STRICKEN: Two Years Later! (Plus an Announcement!)

Happy 2nd Birthday, STRICKEN!!

STRICKEN came out exactly two years ago today... It's so hard to believe! Two years old. Wow. There are days that it still hasn't sunk in that I'm a published author!

I'd like to thank everyone at eXtasy Books for giving me a chance and for being so amazing all around. Love to all!!

STRICKEN: Love deserves a second chance.

Get it now at eXtasy Books!

The Romance Studios St. Patrick's Day Party

Holy cow, what an amazing weekend! The party at The Romance Studio was a blast! I had so much fun, even if I was having difficulty coming up with posts about only one book without giving away too much of the story. I managed to get through it! 

I am not doing another party like that one until I have at least one more book out - which I hope to correct before the end of this year, if I can get "Something About Alexis" cleaned up to spec!

((Speaking of other books - works in progress - I have an announcement regarding my first series... More on that later!!))

I shared multiple excerpts, a few of my favorite quotes from the story, the character interview with Ewan that Maggie asked me to do for her blog (see it HERE!), and character bios for Ewan and Marti. 

I am exhausted, but it was worth it! People loved the excerpts, and I loved reading the bits from other people's works. eXtasy Books was well represented this year - the five of us who participated got a lot of interactions with fans, and we all had a lot of fun.

Contest for my giveaways ends at midnight Pacific Time - 3 a.m. Eastern. I'm giving away 2 copies of Stricken (via eXtasy Books' website), and a GC for eXtasy Books/Devine Destinies.

Upcoming Blog Tours

I have three tours visiting my blog next week - two on the 25th, and one on the 28th. All of the stories showcased look amazing! I'm slowly booking more and more tours, and more guest spots for my fellow eXtasy Books/Devine Destinies authors, so if any author out there wants to do a guest spot, contact me now to get your name in ASAP. My contact information is in the links area to the left of my blog entries. 

I've also signed up to be a spot for Maggie Blackbird's upcoming blog tour for her second novel, "Redeemed", Book 2 of the Matawapit Family series. Her tour doesn't start until April 29, so it will be a while before you see it on my blog. Watch for it!

THE BIG ANNOUNCEMENT...

I can't believe I'm doing this, but I want everyone to know about the current manuscript draft, the one I've been working on for a while. I've dubbed it "Book 2" of "My First Series"... I've mentioned it a few times on here and in Facebook - which is tied to my Twitter.

It's far from finished, and it's on the back burner until "Something About Alexis" is sent off, but I have been writing a plot bunny given to me by my best friend/Peapod, Heather a couple of years ago. She said something off the cuff, and BAM! A new plot bunny hopped through the brain.

So...........................................................................

I am currently in the middle of writing a companion/sequel to Stricken.

You read that right. 

The MSIP is tied to Stricken.

The mains in it are *not* Ewan and Marti for the record. Nor is it a rewrite of anything I wrote in the past. This is a new couple, with a few *huge* conflicts, and a load of new plot twists that not even I saw coming. I want a fresh, new story with new characters, new conflicts and new ideas done *my* way and to my publisher's ultra high standards. 

(((Well, you do meet the leading man of this one for a few minutes in Stricken... I'm not ready to say *who* it is yet, so please do not ask me anything about the story unless you're in the select few people who do know...)))

I know, Stricken was supposed to be a standalone, or it was when I signed the contract with eXtasy Books two years ago. The thing is, it ended in a way that it could be a standalone story, or be the launching point for another one about another family member. 

Once Heather said the offhand remark, it was "GAME OVER" and I was writing down ideas for the story. The rest is history.

I am only partway through Chapter Four, but the idea is solid, the character development is coming along nicely, and I already know how I'm going to end it. 

I just have to sit down, and keep plugging away at it until Draft One is finished. It does have a name, as does the series, but I'm not ready to reveal either of those yet. Only those most trusted to me have that knowledge. Tee hee!

To answer the next question, YES, I am plotting a Book 3. However, I do not know if it will come to pass or Stricken and Book 2 will be a duology or not. I'll have to see how things go with Book 2, and of course "Something About Alexis", along with the rest of the works I'm plotting.

So yeah. That's the big secret. It feels odd announcing something like this so soon, when its first draft isn't even finished yet, but I'm doing my best to open up and be more like my fellow eXtasy Books authors. They are all amazing, talented people, and a lot of them are so open about what they're working on.

Telling all of you out there that I'm working on a sequel/companion for Stricken is a huge step for me. Normally I like to keep stuff like this to myself, due to criticism I've had in the past, which made me clam up and toss the work - which was exactly what the person doing it was hoping for.

No more. If people do not like my work, that's fine with me. Some people do not like it out of spite, and that only shows what kind of a person they are. I'm going to keep going and write until my fingers turn blue, and keep going.

Anyway...................................................................

It's been a long, exciting day for me.... I hope everyone had a great weekend. Thanks again to all who popped over to the TRS St. Patrick's Day party, and interacted with all of us authors. 

I leave you with the song that inspired me to name my first novel.... STRICKEN by Disturbed! Enjoy!

HAPPY SECOND BIRTHDAY STRICKEN!!!

Rock N Rolling With It

Fall is in the air, and today was proof of it. We had frost last night, and Son and I just about froze at the bus stop despite wearing our spring/fall jackets.

It was still rather crisp at 10 a.m., when I decided to get myself offline, get my favorite hoodie on, dig out the old MP3 player and get outside for a bit. I wanted to capture some of the fall foliage with the camera, so it turned into a walk down to the stream and back, about 10 minutes each way.

It's not very colorful down this way. Our summer came late, so did the warmer weather, and things have been thrown way off. We do have some colors this year, but things are either still green or going straight to brown for the most part.

Some of the plants growing alongside of the road are brighter than the trees this year so far...

But that's okay. I still got out of the house for a bit, reset my brain from "online mode" to "offline/relaxing mode" and enjoyed the crisp, sweet smelling air.

This gorgeous flower is in full bloom, down by the stream. I saw it and couldn't help taking photos of it...

I was so invigorated when I got into the house, that I opened up the windows, and booted up Word. I was planning on working on the rest of the supporting cast and other names today, but things got a little... weird....

It seems that I'm not completely burned out as an author after all. It took seven months of being ill, stressed out, and other things, but I'm finally over that hump and back into things.. I hope.

Yes, the drought seems to be over finally... "Thirteen" officially has a main manuscript file, and there is one complete scene in it, the opener.... And the second one was started.

I don't remember much about the time I was writing that first scene. It's a bit of a blur... But it looks okay for an ultra rough draft so far, and it is within what I wanted for it... I may add or remove stuff from it over time, but that's normal. I got its rough draft started and hopefully something will come out of this, I do not want this to be just a trickle and stop again... I want to keep writing.

It felt awesome to be writing again, even if it was only 600 words. It's better than nothing, right?

At this point, I think I have most of the main players picked out... I have a few other things to create and name, but I can do that once I'm a little more into this one. I just hope some of my pals are up to brainstorming names for different things with me when the time is right...

I did get a few things done with some of the character bios, notably the leading male and some of the supporting cast even though writing took over the research and setting personality traits and so forth.

If I can get 500 words once a week, I'm going to be happy... Anything is better than not writing!!

Have a great weekend everyone, and if you are celebrating Canadian Thanksgiving, have a wonderful and safe holiday and long weekend!

A New Season, A New Reason to Keep Believing....

The last couple of weeks have been interesting, to say the least..........

Schools have been open only three weeks and the germs are spreading faster than the speed of light. Son has already had 2 sick days, Monday and Tuesday of this week, and I guess there were a lot of students out sick the last couple of weeks from illness.

No surprise. This happens every year. What surprised me was that it was this long before Son got something. Normally it's within two weeks, not three...

Yesterday, I got some great news regarding my health.

Remember how I said I have been ill the last while? Well, one of the conditions I was diagnosed with is now GONE and I've been given a clean bill of health on that front.

HUGE RELIEF. It's now just a case of checking things every couple of years unless something seems off. Business as before things went nutso.

Even better, the lifelong condition I was diagnosed with this past spring is now under control.

It's not like I can just forget about it and go back to the unhealthy stuff I was doing though. This is a lifelong condition. Once you have it, it's there ALWAYS and you are constantly monitoring it, and doing what you can to stay healthy and keep it under control.

I guess I am doing something right. Four months, that's all it took, from diagnosis to this point.

WHEW. You see, the family member who was diagnosed with this same condition, the one I inherited it from, passed away within 6 months of finding out they had it. I think I had it in the back of my mind that it's an automatic death sentence, despite proof otherwise -other family members and friends with the exact same condition who are perfectly fine and have had it for years.

I'm now seeing it isn't. In fact, living a longer, healthier life is the perfect motivation to keep positive and stick around for a few more decades. :)

Kitty Zaniness alert.............

Monitor Kitteh has made her fall debut... No surprise, the weather is getting cooler, and since the monitor is warm, she likes to toast her bum on top of it......

Yes, those are two different monitors. My old one croaked last month. It didn't owe us anything. It was one I purchased second hand from a friend of ours about 8 years ago, and it was old then.

As you can see in the photo, the color was way off and there was a line of black going across part of the screen. The picture tube in it was giving out.

My old Philips monitor, on its last legs.

The new monitor is still the same huge, clunky picture tube style, but it's newer... And black. It matches the computer, mouse and keyboard perfectly. It was given to me by a friend of ours, she now has a laptop and doesn't need a monitor for a desktop.

Much better, eh?

The new Dell monitor. It's a flat screen. 

Hey, Amber approves of it! She's always sitting on top of it and watching the neighborhood.

Amber watching for her "boyfriend", the neighbor's cat Ringo.

Idiot cat.

*sigh*

Writing update......

My beta team members are still taking their time to go over Hearts Remembering. So that one isn't allowed to be touched until I hear back from all of them.

HOWEVER.......

I am finally feeling up to doing something new, writing wise. Or old, depending on how you look at it.

Last week, I had my usual Friday to work, and I actually did something. It's not a lot, no actual "writing" per se (although Heather calls it writing, I call it PRELIM WORK... PEAPOD *NYAH*) I started detailed character bios, did a preliminary/short summary and started jotting down both general and adult scene ideas for it.

I'm not sure if anything will come out of it, but hey, it's a start, right? :) We shall see how this one goes.

It felt SO GOOD to be back into it again...

Yeah, I'm definitely feeling more and more like myself again.

Talk about a great feeling.

*goofy grin*

Have a wonderful weekend, everyone! :)

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AUTHOR'S EXTRA: 

To anyone who was hoping things would stay out of whack - with my health, writing and everything else about my life....

F**K you. 

I'm more than surviving this. I'm going to beat it all to hell and back, and keep going. I'm not going to let this keep me down.

Y'all know damn well that *I* am too damn sunny natured to let it.

Go ahead, keep wasting your energy on wishing and hoping and whatever else you're trying to do... Keep lurking at my areas, in hopes you catch something you can speculate on and hope it's something bad happening to me, out of spite for me seeing your true colors... And before you can say I am "one to talk", maybe if you actually *looked* at the REAL pattern of your sorry, hate filled, drama stirring, victim playing life, you'd grow up and shut up instead of blaming everyone else but the real cause of your "problems"...

YOU.

It's your life and your choice, after all. Not mine, or anyone else's.


YOUR CHOICE.

But narcissists don't see it that way unfortunately.

*tsk* My bad.

Me, I'm just going to keep going ahead, not look back at all, focus on REALITY instead of a fantasy life, keep writing, accept what I can't change, change what I can, and love life completely.

That is my life and my choice.

*smug grin*