Musings of Breeana Shields

Making the Transition from Hopeful Writer to Published Author
by Breeana Shields

When I was eight months pregnant with my first child, I was emotionally excited, but physically miserable. Some women have delicate, pretty pregnancies. They get an extra glow in their complexions and a charming little baby bump in front, and otherwise their appearance is unchanged; from the back, you might not even realize they’re expecting. Not me. My ankles swelled, my fingers got fat, and I’m confident if alien life forms had been keeping watch on our planet, they would have been able to tell I was pregnant. From space.

I couldn’t find any position that would let me get a good night of sleep. I couldn’t eat without feeling uncomfortable. I couldn’t even take a full, deep breath so that I could properly execute an exasperated sigh.

I got through my busy days at work by daydreaming about how magical life was going to be once I was un-pregnant. And not just about my new baby boy—I’d already been excited for him for months—but about mundane things. Sleeping for more than an hour at a time. Wearing my wedding ring. Eating chocolate without getting heartburn. Talking long walks without feeling like a self-conscious duck. Painting my toenails. (I’d be able to reach them again!)

Once this baby was out of my body and in my arms, everything was going to be perfect.

And then my sweet son was born and my little fantasy fell to pieces.

Sure, I could easily find a comfortable sleeping position—I was so tired, I could have drifted off standing up— but I was responsible for a tiny human who needed to be fed every two hours, so quality sleep still wasn’t happening. My wedding ring still didn’t fit. And most days I didn’t even have time or energy to take a shower, let alone paint my toenails. My rosy vision of the future started to look more and more naïve.

And yet, those early days of motherhood were still filled with some of my most blissful memories. Midnight feedings, the house silent but for the rhythmic swallowing sounds of my little boy as his wide eyes locked on mine. The way his tiny fist would curl around my finger. The smell of his skin right after a bath. The way his eyelashes looked resting on his cheeks while he slept. The first time he laughed—the way it made a bubble of joy expand in my chest, a happiness so huge it hurt a little.

As I’ve made the transition from hopeful writer to published author, I can’t help but draw parallels to becoming a mother.

When I was in the querying trenches looking for an agent, I was sure nothing in publishing would ever be more miserable. I was certain that once I had a book deal life, professionally at least, would be perfect.

Perhaps I’m a slow learner. Or maybe it’s just that humans always see that just-out-of-reach next step as the one that will pave our way to a life of bliss. If only.

Like becoming a mother, becoming an author has been a dream come true. Holding a book with your name on the cover feels exactly as magical as you would expect. Chatting with excited readers in a signing line is unalloyed joy.

And yet…

There are also things that I wasn’t quite prepared for. I thought querying had toughened me up for rejection. I knew that reading was subjective and not everyone loved everything. Of course I knew that. What I didn’t take into account was that agents, generally speaking, are lovely people who are well aware that writers are sensitive types. Their rejections tend to be gentle and encouraging, and therefore, didn’t prep me in the slightest for the first “this sounded good, but then it SUCKED” review on Goodreads. I wasn’t ready for the way I could read twenty glowing reviews and then come across a snarky one that would ruin my day.

I also wasn’t prepared for the fear and the pressure. The anxiety about sales. The constant worry that I’ll never be able to sell another book, that my career will crash and burn before it’s really gotten started.

The difference between the fantasy and the reality was like imagining a post-pregnancy outing in nice fitted jeans and a fashionable top. Perfect makeup. Baby dressed in an impossibly cute outfit. And instead, finding yourself wandering through Target in a pair of sweats with unwashed hair that has been so coated in dry shampoo, you’re worried if you sneeze, you’ll be engulfed in a toxic cloud of powder. The baby is even more adorable than in your fantasy, but he’s still dressed the in footie jammies he slept in, because you didn’t have the energy for the cute outfit (for either him or you). And then in the checkout line, you realize the cashier is staring. Not admiring your sweet infant, but studying the suspicious stain on your shoulder. Which is most definitely baby vomit.

With both books and babies, the reality is not nearly as glamorous as the fantasy.

And yet…

I’m a published author. I wrote a book and my name is right there on the cover for all the world to see. People are reading it. A lot of them are liking it. Every once in a while, the truth of that will hit me square in the chest and fill me with delight. It’s a dream come true. But, like all wonderful things in life, the reality is a little bit messy. A little bit complicated. A little bitter mixed with the sweet.

But I wouldn’t change it. Not for the world.

---

About Breeana

Breeana Shields is the author of Poison’s Kiss (Random House, 2017) and Poison’s Cage (Random House, 2018). When she’s not reading or writing, she loves traveling, eating good food–especially if it’s pasta or chocolate–and spending time with her husband, her three children, and an extremely spoiled miniature poodle.

Website | Goodreads | Facebook | Twitter

 

 

---

Poison’s Kiss

A teenage assassin kills with a single kiss until she is ordered to kill the one boy she loves. This commercial YA fantasy is romantic and addictive like– a poison kiss– and will thrill fans of Sarah J. Maas and Victoria Aveyard.

Marinda has kissed dozens of boys. They all die afterward. It’s a miserable life, but being a visha kanya, a poison maiden, is what she was created to do. Marinda serves the Raja by dispatching his enemies with only her lips as a weapon.

Until now, the men she was ordered to kiss have been strangers, enemies of the kingdom. Then she receives orders to kiss Deven, a boy she knows too well to be convinced he needs to die. She begins to question who she s really working for. And that is a thread that, once pulled, will unravel more than she can afford to lose.

This rich, surprising, and accessible debut is based in Indian folklore and delivers a story that will keep readers on the edge of their seats.

Goodreads | Amazon | Barnes & Noble | Indiebound

---

Thank you so much to Breeana for sharing her insight into being a published author! It may not be as glamorous as we all believe it to be, but it definitely comes with some wonderful benefits, love, and feelings of accomplishment to overshadow the negatives. =)

As always, thank you to all who have participated in this feature. We greatly appreciate your enthusiasm in helping writers, and your words never go unheard. We’re so grateful!

We hope you all have a wonderful rest of your week!

Paperback Release Day Blitz: Glittering Court

 

Title: The Glittering Court
Author: Richelle Mead
Publisher: Razorbill
Genre: Fantasy
Goodreads |Amazon|B&N|Indiebound

Big and sweeping, spanning from the refined palaces of Osfrid to the gold dust and untamed forests of Adoria, The Glittering Court tells the story of Adelaide, an Osfridian countess who poses as her servant to escape an arranged marriage and start a new life in Adoria, the New World. But to do that, she must join the Glittering Court.

Both a school and a business venture, the Glittering Court is designed to transform impoverished girls into upper-class ladies who appear destined for powerful and wealthy marriages in the New World. Adelaide naturally excels in her training, and even makes a few friends: the fiery former laundress Tamsin and the beautiful Sirminican refugee Mira. She manages to keep her true identity hidden from all but one: the intriguing Cedric Thorn, son of the wealthy proprietor of the Glittering Court.

When Adelaide discovers that Cedric is hiding a dangerous secret of his own, together they hatch a scheme to make the best of Adelaide’s deception. Complications soon arise—first as they cross the treacherous seas from Osfrid to Adoria, and then when Adelaide catches the attention of a powerful governor.

But no complication will prove quite as daunting as the potent attraction simmering between Adelaide and Cedric. An attraction that, if acted on, would scandalize the Glittering Court and make them both outcasts in wild, vastly uncharted lands…

---

RICHELLE MEAD is the #1 New York Times, USA Today, and Wall Street Journal bestselling author of the Vampire Academy series and its spin-off series, Bloodlines. Originally from Michigan, she now lives in Seattle, Washington.

Website | Goodreads

 

---

GIVEAWAY:

Enter for a chance to win one (1) of ten (10) copies of The Glittering Court by Richelle Mead (ARV: $10.99 each).

NO PURCHASE NECESSARY. Enter between 12:00 AM Eastern Time on March 28, 2017 and 12:00 AM on April 5, 2017. Open to residents of the fifty United States and the District of Columbia who are 13 and older. Winners will be selected at random on or about April 7, 2017. Odds of winning depend on number of eligible entries received. Void where prohibited or restricted by law.

ENTER THE GIVEAWAY!

Save

Musings of Rosalyn Eves

Writing Groups
by Rosalyn Eves

A few weeks ago, at one of our bi-monthly writing group sessions, one of my critique partners paused during a discussion of my new pages and said, “I don’t understand what’s happening here. Why would the character do this?”

I looked at the passage in question, then back at my friend. It was a good question, one that dug into the weakness of that particular scene. “I don’t know,” I admitted.

Scenes like this are pretty regular in our writing group—and are a big part of the reason that I’m a huge advocate for writing groups, or at least, for outside readers of your work (sometimes called beta readers).

My first writing group was when I was in graduate school—and I’m convinced that my monthly responsibility to turn in pages is what got me through my dissertation. There’s something especially  humiliating about having to tell women you admire that in an entire month you didn’t get enough work accomplished to show them something. It was very motivating.

As an English teacher who teaches writing to undergraduates, I make my students participate in peer reviews for their major papers. Almost inevitably, they grumble. Equally as inevitably, several of them comment in their final evaluations for the class how helpful that feedback was.

Readers are essential to good writing.

When we draft, we tend to write for ourselves. But when we revise, we write for other people, readers who don’t have access to all the information in our heads about how a scene was supposed to unfold, or why a particular magical talisman works the way it does. Outside readers can help us identify where our explanations fall short, where character motivations seem unrealistic—or even point out that in our make-out scene, one of the characters seems to have three arms.

The process of critiquing also teaches us about our own writing—a study done on kindergartners found that those who could recognize where their alphabet letters fell short of the ideal shape were much more likely to make progress in literacy later. Similarly, part of improving our writing means learning to recognize where other people’s writing succeeds and where it falls short. Writing groups (and reading for others) can teach us this.

I love my beta readers, who read the full manuscript and point out issues with pacing and characterization. But I couldn’t survive without my writer’s group, who tend to read my work piecemeal, as I’m drafting. There’s a curious kind of synergy that happens when we meet together to discuss our work—almost invariably our critiques together are smarter than our individual critiques. One person’s comment jogs loose an idea for someone else, and those ideas snowball into (sometimes) brilliance. (Sometimes they just snowball).

While I rely on my writer’s group for feedback, they provide much more than that. As someone who tends to be motivated by external validation, having a regularly scheduled deadline is much more useful to me than self-imposed ones. I don’t mind blowing by my self-imposed deadlines—there’s no consequence. It’s harder to have to tell my friends that I don’t have pages ready (though they’re always gracious and understanding).

There’s no right schedule to a writing group. Some people meet weekly, some every other week, some monthly. The key, I think, is consistency. There’s also no right way to present pages. Some groups, like ours, let everyone bring pages each time we meet (our general rule is up to 15 pages). Other groups rotate, focusing on one writer and longer sections each time.

More than anything, though, my writer’s group members are my friends—tough enough to tell me when my writing isn’t measuring up, but generous enough to cheer me on when I need it.

If writing takes a village—and I think it does—then my writing group is the heart of mine.

What has your experience been with writing groups? Do you love them? Hate them? Why?

*If you’re looking for more details on how to give feedback as a writer, here’s a helpful post using strategies I teach to my writing students:

https://thinkingthroughourfingers.com/2014/10/24/advanced-critiquing-using-facilitative-feedback/

---

About Rosalyn

Rosalyn Eves grew up in the Rocky Mountains, dividing her time between reading books and bossing her siblings into performing her dramatic scripts. As an adult, the telling and reading of stories is still one of her favorite things to do. When she’s not reading or writing, she enjoys spending time with her chemistry professor husband and three children, watching British period pieces, or hiking through the splendid landscape of southern Utah, where she lives. She dislikes housework on principle. Her first book, BLOOD ROSE REBELLION, comes out Spring 2017 from Knopf.

Website | Twitter | Facebook | Tumblr | Pinterest | Goodreads

---

Blood Rose Rebellion

The thrilling first book in a YA fantasy trilogy for fans of Red Queen. In a world where social prestige derives from a trifecta of blood, money, and magic, one girl has the ability to break the spell that holds the social order in place.

Sixteen-year-old Anna Arden is barred from society by a defect of blood. Though her family is part of the Luminate, powerful users of magic, she is Barren, unable to perform the simplest spells. Anna would do anything to belong. But her fate takes another course when, after inadvertently breaking her sister’s debutante spell—an important chance for a highborn young woman to show her prowess with magic—Anna finds herself exiled to her family’s once powerful but now crumbling native Hungary.

Her life might well be over.

In Hungary, Anna discovers that nothing is quite as it seems. Not the people around her, from her aloof cousin Noémi to the fierce and handsome Romani Gábor. Not the society she’s known all her life, for discontent with the Luminate is sweeping the land. And not her lack of magic. Isolated from the only world she cares about, Anna still can’t seem to stop herself from breaking spells.

As rebellion spreads across the region, Anna’s unique ability becomes the catalyst everyone is seeking. In the company of nobles, revolutionaries, and Romanies, Anna must choose: deny her unique power and cling to the life she’s always wanted, or embrace her ability and change that world forever.

Goodreads | Amazon | Barnes & Noble | Indiebound

---

A big thank you to Rosalyn for this post! We never hear enough about the friends, partners, and writing help that get us all through our darkest times in our manuscript adventures. I know that even I have my own writing warriors to help me through the bad days.

As always, a huge thank you to everyone who has participated in this feature! Your words are so appreciated!

We hope you have a wonderful rest of your week! =)

Musings of Cecilia Vinesse

On Following Your Dreams
by Cecilia Vinesse

I grew up between three places: France, Japan, and the States. Even though I moved around a lot, every time was just as difficult as the last. Every time, I was thrown off by how much it hurt to leave behind the fierce friendships I’d made, the schools I’d grown comfortable in, and the places that felt so familiar to me. The first year in a new place was always rough for me. It took me months to get used to new social hierarchies, new inside jokes, and a whole bunch of shared references I honestly didn’t get. I was constantly thinking about where I’d lived before and how far away it seemed. So far away that, sometimes, it was hard to convince myself that the life I’d had there had ever been real.

Like Sophia, the move that hit me the hardest was from Tokyo to the States when I was sixteen. When I left, it felt like I was shutting a door I might not be able to open again. I did everything I could to hold onto Tokyo—I woke up early every morning to write e-mails to my friends; I hung my favorite photographs of all of us in my room; I watched Lost in Translation over and over because it was filmed while I lived in Tokyo, so it felt like a window into the city exactly as I’d left it.

It took me years to realize that, inside those feelings, there was a story. I wrote the first draft of Seven Days of You in 2009 right after I graduated college and it was…terrible. So terrible, I honestly wanted to throw it away and pretend I’d been trying to write chocolate cake recipes instead.

But the story refused to leave me alone. Eventually, I did move back to Japan. This time to Sapporo, a city on the northernmost island of Hokkaido. During my last seven days there, thoughts of that book I’d been trying to write kept creeping back to me—this book about a girl leaving Tokyo, about the last few moments before you have to let go of a place you love. I found myself slowing down more than I usually do: listening to the rumble of trains rushing through my train station, staying up to watch my clock tick down the seconds, exploring the quiet streets of Sapporo late at night with my friends, talking the whole time, doing all we could to stave off the morning. Through it all, I could hear something whispering inside of me, telling me not to forget this. Telling me that I had to find a way to save this feeling.

Over the next three years, writing Seven Days of You wasn’t any easier than it had been before, but I could feel the rightness of it—how it was the story I was supposed to work on, the story of my heart and soul and bones. And now, here it is, ready for the world.

So if you’re reading this and writing is your dream, too, please know: there are stories out there waiting for you to find them. The first thing you have to do, though, is slow down and listen.

---

About Cecilia

I’m Cecilia Vinesse, and I wrote a book about saying good-bye to high school friends and staying out all night and the dizziness of falling in love and the deliciousness of ramen.

I was born in France but then moved to Japan. And then to the States. And then back to Japan. And then back to the States. When I was 18, I moved to New York where I was homesick for nearly seven years. After that, I got a job in a cold, snowy city in northern Japan and, from there, I headed to Scotland where I got my master’s in creative writing and lived off tea, writer tears, and Hobnobs.

I still live in the U.K. and spend most of my time writing, reading, baking, and getting emotional over Tori Amos albums. Hobbies include pretending Buffy the Vampire Slayer is real, collecting a lipstick to match every Skittle flavor, and listening to a thousand podcasts a day.

A pup named Malfi and a Renaissancist named Rachel are my favorite things in the world. That, and books. I should probably mention the books again.

Website | Twitter | Tumblr | Goodreads | Instagram

---

Seven Days of You

Sophia has seven days left in Tokyo before she moves back to the States. Seven days to say good-bye to the electric city, her wild best friend, and the boy she’s harbored a semi-secret crush on for years. Seven perfect days…until Jamie Foster-Collins moves back to Japan and ruins everything.

Jamie and Sophia have a history of heartbreak, and the last thing Sophia wants is for him to steal her leaving thunder with his stupid arriving thunder. Yet as the week counts down, the relationships she thought were stable begin to explode around her. And Jamie is the one who helps her pick up the pieces. Sophia is forced to admit she may have misjudged Jamie, but can their seven short days of Tokyo adventures end in anything but good-bye?

Goodreads | Amazon | Barnes & Noble | Indiebound | Book Depository

---

Thank you so much Cecilia for your insight and for sharing your story. This sounds like it’s your heart book… and the fact that it’s getting published means that all of the struggle was worth it. It will be worth it for all of the writers out there waiting for their chances too. You’ll all find the story of your heart one day, and when it comes, don’t let it slip by.

As always, a huge thank you to all of the wonderful people who have contributed to this feature. Your words never go unappreciated, as you help so many writers every week continue to work towards their dreams. Thank you for sharing your hearts with us.

We hope you all have a wonderful rest of your week! Write on!

Musings of Corrie Wang

Opting Out of the Waiting Game
by Corrie Wang

Let’s start with a quick reminder. Before any published writer is a published writer, they are an unpublished writer first. Some of us for a VERY LONG TIME. For me, that meant almost a decade of my life spent waiting for a book to sell. Three different submissions, two different agents, and a lot of expectations that at any moment, my life would be changing for the better.

Not that my life was ever bad, mind you. I was living in NYC, waiting tables and loving it. (Never underestimate how rewarding and fun life in the food and beverage industry can be.) But every time a new book went out on submission, I definitely lived in a general state of “soon this will all change.”

I can leave this job I’ve grown bored of.

I’ll move out of this tiny apartment.

This tricky relationship I’m in will get ironed out.

I will buy my mom a French Bulldog.

Wait. What now?

And then my manuscript on sub would make it to acquisitions, but not any further, and not only did I have to start the grueling process of writing a novel entirely from scratch, but I had to do it while being stuck in my same old life.

Until one day, I had enough. I actively decided I wasn’t going to wait on the writing anymore. Best way I could think to prove it, was I bought my mom a puppy. Because showing gratitude and love to the woman who’d been my rock for so many years shouldn’t have to wait on something as fickle as the publishing industry. Being the BO$$ of my own life didn’t need to hinge on a book deal.

Next, I left that job. Which also opted me out of that tricky relationship. And wouldn’t you know, the next restaurant I worked at, I met the most amazingly sweet and talented Chef d’ Cuisine. Love stuff happened.

Two years later, me with a new fan-fcking-tastic agent and a fresh manuscript under revisions, my beau and I left the small apartments of NYC and made our way to Charleston, South Carolina. Once there, we learned the jobs we had lined up didn’t actually exist. At the same time, my novel went out on sub. In the past, I would have put the brakes on any new projects or life plans. This time around, I opened a food truck.

I’d always expected that when my novel sold, I’d be home, whooping it up, running around my apartment, calling my mom, crying happy tears. The reality was, when the call came, we’d just started our second day of service on the food truck. I was in a parking lot, fielding calls from my agent about the mini-auction the book was in, worried that our conversation was taking too long and that we had customers waiting.

I do not yet know what amazing things will come about because of my novel. Maybe lots, maybe none. But I do know that in the time it took the book to publish, the life I actively created has brought more rewards and taken me more places than I ever could have dreamed possible.

In fact, as far back as I can remember anything good that has come about in my life has been because of action. Action and a lot of hard work.

So to you I say, persist! Persist in your writing and try to write every single day. Commit to your writing as the most important thing you can possibly do, but for goodness sake, do not wait on it. Make your life happen in spite of the fact that you’re a writer. And while you’re at it, make that life as wonderful and fun as you can imagine a life being. Wow us all. Do something important. Because I promise you, your writing career will find you when you least expect it. And then you’ll have a published novel and a fulfilling life to show for it.

---

  About Corrie

Corrie Wang is passionate about libraries, road trips, and eating all the food, everywhere. Corrie grew up in Buffalo, New York, but spent her formative years in Brooklyn, where one of her last paying gigs was managing a three-story nightclub on the Lower East Side. She currently lives in Charleston, South Carolina, where she owns and operates Short Grain food truck which was named one of Bon Appetit magazines Top 50 Best New Restaurants 2016 and is currently on the long list for a James Beard Award. The Takedown is Corrie’s debut novel. You can find her online at www.corriewang.com

Website | Facebook | Twitter | Instagram | Instagram | Goodreads

---

The Takedown
Releasing April 11, 2017!

Kyla Cheng doesn’t expect you to like her. For the record, she doesn’t need you to. On track to be valedictorian, she’s president of her community club, a debate team champ, plus the yummy Mackenzie Rodriguez has firmly attached himself to her hip. She and her three high-powered best friends don’t just own their senior year at their exclusive Park Slope, Brooklyn high school, they practically define the hated species Popular. Kyla’s even managed to make it through high school completely unscathed.

Until someone takes issue with this arrangement.

A week before college applications are due, a video of Kyla “doing it” with her crush-worthy English teacher is uploaded to her school’s website. It instantly goes viral, but here’s the thing: it’s not Kyla in the video. With time running out, Kyla delves into a world of hackers, haters and creepy stalkers in an attempt to do the impossible-take something off the internet-all while dealing with the fallout from her own karmic footprint. Set in near-future Brooklyn, where privacy is a bygone luxury and every perfect profile masks damning secrets, The Takedown is a stylish, propulsive, and provocative whodunit, asking who would you rely on if your tech turned against you?

Goodreads | Amazon | Barnes & Noble | Indiebound

---

Thank you so much to Corrie for sharing your story with us! I think we all believe that it will be butterflies, rainbows, and happiness as soon as writers get that call, but sometimes reality hits hard. The truth of the matter is that we fight through every step of the way to get there, and your story proves that. Thank you for your dose of reality and hope for all of the writers out there!

As always, thank you so much to all of the authors who have been a part of this feature. Your words are appreciated more than you can see. We’re all so grateful for every single one of you!

We hope you have a wonderful rest of your week!

Musings of L.E. DeLano

Fantastic Book Ideas And Where To Find Them – 5 Ways To Up Your Inspiration Game
by L. E DeLano

Every author constantly finds themselves trapped in the hellish world of writing a book, editing a book, or searching for their next book.

Sometimes, you get lucky and the story finds you. But even when it does, it’s usually just a kernel of an idea, and needs some fleshing out. So what do you do when the creative font is running dry? Here are some strategies to help you find that elusive spark:

People watch. Go out to the mall or a fast food restaurant, visit a museum or a college campus, and just sit with a notebook. Watch people (and not in a creepy way, if you can help it – make it subtle). Invent stories about them – wild, fantastical back stories. Eavesdrop on dialogue and let it help you build the framework. There is no greater resource than human nature.

Speaking of nature – find some. Take a hike, or a slow and steady walk, but make it somewhere in the fresh air, or the rain or the snow, for that matter. Build your world, be it alien or domestic. What sort of people live here? And why? Why does this place look the way it does? What natural obstacles, disasters or points of great beauty can you use?

Watch a documentary. Find one about social injustice or alien visitors or great castles. Find a thread in the narration and build on it, take it to an opposing outcome or move what happened forward or back in time (or maybe to another world). History and media can be a valuable tool – use it!

Ask a young child to tell you a story. This one can be hit or miss, but sometimes you strike gold. Kids have no boundaries on their imaginations, and very little filter when telling their stories. Have them invent a new superhero, or a monster. Ask them about magic in their story, or have them describe some of the great inventions in their world. Take notes, then take those seeds and plant them in your fertile brain.

Think of all the things you’ve ever loved. Make a list. Every story is, at its heart, a love story: love for a romantic partner, a child, a sibling, a homeland, a god . . . even love of power and control. Make a list of every single thing you’ve loved in your life, from people to pizza. It’ll surprise you, and pull up a wash of memories that may yield what you’re looking for.

Being a writer means to live a constant cycle of frustration and euphoria. There’s no getting around that. But every day you navigate and inhabit a world that still has secrets and mysteries to be mined. One of those tricks might just lead you to the jackpot.

Happy writing!

---

About L.E. DeLano

L.E. DeLano is a blogger and autism advocate under her alternate moniker, Ellie DeLano. She comes equipped with a “useless” Theatre degree that has opened doors for her in numerous ways. Though mostly raised in New Mexico, she now lives in Pennsylvania with two hilarious kids and two ridiculous cats. When she’s not writing, which is almost never, she’s binge-watching Netflix and taking road trips. Traveler is her debut novel.

Website | Goodreads | Facebook | Twitter | Instagram | Tumblr

---

Author Visits, Interviews, Signings

L.E. DeLano is available for the following:

Library and school visits
Interviews
Author signings/readings

Email ledelanoauthor@gmail.com with inquiries

Telephone: (484) 682-8815

Rep’d by: Jennifer Udden, Barry Goldblatt Literary – jennifer@bgliterary.com

---

Traveler

Jessa has spent her life dreaming of other worlds and writing down stories more interesting than her own, until the day her favorite character, Finn, suddenly shows up and invites her out for coffee. After the requisite nervous breakdown, Jessa learns that she and Finn are Travelers, born with the ability to slide through reflections and dreams into alternate realities. But it’s not all steampunk pirates and fantasy lifestyles—Jessa is dying over and over again, in every reality, and Finn is determined that this time, he’s going to stop it…This Jessa is going to live.

Goodreads | Amazon | Barnes & Noble | Indiebound

---

Thank you so much, Ellie, for participating in this feature and bringing up some inspiration topics for all of us! Some lighthearted inspiration can be exactly what we all need when we get stuck with a rock hard wave of writers block. =)

As always, thank you to all the wonderful people who have participated in this feature. Your words of advice never go unappreciated by all of the wonderful writers who need it!

We hope you have a great rest of your week!