Extras

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Minutes Before Sunset, book 1, is FREE

Amazon, Barnes & Noble, iBooks, Smashwords, Kobo, Goodreads

Seconds Before Sunrise: book 2:

Amazon, Barnes & Noble, iBooks, Smashwords, Kobo, Goodreads

Death Before Daylight: book 3:

Amazon, Barnes & Noble, iBooks, Smashwords, Kobo, Goodreads

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Fan Art

I love fan art! It’s so much fun to see what readers see from the words I used, and I’ve already received a few pieces from a group of people chosen to read my novel before the release date. This one is one of my favorites of Jessica Taylor:

And here is another one of the lovely Jessica. This one was drawn by Instagram’s Devyn T, and it was paired with his favorite quote, “Among my stillness was a pounding heart.”

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Interior Maps

In Writing Tips: Make Maps (Interior) I explained the importance of creating physical maps for novel-telling.

On the left, you’ll see the entrance room which is one floor below the rest of the house. The kitchen – along with everything else – is on the second floor. The hallway leads to Eric’s bedroom (on the right) and Noah’s bedroom (on the left.) There’s a bathroom in-between. At the end of the hallway you’ll see Mr. Welborn’s office, another bathroom, and the master bedroom. Mr. Welborn’s bedroom and bathroom are the only rooms you well never see in the trilogy. Fun fact: this is based off of my dream home. 😀

This is based off of one of the houses I lived in from Oct. 2003 – Apr. 2010. The front door is located at the bottom right. The staircase leading both upstairs and downstairs is to the left – as well as the kitchen.

This is the top floor of Jessica Taylor’s house. Again, it’s based off of a real home I lived in, and Jessica has my bedroom (right side). Her adoptive parents live on the left side, and that set up is based on my father’s bedroom.

This is the main room used in Hayworth High School. The blue chair represents Eric’s seat, the black is Jessica’s, the two brown ones belong to Crystal Hutchins and Robb McLain. If you’re wondering why there is a shower at the back of the room, it’s because they are in a science room, and it’s meant for a student in case there is a chemical spill in their eyes.

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Check out the soundtrack featured on 8tracks here.

I know I’ve mentioned how I don’t normally write with music, so I want to clarify that this list is more composed of music I would imagine would be playing in certain scenes. These songs, as much as I don’t listen to them while I write, connected with the moments in such a way that I couldn’t deny their significance.

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Fan Translations

It has always been a dream of mine to see my work in other languages, and after sharing that on my blog, a wonderful reader – Crazy Beautiful – translated the first two chapters of Minutes Before Sunset into Romanian. Check it out: Minute Inainte De Apus

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Dedications:

Minutes Before Sunset (book 1)

“To my roommates, Kristine Andersen and Megan Paustian, for the timeless memories and unfailing support.”

Seconds Before Sunrise (book 2)

“To Calone – for showing how the darkness can be brighter than the light.”

Death Before Daylight (book 3)

“To Alex – for dreaming up daylight in a dark place.”

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Inspiration: 

• How Anxiety Influenced my Trilogy: Shannon A. Thompson has been in too many car wrecks, but this is one of the reasons she used car wrecks in her trilogy.
• Read about the black-eyed children, the urban legend that inspired the Light by clicking here.
• Which scene was my favorite to write in Minutes Before Sunset via Welcome to the Inner Workings of My Mind.
• Celebrate Eric’s birthday – we can only hope destiny will be kind.
• How the author chooses who to speak in her dual perspective writing style.
• Literally see through Jessica’s eyes in an upcoming scene of Seconds Before Sunrise here.
• What changed from the first draft of Minutes Before Sunset to its publication is explained here.
• The second novel in a trilogy often falls flat. This is what the author did about that.

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Picture Book

This is actually a few pictures from the original picture book I created to keep characters, scenes, and objects straight during the writing and editing process. You can read more about how to create yours (online and/or physically) by clicking here.