A Summer Like No Other Book Blitz

Today I'm taking part in the book blitz for Elodie Nowodazkij's A SUMMER LIKE NO OTHER. I've "known" Elodie via her blog for a long time now, and her first release ONE, TWO, THREE has been on my TBR for forever (I'm dying to read this book, especially because it's about ballet- my TBR list is just ridiculously long). I'm excited to spread the word about her latest release. Check it out!

A Broken Dreams Novella

She’s his best friend’s little sister. He’s the biggest player of them all.

They shouldn’t be together. But this summer’s just too tempting.

Sixteen-year-old Emilia Moretti’s goal for the summer is simple: forget her brother’s best friend—Nick Grawsky—ever existed. It should be easy: He’s spending his summer in the Hamptons, adding girls in tiny bikinis to his list of broken hearts. Guarantee he won’t be telling them they’re like his little sisters. This summer, Emilia won’t stay awake at night thinking about him. She’ll need flawless ballet movements to have a shot at next year’s showcase, and she’s finally ready to search for her birth parents. But when Nick decides to stay in the city, Emilia’s resolve disappears in a pirouette. Maybe it’s the spin they needed to be together. As long as she doesn’t get stuck believing in happily ever after…

Nick is tired of pretending to be the happy, let’s-have-fun guy. His father wants him to change his career from professional dancer to…lawyer. He needs to put all of his focus on dancing to prove to Daddy Dearest he’s good enough to make it big. And he may have a case of the bluest balls in history courtesy of Emilia. She’s off-limits: The bro code with Roberto even forbids the dirty thoughts he has about her. Besides, he’s not boyfriend material. He only has time for flings, for girls who don’t expect much, for girls he doesn’t want to kiss goodnight. He knows he should resist her, but he’s not sure he wants to…

At least for this summer.

It’s going to be a summer like no other.

Buy it now :) (Special price of $0.99 ends on Sunday August 2nd)

Amazon around the world * B&N * Kobo * iTunes

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Giveaway Time from Elodie

To celebrate the release of A Summer Like No Other, I have set up a giveaway with pretty special prizes

(including a leather bracelet from Chloe + Isabel)

You have mannnnny ways to enter and you have an entire month to do so!

Link to participate: http://smarturl.it/ASLNOgiveaway  Open internationally.

Thank you SO MUCH!!!

Other books by the author:

·         One, Two, Three – available now (Amazon – B&N – iTunes – Kobo)

·         One Dream Only – Free! (Amazon – B&N – iTunes – Kobo)

·         Always Second Best – Available for pre-order (Amazon)

 

 

About the author

Elodie Nowodazkij was raised in a tiny village in France, where she could always be found a book in hand. At nineteen, she moved to the US, where she learned she’d never lose her French accent. She graduated with a bachelor’s degree in Modern Language & Linguistics, and later earned master’s degrees in German Cultural Studies and European Studies. Unbeknownst to her professors, she sometimes drafted stories in class. Now she lives in Maryland with her husband, their dog and their cat. She's also a serial smiley user.

Connect with the author

Facebook reader group (chat with the author, early excerpts, ARCs opportunities, giveaways…) – https://www.facebook.com/groups/954159761294820/

Newsletter (Exclusive bonus scenes, regular updates, videos, giveaways…) – http://elodienowodazkij.us3.list-manage.com/subscribe?u=4fe2ebb3f95df52e0954e0044&id=f404024751

Twitter - https://twitter.com/ENowodazkij

Instagram - https://instagram.com/enowodazkij/

Ready. Set. WRITE! (week 8) and Monday Reads

HOW I DID ON LAST WEEK'S GOALS
-Read a chapter a day on NA retelling, make revision notes: NOPE
-Finish critiquing awesome YA MS: YEP
-Rework JAR OF HEARTS query: NOPE

MY GOALS FOR THIS WEEK
Last week's goals kinda got shoved to the side mid-week. I took an impromptu trip to Edmonton on Tuesday and Wednesday, and while I was there, I received my first round of edits on SWAY from my editor at Samhain. So when I got home I finished up the critique I was doing, then got started on that. My goal for this week: FINISH EDITS ON SWAY O.O

ONE WORD/PHRASE THAT SUMS UP WHAT I WROTE/REVISED
I totally want to steal Jaime's from last week- but I won't. So how about... CRY ME A RIVER.

THE BIGGEST CHALLENGE I FACED THIS WEEK
As always: TIME. The trip to Edmonton was lots of fun- I took my girls to see ONE DIRECTION (I will forever be a boy band fan- I think it's in my blood). But coming home to so much to do was a little daunting.

SOMETHING I LOVE ABOUT MY WIP
Getting edits was super scary- I wasn't sure what to expect. But I love the edits that I've gotten and it's exciting to see my book improving.

MONDAY READS
I finished AN EMBER IN THE ASHES by Sabaa Tahir and I loved it. I loved the world and the dual POV and the plot. I loved the hinted at love story. It was pretty violent, but the violence just made the world all the more real and dangerous and scary. Great read!

Friday Loves: Ant-Man

Last Friday, me and the hubs saw Ant-Man in the theatre. The whole thing looked a little silly to me (really, a tiny man with super strength and ants as allies? this is a superhero?), but I heart Paul Rudd and Marvel so it was a no-brainer to give it a shot.

I loved it! The humor was the best part for sure and Michael Pena nailed it. Paul Rudd too, of course. He was the perfect charming, geeky hero. It's definitely worth a watch- I doubt you'll be disappointed.

Ready. Set. WRITE! (week 7) and Monday Reads

HOW I DID ON LAST WEEK'S GOALS
Read a chapter a day on NA retelling, make revision notes: CHECK!
Rework JAR OF HEARTS QUERY: NO CHECK. I actually completely forgot about this goal.

MY GOALS FOR THIS WEEK
-Read a chapter a day on NA retelling.
-Finish beta reading a YA MS I started last week. I started this near the end of last week and I'm almost halfway through already.
-If I have time- rework JAR OF HEARTS query.

A FAVORITE LINE FROM MY STORY
Here's a bit from my NA retelling (this is first-draft, FYI):

I bristled. “Just because I told you a little bit about myself, doesn’t mean you know me.”

“Run back home and you’ll be doing exactly what I expect.”
I crossed my arms and looked away. For a few minutes, I fumed. How could Frasier be friends with this cow?
Bronwyn drummed her fingers on the table but didn’t say anything. I knew exactly what she was thinking though.  
“Are you just being a jerk to get me fired up?” I asked.
She smirked. “If that’s what you want to think.”
“I hate you.” The words surprised me, I’d never said them to anyone before. But she just laughed.
“I know. But stick around, you’ll grow to love me.”


THE BIGGEST CHALLENGE I FACED THIS WEEK
A big thing came up in my life that completely overwhelmed me. I've been given a bigger responsibility at church (we call them callings) and I'm super scared about it and overwhelmed and trying not to freak out (oh wait, I already have). And it's just begun. Also, even though I have three other women who help, they'll be gone most of the summer so I'll be kinda on my own until late August. O.O

SOMETHING I LOVE ABOUT MY WIP
I thought my NA retelling was a disaster. It needs a lot of work, including an added POV, but it's not as bad as I thought! Yay.

MONDAY READS
I finished up THE WITCH HUNTER by Virginia Boecker, and it was a great read. It's historical fantasy and I loved that about it, not to mention the love story- swoony! Now I'm reading AN EMBER IN THE ASHES and it's just as good so far as everyone's said.

Friday Loves: Once Upon A Time and Ticket to Ride

I started Once Upon A Time at the very beginning. The kids joined me last year when they found out Elsa and Anna would be on the show. They watched the entire season, and then begged me to start back at the beginning. Luckily, I have the first two seasons on DVD so lately, we've been watching a lot of OUAT. We're barely into the second season and the kids love it (my two oldest girls especially). They're constantly asking to watch and it's a fun thing for us to do together.

I like the first season the best, when we get introduced to everyone's stories and Emma doesn't believe in magic. However, it's nice to see Hook in the second. *wink wink*

I've tried to do a lot of things with the kids this summer. So far, we've gone to the beach and Calaway Park and the spray park all multiple times. Another thing I love to do is play games. Today, me and the oldest daughter played Ticket to Ride, one of my favorite board games (she beat me both times). It's nice to have something fun to do on a rainy day.

What are you loving this week?

Ready. Set. WRITE! (week 6) and Monday Reads

HOW I DID ON LAST WEEK'S GOALS
- Add atmosphere to short story and submit: CHECK AND CHECK!
- Rewrite JAR OF HEARTS query: CHECK!
- Look at tension in JAR OF HEARTS and possibly revise: um, nope

MY GOALS FOR THIS WEEK
- One more JAR OF HEARTS query go-round. I workshopped it with my QA group and now I need to figure out how to tie-in my first line with all the rest. Sounds easy, but it really isn't.
- Reread and make revision notes on untitled NA retelling, at least a chapter a day

ONE WORD/PHRASE THAT SUMS UP WHAT I WROTE/REVISED
Done and done (and not so much done).

THE BIGGEST CHALLENGE I FACED THIS WEEK
It's the same old summer story: doing lots of stuff with the kids and enjoying the hot summer weather. The one day it was crappy outside, I thought I'd be super-productive, but I ended up getting zippo done that day. O.O

SOMETHING I LOVE ABOUT MY WIP
I love JAR OF HEARTS, but I'm kinda blind to it right now. I don't know what more I can do at this point. I think I need to leave it for a bit. I'm going to submit it in PitchWars in August, and if it doesn't get it, I'll take another pass at it then.

MONDAY READS
I finished THE MARK OF ATHENA by Rick Riordan, another great Percy Jackson book (I heart Percy). Then I started THE WITCH HUNTERS by Virginia Boecker (one of the people I subbed to last PitchWars!) and it's been great reading so far.

#Pit2Pub

We interrupt our regularly scheduled progamming (Wednesday Writes) to bring you this special post all about the upcoming #Pit2Pub:

The Intro: Who has fun spending hours creating that perfect 140-character pitch? Then bouncing that sentence or two off others to see if it's fantastic? And finally having to create a couple more so you're not posting the same one every few hours?

The Why: Kristin and Ann know what you're going through. In fact, they both did quite a few Twitter Pitch Parties so they know your pain. Kristin remembers what it was like to see that little colored star and then checking and re-checking email to confirm that someone did in fact click on the pitch and favorite it. And Ann's recalls her heart pounding and her palms sweaty, all the while hoping and praying that it wasn't made by accident from a friend or some complete stranger who marked it and not re-tweeted it by mistake. They both trolled the feed all day long and didn't work their day jobs (well, mostly this was Kristin).

So it's because of those reasons Ann M. Noser and Kristin D. Van Risseghem wanted to help other authors. So why not pay it forward? They are fortunate enough to have a published book, and working on their second. But let's face it, the best reason for them doing this? IT'S FUN! So let's all have a blast, help each other out, and maybe, just maybe, you'll find that perfect relationship between author and publisher.

The When: Here’s the date for #Pit2Pub: July 15, 2015 starts at 8AM and ends at 8PM (CST or CDT, which is Chicago time).

The What: What is #Pit2Pub? A Twitter Pitch Party for writers to tweet a 140-character pitch for their completed manuscripts. Have several variations of your Twitter pitch available. The pitch must include the hashtag #Pit2Pub, the Age Group, and the Genre (#YA, #MG, #A, etc. see chart below) in the tweet. It's important to include the hashtag(s).

Age Groups: #PB = Picture Book #C = Children's #MG = Middle Grade #YA = Young Adult #NA = New Adult #A = Adult #WF = Woman’s Fiction

Genres: #NF = Non-fiction #SFF = SciFi & Fantasy #LF = Literary Fiction #M = Mystery #T = Thriller #CL = Children's Lit

#CB = Chapter Book #R = Romance #Mem = Memoir #S = Suspense #RS = Romantic Suspense #W = Westerns #E = Erotica

RULES:
Authors of all genres are welcome to pitch their completed and polished manuscripts. You can pitch more than one manuscript. Tweet your pitch throughout the day, but no more than twice per hour per manuscript. When you see an industry professional on the feed, tweet it once. Remember to include the hashtag #Pit2Pub and genre.

The publishers will tweet their submission preferences and favorite your tweet if they wish to see more. If you get a favorite from an agent or publisher, follow their submission directions on their website or look for them on this blog. Then send them their request as soon as you can. They may have tweeted what they want you to send, so check their twitter feed for that information.

Make sure to put “Pit2Pub Request: TITLE” in the subject line of your email when sending your request.
Don’t tweet agents and publishers directly unless they tweet you first.

Don’t favorite friends’ tweets. You can RT your friends to show your support. Save favoriting for publisher requests to avoid confusion.

Be sure you research each requesting publisher. Don’t submit if you don’t want to work with them.

Be nice and courteous to each other and to the industry professionals. If you do see abuse, please report it to Twitter or notify Ann or Kristin right away.

Check back on their blogs (http://www.kristinvanrisseghem.com/blog) or Ann's Blog (http://annmnoser.com) as we post the list of comfirmed publishers who have signed up to monitor the feed on July 15, 2015!

Thank you! And let the fun begin!!!

Ready. Set. WRITE! (week 5) and Monday Reads

HOW I DID ON LAST WEEK'S GOALS
-Finish JAR OF HEARTS revisions: CHECK! Although, I'm still not sure I'm really done. Ergh.
-Revise and submit short story: sort of CHECK. I revised it and was just about to submit when I realized I needed to add a little more atmosphere. No need to rush.

MY GOALS FOR THIS WEEK
-Add atmosphere to short story and submit
-look at tension in middle-end of JAR OF HEARTS and possibly revise
-rewrite JAR OF HEARTS query

A FAVORITE LINE FROM MY STORY
From the short story:

Across the room, the two female leads are talking, their skinny hips bumping into each other. They both turn and look at me. Or at Colt. Or us. The girl playing Linda smiles, a knowing smile, but I’m not sure what she knows. I just know that whatever it is, I don’t know it.

THE BIGGEST CHALLENGE I FACED THIS WEEK
Doing all the things. Shopping, Canada Day Parade, Calaway Park trip, beach trip, and a dinner/movie date. Some days I got nothing done whatsoever (GUILT), but at least I almost made my goals anyway.

SOMETHING I LOVE ABOUT MY WIP
My short story MC loves quizzes, something we share in common. So for "research purposes," I had to do a lot of online quizzes. Teehee.

MONDAY READS
I finished ROYAL WEDDING by Meg Cabot. It was a fun read, although I did feel like Mia wasn't quite the mature princess she should have been. She still felt very YA to me, even though the character was 26. But part of the fun of the books is the hijinks she gets up to. Now I'm reading THE MARK OF ATHENA by Rick Riordan.

Friday Loves: Summer and Say Anything

While I've pretty much failed at anything writing related this week (I've revised one measly chapter), I have done a lot with the kids. We went to Calaway Park (a local amusement park), the spray park, went to a Canada Day Parade, and spent a day at the beach. It's been a busy week but lots of fun. I just hope my kids don't expect every week to be so activity-filled.

Last night I watched SAY ANYTHING for the first time. I don't know if I loved it, but I can see how it's a YA writers dream. Lloyd was weird and interesting and honest and John Cusack nailed the character.

(Although the ghetto blaster scene was a total letdown. He didn't even get a reaction out of it.)

What are you loving this week?