My new author site is LIVE

Two sites diverged in cyberspace and I took the one more user friendly.

In other words, I have a new website that is officially up and running. I've been working on combining my website and this blog into one single place, so that I don't have to update each one separately.

Stop by and visit my new  DIGITAL HOME.

My old website, and this blog, will eventually be taken down. If you follow either of them by email, please follow my current site.

Thanks. Peace out. ~Katie

WORDS

Wordstock was AMAZING. It was my utopia: books, book lovers, book writers, booths promoting books, book nerds and book sellers. Did I mention there were lots of books?

I was on three panels, one with Daniel H. Wilson and Peter Heller, (featured in the photo above) both promoting apocalyptic sci-fi novels. We argued the state of the environment and technology and it was awesome. I also got to be on a panel with David Levithan (yes, seriously) and Lisa Burstein, moderated by author Jen Violi who rocks. Lisa and I bonded in the VIP room, Suite D. I spent all of my Los Angeles years trying to sneak into VIP rooms, so it was a luxury to actually be on the list. And eat all the free cookies. And steal pens. I’m a pen klepto.

The highlight of Wordstock? For me, it was listening to David Levithan read out loud. If you've never been to one of his readings, you are missing out. This man is an amazing reader. He makes love to his words. Seriously, it's hot.

MIDDLE GROUND, is out in one month. Huzzah! Did you order a copy yet, slacker? Here are few places to do so:

Barnes and Noble
Powell’s
Amazon

Meanwhile...there are two questions I am getting from fans about Second Chance:

1) When will the third and final book in the Gray and Dylan Saga be available?

I humbly ask you to be patient with me. I have a two year old and I’m having a baby next month which will squeeze my free time down to…um…none. The book is completely written in my head, I just need to get it down on paper. I'm aiming to have Finally, Forever out by fall, 2013.

2) When will Second Chance be available in print?

SOON! Hopefully by next month, but I promise before Christmas. I’m working with a graphic designer to clean up the cover a bit. Second Chance will also be available on B&N’s Nook soon as well. I gave Amazon 90 day exclusive rights to this book, but that contract is up on December 7th, so I can upload it to Smashwords and then you all can read it from whatever place/format you prefer. Cool? Cool.

ON THE AGENDA

Last night I went out for coffee at the amazing Imagine Coffee House in Corvallis, Oregon, with my lady friend, Leslie. She’s one of those technical savvy people majoring in digital media and communication. She likes to tutor me on my “online presence” and “social media platform.” She’s the one that decorated my twitter page. Anyway, she is helping me combine my current blog and website into one awesome space, so I don’t have to waste time updating both of them which is pretty redundant and I hate redundancy.

Leslie is currently working on the new and hopefully vastly improved blog that will be my new digital home.  I will slowly be dissolving my current website and blog, but I promise not to abandon you. I’m just preparing you, since change can be a little scary if it happens too quickly. I do have to add that I will miss my current website, which was designed three years ago by a high school student in Corvallis. Thanks again for all of your hard work, Damian! Sorry you had to witness me getting pulled over by the cops and receiving a $200 ticket and swearing and punching the dashboard. I honestly try to be a good role model.

EVENTS:
 

 

A blog tour for MIDDLE GROUND is currently underway. This book is the long-awaited sequel to Awaken (which came out in spring 2011), and it is coming out NEXT MONTH. For the full blog schedule, go here.  There are a ton of giveaways going on, so look out for them. If you haven’t seen my intro video to kick off this tour, be sure to check it out. It’s pretty ridiculous: video.

The SECOND CHANCE blog tour will begin the first full week of November. I’m so stoked for this! There are a ton of bloggers participating. I’ll list a schedule soon.

  

Finally, I am participating at Wordstock Book Festival this weekend, in Portland, Oregon. I listed my panel discussions and times on my website. I hope to see you there! Other things I will definitely be doing while I'm in Portland are:  1. Shopping at Powell's Books. 2. Getting a doughnut at Voodoo Doughnuts. 3. Buying socks at The Red Light District. 4. Getting coffee at Stumptown. 5.Schmoozing with fabulous authors while I pretend to be in their league.

 

Random Thoughts Outside My CO OP

I watched a man on the sidewalk downtown yesterday. He had a hand-made wagon attached to his bike. The wagon was just four sheets of plywood, held together by bungee cords. He was filthy and skinny and was painstakingly tying down bags and crates and bins stuffed inside the wagon. He reminded me of a turtle, carrying everything he owned on his back and instead of feeling sorry for him, I found myself a little jealous of how simple he had it.

I wondered, if I could only carry a wagon full of stuff, what would I pack? What things do I really need? What is so important that I can’t live without it? So much of what we own weighs us down, and gathers dust. I loved seeing how this guy could travel light. It made me need less and suddenly want less. It’s strange what small observations can teach you if you pay attention.

MIDDLE GROUND BLOG TOUR

MIDDLE GROUND, the sequel to AWAKEN, is coming out on NOVEMBER 20th!

To get the buzz going, there will be a blog tour beginning next week, October 8th. I'll kick it off with a video introduction on I am a Reader, Not a Writer. Eleven different blogs will be hosting author interviews, character interviews, playlists, and giveaways for Middle Ground throughout the month. I need to thank the fabulous Heidi Bennet from The Readiacs for organizing this! I know it's a ton of work, so thanks to EVERYONE who is participating. Stop by these blogs to see what's in store. Here is the tour schedule:

Monday, October 8th – I am a Reader, Not a Writer and Steph the Book Worm
Tuesday, October 9th – Good Choice Reading
Wednesday, October 10th – Steph the Bookworm
Thursday, October 11th – Smash Attack Reads
Friday, October 12th – Paranormal Indulgence

Tuesday, October 16th – Good Choice Reading
Wednesday, October 17th – Bittersweet Enchantment
Thursday, October 18th – Smash Attack Reads
Friday, October 19th – Book Em Adventures

Monday, October 22nd – Paranormal Indulgence
Tuesday, October 23rd – Book Em Adventures
Wednesday, October 24th – RexRobot Reviews
Friday, October 26th – A Dream within a Dream

Monday, October 29th – RexRobot Reviews
Tuesday, October 30th – Bittersweet Enchantment
Wednesday, October 31st – A Dream Within a Dream
Thursday, November 1st – Confessions of a Bookaholic
  Friday, November 2nd – Book Em Adventures

Second Chance Playlist

Here are 15 songs that I listened to over, and over, and over while writing Second Chance. Some are more Dylan-esque, others definitely inspired Gray. Here's the playlist (I also added the music links below, if you want to listen):

1. You Don’t Know How It Feels—Tom Petty
2. Kamera—Wilco
3. Give You Hell—The All-American Rejects
4. Mr. Brightside—The Killers
5. Can You Tell—Ra Ra Riots
6. Shot in the Dark—Augustana
7. Kick Some Ass—Stroke 9
8. Missed the Boat—Modest Mouse
9. Airstream Driver—Gomez
10. You Always Make Me Smile—Kyle Andrews
11. Do it Again—Stroke 9
12. Chinese—Lily Allen
13. Desire—Ryan Adams
14. Wildflowers—Tom Petty
15. Don’t Think Twice, It’s Alright—Bobby Dylan

Okay, That Was Terrifying

Self publishing has become one ongoing experiment. It’s strange to step back from the traditional publishing house and do this all myself, but it’s also a great learning lesson.

I experimented with a few free promotions the past two weeks. I gave free copies of Second Chance away on Friday, September 14^th, but I didn’t really publicize it. I just posted a quick comment on Twitter, then I turned off my computer and tried not to think about it. I drove out to Crater Lake, Oregon, where there is zero cell phone service or Internet. Here are a few pictures from the trip. Not a bad getaway destination...

 

When I got back on Sunday night, I noticed 250 people had downloaded my book during the promotion. I felt pretty good about it, but then I started poking around other sites and realized that number is pathetically low for a free giveaway.

So, I tried it again, and gave away free copies of Second Chance for two days. This time, I publicized the event. I contacted a couple of sites, like Pixel of Ink, Ereader News Today, and Free eBooks Daily (there are a TON of sites out there that do free marketing; I got dizzy just looking at the lists). I contacted about twenty bloggers, my agent, and even Houghton Mifflin Harcourt was kind enough to tweet about it.

In just the first day of this promotion, 4,000 copies were downloaded, it made the top fifty books in Kindle, and made a number one spot in a Kindle category. I stared at the number—4,000 free books! Instead of feeling ecstatic, I wanted to ball my eyes out. Seriously, I'm such a drama queen. It felt so strange to give so many copies of my book away for free, but people keep reminding me it’s great publicity. Well, here’s hoping.

I guess the point of all of this isn’t to hit high rankings or make a bestseller list. I’m just proud of this book and I think it deserves a spot on people’s bookshelves. I’m trying to prove to my publisher that it’s worth picking up. I want to hold this book in my hands, so I hope this will create the buzz I need to make that happen. I also LOVE GRAY AND DYLAN. I have never had so much fun spending time with characters.

If you do download it, tell your friends about it, or write a positive review for me. 

Finally, and most importantly, thank you thank you thank you to all of my friends and fans who helped to spread the word about my promotion. I wish I could take every single one of you out for a glass of wine. Maybe someday.

~Katie

One Final Promotion

I really want to be lazy tonight and watch Modern Family, or rewatch Anne of Green Gables for the billionth time, but Dylan and Gray are bugging me to do some more publicity for Second Chance. So, I am publicizing one final giveaway. Second Chance will be free to download on Amazon (here) for the next two days (September 19^th and 20^th). As of Friday, it will cost $3.99. I think my pregnancy is making me overly generous or something, but go ahead and take advantage. If you do download it and enjoy it, tell your friends to read it. That’s all I ask, yo.

PLEASE spread the word about this giveaway on any blogs, Goodreads, Twitter, Facebook…you get the idea. Pass the love around.

 

 

Second Chance

Well, so far it sounds like people are enjoying Second Chance!  I love this book—I could seriously write Gray and Dylan forever, but, there will only be one more book in the dramatic saga that is their relationship. You can order the book here. 

Thanks for all of the kind reviews and comments people have been sending me.   Writers need their readers like birds need wings, so THANK YOU.

I have a Second Chance blog tour in the works for the first week of November. I will post details as soon as they’re finalized, and thanks to everyone who showed interested in participating!

~Katie

Read Second Chance, FOR FREE

I'm playing around with some of my promotional options on Amazon and one is a free promotion, which I'm trying out. So...

Second Chance will be free on Amazon today. Yes. Free! The promotion ends at midnight PST. Feel free to spread the word.

Follow this link to download the book. Write a nice review if you like it.

HAPPY FRIDAY!

Wow...That Was Fast

I uploaded Second Chance on to Kindle yesterday around 3:00 p.m., and by 8:30 p.m., it was live! That was the fastest publishing turn around I have ever experienced. Ludicrous speed style.

So, here is a link to the BOOK. Second Chance can be yours, NOW!

 

Synopsis of the story:

Can two drastically different, imperfect people be perfect for each other?

It’s been four months since Gray and Dylan have seen each other. Dylan’s been traveling in Europe, while Gray has college, baseball, and a life rooted in one place. Gray’s determined to forget Dylan, the girl he fell in love with in FIRST COMES LOVE. Besides, how do you make a relationship work with an independent loner?

Just when he decides he’s over her, Dylan makes an unexpected entrance back into his life, hoping their steamy romance can start right where it left off. Gray realizes you can tell your mind to do one thing, but you can’t always convince your heart to follow. Dylan realizes she finally has to make a choice between freedom and her relationship with Gray.

Hilarious, intense, inspiring, and emotional, SECOND CHANCE shows that love is a journey, and there are never clear road signs or maps to guide you along. You can only navigate with your heart.

I am setting the price at $2.99. The more copies I sell, the quicker I can get it into a print version. Here are ways you can help spread the word about Second Chance:

• Mention it on Twitter
• Link to it on Facebook
• Discuss it on your blog or website
• Text/call/fax/email/message...bug all of your friends
• Also, adding Second Chance to your Goodreads or Amazon list is a GREAT way for books to get recognition.

Anything you can do to help spread the word would be appreciated by me, Gray, and Dylan.

If you like Second Chance, please write a kind review.

~Katie

Second Chance

Here is the ebook cover of Second Chance. I tried to keep it somewhat in line with the paperback design of First Comes Love. When the print book comes out, I'll hire a graphic designer to add to it--graphic design isn't on my resume. But, I'm still happy with its simplicity and I think the mosaic heart is fitting for this novel.

Second Chance: Available Next Week

I decided there is a word to describe me. It’s called incorrigible. I cannot be discouraged. Ever. It might be my superpower (a superpower I think most writers have).  'No' is never an option--it just opens up a new journey of opportunity.

So, here it goes. I am self-publishing Second Chance and the exciting news is, it will be available NEXT WEEK. First, I want to say there are no hard feelings toward Houghton Mifflin Harcourt. They are wonderful to me, and continue to be wonderful to me. They are publishing Middle Ground in November, and I hope to continue to work with their talented staff of editors, designers and publicists.

In the simplest words, HMH felt First Comes Love was fine as a stand-alone and didn’t need a sequel. Well, Gray and Dylan would definitely have to disagree on that one. After months of proposing changes and rewrites, one thing became clear: they were not excited about this book. This realization pushed all of my insecurity buttons and I started to feel pretty lousy about the whole thing. I started to doubt whether Second Chance was worth publishing, which is a terrible mental place for a writer to be, especially going into rewrites. To keep my faith in this manuscript alive, I pulled it back. My books are like my kids, and I can’t put them in people’s hands who don’t love them. It would be like putting my kids in a school where none of the teachers cared about them. I would feel sick about it.

I hired a content editor and a copy editor (Team Awesome). We’ve been working on rewrites over the summer. I’m going to release the ebook format of Second Chance now, on Amazon. I will release the paperback in a few months, hopefully through Powell’s Books. I’m waiting a bit to release the paperback because I need to pay a graphic designer to touch up the cover, and buy an ISBN number, things I can’t afford at the moment. I will make the paperback available as soon as I can, I promise!

The ebook will be available on Amazon and here is the awesome news: It will cost, at most, $3.99. The perk of self publishing is you can set your own price. $3.99 people, that’s less than a coffee drink. That’s seriously pocket change. I will post a link next week where you can order the book.

Also, any bloggers interested in reading the ebook and participating in a tour, please contact me, either through my website or by leaving a message. Thanks for everyone’s support on Second Chance. I can’t wait for you to read it. It’s SO GOOD.

Paperback Design of FIRST COMES LOVE

My publisher's showed me the paperback art of First Comes Love yesterday. It's PERFECT. It might be my favorite cover yet. I love the cactus, it definitely illustrates my story, and my characters (especially Gray). It won't be available until spring, 2013, but I still wanted to share it. We went back and forth over the hardcover--I get that it's steamy, and I can appreciate that, but I felt like it didn't quite fit my story. So, I'm really excited for this design.

Song Two

Here is song number two on the Second Chance playlist. It's called Kamera, by Wilco. This one is Dylan-inspired.


.


P.S. I had a great time at the Powell's Bookstore Block Party this weekend. Thanks to everyone who came and participated. There is nothing better than seeing a ton of people outside, together, to celebrate books and music. I was floating.

Tom Petty, Intro

I'm putting together my playlist for Second Chance. So many songs helped inspire this book; it's hard to narrow them down. Here is song number one. It definitely sets the mood for Gray's mindset at the beginning of the book. Plus, it's just an amazing song:

I Got a Haircut (and other earth shattering news)

As some of you may have noticed, I retired my Twitter account last week. I hope the cyber world will manage to continue without my status updates, and my small group of followers will not grieve too long for this loss. My agent suggested I open it when I published my first novel, Awaken, and I thought she was joking. I'm like, "Helen, have you read Awaken?" But, she pointed out it is great for marketing and publicity, which I admit, it is. I also don't knock something until I try it for myself (except for meth, I probably don't need to try that one to realize it isn't good for me). So, I went on Twitter and posted awkward status updates and lost hours of time reading other awkward status updates and it just wasn't for me.

I appreciate everyone who reached out to me on Twitter, and I'm not trying to avoid you, I just try to avoid being online too much. I only check my email twice a day (sometimes I don't check it at all). It's not that I'm anti-technology, I'm not, it's just that I'm ridiculous-insanely busy. Pregnant, running after a toddler, writing multiple manuscripts...it's been a year and a half since I could schedule in a haircut. I really needed it and can I just say, my hair smells amazing right now? It's almost edible.

Event update:

Come and see me and my new haircut this Saturday, August 25th at the Powell's Block Party (Powell's Bookstore on Burnside in Portland, Oregon). I will be speaking on the children's stage at 4:00 p.m. If you haven't been to the world's greatest book store, this is the time to come. There will be music, food, beer, authors, and books.

If you can't make the block party, I will also be signing books at the Portland Airport (PDX) on August 29th at 11 a.m. I'll be outside the Powell's Bookstore (I would assume, unless they put me in an airport hanger which would be weird but fun).

Other news...a blog tour for Middle Ground is in the works. I will have a full schedule soon, which will include sneak peeks, an interview with Justin, author interviews, giveaways, playlists. Good times.

Finally, I can announce it: I finished editing Second Chance. Man, that was rough. I've never been in charge of editing my own manuscript and even though I hired a team of editors to help me (Team Awesome is their name), I still had to input all the changes myself. I am so sick of thinking about comma placement right now--it makes me want to play Oxford Comma by Vampire Weekend on full volume and scream to it. Maybe I will. Better yet, sing it with me.

Second Chance

Here's a line I wrote this morning. It comes from a scene in Second Chance, (the sequel to First Comes Love), where Gray kisses Dylan. This is how it makes him feel:


My heart pulls apart and collides back together with so much force my hands start to shake. I feel like I’m speeding down a highway in the middle of the night with no headlights on. A single kiss can be one of the craziest things you ever do.   

I like this description, how it conveys the overwhelming, intoxicating, and terrifying feelings of falling in love. I understand why they call it “falling” in love. It is a fall, it’s this letting go, this accepting that is so scary (and tough for Gray in this book).

I also love that this line was inspired by one of my editors. I would never have written it if she hadn’t given me feedback on this scene.

I’m working on the rewrites to Second Chance, but I still can’t make an official announcement of when/where/how it will be published because I still don’t know. My publishers haven’t rejected or accepted this book. I’m still in the painful waiting phase (probably the worst place for a writer to be).

Instead of sitting around, stewing with insecurity over whether or not this book is good enough to be published, (because IT IS), I’ve been working with a small team of editors on the rewrites. If I do decide to go the self-publishing route, I want to make sure this book is fit to be published and that only happens with quality editing. Good writing is rewriting and I could never publish something without hiring some professional, critical eyes to examine my work. Every word of every sentence needs to be critically critiqued. That’s what makes a book shine. Also, some of my best writing comes during rewrites. I have a lot of  “Ah, ha!” moments, where lights snap on in my head and everything falls into place.

Once I have the manuscript fully cleaned up (in the next week or two), I will announce how you can get your hands on it! I’ll have some exciting news soon, and a very awesome playlist to share.

~Katie

More Drama to Come

Get ready. I have a pretty important announcement to make. But first, a little backstory:

After I finished writing First Comes Love (over two years ago), I turned off my laptop, sighed, and said, “Gray and Dylan, peace out. It’s been fun.”

Done. I was done writing their story. I had so much fun hanging out with these characters, it was bittersweet to end our adventures together, but I wrote their story and it was over.

Or, so I thought.

The night that I finished writing First Comes Love, I turned off my light, closed my eyes and…Gray and Dylan were still in my head. They kept talking to me. They kept arguing. They still had so much to say. This went on for MONTHS. It was starting to drive me nuts. I yelled back at them, “Get out of my head! I told your story, and it’s over. Deal with it. Move on and leave me the hell alone.” Well, they are stubborn, and relentless and they would not give up. Apparently, their story is far from over. Full scenes shot through my head, pages of dialogue kept me up at night. Finally, just to shut them up, I sat down and started to write the vivid scenes planted in my head. I figured, if anything, I could use it for writing material down the road. As soon as I opened the door a crack, SLAM, Gray and Dylan sat down, kicked their feet up and were determined to stay a while.

So, this is my drawn-out way of saying, I wrote a “dramatic continuation” to First Comes Love. It’s called Second Chance and it’s so ridiculously good. Awesome drama. Heavy make out scenes. Lots of emotional rollercoasters. Tons of inspiration. Basically, it’s more Gray and Dylan.

I wasn’t going to announce news about this book until I had a written contract with my publishers, but I’m still waiting to hear back from them—they’ve had the manuscript for months and are still debating whether or not to take it. I’m praying that they do. It’s a lovely story. So, I’m announcing my plan in hopes of putting some positive energy out there in the book universe. Please root for Second Chance to be published! Tweet about it, blog about it, whatever you have to do. Gray and Dylan deserve to have their story continue.

GOT BOOKS?

Friends, after months of being sick with this pregnancy I am finally turning the corner and I have this wonderful new feeling coursing through my body called: ENERGY. It’s great timing, since I participated in a huge YA author event last weekend called “GOT BOOKS,” hosted by Kindt’s Booksellers in The Dalles, Oregon. Twelve authors were there, and one of the authors, Gregg Olsen, made this epic (and very high budget) video to capture the event:




I got to do a few school visits as well, here is a picture of me with the amazingly awesome students at Maupin High School in Maupin, Oregon. I'm the one in front wearing the painted jeans.

This picture points out that I am long overdue for a haircut. Also, I don't know why I'm trying to shove that poor student away from me, like I'm boxing her out in a basketball game. Oh, well...

~Later.