Review of Slated by Christina Lanier

A young girl's life is turned upside down when a research experiment throws the world into apocalyptic turmoil. Separated from their parents, Hannah, along with her two younger sisters, must brave Earth's transformed population in an effort to reunite their family. With danger at every turn, survival becomes her sole focus. Struggling to determine whether each person she meets is good or evil, she must also discover how she herself has been slated.

 Amazon

My Review: 5 STARS
I picked this up thinking it would be an interesting read and I wasn't disappointed. It started off with everyday life and then the action kicked in pretty quick. I was tugged along on Hannah's journey, on the sacrifices she made, on the twists and turns of the plot, her emotions was so raw and real that you couldn't help but feel the same. Overall an amazing read, and one I'd recommend. I'd be interested in more by this author!

Join Joey here on the blog on Fridays for interviews, reviews and guest bloggers. If you'd be interested in doing any of those, you can contact Joey here.

Why I Write Young Adult [CC]

Filling you in on why I write Young Adult! #Authortube

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#TeaserTuesday

Lana doesn't want to accept that it's over, and she'll stop at nothing to get Lock back...

#LightsOn Coming May 2020

[ID: A graphic with a smoky grey background and the header of: Lights On, with a small header underneath that reads: Coming May 2020. The excerpt reads:

Lana rolled over and switched off her alarm, glancing at the space next to her. Empty. It was still strange to wake up and Lock not be there. Of course, that would change. Lock would realise what she’d given up, and she would come back. She had to.

At the bottom is Joey Paul, her website of www.joeypaulonline.com and the logo of a green and purple bug in the far right corner.

END ID]

Inspiration: How Does It Work? - The Creative Process

INSPIRATION: HOW DOES IT WORK?

I wrote a piece about inspiration, but it was a very long time ago, I think like 2013, (piece found here) and I felt like it was a good idea to revisit the subject. I know that it's something that I get asked a lot when I do questions from readers, though I usually direct them to my blog because as I said, I've talked about it before. But every writer works differently, so I thought it would be a good idea for me to explain how inspiration works for me, what steps I go through and how I get a finished draft at the end of the process.

STEP ONE: THE IDEA
Usually this will be something that hits me right at the wrong time. I'll be mid-draft of another book, and then get hit with something that I really want to write right now. If that's the case I'll thought dump into a document and leave it to brew for a while. If I'm super passionate about the idea, then it'll get moved up the list for what I write next. At the moment I have about six projects that are vying for my attention and I've not yet decided what two to work on next.

STEP TWO: THE PLANNING
As I've talked about before, I don't do much planning. I will write a chapter plan and on it has very few points that I'm planning to include. My chapter plan is more to keep track of words, the timeline, and the pages the chapters take up. I will also do character cards for the main characters and some secondary ones that I'm already aware of. This doesn't take me long, usually a few hours and from there I can move onto the next step!

STEP THREE: THE DRAFTING
This obviously takes the most time, several months actually, and during this time the inspiration waxes and wanes. I will usually write in blocks of four days, a chapter a day and work myself through both of my current projects. I don't write every day simply because I can't push myself to write all day every day. Sure it'd be nice to get more done, but I also have a life outside of writing. I have things to do for my author platform, and they all take time.

On top of that, I do love the drafting phase of a project (piece found here) and it's something that I very much enjoy, so I will take my time through the process, editing as I go to make sure the draft is as clean as it can be once I'm done.

STEP FOUR: LOSING INSPIRATION
I included this step simply because in a piece about inspiration, you need to include the fact that sometimes, that inspiration flitters away and there's really not much you can do about it. So what do I do when I lose inspiration for a project? I keep going, which sounds like a glib, but it's a hard lesson to learn whether you're a new writer or an older one, there will be some projects that you find you don't want to continue once that inspiration goes, but there will be others that spark joy and you want to continue even without that illustrious inspiration, and what you have to do is keep going, finding new and different ways to keep writing the story that you're wanting to write. I did a piece recently about writer's block which you can find here.

STEP FIVE: FINISHING THE DRAFT
The end of all these steps is that I finally reach the end of the draft. When I do that, I'll put it to one side before I start editing. I've talked about my editing process before, but it might be something that I revisit this year. I have an older piece here. I do celebrate writing the final words, usually a nice treat!

So how do you deal with inspiration? Do you find it influences what you write? Lemme know down in the comments below.

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Review Of Deadly First Day by Emily Kazmierski

Who knew that the first day at a new school could be deadly?

Embassy Academy, the elite private boarding school I’m being shipped off to wasn’t made for girls like me. Girls who are timid wallflowers.

It was made for bold, outspoken, cultured kids of the political elite. Rich. Privileged. Condescending.

Except for Ricardo, who looks at me like I'm a new flavor of ice cream he'd like to try, despite my cute bodyguard's disapproving stare. If only bratty girls and cute boys were my biggest problem.

When the academy's resident mean girl is killed on my very first day, their shimmering oasis becomes a pool of blood. The whispering gets louder. Quick glances become hard stares.

They’re looking for someone to blame. They’re looking at me.

Amazon

My Review: 5 STARS
I picked this up looking for a good mystery and was not disappointed. First day of new school and Adrienne finds a body! The story was quick to get into and a read you won't want to put down. I was hooked with Charlotte and all the other characters. The writing was an engaging twist of a read and I loved it. Will be looking forward to the next book in the series, highly recommended!

You can follow Emily on Facebook.

Join Joey here on the blog on Fridays for interviews, reviews and guest bloggers. If you'd be interested in doing any of those, you can contact Joey here.

5 Disability Tropes I Hate In Fiction [CC]

Telling you all about the five disability tropes I hate in fiction! #Authortube

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#TeaserTuesday

In the #LightsOut world, everyone stops aging at 25, and all life ends at 60, no matter who you are. Lock is there to make sure that this happens.

OUT NOW: http://www.books2read.com/LOUT

[ID: 
A graphic with a fading lightbulb, the header reads: LIGHTS OUT, with a small header underneath reading: out now in paperback & ebook. To the right of those is a New Apple award seal. The excerpt reads:

“We’ve got Jonathon Baker, but he’s also got his granddaughter with him, don’t know how old she is, too little for this that’s for sure. I promised him a quiet corner. You think you can manage that?” I asked her.
“Sure thing, Lock, I’ll take good care of him,” she replied as she walked beside me.
I wheeled back over to the desk and introduced them. “This is going to be your nurse for the event, Clara, she’s a good one and she’ll make sure all your needs are met. May your sleep be ever peaceful,” I said to Jonathon as Clara caught the eye of Sadie.
END ID]

5 Facts About My Current WIP: I Wish I Could Save You

5 FACTS ABOUT MY CURRENT WIP: I WISH I COULD SAVE YOU

Last week I did a piece about my other current project, which you can find here. This week I'm telling you five facts about I Wish I Could Save You, which has quickly become my next series to focus on. I adore writing about these characters and am super excited to branch the series out a little more, I even have a great idea for the second book that keeps going around in my head!

So first, lemme tell you a little bit about it. It's a young adult paranormal/romance. Penney is seventeen, at sixth form doing her first year of A-levels, a psychic, and living with her crush on her best friend, Dane. It's all something she can keep to herself until she has a vision that predicts Dane's death, and Penney is forbidden from interfering. Now onto the facts.

#1 PENNEY WAS ADOPTED
She has two mums. One she calls Mama, who works as a secondary school teacher at a different school than the one Penney attends. Her mum is a local GP, and they've been married for a while, and were living together when they adopted Penney when she was a small baby, no older than a year old. She's found that most people have no problem with her family being all female, but there have to be a few that have taken affront to it. Penney usually just ignores and avoids them.

#2 PENNEY IS BISEXUAL
So is Dane actually. They both came out at the same time to each other, and it was a source of joy for Penney to share any wobbly moments in her journey with her best friend. Both are fiercely protective of the other, and while Dane is more demonstrative (something Penney has to remind herself of a lot, that it's not necessarily attraction and just second nature to him), Penney is the more outgoing of the two.

#3 PENNEY IS CHRONICALLY ILL
Penney has Ehlers Danlos Syndrome (EDS). It was something that was easier to deal with since her mum is a GP and was able to make sure Penney was diagnosed correctly early in her life. Penney is one of the invisibly disabled and while she struggles from time to time, she has meds that keep her pain levels lowered.

#4 ONE IN HUNDRED PEOPLE ARE BORN PSYCHIC
The rules of this world are very similar to our own, the difference is that there are a lot of people who are psychic, Penney being one of them. The academy for psychics has lots of rules in place, and assigns mentors to those under age. Once you hit seventeen, you are required to report every vision only to your mentor. You're not allowed to interfere with the visions and once you hit eighteen, you have a big choice to make. Go to work in the academy or turned to life in the normal world. There have been stories of more powerful psychics being aggressively recruited, and Penney doesn't want any of that. Her decision has always been to go the normal route and become a teacher like her mama.

And finally, #5 PENNEY DOESN'T KNOW MANY OTHER TEEN PSYCHICS
It's not about rejecting her people, just that she's never met any that have been all that friendly. It's not until things start going wrong, that she ends up meeting other psychics and finding a whole set of people she'd never really thought much about. One of them is someone Penney finds herself admiring as she moves through her problems, and thinks that maybe they can become firm friends.

So there we have it, my five facts about I Wish I Could Save You. As I said above, this is going to be a series. I love Penney, and I love the ideas that come from writing in her world. I have lots of ideas for future books and I'm so excited about getting to write them!

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Review of The Accidental Witch by Gemma Perfect

“I’m not a witch.”
“You are now.”

When Ellis chases her dog right through the middle of a magical ceremony, she gets invested as the head witch of all the supernatural creatures.

By accident.

The witches are shell shocked but determined to keep this catastrophe a secret. None of the magical creatures can know how wrong this has gone.

But Ellis has a vision, which shows all of them that she’s stumbled into something far more dangerous than any of them originally believed.

Can they undo the magic and put Fletcher in Ellis's place, before the other supernatural creatures find out and before they have a rebellion on their hands

 Amazon

My Review: 4.5 STARS
I picked this up because the cover and the blurb intrigued me, and I was not disappointed. Ellis has had a hard year, and Fletcher's year hasn't been much better. The story was fast paced, and went from the every day to the death defying in moments, I read it all in one night because I was desperate to know what happened next. Overall, I just felt like the ending was a little rushed, but otherwise I loved it completely, and can't wait for the next one in the series. Lovers of paranormal romance should definitely check it out!

You can follow Gemma on her website.

Join Joey here on the blog on Fridays for interviews, reviews and guest bloggers. If you'd be interested in doing any of those, you can contact Joey here.

Tips & Tricks: Critique Partners [CC]

Giving you my top five tips & tricks when it comes to Critique Partners! #Authortube

CRITIQUE PARTNER MATCH UP: https://writersblockpartyblog.com/2019/01/01/critique-partner-match-up-2019/
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