I was interviewed today!

My new friend, J.L. Spelbring interviewed me on her blog today as the finale in the Spencer Hill Press Blog Run. Hop on over for a chance to win a $25 gift card to Amazon or Barnes & Noble provided by moi!

http://jlspelbring.blogspot.com/2012/09/the-spencer-hill-press-summer-blog-run.html?m=1

Cover reveal and moving out

Hey y'all, I'm moving over to my new website, marygraybooks.com with its attached blog. So if you'd all like to see Trisha Wolfe's new cover for FIREBLOOD, hop on over, and feel free to add my new blog to your blogroll. I'll add you to mine if you leave a comment there. :)

I'll close this blog out soon--not sure if a few days or weeks would be best, but I will be closing out this blog indefinitely soon enough.

Cover Reveal: STALKED BY DEATH by Kelly Hashway

A publishing house sister of mine, Kelly Hashway, has a new book coming out and I get to take part in the cover reveal! The first one in this series, Touch of Death, was gorgeous, and so is this one! Take a peek!

And a little about the book:

Jodi knows that any slip-ups made by the Ophi--a special group of necromancers born under the 13th sign of the zodiac--will fall on her shoulders... and that Hades is just waiting for them to screw up so he can wipe out the Ophi line.

When the only Ophi Jodi can convince to come to the school and train with her is a gorgeous guy named Chase, it spells more than trouble for Jodi and Alex. Her mixed emotions for both guys send her powers surging out of control, and she begins raising the dead without even meaning to. Jodi doesn't want to lose Alex, but Chase is offering her something Alex can't. His very touch enhances her powers, making her stronger than any Ophi ever has been--maybe even powerful enough to stop Hades from threatening them all. But Chase's offering comes with a huge price. One that may cost Jodi everything she has.

Jodi needs to figure things out fast--because death is stalking her at every turn. 

 While this one doesn't come out for a while, the first in the series comes out January 2013. I love the cover art for these books. I look forward to reading, Kelly!

You can add this "to read" on Goodreads by clicking here.

Cover reveal: The Burning of Isobel Key by Jen McConnel

Just because I hate having to scroll down, I decided to put the cover up top, but isn't it gorgeous? It's a book by my friend! Her name's Jen McConnel and we've been email buddies now for months. I agreed to do a cover reveal and wow this book is so pretty! And Scotland witch burnings? Yes, please!

Here's the blurb:

When Lou travels to Scotland, she’s a mess.  She’s twenty-six, unemployed, and unsure of herself.  It doesn’t help that she’s traveling with Tammy, her best friend, who is everything Lou is not.

At first, the trip pushes Lou towards the brink of depression, but then she meets Brian, a handsome local tour guide.  When Brian tells the tourists about the countless witches burned in Scotland, Lou starts to listen.  And when she discovers information about Isobel Key, one of the victims of the seventeenth century, Lou finds renewed purpose.

She sets out to learn the truth of the condemned witch, but she isn’t prepared for the knowledge that waits for her.  Lou must face her demons if she has any hope of righting the wrongs of the past.

Here's a little about Jen:

Jen McConnel first began writing poetry as a child.  Since then, her words have appeared in a variety of magazines and journals, including Sagewoman, PanGaia, and The Storyteller (where she won the people’s choice 3rd place award for her poem, “Luna”).

She is also an active reviewer for Voices of Youth Advocates (VOYA), and proud member of SCBWI, NCWN, and SCWW.

The Burning of Isobel Key is her first novel.  She also writes YA fantasy.

http://isobelkey.com/
http://www.goodreads.com/author/show/6451403.Jen_McConnel
@ProDeaWriter
jennifermcconnel.wordpress.com
http://www.facebook.com/jenmcconnelauthor

Don't forget to add it "to read" on Goodreads! I know I did!

Feeling better today

I've made it through the manuscript--I'm not done with this round of edits, but it feels so good to at least have all the pieces in place and the majority of the work make sense. I still have sixteen days to complete this round. I can do it. I can. And I have my cover lurking on my computer to inspire me. ;)

Keeping my chin up

It's tough revising, because it's hard to know how to have the right mind-set. Many fellow writers know what I'm talking about. We waffle between, "This is the most amazing book ever," to "Who will want to read this trash?" Or, "I can totally make that deadline," to "Yeah, there's no possible way." That's me. And that's why I'm silent. I'm trying my best to make the best book possible, but some days it is hard not to feel overwhelmed. We recently built a swimming pool for my three small children, and I was excited because that meant they could get tuckered out each morning, then rest in the afternoons while I write. Well then they got pretty severe ear infections and that went out the window, so I managed to take them to the park today for forty minutes before it got to be 100 degrees and we came home. My kids are not getting tuckered out for the afternoons.

So, yeah. The revising. I'm knee-deep. If I'm not blogging or tweeting much it's because I'm swimming in edits, only occasionally coming up to breathe. September 1st, I both love and fear you. For the first time I completely understand why the first part of the word Deadline is "dead." Because I'm dead if I don't make it, dead if I do. From exhaustion, from depression, from too many catastrophic sparks zapping from my head. Well, not all catastrophic. I hope.

Ode to Kat

This week my agent, Kat Salazar, of Larsen-Pomada Literary Agents, informed me that she was leaving agenting. It was sad news to hear! She was the one who plucked my story out of the slushpile, and she's the one who told me I write beautifully. The day she offered representation was one of the happiest of my life.

But I want Kat to be happy and I want her to pursue what she needs. I will miss her, but am also grateful she found a home for my book. And while I had the opportunity to work with another agent, I've decided to go it alone... at least for now.

So if you look at my profile and see the last line missing, that's because I am no longer "rep'd by Kat." But thank you, dear agent, for wanting to work with me in the first place. Your clever emails, insights, and wit buoyed me up. I wish you the very best in your life apart from the thousands of emails, frantic writers, and late Earl Grey nights.

I wish you all the best.