I have a framed print sitting on my couch. I've debated buying it for years, having seen it in this store and that. I researched the best price, measured the dimensions of the wall, compared colors to see if it would go with the couch and the new throw pillows. I agonized over the decision, panning through websites and comparing options and even now, as it is braced against the back of the couch and the wall, the hardware and levels and hammer sitting on the floor beside it, I still am having trouble thinking "Is this the right decision? What if I'm wrong?"

And that's when it's time to put hammer to nail, both metaphorically and literally.

Research is one of the best and worst things about writing. You can learn so many things that you never thought about while in school, opening up entire worlds of knowledge and fascination, speaking to experts and enthusiasts, filling pages with pretty pictures and glossy images that create the depth and breadth we love about swimming in really great world-building and making a character solidly 3-D, but here's the thing: you have to commit to the story. Writing the story is what all this research is about so at the end of the day, this had better be about the writing and not the research. Science for science's sake is all well and good (so says my little Mad Scientist Ninja Fairy Princess), but writing is words for the sake of the story. You have to climb out of the Internet vortex. You have to trust yourself and your story. You have to give in. You have to let go. You have to get writing.

Commit.

Hammer to nail.

(And if that writing advice is too harsh for you, you can try a little tenderness:)

Sorry, the Commitments reference was just too good to pass up & now I've got this song stuck in my head.

First of all, congratulations to damihjva for winning the Eat Your Heart Out prize pack! I would have announced this earlier if it hadn't been for the flu/sinus infection/random tagalong cold that decided to take up residence in my brain. So a great hooplah of hoorays as it's better late than never!

Secondly, if you haven't seen me here in a while, it was because I was promoting my friend and critique partner, Maurissa Guibord's new book, REVEL, and interviewing fellow Inkie, Anna Staniszewski's second book in her fantasy series, MY EPIC FAIRY TALE FAIL as well as doing homey, domestic mommy things mostly involving Angry Birds cut-outs and birthday cakes. Such is the glamorous life I lead.

But hark: I have news! The Harlequin Teen Dream Team has just released the back cover art* of INDELIBLE along with flapcopy on a gorgeous burnt-umber background, which looks a lot like this:

Don't stare at it just because it's beautiful, remember: it's what's inside that counts!

I keep looking at it going "oooOOOooo!" in my head.

I'm very proud of this story because it's not your love-at-first-sight or destined-to-be soul mate thing, it's not the immortal older guy swooping in with confidence and swagger to show the mortal girl the way to love thing, and it doesn't have the "usual suspects" fantasy cast of fairy tale characters as I borrowed some of my favorite myths from around the globe to populate the last vestiges of magic clinging onto our world with tooth and claw. And I love them! I love Ink's blatant honesty, Inq's carefree madness, Graus Claude's proprietary and proper etiquette, and Kurt's no-nonsense efficiency. Then there's Monica's friendship, Stef's brotherly love, Mr. Malone's parental strengths and gaps, and Joy's, well, everything. She is making the very best of every bad situation (of which she's had more than her fair share), and we meet Joy on the cusp of her becoming Who She Is and figuring out what that means no matter what the company, no matter what the circumstances, and that's someone I can root for with all of my heart & I can't wait to share her with you!

And she would totally approve if you stared.

* If you want to remember what the front looks like, please see userpic!