School started yesterday, and that means I’m back at my desk. I love this time of the year, as it’s when I get most of my writing done. I usually began a new novel around this time and have the first draft completed by winter. Then I can slack a little from Thanksgiving to Christmas before I began proofing and editing in January. Reading, rereading, having an editor look at it, rereading and making the suggested changes, and then having beta readers go through the final version takes a few months before its release in the spring. Then I can slack off again over the summer. (Well, it looks like I’m slacking and sleeping by the pool. However, I’m actually plotting and visualizing scenes during those moments.)

You’re probably wondering what happened to that timeline this year, as Unexpected Beginning hasn’t been released yet. That’s because I decided to reread my debut novel, Unexpected Metamorphosis, around this time last year to update it to my current writing style. Although I didn’t expect it to take too long, I ended up making major changes (not to the story, just to the writing), and it turned into a complete rewrite. I quickly learned that my writing style drastically changed throughout the past few years, and I wasn’t happy with it.

That set me back quite a bit, but I still thought I could make the spring deadline if I worked longer hours. However, we all know life can sometimes get in the way of our plans, and that’s exactly what happened. Some family emergencies had me on the phone and traveling quite a bit. I got slammed in more than one direction, with more than one problem. The chaos not only pulled me away from my laptop, but it left me exhausted–physically and emotionally.

The good news is I’m out of the chaos and have recovered from the negativity thrown my way. Unless someone is hospitalized, I don’t plan on packing my bags for the rest of the year. I foresee lots of hot tea, dark chocolate, and writing in complete solitude–the best therapy.

Dark times are golden to writers, as that’s where we get most of our ideas. Alissia’s story came to me during a very dark season in my life, and although I had never written a book, I could not focus on anything else. Unexpected Metamorphosis was never planned. It was forced on me! Within a week of Alissia coming to mind, her story consumed my thoughts, and for my own sanity, I had to start typing it.

With all the chaos this past year, a new story came to mind, and it’s dying to come out. I’m eager to finish Alissia’s adventure so that I can get the new book out of my head. Inspiration is both a curse and a gift. Artists will usually tell you we are slaves to our creativity. I don’t struggle with story ideas. I struggle with the amount of ideas and scenes constantly consuming my thoughts, and I wish I could write faster.

As for Unexpected Beginning, I only have about 15,000 more words before it’s finished. Then I’ll start the dreaded proofing and editing. With this being my most productive time of the year, it shouldn’t take but a few months for a release. I’ll need more beta readers, and if you’re interested in joining the list, be sure to sign up for my newsletter. I haven’t sent anything out in a while, but I always deliver important information through the newsletter.

Alissia and her love both have guarded hearts, and I’ve been listening to this song for the past few years with the two of them in mind. Finally, in Unexpected Beginning, I get to share the scenes I’ve carried in my head for so long. Close your eyes and listen to the words carefully while imagining the walls crashing down from their hearts. This song says it all.

I’m almost finished writing Unexpected Beginning and will soon be in the proofing and editing phases. Hope you’re ready for it!

I love to take my readers to a variety of environs in the worlds I create. Images of mountains, a castle, underground caverns, a ship, a tropical island, and even a horrifying bog go through their minds–just in the first three books of my Alissia Roswell Series! The fourth one, Unexpected Beginning, will add a wild forest, underground world, and a valley to the list.

I put a lot of effort in describing each setting, hoping to immerse my readers in Alissia’s reality, and I’ve received a lot of praise on that aspect. Nature plays an important role in my writing, and people often tell me they would love to live in a world with glowing flowers and stones instead of electricity.

With that said, I won’t be around wi-fi next week, as I’ll be taking my yearly break from reality and immersing myself in nature. This year’s outdoor adventure takes place on a boat, as we plan to spend a week sailing along the coast. I’ll post some pictures on Facebook and Instagram during the trip and will add a blog post when I return.

If interested, you can check out last year’s backpacking adventure on Cumberland Island, where I planned most of Unexpected Beginning during the many hours of hiking. I asked my children to help come up with some new creatures, and my oldest daughter gave me some great ideas.

I use all my senses to take in everything around me when I’m outdoors, and you can see that in my writing. For instance, there’s a certain clean smell that comes with waterfalls, along with the ferns and rocky terrain, where small vipers love to hide. Birds (or howler monkeys in the jungle) add to the waterfall sounds.

In my youth, I often camped along the banks of rivers and in swamps, where I would fall asleep staring up at the stars. A cool breeze, the sound of alligators croaking and their yellow, glowing eyes still come to mind (along with killer mosquitoes). I also spent many nights beneath a full moon on the beach, waiting for seine nets to be pulled in with their loads.

Sailing, backpacking, paddle boarding, biking, canoeing, kayaking, hunting, dune buggying (where my hubby screamed in terror the whole time I drove) or just sleeping in a hammock–they all get used in my writing. And now that I’m older and live in the suburbs of Atlanta, it’s even  more important to my sanity that I occasionally get away from modern comforts.

Perfection equals a starry sky, cup of hot tea, cool breeze, and the sound of waves against the boat. That’s where you’ll find me, typing away on my laptop–giving life to Alissia’s story.

If you’ve been following me on Facebook, you know I have two new dogs (one from abuse). Don’t worry, though. I have family staying with them, so they’ll still be in their new home environment and on the same schedule. I plan to write a post in the future about them, highlighting the effects of trauma on dogs.

Be back soon! Live life to the fullest–get outdoors!

Beyond the Rising Tide by Sarah Beard

Kai met Avery only once–in the moment he died saving her life. Now when he’s not using his new healing powers to help people, he watches helplessly as Avery’s life is unraveled by his death. To help her, he risks everything by breaking the rules, dangerously blurring the barriers between life and death.

Praise for the Book

“Vividly imagined, this novel is the perfect mix of modern love story and literary fiction. One brimming with genuine emotion that had me re-reading passages simply because they were too beautifully written to experience just once.” –Julie N. Ford, author of With No Regrets

“This book is not only an engaging and satisfying supernatural romance, but also a beautiful story about life, death, and the gray places in between.” –E.B. Wheeler, author of The Haunting of Springett Hall
“This is one of those stories that stays with you long after the closing scene. It was beautifully imagined and vividly written and I absolutely loved it!” –Teresa Richards, author of Emerald Bound

Excerpts

EXCERPT 1 (Kai’s point-of-view):
I’m not sure if I have a heart, but something in my ribcage swells at the sight of Avery. Her hair shimmers like spun gold in the sunlight, falling over her shoulder and hiding her face. She’s sitting on a sheet of black rock, head bent, and the flowery skirt of her sundress ripples in the breeze.
If she turns around, she’ll see me. If I speak, she’ll hear my voice. I open my mouth to do that, but it’s parched, hit with an unexpected drought of words.
I’ve been walking for hours, and I still don’t have a solid plan. I have an end goal, but it’s like looking up at the peak of a mountain when I’m still in the valley. I want Avery to find happiness again, but I have no idea how to get her there.

EXCERPT 2 (Avery’s point-of-view):
My mind retraces the past few months, all the conversations Tyler and I have had, the words we’ve said and haven’t said, all stemming from one incident, one day. And then I’m thrown back to that afternoon, back into the ocean and the cold, roiling waves. I feel them around me, tossing me this way and that, pounding over my head like a stampede of wild horses. I feel the salt stinging my eyes and see the abyss below me in the moment I dove under to find the boy. I saw him there, motionless and suspended in the deep, just out of reach.
Just out of reach.
My face feels hot, and I can’t breathe. But I keep my panic cloaked beneath my skin. A violent earthquake rattles my insides, but I tense my muscles, holding it in, restraining it, refusing to let it show. I dig my nails into my arm, anchoring them there, anchoring me into stillness, and I focus all my attention on the present physical pain in my arm.
Kai’s hand reaches for mine. His touch stills my insides, draws out the tremors as though they’re water and he’s a sponge.

EXCERPT 3 (Kai’s point-of-view):
My chest feels heavy when I come out of the cottage in the morning, though I can’t pinpoint exactly why. Maybe it’s the mounting guilt of breaking rules and of taking something that doesn’t belong to me. Maybe it’s my looming departure from the living world, the knowledge that the sounds of the tide and the scents of the earth will soon be barred to me again. But I think it has more to do with Avery, because it’s her that I can’t get out of my mind. It’s her face I saw before I fell asleep last night. It was she who inhabited my dreams. And it was the desire to see her again that woke me up with the sun. My time with her will be over soon, and the weight of her coming absence is already threatening to crush me.
I’m dead, so I should be the one haunting. Instead, Avery haunts me. I smell her scent even when she’s not beside me. I hear her voice echoing inside my head long after she’s gone. And when I’m not looking, she moves things around inside the chambers of my still heart.

Author Sarah Beard
Sarah Beard is the author of YA novels Porcelain Keys and Beyond the Rising Tide. She earned a degree in communications from the University of Utah and is currently pursuing an MFA in writing from VCFA. When she’s not writing, she referees wrestling matches between her three boys and listens to audiobooks while folding self-replicating piles of laundry. She is a breast cancer survivor, a baker of sweets, a seeker of good love stories, a composer of melancholy music, and a traveler who wishes her travel budget was much bigger. She lives with her husband and children in the shadow of the beautiful Wasatch Mountains.

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Phew! It’s been a bit chaotic these past few months. How chaotic? Let’s just say I have a full novel in my head inspired by my own personal crazy, and I look forward to writing it once I finish the Alissia Roswell Series.

As for Alissia, she’s in the midst of her own chaos right now. (I do love to throw her into the blender.) I only have around 20,000 more words to go, and my bestie is keeping my children next week so I can go on a writing binge. Hopefully, I can knock out the ending during that time and get to the proofing.

If you want to be one of the first readers and get a copy before it comes out, you should sign up for my newsletter. I’m looking for more beta readers and will send out a form during the editing phase.

I guess I should give a few hints since I failed to make my deadline this year. Hmm… well, you already have the cover, and it REALLY conveys a lot. You already have the title. It’s a new beginning for Alissia, and it’s an unexpected one. I guess I could let you know there are new creatures and environs. Of course, there are lots of unexpected surprises I threw in to make things fun.

Well, that’s enough hints for one day. I’d love to know what you’re anticipating. Is it her love life, or are you more interested in finding out about the Medicians? What intrigues you the most about her adventure? Leave a comment below. I’d love to hear your thoughts.

I’ve been on a writing binge since last week, and that means things are moving along with Unexpected Beginning. I’m at some great scenes, and I’m loving it! A writing binge means I pretty much consume my life with writing, doing the minimum with everything else. My house gets messy, I ignore most of my emails and stacks of paperwork on my desk, and I also lose weight since I don’t like taking time out to eat. I get completely focused and can’t stop thinking about the story, even when I’m trying to sleep and talk to living people.

I usually release a book every year around May or June, but I’m behind with Unexpected Beginning and plan for a late summer release. It took much longer than I expected to go back and make changes to my debut novel to reflect my current writing style. That means I should have the fourth book ready for beta reading around that time, and I plan to add to my list of beta readers. I’ll prepare a form for you to get added before then, and you may want to sign up for my newsletter to get notified when it’s ready. Although I haven’t had much time to send out a recent newsletter, I do send out important information that way around release times.

I’ve been hearing from a lot of readers lately, and I’m so happy everyone seems to love Alissia and her story. I try my best to keep my writing full of surprises, and I love to create worlds full of vivid imagery. I thank each of you for giving the first book a try, and I hope you’ll consider taking a moment to leave a review.

Oh, and another way you can get notified of all my book releases is by clicking the follow button on my Amazon Author Page. (It’s beneath my profile picture.) I recently got an email from them letting me know about the release of a book I’ve been waiting for. I would have missed it without the notification. It’s truly a great tool to keep you updated on releases from your favorite authors.