BOOK REVIEW: I HEART NEW YORK BY LINDSEY KELK

I Love New York
By Lindsey Kelk

This is the prequel to Kelk's I Love Paris. I didn't know it was a series, but I'm glad I found the first book.

This novel follows Angela Clark on her journey to finding herself again. She catches her fiance humping another woman in the backseat of their car, and she ruins her best friend's wedding reception by breaking her new husband's hand with stilettos! Devastated and feeling completely alone, she travels from London to NYC to escape the misery of her life. Chance would have it that the hotel concierge's admiration of Angela turns into friendship, and she (Jenny, the new friend) gives Angela a brand new look (at the expense of funds previously saved for Angela's life with her ex.)

While in NYC, Angela stumbles upon a blog job for The Look magazine, and is trying to adjust to the single life, juggling two hot suiters in the process. She is faced with several dilemmas, including choosing a new life in New York, or returning to the madness back in London, and deciding if she wants to enter another serious relationship.

This book was awesome. I really envy the freedom given to Angela by this experience, like she could do whatever the hell she wanted with whomever she wanted, and get paid for doing what she loved to do (write) all at the same time.

Not necessarily a book for teens, but great for twenty-somethings.

STEPPING OUT: FREELANCE WRITING

After a particularly long day at work, I sat down at my computer and tried to write, but I was so exhausted that the words (wherever they were) wouldn't come. I thought about how tired my body was, how my feet hurt, and how I hadn't spent but an hour with my husband that day, and I thought,

"Wouldn't it be nice to be writing for a living already?"

No clocking in, no being stuck in one building for 9 hours five days a week in a dull uniform. No dealing with angry customers trying to get privileges for things against policy, then blowing up on me for no good reason.

What if everyday, I woke up, saw my husband to work, then came home and put on the cutest OOTD I could create? I could take my time applying my make-up, even try new looks, and actually wear the other items in my closet outside of my uniform, and spend my day in the park, or at a coffee shop, or at the mall, or... anywhere! And my sole focus would be writing, reading, and doing whatever I pleased?

Thus the road to freelance writing began.

I've spent hours online looking for where to start, and found awesome advice about creating samples, finding your expertise, and getting new clients. I'm happy to say I've already started looking for opportunities and creating a blog of samples to send my future clients to. And I found three jobs to try for!

People make a living off of 1-2 post a day! A good living at that! My goal is that in 1 year, my writing will bring in enough to supplement my current income, and I'll have the option of letting the 9-5 world go.

I'm still going to be a novelist, but this is going to build a following who will support me once I'm published and it brings in money will I work on that endeavor.

Cheers!

BOOK REVIEW: DELIRIUM BY LAUREN OLIVER

delirium
By Lauren Oliver

Somewhere in the future, man has created a neurosurgical solution that rids humans of desire: i.e. the cure. It is a government mandate by the age of 18 and people are taught from a very early age that it is necessary for true happiness, peace, and well being. After a strange evaluation of emotional health, you are paired with your mate, attend college, then marry that person, have the assigned number of children, work at the assigned occupation with an unchanging assigned salary, and live out a cookie cutter life, void of passion and ambition. Anyone refusing the cure, will have to forcefully submit, be thrown into prison (the Crypts) or be executed.

Lena thought that's what she wanted. A life full of structure and the promise of a simple life. That is until she meets Alex, a rebel (Invalid) who shows her the demonized world she had learned about in school is really the true definition of freedom.

Let me tell you, at first it was difficult to read this one. I found myself not liking the main character and falling in love with her best friend instead. But as the story progressed, I got to see Lena step out of her comfort zone, and brave the world where love wasn't seen as a disease.

I won't spoil the ending, but it caught me off guard, nail bitting and images burning in my brain, waiting to see what happened next.

Lauren Oliver gives a beautiful example how to build anticipation to the point where the story ends in climax at a level that leaves the reader thinking, "Damn, that was good!"

BOOK REVIEW: I HEART PARIS BY LINDSEY KELK

I Heart Paris
By Lindsey Kelk

Angela Clark is a blogger for The Look magazine, and an all around disaster. She's an English girl living in NYC and her rock star boyfriend Alex (an actual guitar player in a world renown band) has just asked her to move in with him.

By a stroke of luck, or so she thinks, Angela is offered an amazing opportunity to write an article for Belle magazine on the underground shopping scene in Paris, France, and this gives her an excuse to get closer to her boyfriend while he tours there for a week.

But the trip turns out to be a nightmare from her annihilated luggage, to black out drunk sessions, to getting a nasty black eye. Oh, and did I mention that Alex's beautiful Parisian rock star ex-girlfriend (also a real musician) is back in the picture to reclaim her lost love?

This book was awesome! Being a writer, I'm kinda obsessed with books that follow other artist and it makes me feel like my life is an adventure. I wasn't sure how the story would end until the very last minute, a quality I love in a good book, and I recommend it for anybody who likes comedic love stories.

BOOK REVIEW: OH THE PLACES YOU'LL GO BY DR. SEUSS

Oh The Places You'll Go

By Dr. Seuss

This is book of encouraging words told in rhyme, the classic format found throughout his repertoire. 

It is filled with descriptive illustrations accenting words of wisdom for dealing with life's challenges, including the ones we create for ourselves. Lots of people are handed this book when they reach a major milestone, such as graduation or starting some huge endeavor.

Even though I'm not currently experiencing any new endeavors, I found the book very effective. It reminded me that in life, stuff happens, and its up to me to overcome. I must admit, I read it to boost my confidence that I could complete this book challenge (It's only like, 20 pages) but it was wonderful all the same.

Go ahead, pick this one up and see if you aren't inspired.

BOOK REVIEW: THE ELITE BY KIERA CASS

The Elite
By Kiera Cass

This continues the story of America, as she braves her country's process for selecting the next princess of Illea.

This sequel has more action, as the palace is attacked several times, even resulting in a few deaths throughout the book. America is back to old ways and is sneaking away to see her childhood love, Aspen, in secret parts of the palace. She has yet to tell Prince Maxon that the very guard he assigned to protect her is his rival in trying to win her heart.

When America discovers some evil truths about how the caste classes were developed, she decides to expose it to everyone on live television! Maxon absorbs the wrath of the King on her behalf, and she is on the brink of being dismissed entirely.

If you like action mixed with romance, then this is a great option for you! I didn't expect to get sucked into the story, but it is a very good read. I'm a little on edge because in order to find out how this trilogy ends, I'll have to purchase the final book (it's not available through the Scribd or Oyster apps :( )

I love that this reading challenge has reopened my mental library and refueling my long lost love of allowing stories to consume my free time.

There's nothing like curling up with a good book.

BOOK REVIEW: THE SELECTION BY KIERA CASS

As promised here is my first book review of my 30 day reading challenge.

The Selection
By Kiera Cass

This is a love story set in tomorrow, future years where the United States has transformed into the divided country of Illea, where castes  (social classes) are created through birthright and the freedoms we enjoy today are scarce for anyone below a 3.

We meet America Singer, musician and performer by occupation, and she's just been sent a application to enter the lottery of lotteries. The prize? The hand of Prince Maxon Schreave an title as the new princess of Illea.

While her mother and neighbors are all beside themselves at such an opportunity, America has no interest in the matter.

She's a 5 deeply in love with a 4, Aspen, and no one knows they've been seeing each other secretly for the past 2 years.

When she finally agreed to enter for the sake of her mother, she had no idea that she's actually be selected to live in the palace. Her brokenhearted beau dumps her out of depression for the life he could never provide for his love, and America leaves to join the other candidates.

Despite herself, and the raids against the palace, America becomes infatuated with Maxon, and even starts to love him.

Everything changes when Aspen returns to her life as a palace guard.


Overall, I enjoyed reading The Selection. At first I thought it mirrored something similar to The Hunger Games because of the ranking of the social classes, but it truly has it's on unique spin on the lifestyles of the future Cass has created. It is a clean love story and the first of a three book series. If I was a teenager, I would have gobbled this book up overnight! I'm looking forward to reading Book Two.

As a writer, I was happy to hear the voice of another writer in each chapter. I could feel 'the vibe' she was going for, and hope that my own voice is heard in my work. I can't wait for the day my words are in print for the whole world to see.

READING CHALLENGE: 20 NOVELS IN 30 DAYS

I found this awesome app called Scribd where you have access to an endless supply of books for a subscription of 8.99 a month. Now most people wouldn't read enough to justify the expense, so its my goal to make the most of my investment in the beginning so that if I find myself slacking off, I won't feel as bad. Plus, I promised more teen novel reviews and this will help me put more texts under my belt.

First step is to subscribe to Scribd.

Second step is to set a deadline: Oct. 10, 2014

Third step is for you to join in!

If you love to read, this is an awesome way to dive into books you may have never considered and follow new authors. If you're a writer, its a great way to understand composition and the rules of writing, as well as see what your target market is committed to picking up off the shelf.

The best part is that the first 30 days are free!

So excited to start this! This blog is about to blow up!

Now, I do need to set some restrictions. If I only have 30 days, I'll have to limit the page number count if I want to reach it. I know for sure I could do 15 books in 30 days, but it's a challenge for a reason, right? So how about, no more than 200 pages? 250? I don't know. I've never done this before! Ah, well, that's part of the beauty in this journey.

Let's go!

2 MINUTE POST

If there's anybody out there, thanks for reading.

I'm earnest in my pursuit of a professional writing career and if you've read a few posts back, you can see some of the strides I've made toward reaching this goal.

Most recently, I purchased two prompt books that are meant to help writers get their creativity flowing and get over writer's block. They are titled as follows:

642 THINGS TO WRITE ABOUT
712 MORE THINGS TO WRITE ABOUT

Their $16 a pop but worth the investment for those looking for ways to write more and improve their craft. The only way one can improve on writing is to write something!

Since the conference, I've started building an archive of my pieces and trying my hand at a variety of genres. I've added sci-fi to the mix and am looking forward to creating a short story log. An agent told me she looks for writers with more than one story to offer so they can grow together.

It makes perfect since.

If I want a career of writing, I have to consistently build a library of works to fuel that career.

Off to my 9-5, but looking forward to the day I'll no longer have to clock in.

WRITER'S DIGEST CONFERENCE 2014

When my husband and I set off for the concrete jungle of flashing lights that is NYC, we had no idea what we were going to experience. Our airline of choice, because of lower rates, was a horrendous flying experience. The seats were small and poorly angled for back support, my husband's knees jammed into the back of some unfortunate traveler. There was no complementary anything and we had to stuff a weekend worth of things into a small backpack because carry-ons were no less than $50 each way.

When we finally arrived, stiff and uncomfortable, we found ourselves trying to adapt to big city norms. We found a bus route that dropped us off at Grand Central Station and we walked a few blocks to our hotel, The Roosevelt, where the conference would take place. The rooms were nice, but we were surprised by the small European designs and crowded elevators. It always took 10 minutes of more to ride down from our room on the 15th floor down to the lobby and people treated the elevator in the same manner as the subway.

Everywhere we went was overcrowded. Fresh air could not be found, and we soon realized that $200 wasn't nearly enough to feed a couple for an entire weekend.

I was in a really bad place mentally, and wondered why I had put myself through it. I felt like I had failed and I hadn't even attended my first session yet.

But I reminded myself why I was there. I needed confirmation that my dream was possible. I was putting myself out there, heart and soul, to a group of strangers who shared my passion of writing and took it seriously as neurosurgery. I was taking myself seriously as an artist and my husband was there to make sure that I did.

To be completely honest, it was worth every copper cent!

This experience was invaluable because it changed me. I had several realizations about myself that was limiting my writing and learned how to set myself up for success in the best ways possible. I met all types of individuals and even received 7 offers from agents to look at my work. 

It was my very first time pitch to professional agents.

I could on and on about my time in New York, but I've got to get back to writing. I will say that my mentor was 100% spot on when she said to attend a conference. Its going to take my work to the next level and I wouldn't have had this perspective without an experience such as this. 

Your career is an investment. Do it sooner so you can grow faster and start writing material that means something. The industry isn't fair, so work harder.

iWRITE

Check out my newest blog dedicated to exploration in writing in a variety of genres. Go to my profile to gain access.

iWrite

THE JOURNEY

I am truly on the brink of something magnificent.

About a month back, my core zip drive was accidentally destroyed. It had EVERYTHING on it and when I discovered it was gone, I bawled my eyes out. I lost strategies, a query letter, and my second full manuscript all within 30 seconds and was completely devastated. I debated on whether to continue or not, I mean, my work had yet to build any real kind of following and I'm hardly receiving any support or interest in it outside of my husband and sister.

But then I thought, why would this happen now that I'm focused on success? And it hit me. The enemy knows that I'm almost to the place where my work will mean something huge for readers and wants to stop me at all cost. I'll never be able to duplicate what I lost, but my husband told me to take advantage of the freedom to write something better, which has been a very good experience.

My husband and I are registered for the Writer's Digest conference in NYC August 1-3 where I have the opportunity to sit down with 50 agents to pitch my work. I don't know what's going to happen, but I'm doing everything in my power to ensure that someone takes interest in me and that my work will speak for itself.

This is my time to shine! I can feel my future coming and I just have to be ready!

MY TIME WITH SHELLA GILLUS

God has blessed me beyond words with the opportunity to meet such an awesome individual like Shella. She appeared on Oprah twice and her novel The Loom was nominated for a NAACP award (and it was her first publication!) Funny how God works. We attend the same church here in Texas, and when I set my mind on my own work, that's who I run into.

Shella met with me to listen to the premise of my series. She was excited that I wanted to impact young girls and very enthusiastic about the vice at which I use to make a difference. I then told her about my entire vision around the project, and she has offered to help me get a good agent for publication. Shella is even reading my manuscript and giving me suggestions! Talk about going over and above to help someone.

I can't tell you how excited I am to have an author mentoring me. It's like I finally met someone who 'gets it' and has just as much energy about it as me. Sure, my friends and family are happy for me, but they don't show the same interest as she has, so I feel refreshed!

I'll share a few tips she gave me with anyone looking to become a published author:

1: Learn the Rules of Writing

  Things like characterization, point of view, and the structure of fiction writing matters in this industry. Once you have these down, you know where you can bend the rules to your advantage, or lines you probably shouldn't cross.

2. Attend a Writer's Conference

   They may be expensive, but allow you  a chance to sit in front of editors and agents who will critique your work, give you useful advise, and who may even take interest in your craft. (That's partially how Shella got her big break.)

3. Perfect Your Pitch

     Be able to talk about your book in 15 seconds. Enough to get the premise across but not tell the entire story, but at the same time make the listener want to read your first 5 pages. The first 5 can make or break you. And once an agent or publisher looks at you and your first 5 suck, there is no second impression.

Keep reading! Keep writing! Inspire On!

Book Review: The A-List Hollywood Royalty Series: Sunset Boulevard

sunset boulevard
The A-List Hollywood Royalty Series written by Zoey Dean
274 Pages

This book follows the personal struggles of several characters at Beverly High School while a new teen movie is hosted on their campus.

 Myla Everhart is popularity's princess, as her parents are hollywood stars, she's rich, and beautiful. She prides herself on manipulating her peers and spends the majority of the novel trying to get her boyfriend back. She is unsuccessful and the book ends with her basking in a pool of sadness in realization that she only has one true friend: her long lost sister JoJo.

JoJo "BarfBarf" Everhart is reconnected with her famous parents after they decide to find their love child they put up for adoption years ago. JoJo is a small town girl and at first gets devoured by bullying after an embarrassing event at a party. Myla takes JoJo under her wing and transforms her into a bombshell, at the cost of giving up her crush Jacob Porter-Goldsmith. This character is the classic example of good girl gone popular, loses something, then returns to her true self.

Jacob "Jake" Porter-Goldsmith is an AV student who goes from tutor to movie star after an on the spot audition for "Teen Angel", the movie bringing so much attention to BHH. He experiences the male version of JoJo's experience, dating his co-star, becoming disrespectful to his parents, and ditching his best friend Miles, to being humbled after being dumped. He has a crush on Amelie Adams, the co-star he tutored but never pursues.

Amelie Adams is a child star looking for normalcy and love. She longs to be a regular high school student and is tired of being dismissed by pretty boy actors.

Ash Gilmore is the pampered ex of Myla Everhart and lives a lonely existence in his father's mansion, both of his parents living their own lives elsewhere with the occasional glance in his direction. Gordon, his father, recruits him to babysit a wild music artist, Daisy. after a few surprising turn of events, the two fall for each other, and Ash rekindles his friendship with Jake.

Overall, it is a pretty good book. There is a huge emphasis designer labels to create this privileged world of the rich and famous. I couldn't relate to any character except Amelie, being that she was raised strictly by her mother and pushed toward achievement, but the freedoms and drama in the novel are entertaining.

This gave me motivation to keep my characters relatable, interesting, and not be afraid to put them through tough times.

I'M BACK!

Hello Readers!

Last year was a time of highs and lows. The biggest high, of course, was self publishing my first novel electronically. I even sold a few copies and received online reviews! However, immediately after reading over a few pages, I discovered a few grammatical errors which slipped through my carefully combed editing process. I also completed a draft to my second book in the series, Plus One, a story told through the eyes of character Song Davis, introduced in the first chapter of The Premiere. I'm taking my time with reformatting a few of the passages for flow purposes and making sure there are no errors whatsoever before I take it public.

I was recently introduced to an author who was featured on Ophra twice! She attends the church I've visited a few times and offered to sit down with me to discuss my options. I'm excited to review my thought process of this project and get professional feedback on my development as a writer, and what steps I can take to effectively get my work into the hands of girls everywhere.

The focus of this blog is expanding. I will continue on with teen literature reviews and updates on the progress of the project. I am adding my experiences with writing as well as my meetings with my newly found author mentor.

It's been a long time, I shouldn't have left you; without a dope beat to step to. (Lol, if you know this song, you understand the reference completely.) I'm happy to be back and hope you will continue to show your support by following me and responding occasionally.

Cheers!