Cover Reveal! Until Beth by Lisa Amowitz

I'm thrilled to be part of the cover reveal for my very dear friend Lisa Amowitz's new book! Isn't it gorgeous!! Look for the book this fall!

She doesn’t just play, she kills it.

Talented rock guitarist Beth Collins has been barely holding herself together for months, ever since her boyfriend and bandmate became the latest victim in a string of suspicious disappearances. When her brother is injured an accident and she sees something dark billowing around him as he hovers close to death, she’s convinced her sanity is collapsing for good.

Then she's accepted by a boarding school for the musically gifted. All of her new friends are bursting with talent, but they're also keeping secrets. Can she trust Vincent, who's so sweet that his very touch makes her fears melt away? Or Xavier, who's trying to tell her something but is hiding even more?

And will anyone be safe when her true Talent comes out?

Title: Until Beth
Author: Lisa Amowtiz
Publisher: Spencer Hill Press
Expected Publication Date: September 29 2015

Goodreads Link

Lisa Amowitz was born in Queens and raised in the wilds of Long Island, New York where she climbed trees, thought small creatures lived under rocks and studied ant hills. And drew. A lot.
Lisa has been a professor of graphic design at Bronx Community College where she has been tormenting and cajoling students for nearly eighteen years. She started writing eight years ago because she wanted something to illustrate, but somehow, instead ended up writing YA. Probably because her mind is too dark and twisted for small children.
BREAKING GLASS which was released July 9, 2013 from Spencer Hill Press, is her first published work. VISION, the first book in the Finder Series, released September 9, 2014 and its unnamed sequel will release winter, 2016. UNTIL BETH, a YA urban fantasy, will release September 2015.
So stay tuned because Lisa is very hyper and has to create stuff to stay alive.
Lisa is represented by Shannon Hassan of Marsal Lyon Literary Agency

Waiting on Wednesday - Lisa Amowitz's Vision + Giveaway!

Waiting on Wednesday is a weekly meme hosted by Jill from Breaking the Spine that spotlights upcoming releases we are eagerly awaiting!

Title: Vision

Author: Lisa Amowitz

Publisher: Spencer Hill Press

Expected Publication Date: September 9, 2014


BLURB:

The light is darker than you think… 

High school student Bobby Pendell already has his hands full—he works almost every night to support his disabled-vet father and gifted little brother. Then he meets the beautiful new girl in town, who just happens to be his boss’s daughter. Bobby has rules about that kind of thing. Nothing matters more than keeping his job.

When Bobby starts to get blinding migraines that come with scary, violent hallucinations, his livelihood is on the line. Soon, he must face the stunning possibility that the visions of murder are actually real. With his world going dark, Bobby is set on the trail of the serial killer terrorizing his small town. With everyone else convinced he’s the prime suspect, Bobby realizes that he, or the girl he loves, might be killer's next victim.

My young adult novel BREAKING GLASS is available now 

Amazon, BN, Oblong Books 

The light is darker than you think.

Visit me on the web at: lisaamowitz.com

Breaking Glass on GOODREADS 

Lisa Amowitz was born in Queens and raised in the wilds of Long Island, New York where she climbed trees, thought small creatures lived under rocks and studied ant hills. And drew. A lot.

Lisa has been a professor of graphic design at  Bronx Community College where she has been tormenting and cajoling students for nearly eighteen years. She started writing eight years ago because she wanted something to illustrate, but somehow, instead ended up writing YA. Probably because her mind is too dark and twisted for small children.

BREAKING GLASS which was released July 9, 2013 from Spencer Hill Press, is her first published work. VISION, the first of the Finder series will be released in 2014 along with an unnamed sequel in the following year. LIFE AND BETH will also be released in the near future. So stay tuned because Lisa is very hyper and has to create stuff to stay alive.

Facebook Author page

Facebook Cover Design page

Twitter

a Rafflecopter giveaway

Cover and Trailer Reveal!! Lisa Amowitz's BREAKING GLASS

I know we usually have some Friday Funnies on Fridays, but today is a little special :) I am very pleased to take part in the cover and book trailer reveal for my dear friend Lisa Amowitz's upcoming debut novel, BREAKING GLASS. I had the pleasure of reading this book this weekend and it was AWESOME. Without further ado, here is the incredible cover and trailer :)

(and p.s. Lisa is not only an amazing author but a very talented artist as well. In fact, she creates covers for several publishers and was able to do her own cover. I've got to say - this is one of the best covers I've seen. Love it!)

Le Blurb:
On the night seventeen-year-old Jeremy Glass winds up in the hospital with a broken leg and a blood alcohol level well above the legal limit, his secret crush, Susannah, disappears. When he begins receiving messages from her from beyond the grave, he's not sure whether they're real or if he's losing his grip on reality. Clue by clue, he gets closer to unraveling the mystery, and soon realizes he must discover the truth or become the next
victim himself.


 

BREAKING GLASS is coming from Spencer Hill Press next spring! Congrats Lisa!!

Finally, Inspiration Strikes! But...

I've been having a lot of epiphanies lately about several of my projects. Major, breakthrough epiphanies. Things I have been stuck on for MONTHS. Problems I haven't known how to fix. Plot holes that were so deep I thought there was no fixing them. And then, all of a sudden, for no logical reason at all, I've had these strokes of super-insight and BAM! Inspiration strikes. I've got answers to questions I didn't know I had. Motivations I didn't know I needed. New directions I didn't know I wanted to take. And a few fixes I knew I needed to boot :)

I'm thrilled. Elated. Over the flipping moon excited to implement these changes.

One problem....

None of these epiphanies apply to my current project :D Because of all the stucky-suckiness I've been experiencing regarding my current novel-in-progress, I put it aside for awhile and decided to work on a short story I've been wanting to write. And I've been editing (again and again) the picture book I'm working on with the amazing Lisa Amowitz (who is running an AWESOME contest on her blog today. Head over!)

I am about 2 scenes from finishing the short story (life got in the way for a few days. Hopefully we are back on track today). Yet, instead of finishing the dang thing, I'm having creative bursts of literary awesomeness for a book I haven't touched in months.

Honestly, I think I have issues with finishing projects and I'm starting to think this is my brain's way of preventing me from finishing yet another one.

"Oooo almost done with that story, are you? Well take THIS *throws inspiration mojo for another book* Mwahahahaha!"

Well, crazy little mixed up brain. Joke's on you. I've taken lots of notes. I'm going to finish this short story THIS WEEK and then....then, I'm diving head first into that poor, neglected WIP of mine and finishing THAT too. Thanks for the motivation. Sincerely, Me :)

Do you ever have this happen? Get sudden inspiration for one project while working on another one? What do you do? Do you abandon one for the other, or finish Project B before going back to Project A?

It's Launch Day!!! Let the Blog Tour Begin!

Welcome to Homework Helpers: Essays and Term Papers Blog Tour!!

We've got an awesome first day! I am thrilled to be hosted today by the absolutely amazing

Christine Fonseca
Elana Johnson
Bethany Wiggins and Suzette Wiggins
and Lisa Amowitz

Starting today, every commenter along the blog tour will get an automatic entry for the huge Grand Prize Swag Basket! For every stop you comment on, you get another entry (one entry per stop). So if you visit each of the lovely ladies listed above, and LEAVE A COMMENT ON THEIR POST, you'll receive four entries for today.

At the end of the tour, I'll draw a name to select the winner :)

There will be several other opportunities to win copies of my book and swag bags along the way as many of my blog tour hosts will be featuring their own giveaways. I'll post each stop every morning and will also keep a running tab of them in the Blog Tour Giveaway tab above. Links for the giveaways and the Blog Tour stops will go live once the actual posts are up.

I hope you all join me for the tour! I'm being hosted by some really amazing people. It's going to be a blast!

Exciting Events This Week!

Coming up on Thursday, the release of my book Homework Helpers: Essays and Term Papers!! (unless you want to order from Amazon...they are already shipping :D (clink link on sidebar if you'd like to check it out))

It's going to be a fun couple of weeks coming up. On Thursday, to coincide with the release of my book, my blog tour will be launching with a little help from some awesome friends. The first stops on the tour will be at the amazing Elana Johnson's, the fabulous Christine Fonseca's, the wonderful Lisa Amowitz's, and a little something will be going on over at the Operation Awesome blog.

If yo look up above, there is a tab set up for the Blog Tour. For a complete list of all the stops along the tour, check out that page. As the posts for each stop go live, I'll set up the links so you can follow the tour. There will be several giveaways (books and fun swag) and I'll have a list of those with links under the Blog Tour Giveaways tab.

Also! We'll be doing a Grand Prize Giveaway at the end of the tour. One commenter from the whole tour will be chosen to win a huge basket of books and swag! To enter, all you have to do is comment....the more stops along the tour you comment on, the more entries you get :) More details to follow!

So stay tuned!! The fun starts Thursday!

Friday Funnies inspired by Lisa Amowitz

By perseverance the snail reached the ark.

~Charles Spurgeon

Perseverance is the hard work you do after you get tired of doing the hard work you already did. 

~Newt Gingrich

If you do not change direction, you may end up where you are heading. 

~Lao Tzu (on persistence)

PATIENCE, n. A minor form of despair, disguised as a virtue. 

(from thedevilsdictionary.com)

“In order to keep a true perspective of one's importance, everyone should have a dog that will worship him and a cat that will ignore him.”

~Anonymous

Thank you so much to Lisa for joining us this week! If you haven't become an avid follower of this amazing lady yet, head to her Blog and find her on Twitter. It's been an awesome week and a true pleasure to host such a fabulous guest :)

Thirty Word Thursday...plus a few more :D With Lisa Amowitz

When you are describing,

A shape, or sound, or tint;

Don't state the matter plainly,

But put it in a hint;

And learn to look at all things,

With a sort of mental squint.

~Charles Lutwidge Dodgson (Lewis Carroll)

Links!!

Lisa's Blog

Lisa on Twitter

Guest Blogger - Lisa Amowitz

The Four Ps and how I live by Them

It’s been five full years that I have been writing seriously (and I’m not even going to count the summers before when I secretly filled spiral notebooks with my mad ramblings). That’s five years of working with two online critique groups, attending conferences, querying, stopping, starting over ,WHINING, CRYING, threatening to QUIT..then starting again. Five years of thinking--THIS IS IT! This is the ONE! This ms is so ready—then finding out not. Five years of—if you would revise this, I’d consider it again. Then landing a big agent. Losing a big agent. Watching writer pal after writer pal get agented then getting a book deal. Feeling bad. Then feeling ecstatic that so many people I know have managed what I used to believe was impossible. Yay to all of you! You know who you are—my bookcase is filling up with your books with more on the way (four pals with books in print, nine with contracts).


Am I dying inside? Turning green with envy? Nope. Far from it. Let me be honest. I hate rejection. But it doesn’t have the edge it used to. I know it’s not personal. I know I can write! At the same time the thought of getting published doesn’t seem like the end all and be all, though I remain in dogged pursuit. I’m very goal oriented!


The way I see it is, I’ve got stories to tell. Lots of them. Characters that want to be heard. They just aren’t going to shut up, whether some one wants to put them in print or not. I don’t know the ending to this story. I may never hit it right—the right hook, in the right voice at the right time.

They can write it on my epitaph in poor English: She plodded until she couldn’t plod no more, (or maybe plotted until she couldn’t plot no more).

So now for those Four Ps.

Perseverance—continuing to write and better your craft, in the face of rejection, while not concerning yourself with who sold what and who is repped by whom. Realizing that everyone walks their own path and that the only ones who get there are the ones who just keep walking, even if the soles have worn off the bottom of their shoes.

Persistence—Hammering away at a manuscript, re-envisioning it, buffing it, hacking it if need be, but doing whatever it takes to make it the best you possibly can. Then finishing that one and starting your next.

Patience— The patience to wait until your manuscript has been critiqued, edited, revised until you KNOW it’s where it should be. Of course, with each new book, you set the bar higher. Patience to wait for agent responses—you CAN’T bug them! And, even still, I’ve learned from my contracted friends—you need patience to wait for your editorial notes. (Which I will frame if I ever get one.)

Perspective (this one is courtesy of Emily Murdoch from the querytracker forum)—You are writing because you love it and there’s no limit on what you can achieve if you really want it. So remember to enjoy the ride, savor those words, and never compare your successes to others. Getting published is not the reason to write. Writing is the reason to write.

You see why I love her? :) Find her online!

Lisa's Blog
Lisa on Twitter

Ten Word Tuesday with Lisa Amowitz

You must stay drunk on writing so reality cannot destroy you.

~Ray Bradbury

Links!!

Lisa's blog

Lisa on Twitter

Interview with the Lovely Lisa Amowitz

Welcome to our June's Author Spotlight Week! This week, I am very excited to introduce everyone to my very sweet friend, Lisa Amowitz. I met her several years ago, in the wee-hours of Querytracker's beginnings, and have been truly privileged to have her as a part of my life. Along with being an amazing writer, Lisa runs the Why A? blog where she reviews and highlights YA awesomeness and interviews the unbelievable authors who pen them. Lisa was kind enough to join us this week to tell us a little more about herself and her work. 

MM: Tell us about yourself 
LA: I am a mom of one high-schooler and one college student, married for—yeesh—just let’s say before the invention of the CD. I teach graphic design at a community college and this is a day job I would never give up as teaching breathes life into me. My students are an inspiration and a joy. I’m also an artist and hope to complete my very first picture book in the next year. I’ve always loved to write, but never actually pursued it seriously until about five years ago when the bug bit me. It’s had its teeth in me ever since.

MM: What inspired you to write your first book? 
LA: I started with the hopes of doing a picture book (hey—I’ve come full circle) and realized my story idea was too long for that. I filled up piles of index cards and then a bazillion notebooks. I distinctly remember sitting on the porch of our summer rental staring into the woods when my main character walked out and plopped himself into my life. That book was awful, but the mc, Will MacGregory, still holds a dear spot in my heart.

MM: What book are you reading now?
LA: Three books to be precise—The Boneshaker, by Kate Milford, my good friend and critique-mate, Claire de Lune by my other critique-mate and good friend, Christine Johnson AND Ballad, by Maggie Stiefvater, whom I don’t know at all, but who’s writing steals my breath away.

MM: Are there any new authors that have grasped your interest? 
LA: Kate Milford and Christine Johnson—(shameless plug, here.) But seriously. They are GOOD.

MM: Who is your favorite author and what is it that really strikes you about their work? 
LA: Hands down, my very favorite author is Suzanne Collins who wrote the Hunger Games. To me, Hunger Games is a perfect book—gorgeous language, gripping plot, unique premise, romance, great characters and a righteous cause. I simply must read those books in one sitting. I dragged out Catching Fire to a day and a half, but it was torture. I kept staring at it, able to think of nothing else. I would sell my soul to be able to write a book like that and it would be worth it.

(Totally agree with Lisa here :D I DEVOUR Suzanne's books)

MM: What do you do to keep yourself motivated when the writing business and all that it involves gets overwhelming?
LA: I ask myself if I would enjoy not writing. Then I answer myself: No, idiot, you wouldn’t. Write for the joy of it, I remind myself. Throw a ton of spaghetti at the wall. Eventually something’s going to stick.

(HA! Love this analogy)

MM: Can you give us any tantalizing hints about what is coming up on your blog? 
LA: I guess your posts about MOI seem the natural choice, no? Right now I am knee-deep in querying my lates MS, so I’ve been pretty absorbed. I just completed a month of interviews, so I guess after I catch my breath I’ll interview some more folks with books coming out. You and I know quite a few, (including yourself) don’t we?

MM: Yes we do (and thanks for the plug) ;-D It is so exciting seeing everyone's work coming out! :)

Thanks so much for being with us this week, Lisa!

Coming up, Lisa is hosting our 10 Word Tuesday and 30 Word Thursday and will be treating us to a guest pot on Wednesday. So come on back tomorrow for more of the awesome Ms. Amowitz!

Links!!! Be sure to head to Lisa's blog and give her a follow and you can find her on Twitter HERE.

Sorry!!!!

All righty everyone - I thought I could pull this off while being out of town, buuuuut, yeah LOL Apparently I'm not as slick as I thought I was :D

We are supposed to be doing our Author Spotlight Week this week, highlighting the utterly fabulous Lisa Amowitz. But, I left all my file behind on my other computer, so we are going to have to postpone until next week.

In the meantime, swing by Lisa's awesome blog and check it out. And please come back next Monday for the kick off to our spotlight week featuring Lisa. She is an incredible lady and you don't want to miss out!

I'll be gone until later in the week, but I'll start regular posting again as soon as I get home.

Hope everyone is happy, healthy, and writing up a storm!