Monday, February 22, 2010

Guest Blogger Nicole O'Dell

Hi, Barbourinos!

Thank you so much for having me here at the illustrious Edit Café. What an honor! I know my reader isn’t the typical Edit Café follower, but her mom, aunt and big sister sure are.

I really appreciate the opportunity to talk about my books to some women who have the biggest influence on their teenager’s lives, and the greatest ability to impact their choices.

I have a passion for teen girls. It’s like God kept my heart and mind rooted in that phase of my own life. I just want to get in there and help girls make some commitments to sound choices before they face the issues in real life—before they have to make a command decision while staring peer pressure in the face.

Written for tween girls faced with lots of peer pressure, the Scenarios for Girls series debuted with Truth or Dare and All That Glitters in August 2009. Lessons of right and wrong are put to the test in this series, where readers can test their decision-making abilities in an eye-opening, but safe, way. Each book follows a character up to the point where she has to make an important, life-changing decision—then it’s the reader’s turn to choose between two alternate endings. At the end of each book, there is a contract and a prayer designed to help solidify her commitment to her choice.

In Truth or Dare, Lindsay Martin is faced with a tough choice: Does she give in to peer pressure and make her friends happy or does she do what she knows is right—even if it means losing her friends forever?

All That Glitters finds Drew Daniels with popularity and a cute boyfriend—everything she thought she wanted and exactly the opposite of what her identical twin sister wants. But now she’s faced with choosing between pleasing her boyfriend and doing what’s right.

Book three, Magna, deals with issues like retail theft and employee dishonesty when Molly Jacobs gets her first job at the coolest clothing store in the mall. It releases on April 1st. Making Waves also releases on April 1st. It takes on the topic of performance-enhancement drugs when Kate Walker puts all of her hope into the possibility of a college scholarship based on her swim-team success.

Books five and six (High Stakes and Essence of Lilly) are coming in 2011 and tackle cheating in school and purity.

I’m at www.nicoleodell.com which can also be accessed with www.scenariosforgirls.com. On twitter, I’m Nicole_Odell and on facebook, you can find me at www.facebook.com/nicoleodell.
Pop by my blog when you get a second. On Mondays, I post a message to Mom and Dad. Tuesday’s is my Girl Talk day—my daughters and I answer reader’s questions. Wednesdays I write about something happening in the writing world—book reviews, etc. Thursdays are for a devotional or testimony. Friday’s posts are simple fun. You can access my blog through my website or directly at www.nicoleodell.blogspot.com.

Here I am talking about my upcoming releases: http://gabcast.com/casts/1631/episodes/1264012962.mp3

Thank you so much for having me over for a visit!

5 comments:

Carrie Turansky said...

Wow, these sound like great stories! I like the two endings and the choice the reader must make. : )

Carrie Turansky said...

Nicole, I just thought of something else. Have you connected to this website yet?
http://www.clashentertainment.com/
It was started by author Deb Raney's husband to help teens find info on books, movies, games, etc. They are asking authors of YA books to contact them to be listed, etc.
Blessings,
carrie

Beth Loughner said...

You have me hooked. I'm going to get this set of books for my teen daughter and church library.

Thanks for sharing and writing.

Beth

Nicole O'Dell said...

Thanks so much ladies!

I've connected with them, Carrie. Thanks for the thought! :)

I meant to include a giveaway in my post! I'll offer a signed set of books one and two randomly selected from the commenters.

Thanks again!

Cecelia Dowdy said...

Wow, those covers sure are striking and those stories sound intriguing! Thanks for sharing with us!