March Update!

Here's a quick update on what I've been up to:

I'm smiling because the
filming is over, lol. *shaka*

I was interviewed by my local CBS station. They came to my house and we sat down to talk about everything from writing to Remake to homeschool to Hawaii. Since the reporter and cameraman have ties to Hawaii, we had a great time talking about the islands, making me miss home. :) You can watch the interview here.

REMAKE is a Whitney award finalist in two categories: Best YA Speculative Novel and Best Novel by a New Author. I may have done a fistpump or two upon hearing the news. I'm up against some tough competition, including NYT best selling authors, so I think my chances of winning are slim, but becoming a Whitney finalist is one of my writing bucket-list items, so the fact that I can check that one off makes me absolutely giddy. You can find all the finalists here.

Me, Rachelle Christensen, Shelly Brown,
Josi Kilpack, Sarah Eden

I've updated the events tab above so you can see where I'll be this spring--mostly teaching at several local writing conferences.

My publisher hosted an author appreciation dinner, and it was so much fun enjoying a fancy date night with my husband. We got to rub shoulders with other authors, and I met a ton of people who work behind the scenes in getting my book out in the public. I also learned some incredible news from my editors about REMAKE that I hope to share soon. :)

Playboy roll (my fav) and squid

I also just finished drafting my 9th novel. Woot! I've been working on this one off and on for a long time, and I have to admit it's my favorite story I've written so far. It's another YA sci-fi with themes of virtue and self-worth featuring a mixed-race main character who I absolutely love. I can't wait to dive into revisions. The book takes place in an East-Asian inspired future, so of course we celebrated with sushi. (note: I celebrate everything with sushi, ha) Yum!

Do you like being in front of the camera? What was your favorite novel of 2014? Will I see you at any writing conferences this year? How do you celebrate reaching your writing goals?

'Cause life's for living right.