I sat in front of my computer, looking at the screen for a long long time, before I even came up with words for this blog post. What in the world can I talk to you about? What do I have to say?

That’s always the hardest part for me. Some people can blog until their hands fall off but me, I can barely manage to compose a post for my Facebook feed.

It’s rather ironic when you think about it. After all, I write novels, each with over 90,000 words.

Some people tell me to talk about my life. Who would want to hear about a boring author who lives by herself with her two cats? But I had the choice BETWEEN posting something or not participating in my fellow Young Adult Author event.

So, I’ve decided that I could talk to you about something I’ve been doing for the last few weeks. For work, I’ve been visiting West Texas, the Odessa area. I can’t be more precised because of confidentiality at work, but suffice to say, I found going over there quite amazing to say the least.

Do you remember those old western you used to listen when you were kids? Those desolate landscapes with bushes and dry land as far as the eye can see?

To this desolate landscape, add hundreds of gas pumping station. Yes, this is what you see when you arrive in Odessa. All the little white scares are where you can find a pumping station, or a pumpjack horse. It’s as far as the eye can see.

It is quite impressive. It is quite the cultural shock, I have to admit. Life is not the same over there. It’s slow, except when you’re on the highway. There, as you go west, the speed limit is 80 mph. I never thought I would see that in my life. But to be honest, I don’t think a lot of tickets gets handed out. People tend not to speed a whole lot! I wonder why…

That place is also a little bit more chaotic than what I’m used to. Just the highway exit for example. They are something else. Unfortunately, I do not have a picture… Maybe later.

And the wind! It never stops! I must be coming back to Houston with a pound of sand in my hair! And I have a free exfoliating massage! I wish I could show you a picture of me in my clown costume but again, confidentiality doesn’t allow me to show any pictures of the construction sites I’m visiting.

And among all those wonderful sights, sometimes you run into something really amazing: an abandoned house! When I showed that to my parents, they went “Wow! This is the real Far West!”. Needless to say, I had to use that picture somewhere. So I have decided to put it on the back of book 6, which I will be writing in June. YES, this is a preview 🙂

The discoveries over there never seems to amaze me. If you ever have a chance, you should go visit. It’s worth the detour.

Now, on to what you’ve been waiting for!!

If you are participating in the YA Scavenger Hunt, hope you got the word. I’m #29.

If you are not and want to participate, you can find the rules here.

If you only want to win free books, that’s okay too…

My rule is simple: go to my newsletter page here and sign up for my newsletter. I’ve created a brand new form just for this event so if you already were on it, subscribe again. Once you confirm your email address, you will be entered into my drawing. Simple, right?

What will you win: a ebook copy of all of my books, your choice of format.

Thank you for participating!