Jennie Bennett, Romance Author

The number one question I'm asked when I tell people I blog is "How do you find time to write?" Everyone has heard the adage "You don't find time, you make time." I feel kind of stuck-up saying that even though it's true. So instead I simply say, "I get up at 5 am to write." This repose is usually met with one of two responses. 1. I couldn't do that. 2. I have to go to work at that time so I can't. If I hear answer #2 I get it--work has to come first, families need to be provided for. But #1? If you're going to complain about how you don't have time to write, then do something about it! Yes, getting up at 5 is hard. I don't do it everyday. Sometimes my kids are sick and I'm up all night. Sometimes other obligations have to take precedence. But I try to do it every day that I can. More importantly, getting up to write is at the top of my to-do list for the day. If I don't do that first, it won't happen...

On  may 28th Rachel Schieffelbein is releasing her book Secondary Characters! In celebration, she's holding a blog hop to highlight our favorite secondary characters from both books and movies. Co-hosted by Theresa Paolo , Kelley Lynn , Jessica Salyer ,  Jenny Morris and Suzi Retzlaff there's tons of cool prizes including signed copies of books from Kelley Lynn and Cassie Mae :) Sometimes those secondary characters steal the show and when it comes to books no one steals the show better than Fred and George. "You two just Apparated on my knees!" "Yeah, well, it's harder in the dark --" Every time Fred and George show up on the page, all attention is diverted to them, you just know they're going to something hilarious/mischievous. And their hijinks just get bigger and bigger. Who can forget the fireworks and the pop up forest in the middle of the school? Talk about genius :) When it comes to movies, there's one secondary characte...

In the past month I've attended two writer's conferences. I learned so much and I wanted to share that knowledge with everyone else. Many of you follow me on Facebook and Twitter, but I thought it wouldn't hurt to recap my bits of advice shared. I'm going to put all of my tweets below and if you have any questions, or you just want to discuss one of the points, leave me a comment! 1. When picking an agent, make sure they're hungry to sell your work. 2. The theme for this conference is writing from the ashes. Adversity strengthens us. 3. Make sure the readers know why we should care about the character from page one. Hardships aren't enough. 4. If it doesn't tell you something about the character, story or tone, then don't use it. 5. Make your words simple and sensory. 6. Creating back story before we write gives our characters more consistency. 7. Often people choose to avoid pain rather than seek pleasure. 8. Internal and external conf...

Once again the awesome Alex J. Cavanaugh has come up with a super cool blog fest idea! It's time for - I'm not a huge movie buff. I like movies, I don't get to see them as often as I would like. But I'm not one of those people who analyzes the in outs of movie trends, etc. I focus 100% on story. I only say this so that you know my choices are my opinion and you don't have to agree. Best Movie Remake: Sabrina I love Audrey Hepburn. Give me Roman Holiday, My fair Lady, and Charade and I'll make a day out of it. But Sabrina just fell flat for me. The ending was vague and kind of abrupt. The Harrison Ford version on the other hand... Wow! Talk about a griping romance. It's a movie that will forever be one of my favorites! Worst Movie Remake: Superman Returns Okay, so this isn't really a remake, more an extension of a series. But, I didn't think it was possible to take one of my favorite hero's and ruin him so completely. This mo...

Maybe I should change the title of this post to "How I Handle a Rough Critique" becasue not everyone does it the same. When I first got serious about writing I expected to be critiqued. After all, I had an awesome English teacher who showed me that writing is better when you have the help of others. Still, I thought I had a pretty good idea and I really hoped people would like the story. Hahahahahaha (Pause for breath) hahahahahahahaha! Okay so I was really hurt by my first few critiques and I kinda wanted to quit. Thank goodness I had already started blogging and came 'out of the closet' with the fact that I'm writer, or else I WOULD'VE quit. Long story short, I've learned a lot these past two years, but sometimes critiques still hurt. Here's what I do to lessen the pain. 1. Walk Away . Whenever I receive a critique I read through the comments, then I set it aside. Especially if there's a lot of red. I cry a little, have imaginary...

Today I'm over at Julie Luke's blog talking about writing and motherhood. Come hop on over and say hi!

Two cover reveals in a row, how cool is that? Today I'm super happy to have Cassie here with her awesome book Friday Night Alibi. I've read it, and it's amazing!!  Here's what it's about: Rising star Cassie Mae introduces New Adult readers to a practical soon-to-be college freshman who seems to have everything—until a special guy shows her what she’s been missing. In the wealthy town of Sundale, Kelli Pinkins has hatched the perfect plan to capitalize on her sweet reputation. For a generous fee, she will be every trust-fund baby’s dream: a Friday-night alibi, the “girlfriend” or “BFF” that parents dream about. With college approaching in the fall, Kelli’s services are in demand more than ever, which means that her social life is nonexistent. But Kelli is A-okay with that. She’s raking in cash for school. Besides, relationships are tricky, and sometimes very messy. She’d rather be at home on Xbox LIVE, anyway. Then the unexpected happens: She meets college stud...

Cover reveals are some of the best things ever and I'm really excited for this one. Here's the deets - The Buttersmiths' Gold BATTLES. BLUEBERRIES. BOVINES. TORBJORN AND STORFJELL’S HISTORY UNFOLDS IN AN EPIC EVERTASTER NOVELLA. Everyone knows the most coveted treasure of the Viking Age was blueberry muffins. Blueberry muffins so succulent that if you sniffed just a whiff, you'd want a whole bite. If you bit a bite, you'd want a batch; if you snatched a batch, you'd stop at nothing short of going to war just to claim them all.  Young Torbjorn Trofastsonn comes from the clan that makes them. He's a Viking through and through – he's thirteen winters old, larger than most respectable rocks, and most of all, a Buttersmith. That's what he thinks anyway, until a charismatic merchant makes Torbjorn question his place among the muffin-makers. When Torbjorn lets the secret of his clan's muffin recipe slip, he calls doom and destru...

It's the first Wednesday of the month! Time for the Insecure Writers Support Group! I wasn't going to post anything today becasue I just got done with the A-Z madness and I thought I'd be all blogged out. However, my insecurities are taking over today and I need to vent. Normally, I hate to be a downer. If I post something negative I at least try to leave it on a positive note, but I can't promise anything with the mood I'm in. So this past month I've been doing a lot of beta reading (for me that is. I'm not Christa Desir ). I haven't read a single published book becasue of it, even though I've been exceeding my book a week goal, and believe it or not, that's left me insecure. I know this will go away, but right now I feel like everyone is better than me and I'll never amount to anything becasue I can't compare to the awesomeness. Yes, I shouldn't compare myself. But... it's kinda hard when you put yourself out there...