A Day in the Life of Lisa Burstein + GIVEAWAY

Hello and welcome to "A Day in the Life of..."©, a featured guest post exclusive to my blog that's published on Mondays and sometimes, on Thursdays. On these two days, a spotlight guest will share a normal day in their lives, giving us insight on their thoughts, projects, interests, obsessions and more. Occasionally, and if we're lucky, they'll even throw in a giveaway.

And now on with the show...

Today it's my pleasure to welcome Lisa Burstein, author of Pretty Amy, newly released in May 2012 by Entangled Publishing.  Currently Lisa is smoothing out the finishing touches in her upcoming book, Dear Cassie.

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ABOUT THE AUTHOR:

Lisa Burstein is a Goodreads Author

Lisa Burstein is a tea seller by day and a writer by night. She received her MFA in Creative Writing from the Inland Northwest Center for Writers at Eastern Washington University and is glad to finally have it be worth more than the paper it was printed on. She lives in Portland, Oregon with her very patient husband, a neurotic dog and two cats. Pretty Amy is her first novel. She never went to her senior prom.

She wrote her first story when she was in second grade. It was a Thanksgiving tale from the point of view of the turkey from freezer to oven to plate. It was scandalous. 

She was a lot like Amy when she was in high school. 

She is still a lot like Amy. 

Connect with Lisa Burstein

Twitter   Facebook   Website   Blog

A Day in the Life of Lisa Burstein

A typical weekday from totally boring, totally ordinary young adult author of Pretty Amy, Lisa Burstein (I say boring because if this was one of my character's lives they would surely be complaining about how bored they were- LOL) ~ Lisa Burstein

5:40 AM alarm goes off, I grumble and hit snooze.

5:50 AM alarm blares and is snoozed again, more grumbles.

6:00 AM alarm blares and husband yells for me to turn off alarm, while dog burrows under covers. 

More grumbles, but I finally wake up. I wish I didn't have to, but in addition to being a young adult author I also have a day job. I don't hate my day job, but I certainly do hate having to have one.

6:01 AM Coffee is made. My cat usually comes in the kitchen to say hello, splaying himself out like a bear rug. Lunch is packed: Cottage cheese, tomatoes and crackers almost every day. Because it's easy to make and I am lazy.

6:10 AM shower- I use my time in the shower to work out plot points and ideas for what I am currently writing. I usually get my best ideas in the shower. I sometimes even get ideas for tweets in the shower. I am ashamed to even admit this.

Get your copy of Pretty Amy on Amazon & Barnes and Noble

Read My Review

7:00 AM arrive at the day-job where I am chained to my desk until 3:30PM. At the day-job I work and also tweet with readers and friends. Do some face-booking, blogging, emails with editor, publicist and agent as needed oh and also WORK.

4:00 PM- I try to go to the gym. The word is "try" but now that I am under deadline for my second novel, which is DUE THIS MONTH, I am usually back home and in my office writing. I write until dinner.

6:30 PM- dinner with hubby.

7:00 PM until bed- Watching TV or reading until I fall asleep. I am always reading at least one book. The book I am reading now is Where It Began by, Ann Redisch Stampler because a reviewer compared it to my first novel Pretty Amy.

10:00 PM- Lights out, so I can be well-rested for another super-exciting day as a young adult author ;).

Thank you, Lisa, for sharing your day with us and thank you, readers for taking the time to stop by. I hope that you've enjoyed today's 

"A Day in the Life of..."

Tune in next Monday when my featured guest will be 

Author Madison Daniel.

Don't forget to enter the 

⬇

 S W A G A L I C I O U S

 G   I   V   E   A   W   A   Y! 

(*This giveaway is open to residents of the U.S.)

a Rafflecopter giveaway

A Day in the Life of Gracen Miller ( + Giveaway)

Hello and welcome to "A Day in the Life of..."©, a featured guest post exclusive to my blog that's published on Mondays and sometimes, on Thursdays. On these two days, a spotlight guest will share a normal day in their lives, giving us insight on their thoughts, projects, interests, obsessions and more. Occasionally, and if we're lucky, they'll even throw in a giveaway.

And now, on with the show...

Today I have the pleasure of welcoming Gracen Miller, author of The Devil's Den, Fairy Casanova, Elfin Blood and the Road to Hell Series. Birmingham, Alabama is where Gracen, her two boys, her superhero husband, their two dogs and two hamsters call home. 

ABOUT GRACEN MILLER:

Gracen is a hopeless daydreamer masquerading as a "normal" person in southern society. When not writing, she's a full-time basketball/football/guitar mom for her two sons and a devoted wife to her real-life hero-husband. She's addicted to writing, paranormal romance novels and movies, Alabama football and coffee…addictions are not necessarily in order of priority. She is convinced coffee is nectar from the gods and blending coffee and writing together generates the perfect creative merger. Many of her creative worlds are spawned from coffee highs.

A Day in the Life of Gracen Miller

6:15 AM:

Get woken up by the rude alarm clock. Wake children (Sons A and B) to get ready for school and prepares breakfast as they shower and get dressed.

7:10 AM:

Screams to Son B, who is still lounging on the sofa half awake without having ate breakfast: “You’ve got five minutes before we have to leave!” I scramble up the stairs to throw on semi-respectable clothing and stuff my feet into sandals.

7:15 AM:

Runs down stairs—thankful I arrive at the bottom safely because I’m a bit of a klutz on them—throwing hair into ponytail and cramming a hat on my head. Realizes Son B still hasn’t eaten breakfast and I commence preaching on how he’s going to wish he’d ate because he’ll be starving by lunch, but that we have no time for him to eat now. Son B slooooowly rolls off sofa, with bedhead thanks to a lying around with wet hair, and realizes he hasn’t put on his shoes. I say a speedy mental prayer that God gives me the strength to endure his sluggishness and disorganization!

7:16 AM:

Helps him hunt for shoes that we find stuffed beneath the sofa he was sitting on. I bite my tongue not to repeat for the millionth time that the shoebox is where they belonged and if they’d been there, we wouldn’t have been searching for them.

7:20 AM:

Encourages Son B to speed up with, “Hurry, we gotta go!”

7:25 AM:

Son B finally has his shoes on and I’m yelling as we go out the door, “Love you, have a good day” to Son A who is still upstairs primping before school. His idea of breakfast is chocolate milk, so he fends for himself and he catches the bus at the road, so he’s the easy child.

7:26 AM:

Cranks vehicle, throws it into reverse and realizes I forgot my coffee on the counter. Checks clock, calculates time until school starts and admits to self that I’ll have to forgo the nectar of gods until I return home.

7:40 AM:

Wish Son B a good day at school and drives through carpool to the too happy morning teacher waving with a smile on her face. Oh, how I hate her! I bet she’s had her coffee.

7:55 AM:

Arrives home to the excitement of my dogs as if I’ve been gone for days and days, rather than thirty minutes. Feed dogs.

7:56 AM:

Shudders at cold coffee and shoves it in the microwave for a quick nuke. Runs upstairs to throw on a load of laundry and change into work out clothes.

8:15 AM:

Checks emails and makes necessary replies. Goofs off on Facebook and posts various promotions. Hits any blogs that I follow, check out my author loops, etc. and make any essential comments.

9:30 AM:

Realizes I haven’t had my nectar of the gods and discovers it still sitting in the microwave. Cold again. Re-nukes it, this time standing in front of the microwave waiting.

9:32 AM:

Microwave bings and I indulge in my first taste of sanity. Ahh…nectar of the gods. It doesn’t get better than this.

9:35 AM:

Opens current WIP, re-read what I wrote the prior day. Stares at the blinking cursor lost in the land of—gasps, realizing I forgot the washer full of clothes. Scrambles upstairs, throws clothes in dryer and puts another load in washer.

9:45 AM -12:00 PM:

Read My Review

Goes back to WIP and settles in to write. Ignoring various telemarketer phone calls, husband calls at least once to see how my day is going and to check on the boys.

12:00 PM:

Remembers I forgot to eat breakfast, so I grab another cup of coffee and scope out the cabinets. Find nothing I want, so I sip on my nectar and return to my WIP.

2:00 PM:

Suddenly recalls I’d planned to get a workout at the gym. Too late now as Son B will be home in 45 minutes. Grumbling stomach reminds me I’ve still not eaten lunch. I grab a pack of crackers and munch on them quickly as I make another mug of coffee. Afterward, I run up the stairs to take a shower.

2:25 PM:

As I step out of shower, I’m reminding myself to remove the clothes from washer and hang clothes in dryer.

2:45 PM:

Greets Son B as he comes home from school. We chat about his day as he 
gets a snack.

3:15 PM:

Sits at kitchen table with Son B as he works on homework. I catch back up on emails, various author loops and goof off with any friends on Facebook, waiting to offer homework support to Son B if needed.

4:00 PM:

Off to guitar lessons with Son B.

5:00 PM:

Guitar lessons end and we drive to Son A’s school to pick him up from football/basketball practice.

5:30 PM:

Arrive home, start dinner and offer assistance to Son A with any homework he has. (Depending on the day, we may have football/basketball practice for Son B, so instead of going home to cook, Son A and I will sit together in the car or on the bleachers doing homework and chatting).

6:30 PM:

Husband arrives home and helps with any math homework or assignments that require Powerpoint.

7:00-9:00 PM:

Eat dinner, clean kitchen, check email and Facebook while watching a little TV with the family.

9:00 PM:

Tucks everyone into bed—usually including the husband.

9:05 PM:

Opens WIP, glances at what was written that day and thinks how I’m too tired to work any more. So I catch up on missed TV shows and/or chat with friends on Facebook and email.

11:00 PM:

Sets the coffee pot to automatically brew and heads off to bed.

11:30 PM:

Still listening to chatty characters and plotting out a day in the life of the Road to Hell.

Midnight:

Drifting to sleep, I bolt wide-awake, realizing I never hung the clothes in the dryer or removed the clothes from the washer. I decide it’ll wait until tomorrow.

12:30 AM:

Falls asleep to characters chatting.

Learn more about Gracen Miller and the Road to Hell Series on Facebook and on herWebsite.

Thank you for sharing your day with us, Gracen, and thank you, my dear readers, for stopping by. I hope that you've enjoyed "A Day in the Life of.."

and now for a

G  I  V  E  A  W  A  Y!

a Rafflecopter giveaway

Tune in Thursday when my featured guest will be

Entangled Publishing Author 

Lisa Berstein!

REVIEW: Pretty Amy by Lisa Burstein

RATING: ✭✭✭✭✭

ABOUT THE BOOK:
Amy is fine living in the shadows of beautiful Lila and uber-cool Cassie, because at least she’s somewhat beautiful and uber-cool by association. But when their dates stand them up for prom, and the girls take matters into their own hands—earning them a night in jail outfitted in satin, stilettos, and Spanx—Amy discovers even a prom spent in handcuffs might be better than the humiliating “rehabilitation techniques” now filling up her summer. Worse, with Lila and Cassie parentally banned, Amy feels like she has nothing—like she is nothing.

Navigating unlikely alliances with her new coworker, two very different boys, and possibly even her parents, Amy struggles to decide if it’s worth being a best friend when it makes you a public enemy. Bringing readers along on an often hilarious and heartwarming journey, Amy finds that maybe getting a life only happens once you think your life is over.


REVIEW:
While most teenagers go to prom their senior year, Amy Fleishman goes to... jail?

In this witty story about a teenage girl trying to fit in and find her place in life, Amy's easy life is about to turn upside down. Her mother goes ballistic and her lawyer wants her to testify against her best friends, the only two girls that ever accepted her as she was. Hard headed Amy vows her loyalty to her friends and refuses, conscious that she may be spending the next year in jail. What's a girl to do when she's forced to find a job and forbidden to have any contact with her only friends? Become more rebellious, of course.

Lisa Burstein renders a humorous tale filled with a lot of parent nagging and teenage tantrums. And though the story is comical, it ends with a great moral. Burstein's writing style is easy to absorb and keeps true to the age of the main character's narration. After the giggles and the moral has been learned, you'll find that there's a "Pretty Amy" in you, too.

Get your copy of Pretty Amy on Amazon & Barnes and Noble

ABOUT THE AUTHOR:

Lisa Burstein is a tea seller by day and a writer by night. She received her MFA in Creative Writing from the Inland Northwest Center for Writers at Eastern Washington University and is glad to finally have it be worth more than the paper it was printed on. She lives in Portland, Oregon with her very patient husband, a neurotic dog and two cats. Pretty Amy is her first novel. She never went to her senior prom.

She wrote her first story when she was in second grade. It was a Thanksgiving tale from the point of view of the turkey from freezer to oven to plate. It was scandalous. 

She was a lot like Amy when she was in high school. 

She is still a lot like Amy. 

Connect with Lisa Burstein:

Twitter

Facebook

Goodreads

Website

Blog

A Day in the Life of Sara Humphreys & GIVEAWAY!

Hello and welcome to "A Day in the Life of..."©, a featured guest post exclusive to my blog that's published on Mondays and sometimes, on Thursdays. On these two days, a spotlight guest will share a normal day in their lives, giving us insight on their thoughts, projects, interests, obsessions and more. Occasionally, and if we're lucky, they'll even throw in a giveaway.

And now, on with the show...

Today we spotlight Sourceboooks Author Sara Humphreys. Sara not only writes great stories, but is also the president and founder of a successful public speaking training company. Sara lives in Bronxville, New York with her husband, four sons and two dogs. 

ABOUT SARA HUMPHREYS:

Sara is a Goodreads Author

Unleashed, Sara’s first published novel and the first book in The Amoveo Legend series, recently won Best Book of 2011 in the Grave Tells Reader’s Choice Awards, beating out JR Ward for the top honor. Untouched (AL #2) is being released by Sourcebooks in April of 2012 and will be followed by three more books in the series.

Dead in the City, Sara’s urban fantasy vampire series was recently sold to Sourcebooks in another five book deal, with the first book slated for release in 2013.

Sara is a graduate of Marist College, with a B.A. Degree in English Literature & Theater. Her initial career path after college was as a professional actress. Some of her television credits include, A&E Biography, Guiding Light, Another World, As the World Turns and Rescue Me.

Sara is the President of Taney Speaker Training, which specializes in public speaking, presentation development and communication skills training. She has trained executives at Verizon, Bristol-Meyer Squibb, Westchester County and the United States Navy.  Her speaking career began with Monster’s Making It Count programs, speaking in high schools and colleges around the United States to thousands of students.

Sara has been a lover of both the paranormal and romance novels for years. Her sci-fi/fantasy/romance obsession began years ago with the TV Series STAR TREK and an enormous crush on Captain Kirk. That sci-fi obsession soon evolved into the love of all types of fantasy/paranormal; vampires, ghosts, werewolves, and of course shape shifters. Sara is married to her college sweetheart, Will. They live in Bronxville, New York with their 4 boys and 2 insanely loud dogs. Life is busy but never dull.

Connect with Sara:

Website

Twitter

Facebook

Taney Speaker Training

 Buy The Amoveo Legend Series:

Amazon

Barnes and Noble

Sourcebooks

A Day in the Life of Sara Humphreys

Read My Review

When Nely was kind enough to ask me to participate in this blog series, I was thrilled! The funny thing is that if she’d asked me to do this a couple of months ago, my day would’ve looked very different. I recently resigned from my full-time job at a local college and am now fully self-employed! In addition to being the mom to four wonderful boys and an author, I also own a company called Taney Speaker Training—we offer public speaking and presentation skills training. 

Read My Review

Being self-employed is a new adventure for me but one I’m embracing with open arms. However, since it’s summertime and the boys aren’t in school, it also comes with some unique challenges. Let’s just say that my time management skills are being put to the test.

So here’s an ideal summertime work day…

7:30am: Up and at ‘em with a workout. I usually do an Insanity workout or go for a run but lately the Insanity DVD is the way I go.

8:30am: Breakfast for me and the boys—immediately followed by clean-up/laundry etc.

Coming 11/1/2012
 Pre-order!

10:00am-12:00pm: Working on various projects for my Taney Speaker Training clients.

12:00pm-1:00pm: Lunch with the boys and of course cleaning up.

1:00pm-4:00pm: Pool time with the boys or some errands with them. If we’re at the pool, I usually have my laptop in tow and get some writing done there as well.

4:00pm-6:00pm: Dinner/laundry/cleaning up

6:00pm-8:00pm: Writing time.

8:00pm---until bedtime: My husband usually gets home around this time and we have a chance to hang out as a family and catch up. 

*On occasion—10:00pm-12:00am: More writing time—this usually happens as deadlines loom.

Riveting…isn’t it?

I’m looking forward to the school year so that I can get back to a more typical work day but I’m also trying to remember to enjoy time with my guys while they’re home. They’re great kids and I’m so proud to be their mom.  However, with all of these boys…the schedule rarely runs smoothly…but everything works itself out.

I have another deadline looming in early September. The manuscript for the first Dead in the City book is due and I’m about to dive back in to TALL, DARK, AND VAMPIRE.

See you around the web! 

Thank you, Sara, for sharing your day with us and for the great Giveaway!

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INTERNATIONAL GIVEAWAY !!!

Leave a comment and you could win 

a signed copy of

UNLEASHED & UNTOUCHED!

(Leave your email too!)

ENDS SATURDAY, JULY 28, 2012 at 10PM CST

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THE WINNER OF THIS CONTEST IS...


ANTONIA CALINA! 


Congratulations, Antonia! 

Pulse of Heroes by AJ Sweeny Giveaway WINNER!

"PULSE OF HEROES" GIVEAWAY WINNER! 

(This giveaway is open to the residents of the U.S.)

 Read My Review of Pulse of Heroes

“Throughout all those years, nothing had changed when it came to beauty. Everyone craved it. Elliot wondered if that craving was more than just wanting to find a healthy, suitable partner. Perhaps somewhere in the human sub-consciousness everyone was searching for their maker,

 the image of perfection.” 

-Pulse of Heroes

Check out A.J. Sweeny's novels on

 Amazon and Barnes & Noble

For more information, including excerpts, visit 

The Pulse Myths Series Website

Find the Heroes on Facebook

REVIEW: Thank My Lucky Scars by Ward Foley

RATING: ✭✭✭✭✭

ABOUT THE BOOK:

Ward Foley, aka “Scarman”, survived decades of disfigurement, pain, and suffering. But it was through the death of a close friend that he learned a profound lesson and discovered a secret that changed his life forever. This is a story about finding what you want most, in the most unlikely places, and usually right under your nose. Share the joy of seeing your own life–and everything around you–in bold new ways.

REVIEW: 
Have you ever woken up and complained about a crick in your neck or a pain in your back that you know will go away after taking a pill? Well what if you had to live with that pain all of your life and no pill could make it better?

Ward Foley shares his experience of being born with multiple birth defects and growing up different. Simple tasks like brushing his teeth are an every day challenge for him. After enduring decades of surgery, he's learned not to complain, even when life hands him more lemons than he needs. I suppose it's very difficult for Mr. Foley to make lemonade with his physical limitations, when even holding a brush to his mouth is a task. When most of us would have thrown in the towel, Ward Foley only pushes harder.


Admirably, Mr. Foley uses both the bad and good experiences to make a difference in people's lives. In his book, he details accounts of unexplainable blessings and the darkest of times he's endured. Thank My Lucky Scars is written as if it were a close friend telling you his life story. As I laughed, cried and empathized with Mr. Foley, I found in his words wisdom and lessons that I shall never forget. Thank you, Ward Foley, for gifting me your book. As I look at the first page where you've dedicated it to me, I realize how writing those words was nothing short of a feat for you. I will treasure your book always.

Ward Foley is a Goodreads Author

ABOUT THE AUTHOR:
I have authored two books, the most recent being, Thank My Lucky Scars, which I published in 2006. In my efforts to help others, I have learned that giving to others is the greatest gift I can give to myself: a gift I unwrap and cherish daily. Thank My Lucky Scars has reached more people than I could’ve ever dreamed. To my surprise, while I initially wrote this book to help people with myriad disabilities, I have been constantly surprised (and humbled) by the responses from so many others: families who have lost children, families in hospice, recovering addicts and those who have lost hope the most, no matter what their personal story might be.


We are not given a good life or bad life, we are given life and it is up to us to make it good or bad.

Visit Ward Foley on his Website

Find him on Facebook

Buy Thank My Lucky Stars on Amazon