social media...

facebook made changes that are not only freaking crappy... they make it really hard to understand. i don't get why places do that? when the interface and everything is perfectly awesome and NO ONE is complaining about it- why do they change the way the entire thing looks, works, etc?

WHY mess with something that isn't broken?! dear facebook headquarters, are you simply bored or what?! all this perfection, you just have to screw with it?!?!?

i mean, i have google+, but that confused me EVEN MORE THAN THE NEW FACEBOOK DOES!!!!

speaking of confusing, why does it feel like i'm the only one who doesn't get goodreads?!? i mean, I LOVE the site- but i feel like i don't really understand how to interact with everyone. the message boards and groups are weird, or hard to find, or i just haven't spent enough time there. i want to be super active there, but everytime i log in- i cry and log out.

okay, i don't really cry.

enough complaining. back to writing. i was working a lot on "before the dreams" but lately i've been all about "chance encounters." i honestly think that will be my next release. it's about following your heart, when your heart breaks. it's a love story through and through. :)

i hope you will love it. xoxo

writing..

it's been slow for me lately. i mean, as far as writing goes.

it so sucks sometimes. i mean, i wish i could type as quickly as my brain thought, you know? it would be so much easier to write then! ha! :) it's just such a long process to write even the SIMPLEST action.

i know i want/need something to happen. i can sum that something up in my head in like .2 seconds. but in the writing world- it needs to be developed. that thing can't just "happen" out of nowhere and have it all make sense.

so things take time.

and clearly my writing is one of them.

not to mention the fact that i have FOUR books right now that are in various stages of being written. FOUR!

no wait.

yeah, that's right. FOUR.

and i know i should focus on one at a time, but you try to insisting that your characters WANT to be written on any given day! it just doesn't work like that! i'll sit down with the intention of writing more about cooper, austen and katherine... but then jackson and caroline and clay will YELL AT ME and the next thing i know, i'm writing more of Chance Encounters!

it's chaos in this head of mine!!!

chaos i tell you!

but i'm thankful. i mean, at least i have characters who are begging to be written. at least i have worlds upon worlds of stories in my head just dying to get out! it's way better than having a deserted town where there's no one there but maybe a lone tumbleweed and some horse looking for water.

right?

right. :)

thanks for bearing with me as i learn, develop and grow on this journey! and thanks for reading, loving, sharing and talking about IN DREAMS! i can't do it without you! :)

xoxoxo- j

9/11

it's important to me that i take a pause here... to stop self promoting, shamelessly plugging, etc.

i remember like it was yesterday when those towers fell. i remember how it felt to get the news. the rush to turn my tv on. my mind racing to everyone i knew and could possibly know inside those towers.

and then the pentagon.

and then flight 93.

i remember the feelings of helplessness, hopelessness and hopefulness all at once. the feeling of unity... the sense of an unspoken bond... floods of words and emotions spoke only through looks and glances on the freeway.

i hate what happened that day. my heart cracked so deep it can never be fully repaired again.

and in all honesty, i don't want it too. it's a reminder. of how fragile we all are. of how it can all end in the blink of an eye.

you want to know what i miss though? i miss the way it felt to be a part of something.
not THAT something, but a part of this country.
there was a feeling here that was indescribable. if you didn't have a flag or a sticker on your car declaring your love for your country, you stood out. it seemed like everyone was feeling the exact same thing.

i miss the feeling where we all seemed to CARE about one another. we stopped our busy, hectic, self important lives, to genuinely ask our neighbors how they were. we valued what truly mattered. we took stock of what was important and how we wanted to live our lives from that day forth.
some of us changed careers.
some of us stopped waiting for that someday, knowing that someday may never come.

it was like a national eye opener... but into our hearts and souls. what made us tick? people mattered. friendships mattered. love mattered. not work. not money. not the same old bullshit.

but like most things, that feeling has faded with time. people have forgotten. or moved on. or put what they felt that day in the past. it's so easy to go back to the same old routine.

and i think that makes me the most sad.

for me... my life changed that day. my way of thinking didn't change- it just got thrust into the forefront of my mind- always lingering.. sometimes shouting at me. and i've never let it go. i can feel how i'm supposed to live my life. i KNOW what truly matters to me. i'm just trying to make my soul and my wallet meet somewhere in the middle. :)

*deep breathe*

i can't believe it's been 10 years. i hope that you're living your life the way you are meant too. and if you're not, i hope you're happy. and loved.

Book Signing Tomorrow!

tomorrow is my first meet & greet and local book signing! I'm super excited... and in all honesty, sort of convinced that no one will show up. i should have promised cupcakes, or puppies or something.

wish me luck! :)

In Dreams, Book of the Month for September!

This is exciting news! hell, anything about my book is over the moon exciting to me! :) treasured tales for young adults has chosen In Dreams to be the book of the month for September!

i hope this means that people will buy it and read it and then discuss it?! who knows.. i've never had a book be a part of a book club before. ha!

just wanted to share!

don't forget that while we're getting the word out about my newest (and first, shhh) release, all of the e-book versions are only $2.99!!! i can't really lower the cost of the paperbacks because they cost money to print and ship. so those prices are fairly set. but the e-readers, they can fluctuate as much and as often as i choose. so i'm currently choose "affordable" as my price! i hope that will encourage people to get the book, if they're on the fence.

my meet and greet is coming up quick! this saturday! eeeeeeek. i hope i don't get all sweaty and anxious. i know, i'm so attractive. :)

xoxox