So Long 2010, What's Up 2011

It’s that time of year again. The time when we are forced to look back at the past year of our lives and wonder, where the heck did it all go? Christmas is over and while you may be getting reading for a fantastic new years eve party, if you’re anything like me, you can’t shake the feeling of regret.


The feeling of knowing you could have done so much more. I suppose, for me at least the end of the year is the only time of the year I feel a little less than optimistic. Why? Because I earnestly believe in the value of time. I believe we can get everything in this world, including money, back but time can never be given back. Therefore what I chose to do with that time is very important to me. I know each moment I am given on this earth is a gift from God and it is my responsibility to do everything I can with the moment.

So when I get to end of the year I can’t help but feel like I could have used my time better. Yet I am positive enough to know that if I focus on what I didn’t do, I will go crazy. So I am making the choice to focus on all I was able to accomplish in 2010. Here are a few of the things I have accomplished this year, completed dual enrollment course at community college, graduated high school with college credit and honours. Gotten into an amazing college with a full ride scholarship, earned my Girl Scout gold award, done numerous speaking engagements including speaking in Miami at a social media conference where the likes of Google were in attendance, launched my magazine, signed on with one of the biggest christian publishers in America and remembered to be thankful for all my blessings.

All in all, I’d say I’ve accomplished quite a bit and while I am proud of myself, I am mostly thankful to God for blessing me and for my family for always supporting me. Now I’ve told you what I am proud to have accomplished this year, why don’t you tell me what you are grateful to have accomplished in 2010.
Tomorrow it will be 2011 and I already have some amazing projects in the work for the new year. I am not going to list the things I wish to accomplish in 2011 because life has a way of screwing up plans. Instead I am going to make a committment to work even harder in the new year and continue to achieve my dreams. I hope my journey serves as inspiration for your own journey in 2011 and together we can make our lives quite beautiful. I promise as the projects I have in the work pan out I will keep you all informed but here’s a hint as to what I am working on, the re release of “The Guys The Roses and The Regrets”, numerous TV projects and the release of my second book, “Finding Your Inner Moxie”.
Alas, my friends it’s time for me to go get my party on and celebrate this brand new year that sparkles with promise and hope. I must say goodbye but before I do, I want to say one last thing. THANK YOU!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Your support is a huge inspiration to me and one of the reasons I work so hard. I am so blessed to have your support. Everyday I get messages on YouTube and Facebook telling me how I have helped people achieve their dreams and I cannot say how wonderful that makes me feel. If I am helping even one person, then I am a success. So to know I am helping so many people is beyond amazing. I want you to know that without you, my dreams wouldn’t be possible so thank you, thank you, thank you and a million times over, thank you.

Until next year, be blessed, stay strong and never give up.

Happy New Year and God Bless,

Grace Hatton – Best Selling Teen Author
www.gracehatton.com

25 Days of Christmas - Food, Cheer and Song

“If more of us valued food and cheer and song above hoarded gold, it would be a merrier world.” - J. R. R. Tolkien


What’s up people!
Today is the second day of my 25 days of Christmas Holiday Blog and I have to admit being in college I am currently more worried about my numerous papers due then my Holiday traditions but as a December Wild Child I can’t ignore the wonder that is Christmas time. This morning I was wondering what to write about today and then one of my good friends sent me this great quote by one of my writing idols, J.R.R Tolkien


Tolkein was perhaps one of the most influential writers of the 20th century and it turns out he was pretty smart. I thought the quote above was perfect for the holiday season. How about this year instead of fussing about who has the most gold a.k.a who gets the most expensive present, we focus on food, cheer and song a.k.a the simple things in life. What if we valued spending time with our families, eating good food and if you enjoy singing, singing christmas carols or any other song you feel obliged to sing. Why don’t we value the simple things over our hoarded gold?


The simple answer, we’re humans. Which means we’re greedy and want the new shiny things but as humans we also have the capacity to change. So this year instead of your entire christmas season being about who got the best most expensive present why don’t we focus on good food, being cheerful and singing our hearts out. Just a thought.



Until next time be blessed, stay strong and never give up,



God Bless,

Grace Hatton – Best Selling Teen Author
http://www.gracehatton.com/



P.S – Want the perfect christmas present for your daughter, niece, granddaughter etc then check out "The Guys The Roses and The Regrets"

The Leaves of Change

Hola Amazing Readers!

Since being a kid I’ve loved autumn and the beauty of the leaves. However living in Florida for the past six years we don’t really have autumn. It’s always green in Florida and if leaves do fall they simply fall off, no pretty colors for Floridians. So I am officially excited right now as I sit outside at Warren Wilson College in North Carolina as golden, red and orange leaves appear and slowly fall to the ground.



It’s quite beautiful here with the mountains all turning brilliant shades of color. It really reminds me of the wonder of God and how every moment of beauty is a blessing. As the leaves change here in North Carolina a lot of changes are going on in my life as well.



I just finished mid terms at college and I can’t believe I am half way through my first semester as a college student but what I wanted to talk to you, my awesome reader, about is the changes that are happening in regards to my books. If you follow me on twitter @gracehatton you will probably know that I recently signed a contract with a major christian publishing house, Bridge Logos, for not ony “The Guys The Roses and The Regrets; The Girl to Girl Dating Guide” but also my second book in the girl to girl guide series “Finding Your Inner Moxie; The Girl to Girl Confidence Guide”



What does this mean? Well “The Guys The Roses and The Regrets” will be re released on a huge scale, i.e going on the shelves in Barnes and Nobles and Borders and my second book will be coming out straight after the re-release of “The Guys The Roses and The Regrets”. To say I am officially excited would be an understatement. I have worked so hard to get a traditional publishing deal and I finally have a great one!



So with this fantastical news comes a lot of new responsibility and I am looking for your help. I have been so blessed to have loyal readers (or should I call you fans?) like you and to have support from all around the globe. I am so grateful for everything you have already done for me and my books but what I really want to do is create a movement of readers spreading the news about the new release of “The Guys The Roses and The Regrets” and of “Finding Your Inner Moxie”




I suppose like a musician has a street team that’s what I would love to create but I am honestly not sure how. Any suggestions? The first thing we could do is if you have a facebook, myspace or twitter account sending out a quick update that would say something like this



“So excited for Teen Authors Grace Hatton book “The Guys The Roses and The Regrets” to be re released with Bridge Logos!”

What do you think? Once I get a date and more info for the re release I will be posting all of that info on my blogs, my official website, facebook, myspace, youtube, twitter and more. I will probably run contests and stuff to see who can be the best street team member but until then help me out, how does a teen author start a crazy good street team?

Let me know, I really appreciate your feedback and I hope you are loving autumn as much as me,



Until next time, be blessed, stay strong and never give up,



God Bless,
Grace Hatton – Best Selling Teen Author
www.gracehatton.com

I am Speaking in Miami Trick

So who loves Miami? I do! Since moving to the sunny state of Florida I have been to Miami quite a few times but on September 29th I will be in Miami for a completly new reason. What’s that reason? Well keep reading to find out. Over the past couple years I have been blessed with the success of my book ‘The Guys The Roses & The Regrets‘ on Amazon and I have been blessed to call myself a best selling teen author.

As I continue to grow as an author I am stepping out of my comfort zone and beginning to speak. Public speaking is one of the things many people want to do but never actually do. I am proud to say I am doing. I have been speaking at various local events around the Central Florida area but on September 29th I will be speaking at the Performance Marketing Expo in Miami, FL. I am very excited. The Performance Marketing Expo is at the Eden Roc Hotel on South Beach which is truly beautiful.


Along with some other amazing presenters including the CEO of myyearbook.com and Obama’s social media campaign coordinator. I will be speaking on the topic of social media and how I used social media to become a best selling teen author. My session is entitled ‘Social Media; The New Key to Success’
If you have a business or a product you are trying to get out in the world this is an amazing conference to attend. If you would like to purchase your ticket for this event you can click the banner to your right. This will take you through to the Performance Marketing Expo’s main website.

I am very excited about this event and I look forward to seeing you there,

God Bless,

Grace Hatton – Best Selling Teen Author
www.gracehatton.com

The Price of College Textbooks Stressing You Out?

Hey Guys,

So if you didn't already know I am now at college and I have to admit its pretty fun but as I sign up for my classes and look at my course list I have to confess, the price of college textbooks stresses me out!

Personally I find it unbelievable that a book for a course can cost anywhere from $50 to $200 bucks. Infact did you know that the average student will spend over $500 per term buying textbooks? To me that an amazing amount of money to buy textbooks that often only get opened one time. Plus you only need the book while you're taking the class. Who needs the book after the class is over. Well, I've discovered an amazing site to rent your college text books. Its called http://www.chegg.com/ and trust me you will save hundreds!

So stop wasting your money and start renting from Chegg.com. I’m on the bandwagon and I’ve saved enough to buy all my books under $150! I have saved some serious cash by Chegging my books. So if you're in college like me I want to help you out but not only telling you about Chegg but I also have a promo code that will save you an additional 5% off your total order, use the code CC133787.

Want proof?

Essential Biology by Campbell, Reece & Simon is $83.18 if you buy it on Amazon.com. If you rent it on Chegg.com, it’s only $11.78. That’s a savings of over $71!

It’s so simple, just search for the books you need and place your order. Chegg will ship them to you fast and at the end of the term you ship them back for free. What’s really cool is that they plant a tree for every order.

Don’t forget to visit Chegg.com and use promo code CC133787 when you check out to get your extra discount.

Why use the code? Because I am a Chegg Champion and not only do you help me earn a little extra it helps you get an extra discount on your books so its a win for everyone!

So don't let the price of college textbooks stress you out, use chegg, save some money, sit back and relax =] I am super busy at college orientation this week but I swear very soon I will be posting more fun blogs,

Until Next Time,

Be Blessed, Stay Strong and Never Give Up

God Bless,

Grace Hatton - Best Selling Teen Author
http://www.gracehatton.com/