Friendship can be the most powerful light in a person’s life. High school sophomore Amber Newberg has yet to learn this. Introverted and guarded, she doesn’t make friends easily. She is in the Air Force Junior ROTC program at school, using it as a step towards building her future. Besides struggling with her best friend graduating, she expects this to be just another year.
Enter Shane Grafton. When the two are thrown together as partners in chemistry, a friendship outside of the classroom ensues. Having felt like an outsider as a result of his own upbringing, he’s someone she feels comfortable with. As their bond grows, Shane is able to pull Amber out of her darkness, but can't get her to see what their relationship could truly be.
In a moment of courage, Amber decides to put her heart on the line. However, she quickly learns how fragile one’s heart can be. Can she open her heart again to the possibility of being hurt? Or will she shut herself back down and miss out on the friendship of a lifetime?
Interview
DO IT! Everyone starts somewhere. Get your story on paper, have others help by reading it and offering you constructive advice on storyline, and have it edited. Never give up on a dream.
Officially started writing November 2013 with the idea of it being a novel. My first ever piece was for an assignment in 8th grade and I have no idea what happened to it. That is when my love of writing began.
I wrote my first book with the main character being a real life person and the story has a lot of real life in it. I decided to publish it to help her gain confidence after a rough life as well as help girls her age see that girls all don’t have to want to be cheerleaders and also that there is a way to be successful despite your parents creating a rough life and less than desirable circumstances for you.
All kinds of things. Sometimes it’s just a little moment or statement that turns into so much more. Sometimes it’s a person or a story from a person in my real life. Other times, it’s just someone I see and think of a story that matches their look. It can be anything that stirs me to write.
Yes!! Often times I know where I’m going with a story and then the characters do things I didn’t expect and I get stuck trying to figure out how to get to the point I intended. Sometimes the most frustrating part is not being able to sit for the time I want to since I have to work and have a family with needs too.
When I get stuck, I take a day off and read. I find that sometimes the pressure to finish a piece of work can make it harder to write. When I take the time to read, it helps relax me again.
Talking to a friend about the story or even just taking a few days away from it can help. There isn’t only one thing that helps. That is what makes it so hard.
Honestly, I read all the reviews. I take every review with a grain of salt. If there is a common thing amongst the bad reviews, I always consider it in my next book, but it doesn’t mean I do what the negative reviews want. I know that I won’t be able to please everyone and that we all have different tastes and opinions. I do what I can to put out the best work possible while it being something I’m happy with. That is all I can do.
I don’t block it out well. I am a night owl, so when I do the majority of my writing, my friends and family are asleep or getting ready for the next day. I need to get better about blocking it out when I’m writing during the day.
I am a mom of two teenagers, so I do a lot for them. My husband is a high school coach, so I also spend time with his teams. I love spending time with my family. When I have time for just me, I like to go to the gym and read. I love to read. I try to make time to read every night before bed.
I have no idea. I don’t keep a lot of secrets and I’m not a very private person, so I’m not sure that I have a lot of hidden info on me. =)
Yes. In both books, characters did some things that took me on a little detour and gave me a little trouble to wrap up.
Often I just write and eventually the title comes to me. The piece I’m working on now is half done and I have no idea what to call it. I’m hoping it’ll pop into existence soon, it’s a little stressful.
I wanted to be a journalist in high school and I worked for a newspaper when I was first out of high school and in college. I always anticipated that I’d have a by line that way, but I never imagined I’d have published novels.
I have four works in progress. Only 1 has an official title though. It’s Loving Lexi, the second book in the Lexi Series. It’s due out late fall 2014. Hoping for an end of November release. Other than that, I don’t have any other date information for it. Another work in progress is a novella for an anthology that should release in November. It is my piece that is titleless and is turning into what I think will be a .5 book of a short series. The other two items are the second book in my teen/young adult series and a spin off book for the Lexi Series. Sometimes the characters just start talking to me and I work on a different piece, but the teen/young adult book is projected for late spring/early summer 2015 and the spin off for the Lexi Series isn’t even really calendared since I want to finish all of the Lexi books first. I think there will be three in total.
I hate one of the men in the novella I am working on. His name is Eric and he is a wretched human being.
Honestly, Derek in Project Lexi is my favorite. He is sweet and caring, with just enough masculinity in him. He was raised by a widowed mom during puberty, so he learned his gentleness from her and his sister who is just a little younger than him.
Finding Light, a teen/young adult book was my first published book. I love it. It will hold a special place in my heart forever.
Finding Light has a lot of real life story from my cover model in it. She was my inspiration for that book. Project Lexi came to me while walking the track at work one day.
In Project Lexi, Lexi is a girl who was molested as a child and her flashbacks were difficult to write. The thought of having it happen to a child made my stomach turn. However, the details, which are not detailed in a sick way, were necessary to help the reader connect to her and also to see how hard it was for her growing up.
I like romance in general. I’ve only written New Adult and Teen/YA so far, but the more adult stuff is more fun to write. I will probably write some straight Contemp too.
I probably won’t write any sci-fi/paranormal/dystopian type stories because it’s not my type of work, but I will never say never.
I prefer them in print, but it’s much easier to read anywhere with an ebook. I read more in ebook form because I can take that everywhere.
I am currently catching up on the Kowlaski Series by Shannon Stacey and then catching up on the Mitchell Series by Jennifer Foor.
My favorite childhood book is Bridge to Terebithia and my favorite adulthood book is Chasing Nikki by Lacey Weatherford, followed closely by Miss Me Not by Tiffany King.
I have so many favorite authors for many reasons, but I will almost always pick up the newest Bella Andre, Susan Mallery, or Jill Shalvis and read it immediately.
This is a completely unedited excerpt from Loving Lexi.
Just the sound of Derek’s voice is enough to settle my nerves a bit. I don’t know how on Earth I got so lucky, but I’m so thankful I did. “Yeah, I’m done.” I holler back, but realize there’s no need when I turn around and see that he came to me and is standing in the doorway.
This man . . . the things he does to me. Just to look at him makes my heart race. And he’s mine. As he walks over and wraps me in his arms, I have to focus on my breathing to make sure I don’t stop. “You’re gonna be okay, babe. I won’t leave your side.”
A warmth spreads across my body, reaching all the way to my toes knowing that he has my back, no matter what. “Derek, I don’t deserve you, but I’m so thankful for you.”
“You don’t deserve me? I think you’ve got it all wrong. I don’t deserve you. You are strong, a fighter. You make me want to live a better life, to grab a hold of every moment and live it to the fullest.”
“Me? Why?”
“Because you’ve never given up.”
“But I wasn’t living, really.”
“Maybe, but you still had goals and were trying to reach them. Just because you weren’t a party animal or ‘little Miss Social’ doesn’t mean you had given up.”
“I guess, but compared to how I’m feeling now, I don’t feel like I was living.” His face lights up in appreciation of knowing that he is what changed me.
“Glad to hear it.” He is still smiling while grabbing my things and taking them out to his car.
He decided since we have the time, we should road-trip to my home town. Since we have a short break before summer sessions starts for me, and neither of us have ever been to places like Santa Barbara or Morro Bay, he thought it’d be cool for both of us to see all those places along the coastline. The trip home will be straight drive, but the way back he wants to hit a few beach cities he’s heard about. It sounded like a great idea when he suggested it. But now, I’m so afraid of how I’ll react to being home, I’m nervous I’ll ruin this trip for him.
Once everything is loaded and the apartment locked up, he opens the passenger door for me to climb in. Before I do though, he kisses my check and tries to reassure me. “Lexi, I won’t let them hurt you. If things get too heavy, we can leave.”
No, I don’t do mythical at all. =)