Books for kids, teens, & those who are young at heart

Tag: YA thriller (Page 1 of 2)

Wrapping Up 2022 and What’s to Come in 2023

Happy New Year! It seems to be flying by already, and I don’t expect it to slow down. According to Goodreads, I read 52 books in 2022, but that doesn’t include the countless picture books I read. I set my usual goal of 50 books for 2023, though reading is off to a bit of a slow start for me. What are your reading goals for this year?

As an author, 2022 was a banner year as it was the first time I released two books in one year. And 2023 is set to be even bigger with five book releases! (Yes, I do sleep, but probably not as much as I should.)

The first of which is my nonfiction book SELFIES FROM MARS: THE TRUE STORY OF MARS ROVER OPPORTUNITY, which comes out February 13 and is up for preorder on most sites! I have some final proofing and uploading to do, but this one is mostly done and ready to meet readers.

From evidence of water to stunning images,
Mars rover Opportunity allowed humans to
experience the Red Planet as never before.
Ride along on the 15-year mission
that captured hearts a world away!

Then I’ve got three YA thrillers, one standalone and a duology, planned for the spring and summer months. Details on titles, covers, release dates, and ARC copies all coming soon. I’m working on getting a monthly newsletter going, so stay tuned for that. It’ll be the best place to get all my book news first.

And finally, another picture book in the Family Christmas Tales series called DADDY’S TWELVE DAYS OF CHRISTMAS. Phoebe Cho will be illustrating this one, and we will be getting started on that soon. The first in the series was MOMMY’S NIGHT BEFORE CHRISTMAS, which recently got a lovely 5-star review from Readers’ Favorite, earning it a shiny badge.

For anyone interested in a detailed workshop about self-publishing children’s book (picture books through YA), I’m presenting my 90-minute workshop “What to Expect When You’re Self-Publishing” on Saturday, January 21 at 10:30 a.m. (ET). It’s on Zoom, so you can attend from anywhere and there will be a recording available for 30 days after.

Alrighty, one last question for all of you…is there anything in particular you’d like me to blather on about here on the blog this year?

Cover Reveal for AS YOU LAY SLEEPING by Katlyn Duncan

How fitting that the January #InkRipples theme is book covers, and I have an awesome cover reveal to share from one of the esteemed writers in my in-person critique group. Katlyn Duncan is here today to share the cover of her latest YA thriller AS YOU LAY SLEEPING. Welcome, Katlyn!



As You Lay Sleeping
Katlyn Duncan
Published by: HQ Digital
Publication date: February 20th, 2017
Genres: Thriller, Young Adult

I did it all for you…

Cara’s boyfriend is dead.

When fingers start pointing at her, she knows she’s in more trouble than she originally thought. Because Cara can see that something isn’t right.

As her carefully constructed life begins to crumble, Cara isn’t sure who she is anymore.

But maybe that’s exactly what someone wants her to think…

Goodreads / Amazon / Barnes & Noble / Kobo

 

Author Bio:

Katlyn Duncan was born and raised in a small town in western Massachusetts. Her overactive imagination involved invisible friends, wanting to be a Disney Princess and making up her own stories. Her bibliophile mom always encouraged her love of reading and that stayed with her ever since. Even though she works full time in the medical field Katlyn has always made time for books, whether she is reading or writing them.

Katlyn now lives in southern Connecticut with her husband and adorable Wheaten Terrier and she is thrilled to finally share her stories with the world.

Website / Goodreads / Facebook / Twitter

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The Importance and Unpredictability of Introspective

Remember how I mentioned last week that I’ve been very introspective in my thinking (it’s totally okay if you don’t remember…I just thought this was a good way to start the post)? Part of that is because I’ve been so busy in my life that I haven’t had the time or energy to be extrospective.

(Okay, totally made up that word…but it totally should be a word…nonintrospective isn’t really right because it implies a lack of thought…I’m more talking about keeping thoughts inside vs. expressing them, hence extrospective…digression over!)

The other part that’s kept me introspective is where I’m at in my creative process, which is revision. I’ve been going through all the great feedback I have from my in-person critique group, my beta readers, and the professional feedback I’ve gotten for my WIP YA thriller (right now titled BLACK BUTTERFLY).

So I’ve been thinking a lot about what the story still needs and what feedback is working and what isn’t resonating with me. It’s a lot of decision-making, and it’s tough on the ego to be working through the criticism, even though it’s all done in a professional, constructive manner. After all, the revision process is all about facing what you wanted to do with a story and haven’t yet accomplished or realizing that what you wanted to do with the story in the first place maybe isn’t the best thing for it…not easy!

Often when I’m working out some tricky thinking in my own head, I turn outward to help sort through the thoughts. But, surprisingly, I’ve turned inward in this case. It’s like I have to hold all those thoughts and feelings close in order to really experience and figure out how to move forward. Expressing them would ruin them before they can turn into whatever it is they need to be, so I continue to hold them close until they’re ready (the whole pregnant and birthing analogy would be apt here, and like pregnancy and child-birthing, it’s exhausting).

All that physical and mental busyness leaves less room for other things, mainly blogging, Twitter, Facebook, exercise (though I do a lot of walking with the boys), and even reading. The number of books I’ve read this year is way down from last year and also below my adjusted yearly goal.

I didn’t expect or plan to step back from those things (and haven’t entirely ignored them), but it’s what happened. And I’m allowing myself to be okay with that. Because I’m allowing the other things I’m doing and thinking about that are more important (no offense to my Internet peeps!) to take priority. The unpredictability of life and the creative process are what makes my life and work exciting, and it also fuels my stories.

What exciting or unexpected things have you been doing lately?

Updates, Getting Back into the Writing Groove, and a Call for Guest Posts

First off, my guest blog schedule is pretty wide open for the fall, so I’m definitely looking for guest posts to come my way. If you have a book coming out or an older one you’d like to promote, I’d love to have you on the blog. I prefer a post with some original thoughts (though it could be a post that’s been posted elsewhere) as opposed to something purely promotional.

You don’t have to be published or even a writer to guest post either. I’d love some short, fun posts about anything to do with writing, reading, the creative process, or whatever interesting ideas you might have. Hit me up on my contact page if you’re interested or mention it the comments with an easy way to contact you!

Okay, back to our regularly scheduled post…

So technically it’s still summer (and it certainly feels like summer this week here in CT), but school’s already back in session and the air and earth are starting to get that fall feel and smell to it. That means my non-summer schedule has started and with it comes more writing time. Yay!

Though I certainly have enjoyed all the fun times we’ve been having this summer and all out outside time, I’m definitely looking forward to sinking my teeth back into my writing projects.

In particular I’ve been chomping at the bit to get back to revising my YA thriller. Even with beta reader feedback coming in (and those ever-present doubts are rearing up, making me questions my abilities to pull off what I’m trying to accomplish with this story), I’ve never been so excited about the thought of sending a piece of writing out. So I’m hoping to ride this wave of confidence to the finish line and get to submitting it soon.

After that I don’t have any set plans on what I’ll be working on next. It’s a freeing and exciting feeling. I love the prospect of starting something new (or possibly digging back into something I put away for awhile but may come back to soon). The world is wide open at this point for me.

So how was everyone’s summer? What are your plans for the fall?

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