A New Zombie Initiate Announced... OK... Giveaway Winner

My blog post comes a bit late today. I had to play with my nephews and niece for a little while after work. They've been out of state for a couple months which resulted in me missing them a lot. Who could blame me for putting off writing a blog post in order to spend some time with my little lovelies. No one at all!

Well, it's time to announce the winner of a brand new copy of Bad Taste in Boys by Carrie Harris. I let randompicker.com make the decision cuz I'm sort of am in love with it. 

Without further adieu, the winner is....

Brittney

Woot Woot! Congrats, friend. I hope you enjoy this snark attack of a book that is now gonna be yours! Yes, I wrote snark. That wasn't a typo. I didn't really mean to write shark. haha. Silly me. Brittney, I will email you about getting the book. 

I hope you all have a zombirific weekend. Just don't get attacked by any flesh eating monsters. 

Gurgle.... 

See you all next week as usual on Tuesday and Friday!

Give Me a Break

When I was a little kid, my favorite candy bar was a KitKat. I still like them because of their chocolaty goodness. Num Num! Yet, they aren’t my most wanted treat these days, unless if it’s a break that I’m looking for.

I’m giving myself a writing break for a couple weeks. I’ve got to admit, I’m a little burned out. I’ve been working so hard, not only on my own book but critiquing other awesome author’s books, too!

As an author, occasionally a little siesta is needed. It clears my mind and helps me get ready for another round of edits, writing, or critiques. I don’t want to write something horrible because I’m exhausted, so I’m avoiding it (except for blog posts and a writing conference coming up this Saturday).

I’ve decided to read a few books, hang out with friends, watch TV and movies, go to the local water park, and maybe clean out my closet. Tonight, I’m going out with a friend. She going to teach me how to bargain shop for clothes. Gah! I’m excited. I love clothes. *claps hands like a little kid*

I want to be at my best before I start writing my next book—an Urban Fantasy. It’s gonna be fun to write. I’ve been stewing over it for a couple months now. You’re all in store for something pretty cool. Well, at least I think so.

I hope you are all enjoying writing. Or if you’re not an author, you’re having fun with whatever your passions may be. But if you are burned out, take a break for a bit to refresh your mind. Go to the store and buy a KitKat. Take a break! Get in some much needed R&R.

PS: Don't forget to enter to win a fabulous Zombie book called Bad Taste in Boys by Carrie Harris. Follow this link to enter!

In Which Julia Becomes Obsessed

Today's post is gonna be short. Maybe my shortest one. Ever. But I share something funny with you. Well, at least I feel it's funny, although, somewhat annoying.

Ok, here it is: It's maddening what looking for a literary agent will do to you! I'm officially an obsessed email checker! I have to check it at least once every half hour or more to see if I've received one of those all important manuscript request emails! Or even just a rejection would suffice. I'm hopeless!

I hope I'll get used to the arduous suspenseful waiting. If not, I'll probably turn into a crazy dog lady (I like dogs more than cats).

Anyway, querying is fun, though. I'm enjoying researching agents and getting to know them through their bios.

Have a great Friday and wonderful weekend!

PS: Don't forget to enter to win a fabulous Zombie book called Bad Taste in Boys by Carrie Harris. Follow this link to enter!

Bad Taste in Boys by Carrie Harris: Living Dead Giveaway

For something like 9 months, I’ve been full-blown giddy with excitement to read the book Bad Taste in Boys by Carrie Harris. On Sunday I was finally able to read the super fantastic book. I liked it so much that I’m gonna pimp it out with a review and a giveaway!

GoodReads:

Someone's been a very bad zombie.
Kate Grable is horrified to find out that the football coach has given the team steroids. Worse yet, the steroids are having an unexpected effect, turning hot gridiron hunks into mindless flesh-eating zombies. No one is safe--not her cute crush Aaron, not her dorky brother, Jonah . . . not even Kate!

She's got to find an antidote--before her entire high school ends up eating each other. So Kate, her best girlfriend, Rocky, and Aaron stage a frantic battle to save their town. . . and stay hormonally human.

Review Time:

Bad Taste in Boys attacks the writing world with gnawing humor, biting sarcasm, and chomping wit. Ok, forgive my zombie references. Harris’ playful story enthralled me to the point of madness as the bloodied plot thickened. I practically read it all in one sitting, wanting more and more. Just like a zombie craves eating more and . . . uh, I won’t be graphic.

I loved the main character, Kate Grable. She’s the darned cutest and geekiest little teenager. Ever. Her intellectual prowess comes in handy all the time! Fear is not in her vocabulary and neither is lipstick. She kicks some major zombie butt (that's if they have a butt left to kick). And she still has time to get all straight As. There is nothing she can't do.

Now to the flesh of this magnificent book: Carrie Harris has the most creative, unforgettable writing style I’ve ever had the pleasure to read. There’s no stopping her clever sense of humor or her ability to craft some wicked good, borderline eerie, scenes. And the best part is there can be some creeptastic part in the book but you’ll still find yourself giggling like a little girl. Or laughing so loud, you fear waking up the neighbors.

Reading Bad Taste in Boys will take you no time at all. You’ll be recommending it to all your friends just so they can chuckle at its hilarity or jump at a scary part. I assure you this is a brilliant read; one you won’t want to miss eating up like a zombie.

Giveaway Time:

If you want to win this living dead treasure, you should enter this giveaway right now. If you don’t, beware of flesh eating creatures or ninjas dressed up like trampolines. Bwahahahahaha Seriously, which of those is more terrifying?

To enter:

You must follow my blog (offer the name that appears on my sidebar follower list)

You must follow me on Twitter - @writingjewels1

You must tweet, blog, or Facebook about this contest and provide the link

Provide your email address so I can contact the winner

And tell me what you would say or do if a zombie walked up to you on the street

Open to U.S. Only

You must be 13 years or older

Contest ends on Thursday, August 11, 2011 at 1:47 P.M. MST

The soon-to-be zombified winner (well, once you’ve read it) will be announced on my blog on Friday, August 12, 2011.

Good luck!

Bad Taste In Boys & Supernaturally

There are a couple books that I’m ecstatic to read, and they’re coming out within the next couple months. The books are...

Bad Taste in Boys by Carrie Harris (July 12)

& Supernaturally by Kiersten White (July 26).

Carrie Harris’s beautiful, quirky, and fun writing style has drawn me in. I can’t wait to read more of her dynamic voice through the words of her book. BTIB is about zombies in high school. How cool is that? Way supercool on an awesomesauce scale. I’ve been waiting well over six months for this book and the clock is ticking—it will be out soon. I feel pretty special because Carrie was the first person to follow me on Twitter. Back then, I appreciated her confidence in me as a beginner in the tweeting arena and as an aspiring author. Ok, I’m bragging.

Last summer, Kiersten White’s book Paranormalcy was recommended to me by her dad. Now that’s a cool claim to fame. I’ve really got to stop bragging now. Anyway, within days I finished it and fell in love with the characters and the story. Then I had the fabulous opportunity to interview Kiersten. She was so welcoming and a delight to get to know in person. Since then I’ve been itching to get my greedy little fingers on Supernaturally. It makes me giddy thinking in just over two months I will be feasting upon the second part of the series. However, it kills me to think I have to wait even longer for the final book in the trilogy to be released. They should just release them both at the same time. Seriously! And I’m anxious to find out what the third book is going to be named. I have some ideas, but I’m probably way off the mark.

So, which soon-to-be-released books are you dying to read and why?

Writing Your Voice

I’ve been thinking about writing voice lately. Voice is something that’s important to developing your characters. You’re writing what they’d really sound like if they were talking. This makes them real—practically human or inhuman depending on your genre. (Yah, for supernatural books. Love the vamps and warewolves - just not Jacob) Anyway, voice is also important to blogging and other forms of social networking. The voice you portray is who you are, how you sound, or how you want people to think you sound. Probably don’t put up a façade though. Keep it real.

An example of a writer who is A-FREAKING-MAZING at voice is Carrie Harris. Her voice brings a humongous grin on my face. I’ll admit her voice is delicious. You just want to eat more and more of it, like chocolate. Sounds, creepy, but she does write zombie books. Hehe. Carrie is probably the cleverest of bloggers I’ve come across; and I’ve read a lot lately. The way she writes her posts makes me ache to read her book “Bad Taste in Boys.” It comes out next year. I can’t wait any longer for the zombierific book to reach bookstores. I’m dying for it—literally. Just kidding, but you know that already. Right? (I hope so)

Check her blog out at http://carrieharrisbooks.blogspot.com/

Anyway, what’s my voice? I can’t really peg it down, but I think my voice should be diagnosed with multiple personality disorder. I’d say I’m a conglomerate of silly, serious, angsty, and evasive. It will forever be named SANGSTIVE. Yes, I just created a new word. Shakespeare can’t be the only person to make up words. It should be in the dictionary. Like. Right. Now. I stamp my foot. See there’s my silliness coming out. Actually, I like the word silly so maybe that’s why silly is one side of my voice.
With all this thought about writing voice, I’ve decided I need to write more like I speak. It’s just cooler that way. It could get confusing though, cuz sometimes I don’t finish my sentences, and on rare occasions I stutter. But I like my voice—just not the recorded version of it. Who does though?

What kind of voice do you have? Do tell!