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1. Happy Release Day to Rick Starkey!  Blues Bones is officially out in the world today. I can't tell you how much I love this book. If you read middle grade or know any middle grade readers, check this one out.
   
2. Girls' Day!  My daughter is off from school today, so I'm spending the day with her. I love our girls' days.
3. Editing  I'm editing for clients again this week. I'm really lucky to have such amazing authors for clients. It makes my job so much fun.
4. Romantic Suspense  I started working on the sequel to my Ashelyn Drake romantic suspense. I have to say, I really like writing for adults.
5. Class Pictures  It's class picture day at my daughter's school tomorrow. I'll be helping out for part of the day. It's always fun to see the kids all dressed up.

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1. Blues Bones Cover Reveal  I couldn't be more excited to share the cover of Blues Bones by Rick Starkey because this is the first book I offered on as an acquisitions editor for Leap Books, Seek. It's an AMAZING story, and the cover is just as awesome. Check it out and preorder the book here for a special discounted price. The book releases March 7th.
   
2. Into the Fire's New Cover  Into the Fire's new cover has been revealed as well. This book has been heavily edited AND new content has been added. I'm really happy with the end result and think readers will be too. For now, check out my gorgeous cover designed by Deranged Doctor. And thank you to everyone who participated in the social media cover reveal this weekend.
    

   Preorder it here.

3. Editing  More client edits and edits for Leap this week. :)
4. The S-word  No, I don't mean spring, though I wish I did. I'd like snow if it was warm and melted within a few hours. ;) We're getting two storms this week and I'm not thrilled.
5. Drafting  Because my editing schedule is crazy, I got an idea for another adult romantic suspense. Of course! So I'm literary jotting down snippets of dialogue and scenes while cooking, lying in bed at night, and any other time when I can spare a few minutes.

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1. Blues Bones Cover Reveal Signups  Signups are now open for the cover reveal for Blues Bones by Rick Starkey. This is the first book I acquired through Leap Books Seek and it's amazing. You can sign up here. 
   
2. Curse of the Granville Fortune Cover Reveal  I'll be revealing the NEW cover of Curse of the Granville Fortune on Friday right here on my blog. Stay tuned!
3. Editing  I'm editing for Leap Books Seek and my own clients this week. Last week I posted that I have a lot of edits on my plate and jokingly asked people on FB to send me dark chocolate, and the very sweet Beth Consugar showed up at the Pocono Writers Conference with dark chocolate for me. :) How nice is that?
4. Pocono Writers Conference  I had a great time at the conference yesterday and I got to meet Megan Erickson, a fellow Corvisiero Literary Agency author, and Veronica Park, a Corvisiero Literary Agent. I also bought one of Megan's books. 

   Megan Erickson and me with her book Make It Count

   
   

   Megan Erickson, Veronica Park, and me (Veronica was talking when the picture was snapped, but all three pictures we took came out exactly the same. Sorry, Veronica! You still look lovely.)

5. Big Announcement!  If you are a newsletter subscriber, you will hear my big announcement today, and if you are a Kelly's Coven member, you heard the announcement last week. Everyone else will hear it on Wednesday right here. Come back to find out the big news!

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1. Editing  I'm editing for Leap this week. I'm forcing myself to take breaks to give my poor eyes a rest and hopefully cut down on the eye strain and headaches.
2. Into the Fire Trilogy  I got my release schedule for the Into the Fire Trilogy and ALL 3 books will release in spring 2016! I couldn't be more excited about this. This means no waiting to read the next book. The entire trilogy will be in the readers' hands in a matter of weeks! Here's the official release schedule: 
1. INTO THE FIRE February 16, 2016
2. OUT OF THE ASHES February 23, 2016
3. UP IN FLAMES March 22, 2016
3. Jamberry Facebook Party  I'm hosting a Jamberry nail wrap party November 30th-December 7th. I fell in love with Jamberry last spring and now I'm addicted. If you'd like to party with me and possibly win free samples, let me know and I'll add you. No pressure to buy. Just come join the fun.
4. Drafting  As part of my attempt to save my poor eyes, I've decided to reinstate my balanced schedule of writing and editing each day. When I write, I don't stare intently at the screen like I do while I'm editing. So I'm drafting a few thousand words a day now on my WIP, which happens to be an adult thriller.
5. Fright Before Christmas  Have you pre-ordered your copy of Fright Before Christmas yet? It's only $1.99 right now on Kindle. It's a scary fun Christmas read for middle grade and up.
   
6. Happy Thanksgiving  I hope you all have a very happy and safe Thanksgiving. Be careful traveling, and if you go out on Black Friday PLEASE stay safe. People get crazy when there are sales. I'll be waiting for the much safer Cyber Monday. ;)

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1. Leap News  I've signed another author to Leap Books Seek. I'm so excited about this book and can't wait to share the news. I'm just waiting on the Publisher's Weekly announcement. :)
2. Editing  This week I'll be editing the new book I acquired. 
3. Drafting  I'm a little jealous of all the people writing away for NaNoWriMo, so I may attempt to get some words in on my adult thriller this week. I had to put it aside to edit for clients. And yes, you read that correctly. I'm writing an adult thriller.
4. Review Opportunity  I'm looking for a few more readers to review Our Little Secret. If you're willing to read the book and review it on Amazon, let me know in the comments, or email me at khashway(at)hotmail(dot)com and I'll send you a review copy.
5. Huge Multi-Author YA Giveaway  I'm teaming up with a bunch of amazing YA authors to bring you a huge giveaway. There are tons of prizes and tons of chances to win! Here's what's up for grab: 

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1. Happy Halloween!  I hope everyone has a safe and happy Halloween this Saturday. My daughter is being a Monster High character for the third year in a row (different character every year). She loves dressing up as them.
2. Editing  Last week I finished one client edit. This week I have another to finish, one to start, and a Leap Books Seek edit to get to.
3. Revising  I'm hoping to get some revision time for one of my own books by the end of the week.
4. Lightning Quick Reads Feature  Tomorrow (Tuesday, 10/27), I'll have a story up on Lightning Quick Reads. It's a spooky YA story that will hopefully get you in the mood for Halloween.
5. Christmas Shopping  I've done about 80% of my Christmas shopping already, and it feels good to have such a big jump on the holiday. Still waiting on a few things in hopes they will go down in price once the real sales begin.

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1. My Bio Couldn't Be More True  The first line of my bio reads that I fully admit to being the most accident-prone person in the world. I truly am. Let me recap last week for you. Saturday evening (after YA Fest) I cut my hand on the rounded edge of my countertop. Yes, rounded edge. Sunday, I got hit in the head with the mega-sized plug from our giant air conditioning unit as my husband carried it up to the attic. I now have a bump on my forehead. Friday night I fell down the stairs and hurt my arm. The X-rays didn't show a break but because of the amount of swelling, the doctor thinks I may have a hairline fracture that only an MRI would see. Still, no need for a cast. So yeah, my bio is spot-on.
2. Good News I Can't Share Yet  In the midst of my awful week, I got good news. I can't share yet, but I'm very excited. :)
3. Editing  I have three books on my plate to edit over the next two weeks. And I'm typing one-handed because of my arm. Eek!
4. New Adult Scavenger Hunt  I'm (as Ashelyn Drake) on Team Blue for the New Adult Scavenger Hunt. Yay! These are always a lot of fun.
   
5. Alien MG Submissions for Seek  I got some great alien MG submissions during my open Twitter pitch last week. It's going to be tough picking just one out of these.

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1. Our Little Secret Feature and Review Opportunity  Limitless Books is organizing a feature and review opportunity for bloggers. We're looking for people to feature the book and possibly review it on November 6th. If that's you, sign up here.
2. Editing  I'm editing for Seek this week. I have two books on my plate and both are amazing.
3. Revising  I have an emotional hangover from revising an Ashelyn Drake new adult title last week. Seriously all the feels! This week, I'll be revising another Ashelyn title, and it's adult. I'm still getting used to the fact that I wrote for adults.
4. Reminder to All Readers  I want to remind everyone to please, please, pretty please review the books you read. I'm so grateful for every review that pops up on Amazon. Yes, even the not-so-stellar ones. Why? Because reviews get Amazon's attention and then Amazon makes the book more visible to readers. So please, if you love books, help the book community by posting a review.
5. The Case of the Washed-Up Warlock  I'm so excited to announce that the first book I edited for Leap will releases today! It's a great middle grade book by Patrice Lyle and it's absolutely gorgeous too. up tomorrow. Order it here.
   
   
   
   That's it for me. What's on your mind today?

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1. Revisions  This weekend I finished revisions on one of my YA titles. It was fun to revisit a book I haven't looked at in a while.
2. Editing  I have client edits to work on this week. No surprise there. ;)
3. School Pictures  I'm helping out with school pictures tomorrow. It's always fun to see the kids all dressed up.
4. Leap Submissions  I'm hoping to get through some Leap submissions this week. With upcoming releases, they've been getting pushed to the back burner.
5. Our Little Secret Blog Tour  This week is the blog tour through Inkslinger PR. So far, my little book is holding its own out there. I'm hoping the tour will help spread the word even more.

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1. Editing  Surprise, surprise, I'm editing this week. ;) I have client edits and Seek edits to work on.
2. Writing  I didn't get back to work on my novella last week. :( Maybe this week? Hopefully.
3. Happy birthday to my mom!  My mom's birthday is tomorrow. It's also my cat's birthday on the same day. Happy day before your birthday, Mom! (She reads these posts, so feel free to wish her a great day.)
4. Our Little Secret Blitz sign-up  Sign ups are open for the Our Little Secret Release blitz. No blog needed. Sign up here.
   
5. First Seek Acquisitions  I acquired my first two titles for Leap Books Seek. I loved these books. Here is the announcement in Publisher's Weekly. 
   
6. Fish Detectives is now available!  My newest picture book, Fish Detectives, is now available. 

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• Queries that didn't follow submission guidelines  I get that every publisher (and agent) tends to have specific submission guidelines and it can be overwhelming for authors, but please take the time to follow them. If you don't, it shows us you don't value our time or our preferences. That's no way to start a relationship with someone.
• Queries that aren't at all what I'm looking for  I received queries for young adult books and early readers, yet my submission guidelines specifically say I'm looking for middle grade books. Querying with a book that isn't what an editor is looking for is wasting everyone's time, including your own. Besides, who wants an unnecessary rejection?
• Misspelling the editor's name.  I understand Kelly is both a girl's name and a boy's name; however, a simple Google search brings up only one Kelly Hashway—me. And I have my picture all over the place. I'm not Mr. Hashway. I also got a lot of "Dear Ms. Hathaway" queries. I'm not related to Anne Hathaway or any other Hathaways. If you can't take the time to proofread to ensure you're spelling an editor's name correctly, you're telling me you don't care. That doesn't make me care much in return. :(
• Replies asking if the author can revise and resubmit  If an editor loves your writing and concept but thinks the book needs work, he/she will tell you to revise and resubmit. Please don't email me and ask if you can—or worse, just assume you can. If I took the time to give you helpful feedback, use it to move forward and get ready for your next submission.
• Forget to include a query  I kid you not. I received more than one query that didn't have a query letter. They were simply "here's my attached manuscript" messages. I didn't even know what the books were called. If you can't care enough to describe your book to me or even tell me the title, I'm not going to be the least bit excited to read your pages.

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1. Our Little Secret Is Up for Pre-Order!  Guys, I'm SO excited for this book. You have no idea. The pre-order went up last Friday and it's only $3.99, which makes me happy. You can pre-order your copy here. 
   
2. Seek's Open Submissions Period Is Over  My open submissions period has ended. I want to thank everyone who queried me. I have two acquisitions I'll be sharing soon and I have four full manuscripts on my Kindle waiting for me to make decisions on. On Wednesday, I'll share some tips from what I saw in my query inbox. Be sure to come back for that.
3. Editing  With life getting back to normal after open submissions, I'll be editing for clients again this week.
4. Writing  Finding writing time has been tricky lately. I had to stop working on a novella, but I'm hoping to get back to it by the end of the week. Fingers crossed.
5. Vacations  This summer we didn't get to go on the vacation we wanted, so we are planning a trip to Aruba for next summer. I know it's a long time from now, but I'm already excited.

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1. Our Little Secret Cover Reveal  I'm having a cover reveal this Thursday, August 6th. It's going to be a social media blitz, which means you don't need a blog to join in. You can share the cover on any social media site. If you'd like to be part of it, you can sign up here.
   
2. Open Submissions For Leap Books Seek  I'm open to unagented submissions until August 14th. If you have a middle grade book between 30,000 and 40,000 words, you can submit your query (in the body of the email) along with your synopsis and first 3 chapters (as Word attachments) to [email protected]. Your subject line should read OPEN SUBMISSIONS: TITLE OF YOUR BOOK.
3. Editing  Somehow, I'm booked through the rest of the year with edits, so I'm editing all the time. LOL 
4. Drafting  I'm trying to draft a novella in between editing. It's going very slowly, which isn't like me at all. I need some help from my muse on this one.
5. Free Monthly Newsletter  My FREE monthly newsletter goes out this evening. If you aren't signed up to receive it, but would like to click here.

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1. Drafting  I didn't get much drafting in last week because I had so many client edits. I think I wrote about 3,500 words and that was all on Friday. This week I'm hoping to write more.
2. New Agency Sibling  If you didn't hear the good news, DL Hammons announced that he's signed on with my agent, Sarah Negovetich. I'm so happy for DL, who runs the Blog Blitz I'm part of and Write Club. Congrats again, DL!
3. Editing  I have more edits on my plate this week. 2015 has really been the year of editing for me so far.
4. Beware the Little White Rabbit Animated Cover  By now, you probably know I'm an editor for Leap Books. Well, I'm editing this amazing anthology that just got an animated cover. Check it out. (If you don't see the animation, click on the image.)
   
5. Looking For Love Cover Reveal  Last Friday, I revealed the cover of the final installment in the Campus Crush Companion Series (written as Ashelyn Drake). In case you missed it, here it is:
   

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The Holiday Hop starts next Wednesday so it's time to tell you about another of my wonderful Holiday Hop Sponsors: Leap Books.
Once in blue moon, a publisher comes along who does things in an innovative way. Leap Books opened their doors on the night of the blue moon, expecting something magical to happen. And it did.

ABOUT LEAP BOOKS

Leap Books, LLC, is a new publisher that opened on January 1, 2010. A member of the Children’s Book Council, Leap is committed to producing quality fiction for teens and tweens. Our Surge line for teens (ages 14-19) will feature paranormals, contemporaries, inspirationals, and mysteries. Our Frolic line for tweens (ages 10-14) will focus on the same categories, but we’ll be putting out lighter paranormals for this age group. We also plan to branch out with fantasy, historical, and multicultural titles.

Although we are open to most every genre, at present we are accepting submissions only from agents or from attendees at conferences where our editors speak. From time to time, we may put out a call for a specific genre via Twitter. Once we acquire a manuscript, each submission goes through a two-level process prior to approval by an editor. A committee composed of editors, educators, librarians, and booksellers who are familiar with the target audience read the manuscript. If they agree it has potential, it goes to a teen focus group for review. Only submissions that get a unanimous and enthusiastic thumbs-up from both panels will be considered by Leap editors for acceptance.

We have an exciting lineup of books slated to come out over the next few months. Watch for Freaksville by Kitty Keswick and Under My Skin by Judith Graves, both first books in werewolf paranormal series by debut authors. Bonnie J. Doerr’s eco-mystery, Island Sting, about the endangered Key deer and Jane Greenhill’s I Was a Teenage Alien, a humorous sci-fi, will round out our spring offerings. We have a light paranormal and funny chick lit lined up for summer, and we’re working on several great titles for fall including For the Love of Strangers, a lyrical coming-of-age tale rooted in Russian mythology, by Jacqueline Horsfall. This popular author of joke books and nonfiction is now taking her writing in whole new direction, and we’re delighted to have this opportunity to publish her poetic and poignant fiction.

Leap Books plans to stay small so we can produce high-quality books and spend time promoting our authors and helping them develop their careers. There will be no mid-list authors at Leap; we only accept top-notch authors with terrific ideas and strong writing skills. At the same time, we’re looking to introduce fresh new voices to the world. We hope to get teens excited and eager to read more, to encourage reluctant readers to pick up books, and to put out books with artistic appeal. To do that, we’ve contracted several artists to add graphic elements to our books. We’re especially thrilled to have the gothic artwork of Canadian graphic artist Val Cox to enhance our paranormal books. For more information about Leap Books, our authors and illustrators, and our latest contests and giveaways, visit us at http://www.leapbks.com/.

Leap Books is giving away (2) $10 Gift Certificates.  Giveaway is open Internationally.  (FORM is already live if you would like to enter early)

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Please welcome my special guest, YA paranormal author Judith Graves. Her first novel, Under My Skin, was published by Leap Books last March. Besides being an author, Judith works as a library technician and is also a singer/song writer. In addition, she keeps a popular blog called, rather appropiately, Wolfy Chicks: The Blog with Bite.

A reader's guide for Under My Skin can be found here. The second book in her series, Second Skin, will be published early next year by Leap Books. If you want to take a peak at the cover, click here.

Thanks for this interview, Judith. What was your inspiration for Under My Skin?

I’ve always been keen on the folklore from different regions. I enjoy discovering the similarities, and the variations, between our cultural / mythological gods and monsters. After reading about the Windigo, a shapeshifter creature from First Nations lore – one that was once human, turned cannibal, and can be destroyed with silver to the heart – I marveled at this alternate version of a werewolf. What would happen, I began to speculate, if these beasties from around the world were to battle over one last bit of unclaimed territory? What then? And from that, UMS (and the Skinned series) developed.

Tell us three words that describe your protagonist.

Feisty. Tempted. Powerful.

I understand the story went through 6 versions during a 4-year period of writing and rewriting. That shows a lot of dedication and commitment. How did you understand that the book was finally ready for submission?

Yeah, lol…UMS was my first novel and I refused to give up on it. The book went through several drafts with my critique group – at which point I sent it out to agents. I received some excellent feedback and revised again. Subbed it out. Got a contract. Then UMS was further revised under the guidance of my editor, Susan Yates. So, while it had been contracted, it still needed tweaks. The moral of the story is…the end really is just the beginning.

What was the most challenging aspect of writing this novel?

For me, voice, dialogue and setting the tone came easily. What I consistently struggled with was plot – choosing the best scenes to show, rather than tell, the story. I learned a lot about increasing impact and drama by deciding what was worth keeping and what was mere filler.

What is your writing schedule like?

I’m religious about my writing, because I have to be. I write at 5:00am un

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