“Do I know you?” Jax asked, stumbling back and forth.
“We have like four classes together…and I’m pretty sure you and my sister had a thing freshman year,” I replied, positive he couldn’t have been drunk enough to forget I even existed…or could he?
“Oh.” He raised his eyebrows animatedly, his blue eyes twinkling. “Satan, right?”
“Excuse me?” I asked, shocked by his question.
“Your name—or at least that’s what your sister used to call you…” His lips curled up into an evil smile.
I let go of his arm, but stood my ground. “Why are you being like this? You invited me,” I whispered, looking down, my face burning up.
Jax obviously did not get the memo that we were being discreet, because his volume only seemed to increase, catching more attention than I would have liked. “I invited you? In what world?” He cackled like an evil villain and then turned his back to me, filling his cup up with beer.
My cheeks were growing redder by the minute, a combination of embarrassment and pure rage. He was the only reason I had even agreed to come. I knew I was an outsider; that I didn’t fit in with his crowd—but he was the one who convinced me that everything was going to be alright. “You’re seriously going to sit there and pretend like you didn’t invite me to this party twice?” It was hard not to be fuming.
He turned around slowly this time, sipping on his beer, a calculated look playing across his eyes. “Well you obviously can’t take a hint…I’m going to give you the best advice of your life…are you ready? Lay off the cupcakes fatty! I can get any girl in here, what would I want with a pig like you?”
I looked around and realized all eyes were on us; more importantly, me. Jax had just given them the reality TV bit they craved for the night. Tears were beginning to form at the corners of my eyes and I knew I didn’t have much time before the waterworks. “Peyton…” I heard my friends call after me. But it was drowned out by the noise of laughter. Jax was laughing hysterically at what he had just said to me, and the worst part about it? Everyone had joined in. Now all I heard as I ran and pushed my way through the crowd was oinks and laughs.
Excerpt #2:
We were seated on the couch in his hotel, close enough to touch, but far enough away to be appropriate in any situation. I was wiping away tears in the corner of my eyes from laughing so hard at something Colton had said, when he changed everything. “Do you have any idea how beautiful you are?” he asked out of nowhere, tucking a stray piece of hair behind my ear.
I was suddenly aware I was shaking, uncontrollably. It was an uncomfortable sight, so I got up suddenly and retreated to an adjacent wall, which I leaned upon. I couldn’t even look at him. No one had ever called me beautiful before; it had to be too good to be true. He obviously felt the awkward tension and didn’t waste any time addressing it. “Hey, are you okay?” he asked, as he rose and started slowly coming towards me.
My heart was beating faster and harder with each step he took forward. I couldn’t remember how to breathe. I was pretty sure I was going to faint, but was surprised to see I was still alert when he finally made his way to me. “Hey.” He touched my cheek softly, “What’s wrong?”
I couldn’t look him in the eyes with such an embarrassing confession, so I did my best to look away. “No one has told me that before.”
“What? That you’re beautiful?” Suddenly something seemed to click for him. I saw pain in his eyes, the realization finally making its appearance. “You are beautiful, Peyton.” He looked down into my eyes for a long time, willing me to believe him, willing me to see what he saw.
Excerpt #3:
“You know I took a punch for you.” He pointed to his injury.
“Don’t act like you did anything for me,” I hissed under my breath, loud enough so only he could hear. I could see Jace inching forward out of the corner of my eye. My cheeks were burning up and I just wanted to get out of there as soon as possible.
“Oh, she’s got some bite to her!” Jax exclaimed, hurling himself back dramatically. “That must be what it is…I mean look at you, you’re not his normal ‘type’.” Jax used air quotes to prove his point.
Jace finally made his way to us, grabbing his twin by the shoulder roughly. “What the hell is going on, Jax?”
“Oh, I was just getting to know your new girlfriend,” Jax replied, sarcastically.
Jace’s face was redder than a crimson rose at the mention of me being associated to him in that way. “We’re just friends, and you’re just a douche bag.”
I shook my head more to myself than anyone, laughing under my breath. If this incident didn’t help me move past the Austin twins…I wasn’t sure what would. I noticed Brooklyn, Madison, and Isaiah off to the side of the crowd. Sympathetic looks spread across each of their faces.
“What’s so funny?” Jax asked in a condescending tone.
A voice rose up out of me I wasn’t expecting then, powerful and strong, “Oh you know, for me being so ‘beneath’ you.” I used air quotes to mock him. “It’s funny how much my popularity has skyrocketed just from all your attention and focus on me.”
Jax looked dumbfounded, unable to form a good comeback. Jace’s expression was a mix of shock and I couldn’t quite put my finger on it, but it looked a hell of a lot like sadness. I didn’t waste another breath on the twins, turning on my heel and heading straight for my group of friends…who by the way, were all smiling ear to ear.
Excerpt #4:
“Are you actually serious…you want us to play in a rock band?” Brooklyn asked the night I made the suggestion.
“Yeah, why not? We love this—why are we standing by on the sidelines when we can be the ones on stage?”
Madison cocked her head towards me, he red curls cascading down her shoulder. “She does have a point.”
“What would we even call ourselves?” Brooklyn posed another question, obviously warming up to the idea.
“How about a Change in Time? We’ve definitely been going through some changes these past few months…I think it seems oddly fitting.” And so it was, we decided to hold auditions for the rest of our key players.
I was so excited to be able to finally sing my lyrics out loud, with music in the background. Everyone had made such a big deal at the Karaokethon that it instilled confidence in me I never had before. It was a strange feeling getting a standing ovation and knowing my two biggest haters were somewhere in the crowd. I felt like Jax’s eyes were boring into me, judging me. For once in my life though, I was concentrating on what made me happy.
In the band, Madison took on the role of violinist/back-up vocalist, Brooklyn signed on as the drummer, and we found an amazing guitarist, with tons of potential and performance background, Noah Leaderman, who conveniently also sang harmonies. Harper Michaels joined in as the keyboardist, and Josiah Jensen rounded up the band as the kickass bassist. We were actually surprisingly good. We devoted endless hours to writing, practicing, and rehearsing and it was definitely paying off in the right way.
The rapport that we were able to build within the band in such a short amount of time playing together was refreshing. I woke up breathing music, I went to bed breathing it. I never realized just how much it ran through my blood. Music fueled me.
Excerpt #5:
“Hey,” he greeted me.
My stomach instantly dropped. He was like a virus I couldn’t get rid of.
I didn’t even respond; after everything he had put me through, he didn’t deserve a second of my time. I just looked away and then stood to walk away from him. I was not going to give him the satisfaction of a response.
“Peyton.” He grabbed my wrist to stop me, and before I understood what was going on, I realized Jax was kissing me. Actually kissing me! My eyes were still open due to shock, but he was eagerly kissing me, I didn’t even have time to register a thought.
I didn’t know what came over me then, but I pulled back instantly, slapping him so hard, my hand was red and shaking.
He rubbed his sore cheek gingerly. “Ouch, what the hell was that for?”
“You think after everything you did to me—you can just show up here and kiss me? Well I’m sorry, but I have news for you, that isn’t the way life works. I don’t know what kind of game you’re trying to play here, but I want no part of it.” I stood quickly, my mind still reeling from the stolen kiss.
Excerpt #6:
“Can I just ask you one thing?” He stopped highlighting his script and turned to face me. “Are you buying all the bullshit he fed you?”
My cheeks were red in a matter of seconds. What if Jace knows something I don’t? What if everyone does? Did I get played by Jax? I wouldn’t put it past him; after all he had put me through. I can’t believe I hadn’t thought of it before. Jace looked at me with sympathy in his eyes, which just made it that much worse. Tears were forming at the corner of my eyes, but I was determined to blink them back. He probably thought I had something stuck in my eye, when in reality, I was trying not to have a full on break down in front of him.
“Peyton,” he said softly, rubbing my arm with his hand. “You didn’t do anything wrong,” he whispered. “I just don’t want you to get hurt, especially by him. I haven’t been around him much my whole life, even though we are brothers…but from what I’ve seen in this past year, I just don’t believe he has your best interests at heart. Just promise me you won’t buy everything he says right away. Promise me you will think before moving forward with him, please.”
“I didn’t ask for any of this,” I said softly, looking down. It was true. All I had ever wanted after everything Jax had done to me was invisibility. I just wanted to be left alone. I never asked in a million years for him to torture me and then play with my emotions.
Ten Things I’ve Learned Since I Started Writing: Kira Adams
Beta readers are invaluable. One of the first things I did when I decided I wanted to write more seriously was join the site, Goodreads. There are hundreds of people on there who are interested in beta reading, and they all do it out of the kindness of their heart—asking for no monetary compensation. Each and every one of my books went through multiple rounds of beta readers who helped me address problems with the plot, flow, characterization, and even sometimes, spelling and grammar. I honestly believe if it were not for Goodreads and the beta readers help, I wouldn’t be the author I am today.
Where is the rush? I hastily made the decision to publish my first book after being fed up with my life in general—I would not recommend this. I missed minor formatting errors and settled for the story as it was even though I had inner doubts about it. Although thousands of readers were happy with the version that was published, I have already edited it once and will probably revise and update the published copies once more if I decide to delve back into the story. I also missed the opportunity to promote at all. Even though I have found book bloggers (and thank God for them), it is still very hard work. I would recommend taking your time to publish your novel.
This is the format I would follow if you are interested in self-publishing: Write the story, edit the story, have the story beta read, put the story away for a little bit of time to breathe while you begin something new, edit the story again, have it beta read one more time, edit it for the final time, format it for e-books and paperbacks, promote, promote, promote, publish.
Join online writing communities such as Wattpad, Figment, Authonomy, Scribophile, etc. Joining a site like Wattpad has been life-changing for me. It is a website that merges readers and aspiring writers with published authors and even agents sometimes. You are able to post your stories chapter by chapter and others have the opportunity to read, comment, and vote on your works as well as follow your profile and add your books to their libraries. There are also forums you can join that give advice on the ins and outs of the industry. A majority of the website is the younger generation, tweens and teens, however Wattpad is filled with aspiring writers and published authors of all backgrounds.
I joined the site in September 2013, and since then I have over 700 followers, over 9000 votes, and upwards of 50,000 reads on some of my stories. Even though I have not and will not ever receive any monetary compensation from having my stories on Wattpad, I will be a lifer. I cannot tell you how much of a community it is and how supportive my followers have been for me as well as advice I’ve been given on improving my novels; I cannot say enough great things about Wattpad. I think I should be their mascot!
Your friends and family will come around. Don’t be offended if your friends and family don’t read your stories right away or even bother to buy them when they are released. Things to keep in mind, everyone has their own life and are busy living it—they will support you when they see the hard work. Also, factor in what genre you are writing in because not everyone will be interested in Young Adult or New Adult Romances.
If you have the opportunity to have a critiquing partner who will swap a few chapters at a time, TAKE IT. While beta readers can be helpful to no end, a critiquing partner can and will become passionate about your work; they will push you to write new chapters and even though they won’t go easy on you just because you’ve built a rapport, they will support you to no end.
Go with the flow. As much as I love outlines and have used them plenty of times in the past, I have always been a firm believer in writing what you feel is right in the moment. My stories with the biggest recognition have not been planned out, I believe that’s what kept the intensity building from start to finish. Don’t get me wrong, I’m not saying there is anything wrong with outlines, I am just saying if your gut is telling you to write something, don’t feel confined to your outline.
The ups and downs of Print-on-Demand. When I published my first two novels, I chose the website Createspace to help with the paperback copies I would be needing. I love how self-sufficient their website makes you feel and how quickly they can approve everything for publishing (within 24-48 hours).
Pros: Createspace is very easy to use and navigate.
Cons: The royalties are about 30% your book price, which in the grand scheme of things isn’t much.
You do not have to pay a fortune for a cover that could compete in the traditional publishing world, trust me. One of the best decisions I ever made was asking a peer on Wattpad to make my covers professionally for me; little did I know, she actually wanted to be a cover designer! I approached her and we worked out a 6-book deal for a VERY affordable price. She not only works with me to make sure I am satisfied in full, but she has a ridiculously fast turnaround. Sometimes it’s as quick as 24-hours. Her name is Emmy Logan and she is the creator of Cover Me Designs, do yourself a favor and check out some of her creations—you won’t regret it.
Find Book Bloggers who review self-published titles. Reach out but be respectful, some of them may agree to review your book even though it doesn’t interest them. Be content and satisfied with each one that that takes the time. They are essentially who is going to help create buzz and build an audience for upcoming titles.
KEEP WRITING. Staying relevant and accessible is the name of the game in the self-publishing world. If too much time comes between your releases people forget who you are and what they enjoyed about your story so much in the first place. I recommend releasing a book every few months if possible.
Pieces of Me Dream Cast!
Phoebe Tonkin as Peyton Lane
Matt Lanter as Jace & Jax Austin
Douglas Booth as Colton Lee
Michael Trevino as Noah Leaderman
Deborah Ann Woll as Madison Thereaux
Raven Simone as Brooklyn Jones
Shailene Woodley as Harper Michaels
Crystal Reid as Kayleigh Lane
