Book Review - Meant to Be by Tiffany King

“Krista Miller feels like she has lived her entire life in a glass box with her every emotion on display. She can’t help feeling like a defect as her sensitivities have made her socially inept and without any real friends. The one exception being the boy that visits her each night in her dreams.”

Tiffany King brings a new twist on the paranormal in her book Meant to Be. The blurb of her book is only the tip of the thrilling story that unravels with every turn of the page. The more you read, the more you crave to know. And the plot twists are incredible—you don’t even see them coming. I was well-impressed with the development of the irresistible plot. It not only is humorous, but is entwined with an occasional burst of grief that makes your heart break.

The characters were enjoyable to get to know. I found myself wanting to be best friends with them. Tiffany crafted their personalities in a honed fashion in which I felt like I had known them for years.

The romantic element of the story was delicious to me. I wanted to see the lovebirds kiss just one more time, or hold hands to feel the fire of their deep knit connection.

With absolute certainty, I would recommend this book to you. Anyone who loves Young Adult literature will devour Meant to Be.

Visit Tiffany King’s blog to learn more about the beautiful author, my sister from another mother. And follow these links to purchase Meant to Be on Kindle or Paperback.

What I’ve Learned Wednesday: The Many Hats of Writing

December 2009. I had a dream. Dream turned into a plot. Plot turned into a manuscript. Manuscript turned into an endless string of edits. Endless string of edits turned into me pulling my hair out. Pulled out hair eventually will turn into a published work! Published work will lead to wearing more hats than I do now. Wearing more hats than I do now will be really cool.

In December 2009, I had absolutely no idea what industry I was getting myself into. The writing industry is way more than just plucking away at your laptop. Being an author requires many hats. I haven’t even put on all of the hats, but still am way excited to wear them all.

I attended a writing conference last year. Brandon Mull, author of the Fablehaven series, The Candy Shop War, Pingo, and The Beyonders (released 3/15/11), was the keynote speaker. He spoke about all the hats that authors get to wear. “Get to” cause it’s way fun! He said a few things, among many, that left an impression on me.

You get to be a speaker, marketer, small business owner, and reading advocate. I hope to be an author who gets to go around speaking to people about writing and other related topics. I’m already marketing my name, my book. I’ve got a social networking business up and booming. I wouldn’t call it a business, though cause I have way too much fun with it. And I get to be an advocate for reading. Seriously, what an awesome job it is to be an author.

Being an author has lots of other aspects other than the writing part. The writing part is the most important, but you have to remember that there are other parts to this industry, especially if you want to be published. I’ve found that during my writing/editing stages, social networking has been king. I have to get my name out there, my brand, Writing Jewels. I really enjoy blogging and have to admit that I’m obsessed with Twitter.

Which authoring hats to you love to wear? Are you just as giddy about all these pretty, fun hats as I am? Were you surprised at all the other things you’d have to do in order to get published? Or were you pleasantly surprised?