Molli Moran's Blog, page 14

AS YOU TURN AWAY Two Month Giveaway!

 

Somehow, impossibly somehow, my debut book, AS YOU TURN AWAY has been in e-book stores (and available in print) for two months. WHAT. Where did the time go? Just yesterday I was sweating bullets and trying to work up the nerve to hit “Publish.”  It’s been a wild ride. Some days it doesn’t even feel real that I’m a published author, or that people have said things like “this book read like art to me in a way,” and “it’s a great read…a wonderful story,” and “this book gives hope for the New Adult genre.” (!!) Are they really talking about MY book? I guess they are. *falls over and has to be revived*

Suffice to say, I’ve gotten some amazing feedback. My street team has been SO supportive, and so have readers, and various friends and family members. Y’all have ALL helped me make my dream come true.

At this point, I wanted to do something special. So I thought… giveaway time! This is my way of saying a BIG “thank you” to everyone who has bought or read AYTA, or even expressed interest. Y’all are AWESOME. There are loads of ways to enter the giveaway, and most of them would only take a few minutes — AND would mean spreading the word about my book.

There are only a few rules, and they’re about the “write review” options.

I want your review to be HONEST. If you loved AYTA? Say so. If you had some issues with it? Say so. If you liked it but didn’t love it? Say so! (If you hated it, say that too, but I hope you didn’t!)
There is NO length requirement. Even a few sentences would be GREAT. I’d love to see more reviews at Amazon and/or B&N, hence those options.
Please don’t write a review unless you’ve: a) read the entire book, or b) read the sample provided at retailers, or c) are writing a review about why you want to read AYTA.

That’s it! GO GO GO! Enter to win a gift card as my “thank you” to YOU, my readers!

 

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Why I Write Healthy Relationships

 

I’ve had an idea for a very specific type of book in my head for some time; it’s an expansion on an idea I never got to fully explore with my writing partner from a few years ago. I spoke with her recently and she’s fully supportive of me dusting off those characters, which I’m looking forward to doing. But doing so involves writing an unhealthy relationship, which is something I’m staunchly against. It will BECOME healthy, but this book (we’ll call it Ghosts in Love) turns tropes inside out — the original plot made me question who the hero and villains really were, and when love crossed the line from healthy to unhealthy.

The truth is, there’s a very real reason why I write HEALTHY romances, but as a writer, I believe in pushing the limits, and I trust that I can do this. But I wanted to expand on why I choose to write healthy relationships, be it a friendship or a romantic relationship.

I’ve had a few chances at love, (not to be confused with dating/crushes/lust, because all those are awesome, and different from love) and to say I have no regrets would be a lie. And friends, I’m nothing if not honest. Once, I was too afraid to make the most of the chance. Once was terrible timing, so I can’t say if the person was right or wrong. (Now? I’m in a healthy, amazing relationship that my girlfriend and I work on, communicate, and build on all the time. And I’m so happy.)

But once, I was in a huge relationship that I thought was my be-all/end-all. I was very young and very scared and very determined that this would last, despite what everyone said. Despite what the world said — despite what friends thought — I was going to stick it out. Change us. Change myself. Change HIM.

Have you ever been alone with someone you love, and felt alone? Have you ever bottled words up so tight that the mere thought of speaking them makes you tremble? Have you felt the hands on your personal doomsday clock ticking toward total destruction — known it was coming, but been unable to acknowledge it until the end? Have you ever been so afraid to speak aloud what’s happening, because you’re terrified that if you let this chance slip away, there won’t be another one?

If I could, I would tell my younger self: breathe. Let go. Don’t wait until that awful autumn day when you both have to say “here is the end.” Go before then. Go when you realize you’re both trying to shape the other into something neither of you are. Go when you realize neither of you are able to bend with the wind, because you’re both breaking. I look back now, and all that pain, all those lonely nights during and after, all those sad songs on repeat… Yes, it was terrible. But it was WORTH IT. 

If I could, I would tell anyone who is in an unhealthy relationship: let go. Yes, it’s scary. Yes, you’ll cry. But you’ll also take a deep breath and let it all go. You’ll grow stronger, and you’ll be BETTER. Because somewhere is that person who needs you to be the BEST version of yourself you can be. I met my person six years ago, and we became best friends first. We inspired each other to be better: as friends, and as individuals, so that by the time things changed between us, we were READY.

I couldn’t have gotten to where I am today if I’d stayed. If I’d changed. I wouldn’t have been happy. I would have continued to feel trapped, like a flower trying to grow through concrete. I had to step out of that space, and be alone. I had to learn who I was and become OKAY with that. I had to realize that for a time I wasn’t okay — and that that WAS OKAY. I had to make mistakes, and take risks. I had to take charge of my life, I had to lose friends, make new friends, flirt, dance, have crushes, and say goodbye to some things and some people I couldn’t hold onto. I had to keep changing and growing to become the BEST I could be.

And if there’s anything of me at all in my characters, it’s that. Whether I’m writing YA, NA, or adult, I will ALWAYS write characters who fall down and get back up to try again. Characters who make mistakes, and who realize when they are in unhealthy relationships. Characters who don’t fall into the trap of thinking they can’t leave because this is their only chance. Characters who have enough faith in themselves to realize there is something — and someone — better.

Characters who chase after their happy ending — but the RIGHT happy ending. 

AS YOU TURN AWAY — one example of such a healthy relationship — is available now!

I Don’t Wanna Miss Another Perfect Moment (Aka The Whimsical Life #2)

 

Originally The Whimsical Life was supposed to be a part of my monthly wrap-ups, but as some of y’all may have noticed, I’m…not great at doing monthly wrap-ups. Here lately I haven’t been posting regularly but now that I’m back from vacation and settling into being at work and being in a routine (how I’d love to be a beach bum!) I wanted to do a quick personal update before diving into some reviews and discussions next week.

The One Where I Went to California!

As some of you may remember, I went in July of 2013 to meet my girlfriend for the first time. That was a wonderful, amazing trip, and neither of us could wait to spend time with the other again. We’d planned for a December trip, but life got in the way. This time though, we were both determined that NOTHING would stop us. So tickets were booked, and after a sleepless night of running around packing at the last minute, I went!

Guys, there is nothing like being with my love. Can I just say how happy she makes me? I’ve been in love before, but this is so different. Healthy. We’re serious and silly and ridiculous. We make each other laugh SO often. Being with her feels RIGHT, whether we’re grocery shopping, watching a movie, or having dinner with friends.

Right from the moment I saw her waiting for me at the airport, I felt like I’d come home. Being in California is AWESOME. The weather is great, the people are super nice, and they don’t even make fun of my accent! We have a plan that includes me moving there in the next year or year and a half, because there are more opportunities for me there. And there’s LOVE, which is everything.

We went: to dinner with her mom and step-dad, and on a day trip to Monterey (a coastal town.) We’d been there once together before, but it was so fun going back, because we went with a good friend of Kay’s, and her friend’s boyfriend. We strolled on the wharf, went to the beach, and back to the aquarium. It was such a lovely day filled with laughter. And clam chowder!

I already miss Kay, and can’t wait to go back. On the plane home, I felt sure I was going the wrong way, because being with KAY feels like being home. So I’m really, really excited for my and OUR future. She’s coming here to Tennessee for a visit this summer or early fall, and we are going to have so many adventures (including a trip to the big zoo in Nashville, holllllla!)

JELLIES!

 

So that’s a quick recap. Other than my trip, I’ve mostly been working. I’ve read a few books, and I’ll be back soon with a few reviews. I’ll try to do The Whimsical Life more often with the format I used last time (because I liked that,) but mostly I wanted to say HI, I’m still alive. Love y’all!

 

What was YOUR last big trip? Where did you go? Where do you WANT to go?

 

 

Cover Reveal + Excerpt: Make It Count by Megan Erickson

 

Loves, I am SO super excited to be participating in the reveal for the cover for MAKE IT COUNT, coming in June from William Morrow! Megan is awesome, and so much fun to chat with on Twitter. I just KNOW her debut is going to be AH-MAY-ZING! I’m so excited for it, and to show y’all the lovely cover. (Plus? There’s a short excerpt that left me wanting MORE.)

But you’re not here to listen to me go on and on. You want the pretty cover, right?

Scroll!

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Kat Caruso wishes her brain had a return policy, or at least a complaint hot-line. The defective organ is constantly distracted, terrible at statistics, and absolutely flooded with inappropriate thoughts about her boyfriend’s gorgeous best friend, Alec…who just so happens to be her brand new math tutor. Who knew nerd was so hot?

Kat usually goes through tutors like she does boyfriends—both always seem to bail when they realize how hopeless she is. It’s safer for her heart to keep everyone at arm’s reach. But Alec is always stepping just a little too close.

Alec Stone should not be fantasizing about Kat. She’s adorable, unbelievably witty, and completely off limits. He’d never stab his best friend in the back…

But when secrets are revealed, the lines of loyalty are blurred. To make it count, Alec must learn messy human emotions can’t be solved like a trigonometry function. And Kat has to trust Alec may be the first guy to want her for who she is, and not in spite of it.

Doesn’t MAKE IT COUNT sound GREAT? You MUST add it to YOUR TBR!

But wait, there’s a snarky, fun excerpt! Check it out!

Kat gathered her books and stuffed them into her plaid Burberry messenger bag, then headed toward the front doors, smoothie from the library snack shop in hand. Head bent, fiddling with the clasp of her bag, she stumbled into a wall of human on the pavement outside.

“Oh, I’m sorry—” Her voice dropped out when she realized the solid flesh belonged to Alec, Max’s best friend.

She’d only met him once or twice before he’d moved in with Max this semester and every time, he cocked his eyebrow with a half frown like he knew something she didn’t. Which he actually did, since he had brainy superpowers. Smarter than a speeding Einstein. Able to leap over C-minus students like her in a single bound.

She didn’t trust people that smart. And she didn’t trust a guy who didn’t ogle her ass or leer at her boobs like every other member of the straight male species on the planet.

Right now, that raised-eyebrow frown pinned her where she stood. His pale green eyes behind thick black frames roamed over her shoulder to the library and then back to her. With his pin-stripe button-down, dark jeans with Converse shoes and hair styled in a short, messy pompadour, he looked like a nerdy Elvis.

His frown morphed into a smile when he spotted the smoothie in her hand, and she definitely didn’t notice his full lips. “You know, you don’t have to venture into the forbidden zone just to get a smoothie.”

Oooh. The jerk. She glanced around surreptitiously, then leaned in and spoke in a low voice. “Just play it cool. Don’t let it slip someone like me snuck in the library.” She gripped his forearm and whispered. “Password today is rosebud.”

His face blanked and he looked at her like he’d never seen her before. Kat debated whether or not that was an improvement over his other look.

But then those intelligent eyes narrowed and a smirk curled his lips. “I know. We nerds get an e-mail every morning.”

See? He always needed the last word. She propped a hand on her hip and leaned in. “Well, sounds like you have a mole. Might want to look into that.”

He opened his mouth but she cut him off. “Just looking out for you guys. Anyway, see ya around!”

Before he could shoot back a snarky comeback, Kat skirted around him and bounded down the stairs. She chalked that up as Kat 1, Alec 0.

 

Want more? 

Follow Megan on Twitter
Visit her author website
Like her Facebook page

Link Salad (Including How to Get a Signed AS YOU TURN AWAY!)

 

I won’t do these types of posts often, but it just so happens there are several things I want to link to, and I’ve got a few minutes to spare! AS YOU TURN AWAY is officially out in the world now and that’s been amazing and scary, and just generally surreal.  I’ve had a great deal of support and excitement for my book so far; reviews are starting to appear here and there, and it’s all been so fantastic.

So, on to the links!

First and most exciting, AS YOU TURN AWAY is live at Amazon (both as a paperback AND in the Kindle store!) and Barnes & Noble!
Secondly, I’m hosting a huge release day giveaway that for some reason is low on entries (I’m giving away THREE gift cards, a handmade bookmark, a paperback of my book, AND an e-book copy.)
Thirdly, Marie is also giving away an e-book copy of AS YOU TURN AWAY!
Aaaaaand Angie (who is awesome) is giving away a paperback copy + swag — all you have to do is RT her tweet. So go do that!
I did an author interview with Suz and talked a bit about AS YOU TURN AWAY!
And if you would like a signed, personalized copy of AS YOU TURN AWAY, I have information for you! Just go here and complete a few easy steps. You can pay with a card OR PayPal, and this way you’ll have a one of a kind copy of Quinn and Jonah’s story.

If you’ve been wanting to read AS YOU TURN AWAY, all of these giveaways are a GREAT chance to throw your hat in the ring and see what happens. Plus my swag? Is gorgeous. So think about it!

I’ll have lots more fun things soon, including a behind-the-scenes look at how my cover was made, and news on the second book in the Walker Boys series. For now, if you’ve read AS YOU TURN AWAY, let’s chat! 

AS YOU TURN AWAY Release Day and Giveaway!

AS YOU TURN AWAY IS HERE!

 

In some way or another, I’ve been working toward this day since I was a teenager. From writing short stories, to writing with friends, to establishing a formal writing group, and finally, to branching out on my own in 2012 — I was always working toward this goal. This day. My debut New Adult Romance is out in the world, and I couldn’t be happier. I’m so excited for everyone to meet Jonah Walker and Quinn Reynolds. I’m excited to see what y’all think, and it’s my fervent hope that AS YOU TURN AWAY makes readers smile, laugh, tear up, and generally leaves them happier at the end.

AS YOU TURN AWAY explores themes of family, friendship, forgiveness, and more. There’s swoonage, kisses, laughter, and heart. And I can’t wait for y’all to read it for yourself and find out!

To celebrate the release of AS YOU TURN AWAY, I have what I think is a pretty nifty giveaway for you guys today. I’ll give you all the details in a sec, but first I wanted to remind everyone: I’m having Twitter chat tonight from 8pm-9pm CST at #SouthernSwoons. It’s a little Twitter party to celebrate my debut book and YOU’RE invited. Why should you come? Well we’ll be discussing AYTA and I’ll probably throw out a few teasers. There will be giveaways (like swag packs and a gift card) that are in addition to the giveaway here. And basically I’d love to get a bunch of people together to discuss AYTA, New Adult in general, our favorite books, celeb crushes, etc. I MAY even tell y’all a bit about my upcoming projects.

So that’s TONIGHT. Twitter. 8pm CST. #SouthernSwoons.
Giveaway Details!

There are THREE different prize packs for this giveaway. They are:

Bundle #1: One paperback copy (signed and personalized if you wish!) of AS YOU TURN AWAY and one $10 gift card to Amazon OR B&N.
Bundle #2: One e-book copy (for Nook, Kindle, etc) of AS YOU TURN AWAY and one $10 gift card to Amazon OR B&N.
Bundle #3: One handmade AS YOU TURN AWAY-inspired bookmark (made by Suz) and one $10 gift card to Amazon OR B&N.

Would y’all like to see what you’ll be entering to win? Okay!

Two hearts, one life-changing summer, and a long-awaited second chance…

When Quinnlan Reynolds left home at 18, she escaped her small, Georgia town and her suffocating upbringing. She started a new life as a ballerina, and tasted freedom for the first time. But four years later, her first visit home turns tragic. Reeling, Quinn tries to piece her life back together again. But doing so is easier said than done when sexy Jonah Walker saunters back into her life.

Quinn shattered Jonah’s heart once, so getting involved with her isn’t something he’s sure he’s ready to do again. He became someone he didn’t recognize when he left home. He’s spent the last years burying his pain by keeping everyone in his life at arm’s length. Now he needs to get to know his family again, and finally become who he wants to be.

But neither Quinn or Jonah can stay away from each other, especially when old feelings resurface. Something is pulling them back together, and they can’t deny their chemistry for long. One Georgia summer could change both their lives forever, if they can work through their past to have a future together.

Purchase: *Amazon | Barnes & Noble | Kobo

*Amazon is dragging their feet — I’ll update the Kindle buy link as SOON as I have it!

So many people have made this day possible that if I tried to thank everyone, they’d be turning on that annoying “get off the stage NOW” music. So a quick thank you to my family, my friends, and my amazing girlfriend. A special thank you to Marie, Becca, Jennifer, Angie, Jessica, and Suz for being such an integral part. Now! Go and enter the giveaway!

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Finally, if you’d like to help support my books by joining my Street Team, I’d love you forever! We’re so not formal, and I think we’ll have fun!

AS YOU TURN AWAY

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Why I Write New Adult

 

If you look around the blogging communities – from author to blogger – you’ll find a wide range of opinions on New Adult as a category. Some are very excited about it, and some aren’t. Some view New Adult as a wonderful addition to existing categories, and as a bridge from Young Adult to Adult, while others thing it’s not necessary. Some consider New Adult nothing more than “sexier YA” or “erotica YA,” and so forth. Not me.

To me, New Adult is all about that time in your life when you’re straddling two worlds: the teenage world, and the adult world. The way you see the world is changing. The way you see YOURSELF is changing. Your safety net is thinner than it was when you were a teenager, and there are so many choices to make. Chances to take.

Can these choices and opportunities involve sex and romance? Yes. Does there have to be both? No. New Adult is about so much more than sex to me. It’s about finding out who you are, what you want to do with your life, and sometimes, who you want to spend that life with.

When I started AS YOU TURN AWAY, I considered the story from several angles. I wondered if Jonah and Quinn could be 17 or 18, and I could consider it upper YA. Then I pondered writing AYTA in more of an adult age range, but that felt off. Finally I realized they were both 22, and I realized I was writing a New Adult story. I wanted AS YOU TURN AWAY to be about several things. I want the same for all my New Adult books.

I wanted to write a story about two characters at very different points in their lives, who came back together over one summer.

I wanted to write a story about forgiveness.

I wanted to write a story about two people who weren’t okay, and I wanted my readers to know that is OKAY. I wanted to write about two people who were healing, but not depending ON each other to heal themselves.

I wanted to write a story about simple, good things: Sunday dinners with your family, how the crack of a baseball bat sounds when you just KNOW it’s a home run, playing with the little cousins or nieces/nephews in your family, spending time with your siblings, a second first kiss, holding hands with someone you love, driving down a country road with the windows down and the wind in your hair.

I wanted to write a story about two people who know the future is hurtling toward them, and who DON’T have it all together, and who, with help, start figuring out where they’re headed.

I wanted to write a story about learning to love yourself before you try to love someone romantically.

I wanted to write a story about coming home, about friendship, and about letting go of the past.

I wanted to write a story about how family isn’t always kin by blood.

I hope you will see at least some of these things in AS YOU TURN AWAY!

Things I Learned While Writing AS YOU TURN AWAY

 

I did something incredible last week. I finished AS YOU TURN AWAY. For the last time, I went through and tweaked and polished sentences, fixed wording, changed scenes, and ramped up character development. I altered plot twists that needed a bit of fixing, and went through each beta reader document. I spent hours on a final spell/grammar check and laughed at some of Word’s funniest suggestions. And then when I’d changed the last thing, I saved and closed my document and breathed a sigh. Of relief, of terror, and of gratitude.

AS YOU TURN AWAY is done, and I don’t know how to feel about that. I don’t think I’ll ever know how to feel about that.

I woke the next day and it was sort of weird and awesome knowing I didn’t HAVE to work on a novel before work. I could read. I could do the dishes glaring at me from the sink. I could piddle around online or go play with my dogs or my kitties.

But I couldn’t write for Jonah or Quinn.

It’s a weird mix of emotions. AS YOU TURN AWAY has been part of my life for some time now, from the earliest idea in December 2012 to writing the first two (really bad) chapters in January 2013, to doubting if I could do this thing. AS YOU TURN AWAY began to come together in May of 2013 when I went back to it and wrote in earnest; by June, I was halfway and in love with this story and these characters. I traveled for parts of May and July, and spent most of June-July looking for a job. In August I went to work at a new job and my writing time suffered, but I pushed through. I finished on October 24th, then put AS YOU TURN AWAY for awhile so that I could work on a new project for awhile, then come back to AYTA for edits. I edited in December, then again in February.

Now it’s done. In just a few weeks, Jonah and Quinn’s story will be in the world. In reader’s hands, on their Nook, Kindle, Kobo, etc. And hopefully, in reader’s hearts.

“We must be willing to let go of the life we planned so as to have the life that is waiting for us.” – Joseph Campbell

When I started AS YOU TURN AWAY, it was at a very odd, change-filled point in my life. I’d left a job I loved. A writing partnership/friendship that had grown toxic was ending. I was beginning a new relationship. I won’t say I was actually depressed, but despite being so happy in some ways, I was struggling in others. I wasn’t sure if I still wanted to write, if I still COULD write, much less a novel. The winter of 2013 hit me HARD.

Then I really lost myself in Jonah and Quinn’s story, and I realized: I wasn’t just writing a romance. I was writing a story about learning to love yourself – which is what *I* was doing. I don’t believe in basing characters on people I know, and I definitely wouldn’t say I wrote a lot of myself into any characters in AS YOU TURN AWAY. But there are bits wound through – the themes of self-love being just as important as romantic love. The small, Southern town and the people there, and the notion that “family” doesn’t have to be “blood” as well. If you look hard, you’ll see a few of my core beliefs in AS YOU TURN AWAY.

This book saved me, inspired me, and taught me things about love. About giving love. Accepting love. Loving myself. More than a romance, it’s a book about coming home. About forgiveness, and growth, and accepting that happiness doesn’t always look how you thought it would.

If any of my readers feel anything after reading AS YOU TURN AWAY, I hope it’s that.

AS YOU TURN AWAY ARC Requests

 

Have you been dying to read AS YOU TURN AWAY?  (Hopefully the answer is yes!)  I’ve talked a bit about my upcoming New Adult romance, shared a few teasers, and revealed the cover.  I’m in the process of starting final edits within the next day or two, and with luck and lots of caffeine, the final round of edits should be finished by the second week of February.

At that point, I’ll be sending out e-ARCs.  It was my intention to have them out already but life has a way of barreling into your best-laid plans.  So if YOU would like to read Quinn and Jonah’s story early (admittedly in a form that may still undergo a few last minute changes and polishing), please fill out the form below.  I’ll be contacting everyone soon with ARC copies and other information.  I’m so excited to dig back into edits and make AS YOU TURN AWAY even better than it already is.  I can’t wait for y’all to meet Jonah, Quinn, and the other characters, and hopefully feel all the feels.