I’m not even kidding. In exactly one week I’ll be staying in a haunted house for four whole days. HAUNTED. Like for reals.
You know I love this shit. I mean, duh, I wrote about it. I’m obsessed with the paranormal and I love watching shows about ghosts or ghost hunters. But that’s on TV.
As in from AFAR.
I am not down with close and personal ghost encounters. I repeat: I am not down with it.
You want to know why books like Gillian Flynn’s Gone Girl are such a hit? Because they’re smart and unexpected. In the literary world, plots tend to get diluted and predictable, and it’s awesome when an author is enlightened and brave enough to break out of formulaic confines and actually surprise readers.
(cough-giveaway ahead-cough)
Because I consider you to be the savvy sort of reader, I bring you a novel whose author did exactly what I described above. DEAR STEPHANIE by Mandi Castle. (< hit that title to go straight to Amazon and order! Released TODAY!)
Quite early this past Saturday morning, I was in Writer-Beast-Mode with a deadline dangling over my head, typing busily on my laptop while my eight-year-old twirled around me, talking nonstop as he’s known to do. I was half-paying attention to him, nodding and smiling, certainly not 100% present, I admit. Until he said this and my world came to a screeching halt:
Guys. It’s live. Right this second. Order of Seven is on Amazon and Barnes and Noble. It has my name on it. Because I wrote it. My name is on a book.
MY NAME IS ON A BOOK.
I must say the coolest thing about being an author is knowing other authors. First and foremost, I’m a reader and a fan of writers. And when I say I’m a fan, I mean embarrassingly so. Like, I would stand in line to meet an author before I’d go to a concert, and that claim is not even a little bit exaggerated. Authors are my rockstars.
In response to several people reaching out to me for writing advice, I thought I’d put together this list. Each of these require deliberate intent and aren’t always easy or comfortable, but I hope something here helps you avoid learning the hard way, like I tend to do.
I’m dying to write in ALL CAPS because that’s how excited I am to join Ten Things of Thankful today! You guys know me. I’m an animated writer. If I could reach through the screen, run at you full speed and tackle you like a Labrador overjoyed to see its owner, I WOULD SO DO IT. Pretend I just did. Because…bursting.
This incredible review has got me feeling all warm and fuzzy. I’m a very happy writer at the moment. 🙂
My job: Inventor of sorts. Don’t call me a god; I hate that term. I prefer Creator of Species. Yes. I like that. The task at hand? An entirely new species. Different than the rest. Better, perhaps, although it will be too humble to admit it.
I drop lavender liquid into my beaker, adding Empathetic and Compassionate to the already established shades of Independent orange. Enigmatic yellow swirls into my mixture. Three drops of Intensely Emotional and five of Selfless. Two of Tolerant. Four of Courageous. A combination of Strong and Resilient equaling a quarter cup.
I wrote recently about how important it is for me to raise my children to not be judgmental of other people or their life choices. Today I’m discussing another facet of compassion that grabs my heart and squeezes .
I was walking my dog, Milo, in a field near our house, when another dog came out of the trees and trotted over to us. I was nervous at first because I didn’t know if this dog was aggressive, but it turns out he just wanted to say hi to Milo. This dog was skinny, and had a few cysts under his skin like old dogs get, but otherwise appeared healthy. No collar, although the hair around his neck was indented like he’d had a collar recently. He trotted behind us nearly all the way back to my house, but then meandered between two houses and disappeared. When he didn’t respond to my calls, I got the impression he was deaf. I ran in my house to get food and water and came back out, calling, “Puppy! Puppy!”
Beth Teliho 