Book Questions: P A R T O N E.

I hate excessively long blog posts, so I'm splitting this one into two...even though part one is already pretty long.  Bear with me!

Technically 3 years, but I didn't spend three years writing a book.  The week before I moved away to college, I had this idea pop in my head that I thought would make a really good book ending, so I wrote it down.  After that, I pretty much wrote a few pages here and there whenever I had time.  When I was overwhelmed with all the technical writing that comes along with college, I would take a break and write a few pages of my book.  I wrote more over school breaks, and I got serious about finishing in January of 2013, right after we got back from our honeymoon.

Seven months!

No.  First of all, because if I hear about or see a book I want to read, I don't first think, "Wait, it was independently published?  Guess I won't be reading that one." Secondly, I don't think that independent publishing has the stigma that it used to.  Author's aren't choosing it as a last resort, they're choosing it because it fits their needs the best.  I actually received a few offers of representation by traditional literary agents, but I still chose to independently publish.  Why?  Because I knew it was the right thing for me.  

George Weis from Tekeme Studios!

This is an excellent question.  I guess I'm afraid of the fact that as of next Monday, it will be "open season" on my book.  Anyone at all can read it.  They can say anything they want to about it, and that scares me.  This is something I have truly poured myself into over the past three years, and to know there are going to be mean things said about it is terrifying.  I'm a very private person, and only a handful of people have read this story, so it's intimidating to know strangers might hate my book!  On the opposite side of that, I'm elated for the day that I get to hear of someone reading my book and enjoying it. 

Oh, and I'm afraid of the first error that I know I will find once it's printed.  It happens. 

I'm not sure!  I haven't seen a report yet since it's still in the pre-order phase.

"Do you want to know what not living is, Avery?  It's spending all of your time and energy trying to solve things that can't be solved, and even if they could, it wouldn't help or have the outcome that we want. . .Why did your mom die?  Why are you here?  What's the meaning of life?  And will we ever really know?  No, probably not.  And so we have nights like last night.  We sit and watch the stars and bear our hearts to each other, because that's what we can do."

Check back on Thursday for more quotes! 

If you have any other questions, feel free to leave them here!  I'll be back tomorrow to answer the rest of them!

Why I Love YA Lit.

I'll be answering your questions tomorrow--feel free to leave any last minute ones here!  One of the questions someone emailed me was about why I chose to write a young-adult novel as opposed to an adult novel.  I loved that question and thought it deserved it's own blog post!  So let's do it.

Young-adult literature is definitely getting the recognition it deserves lately due to Hollywood.  The Spectacular Now, The Fault in Our Stars, Divergent...all young-adult novels.

These novels (and now, movies) don't simply draw the attention of young adults, but they also draw attention from every age group and walk of life.  Why is that?  One would think that after 20, the gap between what happens in YA novels and what readers are interested in would be growing wider by the day.  Obviously, that's not the case.  Why?

There are certain things in life that, once they happen, they can never happen again.  The first time you fall in love.  The first time you do something rebellious.  The first time you make a decision that terrifies you.  The first time someone breaks your heart.  Sure, these things will happen over and over throughout your life, but there's only one first.  Sometimes it's a good first, sometimes it's a bad first, but once it happens, you'll never have that first again.

It's nice to be able to re-live the magic of those firsts.  It's great to watch a character fall stupidly in love and then make a ton of mistakes because it's the first time she's ever been in love.  It's wonderful to be able to recall your own version of that story with the fondness of hindsight.

Because there are still a ton of "firsts" that you are totally unprepared for.

Buying a house, having a family, learning how to budget money, figuring out how to do life with another person, stumbling through careers, figuring out what the heck you actually want to do with your life...no matter how prepared you think you are in life, you never really are.  And it's nice to watch some characters stumble through life, because you can totally relate to that.

It's incredibly emotional. 
If you read about a grown man getting his heart broken, it's easy to be cynical.  But to read about a teenage boy getting his heart broken?  It's heart wrenching.  Because you remember how vulnerable you were as a teenager.  Reading about characters who freely fall in love and jump into new things, even when they are sure to end badly, reminds you of that part of yourself.  Sometimes you need to remember that you haven't always been cynical and stressed and worried about life.

Because there is a part of your heart that will always be young. 
A part of you will always long to fall in love, will always long to be irresponsibly adventurous, will always long to be vulnerable and open to life.  And most YA novels are about all of those things.  They're about being open to life.

Do you read YA lit?  Why or why not? 

PS:  Have a Nook?  My book is available for pre-order on the Nook today!


g o  s h o p p i n g:

I'm happy to be alive because of gold & glitter & cheap headbands.

1.  It's supposed to be 88 degrees today, and I will be enjoying every single one of those degrees by the pool.

2.  I haven't really been sleeping, and while that kind of sucks as a whole, I've had time to make things like this:

gold & glitter & ampersands, these are a few of my favorite things.

3.  I love April already.  I got to meet my mom for lunch yesterday and had the best time ever celebrating the start of book & birthday month!

4.  I'm so incredibly close to making my last payment on all things book related.  To help with the final push, I've dropped t h i s  h e a d b a n d down to $8, no code necessary, for this weekend only.  {psst, and I dropped t h i s  o n e down to $5!}

5.  Reading through your question emails this morning is so much fun!  Keep them coming!

What makes you happy to be alive this week? 

s h o p   h e r e :

Q U E S T I O N S

Happy almost-Friday!  I don't know about you guys, but I'm loving April so far.

Florida life is the best life.

Anyway, a lot of you have either emailed me or commented here that you would be interested in hearing more about the whole book writing//publishing process.  That's great with me, because writing is my favorite thing to write about.  Ironic, yes?

I don't want to write a blog that doesn't answer any of the questions you have, so speak up!  Either comment or email me email me your questions, whether they're about writing or something else, and I'll do my best to answer them all in a post next week!

Have a beautiful Thursday! xoxo


come say hello here:

April is for dreamers & lovers & thinkers & doers.

I don't know that there's ever been a month that seemed so long yet went by so fast as March.

So many wonderful things happened in March and I will cherish this month forever.  I would be sad to see it go, but I'm way too excited for April.

So goodbye, March.

Goodbye to weather that can't decide if we live in Florida or Alaska.
Goodbye to a sick pup and a bad week.
Goodbye to getting too caught up in planning (read: worrying about) the future.
Goodbye to last minute writing and editing and making final decisions about my book.
Goodbye to chilly morning walks.

Hello, April.

Hello to living in the present.
Hello to warmer mornings and almost-summer nights and many, many days by the pool.
Hello to nights spent sleepless over how excited and terrified I am for this book release.
Hello to my very first book being available for anyone to read.
Hello to turning 22.
Hello to spending every day dreaming and doing.
Hello to celebrating being happy to be alive.

April is for dreamers & lovers & thinkers & doers.

What are you saying hello to today?

you can also find me here:

Happy to be alive, because...

In case you missed it, the title of my book is Happy to be Alive, Because. 

I love thankful Fridays, and I thought it would be fitting to move them in a new direction by making them happy to be alive Fridays. 

1.  My book is available for P R E - O R D E R.  What?!  When I woke up on Wednesday, I had no idea the day was going to end by hearing from friends and family that they had just ordered my book.  There were a lot of happy tears. 

My dad sent me a video of him, my mom, and my little brother standing at the computer ordering my book.  Tears on tears on tears.  I love my family

2.  My husband is officially done with his second year of medical school!  He's halfway to being a doctor and that's just exciting.

3.  There are so many good people in my life.  I had to write my book dedication/acknowledgments yesterday, and I really could have filled up roughly seventeen pages with all the things I would have liked to say.  I've never been one to keep a lot of people in my life at one time, but the ones I do have are downright amazing. 

4.  It's supposed to be warm again soon.  This whole, pool one day, winter coat the next day saga is getting old. 

5.  The incredibly encouraging words you guys left on my blog.  Blogging is such a weird and wonderful thing.  This is such a crazy journey for me, and getting to share it on this little space on the internet is amazing.  On that note: I wanted something to keep track of all of this excitement, so I'm going to use  #happytobealive2014 on instagram and twitter.  I would love for you to use it too!  For anything from talking about the book to simply pictures or tweets about why you're happy to be alive. 

So!  What makes you happy to be alive? 

s h o p  h e r e:

This is Real Life: A Book Update

It's late at night and I know there's no way I'm going to be able sleep because I'm so excited to share all of this with everyone. 

In case you're new around here: I wrote a book.  I've been so nervous that something was going to go wrong or fall behind schedule, so I've been afraid to post updates because I hate publicly saying something and then having to follow up with, "Oh wait, that's actually not happening."  Again with the need to be brave.  Geez. I will get there!

However, it appears that everything is on schedule, so here goes nothing everything.

BOOK COVER

First of all, let's just talk about the fact that MY NAME is on the cover of a book...because I wrote said book.  Dream.  Come.  True.

WHAT'S IT ABOUT?


This is the description on the back of the book.  Look at you, getting a sneak peek and stuff. 

Avery is a seventeen-year-old girl whose reality has just been shattered by the death of her mother. Feeling a desperate need to flee from what has become her life, she follows a travel plan meant for her mom and her that leads her to the little beach town where her mom grew up. It's there that she meets a group of three adventurous friends who adopt her into their circle, allowing her to experience a summer she never thought would be possible after suffering such a great loss. Unfortunately, her summer full of experiences threatens to end abruptly when she realizes that one of the three has a secret that causes her to question everything about the new life she has been building.

Avery must learn to balance her grief and her desire for a future in order to achieve her mother's final wish for her: That she would be happy to be alive.

WHEN DOES IT COME OUT?

April 14th, 2014. 

Also known as my twenty-second birthday. 

Also know as nineteen days from today. 

This is real life. 

I have about a billion and seven more things to say, but I'll end this before it gets way too long.  Be warned, though.  A billion and seven book-related blog posts coming your way. 

You can also find me here: