FOR THE LOVE OF YARA

Last week, by total random selection, one of my fellow Indelibles told me the winner of my book for our Blogger Chat giveaway was a blog called Once Upon A Twilight. I researched the contact person to notify them and low and behold the blogger's name was Yara.

The main character in Tangled Tides is named Yara.

I was so excited. I told Once Upon a Twilght Yara that I felt like I was emailing my mermaid Yara. We exchanged a few emails back and forth, then some of us started tweeting about how awesome her name is--which is when I was introduced to another awesome series with a Yara as the MC, Intrinsical by Lani Woodland--and I signed a copy of my book to Yara about how happy MY Yara would be that another Yara was reading her story.

Last night I found out that real life Yara has been hit by a horrible tragedy.
Her home burned down.This message was posted by her cousin Jenny on the Twilight blog.

"As many of you may have heard my cousin and owner of Once Upon A Twilight blog Yara, has lost everything to a devastating fire that started Friday, late afternoon. The fire engulfed a second time early morning on Saturday leaving nothing but ashes behind. Although, they lost everything in this fire, my family is safe and that is what truly matters. I am grateful today and thank god everyday that my family was not hurt, at least not physically. Newspaper with Full Story

I am touched by all the kind words and support that she has received this past couple of days and how everyone has stepped up and has voiced their support throughout the Internet and phone calls. This means a great deal to Yara and she feels so loved and blessed to have each and everyone of you."

A bunch of awesome authors had joined together to help raise money for Yara and her family, and I offered to do whatever I could to help as well. One of my favorite things about being a writer is the amazing and supportive community of people I have met through blogging. When tough times hit (floods, hurricanes, tornadoes, and now a fire), many writers and readers open their hearts and wallets and offer a helping hand. If you'd like to jump in and help a woman and her family who has been helping the book community for a long time, please, please do.

Donate any amount (no matter how small or large) to Yara's Fund, then forward the paypal payment email to laniwoodland at myself dot com. You can erase the donation amount. We just need proof you donated. Then we will use random.org to pick a winner. This is open Internationally. We will keep this running for the next week. Ending at 11:59 Jan 28th.

As a thank you to anyone who donates, Angela Corbett, Jamie Manning, Brenda Pandos, Kristie Cook, Trisha Wolfe, myself, Taryn Browning, and Lani Woodland will have a drawing for prize packages:

Lani Woodland is offering one copy of Intrinsical, Indelible and Transcendent. She's also including a small bag of Indelible Swag, a CD of the song Can't Stop Dreamin' of You mentioned in Intrinsical. Also, if you win, your name will be used in Inevitable, the third and final book in the Yara Silva trilogy. It may be for a character who is snobby, sweet, evil, or good, and who might live or die. You may have a street or building named after you but your name will appear in the book.

Angela Corbett is donating a copy of her book Eternal Starling to the winner and some ES swag.

Jamie Manning is donating an ARC of his upcoming debut novel Blood Born and some BB swag.

Brenda Pandos is giving away two prizes. She is donating a copy of her newest book (as soon as he has it in her hand) The Onyx Talisman. She is also donating to another local person the kindle version of the who Talisman trilogy.

Kristie Cook is donating e-books from her Soul Saver series Promise, Purpose and Genesis.

Trisha Wolfe is donating a copy of her book Destiny's Fire and swag.

Taryn Browning is donating a copy of her books Dark Seeker and Dark beauty and two signed jumbo sized bookmarks.

I am donating a signed copy of Tangled Tides along with some mermaid swag.


I can't imagine going through such a devastating loss. Please help if you can. No amount is too small and you'll get a chance at winning some great prizes. Click here to donate through Paypal.

Dear Teen Me

A few weeks ago, the fabulous gals over at Dear Teen Me invited me to participate on their site. I knew what I was going to write about. I just didn't know what I'd tell myself about it. After days of reminiscing and crying, I finished my letter (significantly shortened from the first version) and sent it off.

I have to admit, I feel kind of vulnerable. Close family and friends know about this event in my life, and I have posted a poem about it on my blog in the past, but a letter to myself was much harder. This was a private conversation between me at seventeen and the present day me, and now it's public. Eek.

But that's why I write YA. The teenage years are so influential and, at times, very difficult. So many happy/sad/shocking/heartbreaking/life-changing events happen when we're teens. I have yet to meet a teen who says their life is perfect or easy. And I've yet to meet an adult who doesn't have some significant memories from that time in their life. We can all relate in one way or another.

Being a young adult is not all rainbows and butterflies. If you'd like to read about my darkest of days, you can read my letter to my teen self by clicking here.

Friday the 13th Winners!

Happy Friday the 13th!

Friday the 13ths have always been pretty lucky for me (knock on wood) but today is definitely luck for the winners of my recent TANGLED TIDES giveaways.

The winner for my Indelibles blog hop giveaway is...
TAFFY!
*throws confetti*

The winner for my Faeries & Fantasy blog hope giveaway is...
LISA RICHARDS!
*hands everyone cupcakes*

And for those wondering, the grand prize winner of the Kindle Fire and an ebook from each Indelible author was a GUY! Congrats, Chris Fenimore. Yay for guys who love reading YA books. :)

Thanks so much to everyone who entered my contests, hopped by, followed and commented.

Introducing the Indelibles

Welcome to The Indelibles Blog Hop!

In celebration of our official launch, we are giving away a KINDLE FIRE! If you’d like to start at the very beginning of the INDELIBLES ON FIRE GIVEAWAY BLOG HOP, then please start here: http://indeliblewriters.blogspot.com/

However, I'm the first stop on the Hop, so if you're starting here, then just keep going until you end up on The Indelibles blog! By following the link at the bottom of this post, you can proceed to the next author (and check out the awesome, individual giveaways we are doing along the way!). If you are entering to win the KINDLE FIRE, don’t forget to make a note of the keyword at the end of every blog post - the words spell out a phrase you will need to enter the contest on the last stop.

Who are we? Marketing guru Shelli Johannes Wells has teamed up with twenty-four other indie and small press authors to bring you the Indelibles.

“We are indie authors who write middle grade and young adult fiction.

We are dedicated to leaving a permanent mark on the world with our stories and words.

We are The Indelibles.”

Each week, we’ll explore fun, fabulous, and fierce topics for today’s teens, drawing on pop culture and themes from the books we write.

We’ll be having a “blogger” chat on January 11th and a writer/author chat on the 17th to answer questions about self and indie pubbing. See our blog for details.

And now with no further ado, I will introduce myself:

Karen Amanda Hooper

(But you can call me Karen.)

I was born and bred in Baltimore, frolicked and froze in Colorado for a couple of years and I'm currently sunning and splashing around Florida with my two beloved dogs. I'm addicted to coffee, chocolate and complicated happily-ever-afters. Due to my strong Disney upbringing, I still believe in fairy tales and will forever sprinkle magic throughout all of my novels.

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I've been making up stories for as long as I can remember. In high school I discovered my passion for putting my thoughts onto paper, but it wasn’t until my late twenties that I wrote my first novel. No agent or publisher picked up that one, but last year Rhemalda Publishing offered me a book deal for my YA merfolk/selkie story, TANGLED TIDES.
Yara Jones doesn’t believe in sea monsters—until she becomes one.

When a hurricane hits her island home and she wakes up with fins, Yara finds herself tangled up in an underwater world of mysterious merfolk and secretive selkies. Both sides believe Yara can save them by fulfilling a broken promise and opening the sealed gateway to their realm, but they are battling over how it should be done. The selkies want to take her life. The merfolk want something far more precious.

Treygan, the stormy-eyed merman who turned Yara mer, will stop at nothing and sacrifice everything to protect his people—until he falls for Yara. The tides turn as Yara fights to save herself, hundreds of sea creatures, and the merman who has her heart. She could lose her soul in the process—or she might open the gateway to a love that’s deeper than the oceans.

Buy it on Amazon
Buy it at Barnes and Noble
Buy it at Rhemalda Bookstore

Wanna win a copy of TANGLED TIDES? All you have to do is be a follower of my blog and leave a comment telling me the title of the best book you read in 2011.

You have until Thursday to enter. I'll announce the winner this Friday, along with the winner of my Faeries & Fantasy Hop contest.

The keyword for this stop on the hop is: Indelibles

Continue the hop and visit the next fierce and fabulous Indelibles author: Heather McCorkle

Thanks for hopping by!

Faeries & Fantasy Giveaway Hop

Clap your hands if you believe in fairies!
*claps wildly*

I'm participating in the YA Faeries & Fantasy Giveaway Hop. I'll give you one guess which YA fantasy book I'm giving away as a prize.

Did you say TANGLED TIDES?

If so, then you are correct!

My book contains all kinds of fun fantasy creatures and elements. Merfolk, sirens, selkies, and gorgons! A water sprite even makes an appearance--which is kind of in the fairy family.

Entering is simple, be a follower of my blog and leave a comment telling me who is your favorite fantasy character of all time.

If you want to tweet about my giveaway, that would be spectacular, but no pressure. This fantasy hop is full of chances to win lots of great books, so use your time to hop around and enter for all the magical books you want to win!

Go to Inspired Kathy's blog to enter to win more great books and get links to the rest of the blogs participating.

I will announce the winner of my giveaway on Friday, January 13th. And yes, as always, it is open to International readers. Good luck to all!
*sprinkles fairy dust on you*

For The Love of Stories--and all of the people who love them

Writing this post makes me sad, but I feel like I need to publicly say why I'm stepping back from interacting with reviewers, or I'll feel like a snooty snoot.

I had read a post by the fabulous Roni Loren where she talked about a public discussion and how reviewers and readers said how they don't like when authors comment on reviews. Some gave very good reasons, but because of my naivety I was a little shocked. I usually don't comment on reviews of Tangled Tides on Goodreads (I may click "Like" but I rarely comment because I don't want to look like a stalker), but I do try to say thank you when a reviewer posts on their blog.

Have I been making reviewers mad? Or uncomfortable? I swear, that was never my intention. I'm the type of person who says hello, how are you, and thank you A LOT. At the grocery store, walking down the street, wherever. For over a decade I have wished I'd been born a few decades earlier. I would have fit in better during the era of slower times: when people knew their neighbors, when families sat down together at dinner and actually TALKED to each other, when relationships consisted of quality time together and people had real conversations instead of texting or emailing each other other 600 times a day.

I didn't realize I might be displaying bad etiquette by clicking the "Like" button on Goodreads, or leaving a sincere thank you comment on blogs. I assumed I was interacting with my readers, and I assumed it was a good thing. I was just being me. I read the good and bad comments about my book because I WANT to know what people liked and disliked. I want to be a better writer. I want to become better as I grow. Reviews help me with that. Have I commented on negative reviews of my book? No. And not because I don't appreciate that readers time, or their criticism. Believe it or not, I DO appreciate EVERY review--good or bad. I just knew I'd be treading on delicate ground if I said ANYTHING. Even if I clicked the "Like" button, I worried it would be interpreted the wrong way. That much I knew.

But Roni's post opened my eyes.
Many reviewers said they didn't want authors commenting AT ALL.
And then, oh my goodness, last night I read the two recent threads on Goodreads that erupted into so much anger and hurt between authors and readers. It broke my heart. It was painful to read. It was eye opening.

I read every comment carefully.
I put myself in the reviewers' shoes and the authors' shoes.
I sympathized with all parties, and understood all sides.
I wanted to scream "Can't we all just get along?!" but I stayed quiet because, well, it didn't involve me. Why add my insignificant ripple to the raging waters?

Somewhere in the midst of it all, a reviewer (maybe a couple of them) mentioned how their reviews are for readers, not authors.

That stung. Because as an author, I am first and foremost a reader. I read stories for MANY years before I attempted to write one. BUT, I also understood the other side of the argument. And, okay, I get it.

I can see how it would make readers uncomfortable to honestly discuss or comment about a book or review if they suspected the author was watching the thread. I understand that readers go to Goodreads to read honest opinions about books. I understand because I am also a reader, and I use Goodreads for that purpose too.

An author friend put it in a simplified way that made a lot of sense. I'm paraphrasing, but it was something like: once a book has been published, it's no longer the author's. It belongs to the world and the readers. They can comment and discuss it, but the author shouldn't.

Again, part of me was very saddened by that philosophy, but the other part of me understood. I agree wholeheartedly that authors should always handle themselves professionally. Reviewers should never be attacked or bullied. Ever. And I totally get why authors should not comment on negative reviews.

I didn't know we also shouldn't comment on positive reviews.

So, I have come to this conclusion--for now.
I will no longer comment publicly on reviews of my books on blogs or Goodreads.
*heart cracks a little*
I want readers and reviewers to feel free to be honest and say whatever they want about my book without worrying about me lurking in the shadows.

However, I will NEVER stop interacting with readers. Mainly, because I consider every single reader a treasure. (Whether they read my book or not, and even those who didn't like my book.) I am still here on my blog. I am still available for email. I am still on Goodreads, but with limited interaction. I am still on Twitter and I try to respond to EVERY person who tweets me. (I'm sorry if I miss someone now and then.)

Here are my biggest reasons why I refuse to stop interacting with readers... because I am STILL a reader. I am STILL a writer who is trying to learn, grow, and become better. I always will be.

My love for books and writing is not only for my own work. Part of me would die inside if I couldn't discuss this stuff with other book lovers and writers. I don't care if a person is just starting out as a writer, if they have an agent or not, if they are self-published, if they received a major book deal from a big 6, if they are an editor, or if they only read books but have never written a word.

We are all in this together.

We all have something to say, teach, learn, or contribute.

We all love stories, or storytelling in one way or another.

THAT should be what bonds us. THAT should be reason enough to befriend anyone in this infinitely big-yet-so-small world of publishing/writing/books. THAT love for books should unite us, not segregate us into different cliques and ranks with rules about who can and can't interact with each other.

*big sigh*

Once upon a time, we all lived happily ever after.

What a wonderful world that must have been.