BIG NEWS FEATURE FRIDAYS

So I woke up this morning and I felt as if all the energy and life force of the world had been poured into me during my sleep.  Yeah, talk about pumped up! Have you ever had one of those mornings? Or days? Or even weeks?   It’s one of the most incredible feelings ever and I HAD to share and express a little of the joy that's bubbling inside me with all of you.  So that being said, I wanted to dedicate this post to sharing the fantastic news and blessings of some of my favorite peeps/writer buds!  And have decided to try and do a weekly BIG NEWS FEATURE FRIDAYS (#BNFF) post each Friday, dedicated to sharing all of YOUR good news.  So just know, I WON'T apologize for the length of these blogs because I am in a groove and am totally loving the fact that I'm part of such a great community of inspiring and brilliant people.

And so I hope you enjoy this FANTASTIC song while I’ll happily share some of the wonderful news of some pretty AWESOME people!

BIG NEWS:

If you haven’t already then you should 1) check out Tawna Fenske's blog (HILARIOUS stuff) and 2) go out and pick up her debut novel Making Waves! Now available on Amazon and Barnes & noble.  Come on...IT HAS PIRATES PEOPLE! Enough said.  But honestly, I found this book to be delightfully fun & a laugh out loud read from start to finish. Not to mention that I completely adore Tawna in all her wild and wacky glory.  Can you say 5 STARS!!! And also, its TAWNA’s birthday today so go shoot her a tweet at @tawnafenske!

HUGE News for Kiersten White! Her debut novel PARANORMALCY is gonna be made into a MOVIE! Hello! Can it really get any better than that?! Well maybe it could, there was also the awesome new release of the second book of her PARANORMALCY Trilogy, SUPERNATURALLY! Go pick them up NOW & congratulations Kiersten! You can check out more on Kiersten at her blog & see what other shenanigans she's up to.

*This is really exciting!* I’m so proud and happy to announce that my dear and wonderful friend Raine Thomas has released her ENTIRE series, yes I said ENTIRE series, The Daughter of Saraquel Trilogy.  Fantastic read, go get it!  Become entranced by the Estilorians & the daughters of Saraquel that is now available on Amazon & Barnes & Noble! Don't you just love these covers...I DO! Cover work was done by the fabulous Nimbi Design.

Book # 1 – Becoming

Book #2 – Central

Book# 3 – Foretold

A few weeks back I had also posted an AUTHOR ALERT blog on the beautiful and wonderful debuting author Chelsea Fine  (yes, in all her flowing goldilocks glory) and haven't regretted it one bit ever since.  Her debut novel Sophie & Carter is a delightful story of being young and finding love in a not-so-perfect world. If you haven't already, go pick it up! It available on Amazon or Barnes & Noble.

I wanted to also take this opportunity to send a HUGE congratulations to the brilliant writer, Michael R. Hicks, who is someone I have in many ways come to think of as a mentor. And who has very recently reached a huge milestone of officially reaching his goal of being a full-time author! Congratulations on such a major milestone, Mike! Mike has been creating worlds of fantasy for over a decade and his series IN HER NAME has received rave reviews across the board on Amazon.  Go check out Michael R. Hicks website as he shares his work and also his passion for helping others achieve their dreams as well http://authormichaelhicks.com/

If you’re looking for a great Greek Mythology story to become completely addicted to than I suggest you check out Josephine Angelini site and her debut novel Starcrossed.  I picked it up & literally couldn’t put it down.  It is definitely a 5 Star WIN in my book!

I want to also send an especially happy and long awaited CONGRATULATIONS to Natalie Whipple on signing her very first book deal with HarperTeen for her debut novel TRANSPARENT. Woohoo! Her journey has been one of many ups and downs but she never gave up and had now finally prevailed. You can read more about Natalie’s inspiring story on her blog http://www.betweenfactandfiction.blogspot.com/.

And finally this guy was someone I was lucky enough to stumble across on twitter and have not regretted following him for one second.  His name is J.C. Fiske, he is a YA fantasy novelist, a comic book geek (so cute), whose debut novel RENEGADE: RISING is now available on Amazon.  Definitely go check out his site and get to know this new young up and coming writer.

Wow! So there you have it...my first #BNFF!!! There was so much good news to spread, and I hope its contagious. If you have any exciting book news, or a site or an upcoming release date you want blasted out, just hit me up on twitter @BlaireKensley or email me at Blaire.Kensley@gmail.com.  I'd love to feature you in one of my BIG NEWS FEATURE FRIDAYS!  I hope everyone has a great day and I will catch you all on the flip side.

Happy Writing & Happy Reading!

I'm Back in the Saddle Again

So as some of you may or may not have noticed I was gone for a brief while, taking a mini SM reprieve.  And while on my reprieve was also lucky enough to have the chance to spend an eventful and jammed packed LONG weekend with the parentals.  So at this stage, I’m still somewhat in recovery mode from said extended weekend.  But am feeling pretty great and will be fully back into the swing of things by no later than tomorrow morning.  So don’t worry, there will be a new post coming soon (that is for those of you who were in fact curious about my brief drop off & who enjoy reading the gibberish I tend to write).

But yes, a it was great weekend, where not only was I allowed to be a spoiled child again, but was also off cooking duty, and was able to enjoy lots and lots of really good food that I didn't cook.  ALL fried of course (this is the South & it is my family), and so I’m sure I gained at least 10 pounds over the weekend.  But on top of the great food and entertainment, a good friend also celebrated a birthday, which is always kind of amazing and fun.  And to cap it all off I got to watch my baby brother play in the Texas HS All Star football game at the glitzy Cowboy Stadium and THEY WON! Which totally rocked my face off and made for a VERY suitable end to a fantastic weekend.

So, in celebration of my return and to give myself a much needed boost to go into August with the OOMPH that I so desperately need.  I dedicate this song to all my fellow writer peeps & hope this gets your blood pumping and fingers flying across the keyboard and/or that pen whisking across that paper!

Okay, so this may not be the most writing inspiring material & I may be SEVERELY aging myself here, BUT I still LOVE THIS SONG!!! :D

Bananarama - “Cruel Summer”

Happy Writing & Happy Reading!

Time to Rock 'n' Roll

The evil green-eyed monster has definitely been lurking in the shadows of late. But I tell you now dear readers...I shall NOT be defeated by this traitorous writer undertaker nor will I go down without a fight.

BRING IT ON YOU EVIL WRITER'S BLOCK!

That's write people! I'm here to take on the world, while the world is here to...well, probably just ignore me until its ready to acknowledge me (whenever that'll be). But I'm here and I'm feeling pretty fan-freakin-tastic and surprisingly very energized after what I can only describe as an odd but very reflective Tuesday.  I ended up being sent home early from work, and not for reasons you think, but due to the A/C unit in the entire building being completely on the fritz and apparently on strike.  Talk about HOT!  So four hours later after pulling out of my rin-tin-tin covered parking space I found myself back at home and not really in the mood to do anything productive so instead found myself watching sappy chick-flicks.

So now, after two great movies (which I thoroughly enjoyed by the way) I'm feeling pumped, rejuvenated and ready to kick the crap out of this story.  Let's do this!

Writer Warrior on the war path! And being that I'm in such an EPIC mood and love posting videos at random, I leave you with these INSPIRING WORDS. Seriously, if I had James Earls Jones proclaiming these words to me each time I sat down to write/edit/or revise, I'm (almost) positive I would be kicking writer's block butt and taking publisher houses' names daily. Boom.

Happy Reading!

THE CREED - Character Inspiration

I love having a face to put to my characters.  Just because it always seems to give more life to the story as I’m writing it.  While some writers prefer to allow their readers to experience and build characters in their own mind, I’m of mind to do something different.  And since this is my blog and its my story…I WANT TO SHARE! 

Here's a little summary of Book 1 of my series, THE CREED...

Ava Cormac was born different, extraordinary even—something she’s always sort of suspected—but what she’ll soon discover following her eighteenth birthday is that being extraordinary is not only a social nightmare (especially when you’re eighteen), but is also dangerous and at its worst very deadly.

For Ava the stories of angels and fallen were always nothing more than bedtime stories told to her and her sister, Sam, as little girls. But the world she knows soon begins to interweave with a world she once believed to only exist in bedtime stories and the pages of ancient texts.  Yet the deeper Ava falls into the seductive world inhabited by the beautifully dark fallen—meeting the mysterious and celestially alluring, Seth—the more the lines between good and evil begin to blur.  Especially when it’s revealed that not only is Ava a marked descendant of one of the most powerful lines of the secret hybrid race of fallen and humans, known as the Nephilim.  But that the powers of her ancestors runs through her veins and she alone may possess the key that can unlock the fate of all mankind and fallen in the world.   

The main character of my story, Ava is eighteen-years-old and on the verge of embarking on a dark journey into a world she’d before only believed to have existed in stories…that is until it becomes a very real part of her life.

So over time, as the story has progressed and the characters have become more alive to me I’ve come to visualize Ava, as the beautiful and talented Zoe Kravitz.

 

I recently got a glimpse of Zoe in action in the latest X-Men First Class film and not only was it excellent but so was the talented Zoe.  

And as for the alluring Seth...I think Garrett Hedlund definitely leads the list of males to take on the edgy role of my semi-dark hero. 

So these are the faces that traverse my mind on a daily basis while I work and pour my blood and sweat into getting Book 1 of my series completed.  I have to say, I think I keep very nice mental company, don't you?

Also...check out my FAQ page for answers to some of those buzzing questions of yours!