Why are your friendships in high school so powerful?

When I wrote Off Limits which is a story about a friendship that develops and grows between two very different girls it brought back what the word friendship meant to me in school. I had one best friend, a city girl who moved to the country and in grade five we became BFFs. Everything about her sparkled. She was like so cool because she used to live in the big city while I grew up in the country.

There was always this ‘other’ friend who hung around with us but I knew she was at the edge of our friendship because of her life and yes, I will say it, her looks. My best friend in high school was the cheerleader type – and yes we did that too in high school – think blonde, blue eyed and a figure I always envied. I was too skinny (wouldn’t I die to reclaim that now), flat chested and had (still have) frizzy hair. By the time we were in high school the friend on the edge was slightly overweight, wasn’t in our academic classes and never tried out for anything. Looking back I know why but it took me spending the night at her house to understand the depths of her life. I suspected she was being sexually abused by her step-father and while she hinted at things that couldn’t be said, I never came out and asked. But what could a 15 year-old kid do? She escaped her home life by getting married to an older man and didn’t finish high school. I totally lost contact, but never forgot her. I often wished I spoken more to her but people didn’t talk about things like that in my community and honestly, I’m fairly certain they still don’t.

And my best friend, I wish I could say the ordeals of high school didn’t rip us apart but they did. At 15 my best friend got pregnant. Her very Catholic mother, who at that time was going through a terrible divorce – they went from riches to rags overnight because of her father – helped her get an abortion – at the time her mom had five young children to deal with and no support. A year later my friend got pregnant again and not wanting to disappoint her mother, she and her boyfriend and my cousin at the time drove to Quebec so she could have an apportion without her mom finding out. I spent the weekend covering for her. I tried to put myself in her shoes and I couldn’t. While I had a boyfriend and yes, I was sexually active at the age of 16, I also went on the pill because I never wanted children (insert laugh here as I know have 4).

I wanted more than anything to escape my small fishing community and I knew going to university, continuing my education was key. Those two abortions deeply affected my BFF for life. I found out years later she was in counseling for her decisions. After high school, I went on to university and she went on to work full-time. Years later I married, she never did (even though I know that was her high school dream) and once I was settled in my life I had many children (she has had none).

I have often wished we could get together to chat about those days but I realize we will never be able to recapture what we had. I truly loved her. She was the girl I shared everything with. I told all about the feel of my first kiss what I aspired to be when I grew up. She was the girl whose house I’d go to when getting ready for a dance and we’d spend hours trying on clothing and doing make-up. She was the girl who showed me how to navigate the city on the weekends showing me it wasn’t all that scary. She was so smart and had such potential that I envisioned us both going to university, rooming together but that never happened.

Since those high school years I have had many other good friends but never have I had a friendship like I did with my BFF in high school. Why is that? Does it have to do with the changes going on in our lives? Does it have to do with all those ‘first’ memories we shared together? I’d like to know what you think. Drop me a comment and you could win a copy of Off Limits.

Off Limits by Renee Pace Debuts Today

Hi everyone:
I'm very excited that Off Limits debuts today on Amazon. This is book two in my nitty gritty series and let me just say it was very hard to write. I wish I could say I grew up in a high school where things like suicide, young girls getting pregnant, drug overdoses and mean girls didn't exist. Sad, because all of that went on and much more. When I wrote Off Limits I wanted to focus on two girls -give them each a unique voice with their own set of problems. What I also wanted to highlight was the force of a real friendship - you know the type. The type of friend you worry about, the type of friend you try to help out when they're down and the type of friend you tell the truth to even if that means it might kill the friendship.

To celebrate my launch - I'm giving away a copy of Off Limits to read. Leave a comment and one lucky person will receive an e-copy of Off Limits.

Off Limits

By Renee Pace
Chapter One

Lindsay

“You coming over tonight, Rebecca?”

I make the question casual, like it’s no sweat off my back if my best friend can’t come over tonight. Inside my gut twists and rolls with the thought of being alone. She plays with her dyed blonde ponytail, pulling the strands tight to her head to fluff it up higher. She’s not paying attention to me. Rebecca’s one focus is Blair. Blair’s main focus is Rebecca. They make me sick.

“Can’t Linds. I’ve got plans.”

I hate that nickname and no matter how many times I ask her not to call me that she doesn’t listen. She dismisses me with a swish of her ponytail and walks over to plant one on Blair’s lips. I cringe with disgust. For the life of me I can’t understand what she sees in him, besides his muscular body. Muscle or not, he’s not something I’m into.

I re-read the text from my mother and resist the urge to type a pleading note back to her not to spend another night away. Mom’s been at a conference all weekend. I had Friday, Saturday and even Sunday night covered. It’s Monday. She was supposed to come home tonight. Now I’m left scrambling for an excuse to spend the night somewhere else or begging a friend to come to my house for a sleepover. Worse, I have to make my impromptu sleepover sound casual, like it’s an afterthought that me, the so-called perfect girl in this Prep school, wants a friend or better yet friends to spend Monday night at her house. No one has sleepovers on Monday. Even I know that. Thing is, I’m all into bucking the trend. Especially when a friend will keep me safe and they won’t even know it.

Taking the time to look at my reflection staring back at me thanks to my handy-dandy locker mirror I reapply my pink lipstick, add a bit more black eyeliner around my bottom lids and flick my long blonde hair off my shoulders. I look cool and sophisticated thanks to Mother’s recent shopping spree and my practiced ‘I’m fine’ look. I’m totally decked out in designer duds, from my shoes to my new hot purple matching bra and underwear, although no one’s going to see that. It’s the top of the line on this bod. But just once I wish I didn’t feel like trash. They say clothes make the woman. My clothes, like the makeup I carefully apply, are my body armor. They protect me and conceal me. Even my scars—carefully hidden thanks to my long-sleeved sweater. They are my shame. My dirty little secret I can’t tell anyone.

Armed with my new Coach purse, another gift from Mother-dearest, I saunter to class. It would not be cool for me to be late so I never am. Appearances must be maintained and just like my good grades, which are totally expected, I play my part to a T.

The class is totally boring and I can’t absorb one freaking word the teacher is droning on about. Something to do with DNA, mitochondria and cellular fusion. I hate biology. You of course would never know that. My last test was a ninety-eight percent and I participate in class even though inside it kills me.

“Mr. Turner, I didn’t catch the last part of what you were saying, do you mind repeating it?” I make sure to bat my eyelashes at him and throw in a flirty smile. Sometimes using the way I look makes me sick. Not today.

“Sure Lindsay, as I was saying…”

This time I take notes. It helps me concentrate on his class, forcing my mind not to wander into that dark place. An itch starts on both of my wrists but I don’t scratch. Scratching would ruin the plastic surgeon’s work and piss my mother off to no end. My mother and I don’t talk about the “incident”. That’s her word, not mine. I have another word I like to use, but uttering that makes her angry. Trust me, that’s not pretty.

We went from Halifax, Nova Scotia to Mexico, just the two of us, but not once did we talk about anything important. The five and a half hour flight might have never happened. But it did. The “incident” happened and now…now, I am supposedly all better. As if! And like all mistakes, we wiped all memories of it clean from our lives. Well, that’s how Mother viewed it. Me, I’m not so sure.

Now we live in Toronto. To say I hate this place would be an understatement. Gone is my tree. The one tree that grew up with me. Mother planted it in our backyard, blubbering away about “us” making our own memories when my father walked out on us. She never once looked back at that relationship, except to look at me. I should have been the wise one. Make one stupid mistake Lindsay and voilà, you’ll get taken away from all you know, including the stupid silly things that shouldn’t matter, but do. Like that tree, which had been on a piece of property in my mother’s family for close to two hundred years. She sold off the acreage to some developer, but not before we trekked an hour back into the bug-infested woods for that damn shrub. Cedar. That’s it. We didn’t think it would survive but that tree did. It grew and grew, so much so, that it became my own special tree. Now, that’s gone. After all the shit that’s happened in my life, I honestly can’t believe I miss that stupid tree.

My mother couldn’t live with the shame of my so-called accident. The reality is she couldn’t live with the gossip and still to this day, a full six months later, she is not interested in learning the truth. I tried to tell her it wasn’t an accident. That didn’t go so well.

“What did he say?”

Without turning my head I answer Megan. She’s sitting next to me, only because she got assigned that seat. Megan, with her mousy-brown hair, is about as boring as you can get. The cosmetic ladies would have a field day with her face. I bet she doesn’t even own lip gloss. I look at her for a good twenty seconds.

Beggars can’t be choosers.

“You doing anything tonight?” I turn my head slightly, giving her a bit of my attention but not all of it. Inside my head I am still going through all my friends, trying to figure out who might say yes to coming to my house tonight. Most of my friends have cheerleading practice on Monday night. Since I couldn’t even try out for the team because of my “weak” wrists lie, I’m not on it. Neither is Megan.

She hasn’t answered me, so I’m forced to look at her. “Megan, you busy tonight?”

She gives me a puzzled expression. “No. Why?”

“Want to come over?”

“Over. Like, as in to your house to do homework or something?” I can’t help notice how her uni-brow furrows in frustration and she’s got a pack of whiteheads on her nose that could seriously use some medication. What she really needs is a good makeover. Oh. My. God. I am a genius.

I move my chair slightly closer to her. “Look, come to my house tonight and we’ll give each other makeovers.”

Her eyes widened and honestly the biggest smile on the planet lights up her face. I feel like a heel. What the hell am I thinking? Oh, I know; I’m not thinking. I’m desperate. I can’t believe Megan is my last hope.

“Sure. That would be great. I can come over for a bit.”

A bit. I need her to commit for the night. “I was thinking…you know, there’s nothing going on…why don’t you spend the night?” I gulp. It’s too late to swallow back the words but I know I have just committed social suicide. For a second I wonder which is worse—home alone or having Megan over.

“A sleepover?”

Thank god she asks the question in her whisper-like voice. “Yeah,” I nod. “A sleepover, that’s a great idea.” I am so royally screwed. I made her think sleeping over at my house was her idea. It’s not, but if it will get her to commit, I don’t care what she thinks.

“You sure?” she asks.

Not really, but I don’t have anyone else to ask and you’re my last hope. I nod, making sure my smile is bright and full, stretched taut across my face. I notice she’s still taking notes. How the hell can she concentrate on this boring stuff when my guts feel like they are being twisted into pretzel shapes?

“Just you and me, tonight at my house for a makeover. Come around six and we’ll have time for a movie later.”

“You sure your parents won’t mind? It being Monday night and all.”

“My mother’s away at some stupid work conference. And my stepfather doesn’t care what I do.” And that’s the truth. He only cares about one thing but that’s not going to happen—if she comes over, that is.

“You are so lucky. By the way, I don’t have any makeup to bring.”

“Don’t you worry. I have enough stuff to outfit my own store. When I’m done with you tonight you can take whatever you want home with you.”

“I wish I had your life.”

I gulp. A flash of terror slides through my skin at her words. If she knew my real life, if she knew what went on in the dark, when Mother’s not home, she most certainly would not want my life. I can’t say anything for a full minute. Instead, I start to take notes again. My heart’s hammering away and sweat glides down my new shirt. I’m glad now I put on my sweater.

“You okay?” she asks.

“You bet. Just plotting out in my head what we’re going to do tonight.”

The bell rings. Class is over. I gently close my laptop. No one carries scribblers or school books at this school. It’s high-tech all the way. The sickening part is that with it being mid-morning, religious class is next. I am not one bit Catholic, even though my mother said we were. I fake my way through religious class much like how I pretend being happy. Guess I learned how to lie from a pro. The worse part about my next class is with it being Monday it’s mandatory confessional. Honestly, some of my best lies take place in the privacy of a wooden closet. Just me and the priest, separated by a silly wooden barrier. I should journal some of the “indecent” things I confess. They sound exciting even to me so, I can just imagine the hard-on they give that fat, disgusting priest. If there’s one thing I have learned in the past year it’s how to spot a pervert. Trust me, he’s just like Greg, my stepfather, who ever since I turned fourteen has snuck into my room to show me his idea of loving. The concept of that type of love is not something I want. If that’s loving, I will take hate any day.

I know something the priest and most of my fellow students don’t know. There is no hell in the afterlife. I’ve been there. Died for a good three minutes. I didn’t feel a thing. Only this life is living hell.

“See you at six,” I remind Megan, as we casually join the mass exit from class.

“Can’t wait,” she says.

I can’t help noticing the bounce in her step. It should make me happy. It doesn’t. I don’t even like Megan. She’s a pathetic excuse for protection but she will have to do.

Freaks of Greenfield High - If you liked Terminator you will love this YA book

Freaks of Greenfield High by Maree Anderson is a great YA cross between the Terminator movies and the Sarah Connor TV show. I devoured this book in two nights. It totally played out like a movie in my head. Anderson’s descriptions of cyborg Jay were amazing. I especially loved that Jay was a girl, trying to learn how to cope with new situations while learning more about humanity. I loved how Anderson added human angst to Jay who was trying to cope with blending in while playing being human. And Tyler and his twin sister had their own problems but friendships are the underlying theme in this book. It was fast paced, riveting, real teen language that I loved and I didn’t want it to end. I seriously hope Anderson will write a sequel featuring more cyborgs. I don’t have a rating system but this YA book is a must read.


Check out Freaks of Greenfield High at http://amzn.com/B005M9TC3K. This book is a .99 cent read. Read other books by Anderson at http://www.mareeanderson.com

Book Blurb:

When a teenage cyborg is forced to hide out at a small-town high school, the unthinkable happens: she falls in love.

Jay’s a cyborg who looks just like normal teenage girl. She’s super-strong, super-smart, and she can even appear to grow and age like a human. When a covert organization intent on using Jay as a weapon comes after her, she needs to find a place where she can blend in. Greenfield High seems perfect… except that the boys all think she’s totally hot and keep hitting on her, and she has no clue how to handle the attention. Who knew high school could be so perilous?

To add to her confusion she’s evolving - experiencing human emotions for the first time. And when she encounters ex-jock-turned-outcast Tyler, he sends her logical brain into a spin. She’s just starting to get the hang of this girlfriend/boyfriend thing when her pursuers track her down. Now’s sooo not the time for a cyborg to fall in love and get all emotional!

Joined 4 other talented writers to form YA Beyond: Breaking Boundaries

I am very excited that I’ve joined with four other talented multi-published authors to form YA Beyond: Breaking Boundaries (www.yabeyond.com). This site will highlight everything teen related. We are a diverse group and our writing styles vary as much as our experience in the writing field. Like many young adult writers we’re all using pseunonyms. For me, Renee Pace, is a reclaiming of my maiden name and I couldn’t be happier writing YA under my birth name. I’m a mother of four children, three boys and then our girl and I’ll soon gab about how that little girl came to be but the journey to writing for all us began first with our love of reading.

I read a ton of books. I usually read at least three books a week. Books are everywhere in my house. Picture my night table by my bed piled high with books and that’s me. Magazines also fill my bathroom but books line my bath tub – nothing makes me happier than a long hot soak, glass of wine and a good book. This habit is something two of my boys have developed – minus the wine so far but I encourage reading at a young age and so what if I had to fork out $30 for the last book my 10 year-old dropped in the tub – he was in there for an hour reading – such a wonderful gift we can pass to our children. If I’m falling in love with a book I’ve been known to sit on the sofa all evening reading, somehow the children’s homework gets done and usually I’m oblivious that the TV was left on.

This brings me back to yabeyond. We’re going to be frank and honest and talk about teen issues, the joy of writing teen stories, how we do research, books we love, how to encourage healthy teen living, talking about those hard topics like sex and drugs with your teen, how writers get pulled in many directions but must learn to manage time and much more. I can’t wait to showcase some new and exciting YA Indie authors I’m discovering. I’m hoping we can get them to do guest blogs later on. And most importantly we’re trying to reach out to teens. The biggest question YA authors have is how do we get our books in teen hands? It’s not a simple question but I’m a firm believer in engaging teens in reading and the creative process.

My 13 year-old son is reading my first YA novel Off Leash and besides being a bit shocked at how much he’s liking it (again he’s my teen) one of his nicest comments was how my writing reminds him of Eric Walters – that would be his fav author and one I’m sure I’ve helped finance a trip somewhere considering I always go out and buy all his books asap for my teen. So saying that I realized I had never read an Eric Walters book. Since he has an entire bookshelf of his books I’m about to fix that.

So let me say a huge shout out to fellow www.yabeyond.com bloggers:

Cat Kalen author of Pride’s Run and debuting soon Pride Unleashed, an edgy paranormal

Tawny Stokes, author of Static, and Demon Whisperer, dark paranormal YA stories that will leave you breathless

PJ Sharon author of Heaven is for Heroes (so loved this book), On Thin Ice and debuting in 2012 Savage Cinderella

Anne Rose, who is a multi-published author under a name and the best writing coach ever – she recently launched TheRedPenCoach and Anne is working on her first sci-fi YA – which I have to say is great!

December 1 is out debut day on www.yabeyond.com. We’re also on twitter@yabeyond. We’re hoping to hear from many of you.

Day 24 and Nano Panic Has Set In

Day 24 of Nano and yes the panic has set in. I’ve got 33,000 words written in my third nitty gritty novel, Off Stroke and I’ve hit the part where I’d like to rest and go back and edit. Yeah, you read that right, edit. But alas if I go back I won’t finish. And now I’m calling it that damn book, that’s what happens when the pressure is on.

I will confess I’m writing this book by the seat of my pants. I’m not a plotter but I usually know the beginning and ending of the books I’m writing. Off Stroke is going to surprise me. I can feel it building. My characters have done their intros and we’ve passed that first kiss scene, which is a first for me in my YA writing journey and we have moved into the nitty gritty reality of life. When I left my characters this morning Eje, my main guy, had just had the crap beaten out of him. Finally. I could sense it coming but wasn’t sure how or the circumstances to they why. But I had faith in my voice and the creative process. And now I’m excited.

The tension is building between Eje and Shannon, the lines are being drawn in the sand to speak but will their friendship survive all the obstacles I’m going to throw their way (insert evil laugh here). This is where the pace is going to pick up. Tomorrow another 2,000 words to plug out so I’ve got six more days to reach 50,000. Okay, yeah I’m totally worried, but this book will be done by the first week of December, and hopefully by then I’ll have nailed down the ending.

And the good news is my cast comes off Dec. 1st - so excited! I'm seriously hoping they'll put me either in a boot cast or let me attempt to walk on two legs. This will be my best Christmas present.

Marketing Update for Off Leash

On October 8 I launched Off Leash as two books. I sold 4 copies in total at $2.99 with 70% royalty rate. I also quickly realized this angle was not going to work. Offering the book with two endings selling it as two different books was saturating my market and sales. So a few days later I reworked both books into one book –Off Leash: Bonus Content and tagged the nitty gritty ending on as the 2nd ending all in one book. My stats at this point remained about 80,000. I also changed the price to .99 cent which meant a drop in royalty to 35%.

Marketing: Fired off queries to about 10 YA blog sites asking if they’d read an e-Arc of Off Leash.

Three YA blog sites responded. Again good exposure but no increase in sales.

Blog: I attempt to be more active with blogging and reading more YA books.

Twitter: I made it a point to really up my tweets and start following more YA authors/bloggers. Not sure if this increased sales but this is something I enjoy and again it’s tied into exposure. I also make it a point to always respond to 4-6 people when I log in. Whenever someone starts to follow me I also send them a note of thanks.

Goodreads: I joined and added a number of YA/Indie groups. I confess here I find it hard to utilize this site for promotion so would welcome any helpful hints. Even getting my book listed on Goodreads was hard.

Digital Book Today – On November 7 Off Leash was posted. In order to get posted you need at least 5 reviews (this can be very hard to get for an Indie author), but once I got them I fired off a note and they agreed to feature it. This was free.

The Frugal E-Reader – Launched Off Leash on Nov. 6th – the double exposure really helped to move Off Leash up to the Top 100 Amazon Kindle list. In terms of sales all together that day 6 books were sold.

The Kindle Daily Deal – This was my first paid ad at $59 (US). It was worth it. I sold 23 books and moved as high as #13 on the Top Amazon Kindle List for Best Children’s Books for Boys and Men. Four days later I was still ranked in the Top 100. This was great for exposure. A lot of new people on twitter started to follow me also.

Total sales todate: 38 books

What’s next?

I booked a Pixel of Ink ad for Off Leash which is about $119 (US) and I’m slated for Dec.10, 2011 – this is perfect timing. My second book, Off Limits I hope to have live on Dec 5th and I’ll be keeping that priced at $2.99 with 70% royalty in the hopes of making more sales.

Goodreads – goal is to better utilize this site

Facebook – attempt to get more exposure about the series through my Renee Pace site

Twitter – continue doing what I’m doing

YA reviews sites – research more and attempt to get more reviews – nice to have 20 reviews so I can approach other Kindle Nation sites that require this.

Locally – Mail my print copy of Off Leash to local Teen Magazine so they can have one of their teen reviewers read and post a review – aim is January.

Emailed my local library asking them to purchase a copy for their collection. Also emailed library to see if they’d be willing to host a local YA Indie group workshop – still waiting for reply.

RWA Takes the Spotlight off First time Author Sales

It’s Sunday morning and when my children were younger Sunday wasn’t so crazy. Now it’s filled with the race to make it to Church on time, soccer practice and usually a basketball game. I still crave my early morning reading time so this morning I picked up the latest November RWA magazine and sat down to read it. I always read the “Sold” section because I’m applauding all those wonderful authors who got their first sale. But then I turned the page and read the article called, “What Constitutes a Sale?”. I read the article a few times because honestly it wasn’t clear to me.
The article goes on to cite the definition of sale and then states how historically authors were paid an advance on signing which earned them the right to be listed in the First Sales column, and wear a ribbon recognizing their efforts at conferences. It further states, “It is a big step to move from the ranks of unpublished to published.” Yeah, you heard it but there’s a huge but coming up. The gist of it is that based on 778 first sales published in the RWR since 2007 only 65% of sales – meaning authors here – did not make $1,000 to qualify for PAN membership.

But at the end of this article I was left scratching my head. “…RWA is changing its recognition of a member’s first sale.” Really, how? The article left me hanging, so I guess I’ll have to wait until December to find out how they’re going to showcase first sales.

Here’s the thing that bugs me. If RWA doesn’t like the terminology of the words First Sales – how about Recognition of Authors Hard at Work? Okay, maybe that title sucks but surely some marketing RWA guru can come up with something jazzy that can truly shout out to me, the RWA reader, look what your fellow writers have accomplished this month. And, isn’t that the purpose of RWA? To support authors, encourage writers to keep on writing, showcase marketing trends, and talk about the changes in the publishing industry.

I think many RWA authors if you asked them started the journey of writing books firstly for the love of writing. Sure making money is great but tying a specific amount to what qualifies you as a writer, to honor your first book deal, is honestly none of RWA’s business. What RWA should be doing is what I did this morning—applauding all those writers who wrote a book and sold it. That’s a lot of hard work and worth a lot more than the $1,000 profit you are supposed to make.

I would like to see RWA stop nickelling and diming writer’s accomplishments and get with the program. I think RWA should read the article a little later on called, “Keeping Readers for Life” and think how they can best work on keeping members for life.

Heaven is for Heroes by PJ Sharon - Great YA Read for Remembrance Day

I have tears in my eyes again. I just finished P.J. Sharon’s amazing YA book Heaven is for Heroes and I think it’s only fitting that on Remembrance Day I highlight it. Heaven is for Heroes starts off with a funeral but quickly becomes a journey for both Alex (aka Coop) and Jordan who both have to learn to get over the loss of Lee, brother to Jordan and friend and marine buddy to Coop.


I loved how the book took me inside Jordan’s head, from her trying to be normal, wishing to uncover the truth about her brother’s death to her growing feelings for Coop and her struggling sense of what the future holds for her. There’s such struggle between Coop and Jordan that I was rooting for them from the get go to get together, but I’m not going to tell you how this ends because it’s worth reading every page of this book.

I loved how Sharon was descriptive with her prose, so much so, I could picture Coop trying to learn how to cope with one leg, how often he cursed at the nurses and at himself. Guilt is a huge layer in this book but it doesn’t take away from the fact that Jordan and Coop are teenagers wanting to explore each other like any normal teens. Those awkward ‘almost’ moments were precious.

For anyone who has family in the military this book is a great teen read, and for those that don’t it certainly will give you a true appreciation of how the effects of war reach well beyond the people who fight in them. For a person who has never read a YA book about an injured marine, I highly recommend this book.


For more information on PJ Sharon and her books check out http://circlepad.com/pjsharon/Books

Purchase link -

Heaven Is For Heroes by PJ Sharon Permalink: http://amzn.com/B005NWRLCU

Pride's Run Review- YA Psychological Thriller of a Read

Cat Kalen’s debut YA book Pride’s Run is a wild rollercoaster, paranormal psychological thriller. The minute I started reading I fell in love with Pride—a strong, wounded teen wolf who craves freedom more than anything. But freedom at the cost of her fellow friends who are still trapped in a crazy man’s state-of-the-art military styled prison won’t cut it for her.

Pride might have been born as the runt of the litter in the puppy-mill prison but she’s anything but weak. She’s pride of heart and mind and her journey from the compound, through the wilds of a National park and her exploration of discovering “herself” were honest, heart-wrenching and powerful.

Kalen did an amazing job drawing me in to Pride’s wolfish nature and her attention to detail blew my mind. I don’t want to spoil things for other readers but I loved Logan, the alpha male teen who encourages her to embrace both the female side of her and her wolf side. I equally loved bad wolf teen, Stone. Reading Pride’s Run felt like watching a great paranormal teen movie and I want more. Can’t wait for the sequel, Pride Unleashed.

Accomplishments: Defining them in the grand scheme



All 4 of my accomplishments on our Disney trip last year.
Notice teens grimacing.

 I got thinking this morning about what I could write as my blog this week and then it hit me how much I didn’t get accomplished. I must have said this out loud because hubby promptly told me to get real. He cited I can’t move but still seem to manage the household of four kids and himself (insert here he’s going out of his mind) and Off Leash made it on an Amazon Top 100 list on Monday.

 

Yes, topping that list thrilled me. Was it my accomplishment? You bet. I realize trying to keep up on all the marketing opportunities for Indie authors is hard work. But in the grand scheme of my life that ranking doesn’t top this list.

 

• Getting accepted to Dalhousie University - leaving home and not going back
• Securing my first job which enabled me to rent a room in a house -granting me independence
• Getting accepted to Ryerson University's Journalism program - omg moment for me!
• Finding true love – lots of little loves along the way but they don’t compare
• Saving money for first starter house down payment – not dream home but it was mine
• Giving birth to four healthy children – I have endometriosis so I had to have surgery before conceiving and viola
• Trip to Europe with little money and one child in tow
• Deciding to become a stay-at-home mom (really no choice with 4 couldn’t afford cost of daycare)
• Sticking with hubby when I’d like to pull a Thelma and Louise because true love is powerful even when teen issues kill
• Writing first book and securing an e-publisher
• Securing a job I love now after 10 years out of the market
• Writing more books after that first one
• Writing Off Leash – facing my demons and starting something new!

 

 What do you consider your accomplishments? I’d love to hear them.

 

 

 

 



 







Off Leash - Top 100 list on Amazon

Talk about waking up to a great Monday morning. First I get an email that Off Leash is featured on Emlyn  Chand's Books You'll Adore Section - very exciting.

And, then I get an email that Off Leash just made Amazon's Top 100 list for Best Children Boys & Men's Books. To say I'm over the moon would be an understatement!

This totally makes up for my major nightmare last night and lack of sleep. This still means thought I've got to pound out 2,000 words this morning for the third book in my nitty gritty series, Off Stroke.

A Poem Dedicated to my grandmother who turns 100 today!

Me with my leg propped up in a cast on a
chair with my greandmother, who today turned 100!

A blink of an eye – 100 years has gone by


In 1911 with the cold November wind Susan Thelma MacKenzie was born.
A hundred years have passed and life as she knew it changed.
Gone are the horse drawn wagons, buckets full of well water and candles lighting the way.

First it was electricity, trams, cars, the talkies and then black and white TV’s.
Two world wars later, the Halifax Explosion, the 1930’s depression
Thelma, like the tides of Clam Bay which had been her home, survived.

She married, had six children and called the North End of Halifax home.
Furs were fashionable, and making do was the norm.
Christmas was about family, not the presents.

Back to the country, another house built by hand.
Children aged and found their own way. Granny Mac was said to have yelled a lot.

It’s a parade of color now.
Techno-color movies with famous stars like Elizabeth Taylor and Grace Kelly fairy tales coming true. Color TV, vinyl records, and cars fill the now-paved roads where once forests grew.

Two bridges span Halifax Harbour.
Years and seasons pass and it’s tapes, VHSs, DVDs, computers, Internet and HD-TV.
Through it all Thelma smiles.

She’s surrounded by grandchildren who care about picking blueberries and flowers.
Hand in hand she walks with them, up the country road, around another bend, it’s always a “Once Upon A Time Stories,” when tucked tight and snuggled in her bed at night.

One hundred years and the world has changed.
But Thelma taught me much remains the same.
It’s not the things that define us rather
Family, love and caring—those are the traits of a life well lived.


Happy 100th Birthday, Gram
-Love Renee, November 6, 2011

Comparing Ankle Surgery to Launching an Indie Book

Two of my children have signed leg. They think it's cool - it's soooo not!

Well it's been 12 days that I've had my right ankle reconstructed and now it’s in a cast and 34 days since I launched my first Indie publication Off Leash. I thought I'd do a comparison for what I've learned going through both processes:

Ankle: Two years ago incident happened
Off Leash: Two years of edits

Ankle: Saw 3 doctors before finding right one
Off Leash: Sent mss to about 21 agents/5 publishers

Ankle: 1 year to convince specialist to do surgery
Off Leash: Jan 2011 enter Amazon Breakthrough Novel contest- 5 month ride

Ankle: Called 8 months in a row specialist secretary to
Off Leash: Send full mss to 3 agents who requested all - happy

Ankle: get on surgery list -1st step and feeling good
Off Leash: Get email from Westside Book – excited

Ankle: Get call  for surgery in June, due to work have to cancel
Off Leash: Get 2nd email Westside Books – they are closing -want to cry

Ankle: Get second surgery call for Oct – accept it.
Off Leash: Decided enough – going Indie route – start research

Ankle: July research cadaver surgery – refused to watch video on it.
Off Leash: Book cover artist, figure out ISBN stuff, join Indie groups

Ankle: Stressing: book other moms to get my kids to school
Off Leash: Oct 3 launch Off Leash on Smashwords/Amazon with different endings

Ankle: Crazy mom in overdrive: clean house/freeze suppers, etc
Off Leash: Send 7 queries off asking YA review sites if they’d like ARCs

Ankle: 1 wk before surgery almost talk myself out of it
Off Leash: Oct 18 want to puke: 2 copy idea not working so cancel both

Off Leash: Create Off Leash: Bonus Content and start relaunch – Oct 19
Ankle: Oct 24 – on my own walk into surgery and wait

Ankle: Surgeon says cancelling; hospital has no bed. I talk him into sending me home - it's a go!
Off Leash: Send out queries for author interviews/start marketing.

Ankle: Puke my guts out/get home/living on pain killers
Off Leash: Slow process, getting booked for interviews, feeling more positive

Ankle: Move from bed to sofa
Off Leash: Taking positive approach: nothing ventured, nothing gained

Ankle: Recovering for 12 days
Off Leash: 2 of my boys want to lend voices for audiobook. Excited.

Ankle: House is a mess, kids trying to be helpful, feeling lonely
Off Leash: Messy house & feeling not so lonely as Indie author

 Today I'm also being interviewed at http://teacherwriter.net/2011/11/05/interview-with-renee-pace-author-of-off-leash and would love for you to stop by and comment.

Self-publishing - not sure Chapters/Indigo Know the meaning of the word

Okay, let me say the words self-publishing obviously means different things to different companies – notice I didn’t say people. Since I launched my own Indie publication Off Leash here is what I’ve learned. Getting your indie book into stores is hard.

Last night I tried to get Off Leash into Chapters/Indigo and because they have a bold Self-publishing icon I clicked on that. I read everything, filled in the information and then got my phone call this morning. Here is the jest of it. After I’ve forked out my own money for a cover artist and editor Chapters/Indigo would like me to pay them $599 for their basic self-publishing package which is managed through iuniverse. Oh, yeah, I totally get the I in iuniverse because they own the universe of Chapters/Indigo I’d like to get my book into. That was the basic price structure and trust me it went up from there.

When I spoke with the nice lady on the phone, who I know is just doing her job, I asked her if many people use this service. Hundreds of thousands of people do, she said. Tell me again how this is self-publishing? She told me they’d list my book in their Chapters/Indigo catalogue, ensure book placement in the store and do some marketing. Really if I paid the $4,000 package I’d like you to bark just like my dog Ollie does in Off Leash and shout out “for sale” every five minutes because then just maybe I might make some money off my book. Iuniverse does pay royalties, the polite-lady said. So what?

According to the lady all traditional publishers have to pay to have their books listed in the Chapters/Indigo catalogue. Really, I’m not sure, but again, I clicked on the self-publishing icon meaning I’m not a traditional publisher. I can’t get my head around this.

I explained to her how Smashwords work (FREE and hat’s off to them – they have been great) and how Amazon.com works and yes they do offer platform pricing for more distribution channels but it’s about $40 not hundreds of dollars. She didn’t comment. Why would she? The only person in this self-publishing relationship making money seems to me to be iuniverse.

Now that I know what takes place when I read all those lovely book excerpts on Chapters/Indigo’s marketing site about the “authors that made it” I realize they have something I don’t—money already lining their pockets. Those books don’t look so shiny and great to me anymore.

Look What I found in my Soup

Had great weekend. Went out for Thai food and found this in my Thai hot and sour soup - taking the happy-evil-sort-of face as a good omen. Let me know what you think?
Couldn't stop laughing.

My Halifax Public Library Has So Much to Offer

I just got back from an educational session about what my public library can do for us authors/readers. I have to say it was very educational. I go to the library a lot - think at least twice a week and I also browse the on-line catalogue a lot to place holds for items I want to borrow. I had no idea that under the Readers section - which is located on the top header of the library page http://www.halifaxpubliclibraries.ca - the library has a tweet button and you can see what they are posting, which is anything to do with writing/authors/author readers etc. There is also a blog. And you as a reader can post reviews from what you've read from the catalogue. I also learned how to refine by search. And for me learning how to search for local authors - is under Subject - again, had no idea. This is all very helpful because I love finding local YA authors and I always try to promote them, after I read the book. Case in point I'm loving reading Don Aker's The Fifth Rule,which is set in Halifax. Aker is a local author and I only found out about him by chance while browsing Chapters.

I found today very educational and wanted to do a shout out to stress how important local libraries are. The best thing about libraries is they are free! We need to continue to champion our local city councillors to not cut library funding. This week I was appauled to learn that the Hfx Public Libraries Bookmobile funding is gone. I know less than 200 families use this service but now 200 families won't be using it and I just wonder what impact that will have on the children/teens who are in need of escaping to a good book. I grew up in a rural community and the bookmobile was essential. Without that bookmobile I'm sure my love of reading and now writing would not have been fostered. I was also lucky because my local elementary school, Robert Jamieson had a great librarian. Every week she asked me what I was reading, what I liked about the book etc and then the next week she'd have a list of new books she thought I might like to try. She opened my very lonely world (don't forget I didn't have many friends in this community because I was a newcomer) to the joy of books - so, thank you!

I can't stress enough how much I love my own local library! The staff are always helpful and after learning how limited their funding is I'm even more amazed.

Off Leash - Semi-Finalist in 2011 Amazon Breakthrough Novel Contest

I'm so excited I can barely sit but I did make myself go out and edit tonight. So that's a bit of a party for me. I just found out today that my new YA nitty gritty story, Off Leash, is one of 50 semi-finalist in the 2011 Amazon Breakthrough Novel Contest. I couldn't believe it because the story is so different I wasn't sure what the judges would think. I mean, honestly, I know the stories great but letting a dog have its own POV can be challenging. Then there's the angry teen POV voice which strangely I can handle writing - must be that inner teen I live with.

So I sent out my mass emails to all my friends, YA loops, etc and I have to say getting a "that's great and congrats" actually does mean a lot. I try to always fire off a quick note to authors when they win something because in this digital fast-oh-so-fast day, a friendly note does make people smile. So for all the smiles I received today - again thank you they are greatly appreciated. I'm bottling them up and saving them for rainy days.

I also found out that people can actually read my excerpt through Amazon - which I will confess at first freaked me out but now I'm okay with it. The freak out part was me wanting to edit it more. But okay, it's out there. Here is the link if you'd like to read what I posted. Hope you all enjoy.

To all the authors who entered the 2011 Amazon contest - I say you are all winners! You wrote the book, told your story and for me that's sometimes the goal.

http://www.amazon.com/Off-Leash-excerpt-Breakthrough-ebook/dp/B004TEYTZA/ref=sr_1_2?ie=UTF8&m=AZC9TZ4UC9CFC&s=digital-text&qid=1303865123&sr=1-2

Off Leash - Makes Quarter Finalists in 2011 Amazon Breakthrough Novel

Just found out my hard hitting YA story, Off Leash, made it to the quarter finalists in the 2011 Amazon Breakthrough Novel. So over the moon, jumping up and down!!!

I'm reading Jill MacLean's Home Truths novel and it's nice to read an author who's brave enough to write about YA real issues. I will confess it makes me feel better about Off Leash. I've had great people critiquing it but a few found it sad (that's what I was going for it part) but it's also a story of real teen survival, hard-hitting in your face survival but that's how the world works. What I also wanted to give to readers were two endings - Hollywood version and the Nitty Gritty side.

All I have to say, my Nitty Gritty series will get published- one way or another. I'm smiling hard with just making it to the quarter finalists in this contest.

Off Leash- Made it to 2nd round for 2011 Amazon Breakthrough Novel

Just found out this morning that Off Leash passed round 1 in the 2011 Amazon Breakthrough Novel. Now, I'm with 1,000 other authors but so what! I'm still totally excited. March 22 is the 2nd cut and that will narrow down to 250 authors.

Here's what I love about Off Leash - it's real. It's a story about a 15 year-old boy, Jay Walker, who has to fake his life in order to just get through the day. Honestly, tell me how many of you don't do that? Jay is poor. I could talk about being poor but I tried to convey his angst, because when you're a teen being poor is embarrassing and that makes you angry. Being poor means not fitting it with those designer jeans and hoodie, being poor means you will forgo the lunch crowd
embarrassed that you can't afford food today and brown bagging it isn't going to happen because there is no food at home.

I also wanted to introduce his sister, Fay. I love Fay. I hard a really hard time writing about Fay because she was so close to me. My best friend died of a brain tumor and watching her fight that battle for four years did shape my life. She made me stronger because I learned not to complain about my day because when I looked at her, I just knew her day was worse. So the relationship Jay has with his sister is loving, all-encompassing and in he'd do anything to save her - even take up dog fighting - so he could put food on the table.

I also created Jay's mom. She's an addict. Writing about her killed me. I wanted to show the reader that she was loving at first but life's circumstances, taking the wrong path, do have a way of taking over a person. And, then there's the strange relationship Jay has with his mom. He thinks he hates her, but deep down, he's just a kid looking for motherly love. When Jay enters the world of dog fighting, he learns first hand how easy money can consume a person and that enables him to better understand his mom.

Dog fighting. Oh.My.God. I learned so much about this it made me sick. I love dogs but don't have one - maybe some day. It broke my heart writing about dog fighting, but people will always do things like this, easy money, thrill ride, power trip, if they can get away with it. I hoped to convey the cruelty of it. One of my critique readers cried when she read this part. I cried a lot writing this book but the dog scenes took me days of writing/editing.

And, for the two endings. So many teens expect the Hollywood ending. I wrote that and then went back and said, 'Wait a sec. That's not reality. That's not how life works." So I wrote the nitty-gritty ending because as much as a teen wants the happily-ever after ending, life does not always work that way.

Anyway, that's my rant for today. I'm excited to make it to round 2 in this contest. I'm working on Off Limit. This is even harder to write. It's about all those "topics" teens don't want to talk about - molestation by a step-father, poverty, dealing with a mom who has MS, pregnancy and trying to fit in with the in crowd when you really are a fake. Stay tuned for more on that in the months ahead. I've got 4,000 more words to finish this story and honestly, it's killing me. I had to take a break and get my red pen out to start editing it. It's a sad story but again - ain't nothing I don't know.

I thought today I'd write a poem for you. I thought today I'd voice the words that bounce around in my head...so here it goes.

Frozen in a Prism

I feel no pain

said the shadow.

The voice bounced

across the barren walls.

That is good,

said the speaker.

For pain is an emotion

that has no place in this world.

And a door closed.

Little hands tightly clenched

and unclenched.

She shut her eyes.

Super glue worked best.

Her mind reeled from the noise.

And someone picked a daisy.

Swollen eyes...

Burnt feelings...

And the mouth slowly moved.

...I feel no pain...