My GREAT BIG ANNOUNCEMENT...

****THE ANNOUNCEMENT****
I have signed a contract with Boroughs Publishing Group for my latest book WHEN I LIED!

I am so excited to bring you Kate & Oliver's story!

The Urban Dictionary defines a "catfish" as:
"Someone who pretends to be someone they're not while using Facebook or other social media to create false identities, particularly to pursue deceptive online romances."

Honor student, Kate Green, sees promise in an out-of-character dive into social media to prepare for her freshman year of college. She quickly learns the ropes as alter ego “Lexi Cartwright.” But when “Lexi” catches the attention of Oliver Walt, lead singer of a British Indie rock band, Kate’s game gets kicked up a notch.

An intense relationship blooms, and before she knows it, Kate has woven herself into Oliver’s life, but as “Lexi”…the biggest lie she’s ever told. And, as if that isn’t bad enough, an unexpected twist of events leaves Kate with no choice but to take that lie one step further. What started as a harmless social experiment soon has the potential to shatter the heart and soul of the man she’s falling for.

I AM SO EXCITED ABOUT THIS STORY and SO THANKFUL to Boroughs for sharing in that excitement with me!

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How I remember 9-11...

We had just moved to Pennsylvania from upstate New York and had been in our new house for a little over 6 months on 9/11/01. Ken was still working in Binghamton Monday - Fridays and came home to us for the weekends.

It was Matthew's first day of Pre-School, the day the moms tag along for the morning, too. I left Emily with my mom and Matthew and I headed to Goodwill Preschool.

We knew NOTHING when we were dismissed at 11:30.

I went to the grocery store before picking Emily up and wasn't surprised when my ATM card didn't work.
"Our bank is still in New York, this happens all the time."
"New York? Well, no wonder it's not working," the cashier said.
I smiled but thought, "How rude!" I assumed it was some grumpy stab at NY state.

I will never forget the look on my mom's face when Matthew and I walked into the kitchen at her house.

"Ma, what's wrong?"
She took Matthew and Emily by the hands and headed for the living room.
"You stay here. Turn on this TV but keep the volume down. And call Ken to make sure Kristin is okay."
(Ken's sister worked on Wall Street and thankfully made it home unscathed)

I did as she said just in time to see the fiery replay of what had played out while I was sitting in Elverson watching 3 year olds find all the items on Miss Linda's Scavenger Hunt List. So breath-takingly innocent.

That night I paced and cried. Two sleeping toddlers and a husband almost 4 hours away, I knew there would be no sleep for me...or only small moments of sleep...I was terrified as I worried what this meant for the future of my children. Would I see them grow up? Was this the beginning of the end?

But, thanks to the brave men and women in the armed services (one being Michael Bobulinski who calmed me down in the wee hours of the morning when he IMd me from work and I was NOT sleeping bc anxiety had gotten the best of me), our country remained safe and have been since that one horrific day.

It is on this day that I REMEMBER those who selflessly responded not knowing if it was the beginning of the end, either. And those who continue to fight for our freedom and our safety.

Thank you!

1st Day of School = My "New Year" Resolutions

My REAL LIFE:

So, it's that day:

• the alarm actually springs you out of bed
• you're excited to pack those lunches
• everyone's smiling and happy about school
• you take the obligatory first day pics
• you send them on their way
• the house is quiet

At least that's how it goes in our house...and has for the last fourteen years, if you count the preschool days.

So, today is a new day for Mom, too. It's the day I start planning how to reconstruct and reorganize my life. I've been at at-home mom (one with many side projects happening all the time) and summer is WONDERFUL for me because I spend so much of my time with my kiddos. But, I do look forward to getting some semblance of organization back now that school is in - even though, as an artist, organization is NOT one of my strong suits.

I'm also re-evaluating my health and wellness...re-starting my focus on keeping my body healthy.

(hands shake as I type this next sentence) AND I'M GIVING UP DIET PEPSI FOR GOOD!

I'm teaching private art lessons, too, which makes me so happy!

My AUTHOR LIFE:

A couple weeks ago I entered the #Pitchwars phenomenon on Twitter, thanks to the amazing Brenda Drake, the mastermind behind all the hubbub. Here's how it goes:

You scroll through all the author mentors and choose five whom you'd like to work with on a finished/polished manuscript. You fill out the Google form with all your info and select those five amazing women.

They take the next couple weeks to read all their submissions, request more of some authors and narrow down their choice to ONE.

The mentor and the author they chose then work together for two months sharpening scenes, killing off darlings (what we authors call cutting scenes and minor characters), polishing until your fingers bleed (well, that's an exaggeration, but almost). 

Then it's the agent round and, with the help of your mentor, your time to shine in front of some of the best literary agents in the business. All the while, hoping for that match made in Heaven that could get your book...your baby...into the hands of salivating readers everywhere.

TOMORROW IS D-DAY!

The day the mentors choose their mentee. There were over 1600 authors who sent in their work and only a handful of mentors-to-be. So, some of these amazing women and men read HUNDREDS of submissions and had to narrow them down to ONE.

So, I wait.

Of course, I follow my mentor choices and hang on every word they tweet. Their super vague hints OF COURSE are all about MY manuscript...jk

So, another of my "resolutions" for this year is to keep current with this author blog and document my journey. I've purposely kept my Mondays FREE for this school year so I have one day a week to re-energize and sort out all that needs to be done in the coming week. So, you may only hear from me on Mondays as I sit and eat my breakfast (like I'm doing now) or you may hear from me as I write and get stuck...and even when I'm procrastinating on a particularly difficult scene.

I am a "helper" by nature and want to give tips and advice to those of you who have a story inside of you and are looking for direction. I can not offer to read everyone's manuscripts and give advice or I'd never get my own writing done but I CAN point you in the direction of editor friends and beta readers who would be able to get you onto their reading schedule.

So, what am I working on?

Well, before the end of last year, I pulled the IN TOO DEEP series from Amazon and it's only available if you buy it used through Amazon sellers. My reason for that is long and drawn out and will probably soon be a blog post but the simplistic version is so I can re-write it and have it available for YOUNG ADULT readers.

WHEN I LIED is done...that's what's making its rounds at #Pitchwars.

I have SHIFT on the back burner.

I started a NEW book, called UPSTAGED, but it's currently sharing the back burner because an amazing agent asked what I was working on and I told her everything that was current as well as the ideas that just had jotted down notes in my IDEA journal...

Don't ya know, one of THOSE is what she was most interested in... so I've started a NEW, NEW book  for her. That book's working title is PURPLE HAZE.

...

...and now I need to take a walk...and check Twitter to see what my five mentors are HINTING at.

For those of you who have LIKED my AUTHOR FB page, I will always post a link there when there's a new post. If you haven't LIKED my page yet, please head over there and do it!

Also, I'd love to connect with you via Twitter, too.

I love reading comments and answering questions, so, please feel free to leave your thoughts below.

Peace.