Saturday, March 25, 2017

An awesome new release!



Today I'm taking a break from my regular updates(but not from working hard on my writing). I'm excited to share a new release from the talented Krysten Hager. Here's some info on her latest, Dating the It Guy.
Dating the It Guy by Krysten Lindsay Hager
YA contemporary romance
Published by Clean Reads

Blurb:
Emme is a sophomore in high school who starts dating, Brendon Agretti, the popular senior who happens to be a senator's son and well-known for his good looks. Emme feels out of her comfort zone in Brendon's world and it doesn't help that his picture perfect ex, Lauren seems determined to get back into his life along with every other girl who wants to be the future Mrs. Agretti. Emme is already conflicted due to the fact her last boyfriend cheated on her and her whole world is off kilter with her family issues. Life suddenly seems easier keeping Brendon away and relying on her crystals and horoscopes to guide her. Emme soon starts to realize she needs to focus less on the stars and more on her senses. Can Emme get over her insecurities and make her relationship work? Life sure is complicated when you're dating the it guy.


Short Excerpt:
“By the way, did you hear Lauren got into Senator Agretti’s old school?”

“Seriously? I wonder if she applied there because Brendon did,” I said.

Margaux snorted. “Duh, of course. Seriously, she might as well just pee on him to mark her territory.”

“Margaux, shut up,” Kylie said.

“Whatever. Anyway, the important thing is if Brendon knew she was applying there,” Margaux said. “Em, do you think he knew?”

I hoped Lauren was just trying to follow Brendon, but what if they had planned this whole thing while they were dating? What if he convinced her to apply there so they could go to college together, wear matching American flag sweaters with big scarves while drinking hot chocolate, and jump into leaf piles just like a preppy clothing catalog. At least now I didn’t have to worry about them reciting poetry to one another in South Bend, but still, what if they had made plans to go to school together?

“Don’t worry about it,” Kylie said. “She was probably trying to follow him—like she always does. She’s so pathetic.”

Kylie was trying to make me feel better, but Lauren was far from pathetic. After all, she was pretty much the “Most Likely to Succeed” poster girl. While she was out overachieving and saving the world without messing up her perfect, bouncy hair, I was trying to get through each day. I tried to push away the image of Lauren and Brendon holding hands and drinking hot chocolate under a stadium blanket. 

Purchase:
Barnes and Noble: http://bit.ly/2m5y9OC
  
Follow Krysten
Bio: Besides mining her teen years and humiliating moments for her novels, Krysten is a also a book addict who has never met a bookstore she didn’t like. She’s worked as a journalist and writes young adult, middle grade, new adult, and adult fiction as well as humor essays. She is originally from Michigan and has lived in Portugal, South Dakota, and currently resides in southwestern Ohio where you can find her reading and writing when she’s not catching up on her favorite shows (she's addicted to American Dad to the point where she quotes episodes on a daily basis and also loves Girl Meets World). She's also a third generation Detroit Lions fan.

Krysten writes about friendship, self-esteem, fitting in, frenemies, crushes, fame, first loves, and values. She is the author of True Colors, Best Friends...Forever?, Next Door to a Star,  Landry in Like, and Competing with the Star (The Star Series: Book 2). Her debut novel, True Colors, won the Readers Favorite award for best preteen book. Krysten's work has been featured in USA Today, The Flint Journal, the Grand Haven Tribune, the Beavercreek Current, the Bellbrook Times and on Living Dayton.

Praise for Dating the It Guy:
“A sweet, endearing story—you’ll fall in love with Emme just like I did!” --Kimber Leigh Wheaton, YA/NA author

"Hager's authentic characters will resonate with readers of all ages as they are immersed in the story  - complete with teen drama and angst, but also the relationships which make it all worthwhile." --  Leslie L. McKee, book reviewer, Edits and Reviews by Leslie

What people are saying about Krysten’s work:
From Teenage Book Recommendations in the UK: "This is a fantastically relatable and real book which I feel captures all of the insecurities and troubles which haunt the modern teenage girl. It is about a young model who has to go through tough times when she is torn between a life as a model and managing her friendships. You learn which friends she can most trust and which will create the drama typical of teenage life. Follow the life of Landry and try to see if you can find out which are her true friends before their true colours are revealed. This book is all about relationships, hopes and truth. I loved this book!"
From Books & Authors Spot: “This book is such an inspiration for those who just care about their looks and are tensed about them. This thing is looks aren't everything. This book is related to every teen's problem. Hager has written a very inspiring novel.”

“Krysten captures the teenage girl today. The struggles are real, the issues are something children have been dealing with since before I was a teen, and oddly-Krysten captures the readers! I was prepared for another "Mean Girls" story. This is NOT that. This is the real story of teenage girls! You watch Landry flower into a young woman who finds out trust is an invaluable item to find, and friendships are hard to seek genuine realism in. You will learn about relationships with not just friends, but peers, boys, and others. The details put into the book will draw you, and make the story so much more realistic. Krysten expresses emotions beautifully through her writing, and the story flows flawlessly…” By Candice J. Conway Simpson

 “Krysten Lindsay Hager understands what it means to be a teen today, and she writes with an authentic voice. Landry, the main character, is funny, lively, and very real. Readers will relate to her struggles with friends and family, self-esteem and self-discovery, boys and school and life in general. It's fun to read about Landry's blossoming modeling career and the changes it brings.” Review by Author Diana Jenkins




Sunday, March 12, 2017

Update #5--as promised.



Hi again. Let's get right to it.  Last time I wrote, I hovered around 40 thousand and something words written and this week I only jumped to 41, 920. Why did I get so few words written over two weeks, you might ask. Well, the truth is writing is an inexact process, at least for me and many of my fellow authors. I was cruising along, ready to pump out the last couple of chapters and I realized, I wanted to change some things. My story was not what it could be, or what it will be after I edit it. 


I know just hearing the word editing makes your eyes glaze over with boredom, but truth of the matter is, editing, or molding as I call it is my favorite part. The very talented author Shannon Hale once described writing your first draft as dumping sand in the sandbox. Now completing my eighth novel, I agree. First time around, I'm putting something on paper to work with, something moldable.  But, I don't really know my characters yet, not until I cut and shape and clean up and form the story and turn the writing into something that will make you feel, joy, pain, and in Five Days, Five Kisses, fall in love with Nikola and Malan!


 So hold on with me. I'm already editing the last few chapters and am excited excited about the positive changes that have come out of my work. Just for fun, I copied and pasted what an un-edited section might look like. Here it is in all its messiness. I place a set of ones (111111) when I want to go back and fix something or find a better way to say what I mean. 




Nearly two sluggish hours had passed since they’d arrived at the hospital. He clutched Nikola’s letter in his hand, still thinking about the contents. Her tender words, pleading for his forgiveness, the way she spoke of their relationship, even their friendship brought up 111111111111feelings he’d kept subdued since receiving her final letter11111111earlier. 


Looks like I've still got work to do. Thanks for checking in and if you're after some sweet romance right now, check out my other titles. Angela's Amazon Page 
Most titles are .99 on kindle!