Writing: Monthly Update for May 2020

I'm glad May is over but now it's crunch time! I felt like I was so busy last month, yet I barely got anything done! Except dragging two of our cats halfway across the state and back again for a mini vacation to my in-laws house. The car ride was less than desirable but the time outside, on the farm, was exactly what I needed to recharge. We sat on the deck chatting and drinking cocktails. We also had a nice campfire and cooked S'mores! So relaxing.

Hope you had a chance to relax! If not, maybe June will give you chance ♥

Read in May:

I read SO much in May! Imagine all the writing I could have done LOL
There were some good books in here. The first three, The Mate, Deep Wood, and A Slice of Love are all novellas and all fun, low angst. Well, Deep Wood attempts more angst, since it's age gap and there's a "bad guy" but it's still pretty light on the angst.

Southern Charmer is the first book in the Charleston Heat series. I'd already read book 2 lol Southern Player. This one was good but book 2 is still my favorite. Luke is going to be a tough hero to beat. I can't wait to read the rest of the series to see if any of them can.

North was interesting. I've been on an age gap kick because I've written one and will be revising it soon. Wanting to make sure I do the trope justice. This one was more taboo since she was 16 when they had their first encounter. It was also much more angsty than mine. Overall, I enjoyed it. Just not what I had been looking for.

Share Me was my first reverse harem story. Well, the first RH story I was able to finish. I can't explain why but this one worked. I actually believed these 5 could make it work. And I can TOTALLY see how people get addicted to these. When they're good. They're GOOOOODDDD. LOL Mmm... Give me that book crack!

I did not know what I was getting into with Voyeur. My friend, Bree, recommended it and I follow her recs blindly. And though she has yet to lead me astray, I did struggle with this one at about the halfway mark. SO. MUCH. ANGST. But I talked to Bree and she encouraged me to stick with it. I'm SO glad I did. I found another broken book boyfriend. (I love my broken boys!) Their relationship ended up so sweet. Also, another age gap. And college student/teacher.

What did you read in May? Find any new favorites?

June TBR:

Word Count:

Started strong, then went into revisions where word count is known to plummet. Also hit some mental blocks and ended up reading a lot more than normal. Which is good but not very productive. Pretty chart though!

Current Romance WIPs:

Forcing Fate - I'm in deep with this one! Revising like a mad woman to get it done for a July release. And since I still have several scenes yet to draft, it will be late July.

That's it. LOL This was all I focused on in May. Doing my best to bring you a new release!

The End:

Thanks for reading. Stay safe! Keep moving forward!

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Click on the images below to start reading!

Writing: Monthly update for January

WOW! Can you believe January is over already? 

It's been a hectic month. I wasn't sure I'd be able to get everything done I'd planned on doing, but I did! All that hard work and late nights and pulling out my hair means a new release is coming your way THIS MONTH! 

A book birthday and my own birthday in the same month!! 

Current Romance WIPs:

FACING FATE - Coming to an eReader near you on February 18th, 2020!

PREORDER FACING FATE TODAY!

Amber is looking forward to living on her own for the first time in her life. Then, on moving day, Jake, who dropped everything to help her move last minute, gets a life-changing call. Now homeless, after losing his internship, Amber offers him her couch.

Problem is, Jake already promised his frat brother, and Amber's childhood friend, he would stay away from her.

Awkward, shy, and self-conscious due to an unfortunate allergy, Jake is reluctant to accept Amber's offer. Not wanting to intrude on her newfound freedom. But Amber is hellbent on helping him any way she can. Even giving him some hands-on help building his confidence to use the moves he learns with her to land himself a real date.

Problem is, he doesn't want to date anyone but Amber.

FORCING FATE (Fate #4) - Will start drafting Evan's story after the Running Into Trouble draft is finished.

FREEING FATE (Fate #5) - There will be a fifth couple in the Fate series! Coming to you in a Christmas special! (Hopefully this year!)

REUNITED (Formerly Infinitely Endless, Formerly Plus One) - This is the final title change! I PROMISE! I finished revising Avery and Lia's story and sent it to a couple of beta readers. Got some great feedback and will only have to do a few minor revisions to get it ready to release! You should look for this one in April 2020!

RUNNING INTO TROUBLE (an age gap romance) - This is on the top of my to-do list. Plan on having a finished draft by the end of February. Hopefully sooner!

Word Counts:

Most of the month was dedicated to revisions. As a result, the word count is lacking. It's sad that this chart doesn't accurately represent the insane amount of work I put into writing this month. You'll just have to take my word for it. :P LOL

 

 

Publishing News:

Facing Fate has a release date! February 18th, 2020!

PREORDER FACING FATE TODAY!

Read in January:

I had so much revising to do, I only read one day in January and it was the book I started in December. And still haven't finished... 

If you're looking for a new steamy read while you're waiting for Facing Fate to drop, check out the books on the list below!

Click here --> New Year, New Sensations: A Steamy, Spicy, and Erotic Romance KU Book Fair

Thanks for reading. Keep moving forward!

Buy the first two books in the FATE series and preorder book 3 today

Thank you!

Writing: Monthly update for December with cover reveal and preorder for Fate book 3!

And there's the big announcement for the month and to kick off the new year! The Fate series has new covers and the third book, Facing Fate, has a cover! Eeeekkk!!! AND you can pre-order it! Double Eeeekkk!!! 

I have two reasons for doing this.

1. Fake to Fate's original cover was a free photo from unsplash.com. I wasn't sure I was going to keep up this self publishing thing, so I wasn't ready to pay to license a photo until I was sure this was going to stick.

2. While I loved the original covers, they weren't portraying the genre well enough. As much as we say "don't judge a book by it's cover," we all do. LOL The statistic I've heard is every cover gets about 2 seconds as people scroll through Amazon's millions of books. I'm hoping to really make those 2 seconds count. 

Let me know how you feel about the new covers! 

The original covers for books 1 and 2 will be available for paperback for up to 72 hours, possibly less, while Amazon approves the new ones. Get 'em while you still can!

Fake to Fate: mybook.to/FaketoFatepaperback
😘 Self proclaimed hermit heroine with an overbearing ex
😘 Billionaire fake boyfriend who comes to her rescue
Fighting Fate: mybook.to/FightingFatePaperback
😘 Workaholic heroine with a one-track mind
😘 Muscly frat boy who's surprisingly well adjusted

If you have trouble with the links, you can search on Amazon for the books using these id's: 1091548714 and 168686308X

Hope you all had an amazing holiday season and are as excited about 2020 as I am!

Current Romance WIPs:

FACING FATE - We have a cover! A little anti-climactic but you get the idea. :P Holidays have delayed my progress on this. Revisions are coming along though. I'm about half done and should have a copy ready for my beta readers in the next week or two. 

Release date, however, is still up in the air. (The preorder is set for the end of April but I plan on releasing it MUCH sooner than that.) Shooting for February! (My birthday month, btw WOOT!)

Here's a little something from the first scene. When Jake sees Amber for the first time. :D Enjoy!

“Hey.” Evan nudged Jake in the ribs with one arm and raised the other to wave. “It’s Amber.”

“Who?” Jake followed Evan’s wave across the room.

“Amber. An old friend of mine. Haven’t seen her in ages.” Evan turned his hand inviting over the girl Jake was beginning to believe was invisible.

But then, out of the sea of people emerged a petite, curvy bombshell of a woman with jet black hair piled on top of her head so haphazardly strands had escaped framing her heart-shaped face adorned with translucent, purple rimmed Wayfarers. Free of the crowd, her hips swayed in cut-off shorts he was sure couldn’t have completely covered her backside. He couldn’t wait for her to walk away to find out. Because she would—walk away. They always did.

PREORDER FACING FATE TODAY!

FORCING FATE (Fate #4) - That's right! There will be a fourth book in the series! I'd had this couple in mind but didn't have much of a story for them. A couple of weeks ago, a scene for the end of book 3 popped into my head and there were Evan and Cece, waiting to tell their story.

INFINITELY ENDLESS (aka Plus One) - Haven't touched this one since finishing the draft. But I plan on getting back to it again soon.

RUNNING INTO TROUBLE (an age gap romance) - Unfortunately, I didn't get much more written on this before having to get back to revising Facing Fate. I'm planning on finishing this draft before drafting the next Fate book though. I can't wait to get back to it!

Word Counts:

Well? December wasn't much for words. To be fair, a lot of days were devoted to revisions and that doesn't usually add to word count. 

January probably won't look much better. LOL

 

 

Publishing News:

Just the cover changes! Get the original covers while you can!

Fake to Fate: mybook.to/FaketoFatepaperback
😘 Self proclaimed hermit heroine with an overbearing ex
😘 Billionaire fake boyfriend who comes to her rescue
Fighting Fate: mybook.to/FightingFatePaperback
😘 Workaholic heroine with a one-track mind
😘 Muscly frat boy who's surprisingly well adjusted

If you have trouble with the links, you can search on Amazon for the books using these id's: 1091548714 and 168686308X

Read in December:

I only finished one book this month. Yikes. I started two I lost interest in. :( Currently reading Den of Wolves by Juliet Marillier. If you can't tell, I've been in the mood for fantasy and sci-fi. Too bad a couple of them didn't work out. I'll be getting back to reading more contemporary soon. I received a lot of fantasy books for Christmas though. So... LOL

Finished Exiled. DNF'd Cyborgs' Claim and Darkfever. Currently reading Den of Wolves

Thanks for reading. Keep moving forward!

Buy the first two books in the FATE series and preorder book 3 today!

Thank you!

Writing: Monthly update for November

Annnddd... we have another cat. We think she was dumped outside of town. She followed my husband home from a city council meeting. We called around and found out she'd been hanging out at city hall for several days. No one was looking for her and the shelters were all full. The snow and freezing weather was coming, so we took her in. Meet Harper! She's about 5 months old now and about 5.5 pounds. And a real stinker! We love her so much!

She's getting along great with our nearly 3 year old Cricket...

And the cantankerous 10 year old Caillou wishes the youngsters would leave him alone!

November didn't slow down after the cat drama.

Thanksgiving festivities kicked my butt! Hopefully all of you in the states are recovering better than I did. 

December 1st, we put up our little Christmas tree. We have two cats who haven't yet experienced Christmas. So, we thought we'd use the little tree to train them. Already found ornaments on the floor and little Harper is a chewer. lol Here it is all lit up!

Now for the writing...

Current Romance WIPs:

FACING FATE - After last month's drama, I'm happy to announce this is ready for revisions! I'll be getting to it soon but I would first like to finish drafting the book I'm currently writing. More about that below. 

INFINITELY ENDLESS (aka Plus One) - The (VERY) rough draft of this is done! It will need a lot of revisions. I'm not sure if I will do this one after FACING FATE or wait because it is so rough. That's what happens when I take long breaks in my drafting process rather than writing straight through.

RUNNING INTO TROUBLE (an age gap romance) - Started drafting this toward the end of the month. I flipping love it! Daniel and Riley are quickly becoming my favorite characters. I'm roughly a quarter of the way through the rough draft. Hoping to finish it before Christmas!

Here's a little blurb: He’s trying so hard not to get involved with a woman half his age but when all she wants to do is help make his father-daughter dinner the best it can be, how can he say no?!

Word Counts:

November was better! Though, can you see the impact Thanksgiving had on me? lol

Total for the month was 20,667! Not NaNoWriMo but still a solid month!

Publishing News:

Nothing to report. I'm hoping to publish FACING FATE in late January/early February. Will keep you updated!

Read in November:

Warning I wish I'd had: Sweet Liar is NOT a standalone. It's a part 1 of 2. Literally only the first half of the story. I was quite upset when I finished and found this out.

Magnificent Bastard is a lot of fun though. :D

Thanks for reading. Keep moving forward!

Buy the first two books in the FATE series today!

Thank you!

Writing: Monthly update for October

Current Romance WIPs:

FACING FATE - Oh, the drama... So, this book had been moving at a snail's pace even though the word count kept rising. I mean, just look at my word count tracker for October! It wasn't until October 30th that I realized why I couldn't find the end of this book.

I'd already passed it.
Here's what I posted in one of my writing groups after it happened...

"I wanted to scream last night but was in a library. Don't think they would have appreciated it. So, I've been frustrated with how long my current WIP is taking to finish. Turns out, I blew past the ending! UGH!!!!!

I sat down last night and wrote a sort of synopsis for the book, ignoring the fact I'd already written most of it. I allowed myself to let things happen that felt right, whether they existed in the book already or not and to come out in whatever order they flowed naturally. Doing this, I discovered I was chasing the wrong ending, things were happening out of order, and I'm missing some key character and plot moments. 😭😭😭

On the upside, I've already written the climax of the story. So, to "finish" the book, I just need to back up and write the resolution.

Downside, this thing is going to need some serious revisions and I'm probably going to lose several thousand words in the process."

As of, November 2nd, I'm done drafting FACING FATE! And now I'm going to take a break from it for a couple of weeks.

INFINITELY ENDLESS (aka Plus One) - This is what I'm drafting while I take a break from FACING FATE. It's coming along nicely! Hoping to finish it this time around.

Word Counts:

Got a lot of words written in October, but didn't make a whole lot of progress. UGH!

November will be better!

Publishing News:

Nothing to report!

Read in October:

FYI: Most of these are short reads. Just Roommates is the only full novel on the list. A couple are more like teasers, which I didn't know going into them (Rock Hard, Snowed in with the Ranger, and Lightning Strikes)

Thanks for reading. Keep moving forward!

Buy the first two books in the FATE series today!

Thank you!

Writing: Monthly update for July

I finally fought my way out of revisions!

Current Fantasy Romance WIPs:

So, I included this in my update last month without considering whether or not readers of contemporary romance would also be interested in fantasy romance.

If you wouldn't mind, I'd love your help deciding whether or not I should publish Fantasy Romance under a different name.

Please respond to the following questions with your thoughts.

Do you only wish to read contemporary romance and would not like to get updates about fantasy romance? Or would you like to know about everything I write, regardless of genre?

Thanks in advance for your input! 

Current Romance WIPs:

FIGHTING FATE - I DID IT! I finished revising! Today, I will contact my beta readers and ask for feedback to be returned within two weeks. After that, I'll revise again, considering their feedback. Then, it's off to ARC readers before publishing!

Release day is not set yet but I expect it will be mid-September.

Can't wait for you all to read Katie and Isaac's story! They fought me just as much as they fought the feelings they had for each other. But it was worth it in the end! I hope you all love them as much as I do. 

PLUS ONE - I will pick this up again in about a week. My family and I are going on a trip to Minnesota next week to an author signing event for the release of Mary E. Pearson's new release, Vow of Thieves and I have to finish reading her ARC!

Word Counts:

You'd think this was a drafting month, not a revision month based on those word counts! 

I suppose it kind of was. I added over 20K words to the "first" draft, that was really more of a zero draft.

Really excited Fighting Fate will be a full novel now that it's over 50K words!

 

Publishing News:

Nothing to report on Fake to Fate.

Fighting Fate should come out Mid-September. I'll let you all know the official release day when I know it and include a pre-order link!

Read in July:

I feel like it's worth noting, this book was a gift from my wonderful, supportive husband. 

Thanks for reading. Keep moving forward!

Buy FAKE TO FATE! Ebook and paperback are on Amazon now. Thanks!

If you would like more frequent updates, please follow me on Instagram. If you're as impatient as I am, you can get some of the information in my updates when it happens rather than having to wait for the monthly update!

Just Writing Things - 2

Mini rant 😅

I believe the above image is why so many authors stress out about writing. After English teachers have convinced them their writing has to mean something to mean anything. It's one of the many things that kept me down about my own writing for so long.

AND just because an author doesn't bury a deeper meaning in their prose doesn't mean their writing is vapid or shallow. Characters give a story depth as much, if not more than anything else.

And why that's relevant to me? Romance is all about the characters! Because without decently developed characters it wouldn't matter what the genre was. If the story was fluffy and sweet or deep and meaningful, it would not be as good.

Thanks for reading. Keep moving forward!

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Buy FAKE TO FATE! Ebook and paperback are on Amazon now. Thanks!