Archives for February 2016

Why Are We Afraid to Ask for Things?

February 25, 2016 by · 2 Comments

I really wanted to do this post after an experience I had last week.  I had to make a phone call.  Doesn’t seem like such a big deal right? Dial the number; make the call; done.  But for some reason, I was freaking out about making this phone call.  It was a “business” type call. One where I had to follow up with someone who’s job it is to do what I was asking.

It sounds ridiculous that I was nervous.  Even as I’m typing this and looking at it objectively I know I was being irrational.  Regardless, I had to psych myself up to make this phone call.  It took me a good 15-20 minutes to formulate what I would say, how I would say it, what would happen if they weren’t available, what would happen if they were, and about 50 other ludicrous scenarios I could imagine.

Sweating, I made the phone call.  And you know what?  The world didn’t end.  I survived.  I asked what I needed to ask and it was completely fine.  So why the hell was I so nervous?

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Book Tuesday: Chosen Fool

February 23, 2016 by · Leave a Comment

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Title: Chosen Fool (Forever Evermore #5)
Author: Scarlett Dawn
Genre: New Adult, Fantasy, Paranormal, Urban Fantasy
Publisher: Escape Publishing
Publication Date: February 5, 2016
Pages: 252
Buy: Amazon

The second saga in the bestselling, Forever Evermore series continues with Chosen Fool, where deception runs deep and Caro’s transitioning life turns even more deadly…

Caroline Jules has received news of a lifetime. She’s going to be Queen to ‘her’ people. Instead of running, as any sane criminal would, she faces the mêlée with all the wits and savvy that her difficult life has honed. With her best friend, Sin, at her side, Caro pushes past the animosity her power inevitably brings, and prepares to rewrite her future.

Until the night Sin leaves, and she is alone.

Now, Caro must face the Royal world and all its intrigues and intricacies by herself. People aren’t always as they appear—and danger lurks behind even the most pleasant face. When a threat not even the Elders can handle puts her new tribe in danger, Caro takes matters into her own hands. Armed with the power of the mysterious spirit Elementals, Caro’s determined to eliminate the evil ransacking the Mysticals. All she needs is time.

But time waits for no fool…and time isn’t as straightforward as it seems.

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How to Write a Musical 101

February 18, 2016 by · Leave a Comment

The bro and I get asked a lot of questions regarding how we started out writing our first musical.  With our second one pretty much done (minus the never ending revisions) and another project in the works, we’ve been getting even more.  Normally I direct them here and here, but for people looking to get started on writing their own I thought I would give a more detailed post about the actual process of where to start and what to do.

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I am far from the expert on this (believe me, half the time it’s fake it till you make it!) and I’m sure my brother would agree, but there are a few things we’ve learned along the way that might help you out.

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Book Tuesday: Release Day – The Girl from Everywhere

February 16, 2016 by · Leave a Comment

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Title: The Girl from Everywhere (The Girl from Everywhere #1)
Author: Heidi Heilig
Genre: YA, Fantasy
Publisher: Greenwillow Books
Publication Date: February 16, 2016
Pages: 464
Buy: Amazon

It was the kind of August day that hinted at monsoons, and the year was 1774, though not for very much longer.

Sixteen-year-old Nix Song is a time-traveller. She, her father and their crew of time refugees travel the world aboard The Temptation, a glorious pirate ship stuffed with treasures both typical and mythical. Old maps allow Nix and her father to navigate not just to distant lands, but distant times – although a map will only take you somewhere once. And Nix’s father is only interested in one time, and one place: Honolulu 1868. A time before Nix was born, and her mother was alive. Something that puts Nix’s existence rather dangerously in question…

Nix has grown used to her father’s obsession, but only because she’s convinced it can’t work. But then a map falls into her father’s lap that changes everything. And when Nix refuses to help, her father threatens to maroon Kashmir, her only friend (and perhaps, only love) in a time where Nix will never be able to find him. And if Nix has learned one thing, it’s that losing the person you love is a torment that no one can withstand. Nix must work out what she wants, who she is, and where she really belongs before time runs out on her forever.

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The Store Under the Portico aka Musical 2!

February 11, 2016 by · Leave a Comment

The title is here and the first draft is DONE! Musical 2 is now “finished”.  I’m laughing even as I type that because it’s never finished, but the first draft is!

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Book Tuesday: Wicked Sexy Liar

February 9, 2016 by · Leave a Comment

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Title: Wicked Sexy Liar (Wild Seasons #4)
Author: Christina Lauren
Genre: New Adult, Contemporary
Publisher: Gallery Books
Publication Date: February 2, 2016
Pages: 384
Buy: Amazon

When three college besties meet three hot guys in Vegas, anything can—and does—happen. Book Four in the New York Times Wild Seasons series that began with Sweet Filthy Boy (the Romantic Times book of the year that Sylvia Day called “a sexy, sweet treasure of a story”), Dirty Rowdy Thing, and Dark Wild Night.

For two people ambivalent about dating and love, they sure get naked around each other an awful lot . . .

London Hughes is very content to surf daily, tend bar, hang out with her group of friends, and slowly orient herself in the years after college. Everything’s going great and according to the non-plan.

But when a wave knocks her for a loop one morning, then Luke Sutter’s flirtatious smile knocks her for another that evening, she veers slightly off course…and into his path. Sure, he’s a total player, but the Why not—it’s only one night is a persistent voice in her ear.

For his part, Luke’s been on hookup autopilot for so long that he rarely ever pauses to consider what he’s doing. But after an amazing time with London, he realizes that he hasn’t been moving on from a devastating heartbreak so much as he’s been drifting to wherever—and whomever—the current takes him. With London he wants more.

Every relationship involves two people…plus their pasts. And as much as she enjoys her fling with Luke, when London learns about his past—more specifically, who’s in it—everything becomes the brand of complicated she strives to avoid. It’s up to Luke then to change some things in order to try and ensure he’s not something she’ll outright avoid as well.

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Book Tuesday: ARC – Glass Sword

February 2, 2016 by · 2 Comments

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Title: Glass Sword (Red Queen #2)
Author: Victoria Aveyard
Genre: YA, Fantasy
Publisher: Harper Teen
Publication Date: February 9, 2016
Pages: 448
Buy: Amazon

*****Spoilers for Red Queen in description*****

Mare Barrow’s blood is red—the color of common folk—but her Silver ability, the power to control lightning, has turned her into a weapon that the royal court tries to control.

The crown calls her an impossibility, a fake, but as she makes her escape from Maven, the prince—the friend—who betrayed her, Mare uncovers something startling: she is not the only one of her kind.

Pursued by Maven, now a vindictive king, Mare sets out to find and recruit other Red-and-Silver fighters to join in the struggle against her oppressors.

But Mare finds herself on a deadly path, at risk of becoming exactly the kind of monster she is trying to defeat.

Will she shatter under the weight of the lives that are the cost of rebellion? Or have treachery and betrayal hardened her forever?

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