Summer Vacation? What's That? LOL

Hi everyone! Things have been so crazy here. I’ve been busy promoting the Together We Stand collection and gearing up for four takeovers in a week, among other things.

Together We Stand hits the shelves in less than 3 weeks, and we authors are getting excited. So far, the collection is about 100K in length, and if all of the stories promised are added, it’s going to be a lot longer. I’m doing a takeover in the Together We Stand Party Room group in Facebook on July 30^th, at 8:30 PM EDT, and on August 1^st at 1 PM in the Siren’s Lounge group on Facebook to promote my contribution, COVID’s Arrow, and the rest of the amazing stories in the anthology.

I am also gearing up to host a panel for Small Town romance authors in my group (VJ’s VIP Lounge) on July 27^th, and one in the Swag-gering Shout Out Page group on July 31^st from 3-6 PM EDT. I’ll be discussing all of my work during both days, and discussing upcoming stories.

I have a few quick updates before I get to the ultra-big news…

We are now in the Atlantic Provinces bubble. Anyone residing Nova Scotia, Newfoundland-Labrador, New Brunswick and Prince Edward Island can travel between the four provinces without having to self-isolate for two weeks. So if we wanted to take a trip to Charlottetown, PEI, we could do so, and only stay three days. Or spend the day in Moncton without having to isolate ourselves. That said, anyone coming in from outside of the bubble *must* isolate for two weeks before moving around freely. It’s to make sure the virus isn’t spread by anyone who is asymptomatic.

I don’t leave the house very often, so staying home isn’t new to me. With things opening up and our numbers being so low (less than 5 active cases as of July 15, 2020), Hubby has been taking Son shopping with him, which gives me a breather and a chance to write without worrying about interruptions… From anyone other than that goofy Maine Coon that is. So far, I wrote a short story in one weekend, and I’ve got another WIP started, one that’s part of a series. We plan on doing this for the rest of the summer if things continue to stay as is or open up more within the bubble.

I got more RAM (memory) for the computer. This one is a reconditioned one from the 00s that was rebuilt with Windows 10, and it only had 4 GB of RAM in it. It was slow by times, especially if I had a Word document up with something like Chrome at the same time. I ordered another 8 GB from Amazon, and it arrived last week. This baby is running a lot more efficiently and it’s so sweet. I love it. This is one step closer to me getting a graphics design business off the ground, which I hope to do sometime in the new year. I have to purchase a ton of font bundles, get an account set up at a *premium* (paid for) stock photos site, and get something much more powerful than GIMP. One thing at a time though. (Thank heavens for royalties… If I don’t spend them on the eXtasy Books site that is!)

We make a few changes to Book Carousel. Instead of genre days, we have theme days, and we’re now having fight clubs for upcoming New Releases, Covers, Taglines, etc. Go check it out!

I have also updated my website. Maggie Blackbird gave me a few suggestions, and I worked on them last night. It's not perfect, but it looks great. I removed all excerpts (you can read them for all of my books on eXtasy Books' site - go to my profile and check them out), added the tagline for the Tri-Town Series, and added more tabs. The home page is much sleeker. I'm considering changing the backdrop to the cover of my newest work published, but that can be done later, so can adding a photo gallery of my work as a graphics design artist. 

Coming in December from eXtasy Books…

It is weird to be thinking of Christmas in July, but that’s what this little author did. I wrote a holiday short story for the eXtasy Books 2020 Stocking Stuffers in a single weekend – June 27^th and 28th. I signed the contract for it on June 13^th. I’m not really saying much about it for now, I want to savor knowing I have yet another story coming out with eXtasy Books.

I will say this: It is a continuation of one of my previously published works via eXtasy Books (which eliminates COVID’s Arrow – that one is published via my friend JA Lafrance). I’m going to leave it up to all of you to figure that out. Only a few people know the details, like my beta Erin H, my long-time pal Maggie Blackbird (who also writes for eXtasy) and my fellow moderators for Book Carousel, and maybe five others.

I’m going to share more details later this summer. Keep watching my blog, my pages in Facebook, Twitter, and my official website for any news.

Take care, and stay safe everyone!

I leave you with With Arms Wide Open by CREED.

Crazy Train... Or Month...

Good evening everyone! I hope all of you didn't get hit too hard yesterday. I had one friend try to fool a lot of us, but he didn't get me. LOL

It's been absolutely insane here the last week or so. I'm busy in real life, and things are picking up with my online work schedule. Plus I'm trying to do my own writing in between helping others promote theirs and doing critiques!

As you see, I'm hosting more and more Blog Tours - all from Silver Dagger Tours. Look for tours on Mondays and Tuesdays - I am hosting THREE next week alone!

I've become more active in Book Carousel - THE place for readers to hang out and chat with their favorite eXtasy Books/Devine Destinies authors. It's been a while since I've helped out to this magnitude, but it feels good to be back in the saddle again, so to speak. If you haven't joined yet, DO SO. We have a lot of fun stuff happening, from Meet the Author Mondays to the Question of the Day (every day!) and Reader Appreciation Thursdays. The link is in my links area to the left!

By the way, sometimes free goodies are up for grabs in Book Carousel. Keep a watch out for the way to win something sweet, like a free e-book or a gift card from eXtasy Books/Devine Destinies!

I have a lot of fellow eXtasy Books/Devine Destinies authors scheduled to do guest spots this month too... Keep watching on Thursdays and Fridays later this month!

Well.... The writing....

I've set "Something About Alexis" on the back burner. I was having a tough time with the revisions - getting into the really deep POV was difficult for me and that story.

However, BOOK 2 has completely taken a life of its own. I'm able to get deep POV without even trying in that one, and although it's going by fits and starts, it's coming along. So I plan on working on it as long as I can and will hopefully have its first draft finished soon. I'd love to have Draft 1 in stasis before school gets out but I'm not expecting it. More like sometime this coming fall. I AM working just so everyone knows. Sometimes your mojo leaps around, and you wind up working on more than one project at a time. I don't know how some do it though...

Tomorrow, Denise Wheatley returns to my blog. Her latest book, "The Road to Bliss" came out a full month early, and she's really excited! I have all updated links and we're ready to go first thing tomorrow morning.

Have a great night, everyone. Tonight's music features my brother-in-law Adam cooking himself over an open fire in the official video for "She May Be Evil" by Whom Gods Destroy. Enjoy!

Meet the Author - ROUND TWO!

CONGRATS to SE White, who won a copy of STRICKEN in a random drawing today!

Today was my second MEET THE AUTHOR in Book Carousel, and although it started slow, it picked up and was going full tilt by the time my hour was up.  We had a few "Name Generators" and a Four Word Story rolling, and I shared photos of my mom and mother in law, each holding their paperback copies of Stricken.

THANK YOU AGAIN to eXtasy Books and Devine Destinies for having me! It was fun!

I'm unsure when my next round will be, but it will be sometime in the new year. I have to get on the ball more with actual writing and the dreaded EDITS and REVISIONS (GAG!) before I do any more public appearances. I think people are getting sick of seeing me give away copies of that book, it's time for new things to show up...

I'm finally going to answer a question I've been asked a lot lately:

What are you working on now?

I have FOUR projects currently on the go, in various stages of writing and editing.

Two are currently being drafted - a short story, and one that I hope will be novel length. I'm bouncing back and forth between them. The subject is ROMANCE... Duh! However, only my betas, a few trusted friends, and a few of my fellow authors and editors at eXtasy Books/Devine Destinies know the nitty gritty of my work, and it will stay that way until we deem it's okay to start sharing a bit more. I need titles for both, so I'll definitely be brainstorming with the gang.

I also have two finished drafts that are currently being overhauled. They had been written before I got on with eXtasy Books, so they need to be formatted to the way they want the pages, and other items that's required of a book published by them and Devine Destinies. It's a lot of work, I made a lot of mistakes in both, and they are full of JUNK. So far, the one lost over 20 K, it was all passive scenes and nonsense. Let's keep it simple! *wink!*

On that note, I should shut up and get back to work.... These stories do not sell themselves, you have to network, talk to other authors, give away free copies now and then, and promote, promote, PROMOTE yourself until you turn blue... And promote yourself some more!!!

Have a great week everyone! Don't forget that eXtasy Books has their STOCKING STUFFERS available starting DECEMBER 8th! My friend LYNN MICHAELS has her story "A Frostbite Christmas" coming out on Sunday, December 9th - GET IT! I dare you!!!

I leave you with my favorite song by GODSMACK, "Voodoo".

Meet the Author - Round ONE!

Today, I did my first ever Meet the Author in Book Carousel - the Facebook group for eXtasy Books and Devine Destinies authors to interact and meet their fans.

It was freaking AWESOME!

I had so much fun! I did the introductory post, posted two contests including captioning a photo of Marnie's fluffy tush, and talked about different things related to STRICKEN and how long it took me to write it and get it published. 

My only gripe is that my co-host/fluffy writing pal Marnie decided that snoozing on the cot upstairs was preferable to helping me host a takeover. (Read: shoving her fluffy butt in my face while I'm typing!)

The hour I was hosting it flew by so fast! Everyone in there so sweet and welcoming... I met a number of amazing new people, and I hope to see them the next time I do a takeover!

CONGRATS to CONNIE EVANS, KATHRYN McGONGAGLE, and DENISE SCHMIDT! All of you won copies of my first book, STRICKEN! Thank you all for participating in the fun, it was lovely meeting all of you! ♥

My next round of MEET THE AUTHOR in Book Carousel is on DECEMBER 3, 2018 at 11 a.m. EASTERN (NOON Atlantic, 8 a.m. Pacific). I hope to see all of you there!

THANK YOU to everyone in Book Carousel and at eXtasy Books and Devine Destinies for having me, as well as to everyone who participated in the games and contests. It was a lot of fun, and I can't wait to do my next takeover!

Have a lovely evening everyone. ♥

Tonight, I leave you with a song that means a lot to me. It always brings up my mood, because it reminds me that I *can* go on even when my pain is at its highest or I'm so depressed that the light at the end of the tunnel isn't visible to me. 

Don't Stop Dancing, by one of my favorite bands of all time, CREED.

My First....

There are a lot of great things happening right now in my little corner of southern Canada...

First of all, I am extremely proud to announce that my *first ever* guest spot on someone else's blog went LIVE this morning! I did an interview with the sexiest real estate agent alive, Ewan Campbell from STRICKEN for my friend Maggie Blackbird's blog. Check it out!

An Interview with Ewan Campbell.

THANK YOU MAGGIE for doing this! It was so much fun!

(Don't forget to get a copy of her first book, BLESSED!)

Another first is coming up for me, and although I'm terrified I'm going to fall flat on my face, I'm coming out of my shell even more next week...

I am doing my FIRST EVER Meet the Author - online or otherwise - in BOOK CAROUSEL, which is the Facebook group for eXtasy Books and Devine Destinies readers to mingle with and get some insight and extras from their favorite eXtasy and Devine Destinies authors. It's happening on NOVEMBER 19, 2018 at 10 a.m. Eastern (7 a.m. Pacific, 11 a.m. Atlantic) and I will be taking over BC for ONE HOUR. I have a lot of stuff planned, from a few games to even a contest for a digital copy of STRICKEN. 

Meet the Author events are so much fun, and you can learn (and share) a lot about your audience or the author themselves in that short amount of time.

You have to be a member of BOOK CAROUSEL to join in the fun. Do a search for it in Facebook, and ask to join. Simple!

I'm also writing again, but more on that another day.

Once again, THANK YOU MAGGIE for hosting me! Have a great week everyone!