Only TWO DAYS until Songs for Libby will be live and available. Only two days before it shows up automatically on the Kindles of anyone who has preordered it.
TWO DAYS!!
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Category Archives: Extras
It’s Critical to Critique
Back before I published my first book, I exercised my writing muscles in a lot of different ways. I loaded my chapters onto a critique website and got feedback from a bunch of random strangers on the internet. In turn, I’d read their stuff and give them feedback. That format taught me how to better take criticism, whether that meant swallowing my pride and killing my darlings, or if it meant disregarding their comments because they were so far from my target audience that I had to filter some of their comments as irrelevant.
It also had the added benefit of teaching me how to give feedback. This is a learned skill. I’ve searched enough for useful beta readers to know that not everyone has that skill. It’s not just about reading it and giving a thumbs up or thumbs down. Good feedback only comes when the reader is able to identify that something in the writing isn’t sitting right with them, then identifying WHY that is, and then being able to come up with a possible solution. On top of all of that, they have to have the ability to articulate all of that information to the person whose work they are critiquing.
Continue readingI Choose You—NEW Deleted Scene
I’ve got a new deleted scene for you all to enjoy! This one comes from All That Stands Between Us, and it’s an alternate version of Julie and Drew’s reunion.
To read it in its entirety, you’ll have to subscribe to my newsletter to get access to all my extras. If you’ve already subscribed, check your email inbox for my latest letter. If you have GMAIL, it will be in your Promotions folder.
Here’s the beginning…
Continue readingAll That Stands Between Us Sneak Peek.
All right, my friends. I’ve decided to go ahead and give you a little sneak peek inside my newest book. And by sneak peek, I mean THE ENTIRE FIRST CHAPTER.
Also, this is my very own, very professional (coughnotatallcough) “illustrated” version. (Visual aids! Hooray!)
I hope you enjoy!
Continue readingGod Grant Me Serenity—Deleted Scene from All Our Broken Pieces
This deleted scene is from All Our Broken Pieces. This is how I originally wrote the scene that comes right after Ginny and Alex fight, she asks him to leave, and then trashes her room. I’ll let y’all read it first and then I’ll talk about the problems with it.
God Grant Me Serenity
I fell asleep without a blanket, with my arms banded around myself, curled into a fetal position.
It was nearly midnight when my phone rang. I fumbled to find it in the chaos and saw “Alex” as the caller. A breath hissed through my teeth and I checked myself, weighing my emotional state to determine if I could handle a conversation with him. Then I answered. I was still upset and confused, but if Alex was willing to reach out after what I’d put him through, then I couldn’t ignore it.
“Hello?”
“Can you meet me?” His voice was strained and I sat up straight, instantly on alert.
“Of course. What’s wrong?”
“I’m standing outside a liquor store and I need a reason not to go in.”
If you have signed up for my newsletter, the link to the rest of the scene should be in your inbox. If you have not signed up, you can do so here.
Deleted Scene from IF I COULD STAY
This deleted scene from If I Could Stay was written before I decided to have Leila leave her money and IDs in the trunk of her car. Instead, I simply had her lose them while she was with Jack, but she didn’t realize it until after he’d dropped her off at the bus station. She had to track him down to get it back.
*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*
It took me a while to track down the police station, but once I got reliable directions, which involved a surprising number of tree street names, it wasn’t hard to find. It was on Chestnut street, just past Pamela’s Hair Styling. I walked along the sidewalk and studied the parking lot, but Jack’s truck wasn’t there. He likely wasn’t on shift yet, since he had been driving in the early hours of the morning…
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Truth and the Stories We Tell Ourselves
This post today includes a collection of deleted scenes, the purpose of which is to emphasize my plea.
It’s not a plea for anything tangible or monetary. It’s a plea to everyone out there in the social media universe.
Can we stop weaponizing our opinions? Continue reading
If I Could Stay Deleted Scene
It’s time for a deleted scene from If I Could Stay!
While the final plot line had Leila leaving her go-bag in the trunk of her car, my original plan was for her to lose her money belt/wallet/purse in Jack’s truck. And since she can’t ask him for help due to the illegal nature of her fraudulent IDs, she ends up taking matters into her own hands. Continue reading
Fun Facts about If I Could Stay
Happy release day!
IF I COULD STAY is officially out. Those who pre-ordered should have their ebooks waiting on their Kindles, anxious to be read.
If you haven’t picked up your copy, it’s available in ebook and paperback here.
Now, I thought I would share a couple fun facts about the details that I included in my book. Continue reading
Painting Rain deleted scene
It’s been nearly two years since I published Painting Rain, and I really don’t know how I let that much time pass without posting some bonus content from it. For shame!
I’ll try to make it up to you.
This scene is the first part of an entire chapter that was deleted from Painting Rain. I was several thousand words into this particular scene before I realized that I had no idea where I was going with this story line and that it really didn’t serve a purpose. So it ended up on the cutting room floor. Continue reading