Sorry this took me so long to get to you all. This last week seems to have gotten away from me.
But here you are! The book trailer, synopsis, and release date for THE HUMAN, book two in THE EDEN TRILOGY!!
The city of New Eden is cleared, but it won’t stay that way forever. The Bane continue to advance in horrific ways that will wipe humanity from the face of the Earth. A storm is coming, one none of them could have dared imagine. When a group of outsiders come to the city, everyone is on edge. They have too many questions and not enough answers about where they are from or what they want. Just because they are human doesn’t mean they can be trusted. Eve made a choice–one that could have deadly repercussions. Desperate hearts bring about desperate actions. Now she must make another decision as her world continues to crumble: come to terms with who she really is, or risk her sanity. She thought she had unlocked all the secrets from her past, but there are truths still buried that leave her questioning what is real and what is not.
Wow, I really can't believe it has only been one year since I hit that "publish" button on WHAT I DIDN'T
SAY. So much has happened since then and I can not believe where it is today.
In the weeks leading up to releasing WHAT I DIDN'T SAY, I have to admit, I was kind of freaking out. And when I say kind of, I mean REALLY freaking out. Just ask my friend Jenni Merritt. I was a nervous mess. I started doubting myself, wondering if it was just a load of garbage and thinking everyone would hate it and wouldn't understand Jake and his struggles and kind heart or Sam and her quiet, determined strength.
But mostly I was freaking out because of how personal the book was. Many of you know my personal tie to the story. I included an author's note at the end of the book where I tell my own experiences as a teenager dealing with physical issues, issues I still deal with today and will deal with for the rest of my life. So for this reason, because the book was tied so closely to my heart, I was scared to death to share it. I wasn't sure I could handle it if anyone were to rip it to pieces and say they hated it.
Bucking up, I gathered my courage and fears and sent it out into the world.
And now here we are one year later, and I am blown away by the love and support you have given to me and Jake's journey. I have gotten so many emails, comments, posts, tweets, etc, expressing people's appreciation and love of the book. Many of them have brought tears to my eyes. All have touched my heart.
I worried everyone would hate the book. But today, on the one year anniversary of WHAT I DIDN'T SAY's release, it currently has an average star rating of 4.5 out of 5 stars with 183 reviews on Amazon. And I can barely believe it. I am humbled and honored.
Thank you for your love. Thank you for your support.
It means so much to me. More than I could ever express.
How's that for you?! Forgive my novice vlog making skills. If you guys have recommendations for awesome movie making/editing software that isn't too pricey, please let me know.
Now, I know you didn't get a very big view of the covers so scroll down a bit and I'll give you the full size versions!
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Now all together!
If someone out there is a Goodreads Librarian, would you please go pop the covers on there? For some reason Goodreads hates me and won't let me put them up... (book 2 is HERE, book 3 is HERE)
I hope you like the covers! I will be getting the paperback version of THE BANE switched soon, but it takes a lot longer than all the digital versions.
I am also hoping to start vloging more often, so if you have something you'd like to hear me talk about, please let me know!
I LOVE going to writers conferences! There is something incredibly inspiring about being around hundreds of other writers. And I always learn so much and meet amazing people.
This weekend I'm attending the SCBWI Western Washington conference. And I can't wait! It is down in Redmond and because of my location on the island, that means I'm spending two nights down there at the hotel. Two nights and three days all to myself. You have no idea how rare of an event this is for me, lol! No kids?!
I will take notes and I will of course report back to you some time next week.
Give a shout out if you too will be at the conference!
Some of you may not realize that I design my own covers. Graphic design is something that I started teaching myself about 3 years ago and I fell in love. My favorite thing to create in Photoshop is of course book covers.
When I decided to re-release Eden as The Bane I knew I had to come up with a new cover. But it is hard to top the old cover. It was bad ass and attention grabbing. But at the same time, I was realizing that it was scaring potential readers away. It didn't really say "This is YA" or "This is told from a female point of view." So I came up with the cover that I did. And I liked it for a while.
But I kept looking at it and thinking it was so plain... And then I got several comments from readers that they felt it wasn't a good representation of what the book was about. That it was just a "pretty girl on a cover". And I totally got what they were saying.
So being me, the author that loves Photoshop too much, I started playing around.
And I've come up with two alternatives.
I really want your opinion. What version do you like best? Do you like the current cover? Or do you think it could be improved upon?
This isn't a promise or a guarantee that I will change the cover. This is me doing research and seeing what my readers think. This is me finding out if what you like is what I like.
Below are the options. At the bottom of this post is a poll. Please vote for your favorite and help me make this decision! Feel free to leave a comment as well with your thoughts!
I've done it! A few minutes ago I finished the first draft of Eden2! I finished the first draft of my SEVENTH novel. Wow. That's really crazy to think!
I still haven't come up with a title yet but I will let you know what it is as soon as I figure it out! And I am still aiming for an August release so hang tight with me!
Music is so critically important to me as a writer. These days I create a playlist before I even begin typing the first chapter of a book. Somehow music helps me to get my writing mojo on.
So today I have created a YouTube reel of THE BANE's playlist! I hope you enjoy and maybe discover some awesome new music!
