Sarina Bowen's Blog, page 45
December 16, 2014
Cookie Swap Update! (Or, How Cookie Baking and Novel Writing are the Same Damn Thing)
First, a big thank you to everyone who chimed in to help me figure out what cookies to bake! Someone sent me to Betty Crocker's website, which led me to chocolate crinkle cookies, which led me to read five different recipes for this cookie. (I love the research stage, because nothing has yet gone wrong!)
I was convinced that this was the recipe for me when one of the versions I read began this way: "make sure there is an adult nearby in case you need help." Yes, dear readers, I chose a recipe simple enough for children.
Perfect.
Chocolate, butter, vanilla, eggs, sugar, flour, salt, baking powder. No problem, right? Except it turns out that baking cookies starts out the same way as writing a novel: at first, you've got a big brown blob of goo on your hands.
A twinge of panic sets in as you plow through this unimpressive heap of words/ingredients, quite certain that when you're done, the other cookies at the cookie swap are going to point and laugh. You ask yourself a lot of critical questions at this stage. ("The mixture should fall from the mixer in thick ribbons." Are those the thick ribbons? Should my ribbons be thicker? Where is that helpful adult that was mentioned?)
But with baking as well as novel writing, it's only by finishing the process that you will know whether you've succeeded. Failure is possible. One can actually render chocolate inedible. (And some novels should be hurled from the top of a building. Wait, that's dangerous. I meant burned in a wood stove.) But usually you end up with something palatable / editable, even if it's not exactly what you pictured.
Yeah. My chocolate crinkle cookies didn't flatten like the ones in the perfectly styled magazine picture. And to my perfectionist eyes, they're not crinkly enough, and the toasted coconut falls off. But they taste absofreakinglutely great. And I'm taking three dozen of them, lumps and all, to the cookie swap tonight.
Later!
Sarina
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November 24, 2014
Order Signed Ivy Years Paperbacks for the Holidays. Free swag with every order!
For media rate delivery by Christmas, please order by December 10th. You will receive an Ivy Years pendant necklace and bookmarks with each shipment.
New item! The 4-book Series option is a great deal.
Order signed paperbacks now
November 12, 2014
In Which I Make a Fool of Myself at the Harley Dealership
I spent a lot of time in the parking lot at the Harley dealership. My son's karate dojo is next door, see. So a couple of times a week I spend forty-five minutes reading behind the wheel of my car while bikes come roaring in or out. Once in a while I photograph them, because they're so attractive all lined up like that.
Tonight my little karate dude got back into the car. I put the key into the ignition, and then things went bad. The car flickered to life and then died again. Silence. No dashboard lights. It was nighttime, and I was due to pick up my other child immediately. In the next town over.
Now, I am deeply embarrassed by my automotive ignorance. I could do your taxes or roast your turkey. I could write you a spreadsheet, iron your tuxedo shirt and identify most of the trees in your yard.
But I can't even change a tire, people. It's that bad.
I went into the Harley dealership, which is a giant showroom. There was one guy sitting behind the desk. "Hi," I said. "I'm a complete idiot." Okay, I'm paraphrasing here. But that's an approximation of the explanation I gave him.
"Sounds like a dead battery," he said. Then he turned around and picked up a jump pack which was sitting, like, eighteen inches from his body. "Which car is yours?"
I pointed. And then I proceeded to fail at finding the lever which opens the hood! He found it in about two seconds after I gave up. (And, honestly, I couldn't see what he did. So I STILL DON'T KNOW.)
He attached the cord thingies to thingies in my car. That took about eight seconds. "Try it now," he said.
The car purred to life at the first touch of the ignition.
"THANK YOU!" I squealed. "Thankyouthankyouthankyouthankyou!"
"No trouble," he said, unclipping the dohickies and beating a fast path back to his desk. "Get that checked out, though. You probably have a dead cell."
I nodded, pretending that I knew what that was. Then I thanked him again and drove away.
November 2, 2014
Blonde Date is FREE for a limited time.
October 20, 2014
Meet me in Fort Lauderdale?
I'm so excited for Wicked Book Weekend in February! This list of authors looks like so much fun. Can't wait to be there. February 6-8, Ft. Lauderdale, FL.
October 6, 2014
What's Coming Next from Sarina Bowen?
Harlequin E Contemporary Romance Box Set Volume 3: Falling from the Sky\Maid to Love\When the Lights Go Down\Start Me Up
By Sarina Bowen, Rebecca M. Avery, Amy Jo Cousins, Kristina Knight
Falling: A 7-Novel New Adult Anthology
By Chantal Fernando, Lex Martin, Jules Barnard, Jane Harvey-Berrick, Whitney Barbetti, Jade Eby, Sarina Bowen
This has been a really big year for new releases. What a whirlwind. And I'm going to need some time to catch my breath! But that doesn't mean there won't be more new books, soon.
In the Ivy Years series, there will absolutely be at least two more books:
Book four belongs to Bella, who is an unabashedly scene-stealing secondary character from The Understatement of the Year. She just leapt onto t he page, fully formed. This book has a title! If you're curious, I've posted it on the series page. Pub date: some time in 2015.
Book five will feature a secondary character from Bella's book. Pub date: some time in 2015.
The Gravity Series will round at at three titles!
Book two is Falling From the Sky, which is currently part of a Harlequin-e box set. On December 1st, it gets its single-title launch. Falling From the Sky features Hank "Hazardous" Lazarus, a tatted up bad-boy snowboarder alpha hero. And I just love him to death.
Book three is titled Shooting for the Stars, and follows Hank's pro-snowboarder sister, who manages to have a really ill-timed fling with Hank's best friend, Bear. Heartbreak ensues. Pub date: early 2015.
AND: an anthology. The Year We Fell Down is part of the FALLING anthology. For a (very) limited time, these seven books are just a buck.
October 1, 2014
Win Paperback Copies of The Ivy Years (International)
Buy at Amazon
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Buy for Nook
To celebrate the arrival of THE UNDERSTATEMENT OF THE YEAR (Ivy Years #3) I'm giving away paperbacks! There will be four winners. Thanks for entering!
What happened in high school stayed in high school. Until now.
Five years ago, Michael Graham betrayed the only person who ever really knew him. Since then, he’s made an art of hiding his sexual orientation from everyone. Including himself.
So it’s a shock when his past strolls right into the Harkness College locker room, sporting a bag of hockey gear and the same slow smile that had always rendered Graham defenseless. For Graham, there is only one possible reaction: total, debilitating panic. With one loose word, the team’s new left wing could destroy Graham’s life as he knows it.
John Rikker is stuck being the new guy. Again. And it’s worse than usual, because the media has latched onto the story of the only “out” player in Division One hockey. As the satellite trucks line the sidewalk outside the rink, his new teammates are not amused.
And one player in particular looks sick every time he enters the room.
Rikker didn’t exactly expect a warm welcome from Graham. But the guy won’t even meet his eyes. From the looks of it, his former… best friend / boyfriend / whatever isn’t doing so well. He drinks too much and can’t focus during practice.
Either the two loneliest guys on the team will self destruct from all the new pressures in their lives, or they can navigate the pain to find a way back to one another. To say that it won’t be easy is the Understatement of the Year.
Warning: unlike the other books in this series, this heartbreaking love story is about two guys. Contains sexual situations, dance music, snarky t-shirts and a poker-playing grandmother.
a Rafflecopter giveawaySeptember 30, 2014
It's Here! The Understatement of the Year
I'm so excited to share this book with you! I'm told that Graham and Rikker's story is my angstiest one yet.
And the reception has been amazing. I just want to hang this quote from SmexyBooks over my desk. "It’s so well done that I just want to read it over and over again."
You can read the full description here.
September 16, 2014
I can't wait!
There are less than two weeks until The Understatement of the Year is published. I just can't wait. These characters? I love them to pieces. I had no idea that Ivy Years #3 was going to be a story about two guys. But the idea for their angst-filled, accidental reunion in the hockey rink locker room just dropped into my brain and would not leave. And I wrote the book in a fever, because the story was just so intense.
A few people have asked why I didn't start a new series for this book, and that's a valid question. This story? It's an Ivy Years novel. There was just no fighting it. And Hartley plays a rather involved role as a secondary character, while Bridger, Corey and Lucy have cameos.
You can click here for purchase links. The book is up for pre-order at most vendors. It's actually live at iBooks (because I fat-fingered the publish button.)
Cheers!
September 7, 2014
Sale! The Year We Fell Down is $0.99
For the first time since it's publication six months ago, The Year We Fell Down is on sale! Find it at an e-tailer near you. [Amazon / iBooks / Kobo / B&N]
