2013 Houston Book Rave Photos - FUN Texas Reader Event!

Jordan Dane

@JordanDane

 The first Houston Book Rave (HBR) happened on November 2, 2013 and featured over 60+ authors. Young adult authors were most represented, but many New Adult authors came and quite a number of self-published indie authors were also in attendance. Our official bookstore was Barnes & Noble, arranged by the HBR staff.


The advance publicity on this event brought quite a bit of traffic to my website from all over the country. Thanks to the organizers and to all the fabulous bloggers who helped make this event successful. The event was free for those who attended. To track attendance, organizers had participants download a free ticket and I’d heard nearly 800 were downloaded. HBR was sponsored by a number of publishers, including my house, HarlequinTeen.


The YA authors had the morning session where we decorated our tables and met with readers for two hours, not signing books until later. Instead we signed shirts, bags, book marks, etc. I wasn’t sure how I would like that format (no panel discussions), but I had a blast. We had great traffic through the rooms and got to meet some fun people. Lots of young readers and reviewers were there. After we had our social time, our next assignment was to sign books in a larger room with all the authors and the bookstore on the floor (the size of a gym).
 
 


I shared my table with YA author extraordinaire Jennifer Archer (Through Her Eyes, Shadow Girl-HarperTeen). Jenny and I have known each other for awhile so we had tons of fun catching up. She’s a little shy and I AM NOT. I had noise makers and had her laughing at my antics. (Thankfully she has a great sense of humor.) We had Halloween candy and signed Milk Dud boxes – pretty much anything. We had more people coming over to our table to have a good time.


There were many young readers who came looking for us. Scarlett (in the neck scarf) was with her dad (smart man) and is a review blogger who had purchased my book - On a Dark Wing. I had all my released HarlequinTeen books there.

Here are some personal stories:


Here’s our decorated table. We went with the Halloween theme since we had leftover candy. Duh! As you can see, Jenny and I signed ANYTHING, including the Milk Duds. Hot commodity.

 
 


One fan brought baked goods. Doesn’t this look yummy. So good!!!

 
 

This is a photo of me with Emily (a young author who I met at the Texas Library Association annual conference two years ago). I had seen Emily at two TLA events and talked to her about a book she was writing. I never forgot her. Well, her mom came to the HBR and brought this photo memory of when Emily and I last met. She had asked her mom to get me to sign it. (Emily couldn’t make HBR, but through her mom, she was there in spirit.) Emily has aspirations to become an editor in the publishing industry. With her love of writing and reading, she will be a hit.


  I love Emily...and her mom. xxoo


Savannah (on the right) is an amazing  book blogger who has read/reviewed my YAs. She introduced me to one of her reviewers, Chayse (left). The purple shirts were the attire of HBR staff, so you can see both of these two enthusiastic readers were there to help. I LOVED hanging out with them, including sharing a table at our Friday night BBQ as we decorated our spots. I can’t say enough about Savannah and Chayse. <3 (They are both adorable.)

 



Another GO TO person I found there was Misty Baker of the Kindle Obsessed Blog. Man, she is organized and knows her stuff. She was a great help to all the authors and to the HBR organizers. Wish I had a photo of her. She is a lovely lovely person. xxoo Misty!


I wanted to share my photos. If you follow me on Twitter, you might have seen some of these. I had fun tweeting ANYTHING from HBR. This event is definitely on my radar for next year. Anytime an author can spend quality time with readers, reviewers, and bloggers, it is a good thing. 


My next promo event will be the Austin Texas Comic Con on the weekend of Nov 22. OMG! I’m a Comic Con virgin, but I am looking forward to it. I will be joining the Writing Ninjas of Texas who have two tables in prime corner position. I will definitely post photos from this traveling circus.
 

 

 

 

Jordan Dane’s Crystal Fire (HarlequinTeen-The Hunted Series) now available for pre-order. Release is Nov 26, 2013.

Happy Holidays!

It's Winter break here at ADR3NALIN3. During our holiday hiatus, we'll be spending time with our families and friends, and celebrating all the traditions that make this time of year wonderful. We sincerely thank you for visiting our blog and becoming part of our online family. We wish you a truly awesome Holiday Season and a great 2013. From Dan, Ilsa, Carol, Jamie, Anita, Jennifer, Maureen, P J (Trish), Amanda, Michelle, and Jordan to all our friends and visitors, Seasons Greeting from ADR3NALIN3.

See you back here on Monday, January 7.

Out of the Comfort Zone

I admit it -- I fit the stereotype of the introverted writer. I've learned to enjoy booksignings, schmoozing at writer conferences, speaking to groups and teaching workshops, but not without some significant effort. I'm much more comfortable tucked safely away in the confines of my familiar bubble -- alone with my characters (at least in my head) at home or at my favorite table at the neighborhood coffee shop.

That said, I believe strongly that I always benefit in some way from stepping out of my comfort zone and doing something that makes me a little bit nervous. For instance, for the first 30 or so years of my life, public speaking was my greatest fear and I avoided it at all costs. But after I published my first book, I was asked to speak to a writer's group, and even though the thought of doing so made me sick to my stomach, I knew I had to do it for the sake of my career -- and for my own personal growth. And so I wrote a speech and I practiced giving it. Again. And again. And again. I stood in my office when nobody was home and pretended I was in front of an audience. I spoke out loud. When I finished, I started over again, repeating the process until I could ad lib and my notes were just a crutch for me to rely on in case I stumbled.

On the day of the presentation, I arrived early to get a feel for the room. I pretended to be calm, but inside, I was screaming, "What have I done!" Fifteen minutes before I was "on," I went to the restroom, barricaded myself in a stall and did deep breathing exercises to steady my racing heart, telling myself "you can do this," assuring myself how great I was going to be, that what I said was bound to help at least one writer in the audience in some way and make all the angst I was suffering worthwhile. I'm happy to report that the talk went well. I enjoyed myself. The next time I was asked to give a presentation, I repeated the above process, but it was all a little easier, a little less terrifying and time consuming. And each successive time was easier still.

Today I absolutely love giving workshops, teaching writing and creativity classes, and talking to writers, readers and students. It enriches my life. I never would've known that and would've missed out on so much if I hadn't stepped out of my comfort zone back when I sold my first book!

The point of all this? Recently, when I was asked to do two squirm-inducing things that, in the past, I've tried to avoid like a visit to the dentist, I said, "Sure, why not?" The first was an interview for the blog radio show A Book and A Chat, with host, Barry Eva. (You can't practice for an interview. Who knows what the host will ask? Besides, my West Texas accent makes Reba McEntire sound like a Yankee.What if Barry Eva can't understand me, or me him? His English accent is as pronounced as my Texas one.) The second was a video of me talking about writing for the Texas Library Association's Spirit of Texas Reading Program. (I'm hyper-critical of myself on camera. I make funny, twitchy faces.) What the heck. I did the interview and the video anyway. And I had fun!

What's the moral of this story? Push yourself to do something uncomfortable from time-to-time. As long as it's something positive, you'll learn and grow. You'll feel a sense of accomplishment. You might help or inspire someone. Chances are you'll have a great time and find out that you love doing whatever it is that once made you break out in a cold, clammy sweat just thinking about it.

A Book and a Chat with Jennifer Archer 

Spirit of Texas Reading Program/Jennifer Archer



Jennifer Archer's next YA novel, The Shadow Girl, will be released from Harper Teen 4/9/2013 and is available now for pre-order. Her book on the creativity/happiness connection, Happiness Rehab: 8 Creative Steps to a More Joyful Life is available now on Amazon. Her Samhain Retro-Romance novella, Breaking the Rules, will be available this month (11/20) as an ebook. Visit Jennifer's websites http://www.jenniferarcher.com/ and http://www.happinessrehab.com for more information.

Reconnect to Your Creativity by Creating Firsts

In my non-fiction book Happiness Rehab: 8 Creative Steps to a More Joyful Life, my co-author Mary Schramski and I talk about the fact that far too many people live their lives in a state of semi-hypnosis. Often we take for granted all the simple wonders in our world such as shadows and light, colors, shapes and angles. As people "grow up" and have more responsibilities, creative observation and insight tend to decrease, and because of that so does a measure of our happiness.  

            It's a shame for this to happen to anyone, but if your work requires innovation -- for instance, if you're a writer or in some other type of artistic or creative field -- you cannot just sit back and do nothing. But what can help you if you've lost touch with your creative side or you're in a creative slump and you no longer notice the miraculous in everyday life? What if it seems impossible to you that you'll ever recapture that sense of fascination with the world?

            It just so happens, I have a few solutions! I talked about a few of them in a previous post. But right now I want to discuss another one that I call the "magic of firsts." The following paragraphs from Happiness Rehab explain how it works:    

      In order to recapture the magic, it helps to remember a time when creativity was at work in your life and how it felt.

 

Try to recall the first time you met someone to whom you felt a strong attraction and write about it . . . What physical thing about this person stood out to you most at first sight? Where were you when you first saw this person? Were you at a party? At school? Standing on a street corner? How did you feel? Your heart might have raced at the sight of this person, and you knew you were experiencing something phenomenal. When remembering, most people think first of a romantic encounter, but parents can also describe the intense magnetism of seeing their child for the first time. As a parent, you probably focused completely on the new addition to your life, and the awe, love and sense of protectiveness that swept through you was so immediate and intense it felt all-consuming. Everything about that new being amazed you: tiny fingers and toes, downy skin, the tilt or curve of your baby’s nose.

Recall another time in your life when you were amazed at something, as if you were seeing or experiencing it for the first time. It may be something as simple as your first airline flight, or as glorious as your child’s first steps . . . . Now answer the following questions about this child-like fascination experience you had:

            1. What was it?

2. Where were you?

3. What was the object or event?

            4. How did you feel?

           

            When I did the above exercise for the first time, I thought of my first trip to New York City when I was in my thirties. I had flown there for a conference, but what stands out in my mind the most is the cab ride from the airport to the hotel in Times Square. I felt excited and energized. I was tuned in completely to each scent and sight and sound. I was fascinated by everything and filled with enthusiastic anticipation for whatever experience was waiting for me around the next corner.

            That particular memory has remained very vivid to me over the years because when I was in that cab, I was completely engrossed with the world around me and the event taking place. I was experiencing a "first" with child-like fascination. Although I was unaware of the fact, I was primed for creativity during that time, because child-like fascination is one of the keys to engaging imagination and releasing creative flow. And within that realm we experience a sense of happiness that seeps into our everyday life.

            Creating new "firsts" in your life helps you to stay engaged and aware of the simple wonders around you that can, otherwise, be too easy to take for granted and miss.  How can you "create" a first? Try the following, also from Happiness Rehab:

            Start off by challenging yourself to try one new thing per month. Soon, you’ll discover you want to do more. Up the challenge to one new thing per week, then one per day. Don’t panic. These can be small, easy things:

• Drive a different route to work.
• Take your daily walk in a different neighborhood each day.           
• Try a restaurant you’ve never gone to.
• Sample a food you’ve never tasted.

Once you’re comfortable, try more involved firsts:

• Attempt to start a new friendship by calling up an acquaintance and asking him or her to meet you for coffee.
• Sign up to take a class in a subject that interests you.
• Rearrange the furniture in your house in an unexpected way.

           

Of course, you can also attempt the bigger firsts, too:

• Plan a trip to someplace you’ve never been.
• Face a fear by doing something that frightens you – like public speaking or applying for a new job.

            For more ideas to help you reconnect or stay connected to your creativity, check out the new Happiness Rehab website or download Happiness Rehab: 8 Creative Steps to a More Joyful Life free of charge to your Kindle this coming Saturday, Sunday and Monday (October 13, 14,15).

Common Denominators -- Recurring Fictional Themes

by Jennifer Archer 

Writing for both the young adult market and the adult market is enough to make me feel schizophrenic sometimes! Next week on the very same day -- September 18 -- I have two books being released. My novel for teens, Through Her Eyes, will be available for the first time in paperback, and my Romance novel, Shocking Behavior, will be available for the first time as an e-book -- with a brand new cover.

Writers are often advised by agents and editors to develop a "brand" by focusing on one genre. While I know this is good career advice, I've always had trouble following it. I can't force a story -- I have to write the one that's knocking around in my head, trying to get out. Over the years, those stories have included paranormal romantic comedies like Shocking Behavior, quirky mainstream women's fiction, more serious mainstream women's fiction, and teen fiction like Through Her Eyes.

I used to spend a fair amount of time wondering why my books are so different, one from the other. I asked myself if I was too easily bored with writing the same "type" of story. Or if I was allowing myself to be influenced by whatever I was reading at the moment.  (I'm an eclectic reader -- I don't stick to one genre in that regard, either.)  

It wasn't until my agent pointed out that all of the books I've written have one thing in common --    a "continuity of voice" -- that I took a closer look at my body of work. When I did, I made a surprising discovery. My books have more than one common denominator. I revisit the same themes in my stories, again and again. 

For instance, more than one of my books have a past story and a present story taking place simultaneously. In these, history catches up to the here and now and affects it in some profound way. And many of my characters wear masks, literally or figuratively or both. These characters hide behind or inhabit a false persona or pretend to be someone else. Sometimes another character in the story falls in love with the "disguised" person's soul or personality -- their inside -- before seeing what they look like physically -- their outside.

All of these things are true of both Through Her Eyes and Shocking Behavior. On the surface these stories seem to be completely different. Through Her Eyes is a novel for young adults, a ghost story that deals with serious issues such as illness and death and dealing with change. Shocking Behavior is a novel for adults, a paranormal romantic comedy about a man who becomes invisible after stumbling upon his kooky scientist father's latest invention.  Through Her Eyes is serious with moments of humor.  Shocking Behavior is humorous with a subtle, serious undertone. However, look closer and the similarities are there. The ghost and the invisible man. The girl/woman who falls for each without ever really seeing him. A historical story that affects the present day story. The illness of a loved one and the changes that brings.  

Follow any author's work and I predict you'll find that I'm not unique. Every writer has his or her own themes that they explore in their writing, again and again.

How about you? If you're a writer, do you recognize recurring themes in your stories? And readers, can you identify the repeating themes of your favorite authors?

THROUGH HER EYES

Every ghost has a story to tell . . .
The last thing Tansy Piper wanted was to move to the middle of nowhere in Cedar Canyon, Texas. Once there, her life takes a chilling turn when she finds a pocket watch, a journal of poetry, and a tiny crystal in the cellar of her new home.
The items belonged to Henry, a troubled teenager who lived in the house and died decades earlier. And Tansy, an amateur photographer, soon discovers that through the crystal and her photographs, she can become part of Henry's surreal black-and-white world.
But the more time Tansy spends in the past, the more her present world fades away. Can she escape Henry's dangerous reality before losing touch with her own life forever? 

SHOCKING BEHAVIOR 

When J.T. Drake is rendered invisible by one of his elderly father’s inventions, his father’s assistant Roselyn Peabody is the only person with the skills to possibly make him normal again. The beautiful, young scientist has never met J.T. and has no idea what he looks like, yet sparks fly whenever they touch. Rosy vows to help him regain his visibility, but when J.T. finally materializes, will their electric chemistry disappear or expose itself as true love?

Jennifer Archer's website www.jenniferarcher.com