Vicki Keire's Blog

The lake on a cloudy afternoon, just before leaving. Moving day is finally upon us. I have both dreaded and looked forward to this day, in almost equal measure. Looked forward, because I am excited about the new house. It's nice to be moving back to civilization, to have access to amenities like parks and museums, and (let's be honest) fast food. Shopping trips will no longer take the better part of an afternoon. Take out won't be cold by the time we get it home.  Internet is lightning fast, and we can get a decent cable tv package. The new house is spacious, with a bedroom for everyone, and even a sun porch for me to write and work. Yay for no longer camping out at the dining room table!

But it's sad to be leaving the lake, with its easy pace of life and beautiful surroundings. I'll miss the owl who lives up near the mailbox, and the bobcat who sometimes runs across the road, just past the gate. There's the fox that drives the dog crazy, and the hawks who nested in the 50 foot oak near the house. There's the lake itself, of course. How I'll miss the sunrises! And our neighbor, the world champion barefoot water skier- we'll miss seeing her zoom around the lake, pulled by a speedboat. We always know it's finally warm enough to swim when she sheds her winter wet suit that she wears to practice. And our neighbor who rehabilitates horses- we'll miss seeing them swim behind his little rickety boat, pulled on a lead to strengthen weak muscles.

But ultimately, whether we want it or not, change happens. So we might as well make the best of it, while at the same time trying to honor our time at the lake. We can only hope the next inhabitants of this serene little hideaway are half as happy there as we were.

I stepped on the scale today and almost cried. I've shed 45 pounds over this last year, you guys. 45 pounds. My toddler weighs less than that. When I pick her up, I realize I used to carry that much weight, plus some, around with me all the time. Really it's more like having a toddler attached to me at all times, plus a ten pound bag of potatoes. I've been lugging that around for a couple of years now. It's been miserable.


I don't talk about my struggles to be healthier much, but after I switched from teaching to writing, I went from standing and walking a lot at my job, to sitting and pounding keys all day. My weight ballooned, and quite frankly I've been physically miserable the last few years. I still have a ways to go to get to where I want to be, but wow is it amazing to not be out of breath all the time. To keep up with my daughter. To take long walks and wear jeans four sizes smaller than what I was wearing. To show some skin again. (It's summer in Florida, folks. If you're not showing skin, you really look like a tourist.)


I can even pinpoint that moment when I'd had enough. I was sitting in the hospital, hooked up to a machine helping me breathe, and had just found out I had pneumonia in my left lung. My heart monitor, which was set for a regular sized person's resting heart rate, kept going off after I'd so much as move around. I asked the nurse if that was normal, and she sighed and adjusted the heart monitor so that it was at least ten points higher before it went off. "With bigger people, the heart has to work harder," she explained. And I realized how seriously my weight was affecting my health.


I went on a ruthless mission to control portion sizes, and began to cut out sugary sodas (okay, so I do still have the occasional coke. But it's a single small can now, every few days, rather than the 40 ounce big gulp I used to chug pretty much daily.) I couldn't even walk the half mile it takes to get to the gate across the farm and back. Now I can do it in 15-20 sweaty minutes. I still have so far to go, you guys, but I am so pleased with how far I've come. I honestly could care less about my appearance at this point. It's just all about feeling better, and maybe that's why it's been working so far.

I can't believe it's been almost a year, a whole year, since I posted. To say I've let this blog get defunct is an understatement. Well, granted, I posted last in 2015, but still. It's been almost a year since I posted anything of substance. There have been huge changes in my day to day life, which partially accounts for my silence here. But it's deeper than that. I've been in the midst of a creative and personal rebirth. I've been working on my health, which I've sadly neglected since I switched to this writer thing. I've been reconnecting to my community, and trying to take a broader, more holistic approach to my online life. It's easy to hide behind  my keyboard and forget there's a real world out there, a world that's full of light and life and mischief, and that keeping connected to that world makes me a stronger storyteller.

One thing I've been doing differently is my work with CQ. I've been doing acquisitions and marketing for them, and have a hand's on role in establishing their line of contemporary fiction. It's super exciting, and dovetails nicely with my own creative efforts, which have centered around the contemporary romance I'm working on. It's called Bright Stars, Broken Compass, and it's fair to say I'm in the hone stretch with it now. I am in a really good groove with this manuscript now, and hope to be finished in a matter of weeks, rather than months. I've got insight into the characters, and seem to be more channeling their stories now, rather than writing. It's been a long time since I felt such "flow", when writing. It's nice.

But by far the biggest changes have been on the home front. Emma's gotten really big. She's almost three now, and it's a real joy to have her at home with me, instead of in day care, which was the case with my oldest two. There's a definite difference between daycare kids and stay-at-home kids. Emma's not as sick as the oldest two were, for one. But there's no support for teaching her school readiness. It's just us, trying to teach her hand washing, sharing, and the like, without being exposed to other children learning the same things. So I guess both methods have their merits. But she'll definitely be going to pre-K, and we've even talked about part time daycare soon. Time will tell, as it does with most things. Anyway, it's good to be back, and this time I promise not to neglect my little online journal here. :)

Hello book lovers and coffee drinkers! It's time for a giveaway!


Up for grabs for U.S, readers is a signed paperback, seasonal coffee, and mug for your drinking and reading pleasure. It's pretty easy to enter- just share word about the contest and sale for entries.

A sale? What sale, you ask? Well, Gifts of the Blood has been picked up for another BookBub promotion, this time for free. And it's the last time Gifts of the Blood will be free for a very long time. So make sure to grab a copy while you can, free on Amazon for a limited time. :)

a Rafflecopter giveaway [divider]
Gifts of the BloodA dying brother. A young man with golden planes of light on his back. A blind chess wizard. An insane angelic kidnapper in flamboyant red leather. A town with more secrets than stoplights. A cat that talks to spirits. Waking up with eyes the color of moonlight. Before her world tilts towards impossible, Caspia Chastain thinks the only strange thing about her is that she sometimes draws the future. Only her brother Logan, fighting his cancer diagnosis, knows what she can do. When she draws a man surrounded by brilliant light, dark wings, and frightening symbols, she can only hope the vision won’t come true. But when a stranger named Ethan appears, determined to protect Caspia and her brother from dangers he won’t explain, she’s not sure what to think. Strangers almost never come to Whitfield. They certainly don’t follow her around, frightening her one moment and treating her like glass the next. And they certainly don’t look exactly like the subject of her most violent drawing. Ethan’i’el can’t deny the pull he feels towards this mortal with untapped gifts. Although he has come to guard her dying brother’s soul from the Dark forces that would claim it, he realizes Logan’s death will shatter her. Even worse, Ethan’i’el knows that choosing life with a mortal means eternal banishment from the Light and eventual descent into the Dark and madness. Soon Caspia finds herself in the middle of a war between Dark and Light forces, where both Chastain siblings are targets. When she turns to her self-appointed guardian for help, Ethan must choose between devotion to the Light and an attraction that has already altered his world forever.
Amazon US | Amazon UK | Goodreads

Yes, that's right, I have two reasons to celebrate today: my birthday, and my book release.

Birthday plans include a steak dinner, and chocolate cake with ice cream. I'm also going to sit on the dock and read a book in the sunshine, while wearing my first pair of shorts of the season. (Yes, it's disgustingly beautiful here in Florida. As usual.) I've already had breakfast in bed, taken a luxurious shower, and taken over the music in the living room. I'm a kind tyrant, though, unlike some teenagers I can name. :) I'm playing Hozier, which is, at the moment, the only music we can all agree with.

If I get really ambitious, I'll go read A Darker Shade of Magic by Victoria Schwab. I love what I've read so far. I just hardly ever read for fun anymore, since I've been inundated with manuscripts as an acquisitions editor.

But what about my book? Imagine a young woman whose emotions are so powerful, they manifest as actual people only she can interact with. Is it madness, a powerful gift, or maybe even both?

One of the things I love about it is that the ebook version has beautiful interior illustrations. I'll post the links as soon as it goes live.

About Daughter of Glass:
Sasha Alexander has a powerful ability.

Either that, or she’s dangerously mad. She isn’t always sure which.

Her father shrouds her in isolation, convinced he’s protecting her from the same madness that took her mother. But the seven impossible guardians that only she can see insist she’s gifted. Her companions since her mother’s suicide a decade ago, they protect her from hurt, pain and fear.

They also keep her from feeling love.

Sasha doesn’t know how to react when Noah explodes through her defenses. This strange young man with the scarred hands suddenly makes her feel again. And she wants more. More of Noah, of his wakening touch. But the guardians don’t want to lose their decade-long hold, while her father despises Noah on sight.

Sasha risks exposing Noah to a world that would cheerfully see him dead.

But unless she can learn to control her own emotions, the biggest danger to them all may be Sasha herself.

And here's an excerpt:

I woke up with my head in Noah’s lap. He was slumped cross-legged on my bed. The morning sun filtered through the branches of the spreading oak tree just outside, and the air stirred the gauzy white curtains over my windows, casting gentle waves of light across the room. Noah lay motionless against my headboard, his eyelids twitching as if he were dreaming. I could see bruises darkening from red to purple along his cheekbone. He had at least one blackened eye, but since both were closed, I couldn’t tell for sure how bad it was. The barest hint of stubble darkened his jaw.

He had stayed. He’d stayed with me through the rest of the night. No one had ever done that before. Either they wanted something from me, or my father had paid them to look after me, but not him.

I held myself perfectly still. My head throbbed where I’d cracked it on the floor, but other than that, I felt fine. I always did, when Oblivion was with me. Noah just looked so peaceful, so innocent, cradling my head between his jeans-clad thighs that I didn’t want to disturb him. I wanted a chance to study this strange boy from the wrong part of town who’d done something for me no one else ever had but my guardians. He’d stood up for me.

It was a strange feeling… breathless and tingling and humbling.

He frowned a little in his sleep. I wanted to reach out and touch his face, so still and peaceful. I could feel his body heat through his jeans. Combined with the slightly rough, but pleasant touch of denim against my skin, I was content to just lay there and feel. I craved not just the physical sensation of touching him, but also the sweet ache I felt through my chest. My eyes were tight and warm, like there were tears behind them, and a slow heat made my lungs constrict as it traveled up and down my body in waves. I wanted to feel this way forever. I dared to rub my cheek against his thigh, and let out the smallest sigh at the sensation of pleasant abrasion.

The smell of cigarette smoke preceded Dez’s entrance into my room. He looked the same as always, with hair so dark it almost matched the black leather of his jacket. He had his glasses off this morning, allowing me to see eyes that were piercing in their intensity. Without his glasses, he looked softer, more intimate than he usually did. I was more than a little uneasy at his presence. They didn’t usually stick around, the guardians. They showed up, did their job, and moved on until next time. Dez raised both eyebrows and sucked deeply on his cigarette as if sensing my thoughts. Which, of course, he was. He lounged against my doorpost and regarded me thoughtfully.

“Feeling all right, posey?” Another deep drag. “You look a little worse for the wear.”

I stopped myself from probing the aching spot on my head or checking my hair for ratty tangles. Noah was sleeping so soundly, I didn’t want to move and spoil it, not with a guardian like Desire here. Not when I had questions.

“What are you still doing here?” I kept my voice low.

“I told you last night, darlin’.” When Desire moved, it was like watching a pool of ink spread without staining. He flowed toward the bed, circling it until he stood at the foot and regarded us with his steely gaze. “I told you things were different this time.” He tilted his head sideways, looking at Noah with interest. “This boy. He changes things, and we’re not entirely comfortable with it.”

“But why?” The last thing I wanted was confirmation of the rumors of how crazy I was. “How could a feeling like this possibly be dangerous, or wrong? Enough to bring two of you in one evening? What was that about?”

He dropped the cigarette and ground it out with his boot.

“We belong to you, darlin’. You’re the one who calls us, so you tell me why you drew two of us.” His grin was crooked and turned up at the corners, as if in mockery. “Although even after the night you had, you should be able to figure this one out on your own.”

I closed my eyes and concentrated on evening my breathing. Noah didn’t stir. I would not let him see me panicked and talking to myself, but I had to say it.

“I won’t let you stop me from feeling whatever this is. It can’t possibly be dangerous. So I’ll fight. I’ll fight all of you.” I ignored his amused snort. “And I won’t turn out like her.”

“Like your mother?” he asked, and I did open my eyes then. Dez had his back to me, staring at the oak tree. “She didn’t understand that we’re not something worth fighting, Sasha. She didn’t understand that we were just aspects of herself, of a gift she had to keep hidden. That disconnect is what destroyed her.”

“I’m not her,” I repeated for emphasis, but I sounded uncertain, like there was a question buried there. It sounded more like I was trying to convince myself.

“’Course you’re not,” Dez said.

“Who is ‘her’?” Noah asked at the exact same time. Damn, he was awake and he’d heard me talking to Dez… which meant he’d heard me talking to myself.

I followed deeply buried instincts drilled into me since my guardians had first started appearing, back when my mother died. Mostly, they consisted of pretending anything inconvenient or unpleasant didn’t exist. It worked a surprising amount of the time.

“Oh, you’re awake.” I smiled at him as brightly as I could. I feigned a stretch and tried to look foggy. All an act, of course. I felt great, except for the bump on my head. I always did, after a night of drinking with Oblivion, one of my favorite guardians. I never got hangovers when she was around.

Noah stared at me. I didn’t mind it. His eyes really were as intense as I remembered, and they were fixated on nothing but me. I felt myself flush with pleasure. Then I realized he was talking to me, and focused on his lips as Desire laughed in the background.

“Um, what?” I asked, sounding stupid even to myself. I hadn’t caught a thing Noah had just told me. He frowned and eased me off his lap. I missed the contact as soon as he went.

Everyone has secrets. Today, you find out mine. NOCTE is here. Get it: Amazon - iBooks - B&N - Kobo Add it on Goodreads

My name is Calla Price. I’m eighteen years old, and I’m one half of a whole. My other half--my twin brother, my Finn--is crazy.
I love him. More than life, more than anything. And even though I’m terrified he’ll suck me down with him, no one can save him but me.
I’m doing all I can to stay afloat in a sea of insanity, but I’m drowning more and more each day. So I reach out for a lifeline.
Dare DuBray.
He’s my savior and my anti-Christ. His arms are where I feel safe, where I’m afraid, where I belong, where I’m lost. He will heal me, break me, love me and hate me.
He has the power to destroy me.
Maybe that’s ok. Because I can’t seem to save Finn and love Dare without everyone getting hurt.
Why? Because of a secret.
A secret I’m so busy trying to figure out, that I never see it coming.
You won’t either.
NOCTE is here. Get it: Amazon - iBooks - B&N - Kobo Add it on Goodreads Find Courtney Cole: Website - Newsletter - Facebook - Twitter   Save me, and I'll save you.

Today, I’m taking part in Vicki Leigh’s “My Worst Nightmare” blog hop, to celebrate the recent release of her young-adult, paranormal-romance/ urban-fantasy, CATCH ME WHEN I FALL, which centers around seventeen-year-old Daniel Graham, a Protector of the Night, who has spent two-hundred years fighting Nightmares and guarding humans from the clawed, red-eyed creatures that feed off people’s fears. 
I’ve had two recurring nightmares for as long as I can remember. They’re pretty standard, really: falling, and spiders. I know I share my fear of these two things with pretty much half the world. More, even; if politicians campaigned on universal spider extermination initiatives, they’d win in a landslide. Just writing about them, even talking about them, doesn’t really do the topic justice, though.
You have to dream them.
The first dream has endless variations, but one thing never changes: it starts with the familiar.  Just beyond the shower curtain. The bedspread, before you turn it down. See, the thing about spiders is how little and unnoticeable they are. You could have an infestation (creeping you out yet?) and never know- until one of them catches your attention. So easy to overlook- until someone shines a light. Then they become moving  pinpoints of horror.  In my dream, the familiar turns nightmarish. Hundreds- no, thousands- of spiders reveal themselves hiding behind every day things, making my sanctuary into a nightmare. They swarm my bed; I step into a mass of them after my shower. But that isn’t even the worst.
There’s also the falling. That nightmare is literally endless, in that I never remember why I’m falling or even where I am. Sometimes I trip and fall into a never-ending chasm or off the tallest cliff in the world. Mostly, though, this dream begins where it stops: in the middle, with no reason or location. There’s simply that stomach-dropping stasis that never leaves, not for as long as I’m caught in the nightmare. I never hit the bottom but I wish that I would. Anything to stop the sick queasy feeling of falling.
But the worst- the very worst- are the dreams that combine the two.
I’m standing in my kitchen, cooking. Usually it’s something that sizzles and steams, like meat frying, or eggs. That’s why I can’t hear them coming. The cooking food covers the approach of thousands, maybe millions, of tiny legs. I do something routine, something comforting I’ve done a million times, like reach for the spatula or a dishtowel. That’s when I see the movement- spiders are everywhere. They pool around my feet and skitter up the sides of the stove. Soon every surface of my kitchen swarms with a million tiny bodies. I scream until my throat hurts and back away. My kitchen has vanished. A strong wind blasts me from all directions and I stumble backward. My heel catches on something- I never see what- and I’m falling, flailing in space. Empty darkness rushes past as my hands grasp at nothing. Until something sticky and soft clings to them. I’m falling through spider webs. They are my only companions on this endless descent. If I stay in the dream long enough, they even stop my screaming. That’s what happens when your mouth fills up with spider webs: silence.

If something were to feed off my fears, it would look like spiders and wind. Spiders because, well, did you just read my nightmare? Yes? So spiders are kind of a given, then, right? And wind because falling is kind of hard to do.
');



Want to play too? 

Rules:·         On 11.03.14 post about your worst nightmare, and what form the clawed, red-eyed creatures would take if they fed off your fears.·         Visit the other participants of the blog hop, and comment on their worst nightmares


At the end of the blog tour, on 11.14.14, Vicki Leigh will pick one of the participants at random and award them with [prize].

Visit the other participants:Cassidie Jhones                at Rebook424 - Cassidie's Reviews | Tawney Bland Twinning for Twins    Laura Rueckert | Katie Teller at Katie's Stories | Ayden Morgen at A.K. Morgen Writes   Sharon Bayliss | Emma Adams at From the Writer's Nest               | The Writer Diaries       Katie at Writing, Reading, and Life | Robyn Koshel at Elder Park Book Reviews    Jenny at J. Keller Ford - Fantasy Author YA Junkie | S. K. Anthony             Merisha Abbott                at Blissful Book Reviews                | Sarah at Ink of Blood  Amy at Home Is Where the Wine Is Book Blog | Zoraida Cordova at Wonderlands             Ryan Hill at Ryan Hill Writes | Christie Gibrich at A Geek In Librarian's Clothing      Nichole Giles at Random-ish | Kayl Hughes at Kayl's Krazy Obsession       Rebecca at Sister Sinister Speaks | Kathy Kozak at Ordinary Girlz Book Reviews  Victoria Biram at Scribblings of an Aspiring AuthorFind Catch Me When I Fall Online:Goodreads| Amazon US | Amazon UK | Barnes & Noble | Kobo--About Vicki Leigh:Adopted at three-days-old by a construction worker and a stay-at-home mom, Vicki Leigh grew up in a small suburb of Akron, Ohio where she learned to read by the age of four and considered being sent to her room for punishment as an opportunity to dive into another book. By the sixth grade, Vicki penned her first, full-length screenplay. If she couldn’t be a writer, Vicki would be a Hunter (think Dean and Sam Winchester) or a Jedi. Her favorite place on earth is Hogwarts (she refuses to believe it doesn’t exist), and her favorite dreams include solving cases alongside Sherlock Holmes.Vicki is an editor for Curiosity Quills Press and is represented by Sarah Negovetich of Corvisiero Literary Agency.Find Vicki Leigh Online:Website| Facebook | Twitter | Goodreads

Just a quick Happy Halloween before I'm off to Halloween-related activities! Personally I love candy corn, but I know not everyone feels the same...


So I leave you with the burning question that consumes every Halloween: Candy Corn.... best candy ever, or tears of Satan in candy form? Discuss!

I'm really excited to be hosting Krystal Wade, author of the just-released Charming, on her blog tour! I've been a fan of Krystal's since her Wilde's Fire series came out, and Charming was no disappointment. I thought I'd try to peek inside Krystal's head and see what life is like for her as a busy writer with a family and day job. I'm hoping she'll have some tips for me! 
You’re a writer, mother, wife, and hold down a day job with a long commute, right? What is that like?            I’m sorry. Did you ask a question? I was too busy catching up on some sleep. Honestly, being a mother, wife, writer, worker, farmer is so difficult. But as with all things that are rewarding, difficulty is just part of the process. One day, my kids will be grown and out of the house and I’ll retire from my job, and thankfully I know I’ll still have books, my husband, and chickens to keep me busy.
2.            Walk us through a typical day in the Wade household.            The alarm blares at 5:30. I hustle the kids out of bed and myself into the shower. The husband leaves by 6:30 with the girls. I leave by 6:50 with the teen. We all do our business for the day. Teen arrives home in the afternoon, shortly followed by the rest of us. We cook dinner, take care of the chickens and ducks and bunnies and maybe spray a little round-up on those ridiculous weeds growing through my gorgeous landscaping. Then it’s homework (if not already done) time, bath time, family TV time, then writing, editing, reading for me. I’m usually in bed just before midnight, only to get up and repeat myself. And this is a day WITHOUT after school activities. Have I mentioned how tired I am?
3.            If any one thing has to give on a stressful/ crazy day, what is it?             My writing, editing, reading time. Unfortunately.
4.            How does your writing process work with having a family?            Well, I’m always writing. Sometimes in my head, on my phone, or on the computer. I squeeze in writing whenever I can, whether at break or lunch at work, while my girls are soaking in the tub, or when it’s way past midnight and I really ought to be in bed.
5.            Any advice for fellow writers out there with families or similar time constraints?            Don’t give up. You can totally do it!
6.            So tell us about your writing in specific- Tell us about Charming!            Charming is my baby, my brainchild, my favorite book ever. This story allowed me to include so many personal elements, from my painful past to my happy now, from my love of all things creepy, to my strong views on family, blood or no blood. I especially loved infusing my passion of darker, scarier works into a real world setting. I found my niche while writing this book and can’t seem to stop daydreaming about thrillers now.
7.            What are you working now? What’s next from the mind of Krystal Wade?            I’m working on two books I hope to have published in 2015. One is the second book in the Book of Red series, and the other is another thriller named The Unraveling of Willard Hill. Willard Hill will drive in the fact that you should be careful what you wish for. 
Thanks so much to Krystal for her interview! I know there's some stuff I can use in there. And don't forget to check out Charming, out now!
Krystal Wade is back with a spine-tingling retelling of Cinderella!
About Krystal Wade:Krystal Wade is happily married to the love of her life (don’t gag) and raising three beautiful children in the gorgeous state of Virginia. They live just outside Washington, D.C., and every day she wakes up to find herself stuck in traffic trying to get there. When she’s not working, commuting, or chasing after her three children (four if you count the man), you can usually find Krystal outside talking to her chickens like they’re the cutest things in the world (they are), or training her amazing dogs how to herd said chickens (which they love), or curled up on the sofa with a good book (why can’t that be 100% of the time?).

The sequel to The Fifth Wave does not disappoint. In addition to having lots of fighting and action sequences, we get to know an expanded universe as we get inside the heads of new characters- people like Ringer, and Poundcake. Plot wise, this sequel has a huge twist at the end- one that redefines what it means to be a survivor of the war.

The only complaint I had was that there was too little time given to the main characters from The Fifth Wave. This is largely Ringer's story, and although her POV was gripping and well written, I still wanted more time with Evan and Cassie. There is a lot less romance in this version, as well.

But clearly, I loved it. It was an amazing follow up- pretty much everything I'd hoped for. Five stars, all the way.