In Loving Memory

Each of us has a definite number of days on this earth. Some wonderful people ended up with far too few. Since it's Memorial Day weekend and Between is set to launch on June 1, I wanted to take a moment to flesh out the dedication of the book.

Ryan Tefft
You were the first to welcome me to the Tefft family. Mischievous, with an infectious laugh and a charisma that drew people in, you were an immediate friend and ally. You always made me feel special, just by being in your presence.

My son bears your name (along with your loving yet stubborn nature) in honor of the boy you were and the man you never got to be. You are still loved and remembered by many.



Lisa Surdyk
The two of us were yin and yang, your quiet and thoughtful demeanor a perfect complement to my outspoken and impulsive personality. Our friendship was deep and intense from the beginning because we knew that time was short. We didn't waste a second, you and I.

Days before the end, I sat beside you on your bed and told you that I'd decided to dedicate the book to you. You cried and said no one had ever done something like that for you before. Now I can say, "We did it, Lisa!" You told me I could and you were right. I should have known.

Jamie Schlecht Knapp
When I look at your photo, I still can't believe you're gone. You were bigger than life: your sparkling green eyes and perfect white teeth, your smile that lit up a room, the laugh that couldn't be contained. You prankster, you unapologetic wild thing, you loving and warm friend, how could you ever really leave me? You didn't. You're always there, tucked in my heart, safe and sound.

Lindsey's song for Aiden was actually written for you. Saying "I miss you" doesn't scratch the surface and I can't wait to see you again. What a party that will be!

A Shout Out to the Peeps!

The big day is drawing near, with the big launch of Between less than 2 weeks away. I wanted to take a minute and send a resounding THANKS! to all the people who have agreed to be a part of the promotion. Bucketfuls of bloggers and other individuals will be posting reviews, interviews and/or guest posts during the month of June (and beyond). Counting all the followers of the participating bloggers, there are over 60,000 people likely to see Between's release in one fashion or another. Woot! Holy cats, Batman! Is that awesome or what??

This EPIC (and I'll say it again... EPIC) launch would not be possible without the help of the people listed below, who have graciously offered their time to read the book and/or participate in the promotion. Thank you so much. I can't tell you what it means to me. You = Awesome.

If you aren't on this list and would like to participate, there's still time. Just sign up and I will contact you!

In Over My Head!

So you know about the big June 1st launch of Between, right? Right. I've lined up over 140 bloggers to review the book and a fair number of those sweet souls are doing interviews with me to boot. I've also agreed to write a number of guest posts. Great, huh? Yep, it is. Only, now I actually have to DO the work! Oy!

One of the blogs has asked me to write my own Q&A, so I thought I'd ask for a little help from my friends. That would be you. *grin*

Shout out some questions you'd like me to answer in an interview. They can be serious, random, funny, whatever. Just throw some out there to get me started, if you would be so kind.

Thanks, all!

Fraidy Cats!

YA author extraordinaire Elana Johnson's debut novel Possession comes six days after mine. I guess that makes us release sisters! Squee!

She had an awesome blog post last week called Tell A Big Fat Lie Tuesday where she talked about how negative reviews are No. Big. Deal. They just roll off her back, right?

Okay, not so much true. But still! I was totally there with her about how we have to plug our ears and move on.

Elana and I have both been working on blog tours and interviews. My plan for the release of Between is to have all the reviews and posts hit at once, starting June 1. Elana's reviews have been coming in pre-release to build buzz that way. Either way, we're both biting our fingernails, waiting for the big day and knowing there will be some negative mixed in with the (hopefully overwhelming flood of) positive.

What do you do when you're nervous about something? Any tips for keeping the stomach acid down? Share!

Self-pub Resources: Woulds & Shoulds Editing and Design

People have asked me who made the fall-over-fabulous cover for Between. Here's who! Meet the dynamic duo: Clare and David from Woulds & Shoulds Editing and Design.


Why did you decide to start your own editing and design company?
Clare: I think it’s a combination of several different factors that just happened to collide at the same time.

Firstly, I’m especially passionate about self-publishing because it’s something I’ve wanted to do for a long time—I’m a YA writer myself.

David and I met almost a year ago at the Creative Book Publishing program at Humber College. Right away, we found that we had a lot in common, but also a lot of different skills that complement each other. I’m good at seeing the big picture, so I like doing substantive and line editing, as well as formatting. Dave is detail-oriented and also a grammar nut, so he’s great at copyediting, proofreading and he also has a flair for design. << CT: Major understatement! *grin*
After we graduated the program, we both had internships at publishing companies, but we were looking for paying work, because surprise, surprise, publishing is a little low on paying jobs in Canada at the moment, at least for new grads. There are plenty of internships, though, and the competition is stiff. People aren’t in publishing to make money; they’re in it because they love books.

I happened to land a freelance contract with a man who was self-publishing his book, and so I guided him through the process, and took his book from unedited manuscript stage to a polished, formatted ebook. This was a lot of work for one person, so I hired Dave to do the copyediting for me.

It was in a little Thai restaurant in Queen’s St West in Toronto that we realized that we could really help people improve the quality of self-published work. I wanted to help authors realize that they had the power to be their own publishers and really take control of the process; that with the right tools, they could be a success. Hence our unofficial motto: Be the Author You Want to Be.

So, here we are six months later, with a slew of clients and a growing reputation for quality, professionalism and passion for self-publishing.

Where did the name Woulds & Shoulds come from?
David: Woulds & Shoulds comes from an apocryphal quote from Oscar Wilde, who supposedly said the following upon handing a manuscript of his to his editor: “I’ll leave you to tidy up the woulds and shoulds, wills and shalls, thats and whiches, etc.” We felt the reference was suitably literary, and fitting in that you can leave your work with us and we will take care of the nitpicking and polishing. That and some people might make the mistake of putting apostrophes in Woulds and Shoulds because you don’t see those words pluralized very often, which is the type of common quirk of the language that we’ll be sure to get right!

What background do you have in the business?
Clare: I have a combined honours in journalism and psychology, and Dave has a B.A. in English. More importantly, though, is that we are grads of the Creative Book Publishing program. This is a special, accelerated program at Humber College in Toronto that teaches the business of publishing—everything from the editing, production, design, and the marketing. We got to meet some amazing people in the industry. As part of the program we also had to create our own publishing companies and present them to a panel of professionals, which was a real eye-opener for how much work and how costly publishing 5-10 books a year really is.

As for actual work experience, Dave completed an internship with HarperCollins Canada in the sales department, and I currently work for ChiZine Publications, a small press that publishes science fiction, fantasy and horror.

Describe the services that your company offers.
David: We offer a myriad of services that covers pretty much anything an author will need if he or she wants to self-publish their book. Our individual editing and design services range from substantive editing to copy editing, reader’s reports, which can be useful for manuscripts as well as full ebooks, as well as cover design and interior layout services. While we can do any combination of these things for someone’s book, we do offer bundles that include a lot of the services that complement each other and offer great value. We also include some marketing support in everything we do for self-published authors, as we know that having a supportive and active community for these types of projects is what drives sales and makes the process truly fulfilling for everyone involved.

How are you getting the word out about your new business?
Clare: We’ve got a few things going at the moment. We’re particularly excited about our Self-Publishing Success Interview Series, where we speak with authors from all over the world about their experience in publishing their own book. The response for that so far has been great, and inspiring. I hope it inspires other self-pubbing authors too.

We have our blog, which we’re trying to update a few times a week, our Facebook page, and a new twitter account. LinkedIn has also proved useful, and if you don’t have an account, I definitely recommend it.

Our future marketing plans include a writing contest, and more blogging. We’ve really shied away from paid ads because I don’t think that’s as effective as really reaching out and joining the community.

Where can people find out more?
There are a couple of ways to get in touch with us!
Our website is http://editinganddesign.com/.
Our Facebook page: http://facebook.com/editinganddesign. I get super excited when people like our page.
Our twitter is @wouldsnshoulds.
Our emails are clare@editinganddesign.com and dave@editinganddesign.com.

Thanks Cyndi, for allowing us to speak with you and your readers! If anybody has any questions for me about writing or publishing, feel free to get in touch. I’m excited to hear from everyone!

The Fear of God in YA Lit

In preparation for the launch of Between on June 1, I have been contacting YA book bloggers to set up reviews and interviews. Many of them have a Review Policy noted (which is sooooo helpful) to help authors and publishers know what types of books they'll accept for review.

I've come across several (say dozens) that don't accept books with religious themes or tones.

I find this curious, since I have come across only one or two who specifically note that they won't take books with mature sex scenes. Most of those have been tweens who note that their parents read the blog.

There have been countless blogs about sex in YA (how much is too much, should it happen on the page or off, should there be consequences, what about protection, etc...). There hasn't been nearly as much talk about issues of faith, though I would wager that most kids have to come to terms with where they stand on religion, too.

There was a Twitter #yalitchat session not too long ago on this very topic (faith in YA). I loved the interaction and the thoughts expressed by those tweeting. It was a great chat and something we should talk about more often.

I'd love to see issues of God, faith, spirituality and religion as a part of a teen's coming of age experience be poured into YA books and accepted by readers (and bloggers). Let's not be afraid of talking about God anymore than we're afraid of talking about sex in YA. Everyone will have a different opinion, and that's a good thing as long as we're respectful and kind.

What do you think about the topic of faith in YA books?

Author Spotlight: Molly Ringle

I love romance and I love Scotland. Molly Ringle's book has both!

Fresh out of high school, Eva Sonneborn is headed to Scotland with her best friends: scholarly, sarcastic Laurence; gorgeous, ghost-seeing Amber; and responsible, sweet Shannon. They plan to spend the next six months in Edinburgh, enjoying an adventure-filled work-abroad journey before parting ways for college.


But when Eva meets Gil, a local bartender, she figures a little innocent flirting won't hurt her relationship with Tony, her ever-faithful boyfriend back home. But just when things turn less innocent with Gil, the trip starts throwing curveballs at not only her but her friends too. By the end of the trip, they've all fallen in love, sometimes with the wrong people - and with consequences that may tear their friendship apart forever...

You can read my review on Goodreads.

In addition to being a great writer, Molly is also a lot of fun. I had the pleasure of interviewing her about the book:

CT: I know you spent some time in Scotland prior to writing this book. How did that come about?


MR: I developed a serious Anglophilia (or technically all-British-Isles-philia) during college, which only deepened when my parents took my sister and me there for a 10-day tour in the summer of 1995. I was determined to go back and spend longer there, as less of a tourist and more of a working citizen. Luckily, if you're an American college student, there's a program for that (BUNAC), so I signed up. After graduating, I spent three months in the UK, in the fall of 1996, most of it in Edinburgh, where I had a job in a hotel. Anywhere in Britain would have sufficed, really, but I ended up choosing Edinburgh because it seemed more exotic than England. Of course, now I want to get to know other parts of Britain equally well!

CT: What did you love most about Scotland? It's okay if you can't just pick one thing!

MR: Being a smellophile as well as a Britophile (sorry, I keep making up words), I'm tempted to say I loved the smell of Edinburgh best--it's this rich, toasty, malty scent from the breweries and the distilleries, which tints the air just enough to be unique and lovely. But I've heard they may actually have added filters to those breweries, and lost the citywide smell lately (if so, I grieve!). Anyway, what I love equally well is a more permanent feature: the ancient architecture. What they call the New Town in Edinburgh was built in the 1700s--that's in contrast to the Old Town, built in medieval times. In the American West we have virtually nothing like that. "Lewis and Clark camped here" signposts are about the most historic features we have. So walking streets and exploring buildings that have been there for centuries was a fascinating thing for a Northwest Yank girl to do.

CT: What don't you miss at all?

MR: Feeling locked into the bus and train system if I wanted to go anywhere, because I was too terrified to attempt to drive on the left side of the road (and the right side of the car).

CT: If you could travel anywhere in the world, where would you want to go and why?

MR: Ah, where to choose? To round out the British Isles, I'd like to visit Ireland, where I have ancestry and where I can surely enjoy all the greenery and ancient buildings. But after this long, dark, cold, wet Seattle winter (which has seemingly lasted over six months), I'm tempted to choose a peaceful, warm Greek island that smells of fig trees and seawater, and serves really good gyros.

CT: Just for fun: Barefoot or socks? Bikini or one-piece? Hardwoods or carpet? Dog or cat person?

MR: On that Greek island I'd be barefoot. At home, usually Smartwool socks, though now that you mention it, they do become a slipping hazard on our hardwood floors (which, nonetheless, I like better than carpet). Would I wear a dashing bikini on that Greek island? Hmm, perhaps. But after giving birth to two kids I'm likelier not to want to draw attention to the saggy skin around my waist, so a one-piece may be more realistic. Dog v. cat: I am kind to, and fond of, both, but since I know so many people with cat allergies, our family is likeliest to get a dog if we have to choose a pet. Though really we'd probably start with something quieter and lower-maintenance, like a rabbit.

CT: What are you working on now and where can we find other books you've written?

MR: Right now I'm staring down revisions for a couple of novels. The one I have highest hopes for today (an honor that changes weekly, if not hourly) is a YA urban fantasy involving a guardian angel stuck in human form in rural California. Though dealing with angels, it's not "inspirational"; it's my own version of angels and heaven, created to serve the story, rather than coming from any particular religion. Meanwhile, I should soon tackle final edits for a novella that could be called paranormal romantic comedy, and I hope to announce the release of that one before the year's out. All of my books can be found online at the usual sites: Amazon, Barnes and Noble, AllRomanceEbooks, etc. Details are, of course, also at my site: http://www.mollyringle.com/.