I have talented blog buddies.

Yes. Yes, I do.

I have seen so many great tweets and posts about my friends in blogland that I wanted to share their new (or upcoming) books with you!

Check these out!

NEW-ISH RELEASES

 

 

Laura Pauling can write one exciting thriller. This YA time travel novel came out last month! You can purchase it here!

 

 

Jimmy's other books feature vampires, but his newest is a paranormal with ghosts. Cool cover!

 

 

I read Suzanne's YA Fingerprints on vacation in August. True to life characters.

 

 

Oh my heck! It's Elana's conclusion to the amazing Possession trilogy!

 

 

 

 

Have you read Myra's awesome Hourglass series? Infinityglass , the third novel in the series, released last month!

 

 

 

I'm currently reading Indiestructible: Inspiring Stories from the Publishing Jungle. Proceeds go to charity! Check it out! Lots of my writing friends are featured.

 

If you are in blogland and don't know Alex, you need to check out his blog! He's the blog ninja, people! Cassastorm is his third installment of his Cassastar series. You can buy it in paperback or ebook form here and other online stores!

 

 

Christina's debut NA novel released this week, too! I hear it is hot AND sweet! Looking forward to reading it!

 

 

UPCOMING BOOKS

 

You all know that I adore LTM's books. This latest in the Dragonfly series releases October 3!

 

 

Is this cover bluetiful or what? Our favorite doctor/author Lydia's debut YA novel arrives December 26!

 

 

 

Those super helpful ladies, Angela and Becca have done it again! Look forward to other helpful books, The Positive and Negative Trait Thesaurus next month!

 

 

Fellow Illinois author Susan Kaye Quinn is blogging her upcoming book Indie Author Survival Guide. Check out her amazing, instructive posts!

 

 

And have you seen the super cute cover reveal from Bish?

 

 

Lastly, a super shout out to Samantha Verant who sold her memoir, Seven Letters From Paris. It is amazing. Sam is so funny, genuine, and this is such a wonderful story about second chances.

 

 

These are a peek at some amazing people and their books. There are more out there, and I hope I didn't miss any wonderful friends who have books recently out. If I did, I'd be happy to add them to this post!

 

HAVE YOU HEARD? READING ROCKS!

 

 

Never Surrender

I'm a pretty lucky gal. I'm participating in Elana Johnson's SURRENDER Blogfest that entails writing about a time that you never surrendered. Click HERE to get the deets and see who else is participating (and there is still time to participate, too! Win great prizes, get some Surrender swag, and Elana is awesome so give that lovely author a shout out!).

I thought back on times that I never surrendered, and I first thought, "Dang. I'm pretty lucky. I haven't really been through terribly difficult times. I've had a pretty great life." As I said, I'm a lucky girl. But then I did some more thinking. Yeah, I guess I have had some hard times, but.... I stayed positive. I moved on. I fought on.

Even as a youth, I tried to make good choices. I worked hard in school and sports. I didn't do drugs. I was competitive in everything I did. I do believe that many times luck is the result of hard work plus good timing. But you can't control everything.
As an adult I realize I was faced with hard times (but thankfully more good times) as many of you did. My parents divorced. But I did see that it was best for them and moved on and got over it. I married young and have been with the same man for twenty years - through good times and bad. But we are still together. I've witnessed my child lose a kidney, have multiple convulsions from epilepsy, and  watched our children cry and laugh over small and big losses and gains. But I became my children's advocate, researched medical problems, talked with their teachers, stayed ever present in their education and their lives. In these awful economic times, my hubby and my careers have been compromised, we almost moved to another state, lived apart due to a job, but yet we are still hanging on. Times are tough for everyone. But you can't dwell, you just do what you gotta do.

My point in all of this ramble? Stay positive. Don't give up.

When life gives you lemons, throw that lemon in a tall glass of ice water. Honey, you are going to need it, because sometimes you have to work that much harder. Make some pink lemonade cupcakes to celebrate life's little joys. Mix some lemonade with a splash of vodka to deal with a bump in the road. Heck, make an Arnold Palmer, because it tastes so darn good!
Do stay positive. Don't give up. Smile more. Frown less.

Congrats to Elana on her second novel, SURRENDER.
And since I love me some tunes. Listen to some Corey Hart. And never surrender.