While I was away ...

You know that feeling when you leave on a short trip and come back ... and it feels like you've been gone forever? (No pun intended!) I totally just had that! Went to a wedding in Las Vegas for a family member, and let me tell you ... Las Vegas, Nev. and Portland, Ore. could not be more different. It was sweltering, perfectly clear and in the 100s in Vegas; it was raining and in the 60s or 70s when I got back to Portland. Two totally different planets.

While I was gone, the August blog tour with SupaGurl marched on with reviews and guest posts (including my tentative casting of For Ever as a movie). The reviews were (mostly) good, though I've found over and over that you can't please everyone -- and if you try, it won't work out!

To those of you who "liked" For Ever on Facebook -- you guys are awesome and I hope you're looking forward to Never. By the way, my test reader is about five pages from finishing and says the sequel is (even) better than the first.

Here's a recap of the goings on while I was in Vegas:

 The Book Lover's Report (long-ish interview)

For The Love of Film and Novels (review and guest post with For Ever's fantasy cast)

waiting on sunday to drown (review) 

***Singing and Reading in the Rain*** (review)

I'm over at at Sweet Southern Home today!

Today I'm over at Sweet Southern Home talking a little bit about why eyes play such an important role in For Ever. It was a fun topic to think about since eye contact is such a big catalyst in the story. I mean, it's not every day that you lock eyes with some random stranger and wake up in the hospital, right?

Check out SupaGurl's blog for the rest of the tour -- 31 stops total!

Review and *Giveaway* at Ramblings of a Book Junkie

August's blog tour is in full swing, and a new review of For Ever is up at Ramblings of a Book Junkie. Kayla, aka Book Junkie, has posted an awesome review with some great insights that just made me smile. Yay!

:-)

Now hurry and check out her blog and the review. ... Plus enter to win a paperback copy of For Ever!

One A Day Y.A. interview today!

Erika at One A Day Y.A. is hosting For Ever today! I love this interview, and Erika has some really great questions that were a lot of fun to dig into. Also, her blog is the first (and the only one presently) that features an author photo. Up 'til now, I have been the invisible woman!

Other big news is on the horizon -- including giveaways -- so stayed tuned and keep checking out the blog tour!

http://oneadayya.blogspot.ca/2012/08/blog-tour-interview-with-cj-valles.html

For Ever is at The Cover (and Everything in Between) today!

Brittany C. of The Cover (and Everything in Between) was kind enough to host a guest post about For Ever during SupaGurl's book tour, which is all this month. The post talks (a lot) about how I got started writing fiction.

Super thanks again to Brittany and SupaGurl Heather for helping me share For Ever with readers!

Now for the good news

For Ever's blog tour is coming up next month! You can find the schedule here.

I'll be doing interviews, guest posts -- and there will be free giveaways. The Plastic Revolution -- the band on my Web site -- has been kind enough to donate half a dozen CDs of their latest release, Postmodern Medicine, which is awesome. A few paperback copies of For Ever will also be up for grabs.

Thanks again to SupaGurl for organizing this little virtual tour!

I'm also going to start trying to put together some teasers of For Ever's sequel -- Never -- soon, so stay tuned!