Book Snippet ‘The Lone One’ (Title Subject to Change)

Hey All!

So if you remember a few weeks ago I said I was going to post a snippet from my latest novel, and as promised here it is. Right now it has a working title of The Lone One, but I’m pretty sure that is going to be changed later on. Also unlike the snippets I posted from The Truth Unknown this snippet isn’t from the beginning of the story. However please take a read, go back and read the truth unknown snippets and let me know which one you prefer. I would REALLY appreciate your help!

Here is the snippet, as always this is my original work so no copying or stealing. Enjoy and I look forward to reading your comments!

Her first trap was untouched and held no prey. A branch snapped. The sound of the wood cracking filled the air causing the birds to chirp and Milna’s body to grow tense. Her fingers wrapped around the blade tucked into her belt, she knew everything in this forest. She knew its rhythm’s and breaths. That sound was not supposed to be here. Something was coming. Milna pulled out her blade, she was not one that was jealous of the dead and she would not have her life taken from her. It could be an animal, she had once seen a bear in the woods but that was years ago. Perhaps it was a deer but she doubted it.

            “Show yourself” Milna demanded. Maybe she was talking to the wind or the worries of her mind. The swallows cooed. The wind pushed against her skin and all of a sudden “Boo!”

            He jumped out from the trees and grinned. Milna let out a sigh of relief.

“Parvu” she smiled.

“Miss Me?” he grinned and Milna allowed a laugh to escape her throat. The small boy was maybe ten judging by his size. His skin was the same dark color of the hide of a stag she had slain years ago. His brown eyes were large and luminous. His smile was infectious. His teeth were still young, white and unharmed.

“Let me see,” Milna ordered as she placed her blade in its sheath. Parvu showed her his arms. Milna examined them; checking for a scar where a tracker would have been placed and a number mark would have been tattooed into his skin.

“Still me,” he smiled.

“That you are,” Milna smiled as she patted his large and fluffy circle of hair that bounced when he walked and sometimes fell over his eyes.

“Want to see me catch my game?” Milna asked

“Thought you lost your bow”

“I didn’t lose it, it was stolen but I got some traps. Come on” Milna smiled as she took his small hand in hers. They moved through the grass and vines to the marked tree where Milna had placed her first trap. Milna expected to see nothing in the trap but instead a doe lay struggling to move with its foot captured. Milna removed her blade and bent down. Stroking the doe’s nose she whispered “Find peace in the next world” before plunging the blade into the animal’s chest.

 
There it is! Please share your thoughts in the comment section. I really appreciate your feedback as I’m trying to figure out which novel to pitch. On a side note look out for a new youtube video with a writing prompt that will hopefully get your creative juices going 🙂
Until next time,

Be Blessed, Stay Strong and Never Give Up,

God Bless,

Grace Hatton

http://www.gracehatton.com

 

National Novel Writing Month (And Another Truth Unknown Snippet)

  Hey Everybody!

So its November and that means National Novel Writing Month and I’m trying my hand at it. It’s quite interesting so far and there are a ton of great resources being provided by the program. You should take a look and try National Novel Writing Month as well. Talking about novels I wanted to share the next snippet of my novel, The Truth Unknown! As always I want to stress that this is my original work and as such belongs to me. All copyrights, licenses, and permissions are reserved by me, Grace Hatton. If you steal, trust me bad karma is coming your way.  As always, let me know what you think and I want to see lots of comments.  I started this snippet with the last line of the last snippet, since it’s the continuation. Oh and one last thing, I have decided to include images I feel go along with the snippet from this point on. After all a picture is worth a thousand words ;p

 

Why would I need Mrs. Beatrix’s protection? 

After all she was only a headmistress.

“You can go now Miss Moxley” she quipped. A tone of annoyance flashed through the words. I nodded, stood up and began to walk towards the door. Just as I placed my hand on the slick door handle Mrs. Beatrix said in a quiet shrill voice that send shivers down my spine “Oh and Miss Moxley remember this, you’re not the only one who see things”. 

I glanced back at the small headmistress and she seemed deadly serious. I stared into her crystal blue eyes for one last moment before I rushed out of the office. My heart was racing and confusion plagued my mind. I stepped into the hall and took a deep breath. Everyone else was in class and I was bewildered. Perhaps nature would calm me. I wandered out into the gardens. I had to admit out of all the boarding schools I’d been to Heath Hill was one of the most beautiful. As soon as I stepped into the gardens I was surrounded by oak trees and just down the hill was a stunning river.

The moors nestled Heath Hill in the curves of their jagged rocks and hills. I stepped under the oak tree and stared out at the river. I wondered what Miss Beatrix meant by you’re not the only one who sees things. I was the only one who saw things I saw.  I had never heard of anyone like me. I could have stayed under that tree the entire afternoon but the clouds rolled in and the rain began to pour down.

“Perfect” I sighed as I jumped up and ran inside Heath Hill. My outfit was soaked through and my hair was hanging in thick wet locks.

I hated getting caught in the rain off guard and to add to my horror all the classes poured out at that exact moment. Suddenly I was in a mass of bodies. I instantly saw and felt all of their attachments. I couldn’t breathe. I couldn’t be around this many people they were suffocating me. “Anna” someone called. I turned to see Regina Reynolds one of the many who had instantly become dedicated to making my life as severely unpleasant as possible in just a few short days.

“You really are a sad pathetic thing aren’t you” she smirked as she blocked my way. Her black hair swayed as her green eyes bored into my own. 

“Let me pass” I sighed

“No” she sneered. My gaze flickered to Regina. I could see it. The dark creature was latched onto Regina. It had no face, it was almost like a dark smoke but it was wrapped around her tightly. It made me want to scream because when I looked at the darkness, it seemed to grip my heart with fear.

“Regina please” I mumbled as I tried to get past her so I wouldn’t have to see her darkness anymore.

“God! You are so weak! You’re a waste of oxygen Anna” Regina hissed before she stormed past me. I let out a sigh of relief. That was over but I was still stuck in the crowd of people. I turned trying to escape the crowd when I heard someone whisper “Look at me beautiful”

It sounded like a boy saying those words. Shaking off the voice, I readjusted my outfit and started walking towards my next class. After all no one ever called me beautiful.

“Yes you” the boys voice said again.

“Over here” he whispered. Curious I paused and looked towards the sound of the voice. As I saw the source of the voice I caught my breath. He was leaning against the stone wall of the hallway. His uniform was wrinkled and messy. His skin had a golden tan as though he had spent one too many summers in the south of France, his brown eyes sparkled and his dark blonde hair was thrusting in a million different directions. He was possibly the best looking boy I’d ever seen. Yet the best thing about the mystery boy was he had nothing on him. No darkness or light attached to him in fact a slight glow surrounded him. He stepped forward until he stood right in front of me. He was taller than me and his frame intimated me.

“What’s your name?”  He asked

“Anna Moxley” I whispered. I was finding it hard to breathe.

“Well Miss Moxley I’ll be sure to find you again” he grinned and my heart palpitated in my rib cage.

“Are you sure?” I echoed

“I’m very sure” he grinned before turning away and disappearing into one of the side halls. As soon as he was gone I had to wonder who that boy was and why was he different from everyone else? Why didn’t he have light or darkness attached to him? Everyone else I had seen apart from my family had an evil or sorts or stunning light attached to them but not him. What was the significance of that I wondered. All of a sudden Heath Hill seemed like a much more interesting school.

 

This may have been my longest snippet yet but I hope you are liking it. If you have suggestions share them with me. If you have ideas about what is going to happen next share them with me! I love it when I can talk with supporters, readers and critics alike. Also if there is something you would like me to read please share it in the comments section.

Last thing before I go  if you would like to sign up for National Novel Writing Month visit http://www.nanowrimo.org and get going! Many of the issues you have with writing can be dealt with when you start, but if you never start a work you will never be able to conquer your issues and become a fantastic writer.

Until next time be blessed, stay strong and never give up,

God Bless,

Grace Hatton – Best Selling Teen Author

www.gracehatton.com

P.S – I’m thinking about starting a series called These College Days on here where I post quick writing exercises I have done in class that I love and want to share. What do you think?

 

 

Hasta La Vista 2010, What’s Up 2011

It’s that time of year again. The time when we are forced to look back at the past year of our lives and wonder, where the heck did it all go? Christmas is over and while you may be getting reading for a fantastic new years eve party, if you’re anything like me, you can’t shake the feeling of regret.

The feeling of knowing you could have done so much more. I suppose, for me at least the end of the year is the only time of the year I feel a little less than optimistic. Why? Because I earnestly believe in the value of time. I believe we can get everything in this world, including money, back but time can never be given back. Therefore what I chose to do with that time is very important to me. I know each moment I am given on this earth is a gift from God and it is my responsibility to do everything I can with the moment.

So when I get to end of the year I can’t help but feel like I could have used my time better. Yet I am positive enough to know that if I focus on what I didn’t do, I will go crazy. So I am making the choice to focus on all I was able to accomplish in 2010. Here are a few of the things I have accomplished this year, completed dual enrollment course at community college, graduated high school with college credit and honours. Gotten into an amazing college with a full ride scholarship, earned my Girl Scout gold award, done numerous speaking engagements including speaking in Miami at a social media conference where the likes of Google were in attendance, launched my magazine, signed on with one of the biggest christian publishers in America and remembered to be thankful for all my blessings.

All in all, I’d say I’ve accomplished quite a bit and while I am proud of myself, I am mostly thankful to God for blessing me and for my family for always supporting me. Now I’ve told you what I am proud to have accomplished this year, why don’t you tell me what you are grateful to have accomplished in 2010.

Tomorrow it will be 2011 and I already have some amazing projects in the work for the new year. I am not going to list the things I wish to accomplish in 2011 because life has a way of screwing up plans. Instead I am going to make a committment to work even harder in the new year and continue to achieve my dreams. I hope my journey serves as inspiration for your own journey in 2011 and together we can make our lives quite beautiful. I promise as the projects I have in the work pan out I will keep you all informed but here’s a hint as to what I am working on, the re release of “The Guys The Roses and The Regrets”, numerous TV projects and the release of my second book, “Finding Your Inner Moxie”.

Alas, my friends it’s time for me to go get my party on and celebrate this brand new year that sparkles with promise and hope. I must say goodbye but before I do, I want to say one last thing. THANK YOU!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Your support is a huge inspiration to me and one of the reasons I work so hard. I am so blessed to have your support. Everyday I get messages on YouTube and Facebook telling me how I have helped people achieve their dreams and I cannot say how wonderful that makes me feel. If I am helping even one person, then I am a success. So to know I am helping so many people is beyond amazing. I want you to know that without you, my dreams wouldn’t be possible so thank you, thank you, thank you and a million times over, thank you.

Until next year, be blessed, stay strong and never give up.

Happy New Year and God Bless,

Grace Hatton – Best Selling Teen Author

http://www.gracehatton.com

 

 

25 Days of Christmas – Snowflakes on My Eyelashes

Hola Amazing Readers,

It’s another day in our 25 Days of Christmas holiday blog experiment and today for the first time in a long time I experienced snowflakes on my eyelashes. Granter I was not covered in snow like the little girl in the photo I included but when I woke up in Asheville, NC this morning I was enthralled by the snow raining down outside by window.

Low and behold when I walked outside the snow was falling on me and when the snowflakes landed on my eyelashes I was in heaven. I forgot how wonderful it is to have delicate snowflakes on my eyelashes. It may be a simple thing but it makes me happy. Does it mae you happy? Let me know and if you’re in a state thats snowing right now how much snow are you getting?

I am curious. Until next time be blessed, stay strong and never give up,

God Bless,

Grace Hatton – Best Selling Teen Author

www.gracehatton.com

 

P.S – Want the perfect Christmas present for your daughter, niece, granddaughter etc then check out “The Guys The Roses and The Regrets”

25 Days of Christmas – Christmas Tonight (Your New Favourite Christmas Song)

Bonjour My Wonderful Blog Readers,

It’s day three of our 25 Days of Christmas holiday blog festival and today I want to share you my new favourite Christmas Song. A couple of weeks ago iTunes gave me a free song from a new artist, Dave Barnes and I fell in love with it. I thought no where his new song could be topped but low and behold when I was browsing YouTube I found another christmas song by David Barnes.

It’s called Christmas tonight and it’s quite wonderful. The song reminds me quite a bit of Baby it’s Cold Outside by Dean Martin which is another song I adore so for today check out this wonderful song and let me know what you think.

It’s also a really beautiful video and goes back to my theme from yesterday, simplicity. We can get wrapped up in going to big parties that sometimes we forget the best times at Christmas are when we stay here, snuggle next to a fire and just relax. That’s the perfect christmas night. Let me know what you think about the video and I hope your day is full of christmas cheer,

Until next time be blessed, stay strong and never give up,

God Bless,

Grace Hatton – Best Selling Teen Author

www.gracehatton.com

P.S – Want the perfect christmas present for your daughter, niece, granddaughter etc then check out “The Guys The Roses and The Regrets”

25 Days of Christmas – Food,Cheer and Song

“If more of us valued food and cheer and song above hoarded gold, it would be a merrier world.” – J. R. R. Tolkien

What’s up people!

Today is the second day of my 25 days of Christmas  Holiday Blog and I have to admit being in college I am currently more worried about my numerous papers due then my Holiday traditions but as a December Wild Child I can’t ignore the wonder that is Christmas time. This morning I was wondering what to write about today and then one of my good friends sent me this great quote by one of my writing idols, J.R.R Tolkien

Tolkein was perhaps one of the most influential writers of the 20th century and it turns out he was pretty smart. I thought the quote above was perfect for the holiday season. How about this year instead of fussing about who has the most gold a.k.a who gets the most expensive present, we focus on food, cheer and song a.k.a the simple things in life.  What if we valued spending time with our families, eating good food and if you enjoy singing, singing christmas carols or any other song you feel obliged to sing. Why don’t we value the simple things over our hoarded gold?

The simple answer, we’re humans. Which means we’re greedy and want the new shiny things but as humans we also have the capacity to change. So this year instead of your entire christmas season being about who got the best most expensive present why don’t we focus on good food, being cheerful and singing our hearts out. Just a thought.

Until next time be blessed, stay strong and never give up,

God Bless,

Grace Hatton – Best Selling Teen Author

www.gracehatton.com

P.S – Want the perfect christmas present for your daughter, niece, granddaughter etc then check out “The Guys The Roses and The Regrets”

Finally! A New Video! Plus Talk of Wizards and Princes

Hello My Lovely Readers,

It’s been a while since I posted a blog and please accept my humble apologies for that. College life can keep me pretty darn busy but I am very excited right now because my brand new YouTube video is finally live! I have tried to upload this YouTube video over 20 times and today at 2pm it finally uploaded.

It’s a video about my new found college life plus an awesome writing tip for you. It also contains all the juicy details on what is happening with my book ‘The Guys The Roses and The Regrets’. You can look at the video at www.youtube.com/gracehatton or you can watch the snazzy video below

If you have a YouTube account please comment, like and subscribe. If not feel free to comment on this post or send it out via Facebook and Twitter. Okay now that you’ve seen my new video I wanted to say how excited I am to go to a midnight premiere of Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows (Part 1) this evening!

After I’ve watched it I will post a review sort of like I did with Eclipse back in June. I am sure there will be lots of craziness happening at these midnight showings. Are you going to a midnight show? If so let me know and let me know what you thought after you’ve watched. As someone who hasn’t read the books only watched the movies I am hoping for lots of action and for Ron and Hermione to finally get together!

Second thing I am going to be posting soon my views on Prince William and Kate finally getting married. To me it seems they’ve been dating for forever but that’s okay. As a english gal I am very excited for a Royal Wedding. 

So please look out for those posts and as always please let me know what you think of this post. Until next time be blessed, stay strong and never give up,

God Bless,

Grace Hatton – Best Selling Teen Author

www.gracehatton.com

The Leaves of Change

 Hola Amazing Readers!

Since being a kid I’ve loved autumn and the beauty of the leaves. However living in Florida for the past six years we don’t really have autumn. It’s always green in Florida and if leaves do fall they simply fall off, no pretty colors for Floridians. So I am officially excited right now as I sit outside at Warren Wilson College in North Carolina as golden, red and orange leaves appear and slowly fall to the ground.

It’s quite beautiful here with the mountains all turning brilliant shades of color. It really reminds me of the wonder of God and how every moment of beauty is a blessing. As the leaves change here in North Carolina a lot of changes are going on in my life as well.

I just finished mid terms at college and I can’t believe I am half way through my first semester as a college student but what I wanted to talk to you, my awesome reader, about is the changes that are happening in regards to my books. If you follow me on twitter @gracehatton you will probably know that I recently signed a contract with a major christian publishing house, Bridge Logos, for not ony “The Guys The Roses and The Regrets; The Girl to Girl Dating Guide” but also my second book in the girl to girl guide series “Finding Your Inner Moxie; The Girl to Girl Confidence Guide”

What does this mean? Well “The Guys The Roses and The Regrets” will be re released on a huge scale, i.e going on the shelves in Barnes and Nobles and Borders and my second book will be coming out straight after the re-release of “The Guys The Roses and The Regrets”. To say I am officially excited would be an understatement. I have worked so hard to get a traditional publishing deal and I finally have a great one!

So with this fantastical news comes a lot of new responsibility and I am looking for your help. I have been so blessed to have loyal readers (or should I call you fans?) like you and to have support from all around the globe. I am so grateful for everything you have already done for me and my books but what I really want to do is create a movement of readers spreading the news about the new release of “The Guys The Roses and The Regrets” and of “Finding Your Inner Moxie”

I suppose like a musician has a street team that’s what I would love to create but I am honestly not sure how. Any suggestions? The first thing we could do is if you have a facebook, myspace or twitter account sending out a quick update that would say something like this

“So excited for Teen Authors Grace Hatton book “The Guys The Roses and The Regrets” to be re released with Bridge Logos!”

What do you think? Once I get a date and more info for the re release I will be posting all of that info on my blogs, my official website, facebook, myspace, youtube, twitter and more. I will probably run contests and stuff to see who can be the best street team member but until then help me out, how does a teen author start a crazy good street team?

Let me know, I really appreciate your feedback and I hope you are loving autumn as much as me,

Until next time, be blessed, stay strong and never give up,

God Bless,

Grace Hatton – Best Selling Teen Author

www.gracehatton.com

I am Speaking in Miami Trick

So who loves Miami? I do! Since moving to the sunny state of Florida I have been to Miami quite a few times but on September 29th I will be in Miami for a completly new reason. What’s that reason? Well keep reading to find out. Over the past couple years I have been blessed with the success of my book ‘The Guys The Roses & The Regrets‘ on Amazon and I have been blessed to call myself a best selling teen author.

As I continue to grow as an author I am stepping out of my comfort zone and beginning to speak. Public speaking is one of the things many people want to do but never actually do. I am proud to say I am doing. I have been speaking at various local events around the Central Florida area but on September 29th I will be speaking at the Performance Marketing Expo in Miami, FL. I am very excited. The Performance Marketing Expo is at the Eden Roc Hotel on South Beach which is truly beautiful.

Along with some other amazing presenters including the CEO of myyearbook.com and Obama’s social media campaign coordinator. I will be speaking on the topic of social media and how I used social media to become a best selling teen author. My session is entitled ‘Social Media; The New Key to Success’

If you have a business or a product you are trying to get out in the world this is an amazing conference to attend. If you would like to purchase your ticket for this event you can click the banner to your right. This will take you through to the Performance Marketing Expo’s main website.

I am very excited about this event and I look forward to seeing you there,

God Bless,

Grace Hatton – Best Selling Teen Author

www.gracehatton.com

Love the Way You Lie

Hey Guys!

So a lot of changes are going on in my life right now but I am not about to forget my lovely blog readers. Therefore I decided to write a blog about relationships. After all I did right a book on the subject =] I was listening to the song ‘Love the Way You Lie’ by Eminem and I have to admit its an awesome song but no matter how catchy the tune is I can’t help but think about the underlying message.

If you’ve listened to the song then you know the song is about two people staying in an abusive relationships but if you haven’t listened to the song, you can take a listen below. I also have to warn you that there is cursing in the lyrics and the video is pretty intense.

So now you know what the song is about. For me the chorus sums it up, they lyrics to the chorus are ‘Just go stand there and watch me burn but that’s all right because I like the way it hurts. Just gonna stand there and hear me cry but that’s all right because I love the way you lie. I love the way you lie.’

The video has been viewed 55 million times since it was posted two weeks ago. That means 55 million people have watched the video but I wonder if everyone understands it. For me it’s showcasing an abusive relationship that the two people are choosing to stay in because they are in love with the idea of each other. This is an unhealthy relationship and that’s why I wanted to discuss this video. With so many kids watching it I wanted to voice my thoughts and while the song is beyond catchy it’s also important. I believe people should look at this video and not be like oh this is cool but understand that its showing how a relationship shouldn’t be.

We shouldn’t stay in a relationship because of the way things were or because of short moments of bliss. A healthy relationship is good 80% of the time and difficult the other 20% or around about that ratio. Anyhow the point is that a relationship should be respectful, loving and healthy most of the time not the other way around. A hot flash of passion doesn’t sustain a relationship. You have to marry passion with respect and love. As you go through your relationships please remember that.

Let me know what you think and what you think of the video/song and as always of this post,

Until next time be blessed, stay strong and never give up,

God Bless,

Grace Hatton – Best Selling Teen Author

www.gracehatton.com