I know I know it´s been FOREVER since my last Happy Friday post. My last Happy Friday post was on January 18th. WOW! But Happy Friday is back My goal is to have one Happy Friday per month at least because let´s face it, there´s always plenty to smile about on a Friday and it´s always nice to look for the good things that happened during a week.  Looking forward to know what made you smile this week! 

Over on YA Confidential: The Teen Spies of YA Confidential critique my first page of GUILTY and I´m very very grateful for their feedback! Not only are their comments SUPER helpful, it´s simply great to have the views of my target audience  (even though it´s also super duper nerve-wracking).

Vacation: I´m on on holidays since Wednesday evening and we landed safely in Washington DC yesterday. We´re now back in our Maryland home. It´s funny how being back feels normal. We have our marks, our spots, our friends and the ones we consider as close as family. We´re looking forward to catch up and just hang out. (and going to Target, yes I confess, I am a Target addict)

Reading: I finished beta reading a wonderful YA contemporary this week (by the lovely Katy Upperman). You guys, this is another manuscript that really touched me and got me by the heart. Plus, the male main character is a mix of Etienne St Clair and Jonah Griggs…and adds his own layers to the batter making him really a great character to know. The entire cast reminded me a bit of MY LIFE NEXT DOOR. Crossing my fingers it gets picked up soon so you get to read it too!

Movies: A long plane ride overseas means I get to watch plenty of movies. And I finally got to see LES MISERABLES! I´m officially in love with that movie. I don´t know how many times I had to wipe my tears…or how many times I was simply in awe of the way the emotions really came through both the acting and the singing. Loved it! And while watching, I couldn´t stop thinking about another MS I had the honor to beta read (the Star Wars/Les Miserables mashup by Alex Brown)

So, tell me what made you smile this week?

I just typed THE END to the first draft of my YA romantic suspense novel GUILTY…The word count is a bit on the low side (46k) but I already have in the text some spots telling me to “add texture”, “add scene from the pageant”, “up the tension and the stakes.”

So yes, of course my work isn´t done but I powered through and wrote a book (or the main bones of a book). It´s exciting. It´s thrilling. And I cannot wait to read it through and make it as good as I can before sending it to my wonderful CPs and beta

But for now?

I´m just going to look at that picture a bit longer and pat myself on the back.

What do you do to celebrate a writing related achievement? 

What´s up Wednesday is the brainchild of Jaime and Erin.  Here´s what Jaime said about it:

WHAT’S UP WEDNESDAY

It’s similar in some respects to the Currently… post, but it’s been whittled down to only four headings to make it quicker and more manageable on a weekly basis. You’re invited to join us if you’re looking for something to blog about, a way to let your blog friends know what’s been going on with you.

“That and you´ve been crushing on him for how long? Don´t get me wrong, I´m happy you´re finally acting on your animal urges but don´t get your heart broken. Or his.” Kelsey´s tone becomes softer.

“I won´t. I´m Iron Erin, remember?”

“Yeah, oooooooooooookay. And I´m Virgin Kelsey.” She pauses and laughs. “Wait, I am.”

“Luke still didn´t get lucky?”

“Nope. No luck for Luke. But he did get further than last week. My sex report card says ´In progress. Keep up the good work.`”

From the Official Tourism Guide of Bratislava

What inspires me right now

My main character quotes Marilyn Monroe quite a bit so here´s the one that inspired me recently.

So, tell me what´s up?

What´s up Wednesday is the brainchild of Jaime and Erin.  Here´s what Jaime said about it:

WHAT’S UP WEDNESDAY

It’s similar in some respects to the Currently… post, but it’s been whittled down to only four headings to make it quicker and more manageable on a weekly basis. You’re invited to join us if you’re looking for something to blog about, a way to let your blog friends know what’s been going on with you.

We´re still settling into our new place. We still have unpacked boxes and we´re still waiting on some things to be delivered. But we´re almost done. I´ve also been enjoying my walk to the train station in the morning As you know, work has been super busy. Last week I was in Vienna for a conference. I didn´t have time to really see the city but simply walking from the hotel to the conference was lovely.

Vienna

And I´ve decided to regain some of my time. I missed the interaction

So. Yes. I decided to take a later train so I could spend a bit more time on Twitter…

— Elodie(@commutinggirl) April 30, 2013

What inspires me right now

My writer friends are simply amazing!

I´m so thankful when dear friends trust me with their books – or when people trusting me with their books become dear friends #betalove

— Elodie(@commutinggirl) April 30, 2013

I’m a little late to actually announcing this thing, but uh, I sold some books, so buy me, maybe? dailydahlia.wordpress.com/2013/04/29/beh…#NEWSYTHINGS#BtS

— DahliaAF (@MissDahlELama) April 30, 2013

My wonderful #PitchWar mentor sold her book BEHIND THE SCENES and two more. I know I cannot wait to read them!!! <3

So, tell me what´s up?

Summary from Goodreads.com: There are no men in Claysoot. There are boys—but every one of them vanishes at midnight on his eighteenth birthday. The ground shakes, the wind howls, a blinding light descends…and he’s gone.

They call it the Heist.

Gray Weathersby’s eighteenth birthday is mere months away, and he’s prepared to meet his fate–until he finds a strange note from his mother and starts to question everything he’s been raised to accept: the Council leaders and their obvious secrets. The Heist itself. And what lies beyond the Wall that surrounds Claysoot–a structure that no one can cross and survive.

Climbing the Wall is suicide, but what comes after the Heist could be worse. Should he sit back and wait to be taken–or risk everything on the hope of the other side?

TAKEN´s a page turner, it´s the kind of book that makes you wait for sequels impatiently. No kiddin´ when is it coming out?

I pre-ordered TAKEN and when it arrived, I thought “hmm let´s wait.” I was a bit nervous. Reading a book by someone you interact with even if it’s not on a regular basis is somehow scary and exciting at the same time. And then I hit a reading slump. Work was taking its toll on me and I was just simply stressed.

But then a business trip came up. I had a few hours of flying ahead of me so I took out the pretty cover of TAKEN (didn´t want to damage it) and packed it up for the trip.

About to board the plane for a business trip… Very excited about the book I’m about to start TAKEN by @erin_bowman twitter.com/commutinggirl/…

— Elodie(@commutinggirl) April 21, 2013

You. Guys.

I couldn´t stop reading.

I was sucked in the story from page one.

It reminded me of THE VILLAGE by — the twists are different, the story isn´t the same but there was some sort of similar vibe.

And I really connected with the main character, Gray. He wasn´t perfect, he had his flaws but I wanted to know what happened to him, what happened to those boys and what was going to happen with his possible love interest.

I don´t want to spoil anything but basically, Erin, thank you! Thank you for writing a book that distracted me from my stress and helped me get over my slump and helped me escape for a few hours.

l´ll take a trip with your books anytime!

But this weekend I decided to enter the Writer´s Digest Bootcamp to get a good grasp on the first ten pages of my novel.

As I was telling The Chemical Engineer yet again about my publishing dream and how I wished I had more time to write, he turned to me and said, “But wait you already finished two books, how is writing a third one going to change anything?”

He meant it in the nicest way. He wasn´t trying to crush me under his shoe. He got that bewildered look on his face as soon as he saw my face and understood he pulled an Alex.

He simply wondered out loud about the time I dedicate to writing. My first reaction, after the “whaaaaaaaaaaaat????” was “You do know I´m going to blog about this.”

Of course he knows writing makes me happy but does it mean I´m going to get published?

Honestly, I don´t know. But my answer to him was. “If  don´t keep trying, I´ll never know. And I am getting better.”  It´s true. My revised first book isn´t as good as  the first draft of Book 3. I am getting better. I am learning. And I love it.

So…will writing a third book change anything? Maybe. Maybe not. But I know that not writing it doesn´t even come to my mind.

• Robin is writing a YA horror novel (with ghosts!)
• Rachel is writing a YA contemporary some of her readers have compared to an angrier THE SKY IS EVERYWHERE
• Heather wrote a YA paranormal (that I personally felt had a flair of Christopher Pike´s REMEMBER ME

My WiP is still a first draft. I´m actually a bit under 35k into it and I haven´t talked about it much on this blog…so here we go:

What is the working title of your book?

So far: GUILTY….it might also change to ANGEL FACE…hmmm not sure.

Where did the idea come from for the book?

When I was a teenager, I had to write a paper in my German class and I think it was on the death penalty. I read a book by Victor Hugo as one of my sources. The one called The Last Day of a Condemned Man. One never knows exactly what happened to the protagonist, or what his crimes are but one of the things that really stayed with me for a long time is how the family of The Condemned Man suffers…and then recently, this particular point came back to me and I wondered how a teenage girl would do with her dad in jail. How her family was targeted when he got arrested. How she dealt with everything but the past is now coming back to haunt her. This idea mixed with the idea of beauty pageants…and the rest is history. Or well about 35k so far

What genre does your book fall under?

YA romantic suspense

Which actors would you choose to play your characters in a movie rendition?

Erin (yes, one can dream, no?)

Malik

What is the one-sentence synopsis of your book?

No. Nope. Not yet. Okay all I have is this and please note this a total draft!

Seventeen-year-old Erin may have found a way to pay her way to Yale: becoming the next Miss Teen America. That is if she can keep the fact she´s the daughter of a serial killer secret. But, when Pulitzer Prize wannabee and forever crush Malik decides to write a story about her and people start being targeted, Erin realizes there may be more at stake than a crown. 

Will your book be self-published or represented by an agency?

I’d love to find an agent. Someone who will fall head over heels for my book and champion it. I guess time will tell

How long did it take you to write the first draft of your manuscript?

I’m still on it.

What other books would you compare this story to in your genre?

Hmm it’s a tough one. It has a bit of a feel of THE RULES FOR DISAPPEARING by Ashley Elston.

What else about your book might pique the reader’s interest?

Beauty Queen pageants. Kisses. BFFs. Murder. Debate team. Journalism. Grandparents.  And more…

You´re all tagged! If you want to do it that is  

There are books that make you smile, or cry, or feel so full of emotions you´re not quite sure how the writer managed to instill those into the novel.

And then you have the books that do all those things not and stay with you for long after you turn the last page (or click the last “next” on your Kindle). IF YOU FIND ME is one of them.

Summary by Goodreads: A broken-down camper hidden deep in a national forest is the only home fifteen year-old Carey can remember. The trees keep guard over her threadbare existence, with the one bright spot being Carey’s younger sister, Jenessa, who depends on Carey for her very survival. All they have is each other, as their mentally ill mother comes and goes with greater frequency. Until that one fateful day their mother disappears for good, and two strangers arrive. Suddenly, the girls are taken from the woods and thrust into a bright and perplexing new world of high school, clothes and boys.

Now, Carey must face the truth of why her mother abducted her ten years ago, while haunted by a past that won’t let her go… a dark past that hides many a secret, including the reason Jenessa hasn’t spoken a word in over a year. Carey knows she must keep her sister close, and her secrets even closer, or risk watching her new life come crashing down.

If I close my eyes and think about Emily´s story, I see people. Not characters but people and then I simply feel. Emily managed that elusive magic of making me fall in love with her characters, even though the situation they find themselves in is so difficult. Carey and Jenessa found a place in my heart. They made me think, made me tear up but there´s also hope in those pages. Yes, their situation is tough. Yes, they suffered and there were moments where I cringed, where I clutched my sides and where I closed my eyes. But they are both so full of life still, so full of love. Their love for each other. Their love for others. Despite everything.

I will pick up everything Emily Murdoch writes after this heart-wrenching, beautiful and powerful debut!

So..Hubby and I have been moving for the past weeks…This meant: endless boxes, the hard discovery that I have no arms´ muscles (really, my upper body strength sucks ), trips to Ikea, building new furniture…and absolutely no time for blogging. We were very lucky that hubby´s family came to help us out last weekend. I was sad not to go back home to France like every Easter but this had to be done.

And I missed you. I really did. You know it´s funny how you can really connect with people you´ve technically never met? I missed talking about writing and books and life and TV shows and movies and the weather and small things and big things.

We still have boxes everywhere, we don´t have yet any phone, cable or internet but we´re moved into our new place. I can walk now to the train station. You guys, WALK! No more waiting for the bus or running to catch the bus or getting aggravated because the bus is late hence I miss my train. And it´s a nice walk through the park.

I´ll save between 20 and 30 minutes each day (sometimes even a bit more). And I won´t lose any writing time! My goal for this week is to reach 34k in my new WiP.

Here are a few pictures of our moving time…

Sitting in the almost empty old apartment…

Our kitty didn´t know it yet but he was about to discover a new place

The Easter Bunny still found us!

Dinner at our new place…:D

How have you been doing?

I love scary books, suspense, psychological thrillers – usually they do need a bit of romance and a touch of hope.

So, when I saw HYSTERIA by Megan Miranda up for grabs on NetGalley I didn´t hesitate. I requested it and grinned when I got approved. I may have done a bit of a happy dance. And when I was selected to be part of the Blog tour I was even happier

Summary from Goodreads.com: Mallory killed her boyfriend, Brian. She can’t remember the details of that night but everyone knows it was self-defense, so she isn’t charged. But Mallory still feels Brian’s presence in her life. Is it all in her head? Or is it something more? In desperate need of a fresh start, Mallory is sent to Monroe, a fancy prep school where no one knows her . . . or anything about her past.But the feeling follows her, as do her secrets. Then, one of her new classmates turns up dead. As suspicion falls on Mallory, she must find a way to remember the details of both deadly nights so she can prove her innocence-to herself and others

Mallory was at times an unreliable narrator. She doesn´t remember details, she feels the presence of the one she killed around her. It makes her insecure, worried, never able to let go. Her parents don´t know how to deal with her. Only her best friend continues to look at her like she still knows her.

But I liked her, I rooted for her, wanted to know more about her.

The entire novel, one wonders exactly what happened that night and what is going on in the boarding school. The setting feels real and the boarding school stories are a nice touch. The love interest is truly adorable and got my heart racing a few times.

I couldn´t stop turning the pages. I had to know what happened next. I found Miranda´s writing really engaging and I remember taking notes on some of the tricks she used, or some of the hints she dropped.

I wish there sometimes could have been more from that night and more on the actual resolution. (I´ll leave at that to not spoil anything).

But I really enjoyed it

(and I´m now writing a YA romantic suspense, finally trusting myself to take that love of thrillers and suspense to my YA writing)

Oh…and before I forget:

GIVEAWAY 

Open until March 21st

• You can win a COPY of HYSTERIA (US only as per the guidelines I received)
• For you all my international readers: you can win a copy of Miranda´s first book FRACTURE.

What do you need to do?

• Simply tell me the last movie or book that scared you a little (and please mention if you´re located in the US or any other countries)