Contract with Amazon is over…just published both books to Smashwords.  For the links to purchase the book on Barnes & Noble, just click the book link at the top of this page and scroll down.  They still aren’t searchable yet, but they are purchasable.  Is that even a real word?

http://www.kindleobsessed.com/book-rants/ill-hold-all-of-your-strings/

After you read this, please pay it forward and ‘like’ the kindle-obsessed facebook page.  These reviewers obviously put their heart and soul into their reviews and deserve as much!

Okay, after having to sift through all of those comments, I would say it is safe to say that one of the winners was Chris!  And the other?  Blair!  Oh, and Beckham decided to pull two names out at one time, so lucky Samantha gets a book too!  Email me your addresses and which book you want.  colleenhoover@msn.com  Thanks everybody.  You know as soon as my cheap-ass husband turns his head, I’ll be doing another one!!!! (I love you, Husband)

My husband is getting upset with me.  He says the purpose of writing books is to sell them, not give them away.  WHAT DOES HE KNOW!?!?!

I just stinkin’ love all you people so much, I would give EVERYONE a copy if I could.  Unfortunately, I only have two.  So, just comment on this post with your name and I’ll put you in the pot.  Drawing tomorrow!  And I’ll put your name in the pot for every time you comment.  lol.  That should get interesting.

When I was about a chapter into writing SLAMMED, I thought perhaps this stupid idea of mine was turning out to be a book after all.  I hadn’t backed it up in any way and I was using one of those mini-laptops that made my hand hurt because the keyboard was so tiny.  I told my mom I was writing a book and needed to use her laptop.  Then I went to the store to buy a USB thingy to back my book up to so I wouldn’t lose it.  I had just finished writing the part about the Darth Vader house shoes when whaddaya know?  They had a tiny little Darth Vader usb drive.  He cost me $18, but he was worth every penny.  So, throughout writing the book, I carried the headless Darth Vader around with me everywhere I went.  He was very loyal. He was my best friend.  In truth, he was my FATHA….

Last night, he died.

He was stuck in the port on my laptop when I knocked it over and it landed right on Darth, crushing him into three different pieces.  Both SLAMMED and POINT OF RETREAT were stowed away inside of him.  Luckily, I had learned from my good friend Jason to always email yourself a copy any time you make changes.  So the manuscripts aren’t lost, but Darth Vader is dead…and that makes me sad.

On a more positive note, I’ve brought out the inner Avett fan of at least TWO people today!    Ain’t that right, Jenny and Lori?

Want to know what an Avett Brother is?  Want to know what perfect imperfection is? 

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=abQRt6p8T7g

That’s right.  I know, I know.  Me?  In a charitable, friendly mood? (Shut up, Lin!)

So, while hell is still frozen over, take advantage.  I’m giving away 2 free signed copies.  I’ll even pay shipping!  If you want to be entered in my giveaway, just comment on this post with your name and I’ll pick a random # tomorrow and mail ya meh books! (Not on facebook, on THIS post.  It gets so confusing…)

Happy Monday!

(Edited)  Well, thanks to all the winners!  Tammy, Lori, Katie and I’m still waiting on you to email me Lacy!

Do you see how it went from two to four winners?  I’m a sucker!

You are morbid!  Who likes death?

Beckham came home from my mother’s house yesterday with a new pet caterpillar.  I’m pretty sure he’s held it and squished it so much that it’s internally bleeding to death, but who am I to take away a caterpillar from a seven-year-old?

He wanted to make a home for it, so Cale suggested using the plastic aquarium from their bedroom that housed a baby turtle they found last month.

Wait….turtle?  Last month?  How come I haven’t heard of this?

Levi brings the aquarium into the living room to make a caterpillar habitat, and I notice a small turtle tucked away in the corner of the aquarium.  I asked them if that was a ‘live’ turtle.

“He used to be alive…” Cale said.  “But we sort of forgot we had him.”

Oh, Jesus.  I have no hope for the caterpillar.

In the past few days Slammed has gone from around 40,000 in overall Amazon e-books to the 600′s!!!  That’s AMAZING!!!!   Thank you soooo much to everyone who shared the link on www.Maryse.net  for Slammed.  And thank you Maryse for reading my book, loving it, and writing such a bemazing review!  And thank you to Christina for sharing it with Maryse on her amazing facebook page.  And thank you to Sandra Jean for leading me to Maryse’s page.  And thank you AGAIN to everyone who read it, will read it, tried to read it, bought it and never got around to reading it, downloaded it and read some of it, said you read it but never really did, knows someone who read it, read a blog about it, and even thanks to those of you who have never even heard of it.  Did I cover everyone?  Good!

And if you haven’t already, feel free to share this link on facebook!  Maryse’s website deserves a ton of shares.  http://www.maryse.net/books/contemporary-romance/book-review-slammed-by-colleen-hoover.html

I don’t cry.  I just don’t.  But…this made me cry.  Floored.  Humbled.  Elated.  Grateful.  Shocked.  But, most of all…SLAMMED! 

http://www.maryse.net/books/contemporary-romance/book-review-slammed-by-colleen-hoover.html

Dadgum I just wrote a really long post and it deleted itself.  I’m having some really bad luck with everything I write being deleted by you, Lappy.  This is starting to become a love/hate relationship.

Anyway, I’m not going to get into specifics again, but let me just say a select group of ladies just made my day.  Made. My. Day.  I ran across a forum where someone recommended my book, then people started commenting about it.  Sure, I should stay away from places like that so that when the people that didn’t like it comment, I won’t feel pathetic and insecure.  But like I have stated before, it’s the good AND the bad that helps us Indie authors figure out what’s working, what’s not, what we should change, our weak points, our strong points, etc.  So I look at it more like research and less like pathetic stalking.  At least that’s what I tell myself to feel justified.

Anyway, Hunger Games was great but as with any movie, the book was better.  Going to do yard work with the hubby now.

It’s a better day today.  My book is back, as well as the reviews and ranking.  Wednesday just wanted to test my resolve, but I WON!!!! Take THAT Wednesday.

Also, tonight is the midnight premiere of THE HUNGER GAMES!  We, we, we so excited!  We so excited!  I love to see how the imagination of directors compares to the visualization in my brain from when I read books that turn into movies.  This particular trilogy required a lot of imagination, so I can’t wait to see the arena, her dress, Gale, Peeta.  Yummy.

This post is quite the opposite from yesterday.  I don’t like being overly negative, but I also don’t like being overly positive.  So let me open-face sandwich this post with some negative things to balance it out.

1. Got a lot of yard work to do this weekend.

2. I need new pants.

3. I ate all my chocolate yesterday.

4. I left my diet pepsi at home and all I have is bottled water.  BORING! (And there is something floating in it)

5. My mother was sentenced to life in prison for a crime she didn’t commit.  (haha, not really.  But that is her biggest fear.)

I would like to preface this blog post by informing you, the reader, that it is going to be a whiney, unhappy, negative vent.  Mmmkay?

Well, we will start with yesterday.  I woke up to find my book gone from Amazon.  Amazon can’t figure it out.  None of the links work.  The paperback form is there, but the book is gone.  So, with that said, the only solution was to republish it.  Not a big deal, right?  WRONG!  I tried republishing it, but Amazon still can’t find it.  The only possible thing that can be done at this point is to delete it entirely and re-upload it as a new book.  The problem with this is, ALL MY reviews and rankings will VANISH!  And once the new book goes live, the only way people can leave another review is if they re-purchase it.  So, it will be just like starting over again.

To top that off, I was cut from the ABNA competition.  That was the least of my sucks for the day.  I expected it.  They were only judging on a few pages of the beginning and that was a bunch of backstory…so I was excited to make it that far.

Another suck was that since my book was deleted, none of the links on any of the interviews or blogs I’ve done will work anymore.  So if readers read those, it will take them to a dead page.  I know.  Whaaaaa!

Then, to top it off, this morning I was emailing my friend (sort of venting) and accidentally sent it to one of the agents who has my manuscript, instead.   Wasn’t that big a deal, she was cool about it.  But still, always check the last names of the people you are emailing!  Always!  Never don’t not check!

But, let me open-face sandwich this vent with some sweets so that I’ll feel a little better.

-I’m going to watch the hunger games tomorrow night.

-My hubby and I went on a date and watched 21 jump street last night.  (Slow to start but was freaking hilarious!)

-I love the rain and we are getting plenty of it.

-I was able to print out all my reviews so when they are officially deleted from Amazon I’ll still be able to go back and read them when I have bad days like this.

-I love my job.

-I still have arms.

-My sister is having a bad week, too.  (Not that it makes me happy.  Like she said, it just helps when someone else’s day sucks, too.)

-I have chocolate in my purse for later.

-And last, but not least.  Diet pepsi.  It never lets me down. (Unless I buy it out of date from weaver store)

Slammed has disappeared from Amazon in ebook form.  If you are trying to locate it, hopefully it will be corrected before the end of the day.