Enduring Romance is Retired

It was a glorious four year run, making love connections between authors and readers! And those Cyber-Launch Book Parties were a blast. A big thanks to everyone who ever popped in. If anyone wants to follow me around the blogosphere, I can be found at my main site Kimber An and will be spending a lot of time at our new group blog for ePublished YA authors, Fabulously Young ePubs.

Fabulously Young ePubs!

Come check out the new group blog- Fab ePubs

Fabulously Young ePubs Launches Tomorrow!

Pop on over and check it out.  We have NINE authors contributing from three different publishers.  Fabulously Young ePubs

Fabulously Young ePubs!

Hey, Blog Buds, the other Decadent YA authors and I are throwing together a group blog, so I'll be transitioning to that this weekend as Enduring Romance goes into retirement.  If you are or know anyone who is an *ePublished* Young Adult author, please let us know!  We're all Decadent right now, but we'd like to include non-Decadent authors to spread the love.  Fabulously Young ePubs

This Blog Will Retire August 1st...

...after four glorious years of making love connections between Readers and Writers. It will remain online, but become Read Only. Please pop back in for updates between now and August 1st.

YA Decadent Blog Stomp: Bitter Roses

Good morning, Blog Buds!  It's my turn for the blog stomp.  Please scroll to the bottom or click on the Blog Stom icon on the sidebar to the left to learn how you can enter the daily drawings and the Grand Prize drawing for the loaded KINDLE!  
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Looking around at all the wonderful YA Authors I hang out with at Decadent got me thinking about why I write Young Adult in the first place.  Well, at first, I didn't.  I had no idea what I wrote.  I just had big stories in my head and I wrote them down.  It wasn't until people started critting them for me over at Critique Circle  , people like Sara Gwen  who was a teenager at the time, that I started getting feedback about having a 'voice' best suited to writing for teens.  Duh.  So, I worked on toning that voice and packaging my stories for that audience. 
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So, why is my voice best suited for teens?  My personal opinion is my lack of Bitter Roses.  What I mean by that is Adults seem to go through a change at around age 20 (scientifically speaking, this is the age at which the human brain stops growing) and they begin to look back on their childhood and adolescence either in Bitterness or through Rose-Colored Glasses.  Their ability to Think and Feel as their younger selves diminishes dramatically. (I've seen a similar thing happen around age 40, but that's for a different post.)
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This diminishing never happened for me.
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Here's a song to demonstrate what I mean:
'When I Grow Up' by the Beach Boys
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As I was saying, I still Think and Feel childhood and adolescence, which is undoubtedly why I was a Childcare Professional for years and years before having my own four children and finally becoming a published YA author.
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And there's another thing.  My childhood and teens were far from ideal.  I've read that other authors, most notably J.K. Rowling  write for young people as a way to recapture childhood, because their own was not-so-good.  I know I'm nowhere near the calibur of author Rowling is, but I think I've learned something she has too and I've learned to infuse my stories with it.  You can either let Pain fester into Bitterness and end up miserable.  Or, you can turn Pain on its ear and become Empathetic to those who suffer similarly.  This is why the heroine of the Ophelia Dawson Chronicles is an Empath.  It's a supernatural ability for her, but any human can learn empathy by really seeing and feeling for those around her, and then acting in a compassionate way.  I'm not saying I've arrived at that, but my journey in life is taking me there.
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Commenters on today’s post are entered to win a Decadent title of their choice. In addition, all commenters will be entered into Decadent’s grand prize drawing. There’s some great stuff to win, so please enter today and enter often!
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Kimber An

YA Decadent Authors Chat Tonight!

at The Romance Studio

Decadent YA Chat for Blog Tour

It's tomorrow night, July 6th.  Come and be entered into the Blog Stomp's prize drawings!
Decadent YA Chat at the Romance Studio

Decadent Publishing YA Blog Tour Starts Today!

Good morning, Blog Buds!
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My publisher, Decadent, kicks off its month-long blog tour today, starting at home with Let's Get This Party Started!   This one's hosted by fellow YA author, Leslie Soule who is also one of my editors.

Leave a comment under this post or any other related post here or at one of the other participating blogs and you will be entered into the prize drawings.

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Grand Prize:  An Amazon Kindle loaded with SIX eBooks!

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First Prize:   a free eBook each month for 12 months

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Second Prize:  a free eBook each month for 6 months.

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Additionally, each stop on the blog tour will have a drawing for an eBook on its assigned day.

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This blog's stop is July 7th. 

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Today's stop is at Daily Dose of Decadence



Summer Reads & Writes

Hey, Blog Buds, school's out!  I've been spending almost all my computer time on Sweet Bytes, the next full length novel in the Ophelia Dawson Chronicles.  Now that school's out, I can do more.
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Writing must always come first now.  I was hoping to have Sweet Bytes read to send to Decadent by the first week of May.  Um...okay, so then I set my goal for the last week in May.  Well...then in my story analysis I came up TWELVE chapters short of my wordcount.  Yeah, I spewed coffee on my computer screen.  Good thing I have Save the Cat! by Blake Snyder or that would have taken me months to figure out and then months more to figure out what to do about it.  As it is, it took just a few minutes.  But, it will take a solid week to make up those chapters.
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Anyway...I reckon my editors would rather receive a story that's as complete and good as I can make it all by myself. 
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Once that's done, I'm going to be spending time on blogosphere-wide events, like Decadent's YA Blog Tour in July.  I'll be guest blogging all over the place and such.  Stay tuned to this station for more details.
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Besides that and a massive amount of end-of-the-homeschool-housecleaning, I also plan to READ!  Yes, read!  Haven't had time to do that in such a long time.  I really do miss being a book reviewer.  With the last Harry Potter movie coming out, I want to read the whole series again.  My children and I are planning to read Harry Potter and the Sorceror's Stone out loud together.
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I also want to reread Nefertiti by Michelle Moran again.  It's one of those books I like to read once a year.  I want to read Lottery by Patricia Wood, but I gave my copy to my mother and made her swear to take excellent care of it.  Signed by the author, you know!  I'll check out a copy from the library.  Other rereads will be Down Home Zombie Blues by Linnea Sinclair and Apocalypse Blues by Walter Greatshell. 
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For first time reads, I want to squeeze in some Steampunk, like Boneshaker by Cherie Priest and a few swoony Historical Romances set in World War II and the Old West.  Any recommendations?
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Ahhh, summer!  I can't wait to go camping! 
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You know what I can't figure out about camping these days?  Why in tarnation do people even go if they have to take all their modern junk with them?  When I go camping, goshdarnit, I wanna get dirty!

Mother's Day Sale at Decadent!

Go, Hot Mamas!
Mother's Day at Decadent

New eBook Community!

Check it out http://www.wattpad.com/

Happy Easter!

Backyard Chickens

Unrequested ARCs

Good morning, Blog Buds!
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Just a reminder, the policy here on Unrequested ARCs is you send them at your own risk.  We only review books we like or love here, so it's much cheaper to ask us if we want a book before sending it.
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Also, I, Kimber An, no longer review books.  Since my first book, SUGAR RUSH, was accepted for publication last year, I just don't have time.  Oh, sure, once in a while I'll get sick and have the time and sudden urge to read, but mostly I just can't.  Besides novel-writing, I also have FOUR children.  Count 'em, FOUR.  So, once again, not such a good idea to send me an ARC, if you're pinching pennies these days.
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Now, if the ARC happens to be Young Adult, I might pass it on to Kimber, Jr.  Or not.  I still reserve the right to be a neurotically overprotective mother.  But, I certainly don't have the time or money to stand in line at the post office and mail a paper ARC to any of the other reviewers here.
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So, please, ask first. 

Nevertheless, Enduring Romance is on a few of the Big Boy Publishers mailing lists and I still get ARCs out of the blue, just automatic sends, I guess.  I figure it's not the authors' faults the publishers didn't check out our policy here and, being an author, I know authors got to eat and usually have a few hungry mouths to feed.  So, I'll tell you about their books anyway, if I have time.
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DEPARTMENT NINETEEN by Will Hill.  Here's a review-   http://bookzone4boys.blogspot.com/2011/02/review-department-19-by-will-hill.html
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EONA by Alison Goodman.  Here's a review-
http://thebooksmugglers.com/2011/04/book-review-eona-by-alison-goodman.html
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Okay, guys, got to get back to writing SWEET BYTES.  I was just getting to an exciting part too.

Decadent Temporarily Opened for Submissions!

Pop on over and join a great team of authors, editors, and all around geniuses!
http://www.decadentpublishing.com/index.php?osCsid=205e64d12a8933c520257f8df2b11bcf&content=submissions

A Little Bee Told Me...

...that Decadent Publishing may open to general submissions for a few days this week.  Keep an eye on this page- Decadent Submissions

Jess Wins!

Jess won the Grand Prize Drawing celebrating the release of my prequel novella, Crushed Sugar.  Besides the cool Alaska stuff and a free copy of Crushed, she gets a t-shirt with Bianca's famous words from the end of Sugar Rush-.
What do you need?  A good bite on the neck?
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If you're interested in getting your own t-shirts, please pop over to my CafePress store.  I make no profit from the sales.  The shirts are sold at cost.  Lately, I haven't been able to access it on my computer.  I think my browser's the problem.  If you have trouble seeing my page on CafePress, please let me know so I can email the site and get it fixed.  Thank you!  Here's the link-
T-Shirts for Diabes & Blood-Sucking Dead Guys

The Drawing is Now Closed!

The winner will be announced as soon as she confirms.  A Big THANK YOU to everyone!

Last Day for Grand Prize Drawing

Check out the Crushed Sugar's Release Day Post  to learn the details and comment under this post or that one to be entered.  The drawing will be held tonight at 6 p.m. Alaska Time.  The winner will be announced after he or she is notified and confirmed.  Thanks to everyone who helped make this release a blast!

Thanks for an Awesome Release Party for CRUSHED!

The contests here and at Blog Buddies and reviewers' sites are ongoing with different closing dates.  The Grand Prize Drawing here is on Wednesday, March 30th.  Scroll down to check out all the stuff and links.  Now, I must get back to work on the next full-length novel in the series, Sweet Bytes.  I also have another shorter tale in mind, but I don't know if it'll fly yet.
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Brace yourselves, Blog Buds.  Tomorrow's Monday.
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