Into each life some rain must fall.

And fall it has. Literally. We've had rain showers for three days straight, but it lightened up some today. Long enough for me to get six lavender plants in the ground, sweep up a giant pile of maple seed helicopters (I don't know what they're supposed to be called, but they spin like helicopter blades when you drop them), and take M for a bike ride.

I should probably be working on something while my crit partners are reading GREYSKIN, but I'm taking the time to enjoy the warm weather and the outdoors. Nature puts me back in touch with Charlie, my MC. She's quite the nature girl herself. Which makes me wonder, writers, do you find yourself doing things your MC would normally do, or does your MC enjoy some of the things that you enjoy? I think Charlie is a bit of both for me. I put a lot of myself in to her, and she's put a lot of herself in to me.

But she's still way cooler than me.

All Good Things...

The contest at Sisters in Scribe was a huge success! And tons of fun! Sara Megibow is fantastic. We closed entries at 11:59pm on Saturday, and by Tuesday she had picked her top three winners. Stop by the blog to see who won!

This week NYC has seen some fantastic weather! Sunny and 70 degrees. FINALLY! I got my climbing rose bush and my clematis transplanted, I planted a bunch of herbs, including one of my favorite smells--lavender, my lilac trees are in full bloom, and I got a few hours out in the sun with a book. And now it's cold and rainy for the next four days. *sigh*

I've read two awesome books this week: The Graveyard Book by Neil Gaiman and Shade by Jeri Smith-Ready. Both are fantastic! I'm trying to get into a contemporary right now and I'm finding I have to force myself on this one. But I've heard so many great reviews, I am willing to give it a chance. You read anything good lately?

So why all this free time, you ask? Shouldn't she be revising?

I should! But I think an important part of revising is distancing yourself from your manuscript. I've busted my hump over rewriting the entire last half of my WIP (again) and now it's time for some space. I've sent him home with Krist and Valerie for the time being. I trust he is in good hands. This is not the first time my crit partners have read this manuscript, but this is the first time I've actually missed it when I'm not working on it. I'm taking this as a very good sign.

Full Shorts Week

This week at Tangled Fiction, the girls and I have decided to each write 1 full short story to share with you all! I kick us off today with a short starring Jack and Charlie, the two main characters in my wip, GREYSKIN.

Here is a small teaser, but to read the full, you'll have to hop over to TF and check it out!

Jack stands beside me, mouth open, eyes wide, as we stare down into an empty trunk. The heat of the exhaust burns my leg through my jeans, but I can’t move away from it. The trunk is empty.

“Where the hell’d it go?” Jack asks.

I shake my head. “How’d it get out?”

Jacky slams the trunk closed and turns around to lean against it. I do the same. The cicadas buzz so loud out here at night it’s impossible to hear anything else, so there’s no point being on guard. Besides, not even Jack can outrun a pissed off vampire. After being knocked over the head with a tire iron, wrapped in silver chains, and thrown in a trunk, I’m sure I’d be pretty pissed too. Vampires aren’t known for their happy-go-lucky attitudes. 

Thanks for reading! And I hope you check out the full story.
Happy Monday!

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Greyskin Fantasy Cast!

**I am working on fixing this post. I have no clue why it's all messed up.**

I'm stuck in revisions and so, naturally, I'm procrastinating! Today I've decided to fantasy cast the epic movie of my wip, GREYSKIN. You probably haven't read it, so you won't know who the heck these people are, but I'm going to share with you anyway.

And I'm sure someone else could help me cast it much better because I'm not really up to date on all the young actors, and I bet there are some undiscovered teens out there who would be even better picks, but I don't know them. So! Onward!

Sixteen year old Charlene (Charlie) Waite played by Lucy Hale. She'd be easy to turn into a butt-kicking, monster-hunting heroine.

Twenty one year old love interest, Jack O'Donnell to be played by Mark Salling. Grow out his hair, put him in some cowboy boots and set him behind the wheel of a '66 Chevelle and we have our boy. Just pretend you don't know him.

Sixteen year old Aaron Stoker, invisible to Charlie though he is hopelessly infatuated with her, played by Travis Caldwell.

Ms Anna, Charlie's mom and one of my favorite characters. Played by a younger Cher, back before she went plastic.

Vic, Charlie's MIA father, Eddie Spears. I know it's a strange picture choice, but it actually fits, lol!

Mac Tucker, bounty hunter, can only be Michael Clarke Duncan.

That just leaves the villain and two minor characters. But I'm all out of ideas for today. Back to writing!

Teaser Thursday!

Why not?

Here's a tiny piece from GREYSKIN, because I freaking LOVE Jack O'Donnell. He's such a manly man (even though he's only 21, just barely). If my husband ever gets tired of me, I'm living in my head with Jack. For reals.

“Getting good at those tall tales, Charlie,” says Jack, lighting a cigarette. “I think I might be rubbing off on you.” He says the last bit with the cigarette in his mouth. It makes the words come out in a growl and it stirs something in me. I pinch my lip with my teeth. My whole body pulls toward his. I want to take the step to close the gap between us and press myself against him.

“Let’s go,” he says, words smacking me back to where we are, with the curious eyes of the lawn chair men. “B*tch’s gettin’ restless.”

Visual Inspiration - Greyskin

This post was inspired by one of my crit partners, Valerie. The following images are some visual inspirations from my YA Paranormal (no vampires), GREYSKIN.

These come from http://weheartit.com/

This one came from bigstockphoto.com

This one, I made myself. Charlie's desk.

Interview!

The fabulous Dorothy Dreyer recently asked me for an interview after she read my entry of GREYSKIN on the Authoress blog! As weird as it is to talk about myself, I think I did okay without too much rambling.

If you're interested, here it is! http://misssnarksfirstvictim.blogspot.com/