Reading Stuff and MUCH More (You won't be disappointed!)

Sometimes I use my car as my office.  That's what I'm doing right now and the library is so kind as to give me free wi-fi, even when they're not open.

Reading Stuff
I am coming along not so swimmingly with my library reading list.  I have been keeping up in two of the four books I'm reading right now.

1. Nicholas Nickleby
2. Dickens: A Biography

I must say I find his biography more interesting than his novel at the moment.  I was enjoying it at a level 5 tizziness, but the next day the chapters were arduous, the descriptions painfully long, thousands of unnecessary words per page (maybe not quite that many, but the print is small so it might be possible).  Maybe the book became my fo-o-e-e because of how thick it is and I'm thinking "I've got to finish my library reading list!  I've got to keep up!  And YOU, Nicholas Nickleby, are making it so. much. harder!  You horrid thing!  Ok, I detest you now.  You're going from a 5 to a -5.  Ha!  How do you like that????"

Yes, I do think that is what happened with me and poor Nicholas.  Well, it cannot be helped.  It's more important to complete your reading goals than to enjoy what you're reading.  (BIIIIGG sarcasm alert there.  If I had a siren, button, thing, I would make it howl very loudly right now.  EAH!  EAH!  EAH!  EAH!  That's supposed to be the siren, button, thing.)

In Closing
Well, that's all I have for you today.  Think of me while I read N-i-cho-las Nick-le-by--heh-ee *sobbing a river...sobbing like a river?*.  After that I'm going to read A Spear of Summer Grass by Deanna Raybourn which is actually not too bad (even though it's published by Harlequin).  No "defense" (as my brother says) to them but they usually publish very fruity (as in light, fluffly [I meant to spell it that way *sarcasm!*], boring plot) or very sexual stuff.  

I'm not a huge fan of sex scenes in books.  I mean how embarrassing is that to be reading in a public place and feel your cheeks getting hot and your pulse racing and you think "Oh my word!  Everyone can SEE me!  It's like I'm doing it with a BOOK or something!  This is so odd and EMBARRASSING."  I mean, the person that is reading it might as well be acting it out cause it jars all the same bodily responses.  And in public??!!  To me, private is not any better.  It's still just as embarrassing.  But that's me.  Maybe you like that kind of thing.  I'm just not that into it.  

I cannot show my face because my skin will sparkle.  Ha!

That's why I'm liking A Spear of Summer Grass right now.  Deanna writes about a very racy woman who sleeps around a lot.  The woman "did it" once already and I've never been more impressed by a sex scene.  You knew they did it, but the way Deanna wrote it, it was quite clean.  And keeping it discreet, vague, clean, whatever you want to call it, did not make the story or the character one bit artificial.  I feel like Deanna allowed readers to choose what they would imagine.  And I like that.  

There are some books that are really great plot-wise, but then they are filled with sex scenes.  So where do (that was on purpose) one go to get a good story without sex scenes?  The Christian Romance genre does not automatically fit the bill because, yep, no sex scenes there, but hard to find a plot that is interesting.  I'm not busting on them.  I'm a follower of Christ.  But I don't think you have to be boring because of it.  And I don't think adding sex scenes to a book makes it automatically interesting.  In fact, it does the opposite for me.  

The closest example I can pick of interesting without literal sex scenes would be in screen form, and that's Downton Abbey.  There is scandal time after time without everyone sleeping with everything (oops, I meant everyone) else and showing entire steamy scenes about it.  I think discretion and modesty go a long way in creating an interesting plot and characters.  All that excitement over sleeping around is for teenagers.  Sorry, teenagers, that's how I feel.  (It just doesn't work in real life.  It's HURTFUL, not exciting.  *in stage whisper so I don't bweak their wittle hearts*)

Ok, enough of that.

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Read my book for free in an exciting chapter by chapter release!

Blog Post Day

Fun Stuff

Here are all the ways I've accidentally misspelled "blog" while typing.

"blob"

"blot"

and today while writing my post title "blop" 

Those tickle me, so I decided they were one of those important pieces of information that you should know about.

Writing Stuff

I posted Chapter 2 of Innocence (the first book/episode to the ever wonderful Gold Dragon series) on Friday.  Links below to refresh your memory and enthusiasm.

Wattpad

Tablo

This is free reading here, folks!  Can't beat the price and can't beat getting in on a cool series from the ground up.  Don't be left behind.  Click on the link TODAY.  (I know I should be writer for commercials or advertisement or something.)

Now, about that purchase link.  I am working on it this week and have made it priority to get it up this Friday, September 18th.  I'll put it on Wattpad, Tablo and my wonderful blog here.  That will be your chance to buy the full book (now remember it's like an episode so it's six chapters long, not a 300-page book, ok?  But everyone's so impatient these days, who's gonna sit down for five hours to read an entire book.  Innocence is tailored for impatient people who want a good story in manageable doses to fit their busy schedules...what? You get the point?  Ok.).

If you're good, I'll give the book to you at a discount.  If you're a book blogger or book reviewer, I'll give it to you for free for a 5-star review.  Just kidding.  You get it for free for an HONEST review, of course!

Ok, I gotta go, but go over to Tablo and Wattpad and check out the first two chapters and leave me a comment and like and vote and all that good stuff.

See you later!

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My Aside Reading List

In addition to that hilariously massive Library Reading List that I talked about yesterday, I have an “aside” reading list.

1. After Tex (by Sherryl Woods)
2. Garden Spell (by Sarah Addison)
3. Desperation (by Stephen King)
4. Your Best LIfe Now (by Joel Osteen)
5. Eyes Wide Open (by Ted Dekker)
6. The Gate House (by Nelson DeMille)

Books 3, 5 and 6 are from a store called Ollies.  There were two of these stores where I lived in Pennsylvania, one on the east end and one on the west end.  Here in Clinton, NC, there are none.

A couple weeks ago my boyfriend Jorge and I went to a town called Goldsboro where we were indulging in Sheetz (nope, none of those in Clinton either; what is in Clinton, you ask?  Nothing!).  Down the hill from Sheetz was an Ollies.  Praise be!  Jorge was intrigued by my enthusiasm, so he had to check it out.  For any who don’t know, it’s a store that sells stuff cheap.  They even have some name brands in there like Paula Dean, Jack Links jerkey, and I already mentioned Stephen King!

Jorge fell in love.  We bought two packs of beef jerkey, a toilet brush (odd, I know), and six books, all for $20.  Now we try to think of excuses to go to Goldsboro so we can stop at Ollies.  First, we go to Sheetz.  He orders sliders from their MTO menu and I get a cream soda (another thing they don’t have in Clinton, not in the gas stations, that is) and we eat and walk down the hill to the Ollies.  We throw our containers in their outdoor trash and enter the cheap heaven of Ollies merchandise.  They even have a coffee pot at the back of the store where you can get a cup for free and sip and shop.

I meant to write about my Aside Reading List, which are the books I want to read after my Library Reading List is complete.  I have started three of the six.  I’m reading one of them on an almost daily basis right now (Your Best Life Now) in addition to my library list.  I just wanted to give you a small taste of the things I put myself through.  Haha!

And one more thing.  A cool girl named Olivia in the UK invited me to do a guest post on her blog today, so go over to Lovelaces to check it out.  She reviews books and writes about other fun stuff.  I like the way she writes.  She makes me want to read the books she reviews.  I have added Tiger Lily to my Goodreads reading list just because of her review.  You can follow her via Bloglovin’ on her site.

Thanks for reading.  Remember to subscribe by email in the right hand panel and follow my story Innocence being released RIGHT NOW chapter by chapter via Wattpad and Tablo.

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If You Like Books, Read This; If You Don’t, Look Away

I seem to like getting started when everyone else is getting off work.  I woke up from a short nap thirty minutes ago, took a walk and still don’t feel awake.  There is a tree removal service currently removing trees in our neighborhood that I find far more fascinating than trying to rouse myself into the editing mood.  

Today’s subject is my ridiculously long Library Book Reading list, that I posted about a while back, put upon myself by no one other than...me!  In case you don’t remember, the story goes like this…

I had fourteen books checked out from the library.  Some I’d had out a month while others were going on three months.  (Our library is great, in that, if you aren’t finished with the book and you’ve already used up your three, three-week allotted renewals, you can simply ask the librarian to check it in, then check back out to you immediately.)  Because of the aforesaid liberalness of our wonderful library, I knew I was never going to finish reading these books when the due dates meant absolutely nothing.  So I came up with a plan.  (Here’s where it gets good!)  I vowed to read ALL fourteen of the books I had checked out before their next CHECK-IN DATE.  That means that if I can renew them online (those three allotted renewals), I may.  But by the time the last renewal has run out, I must have the book read because I’m not allowing myself to check it in then check it right back out to extend my borrowing period.

That said (and if you’re utterly confused by now just abandon ship), I launched into my reading.  Within the first couple days, I realized the awful truth:  I was not going to finish three of the books that were next due.  The only way was to read ALL DAY LONG, but I couldn’t do that and forsake my writing.  That was making this challenge far more important than it should be.  So I made myself a few allowances.

1. That I could renew 2 of the 3 books due since I still had over 500 pages EACH to go in them.
2. That I could return the one entitled Harry, A History about the phenomenon behind the Harry Potter books.  My reasoning: I am currently reading through the Harry Potter series for the first time and don’t want to accidentally read any spoilers.  So I felt it ethical to return this book until such time as I had finished the series (books and movies, btw) and could enjoy reading about Harry’s history fear-free.

My list is currently at eleven titles.  Since I began the challenge (on August 20, 2015) I have completed two titles

1. Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix (by I’m Pretty Sure You Know Who, but not You-Know-Who from the books of course)

(This one made me cry.  Maybe I’ll tell you some other time why.)

2.) This Wicked Magic (by Michele Hauf)

(Don’t ever read this one.  I would have to write a full review in a blog post to explain why, but there are so many other WONDERFUL things I’d rather write about.  So you’ll have to suffer for eternity not knowing.)

Here are my remaining books to be read (roughly in the order I plan to read them).  Those with one * are ones I have started (I like to read one chapter of a book then set it aside to do the same to two or three more).  Those with two **’s are ones I am currently reading out of every day.

1. Anybody Out There (by Marian Keyes)**5
2. Nicholas Nickleby (by Charles Dickens)**4
3. Dickens: A Biography (by Fred Kaplan)**3
4. From First Draft to Finished Novel (by Karen S. Wiesner)**5
5. Guilty Pleasures (by Laurell K. Hamilton)
6. A Spear of Summer Grass (by Deanna Raybourn)*
7. The Secret Keeper (by Kate Morton)
8. Silent in the Grave (by Deanna Raybourn)

I should hope those in the graves are not making sounds!!

9.) Twilight (by Stephanie Meyer)*

10.) Vampire Academy (by Richelle Mead)*

11.) The Fire Sermon (by Francesca Haig)*

What do the numbers on the right mean:  Here is my scoring system for how much I like the books I’m currently reading.  One (1) is a little bit, 5 is a lot bit and you understand the numbers in between.  These numbers may change as I read.

Well, that’s it for now.  You can follow my reading progress on my Goodreads profile.  See you later! I got a-a-a-all these books to read. I better get started.

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Remember to follow the story Innocence on Wattpad or Tablo.  Chapter 2 will be released this Friday!

It's Here!

As promised, Chapter 1 of Innocence is now available on Wattpad and Tablo for FREE!

Come follow Mint's story as her life unfolds in a new town that holds mystery and danger.

I have included a photo of the trailer that is much like the one Mint and her mom Trixie move into.  (Great inspiration down south here!)

As always, if you want these updates in your inbox, subscribe by email in the right hand panel.

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Character Pics

Here are some pictures that I said I would share.  I’ll just make this quick since I’m writing this kinda late.  This first one is how I imagine 16-year-old Mint to look, the hair and the style of clothing especially.

 

This second one is a look I could imagine on Mint’s face when she’s just irritated with the general immaturity of the people around her (mainly her mom!).  Side note:  Wait till you meet her mom, Trixie.  She is a piece of work and does everything to make Mint’s life miserable, but she is one of my favorite characters.  She’s so...noticeable...as a character.  Definitely not a boring woman.

Aside from the expression, nothing else resembles Mint, though.  Lol.

This pic makes me think of Ben, a guy Mint will eventually meet in her high school--a-a-actually a bit sooner than her first day of school.  But I can’t tell you the particulars.  You’ll have to wait till that chapter is released.  Don’t worry, it’s near the beginning of the book.  I will hint that this guy’s half-hidden face is a clue as to what their first glimpse of each other is like.

In finding these pictures I just looked up random images.  Some writers use celebrity pics, but those always seem like I’m looking at Barbies or something and not real people.  So I like anonymous pictures.  Funny enough, I didn’t realize until later that the pic for Ben is actually some character on the CW (a local TV channel around here).  Some of you probably recognized him right away.  Oh well, he serves my purpose with the half-hidden face.  That’s all I wanted him for.

Well, that’s it for now.  Chapter 1 of Innocence will be released tomorrow on Wattpad, a website where you can read my work for free!.  I’m trying to have a purchase link available for next Friday so you can download the entire book immediately instead of waiting to read it one chapter per week.  So stay tuned for that.

If you want to get updates on the story to your inbox, follow my blog via email in the right hand panel.  I will post an update tomorrow once I have uploaded the chapter tomorrow.

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Good News and Bad News

One week ago I wrote a blog post that you’ll never get to read because it is eternally frozen on my phone’s Blogger app.  I can’t even click on it to read what I wrote so that I can retype it on my PC.  It was brilliant, of course, something about having finished my newspaper articles (that I write every three weeks for a local paper) and being free to work on my edit for Innocence.  But only my obstinate Blogger app will ever know now what exactly it was.

That’s not even the bad news.  That was only to let you know the great loss I suffered exactly a week ago, to the day.

Good News
Now, here is the good news.  The first chapter of Innocence (updated and in your face) is prepped and ready to upload on Friday, the big NEW LAUNCH of this first book of the Gold Dragon series.

Bad News
The bad news is that the updated version of the entire book will not be available for sale this Friday.  (Awwwwww!)  I know.  I hear you.  There is nobody to blame but me.  I am doing my utmost to get it ready for week 2 (September 11, 2015 MARK YO’ CALENDA’S)...now that I think of it, I could try blaming my friend-editor who is being THE BOMBE...THE BOMB (with an e or without an e?) and editing my chapters for me.  But if I did that, she might bail at my lack of appreciation, then you wouldn’t get to see ANY of the update or book 2 or book 3 or book 4...you know what I mean?

What Does This Mean for You?
Well, if you are a patient person, all that means nothing because you’re planning on reading the free version of Innocence that I’m uploading to Wattpad each week.  If you are An Impatient One, you will have to suffer until week 2 when the book is (hopefully! *hand to mouth with raised eyebrows*) available for purchase.  Barring a third World War, an early winter cold or an obsessive desire to do nothing but drink coffee and read every day, I will have it ready by then.

What You’ve Been Waiting For--Pricing!
For The Impatient Ones who must know IMMEDIATELY what happens at the end of Innocence, you can download the book for ONLY $2.99 as an Amazon Kindle ebook or an iBook.

For the Caver who can only hold out until Chapter 3 is released before the suspense kills you, you can download the book for only $.99 on Etsy!  (I know!  This is a much better deal, but if you’ve gotta have it right away, then there’s a price to pay!)

For those who are Stronger Than Rocks and can withstand the suspense, the entire book will be released on Wattpad for free, one chapter per week.

Innocence, along with book 2, Awakened, and the others to follow are, on average, 10 chapters long.  They’re made to be read quickly (in one sitting for you speedy readers out there) and to hopefully appeal to people who dislike reading long books.  In these short but captivating episodes, you get the story in manageable bursts of action, emotion and suspense (with a sprinkle of romance and appropriate downtime to balance it all out, of course).

Now, a word about the pricing:  The $.99 version of the book, available after the release of Chapter 3, will only be available as a PDF download via Etsy.com (I will give you more info on that website when the download is available).  This download is awesomely formatted (I know, bad adverb there...just ignore it) and reads beautifully on phones or tablets.  The font has been sized to read well on smaller screens so you wouldn’t want to read this on your PC.  Who does that anyways??  The file will download to a PC, though, if you really want to read it that way.  The might just look kinda big.

The website I publish the ebook version with will not allow me to price a book at $.99, so just consider yourself lucky that I found a way to do that for you!

I think that’s everything for now.  If you have any questions, leave them in the comments or email me at authorrebeccayoder@gmail.com

Remember to subscribe to my blog via email in the right hand panel to get each blog update to your inbox.  Come on over to Wattpad, create your free account and follow me there so you can know the second Innocence: Chapter 1 is uploaded this Friday!  For Tablo users, you can find and follow me here.  I will be posting the chapters for free there as well.

Also check me out on…

Facebook:  Rebecca Yoder, One Lady of Shalott

Twitter: @EdinanRoman

Goodreads:  Rebecca Yoder

...and on this awesome pic of me this morning getting ready to edit (never mind that the chair in the background completely takes center stage--just pretend it’s not there).

My Current Reading Selections

I have several library books that I've been renewing and re-checking out since June. So I decided it's time to finish them before they're due.

1st is Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix

Second, Nicholas Nickleby by Charles Dickens

And third, Dickens A Biography by Fred Kaplan

I have to read about 9 chapters a day to get each of these done by their due date. Do you think I can do it? I'm already behind, so probably not. But what's more fun than giving yourself unrealistic goals and failing to reach them??

Gonna cut this post short cause I'm heading to Raleigh--a real treat after "dinky" Clinton, as the boyfriend calls it. I'm gonna get some Starbucks and feel like a REAL person for a day!!

See ya!

If you like this post, follow my blog or subscribe by email in the right hand panel to get these goodies directly to your inbox. Also follow me on Wattpad and Tablo where you can read my stories for free!

The relaunch of Innocence: book 1 of the Gold Dragon series is only 2 weeks away on Wattpad! You won't want to miss the chapter by chapter re-reveal. Get your Wattpad profile set up now and follow me so you'll know the second each chapter is available.

Buy! :)

Two Things

You know how everyone was putting a picture of a giraffe on their Facebook profiles a while back?  Well, I have an even better idea.  Let’s all put a picture of a teapot as our profile pictures in honor of all those how drink tea.  Tea drinkers are highly overlooked (at least in America, with the exception of Boulder, Colorado where Celestial Seasonings teas are bagged).  We need to be more attentive to these people.  Quiet, peaceful, comtemplative people.  They understand the importance of that break in the day called “afternoon tea.”  We can all learn something from this culture of drinking tea.  So, hail to the TEA DRINKERS!  Today I will change my profile pic to a teapot!

The second thing I have to say today is that I finished a novel called Wildalone by Krassi Zourkova and it left me in a rage.  My view of men is quite different than the main character’s opinion of the two main men in the book.  Has anyone else read this book?  Does anyone else share my rage?  I wrote a brief review on Goodreads.  I tried to be nice.  Some say if you are a writer reviewing someone else’s book, you must give a pleasant review (because it’s unkind to say bad things about theirs when you want a good review on your own book).  But it’s not right to lie.  So I just said what I thought but in a nice way.  Because, although it may not be the perfect book for me, there are plenty of people who would give it five stars and those are the people who need to find it.

You can find me on Goodreads here.  I’m curious on your opinion of the book.  I thought it was very poetically written, but the rights and wrongs of the love triangle are a completely different story.  None of this is from a literary standpoint, more from a realistic (and dare I say, moral) standpoint.  The attraction people have to immorality escapes me.  How a woman could be attracted to a man that wants her for her body alone is beyond me.  Does she not know that that kind must have many women and that he will not give up those many women at the drop of a hat (like a certain character did in the book)?  Anyways, if you want to talk more of that nonsense, come read my review and let me know what you thought of the book.

If you liked this post, be sure to follow my blog or subscribe via email in the right hand panel to get these tasty tidbits delivered directly to your inbox.  You can also follow me on Wattpad and Tablo to read my stories for free!

Come on over to my Facebook page and give it a like and check out my new teapot profile pic! (It's different than the one on here.)

Exciting News for Freebie Lovers and Impatient People Alike!

My book, Innocence: Mini-book 1 of the Gold Dragon Series, published previously this year on March 10th, is being relaunched via Wattpad, where readers of any age, height or hair length can read it for free!  The first chapter “Home?” will be posted on Friday, September 4, 2015, at exactly 5:00 pm (or as close as possible, barring any Gold Dragon sightings).  One chapter a week will be posted thereafter, only on Fridays.  For those of you who never learned patience, the entire book will be available for sale after Chapter 1 is posted so you can read it in its entirety.  (You smart ones saw that it’s already available for sale, but I advise you to wait because the new, fresh, amazing UPDATED version will be available for sale on September 4th.)  But don’t be too quick to think that you will have your curiosity satisfied with the ending of Innocence.  The ending is only the beginning.

Immediately following Innocence will be book 2, Awakened!  Also posted one chapter at a time on Wattpad, Awakened in its entirety will be for sale after its first chapter has been posted.  

For those who can hold out, you can read each book entirely for free on Wattpad for you...are Stronger Than Rocks!  For those who can sustain the supense for several chapters before caving--you will get the book at a special discount, the Caver price.  And for YOU, you impatient person who cannot wait a moment after reading the last word of the last paragraph to find out what happens next, you get the FULL PRICE!  For you are The Impatient Ones!  (Prices will be announced the week of the launch, right here on Rebecca Yoder’s Blog!  This was the only way I could force you Impatient Ones to wait for something.)

During these two and a half grueling weeks of waiting, I will post pictures that inspired my characters, witty comments (from myself, unless, of course, you care to add a comment below) about life, writing and the books, and any other important crap I deem worthy of your notice to ease your painful waiting.

In the meantime, you can follow me over on Wattpad and read my works in progress going on there. Kingdom of Imagination is a new story updated every Monday, and The Write Man is my submission for the Harlequin Novel Writing Competition. Remember to vote or leave a comment there so I know what you think.

If you enjoyed this post of suspenseful torture, follow me, leave a comment or like my author page over here.  You can also subscribe by signing up with your email in the panel on the right (because I KNOW you want these posts directly in your inbox since you don’t like to wait).  You will be the first to receive and read new posts, making you the best out of all your friends, because--you’re first!  And you’re probably impatient!

Thanks for reading!  I’ll see you tomorrow.  I post every Tuesday, Wednesday and Friday.  Buy!  (Nope, not a misspelling.  A subliminal message to buy my book at the relaunch!  lol)

Quick update

Just a quick post tonight to update on Book 2 Awakened. I hit Chapter 7 today so it won't be long till she's finished. Also my boyfriend was working on the cover today and it's looking really, really good.

I know I've already passed my personal deadline for the release of the second book, and even though it's easier to go silent and quietly slip off the grid and quit writing, I'm choosing to finish the book, late or not. I already have a small group of fans waiting for it and I can't let them down. I'm still working on the print version for the first book, trying to decide if I want to have it printed locally or go with something like Create Space. But, believe me, you'll know when I finally decide. :)

As always, remember to get your copy of Book 1 Innocence at:

Etsy for only $1.99 (what a deal!!)
Amazon for $2.99
IBooks for $2.99

Thanks for reading!

Short and Sweet and a Bit of Innocence

No I'm not talking about 5' me (although the title would be an accurate description lol). I'm going to keep this post simple today.

Here are three ways you can buy my fabulous mini book Innocence. And I'll make it even easier for you and tell you which option is best. Buy it thru Etsy! Why? Because whether you have an iPhone, Android or some other type of smartphone, you can download this digital PDF version for only $1.99! When I put Innocence for sale on Amazon and iBooks, I did not have as much control over the price. The minimum was $2.99 so that's where those downloads are at. But over at Etsy, you get the same great deal for a dollar less. Also, you can read the first four pages directly from the book's listing. Or better yet, I'll post an excerpt from the book at the bottom here.

So one more time, here's where you can get this awesome book:
Etsy for only $1.99
Amazon for $2.99
IBooks for $2.99

Also, if you leave a review for Innocence on Etsy, I will email you a 50% off coupon for Book 2 Awakened, coming soon.

Alright, here you go with the excerpt from Innocence:

Fyi: Sixteen-year-old Mint and her mom Trixie have just moved to a new country town called Darkwood. This is an excerpt from the beginning of Chapter 2 where Mint learns just what level of crazy inhabits this place.

Confession: the excerpt is cut off by a spot of my choosing and not necessarily at the end of the sentence that's being spoken. :)

What the heck kind of name was Darkwood?  It sounded like those evil underworlds in the PC games some of her old friends in high school played.

“These people have got to be crazy around here,” Mint mumbled to herself.

She slowed as she reached the city limits, keeping her speed under 35 as the signs indicated.  She passed a police car facing the road sitting in the parking lot of a small ice cream shop.  “These people are nuts.  Their ice cream store is open in the winter.  Loonies.”

Mint kept turning her head back and forth to take in all the run-down little buildings along the road.  Most of them looked uninhabited, but the two or three cars outside of each told her that people actually frequented these places. 

“Uhk,” she said, promising herself that she was going to convince Trixie to get them the heck out of here asap.

Mint finally found the grocery store, a pitiful little thing called Pinewood Grocery.  The only chain store she had seen on her way was a Dollar General.  Mint made a note to herself to do all her future shopping at the Dollar General if she could help it.  This place, this Pinewood Grocery, looked like it wasn’t fit to sell used shoes, let alone food that people were actually supposed to eat without getting sick.

When she got inside, she grabbed one of only three rickety shopping carts and pushed it ahead of her, ducking her head in embarrassment at the rattle-clang-bang it made as it protested being used.  She picked up some fresh veggies, pasta and meat, then stopped by the freezer section to get some hot pockets and the other junk food that her mom liked.  Mint didn’t know why she herself didn’t like junk food more.  It probably had something to do with the need to feel that at least one of them was a grown up.  Trixie used to cook back in the day.  But a couple years ago she had just stopped for the most part and given up on it, like she had given up on being an adult in most other areas of her life as well. Fortunately, Mint had learned enough skills from her mom and the Food Network to get by pretty well.

Mint checked out quickly, only too glad to get out of the dingy shop.  Everyone there had begun to stare at her.  Mint forgot that’s what people in a small town might do, curious about any new face in town.  She felt more like they were all making plans on how to jump her as she walked to her car.  As soon as she stepped outside the door of the store, a chill shot down her spine.  There in the parking lot was the same mud bespeckled truck that she had almost run into when she pulled onto the road in front of her house.  How odd.  The truck had been heading in the opposite direction, and yet here it was in the parking lot.

With her eyes on the suspicious truck, Mint was almost to her car before she noticed there was someone leaning up against her jeep and peering into the windows.  But it wasn’t just anyone, it looked like the exact figure she had seen standing at the edge of the woods watching her house.  He had black hair and a black leather jacket.  He wore a dark gray t-shirt and ripped jeans.  His skin was ghostly pale, as if he never went out in the sun.  Mint’s mind was flying.  What should she do?  Maybe she could get back inside the store and just wait there until he left.  She tried to turn without being seen, whatever that was supposed to mean since she was standing in the middle of the parking lot.  But just then he looked up.  He had seen her.

Mint stood frozen.  Barely an hour in Darkwood and she would already be a fatality.

“Hi, I’m Ben,” he said.  His voice was surprisingly smooth and deep...and...pleasant.  Her fear eased under his soothing tone, but when she saw his eyes, they were the funniest color of blue she had ever seen.  A cold, misty color--like the pale blue glow in the midst of a block of ice.  

“Hi,” she stammered, hoping he couldn’t sense her extreme discomfort, bordering on fear, after looking at his eyes.

“I’m Ben,” he repeated, smiling warmly, although the warmth could not take the cold out of his eyes.

Mint couldn’t understand why he was saying his name again and just standing there as if he was waiting for something.

“Are you going to tell me your name?” he said, still smiling.  “I was going to offer to carry your groceries, but it seemed rude not to at least introduce myself first.  You’re obviously new here,” he said.

Mint wasn’t sure if she was comfortable giving her name to this guy, especially after she was pretty sure she had seen him creeping around her house.  But then she looked into his eyes again and saw something she never expected to see in the eyes of another: a strange understanding.  It was as if he could see the lifetime of misery she had spent with her mother, moving from town to town, always being the “new girl”, dealing with her mom’s loser boyfriends and immature behavior...and even her fear of moving to this new place, this new backwoods town where she felt anything but safe. 

“I’m Mint,” she said, feeling slightly out of breath by her realization.  She didn’t open up to strangers--ever.  And even the thoughts running unspoken through her head in his presence had seemed too intimate.

“Mint,” smiled Ben.  “Like the ice cream,” he said, not really phrasing it like a question.  “Mint chocolate chip, one of my favorites.” 

Mint couldn’t be quite sure but she thought he winked then as he took the full paper sacks of groceries from her arms.  She followed him to the car. 

She didn’t know if it was the sudden gust of cold November air or the greater distance between them while they were walking, but Mint’s head seemed to clear and she remembered that he looked identical to the figure she had seen at the edge of the woods.  Fear gripped her again.  What if he grabbed her and jumped into the jeep with her when she unlocked the car to put in the groceries?  She could already see him forcing her to drive to a dark, secluded spot in the woods where he would murder her and probably do a whole lot of other things that she didn’t want to think about.  At the very least he might try to grab her keys and steal the car.  There was no way she was walking all the way back to the trailer in the growing cold and falling darkness.

“Thank you, Ben.  I’ll take them from here,” Mint said brightly, as if she had not been thinking murderous thoughts.  She was already trying to remove the bags from his arms, but he protested.

“It’s no problem.  I’ll hold them while you unlock the car.”

This was exactly what Mint was afraid of.

“No, really, it’s ok.  I don’t want you to think I’m a baby or something and can’t handle a few groceries," Mint said, blurting out whatever came to her mind next.  “There’s probably so many more people you need to be off helping with their groceries, so you should probably go.”  Even to her own ears she sounded rather rude.  But rather be rude than dead.

Ben looked a bit confused but he ended up handing her the bags which she held until she had watched him walk inside the store.  Quickly, she set the bags beside the back door to the jeep and fished in her pocket for her keys.  She had to load the bags and get out of there before anything else happened.  She had just gotten the second bag settled on the back seat when she heard footsteps running up behind her.  She whirled around, shutting the jeep door by stepping back against it.  But it was only the blond haired girl who had rung her up.  Mint noticed her name tag read Megan.

“You forgot this,” the girl panted.  She held out a plastic bag with apples.  In her haste, Mint had run out the door, forgetting one of her bags of groceries.

“Thanks,” said Mint.  She took the bag and turned to go.

“I can’t believe he was talking to you,” said the girl.

“What?”  Mint turned to face the girl again.  “What do you mean?”

“Ben.  He was talking to you.”

“Well, he seemed old enough to know how to speak.”  Mint didn’t know if the girl caught her sarcasm or not.

“He never talks to anybody, well, at least none of the girls.  He mainly just talks to his friends.  But I would watch out if I were you.”

Mint’s curiosity was getting the best of her.  “Why?” she said.

“At the beginning of the school year a girl was found dead in the woods outside the school.  The police said she had been hit by a vehicle.  That same day one of the kids found blood on the fender of Ben’s Wrangler."

Well, this post turned out to be not so short but hopefully still sweet in the definition of cool/sweet. Lol. Ok, whatever.

Get the full copy right now at:
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Amazon for $2.99
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Thanks for reading! You are the best.

Two and a Half Weeks of Meditation = a Clear Mind

Well, I figured it was about time to put up another post.  For the past two and a half weeks I have felt a strong urge just to meditate.  So I set my writing aside in faith and followed through on this urge.  The result is a much clearer way of thinking.  There were some old ways of living holding me back, and I discovered these ways of living were fueled by the way I was thinking.  Mainly was my mentality of lack.  I always felt in need.  My body constantly struggled to relax.  My subconscious was of living was to be tense all the time.

So, what does this mean for me and writing?  That I have the strength to push through these beginning days of publishing my first book, working on my second and publishing it even though I am several weeks past my deadline, and learning how to promote myself and "market my wares."  Lol.  I never thought I was shy about telling others about what a good job I've done, but I felt differently when it actually came time to let people know what a fabulous book I'd written and how it would improve their quality of life if they bought it.

So far, I have had three wonderful people helping me in this endeavor.  First is Karen Steer, book blogger from Australia (I have to keep mentioning that because I just think it's so cool).  You can find out more about her and about her review of my first book Innocence at www.karensbookhaven.com.

Secondly, is author of cozy mysteries, Leslie Keller.  I had the privilege to review her book while she reviewed mine.  You can find hers here for Kindle, and I assure you, if you love writing where you can pick up on that author's unique style and voice, you will like her book, Menu for Murder.  You can also read a snippet from her book here, and follow her blog www.lesliekellerbooks.blogspot.com.  I am including a copy of my review of Menu for Murder for your enjoyment.  And excuse my one and only typo.  Nex?  What is that?

Review for Menu for Murder:
I really enjoyed L.A. Keller's writing style. It's smart and quirky and has a voice all its own. The main character, Jayne Stanford, is clumsy and funny and endearing in her effort to fight off her self induced sprees of paranoia. I really related to the story because I moved to a new town to start my life over, just like Jayne. I found myself wondering how she was going to make it, if she would get her life stabilized. The opening chapter of Jayne being flirtatiously pursued by the elderly, drunken mayor had me fighting her corner right away. You'll find yourself turning the pages as she goes from one bad situation to the nex. Excellent cozy mystery story. Awesome job, Keller!

And lastly, a book blogger who goes by lillyrose71, has so graciously reviewed my book and posted it on her blog here.  I was blown away by her review.  I love her art of noticing the details.  There is no greater compliment to me than someone noticing the details.  From what I can tell, this lovely lady is located in the UK, based on part of her web address.  I have to mention the locations of these out of States people because I just think it's so cool that we can connect with people all over the world so easily.  And I always had a fascination with people from countries other than mine.  I love US citizens too, though. :)

Check out and follow her blog on Bloglovin'.  She has a fun tag in my opinion "Books, rants and occasionally book rants."  The last part reminds me of me and my three sisters and two of our friends talking about books and the plots and what we liked and didn't like.  Without any logical reason, it was a lot of fun!  Check out her other reviews as well.  She is quite passionate about the books she reads, which I find very refreshing.  In one she even posted to message her if you read the book she was reviewing so she could discuss the ending with you.  I thought that was pretty cool and a sign of an authentically interested reader.

Thank you, everyone for your reviews.  I am happy to work with all of you.

If you are a book blogger reading this, and you are interested in reviewing my book Innocence, you can tweet at me @EdinanRoman.  I would love to work with many more of you.

And of course, don't forget to buy your copy of Innocence at:
Etsy
Amazon/Kindle
iBooks