Boy POV

Since WHAT A BOY WANTS came out, I've had a few people ask me about YA books written from the male POV. I have to admit I'm very picky about my boy POV. It has to feel authentic to me. That's not to say what I like everyone will like because, duh, that's just impossible, but here are some of my favs that I felt were not only authentic, but that I loved the voice.

I KNOW IT'S OVER by CK Kelly Martin
SPLIT by Swati Avasthi
FREEFALL by Mindi Scott
FLASH BURNOUT JK Madigan
TWISTED by Laurie Halse Anderson
WHERE SHE WENT by Gayle Foreman
HUSHED by Kelley York (LGBT)
NIGHT SKY by Jolene Perry
DON'T LET ME GO by JH Trumble (LGBT)
WITH OR WITHOUT YOU by Brian Farrey (LGBT)
WHITE CAT by Holly Black

And here are some alternating POV books I have loved:

TWO WAY STREET
PERFECT CHEMISTRY SERIES
GROUNDING QUINN
TANGLED by Carolyn Mackler

And books that are coming out this year that I'm looking forward to:

PERSONAL EFFECTS by E.M. Kokie
SOMETHING LIKE NORMAL by Trish Doller

And I know there are more, but that's all I can think of right now. LOL. So, there is my list. I hope you'll check some of them out.

Also, there's a fun post with Bastian and Aspen together at For What it's Worth if you want to check it out.

Knee Deep by Jolene Perry

My good friend Jolene Perry has a new book out. I've read it and it's awesome!!

Shawn is the guy Ronnie Bird promised her life to at the age of fourteen. He's her soul mate. He's more uptight every day, but it's not his fault. His family life is stressful, and she's adding to it. She just needs to be more understanding, and he'll start to be the boy she fell in love with. She won’t give up on someone she’s loved for so long.

Luke is her best friend, and the guy she hangs with to watch girlie movies in her large blanketopias. He's the guy she can confide in before she even goes to her girlfriends, and the guy who she's playing opposite in Romeo and Juliet. Now her chest flutters every time he gets too close. This is new. Is Ronnie falling for him? Or is Juliet? The lines are getting blurry, but leaving one guy for another is not something that a girl like Ronnie does.

Shawn’s outbursts are starting to give her bruises, and Luke’s heart breaks as Ronnie remains torn. While her thoughts and feelings swirl around the lines between friendship and forever, she’s about to lose them both.

Here are a few of my favorite lines!

“When did you start feeling so good?” I tease.

He rubs his palms up and down his abs and grins. “It’s how I get the ladies.” Ronnie to Luke
***

He bought me cherry shaved ice every day for the whole two weeks and then tried to kiss off the red tint. It never worked, but not for lack of trying. Ronnie about Shawn
***

The cool waves tickled the small dent behind my knees, and Shawn’s kisses touched every other part of me.
***

And then his dark eyes hit mine like there’s nothing he’d rather look at. He brushes a few stray strands off my face, sending butterflies dancing in every direction. “But only cause I love you so much.” His mouth meets mine so softly, so easily, that I can’t stop kissing him. Waves of happy tingles move through me, as I melt against him. This is me and Shawn at our best.
***

“I don’t believe in one person for one person. It doesn’t make any sense. When you’re in love, when you feel it in your chest and it takes you over – it feels like you’re part of something like that, and it should. But it’s not real. You can be happy without him. You can be happy with someone else. He’s not the only one for you.” Luke

Visit the Knee Deep site HERE for more information!

Sebastian swag contest winners

*Sigh* My children think it's cool for Mom to write all the names down so they can draw out of a cup... Which we did.

I have the two winners...

Do you want to know who they are??

Are you sure??

LOL.

I'm kidding. The two winners of Sebastian swag are...


TRACEY SPITERI and SANDRA


*Throws confetti*

Please email me at nyraedawn (AT) yahoo (DOT) com with your mailing address. If I don't hear from you later today, I'll shoot you ladies an email.

Thanks so much for entering!!

Let's Talk Jaden

If you haven't read WHAT A BOY WANTS you're probably wondering who Jaden is and why we need to talk about him. LOL. He's one of Sebastian's best friends. There's a group of four of them: Bastian, Jaden, Aspen and Priscilla and they all hang out together. They're as close as friends can me, IMO. That's one of the big things I wanted to come across in the book... is their friendship.

I digress though. We're not here to talk about that.

Jaden. If you've read the book, it's obvious he's got a few things going on. I've had a few people ask me and I've mentioned it on Twitter, but I wanted to make sure I said it here too. Yep, Jaden will get a book. I'm actually working on it right now! I'm having all kinds of fun with it... and it's got some deeper emotional stuff to it as well. Hopefully, I'll be able to find a nice blend between the two because while I love emotional stuff, I like laughs too and the other way around :)

So, I just wanted to make sure everyone knows, Jaden will have a book as well. I love that boy too much--actually, I love the whole group too much not to visit with them all some more!

Not sure when it will be released. It will depend on how long it takes me to write, edit and all that jazz.

Okay! That's all for me today. Thanks for reading my ramble...

Psst. Bastian here. What's up! Nyrae left the room and I had to come in and edit this post to let you know I'm on Twitter now. Dude, it was such a battle for me to get her to let me open an account, but... I wore her down. I have a knack for getting what I want.

So yeah, I won't be able to get online too much. Senior year is crazy and all, plus Nyrae is brutal when it comes to defending her laptop, but if you want to check it out, you can find me HERE

Later

Bastian

How Should I Thank YOU?

I have to admit, I'm in awe about the responsive I've been getting to WHAT A BOY WANTS and Sebastian's story. I'm happy, GIDDY, but also surprised... and honored that this silly, crazy, loyal boy who came from inside my head (shh, don't tell him that) is striking a cord with people.

Each time I read a review or someone tweets me or I see conversations going on about it I just start to feel all mushy inside.

It's such an incredible feeling.

So, I want to think of a way to thank you all for the support. I already have my swag contest below (enter if you haven't), but I want to see what YOU guys are interested in. I'm in the process of getting print books set up so an extra print contest when they're ready? A Twitter chat with our boy, Bastian? Anything else that I'm too tired to think of as I write this post in bed before my children wake up? LOL.

Also, as I've mentioned on Twitter, I'm working on Jaden's book (yay). This boy is just tugging at my heartstrings. I am so happy to finally be telling his story though I have to admit, I'm feeling the pressure to get it right! LOL. I know a lot of you are anxious for him and I want Jaden to have the best story I can manage. He deserves it.

So, big thanks. As Bastian would say, "Seriously. From the bottom of my heart or whatever" LOL.

Happy Monday!

My first contest!

I HAVE SWAG!!! Love, love, love looking at stuff with Sebastian's picture on it. LOL. What do you think??

Would you like to win some? I have bookmarks and magnets! I'm going to make it super easy to enter. All you have to do is be a follower on my blog and Twitter (link in the sidebar). If you'd like to Tweet the contest, it would make both myself and Sebastian really happy, but you don't have to.

Also, for fun, if you've read the book, I'd love to know your favorite quote, or "Sebastian-ism" is.

TWO winners will be drawn at random and announed Friday, April 27th!

Also, today is the last day of The Hook-up Doctor's takeover of Jenny's blog. He's there giving one more girl romance advice. Check it out HERE

Oh, and leave a comment on the post, letting me know you want to be entered.

Where Sebastian Came From

I've had a few people ask me where Sebastian came from. I kind of answered this on Jolene's blog the other day, but I wanted to go into more detail here.

I was always friends with a lot of guys in high school. I had a couple close girlfriends, but the majority of the people I hung out with were boys. I went to a small school with 98 kids in my graduating class--400 in the whole school, so we were pretty close and my group of friends was a decent size.

Sebastian is a lot like those boys I knew.

I'll use two in specific for example. D and P. They were a crack up. They were always the guys who made you crack up laughing. They were silly and goofy and drank too much at parties. I swear it was like they were always in competition for something. They gave each other crap nonstop, whether it be about a girl or something silly one of them said or something embarrassing one of them did. They called each other names and laughed at each other.

But they loved each other too.

They could give each other a hard time, but if someone else did it, one was right there by the other's side. When one wrecked his car and his parents didn't give it back, the other woke up early to pick him up for school everyday. They ended up walking together at graduation and when D got married about five years after graduation, guess who was his best man? They're still friends to this day.

A lot of the guys were the same way with me. I was "the friend". I had all the guys as friends and I didn't really date. Anyone. It's hard sometimes when you're in that category. I struggled with it at the time, but now I know how very lucky I was.

But yeah... in a lot of ways, I was one of the guys. They teased me. Picked on me. They used to make me SO mad sometimes. They laughed when I had a crush on a boy and yes, they ditched me for girls, probably too many times to count... but they protected me too.

One of the only times I really did date a boy, he was from a different town. He came over to my house to hang out one time and I had a few of my guy friends over. There was a basketball court across the street and they were all playing and then later the boy and I were talking and he said to me, "Any guy you go out with would have to be an idiot to ever hurt you. You have way too many guy friends who care about you." To this day I don't know if that was just an observation or if one of them warned him, but it felt pretty cool.

And another time when something bad did happen to me and I was having a hard time, I remember waking up one morning and there were wildflowers on the table by my bed, wrapped in a wet paper towel. One of them had come to my house early and my mom let them in to make sure I was happy when I woke up. I have countless stories like this.

These were the same boys who compared penis size. LOL. The same boys who argued about which one was cooler or who got more girls or teased me when they left me behind. And I was okay with it because I knew in my heart, that no matter what they had going on, if I needed them, they'd be there.

That's what I wanted for Sebastian, Jaden, Aspen and Pris. The friendships are the same. The core values are the same. The one thing I wanted when I wrote Sebastian was the loyalty my guy friends had. I wanted Sebastian to be what in MY experience are teen boys (not saying this is ALL teen boys). But they weren't always politically correct and they could come off harsh sometimes, but like those boys, my favorite thing about Sebastian is his loyalty. He would do anything for Aspen, Pris and Jaden the same way my friends would have done anything for me or each other.

So, I know this is a really, REALLY long post and I'm sorry about that. I probably could have said it easier, but yeah... this is what I wanted when I wrote Sebastian. This is what I hope I achieved.

This and That

First, I have to start with a HUGE thank you. You guys have been awesome and so supportive. I am just giddy because of all the love you've shown for Sebastian. It means a lot to me. When I queried this book I was told girls wouldn't relate to him, that boy POV was a hard sell and that he's unlikable, so hearing people talk about how much they like him--reading posts where people GET him and his bone-deep loyalty to his friends and mom seriously makes me want to cry.

So thanks :)

My friend Jolene is having a HUGE contest on her blog. Check it out HERE.

Also, for three days this week, starting today, Sebastian is at Jenny's blog giving out romance advice! Yep, three lucky girls emailed him and he was able to sneak away and share his expertise! Check it out HERE and don't forget to keep stopping by throughout the week!

I've ordered some swag and it's on it's way to me! Once I get it, I'll be holding some kind of contest as well!

Happy Monday!

If you're interested

Sebastian guest blogged on Kyra's blog today. Since friendships are so important in the book, she asked him to talk about them. You can read the post HERE. We have some other cool stuff coming up this week too! More details soon!

Book Trailer: SWEET EVIL

I am super excited to share the trailer of my good friend, Wendy Higgin's book, SWEET EVIL. The book is seriously incredible and Kai is the best. book. boy. EVAH. Love, love, LOVE. Sweet Evil releases May 1 from HarperTeen.

I am Floored!

I'm still rubbing sleep out of my eyes, but I just woke up to the most fantastic review and I had to share. The reviewer said she hasn't enjoyed a contemporary this much since Anna and the French Kiss!! I mean... wow... a compliment doesn't get any better than that! I absolutely LOVE Anna. If you'd like to check out the review, head over to The Sweet Shelf HERE. I think I've read it about five times this morning.

Also, I wrote a guest post on Jolene Perry's blog, talking about where Sebastian and his story came from. Pop over to her BLOG if you want to take a peek.

Both Sebastian and I are looking to set up some guest posts, so if you're interested, shoot me an email.

I think that's all I have for today. It's rainy in SoCal today, which doesn't happen very often. I actually love these days!

Would you like to hear from Sebastian?

Like I mentioned earlier, Sebastian had his first guest post yesterday. He apparently really enjoyed himself. I caught him hijacking my computer multiple times to jump on and chat. We had a good talk and I told him he can start guest blogging here every once in a while. I'm not exactly sure how often it will be... I'm busy with writing and he definitely needs me to keep an eye on him and he's pretty busy being in the middle of his senior year and all, but I figured we could make things work.

So... we'll be having some Sebastian Speaks segments coming on the blog soon. For those of you who have read the book and are a little familiar with our boy and how he thinks, I'm curious if there is anything specific you'd like him to chat about? Any topics you'd like his opinion on? He definitely likes to give his opinion. Let's try to keep it spoiler free too.

If you have any topics for Sebastian Speaks, shoot me an email at nyrae dawn AT yahoo DOT com (no spaces and swap that words at and dot for the symbols) and let me hear them. I'll make a list and get it over to him, to see what he has to say.

As always, thanks for everything. You guys rock.

A Couple Things

First, another thanks to everyone who has been offering support here, Twitter, Goodreads and for anyone who has bought the book. I hope you enjoy Sebastian and his story! He holds a special place in my heart.

Second, Sebastian has participated in his very first guest post! You can hear from him on Wendy's blog HERE He is his typical, silly self :)

Also, I wanted to share a snippet from an incredible review from Goodreads. Love it so much. The reader totally "got" Sebastian, his story and how he and his friends are. You can read the full review HERE

 "As much as this book is about Sebastian's role as the "Hook-Up Doctor," it's about how relationships grow and change through life. Let's talk about Sebastian's friends: Aspen, Pris & Jaden. These are the kind of friends everyone hopes to have; they are loyal, trustworthy and dedicated."

That's all from me today! Talk soon!

Cover Love: My Heart For Yours

Just popping in to share the cover of Jolene Perry and Stephanie Campbell's collab. I LOVE it.

It definitely makes me curious about the book! Visit Goodreads, HERE to learn more about it!

WHAT A BOY WANTS for Nook

Just wanted to drop in and let you know WHAT A BOY WANTS is now live and ready for Nook as well! If you're interested, check it out HERE.

Thanks so much for everything and Happy Easter!!

I'm hoping to get some guest blogs scheduled. More information on that soon!

WHAT A BOY WANTS is LIVE

On Kindle!!! I am so very excited. I'm anxious and nervous to hear what people think about Sebastian and his story. Please check it out for Kindle HERE and it should be available for Nook in a day or two! EEEK!

Courtesy of watching his mom’s relationships, Sebastian Hawkins knows what girls need to do to get a guy. He has what he considers a PHD in hooking up. When he needs extra cash for a car, Sebastian starts up an online venture as The Hook-up Doctor, to anonymously help girls land the guy of their dreams. Of course, his services don’t offer a happily-ever-after guarantee. He’s seen firsthand getting together never means staying together.

And then he falls in love…

With the last girl he would expect…

Totally not in his game plan.

Suddenly, Sebastian finds himself muddled in the game he’s always prided himself on. He can’t even pick up girls at parties anymore! Why would anyone want to be in love when it turns you into a stuttering, screwed-up, mess with really lame stalker tendencies? Stalking? Totally not his gig.

But the Hook-up Doctor won’t let himself go down easily. He’s always known how to give a girl what she wants and now it’s time to figure out what a boy wants… and he definitely plans on getting it.

You guys ROCK!

Seriously.

Rock.

I am so incredibly blessed with all the support you've shown so far. The excitement for WHAT A BOY WANTS and Sebastian's story has kept a smile on my face for days! I really, really appreciate it and hope he lives up to all your expectations.

I've had a few people ask me when it will be available. I'm self-publishing the book so I don't have an exact date. I will tell you it should be very, very soon. The finishing editing touches are being put on the book as we speak. Once that's done I'll jump in and start the process. When it's ready, I'll definitely be shouting it out here, on Twitter, and wherever else I can think of.

Thanks again. Seriously, you don't know how much the support and excitement means to me.

WHAT A BOY WANTS~ Teaser One

I decided I'm going to share a couple teaser quotes of What a Boy Wants and Sebastian up until the release. Not much, but enough to give you an of his voice and this crazy story he's telling :)

A little side info... his good friend Aspen's parents are hippies, hence the nickname Woodstock.

Also, these are before the final edit so keep that in mind.

“Did you know Pris’s parents are renting her a beach house for her birthday? It’s supposed to be some girl-fest thing with her and Aspen, but damn, that would be tight if we could go. Beach chicks, no parents. Think you can work it? Talk to Aspen and get her to put a word in with Pris or something?”

I played with my eyebrow ring like I always did when thinking. “Why me?”

“Because you guys are like BFFs or something. I think you’re secretly in love. Oh, maybe you’ll run off to some hippie commune together one day!”

My friend was an idiot.

“You need serious help. First of all, I might be a little closer to Woodstock, but that’s only because we’ve lived down the street from each other since we were like two. I had to drink my first cup of soy milk with her. People bond over that shit.”

Hope you enjoyed it!