R is for...Rarity

R is for...Rarity.

First cover - my drawing & pic of Soren

Rarity is my first published novel with Limitless Publishing. It was originally self-published but was accepted by Limitless and received new edits and an awesome cover. My son was diagnosed with a rare and life threatening genetic disorder. But now that we know he has this condition, we can make good choices to keep him safe, have him monitored, and take meds to prevent some of the complications.

Is he cured? No.

But there is hope on the horizon with amazing treatments like CRISPR (genetic editing). So what about those that aren't diagnosed? Great question. There are so many patients with the same condition as my son that have not been properly diagnosed. So even if a cure exists, if they aren't diagnosed...it does them no good.

2nd Cover

So my goal was to use my talents (writing) to educate others about Vascular Ehlers Danlos Syndrome.  Rarity is a book about a teen diagnosed with this disorder and the emotional rollercoaster that all involved endure. I wrote it based on my own emotions from my son being diagnosed. It's a young adult book, the characters in it are in High School, a time when kids are very much thinking about themselves and how things will impact them. At the back of the book, there is information about the disorder and signs and symptoms to consider. My hope is that someone reading it may have a lightbulb go off and a proper diagnosis can be made on someone not previously diagnosed.

I thought I'd show some of the covers for it as it evolved for your viewing pleasure.

Final cover - published with Limitless Publishing

★•✩•★ SYNOPSIS ★•✩•★

Brogen Mathers can’t deal with teen drama…

As an empath, she is constantly bombarded with other people’s energies. Despite coping techniques taught by her psychologist mother, it’s often too much to bear, forcing her to avoid most activities a typical high school junior would enjoy.

Jay Wilken won’t let his past define him…

A dead mother and an alcoholic father brought Jay to Stanton, but he doesn’t want pity. His good looks, charisma, and friendly nature quickly win over the whole student body, but he has his eye on one girl…Brogen.

Brogen can’t believe anyone could be so genuinely nice. It has to be an act, right? But when Jay literally saves her from deadly jaws, she has to admit he’s exactly what he appears, and he’s worth risking the potential emotional upheaval.

“Drama” might as well be Becca Grant’s middle name…

Another newcomer to Stanton, Becca’s blonde beauty and abundant attitude shoots her straight to the top of the popularity charts—and she believes Jay belongs right there beside her. Accustomed to getting exactly what she wants, she launches a relentless mean-girl campaign to shake up Brogen and claim Jay for her own.

Everything changes with a devastating diagnosis…

When Jay learns he has a rare and potentially fatal disorder, he keeps it secret and begins to push Brogen away to spare her future pain—which is exactly the sort of opening Becca is waiting for.

As Jay’s well-meaning deception unravels,

Brogen realizes there is much more than her heart at stake…

But how far is she willing to go to fight for someone she loves?

GOODREADS - https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/25712819-rarity

★•✩•★ Grab your copy! ★•✩•★

AMAZON US: http://amzn.to/1Gk4nHz

AMAZON UK: http://amzn.to/1CCdVTL

PAPERBACK: http://amzn.to/1M49djo

Q is for...Questions

Q is for...Question

Since becoming an author, I've been asked more questions. Here are some of the most frequently asked questions and their answers.

1. When is book 2 for the Demon Hunters series coming out?

  I don't know for sure but probably by Fall 2016.

The cloud couch

2. What are your favorite writing conditions?

  Quiet music, sitting on the cloud couch with my laptop, & at least 2 uninterrupted hours to work.

3. Have you ever had writer's block and if so, how have you overcome it?

   Yes, I backtracked in my plot line and tried a new path. I knew it worked because the story flowed out of me quickly once I made the change.

4. Have you had any strange people try to friend you or chat you?

   Yes, I get a large amount of single military guys and middle eastern guys.

5. Where do you get inspiration for your stories?

   Characters are often inspired by people I know or have met. Plot lines can come from anywhere, songs, emotions I experienced, suggestions from people I love...

6. When did you decide to be a writer?

   It wasn't till 3 years ago when my dental hygienist encouraged me to write down a story that happened to me while I was young. She said it would be a great way to pay homage to them and their kind acts. I never thought, going into it, that I'd become a writer. But I thoroughly enjoyed the process of writing a book and continued with it.

If you have any questions for me...ask away!

P is for...Procrastination

P is for...Procrastination

I've been spot on with all my posts in this A to Z blogging challenge...except this one. I have two family members that are master procrastinators so I know all about this topic.

Reasons why people procrastinate:

-They desire to do it perfect

- They wait for more time to accomplish the task

- Fear of failing

- Poor time management/organizational skills

- Wanting to do something fun instead of the work needing to get done.

How to stop procrastinating:

- Make to-do lists

- If you need to take a break during your task, make it a brief break or avoid the break all together to keep the momentum going.

- Reward yourself for completing your task

- Make someone hold you accountable to help you stay on task

- Avoid distractions (email, phone calls, etc)

Put it into practice...

Recently my husband came home and said he had a horrible week at work. "I haven't had a chance to get anything done. People keep scheduling meetings or coming in to ask questions." I felt bad for my husband, he seemed to be drowning in work and not sure how to do anything but tread water. Here's what we did: We made a list of 4 things that NEEDED to get done. He looked at his meetings for the next day and canceled one of them. He went into work early, turned off his phone, and instant messenger, and did not check email till 10AM. He checked in with me mid-day to let me know what he accomplished. And finally, he set up a reward at the end of the day.

"That was the BEST day ever." He felt so accomplished at the end of the day and was able to finish the week with higher spirits.

O is for...Obstacle

O is for... Obstacle

I watch my 7 year old overcome obstacles everyday and am amazed at his creativity in overcoming them. He'll say "I want to have a drink in the living room." I don't want him to have another drink so I simply say, "You can't, no drinks allowed in the living room." He asks, "Why?" And I answer, "Because if you spill it will be hard to clean up." He walks away and returns a few minutes later with a cup with a lid and straw, and a plate to set it upon. I quickly ask, "What's going on?" To which he answers, "Just getting a drink in a cup that won't spill. And don't worry, I'll set it on the plate."

The little bugger has found a way to work around my excuse for not letting him have a drink. He does not hear the word "No", instead he hears, "find another way". 

And what a great lesson can be learned from that...find another way. 

My husband is the smartest man I know (to be honest it was one of the things that attracted me to him). One New Year's Eve, while we were dating, we went to a party in a hotel room in downtown Chicago. The party hosts were friends of ours and worked hard to get everything set up. Unfortunately, they brought the stereo but left the speaker wire at home. Well, it's hard to have a party without music. My husband (boyfriend at the time) ran off to the bedroom and returned with a wire coat hanger. He then proceeded to fashion speaker wire out of the metal coat hanger and the party was saved. Obstacle overcome.

So bringing this to a personal level...I currently face an obstacle. I need to write a 10,000 word thriller story for an anthology and it's due by mid-May. The obstacle is that I have never written a thriller. My story is half way done but I am struggling with creating twists and turns or a surprise ending.

How am I overcoming it? Well, I'm in the thick of it now and am reading short thriller stories and taking note of what works so well in them. Few characters, simple plot that can be summed up in 2-3 sentences. I'll keep you posted on whether or not I make it past the obstacle.

Any other tips for writing thrillers?

Any obstacles you have boldly overcome?

N is for Nostalgic

N is for...Nostaglic

There is one place that, upon hearing it's name, brings back good feelings and happy memories...

Long before Six Flags bought Great America, in Gurnee, IL, it was known as Marriott's Great America. It was the amusement park that my family frequented almost every year.  To this day, I can close my eyes and see the Zenith sign as we neared the park. I can hear Baker's Street playing on the car radio. And I can picture the roller coasters that peaked high above the park that were visible shortly before the entrance to the amusement park. As a kid, I'd stare at those coasters as we drove by, watching as the car halted at the top of the biggest hill before slowly lurching forward, picking up speed with the passengers screaming for their lives. I swore I'd never ride that ride.

In fifth grade, thanks to some peers that were braver than me, I went on my first BIG rollercoaster...and it was the ride I swore I'd never go on. The American Eagle was a very tall and fast wooden coaster. You begin by climbing a very big hill, a very big hill that many cars have been stuck atop. Once you reach the top you slowly inch over the peak and let gravity pull you toward the Earth. The scary part was at one point the track seemed to disappear beneath us. I know that on my first ride I began screaming before the car even began it's descent, but my volume steadily increased as we plummeted to the ground below.

But I survived it! So what was next? Why the Demon of course! The Demon had a big hill, 2 loops, and a few corkscrews as well. Great America was also where my friends and I visited the day after our senior prom. There are many, many happy memories of feeling alive, being young and free, and being in love tied to this place and that is why I feel nostalgic at the mere mention of it.

 What makes you feel nostalgic?

M is for...Madi (I guess!)

M is for...Madi! 

Hello everyone! My name is Madelynn Wilde and I'm D.A. Roach's PA! She was gracious enough to hand me the reigns today since my name starts with an M! I just wanted to use this time to tell you a little about myself since I will hopefully become an active contributor to this blog in the next month or so!

So my full name is Madelynn, but I also go by Madi, Maddie, Cat, or about anything else you'd like to call me. If I had my choice of any name in the world, I'd probably choose Anastasia with Ana for short, just because it's so pretty and I rarely meet anyone with that name. What really bugs me is when I have a class where there are 5 other different "Maddie's" and everyone gets confused because there are so many people with the same name. It was more of a problem for me in high school because the classes were smaller back then. Which brings me to my next topic!

I am just finishing up my freshman year of college at the University of Colorado-Denver! I came in with a ton of AP credits from high school (because who needs a life outside of academics??!) so I decided to commit myself to a triple major with one minor and graduate in the honors program. My three majors are currently psychology, sociology, and french, but whenever someone asks what I'm majoring in and I don't feel like going into the reasons why I'm triple majoring, I usually just say psychology since that was my original one. However, I also LOVE french, and I'm very proud of myself for making it this far with a language! Est-ce que vous parlez français ou une autre langue? (Kudos for you if you understand what I just said! If not, put it into Google Translate, and it's easy enough to get an answer!) 

I live at home with my parents and my younger brother in Parker, CO. I did not want to pay for on-campus housing, so I was happy when my family decided they didn't want to see me leave either! We have two cats, Tedsy and Kiki. Ted was our first cat, and boy is he lazy. His favorite pastimes are eating salmon and sleeping on a fuzzy blanket in the sun. He also enjoys going outside when he's allowed to-- one of my favorite things to do last summer was read in the hammock in our backyard with Ted! And yes, his original name was Teddy, but everyone calls him Tedsy now. Not sure when or why we made that change, but it's how it is now! Here's a picture! 

Kiki also goes by Kik, Kia, Ki, and every other word that starts with a K and an I. She's very feisty and is notorious for biting people. However, she can also be sweet when she really wants to. She just jumped up on my lap while I was typing this. I think she's mad because she thinks the chair I'm using is hers. She also loves playing with her laser shark. That's a shark that shoots a red laser dot out of its mouth. My dad brought it home from work one day and it's been hers ever since. Here's another picture for you since I love animal photos! 

Before I end my post for today, I'd like to mention that my picture for my Google account is not up to date. I'm not sure if you're able to see it, but my hair is not black anymore. I decided it was too expensive and difficult to keep it dyed so I went back to my natural color which is a sort of dirty blonde. It's not the prettiest, but at least I don't have to go back to the hair salon. I hate the mirrors in those places. I think they make everyone look bad. Anyways, feel free to leave me questions or comments! I will be back later to answer them all! I will leave you all with one of my favorite memes! I don't know why I love this one so much, but it always makes me crack up! 

L is for...Limitless Publishing

L is for...

June 2015 I published a book with Limitless Publishing and this past March I published my second book with them. It was my jump from self-publishing to an indie publisher. The biggest perks of joining Limitless are the amazing covers, fantastic editors, and the family I've gained by publishing with them. I've learned so much since joining them and have become an even better writer from the tips I have picked up from fellow authors and editors.

Anyone else take the leap and enjoy their publishers?