National Poetry Month: Susan Porterfield, The Last Azars in Kousba

Today is the last day of National Poetry Month. So why not go out with a bang? Today's poet is near/dear to me.

My love of poetry and the written word started well before college but I have my college professors to thank for developing my passions.

Here is my professor, Susan Porterfield, reading some of her work. Enjoy!

Review: HIT by Delilah S Dawson

This weekend I attended my first release party at the charming Fox Tale Book Shop here in town. The party was for the quirky-cool Delilah S. Dawson. She’s the author of the Blud series (an interesting twist on vampires, carnies, clockwork, and steamy romance), Servants of the Storm (a dark YA set in Savannah which is totally on my TBR pile), and most recently HIT: a YA story about a teenage assassin.

Delilah spoke for about an hour on world building/craft before signing copies of HIT for each person in attendance. Oh, and there was cake! Yummo!

But enough about the party, what about the book?

Here are the details:

Hardcover: 336 pages
Publisher: Simon Pulse
Released: April 14, 2015
Audience: YA
Tag line: In order to save her mother, a teen is forced to become an indentured assassin in this sizzling dystopian thriller.
Disclosure: I purchased my own copy and was not compensated for this review

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The cover is so perfect for this book:

Here is the blurb:

No one reads the fine print.

The good news is that the USA is finally out of debt. The bad news is that we were bought out by Valor National Bank, and debtors are the new big game, thanks to a tricky little clause hidden deep in the fine print of a credit card application. Now, after a swift and silent takeover that leaves 9-1-1 calls going through to Valor voicemail, they’re unleashing a wave of anarchy across the country.

Patsy didn’t have much of a choice. When the suits showed up at her house threatening to kill her mother then and there for outstanding debt unless Patsy agreed to be an indentured assassin, what was she supposed to do? Let her own mother die?

Patsy is forced to take on a five-day mission to complete a hit list of ten names. Each name on Patsy’s list has only three choices: pay the debt on the spot, agree to work as a bounty hunter, or die. And Patsy has to kill them personally, or else her mom takes a bullet of her own. Since yarn bombing is the only anarchy in Patsy’s past, she’s horrified and overwhelmed, especially as she realizes that most of the ten people on her list aren’t strangers. Things get even more complicated when a moment of mercy lands her with a sidekick: a hot rich kid named Wyatt whose brother is the last name on Patsy’s list. The two share an intense chemistry even as every tick of the clock draws them closer to an impossible choice.
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My thoughts:

HIT is a fast, enthralling read full of gripping and visceral action.

Surprisingly, the violence is the edgiest thing about the book. There isn’t a lot of profanity (if any – nothing jumps out in my memory) and the kissy scenes are lusty without being graphic. In most respects this book is tame….well, except for the killing. And boy there is a LOT of killing. I’m not talking like *bang-fade-to-black* type killing were we assume the MC killed someone. Nope. This killing is right in your face from the first chapter.

The best part about HIT is the action: It’s real without being too gross, It’s fast without seeming rushed, and it’s easy to imagine. HIT unfolds so visually and realistically that you can practically see it as a movie.

I also loved the concept: Bank Owned America. It's a creepy idea that made my skin crawl.

Okay, okay, so we know the concept and action in HIT is awesome, but what about the characters? Well, Patsy is a tough but quirky girl (She yarn bombs stuff – I didn’t even know that was a thing but I’m totally into it) which makes her accessible. And her love interest, Wyatt, is kind and generous and flawed and adorable. *Sigh*. Oh, and the puppy, Matty, is absolutely perfect.

When I finished HIT two things immediately crossed my mind:
1. My hubby would love this book (did I mention my hubby is reading it right now?)

2. I MUST know what happens next *makes grabby hands*


All in All, I give HIT five out of five screaming cats – this book was a fabulous, action-packed adventure. I Loved it.

Want to know more about the Author? Visit her on Twitter or on her website.

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TBT: Discipline - You gotta have it

I was recently reminded how much of the 'art' of writing is actually 'hard work.' I think it's easy to slip into the idyllic belief that storytelling, craft, and writing come easily to some. Heck, maybe it does. But the vast majority of writers I know and follow work hard. Very. Hard. Every. Day.

So, for today's TBT I'm sharing Discipline: You gotta have it.

Enjoy!

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When you tell people you are a writer they generally react one of two ways: either they perk up and ask if you’ve published anything (believing that publishing is a giant cash cow) or they recoil from you like your disease is contagious.




Some people think writers/artists are worthless and lazy. We all live with our parents or leech off our spouses. We’re dirty because we never shower or take care of our selves. We're willing to just let the world run right over us like this cat:




Most people think we’re all maniacal drug addicts or alcoholics and if you get too close to us our disease of creativity may just spread. And with every stereo type there is likely some truth to those about writers. Well, except the contagious thing.

And although there is a stigma on those who choose creativity as a career it seems self pub or indie pub writers get it the worst.

But we can all agree that writer stereotypes are not universally true. Even though I’ve been known to skip a shower on days when I’m on a roll. I mean, yeah, who’s going to see/smell me when I look like this:




Well, other than my husband. But he’s stuck with me. For writer or worse, right?

All that aside, I’d argue that the successful artists (however you define success) are anything but lazy.

The hottest buzzword around the pub industry is ‘writer entrepreneur’ implying that a writer is actually a self-employed, small business owner. They are the CEO, CFO, COO, CIO, and VIP of Marketing. They are labor and management. I don’t know about you, but to me, that sounds like a TON of hard work.

Avid tweeter Leigh Ann Kopans, author of the upcoming self pub’d ONE, has recently caused some waves with her posts about the work and cost that goes into launching in the self pub world. I think she later redacted her posts because I cannot find them now - but if you read them you know, they were very detailed.

Ultimately, I see hard work and discipline everyday in the pub world. These are skills, people. Hard work and discipline are learned behaviors. Sometimes these skills are handed down from their parents or pounded into us by teachers and coaches. But where we really polish our discipline is at the Day Job, or DJ as I call it.

It takes discipline to do just about anything DJ related because, let’s face it, most of us hate our DJ’s. It takes discipline to go to work, let alone actually do work. It’s easy to hate the DJ and view it as an obstacle to further chasing our dreams of becoming pub’d writers. But while we trudge through the frustration, challenges, and rigor of the DJ we are honing the ability to work hard, manage conflicting priorities, push through obstacles, and overcome.

Writers of all kinds (pre pub, self pub, small press pub, trad pub) need discipline to make it in this industry. Let’s hear it for the Day Job for helping us along our journey.

How has discipline helped you along the path to publication?

If you liked this post check out these Day Job posts:

Day Job - Stability

Day Job - Villains