I should be revising, but...

Awesome crit partner Cathy Castelli sent me this super-cute abominable snow monster, and I can't quit playing with him.

Therefore, I present to you: Fun with Bumble, Volume I

Bumble read.

Bumble bath.

Bumble yoga.

Bumble hide.

Bumble enjoy Bumble-flavored breath mint. (Bumble famous.)

Bumble volunteer as tribute!

Dear bloggers, I love you

Last week superstar writer/blogger Lindsay Cummings did a reveal for the cover of VENOM. This week I get an email from my mom: Your cover is everywhere. My mom tends to exaggerate so I'm thinking she means like Amazon and B & N, etc. So I do a search.

Imagine my surprise to find out that lots of bloggers have done VENOM cover reveals, either by itself or with a string of other covers. Hi Bookaway April! Hi Karen at I Read to Escape! Thanks for the love. Other people have posted the cover into a stream on flickr. One guy from Brazil even posted about the cover. (Anybody speak Portugese?) We don't even have a deal in Brazil!

Anyway, this google search proved two things:

1. My google alerts are totally not working.
2. Bloggers and readers are even more awesome than I thought.

I of course embarked on an immediate quest to respond in the comments to every blogger that featured VENOM's cover, much like I tried to do back when you guys were listing your 2012 debut challenges. But as I clicked and clicked and posted I remembered I'm trying to revise an MS in time to send it to beta readers before I get revision notes for BELLADONNA, the sequel to VENOM. And I've got a few things due for school, and two more manuscripts I want to start, and I still work part-time at the hospital. Quite simply, I'll never find you all and still keep up on everything else.

So instead, I am thanking you here.













I love you all for taking time out of your own busy schedules to promote my cover and my book. I wish I could give you all ARCs or signed copies but I don't get very many of those. What I can do is give you all guest blog posts or interviews, when the time is right. Consider this post an open invitation. Starting in June, anyone who featured the VENOM cover or tweeted about it who wants me to do a blog interview/post for them--you got it. I don't care if you have five followers or five thousand followers.

Thanks again for the love.

VENOM COVER!!!!!

can be found here :)

Thanks to Teen Shiver writer and superstar blogger Lindsay Cummings for the reveal.

Voy a Costa Rica

So you know how there are certain things you do just because they're fun, and other things you do because they are such a big part of who you are that you can't imagine not doing them? Travel is part of the second group for me. Even though I've settled down on my international exploring over the past couple of years to focus on writing and grad school, I still consider my need to wander the world one of the things that truly defines me.

With that in mind (and because my friends keep asking), I thought I'd share a few pictures from my recent trip to Costa Rica. I definitely had fun, but it was a business trip too because I have a story idea I'd like to set in the rainforest.

Ziplining is great fun, but it's hard to really experience the canopy when you're whizzing across it and focusing on not slamming into a tree. I took a hanging bridge canopy walk for a more contemplative look at what the rainforest has to offer.

The Arenal volcano, hiding her tip in the clouds as usual.

I'm not sure how I got this awesome picture. Props to the Canon camera peeps :)

Like flowers? Then you'll love flowers on top of flowers.

The Costa Rican version of a redwood!

Look what I found by the side of the road. Coming soon to a picture book near you, the coatimundi cutie!

The Northern Pacific beaches are made of black sand, and are beautiful but nearly deserted in some areas. If you're looking to experience the ocean without a beach packed with sunbathers, Costa Rica may be for you.

You know what's less cool than wearing a helmet? Brain damage. As usual, I got one of the feisty horses, but a guy in our group actually got bucked off his horse on a steep, narrow trail! Nurse Fiona says have fun, but always remember your protective equipment :)