Queen for a day!

Yesterday was my first book signing for LOVE SUCKS! Books-A-Million in North Little Rock, AR totally treated me like a queen. I sat at the front of the store while hoardes of people all my friends and a few strangers worshipped showered me in friendly for a couple of hours.

Here I am with my two kids. Rader is the 12 year old behind me and Ian is the 16 year old next to me.

And here I am with some of my schoolmates. My HIGH SCHOOL mates. Not kidding. I am very blessed.

The signing was a huge success and I get to do it all over again on Friday in Oxford, Miss. I can't wait to see everyone! It's gonna be a good week!!!

to read or not to read...

Before I was a published author, I remember hearing other pubbed authors say that they had never read their books in print.

Each time someone would say this, I was scandalized! What? How could you not read your printed book??? What is wrong with you?

Guess what? I've never read BITE ME! in it's published form. I've started a couple of times, but never could get past a few pages. It felt weird.

But then LOVE SUCKS! came out a few weeks ago and I realized I barely remembered anything about the book. I remembered Sexy Lexy but that was about it. So I sat down one night and started to read.

And I didn't hate it.

So I read a little more.

And I still didn't hate it.

And then I laughed out loud a few times.

Wow. Not hating it.

And then, the book was finished. I read it all. And, dare I say it? I actually enjoyed my own book. Sure, there were a couple of things I would've done differently. It's very fast paced (which I prefer) BUT there were moments that it felt a little rushed to me. But then, I'm the author and I'm never gonna be truly satisfied with my own work.

Armed with this knowledge and new found courage, I thought I'd try to read BITE ME! again.

Yeah. I'm pretty sure BITE ME! will always be my one unread book. I just can't do it. I dunno why, and I'm quite certain I'm ok with not knowing the reason behind my psychological block.

What about you? Do you think you'll want to read your book in print or are you gonna be like me? And if you're a reader not a writer, do you find it weird that some authors can't read their own work after it's published?

love to love you baby!

Had a great time at conference last week and I'll be heading home today. It's a long drive from Florida to Arkansas, so it's a good thing I don't mind time alone.

One of my favorite things from conference was getting to meet Gwen Hayes in person. She's a lovely, lovely, lovely woman and I had a very hard time not packing her in my suitcase and bringing her with me....Here we are in a very blurry, dark picture from the Berkley party. Sadly I don't have an iPhone 4 yet, so no flash for me! Only Fictionista left for me to meet in person is Rhonda. So Ms. Stapleton you better be in New York or else I'm gonna have to hunt you down!

One more thing...LOVE SUCKS! is in the wild! We stopped by the Gainesville B&N and I introduced myself to some cool folks and I signed stock. I love signing stock! So fun!!

coming soon: LOVE SUCKS!

In 6 weeks, the sequel to BITE ME! will hit the shelves.

It seems so surreal to know that I will have 2 books out in the world with my name on the cover. 2 books that I actually wrote. Myself. And that people buy. On purpose.

LOVE SUCKS! is available for pre-order, btw.

Here's the blurb I wrote for the book (which can be found on my book website: Have You Been Bitten?)

AJ Ashe is moving on. Sure she still has not-so-sisterly feelings for Ryan, her ex-boyfriend-turned-step-brother, but there’s a new vampire in town and his name is Alexander Archer. Caught between the desire to move forward with Sexy Lexy and being drawn to her past with Ryan, AJ thinks life couldn’t get anymore complicated. Yeah, right. When her mother’s pregnancy is threatened, it looks like AJ’s long lost father is the only person who can save her. But Dad’s help comes with a price. AJ is forced join the evil side of her family, and a very creepy shape-shifting demon is there to make sure AJ cooperates. All this and she’s still got to plan the prom. Being a teenager is tough, but being a teenage vampire just flat out sucks. Pun totally intended.

I'm working on a very fun contest idea with a super cool prize. 6 weeks doesn't seem that far away--on paper. But in my mind, it may as well be forever.