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Revolutionary Love
Love perseveres in spite of obstacles. Love gives without any guarantee of receiving. Love sacrifices until it hurts and then sacrifices some more. If I told you those themes are part of my latest novel, you might guess I’m a romance writer, right? Well, they are, but guess again. The Revolutionary is a dystopia. Wait. Dystopia? You mean one of those futuristic novels so dark they make the problems of our own world look like a walk in the park? Yes and no. Though dystopian novels have certain bleak characteristics, I think that setting paints the perfect contrast to the hope characters are fighting (and sometimes dying) to gain. How…
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The Revolutionary Launch Party – Tonight!
Happy release day! I’m so excited to share The Revolutionary with you and hope you enjoy the next part of Portia’s story. Tonight at 7 pm Eastern, I’m hosting a launch party on Facebook, and I hope you can join! There will be trivia and drawings for an autographed copy, Kindle books by some of my favorite authors, and a Starbucks e-gift card! To join the party, click here. As part of the festivities, see if you can solve the word scramble below. Hint: All the scrambled words are characters’ names, but there are a few new ones you’ll meet in The Revolutionary. Fill in the boxes to solve the…
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Join the March Book Madness
March is here, and we’re going “mad” for books. The countdown for the release of The Revolutionary (The Rogues, Bk 2) has begun, and in the meantime, you can take part in the pre-launch festivities. When The Revisionary released last year, you learned that my heroine Portia shares a name with my favorite Shakespearian character. Well, this famous playwright had his share to say about madness. If you’d like to help spread the word about The Revolutionary, please share any of the memes in this post. You can pre-order The Rogues, book 2 on Amazon now (in Kindle format). On March 20 (release day), both paperback and Kindle formats will be available.…
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The Revolutionary: Coming March 2018
If you’ve started a reading list for 2018, I hope you’ll add The Revolutionary! Mark your calendars: The sequel to The Revisionary is scheduled to release March 20 through Write Integrity Press, and today, I’m excited to share the cover with you. Special thanks to my graphic artist Kelli Sorg (Make it Snappy) for another job well done! Portia’s story continues much differently than she had imagined. There’s no hero’s rescue for her or easy solutions to save the Brotherhood’s threadbare rebellion. The Revolutionary demands an honest look at: The source of one’s true identity The struggle of guilt The crippling effects of fear The power of second chances Summary REVOLUTIONS RUN…
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Holiday Book Specials
Happy December! With Christmas a few short weeks away, I want to share some holiday book specials with you. This month, all of my Kindle books are on sale, but you’ll want to mark your calendars for the dates. Wings of the Dawn Trilogy My first three young adult suspense books are $.99 on these dates: Friday, Dec. 1 – Captive Beneath the Bahamian Sky (book one) Friday, Dec. 8 – Secrets Beyond Lake Winona’s Shore (book two) Friday, Dec. 15 – Awakening Sun (book three) The Revisionary My latest release, the first book in The Rogues trilogy, is available for $.99 (Kindle version) on the first day of winter, Dec. 21. For…
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2 Realities of Reaching Worthy Goals
I’m convinced that anything worthwhile involves sacrifice. To reach a great goal, you have to give up good things. Take sleep, for example. For the last two Saturdays, when many people enjoyed the chance to catch some extra Zs, I set my alarm early to go for a long run. Granted, I enjoyed the morning with some amazing running partners, but I had to sacrifice sleep, embrace sweat, and push through fatigue (and dewy cobwebs along the trail). But I’ll never be ready for my half marathon in November if I don’t. As I type those words, I laugh, because not many years ago, I couldn’t even run a mile.…
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AOA Teacher Authors Message of Hope
The following article was featured in my school’s company newsletter, and the editor who conducted the interview graciously gave me permission to share it here with you. I’m so blessed to work at a place that supports my writing! *** The genre of dystopian young adult fiction has become highly popularized in recent years with blockbuster novels like The Hunger Games, Divergent, and The Giver; however, Alpha Omega Academy teacher Kristen Hogrefe knew she wanted the genre to offer more than just entertainment. “I wanted to offer hope,” the first-year AOA teacher said in a phone interview from her home in Spring Hill, Florida. “Dystopian novels are oftentimes so bleak.…
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A Cord of Three Strands
If you follow me on social media, you’ve probably seen the rescue kitten that now runs my house (only partially joking there). Good news is that low-to-no budget toys are often what makes kitty happiest. The other day, Mom gifted my little Ness with a red crochet strand with a jingle bell at the end. Turns out, it once belonged to some Christmas socks my great-aunt made me … a long time ago. Despite the years, those three strands remain tightly knit together, at least until my kitten gets the best of them. In the Bible, Solomon uses the visual of a three-strand cord to visualize why we need strong…
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3 Reasons to Thank Dad on Father’s Day
To most, the man across the table from me is nothing but an old broken Tooler with knobby fingers and dirty nails. To me, he is everything left that’s kind and lovely in the world. – Portia, The Revisionary At the beginning of The Revisionary, Portia and her father Abram Abernathy only have each other, but she’s made a plan to get back her lost brother. She thinks that if she can earn a Revisionary seat in the ruling Dome, she can rescue him from the satellite where the ASU government banished him. Although her father calls her plan “a fool’s errand,” she is sure of one thing: he loves her,…
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The Revisionary – New YA Novel Now Available!
Hello, friends! I’m thrilled to share The Revisionary with you. It is now available on Amazon in both paperback and Kindle formats. I want to invite you to celebrate with me this week! On Tuesday, June 6 (release day), you’re invited to listen in on a radio interview I’ll be doing on Blog Talk Radio. Tonight at 7 pm (Correction: Central Time), I’ll be chatting with Write Integrity Editor Marji Laine Clubine on her Publishing Laine program. We’ll be talking about the popularity of dystopian books, world-building, and perspective. Click here to listen in on Tuesday at 7 pm CST/8 EST. Then, on Thursday, June 8, join me for a…
