Happy Valentine's Day!

I hope every single one of you get shot in the butt with a heart-shaped arrow today.

I played my part in spreading some love by contributing an original short story to the In His Eyes anthology. Have you read Tangled Tides yet? If so, then you already know Treygan. You can get to know him a little more by reading The Qualm Before the Storm. It's a short story, told by Teygan, about the day before he turns Yara into a mermaid. It over laps the opening scene of the novel, but now you can read Treygan's view of things.

Want a little taste?

One more sunset until I blurred the line between right and wrong. I would become a pebble tossed into a pond of despair. Ripple effects from my actions would forever change the lives of so many sea creatures. So why did I feel so insignificant? Because tomorrow, I would take away a human’s right to choose. Tomorrow, I would do whatever it took to turn Yara Jones into one of us. Not one of us, one of them. I had to stop pretending that I was a pure or noble merman. Tomorrow, I would prove that I’m a monster, by turning an unsuspecting girl into a mermaid.

Want to know more about the anthology?

The Indelibles bring you a one-of-a-kind young adult anthology! Sixteen original short stories, all from the point of view of our favorite male characters - some are old flames from our novels and some were dreamed up especially for this anthology.

Let these imminently crushable, swoon-worthy guys show you what romance looks like – in his eyes.

The contributors to In His Eyes include award winners, frequent “Top 100” placers, and hot 2011 debut authors.

For more information about The Indelibles, check out our blog, facebook page, or follow us on Twitter.

Stories included in the Anthology:

Surprise, Surprise by Stacey Wallace Benefiel, author of Glimpse: Half the women in Melody's family can see the future, which makes it nearly impossible for Raleigh to surprise her. What's a guy to do for Valentine's Day when his girlfriend is always one step ahead of him?

First Kiss or First Kill? by C.K. Bryant, author of Bound: Love isn't always rainbows and kittens, sometimes it can be downright deadly. (A deleted chapter from Bound.)

Shattered by Ali Cross, author of Become: James and Desi use each other in an effort to cling to the darkness in each of them, but in the end they discover that love changes you. (A chapter of Become from James’ POV.)

Before by Jessie Harrell, author of Destined: When a younger Eros is exiled to a land that doesn't believe in the Greek gods, he finds the first love of his immortal life. Read Eros' first person account of his romance, and heartbreak, in the time before he met Psyche.

The Qualm Before the Storm by Karen Amanda Hooper, author of Tangled Tides. Yara Jones doesn’t want to be a mermaid. Treygan doesn’t want to be the monster who turns her. You can’t always get what you want. (A short prequel to Tangled Tides.)

Unspeakable by S.R. Johannes, author of Untraceable: When Mo sees a strange girl in the woods, he follows her. He soon realizes they are both in a dangerous position and might not get out alive.

In the Beginning by Katie Klein, author of Cross My Heart: Seth is falling hard for Genesis Green, but the guardian angel is determined not to interfere, until an accident changes the course of their lives forever. (A short prequel to The Guardian.)

A Chance Encounter by Cheri Lasota, author of Artemis Rising: Finnian's eyes hide a terrible secret. But a girl on the train home, the girl in tears with a secret of her own...She sees right through him. A scene from the upcoming novel, Echoes in the Glass.

Family Bonds by Heather McCorkle, author of The Secret of Spruce Knoll: A Halloween party filled with teens who can channel energy and use it to kill, what could go wrong? For Spruce Knoll fans who are dying to read more about Fane.

Getting Closer by Lisa Nowak, author of Running Wide Open: Megan is smart, hot, and an upperclassman—in other words, way out of Cody’s league. So why did she choose him? (An excerpt of Getting Sideways.)

The Almost Assassin by Laura Pauling, author of A Spy Like Me, releasing Spring 2012: Malcolm tries his hand at the family business but his conscience and a beautiful "spy" may be his downfall.

Mind Games by Susan Kaye Quinn, author of Open Minds: Raf wants to take Kira—the only girl in school who doesn’t read minds—to the mindware Games, but his friends have other plans. (A short prequel to Open Minds.)

By The Firelight by Elle Strauss, author of Clockwise: When Nate McKenzie asks an unpopular girl to dance on a dare, he's in for the time of his life.

A Very Alien Valentine’s Day by Magan Vernon, author of How To Date An Alien: After surviving confinement and an intergalactic war for his human half, Alex, now he has to live through the biggest challenge of them all: Valentine's Day.

Aligned by RaShelle Workman, author of Exiled: A half-Eternal boy and an Eternal girl must free millions of tortured souls from a creature whose been feasting on their pain and suffering.

In His Eyes is FREE at Smashwords, and $0.99 at Amazon and Barnes&Noble - hopefully to go free there as well by our release date on February 14th for Valentines Day. Or you can add In His Eyes to your TBR list on Goodreads.

Happy Valentine's Day!

PENGUIN PLAYDATE!

Friday, I might have had one of the best days ever.
It started out with an awesome phone call which I can't really give details about yet. (Hopefully soon. Keep your fingers crossed for me.) But then...

PENGUINS!!!!

Yes, I actually got to hang out with penguins. They are so sweet, cute, and funny. I REALLY wanted to steal one and take him home with me. But then we learned that penguins poop like every 15-20 minutes and I decided to cancel my kidnapping plan. Still though, how freakin' cute is this guy?

I put together a little video for your penguin viewing pleasure.

Valentine's Day is Approaching

Here's a Valentine's Day trivia question for you. What's more romantic than a sizzling love story?

NOTHING!!

That's right. If you're in search of the perfect Valentine's Day gift, look no further, because I'm about to point you in the direction of some dreamy books. Whether you gift a collection of e-books or wrap one special paperback up in pretty paper with a single red rose on top, you're bound to score BIG POINTS on Valentine's Day with these novels.

ARTEMIS RISING by Cheri Lasota

BOUND by C. K. Bryant

CLOCKWISE by Elle Strauss

CROSS MY HEART by Katie Klein

DESTINED by Jessie Harrell

EXILED by RaShelle Workman

GLIMPSE by Stacey Wallace Benefiel

HOW TO DATE AN ALIEN by Magan Vernon

THE SECRET OF SPRUCE KNOLL by Heather McCorkle

TANGLED TIDES by Karen Amanda Hooper

UNTRACEABLE by S.R. Johannes

THE VEIL by Cory Putman Oakes

WATCHED by Cindy Hogan

and...

IN HIS EYES, an anthology from The Indelibles, featuring love stories from the swoon-worthy guys from our novels arriving on V-Day! For those of you who read Tangled Tides, Treygan will be telling a short story of his side of things BEFORE the novel starts: The Qualm Before the Storm. And the best part? It's free!

What about you? Any great love story recommendations?

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.