Myrtle Beach Write In

8 Amazingly talented authors + 3 days + one hotel room + a LOT of coffee = over 71,000 words

That's not a joke, that's the cumulative total for an epic weekend of writing in Myrtle Beach. Over 10,000 of those were mine. Yes I'm proud. And yes, I'm exhausted. While there was far more talking and goofing off than there should have been, I am happy with the results. So let me tell you about the weekend, outside of the word count.

I arrived after 10 hours spent traveling, though only three of them were actually spent in the air. I met up with the amazing Jordan Deen in Charlotte, passing the time until our flight left chatting. Once in Myrtle Beach, we grabbed a cab to the hotel where Dawn Pendleton and Andrea Heltsley were waiting for us. We grabbed dinner and walked down Ocean Boulevard to an arcade where none of us acted out age and all of us had a great time. People probably thought we were all drunk, but we were just high on each other (to steal Dawn's phrase).

On Friday we took a walk on the beach before heading back to our room to get some words down. We were joined that evening by Amy Miles and Bella Rocco, just in time for dinner and some grocery shopping. Finally on Saturday morning, the last two joined us, Kristina Circelli and Sarra Cannon, bringing the total number of authors to eight.

Saturday the plan was to spend the whole day writing, and I was ready for it. However, I had forgotten to take into account my inability to keep my mouth shut whenever there was a person in the vicinity to listen to my inane babble. Those poor authors... I was able to get some words, but not as many as I'd hoped. After a brisk walk in the cold, I realized I was ok with the original plan of staying in and headed back while some of the others explored I Love Sugar.

Sunday I was determined to make up for lost time, so I hit the floor running. While some of the others headed to Medeival Times for knights and hijinx, I stayed in the room, pounding out as many words as I could. It worked for me, since i had the highest word counts I'd had all week that day.

Monday morning everyone left, leaving me with a day before my flight home. Dawn, Andrea and I headed to the aquarium, then the alligator farm. before spending a quiet evening relaxing in the hotel.

All in all it was an amazing weekend and I came out of it charged with some great ideas for the weeks and months ahead. Cannot wait for the next time we can all get together...

A Zebra Like Me Release Day

Today is A Zebra Like Me's Book Birthday!

Maybelle Dawson longs for normalcy and belonging. Often misunderstood, she struggles with a rare disorder, labeling her a Medical Zebra.

Maybelle’s happiness and well-being threaten to slip through her fingers as she battles to take control of her life. She faces a never-ending battle on her journey to find love, courage and friendship in a world lacking acceptance.

With the guidance of her guardian angel, Maybelle finds her way out of emotional and physical isolation to discover lasting love and amazing friendships.

A Zebra Like Me is the story of one teenager’s battle with Ehlers-Danlos Syndrome, a disorder affecting one in five thousand people.

About the Author

Amy Maurer Jones has been happily married to her own version of Edward Cullen for sixteen years. She lives in the small town of Tabor City, North Carolina (close to the North and South Carolina shore) with her husband Kelly and their two beautiful children, Olivia and Keaton.

Amy loves reading and writing Young Adult because she finds young people inspiring. She appreciates how teens are able to look at the world with a fresh perspective and willingly open their minds to the endless possibilities that life has to offer. She particularly enjoys writing strong heroines who face problems head on, learn, grow and mature into the type of people who do the right thing.

When Amy isn't reading and writing, she teaches high school theater arts and dance. To say that Amy has a flare for all things creative would be an understatement, just don't ask her to assemble anything that requires instructions or sadly, you will be out of luck!

Favorite quote:

"You are unique, and if that is not fulfilled, then something has been lost." ~ Martha Graham
Links:Website
Facebook
Amazon
Twitter

The Giveaway

a Rafflecopter giveaway

Author's Note

A Zebra Like Me 

is a work of fiction but Ehlers-Danlos Syndrome and the message in this story are very real. I have EDS and I’ve learned to live with this disease. Sadly, much of my battle has been seeking compassion and finding acceptance from those who don’t understand it. My mission in publishing this book is two-fold.

1 – Awareness – I aim to educate people about Ehlers-Danlos Syndrome. I’m a teacher and through my teaching I’ve learned the best lessons are learned in unexpected ways. I hope my readers will gain a better understanding of this disease through the fictional world I created for Maybelle. There are people like her all over the world. Some EDS patients’ symptoms are less severe than Maybelle’s, some are worse. You may know someone with EDS and not even realize it.

2 – Self Empowerment

– I want other people with EDS to know they are not alone. There are support groups and resources online that can help you learn how to cope with this disease. Don’t give up on a normal life. Learn how to avoid injuries and the external hazards that trigger your issues. Find hobbies that are safe, fun, and relieve stress. Surround yourself with positive people and avoid or tune out the people who can’t or won’t support you. Take care of yourself, physically, mentally, and emotionally.


Need Help? The Ehlers-Danlos National Foundation is just a click away.

www.ednf.org

Fast Facts about Ehlers-Danlos Syndrome

“Individuals with EDS have a defect in their connective tissue, the tissue that provides support to many body parts such as the skin, muscles and ligaments.”

“The fragile skin and unstable joints found in EDS are the result of faulty collagen. Collagen is a protein, which acts as a “glue” in the body, adding strength and elasticity to connective tissue.”

“There are six major types of EDS, each classified according to their manifestations of signs and symptoms.”

“Clinical manifestations of EDS are most often join

Long time no see!

Bet you guys thought I'd forgotten about you. I'm an absentee blogger and should be ashamed of myself. Blogger, thy name is procrastination. Sadly, I can find more excuses to put something off than just sit down and do it. If only the technology existed to take the great blog ideas directly from my brain and put them on the screen, I'd be the best blogger ever. And I set up all these great series I was planning to do...

So why am I suddenly popping back into your lives after all this time you ask? Two reasons. #1 is I have vowed that I will be better about my blog this year. True I've made that promise before, but this time I really mean it. #2 is that I will have new stuff for you to read. I'm not sure of the date just yet, but in a little over two months, I should have the first book of my New Adult Dark Refelctions series out. Now I can't release details yet, but those of you who follow me on Facebook might have heard that it deals with bullying and body image. It was supposed to be contemporary, not because i was trying but because that was the story I wanted to tell. But as I got writing, all of a sudden the paranormal reared it's head and there was no going back. I blame The Conjuring (When I release further details, I will explain that and link to it from here. But for now you'll just have to wonder.) which while fantastic, really got an idea stirring in my head.

This blog is one of my goals for the year, but it's not the only one. Here's some others:

Create and maintain a Pintrest profile
I'm already well on my way with this one, though I still need to get some special boards together. My aim is to have boards you can look at to learn more about each character including the clothes they wear, what their environments look like and some of their favorite things.

Publish at least five titles this year
I'm well on my way to this one, with five titles already complete and another one in progress. Actually, technically I have four in progress. What are the titles? The three Dark Reflections books, the first Otherworldly novel, a spin off of the Forces of Nature series (I have a feeling I'll be doing a lot of work in their universe), and a secret project I am really looking forward to. So it's going to be a busy year for me, hopefully.

Be more present on social media
I think this has been a goal before, too... We'll see how it goes.

Start vlogging.
I can't even tell you how many times I've recorded the first one of these but still haven't uploaded anything. Starting next week that ends. I will try to get something for you guys before Wednesday. Throughout the year I will try to bring you interesting content, including behind the scenes at conventions, author interviews and YouTube exclusive contests. So cross your fingers and don't forget to subscribe!

There's more, but these are the ones you guys will be most interested in. Also look for the character interviews to be back, as well as some guest posts and other fun stuff. :)

Wild One Release Day Blitz

The Wild One by Magan Vernon

January 2014

Part 3 in the FOREVER WILD series

Goodreads link: https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/20320598-the-wild-one

BOOK SUMMARY:
The Wild One is the third book in the Forever Wild Serial. (This is a six part series with one
book releasing every 3 weeks)

Wes never considered himself a lucky man - until one wild night in Vegas that ended with a
marriage to Valerie Wilder. She doesn’t consider herself as lucky, and gives him thirty days to
sign the divorce papers, forgetting their marriage every existed. There’s just one problem.

He’s fallen hard for Valerie.

Wes loves everything about the girl he married by mistake, except the fact that he doesn’t feel
worthy of her - especially when hedge funder Max Green keeps coming back in the picture. Wes
can’t compete with the rich and powerful man who also wants Valerie as his own, but he doesn’t
want to lose her. To prove his love for Valerie and save their marriage, Wes is going to fight
hard for the woman he loves, putting his wild side behind him to be the man she needs. Before
it’s too late.


BUY LINKS:

The Wild One (book #3) is just .99 cents!
Amazon: http://amzn.to/1aeGQfO
Barnes & Noble: http://bit.ly/1eNKtcm

Wild Hearts (book #2) is just .99 cents!
Amazon: http://amzn.to/1cLtO6D
Barnes & Noble: http://bit.ly/1exZW4u

And, some good news: ONE WILD NIGHT (book #1) is now FREE!
One Wild Night buy links:
Amazon: http://amzn.to/1bIeb4F
B&N: http://bit.ly/1dPSDoF

Author Information

Magan Vernon is a Young Adult and New Adult writer who lives with her family in the
insurance capital of the world. When not writing she spends her time fighting over fake
boyfriends via social media. You can find her online at www.maganvernon.com.

Website: http://www.thepunchingbagfightsback.blogspot.com

Facebook Fan Page: https://www.facebook.com/pages/Author-Magan-Vernon/215620155165079

Twitter: https://twitter.com/MaganVernon

Goodreads: http://www.goodreads.com/author/show/5237606.Magan_Vernon