All posts by Pintip

My Ultimate Pick-Me-Up

There are a few things in life that make me really happy. My family. A good writing day. Laughter with friends. And last but not least…food!

If I’m looking for a pick-me-up when life gets stressful, a good meal almost always does the trick.

Here are some of my fav dishes from the last few months:

 

 

 

 

What’s your favorite pick-me-up?

 

 

 

 

Rice! It’s What’s for Dinner — and Breakfast and Lunch!

I love food. Any and all types. I never met a cuisine I didn’t like. My family plans vacations around restaurants. I even play in a Fantasy Top Chef league with my siblings.

And yet, there is one particular food item that I cannot live without. In fact, if I don’t consume it for more than a week, I start having major cravings. That item is . . . drumroll, please . . . rice.

Yep. Plain, white rice, preferably jasmine. Steamed is ideal. Fried is okay. Boiled is great. Accompanying side dishes even better.

This is why you will always find me at the fast-food Chinese place at the airport, especially after a conference or a vacation. At that point, I have usually gone for days without my rice fix, and I need it, bad. I suppose this is what happens when you grow up eating rice (or rice noodles) three times a day — breakfast, lunch, and dinner.

The best part is? Last summer, I discovered my children are the exact same way!

NaNo Final Results: the Mermaid Edition!

The month of November is over! In particular, NaNoWriMo is over, and wowee, I am so proud of the progress that my fellow mermaids have made this last month! And I am so proud of all of you who committed to working on your manuscripts this November! We have TWO NaNo winners in the Mermaid lagoon. Count them: TWO! Big congrats to Denny S. Bryce and Kimberly McCarron! You are such an inspiration to us all!

Also, congrats to Carlene Love Flores, Alethea Kontis, and Kerri  Carpenter for dedicating themselves to their writing and for being all around awesome! I’m so glad to have had your company on our journey this last month.

Now, shall we get to the totals? Remember, “winning” at NaNoWriMo consitutes writing 50k words in the last month…

Denny: 50,008 words

Kim: 59,616 words

Carlene: 7,274 words

Alethea: 13,500 words

Pintip: 37,074 words

Kerri: Finished revising one book and started revising another!

Mermaid total: 167,472 words

Thank you for following our writing adventure this last month. Did you NaNo? How did you do?

Week 3: the Mermaids Dive into NaNo

Week 3 already, and we are just now a little over the halfway point! How are all my NaNo friends doing? Let’s finish out this month strong, shall we? You can do it! Yes,  you can! We believe in you! Go go go!

Check out the mermaids’ word counts below. As you can see, some of us are on track to “win”. . . some of us are a little behind . . . but we are all winners because we have committed to making forward progress on our manuscripts this month!

After 16 days, NaNo suggests a word count of 26,672 to be on track to reach the 50,000 goal.

Our word counts are as follows:

Denny: 18,500 words

Kim: 26,182 words

Carlene: 5,599 words

Alethea: 9,686 words

Pintip: 20,137 words

Mermaid total: 80,194 words

Holy moly! Just look at that mermaid total! I’m so proud of my fellow mermaids and so proud of all of you who have committed to NaNo, as well!

As a bonus, Kerri-Mermaid, who is participating in her very own NaNoREVMo this month, has reported that she has finished the first draft of her WIP and is starting revisions on her next book. WOW! Check out that productivity! Go Kerri go!!

Please share. Are you participating in NaNo this year? How is your progress?

 

Week 2: The Mermaids Dive into NaNo

Check out the word counts of the mermaids below, and please share your progress and thoughts!

Remember, we are all here to cheer each other on!

After nine days, NaNo suggests a word count of 15,003 to be on track to reach the 50,000 goal.

Our word counts are as follows:

Denny: 12,659 words

Kim: 10,057 words

Carlene: 4,770 words

Alethea: 2,904 words

Pintip: 12,678 words

Mermaid total: 43,068 words

Wow! According to NaNo, none of the mermaids are “on track” quite yet . . . but I’m not worried! This month is about making progress on our manuscripts, and we are all certainly doing that, so I’m very proud of my fellow mermaids! Plus, just look at that mermaid total!! That’s the length of an entire novel!

Please share. Are you participating in NaNo this year? How is your progress?

The Mermaids Dive into NaNo!

Hello dear friends in the lagoon! The mermaids have decided to dive head-first into  National Novel Writing Month this November, and we want you to join us! We may smash the word count, or we may come up a little short . . . but the point is, we are doing this together. Our novels will be the better for it. And we want to support each other — and you — every step of the way!

Thus, we are going to be publishing our word count totals on the blog every Friday, and we’d love for you to share your progress with us, too!

After only two Nano days, our word counts are as follows:

Denny: 4563 words

Kim: 1700 words

Carlene: 1913 words

Alethea: 750 words

Pintip: 3707 words

Mermaid total: 12,633 words

Wow! And that’s just for two days of writing! That is the power of NaNo!

Please share. Are you participating in NaNo this year? How is your progress?

My Very First Mess . . . I Mean, Manuscript

Holy moly, my first manuscript. Wow. It was a total and complete mess. I don’t think it had even a semblance of a plot. Rather, it was just a bunch of rambling thoughts strung together. To tell you the truth, I can’t even tell you what the story was about. That’s how little of a plot it had! When people ask me how many books I’ve written, I don’t count this one. Just like I have my zero drafts (whose words don’t deserve the label of “first draft”), I also have a zero book.

Here’s what I can tell you:

The heroine’s name was Cat.

I wrote the manuscript in a coffee shop a couple blocks away from my apartment. Every day for six months, I went to the Xando and ordered an iced tea and wrote my heart out.

For the first time in my life, I was fully and irrevocably happy. I’ve dreamed of being a writer ever since I was six years old, and now, I was finally living it.

So, no matter what a complete and total disaster of a manuscript my first one was, I will always value it. For the very first time, the passion of my heart took root in something concrete, something that was outside of myself. And that, my dear fishy friends, is a beautiful and glorious thing. (No matter how crappy those words were!)

 

Pintip Dunn is a New York Times bestselling author of YA fiction. She graduated from Harvard University, magna cum laude, with an A.B. in English Literature and Language. She received her J.D. at Yale Law School.

Pintip’s novel, FORGET TOMORROW, won the RWA RITA® for Best First Book. It is also a finalist for the Grand Prix de l’Imaginaire, the Japanese Sakura Medal, the MASL Truman Award, and the Tome Society It list. In addition, THE DARKEST LIE was nominated for a Romantic Times Reviewers’ Choice Award. Her other books include REMEMBER YESTERDAY, SEIZE TODAY, and GIRL ON THE VERGE.

She lives with her husband and children in Maryland.

Website  Facebook  Twitter  Instagram  Goodreads

 

SEIZE TODAY Synopsis:

Conclusion to the New York Times bestselling and award-winning series, Forget Tomorrow. 

Seventeen-year-old Olivia Dresden is a precognitive. Since different versions of people’s futures flicker before her eyes, she doesn’t have to believe in human decency. She can see the way for everyone to be their best self-if only they would make the right decisions. No one is more conflicted than her mother, and Olivia can only watch as Chairwoman Dresden chooses the dark, destructive course every time. Yet Olivia remains fiercely loyal to the woman her mother could be.

But when the chairwoman captures Ryder Russell, the striking and strong-willed boy from the rebel Underground, Olivia sees a vision of her own imminent death…at Ryder’s hand. Despite her bleak fate, she rescues Ryder and flees with him, drawing her mother’s fury and sparking a romance as doomed as Olivia herself. As the full extent of Chairwoman Dresden’s gruesome plan is revealed, Olivia must find the courage to live in the present-and stop her mother before she destroys the world.

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Powell’s  Books-A-Million  Google

Brenda Drake’s New Release: Thunderstruck!

Thunderstruck
Brenda Drake
Published by: Entangled Crave
Publication date: September 11th 2017
Genres: Mystery, Mythology, Romance

Stevie Moon is famous…at least to the subscribers on her comic review vlog. At school, she’s as plain as the gray painted walls in the cafeteria. So when Blake, the hot new guy at school, shows an interest in her, she knows trouble when she sees it. Been there. And never doing it again.

As the son of the god Thor, Blake Foster’s been given an important mission—to recover the Norse god Heimdall’s sacred and powerful horn before someone uses it to herald in the destruction of the entire universe. But while Blake is great in a fight, the battlefield that is a high school’s social scene is another matter.

Blake knows his only choice is to team up with the adorable Stevie, but she’s not willing to give him even the time of day. He’ll need to woo the girl and find the horn if he hopes to win this war. Who better to tackle Stevie’s defenses than the demi-god of thunder?

“Every page brims with captivating Norse mythology and deliciously creative worldbuilding.” Pintip Dunn, New York Times bestselling author.

Goodreads / Amazon / Barnes & Noble / Kobo

EXCERPT:

After disposing of the troll, Blake rushed to May’s house and showered. His thoughts kept going to Stevie. After hearing what Jörd said to him, he wanted to see her. The pull to go to her was too strong. He had no choice but to give in to it.

He climbed the tree outside Stevie’s room and sat on the branch. A blue light blinked on and off inside the room. He lightly tapped on the window. Muffled voices from within the room hummed against the glassed pane.

The curtain pushed aside. Amira was close to Stevie’s back when the curtain slid to the side. Stevie said something to Amira that Blake couldn’t hear through the thick glass. Amira turned away and dropped onto the bed. Stevie flipped the locks and opened the window.

“You scared the shit out of us,” Stevie snapped.

Amira crossed her arms. “Yeah, we’re watching scary movies here.”

Blake tried not to laugh, but he couldn’t hold it in. “My apologies. Can I have a moment alone with you, Stevie?”

“With me?” She glanced back.

“No.” Amira heaved a sigh. “With the other Stevie in the room.”

“Where do you want to go?”

He reached his hand out to her. “Out here is fine.”

She narrowed her gaze on him. “I don’t think so.”

“Come on,” he said. “It’s perfectly safe. This branch is thick. Trust me.”

“Stop being a chicken and go already. I have to pee.” Amira shuffled off.

Stevie hesitated before grabbing his hand and letting him guide her out the window and onto the branch. “This is crazy, you know that?”

“If you never throw caution to the wind, you’ll never be rewarded.” He sat on the branch and held her hand as she came down beside him. Her hand was warm and soft in his, and he wanted to hold it forever.

The loose pajama bottoms she wore had cats on them. Her pink tank top rode up a little and exposed a bit of her midriff. Her light-brown hair, the color of the acorns he’d gathered with his grandmother when he was a boy, rose in the wind behind her. Wide, dark eyes met his, her full lips parted in a smile.

“What did you want?” She glanced at the ground. “Wow, this is pretty high.”

“Don’t worry. I won’t let you fall.” He slid his hand across her lower back and held her waist. She shivered. “Are you cold?”

“A little,” she said.

“Hold on.” He let her go, shrugged off his hoodie, and draped it around her shoulders.

“Thank you.”

She held it closed at the zipper. He returned his arm around her, grasping her waist. She shuddered, and he smiled at her response to his touch.

“You didn’t answer me,” she said. “What did you want to talk to me about?”

“Actually, I’m not here to talk,” he said. “Have you ever had an urge to do something, and once it’s in your head, you can’t sleep or think until you do the thing?”

“I guess.” When she looked over at him, they locked eyes and an intensity passed between them like the energy he felt in the handle of his hammer after catching lightning with it. He noticed a faint scar just above her cupid’s bow.

“How did you get the scar?” he asked.

“Scar?” She glanced down at her chest.

“Not there,” he whispered, lifting her chin to look into her eyes. “On your lip.”

She touched it. “Oh this? It’s an embarrassing story. Let’s just say, I learned to watch where I’m walking, especially when poles are around.”

He chuckled. “I can imagine what happened.”

She lowered her head again, her feet kicking back and forth.

He decided to take his chance and cupped her face in his hands, bringing her face to his and kissing her. It was a gentle, wanting kiss. Her lips were soft and warm against his. She tasted like May’s brownies. When Stevie hadn’t responded to his kiss, he was about to release her, but then her lips began moving with his. He cradled her in his arms and they balanced together on the branch.

 

Author Bio:

Brenda Drake is a New York Times bestselling author of young adult fiction. She grew up the youngest of three children, an Air Force brat, and the continual new kid at school. Her fondest memories growing up is of her eccentric, Irish grandmother’s animated tales, which gave her a strong love for storytelling. So it was only fitting that she would choose to write stories with a bend toward the fantastical. When she’s not writing or hanging out with her family, she haunts libraries, bookstores, and coffee shops, or reads someplace quiet and not at all exotic (much to her disappointment).

Website / Goodreads / Facebook / Twitter

 

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Where do I Write?

Hiya lagoon! Pintip Mermaid here to talk to you about my favorite writing places….

Mermaid post writing place

 

Medium on which I write: my cell phone! I’ve written and revised my last six novels entirely on my cell phone, with the screen locked in portrait position, so that the keys are close enough together to tap without pain

 

Most unusual place I’ve written: flat on my back underneath a glass coffee table, with my laptop open and facedown on the glass, dictating into my microphone

 

Most productive place I’ve written: in the car, at the parking lot library, for eight entire hours. Two words: no distractions!

 

Most regular place I write: on the recliner in my bedroom, since the neck and shoulder support is good when my fibromyalgia flares up

 

Most chaotic place I’ve written: Today! At the kitchen table at my friend’s house, with five kids, one toddler, and one dog running around, making slime, eating lunch, and playing games — one with pink eye, one with a broken collarbone, one with a stomach bug, and one with a bruised pinky toe. The injuries weren’t my fault, I swear!

 

Place where I’ve written the longest number of consecutive hours: on the airplane to Thailand (which includes the layovers). I wrote for 20 hours straight.

 

Oh, and guess what? This is unrelated to the post, but I just finished my second-round edits for SEIZE TODAY, the the conclusion of my FORGET TOMORROW series!!!! WHEEE!!!!!!

 

What are your favorite places to write? Let me know in the comments below. I can’t wait to hear!!!

Cover Reveal: Kerri Carpenter’s FALLING FOR THE RIGHT BROTHER

We are flipping our fins in the lagoon for Kerri-Mermaid’s cover reveal for her newest book, FALLING FOR THE RIGHT BROTHER!

If you’ve never read Kerri’s books, you need to SWIM — don’t wade — to your nearest book retailer. They are charming, so much fun, and full of swoon!!! I remember the first time I read Kerri’s writing six years ago. We were at our very first critique group meeting at my house, and a few things stand out about that memory: my not-yet-renovated living room, the green curry that I worried was too spicy, and Kerri’s effortless voice! 

I am counting the days until I get my hands on this book on May 23! Until then, feast your eyes on this cover!

FftRB Cover

Title: Falling for the Right Brother

Author: Kerri Carpenter

Series Name: Saved by the Blog, Book 1 of 3

Release Date: Print – May 23, 2017; E-book – June 1, 2017

Publisher: Harlequin Special Edition

Summary:

Saved by the blog! 

This just in, fair readers! Chic and stunning, that gorgeous new woman about town is none other than our very own little Ellie—now Elle—Owens. She’s a far cry from the frumpy, bookish student we used to know, but then, living in Italy will do that to a girl! Still, this blogger can’t forget the infamous video that caused her to leave!

Apparently Miss Elle has been spotted with yummy contractor Cam Dumont…but we thought her heart belonged to his little brother. Are Cam and Elle a new couple? They were seen cooling their passions in the bay…in April! If this is love, let’s hope she’s swimming with the right brother. The Bayside Blogger will keep you posted.

 

Excerpt:

Gazing at her now, with moonlight washing over, her eyes alight with amusement, her slender body swimming in his jacket, he thought he’d never seen any woman look so beautiful. He took a step closer. “So you really didn’t know me at all.”

Staying in place, she angled her head to look up at him. “Apparently not.”

“How do you feel now that you are learning a little about me?” Was he flirting with her? Some part of his brain screamed for him to stop, but standing this close felt too damn good.

“I feel like I might be interested in hearing more.”

And she was flirting back. Double damn. Elle Owens had been in love with his brother her entire life. Maybe Jasper hadn’t been into her back in high school, but if what Cam witnessed earlier tonight was any indication, he was interested now. Cam would not, could not, interfere with his brother. Not after what his brother had done for him.

Buy Links: 

Amazon  Barnes & Noble  iTunes  Kobo  Harlequin Page

 

Kerri HeadshotAuthor Bio

Award-winning romance author Kerri Carpenter writes contemporary romances that are sweet, sexy, and sparkly. When she’s not writing, Kerri enjoys reading, cooking, watching movies, taking Zumba classes, rooting for Pittsburgh sports teams, and anything sparkly. Kerri lives in Northern Virginia with her adorable (and mischievous) rescued poodle mix, Harry. Visit Kerri at her website, on Facebook, Twitter, or Instagram, or subscribe to her newsletter.

 

Other Books by Kerri Carpenter: 

Bidding on the Bachelor

Saved by the Blog, Book 2

Harlequin Special Edition

Coming in: October 2017

 

Tempting Mr. Wrong

Wrong Man series, Book 2

Entangled Publishing, Lovestruck Line

Released in June 2016

http://bit.ly/TMWEnt

 

Kissing Mr. Wrong

Wrong Man series, Book 1

Entangled Publishing, Lovestruck Line

Released in May 2015

http://bit.ly/KMWEntPub

 

Flirting with the Competition

Entangled Publishing, Lovestruck Line

Released in October 2014

http://bit.ly/1t95WF8

 

The Best Kind of Love

Soul Mate Publishing

Released in December 2014

http://amzn.to/1VSvgen