The perfect books for Halloween

     I was about fifteen  years old and so many people were telling me to read It by Stephen King.  I have to admit that I'm a huge chicken and I hate anything scary.  Probably because between the ages of 9 and 13 I lived in a house that had a ghost.  Not even kidding.  Our family lived in a super old spooky house and yep, it had a ghost.  I could hear him walk up and down the stairs all night long.  That thing in books where they talk about the hair standing up on the back of your neck?  That actually happens. How do I know this? My neck will testify to it.  I hope it doesn't happen to you, but yes, that is one of your bodies reactions to being scared to death.  Anyways, where was I? Oh, IT. So I've experienced scary, why would I want to actually scare myself on purpose?  I was 15 though and so I gave in to peer pressure and I read that sucker and I was freaked out.  Oh my word, that man knows how to creep you out in so many ways.  I do believe my hatred for all things clowns stems from that traumatic reading as a 15 year old.  I could talk about the Shining, but I'd rather not.  Eww!

     But since it's Halloween, I can't not talk about scary books. However, I am going to switch things up.  I'm going to talk about the not so scary but still fun Halloween books.  I still hate being scared, but I LOVE paranormal romance.  I'm doing a lot of research now because I'd like to join that genre.  I've been reading a lot about witches and everything that goes with that and I've found that I enjoy the YA paranormal so much more than adult paranormal.  Say what you will about Twilight but Stephanie Meyers did something right.  She enthralled the world. There's no arguing with that or the numbers.  (I actually really like Twilight).  But what I love about YA PNR is that it's clean.  I've read Charlaine Harris' Sookie Stackhouse books.  Heard of True Blood?  Yep, that's the TV show based on her books about a girl who can read minds and likes to umm, hang out with vampires.
     This is what I'll say about it.  One TV critic called the show Vampire Porn.  I haven't watched the show, but I've heard this is true from friends.  The books are R rated in my opinion.  Sure, I can skip over certain parts, but why bother when there are so many YA stories that are amazing?  There is one adult witch book I love though. Deborah Harkness' A Discovery of Witches.  LOVED IT!  Haven't read book #2 yet, but I can't wait.

But here's a list of YA paranormal romance that will give you a fun read for Halloween without making you want to scrub your mind with clorox:
Hush, Hush by Becca Fitzpatrick.  It's a whole series and my teenage daughters loved it.

Freak of Nature by Katie Lee O'Guinn.  New book out on Kindle that we all really enjoyed.
Paranormalcy by Keirsten White. Another trilogy but so cute.  Super clean and fun.
Maximum Ride series by James Patterson. - Engrossing and addicting.
I'm doing so much research on Paranormal Romance and having so much fun doing it that it's hard to tear myself away to write myself.
Check them out and let me know what you think.  And give me your suggestions!  What's your favorite paranormal book, YA or adult.  I would love your suggestions.

Update on Do Over

Here's the newest update on Do Over.  I just heard back from Cedar Fort and they have decided to keep the boots that they had on the cover before. They did a search for the coolest biker chick boots  in order to get it just right and came up with . . . well, nothing.  I know, heartbreaking.  But on the bright side, we still don't have to look at a hammer.  So we're moving forward. Do Over is already up on Amazon for pre-orders.  I think that's pretty exciting.  Picture me doing a few cartwheels and not landing on my rear or my face.  That's how excited I am.  I'll be doing a Facebook Fan Page for Do Over too.  I've never done that for a book before so if you have any advice, please send it my way.  If you have fan pages for your books, tell us so we can check them out.

Sticking with a genre or jumping off a cliff

I've read some reviews of J.K. Rowlings newest book and I feel kind of bad for her.  What writer wouldn't? In my opinion, JK is one of the most gifted writers this world has ever seen.  So to see her hit home run after home run and then to fizzle in the 6th inning is just sad. Not that she couldn't come back tomorrow and write the greatest novel ever read.  But right this second as she's sitting in England, drinking her tea and reading all of the bad reviews, I wish I was sitting there with her. Because I'd probably say, 'You're acting like a loony Muggle! Grab the laptop and tell me what Harry's doing now!'.  I know, rotten, huh?  Not very supportive for sure.  But it does illustrate how we all get stuck in genres.  I'm super comfortable with romance.  If you told me I had to write a Sci-Fi thriller right this second, I'd beg you to shoot me.  However, don't we all need to stretch a little? Get out of our comfort zones just a titch?  Maybe someone should force me to write a sci-fi book.  Who knows, maybe I'd love it? (I really wouldn't)  But it's the trying that makes us better.  The sweat and tears form us into who we're supposed to become right?  So in honor of J.K., I'm going to stretch a little.  I am now writing a book that I never thought I'd touch.  It involves witches, blood and a magic. This will not be LDS fiction.  Yikes, my heart is palpitating.  Notice my cool word choice.  So I'm getting ready to jump of a cliff.  Let me know if you  know of any publishers who'd like to soften my landing.

Procrastination or something more sinister?

     I am starting my new book today! I know, I was supposed to start last month, but then pneumonia plopped itself on my doorstep. And then, yeah, I know, I was supposed to start my new book a few weeks ago, but hey -  my computer died. Really, how can you write without a computer these days?  I actually looked at a pad of paper and a pen for a few seconds but then resisted.  My inner spell check just isn't up to the challenge.  So today is a new day!  Today I will begin my next adventure.  I can't wait to use some of my new neighbors as characters.  He he he. I will keep you posted as to my progress. In the meantime, please wait impatiently for Do Over to come out this February.  Still haven't seen the newest cover for it yet.  I will post ASAP.  Let's keep our fingers crossed that there won't be any tools on the cover this time. And in the mean time, if no more natural disasters or unnatural disasters occur, I will stop blogging and commence the creative process. Prayers would be appreciated.