Romanticizing Reality

**SPOILER ALERT** Kinda. Have you read HEMLOCK VEILS and are aching to know what direction the next book will take? Well, if you haven't read and finished HEMLOCK VEILS, this post might ruin the end for you, so I'd stop reading this , and go start reading my book, available on Amazon ! Next, spread the word about how much you loved it, to all you know, rate it and review it, and then come back here and read this blurb! Got it? Okay, for those who have read it, I need a little help. VEIL OF THE ROSE, Book 2, will be released this coming April! (Don't you love when you don't have to wait long?) That baby is already with my editor and everything. Yet I realized, when my publicist emailed me this week, I've never written a pitch, teaser, blurb, or ANYTHING for this story. So yesterday, while a newborn migraine was screaming its way into the world, I sat down and jotted some stuff down for the blurb. I know all you writers know just how awful the process o...

I know, it's been a while! In fact, it's almost been two weeks since HEMLOCK VEILS went live on Amazon ( get the ebook or paperback now )! I couldn't have asked for the book release to go any better, and its success so far has astounded me. It still shocks me when I get a picture of someone with the paperback. PEOPLE OUT THERE HAVE MY BOOK IN THEIR HANDS! Mine--the girl who doesn't really know how she got here. It's crazy and surreal and the best thing ever. It's been such a light in my recently darkened life lately, and I want to thank all those, again, who have contributed to its success. Most of the light has come from the awesome reviews. I have taken them all in, and I can honestly say that so far, I have loved every single review I've seen, even those with negative criticism. I appreciate them all like you wouldn't believe. Again, the way people love it ASTOUNDS me. I dreamed of this day for so long, and deep inside of me, though I couldn't ...

The HEMLOCK VEILS book review went beautifully yesterday, and I can't thank everyone enough for all the support in buying the book, getting the word out there, or simply just cheering me on. The response has been fantastic so far, and it's still surreal to me that my dreams are being realized. Okay, winners of the swag for yesterday's contests! I made a list of everyone who posted pictures of their book/receipt, everyone who tweeted/posted the amazon link, and everyone who even just retweeted or shared the promo posts I was putting up. For details and "rules" of the contest, visit my last post here . I put those lists of names into a random sequence generator on Random.org for the drawing, and BOOM--it gave me winners. (But let's face it; you're all winners!) First swag prize was a signed Hemlock Veils/Jean's mug. The winners of that signed mug, and a postcard, are (from both Facebook and Twitter): Rena Olsen  Michael Lee Tamra Brice Kele Lam...

The hour has finally arrived! I can now say that my modern-day Beauty and the Beast retelling,  HEMLOCK VEILS , is officially AVAILABLE! You can get it on Amazon, in either paperback or ebook--just click here ! There were times I thought this day would never come, and now, when people tell me they've ordered it, I can hardly believe it. It is incredibly surreal, and will become even more surreal when I actually get to hold the paperback in my hand! *Waits impatiently outside the post office doors* I can't say thank you enough to those of you who've shown your amazing support! It's been overwhelming in the best way. I have the greatest family/friends/fans/followers ever. Onto the good stuff! YA Bound Book Tours has put together an awesome blog tour and blitz that will take place starting this morning (November 25) and last through December 5. It's too late to sign up, but that doesn't mean you can't still blog some reviews and stuff of your own! *nudg...

It's getting close! HEMLOCK VEILS is almost available for the masses to read in paperback and ebook form ( November 25 )! *ALL THE SQUEES* If you are interested in the ebook form and for some reason didn't already know this because you're mean and don't follow me on social media , it is actually available for pre-order on Amazon! Check it out HERE ! Also, I decided to get on top of things and create my Author Central page on Amazon , which I didn't even know I could do until last night . Check that out HERE ! Maybe I'll actually get used to this author thing someday and learn all there is to learn. Maybe. In other HEMLOCK VEILS news, those book reviewers/bloggers who agreed to review my book have been sent all the ARCs, which is SO very exciting. And nerve-wracking. I might never eat again. But mostly, it's just exciting! I've actually already received one review so far on Goodreads--my FIRST EVER review! My gut sank when I saw it, because it was...

Last week for #MondayBlogs , I introduced you all to  Elizabeth Ashton , the heroine in my upcoming novel, HEMLOCK VEILS. I thought since these characters will be released to the public soon, I would do another post, this time introducing the hero. So everyone, meet Henry Clayton: Henry Clayton's inspiration: Joe Manganiello 1. Is he a fictional or historical person? Like Elizabeth, Henry is fictional. Though I feel that doesn't really need to be pointed out. 2. When and where is the story set? As explained in Elizabeth's character post, the story is set in our current time, in a small forest town, Hemlock Veils (a fictional place), located in Mt. Hood National Forest about an hour southeast of Portland, Oregon. 3. What should we know about him? There are lots of layers to Henry. And the discovery of some of those layers is part of the surprise of the story. But what you should know about Henry is that he isn't what he presents himself to be. He has about ...

I was tagged last Monday in the Meet My Main Character blog tour by the lovely and sometimes hilariously inappropriate Sonya Craig , and of course jumped at the opportunity. Sonya is the author of the Outbound sci-fi series, and you can check out more about her and her  kickass protagonist here . If any of you are regulars here (hello, crickets!), you probably know that Sonya is one of my dearest Twitter BFFs, and one of the most real, down-to-earth, amazing, beautiful, caring, and funny people I know. My main character? As most of you know, my paranormal romance coming next month from Swoon Romance  ( HEMLOCK VEILS ) is a modern-day Beauty and the Beast retelling for adult audiences. In this adaption, the Beauty of this story is twenty-nine-year-old Elizabeth Ashton. My inspiration for Elizabeth: Kate Beckinsale (image from Everybody's Fine).  And she is drinking coffee, of course. Because...Elizabeth. 1. Is she a fictional or historical person?  A...

For #MondayBlogs today, I decided to post an old flash fiction, from around the same time I wrote the Red Wheelbarrow stories. It's old and rough in spots, and I'm not happy with it...but it still means something to me. My younger sister went through chemotherapy at age thirteen, which is what inspired this character and this story. So really, it's dedicated to her and all she went through at that crucial age. Anyway, here. *hides* Thirteen I let my mind drift, let the sound of beeping monitors and bustling nurses fade into the background. I’ve always been good at escaping. Mentally, anyway. There was a time I tried escaping physically, too, when mental escape wasn’t enough. It was a night not so long ago, the night before I could officially call myself a teen, and I told myself that thirteen was young. Thirteen was strong. And maybe, I thought, if I could make it home, Jess wouldn’t have to spend our birthday at the hospital. By the time I ripped t...

Okay, so not deadly, unless you're talking Death By Boredom. I was tagged by a twitter friend, Paige Randall , to do a blog post called "7 Lovely Things About You." Technically, I do still have a little over an hour of Monday remaining, according to PST, so this will also count as that Monday Blogs post I felt like I should write. Because, of course, this is vital stuff. That being said, these things aren't "lovely." They're just...me. But I will try to make them as beautiful-sounding as I can. Sometimes I can write good well. *Update: I did not make them as beautiful-sounding as I could. I hate being scared. You might wonder why I would list something so obvious, because--duh--who likes being scared? Well, apparently most people do. Because they spend tons of money every year on scary movies, and haunted houses at Halloween. When I say I hate being scared, I really mean it. I mean Get that shit away from me . Being frightened is NOT my idea o...

My rather glamorous WIP process I know it's not Monday Blogs, but I like to go against the grain. Plus, I was nominated by Sonya Craig in the WIP Blog Tour. Sonya is basically the life to our twitter party. And probably to any party she attends. Or any room she walks into, actually. One of my only extroverted writer friends, Sonya writes kick-ass sci-fi and makes me laugh on a daily basis, and then some. On top of all that though, and even on top of the fact that she is a kick-ass artist , she is one of the most amazing and strong women I know. One of my dearest friends and soul sisters, who comes in a cute, petite package of crazy, and who uses her cat, Fat Cat, as a weapon. Check out her blog , and if you're on twitter, follow her . You'll never have a dull day again. Okay, the rules for this blog tour are simple. 1. Link back to the person who nominated you. (I'm already acing this.) 2. Share a little about your WIP. 3. Share the first sentence from the firs...

Hello, everyone! The time has finally come when I can share this beauty with the rest of the world! I'm so  very excited to reveal my beautiful cover for HEMLOCK VEILS today! Feel free to spread the word and share, share, share! Thank you to Swoon Romance for this AMAZING and eye-catching design, and thank you,  YA Bound , for hosting this blog tour cover reveal!  Now, feast your eyes... Hemlock Veils by  Jennie Davenport   Release Date: 11/25/14 Swoon Romance Summary from Goodreads: When Elizabeth Ashton escapes her damaging city life and finds herself in the remote town of Hemlock Veils, Oregon, she is smitten by its quaint mystery; but the surrounding forest holds an enchantment she didn’t think existed, and worse, a most terrifying monster. The town claims it vicious and evil, but Elizabeth suspects something is amiss. Even with its enormous, hairy frame, gruesome claws, and knifelike teeth, the monster’s eyes spe...

Thank you, Adam Dreece , for tagging me in this "Ten Things You Don't Know About Me" blog tour (he totally made it up, but whatever). Yes, I was supposed to have this up yesterday for #MondayBlogs . But I'm a writer, which translates to Procrastinator.  I try explaining to my "in real life" friends and family the reason I love twitter so much, but it's hard to put into words the feeling you get from a large community of like-minded people and writers. I consider my twitter community a second family, really--people who are "in real life." It's where I can be myself and these people understand me. And they're awesome. Adam is one of those people. One of those awesome-yet-quirky-and-oh-so-hilarious-and-witty pals. He's also the author of the YA steampunk series, The Yellow Hoods . Check him out on twitter , too. He's the one wearing a steampunk monocle. Can't miss it. Monocle. So...Ten things you don't know about ...

Over the past few years or more, I've had a refreshing view on pain. Something shifted, and now it seems for me that a common theme emerges when dealing with pain of any kind: embrace it. Or, as my natural labor childbirth book put it, "Become one with the pain." It may sound all new age or like a bunch of bologna, but I've learned that statement couldn't be more true. Whether it's becoming one with the pain in your body, in order for you and the pain to work together at healing or giving birth to a child, or becoming one with the sorrow of rejection that we, as writers, face almost daily, it is the same. Yes, I compared a writer's rejection to childbirth, because...well, duh. As a culture--and correct me if I'm wrong, but especially for men--we are taught and conditioned to tough things out. Shove away the pain. Fight it. Deny it exists, even. We see it all the time, in parents who scold their children for crying, who tell them to ...

I usually hear an internal chorus of crickets in my head when trying to think of a decent blog post topic. Hence, the long break between every post. But this time, I got tagged by the beautiful and talented Kele (Katherine) Lampe in the Writing Process Blog Tour! In addition to being an Iconoclast and unrepentant Geek, Katherine Lampe is a sometime musician, DJ, and author of the Paranormal Caitlin Ross series , which details the adventures of a witch in rural Colorado and beyond. She studied at the University of Michigan with Ken Mikolowski, and at Naropa University with Allen Ginsberg and William S. Burroughs. Her fiction has won the Detroit News Gold Key for short story and the Boulder Daily camera award for horror, and she is a book reviewer for Witches and Pagans magazine. The daughter of an English teacher and a self-professed heretic masquerading as a Presbyterian minister, she is interested in the individual’s relationship with the divine. Her work explores the interaction o...