is cute.

DAHLIA: Right?

LEAH: OH MY GOD THAT TWANG

DAHLIA: THAT IS WHAT I’M SAYING


I’m sorry but she does “he fucked me slowly” realllly well

LEAH: I like cannot even deal with how good this is

DAHLIA: “Evvvverywhere”

LEAH: “So garlish and young”

DAHLIA: You are so halfway to orgasm right now

LEAH: I just want to hug her


If she wasn’t saying the filthiest shit

DAHLIA: “innnsiiiide ouuut”

LEAH: Like who even wrote this

DAHLIA: hahahaha

LEAH: Some pervert who should be locked up

DAHLIA: SLUTMONGER LEAH RAEDER, LADIES AND GENTLEMEN!

LEAH: hey fuck you


“All. Of him. Inside me.” ooooooooomg

DAHLIA: “You start feeling crazy things when you’re close.”


Orrrr when you’re listening to this

LEAH: “Evvvvvvvvery place” okay she wins


Everyone else go home

DAHLIA: hahahaha


“So. Fucking. Slow.”


I mean, sorry, no one’s beating that.


Beating off to that, maybe.

LEAH: She should have her own erotic chat hotline, she’d be rich

DAHLIA: Ummm, it would just be us calling her every night

LEAH: Pretty much

DAHLIA: But yeah, that’d probably put her kids through college

LEAH: Fulcrums!


*STANDING OVATION*


Gonna be fucking hard to top that.

DAHLIA: I’m sorry, both of your hands are free to clap?


Maybe I’m not doing this right.

LEAH: How are you even typing right now then?


Don’t say with your nose


DON’T

Entry #2

As you can see, my fellow judge is horrible in every way. After pulling herself together, we moved on to Entry #2, Cam!

/misc/ut_reading_contest/cam.mp3


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LEAH: Oh.my.god. Dat accent.

DAHLIA: You are the biggest accent whore in existence

LEAH: ikr


Italian vs. Aussie deathmatch, who will win? I DON’T EVEN KNOW I LOVE THEM BOTH


I love how her H’s are just barely there

DAHLIA: I feel like you have to write a new character for this accent.

LEAH: Italian femme fatale?

DAHLIA: I’d do that


Ummmmm READ that


That is what I meant.

LEAH: She knocks men dead just by speaking


I want her to read everything in my house to me


Like cereal boxes, shampoo, etc.


Because I have no print books anymore

DAHLIA: Oh my God, “cre-a-ture.” That was amazing.

LEAH: I KNOW

DAHLIA: I just want her to say that word to me for an hour

LEAH: hahahaha

DAHLIA: I cannot wait to hear how she says fulcrums.

LEAH: “Ree-DEEK-you-luss”

DAHLIA: “di-a-mond”

LEAH: Italians win at everything ever

DAHLIA: Why do I bother with Americans?


What is even the point of us?

LEAH: We’re just here to make Europeans look better


Okay, that was adorable

DAHLIA: For real. Not exactly Maise-y, but I think you’ve just found a LI for NACR3.

LEAH: Not even the voice *I* read in sounds like the Maise in my head. So I’m not expecting any of these to.

DAHLIA: I feel like Ami’s is the closest voice to what I had in my head.


For no good reason, really, since she should sound Midwestern.

LEAH: Well, Southern IL is kind of a mix between Southern and Midwestern accents


And depending on the person it can be VERY Southern, or not at all

Entry #3

After that charming entry, we moved on to our first male reader, Jason…

/misc/ut_reading_contest/jason.mp3


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LEAH: OH HELLO MR. DEEP VOICE


So the first thing I’m thinking is that this guy should narrate documentaries

DAHLIA: Ummmm…deep voice is working for me, yes.

LEAH: This is so hot

DAHLIA: Aaaaand so is re-hearing this all as m/m.

LEAH: And it’s weird because this is Lindsay’s boyfriend so I shouldn’t say anything lol

DAHLIA: hahaha I was wondering if it was that Jason but I so, so didn’t wanna know

LEAH: If she ever breaks up with him I’m calling dibs


JAY KAY


anyway this is fucking hot

DAHLIA: This is absurdly, absurdly hot

LEAH: WHOA


“*THIS* IS WHERE I WANTED TO BE *FUCKED*”


oh


my


god

DAHLIA: Oh my God YES

LEAH: Jason what are you doing to us

DAHLIA: This is horrible in that all I want is for you to rewrite UT as m/m RTFN

LEAH: This is like a voiceover for a World of Warcraft cinematic but reading erotica


I’m picturing dragons swooping over a charred battlefield and then two random people fucking


okay so that was…


I haven’t smoked in 8 years but I think I need a cigarette

DAHLIA: I’ve never smoked, ever, and I will join you.

LEAH: *fans self*

DAHLIA: I’m back on the American train, but now I do not understand the point or necessity of women.

LEAH: Women are soft and they have boobs


Then there’s Jason


Ohhhhhh, Jason

DAHLIA: Jason and Evan

LEAH: LOL

DAHLIA: I am Team Jevan

LEAH: Jason would totally be the top


Evan would be the bottom

DAHLIA: I don’t know, Jason sounded pretty content to bottom right there


Role reversal!

LEAH: Let’s move on to Jen before I need to change my clothes

Entry #4

It’s sort of unfair to make anyone go next after that, but Jen surprised us with her absolute adorableness.

/misc/ut_reading_contest/jen.mp3


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LEAH: Awwww, she sounds super cute already

DAHLIA: Aw, cute!

LEAH: OMG SHE SOUNDS LIKE ELLEN PAGE A LITTLE

DAHLIA: Oh God, she sounds so young, which is so perfect


hahaha why are you even wearing clothes anymore, just don’t bother, you’re done

LEAH: I love how she said the candles/drug house lines

DAHLIA: Yessss immediately thought “OK, SHE sounds like Maise!”

LEAH: OMG SUCH AN ELLEN PAGE VIBE I CAN’T HANDLE IT

DAHLIA: “Not tonight”

LEAH: Dramatic pause


Nice touch

DAHLIA: She is totally the Maise-i-est


She just sounds so young

LEAH: Like super smart and young and kinda cynical and yet obviously into it

DAHLIA: Also, props for *opting* for the masturbation scene

LEAH: OVARIES OF STEEL ON THIS WOMAN

DAHLIA: Liiiike, I’m kinda wondering if she’s actually doing it?

LEAH: Oh I love the run-on sentence

DAHLIA: It’s like watching Crazy Eyes on OITNB and you’re like “Waaaait, is she ACTUALLY crazy IRL?”

LEAH: LOL


OH SHIT


“THIS MAY-UN IN MAH HAY-UD”

DAHLIA: Ummm I feel filthy

LEAH: lol me too


Are we bad people?


I mean, obviously yes. But for this?

DAHLIA: I think we’re only bad if we actually get off to this, right?

LEAH: Okay I’ll go with that

DAHLIA: I mean, we’re pretty objectively terrible people.

LEAH: I don’t know how anyone stands us

DAHLIA: But they *definitely* signed on for this.

LEAH: They did, the fools

DAHLIA: I’m pretty impressed that we stand each other

LEAH: Throw in enough lesbian subtext and I’ll stand anyone

DAHLIA: Well that’s flattering

Entry #5

So I am also a horrible person, apparently. AND SPEAKING OF HORRIBLE PEOPLE—kidding. Our second male victim, Adam, is up next. Adam also surprised us by doing a creative twist on the reading…

/misc/ut_reading_contest/adam.mp3


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LEAH: Okay so huh


This is Evan’s POV

DAHLIA: Yup

LEAH: “EVANGELINE”


LOLOLOL


ohhhhhhhhhhhh my god


I mean, this kinda works


Even though it isn’t exactly what I had in my mind

DAHLIA: Right?


It’s certainly an interesting approach

LEAH: Oh hey


“I wanted to be in every part of her” yeah that is kinda hot

DAHLIA: Evvvvery part of her


Bonus points for the aggressive “fucked”

LEAH: His voice is so deep it’s like he’s not even a real person

DAHLIA: OK, that “So fucking slow” was…yeah. I’ll take two.

LEAH: It’s interesting how the two guys read this much more aggressively than the girls did

DAHLIA: I love how you can actually hear his enjoyment growing

LEAH: Yeah


He is TOTALLY getting into this


I feel like a voyeur

DAHLIA: But like he wants us to

LEAH: Well, that was different and interesting. Bonus points for being creative!

DAHLIA: Yes! And I’m the last one who’ll ever complain about a more…aggressive read.

LEAH: You know, both Adam and Jason are making me want to write from a guy’s POV someday

DAHLIA: *pre-orders three signed copies inscribed with filthy subtext*

LEAH: lolol


OKAY


It is gonna be hard as fuck to pick one, but I have to go with the one that gave me the most visceral reaction, soooooooooooo

DAHLIA: I for real do not even know anymore

LEAH: I know, I’m like–BUT THEY’RE ALL SO GOOD AND I LOVE THEM


Oh wait we didn’t listen to mine yet


Let’s listen to mine


for the lulz


ready?


RAEdy?


har har


kill me

DAHLIA: hahahahaha you loser ilu

Entry #6

As promised, I did one, too. And it’s bad. (ALSO TOTALLY LIED ABOUT GOING FIRST HAHAHA SUCKERS)

/misc/ut_reading_contest/leah.mp3


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LEAH: OKAY NOW FOR SOME PERSON NAMED “LEAH RAEDER” WHO SOUNDS LIKE A TOTAL TOOL


So obviously we have a 12-year-old here


So this is illegal and wrong


I hate my voice so much


It never sounds the way it does in my head

DAHLIA: Hahaha I love it

LEAH: “OH HAY GUISE I’M A TOTAL LUSH BUT I DIDN’T DRINK TODAY LOLZ ALCOHOLISM IS FUNNAY”

DAHLIA: Spoiler alert: You do not make an ass of yourself

LEAH: Spoiler alert: Dahlia is a bitch

DAHLIA: I want to see the blushing

LEAH: I’m blushing even listening to this jerkwad talking


Just shut up Leah you suck

DAHLIA: I love how you lose it at “hot”


Juuuuust a little

LEAH: I was struggling not to laugh for the rest of this

DAHLIA: I love that “I love that”

LEAH: O I C WUT U DID THAR

DAHLIA: and the laugh, obvi


That you are literally the only one who could not do it without laughing

LEAH: RIGHT?


The author failed her own challenge


ahahaha the length of him


Measuring words are funny

DAHLIA: That “oh my fucking God” is literally my favorite part of anything ever

LEAH: Dude how am I even going to write sex scenes in my second book


I don’t think there’s enough alcohol in the universe

DAHLIA: Umm I think you’ll be just fine. I will happily talk you through it.

LEAH: No that’s okay

DAHLIA: I love “Fuck me, I said again” said as if someone is holding a gun to your head

LEAH: I feel like I talk kinda fast

DAHLIA: A little fast, but I feel like Maise’s brain works kinda fast, so it fits

LEAH: Seriously though, like how am I even going to do the (spoiler) scenes if I can’t even deal with two people going at it

DAHLIA: Umm…two bottles of alcohol simultaneously?

LEAH: It’s so obvious, why didn’t I see it

DAHLIA: I just burst out laughing at that crack-up

LEAH: I was on the verge of a laugh for the whole last minute of this

DAHLIA: “so fucking slow”


yeah

LEAH: FUHLLLLLLCRUMS

DAHLIA: FULCRUMS

LEAH: hahaha

DAHLIA: FULCRUMS 4EVA

LEAH: LEAH RAEDER Y U USE SAT WORDS IN YR PORNO BOOK THEY R 2 BIG


Anyway thank god that’s over

DAHLIA: Oh, yeah, thank god. No way I’m gonna listen to any of those again later and tomorrow and this weekend.

LEAH: Or right now


*clicks Jason’s repeatedly*

DAHLIA: Sorry I couldn’t hear you over all of them.

LEAH: Man, if I was not terrible at music I would so do an autotuned remix of these

DAHLIA: Why is Jason not narrating gay porn as we speak?

LEAH: Why is Jason not narrating our lives?

DAHLIA: Does he narrate Lindsay’s? Because if so then let’s revisit that thing where I am Lindsay.

LEAH: LOL


BTW, Jason gets my vote for winner. I love you all but that man…moved me.

DAHLIA: Aaah I’m so torn between Ami and Jason! Because that southern accent…yeeeeah. That…was…good.

LEAH: I would totally make out with Ami’s entry


All of them, really

DAHLIA: I would probably round 3rd with it.

LEAH: How do you even do that with an audio file?

DAHLIA: How *don’t* you?

LEAH: …

DAHLIA: And that’s why it pays to be good at technology.

LEAH: All right, Adler. Pick one.

DAHLIA: Aah, dammit. I feel like if I’m between the two, and you’re going with Jason, then that makes him the winner, right?


With Ami getting an extremely dishonorable mention.

LEAH: hahaha


That works

DAHLIA: But this was hard!


That’s what she said!

LEAH: ba-dum-tshhhhhh

DAHLIA: Anyway, it’s just great to know that if we ever decide to screw this whole writing thing and open some sort of phone sex emporium, we have an entire talented staff on hand.

LEAH: Wait, you’re right. Why the fuck am I even writing? *gives up and starts a phone sex emporium*

DAHLIA: *calls* *repeatedly*

And the winner is…

You guys were all absurdly good. Seriously. I Jason (#3) eked out ahead. Congratulations, Jason! You will now have an adoring flock of girls (and some boys) eagerly waiting for your next audio masterpiece. Please start doing audiobooks. Like right now. Like mine. Kthx.

Embarrass yourself for the entertainment of others! And maybe a prize.

In a recent interview with the lovely Dahlia Adler, she asked which passage from Unteachable I’d read aloud at a signing. The truth is, I don’t think I could. My blood alcohol level would have to be near-lethal to get me to do it.

But you guys aren’t as repressed as I am, right? Of course not, you filthy monkeys. That’s why you’re going to enter this for-fun (and maybe for-a-prize) competition to read a passage aloud from UT.

Here’s the deal: you can pick any scene from Unteachable, or you can read from the excerpt below. It’s up to you. Try to keep it under 5 minutes. Send me an audio or video file, or link me to where you’ve uploaded it. I will post all of the entries after the deadline and a Special Mystery Judge (read: Dahlia) will help me choose the winner.

Oh yeah, and I’ll be doing a reading too, just for fun. So feel free to send me booze.

DEADLINE: January 1, 2014
REQUIREMENTS: Audio or video of you reading a passage from Unteachable.
PRIZE: TBD, but probably a swanky Amazon gift card.

If you want to remain anonymous, that’s fine. Just make sure I can contact you in some way for the prize.

Here’s the default excerpt from UT (you don’t have to use this one).

Aaaaaaaand…go.

Wrapping up this crazy November, and dishing about my next book.

99c sale is over

First up, the 99c sale on Unteachable is OVER. All retailers except Amazon are back to full price. Amazon changes it when Amazon feels like changing it, so you may have a couple hours left to grab UT at the sale price before it switches back. I won’t be doing another 99c sale for a good long time.

(For future buying decisions: my books will always debut at full price, and will not go on sale until long after release. If you’re worrying about waiting for a random 99c price drop—don’t.)

Goodreads Choice Awards + USA Today Bestseller

Sadly, UT didn’t make it into the final round of the Goodreads Choice Awards for Best Debut Author, but hey—even getting into the semifinals was amazing. As was hitting the USA Today Bestseller List. The love you guys have shown for this unknown indie author is endlessly humbling. Thank you so much for reading, voting, and joining me on this crazy rollercoaster ride.

Next book

I hinted at my next book in this excellent interview about Bad Girls, Slut-Shaming, and Sexual Empowerment in YA + NA (which includes a giveaway for a signed paperback). Now I’m going to do a little more than hint.

My next book (codenamed NACR2—because I’M CREATIVE) is a New Adult contemporary romance/suspense novel. Our main character, Laney, has a secret she’s been keeping from everyone—one that drives her to do things she never thought she’d be capable of. Things like causing pain.

And ending it.

In Laney’s freshman year of college, she meets two people who change her life forever: Armin, a boy who becomes the light in her darkness (not a sexual euphemism, swear)—and Blythe, a girl with her own secrets, who is willing to cross any line for those she loves. The three of them become inseparable…until a crime one of them has committed threatens to tear their trio apart.

I’m doing a few things very differently in this book compared to most New Adult fiction, and I’m a little nervous about how it’ll be received. But I took risks with Unteachable, too, so apparently I’m setting myself up to be That Author. The one who pushes boundaries and makes you uncomfortable. This novel is much darker than UT, but in some ways I think it will, ironically, be less disturbing, because there’s no huge age gap. Will the other elements squick some people out? I can only hope.

If you’re curious, I’ve got a Pinterest inspiration board for this novel that contains some delicious mancandy. And girlcandy, too, if you’re into that.

By the way, for fans of Unteachable: this is not a sequel or spinoff to UT, but you will definitely recognize a certain minor character. ;)

I’m hard at work on this WIP right now, and I’ll share more details with you guys in the near future. As always, thanks for reading.

Bad Girls, Slut-Shaming, and Sexual Empowerment in YA + NA.

Heather at the Flyleaf Review interviewed me on the topics of Bad Girls, Slut-Shaming, and Sexual Empowerment in YA & NA.

This is, IMHO, my best interview so far, and definitely the one I’m most proud of. These topics are important to me as both a writer and a reader who’s sick of seeing the same sexist, stereotypical treatment of sexuality and romance in fiction for young adults.

One of my favorite snippets from the interview:

Heather:

I love that Unteachable looks at the taboo subject of forbidden romance between a teacher and a student in a new way. It’s not a new subject, but I think you made it fresh in that neither Maise or Evan try to justify their affair. … I thought this exploration of the darker side of their relationship was very compelling. What have you found most readers opinions to be on this, positive or negative? Did it surprise you?

Leah:

… Some of the most fascinating reviews I’ve gotten have been 4- or 5-stars that say they loved the book but did NOT love the romance between Maise and Evan. However, it made them think and examine their own values and beliefs, or they empathized and rooted so strongly for Maise that the relationship was almost tangential. That amazes me, because this is obviously a romance–but the fact that so many people are responding positively solely because of the heroine and what *she* goes through and overcomes? Awesome. I am so happy that Maise is the star, not Evan. When readers say, “I fell in love with the heroine, not the hero,” I get this huge grin. Go Maise.

Read the full interview and add your voice to the discussion. There’s also a giveaway attached, and some hints about my next book.

Unteachable is up for Best Debut in the Goodreads Choice Awards.

Holy stuffed ponies, people. My little ol’ romance novel Unteachable is up for the humbling honor of Best Debut in the Goodreads Choice Awards.

And you guys wrote me in to get this book into the Semifinals. You are seriously the best readers ever. Thank you, thank you, thank you.

If you are a person who votes on things, and also a person who enjoyed Unteachable, you may enjoy clicking on things. It’s cool if you don’t vote for UT—there’s a disgusting amount of deserving literature up there.

Best of luck to the other nominees. It is pretty damn surreal to see my book listed beside titans like Gail McHugh.