Win Madison Riley's Necklace: Embrace Series Swag

Before I get to the my giveaway, I want to congratulate Nicole M and Kerrin T, winners in the Sizzling Summer Giveaway.  If you missed the beautiful bookmarks from Behind a Million and One Pages, you can download them by clicking here.

Embrace Bookmark by Gina at Behind a Million and One Pages

Hold Tight Bookmark by Gina at Behind a Million and One Pages

With less than three weeks to August 20th and the release of HOLD TIGHT, I've been itching to do an event. So to celebrate book two in the Embrace Series I'm giving away this beautiful swag package.

Included: an Embrace Series Tote Bag, Hemp bracelet from book one

Madison's and Kaylee's Necklace from book two, and official Bookmarks (not shown)
(Due to the cost of shipping this giveaway is open to US Residents only.)

Spread the word about Embrace and Hold Tight 
for your chance to win.

a Rafflecopter giveaway

And as if that wasn't enough, you can win a 

copy of Embrace at Martini Times. 

Click here to enter that giveaway.

Sizzling Summer Giveaway

It's a Sizzling Summer Giveaway

A big thanks to the girls over at YA Bound for organizing this event. 

You'll find me this week at the following stops on the tour. Stop by to get the Embrace playlist:

A.L. Davroe Official

Behind a Million and One Books
Sab The Book Eater

     

And don't forget to enter the giveaway for your chance to win one of two Kindle Fire HD! 

Participating Authors:

Rachel Harris

Trisha Wolfe

Alyssa Rose Ivy

C.C. Hunter

Bethany Lopez

Cindi Madsen

Tiffany King

Raine Thomas

Laura Howard

Patrice Michelle

Jennifer Snyder

Carrie Butler

Andrea Heltsley

Jennifer Lane

Shannon Duffy

Devyn Dawson

Nazarea Andrews

Cherie Colyer

T.M. Franklin

Dawn Pendleton

Lisa Sanchez

Morgan Wylie

Eliza Tilton

Liz Long

Meradeth Houston

Dawna Raver

Erin Danzer

Lisa Collicutt

E.J. Wesley

A.K. Morgen

Elle Chardou

Lara Schiffbauer

Jaycee DeLorenzo

JD Nelson

Sharon Bayliss

C.R. Everett

Thea Gregory

Brandice Snowden (not shown)

Nicki Elson

Diana Castilleja

A. W. Exley

Krystal Wade

Elizabeth Sharp

Krissi Dallas

Tia Bach

Jamie Ayres

Michelle Muto

M.R. Polish

Just look at the amazing selection of books that the lucky winners will get along with their new eReader:

YA eBook Prize Pack

New Adult eBook Prize Pack

Enter the giveaway!

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Interview with Rachel Schieffelbein

Today I'm chatting with Rachel Schieffelbein, author of Secondary Characters, a young adult novella.

SECONDARY CHARACTERS

by Rachel Schieffelbein

Synopsis:

When Mabel's best friend, Amber, drags her along on a double date she finds herself falling for Lance, the obnoxious class clown whom she swore she'd have no interest in. The only problem is, she's not sure if she's really the girl Lance is into, or if, like every other guy she knows, it's really Amber he's after. One thing is clear, if Mabel wants to be the lead in her own love story, she needs to start acting like it.

Please help me welcome Rachel.

Cherie: Tell us about your novella, Secondary Characters, in your own words.

Rachel: It’s the story of Mabel, a girl who feels like the side-kick for her best friend, Amber. She’s gotten it in her head that Amber’s the star of the show, so when she falls for Lance she’s worried that it’s really Amber he’s interested in.

Cherie:  I think Mabel’s insecurity is one lot of girls will be able to relate. Can you tell us what is your writing process is like?

Rachel:  I have four little kids, so I write in small bursts when there are quiet moments. J Then I revise, revise, revise. I have some wonderful critique partners, without whom my writing would stink.

Cherie:  I bet your kids keep you busy! And I agree, great critique partners are wonderful to have. Where did you get the idea for your novel?

Rachel:  I heard a song from a musical titled, Secondary Characters. It’s about two people who take over the stage while the leads are busy elsewhere. It got me thinking about what it would be like to feel like a secondary character in your own life.

Cherie:  That’s so interesting, and you came up with a great story. What was your favorite (or most difficult) chapter to write?

Rachel:  The novella has dual points of view, and writing from Lance’s POV was both fun and challenging. I had to try and think like a teenage boy. Fortunately my husband’s mentality is not that different from a teenage boy’s, that helped. ;)

Cherie:  Too funny! I always want to know more about great characters. Can you share with us something about Lance that we don’t learn about him from reading the book?

Rachel:  Lance is a music lover. He listens to music to energize himself, or to calm down, help himself think, whatever. There’s a song for every mood. J

Cherie:  Nice! What are you working on now?

Rachel:  I’m working on another YA novella that is set at a horse show. I’ve shown Arabian horses for many years and the big Youth Nationals show that takes place every summer seemed like a perfect setting for a young adult story.

Cherie:  That’s sounds intriguing. Now that we know about your book and you as a writer, I have some fun questions for you. Do you believe in love at first sight?

Rachel:  Sort of. I’m not sure you can call it love right away, but certainly the beginning of it. I knew my husband would be the person I’d marry after three days. I know that sounds nuts, but I just knew. We’ve been married almost ten years now.

Cherie:  Congrats! Who are you drawn to the good guy or the bad guy?

Rachel:  I go for the good guy. They can still be exciting and fun, and they will treat you right.

Cherie:  If you had all the money and time in the world, where would your dream vacation be?

Rachel:  I want to go to England and see the town my grandparents lived in before they moved to the US.

Cherie:  Favorite movie or television show?

Rachel:  Favorite movie ever is The Princess Bride.  For TV shows, I pretty much only watch comedies. I love Big Bang Theory, Parks and Recreation, and Modern Family.

Cherie:  What book are you the most excited to read?

Rachel:  Cassie Mae’s How to Date a Nerd. It’s such a fun premise and everything I’ve read by her has been amazing.

Thanks for being with us today!

If can find Secondary Character’s on Amazon or Barnes & Noble.

My Five Stages of Revisions

I’m going to start by saying I like revising. It’s one of my favorite steps in writing a novel, as you’ll see from my first stage.  It’s a good thing too, because the last few months I’ve been working solely on revisions, alternating what story I’m working on. My revisions have been based on comments from my editor, my agent, or beta readers, and with each novel I’ve gone through similar stages of liking and disliking the story. I start out positive:

Excitement: This is when I’m waiting to hear back from my editor, agent, a beta reader, or critique partners, because I know once I have feedback I’ll be able to dive back into my novel with a fresh set of eyes. I’m excited to hear what worked and what didn’t work, and I know I’ll have some type of direction that will allow me to tighten the plot and improve the story.

Dread: This happens after I receive my editorial notes or feedback. I read through the comments before I begin revising. There’s usually something that I don’t agree with. Not so much about the main plot, but about the rules to my world. I write paranormal, so there is always a good amount of world building that is needed. Supernatural characters have supernatural abilities, and in their world anything can happen. Before anyone reads my full story, I’ve spent a lot of time developing the characters, what they can and can’t do, how they look, and how they interact with the humans around them. My first thought is a change to what I have written is going to have an overwhelming domino effect on the rest of the novel. It’s at this point I usually walk away from my laptop.

Denial: Which I first recognize as frustration and it happens while I’m away from my computer. It’s when I tell myself there is nothing wrong with the scene as it is written. I already answered the questions, or what happened makes perfect sense and it has to happen the way it’s written. The problem isn’t what I wrote; it’s that the person who read the story just didn’t get it.

Acceptance: Thankfully it doesn’t take me too long to reach this point. I go back and re-read the comment and then the scene to gain an understanding of what didn’t work. Once I have a grasp on that I start to think of ways to change it so the scene does work. Often times the solution is as easy as rewording what’s there or adding missing details. Other times I find I withheld information that needed to be included early on in the book. I come up with a plan of attack, so-to-say.

Relief: I happily enter Stage 5, sleeves rolled up and fingers eagerly pecking away at the keyboard. I like this stage and once I reach it, it’s hard to pull me away from my laptop until the changes are done.

I don’t know about you, but I tend to go through my Five Stages of Revisions multiple times while revising a novel. I really don’t mind, though, because the end result is always a story that I’m proud of and that I can’t wait to share with readers.

What are your Five Stages of Revisions?

Press pause: An IWSG Post

Welcome to my addition of this month's IWSG post. If you're not familiar with this meme,  click here to hop over to Alex Cavanaugh's blog to find out more. I'd like to thank Alex for hosting this wonderful meme. 

Before I get to my post, have you seen Embrace's the new cover? I think my publisher didn't an amazing job on it and I just can't help wanting to show it off. 

Okay, back to IWSG. July is the mid-year mark. Time to press pause and see how I'm doing on the one goal I set for myself back in January: in 2013 I vow to use my insecurities to help me work harder. 

I've been doing pretty good with that. When insecurities set in, I found ways to make them work to my advantage. They say practice makes perfect, and while I won't go as far as to say the key note speech I gave in April was perfect, by practicing it out loud beforehand I did manage to get through it without stumbling. I've bounced ideas of my critique partners, family and friends to help me tackle revisions on my different works-in-progress. And since marketing can be daunting I teamed up with other authors and we're working together to promote each other's books.

Okay, so I did okay the first half of the year, but this is a new month and the beginning of a whole new half. Hold Tight, book two in my Embrace Series, will be released on August 20th and, well, I'm hoping readers like it. I'm hoping readers find it. So how do I take those insecurities and turn them around. I should give the book to my mom. She'll read it and say she loves it. My dad might even read it. Oh, and then I could give it to my sister. Of course, she's swamped with school. Hmm.... 

I'll have to use the next several weeks to plan some fun events and promotion, instead. That will help readers find my book. As far as readers liking it, I'm going to have to trust that with my editor's keen eye for detail and deep understanding of my characters that I've told the best story I can. Oh, and I'll stock up on chocolate. 

Just having an action plan makes me feel a little better. Although, I might need a lot of chocolate, and wine. 

And I've created a street team--a group of readers who help spread the word about my upcoming release. If you're interested in finding out more, click here.

On a side note, I do love spreading the word about good books. If you're an author and your book is family friendly (as a YA author I try to keep the content on my blog PG13) I'd love to spotlight your book. If you're interested, shoot me an email at cheriecolyerwriter (at) gmail (dot) com.

Join Team Madison!

I'm starting a street team and would be honored to have you as a member. Team Madison is a group of readers who are excited about the Embrace Series and want to spread the word about the books.

I’m thrilled that Madison and her friends will be back in Hold Tight, and I would be honored if you joined my street team.

Street team members typically support their favorite author online by:

• posting reviews
• sharing reviews
• talking about the book online
• share links on social media sites
• visit blogs during book tours/guest posts and comment
• share favorite quotes, dream cast, etc. on social media sites
• like 4 and 5 star reviews on Amazon, B&N, and Goodreads

I’m very grateful to my readers. You are the reason I write. The street team will be among the first to know about upcoming events. Sign up for any event you'd like to participate in or simply help to create a buzz about the event on the social media of your choosing.

What active members get in return:

• exclusive look at my up and coming works (teasers, snippets, 1st chapters)
• swag featuring the gorgeous cover art from Embrace and Hold Tight, plus Madison and her friends’ awesome hemp bracelet. Anyone national and international may join the team, but due to the cost of postage the swag packet will only be mailed to domestic members. 

If you have any questions about the street team, please contact me at cheriecolyerwriter (at) gmail (dot) com. ​

Grab the cool Street Team Badge

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