SUMMER READ GIVEAWAY!

Splash into summer with great books from your favorite YA authors!

The authors at Darkly Delicious YA have banded together for a huge giveaway. With lots of fun prizes, there's something for everyone.

One lucky winner will receive a $40 gift card.

Plus there are lots of other amazing prizes from the authors at Darkly Delicious YA.

 

Good luck!

 

 a Rafflecopter giveaway

My new (and totally 100% perfect!) book cover for ONE SMART COOKIE...

When Omnific Press bought One Smart Cookie, I freaked out with delight. This book is so true to who I am (Polish, a little crazy and awkward at times, and naturally clumsy), that it feels like a little slice of my own life on the page. While my parents are happily married and didn't own a bakery, I did have a spirit-conjuring Busia who believed ghosts lived in her house and took her glasses when she couldn't find them.

When the Omnific Press art direction team sent me a page asking about the story and all the characteristics and the feelings one would get when reading my book, I knew they were serious about getting the cover just right.

But it wasn't until I actually saw the cover choices, that I knew they had nailed it.

They listened to me and it shows.

The other choices they sent were super cute too, but when I laid eyes on this one, I swear it was like the movie Ruby Sparks - a character I wrote about actually became flesh. And just like the character Paul Dano plays in the movie, I fell in love with her.

So here she is, Sophie Dumbrowski, on the cover of my YA humorous romance:

💙 Arrives July 15th, Omnific Publishing.💙

No links yet, but hopefully soon...

First SNEAK PEEK at my YA humorous romance, ONE SMART COOKIE (coming out July 15, Omnific Publishing)

You'll probably enjoy ONE SMART COOKIE if you....:

1) Love to laugh

2) Get a hankering for bakery treats

3) Ever felt embarrassed by your actions

4) Have ever been in love....or wanted to be

source

5) Are Polish or have Polish friends

6) Dream about the perfect romance

IF you've checked off any of the above items, feast your eyes on this official first sneak peek of ONE SMART COOKIE at my author blog HERE  (or click the awesome emblem below) :)

Holy Hot Press, Batman! I was interviewed by THE BIG THRILL MAGAZINE!

WOW!

I'm sooo excited and feeling blessed and mighty thankful for all good things that come my way. It really does take a village to raise a writer, and I have to give a shout out to publicist Bethany Carland-Adams at Adams Media/F+W Media (https://twitter.com/bethanyc_adams) for setting me up with really cool promotional opportunities!

Thanks for asking great questions, Stacy Mantle https://twitter.com/stacymantle  *roar of applause for these two ladies

Source

CHECK OUT THE BIG THRILL INTERVIEW HERE:

http://www.thebigthrill.org/2014/05/wanted-dead-or-in-love-by-kym-brunner/

WANTED: DEAD OR IN LOVE book baby BORN TODAY!

After 36 months of labor, I'm finally out of the ER, the nurses and doctors have gone home, and they've allowed me to view my virtual ebook baby.

She's a beauty all right. *sighs loudly, brimming with joy

BEHOLD, for the very first time in public, WANTED:  DEAD OR IN LOVE!

A Month Before My Double Debuts Release...What's It Like?

In a word.....MIND-BLOWING.

Wonderful and crazy and busy and exciting and scary and unbelievably cool...and maybe a smidge stressful, too. Kinda like this:

Source

Source

Don't get me wrong––it's off-the-charts even better than I'd even dreamed about. Was it worth the wait? YES. Even if my books don't sell as fast as say.....these French Bulldog teacup pups....I'm happy.




Happier even than Pharrell Williams!


Nothing beats the feeling from having accomplished a HUGE personal goal. Kinda like this bird - just bursting with pride.

Source

But if you're wondering a little bit more about the specifics, here you go. In the past two weeks, I've:

• received final chapters to approve and/or revise of One Smart Cookie
• after sending them back, had my final look at the final edits
• been contacted by both publishers to answer questions
• been interviewed by three different groups (Sun City News, ThrillerZine, and International Thriller Writers organization) 
• received requests to have books sent, contests begun, and articles written
• arranged for two book signings 
• written what feels like 1,000 emails

Hope you get a chance to experience this feeling once (or maybe twenty) times in your life, too. What has been your proudest moment?

Where in the World should you base your SETTING?

What IS the best setting for a book?

The short answer has always been: a place you’ve been or can visit.

That’s why the majority of my stories happen in or around Chicago (or Wisconsin) because I’ve lived here (and hung out there) my whole life. I know the area/culture/ people so well and it feels natural and easy.

But what if the story  needs to take place you’re unfamiliar with? Like if you want your story to take place on the moon, a tiny apartment in Paris, or in say, an African safari?

When I first began to write WANTED:  DEAD OR IN LOVE, I wasn’t worried about setting the story in my hometown. Surely the legendary outlaws Bonnie and Clyde (who appear heavily throughout my story) committed crimes in the Chicago area, just like all the other famous 1920’s gangsters such as Capone, Dillinger, and Bugs Moran….right?

Wrong.

To read the rest of this article, head over to Uncommon YA where I hang out with some pretty fabulous writers! CLICK HERE