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!!!

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".

Getting Ready!

Eight days to go until Stricken hits the virtual shelves at my publisher, eXtasy Books, on MARCH 17th!!!

Want to read an excerpt? I have one on my website! www.vjallison.com

I'm also going cuckoo promoting Stricken in Facebook, on Twitter and even around my writing forums. The cover has gotten a lot of good reviews, people seem to love it a lot. I've been told that although some of my pals don't read erotic romance as a rule, they're going to read Stricken, because it's my work.

That is a huge compliment in my opinion... I just hope everyone who reads it likes it.... 

WRITING UPDATE: 

Between promoting Stricken, and going nuts in real life with prepping for March Break next week, doctor's appointments, and other health related things for me, I am still writing.

Yes, I have another story on the go. It was started less than a week after Fugitive Dreams (working title) had its first draft finished. This story seemed to grab me by the throat even before I was typed "THE END" in FG.

It was either write it or lose the mind. Since I lost my mind years ago... I'm writing it. lol 

It's going pretty well at the moment. I'm into Chapter 2 already and I'm hoping to get that done before the end of the month. I've been squeezing in as much writing time on it as I can, between Husband's shifts and everything else. I have tomorrow left before March Break starts but Husband said that he and Son will be disappearing at least one day next week so I can work. 

That is the greatest gift they can give me when they know I'm deep into a story. I love it when Husband does that. Ever since I finished the original incarnation of this story a couple of years ago, he's clued in that I *am* serious about writing and being published, and has been my rock through all of the upsets from rejections, to the last while when I was going crazy with talking to the gang at eXtasy Books trying to get Stricken up to their high standards for published works.

I would love to have this one's first draft finished by the time school gets out in June, that way I'm not hanging over the summer again. That way it can "perk" all summer long, while I talk to the Betas about Fugitive Dreams, and see if it's up to eXtasy's standards. If not, it'll be classed as a "practice" story, to get my feet wet again after a long break, and set aside. I won't delete it, that's not my way. I keep everything I write, even the horrid stuff. Call me a "story hoarder" if you want. lol 

As for other projects, I have plenty of ideas. I just have to see which one grabs me first after this WIP is finished. 

Other than that, not much happening in my end of the world. Still no word from WHOM GODS DESTROY on when "Far Reaches" is going to be released, nor is there word on when their first gig of 2017 is happening. I'll keep y'all posted. 

I leave you with a photo of some potted tulips one of my longtime pals, Anna H., gave me as a congratulatory gift for getting published. They're not quite open yet, and are supposed to be a really, really dark purple when they fully bloom... I'm fanatical about purple, it's my favorite color next to black, and I wear both together a lot. 

They are so pretty!

Have a lovely weekend everyone! 

School Returns, Art Fun and More....

Holy smokes, to be blunt. 

What a crazy month it's been! I've barely found the time to sit down and actually think, let alone update my blog or do much of anything else.

The school year has finally started, and Son has been loving his new classroom, new teachers and new TAs. He has reconnected with a friend from Preschool that attended the other feeder school that also ends at grade 5, and they are very close. We even saw her and her family (her mom and I have remained pals all through the years) at the Afterglow Art Festival this past weekend, and it was great to see all of them. 

Son has been sick on and off. He had a cold the second week of school that knocked him flat and he has a lingering cough from it. He was so bad this week that he didn't feel like doing math. Yeah, that's *bad*.... He's on medication for it now, thanks to a fast trip to our amazing family doctor, and he's not coughing as much. He's only been on this medicine for two days. It's powerful stuff. Thank heavens. When he is at school, he's doing wonderfully, and has transitioned quite well at the moment. He literally blew away his new math teacher by showing off how fast his mind is when he's doing mental math... It was freaking awesome to hear that. His math skills are a lot higher than Grade 6... More like borderline senior high already. Well, he comes by that honestly, considering my brother and myself are both strong in mathematics, and both of us were well ahead of our peers in a lot of things math related too, even all through high school.

 AFTERGLOW ART FESTIVAL

Saturday September 24, 2016 was the fifth annual Afterglow Art Festival in Bridgewater, NS, and of course we went to it. 

Talk about FUN!!! We watched our longtime friend (and Son's favorite artist) create a few new spray paint pieces right in front of us (we purchased 2 more of his works that night!), saw a lot of people we knew including a number of Son's friends from school, lots of amazing art, and plenty of awesome street performers. I also had some amazing Thai style chicken curry, it was out of this world yummy. I hope that booth is there again next year... 

WRITING UPDATE:

I've been at work trying to get character descriptions updated and figure out a few things related to the companion story for one of my finished manuscripts... So far, it's slow going but it IS going for now.

I've also played around with things in regards to the one manuscript... Just what, only a few people know right now, but I will say what it was publicly in time. I know exactly when I'll say so, if that ever happens. 

Got you wondering, haven't I? *looks innocent* 

It's a good thing, so no worries on that. My best friend and a few other pals who know what's going on loved the idea. 

I'm also trying to get up to date on what publishers accept what and who doesn't require an author having an agent. I think I found a few that will fit either story, and may even take both... Tee hee..... *tries to hide the horns with a tarnished halo* 

One rejection at a time... And hopefully I'll be able to scream "ACCEPTED AND CONTRACT SIGNED!!" sometime in the future, preferably the near one... 

I leave you with some photos from AFTERGLOW... Have a great weekend everyone!

In our driveway, all ready to go...

Kyle O making magic with spray paint.

Fire dancers on the parkade.

A musical act on the bandstand's gazebo.

A view of the Lahave River and more art fun.

Facing northwards on King Street, toward the Veteran's Memorial Bridge.

One of the many uber talented acts playing that night, shadow puppetry and music. An awesome show.

Kyle O making more magic with his paints.

An interactive video game next to Kyle O's booth.

Having a blast at the festival! 

Where Did Summer Go?

A big WELCOME to all, and I hope you like the new look of my blog.

The background photo is one I took myself, on my brand new smart phone - which was a combination reward for reaching 2 years smoke free and early birthday present to myself. 

It's a Samsung Galaxy A5, and I LOVE IT. I also found a gorgeous case for it, it has a nebula on the back and it's all different colors. So pretty and so ME.

Love it!!

OTHER NEWS...

Three weeks.

That's all we have left of summer vacation. The last 8 weeks sped by, in a haze of writing exercises, zipping around the area with my son, tripping over the damn cat, and trying to figure out the best spots for updating my exercise regimen, preferably in a controlled environment - no bugs and little humidity in the summer, with no ice and warmer temps in the winter, and something that doesn't have only walking either, somewhere that has other exercise activities I enjoy.

I found a spot, and once school starts, I hope to start going there a few times in a trial run... If I like their facilities, I'm going to join in a full membership. They have swimming, a walk track, yoga, aqua-fitness classes, and if you like it, ice skating - not something I do, but others love it. There may be more in time, but so far it's looking like it's right up my alley. :) 

I have a brand new bathing suit that will fit me AND I actually *like* on order from an online retailer (it's hard to find really cool stuff in my tastes for girls my size), and I'm going to be getting a pair of yoga capris, along with a tee-shirt that's suitable.

Did I hear a few of you faint? *blink*

Yes, I hope to take some yoga too, so I need the damn pants. It's not easy to do yoga in jeans, especially the style I wear. 

As for swimming, it's one of my favorite activities. I just don't do it very often now due to lack of bathing suit that fits me properly. I hope the new one does, because I'm sick of being stuck on the sidelines while everyone else is having fun in the water. It's a great exercise all around, even for people with arthritis or other mobility problems. It gets the entire body involved, which is what I want. I like walking but swimming is FUN all around, and has been to me since I first learned how to swim at the age of 9 years old.

Son loves it too so y'all know he'll be tagging along occasionally, if there isn't school on certain days, or if we decide to go on a weekend. Things are easier for me to do now, I'm more mobile for the first time in years, and I love it. 

I'm hoping to get back into the writing routine when I'm not at the Centre this coming school year. I'm starting to get ideas for some of the stories I have on the go - I have THREE WIPs right now! - and I'd love to get back into at least one of them. I do hate leaving a story unfinished...........

Son is excited about school starting in three weeks. We are now officially DONE school shopping, and I'll soon be digging out his bookbag and school supplies to organize. We are going in for a tour of the Grade 6 wing and the rest of the Junior High end of campus the day before school starts, so Son can get his bearings, see who his teacher and the TA will be, and maybe even meet a few of his classmates that are special needs from the one feeder school that has their grade 6 class go into junior high. 

Today is also World Photography Day... Here are a couple of photos I took myself in celebration:

The first few are of my favorite beach, taken the other night, and the last one is of Amber who was on my chest. That's literally what I see when she does that.

Thank you to all who sent me birthday wishes so far, that was very kind of you. 

Since it is my day, I will leave you with something I love.... My favorite cover of all time.

Everyone, please enjoy "The Sound of Silence" from the album "Immortalized" by one of my favorite all time bands, DISTURBED.

Namaste everyone. 

Renovations

Whoa... 

Has it been two months since my last post here? I can't believe I've forgotten to update y'all on what's going on here in my neck of Canada.

First of all, we had a fantastic holiday season. It wasn't overly cold, we had a green holiday. No complaints here!

The reason why I haven't been around lately is that we're in the middle of reorganizing our house. We're finally able to get some work done on it, and because of that, I want to get this house shipshape inside and out. I've spent the last two months or so just getting rid of STUFF. Stuff we no longer use, stuff that's broken, clothing and toys my son has outgrown, and anything else we don't need or want. 

The most recent project is the closet under the stairs. I'm currently going through all of the boxes, etc in there, sorting out what to keep and what to toss. So far, the toss piles have been MUCH bigger than the keep ones! For example, I found an entire large recycling bag FULL of empty 200 g tobacco cans - the plastic modern ones. I was saving them for something... What, I don't remember. We decided keeping three or four of them was okay for Hubby's projects like nails, screws, etc, and we're recycling the rest, or giving them away to anyone who wants them. 

We checked all of the cans to make sure they were empty and we took the plastic liners out of them, they can't be recycled... When I was doing one can, I stuck my nose into it and took a whiff.

I used to love the smell of tobacco. Not anymore. I sneezed and gagged. Hubby thought it was great, because it's a sign of how far I've come in the last two years. Hard to believe that I'm almost 19 months into my quit. Yes, I'm still rolling with it, despite efforts to get me hooked on the nicodemon again... 

Meh, karma's a bitch, need I say more? ;) 

I hope to eventually put a lot of stuff we don't use a lot but like to keep handy in there - notably my stand up mixer, the coffee makers, and in time, a cabinet for canned goods - and some of Hubby's stuff too. 

I've been working on ideas, etc for Fourteen... It's slow going, but I think I'm starting to get how to proceed and the most logical way to work the "what if?" thing. 

I've been told to "ease" back into it considering how sick I was this past year, and how low my creative energy has been until recently. Rebuild that writing muscle slowly, by doing a little at a time until I'm back to spec kind of thing. Ideas, and a quick write up of a short scene - even if they are not used - is all I'm doing right now... Even though I'm going somewhat batty from not writing.

... SQUIRREL!!!....

^Damn things are always distracting me, even from my conversations with my best pal........ 

Something else I've started doing is cleaning out some of the pages I follow on Facebook. A lot of them have been sharing CRAP and I'm sick of it. 

For example, if your page has a theme of "hot guys" and talk about sex, etc, DO THAT... NOT share stuff like "He Found Out He was Dating His Brother!", and "Woman Cheats, Gets Pregnant, and Blames Jesus for Knocking Her Up" (Seriously, those two stories actually showed up on one of the hot guys pages I used to follow, just this morning and within half an hour of each other!).... If you have a music page, TALK ABOUT MUSIC, or share videos and photos, etc of MUSIC (any genre), NOT crap like "This looks ordinary until they finish, amazing!", or "Fat Guy Breaks Couch"... PUKE. 

As for my author page (I had to retire from ALL of the other ones in 2014 due to illness, and EVERY post on the author page is ME talking, not my other admins, they only moderate and watch if I'm offline or if I need backup for a troll)... If I don't have anything to share, I don't share anything. Yeah, I promote music as well as talk about writing, publishing, reading and other author related stuff on it, but anyone who follows me KNOWS I am a huge music person, and it's as vital to life as reading and writing are... And the theme of my page is "Love Is the Music of the Heart", as is the url for this blog AND my Facebook author page. I don't share bullshit like the pages I'm clearing off, nor do I make jabs at other people on it at all... yeah, I do it sometimes here but NEVER directly on the page or my author profile. Just sayin'. ;) 

I will say that there are some excellent pages on FB, and one not only shares pics of yummy men, but she also shares Freebies for Kindles in the Amazon bookstore... The US one, but I can still get the books for a small price Canadian... And I have.

I have the Kindle app on my Acer tablet, well, the old one and the new one. (More on the "new" one in a sec). 

You'd be surprised at the amount of GOOD books you can get for free or for a small price on there... Even Canadian prices are excellent. I purchased a few at Christmas for the Kindle on the old tablet, and let's just say that some were pretty darn "steamy" - a collection of short stories written by one particular author comes to mind... I am not even halfway through the one collection yet, and I'm about 25 stories into it. I have a couple of more on there waiting for me too. All good stuff, or I'm hoping they are. I've discovered I like MMF erotica books... The full "mix" to boot. Never thought I'd see the day when I said that! LOL 

Okay... What happened with the old tablet is that a couple of weeks ago, I had it sitting on the computer desk, and well, it kind of got knocked down by Cat. Son noticed the cracks in the screen and when I tried to get it working again, it wouldn't.

Hubby wasn't happy... But promised me we could get another one. 

So we have another tablet, the exact same brand, model and color as the old one, with a few differences, as well as similarities....

The new one has its own hard case, and has an extended warranty on it. It also has a few new things on it, like the newest version of a game that Son and I love to play on the desktop computer.

I got most of the old games back, without having to pay for them. Same with my Kindle content - Thank heavens! LOL 

The old one didn't have the warranty or a case... I was going to get one after the holidays but didn't have the chance to before CAT happened.

The warranty I purchased with the tablet will cover "Acts of Cat". I double checked with the young man who sold it to me, to be sure. If anything happens to it before February of 2019, including Idiot Cat knocking it off the computer desk and smashing the screen on my chair somehow again, they will replace it at no charge, with no questions asked. 

For the record, the tablet is an Acer Iconia One 7 B1-770, with 1GB of RAM and a 16 GB hard drive, but it also has a micro SD port... I have an 8GB card in it now but may upgrade to a 16GB card in time. It's white... I was going to get a black case for it - I love black - but since I'm not a fan of monochrome, I went with a case that's PURPLE. It's pretty! 

I do love purple... Tee hee...

And here's the old tablet, after "ACT OF CAT" struck it.......

Yeah, not pretty, is it? :( 

I hope this new one lasts me a VERY long time!

Have a great week everyone!