Four Year Publiversary & Sound of Silence is Out Now!

Yesterday was my FOUR YEAR Publiversary. 

I can't believe it.

I've been doing this for four years. It seems like it's only been a month and at the same time, it feels like a lifetime.

Sound of Silence, which I wrote with Mia Kerick, is out right now, too -- and it seems to be doing really well! I'm honored and humbled by this fact.

Of course, when you create something, you HOPE that people will like it. And when you create with a co-author, you double hope. You hope you've held up your end, that people will enjoy both parts, that readers will take something good from your words. Writing Renzy to Mia's Seven was an absolute delight.

Thank you for reading it. Thank you for enjoying it!

Humbled, guys.

Honored.

Truly.

Thank you for making this possible--over the last four years, I've been able to experience something I only dreamed about as a child. Publication.

It's had its ups and its downs and everything in between. But the experience has been worth it!

Now, without further ado, Sound of Silence.

High school senior Renzy Callen hasn’t uttered a word in years. He likes being invisible to all around him; it keeps life safe and predictable. In his attic bedroom, he experiences a world far from the drama of his family. He doodles, listens to music, and contemplates the troubled souls he observes when attending self-help meetings designed for people with problems he doesn’t have. Renzy lives his life like a spectator, always on the outside of life’s games, looking in at others.

Everything changes when Seven and Morning Moreau-Maddox relocate from their glitzy lives in Paris to boring, picturesque Redcliff Hills, Missouri. Tall, platinum blond, and as put-together as a pair of European high-fashion models, the sophisticated siblings befriend Renzy, drawing him in and then pushing him away. What starts as nothing more than a means to an end for Seven, however, quickly becomes something more. Could icy-hearted Seven be thawing for the silent, quirky charm of Renzy Callen?

Purchase it on:

Harmony Ink | Amazon.com | Barnes and Noble | Kobo

Cover Reveal and Release Date: Sound of Silence

Hello darkness my old friend...

I am SO EXCITED to reveal the gorgeous cover for my newest YA novel Sound of Silence--co-written with the very talented Mia Kerick! Aaron Anderson is the cover designer and he did a marvelous job capturing the aesthetic of the story.

Coming January 23, 2018...

Renzy Callen exists on the periphery of life, and not just because of the horrific childhood event that robbed him of the ability to speak. Walling himself off from the rest of the world as a means of protection, he occupies his time with art, music, and an obsession with self-help groups—whether he needs them or not. His isolation protects him, and he’s immune to drama and emotional games… or so he believes. Everything changes when he meets Seven and Morning Moreaux-Maddox, the wealthy, jet-setting siblings who move from a life of sophistication in Europe to humdrum Redcliff Hills, Missouri.

Both Seven and his sister are impossibly beautiful and elegant, like the stars in magazines and high-fashion models on the runway. When Renzy is pulled into their push-and-pull of affection and rejection, he realizes there is more to both haunted Morning and cold, diamond-sharp Seven than meets the eye.

The three teens embark on a quest to learn the reason behind Renzy’s selective mutism, and something more than friendship blossoms between Renzy and Seven. It’s during this trip of a lifetime that the three realize the truth they seek might be found in the sound of silence.

Interested in Renzy and Seven's story? Pre-order Sound of Silence today at Harmony Ink <3

Coming Soon: Sound of Silence

My goodness it's been a while!

This update will be brief-- but I wanted to let you know that I'm still here and kickin'! (Some days kickin' more than others.)

So what's up in the world of O'Tierney?

I'm currently entering the editing phase of a YA novel called Sound of Silence, written with the very talented Ms. Mia Kerick. This title is slated for release in 2018 from Harmony Ink Press!

Renzy Callen exists on the periphery of life, and not just because of the horrific childhood event that robbed him of the ability to speak. Walling himself off from the rest of the world as a means of protection, he occupies his time with art and music and an obsession with self-help groups—whether he needs them or not. His isolation protects him and he’s immune to drama and emotional games… or so he believes. Everything changes when he meets Seven and Morning Moreaux-Maddox, the wealthy, jet-setting siblings who move from a life of sophistication in Europe to humdrum Redcliff Hills, Missouri.

Both Seven and his sister are impossibly beautiful and elegant, like the stars in magazines or high-fashion models on the runway. When Renzy is pulled into their push-and-pull of affection and rejection, he realizes there is more to both haunted Morning and cold, diamond-sharp Seven than meets the eye.

 The three teens embark on a quest to learn the reason behind Renzy’s selective mutism, and something more than friendship blossoms between Renzy and Seven. It’s during this trip of a lifetime that the three realize the truth they seek might be found in the sound of silence.

This was my first time collaborating on a YA novel and Mia was a blast to work with! I can't wait for you guys to see our finished product.

(Meanwhile, I'm EAGERLY awaiting the cover!)

Thank you so much, wonderful readers, for supporting me always.

With Kindness,
Raine

On the Joys and Dangers of Collaboration

Collaboration.

It can be the biggest joy or the most miserable headache-- sometimes both at the same time!

My earliest stories were collaborations. Me and my best friend, a couple of 4th grade girls who knew everything about everything (obviously!) We had a notebook to share, and the back and forth exchange of some super dramatic prose.

Literary gold.

I'm still shocked those works remain unpublished today.

Over the years, I've had the opportunity to collaborate many times with many awesome people: friends, family, colleagues, and even random, cool acquaintances met through the power of the interwebz. Sometimes I joined others on art projects, sometimes on magazine and newspaper articles, sometimes on novels and short stories. Many times our efforts developed into beautiful, fully formed works - other times they never really got off the ground. But each collaborative experience - good or bad - was unique and taught me something in the end.

Sharing ideas and merging styles can be such a thrill! I suggest anyone who is interested in collaborating try it... at least once.

That said, there are always inherent dangers to partnering in creative pursuits. Dramatic disagreements about the direction a story should take, tears and hurt feelings, financial and royalty issues, even the potential for an unfriendly end of the collaboration (if not the acquaintanceship/friendship itself in some cases!) are all real possibilities.

You may eventually find yourself in the sad position of asking: What happens to my work now, legally speaking?

Christopher Schiller wrote a brilliant article about the legal biz of collaboration. Read it. Absorb it.

Falling out with a collaborator can be lonely business. You never want to say anything publicly about your creative partner that might be unfair or make a bad situation worse -- and like your joined ideas, you may have a merged social circle, making finding a confidante difficult.

I don't write this to say, don'tcollaborateandrunawayasfarasyoucan! But just be smart about it. Draw up a specific collaboration agreement. Talk about the hard stuff. What happens to the stories if the collaboration ends? What about ideas you developed together? Works in progress?

It doesn't matter if you are the best of friends. In fact it might be even better to draw up that agreement if you ARE the best of friends.

A collaboration agreement won't take the sting out of the falling out, but having one can definitely go a long way to easing the uncertainty surrounding some of these situations.

In conclusion... Be passionate! Collaborate! Merge your ideas with others'! Make beautiful things together! Just be smart and careful while doing it.

With Kindness,

Raine

All the Things! All the Stuff!

Sitting here with Sion, playing Fallout: New Vegas and updating my website for the first time in an age. @_@

For fans of Under the Table and Into His Heart and/or Sweet Giordan, Please Remember I've put the 1K post-HEA ficlets I wrote for Dreamspinner Press last year on my new free fiction page. I think you'll like these little hints o' sweetness, though I will say, you might want to check out the stories first before you read them just for spoiler's sake.

Debbie McGowan and I finished our first draft of Where the Grass is Greener yesterday. This is the second Leaving Flowers novel though it is completely stand-alone and has a much different tone and feel than Leaving Flowers. I'll give you a hint: sexy, sexy cowboys.

Who'd like to see the cover and blurb?

Mistakes were made, that’s for sure. But was it the night of passion? Or walking away afterward? That’s the question Seamus Williams must face when he gets a late night phone call from someone he never expects to hear from again.

“I miss you, Shay.”

Chancey Bo Clearwater is a cowboy through and through. He spends his days finding work on whatever ranch will take him and his nights at the pool hall. He’s always done what needed doing and never thought much about what he wanted. ’Til that drunken night with Seamus.

A world of problems now stand between Seamus and Chancey exploring what might have been, the least of which being the Atlantic Ocean. On one side there’s Chancey’s daughter who mood swings from angel to demon in two seconds flat; on the other there’s the new lodger, hogging Shay’s telly and his cornflakes, and making private Skype time hard to come by.

Is this relationship doomed before it ever begins? Or can a surprise announcement from Seamus’s brother be enough to help the two find their second chance?

Where the Grass is Greener is book two of the Leaving Flowers Series, but can be read independently of the first novel.

~ ~ ~

Debs and I are already planning book three of the Leaving Flowers Series, and we also have another novel almost 100% completed, as well as a slew of other collaborative things brewing. The McTierney/O'Gowan Collaboration Power-Hour has really turned into something grand. (Well, it always was, but I think Ms. McGowan and I are in this for the long haul.)

So what else is new? WELL! My TOTALLY FREE novella Sing Me Your Love Song (part of the GR M/M Romance Group's 2015 DRitC event) is coming.............................soon. Yeah, I can't say *when* exactly for...reasons. (Secrecy reasons!) But it might do to stay tuned! Soonish-ly tune? <3

I've also picked up a second DRitC prompt that someone else dropped. But that will be a long time coming as I haven't even finished the draft yet.