Thoughts for a Thursday

"I read for entertainment, and I write to entertain. Period." — Michael Chabon

A Little Update

Hi Everyone!

I don't have much news to report as I'm still spending all of my time trying to get Eighteen Kisses up to scratch!

It was my birthday on Sunday though. I'm now 25! I spent Sunday writing, but on Monday evening I went out for Korean food in the Kimchi restaurant in Dublin. It was yum. One of the presents that my boyfriend got me was this awesome notebook! It is SO COOL. I love the pages! It's my new favourite! It's from chronicle books, which I hadn't heard of before, but their site looks fabulous.

I was super excited to see Angel Kiss in It's Christmas - the Irish Times Christmas gift and shopping guide today:

And don't forget, here's still time to enter my Christmas Giveaway, it closes on Dec 1st!

Eighteen Kisses Cover!

Hi Everyone!

The Eighteen Kisses cover and blurb are appearing in various places around the interweb so I guess I can share them here now! Let me know what you think :) (I love it!)

Jacki King loves being back in Dublin - she's enjoying the music scene and interning at Electric magazine. She still has flashbacks to the murder case she solved the year before, though her friends, especially Nick, keep her distracted.

Until, one day, Jacki's frightening nightmares begin again. And when the police contact her about a local missing girl, she knows the two are connected.

Two years before, on her eighteenth birthday, Kayla Edwards disappeared.

No body has ever been found.

But now Kayla is communicating with Jacki from beyond the grave - and she won't stop until the truth is revealed . . .

Eighteen Kisses is available May 3rd, 2012!

You can add it to your Goodread's shelf now! :)

Call me Irresponsible.

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This month I turn 25.

The thought sort of fills me with panic. It's the kind of age where you're expected to act like a grown-up. 24 and under is considered 'young'. 25, as my brother pointed out to me, 'is half-way to 50.'  Put it like this, if I were to suddenly develop a wonderful singing voice and go on X Factor next year, I would be in the OVERS category.

Lately there have been several signs that I'm not young anymore.  The other day, I went into Paperchase and headed for the greeting card aisle, looking for a card for my friend.  Did I buy him a 21st Birthday card? No. A Happy Graduation card? No. I bought him a frickin' Congratulations on your Engagement card.

Last month, I was giving a talk at a writing event and was describing how my main character is called Jacki and is 15 years old. I said 'I'm a bit older than that'. But then I suddenly realized, I'm not just a 'bit' older than Jacki, I'm a decade older than her!

And then the other day, I did the unthinkable... I bought a Michael Bublé album.  I used to openly dislike him.  He came to Dublin a few years ago, and I remember thinking how on earth could one of my friends publicly admit that she was going.  He was so full of himself and ruined perfectly good songs.  But I heard one of his older songs, 'Everything', on the radio a while back and to my surprise I really liked it.  So I went home and looked up the video on Youtube. I figured there was no harm in liking just one song.  I had it on repeat in the background while I was writing, and at one stage I was daydreaming and looked at the screen and thought.... hey, he's kind of hot.  The next thing I knew I was watching 'An Audience with Michael Bublé.' I then bought one of his albums.  Guys, I'm only a few steps away from buying this:

Somebody save me! I think I need to go listen to some Taylor Swift and read some John Green.  At least I have 12 glorious days of 24-dom left.

Christmas Giveaway!

*Giveaway now closed. Thanks!*

Hi Everybody!

I'm having a Christmas Giveaway to thank all my lovely blog readers for their comments and support over the last year!

The Giveaway includes lots of pretty stuff and guess what? They are all things that are mentioned in Angel Kiss!

It includes:
A Purple Paperchase Notebook (like the one Jacki writes her lyrics in).
A Hello Kitty purse (like the ones David brought back from Japan).
Two albums - Thin Lizzy's Greatest Hits and Paramore's Brand New Eyes (two of Jacki's favourite bands).
Black Bow Hair Clips (from Forever 21, like the one Emily wears).
Crochet Cupcake Decorations (the cupcakes in Angel Kiss are real, but I figured they'd get squished in the post... and these double as Christmas decorations! They're also from Paperchase.)
Some Like it Hot DVD (Jacki's Mum's fave movie).
And... a Sparkly Pink Reindeer! (not mentioned in Angel Kiss, but it's tradition!)
Also included in the giveaway is a signed copy of Angel Kiss, a limited edition Angel Kiss bookmark (also signed!) and a personalized Christmas card from moi!

And it all comes in a cute Christmas gift bag! (also from Paperchase... yes, I'm addicted).

To enter you simply have to:
1) Be a follower of this blog. New followers are welcome! (click 'join this site' in the right hand column. You can follow the blog using your twitter account.)
2) Leave a comment on this post telling me your favourite Christmas song - Jacki's is Fairytale of New York!
3) Include your email address in the comment. If you don't want your email address shown, simply leave it out of your comment and instead email it to laurajanecass@gmail.com

For an extra entry, you can also follow me on Twitter

*The Giveaway is open to followers Worldwide!*
If you're under 16, make sure it's okay with a parent/guardian before you enter :)
Closing date is December 1st (so that whoever wins will (hopefully) get the parcel before Christmas Day!)
A winner will be randomly selected and announced on December 1st. Your musical taste will in no way affect your chances :)

Best of luck! :)

*Giveaway now closed. Thanks!*