SISTERS DON'T TELL is live!

After years of writing, rewriting, revising, and rewriting again, my YA ebook SISTERS DON'T TELL is now available! Thanks to my LJ readers who have been supportive of my writing and reviews for so many years. Happy New Year, all!



Sisters always have the best secrets.

Sixteen-year-old Mel wishes she and her little sister could be close again, but when Annie spills that she’s knocked up, Mel loses any hope of that happening. There’s just no way Mel’s life full of girl friends and cooking can compare with Annie’s world full of boyfriends and sex. Still, Mel promises she’ll keep Annie’s secret, figuring it’s the only way to save their remaining bond.

Enter Devon, the first guy ever to make Mel feel like the special sister. But the closer she and Devon get the more Mel has to pepper their relationship with little lies to hide her sister’s pregnancy. When Annie drops another bomb, Mel’s afraid she’ll lose Devon if she keeps the secret, or lose her sister for good if she doesn’t. Her only other choice is to stay true to herself, something she hopes she can remember how to do on her own.

SISTERS DON'T TELL is available through Amazon, B&N, Kobo, iTunes, and Smashwords.
http://www.deenalipomi.com/books.html

DESERTED Is Coming! (or BLACKOUT #2 Is in the Pipeline!)

Tip of the Day: Make sure to check out your local library's Summer Reading events for all ages! Participating helps boost library use statistics, which get reported to the state and help with funding -- plus they are fun and free!

On August 1, DESERTED, the sequel to BLACKOUT, will be available wherever ebooks are sold!

Want some hints on what it's about?

Las Vegas 

 Fremont St., Las Vegas

  Downtown Las Vegas

 Love

The desert

Environmental extremists

And here's the official blurb:

The desert can be dangerous...especially when you've been deserted.

Seventeen-year-old Kara is done spying on people for her father, the wealthy and morally corrupt businessman Dr. Ellison. Last summer, when her father’s project literally blew up, she fell hard for one of his victims: Leo, the hot musician who made her question her family’s rules. Now Leo’s clear across the country, and Kara’s ready to reinvent herself in Las Vegas.

Of course her father has to mess up that plan, too. He claims a rogue environmental group wants him dead because of his latest alternative energy business venture, and that he needs Kara back on his payroll as the only one he can fully trust. With nowhere else to turn, Kara sends Leo a distressed text message – just before she’s kidnapped, a bargaining chip of the vigilantes who are determined to end her father’s moneymaking plans.

Leo is battling the pains of his last run-in with Dr. Ellison but he wastes no time hopping a plane to Vegas to rescue Kara. As he struggles to find her, the pair tries to learn all they can about the project Dr. Ellison is directing in the hopes of using the information to free Kara. Because if there’s one thing they’ve learned from Dr. Ellison, it’s that no risk is too big when it comes to fame and fortune, life and death.

Deena, Miss Subbing for Pubbing

*Photo's by Andrea Lipomi of Feetish Spa Parlor, Las Vegas

#BoySwap #Free on #Kindle

Boys, Band Nerds, and Backstabbers. BOY SWAP is FREE today on Amazon.

Book News! New YA Release Coming this Fall!

COMING THIS FALL...

Boy Swap: The secret to sisterly love and scholarly bliss.

Research shows that seven out of ten girl fights are over a guy. The Boy Swap Club fixes all that. In an effort to spread around male cuteness and minimize fights and backstabbing, they just share boyfriends. And Brooke Thomas, consummate band member, has been asked to join the super secret club because the president of the club has the hots for her guy.

Brooke doesn’t want to share her boyfriend. I mean, who does? But how can she say no? She, a second chair flutist in the school band, finds herself sitting between the Varsity Cheerleader Captain and the Homecoming Queen at the first meeting. Her friends will never believe this in a million years.  Too bad she can’t tell them. But she knows. This one event can change her entire life. What if she becomes actual friends with one of these girls? It might be worth sharing her boyfriend. 

Besides, he'll always love her best, right?

Never Heard of Ya (or Love for the Little Guys)

Tip of the Day: Sick of the presidential debates? Good news for you: They are done! Don't forget to vote in less than two weeks!

After reading Megg's post on how to be a bestseller last week, I thought about all those amazing books that are not bestsellers, probably never will be, but are fabulouso nonetheless and should have a fair shot at fandom.

Since when I do publish my novels, I most likely will not fall into the "1%" of bestsellers, I thought I'd highlight five "lesser knowns" here that I loved, in no particular order:

NOTES FROM AN ACCIDENTAL BAND GEEK by Erin Dionne. Freshman Elsie Wyatt wants to be a Boston Symphony Orchestra French Hornist like her father, but when she misses auditions for a junior orchestra and instead must join the marching band in order to fulfill an ensemble band credit for a prestigious music school, Elsie is out of her league...or has she found a new love? This lower YA took me back to my marching band days in all of its pain and glory. I loved Elsie and watching her overcome her challenges and learn new things. This funny novel is a nice light realistic read with heart. (Puffin, 2011)

FLYING THE DRAGON by Natalie Dias Lorenzi. Hiroshi, his parents, and his kite-making grandfather move from Japan to Virginia when Grandfather gets sick; Hiroshi's cousin Skye lives there and she takes to Grandfather, whom she just met, and his kites as well; but Grandfather gets sicker and the cousins must work together to keep his kites flying. This sweet, beautiful MG novel grew on me more and more with each chapter I read. It is a lovely tale of families and cultures coming together, and how we are all more similar than different. (Charlesbridge, 2012)

D IS FOR DRAMA by Jo Whittemore. Eighth-grader Sunny is sure she'll be cast in a lead of her Arts Academy's musical production of Mary Pops In, but when she's passed over again -- this time because "an Asian Mary Poppins isn't believable" -- Sunny decides to star in a production of her own that soon includes the other overlooked actors, singers, and dancers in her school. Sunny is quippy and funny and I love how she finds solutions to her problems with the help of her friends and family. An adorable tween novel. (Aladdin Mix, 2012)

GUY LANGMAN, CRIME SCENE PROCRASTINATOR by Josh Berk. Convinced by his best friend to join the Forensics Club at school, Guy realizes the real-life applications he learns there may help him learn the truth about his deceased father's past, who broke into his house, and who killed a kid on a fake crime scene scavenger hunt. Guy is hilarious, and JB really nails the voice of a 16yo teen boy. I skimmed over some of the extended banter/jokes between the characters, but overall I laughed out loud and enjoyed the outcome of this pseudo-mystery. (Knopf, 2012)

SOMETHING LIKE NORMAL by Trish Doller. Nineteen-year-old Travis is home on leave after his first year as a Marine in Afghanistan and he feels like he no longer fits in with his nightmares about his best friend who was killed in action and other terrors, but when he runs into a girl he knew in middle school, he wants to fight his demons and find a new normal. The banter between the guy characters was realistic and funny, and the voice reminded me of Jennifer Hubbard's novels which I love. I would've liked to see a bit more of the relationships between Travis and his bro and father, but overall this is a nice upper YA about PTSD with a side of romance and family. (Bloomsbury, 2012)

What under the radar books should I add to my TBR list?

Deena, Miss Subbing for Pubbing