Barnes & Noble Signing in N. Little Rock

I had the BEST time signing copies of Under the Owl Tree  at the Barnes & Noble in North Little Rock this past weekend.  Not only did I get to meet new readers, but I also got to sign among some AMAZING local authors.  One of my favorite things about being a published author is meeting other authors.  It is truly the best community  to be a part of!

This Saturday, June 24th, I will be signing at the Barnes & Noble in Rogers, AR.  If you’re around the area, stop by and see me!

Hope all of you are having a GREAT Monday so far!  Be sure to check out the EPISODES on the blog if you haven’t yet! 🙂

❤

Sara

 

Sara Daniell with a copy of Under the Owl Tree at the Barnes & Noble in N. Little Rock

I’m a Silver-Lining Author.

“There is always something that gives us hope and comfort in the midst of difficulty.  It’s the silver lining, and it’s beautiful. It’s real life.”  – Sara Daniell 

Recently, I’ve been challenged about why I write stories full of drama and, sometimes, heartbreaking endings.  Well, my response to that is this:  I write real life.  I don’t sugar coat, I don’t bullshit, and I definitely don’t write worrying about the possibility I might piss someone off.

I just… write.

I write the unique story of my characters.  I write the good, the bad, and the ugly. I’m a silver lining author.  I write to tell a story, no matter how dramatic, how life changing, or how sad it may be.  I love to write stories full of drama and allow the characters to find the joy in those heart wrenching moments.  I write characters who fight for what they want and love hard.

Life is hard.  It’s full of surprises that we don’t always want to welcome.  But out of those hard times comes something beautiful.  I put my characters though hell, but that’s a part of them changing and evolving into who they are.  They become stronger.  How many times in our lives do we go through things that are hard as hell, but we become stronger and  better because of it?

My goal when I write stories that result in heartbreak or are full of drama, is that I show how the characters deal with it.  It’s beautiful in a way.  It makes the characters real and it shows how they get back up when they are knocked down.  It shows that although times may be tough, things do get better with time and perseverance.  And love?  Well, that conquers all.

Don’t get me wrong, I’m the girl who loves to read a book that’s full of happiness.  I love all the happy feels and butterflies I get when I put down a book that made me feel good. But I’m also the girl who loves a story that challenges my emotions.  I love a story that makes my heart fall into my gut and to root for characters to push forward.  There is always something that gives us hope and comfort in the midst of difficulty.  It’s the silver lining, and it’s beautiful. It’s real life.

I don’t have to justify why I write what I write.  I know that, and that’s not the point of why I wrote this.  I wrote this for those of you who write and are scared to tell a story in fear of someone hating it or for those who are just curious as to why I write like I do.

I’m a silver lining author.  I write messy and imperfect stories.  I make people cry.  Sometimes. 😉

So, if you haven’t read my stories and you’re brave as hell, go for it.  But don’t say you weren’t warned. 😉

❤

Sara D.

~~~

P.S. My latest release is available! Under the Owl Tree.

Purchase links:

Amazon: http://amzn.to/2nOe5kd
Nook:http://bit.ly/2nqeUUJ
iBooks:http://apple.co/2nOhUFM
Kobo: http://bit.ly/2oceno8

Click here for more info!

The Fate of Holly Nather

A Life Unexpected, the story of Holly Nather, was my debut novel.  It’s very near and dear to me.  But I have some news…

Over the last few years, I have been writing contemporary realistic fiction, Although I still love fantasy, I have moved away from writing in that genre for now. I discussed the direction of the future of the story of Holly Nather with my publisher and we both felt Holly needed to have an ending to her story and that the best way to do this was to alter the ending of A Life Unexpected and discontinue the novellas, Cohen’s Tale and Daughter of a Monarch. While it definitely is a bittersweet decision, I now feel comfortable that I have given Holly the ending she deserved. And I would NEVER EVER want to force anything and publish crap.  I hope all of you understand.

On a more positive note, here is the beautiful new cover BHC Press created for me!  I know it’s a tad familiar (you saw this cover model on Daughter of a Monarch), but my publishers and I both agreed it was an excellent cover and represented the feel/look of A Life Unexpected wonderfully.

 

This book will soon be available EVERYWHERE and not just exclusively on Amazon.  I will update with all of that information very soon!

Much love. ❤

 

Sara

New year. Same me.

As I reflect on 2016 and welcome the new year with open arms because, let’s be honest,  last year was just a bleh year – I am still me.  However, I do have goals to be a better me.  Like every year, I want to accomplish things, and I believe in goal setting because you can hold yourself accountable for things you want to accomplish.

My goals for 2017 are:

1.  Travel more than last year.
2. Don’t allow negativity.  Get rid of it – FAST.
3. Find hiking trails to explore with the family.
4. Get outside more.
5. DON’T CUT MY HAIR!  I want to grow it out again.
6. Write more books.
7. Do better about interacting on social media and getting my books more well-known.
8.  Find ways to continually be a better teacher.
9. Read more.
10. Be a better wife, mother, and friend.

I know it’s very cliche to have plans for the new year, but I am a part of the group that enjoys to make plans for themselves.  I think after we make it though a year, it’s important that we take what we’ve learned and make changes accordingly.  My favorite meme that floats around during the new year is the one about there being 365 pages in a new book.  It’s so true.

New year.  Same me, just a BETTER and WISER me (I hope.)

Cheers to 2017!  What are your goals for the new year?

❤ Sara

 

 

A letter to my teen self.

Dear Sara,

At thirty-one, you will have the most beautiful and loving family.  You will have two daughters who love unconditionally and bring so much joy to your life.  You will have a husband who loves you so deeply that you will wonder how you got so lucky to have a man like him to support you and do life with you.

At thirty-one, you will have accomplished SO. FREAKING. MUCH. And none of it was easy.  There were struggles but you overcame them because you learned that everything has to do with the state-of-mind you have and believing in yourself.  You will have a marriage of 13 years, be raising two kids who are smart and kind, have published several books, hold your Educational Specialist Degree in Curriculum and Instruction and have a Master’s in Special Education, you will be a middle school special education teacher at a school district that has always held a special place in your heart (where you graduated from) teaching English which is what you ALWAYS wanted to do, and you will have a support system from friends and family that is so strong it could shake mountains and know that there is NO WAY you could have done any of it without their support.

At thirty-one, you will be wiser.  You will have been through many trials and have overcome them.  You will be stronger for it and more cautious with letting people in. You have built walls at this point because you are no longer the girl who just smiles when she really wants to scream and yell.  You will have learned to speak your mind and tell those who have hurt you that they have done just that.  You won’t allow it anymore.  You will have learned that even if someone is family by blood, it doesn’t mean your relationship with them is salvageable.

At thirty-one, you will understand that the word sorry is just a WORD unless the intent and actions that follow it live up to the definition.  Because of this, you will be careful how you use that word and watch the actions of others who loosely throw that word around thinking it will fix everything.

At thirty-one, you will be a lover of coffee.  You will barely make it through the day if you don’t have a cup.  There will just be something about holding a warm cup in your hands and sipping the liquid gold.  You will be borderline obsessed but you won’t care. Coffee is life as far as you are concerned.

At thirty-one, you will wonder what the future will hold and yearn to travel the world even though you are deathly scared of airplanes.  Didn’t think that would happen, did ya?  You loved to fly, but after having kids, you’ve become more logical and think about every horrible thing that could happen because that’s what you do as a parent.  You love those little buggers so much that you worry about every. single. thing. and will tear apart every possible scenario so you can be ready if you need to protect them.  So…planes?…so much could go wrong and you HATE them.

At thirty-one, you will have so much more life to live and it will scare the mess out of you because you want to do it right.

You have so much more to learn.  Take a deep breath, let it out, and just LIVE.

You got this.

Sincerely,

Your thirty-one-year-old self.

 

 

 

Updates

I really need to start using my blog to update my readers on what’s going on in my writing world.  So, here’s my attempt at doing that.  🙂

As most of you know, my debut novel was A Life Unexpected:  A Holly Nather Novel.  In that series there are two other Novella’s in the point of view of Cohen Aberdeen and Aislen Denton.  In the end of Daughter of a Monarch (Aislen’s book), a fourth book is promised by the end of 2016.  Well, it’s basically the end of 2016 and that book is not ready to be released.  However, I am discussing the fate of this series with my publishers. So, for those of you who have asked about it, I honestly don’t know anything right now, but I promise to update you as I do!

My latest release, Summer Seventeen & You, is going to be a part of a series that can be read out of order.  I currently am working on the revision process of the first draft of the next book in the Stockbridge Series which is called, Under the Owl Tree.  I have no idea of a release date as of yet.

Right now, that’s all I got!  I hope all of you have a GREAT Thanksgiving!

 

❤ Sara

Here’s to the teens!

Pretend for a moment that you are seventeen-years-old.  For some of you, that may have been several years ago, some may be seventeen, and some may not have turned seventeen yet.  Whatever side of the spectrum you are on, just picture it.  Embrace it.  

Seventeen.

Freedom.  Life.  Youth.  Those are the three words the come to my 31 year old mind.  When I was seventeen, I was in love and thought I had my whole life figured out.  A beautiful marriage and two daughters later, I have learned so much about life and appreciate all of those crazy paths I took to get to where I am now.  

Seventeen, as wonderful as it is to be young, comes with its battles.  Seventeen is hard as hell and so confusing.  You fall in love too easy, try things that are bad for you just to fit in, and are trying to figure out who the heck you are as a person.  

My heart goes out to the teens who got pregnant at such a young age.  My heart goes out to the teens who were abused.  My heart goes out to the teens who struggled with the repercussions of divorced parents.  My heart goes out to ALL teens, no matter what they are going through.  

Summer Seventeen & You is not your typical love story.  It deals with a seventeen-year-old girl who has it all, or appears to anyway.  She hides her flawed family and personal demons well.  Everyone wants to be her, but if you asked Samantha Scott, she’d tell you otherwise. She’d tell you to run like hell and don’t even think about looking back.

This story is real.  It is flawed.  It is deep.

So, here is to past-teens, current-teens, and future-teens!  

Summer Seventeen & You

COMING OCTOBER 22, 2016!

Blue Harvest Creative Announces New Publishing Division BHC Press — Blue Harvest Creative

Blue Harvest Creative is pleased to announce their new publishing division BHC Press. Defining where we fit into the publishing industry is difficult as we do not fit into the traditional (Big Five), partnered, subsidy, digital-only, hybrid, vanity, or self-publishing business models. We’ve developed an innovative and new publishing philosophy, which we refer to […]

via Blue Harvest Creative Announces New Publishing Division BHC Press — Blue Harvest Creative

Man, it has been quiet around here…

SORRY for how hush hush I’ve been for a while now.  Life is so unpredictable, right?  We made a huge move back to the south, starting new jobs, and getting settled in our new house.  Everything has been NUTS, but it is finally starting to calm down as we get into a routine and managing the chaos.

In the midst of the chaos, I have been working on my newest book, Summer Seventeen & You, that will release October 22, 2016.  GET PUMPED!

Summer Seventeen & You

Blurb:

He took my boyfriend’s desired position on the baseball team.  That was his first mistake.  Then, after his parents died, he moved in with his brother across the street from me.  That was okay until my dad hired him to clean the pool.  I had to set boundaries.  My heart belonged to Logan Hart.  But when everyone left for the summer, I got bored, and Elliot Shaw was interesting. I questioned everything about me after Elliot and I became friends.  Everything that I thought mattered didn’t anymore, and life started to have a different meaning.  But, with Logan’s return from summer vacation, Elliot Shaw had to become my best kept secret.  I was never supposed to fall in love with him.

Love stories are supposed to be happy.  Your stomach does flip flops, your heart beats faster, and you react to life differently.  Life is happier.  But that isn’t this story.  This story is messy and haunting.  I didn’t want to let Elliot Shaw break down my walls.  I didn’t want him to see the demons that lurked behind them. I didn’t want to see his demons either.

But…

We let each other in, and there was no turning back, even when I begged him to forget about me.  

This isn’t a fairytale about a prince coming to save me.  When you begin to read the pages of my story, don’t say I didn’t warn you.  

~ Samantha Scott

I hope all of you are having a wonderful summer!  More updates will be coming about the new release!  Have a great week!

 

My Interview with Micalea Smeltzer

Have you ever read a book that made you feel all the feels and motivated you to step out of your own comfort zone?  I believe that many authors have the ability to speak to someone through their made up stories and to me, that is magic.  I have always written YA Fantasy and never dreamed I could dive into the world of YA Contemporary Romance.  I thought I’d write boring stories that had no magic.  Well, that was until I read the Willow Creek series by Micalea Smeltzer.   She made characters so believable with real issues that would either make or break them.   Micalea made me realize that all of those ordinary yet not-so-ordinary stories I had brewing in my mind could be told and loved.  I love every single one of the stories Micalea tells and she has become one of my favorite authors who inspires me.

I am so excited to introduce you to Micalea and to learn a little bit more about her!  If you haven’t read her work, go do it now!   You won’t be disappointed!

And now for the interview…

Do you have a specific writing style?

Micalea:  I think my books are usually pretty detailed. I like to “paint a picture” of everything because I see the story so clearly in my mind. I also like to build my side characters so that the focus of the story isn’t always on the main couple. A lot of times the friends or family in a story can end up being my favorite character.

Do you ever get writers block and if so, how do you get past it?

Micalea:  Writer’s block is the worst. I usually do one of two things, either keep writing or step away for a little while to clear my head. Completely opposite things to do, I know, but it depends on the book and how stuck I am. Sometimes I need to keep moving forward and get past whatever’s bothering me and other times my brain is just quiet and I have to wait for the characters to speak to me again.

Do you see writing as a career?

Micalea:  I’m very blessed to have writing as my full time job. So much more goes into it than just writing though. I spend most of my time marketing vs. writing—sometimes I think I’d have more free time if I worked a regular job! Haha! But I love it.

What are your current projects?

Micalea:   Right now I’m working on The Game That Breaks Us and I have a few more things up my sleeve over the next few months. More books and maybe taking over the world while I’m at it. 😉

Are there any new authors that have grasped your interest?

Micalea:   Molly E. Lee! I loved Edge of Chaos.

~~~

Micalea is giving away an eBook copy of The Lies That Define Us 

To enter, simply comment on this blog post and a winner will be chosen Friday 4/15/16!!

 

Blurb: 

Ariella Geller is on the run from some very bad people and Liam Wade doesn’t know what he’s running from.

Freedom has been an elusive dream for Ari, but when her chance for escape comes, she takes it. She finds herself in California and forced to accept help from strangers in order to stay off the streets and avoid being found by those she ran from.

Liam Wade is sick of living in the shadow of his famous father. All he wants is to make a name for himself as a professional surfer, but it’s impossible when the media focuses on every other aspect of his life. All he wants is respect, a chance to prove himself, but when it never comes he finds himself running and hiding from the ones who love him the most.

When their paths collide Ari and Liam are forced to confront their demons, and in the process they just might find a reason to stop running.

~~~

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