Hitting the Road

Hi, friends!

I won’t be blogging as much this week as I normally do becaaaaaause I’m road-tripping up to Lubbock tomorrow to pick my sister up from college!  Since my dad still can’t drive, my mother has enlisted me to help be a mover and a driver.  I’m secretly stoked, even though I’m totally allergic to Lubbock.  I just can’t wait for a good road trip and to see my sister!  We’re going to have a blast.

I will probably be updating my adventures on Instagram and Twitter, however, so if you’d like to keep you, you can follow me here:

Instagram: https://instagram.com/jacquelineesmith/

or here:

Twitter: https://twitter.com/JackieSmith114

In other news, I had a fun weekend.  It was two of my friends’ birthday, so I got to bake them a layered cake!  I have never baked a layered cake before, so this was a brand new adventure.  I like to think, however, that it was a success.

Then this morning, I visited the Transamerica Book Club as a guest author!  I had so much fun and so enjoyed meeting everyone and talking about ghosts and books!

Now tonight is going to be a HUGE treat.  You me obsessing last fall over a little book called FANGIRL by Rainbow Rowell (and if you don’t, here’s the link: https://jackiesmith114.wordpress.com/2014/09/30/ode-to-fangirl/).  Well, Rainbow herself is at BARNES AND NOBLE tonight and guess who is going to meet her?!  THIS GIRL!

I’m so excited.  I’m so excited.  Fangirl was a huge contributing factor into my decision to write Boy Band.  For one thing, it was also a NaNoWriMo book.  For another, it just reminded me of how much I love cute, fluffy, fun books.  I cannot wait to meet Rainbow tonight.  I know, just from reading her books and following her on Twitter, that she is super awesome.

I’ll definitely be posting pictures!  Talk to y’all later!

Hello, 27

Today is my 27th birthday.  As always, I love the fact that it is my birthday.  Everyone is being extra nice to me.  I get presents and food and time with my friends and family.  But 27 is a little intimidating.  Somehow, it feels a lot closer to 30 than 26 did.  Not that that’s a bad thing.  After all, 13 Going on 30 claims that your thirties are the best years of your life.  If that’s the case, bring them on! Still, I feel like I have so much of my 20s left to enjoy.  Thankfully, I have three more years!  But if the last three years are any indication, these next three are just going to fly.

I have several goals for the next three years, but my one real goal, my ultimate goal, is really the one that matters.  That goal is to become a NYT Bestselling Author by the time I turn 30.  That gives me exactly three years.  The good news is that next year is a leap year so you know, one extra day (woo-hoo!).  My other goals are more personal, but that’s the big one.  Until that happens, however, I am going to keep working as hard as I can and enjoying every minute of it.

Oh, and on that note, it’s my birthday.  Go buy my books.

http://www.amazon.com/Jacqueline-E.-Smith/e/B00F7BPXX6/ref=sr_ntt_srch_lnk_1?qid=1421269417&sr=8-1

Happy Birthday Cemetery Tours!

It’s been exactly one year since I first published Cemetery Tours, so I thought I’d take a little time to celebrate the book, the characters, and the readers that have come to mean the world to me.  I was a junior in college the first time I seriously considered writing a book.  This year has far exceeded anything and everything that I could have imagined in that moment and I have all of you to thank for that!

So now, for a little bit of fun, please enjoy…

The Unofficial Cemetery Tours Soundtrack: https://jackiesmith114.wordpress.com/2013/07/16/soundtrack/

My Dream Cast: https://jackiesmith114.wordpress.com/2013/08/20/dream-cast/ 

Cemetery Tours on Pinterest: http://www.pinterest.com/windtrailpub/cemetery-tours/

Goodreads: https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/18470430-cemetery-tours

Fun Facts and Trivia:

The only character who did not undergo a drastic name/personality change throughout the entire four years of developing and writing the story is Brink.

Luke Rainer was originally a character in a different story.  He was going to be the main love interest.

The Bible verse quoted in Chapter 19, Phillipians 4: 6-7, was my class’s senior verse in high school.

I use the British spelling “woah” as opposed to “whoa” throughout this entire book. I think I’ve spent too much time reading Harry Potter because I didn’t even realize I was doing it.

Kate and Gavin’s parents, Terri and Rex, are named after my mom’s best friend and her husband, both of whom passed away while I was in high school.

I despise female characters who don’t eat anything except salads and veggie burgers, so I make a point in every book to show Kate eating pizza or fast food or chocolate.

My dad came up with the title Cemetery Tours before I even considered becoming a writer. We were on a day trip to San Antonio and we stopped at a Dairy Queen in a small town, right across the street from an old cemetery.  He said, “You should write a book about a group of kids who travel around to different cemeteries.  You could call it Cemetery Tours.”  The name stuck.

Cemetery Tours on Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/CemeteryToursSeries

Thanks for an awesome year, y’all! Here’s to you!

Happy Birthday!

I would like to take this opportunity to wish the happiest of happy birthdays to my good friend and wonderful cover designer, Benjamin Durham!

Ben, you are awesome. Please don’t get too famous and forget about me. 

 

One More Quick Post Before the Day Ends

I only get to say this once a year, so here it goes. 

TODAY IS MY BIRTHDAY!  

Ergo, as a birthday present, you should all go buy my book.  Okay, you don’t really have to.  I just figured I’d take advantage of a great sales pitch.  

But just in case you’re inclined… 

http://www.amazon.com/Cemetery-Tours-Jacqueline-Smith-ebook/dp/B00F7CHQ08/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1389739678&sr=8-1&keywords=cemetery+tours

http://www.barnesandnoble.com/w/cemetery-tours-jacqueline-e-smith/1117000854?ean=9780989673402

Cheerio!  

A Personal Message to My Sister on Her Birthday

I am so grateful that you made it to 19 without being selected for the Hunger Games. As you can guess, this comes as a huge weight off of my shoulders, as, due to our seven year age difference, I would not have been able to volunteer for you had your name been drawn at the Reaping. I’m not sure either one of us would have actually survived in the arena, but maybe we could have at least made it past the bloodbath at the Cornucopia. Hopefully, we won’t have to worry about the Games much longer now that the Revolution is in full swing. Regardless, I am happy to have you alive and safe. See you in District 13!

Happy Birthday And May the Odds be Ever in Your Favor.

Back before even I was old enough for the Reaping.

You were always such a happy kid.

Even as you got older, you never let the Capitol or the Peacemakers stop you from doing the things you love… be it reading…

Singing…

Or eating. Had to enjoy those meals when we could, considering how lousy the districts are treated.

You’ve always been so beautiful, inside and out…

Which I’m sure is why you were voted “Most Likely to Get Sponsors for the Hunger Games” at school.

That time we went shopping for homes in District 12.

That time we went to District 4 and you had a thing with that cute sailor… What was his name? Billy? Oh well, it doesn’t matter. Anything Goes! 😉

Then there was the time you snuck into the Capitol and stole Effie Trinket’s wig…

And you discovered that the Capitol has been breeding a new kind of Mutt Plant! I think I’d take a swarm of Tracker Jackers over whatever the heck that is.

We’ve had a lot of fun these past nineteen years, but I think the best is still yet to come! Happy Birthday, KJ! I love you!