I Don't Dance Blog Tour - Giveaway Winners

Time goes by, the clock don't stop. I wish I had a few more drops of the good stuff, the good times, oh, but they just keep on flying right on by like it ain't nothing. I wish I had me a pause button. Moments like these, Lord knows I'd hit it. To give myself five more minutes. - Scotty McCreery, Five More Minutes 

Wow. This past week just flew past! It's hard to believe that the blog tour is over and my little novella has been released to the world! Thank you all SO much for all the comments and encouraging words about my book. And for participating in the blog tour. I know it wouldn't have been the same without you all! :)

And now, the news I know y'all have been waiting for... the giveaway winners!

1st Place: Paperback copy of I Don't Dance + Scotty McCreery's Clear as Day CD

Winner: Brooklyne

2nd Place: E-book copy of I Don't Dance + $5 Krispy Kreme Giftcard

Winner: Bethany R.

Congrats, ladies! I will be sending you an email a bit later today with some more details and such. Thank you again so much for everyone who participated in any way during the tour - It was fabulous having you all here to release I Don't Dance with me! 

I Don't Dance Blog Tour - Day 4 - Music

Sweet tea, porch swings, supper on the stove... *grins* If that doesn't say summer I don't know what does.

I can hardly believe we've come to the last day of the blog tour! I've had so much fun and I hope you all have as well. :) Today we have 4 bloggers joining us for the final day--be sure and read their posts!

Angela Watts//Book Spotlight - The Peculiar Messenger

Kaylee H.//Book Spotlight - Keylee’s Kind of Writes

Kellyn Roth//Review - Reveries

Kate//Book Spotlight - Twin Thoughts

a Rafflecopter giveaway

Today we're talking about music. Music has a certain ability that no other sort of written word does. Words and a tune can contain almost as much emotion as a full length novel. As such, I always try to somehow weave in songs in my books that bring out the feeling I'm attempting to achieve. Most of the time I go with hymns, because there is such a variety that there's always one to fit any story.

This time, however, I used country songs. Now, I'll be the first to admit that not all country songs are worth listening to. But around the time that I began to write "I Don't Dance", I discovered Scotty McCreery. A country singer with an amazing voice and some pretty epic songs. They just seemed to bubble over with summer and enchanted days and enjoying the little things in life. His songs and style fit the book perfectly, and thus, they became as much a part of "I Don't Dance" as ice cream and picnics on the tailgate.

Have you heard of Scotty McCrerry? If so, do you enjoy his music? Be sure and enter the giveaway; it's the last day you can do so! And come back tomorrow for the winners!

I Don't Dance Blog Tour - Day 3 - Characters

Seasons change, I'm turning a new leaf, rolling up my sleeves. Because it's summmeerrrr! *is forever happy*

I had a wonderful release day yesterday. I ended up doing nothing at all except some basic chores around the house, started working on a formatting project, drank lots of coffee and sweet tea, video chatted with some dear friends, and watched wayyy too many episodes of Full House. The weather was gorgeous and so epicly wonderful. ^_^

All righty, the bloggers we have today...lots of wonderful stops to visit!

Laura//Review - Beautiful Things

Chloe//Review - Purely by Faith Reviews

Rebekah Eddy//Review, Author Interview, Book spotlight - Rebekah’s Remarks

Molly Anne//Review - Set Apart for Him

Abigail McKenna//Review - Novels, Dragons, and Wardrobe Doors

And the giveaway... 

a Rafflecopter giveaway

All righty, today we're talking about characters! Those little elements that really make the story. Because it would be kind hard to write a story without that vital component.

I Don't Dance is written in one POV, but there are really three main characters. Ty, Jen, and Ty's best friend, Mike. It's always said that you write a little bit of yourself into each character you write, and  couldn't agree more. But the characters are also impacted by people around you, and I love seeing the similarities in my characters and the people I know.

Ty- He is probably the character who is a lot like me. In some ways he's outgoing, and in others he is hesitant. He has a strong sense of justice and values, but can occasionally need someone to push him out of his comfort zone.

Jen-She's quite, yet deep. She doesn't talk often, but when she does it's normally what needs to be said. She loves the little things in life, and finds pleasure in the smallest moments. She's a lot like a dear friend of mine in more ways then one. So yeah, she's a pretty special character.

Mike-Oh goodness gracious, Mike. Where do I even start? He's forever teasing and messing with Ty, but he never means any harm by it. He sees the humorous and bright side in everything, and is the life of the party. And he loves it. He isn't afraid to speak his mind, and he loves making other people laugh. Like, Jen, a lot of his personality came from another friend of mine. And oh goodness was it epic to write. xD

And yes. The three main precious people in my story. Which character (if you've read it) was your favorite? See y'all tomorrow for the last day of the blog tour!

I Don't Dance Blog Tour - Day 2 - Release Day

This is it. This is now. This is what I've been talking about.

It's the first day of summer, guys! Summerrrr! Oh, and it's also the release day of I Don't Dance. I may be slightly more excited for summer... though, the publication is close behind. xD
Sunny days, watermelon, corn on the cob, fireworks, open windows, messy hair, rain, trips to the lake, hiking, new adventures... *sighs in delight* Summer is so wonderful, y'all. <3

Today we have three lovely bloggers joining me, and they're all doing reviews! Also, fun fact, this is the only blog tour I've ever hosted where release day has the least amount of bloggers. I'm thinking it might have something to do with the fact that it's on a Thursday this time, and not a Friday. ;)

Soleil Bourdon//Review, Book Spotlight - Reviews By Soleil

Faith Potts//Review, Book Spotlight - Stories by Firefly

Janelle Martin//Review - The Ramblings of a Bookworm

And of course, the giveaway with a nice, summery CD and book... ;)

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Seeing as how it's release day, I don't have anything really to talk about.

Well, okay, I guess I should be honest. I did. I had a great idea. It was epic. And... I didn't write it down and I forgot it. Sooo... better luck tomorrow? Hopefully? xD Maybe I can remember what aspect of the book I was gonna talk about today and write about it tomorrow.

All righty, I'm gonna go and grab some ice cream. Seems a fabulous way to start out the first day of summer, yes? That and a summery book...*nudges you toward Amazon* (Paperback) - (Kindle)  ;)

See y'all tomorrow! Happy first day of summer!

I Don't Dance Blog Tour - Day 1 - Setting

Sweet tea, y'all. It goes good with everything -- especially these hot summer days Kansas has been giving us. Not that I'm complaining. I adore summer. ;) Anyway, how about joining me? Grab a glass of sweet tea, kick up your feet, and I'll show you the stops for the first day of the blog tour! 

Libby May//Review - Geoturtle

Allyson Kennedy//Author Interview, Review  - Authoring Arrowheads

Liz//Author Interview, Review - Home with the Hummingbirds

Victoria Goodbrand//Author Interview - Victoria’s Book Nook

Be sure and check out these lady's lovely posts! And of course, there is a giveaway! Do you like country music? Doughnuts? Want a copy of the book? Well then ... go and enter! 

a Rafflecopter giveaway

Each day of the blog tour, I'm going to be talking a bit about a different aspect of my little novella. Today is the setting. The book takes place in North Carolina, in a small town nestled in the mountains. Up to this point, most of my books and stories have taken place in Kansas, and that's for various reasons. The main one is that, since I live here, I can write it authentically, and I don't have to worry about getting details, weather patterns, crop and farming info and such wrong. 

However, I had visited Highlands, North Carolina last year and fallen in love with the little town. It was picturesque, it was adorable, and it had all the small town feeling that I wanted in the story. Plus, I had been there so I could write about it somewhat accurately, and if I had questions...well, a dear friend lives only about 40 min away. ;)

Also, during the time I was witting the book, I discovered Scotty McCreery's music. Many of his song fit into the book perfectly, and he sang about North Carolina, sooo... it was a win-win situation. 

And that's all for today! Be sure and come back tomorrow! It happens to be the first day of summer... and release day! 

Exciting Announcment

Hello all! I've got something exciting to share with y'all today! You may remember back a couple weeks ago when I said I had an announcement to share with y'all in the upcoming weeks. Well, this is it!

Many of you have asked where I get my covers designed, and I've always just said that a friend of mine did them. Which wasn't super helpful for you guys if you wanted to get a cover designed by her. Well, guess what?! That dear friend and I have started a graphic design/formatting business!  We've been playing around with the idea for a while, but for some reason or another always ended up putting it off. Part of it was the fact that I still had some things to learn with the interior formatting.

Well, thanks to a job I got earlier this year formatting a book for a friend, I've learned the last few ins and outs of using word document for formatting. Sooo... yeah. We decided to go ahead and just do it. ;)

You can view our website here (Inside Out Designs) , and see some examples of what we do, as well as pricing and such. We're so excited for it, and can't wait to help some Indie authors!

Love - { A Summer Blog Series on 1 Corinthians 13}

Hello readers. Today's post is going to be short and to the point... and, as the title says, announcing a summer blog series.

I mentioned in my last post that I wasn't planning on sticking to a posting schedule, and that I wasn't sure what I would post about over the summer. Then later this week as I was having devotions, I was struck by how often we are commanded to love one another in the body of Christ. And it got me to thinking about how our culture today has redefined love and what it means. The word is tossed around and used in such trivial ways, that it's hard to know or understand what exactly love is. And that thought led to yet another...what about a blog series where we explore that God has to say about love?

So yes. I'm still praying and planning the posts and working on them, but I wanna say right off that I'm far from an expert on the subject. I'm simply writing what I have found God's word to be teaching us as I've been studying the new testament this year. I'm looking forward to it, and the discussions I hope we can have on the subject. My goal in the series is to focus our eyes on a pure and godly love. The Christlike kind of love that is so lacking in the world we live in.

I hope y'all will feel free to add some thoughts and such in the comments of each post, and I will reply to them. I so enjoy discussions on spiritual things - especially subjects I'm passionate about.

More details to come later, after the release of I Don't Dance (this week!) For now, I wanna hear your thoughts. Does this sound like something you'd enjoy/be interested in?

And now abideth faith, hope, charity, these three; but the greatest of these is charity.

1 Corinthians 13:13

Hello June//Summer

Hello all. How is your June coming so far?

 June is one of my very favorite months of the year. It's finally gotten to the point where it's nearly always sunny, the thunderstorms are amazing , and summer has begun to whisper its arrival.
I love summer. There's just something about summertime that makes everything and anything seem possible. Summertime feels free in a glorious way that no other season can echo . It's everything I love about life wrapped up in a magical three months that come once a year.
Yes, I love summer. Can you tell?

May was a crazy, busy, full month. It was good, but to be honest, I'm more then ready to move into June and leave May behind. It had its struggles and challenges...But God was good, lessons were learned,  and the sun rose on yet another month.
There is a lot that I have planned for June, here on the blog as well as just life in general.  I Don't Dance will be published in a little less then two weeks, which Is still kinda surreal. I also have an exciting announcement coming up sometime next week, so stay tuned!

Anyway, seeing as how it is summer and summer is supposed to be fun, I've decided to not attempt to stick to my posting schedule. So y'all can look forward to a summer of random posts. ;)

And since I didn't have anything really planned to post about this week, I thought it'd be fun to hear a bit from y'all.  What's your favorite thing about summer? Do you have anything exciting going on? Is summer the season that captures your heart, or is there another you love more? ;)