Tag Archives: Dating on the Dork Side

February 10, 2019 · 12:31 pm

Weekly writing check-in: dork side wide

A snowy week filled with … pneumonia, for my daughter. She’s on the road to recovery, but it wasn’t a week where I got much writing work done. Sometimes, when you’re anxious or worried or there’s too much going on, you need to step away from the writing. And that’s okay.

I did do a variety of other things. For instance, Dating on the Dork Side is now wide!

Actually, it’s the same size it has always been. What I mean is it’s now available (nearly) everywhere online, not just Amazon. It’s already up on the big retailers such as Nook, Kobo, Google Play, and Apple. So, if you’ve been waiting to grab a copy for your Nook, now’s your chance.

In other cool news, Vellum can now format for large print. So I’m getting Coffee & Ghosts into large print. I’m also combining the three books into one set, for ebook and paperback, but not large print, since the three-book paperback weighs in at +800 pages! It’s a doorstopper.

In audio news, I signed the contract for Coffee & Ghosts. More on that when it’s officially official. Right now, I’m pulling together some notes for the narrator. I’m very excited about this.

That’s it for now. With a little luck, we’ll be able to return to our regularly scheduled writing and Girl Scout cookie selling next week.

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Filed under Weekly Writing Check In, Writing, YA

Tagged as Audio, Books, Coffee and Ghosts, Dating on the Dork Side, Writing

January 13, 2019 · 1:31 pm

Weekly writing check-in: and that’s a (final for now) draft

I have a draft! Well, actually, I had one before. This is a draft that other people can read. Or will be as soon as I add in the chapter breaks.

But wait! Doesn’t it all ready have chapter breaks?

Um, no. About that …

This is an odd thing I do. I write in scenes. Once the story is done, I look at what I have and figure out where I want the chapter breaks to fall (usually on some sort of cliffhanger). So I need to do that, get the manuscript into the proper format, and send it off.

In other news, the Dating on the Dork Side promotion went very well. As a lovely bonus, author Allison Rhodes featured the book on her website, in a post that highlights what she loves about the first page or so. It’s a cool feature on her blog, and if you’re a writer, you might want to check it out.

And … Prolific Works saw fit to feature In a Manner of Speaking as well this week and created a spiffy graphic for it as well. If you haven’t grabbed your free copy yet, head on over. But I warn you: this is most likely the saddest story I’ve ever written.

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Tagged as Books, Dating on the Dork Side, Poppy, Revision, Tea and Sorcery, Writing

January 11, 2019 · 6:00 am

Free Fiction Friday: Dating on the Dork Side (one day left!)

One day left to grab Dating on the Dork Side for free over on Amazon.

All’s fair in love, war, and hacking …

Stung by an epic betrayal, Camy Cavanaugh relies on the sure things: her best friend, her job as peer tutor, and her safe spot on the sidelines of life. But when she hacks into a secret, trash-talking website, it ignites a war between the sexes that won’t end until the whole school is turned upside down–and Camy’s world is turned inside out.

Now the hottest girls in school refuse to date the A-List boys. But with the Homecoming dance looming, everyone from the queen bee to the girl “most likely to” pushes Camy to hook them up with guys from the nerd herd.

And then there’s quarterback, A-lister–and former crush–Gavin Madison. He hasn’t spoken to Camy in three years … but he’s talking now, begging her to pair the guys on the football team with girls from the Honor Roll.

It’s a contest of wills and everything is on the line–even Camy’s heart. Will she retreat to the sidelines, or will she find the courage to get back in the game?

This contemporary young adult novel won the 2016 International Digital Awards, in the Young Adult Novel category. Read on for a tech-savvy twist to Lysistrata.

If you haven’t grabbed your Kindle copy yet, now’s the time to do so. Just click through to Amazon US or Amazon Everywhere.

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Tagged as Books, Dating on the Dork Side, free books, Free Fiction Fridays, Free read, Reading, YA books, Young-adult fiction

January 7, 2019 · 6:00 am

Free Fiction Monday: Dating on the Dork Side (five days only)

Surprise! It’s Free Fiction ~~Friday~~ Monday! Between today and Friday, January 11th, Dating on the Dork Side will be absolutely free over on Amazon.

All’s fair in love, war, and hacking …

Stung by an epic betrayal, Camy Cavanaugh relies on the sure things: her best friend, her job as peer tutor, and her safe spot on the sidelines of life. But when she hacks into a secret, trash-talking website, it ignites a war between the sexes that won’t end until the whole school is turned upside down–and Camy’s world is turned inside out.

Now the hottest girls in school refuse to date the A-List boys. But with the Homecoming dance looming, everyone from the queen bee to the girl “most likely to” pushes Camy to hook them up with guys from the nerd herd.

And then there’s quarterback, A-lister–and former crush–Gavin Madison. He hasn’t spoken to Camy in three years … but he’s talking now, begging her to pair the guys on the football team with girls from the Honor Roll.

It’s a contest of wills and everything is on the line–even Camy’s heart. Will she retreat to the sidelines, or will she find the courage to get back in the game?

This contemporary young adult novel won the 2016 International Digital Awards, in the Young Adult Novel category. Read on for a tech-savvy twist to Lysistrata.

If you haven’t grabbed your Kindle copy yet, now’s the time to do so. Just click through to Amazon US or Amazon Everywhere.

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Tagged as Books, Dating on the Dork Side, free books, Free Fiction Fridays, Free read, Reading, YA books, Young-adult fiction

July 2, 2017 · 10:40 am

Weekly writing check-in: the one with some Prime Reading

I started another new class this week. This one is on folk tales. It’s all stories all the time around here. I even wrote a retelling of Rapunzel. (Yes, I know. Yet another.)

The big news this week is down below, but we’re pretty excited about it.

And I’m going to make this short. See all those classes? I have homework to do.

Writing Work:

Planning/researching new series
Story planning and notes
Story Journal
Fairy Tale class
Folk Tale class
Rapunzel retelling ~ 1,000 words

Submissions:

None

Rejections:

Keeping Time

Acceptances:

None

Publications:

None, but! Amazon has selected Dating on the Dork Side to be part of its curated Prime Reading list for the next ninety days or so. If you have Amazon Prime, you can read the novel for free.

If you have Amazon Prime, you can read the novel for free.

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Filed under Reading, Reading & Writing, Weekly Writing Check In, Writing

Tagged as Bullet Journal, Dating on the Dork Side, Fairy Tales, Reading, Writing

October 23, 2016 · 10:42 am

Weekly writing check-in: the one with the award

So, it was a banner week this week. First, I sold audio rights to Escape Pod for In a Manner of Speaking, which first appeared in Selfies from the End of the World: Historical Accounts of the Apocalypse.

Then I was notified that Dating on the Dork Side placed first in the 2016 International Digital Awards. I kept the fact that I entered a secret from Darcy. One, I didn’t want her to be disappointed if the novel didn’t place. Two, on the chance it did? I wanted to surprise her.

I finished up revising episode one of season three, and I’m working on episode two while episode one is being proofed. Then it’s onto the formatting and uploading and all the rest. Halloween. I’m hoping for an on-sale date of Halloween because … ghosts.

Writing Work:

Revising Coffee & Ghosts
Proofing and publishing episode one for season three

Submissions:

Like Bread Loves Salt

Rejections:

The Life Expectancy of Fireflies

Acceptances:

In a Manner of Speaking

Publications:

None

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Filed under Coffee & Ghosts, Weekly Writing Check In, Writing

Tagged as Coffee and Ghosts, Dating on the Dork Side, IDAWinner2016, Speculative fiction, Writing

December 6, 2015 · 11:36 am

Weekly writing check-in: the one with Dating on the Dork Side

Yes, I think most everyone knows about the Dating on the Dork Side launch. It … launched. There was a flurry of activity there for a while. Now I think Darcy and I can both sit back and breathe a bit. Sort of.

I am getting Ghosts of Christmas Past ready to go. It would be nice to have that one out before Christmas. Ideally. We’ll see how it goes.

Also, I see that it’s snowing on WordPress. I love it when it snows on WordPress.

Writing Work:

Launch activities for Dating on the Dork Side
Coffee & Ghosts season two, episode one: revision and listening proof

Submissions:

None

Rejections:

None

Acceptances:

None

Publications:

front cover rgb jpg Well, yes, you probably already know about the release for Dating on the Dork Side. And you can still head over to Goodreads and enter the giveaway for an autographed copy.

But … Keeping Time now has a new home over at Luna Station Quarterly in issue #24. You can also pick up the issue in a variety of formats, including Kindle and print.

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Filed under Books, Promo, Publishing, Weekly Writing Check In, Writing, YA

Tagged as book giveaway, Coffee and Ghosts, Dating on the Dork Side, GoodReads, Luna Station Quarterly, Publishing, Reading, Serial stories, short stories, Writing, YA books

November 30, 2015 · 4:00 am

Now Available: Dating on the Dork Side!

Today’s the day! Dating on the Dork Side is in the wild! The book is available in print and in Kindle format. Don’t have a Kindle? No worries. Download one of the Kindle apps. (For iOS, Android, PC. I have the Kindle App on my iPhone–it works great.) You can read it that way. Or read it in print. That works too.

Additionally, Dating on the Dork Side is available as a Kindle Matchbook. If you buy the print version, you can get the Kindle version for free. Note: You must buy the print version first and from Amazon for this to work.

Stung by an epic betrayal, Camy Cavanaugh relies on the sure things: her best friend, her job as peer tutor, and her safe spot on the sidelines of life. But when she hacks into a secret, trash-talking website, it ignites a war between the sexes that won’t end until the whole school is turned upside down–and Camy’s world is turned inside out.

Now the hottest girls in school refuse to date the A-List boys. But with the Homecoming dance looming, everyone from the queen bee to the girl “most likely to” pushes Camy to hook them up with guys from the nerd herd.

And then there’s quarterback, A-lister–and former crush–Gavin Madison. He hasn’t spoken to Camy in three years … but he’s talking now, begging her to pair the guys on the football team with girls from the Honor Roll.

It’s a contest of wills and everything is on the line–even Camy’s heart. Will she retreat to the sidelines, or will she find the courage to get back in the game?

Curious? Read a couple of early reviews here and here.

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Filed under Book Review, Books, Promo, Publishing, Writing, YA

Tagged as Books, Dating on the Dork Side, Kindle, Matchbook, Promo, Publishing, Writing, YA books, Young-adult fiction

November 29, 2015 · 4:07 pm

Weekly writing check-in: the one where we’re almost there

Lots of behind-the-scenes work this week for the launch of Dating on the Dork Side. Looking at the e-book on this Kindle, on that Kindle, on my phone. You know, exciting stuff.

I went on a submission frenzy this week. I also made it past the holiday without a rejection, so there’s that as well.

And … I completed The Ghost That Got Away, the second episode in season two of Coffee & Ghosts. It’s 28,000 words, too, which is a healthy size for a novella.

Writing Work: