Twenty Minutes

Yes. In twenty minutes I will disappear from the face of the earth into March Madness oblivion. Yesterday I completed what I hope is the final edit on Boyfriend From Hell (Chris, are ya listening?) I also wrote ten pages on the sequel, so I won't feel guilty watching basketball for the next four days. I also filled out my bracket. This year I chose Pittsburgh to win it all, although coming from New York, St. John's is my sentimental favorite.

For those of you who care about YA paranormal this seems like some silly guy activity. It is. And I love it. See you next week.

GuestPost: Tatiana El Khouri

Today I am pleased to announce that my first guest post telling her Boyfriend From Hell story is my good friend Tatiana. Tatiana is not just my friend, she's also my web designer, a talented floral arranger and an artist who painted the cover art for my novella, I Want You Back! That's right, the cover for I Want You Back! is an oil painting. She's obviously an awesome person, and I am happy to have her as a friend. For more on what she's been up to go here: Creative Force Group.

I call Tatiana's dating story, Cyber Spy. Here's Tatiana:

Tati: I was fresh out of college and anxious to delve into the business world as an entrepreneur. I soon discovered that holding down a job and pursuing my own art business left me with little time to date. One day I was talking to a friend and fellow business owner who had a burgeoning empire and a pretty good dating life. "How do you do it?" I asked. "How do you pursue your goals and still find the time to meet guys?"

Her answer was: "Online dating."

The hopeless romantic in me tried clinging to the notion that the man of my dreams would come riding into my life on a white horse. No way did I see him emailing into my life over the internet. Yet, after a little convincing, I found myself setting up my online profile. I have to admit, I was actually surprised at the caliber of guys and the ease of the process.

One day I got a message from a user who seemed great on paper. Amazing education and a great job. Shortly afterward we started talking on the phone. To my surprise, the chemistry was great. We found ourselves finishing each others sentences. At night I would go to sleep exhausted from hours of great conversations that ranged from random trivia, to my favorite movies, all the way to politics. I was quite impressed! We even found out we had some of the same friends. There was an uncanny sense of comfort.

I was on cloud nine. Until he slipped.

We were talking late one night and he asked if I was going to a specific event. Well, I was. But how did he know? I never mentioned it to him. Nor had I ever mentioned that group of friends. For the first time, I got a creepy chill. I couldn't figure out how he knew about the event. I questioned it a little, and then I let it slide.

However, the more I thought about, the more it bothered me. So what did I do? The only thing a girl could do... I Confronted him!

After much stalling he finally admitted to doing a background check on me. He said he was worried I wasn’t who I said I was. Bull! He did a background so that he could be perfect for me. No wonder he was finishing all my sentences. He had collected a dossier on me. The chemistry was fixed. I felt so duped!

Needless to say, I stopped returning his calls and emails. I ran into him a few years later at a party. He looked familiar but I couldn’t place him, until he asked how my art and my house was. I walked straight away from him to my girlfriend that recommended online dating in first place, and sarcastically thanked her for giving me a great story to tell.

Thanks Tatiana for sharing your story. If any of you reading this would like to be a guest and share your dating horror story with me, leave your contact info in the comments. All guests will receive a beautiful I Survived A Boyfriend From Hell t-shirt just for participating.

Peace.

We Have A Winner!

See that heart? That's the love I am feeling for all you guys. Thank you so much for participating in my cover contest. I had over 100 responses across four blogs. The responses varied from those of you who loved certain covers, to those who hated all of them. Everyone of your responses is important to me, and was seriously considered. One cover, however, had an overwhelmingly positive response. That response was reflected across all four blogs. So I am now announcing that the cover of my new novel, Boyfriend From Hell, will be this one:

This cover design was not my first choice, mainly because it's a cartoon cover, and I like photographs. But after reading your responses I have to agree that it will stand out in a crowd. I hope those of you who didn't choose this cover will still support the book. It's a good, fun, paranormal read.

The two winners of the prizes for this contest are: Lulilut (who I believe has also won at least one of my Hollyweird Tuesday Trivia Challenges), and Pamela Kaye. You each win your choice of a Boyfriend From Hell ARC, or the lovely I Survived A Boyfriend From Hell t-shirt. Please send your prize preference and mailing address to me at info@evanlowe.com. The ARCs are not available yet, we are finishing up the final edit, so you will have to wait about a month or so. The t-shirts are available now.

Starting some time soon I will be having a series of guest posts from my friends and followers telling brief, humorous bad boyfriend experience stories. I have four guests lined up so far. If any of you would like to guest here and share your boyfriend experience please let me know in the comments. Leave your email, and I will tell you what you need to do. You don't have to limit it to boyfriends per se. It can be a bad date, a bad blind date, an idiot who annoyed you at a club, anything bad about a guy, but with a humorous spin. All guests whose stories I choose will receive the I Survived A Boyfriend From Hell tee just for participating.

Of course, all of these fun posts and contests are leading up to the publication of Boyfriend From Hell in September. Please, please, support the book.

I'd also like to send a special shout-out to the bloggers who helped out with the contest. Each of you will receive a t-shirt as a token of my appreciation. The bloggers are:

Velvet at VVB Reads

Dottie at Tink's Place

and Titania86 at Fishmuffins of Doom

Thanks again everyone, and stay tuned.

Peace

The Boyfriend From Hell Tee

As you may recall, there is a prize choice for the cover contest. Either an ARC or a t-shirt. Here is a photo of the tee with the saying "I Survived A Boyfriend from Hell." They are really gorgeous feminine tees designed by my friend Tatiana of the Creative Force Group. The color is asphalt. Sized from women's sm-xl. I'm sure some of you have survived a boyfriend from hell. Why not flaunt it?

I'd like to thank everyone who has entered the contest so far. It looks like we have a winner as far as the cover goes. If you haven't yet entered you have until this Friday, March fourth. On Saturday I will draw two winners randomly and post them here. If you don't win this time, there will be more contests leading up to the publication of the book. Stay tuned.