Category: Blog

I’m so happy to be able to host my good friend and critique partner, S.K. Falls. You may remember her as Adriana Ryan, the author of the awesome New Adult dystopian, World of Shell and Bone. She has a new pen name (which happens to be her real name) and an amazing New Adult contemporary release, Secret for a Song. The premise is dark, but brilliant: lonely Munchhausen patient meets and joins support group for terminally ill young adults. Wow.

I had the pleasure to read and critique the manuscript a few months ago, and I can assure you that it’s incredible. Don’t take my word for it, check out the glowing reviews pouring in on Amazon and Goodreads (links below). Don’t miss the excerpt after the cover and blurb. S.K. is a very talented writer; her prose is one of the things I love best about her novels. Please read and enjoy!

Saylor Grayson makes herself sick. Literally.

She ate her first needle when she was seven. Now, at nineteen, she’s been kicked out of college for poisoning herself with laxatives. The shrinks call it Munchausen Syndrome. All Saylor knows is that when she’s ill, her normally distant mother pays attention and the doctors and nurses make her feel special.

Then she meets Drew Dean, the leader of a local support group for those with terminal diseases. When he mistakes her for a new member, Saylor knows she should correct him. But she can’t bring herself to, not after she’s welcomed into a new circle of friends. Friends who, like Drew, all have illnesses ready to claim their independence or their lives

For the first time, Saylor finds out what it feels like to be in love, to have friends who genuinely care about her. But secrets have a way of revealing themselves. What will happen when Saylor’s is out?

Buy links:

Amazon | Barnes and Noble | Goodreads

Excerpt:

Drew waited with me as I stood on the sidewalk outside, letting the snow dust my head and shoulders.

“You look good in snow,” he said.

I laughed, my cheeks heating up as I tipped my head back to look at him. “Are you drunk?”

He stepped in closer, blocking out the streetlight that glowed orange in my eyes. “Maybe just a little tipsy.” He smiled. “I really meant what I sang in there.”

“Which part?” My words were just a breath, curling into the air.

He brought his head down to mine, so our noses were almost touching. “I’ll tell you a secret, I’ll sell you a secret for a song,” he sang softly; the same song from the bar. “Someday I’ll tell you, and take you back home where you belong.”

I wasn’t one of those girls who cried at every emotional thing they saw or heard; I’d never been that way. That might’ve explained why, when the tears cascaded down onto my cheeks, I felt with my fingers to see what the hell was going on with my eyes.

“Hey,” Drew said, catching one of the tears with a fingertip. “Are you okay?”

I opened my mouth to say I was, but all that came out was a sort of sob-whine, and more tears. Drew responded by putting his free hand around my waist and covering my mouth with his.

I’d like to say that in that moment, I kept my head. That I remembered that I was lying to him, that my entire existence in his life was only because of a huge untruth, and that I intended to extricate myself from him and the rest of the group. I’d like to say that I stopped the kiss.

But in that instance, the only thing I felt, the only thing that mattered, was how hard I was falling for Andrew Dean.

I was falling for this scared, lonely, broken, brave man who sang songs about secrets, who lulled me into a whole new universe using nothing but his voice. I wanted him, all of him, and I pretended that I belonged. It was the biggest lie I’d told up to that point, and for someone whose entire life was carved out of lies of different colors and shades and shapes, that was saying a lot.

Bio:

A huge fan of spooky stuff and shoes, I enjoy alternately hitting up the outlet malls and historic graveyards in Charleston, SC where I live and imbibe coffee. My husband and two small children seem not to mind when I hastily scribble novel lines on stray limbs in the absence of notepads.

Since no writer’s biography is complete without mention of her menagerie of animals, you should know I have one dog that doubles as a footstool, a second that functions as a vacuum cleaner, and a cat that ensures I never forget that my hands are, first and foremost, for pouring cat food.

Visit S.K. Falls:

Website | Facebook | Twitter | Goodreads

Does anyone else out there have a Godbrother? Well, I do, and his name is Ben. Ben’s parents are my godparents, and my parents are his godparents. He’s a charming, wonderful guy with a sweet wife and super family.

I mention all this because my Godbrother has published a short nonfiction book that I think would make a great Father’s Day gift for any Dad interested in fly fishing and business. (Hint, hint, Father’s Day is next Sunday June 16th . . . )

Ben’s book is called Selling the Fly – A fly fisherman’s guide to sales, customers and how to catch a fish. As the title accurately suggests, it compares fly fishing – something Ben knows a lot about living in the Pacific Northwest – to sales – something else Ben knows a lot about as it’s his career. He offers a series of sage fly fishing “rules” that apply well to attracting and keeping customers. My favorite: “Don’t expect the fish to bite just because you’re hungry.”

Here is the cover and the blurb from Amazon. Ben even illustrated the flies throughout the book – he’s multi-talented. I hope you’ll pick up a copy for yourself, your Dad, or any fly-fisherman/salesperson in your life. Congrats, Godbrother!

In the world of sales, some people are “Hunters” and other are “Farmers”. Both types have strong, positive characteristics and can lead a person to a successful career. However, I believe the best analogy for a successful salesperson is that of a fly fisherman presenting and “selling the fly” to a hungry and discerning trout.

There are many parallels between success on the river and success in sales. This short guide outlines several lessons on how to win more, happy customers and some helpful hints on how to catch and release a fish.

Fish on!