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By Julie Anne Lindsey, on January 27th, 2012
The Most Intimate Wish by F.L. Bicknell
 All she wants is a husband and family. All they need is for her to believe.
When Dinah and Jeff move in to be the Wheillercarts’ companions, their lives change for the better and the worse. Dinah loves Jeff, but after five years together, he still refuses to marry her, and Dinah’s dreams of starting a family begin to crumble. Regardless of their hot lovemaking sessions, she fears Jeff is cheating on her. Dinah will do anything to keep Jeff, even if it means sharing him with another woman.
However, strange occurrences and a seemingly psychic landlady keep Dinah guessing about her life and relationship with Jeff. And what about the bizarre statue in their landlady’s atrium? Little does Dinah know it holds the key to her most intimate wish.
Available on Amazon! http://www.amazon.com/The-Most-Intimate-Wish-ebook/dp/B0046LVAG2/ref=sr_1_1?s=digital-text&ie=UTF8&qid=1327494727&sr=1-1
About the Author:
F.L. Bicknell’s work has appeared in a wide range of genres and publications such as: Would That It Were, Touch, GC, and Ohio Writer magazines as well as with publications in Canada and Turkey. Under her pseudonym, Molly Diamond, she was a regular contributor to Gent and Ruthie’s Club and has had fiction published in Hustler’s Busty Beauties, Penthouse Variations, and Twenty 1 Lashes. Published under alternate pen names, Ms. Bicknell is the author of several e-book and print titles, has served as co-editor and managing editor for three different publishing houses, and is the founder and writing instructor at Avoid Writers Hell, an online writer’s workshop. She is represented by TriadaUS Literary Agency.
By Julie Anne Lindsey, on January 26th, 2012
 I got an interesting message from someone on twitter the other day. Daniel Ford was preparing for an article about writers afraid of their own voice.
Side story: I’ve had some technical issues…my laptop DIED with a captial CRASH about 10 days ago. I waited a week to buy a new one because I kept up hope there was something redeemable on there. There wasn’t. It’s gone. Won’t turn on. It’s a brick.
So, I got a new laptop and started alllllll over again. 24 hours later high winds took out my Internet for a day or two LOL Leaving me to typo the snot out of a crap-ton of tweets and emails. Meanwhile…
Daniel got his article written and up and running. It’s a really good and insightful article and you can find it here on Engage the Blog.
I thought for the sake of a longer blog post (LOL I’m still playing catch-up) I’d add my full commentary here on why writers should not be afraid of their voice in writing. In regards to fearing your voice I said….
Don’t.
I firmly believe writing is more of a calling than anything else. As writers, we are passionate and driven to create. To fear that is to miss the point completely. Imagine your favorite tome. What if you had the same idea and had written that book instead of the author who captivated you with the tale? I guarantee the story wouldn’t have been the same. This is true because writers are uniquely gifted with perspective and experience that color our worlds and our words. Our individual voice sets the tone and guides the direction each story will take. No two authors will ever write the same story, even if they begin with the same concept. That’s the beauty of what we do. Writing is more than a skill, it’s an art and a lifestyle. Fearing your voice as a writer is like an artist fearing their medium, a painter avoiding his paint, a pianist afraid to play. I believe to be truly great at anything, we must be willing to dive in, lose ourselves in the wake and cast abandon aside. Don’t fear your gift. Treasure it. Your voice gives your story its passion and edge and bite. Voice should be embraced because its what makes you — you. Makes your stories yours. It’s the signature signed with your heart.
I think it’s natural to struggle with self doubt and insecurities, especially when we face new things. But, I also know there’s no surer way to fail yourself or lose your dream than to try to harness it. Don’t shove it into a box or make apologies for it. This is your dream and you are specially gifted to achieve it. Rest in the assurance that no one can tell your story but you.
Who else has some encouraging thoughts for other aspiring authors out there? What do we do when we look at all the incredible books in print today and think….I can’t do it! I won’t measure up!
DO tell 
By Julie Anne Lindsey, on January 25th, 2012
Writer Wednesday Welcomes a super fun tweeter adn YA author, my pal Josh! I can’t wait to share him and his amazing new novel, so without any more rambling from me….meet Josh!
 I love Young Adult fiction. Most of the time that looks like guys in capes fighting would-be world beaters instead of boy wizards or, God deliver us, sparkly vampires.
But I’m also a lover of a wide variety of genre fiction. One of my favorites is Spy Fi, the genre best exemplified in the past by The Avengers or The Man from UNCLE and, more recently, by shows like Alias and the Middle Man. These two things, YA fiction and Spy Fi, come together in my latest novel.
TEEN Agents in The Plundered Parent Protocol is a novel about three girls, best friends, whose fathers are kidnapped by an evil genius…one who just happens to be ten years old. This is how Elly Mourning, Hea Jung Noone, and Saturday Knight discover the existence of the Teenage Extranormal Emergency Network and how they join its ranks as agents.
There’s plenty of weird gadgets, exciting espionage, and plots for world domination in TEEN Agents. But at its heart, it’s a story about three girls who want to save their dads but have to grow up quite a bit to do it.
Right now, I’m the father of just one kid, a little boy. He and I watch all kinds of adventure cartoons, read comic books, and I continue to take in all that genre fiction I’ve always loved. But now I have an eye as to when I can share it with him.
I’d also like to be the father of a little girl someday. I don’t want to climb a soapbox, but it’s pretty hard to find stuff to excite and empower my hypothetical little girl.
But it shouldn’t be that way.
I should have as much strange and exciting genre fiction with young heroines as I have with heroes. Since I don’t, I decided to do something about that.
 So that brings me to Elly, Hea, and Saturday. Elly is sharp and together, a born leader. Hea is a free spirit and incredibly athletic. Saturday has a brilliant scientific mind.
I wrote them to be the kinds of girls I’d like my future little girl to look up to. They aren’t perfect, but they are as accomplished and secure in who they are as thirteen year old girls can be. And they’re learning and growing as they go.
But I didn’t want to write a “girl’s story.” I wanted to write a spy fi story that starred girls. One that would be exciting for girls…and for their brothers and dads. Which is why I can assure you that the genius is evil, the enemy agent is suave and debonair, the traps are deadly, the lairs are secret, and the plan is diabolical.
This book is for girls looking for exciting fiction that makes them feel good about being girls because it’s a book about heroic girls. Not to mention it’s a fun read.
I loved writing this novel for so many reasons. And my beta readers have absolutely loved reading it. I hope you can contribute something to the project. Trust me, if you enjoy reading it half as much as I enjoyed writing it, you won’t be sorry you did.
Catch the Plundered Parent Protocol when it releases Tuesday January 31st and enjoy it for free Free FREE. For the first 24hours the Plundering Parent Protocol is live, it’s yours for free!
Opening day, sample the beginning of the TEEN Agents epic epic of epicness absolutely free of charge.
ENJOY!
Get to know Josh online!
Find him blogging at http://joshuaunruh.com/
By Julie Anne Lindsey, on January 23rd, 2012
Please welcome the super awesome Stephanie Sikorski to my blog today! She is so much fun and I love her. I know you will too. Here she is helping us to …
 Be a Better Blogger in 10 Days!
I love writing. But I hate the demands of blogging. I love virtually meeting nice writing people via Twitter but cave under the pressure to sound clever in 140 characters or less. I want people to find my blog but can’t ever figure out how to promote myself without sounding like I am, well … promoting myself. I’m happiest when one of my essays makes a real difference in somebody’s life but loathe the pressure to repeat my own awesomeness. It makes me want to keep the lid to my laptop closed for weeks on end. Which in turn makes me sad because as I already mentioned I love writing.
This is my wrestle. And some days I feel ready to tap-out.
There are times I seriously ponder going offline and writing for myself. Avoiding the pressure of eBooks, self publishing debates and traffic analytics sounds like a sweet relief. The advice barks at me: create a platform, tweet, guest blog, comment strategically and have a catchy tagline. It’s all great advice but totally exhausting. I just wanted to write.
So I admit, I am completely inept at identifying my traffic sources, using html code and creating badges. I simply have a little blog. A little bitty blog. Heck, I haven’t even purchased a domain. Despite all the advice to the contrary, I just can’t believe that eliminating the word ‘blogspot’ from my address is going to suddenly be the magic key that propels my blog into BlogHer infamy. I mean, c’mon let’s admit I can’t ever compete so long as Ree Drummond remains the Godfather of adorable Pioneer Woman?
Of all the experts’ advice, my favorites are the folks who promise that if your work is good enough it will be discovered on its own merit. I often take that advice to heart and relieve myself of any template, wordpress and rss feed guilt and just return to my first love; writing. I admit there are some days when I pretend no one is out there listening or reading my work. It seems on those days I am free to let my thoughts flow. My fingers literally fly across my keyboard as the words just tumble out unaware of hits, comments and subscribers.
So I’ve abandoned the how-to-be-a-better-blogger-in-10-days advice. I don’t know if my template is user friendly or my headshot accurately portrays my personality. And, well, if those choices mean I’ll never be published, that I’ll never get a book tour or my memoir never makes it to the big screen (which would really be too bad as I’m sure Julie Roberts would play me fantastically) then so be it. For I would rather stay in love with writing than get sidetracked with vlogging, tweeting and platform building. I love writing and in the meantime that’s all I’m interested in doing.
About Stephanie:
I have been blogging since August 2010. I’m a small town midwest girl who’s adorable husband has returned to school full time re-defining the term ‘making ends meet’. I work two part time jobs, parent our 5 children and write when I get a moment to myself (which is hardly ever). I am also a regular contributor to our local newspaper, The Daily Review Atlas.
Find her online!
Thank you SO MUCH Stephanie for a fun and insightful post. You saved my blogging-behind today because I crashed my computer last week and am clawing at straws to keep up with my life! This post has made my day. I can’t thank you enough and if I can ever return the favor, please let me know!!!
By Julie Anne Lindsey, on January 19th, 2012
Here’s a first for me. I’m blogging from my phone. Why you ask? Because I am a complete FAIL. I save like a maniac and am more organized than Martha Stewart where my writing is involved but I don’t back up my files. Ever.
I finished a new sweet romance on Friday night for Honey Creek. I LOVEd it.
I spent 24 hours running final edits for Death by Chocolate – which will release in 2 months as of Sunday afternoon.
Then Sunday night I got the blue screen of death and my computer no longer knew it had a hard drive. It was all, put in the disk. What?
Yeah.
So, I lost everything I have EVER written. I lost THIRTY guest blog posts I completed and saved for my very first blog tour – scheduled to begin in 9 days. I lost my calendar for the event and the galley of the book too.
I lost an ELEVEN page outline for a workshop I’m giving next month.
I love 52K words written during Nano for the Death by Chocolate sequel – due to editors in a few months.
It’s aaaaaaaalllllllllllllllllllllll gone.
I can only blame myself.
Hubsy has ordered an identical hard drive from somewhere in New York and it’s on its way. When it arrives, he will open both drives and swap out the mechanism we assume is frozen…called a platter I think. I couldn’t hear him through my sobbing.
If he succeeds, I’m all set and ready to save to the cloud, to my email, to a thumb drive and external harddrive, anywhere and everywhere all day everyday.
If the procedure fails….I learned a really tough lesson. Either way, I know most people can’t just ask someone to do this for them and to send away can be upwards of $1K and still get no results. So, I want to encourage all of you who aren’t in the habit of saving to a secondary source…do it. Check out online sites like carbonite or drop box if buying anything like a new thumb drive is out of the question, heck, send it to yourself in email, anything is better than where I am right now.
But as always it’s a little easier for me because I have you. *sniffles* *puppy dog eyes*
Hope this posts saves someone a little grief in the future
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BLOOM by Julie Anne Lindsey   My very FIRST book is available on Amazon & I am a happy dancing mess!
Julie has not entered the 2012 Reading Challenge.
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All she wants is a husband and family. All they need is for her to believe.
