June is nearly over and what a month it proved to be. Two book signings, a book release, and a lot of family fun. As much as I enjoyed traveling, I'm looking forward to spending July close to home. Besides writing, I plan to spend the next few weeks enjoying the movies, bowling, and miniature golf.
Tigger and Roo joined me at the CrownePlaza in Louisville during the last signing. They swam and enjoyed room service. Tigger got a chance to try Zaxby's (don't ask me why Roo loves it so much). I didn't get to spend much time with them since I attended the meet & greet and the after party.
At the Louisville signing, I met cool authors like Scarlet Wolfe, JM Madden, Atty Eve, Emma Shade, and Jessie Lane. I was super lucky when Julia Sykes was sweet enough to give me a signed copy of her newest book. Plus, Laramie Briscoe, Seraphina Donavan, and Chelsea Camaron donated swag and books for a giveaway on Nic's Novel Idea. Finally, I was able to spend time with Aimie Gray at the after party where we learned about a signing scheduled for October. Now we'll be tablemates in Cincinnati.
Writing-wise, I'm working on Thunderstruck. While it's technically the first book in the Ramsey series, I plan to write the books as standalones. After finishing two series in the last six months, I crave the freedom of a standalone romances. After Thunderstruck, I'll work on my novella for a box set.
I'm also inching along in the edit of Wounded Soul for my Dakota pen name. Creatively, I want to work on Thunder, so Wounded keeps being pushed to the back burner. I do plan to get it finished this summer, so the book will be ready to showcase at the Kentuckiana Authors Book Blitz in September. I'm hoping to pimp both Bijou and Dakota at that particular signing. Roo and Tigger will also be with me, so it should be a relaxed and fun occasion.
Here's hoping July is relaxed and fun for everyone!
Naughty in the South 2015 was great! Sure, there was some drama with the organizer, but none of it affected me. Being a midlister has its benefits. I just kept my head down and focused on my table.
Instead of trying to micromanage everything, I allowed God to take the lead during the trip. Roo and I arrived in Birmingham safely. We were assigned a room on the 14th floor, and Roo loved looking down at the hotel's Atrium restaurant.
On Friday, I skipped the Meet & Greet. Instead, I met the super cool Shyla Colt. We talked for over an hour, and I was thrilled to learn she's not only attending the Kentuckiana Authors Book Blitz in Sept. She's also going to the Outlaw Biker signing in 2016. That one should be phenomenal with Shyla, Laramie Briscoe, Jordan Marie, Sapphire Knight, Nicole James (who asked me to attend...eep!), and plenty more of the coolest MC romance authors.
Back to Birmingham, I was thrilled when a reader named Tiffany showed up. Having read Beast not long after it was published, she was one of my first "fangirls." Tiffany proved to be as great in person as online. I felt really blessed to see her there.
I had no idea how many books to bring to the signing, so I went with a handful of each of my 12 books (Wind's paperbacks weren't ready yet). I ended up selling all but two.
During the signing, I met Chelsea Camaron who worked on the Blue Colla box set. At the table next to mine was Tia Louise. She's also from the Indy area, so it was great meeting another Hoosier author. I'll see Chelsea again at the Louisville Authors Event and Tia at Sassy in Savannah in October.
I ended up skipping the after party. I wasn't feeling great and decided to hang with Roo instead. My little man was an amazing travel partner. He loves hotels and eating out. He even helped me set up my signing table. Roo made his mama proud.
Now that I'm back home, I need to prep for the Louisville Authors Event. I'm also editing Wounded Soul for my Dakota pen name. Yesterday, I started writing Thunderstruck for Bijou.
Well I had better get back to work if I want to make all my upcoming release dates. These books won't write (or edit) themselves.
Happy birthday to the awesome Candy Girl! My PA, cover illustrator, and BFF is too badass for words. I don't want to get all sappy, but the chick is both wise and creative. She keeps me on my toes and has saved my ass more than once. I have no idea where I'd be today if I hadn't met her back in 2013.
For the second year, I managed to publish on Miranda's birthday. I plan to make it a tradition. Last year was Used and this time around is In the Wind.
When readers first asked if I planned to write a book for Sawyer Johansson, I thought, "nope." A book set in the future felt tricky, and I didn't want to keep writing the same series forever. In the back of my mind though, I played with ideas for Sawyer while interest increased with every Damaged book.
Her book proved to be tricky, but not because it's set in the future. Maybe I jumped into the story too soon after finishing Broken Memphis. All I know is I had trouble getting into the heads of Sawyer and Jace. The side characters began taking over the story, and the romance felt lacking. A romance without chemistry isn't a romance no matter how much I say so.
The fix to the story came to me AFTER I finished the first draft and announced the release date. Thanks to Miranda, I got my ass in gear, fixed what needed fixing, and smoothed the rougher parts of the story. Only with her help did the book make its June 3 release date. Yeah, she's that good.
To give my Bijou brain a rest, this week I'm editing Wounded Soul for my Christian series. Miranda recently designed new covers for the three earlier books. I don't give my Dakota pen name much love since it doesn't pay the bills. Even so, I write those books out of a personal desire to tell the story. At this rate, I'll likely finish the series in 2017 since I'm publishing one book a year. They'll be finished though, which is more than I can say for my Angela books. One day, I do hope to give them proper endings.
This week, I'm driving to Birmingham, Alabama for my first signing since Houston in Jan. '14. I'll also attend the Louisville Authors Event two weeks later. During my author lunch last month, Laramie and Seraphina suggested I join the Louisville signing they're both attending. They called the organizer who said a spot was open. Voila! I'm now attending four signings this year.
June will be a busy month. Besides publishing and book signings, I'm taking Tigger and Roo to Holiday World. We've lived in Indiana for over a decade, yet never visited the amusement park. Finally, we can go. If we enjoy it, I'd love to visit often. When we lived in California, I took Tigger and Pooh to Disneyland at least once a month.
Roo is done with 5th grade and enjoying his reward - a video game. I'll start his summer school work after we return from Holiday World. I can already hear the whining.
After I go through the edit of Wounded Soul and get it to Miranda and Sally, I'll start on a new Bijou book. I'm looking forward to writing something different. I want to step away from motorcycle club romances for the next few books. In 2016, I have two MC series planned and at least one MC themed signing scheduled. I won't forget my tattooed biker boys and their tough chicks, but for the rest of the year, I'm shaking things up a bit.
As you all know, I met Miranda through my blog about a BBA. We don't blog anymore, so someone asked me if the BBA still cause trouble. Of course. Creating drama is a hobby for those people. Just recently, I discovered the sock of the more obsessive ones. She's manage to friend all of the "bullies and trolls." Now I admit she's pretty clever with her sock, and I'd seen this account more than once on BookLikes without giving it a second thought. Of course, everyone has their tells, and her arrogance gave her away. Once I figured out who was the behind the sock, I was able to figure out another one of this BBA's secret pen names.
Why not out the sock? She's not harming anyone. If she wants to pal around with people she hates, so be it. She's not paling around with Miranda or me. No one who is buddies with her seems to be bothered by her and she isn't accessing private info. Sure, she's pimping her own books, even writing reviews for them, but whatever. She always pulls that shit and she always will. Outing her sock will just mean the end to that particular sock. She'll be back with another one or two or ten. Plus once I out her, she'd become more obsessed with me. She's always been one of the least entertaining BBA focused on me. I prefer her more as her sock than as the real person. I say let her play her games. If she gets a few sales (a handful at most) with her lies, the readers scammed are smart enough to return the books if they don't like them. If they enjoy the books, no harm is done.
Miranda and I occasionally check into the BBA activity, but everything is too nasty. Negative behavior has escalated. Outing people's addresses. Calling their homes. Showing up at their houses. Attacking them physically. Their current nastiness makes the good old days of calling their enemies crazy fat sluts seem quaint. Turning our backs on the crap freed up a lot of time to write and read. The BBA always wanted us to focus on things that made us happy (and stop pointing out their lies). Well, they got their wish. Miranda now receives a lot of ARCs because more and more people are realizing what a cool chick she is. Somehow she manages to handle ARCs, my madness, and a fulltime job. Yep, she's that good.
Happy birthday, Candy Girl!!! The two videos are Miranda's choices. No one can say the chick doesn't have great taste! :)
