Stephanie Faris's Blog, page 43

One Hungry Thief

First up--just a reminder that my cover reveal is Monday. If you haven't signed up to participate, the sign-up sheet is at the bottom of this post.

Last week I got a strange call on my phone. I did what I always do when I don’t recognize a number. I Googled it to see who the number belonged to. Doesn't everyone do that?



Anyway, I immediately found that my bank’s fraud department was connected to that number. It’s a number that calls to warn you that your card has been compromised. 





I logged into my account and, sure enough, there were eight $500 charges all in a row. But here’s the funny part… Every single charge was connected to a fast food restaurant. 



Each one was charged twice. 

So what’s up with that? How did someone run a fake card through multiple fast food restaurants twice, with each amount totaling $500? I don’t get it! Was it some sort of electronic transaction that those restaurants aren’t even aware happened? 

Or are we dealing with someone who bought a LOT of Big Macs? Wait a minute...

I think I know the culprit!



It's the last day to sign up for my Piper Morgan cover reveal, which starts Monday. If you want to join in, sign up below!

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Cover Reveal: Our Little Secret by Ashelyn Drake

It's time to introduce you to a great new book from Ashelyn Drake, an adorable writer whose face probably looks familiar:


If you're a regular around here, you know her as Kelly Hashway! Kelly's a friend of mine and I'm so excited to be part of her cover reveal. Check out this amazing new cover. I can't wait to read it!


Below is the blurb. Scroll down for links to all of Ashelyn's links. Oh...and don't forget to add it on Goodreads!

Blurb:

Becca Daniels needs to get a passing grade in Trig. Becca Daniels wants to spend more time with her best friend Tori’s twin brother Toby. What she has is a brain that refuses to understand math and a best friend with a strict “No dating the brother” rule.

When her grade hits rock bottom, Becca has no choice but to get a tutor. Lucky for her, Toby is a math genius and more than willing to help her out. Turns out Becca isn’t the only one who hates Tori’s dating rule.


What starts out as an innocent tutoring session quickly evolves into late night texts and hidden kisses. But the closer Becca gets to Toby, the greater the risk that she’ll lose her best friend. When their secret relationship threatens to destroy more than just her friendship with Tori, Becca will have to figure out how much she’s willing to risk to keep the guy of her dreams.

Contact info:

Website | Blog | Facebook | Twitter | Instagram | Google | Pinterest | Amazon Author Page | Author Goodreads | Book Goodreads | YouTube

Have you signed up for my Piper Morgan cover reveal yet? If not, sign up below!


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IWSG: Stay in Your Lane and Keep Driving

It's the first Wednesday of the month, which means hundreds of us will be posting about our insecurities. But first, have you signed up for my Piper Morgan cover reveal? If not, click here to sign up. I've also included the form at the bottom of this post.

Now...here's my IWSG post!



As human beings, it's only natural we'll compare ourselves to others. We notice who is driving a nicer car...



Living in a bigger house...



And wearing nicer clothes.



In writing, we can sometimes feel desperate to compare ourselves to others. We need a benchmark for what we're doing--something that will let us know we're on the right track.



Unfortunately, when we compare ourselves to others, we do ourselves a huge disservice. As I've said before, one of the biggest problems, especially in the social media age, is this:



Someone recently said she lives by this motto: "Stay in your lane and keep driving." It's a reminder to stop looking at everyone else and merely focus on what you're doing. In other words...



That's easier said than done, especially once you're published. You constantly watch what other writers are doing. Are they doing 1,000 booksignings the first week their book is out? Is Twitter lighting up with news of their new release? If so, what does that say about your own efforts?



While it's important to note what other people are doing, the only real reason for it is to notice things we can add to what we're already doing. It isn't to feel bad about ourselves. When comparisons start dragging us down, it's time to take a step back and realize this:



Do you ever get dragged down by comparing yourself to others?

Have you signed up for my Piper Morgan cover reveal yet? If not, sign up below!
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Introducing Traveler by Meradeth Houston

It's time to introduce you to another exciting offering from this beautiful blogger:


Today, Meradeth is hosting an Internet-wide launch of her newest book, Travelers. Here's the beautiful cover:


Blurb:
Sienna Crenshaw knows the rules: 1) no time traveling beyond your natural lifetime, 2) no screwing with death, and 3) no changing the past. Ever. Sienna doesn’t love being stuck in the present, but she’s not the type to break the rules. That is, she wasn’t the type until her best friend broke every one of those rules to keep Henry, her twin brother and Sienna’s ex-boyfriend, alive. 

Suddenly, Sienna is caught in an unfamiliar reality. The upside? Henry is still alive. The downside? Sienna’s old life, including the people in it, has been erased. Now, Sienna and Henry must untangle the giant knot in time, or her parents and all the rest of the Travelers, will be lost forever. One problem: the only way to be successful is for Henry to die.

Bio:
I’ve never been a big fan of talking about myself, but if you really want to know, here are some random tidbits about me:


I'm a California girl. This generally means I talk too fast and use "like" a lot. Since I now live in Montana, sometimes this is a problem.I have my doctorate in molecular anthropology. Translation: I sequence dead people's DNA and spend a whole lot of time in a lab, which I love.I've been writing since I was 11 years old. It's my hobby, my passion, and I'm so happy to get to share my work!My other passion is teaching. There's nothing more fun than getting a classroom of college kids fired up about anthropology! This is probably a good thing, since my day job requires me to teach at the local university.If I could have a super-power, it would totally be flying. Which is a little strange, because I'm terrified of heights.
Contact info:

Website | Facebook | Twitter | Instagram | Tumblr | Amazon | Goodreads | Blog

Have you signed up for my Piper Morgan cover reveal yet? If not, sign up below!

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I Have a Cover!!!

I thought I'd fallen in love when I saw my first cover...



Then my second cover came, and it became my favorite cover ever!



Now I have my third book cover, which is the first book in my Piper Morgan chapter book series. I swear it is the most adorable thing I've ever seen! I'm going to be sharing it with the world one week from today.

Next week I'm doing a super-exciting cover reveal across the blogosphere, as well as on social media. Would you like to participate? Drop your name below and I'll send you the information you need. Whether you'd like to interview me, host me as a guest on your blog, or just post a blurb, it's up to you! So excited to share Piper Morgan with all of my blogging friends. :-)


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Best Books of July

It's the last Friday of the month, which means it's time to share all of the great books I read this month.



I spent the first week of July on vacation. Maybe that means reading time for most of you, but my vacations seem to always be too busy for reading!

Still, after life got back to normal, I had a very busy month. I got to support two of my fellow Aladdin M!x authors...the first is Rachele Alpine, an extraordinarily talented writer who has both the same editor and agent as I do. Her book, Operation Pucker Up, is just as awesome as its name and cover.



First off, I have to say that I was a total drama geek in high school. This book took me back to those days. Even though I never played a main character, I spent many hours at play practice. Rachele has done a great job of capturing that environment. But mostly she manages to perfectly convey the pressure that comes from that first kiss. In this case, the main character knows her first kiss is coming since she's playing Snow White in the middle school production. But she doesn't want her first kiss to be in front of an audience. Her friends came up with the perfect idea: get Grace her first kiss before opening night. This book is so much fun, but it also has a great message about peer pressure and parental issues.

The second book is the young adult debut for fellow Aladdin M!x author Jen Malone. Map to the Stars is part of HarperCollins' Epic Reads Impulse line.



I rarely get to read a good romance these days. Although Map to the Stars is in the young adult romance genre, it reminded me what I miss so much about reading romance. Jen has a knack for capturing young voices, but she also has a true talent for creating the kind of sexual tension that makes you keep reading. On top of that, she's brought her own experience in the entertainment industry to the book, giving us a behind-the-scenes look at how things work. Buy this book! You won't be able to put it down, I promise.

I've been meaning to read the next book for a while. I first spotted The 13th Sign on the table at our local SCBWI conference and loved the look. I think it has a Mary Engelbreit look to it...and I love Mary Engelbreit! After listening to Kristin Tubb describe her book at a group booksigning a couple of months ago, I knew I had to read it. This is the beautiful cover:



I don't know anything about the signs of the zodiac, so this book was a much-needed lesson into how all of that works. The story revolves around a young girl named Jalen, who discovers a 13th sign of the zodiac. When she unwittingly frees the 13th sign, she changes the personality of everyone on Earth. She must then go on a quest to restore order. If you love action/adventure, this is the book for you! Plus you'll learn more than you ever thought you could about the signs of the zodiac. I loved this book so much, I read it in just a couple of days.

Next up is T.B. Markinson's The Miracle Girl, which has this mesmerizing cover. After helping T.B. with her book launch earlier this month, I had to read this book for myself. After all, who can resist this cover?



The characters make this book, especially the main character, JJ. T.B. has created a strong, yet flawed character who has successfully battled many demons in her past. The author pulls no punches in making JJ real, showing us a character who has battled substance abuse while also pining for the lost love of her life, Claire. Add in business-related drama at a local newspaper, and you have a read you won't be able to put down!

So now it's your turn. What great books did you read in July?

Finding Time to Read

At the end of each month, I post about all the great books I read that month. Often in the comments I see some variation of this statement:

"How do you find time to read so many books?"

The truth is, those of us who are writers know it's important to read. In fact, many successful authors say it's a must.


I think the problem with reading is priorities. Most of us have work obligations and household chores. On top of that, we spend time with our families and try to get eight hours or so of sleep each night.



Setting aside time to read each day seems impossible. If we did sit in a corner and open a book (or a Kindle), we'd feel guilty about all the other things we were neglecting. Never mind that we're feeding our minds so that we can become better writers.



When I was working full-time and building my freelance writing business on the side, I had zero minutes each day to do anything but write. But I knew I had to squeeze reading in somehow. I looked at my day and saw some wasted time. Most of it was the time I spent commuting to work--about 30 minutes each way. But how do you read and drive?



So I started renting audiobooks from the library. But getting them to my iPhone was a pain in the you-know-what. (Still is.) So then I found Audible. One book a month for a monthly fee. I'd listen to books on the way to work and on the way back each day. I found it could turn a very stressful drive into this:



Audiobooks are still great for driving, but I also find they help pass the time while you're doing undesirable tasks like folding laundry and loading the dishwasher.



Unfortunately, most of the books I want to read aren't available on audio, which means I have to squeeze in time for old-fashioned reading. I get that reading in while in the treadmill. Unfortunately, reading books on the treadmill can be tricky. It can be difficult to see the print from such a distance...but keeping it open is also a challenge.



I've found Kindles come in handy for that. You can turn the page with just a tap on the screen. Plus you can make the print as large as you need to in order to see it.


Bedtime is also a favorite time to read. It puts many people to sleep. If you're going to read this way, though, you probably should stick with paper-based books, since staring at a lit screen can keep you up at night. You also should probably stay away from scary books.



When do you read?

My Eyeglasses Adventure

When I was 15, I was told I had bad vision. That was when these suckers entered my life:



I loved that I could change my eye color. I tried blue eyes, green eyes, and even blue-green eyes. None of it showed up on my eyeballs.



I finally settled on brown. Brown made my eyes pop. That was my eye color for more than 15 years. Then things started to change. 



I started to notice I couldn't see my computer screen up close. I went to my eye doctor and she prescribed Toric (hard) contact lenses. They were great...except I couldn't get them off my eyeball at the end of the day.



So...the doctor explained to me that eyeglasses were the only option. No, it's not a bifocal thing. It's a "you're getting older and your eyeball muscles are getting weaker and can't overcompensate for contact lenses' inadequacies" thing. That's what I understood of it, anyway...but it all means it's time for these:



I admired the ultra-glamorous glasses worn by Penelope Garcia on Criminal Minds.





But those are Lafonts. As in Lafont Paris. Lafonts are in the $500 range for the frames alone. You can't exactly have a pair of glasses for every outfit like Penelope Garcia if you're stuck with only one pair of glasses for the next two years.



I was admiring my dental hygenist's blingy glasses when she clued me in on buying glasses online. Glasses for $6.95 including prescription. Of course, I'm half-blind so my prescription requires $20 more so I don't have thick lenses. Still--I ended up buying three pairs of glasses for just over $100. Two pairs were $36 each (shipping and all) and one pair was $45 or so because they were sunglasses. The tint costs more. Here's what I have so far:



But I have a feeling I'll be back for some more ultra-glam soon!

I still wear contacts for date nights and such. I just have to squint to see the menu.



Do you wear glasses? Contacts?

Cover Reveal: Hot Pink in the City by Medeia Sharif

It's time to introduce yet another beautiful cover from this prolific novelist:


Medeia Sharif's latest release, due out August 19, is Hot Pink in the City. Be sure you read all about the book after you take in the beautiful cover for it. Here it is!


Blurb:
Asma Bashir wants two things: a summer fling and her favorite
'80s songs. During a trip to New York City to stay with relatives, she messes
up in her pursuit of both. She loses track of the hunk she met on her airplane
ride, and she does the most terrible thing she could possibly do to her strict
uncle…ruin his most prized possession, a rare cassette tape. A wild goose chase
around Manhattan and Brooklyn to find a replacement tape yields many
adventures—blackmail, theft, a chance to be a TV star, and so much more. Amid
all this turmoil, Asma just might be able to find her crush in the busiest,
most exciting city in the world.

Bio:
I was born in New York City and I presently call Miami my home. I received my master’s degree in psychology from Florida Atlantic University. After becoming a voracious reader in high school and a relentless writer dabbling in many genres in college, I found my niche writing for young people. Today I'm a MG and YA writer published through various presses. In addition to being a writer, I'm a public school teacher. My memberships include Mensa, ALAN, and SCBWI.




Contact info:
Blog | Twitter | Goodreads | Instagram | Amazon

Writing a Book Is Easy...Like Writing a Long Email

Real Housewives can do it all. They can sing...




They can dance burlesque...



And, as we've already established, they can write books.



Lots...



...and lots...



and lots of books.



Professional writers are fine with that. We know that the big publishers realize the built-in audience for this sort of thing and all these books are pretty much ghostwritten anyway. Does anyone really think this woman could write a coherent paragraph?



The problem comes when a real writer joins the cast. Carole Radziwill is a former ABC News correspondent and Glamour magazine columnist who sold her first novel to Holt Publishing in a six-figure deal in 2014.



Carole is also on Real Housewives of New York alongside the woman who wrote this book:




Carole, like many writers who have worked for decades at our craft, was feeling a little frustrated listening to her friend brag about her book deal. She asked if Aviva had a ghostwriter. Turns out, she had multiple ghostwriters. But at first she denied it, saying writing a book was really easy, like "writing a long email."



What ensued was a multi-episode battle titled "bookgate" where the non-writer said the writer had a ghostwriter, too, and the writer said the non-writer doesn't know the difference between an editor and a ghostwriter. Apparently because "it takes a village" to write a book, the non-writer's argument was that anyone who says she wrote a book alone is lying.



Okay...so at this point I'm going to amend my earlier statement that published authors aren't bothered by reality stars getting book deals. As Carole Radziwell put it, Aviva Drescher's comments about writing being "easy" completely disrespect the years of hard work it takes to become a successful writer. Ghostwritten or not, the cold, hard truth is that Aviva Drescher would never have gotten a book published if not for being on a reality TV show. Carole Radziwell, on the other hand, would have likely had a book published eventually because of her talent. 



Sure, she has led an interesting life--once married to a Kennedy, best friends with Carolyn Bessette-Kennedy, etc. She was actually the one who reported John F. Kennedy, Jr.'s plane missing to the Coast Guard that morning.



But she's also a writer. When you're a writer, it's not what you do...it's who you are. Anyone who is an artist understands that. Unfortunately, reality TV stars are rarely true artists. If they were, they'd be creating art rather than trying to get attention for looking pretty.



It's understood that celebrities will sell books. They may be actors, singers, dancers, or reality show stars...but they aren't writers. When they compare themselves to someone who has put years of hard work into a field, then it's a problem. That's when we'll make an issue of the fact that they only got a book deal because they allow cameras to follow them around 24 hours a day while they create pretend drama.