TOGETHER WE STAND is LIVE and An Announcement!

Good afternoon everyone! It is with great honor and pleasure I say that TOGETHER WE STAND is now LIVE on ebook sites around the world! I have a huge bit of news, but that can wait... Let's talk TOGETHER WE STAND for a few minutes!

The Paperback version of the cover for TOGETHER WE STAND. 

Together We Stand features the crème de la crème of Canadian romance authors. We have two USA Today best-selling authors on the roster, as well as plenty of Amazon Best Selling authors, and more! There are a few brand new authors, like my dear friend and fellow ‘Scotia girl K. Logan, and of course, someone who is somewhat experienced and finally getting her name out there – yours truly. 

GET IT NOW!

I admit, I wasn’t expecting to be a part of this when K. Logan first invited me to join the group participating. I have no experience in writing short stories, and I wasn’t sure if I could meet the deadline. My son has been home since March Break, and he is noisy. He has no concept of “do not yell at the TV or anything else when Mom is working”. Plus, he has a habit of pacing the kitchen when he is on one of his golf talk trips, and I find it extremely distracting. He is slowly getting better though. LOL

I found out about the anthology at the end of May, and tried to get things going. I had maybe a paragraph written, and set it aside. Things were so crazy with the rest of the school year being canceled, and other things happening. Finally, Hubby disappeared for a few hours during the first week of June, and I managed to get it finished – in three hours. It’s not long – 2900 words, and the limit was 5 K – but I guess it’s a sweet little story and up to publication standards. I submitted it about a week later, after a couple of my friends did beta reads, and my pal Cameron Allie (who writes for eXtasy Books and is also participating in the anthology) did a critique for me.

I hope everyone enjoys Mason and Vicki’s beginning in COVID’s Arrow. Will I write more of their story? I’m not sure yet. I am busy with writing two series (yes, I said “two” series - I'll be talking about the new one in a minute!), promoting my work, helping others with their promotions like book tours, working as a moderator in Book Carousel, and brainstorming with a lot of my fellow romance authors – trad and Indie published, as well as mentoring newbies. If I ever do, it won’t be for a long, long time.

Vicki has been half in love with her friend and co-worker, Mason, since she started working at a grocery store eight months ago. When a pandemic reaches the province, social distancing protocols are installed, and their friendship is put on hold. A break at work brings them back together, but will they have the time Vicki hopes to pursue her hidden desires? 

****

I still can’t believe how things have picked up since I started doing edits in Away to Me with Trish a year ago. Last year this time, I was drooling over the gorgeous cover for that book, not realizing just how crazy things would be in the coming months. I’m no longer a newbie, and as odd as it feels to be a more experienced author, it is also amazing. I love helping new authors get their footing. I just wish I had an experienced author like Gabriella Bradley or Maggie Blackbird guiding me when I was working on Stricken’s initial draft back in 2012... Maybe then I would have been able to get published faster.

Then again, hindsight is 20-20, right? I’m published with an amazing traditional publisher, and their authors are the most supportive in the industry. I have made so many friends in the last few years. I’ve gained a lot of new fans in the last few months, and a ton of four and five star reviews!

I’m so honored to be a part of the eXtasy Books family! Love you all! *muwah!*

Speaking of eXtasy Books, I am finally ready to share information about my upcoming Christmas Stocking Stuffer (short story) coming in December 2020. This is the launch of a *new* series, and we’re revisiting some familiar faces! Take a peek, and get ready for a whirlwind, everyone!

V.J. Allison and eXtasy Books Present…

Here's a peek at my new story, and its blurb. Check it out!

Sweet Child of Mine

by V.J. Allison

A Feathered Tartan Short Story

Tagline: In the city on the harbour, miracles happen.

Blurb:

It’s Christmas Eve.

Ewan and Marti Campbell are hoping to have a quiet holiday season, their first as a married couple, and the last one before their new baby arrives.

A crisis at the real estate agency tosses a huge wrench into their plans, as does the sudden onset of Marti’s labour. 

As Ewan fights to get home before his child appears, more crises are flung at him. If he is to make it on time to help his wife bring their baby into the world, he'll need a miracle…

A big one.

* * * *

You read that right: Ewan and Marti are back, and I am officially kicking off a *new* series, featuring the Campbell family!

Stricken was originally set as a standalone. However, I have gotten a few requests for a follow up with them in it somehow. At the time, I was too busy working on getting the Tri-Town Series prepped for publication so it was put aside and forgotten. When my fellow Book Carousel mods talked me in to trying to write a short story for this year's holiday run at eXtasy Books, I immediately thought we could pop in and see how things are going for Ewan and Marti. Anyone who has read Stricken knows how that one ended so it's perfect timing… Tee hee!

If you are a member of V.J.’s VIP Lounge, go take a peek of the excerpt I posted from Chapter One (unedited)!

I’ve already started Book 2 of the series (or is that Book 3??? I have to ask Jay, our Editor in Charge… OOPS!), and it is going to be set in another part of Nova Scotia. It will feature another Campbell cousin, and their journey to happy ever after. I have a plot planned out, from how they meet to their greatest main conflicts, and how they get their HEA. No worries, I hope to get things really moving soon, even with no school until September 8th. (I’d be fine with them doing online learning until January or later!). I’m able to write with my son home now, especially if he’s upstairs watching something on his DVD player… and stays QUIET. Thank heavens Hubby takes him out of the house once in a while so I can write without interruptions except for that goofy cat……..

I have Book 3 (4?) already started too but I’m putting that on hold for now. The second cousin’s story happens first and I want everything like the timeline to be perfectly in place. Something that happens in Book 2 triggers something in Book 3…. Only and a select few know what this one is about. I won’t share much in the group or any public spots until AFTER it is submitted to our Acquisitions Editor. I’m scared of jinxing it!

As for the Tri-Town Series, Book 3 is in the prelim stages. That one will be set in either Mahone Bay or Lunenburg. I’ve done two in Bridgewater, it’s time to showcase another town here. LOL I’m hoping to churn things up a bit in that one. But that will wait until I get Books 2 and 3 of the Feathered Tartan series wrapped up.

As for other works…I’m trying to get the ones I have ideas for out of the way first. I do want to write another standalone but we will see how things go over the next year or so. I’m not as fast as a writer as my dear friend Maggie Blackbird, and my writing isn’t quite as tight as hers is right now (she has a TON of stories out compared to me) but I’m a fast learner, and she’s taught me a lot. So have the other eXtasy Books authors I hang out with on a regular basis, and authors from other spots – Indie and trad published – and other Canadian authors.

It’s been one heck of a wild year so far, and it’s not over yet. I hope to be buried in my work for a long, long time before I come up for air!

Have a great weekend everyone… And don’t forget to get a copy of TOGETHER WE STAND if you haven’t already!

I leave you with Sweet Child O' Mine by Guns N Roses. 

Keep your stick on the ice!