Category Archives: Teenager
SOULSTICE – Cover Reveal
Photo session with Wrenee for the cover of Soulstice
I’ve been busy, busy, busy putting the final touches on my latest project, Soulstice, the companion novella to Souled. This novella puts a spotlight on Alyx, who, in Alyx’s own words, is the “dark, totally misunderstood, totally underestimated, misfit” of Sandpoint High School.
I adore Alyx – her strength, courage, and her mysterious background. What makes her qualified to stand up to Seth in his dark hours? What was her path that brought her to be who she is?
Although she will have floor time in the upcoming sequel, I wanted to satisfy the curiosity of many of the readers who’ve asked me, “Who exactly is Alyx?”
I’m fortunate and eternally grateful that my friend, and outstanding author, Fabio Bueno (his novel Wicked Sense is definitely one of my favorite reads), has taken it upon himself to give me a shout out on his blog and share with you the cover of Soulstice.
In continuing the theme of “keeping it local,” the beauty on the cover is Wrenee, a student here in Sandpoint, Idaho. Once again, Sandpoint produces a teen professional enough to step up and handle something as important as the cover of a book. Add to that the makeup expertise of Kimberlee Langford, creative cover design by Crystalyn Abercrombie (my tattoo artist), and photographer, Victoria Melendez.
Curious yet???
Then please head on over to Fabio’s site to check out the cover and to learn a bit more about what the story is all about!
Getting By With A Little Help From My Friends
With so much information out there on the internet, with so many websites to sift through, anyone wishing to get information to a targeted market is up against a lot of competition.
As writers, we look to our friends and family to spread the word and, of course, they always come through. And within our online community, we are fortunate enough to have other writers and readers who open their blogs freely to lend a hand as well.
I want to take this opportunity to thank those bloggers who helped me reveal my new cover of Souled this past week. Please support them by visiting their blogs. They really are awesome peeps!
And a huge thank you to everyone who shared on Facebook and Twitter!
Cover Reveal – Souled Gets a Makeover
Change is good. Change is positive. But it doesn’t make it any easier to let something go…
As much as I adored the original cover of Souled, I felt a change was needed to encompass more of the essence of the novel, which, in addition to ancient sorcery, was a story of love so absolute, so pure, it could transcend ordinary reason.
And because the location of the story took place in North Idaho, I wanted to include the community of Sandpoint in the Souled experience.
I was fortunate that Scott and Elaina, “regular” teens in Sandpoint, agreed to be the models for this cover. Although neither of them are professional models, they handled themselves like pros and gave the photographer, Victoria McCune, 100% effort. And in my opinion, it shows.
Also helping to put a professional touch to the make-up part of the session, I was thrilled to have Kimberlee Langford, make-up specialist, on board.
The tattoo design from the original cover, designed by Crystalyn Abercrombie, was definitely kept as part of this cover as that is a constant symbol in the story (as well as tattooed firmly onto my own body). Steve McCune pulled together all of the pieces to create the final cover.
It’s been incredible working with the people in the community on something such as this project, because after all, it’s their town, their turf, and their support of the novel is very important.
I’ve had a lot of fun so far and I hope you enjoy this cover as much as I do.
Slenderman Sighting in North Idaho?
This weekend past was a busy and incredibly productive one. Not only did I have the chance to hang out with my cousin and her husband, but they helped me do a total and complete makeover of the cover to my Young Adult Paranormal novel, Souled, which will be revealed on Friday. It’s totally unique in the fact that I was able to use local teens for the photo shoot. They stepped up and did such an incredible job! I can’t wait to show you all! So stay tuned for Friday’s post when I give you the low down on the new cover.
This post is going to deviate a little from my norm as I fulfill a promise I made to my #slenderman Twitter peeps for pictures.
This weekend, I took my cousin and her husband to a house I own in North Idaho (which I no longer live in) to show them around. It’s the home I referred to in a previous post. The home sits on a beautiful and heavily-wooded 5 acres with lots of places to roam and hide. There are places that are really magical alongside of some creepy pockets of slash created by previous loggers. We walked around the property and got some really interesting pictures. With all of the interest in Slenderman, and my son’s insistence that I don’t even think about it (which of course I did after that), I’m wondering. Did I draw him to me? And where the heck does he really live?
You’ll have to click on the pictures to see what I’m talking about…
My cousin’s husband and I checking out the neglected garden. Look closely on the right of the photo…
I was showing them the faery glen but – fortunately I was looking the other way – we had a close encounter of another kind…
So what do you think? More than one Slenderman? Fact? Fiction? Our overactive imagination? You tell me. Should we start a new hashtag of #slenderheads?
Come back Friday to check out the new cover for Souled. It’s got a whole new feel to it. I think you’ll agree.
If You Let Them Go, They’ll Stick Around
I had no idea that the gap that launched me into single status could possibly get any wider. I can see now, though, how inevitable it would be, for as I kept taking steps backward, slowly turning away from the disaster my life had become, and finally running like hell, my scenery changed, my viewpoint cleared, and my vision sharpened. I found myself standing in a place my ex would never understand. The rules regarding school work, curfew, healthy eating – the rules that united, albeit loosely, the ex and I together – soon became the mother of all disagreements.
Seventeen years ago, as part of my efforts to be the “perfect” mom, I adopted other women’s examples of what raising children “should be,” even if it didn’t resonate with me. Man, was that exhausting. I had rules up the wazoo and fought to keep them in place. And the boys fought back.
But eight months ago the blinders dropped to my feet and I found that I had forgotten to preach what I practiced. The solution was so simple.
Let them be.
Which is exactly how I prefer to be treated. I don’t want anyone telling me what to do or telling me what path to choose, so why should I do that to my boys? Sure, my body may be older, but my children’s souls are just as experienced as mine. These boys aren’t mine in the possession sense. From a spiritual point of view, I don’t have the right to put borders around their spirits and make them the exact image that society or even I believe to be true. I’m here to guide them, not mold them. They know who they need to be. Besides, what a waste of time when quite possibly after 18 years, they’re going to do and be what they want anyway. I know I did.
It is my belief that we come into this existence knowing what our life path is. The road map has already been printed up, although our free will sometimes overrides that map and takes us on some wild side trips. When we truly deviate off that path,though, it doesn’t go unnoticed. Don’t we feel the discord when we want to go one direction and someone tries to convince us otherwise? Especially if the only source of righteousness is in their own mind? Or what about compromising on something we truly believe in?
My mother pushed me to go to college because it was what I “should” do, yet all I did was spin my wheels, lost a lot of brain cells, and ran up a student loan that never should have been. Besides, halfway through the first year I realized I still didn’t know what I wanted to be when I grew up. This is one area I won’t push my boys on. No amount of lecturing is going to make this the right choice for them. True motivation must come from them. Otherwise it becomes my job to keep them going, a burden that will have us both resentful.
In the months past, I’ve gotten a clearer view of who my boys really are. Without the shoulds masking their true source, I’ve been able to appreciate their way of thinking. I’m beginning to understand what makes them tick and why they don’t fit into the boxes I’ve been trying to put them in.
Sex, drinking, drugs, school, safety, curfew – those are issues I will never compromise on. Honestly, though, I have no control over their ultimate decisions on those topics, but I’ve made damn sure they know what the consequences are if they deviate from my “recommendations.” So, armed with that information, it’s their decision as to what outcome they desire.
Some may think this is the wrong approach or the lazy way to parent, but it is actually very difficult at times. To stand back and watch their actions put in motion a set of reactions (whether they be mine or someone else’s) makes me want to peek out from behind splayed fingers. It’s nothing short of a challenge to stay back and let them do damage control. On the flip side, when they are really thinking it out and the outcome is in their favor? It’s awesome.
It felt good to finally release the ties, because forcing the boys to do what they clearly do not want to do didn’t resonate with what I was all about – freedom of choice and independence. I’ve let my boys make choices of when to go to sleep (though the connection between late nights and being tired the next day still hasn’t sunk in), meals, what school classes to take, and friends. As long as safety isn’t an issue and they’re not hurting others, I’m good.
Which might explain why they gravitate to me and not to the “other.” That “coolness” factor I seem to have with the boys and their friends is, I believe, actually the elation they experience when they connect with who they are.
Think about the people we tend to gravitate toward – those who speak to and understand our souls. Not those who contradict or repress our fires, but those who stoke it, feed it, and encourage it to rise.
My boys’ path is their own. I’ll be there to dust off their knees, put a band-aid on a broken heart, give them advice on hangover cures, and I’ll give them room to fly, because they’ll need it to get over the Grand Canyon-size crevasse of thought that yawns between “the other half” and me.
Going Once, Going Twice…SOULED!!!
So, hey! Amazing that a week has gone by since I released Souled. Seems like just yesterday I clicked on the publish button. The days are flying by for me. I really wanted to take a few weeks off, but already the opening chapter for the sequel is pounding against my door, demanding to be let in. I’ll see how long I can hold off.
What I would like to do, though, is give you another peek at a section of Souled. The first passage was revealed when I got tagged in the Lucky 7 game. So here’s another part of the story:
“Hey.” I pulled Dani against me again and rested my forehead against hers. “Thanks for going with me tonight.”
“I don’t know why you thought I wouldn’t.” Dani leaned back and searched my face. “Is everything okay?”
“Yeah, definitely.” This night was going to be great. “I love you,” I said.
“Me, too.”
I cupped her face, pulling her close enough to brush my lips against hers, closing my eyes to shut out everything that could possibly distract me from this moment. The dark behind my eyes became darker before it flared, and stopped me mid-kiss. Something didn’t feel right.
“What’s wrong?” Dani frowned.
“Your mom’s coming.” Perfect timing, because I couldn’t explain what was wrong, just that something felt off, as if something bad was about to happen.
Janice appeared in the doorway. “Sorry I took so long. I had to replace the batteries. This darn thing uses them up so quickly. Okay. Get closer,” she said, sweeping her hand through the air, motioning us to get closer.
I draped my arm around Dani and pressed my cheek against her hair, smiling at the lens.
In the split second after the flash went off, I blinked and in that split second of darkness, I saw it.
What the HELL?! Maksim?!
I focused on Dani, squeezing her shoulder and pulling her closer still. I wasn’t feeling so good anymore. “Thanks, Mrs. Parsons,” I managed to say. “I think we’d better go, Dani. Justin is probably waiting for us.” But there was nowhere I could run to hide from what I had seen. And it was more than seeing; it was suddenly knowing the truth. Knowing I had been duped.
I took a deep breath, causing a tremor in my chest.
The voice had a face. Freakin’ A. He had a face.
And that face told me that Maksim was no angel.
~ ~ ~
Slightly curious about what that was all about? You can download Souled on your Kindle via Amazon, or pick up the print version, which is available through Createspace or Amazon.
As for the winner of the giveaway, I had my youngest draw a name out of the hat, and the winner is Debra Kristi! Debra, you need to let me know if you’d like the eBook or print version.
As for the rest of you awesome peeps, I appreciate all of you stopping by and leaving me a comment and supporting the book’s release. I’d like to show my gratitude by offering you an e-version of Souled. Thank you so much!!
Time To Soul-e-brate!
Soul attachment, as common as a cold, and just as easy to be rid of… sometimes. Would you know if another entity had hijacked your body? If you did, what would you do?
Lose yourself in the story of Maksim and Seth, old versus young, good versus badass. Available on Amazon in ebook format now, with the print version available within a few weeks.
What 17-year-old boy wouldn’t be tempted by the promise of power and control – no matter what form that promise came in?
Seth knew exactly what he would do with power and control. He’d be well on his way to a wrestling scholarship, his dad could stop working so hard to make ends meet, and he’d forever have the heart of his girlfriend, Sandpoint High’s most beautiful girl.
For Seth, the temptation was much too strong to resist. And why should he? The way he saw it, he had everything to gain.
But when he unknowingly invites another soul to share his body, Seth discovers that not all power is good – especially when it was never his to wield. And when the soul reveals its true intentions, will Seth have the strength to fight it or would death be less painful?
And just for kicks… Check out location pictures and the story behind the making of the cover.
In honor of Souled’s release, I’m giving away a copy, either ebook format or print. Just leave a comment and I’ll put your name in hat and draw the winner’s name next Tuesday!
Until then… be careful what you buy online!
Sex Sells, But Should Young Adults Buy Into It?
It’s everywhere we look – In magazines, television, movies, books, bedrooms, back seats of cars…you the idea. There’s no escaping it. I don’t care how “good” we claim to be, we’ll look. We’re curious about the body, what it looks like (more importantly, what other bodies look like). Let’s admit it and move on – naked bodies or scantily clad bodies – are a complete turn on. We shamelessly flock to online sites en masse and hoot our approval. For the males, they have the Hooter Girls, the Jaegermeister models, and a long list of others scantily clad women toting tools, beer bottles, and motorcycles.
Us women love, love, love it! We create it! Look at what CJ West is doing for the cause! (By the way, comment on his challenge post and you could win a $500 Amazon gift certificate – but the biggest prize is to get CJ shirtless!)om 1953…
What about brain candy? Look at the success of Fifty Shades of Grey. Sex, sex, and more sex. And the public is eating it up! Then there’s Gabriel’s Inferno and the eagerly anticipated The Winemaker’s Dinner (available July 31, 2012). It’s all about the seduction that makes us squirm (in the very pleasurable sense of the word).
Which brings me to my original topic. How young is too young for readers to be exposed to sex in literature? Where should we draw the line? Should we draw the line?
I’m not advocating it one way or another, because that is a purely personal opinion for authors and the parents of young readers to deal with. What I have observed, though, is the fact that these young adults are getting younger and are already well-schooled about the ins and outs (yes, pun intended) of sex, the very same stuff some of us try to keep out of their hands.
Let’s face it. The act of sex is primal. Used for procreation or not, there is, at various levels, arousal. None of us are immune to it.
In my day job as a medical transcriptionist, I’ve lost count of how many reports I’ve typed regarding 14-year-olds who go to the emergency room due to complications from their pregnancy. As much as I’m against babies having babies, the reality is that they know all about sex and keeping it out of books probably isn’t going to stop them from doing the wild thing. In fact, they’ll see it, read it, and do it if they want.
A friend of mine understands that mentality, and even though her son is only 14 years old, he has a girlfriend, so she keeps a stack of Trojans within his reach. Just in case.
When I was in seventh grade, there was a couple who spent every lunch, every recess playing throat hockey and copping feels. Sheesh. If they did that in public, one could only guess what they did in private.
I’ve been told by a few teens that they’ve read my novel, Again, which has a few choice sex scenes ranging from sweetly intimate to raw. (My guess is that they actually skimmed the book for the “best parts” and ignored the rest.) And they seemed rather proud of themselves for having read it. I totally cringe at the thought, but then I remind myself of the time when I was 12 or 13 and the stuff I got my hands on. *shrugs* Whaddya gonna do?
I’m not going to tell you if I wrote any sex into my next Young Adult novel, Souled, or not, because that would be a total spoiler, but suffice it to say, I kept it as real as possible. I would love to hear your thoughts. Is there a line you draw as a reader or writer? What are your beliefs?
Do You Judge A Book By Its Cover?
Image: Secretsof7scribes.wordpress.com
I don’t know about you, but I DO judge a book by its cover – literally. When at a bookstore or library, I look at the books displayed predominantly and I’ll always pick up a book because I like the look of its cover. Whether or not I walk out the door with it, is a different story, but I will spend some time admiring the cover. I often wonder about the thought process behind each one. Whose vision was it? Was it true to the story line? Was it true to the author’s vision? How much time was put into it? What was truly vested in its creation?
When I began writing my upcoming novel, Souled, I knew what I wanted on the cover, but I’m art-challenged and what happens in my head short circuits on its way to my hands. I did make an attempt, though, albeit pathetic, and I just wasn’t happy with it.
One day, after I had gotten my quill tattoo, I really started thinking about it (well, not really because there was never a question in my mind after the seed was planted) and decided who I would ask to design the book cover. I had walked into Crystalyn Abercrombie’s tattoo studio and asked if she would be interested in taking on the project. I don’t think I actually got the words out before she said yes. The connection was made. We both knew the Universe ignited. Yeah, it was that awesome.
The result? Perfection. Exactly what I had envisioned. She nailed it. In fact, it’s my next tattoo.
So what did she do to make me her #1 fan? I put some questions to her and now I share them with you…..
Crystalyn Abercrombie – Damn! This girl knows her stuff!
1. Tell us a little bit about your background in art.
I’ve enjoyed drawing for as long as I can remember. My Uncle Nick is an artist as well and would always send me drawing materials for birthdays or holidays. In 5th grade a local artist came into class and taught us how to duplicate photographs with graphite pencils. My mom signed me up for lessons with that artist, and that’s when I started to take art seriously. I fell in love with drawing the human body and portraits of people and animals. Since then I entered every art contest I could. I would always place in the top three and have my art picked by the class to be featured in projects like yearbooks or choir t-shirts. I took various art classes that were offered in high school and some in Spokane, and worked with different mediums like acrylic paints, wire, clay, found objects, stained glass and tile for mosaics, photography, calligraphy & graphic art.
2. What is your preferred medium and why?
That’s a tough question! I really enjoy making mixed media art, using a little of this and a little of that, usually involving some sort of natural element and acrylic paint. I like to create art with dimension. Currently in my spare time I like to string and paint native American style hand-held drums with pagan inspired goddess images.
3. When did you begin to draw? What was one of the first things you drew? What makes it memorable?
I’ve pretty much had a crayon in my hand since day one! We never had a lot of money growing up, but we could afford paper and crayons, so art was always my favorite form of entertainment. In first grade my dad was a construction worker, and addicted to yard sales, so he would pick up oil paints from garage sales for me, and I would paint flowers with butterflies and big yellow suns on his scrap pieces of 2 x 4′s I’d find around the yard. I can also remember doing a pencil and crayon drawing of a family portrait. Memorable because I had put a heart polka-dot pattern on my mom’s shirt, and my parents smirked at the two hearts that were drawn right where nipples should go. I have been censored on my human figure drawings several times in middle and high school, and it makes me laugh to remember it started way back in first grade!
4. What is the process you went through to create the cover for Souled?
Step 1: Consulting with the author, Diana Murdock. She told me she wanted a symbol to represent the Egyptian clan that some of the book’s characters were involved with.
Step 2: Reading the novel to completely understand where she was coming from, and get the artwork to really resonate with it.
Step 3: Hitting my symbol books to learn more about what symbols Egyptians typically used and what meanings they associated with them. From there I gathered symbols I felt appropriately represented aspects of the novel from the Egyptian and old world cultures.
Step 4: Putting together a rough draft of my idea along with pages of symbol explanations for Diana to look at. This way she was able to see why I chose to draw the symbol as I had. I gave her time to think it over and decide on any changes she wanted me to make. This step went back and forth only twice with the actual symbol before we nailed it down, and then once more for the style of the novel’s cover as a whole. We seemed to be on the same page at every step of the way.
Step 5: Sketching a rough layout, deciding on what medium would be best, and gather what supplies were needed. Of course I chose to do a mixed medium piece, and photograph it when finished so it would look as realistic as possible. I purchased a brown piece of scrapbooking paper as a base to give it the old bound leather book feeling, some antiquing silver stuff to give the look of old metal embellishments, and a red rhinestone for the snake’s eye because drawing or painting it on wouldn’t have achieved the effect I wanted.
Step 6: Printing my layout onto my scrapbook paper.
Step 7: Using graphite pencils to draw in the snake completely
Step 8: Metal embellishments with the silver antiquing liquid.
Step 9: Using graphite pencils to draw details onto the metallic areas, and around the cover to give it some depth and shadows for a more realistic sort of feel.
Step 10: Another consultation to make sure Diana was happy with the results.
Step 11: Photographing the final piece with the rhinestone eye in place.
Step 12: Computer graphics stuff which involves uploading the photograph into my graphic design program, having a consultation with Diana to choose font type and where she wanted to see the title and her name, saving that project as a high resolution JPEG file, and voila! Diana received it in her email’s inbox.
5. Did you read the novel before creating the artwork?
Of course. It was really the only way for me to feel like I could understand what my art needed to represent. I’ve always loved anything paranormal and magical so I was all over it! Being from the same town as in the book and having gone to high school here really made it fun to read as well, I felt like I was right there with the characters at every turn. I really loved it, and I can’t wait for the sequel!
6. Where did the inspiration come from?
The passages from the sorceress and the element manipulation magic. There’s a line early on about flames twisting together like snakes in the hands of one character, that is what sparked inspiration initially.
7. The symbol is very Egyptian. Do you typically lean in this style in your artistic work or was this a special direction for this book?
This is actually my first ever Egyptian style piece. I knew we wanted to represent an old world magic clan and I initially thought Celtic or Pagan because that is what I lean toward heavily in my personal symbolic art, but Diana mentioned Egyptian so I had to hit my symbols books in order to pick out the right symbols to resonate with the novel.
8. Where else has your work been published?
Down There, The Wise Woman’s Way by Susan Weed in 2011
9. Have you ever designed any artwork for an author?
This cover is the first author I have worked with during the design process. My other published illustrations were submitted into an open illustration call, so I designed them completely and sent them off to New York to compete against whoever else had submitted illustrations as well. As a tattoo artist I’m constantly designing various things for clients. Sometimes it’s fitting multiple images into one design or creating something from scratch.
10. Would you be interested in designing more book covers? If so, do you have a favorite genre you’d like to design for?
I would absolutely love to do this again! Fantasy and Paranormal are probably my favorite to read, but as far as what I like designing for best, I have yet to find out. I’d love to try everything and see if I can eventually answer that, so bring on your ideas!
11. Besides this book cover, where do you gather most of the inspiration for your tattoo designs and artwork?
My personal inspiration comes from the beauty of nature and my spirituality. I resonate with aspects of Paganism, Wiccanism, and some Native American cultures. I love to involve symbolism, balance and simplicity in my personal designs, but when designing for clients I really try to understand where their inspirations are coming from, so my art will vary greatly from piece to piece.
12. Where can others reach you if they are interested in commissioning you for their projects?
ouchiemamatattooandpiercing@gmail.com, 208-610-6527.
13. Where we can view your work?
My biggest portfolio is on my Ouchie Mama Tattoo & Piercing page on Facebook. Unfortunately it’s all tattoo work at the moment, but a lot of it is my own design work. Now that I know people might be interested in seeing more of my work, I will start adding some different stuff to it.
~~~
Thank you so much, Crystalyn, for taking the time to share this process. I’m thrilled we connected and I look forward to having you on board for other projects!
Please be on the lookout for the release of Souled this spring!
