So, I wrote a post last week…and definitely forgot to post it. STILL NOT DEAD. Just forgetful. But just so you know that I’m not sitting over here doing nothing. I am. I’m hustling and grinding behind the scenes and sometimes, things slip my mind…like posting that blog from last week. It was a short one. But, for reference:
A MONTH.
In The Moment Before releases a MONTH from today. A MONTH. I still can’t believe it. I wrote this back in July and I’m actually releasing it next month as the first story in the world of Perish, Florida. Never heard of it? Probably because it’s 1) not a real place and 2) you’re new to this blog because I’ve talked about writing Perish Florida since earlier this year, when I thought I would be publishing A Royal Pairing in Perish around June. But I wanted to do the launch right this time, so I put it on pause, researched the HELL out of self-publishing (again) and after a trip to Tampa, I discovered a new/side story that I wanted to write that ended up becoming the first story in this world and it’s releasing NEXT MONTH.
I still can’t get over it. I feel like I’ve done a thousand things to prepare, but I still feel like I have billion more to do and all I really want to do is to work on the next story in the series (the writing portion. So far working on this has been 60/40 writing vs business.) I feel like I’ve come a long way with setting up this launch. I’m trying new things and I’m definitely throwing a lot of money at it (reasonably) but I know it takes money to make money and so far, I’ve been pressing the publish button and that’s it. It’s time to do more. I am doing more.
To celebrate re-stablishing myself (establishing for the first time?) I’m passing the awesomeness to you! During the month of December, I’m putting my Better Than This series on sale, with the first book as free and the others at .99. It’s my thank you for being an awesome supporter of me, my work, and reading in general. We need more people like you 😉
And because, why not? Gotta feel comfortable pimping my stuff:
Two weeks, guys. I know. I know. Well, the good thing is I’m not dead nor did I come close. Just general adulty-busyness which involved a mega cool Halloween party (no pictures…sorry…I’m lame and forgetful), a roof repair, and *several* tasks getting done for a certain release later this year. So, to recap: NOT dead, Halloween party, crazy roof repair, and writer tasks have kept me from posting a blog over the last two weeks. Definitely an excuse, but also definitely accurate.
First – our annual Halloween Party. As always, I was too busy getting literally everything else done that I forgot to take any pictures (YES, Batman helps tremendously but I’m Team Captain in this specific event so it all falls to me, and snapping pictures is the last thing on my mind. But I was able to grab a quick pic of myself at work where basically no one else dressed up. So, there’s that):
The ROOF. Okay, well no one likes getting their roof done and thankfully, Batman was able to stay home for the few days to overlook everything. It’s a good thing he did since one of the workers FELL THROUGH THE CEILING.
Yeah. Give that a second to sink in.
A MAN FELL THROUGH OUR CEILING. Like, through it. Don’t believe me?
Poor Batman was playing video games while the doggies were peacefully sleeping and then BAM! Human falls through the ceiling to the hardwood floor below. Yeah. Thankfully, he didn’t hurt himself too badly (JUST a broken rib) but like…really? That actually happens? Guess it does since we then had to deal with a contractor coming over the weekend to patch the ceiling since the roofing company couldn’t provide a resolution. To say I’m shocked is an understatement, as well as a bit of a lie since this is life and weird shit happens all the time.
Writing updates? Plenty, but I won’t bore you with them this week. Next week you’ll get the post with the pre-order links. Ah, hell, you three are my loyal readers, so you can have early access now! Why not:
I decided that at some point and have been sticking with it
11-11 is such a lovely date and has magical powers
I dunno but three reasons sound better than two
Also, I’m probably at the dentist right now getting the crown for my root canal. I’ll be sure to go over how amazing it was in next week’s post, unless I forget like I did with the actual root canal (or maybe I just didn’t want to relive it. That’s probably what it is).
Anyway, have a great rest of your week and I’m sorry I went mute for two weeks. But I promise I’ll always let you know if I’m dead. It would be too rude if I didn’t.
I had this whole other post about Amazon being terrible and glitchy and keeping my corporate-day-job-spirits down with their LIES. But, um, *cough* it may have been my stupid brain not looking in the right place. Maybe.
It is good to know the lightbulb—be it delayed from time to time—comes on eventually because THANK GOD I didn’t send Amazon an email asking for something—now that I think about it—is pretty damn obvious. Hopefully I’ll remember this for BTY in November. I should. If I don’t, someone remind me that it’s pretty damn obvious where I need to look for pre-orders. Okay? You’re all in charge of that. Share the responsibility wisely.
For those of you who’ve ordered: thank you 😊 I can’t wait for you to read it!
One week, guys. One week from TODAY.
SEVEN DAYS.
(but the good kind. Not the kind where you die by a gross well-dwelling girl who needs a major haircut. Definitely not that kind.)
I know, because I don’t have a single pre-order, which is cool, except that it isn’t because it kind of sucks seeing absolutely zero interest after the first one released in May. Maybe I should be drinking while I write this.
*looks over shoulder*
Nevermind. Kitchen’s too far away and I’m comfortable. But no, the zero lack of sales isn’t what kept me from posting on Wednesday. It’s because 1.) it snuck up on me like always and 2.) I wasn’t really sure what to write about and oh, 3.) WE’RE WATCHING TWO EXTRA DOGS AND THEY WON’T STOP BARKING/WHINING. Well, one of them won’t. And when she does, she’s usually ripping something into shreds which means I must watch her AT ALL TIMES. That, or fall victim to the bark/whine orchestra that makes my eyes want to pop. So, we’ll just recap and say I wasn’t in much of a “writing mood” these past few days.
I’m still totally thrilled about BTN’s release next week (yep! Next week, folks! I mean, how did three months fly? #amiright?) but I’ve been a bit…melancholy over the whole thing. Not just the lack of sales *cough zero sales cough* but the pressure of everything, and how much I don’t know and everything is so much of a long shot that sometimes the whole thing feels…unattainable. It’s a terrible way to think but we all have these days.
Anywho, I know I’m going crazy and posting late on a Thursday, but I couldn’t let all of you three reading this not know that I was okay. I am, thank you for wondering. As always, I’m flattered. Better Than Now releases next Friday, August 17th (Rob’s birthday) and yeah, I’m excited about it. I also should do some kind of advertising but the good stuff costs money and like we’ve talked about on numerous occasions, releasing three books three months apart maybe wasn’t the best idea. Again, lesson learned.
But still, I’m super excited for the next chapter of Autumn and Alex’s relationship to be out there! (slight melancholy) squee!
How have you been? Anything exciting/fun happening in your neck of the woods?
Woop! This, my friends, will take you to the magical place where you can have Better Than Now sent to your reading device. It won’t appear until August 17th (Rob’s birthday) but STILL. You can get the book by clicking here. Right here. Or even here.
Autumn Sommers wants to forget what happened on the bus. It’s been three years, but avoiding Alex Wolf has become standard, especially since everyone knows about his sketchbook—and the drawings of her inside. The incident followed them from junior-high and now, in their sophomore year, the two have been paired on a project.
Autumn just wants to get through it. She needs to maintain her grades to keep her terrible Aunt Milly from moving back in, but working with Alex might be impossible since they have to pretend to be a couple for their assignment. Forced to put their past on hold, the two focus on their fictitious relationship until the lines between real and fake get blurred, and they discover there might be some truth to the façade. But things have changed since seventh grade. Alex has a secret, and it could mean the end of their new friendship…and more.
After everything they’ve been through, Autumn isn’t sure she can go back to the way it was. With their project—and her heart—on the line, she’ll need to prepare for whatever happens, even if it means a return to silence with the boy she wants the most.
With the talent show behind them, Autumn and Alex can finally begin their relationship. It took a school assignment, but they’ve managed to move beyond their awkward past to become one of the most popular—and gossiped-about—couples in school. Dating was supposed to be the easy part, but now that they’ve been plunged into the spotlight, Autumn isn’t sure she can keep up.
Things at home aren’t any better. Being grounded already sucks, but when her mom outright refuses the idea of Alex, things only get worse. It isn’t until a family secret is exposed that Autumn understands the depth of her mom’s disapproval, and the role it plays in her future with Alex.
With all the attention at school and her lack of support at home, Autumn fears for her relationship. She knows that for everything to work out, something drastic will have to change, and when it does, she’s faced with a choice that determines the rest of her life.
Woop! Two weeks, guys! I’m stoked. Are you stoked? Let’s be stoked together. Okay? So CLICK ME to pre-order Better Than Now and we’ll stoke like no one’s ever stoked before. It’ll be glorious.
Also: I won a tote from my online romance writer’s group (which is AWESOME) All The Kissing! Look how cool it is! Hands up for participating in the RWA online party 😊
Guess what I’m doing this Friday? (besides, like, crying with excitement that the weekend is here, and wishing Ari a happy birthday (happy birthday, Ari!))
Give up?
I’m making my second book, Better Than Now AVAILABLE FOR PRE-ORDER, MOFOS!
*What?*Really?*No way!*You sure?*
Yeah. It’s pre-order time. Already. The time has come and good God does it fly. Like, wasn’t I just here babbling on about Better Than This? It feels like yesterday. May feels like yesterday. 2005 feels like yesterday and I don’t understand why I’m 32 and not 16. I digress.
AUGUST 3RD. This Friday. The Link. The legend. If you still need to read Better Than This, 1) yes, yes you do, and 2) it’s not terribly long, so you could probably catch up. Fast. Lightening fast. Just click here. For the rest of you who have read it, can we just take a moment and squeal together because GUYS I’m *so* excited for you to read this one. More banter. More guitars. More…steam. WINK. NUDGE.
*SQUEE*
All the excitement all over the place. 😊 Other than my coworker, Rob’s birthday, nothing crazy important is happening on Better Than Now’s release date: August 17th. For Better Than This, it was pretty much a national holiday: Deadpool 2 premiered. For Better Than You, it WILL be a national holiday (in my heart) because The Crimes of Grindelwald comes out. So, mark your calendar for BTN’s release and Rob’s birthday. It’s going to get crazy 😊
Has anything cool happened on your release days? Did you use it any marketing strategies? Asking for a friend.
Insecure Writer’s Support Group (IWSG) is a monthly blog hop for writers at all levels to share their fears and insecurities in a safe and encouraging place. Please drop by and say hi to Alex Cavanaugh who started this nifty concept in bringing us all together.
Also, I caught a fly in a water bottle the other day.
Who likes a sale on really awesome stuff? (*raises hand more aggressively*)
Who likes a sale on really awesome baddass stories from badass authors? (*THROWS MONEY AT QUESTIONER*)
Okay, good. I’ve got your attention:
Vampires… Werewolves… Monsters… They stalk our dreams and nightmares… the stuff of legends and fantasies…
Featuring short stories by Joleene Naylor (the Amaranthine series), Amber Naralim (the Monsters series), and Gabriella Messina (the Bloodline series), CREATURE FEATURE invites you to take a taste of the worlds these three authors have created, and the creature characters you will never forget.
Okay, I haven’t had the pleasure of reading Amber Naralim or Gabriella Messina’s stories quite *yet* (though I’m sure they’re amazing) but I was able to sneak a peek at one of Amaranthine-world-creator, Joleene Naylor’s and it’s AWESOME. First, if you haven’t delved into her series yet- what are you waiting for? And second, this story is a Jorick origin, which means you get to see how he became a vampire. Woop!
Jorick dreams of leaving his native country but, after poor harvests, he can’t raise the funds. When a mysterious foreigner arrives with a job offer – care for his animals and stay away from his house until sundown – it seems like easy money. Except, something is killing the herd one by one. When Jorick sets out to stop it, he’ll discover the horrifying truth about his employer and will have to decide: Is the money worth working for the devil?
Want a quick sneak peek? You’ve got it! Take a look below:
The following evening, Jorick didn’t meet Malick at the door. Instead, he ate a meager dinner, and readied for the night’s plan. Malick might not care what was killing the sheep, but he was tired of being outsmarted. How the thing could get in the barn was a mystery he must have an answer to.
And once I see what it is, I’ll kill it.
He loaded up a bag, grabbed a lamp and his musket, then headed off through the night. The walk was familiar, but strange. A heaviness hung around him, like invisible mist. Every breath he took was laced with some dark presence; a sense of danger. There was even a moment when he was tempted to turn around, but his stubbornness pushed him on.
Soon the barn was a hulking shadow in the distance. As he drew closer, he saw the moonlight glint on the boards, on the roof, on the open door-
Open door?
He’d put the sheep away and locked everything up himself! He dropped the bag and quickly set to work readying the gun, filling it with powder, loading it, snapping the ramrod back in place. A breeze blew, the door swung, and he quickly used the lamp to light the gun’s wick. A quick blow, a flare from the burning rope and he started forward, the musket shouldered and ready to go.
The few moments between where he’d left the bag and the barn turned into aching long hours. He moved softly over late summer grass, his feet wet with dew. His heart hammered. His breaths were quick, rasping sounds that seemed too loud in the stillness.
He got to the door and pushed it gently with the barrel of the gun, pulling it the rest of the way open. Inside, the sheep were silent, though not bedded down. They stood, pale shapes washed in shadows, unmoving. A dark figure stood among them, large for an animal, hunched. Jorick aimed the musket and blew again at the wick. The light flared. In that momentary glow he saw Malick, bent over one of the sheep, his lips drawn back from fangs, a drizzle of blood down his chin.
In the shock, Jorick fired. The gun jerked in his hands and the smoke puffed past him. He saw the dark shape of Malick stumble back, followed by a roar more animal than human. Jorick knew he’d hit him, knew that the damage would be severe – he’d seen the balls push bone out of wounds before. Still, he saw the dark shape lumber back to its feet, let out a second roar-
Jorick ran. The pounding of his heart drowned out Malick’s fury as he raced away, not bothering to grab his bag as he passed it. On he ran, until he reached his own home. Inside, he slammed the door and knocked the bolt in place, too exhausted to do anything but sag against it, gasping for air.
The wick burned his hand. He reflectively dropped the musket, but retrieved it quickly. His hands shook as he moved through the rooms to his store, as he tried to load the gun again, preparing in case the monster had followed him.
Monster.
In that flash of light, that’s what he’d seen. Malick’s long white hair fell around a contorted face, his pale beard stained scarlet with the lamb’s blood, while the motionless sheep surrounded him, silent, glassy eyes looking on, but not seeing.
No wonder he wasn’t worried about what killed the sheep. He knew what it was. It was him.
Want to know what happens next? You’re going to have to grab your copy!
The good news is that Creature Feature has a special preorder price of $.99 until it’s release date (June 21st) when it goes up to $2.99. All proceeds go to the Book Born Children’s Christmas Book Fund, sponsored by Book Born Facebook group. (link: https://www.facebook.com/groups/bookborn/ )
Click here to pre-order on Amazon. Click here for everywhere else.
Aren’t you excited? We get to see how Jorick became a vampire. JORICK! Again, if you haven’t gotten into the Amaranthine series, what are you waiting for? This baby’s not set to come out for another two weeks so you have plenty of time. And with a pre-order sale of .99, you really can’t beat that!
Grab your copy of the Creature Feature Anthology for amazing stories from amazing authors like Joleene Naylor, Amber Naralim, and Gabriella Messina!
It’s here! I pressed buttons and did things and now you can PRE-ORDER Better Than This and be able to read it in TWO WEEKS. BBBBAAAAHHHH things are happening.
TWO WEEKS and the content becomes available on your kindle or tablet or phone device (whatever you use to entertain yourself) and all you have to do is press this lovely link that takes you to my lovely page that allows you to PRE-ORDER because I remembered to do that this time. That’s right. Someone’s thinking a couple of days—er, weeks—ahead her official release date. 😉
Wow. I’m excited for me. That sounds strange but now, instead of just talking about this thing I’m going to put online for strangers to read, I can actually point to it. I can be all: ‘You-hoo! I beg your pardon—but have you checked this lovely link that will take you to something I crafted from my own brain? Here let me show you’ instead of just telling people: ‘Yo. I wrote book. It’ll be on the internet at some point at some place.’
It’s all about the link. And now, I have one. And this may be the billionth one I’m giving you, but it works in my favor because the more chances you have to accidently click on it, the more likely you are to end up looking at the book and possibly—possibly—buying. So, my apologies if random words become links because I’m totally meaning to do this.
No, now. For total realizies. I’m just highly energized on my very special code that means you can read Autumn and Alex’s story in TWO weeks. It’s a big deal because I’m excited to share their friendship/angsty-ness/excitement/tears/all of it with you and draw you in so I don’t have to be alone in it anymore. It’s really, more so, a call for help. I’ve gone through the rings with these guys; I need some empathy so jump on in and tell me it’s going to be okay (even though I wrote the ending and I’m the only one who knows what happens. MUAHAHAHAHA)
Tttthhhhaaaatttt should do it. Oh, here’s one more link in case you missed the ones above.
Happy Friday! Enjoy your day/weekend/ Infinity Wars (I hear it’s good—seeing it tonight) and, of course, may the 4th be with you 😊
