Meet Natascha Jaffa - Editor at SPJ Editing

A few weeks back, I had the opportunity to shoot Natascha Jaffa (cue geeky chuckling...sorry the photography humor never gets old). Because my full time job as a professional photographer is filled with opportunities to meet gobs of people, I'm ecstatic when I get the chance to capture images of people in the writing community. After all, writing is my first love. 

Besides being a brilliant editor, Natascha is also absolutely, and ridiculously stunning. Check out her head shots and her bio below!

Natascha Jaffa established SPJ Editing in 2011. With a degree in psychology from Utah Valley University and a bachelors from Nevada State College, she considers herself a teacher rather than solely an editor and strives to help new and veteran authors reach their publishing goals.

Her recent projects include books placed with SirenBookstrand, Evernight Publishing, The Wild Rose Press, Secret Cravings Publishing, Ellora's Cave, Beyond the Page Publishing and Melange Books. She continues to actively build her client list and is currently seeking work in the following genres: Romance (historical, romantic suspense, paranormal, category, contemporary, erotic), urban fantasy, women’s fiction, mystery, thrillers, science fiction, fantasy and young adult.

She is an active PRO member of Romance Writers of America, a member of Mystery Writers of America and a member of International Thriller Writers.

Published in both suspense and romance, she writes under the pen name Nichole Severn.

If you would like more information about Natascha, or you'd like to book a photography session, email me at erinsummerill(at)hotmail.com.

Have a great Friday!

A phone call.

My phone rang. 

"Hello," I answered in my polite voice. I didn't recognize the number. 

"Mom, it's Henry." Ah, I should probably add the school's number to my contacts.

"What's up?"

"So . . . I punched a kid."

Jaw to the floor. "What?!?"

"Just kidding. You forgot to sign up for parent teacher conferences. My teacher wants to know when you're coming in."

This little scene from today has taught me two things: 

1. Maybe I'm more of a slacker mom than I actually berate myself for. 

2. My 10 year old is HILARIOUS! 

Hope you enjoy this little Tuesday Tidbit!

Jimmy Fallon for your Monday morning, Anyone?

This morning, this little lovely pretty much sums up my feelings of Twitter, Facebook, and all those other social media sites. And it gave me a pretty good laugh. Dang, Justin Timberlake can drop the comedy like the best of them.

Enjoy your Monday!

Remember When . . .

Remember when I used to blog?
When my posts were random, and sometimes witty?
Or not. Whatever. But you know what I'm saying, right?
There was a time when I blogged more frequently here, and less over there.

Well my friends, I realized that I kinda miss this old, random, and sometimes witty blog of mine. It's not that I no longer love shooting people and posting ridiculously fabulous images over there.
It's just, I miss you. (Cue swell of symphony music)

I want you to know I'll be hanging out here again. Now and then. And over there too.

There are a few more secrets left in me (like 70).

You don't want to miss those.

luv, erin

Come to my new/old blog...

Hey ya'll, I'm sorry that I've been MIA. I decided to combine my photography blog and my writing blog!

If you want to stop by, you can check me out:

HERE

A ridiculous CONTEST

Today I blogged here:

ERIN'S other blog

Surprising right? Miracle of miracles, sometimes I do blog. Lately it tends to be more there than here. I used to keep the two passions of my life--photography and writing--separate. But as I move further into those two areas it's becoming harder to draw the line. 

Today I'm giving away a WEDDING. 

Crazy, right? 

If you're already married, you could take the session as a family session, or maybe you know someone who just needs some awesome pictures to pep up their life. Regardless, go enter that contest. 

And please, for the love of all things blogger, PLEASE SHARE the link. I'm groveling at this point. I want ya'll to win. Or someone you know. 

See you over in the photography blogger world. 

luv erin.

secret 30 of 100: liar and a cheat.

I am a lair and a cheat. 

A few months back I'm pretty sure I said I would keep this blog up better than I have. Thus, LIAR. But that's not my secret. 

 

"I'm not a quitter." I've said this countless times. I will NEVER start a new book without finishing the current WIP. Especially not when that WIP was 90% finished. 

Well, my secret is: 

I lied. 

In October (right about the last time I hung out in bloggerville) I had a coming to Jesus with my spy book. It was a novel I had been working on for two years. A novel that I'd written multiple completed drafts of. A novel that frankly has problems. 

One day I was sitting there, plugging away at fixing those issues, when the realization hit: I HATED THE FREAKING spy novel. I wanted to punch it in the face. Kick it to the curb. Spit on it and never ever think about a girl spy again. 

So I did. I closed my word document and opened a new one. 

Honestly, I was kind of embarrassed about the whole quitting thing and uber depressed. But then I decided:

Nobody tells me what to do!

 So if I was going to lie, might as well cheat, right? 

I opened a new word document and wrote a different novel. One that I love. One that doesn't have years of expectations behind it. One that I'm now (as in this today) writing the final scenes. 

Just thought I'd pop in and say hi. 

Last Day of the Feast. Sarah b.

Sarah and I met at a writing conference years ago. She is an exceptional writer and so very danged determined that it makes me want to punch her in the face. (In a loving way.) See, Miss Sarah can bust out a book in less than a month's time. She's a lean mean writing machine. And so, I have a love hate relationship with her which is comprised mostly of hate that is fueled from pure, seething jealousy. 

Wow, that makes me sound like a crazy pants, huh? 

Craziness aside, Sarah is a dang good writer. She is repped by Josh Adams of Adams Literary who I've heard is a friggin' super-tastic agent. 

You can check her blog out HERE.

Feast of Posting . . . Jessie. And Me.

And here I've done it again. I didn't post yesterday just to throw things up a bit in the blogging world. You just never know what's going to happen. I like to keep it alive here people. So I figured why not a little more name dropping, eh?

Have you met Jessie Humphries? Because I have. Jessie Humphries is my friend, a BFF for life. She's repped by the amazing Sarah Davies at Greenhouse Literary Agency and one day Jessie's book will rock your world.

Did you catch that name drop? Jessie. Jessie. Jessie.

If you haven't met her yet, check her out at her BLOG-O-RAMA. (To avoid confusion, that is not the name of her blog, but my own clever way of using the word "blog" in the effort to avoid online monotony. On a side note, it would make a great blog title. Right? Just saying.)

Since Jessie seems to be the only person I will give my camera to and say, "hey, take a pic of me. I am so vain and I can't have too many pictures of myself."

And since she is all too willing to oblige, here you go. This is me. I am a writer. Repped by no one. Though one day that will change and my agent will be the greatest agent in the literary world. And together we shall conquer the Earth! Muah ha ha. (Evil laugh.)

Have a great Tuesday!

Feast of Posting . . . Peggy.

My friend Peggy is beautiful. 

Nuff said. 

And she writes like a boss. 

Feast of Posting Day 2 . . . ladies, ladies, ladies

 I have more and more and more author pics and future author pics to share. Are you ready for this? Oh, and on a side note, if you're feeling a little left out and you too want an author pic, just email me and next time you're around I'll shoot you. And it will be awesome, and all your photo taking dreams will come true. Just saying.

Have you met Sandy Ponton? This woman is:
1. Stunning. Her hair makes me so angry with jealousy because it's thick and lovely.
2. An awesome writer that's working on a YA paranormal romance. Sigh. Seriously swoon worthy.
3. So exotic because she lives in FORKS! Yep. Vamp and wolf-boy country.

Then there's Ruth.
From afar I've watched Ruth and wanted to be her because her name is fabulous and she's from a small town that I adore. I would tell you which town but that might lead to further cyber-stalking and I don't think she'd be down with that. Right now she's working on a freaking awesome book about awesomeness and romance.

I can't talk about Ruth without bringing up Donna. Donna is amazing and her hubby is on his way home from the war...probably even as I write this. She's also working on some sweet little romance that knocks my socks off. 

Katie. What can I say about Katie that doesn't involve seething jealousy and gnashing of teeth? Ok, that's a bit much, but seriously if you read any of her historical romance you would want to be her. I wish I could write like that. I dreamt about an italian boxer . . . just saying.

Last for today, but certainly not least, is the breath-taking Julie from Kentucky! Julie is currently working on a middle grade Erotica. (ha ha...just kidding.) But she is a future author that writes beautifully. I loved these two pics of her so I'm posting both. Why? Cause I can. 

That's all for today folks! So have a happy Halloween and eats lots of candy. 

oh ladies . . . FEAST OF POSTING!

Usually I post Monday, Wednesday, and Friday. It's not like a planned out thing where I make sure to touch on certain subjects so my attentive reading audience of one, sometimes two spammers, will know what to expect. Oh no. I have no grand and glorious ideas about the format of this blog. Mostly I just do what I want. 

You good with that? 

I hope so because today is exactly what I want to do. I didn't blog yesterday in anticipation of today's feast of posting. 

Wowza, that sounded like a great title. Can I say that one more time?

Feast of Posting

Which means, I will be posting all day today because I have lots to share. I met a bunch of ladies recently at a writing thingy and I took their pictures. (That's the simplified version so I don't sound too braggy or name-droppy.) Totally not me, right?

To start the parade of ladies, is the lovely and ever talented CHRISTINE TYLER.

Christine is an artist and a writer who is ridiculously talented and inspires ten kinds of jealousy in me. Her current WIP is: Tiger Red, Monkey Blue which is an Adult Eastern Fantasy. 

Next up for the day is the lovely JEIGH MEREDITH. Her sparkling blue eyes take my breath away, as does her insane ability to write amazing-ness. Jeigh is currently writing a YA Fantasy. 

Come back by later today to see more author and future author pictures I caught this weekend. Who knows, maybe I paparazzi-d a pic of you!

secret 29 of 100

I loved Sesame Street. Remember when Cookie Monster and the letter of the day? Greatest part of my morning routine. Mostly I loved how the letter popped up in the episode in the most unusual places. It was inspiring, to say the very least.

Not only did I learn my letters, but I developed a love for the letter E because E is for Erin, it's good enough for me, Erin. Erin. Erin. Erin...

I digress. That wasn't the secret.

This is. My secret is:

I mark my territory.  

Not like a dog peeing on the neighbor's tree, but more like Cookie Monster and his letters all over Sesame street.

Example: 
1. I shaved an E into my Dad's golden retriever. Down to the skin, the marking spanned the dog's entire back. It was awesome for about 60 seconds. Then Dad yelled my name from the opposite side of the house, and well the awesomeness was not so much.

2. When my parents forced me to mow the lawn, which I loathed, I mowed all but a massive 4 foot E in the middle of the lawn. That'll teach them! (I don't think they got the message because they kept having me mow the dang lawn.)

3. There may or may not be public city property that contains my initials, carved deeply in the surface. I'm not admitting to anything here people. I'm just saying.

4. (This is my last admission. Please don't share this with my Mom, lest I be grounded)
My high school principal's name was Eris. She had the loveliest notepad shaped in the letter E. Feeling a bit clandestine, I once snuck into her office and stole part of the pad of paper. I was weak. I left E notes all over my friend's lockers. I still have one piece left.

So basically the moral of the story is this, if I've been to your house, your car, or maybe even your workplace, there could be an E in the most unlikely places. (Insert laugh of pure evilness).

Are you territorial too?

best. song. ever.

Truth: I love One Direction.

If I was a fifteen year old girl I would start screaming into a near seizure every time the song You Don't Know You're Beautiful came on the radio. Oh wait. Uh, yeah, I guess that can happen when you're not fifteen.

Anyway . . . recently the leader of my church gave an address, and simply said that every young woman should be told she is beautiful and know she is.

A group of ridiculously awesome young men got together and decided to take those words to heart. And they made this video that is painfully awkward, but so so so endearing. So I had to share.

eat crap and die epiphany

My brother used to say, "Eat crap and die."
Puh-lease. Like I'm gonna do that.
Jessie (my bro and not my writing bestie) was the world's biggest dork and so when my mom wasn't listening, I would tease him. Relentlessly.
He was the only boy in a house of wildly obnoxious girls and because of this he often felt picked on like my parents were truly assigning him more to do. Why do I have to mow the lawn? Pick up the dog poop? Take out the garbage? Etc. Etc. And so on.
Puh-lease.
"Jessarella, Jessarella, All I hear is Jessarella," I would sing in the perfect Cinderella mouse-squeak. He loved it. So much so, his favorite response was the aforementioned and very classy, "Eat crap and die."

For years I hated the phrase. Now I quite enjoy it. I've found myself using it when the situation seemed fitting. Like when a crit partner tells me to work on my MS instead of reading. Or when my hubby suggests I stop whining and actually start writing. Yeah, ya'll. You can Eat Crap and Die. That's what I'm thinking . . . and sometimes saying.

Obviously for all of Jessie's suggesting, it didn't add up to much because as of today I have yet to Eat Crap and Die. But today for some reason I got to really thinking about his tag line.

And then I had an epiphany. 
Instead of eating crap and dying (are you getting sick of that phrase yet?) what I need to do is sort through the crap and live. Translation: edit my crap and make it so awesome that my characters come to life. (Are you having an ah-ha moment too?)

Basically today's deep inner thoughts added up to this:

EDIT THE CRAP TILL ITS AWESOME. DONT EAT IT.

Does that even make sense to you? Or am I just having a really weird Monday morning? And if it doesn't make sense, give me your own epiphany and maybe I can run with that. 

secret 28 of 100

I am was a giant snarled-haired mess of a nerd. Tis sad, but true. (Thank you Ursula for that line.)

Growing up, I was a bit on the portly side. I wore the same shirt day in and day out. And I  somehow missed the memo that brushing my hair was of any importance. (THIS IS NOT THE SECRET). In the fifth grade Donnie Sullivan . . . oh sweet Donnie Sullivan, sigh . . . he talked to me at recess. My heart nearly exploded out of my chest as I watched him approach. But that sensation was short lived.
Donnie said, "Hey Erin, don't you know how to use a brush?"

Uh, apparently not.

The kids laughed. I joked back. Faked a smile. But inside, I died a little.

And then I vowed to start brushing my hair. (True story, but NOT the secret.)

The thing of it is, despite my chub and rat's nest living atop my head, I had lots of friends because I went out of my way to be friendly and as funny. But I never had "the one." The one friend that would be my BFF and share a Best Friend Necklace. This plagued me. I prayed at night that the Lord would deliver me a BFF, one willing to split the heart necklace that marked us as Best Friends Forever.

(INSERT SECRET SPILLING DRUMROLL) 

That friend never came. 

I never EVER shared a Best Friend Necklace with anyone. 

Wow, it's good to get that off my chest. Yeah, so I admit I was kind of a nerd. 

So imagine my surprise when something showed up  in the mail about a week ago . . .

The moral of this story is the Lord really does answer prayers even if it takes twenty-three years. But hey, who's counting, right? 

Any wish or dream you've been praying about for a long time? Maybe something will come in the mail to you too.

not my usual read: On the Island by Tracey Garvis-Graves

I like to stay in the shallow end of the pool. I really only like to go out to dinner at the Olive Garden. And I only read young adult.

That's just who I am. (I'd say, "take it or leave it," but I think I have a few friends that might just drop me like a soggy fry. So take me as I am.)

The thing is, I almost never read anything that isn't strictly young adult fiction. Earlier this summer I had a few friends insist that I read On the Island by Tracey Garvis-Graves. 

After a restless night, I figured why not. I downloaded the book from Amazon and read from 12:30 to 3:45 am, stopping only because I knew I had to get up in a few hours to teach an aerobics class. But I didn't spare any time after the class to finish the book.

I loved it.

I more than loved it. I thought it was witty and emotionally charged and brilliant and everything I wish I could write (aside from some of the um, well, steamy scenes. That's not my usual MO.)

So, I say, if you're ok with some serious steaminess and my complete lack of grammar when professing book love, check out:

Summary:
When thirty-year-old English teacher Anna Emerson is offered a job tutoring T.J. Callahan at his family's summer rental in the Maldives, she accepts without hesitation; a working vacation on a tropical island trumps the library any day. T.J. Callahan has no desire to leave town, not that anyone asked him. He's almost seventeen and if having cancer wasn't bad enough, now he has to spend his first summer in remission with his family - and a stack of overdue assignments - instead of his friends.

Anna and T.J. are en route to join T.J.'s family in the Maldives when the pilot of their seaplane suffers a fatal heart attack and crash-lands in the Indian Ocean. Adrift in shark-infested waters, their life jackets keep them afloat until they make it to the shore of an uninhabited island.

Now Anna and T.J. just want to survive and they must work together to obtain water, food, fire, and shelter. Their basic needs might be met but as the days turn to weeks, and then months, the castaways encounter plenty of other obstacles, including violent tropical storms, the many dangers lurking in the sea, and the possibility that T.J.'s cancer could return. As T.J. celebrates yet another birthday on the island, Anna begins to wonder if the biggest challenge of all might be living with a boy who is gradually becoming a man.

Read anything good lately? Steamy or not?

cat epiphany

I'm a pantser. I've never been much of a planner. And for other aspects in my life, flying-by-the-seat-of-my-pants has worked out just fine. But five books later (yes, I've written five horridly puke-worthy books) I'm still not producing anything that's publishable.

My stories tend to meander quite a bit and lack any sort of real tension in the middle. I'm pretty good at figuring out where the fault lies in my writing because I read a lot. Having just took more than three months off writing, it's easy to come back and the areas where I've gone wrong. So very wrong.

Back in the spring I went to LDS storymakers Conference. When I was there Elana Johnson gave a class on plotting. She spoke about the genius-ness of Save the Cat (the how-to plot book for screenwriting). This book will revolutionize your life if you're a budding writer and you tend to write a lot of crap.

The class by Elana Johnson changed my life. Not only can she kick my A when it comes to tennis, but she's also a freaking writing genius. And she's super funny. And I'm a big-ole name-dropper. Elana. Elana. Elana. Elana.

I digress. Back to my point. Plot!
Midpoint, turns, and climax. No more writing with a vague idea, but know where I want it to go. Mind blowing stuff.

PLOT MORE. WRITE CRAP LESS. 

What about you? Any tips on plotting or pantsing?

Friday Five: traveling

Today I'm in Albuquerque, New Mexico, 

A wedding to shoot before I go,

Then I'll be headed back to my home state, 

Lola the laptop and I have a hot date. 

When I'm traveling there are things I do

five must have's when I'm flying or going by floo

1. I talk. I'm that annoying girl you meet on a plane that will talk your ear off and ask you completely inappropriately personal questions because I'm so curious. People are fascinating and I want to learn all about their lives. Recently I met an IT guru that works in the oil industry and a real estate tycoon that owns half of Arizona, but likes to wear Tommy Bahama shirts, shorts, and slippa's (flip flops for those not from Hawaii.)

2. I watch. I like to go and sit and just watch. And not just the hotties, but anyone . . . like sweet homeless guy at the Starbucks in Huntington.

3. I shop. I have a thing for shoes. Ok, yes, it may be a problem. Please don't share this with my hubby, but the last two trips I went on to visit Jessie I bought a total of seven pairs of shoes. Really, it's Jessie who is to blame. Right?

4. I laugh. Mostly this happens when I'm watching people because people can be so dang funny. Or what they're wearing can be funny. I get that this makes me sound like a mean girl, but how can I not laugh when a guy cruises down Huntington Beach Main street wearing only lederhosen and he's drunk as a skunk? Funny stuff. 

5. I eat. To clarify, I eat candy. My favorite thing about going to new places is finding their local candy shops. Who doesn't like candy? Candy is my favorite. 

So really, as you can see I'm just like you and probably quite a bit more boring. I want to know what you like to do when you're on vacation or traveling around for your job. Care to share? Or whatever, just leave a spam comment. I'm a beggar, not a chooser. 

author Kim Krey

A few years back I met this ridiculously spunky girl, KIM KREY, at a writing conference that I lovingly refer to as the "porno conference." Not because it was in vegas and the Heff was there, but because I had never met so many erotica writers in my life. It was an eye-opening experience (and shirt popping.) See what I'm talking about HERE.

Kim's book EVIE'S KNIGHT, just hit Amazon a little over a week ago and it's ridiculously amazing. You should check it out and Kim because she's super foxy. But I digress, here's a little about the book:

IN EVIE'S KNIGHT, LOVE DOESN'T SIMPLY HURT...

IT KILLS.

EVIE always thought college life would be magical, but so far it's not what she hoped for. Her best friend has gone wild, her love life is void, and she misses her mom more than ever. But life for Evie is about to change. CALVIN KNIGHT, the very object of her fascination, is about to fall madly in love with her. Just one problem: Their love conjures a murderous woman from beyond the grave who wants Evie dead. The same demon who has haunted the Knight men for over four generations.

Soon Calvin is forced to choose: Set Evie free and hope to evade the wrath of The Raven-haired Ghost, or use his newly gifted strengths to fight against her. If he chooses to fight and wins, Calvin will free the Knight men of this demonic witch. If he loses, Evie will become her next victim.

Go check this one out. And is there anything else you're reading right now? I'm always in the mood for a good book suggestion.