Random Wednesday post: 20 things that I love!

1. Dates with my hubby & my boys
2. The smell of coppertone & banana boat sunblock 
3. Christmas
4. Sushi
5. Coconut (food, lotion, candles, etc)
6. Reading (NA.YA. Inspirational) & writing (my novels)
7. Dr. Pepper
8. Cotton Candy
9. The movie - The Notebook
10. Coffee especially Caramel macchiato 
11. Praise & worship music & Jesus 
12. Sunsets 
13. Taking pics &Scrapbooking 
14. The beach 
15. Fine point sharpies
16. Reese's pieces
17. Traveling with my family 
18. Cold weather so I can wear my scarves
19. Listening to Pandora dance stations while cleaning the house
20. Fall

Writing Great Books for Young Adults by Regina Brooks

Writing Great Books for Young Adults: Everything You Need to Know, from Crafting the Idea to Landing a Publishing Deal by Regina Brooks
The young adult book market is one of the healthiest in the industry, but little has been written to help authors hone their craft and truly connect with this audience. With the new edition of her indispensable guide, experienced literary agent Regina Brooks offers up-and-coming YA writers all the advice they need to create great content for this exploding market of readers.  Most importantly, Regina states, the key to success is listening to young adults so that YA writers can create characters with whom their readers can identify.




This book is an awesome resource!!!

Recently I have been doing lots of research on writing fiction. I looked at books on plot, structure and point of view, but I didn’t think about looking for one in the genre I was writing. I really didn’t find one that totally connected with me until I came across this title.

I knew that I wanted to write a YA novel for some time, but didn’t realize that there was so much I didn’t know about what goes into it!

This book is a great guide as well as introduction into writing fiction and young adult novels. It’s an easy read and has awesome tips for beginners or those who are just a little rusty. The book addresses plot, dialogue, setting as well as different points of view. The author also hits on publishing and finding an agent once your novel is complete. There is such a wealth of information in this book, that it’s definitely worth the buy!

My favorite part of this book was when I came across the section on how to appeal to the YA audience. I sometimes forget that I’m not a teenager anymore and what I may want a 16 year old to say or do, may not be relatable in today’s time. I also enjoyed the “themes” list, that helped serve as writing prompts for me.

I highly recommend this book for anyone wanting to know more about the YA genre and even those just starting out in writing.

Regina Brooks is a literary agent, who has wonderful insight into this genre!


(Received from NetGalley in exchange for an honest review.)
My rating: 5 of 5 stars

Making Face by Amy Harmon WOW!!

Making Faces by Amy Harmon
Making Faces is the story of a small town where five young men go off to war, and only one comes back. It is the story of loss. Collective loss, individual loss, loss of beauty, loss of life, loss of identity. It is the tale of one girl's love for a broken boy, and a wounded warrior's love for an unremarkable girl. This is a story of friendship that overcomes heartache, heroism that defies the common definitions, and a modern tale of Beauty and the Beast, where we discover that there is a little beauty and a little beast in all of us.

"If God makes all our faces, did he laugh when he made me?” - Fern

I don't even know where to begin! A friend recommended this book to me! It was my first Amy Harmon book, and it definitely wont be my last!

This story is simply:
beautiful
but tragic.
Romantic
yet heart-breaking
and so full of faith!
It left me speechless and pondering for days.

It starts off with a sweet, caring girl, whose unrequited love, for the most popular boy in school, goes unnoticed until its too late.

Fern, Bailey and Ambrose.

Fern is the “plain-jane” girl (in her own eyes) who has been in love with the town wrestling hero, Ambrose Young. She’s a preacher’s daughter and her heart is just so innocent and pure. She’s lover of romance novels and an an aspiring writer.

She expressed her feelings well in this poem that touched my core!
“If God makes all our faces, did he laugh when he made me?
Does he make the legs that cannot walk and eyes that cannot see?
Does he curl the hair upon my head 'til it rebels in wild defiance?
Does he close the ears of the deaf man to make him more reliant?
Is the way I look coincidence or just a twist of fate?
If he made me this way, is it okay, to blame him for the things I hate?
For the flaws that seem to worsen every time I see a mirror,
For the ugliness I see in me, for the loathing and the fear.
Does he sculpt us for his pleasure, for a reason I can't see?
If God makes all our faces, did he laugh when he made me?” 

Long story short, at the end of their senior year, Fern finally seems to gain a little of Ambrose’s attention, but to her dismay, he, along with four other friends decide to join the military after graduation.

Tragedy strikes the five friends while away and only one returns and he is changed, both physically and emotionally.

“If God saved my life, why didn't he save their lives? Is my life so much more valuable? So I'm special... and they're not?” - Ambrose


Ambrose hides away and shuts everyone out, even Fern, who happens to work at his father’s bakery. Though Fern can see beyond his physical scars, he finds it hard to believe.

“You act like beauty is the only thing that makes us worthy of love,” -Fern


But as they slowly rebuild their friendship, somewhere along the way love shines through. It just goes to show that sometimes you just don’t realize the beauty that’s right in front of you. It takes looking past what’s on the outside to see what’s on the inside.


This is one of Fern’s quotes that I loved and could of written myself, because it describes me perfectly.

“Scripture comforts me, and romance novels give me hope." -Fern


and then there’s Bailey. Beautiful Bailey Sheen.
Make sure you guys dig deep and realize this story is not just about Fern and Ambrose.

It’s about love, loss, a little self discovery, true friendship and most definitely hope.

Bailey and Fern are cousins, and their relationship is the most precious thing I’ve read in such a long time!

Bailey is confined to a wheel chair, due to being diagnosed with Duchenne Muscular Dystrophy. Fern has somehow become his constant companion and help. Their relationship touched my heart so deeply, as we too have a young cousin who is wheelchair bound with MD. The storyline shows how Bailey lives his life knowing that tomorrow is not guaranteed.

It’s hard to come to terms with the fact that you aren't ever going to be loved the way you want to be loved. - Bailey


This was a very inspiring and emotional read that I highly recommend!

My rating: 5 of 5 stars

Kismet by A.E. Woodward Emotionally heartbreaking.....

Katie’s world came crashing down in an instant.

Her husband, daughter, and unborn baby. . . all gone in a flash. The life that she’d come to know, gone before she ever really got to live it.

With a broken heart, she deals the only way she knows how, by shutting it all off. No communicating, no feelings, just pure nothingness.

Alone with nothing but her own thoughts and a well meaning family, she moves back to her childhood home, a horse farm. It’s there that she finds herself healing along with the horses her family rehabilitates. But when Parker McKenzie comes back into her life she’s reminded of all that went wrong, and all that she lost.

Will Katie ever begin to heal? Or will her secrets and loss be too much for her to overcome?

Perhaps, this is her kismet.


(Sigh.) Where to begin. What happens to a person when they lose their entire world? Katie lost them all in an instant and basically lost all hope.

When I first started reading this, I had a hard time continuing, but not because it was bad, but because it was raw and emotionally heartbreaking . I can’t fathom how one would be able to move forward if they endured what Katie did. The story kept me on edge, and I had to keep reading!


She shut down, like I possibly would and it touched me deeply. She felt her family’s death was her fault, her KISMET, that was punishing her for past mistakes, therefore making her believe she didn’t deserve to move on from her grief.


She moves back home to her parents farm and tries to gain some sort of normalcy after all that has happened. Enter Parker, childhood friend, protector, and lost love. He’s persistent and refuses to leave her alone to do it all on her own.

“You’re still in there Katie, and I refuse to give up on you.” -Parker

Learning to move on after tragedy, gives Katie and Parker a second chance to heal their past. This book made me smile, cry and want to scream! Oh the feels!!

“When he kissed me, I felt like I was finally coming alive, like I’d found my person.”-Katie

Sigh. Like seriously, She found her person.

I also loved, loved, LOVED her brother, Tommy. I’ve always dreamed of having a big brother just like him, so he totally had me sucked in the story. He was a rock for Katie.

The plot twist - gutted me and left me reeling. Gah. I wasn’t a huge fan of it.

But with all that said, this was an amazing story of love, loss, pain, redemption, hope...it’s all there.
I definitely recommend it.


**A copy of this book was provided in exchange for an honest review**
My rating: 4.5 of 5 stars