Love Letters to my Fake Boyfriends

Yes, you read correctly, I have TWO letters for Amparo's Blogfest! I just couldn't decide. Although when I finished writing these I realized that one was more of an admiration letter than a love letter and the other one was just a flat out breakup letter. Oh well, hope you guys enjoy! I had a blast with this hehe.

First off, *drumrolls* The one and only...Mr. Logan Echolls!

My dear tortured, rich 09’er boyfriend,

What am I to do with you? I told you over and over that we can’t be together. I know that time we met in Mexico was fun. And the making out was certainly entertaining. And I’ll always treasure that day on your dead murderer father’s yacht when you told me you realized that you never actually knew the meaning of the word epic until you met me. (Which btw worried me, so I bought you a dictionary).

Yet we can’t be together. It’s too dangerous. I’ll be too worried for my life. I don’t want the millions of LoVe shippers to come after me with pitchforks wanting to lynch me. I know you said you’re willing to take the risk, but I’m not because I know they won’t hurt you. All you have to do is smile and say something sarcastic and they’ll be melted putty in your hands. Unfortunately, I don’t have that superpower.

Still, that’s not the entire truth. The main reason is that I know I can’t be with you because even I’m rooting for you and Veronica. You remember, the girl that smelled of marshmallows and promises? Right. You belong with her, not me. I know, crazy huh? But it’s true. You’re made for each other. You two should get married and have lots of blond, witty, snarky commented babies and grow old together. Forget about how smart, talented, and beautiful you think I am. Forget about me.

I’ll be crossing my fingers for the day when I can see you two together again.

<3 Jenn

To my supermegafoxyawesomehot boyfriend,

Yes, I’m talking to you, Mr. Darren Freakin’ Criss. 

I don’t know what I would do if you weren’t in my life. You sing. You dance. You act. You play the piano and guitar and drums AND violin (not to mention I’ve seen a picture of you with a cello). I mean, seriously dude, like Red Vines, what CAN’T you do? 

But the best part about you is that you’re a true and true nerd. And I say that in the best possible way, of course. It makes you real. Humble. Approachable and loveable. Whether it’s your acting as the awesome Harry Potter or fanboying about Avatar: The Last Airbender (which made me love you more btw). Or even the way you make fun of yourself at interviews. 

I’ve known you since Harry Potter Musical and I won’t lie and say that Glee hasn’t made me love you even more (cause it obviously did, I mean who can resist Blaine?!), but you had a spot in my heart long before that. And I’m sure you’ll stay there for a long time.

<3 Jenn

P.S You know, I decided a mere picture doesn’t do you justice.

If you guys haven't done this yet, then who are your literary/celebrity crushes?

Happy Valentines Day!

I didn't want to make another post with an excerpt, but I couldn't resist Stina and Christina's Just Kiss Already Blogfest. I already read some of everyone else's and they're AWESOME toe curling scenes! A perfect way to spend Valentines Day. You know, besides being with the boyfriend that is :)

Title: WIP Just a Con

Setup: Let's just say Megan and Ian were arguing and Ian found another way to settle the fight. The best way of course. (It's a little over 250 words because I couldn't help myself :))

“Will you just—” he stopped and shook his head. “Just shut up for a minute, okay?”

“But why—” I couldn’t continue because his lips were suddenly on mines. Warm, soft, wet, and as strange as it sounds, so delicious I could feel shivers running up and down my arms and back.

I’ve been kissed before. It’s hard to pull off cons without giving at least something back to keep the target from leaving. I’ll admit I get carried away sometimes and we move past first base. Never all the way though. I wasn’t exactly a prude, but a slut I was not.

It was different with Ian though. Maybe because I knew I wouldn’t get anything from him. God knows I couldn’t manipulate him from day one. Maybe it was because I could tell that he genuinely liked me and wasn’t only trying to get into my pants. Or maybe it was because I knew I liked him far more than I was supposed to.

He cradled my face in his hands and leaned in closer to deepen the kiss, his warm breath mingled with mines. I wrapped my arms around his shoulders and held on tightly when my legs started to feel weak like he drugged me. I threaded my fingers in his dark hair that softly curled around his nape.

Ian stumbled backwards and I felt him bump into the back of the sofa. Before I could react, he picked me up and we fell backwards onto the white cushions. I laughed as he pulled me to sit on his lap, straddling his lap. I traced his adorable crooked dimples for a minute before pulling his head down for another kiss. That was enough of a break.

I don’t know how long we stayed like that, wrapped around each other, hands caressing each other, but he pulled away first.
“That’s why,” he said with a shaky deep breath.

"Oh." What the hell was he talking about? To be honest, I couldn't even what our conversation was about before. I mean, who could remember after those fifteen minutes in heaven?

Teaser Tuesday

Just a Con: Raindrops

“I guess we shouldn’t have parked across the street,” Ian said, changing the subject with a groan. “Do you think it’ll let up anytime soon?”

As a response, the rain seemed to thunder down even harder. I looked up at the rumbling dark clouds with a doubtful frown. “Unless soon would mean tomorrow.”

“Our car’s not that far. We could run.” Ian gave me a wide grin. “Unless you’re afraid the rain might make you melt.”

At his challenge, I hopped off of the curb and landed in a large puddle with a splash. Wet gritty mud sloshed into my sandals and between my toes. It wasn’t long before my clothes and hair was completely soaked through. I swept my dark locks off my face and turned to him with my hands on my hips. “Well, come on.” I taunted. “Afraid your expensive leather jacket’s going to get ruined?”

He chuckled. “For your information, I don’t even know what my jacket’s made of.”

“Then what are you waiting for?”

“I just want to remember this moment forever.” Ian used his thumbs and index fingers to make a frame. “The image of you looking like a drowned rat. It warms my heart.”

“Well, that makes two of us.” I leapt forward and grabbed his hands, dragging him into the rain with me.

Just as he came off the curb, a large stream of water came off the roof and landed right on his face, causing him to choke and sputter. Unable to help myself, I clenched my stomach with my arms and laughed until I was practically gasping for air.

With an evil glint in his eyes, Ian pulled me toward him until the water splattered on me too. He kept an iron grip around my shoulders and tilted my chin up until I got a faceful of the rainwater. I alternated between laughing and gurgling.

Finally, he pulled us both out of the waterfall and into the shelter of the diner. I gave him a mock glare and wrung my hair to get the water out.

“Alright, that’s enough.” Ian fervently shook his head, making his hair fly around and stick up in all directions effectively drenching me once more. He raised both hands in surrender. “Now that we’re even, let’s go home before we both get pneumonia.”

I didn’t realize until we were standing on the sidewalk that Ian was still holding onto me. I peered up at him out of the corner of my eyes, but his gaze was straight ahead, watching the street to make sure we didn’t get run over. His hair was plastered to his forehead and neck. Droplets of rain ran down his nose and lashes.

I thought he forgot until he shifted his hand and laced his fingers through my cold ones. He looked down at me and smiled, lightly squeezing my hand.

I could have pulled away right then and there. I should have.

But I didn’t.

Tardy Teaser Tuesday

I don't usually do the Teaser Tuesday, but today I happened to write a scene I like. But of course it's Wednesday! So here's my Tardy Teaser Tuesday :)

Just a Con - Scene Snippet: Friendships & Secrets

(read my blurb in the previous post to get the basis of the story)

 “Are you yourself with me?” Ian suddenly asked when we waiting at the elevators.

“What do you mean?”

“Before, when you told me you don’t have any friends because you could never let your guard down.” He shrugged. “I was just wondering if I could be considered your friend now.”

I paused and thought about it. Despite the circumstances that brought us together and the fact that I shouldn’t let myself get close to anyone (especially not them), I did consider him a friend. And Cammy.

He cleared his throat and started punching the down button again. “You know what? Don’t worry about it. I don’t even know why I brought it up in the first place.” I could see his ears turn slightly pink. “What’s taking this so long?”

Just then there was a ding and the elevator slid open. Ian stepped back to let me through, still not looking me in the eye.

I rolled my eyes and went in. He stepped back just when I held my hand on the edge so the doors wouldn’t slid shut. “As much as I hate to admit it, I do consider you a friend. I don’t know why though. I don’t even like you,” I joked.

His lips quirked into a smile. “That’s alright. I don’t like you much either,” he said, shoving his hands in his pockets. He finally looked up; his laughing gray eyes met mines.

“I should go now before Lily calls one of her henchmen to track us down,” I said, still not moving.

“Yeah, I better go back to Cammy before the doctor comes in.” Ian pushed my hands off the edge and took a step back. “See you at home later?”

“Yeah.”

He gave me a wave right as the doors closed. Still shaking my head, I leaned back against the wall. As I watched the numbers flash overhead as the elevator descended, my smile slowly faded as a somber thought occurred to me.
I may consider them my friends, but if they ever found out the truth, would they still consider me one?

*image is from deviantart.com

Blurb it!

So for the first time ever, I decided to participate in YA Highway  Road Trip (instead of lurking every week) which is to write a blurb about a favorite book or one of my own novels. I actually like writing blurbs because I can imagine what the back (or front cover) of my novel would sound like. It's so much easier than writing the actual novel :)

So here's one I wrote for my current WIP, a YA contemporary romance called CON.

Sixteen- year old Megan Benson never considered herself a con artist. More like a con doodler. After all, her antics are nowhere near the calibers of her mother’s heists. But even she has to pat herself on the back when she lands them a place living at the Keller mansion. All Megan has to do now is play big sister to Cammy, while her mother works her magic on Mr. Keller, the wealthy owner (and widower) of a successful catering company. Then they’ll be set for life.

Easier said than done. Mr. Keller not only seems immuned to her mother’s charms (and curves), he spends all his time doting on his daughter. In turn, she hero worships Megan, making her feel like scum for using them. The guilt grows stronger when she is confronted by Ian MacMillian, the Keller’s cousin who sees right through her act. 

But with an empty bank account and nowhere else to go, Megan has no choice but to continue the con despite her feelings. Even if it means everything she does and says is a lie.

I wanted to make a graphic to go with this but it turns out I didn't buy photoshop for this new laptop :/. I might be able to whip something up on Windows Paint but it won't be pretty!

Cheating = Good?

Okay, it's not what you think so put away the crosses and red A's and stop smiting me. I mean cheating in my head...no I don't mean that either! :)

So I've been dating my bf for over seven years and I love him and he's the best guy ever despite the fact that he doesn't care for Harry Potter *coughs*, but every once in a while I find myself crushing on a celebrity. Like hard googling, youtube clip searching, checking to see if he's dating anyone crush. And don't pretend you've never done this!

And I actually like it when this happens cause then I get inspired. I mean, I love my bf and plan to spend the rest of my life with him but let's face the facts, he doesn't give me the new ohmygosh butterflies feeling anymore. We're so comfortable with each other, we're "stale". Although in a good way, like stale bread for bread pudding! Yum...bread pudding...

But the crush *sighs*. The crush makes me squeal inside and stare at youtube with a goofy grin on my face. He cheers me up and makes me giddy. And I'll admit, there are times when I daydream about meeting him and charming him with my wit lol. Which of course leads to him proclaiming his love and admiration for me and I in turn have to turn him down because I'm already in a relationship. (See? Even in my daydreams I'm faithful)

But how does this inspire me? Because I take those fluttery feelings and write. So even though I spent three hours cyperstalk-I mean researching my new crush, I was able to write over 3k last night. Something I haven't done in a while. And those three hours were justified in helping me reach my goal.  xD

Don't you love being a writer?

Btw, the celebrity crush LOVES Harry Potter. *swoons ever harder*

I would like to thank...

     Like many writers out there, I've dreamed about what I would write on my dedication page. Why? Because this is when not only has your novel been accepted by an agent or publisher or even both :), but it's gone through multiple revisions and is about to be published!

     So of course I would like to thank my family, my publisher, and agent (I may not know who you are yet, but I know you're out there!) and of course my betas Shayda, Meadow, and Elana. Don't know what I would do without you guys to rein in my crazy and to flatly point out "Jenn, this doesn't make any sense" or "stop using 'quickly' and ellipses!"

    And then I thought of other people who helped me become a writer. My sisters first of all. Not for the usual reasons though, but because they didn't play with me growing up. It's not as sad as it sounds lol I'm the youngest of four girls and unfortunately was always too young to play with them. And when I was finally old enough to play with them, they were too old to WANT to play WITH me. The irony. So how did I spend my childhood? Watching tv like a regular kid.

     But I didn't watch normal stuff like cartoons. My sisters had control of the remote so I grew up watching Saved by the Bell, California Dreams, Family Matters, and USA High. Ahh, Zack Morris, Jake Summers, and Jackson Green, how you used to brighten up my day...I also read all the time too since my dad used to enforce a 2 hour television rule on weekdays. By the time I reached middle school, I was already starting to read romances. That probably explains why I'm drawn to writing YA romances.

     Second person/people to make me love reading was the Louisiana Standardize Testing people. I remember happily watching the 1996 Olympics at home with my family in the summer when my parents got a phone call and told me I had to go to summer school for English. They didn't tell me why, but I suspect now that I failed the English portion of the LEAP or CAT test or whatever I took that year. Turned out it was the BEST THING EVER. I had a blast at summer school and fell in love with reading even more.

    And the last person to help me was my 7th grade English teacher, Mr. Tiller. Not only did he introduce me to Harry Potter (THANK YOU!!!), but he also gave us a writing assignment to write a short story about one of the characters in HP. While everyone else wrote about Harry, Hermione, Ron, or Dumbledore, I chose to write about Dudley and a typical day through his eyes. :) That may have been my very first actual writing piece I've ever done and I loved it. Can't remember exactly what I wrote now, but I remember Mr. Tiller was very impressed. lol Ah, my first shining moment as a writer.

    Although I didn't actual try to start writing seriously til a few years ago, I still wouldn't have if these people didn't influence me to. And the rest, I guess you could say, is history. Sorry I made you guys go through my life story with me. :) So what about you guys? Who influenced you to write?