Thoughts on the Winner’s Trilogy by Marie Rutkoski

So, I know I should be working on my WIP, but I think my brain has been on burn-out trying to finish up the one millionth revision of ALLIANCE. When I finally hit send to my agent, I’ve spent the last two weeks gorging myself on books.

I’ve also realized that while I almost exclusively have been reading YA Fantasy, I don’t write in that genre, but I really want to. Maybe one day.

That, however, is not the point of this post. The point is to say that I FINALLY picked up Marie Rutkoski’s Winner trilogy last week and boy was it a good one.

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It’s the kind of story that just stays on your mind and you try to figure out how to read it, even when you should probably not be reading. Like—say—on a girl’s trip weekend when you should be giggling and playing games with your friends and instead you’re like, “No worries, I’ll just sit here and read.” Or you wake up at 8am on your only day to sleep in with no kids pouncing on you and instead of rolling over and falling back asleep, you grab your Kindle and read until the rest of your friends wake up at 11. I mean, that’s just a hypothetical.

SO all of that to say, go pick up the Winner’s Curse right now… you won’t regret it!

BOOK SUMMARY:

Winning what you want may cost you everything you love
They were never meant to be together. As a general’s daughter, seventeen-year-old Kestrel enjoys an extravagant and privileged life. Arin has nothing but the clothes on his back. Then Kestrel makes an impulsive decision that binds Arin to her. Though they try to fight it, they can’t help but fall in love. In order to be together, they must betray their people . . . but to be loyal to their country, they must betray each other.
Set in a new world, The Winner’s Curse is a story of rebellion, duels, ballroom dances, wicked rumors, dirty secrets, and games where everything is at stake, and the gamble is whether you will keep your head or lose your heart.

 

 

Cover Reveal! MY PERFECT MISTAKE by Kelly Siskind

It’s one of the most exciting things to see your fellow writer-friends have books that come out. Seriously, it never gets old and I’m so excited for Kelly’s new book to enter the world! It’s fun and sexy and will give you the feels! 

I’m so excited to be sharing the cover of Kelly Siskind’s MY PERFECT MISTAKE today! Check out the beautiful cover below and enter to win a copy!

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About MY PERFECT MISTAKE

What happens in Aspen is definitely not staying in Aspen . . .

A girls’ trip to Aspen was exactly what Shay needed to forget about her toxic ex-boyfriend. She’s got her girls, pristine slopes for skiing, and hot guys everywhere. Of course, her epic self-rediscovery goes completely to hell when a wild (and deliciously hot) skier knocks Shay on her ass . . . and war is declared.

Kolton doesn’t know what it is about Shay that makes him lose it. Not just his cool—although she does have an unholy gift for that—but his restraint. When anger gives way to explosive chemistry, they’re both shaken with the intensity of it. But somewhere between lust and hate, Kolton and Shay realize they could have something real . . . if they don’t kill each other first.

MY PERFECT MISTAKE releases April 5, 2016 – add it to your Goodreads list here!

Preorder MY PERFECT MISTAKE now: Amazon | Barnes and Noble | iBooks | Kobo

Want to win a digital ARC of MY PERFECT MISTAKE? You can enter to win on the Rafflecopter below!

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About Kelly Siskind

A small-town girl at heart, Kelly moved from the city to open a cheese shop with her husband in Northern Ontario. When she’s not neck deep in cheese or out hiking, you can find her, notepad in hand, scribbling down one of the many plot bunnies bouncing around in her head.

She laughs at her own jokes and has been known to eat her feelings—Gummy Bears heal all. She’s also an incurable romantic, devouring romance novels into the wee hours of the morning.

She is represented by Stacey Donaghy of the Donaghy Literary Group.

2015 Golden Heart® Finalist

Connect with Kelly Siskind

Website | Facebook | Twitter | Goodreads | Pinterest 

Passion versus Priorities

I LOVED this article from Mark Manson on “Screw Finding Your Passion.”

You need to read the whole thing, but the line that jumped out at me was…

The problem isn't passion.

It’s right there in front of you, you’re just avoiding it. For whatever reason, you’re avoiding it. You’re telling yourself, “Oh well, yeah, I love comic books but that doesn’t count. You can’t make money with comic books.”

Fuck you, have you even tried?

The problem is not a lack of passion for something. The problem is productivity. The problem is perception. The problem is acceptance.

I love that (and pardon the language if it offends you), but most of us know what our passions are, we just don’t pursue them. Instead we keep them on the back burner and say, “if I ever have the extra time” or “when things slow down” or “if I’m ever independently wealthy.”

I call bull shit!

If you’re not pursuing it now, then you won’t pursue it when you have all the time and money in the world. Success — even if it involves something you’re passionate about — requires hard work, thick skin, and determination. Anything worth living for is never easy.

“I meet so many people like him. He doesn’t need to find his passion. His passion already found him. He’s just ignoring it. He just refuses to believe it’s viable. He is just afraid of giving it an honest-to-god try.”

Because aren’t we all? Isn’t that the scariest thing about pursuing your passions? Because once you really try, you run the risk of failing… and if you fail then you can never say, “Well ____ is what I’d really love to do.” But here’s the thing… what if you succeed?

If you’re there today, I say take a chance. Make a move. Swallow your pride. Embrace the possibility of rejection. Do the thing that scares you.

You’ll never regret it.

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A Weekend Away

This past weekend I did something I’ve been wanting to do for the better part of a year… I left on a personal writing weekend!

Getting large chunks of uninterrupted writing time is pretty much nonexistent in my world these days and I REALLY wanted those large chunks and also just some “me” time. Most days I feel like an introvert trapped in the body of an extrovert where I’m all… STOP.

This was my weekend to STOP. It was my weekend to unplug and let my imagination go… My weekend to have no one need me.

And let me tell you… it was heavenly.

The weather was perfection.

The Writing Barn was more than I had hoped for.

The silence was soothing.

I’m so grateful to have gotten away (and grateful to have a husband who encouraged it, even though it was over Valentine’s Day).

Taking a writing retreat once a quarter was on my 2016 Goals and I must say it was a really fabulous idea that I highly recommend! I got a ton of writing done and plowed through some plot holes.

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When It’s Time to Start Over…

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I’ve been working on a story for about a year. Granted, most of last year was spent revising ALLIANCE, but in between waiting on notes from my agent, this has been what I’ve worked on.

I got pretty far into the book, but I couldn’t figure out a way to wrap it up. That’s when I realized that I just kept writing and writing and I had NO idea where I was going. I just figured it would come to me… but it didn’t.

So when I started revising, I saw the story and I loved the characters… but the further I got into revising, I realized that the plot just wasn’t there. The characters were there, the internal motivation was there… but the plot? oh the plot was ALL over the place. Oh and it’s a murder mystery, so plot REALLY needs to be on point.

So instead of continuing to revise, I opted to start over.

Completely start over.

Not glancing at the words I’d written before, no copy/paste the good parts… but pull out a crisp new page rewrite.

And you know what’s happening? Awesomeness.

I’m incorporating things I had never thought of before and shaping the plot in a way that is more exciting. Rewriting has also given me a sort of “god-like view” of the story and so it’s allowing more natural placement of subtle hints.

Sometimes starting over on something that you’ve been working on for so long can be really frightening. Sometimes it’s not smart. But there are times when it’s the breath of change you’ve been searching for.

There’s nothing scarier than a blank page, but who has time for fear?

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