Happy VA Movie release day!  


Today is a day many fangirls have been waiting years on… Vampire Academy is finally here! It has been a long journey for the fans of this series, but we made it!! Richelle Mead, the author of VA, has been one of my inspirations and gave me so many amazing gifts through her writing. 


Before reading VA, I thought a romance had to be a romance. Or a story about friendship was about the relationship between two people. I was under the impression a book had to fall into a category and follow a certain style to be considered a YA book or an action-packed adult series. Reading my first Mead series, Dark Swan, was an eye opener for me. I was introduced to a world built around comedy, action, romance, paranormal, and the style wasn't complicated or weighed down by long, unnecessary descriptions. 


I began to see my own style of writing come together, and it was so flawless for me after that. I used to struggle with the words as I typed, always second guessing myself and how much needed to be said for the reader to 'see' the world I was building. I no longer have that fear and with three novels completed, and one published, which is doing very well (4 & 5 star reviews), I feel as if I have finally found the piece I was missing. 


Richelle Mead's writing style gave me hope that maybe all I needed to do was write it out how it was in my head and the reader would understand it. Other writers made me feel like I needed to follow their pattern and bore people to death with the complex color of the rain, for example. 


 When I finally made the decision to read VA, I was pulled into a story even more genre-confused than Dark Swan, and I loved it!! This story had everything, in perfect amounts. There wasn't too much romance, or non-stop action, and it had just enough comedy to have me laughing out loud while reading it. It helped me focus on a balance in my writing. Now, I am not saying my work is ANYTHING like Richelle Mead's. On the contrary, the only thing my books have in common with hers are the fact that there are paranormal creatures in them. However, reading her books helped me become the writer I wanted to be. That isn't all Richelle Mead did for me. 


When I read VA, I found a huge fandom through a Facebook page set up to bring the movie to the world, and THEY DID IT! I spent years chatting with girls who loved Richelle and VA as much as I did. Over time, we created a private community where we could learn about each other away from prying eyes and so my TOV was formed! 


Richelle gave me so much of the life I have grown to love, from my writing style to my online BFFs! So, today on VA release day, I want to show the world what the woman behind the movie has done for me and give a little back! 


I am giving away 3 e-book copies of my début novel, Bound by Sacrifice: The Road to Ruin. Head over to my Facebook page and simply like the giveaway post, then come back at 10 PM EST to see if you have won. No crazy tasks or wild events, just me, giving away stuff because TODAY IS A GREAT DAY!


Enter to win a free e-book copy HERE