Thursday, March 30, 2017

The Mystery Behind My Name

Butch and Susie - AKA Barbara and Gary Sawey
Butch and Susie
Right now, I'm simultaneously submitting my Contemporary YA novel, Unleashed! to literary agents and publishers, editing Courting Disaster, and co-authoring Define Normal with three of my sisters.

A current topic for me and my sisters is my name.

If you asked my mother how she and Dad chose my name, she would say it was because her childhood nickname was Susie.  Her brother's nickname was Butch.  So her parents would call them Butch and Susie.  Mom said her nickname never stuck when she grew older, but she always loved the name, and therefore wanted to name one of her daughters Susan.

If you ask my father, the story is considerably different.  He wanted a daughter named Susan Age. That way, he could nickname her sewage.  And that, my friend, is my father's humor in a nutshell.

To add a another dimension of interest, here's a crazy little fact:  My middle name is Lee.  Lee is my father-in-law, my mother-in-law, and brother-in-law's middle name.  Needless to say, they welcomed me with open arms when they realized I, too, was a Lee!  But wait! It doesn't stop there. One of my daughters married a boy whose last name is Lee.  His grandfather, and my father-in-law are cousins!

Somewhere, somehow, we are related. Don't worry. My daughter was very thorough about making sure she wasn't too related before she married.

In my next blog, I will begin discussing the significance of specific character names in Unleashed! You'll learn who the characters are named after, and why I chose them. Starting with the main character, Aleasha Summers.

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*This Blog was cross-posted on the CrazyCadySisters blog located at http://crazycadysisters.blogspot.com/

Wednesday, March 15, 2017

Unleashed is Finished and Ready To Publish

I have finally put the finishing touches on my Contemporary YA Novel, Unleashed!  

Unleashed!
    Black Widow meets Mean Girls
.  

Here's the blurb for the book: 

17-year-old Aleasha Summers was groomed to become a spy and never even knew it. That is, until her family died in a car accident and the Agency sends a handsome agent to collect her.

Tasked with infiltrating a high school and its seedy underbelly, Aleasha finds herself caught in Cecelia’s cross hairs.  But Cecelia is no ordinary high school bully. She's a child of the Mexican Mafia hell-bent on controlling the city and destroying Aleasha in any way she can.

When her boyfriend, her family, and Agency members are kidnapped, Aleasha must take on the Mafia to save her new spy family and the family she has come to love, or lose them and leave the city helpless against the Mexican Mafia’s reign of terror.

Interesting Facet #1:  Aleasha Summers is modeled after a girl I actually know. The girl ON THE COVER!  

There's so much to tell; so many tidbits to include about Unleashed!  And I'm so excited to finally be able to share them!  So take a moment, sign up for my newsletter so I can let you in on the secrets too. By the time Unleashed! completes the publishing process and is on the shelves, you'll feel like you already know her.  I guarantee you'll love her as much as I do. 

And, if you want to read the first five pages, head on over to my Website, and download them!