SIDEKICK Cover Reveal! Plus Some Epiphanies.

It's funny how you can go for months and months feeling like you are lost and have no idea what you want to be doing with your life—and then in one day it all turns around because of the perfect question asked at just the right time. And that was simply:

If money, success, people's opinions weren't a factor, what would you choose to do as a writer?

And the answer, quite to my surprise, came very quickly: I'd indie publish. When it comes down to it, I love the process. I love creating a book. Not just the writing part but all the way through design and publication. The second I realized this, I got excited about writing again. I immediately laid out plans for several books I could publish. I felt like everything snicked into place and all that confusion was gone.

So this is what I'm going to do. And I'm starting fast and furious by publishing a book next month. Yes, NEXT MONTH. It is one of the many books I prepared for publication long ago, but for one reason or another it never made it through the pipeline entirely.

It's called SIDEKICK. And here is the cover (designed by the ever-awesome Melissa Williams Deisgn):

I apologize for any cravings or hunger pain caused by this cover.
Actually no I'm not sorry that's totally what I intended.

I wrote SIDEKICK after I felt like I'd lost nearly everything in 2010. The story is about Russ, a high school football player who feels like he always comes in second to his best friend, Garret. Well, he's tired of it, and he gets the rather foolish idea that if he can win the heart of the new girl in town before Garret he can prove he's not just sloppy seconds.

Russ has only one edge against Garret—the fact that his anime-obsessed little sister has befriended said new girl—but he plans to use it. He'd never tell the team, but he's been going to Anime Night for years and might even enjoy it. That would ruin his reputation, just like his secret love for cooking and James Taylor.

But pretending to be something you aren't catches up to you eventually, and Russ can only get away with living two lives for so long. As more than one person reveals they have something to hide, Russ must figure out what and who he really wants in his life. And more than that, he needs the courage to make it happen.

I'm super excited to finally be able to share this story with you! It was my very first foray into contemporary, and it rekindled my love of writing after it felt like all was lost. It feels very appropriate to have this be my first published novel after another rough patch in my writing life.

(Also, if you notice, there is now a tab on the blog that directs you to my new online store, where you can purchase signed copies of my novels. Currently the store is US only. Sorry that is the constraint put on it by Square, not me.)