OUT OF NOWHERE is now available in paperback!

  Buy the paperback at Amazon.com

                                       

Out of Nowhere is now somewhere!

Actually, several somewheres. You can now buy a digital copy of Out of Nowhere at:


AMAZON

KOBO

BARNES AND NOBLE

SMASHWORDS








I'll let you know when the paperback becomes available.

This book has been so long in the making. I can't believe this day has finally arrived. A huge THANK YOU to everyone for your support!

Release Date and Cover Reveal

Here it is, the cover for OUT OF NOWHERE!

Release date for the ebook version (Kindle, Kobo, Smashwords) is August 13th. Paperback version will (hopefully) be available shortly after.

You can now add Out of Nowhere to your Goodreads TBR shelf.

OUT OF NOWHERE to be released soon!

As some of you may know, my YA contemporary novel, Out of Nowhere, was a top 3 finalist in last year's Amazon Breakthrough Novel Award contest, YA category. Read the reviews HERE.

Well...I am beyond thrilled to announce that you'll be able to buy and read Out of Nowhere before end of summer! 

Here's the pitch:

At eleven years old, Riley Tate witnessed the sudden death of her father. Now, at sixteen, she still can’t bring herself to step on “the spot”—the section of kitchen floor on which her father landed after collapsing from a brain aneurysm. For someone like Riley, a borderline hypochondriac with anxiety issues, moving on is never easy.

Since losing her dad, Riley has become obsessed with the human body, how it works, and what can go wrong with it. Reading about diseases distracts her from the things she’s not ready to deal with, like the fact that her mother started a whole new family with a man who has more muscles than brains and tries to act like her new dad. And that her doctor thinks she’s a mental case. And that her ex-boyfriend dumped her because she wouldn't have sex with him. But she refuses to let anything—especially not a guy—interfere with her dream of becoming a surgeon.

When she meets Cole Boyer in an ER waiting room, Riley realizes immediately that he’s far from the safe, predictable boy she usually goes for. A fearless daredevil with mysterious scars and a thirst for all things dangerous, Cole is like an accident waiting to happen. Still, despite their differences, they forge an unlikely friendship that eventually blossoms into something more. Dating someone who’s so casual about death has its challenges, but as Riley soon learns, not everyone can be—or needs to be—saved.



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How ABNA Changed My Life

On YAtopia today, I discuss how ABNA changed my life. And a giveaway!

YAtopia Guest Post and Giveaway

The benefits of ABNA

When querying agents, did my status as ABNA Finalist give me a leg up?


First, here is the query I used:

I am currently seeking representation for my 69,000 word contemporary young adult novel, titled OUT OF NOWHERE.

At eleven years old, Riley Tate witnessed the sudden death of her father. Now, at sixteen, she still can’t bring herself to step on “the spot”—the section of kitchen floor on which her father landed after collapsing from a brain aneurysm. For someone like Riley, a hypochondriac with anxiety issues, moving on is never easy.

Since losing her dad, Riley has become obsessed with the human body, how it works, and what can go wrong with it. Reading about diseases distracts her from the things she’s not ready to deal with, like the fact that her mother started a whole new family with a man who has more muscles than brains and tries to act like her new dad. And that her doctor thinks she’s a mental case. And that her ex-boyfriend dumped her because she wouldn’t have sex with him. But she refuses to let anything—especially not a guy—interfere with her dream of becoming a surgeon.

When she meets Cole Boyer in an ER waiting room, Riley realizes immediately that he’s far from the safe, predictable boy she usually goes for.  A fearless daredevil with mysterious scars and a thirst for all things dangerous, Cole is like an accident waiting to happen. Still, despite their differences, they forge an unlikely friendship that eventually blossoms into something more. Dating someone who’s so casual about death has its challenges, but as Riley soon learns, not everyone can be—or needs to be—saved.

OUT OF NOWHERE was one of the three finalists in the 2012 Amazon Breakthrough Novel Award contest, YA category. Publishers Weekly called it “a very good example of a contemporary coming-of-age novel, with well-rounded characters and honest emotion”. With a blend of heavy issues and humor, OUT OF NOWHERE explores the total randomness of life, death, and love.

I started querying on July 16, 2012. Out of all the agents I queried, I got 3 requests for partials and 7 requests for the full manuscript. Responses came quick, most within the first week. I signed with my agent on August 3. Less than three weeks...that was how quick it was.

I believe ABNA did open doors for me. I got personal feedback from several of the agents who passed on me. Only a couple of form rejections. Tons of compliments. All the agents were extremely encouraging. Such a different experience than a few years ago, when I was querying my first book.

This is a hard business to break into and every little bit helps. So make your manuscript shine. Use contests like ABNA. Seek feedback. Query your butt off and never give up. If it can happen for me, it can happen for anyone.

Agent News!

Today, I'm thrilled to announce that I have an agent. It's been a crazy week, a crazy year, and these past two months especially have been the most exciting, exhilarating, stressful months of my writing career. Being a finalist in ABNA has led me to this day.

My new agent is Carly Watters from P.S. Literary Agency  (info@psliterary.com). I'm so excited to be working with Carly. She's enthusiastic and attentive and she also has an awesome blog. She loves and believes in Out of Nowhere, just like I do, and I can't really ask for much more than that.

Official Announcement

ABNA in Seattle

[To follow my ABNA journey from the very beginning, click the ABNA label at the bottom of this post]

I have so, so much to say about my trip to Seattle, that I'm just going to do it like I did the "week of the finals" post: day by day.

But first, here are some pictures!

Okay, go use the washroom, get a drink, and then make yourself comfy. Here we go:

Friday

My husband and I got up at the ungodly hour of 4:30am to get ready to leave. I'd packed the day before, made a huge, detailed list on which I'd been routinely checking things off for the last two days, so I knew I had everything. We were scheduled to fly out of Halifax at 8 something. We got there early, went through security, etc. Plane left on time.

Okay, right now, go look at Nova Scotia on a North American map. We're waaaaaay over there, along the Atlantic ocean. See how far we have to go to get to Washington? Yeah. It's far. We had a layover in Chicago. From Halifax to Chicago--about 3 hours. Time difference from Halifax--2 hours. Chicago to Seattle--about 4 hours. Time difference from Halifax--4 hours. We were completely bedraggled by then. The first thing we did at Sea-Tac was head for a Starbucks (you can't go three feet without tripping over a Starbucks in Seattle. It's like Tim Horton's in Nova Scotia). Let me tell you, Seattle, your coffee is stronger than ours. Felt better immediately.

We had a bit of a hard time finding our driver, but only because we are dumb and didn't go to the correct spot right away. He was standing there with a sign with my name on it. So cool. He was this nice young man who told us he was working as a driver to pay his way through school. We ended up getting the same driver on the way back, but anyway. He took us to our hotel and we checked in. Grand Hyatt Seattle is a really nice hotel. The bathroom is bigger than most hotel rooms. Tom Kephart from Amazon handled the driver, hotels, everything.

Speaking of Thom, I wasn't supposed to meet him until Saturday morning but I ended up meeting him about an hour after we arrived. Backtracking a little...after we checked in, Jason (my husband) and I headed straight out to the Wells-Fargo bank on Olive to cash the Amazon spending money check that I received the week before. The reason I hadn't cashed it at home in Canada was because they refused to. So I took it straight to the bank in Seattle, where, as it turned out, they also refused to cash it. (Side note: while we were in there, this crazy drunk guy came in and was ranting like a lunatic. I was sure we were all going to be shot and I could even picture the headline "Canadian writer shot in Seattle while trying to cash check. Missed the ABNA gala.") Anyway, I emailed Thom and explained the situation, and he came straight to the hotel, walked us back to the Wells-Fargo bank, and had it all fixed in about three minutes. Thom Kephart is a super hero.

By then, I was almost late for a 5:30 dinner with all the finalists and their guests. This was a plan the six of us concocted about two weeks prior via email (Alan's from Seattle and knows where to go). But we made it just in time. I knew from the second I walked into the hotel lobby who was who. They all looked exactly like their pictures. We walked to the Steelhead Diner for dinner. Jason and I were half-comatose by then, but damn it, we were going to do this.

Dinner was fun, aside from the fact that I almost fell asleep in the bread basket at one point. It was so nice to meet everyone and get to know each other a little before our big day on Saturday. We got comfortable with other, we laughed, we talked...it was great.

By nine, Jason and I were D-O-N-E. Back to the hotel to sleep.

Saturday

Still on Atlantic time, Jason and I woke up at 4:00am. We had plenty of time to get ready for breakfast at Lola with all the finalists, their guests, Thom, and Kent and Elissa from Penguin. Coffee. Yes! Breakfast was a casual affair and strangely enough, no one ordered the octopus.

After breakfast, we all split up. Jason and I caught the monorail to the Space Needle.Yes, we did go up to the top. Such a touristy thing. Then we went to Pike's Place Market, which was so crowded it almost made me cry. We walked around, bought some souvenirs, had lunch. Seattle is a nice city...it reminds me of a grown-up Halifax with the water and fish and all that.

Finally, it was time to get ready for the gala. Back in the hotel room, it took me an hour to straighten my hair (it's naturally curly and annoying). My nerves were jumping by then. It's really hard to put in contact lenses and apply makeup with a shaking hand. Everyone met in the lobby at 6:00pm, all wearing that same OH MY GOD IT'S ALMOST TIME HELP ME face. Even Thom was nervous. A van brought us to the Sculpture Park where the gala was being held. We got nametags. There were drinks (I stuck to water). There was food (I couldn't eat). There were people from Amazon, Penguin, CreateSpace, and Publisher's Weekly there (intimidating).

Almost right way I met Amy Ackley, winner of the 2010 ABNA for YA. She hugged me. I gushed about her book, which I'd just read a few weeks ago. She was gorgeous and nice and funny. Next I met the one person I was kind of worried about meeting--Libby, the woman who called me on May 14 to give me the news. The first thing I said to her was "I'm so sorry". Read my previous blog post to see how I reacted when she called me. She was gracious and mentioned how much she enjoyed calling the finalists and hearing their reactions. I guess I wasn't the only one who cried and/or was speechless.

7pm--food service. I was so NOT hungry. I had three bites of salad, one bite of salmon, and a peanut butter cookie. Everyone seemed to love the mashed potato station, but I couldn't risk too much solid food. The speeches began. I sat next to a lady from PW, who kept cracking me up with her dry remarks.

Amy Ackley spoke, Libby, the PW lady, a Penguin person, a CreateSpace person. THEN, the finalists. *gulp* Cassandra was first. She did great. I was next. I was so nervous I was about two seconds away from toppling off my chair. I wrote everything down and pretty much read it verbatim. I screwed up at least five times. When I thanked my fellow finalists, I'm pretty sure I called Cassandra "Cassie" instead of Casey, which is what everyone calls her. I had Cassandra written down and tried to change it to Casey at the last second, I guess. Also, my cat's name is Cassie so I say it a lot. LOL I'm so sorry, Casey.

The rest of the finalists spoke (they all did so well) and then it was time. The announcement. Libby got to do it. I was nervous but not expecting to hear my name at all. I went in there mostly knowing who was going to win, and it wasn't going to be me. I was right. She called Regina's name. I felt a tiny stab of disappointment but it was quickly eclipsed by joy. I was so happy for her. Then Alan's name was called. I was thrilled for him as well.

That was it! I hugged and congratulated Regina, hugged and congratulated Alan, shook hands with several people, and off we went back to the van. Amy came with us and we talked about agents and stuff while we drove back to the hotel. Everyone said goodbye. Then I went on Facebook, posted the news, and went to bed.

Sunday

Airports and airplanes, part II. All day I was enveloped in this weird calm feeling. The thing I'd been obsessing about and preparing for all these weeks was now done. Over. The whole weekend was a whirlwind. I'd gotten 14 hours of sleep in the past three days, had barely eaten, and spent 99% of the time basically freaking out about what was happening. It felt like a dream.

In Chicago that day, our flight was delayed an hour because Air Force One was at O'Hare. So I can now say that one time, Obama got me home pretty late.

Flying back into Halifax, the sky was full of stars. Maybe it was the extreme fatigue or an after-effect from the Chicago hotdog I had at O'Hare, but when I looked down and saw my city and my ocean, I got a little teary-eyed. I was home.

Final Thoughts

I can't even put this experience into words. Looking back on it, I can't believe I actually did that. Flew to Seattle. Met all those people. Made it this far in the contest. But I'm so glad I did. I made a whole set of new friends, writers like me, amazing men and women who made this trip even better than I expected it to be.

Regina, you are so warm and sweet. Your win is well-deserved and I'm so happy for you.
Casey, I loved hearing about your cool job. Thank you so much for assuring me that I was pronouncing "subarachnoid" correctly.
Alan, you are hilarious and I love that I was able to recognize you just from your hair-do. Your win is also well-deserved and I'm also so happy for you.
Chuck, I loved hearing all your interesting stories. I'm still so impressed that you recited your passage with hardly a glance down at the words.
Brian, it was a pleasure sitting across from you and Rae at dinner and beside you at breakfast. Thanks for saying "no" when we said "We don't talk funny, do we?"

I have to mention all the swag we got from Amazon. A Kindle Touch, several books, a glass trophy with our names and book titles etched on it, and a printed paperback of our own books, the inside cover personally signed by Jeff Bezos, the founder of Amazon.

I also have to mention Thom Kephart again. Not only is he a super hero, but he's also extremely nice. His enthusiasm and love for this contest is evident. He did such a great job organizing everything, answering our questions, and just generally being there for us and supporting us.

Lastly, thank you to Amazon, Penguin, Publisher's Weekly, and CreateSpace. There are a lot of people involved in this contest and it's getting more popular each year. If you're reading this and wondering if you should enter? DO IT. You never know, right?

Big ABNA news!

[To follow my ABNA journey from the very beginning, click the ABNA label at the bottom of this post]

(I've been writing this blog post all week, so it would be fresh in my mind.)

Finally, after a long and torturous week of sitting on the biggest and most exciting news of my life, I'm allowed to sing it from the rooftops.

I am a finalist in the Amazon Breakthrough Novel Award Contest

!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Here's a taste of how last week unfolded:

Monday morning

Did some laundry, swept and mopped the kitchen floors, surfed the net, etc. Typical Monday. Not nervous, not anxious, not expecting a call from Seattle in any way, shape, or form. While I was putting a load of laundry away, I started thinking about the 2010 ABNA finalists' books and how one of them (the winner) dealt with the aftermath of losing a parent, just like my book does (though my book is nothing like hers in any other way). I thought "There you have it...there's no way they'll have another "death of father aftermath" book in the finals." I was 100% convinced then. It wouldn't be me.

12:53pm AST (8:53am PST) -- I was sitting at my desk in the kitchen, laptop open, right next to the phone. It rang. I looked at the call display. It said "Long Distance" and there was a phone number. A previous finalist on the ABNA boards had mentioned that when she was called, it said "Amazon" on the call display. I did not know the area code for Seattle, so I thought it was a survey or something. I picked it up, and the following occurred: 

Amazon Lady: May I please speak to Rebecca Phillips?

Me: This is Rebecca.

Amazon Lady: This is _________(I forget her name) calling from Amazon. I'm excited to tell you that you're a finalist in the Amazon Breakthrough Novel Award Contest.

Me: ................................

Amazon Lady: .................................??

Me: ........................ (some articulate sound like "gahhhblurgugh")............Are you serious?

Amazon Lady: (probably thinking, "No, I have nothing better to do that call random people and trick them into thinking they're finalists.") Yes, I'm very serious. We're going to fly you to Seattle for the awards ceremony on June 16.

Me: ..................................

Amazon Lady (probably wondering about what kind of freak she was dealing with): I hope you're sitting down?

Me: ......................tears..............wow...................oh my God............blubber babble babble snerg blargh.

There was more but I honestly don't remember it in detail. She told me to keep the news to immediate family only until public announcement on May 22, mentioned something about Penguin loving Out of Nowhere, gave me the phone number for Thom Kephart (ABNA admin), I babbled some more, she said congratulations and we hung up. I then proceeded to have a nervous breakdown.

I can tell you, with 100% honesty, that I have never been so shocked in my entire life. I felt like I was going to pass out. I was shaking. I was crying. My tongue was numb. My first coherant thought was Holy crap I have to get a passport like NOW. I do not have a passport. I'm Canadian. I need one to get into the US.  So I started googling passport processing times. That was when my husband came upstairs (he works from home). I said to him, "Looks like I'll have to get a passport." He was like "Huh"? And I was like "We're going to Seattle." And then he put the pieces together and all of a sudden I was standing up and we were hugging. He had tears. I had tears. He was proud. I had more tears. I was still in shock. My tongue, however, had thankfully regained feeling.

Next I told my parents, then my friend Shannon (not immediate family but she was the first person to read Out of Nowhere and helped me make it the best it could be), then my kids when they got home from school, all of whom I swore to secrecy. Then, if you can believe it, I did more laundry. I do not recall folding and putting away said laundry, but I did. Laundry needs to be done, even when you feel like you've been pummeled with bowling balls.

I did not and could not eat dinner. Even though it was leftover BBQ ribs from Mother's Day.

That evening, I received some legal forms in my inbox. Now it was really real. I wasn't dreaming. I spent the rest of the evening getting my passport photo taken, filling out a passport application, and printing, signing, scanning, and sending all those Amazon forms back. At 11pm I collapsed into bed and watched a couple of episodes of Seinfeld until I finally dropped off to sleep. 

Tuesday

That morning I went to Passport Canada and provided the necessary papers. Passport should be in well before the middle of June. One thing down. 

In the evening I received a call from Thom Kephart, the ABNA administrator. He was very nice. He told me a little about what would happen next, ie. travel, PR, the awards in Seattle, etc. 

I did eat dinner, but not much.

Wednesday

Shock had completely worn off by then, but every once in a while it would hit me (I AM A FINALIST!!!!) and I'd feel very overwhelmed. NOW I was expecting a call from Amazon, but only to tell me that they'd made a huge mistake.

That evening I got another email from Thom, requesting travel information and detailing what would happen on June 16th: first a breakfast meeting with him and all six finalists, then a gala awards event at 6:30. During this gala, there would be dinner and several speakers, including the finalists, who are asked to read a passage from their book (!!!!!!). Then the winner would be announced. I was DYING to know who the other finalists were, but like everyone else I had to wait until May 22.

After American Idol (They were in the top 3 phase too! Funny, since ABNA is often considered the American Idol of writing contests), I emailed my info and went to bed.

Thursday

Got an email from Thom, thanking me for the travel info. Can't believe I'm going to Seattle! I've never been.

Friday


Morning - Got an email from the publicity person at Penguin (Penguin! Is emailing! Me!!!), telling me to expect a call later that afternoon (Penguin! Is calling! Me!!!) She also asked for a picture of me and a two-line bio for the contest announcement/press release. I sent the picture that my husband took of me about three or four years ago, for an article I had published in Today's Parent magazine. Not the best picture of me, but when you're as unphotogenic as I am, you learn not to be too picky. I still look basically the same now, only I have a few extra pounds residing in my rear somewhere.

Penguin called in the afternoon and I spoke to three extremely nice people who asked me a few questions about myself and my book. I was nervous, of course. I mean, this in the 2nd largest publishing house IN THE WORLD. Talking to ME. At one point in the conversation, I was asked which YA authors inspired me. Of course, right away I mentioned Sarah Dessen, who has been a huge inspiration to me and is basically the main reason why I decided to seriously write YA. Penguin was excited to hear this because Sarah is a Penguin author! So is John Green, who I also adore (I mentioned him too). Then, after I got off the phone, I realized I was just talking to people who probably talk to Sarah Dessen and John Green on a regular basis. I may have hyperventilated a little.

Today!


Amazon put the finalist list up really early. I'm just over the moon about my experts' reviews. Two of them picked me to be the winner! Again, this is extremely surreal.  Big thanks to my family, friends, Amazon, CreateSpace, and Penguin. What an amazing experience this has been, from beginning to end.


Vote for Out of Nowhere!

Shock and awe

[To follow my ABNA journey from the very beginning, click the ABNA label at the bottom of this post]

Somehow, some way, Out of Nowhere made it to the semifinals of the ABNA contest. Somehow, some way, my name keeps appearing in the "next round" lists. It's insane. Yesterday morning I had several anxiety attacks as I waited for the results. The list came up at exactly 12:00pm AST. I took a deep breath and opened it up, scrolling down the list of names, looking for "P" for my last name. Didn't see it. I thought "Oh well..." and scrolled through again to see who did make it. Then I looked at the "R"s and saw my name. Rebecca. I slapped a hand over my mouth, muttering "Oh my God" over and over. After a few seconds of total freak-out, I told my husband and then posted the news on Facebook. It was awesome. I then waited several more hours for my Publisher's Weekly review, which I was no longer really worried about because, of course, I made it through so it had to be good. It was good.

This manuscript is a very good example of a contemporary coming-of-age novel, with well-rounded characters and honest emotion. Riley is a hypochondriac, worried that stomach pain is appendicitis or a hernia. She's been that way ever since her father collapsed in their kitchen and an 11-year-old Riley found him. Adding additional complexity to Riley's character, that event also inspires her to be a doctor. She spends time with friends Eva and Sydney, and works with her friend, the closeted Lucas. When Riley goes to the ER for an allergic reaction, she meets Cole, who's had a skateboarding accident. Later, by chance, Cole stops by the coffee shop where Riley works, and a friendship begins that soon turns to romance, distracting Riley from her problems at home. Cole encourages Riley to start facing her father's death, yet the closer they get, the more Riley worries that Cole's daredevil ways will get him hurt or worse. But when Riley's mother announces two major changes for their lives, Riley lashes out. Riley's story is thoughtful and grounded, showing the impact of a traumatic event years after the event occurred. Even supporting characters are well-rounded, and the relationships ring true.

Isn't it nice? Today, it's still surreal.

Vine reviews

[To follow my ABNA journey from the very beginning, click the ABNA label at the bottom of this post]

Putting these here for posterity, as they will disappear after the semifinal announcement on the 24th.

ABNA Expert Reviewer

What is the strongest aspect of this excerpt?

Main character development is very strong. The reader wants to know more about Riley and about how she moves past her trauma and who helps her.

What aspect needs the most work?

Maybe the secondary characters could be improved. The mother seems to be a strong positive woman but she is not really emphasized. Maybe she is later in the book, of course.

What is your overall opinion of this excerpt?

This is a very interesting book, with possible appeal to girls going through difficult times. And what teen girl does not feel she is having a difficult life? The main character has had tragedy strike her and has developed some phobias but is still working hard for a goal. This would make it excellent for a school library or for a parent to get for a child.


ABNA Expert Reviewer

What is the strongest aspect of this excerpt?

The writing is really solid and professional. The dialogue is believable, and so are the characters. There's just the right amount of description.

What aspect needs the most work?

So far, it's not a hugely mesmerizing story. It's interesting and draws you in, but it's not gripping.

What is your overall opinion of this excerpt?

Very sound writing and could get more compelling as the story progresses. It's just hard to tell from this excerpt, which is really just setting things up.

Quarterfinals, baby!

[To follow my ABNA journey from the very beginning, click the ABNA label at the bottom of this post]

On Tuesday, much to my shock, I advanced to the quarterfinals in the Amazon Breakthrough Novel contest. I swear, I almost fell out of my chair. Then I did a little dance. Then I squealed a little. Then I told everyone I knew. It was awesome.

Publisher's Weekly will read and review my full manuscript. I am terrified. What if they hate it? What if the person has something against contemporary YA? On the other hand, what if they LIKE it and I advance to the top 50? I think my head would literally explode. The next round will be announced on April 24, which is also my 13th wedding anniversary. I know that I will not sleep or eat that day. Double celebration? Let's hope.

My excerpt is up at Amazon.com, but there are formatting issues with everyone's entries so I want to wait until that's resolved before I link the page to my family and friends.

I'm stoked.

Amazon Breakthrough Novel Award Contest

[To follow my ABNA journey from the very beginning, click the ABNA label at the bottom of this post]

For the third year in a row, I entered the increasingly popular Amazon Breakthrough Novel Award (ABNA) contest, aka American Idol for writers. And for the second time, I made it to Hollywood...err, I mean, Round 2! This just means I wrote a pitch interesting enough to rate a couple of reviews of my 5000 word excerpt. If that goes well, I get a review of my full manuscript from Publishers Weekly. If that goes well...well, I can't even think that far ahead right now.

I'm a little scared about the excerpt. It's the first 5000 words of the manuscript, in which--with my novel at least--the real story hasn't quite started yet. Let's hope these reviewers smell something good cooking.

I'm actually really surprised because I wasn't expecting to advance at all. My book is 100% free of vampires, werewolves, angels, demons, zombies, fairies, poltergeists, gnomes, or three-headed unicorns with super powers. I hear agents are getting sick of mythical creatures anyway.

So here's the pitch that got me this far:

At eleven years old, Riley Tate witnessed the sudden death of her father. Now, at sixteen, she still can’t bring herself to step on “the spot”—-the section of kitchen floor on which her father landed after collapsing from a brain aneurysm. For someone like Riley, a hypochondriac with anxiety issues, moving on is never easy.

Since losing her dad, Riley has become obsessed with the human body, how it works, and what can go wrong with it. Reading about diseases distracts her from the things she’s not ready to deal with, like the fact that her mother started a whole new family with a man who has more muscles than brains and tries to act like her new dad. And that her doctor thinks she’s a mental case. And that her ex-boyfriend dumped her because she wouldn’t have sex with him. But she refuses to let anything—-especially not a guy—-interfere with her dream of becoming a surgeon.

When she meets Cole Boyer in an ER waiting room, Riley realizes immediately that he’s far from the safe, predictable boy she usually goes for. A fearless daredevil with mysterious scars and a thirst for all things dangerous, Cole is like an accident waiting to happen. Still, despite their differences, they forge an unlikely friendship that eventually blossoms into something more. Dating someone who’s so casual about death has its challenges, but as Riley soon learns, not everyone can be—-or needs to be—-saved.

OUT OF NOWHERE is a 69,000 word contemporary young adult novel that will appeal to fans of authors like Sarah Dessen and Elizabeth Scott. With flawed, relatable characters and a blend of heavy issues and humor, OUT OF NOWHERE explores the total randomness of life, death, and love.

My baby is now out in the world.

I'm am totally overwhelmed and delighted with all the support I received today (and every day) from my family and friends. Writing is a lonely, frustrating job, and just knowing there are people out there pulling for me helps a lot. THANK YOU!

Next cut is announced on March 20. Stay tuned!

A lot has happened since my last post...

In December, I finally finished the first draft my manuscript. Then I gave it to my beta reader (hi, Shannon!) to critique and fish out the mistakes. Then I revised. Last week, I wrote the first draft of my query/pitch. This week, I'm doing more revisions on the manuscript. Next week, I'll do revisions on the query because I'm still not 100% happy with it and I don't know why. On January 23, I will enter the Amazon Breakthrough Novel Award (ABNA) contest for the third time in a row. Hope I'm ready!

Procrastination

You know, sometimes I'm glad I don't have a publisher or agent yet because I'm pretty sure deadlines would kill me. In the past month I've written maybe two pages. Seriously. I'm in a huge writing rut. My manuscript is so close to finished. I've got my character into a quite a big mess and now I have to figure out how to get her out of it so I can end this thing. The creativity gods, like Santa with a naughty kid, have skipped my house entirely. Keyboard, meet forehead.

Now, a list of things I've been doing instead of writing:

1) Playing Plants vs. Zombies (I'm on level 5)

2) Watching Sons of Anarchy (season 4 is a.mazing)

3) Playing crib on Pogo

4) Playing Scribblenauts on my iPhone

5) Trying to win a trip to Cuba on Q104

6) Facebook

7) Being a Mom (tending sickies, meal prep, cleaning, spending money, counting slowly to 10)

8) Organizing my desk

9) Pushing the cat off my desk

and...

10) Reading other people's books while avoiding my own


I suck.

Wow, it's been ages...

I'm 62k+ in on Out of Nowhere with just two or three more chapters to go. Writing this book has been been both extremely rewarding and exceedingly frustrating. It's easy when the words and ideas come freely and so hard when they don't. I love my characters and just want to do right by them. Sometimes I have trouble saying what I want to say. Other times I spend hours debating on one plot point or another. Should he do this? Should she say that? Where do I go from here?

Ugh. The life of a writer. Still, I wouldn't change it for anything.

Out of Nowhere

I'm 6000+ words into my work-in-progress Out of Nowhere. It's slow going, really slow...I had writer's block for months and couldn't get into a groove to save my life. All it takes to get going again is one little flicker of inspiration, which I got on Sunday. I've written a couple of thousand words since. School ends next week so I have to get as much in as I can before my house is filled with kids again.

I'm completely in love with this book. I'm having a blast writing it. My first two manuscripts involved the same characters, so it's really nice writing different ones and trying new things. I want this novel finished by January so I can enter the Amazon Breakthrough Novel contest for the third year in a row. That my goal again this year, to have a book finished, revised, query-lettered, and ready for the contest.

Happy writing!