Navel gazing

Um, so now I'm on YouTube. My publisher interviewed their authors about their books, or the ones who have fall releases, anyway. It was pretty unnerving, but I think it came out okay. So if you haven't met me in person and you want to see my crazy snaggle tooth for yourself, press play. Also, according to the PR gurus at my publisher, if you comment on the video on YouTube, it helps me win Google. Um, so  . . . could you?

Also, if you want to win a copy of Not My Type, you have a shot on my writing blog until tonight, so click on over and find out how.

And now you may laugh at me:

Mail order husband (Crazy people, do not come here from Google)

Raise your hand if you knew I met my husband online.


Raise your hand if that surprises you.


Raise your foot if someone in your immediate family or close circle of friends met their spouse online.

So why were you surprised it worked for me, too? Granted, I smell kind of funny, but the Internet isn't scratch-and-sniff so my odds were as good as anyone's, I guess.


Here's the thing. I didn't get married until I was 32 (well, two days shy of it, anyway) and it was totally due to lack of trying. I just was never into the idea of marrying young, probably because my parents were 27 and 26 when they married and never put any pressure on us to rush. Considering I'm the only who's married, they may have regretted that, but . . . that's another story.


I dated a ton. I'm not a troll. From the time I turned 16, I dated regularly, pretty much. (Do the math. That's A LOT of years of dating. This is why I'll NEVER run out of stories to tell. I can write books FOREVER.) But as I got older, it got harder. By my mid-twenties I settled into some longer term relationships (a year-ish) and then I'd get restless and do the single thing again. There are a million complicated but boring reasons for this. And by my late twenties, I was a single, full-time working mom (a fascinating story I'll probably never tell you), and if you think that makes dating hard, you're right. It makes marriage even harder.


But we're talking about dating. I lived in a large city (250,000 people) and we had 2.5 stakes (large LDS congregations there), but most of the single people were young and living at home with their parents. Guys in the late-20's range were either total players or divorced and battle-scarred. Finally, after trying more conventional dating (singles dances and blind dates) and realizing I didn't have a ton of choices in my area, I turned to the Internet. (This is why online dating is a fairly major plot point in all of my novels.) By then, online dating had lost its stigma as a refuge for the desperate. In fact, I'd already had two aunts and one uncle on different sides of my family marry someone they met through an online dating site. 


Besides, how can it be MORE embarrassing to say you're marrying someone you met online than someone you met in a bar?


It's way more embarrassing to say you met your husband in a bar. Especially if you're Mormon. (Okay, no lie, part of me wishes this is exactly what I got to say because it would be hilarious if it were true. To me. But my sense-of-humor ain't exactly right.)


I'm a total pragmatist. I figured I had very little time to date while caring for my son and an ill parent, not to mention throwing my heart and soul into teaching 8th grade. I didn't want to waste that little free time I did have on dates that weren't going to pan out. I had high hopes that the Internet dating thing would let me filter out creeps, weirdos, and flat out bad matches.


. . . 


Um, internet dating really is just your average singles dance, only online. Luckily, I have a fair amount of common sense and I patiently sorted through my options. I still had some wacky dates, but I had some really fun ones, too. And going the internet route DEFINITELY made it easier to find possibilities in southern California I would never have known about otherwise. And vice-versa.


I tried the online thing off and on for a couple of years as time allowed. And it was fine. But then life got crazy, and I had no time for boys. Only books. So I went looking for something to read. And that's when I found Kenny.


But this is already a long blog post so I'll tell you the rest of the story tomorrow. My publisher just asked me to write up an article on online dating because it's a major element in all of my books. The article is going to the Deseret News. If you've got some experience in online dating and wouldn't mind me hitting you up with a few questions, would you shoot me an email at writestuff.jacobson at gmail dot com? Or you can drop me a comment and I'll track you down that way if your email is enabled for return comments.


If you want to win a copy of my book, The List, where you get to see a unique spin on internet dating, then just leave a comment on this post. If you want to win some other cool stuff (a Huntington Surf and Sport sweatshirt or tee shirt, cool wooden jewelry, or an OC ramps shirt) then just go to this post and follow the easy directions. There's a few different ways you can enter, all of them simple.


Lastly but not leastly, Stephanie at Diapers and Divinity reviewed The List. I think I already know what she's going to say because she sent me a pretty in-depth email of her opinion a week or so ago. It was a fun conversation because I write very much out of her normal genre to read, so I was fascinated by her insights. But you'll have to go over there and see for yourself what she thought. And she's always thoughtful. That's what I love about that girl.


I'll be back tomorrow with the rest of the tale of how I went looking for a Friday night read and found a husband.

Life's a Beach!

Well . . .

It's here. IT'S HERE!!!

I can't believe it. But it is. My box of books arrived on Friday and I waited until my husband got home before I tore into it and held that thing in my hot little hands.

And now begins the month-long celebration as well as me trying to get the word out, because I'm a first-time author and we desperately need help with things like this.


First, to celebrate!  If you'd like to a chance to win a copy of my book, just click over here and leave a comment on my friends Jen and Autie's blog, iCandy Handmade. They have craft and sewing projects so cute I'd hate these girls if I didn't already really, really like them. Jen is one of my test readers and she keeps me in check. "No way, Melanie! Do NOT allow her to bake him cookies! That is such a cliche!"


Go ahead, I'll wait. All you gotta do is leave a comment and we'll pick a winner on Saturday.


Second, to spread the word. I'm a little odd in that I'm not super interested in getting people to come read my blog. I'm not trying to make money off of it, I have lots of blog friends I already enjoy, and I'm always pleased to meet new blog friends, but the point of all this isn't to get blog followers. It's to get the word out about my book. We'll start with the prizes, and then I'll tell you how you can win them.


First, this is my book:

Definitely not the first time you've seen it if you know me even a little bit. I love this cover. Love it.


Now, here's the thing. I don't know where this picture was shot, but it looks an awful lot like Huntington Beach, which is where the story is set. So this week's theme for the give aways is: Life's a Beach! Everything I give away will be connected both to the book and to the beach this week. You can be enlightened even as you score swag. Dope, right? (Yes, I totally just said that. I also run around saying, "Know what I'm saying, yo?" to my husband who does not find it as funny as I do.)


First prize up for grabs: A sweatshirt. Why? Beach fashion, my friends. In HB, everyone wear flip flops. Yes, you are a freak if you don't. When you're a couple of blocks from the sand at any given moment, it just makes sense. Also, you remove your shoes to go in most people's homes around here (see: sand). Flip flops make it easier. (Also, it's totally normal to walk into the grocery store and find half the women there shopping in "Daisy Dukes with bikinis on top." And no, I'm not exaggerating. Strangely enough, Katie Perry got that right.) But sometimes, like right now, the air is a tad cool, especially for the early morning jogs and the sunset strolls when the wind blows in off the ocean and it's chilly. It's never cold enough for coats (and I have some gorgeous ones I never wear), but sweatshirts are a staple. I'd say it's a toss up whether you're going to see more Hurley shirts, or Huntington Surf and Sport shirts. I think I'd give the edge to HSS (which, by the way, appears as Beach Sport Warehouse where Ashley's cousin Dave works in The List.) Now you can win your own HSS hoodie in a color and size (large) to please girls or guys:

Also up for grabs is your choice of one of these t-shirts (both mediums). I can't find a pic with the right colors, but it's either this one except in charcoal gray with light gray graphics (the reverse of the picture):

Or this one, only in a nice, crisp white, whichever you like: 

Next, in HB you'll see the hibiscus motif. Silk hair flowers, t-shirt graphics, seat covers for Jeeps, beach cruiser decals. Oh, and awesome handmade jewelry, like this necklace made by my stunningly gifted and blindingly handsome husband, Kenny:

You'll be able to pick your color, and whether you want a dark inlay or the reverse. There are two of these up for grabs this week. (You can also turn it into a cool key fob.) Now, Kenny surfs and that influenced his original design of the next necklace you can win. It's called the Monterey:

I know. You love it. Me, too.

The last thing up for grabs is another t-shirt, only this is for an activity that's a close cousin to surfing: skateboarding. I'm putting up a t-shirt from OC Ramps, the premiere skateboard ramp company in the industry. Tyler, the owner, is the coolest. He and Kenny are in a band together. Anyway, it'll be a youth size and trust me, your kids will be all over this. It's got some Cali cool cred, big time. My son wears his ALL THE TIME. It's a little disgusting, actually. But that's boys for you.

I know, I know. Your head is spinning. So how do you win all this cool stuff? Well, like I said, for the book all you have to do is comment on the iCandy post.

For the rest of it, you'll need to do at least one of the following things and you'll get extra entries for each additional thing you do. And I'm making it super easy for you with each thing, okay? 

1. Like my Facebook author page. Click below. That's it. No further action required. You don't have to tell me you did it. 

2. Click here and go visit my author website. Sign up for the newsletter to prove you were there. You'll only get it twice a year and the first one won't come out until the fall. You don't have to tell me you did it. I'll know. (Bonus for you: while you're there, you can read the first chapter of my book.)

3. Grab a button and throw it up on your blog. It's in the sidebar. Comment and tell me you did it.

4. You can blog and link to my website (not my blog, my website, although I'll give you points for linking to my blog if you'd just rather do that), then comment and tell me you did it.


And that's it. I don't need you to Facebook or Twitter about it, because ( and I'm just being honest here) . . . I tune that stuff out when other people do that. Unless you really want your friends to win cool stuff, then knock yourself out, but I'm not really tracking those, so you can just do it because you're being nice to your friends or something. And if I figure out that you did it, then I will think you are awesome for doing so. How's that for #winning? This week's contest ends Saturday.


Anyway, I'm so excited. It's waking me up out of sleep, my kids think I'm a rock star, and people are saying nice things about my writing. 


Guys, I'm living a dream come true!

Read THIS, eat THAT, watch THIS, wear THAT.

A/K/A, Friday Favorites. Wheee!!!



Here's a bunch of stuff I like that I bet you'd like too if you tried it. First, this book:

This is historical fiction, which is usually not my favorite, but this was really GOOD! I found out all about a time and place I didn't know anything about before, but it doesn't feel like a history lesson. There's just a bunch of interesting details sprinkled skillfully throughout a well-told story. Tabitha is a spunky, indepedent heroine, there's some journalistic intrigue, and a really cool look into a little piece of history that feels like being there. Oh, yeah, and there's a realistic, satisfying romance. Read this!

And this: Such a fun, funny book. I alreay made three of my friends read it. Janette Rallison's YA novel is good clean fun in every sense of the word, with relateable (is that a word? At least, is it a word the way I spelled it?) and entertaining characters, adventures, and a satisfying story arc. Well, except for the part where you're left wishing there was a SEQUEL ALREADY! Janette? Janette? Also, you can give In Her Good Name by Josi Kilpack and Royal Target by Tracy Hunter Abramson a try. All good bets.

And if you want a great Friday night, let me line up your snacks for you and you can eat them while reading any of these books. I'm not trying to maintain my girlish figure as much as regain it, so I try to make smart eating choices. But I love me some treats, especially sweet and salty ones, so here are a couple of my current fav-o-rites. (And you have to say that by pronouncing each vowel with its long sound: fayv-oh-rite).

Utterly delicious:Hershey's has a whole bunch of 100 calorie snack bars, but this is my favorite. You can find pretty much all the flavors at Target and a lot at Albertson's. So yummy! Eat these.

Also, find yourself any brand of light kettle corn (Redenbacher and Jolly Time are both fine), pop yourself a bag, and then spray a little bit of extra Can't Believe It's Not Butter spray on it and it's a delicious late night DVR marathon treat. Light and fluffy goodness:

Every day on ABC Family channel, you can catch up on your Gilmore Girls episodes. They make me happy every time I watch them. Smart, snappy, funny, and culturally literate with heart. I use it as my inspirational touchstones in the novels I'm writing. I would totally hang out with these girls. And they have their own label in my sidebar. Good stuff. Watch it:
Oh, and I don't know how to explain this next one except to say: Rocking space western, and we are spending every Saturday night catching up on this series on DVD:

I can't make the above picture go where it should, but you should wear it! Or maybe not. I only wear it sometimes and I never know when it will make my sinuses flare up. Not because of this particular perfume. Any perfume or scented lotion does the same thing. Sometimes, I spend the whole night being allergic to myself. Usually, though, I spend the whole night catching lovely whiffs of something and having this conversation with myself: "Mm, that smells good. I wonder what it is? Oh, it's me! Yay!"

Oh, and my new favorite place to virtually window shop is Shabby Apple. You Utah folks are probably totally in the know on this, but it's a website for hip, modest dresses. This one's my favorite:

I bet I break down and buy it soon. No one else get it and wear it to the the Storymakers conference, okay?

Happy weekend!

Summer Book Trek: My List

I decided to join a summer reading challenge over at the LDS Ficiton blog. You just list the books you want to read and then....you do. I can do that. It looks like fun and I'm curious to see what great finds come out of reading other people's lists and following their suggestions. Last time I did something similar I ended up meeting my husband.....but that's another blog post for another time.

Starting with the list of newer fiction I just bought (I have a serious shopping problem but only when near a bookstore or cute shoes)

1. Spare Change, Aubrey Mace (done)
2. Fool Me Twice, Stephanie Black
3. Freefall, Tracy Hunter Abramson
4. Makeover, Shannon Guymon
5. Spires of Stone, Annette Lyon

6. Keeping Keller, Tracy Winegar

7. The Santa Letters, Susan Gooch Anderson

8. The First Year, Crystal Liechty

9. Finding Faith, Terry Ferran

10. The Counterfeit, Robison Wells

11. A Modest Proposal, Michelle Ashman Bell

My sister has a shelf full of LDS fiction that she toted down for me in her suitcase the last time she came to visit. I've read about fifteen of those in the last couple of months and so far pilfering her LDS stash has lead to some unexpected and welcome finds.

Here's my list from my sister's loans (based on the order they were stacked on my shelf, in the spirit of staying totally random):

1. Until Proven Guilty, Besty Brannon Green
2. The Operative, Willard Boyd Gardner
3. Rules of Engagement, Stephanie Fowers
4. No Way Out, Christine Kersey
5. A View from the Attic Window, Alene Roberts
6. Unknown Enemy, Karl Goodman
7. Cover Up, Clair M. Poulson
8. The Perfect Plan, Jeri Gilchrist

9. Elantris, Brandon Sanderson

10. Mistborn, Brandon Sanderson

11. Well of Ascension, Brandon Sanderson
12. Beyond Perfection, Erin McBride and Juli Caldwell

And since this is my second blog post ever, I'll ask my computer programmer husband to explain to me how to add all the cute pictures and doohickeys to my own blog page, but for now, I've got some books to crack!