A Winter of Chills and Deadlines

No doubt about it...winter is here and I want to move to a warmer climate. Maybe next year. Until then, I'll hide inside working on several books. Sounds all multitasking impressive, but I'm actually horribly behind.

Let's see Scattered is still in the editing phase. I have eighty pages to go before I can FINALLY give it to Sally then Candy Girl. I was hoping to have Blue Awakening completed last year. Yeah, that happened.

So what am I doing then? My goal right now is to finish Gator's rough draft by next weekend then I'll finish editing Scattered. Next, it's Ellsberg for the long haul.

I decided I would write a book about Dylan and Winona. After some back and forth with Candy Girl, we decided on Damaged and the Bulldog. Freckles used to wear tees with bulldogs on them. Now, Dylan will.

I plan to go straight from working on Dragon to Bulldog. I also have plans for a special treat for fans.

Why Gator now? Sometimes, an idea demands to be written. I just needed to get this book out before my brain would focus on Ellsberg. It's very different from my other books. Written in present tense and mainly from the male POV, I decided to use a different pen name for the book. Ilaria Regan already has a blog and her first post. Aww, welcome to the pen drawer.

One thing slowing me down is the cold/flu I picked up. Initially, I assumed it was merely sinuses because of the crazy weather. Soon, the chills, aches and pains, and fever kicked in. I've been pretty useless the last few days. While I've slowed down, I still have plans for the rest of the week.

For Indie Angie, I'm preparing an interview with romance author Laramie Briscoe. As you remember, she was my table buddy at the Houston signing. Sweet, funny, and talented, Laramie has TWO new books coming out in the next few months.

Before I got sick, I posted Deadly Dee's raving review for Robert Kent's novel All Together Now: A Zombie Story on Where Zombies Come to Read. Finally, we responded to the butthurt battles on BBA Whisperer.

January has been a busy month and thrown me off my groove. The next few months will allow me to get a few books published. Plus, I'm going to try that marketing thing Candy Girl and Lil Sis are always talking about. I have big goals for the next six months and plans to travel to Houston again this summer. You know, to see if I burst into flames from the heat.

Houston, Bikers, Babes, and BBA

Sigh. What a week. I know I say that a lot, but this last week was stressful, yet awesome. As you know, Tigger and Roo drove with me to Houston for my first book signing. We made the trip into a vacation. Don’t even know where to begin on the amazing week spent away from home.

I’ll start by saying we loved Houston. My cousin (who I hadn't seen in a few decades) lives on the north side of the city, so I found us a hotel nearby. I chose a new La Quinta with an indoor pool since the boys love to swim. What I didn’t know was the hotel was in The Woodlands area. We scored on the location. The Woodlands is filled with restaurants and stores. We ate Italian, Mexican, Chinese, and barbecue. We also visited the downtown aquarium with my cousin and her girls.

The book signing was crazy awesome. It was a weird feeling to meet readers who know my books better than I do. One of them, a sweet chickadee named Natalie, said she’d read anything I wrote. I’m just warning everyone that my ego is huge now.

Lucking out, I was seated next to awesome author Laramie Briscoe and her friend, and soon-to-be author, April. I also met Damaged series fan and fellow author Stephanie Garza who I interviewed on Indie Angie after she published her first romance. Between those three and the readers, I smiled and laughed so much that my face hurt afterward.

I'm hoping to return to Houston for another signing, preferably one in the summer. I’d been considering moving to Texas for a while (the no income tax thing is a nice carrot). Every time I told a local this fact, they said I needed to visit during the summer first. You know, to see if I could tolerate the heat. Of course, I would handle the heat there in the same way I handle it here. Hide inside with the air conditioning. While we were visiting, the weather was in the sixties. Yeah, I’m a little in lust with Houston.

The trip was also a creative boon. From the Illinois interstate adjacent strip clubs to “Little Memphis” to the hitchhiker on the long stretch of nothing in Arkansas, the drive inspired a million new ideas. In fact, I've added a few new books to my 2014 schedule. Who knows when they’ll be written?

Overall, the trip turned out better than I hoped. Take that, jealous anon F&G poster who misuses quotation marks. 

Back to non-freaky stalkers, I missed Pooh more than I can express and am relieved to be home. Sally did a great job watching him and he did a job great watching her. The cats did a great job trashing the house because they felt ignored. The dog did a great job pretending to be a pissed off cat.

Normally, I’d list off a bunch of blog posts I’d worked on or books I’m churning out. While technically a business trip, I was really on vacation and did nothing blog or writing-wise. Thankfully, Agent M was on the job and smacked around (figuratively) more than one BBA. Giggles.

This month on Where Zombies Come to Read, I’m focusing on All Together Now: A Zombie Story. After the scarecase, I posted an interview with the author Robert Kent. He also provided an excerpt that I'll post next week. Finally, Deadly Dee is working on the review for the book. I’m thrilled to profile a fellow Hoosier author.

In a few days, I’ll have the blogs running especially Whisperer. We have a few ideas to help new authors avoid turning into asshats. Plus, everyone in the know is well aware of the Titty Twisting Trifecta happening between Rick Carufel, Melissa Douthit, and Asshole92X (the BBA who equates bigotry towards the disabled with negatively shelving rude authors). While I had hoped F&G going into retirement would mean we’d have less reason to blog, BBA never rest. If they didn’t have something negative and whiny to say, these numbnuts would say nothing at all. With other asshats pointing out her bad behavior, Melissa is in overdrive trying to find something positive for her hate blog.

Soon, I’ll get back into the swing of things here in Indy. Books and blogs need writing. Laundry needs washing. Best of all, kids need cuddling. So far, 2014 is turning out to be one hell of a year.

Happy New Year!!!

Well, 2013 was beyond awesome. I grew a lot as an author and person. At the start of the year, I couldn't figure out the whole blogging thing. Now, I run a half dozen. Back in the winter, I was lucky to sell fifteen books a month. Now, I average a few thousand. Over the year, I made a few great friends and ditched some crappy ones. Allow me to get nostalgic about 2013...

BBA, F&G, and Cliques

In January 2013, I only knew the very basics of the BBA bullshit stinking up the indie author scene. I had never read F&G. I didn't know who Vanity was or why many BBA were shelved. What I did know was a small subset of authors were attacking readers and staining the image of the rest of us.

In the beginning, I was a follower. I joined the BBA group and lurked as they collected their info. The first time F&G attacked me, I was a little shocked by their OTT bullshit. Looking back, it seems quaint for them to simply say I was a failed author (Jealous of PP? Really?) and a bad mother.

I eventually severed ties with the BBA group when they played favorites and protected Ederyn while shelving authors for the same behavior. Sick of the clique shit, I ditched them, started the BBA Whisperer group, and created the blog. No more pretending F&G was a scary hate site to be "ignored." Candy Girl and I took on the BBA publicly.

Of course, the BBA attacked and tried to intimidate us. What they underestimated was how we were part of a cause, not a clique. We didn't care about kissing ass or playing favorites. These days, the BBA hide away, only occasionally voicing their bigotry and hate. They still claim I'm jealous, but they also avoid adding the Bijou Hunter pen name to my "Worst Offenders" section on F&G. Jealous, my ass. 

Friends and Foes

Meeting Candy Girl was a boon. No getting around it. She's my best friend. My beta reader. My co-blogger. If nothing else good ever came from writing the BBA blogs and despite all the lies F&G spread because of them, they were how I met Miranda. Nuff said.

Lauryl and I started as foes, now she's my sister from another mister. It's freaky how much we have in common. We both started the year struggling to find readers. By the end of the year, we had built fan bases and enjoyed increased sales. Also, we've both quit our regular jobs to write full time. Like I said, it's freaky how similar we are.

As for foes, a half dozen people I considered friends turned into jerks. No need to point them out. If you know them, you understand. If you don't know them, it's not worth rehashing their stupid. No loss in having fewer lame people in my life.

Sales? What are sales?

In 2012, I published seven books. From July to December, I sold a little over a hundred. I know there are authors who never sell that many while others sell that many an hour. This year with seven new books published, I've sold thirty thousand. While this is a drop in the bucket compared to many authors, it's a step in the right direction. I managed to sell them, despite my horrible marketing skills (see below on my resolutions). If anything, I'm proof it's possible to make a living as an indie author, even if you never hit Colleen Hoover level success.

Kids and Sally

We gave homeschooling a try this year and it's been a success. Kids like Roo need the kind of attention a teacher can't provide. I know homeschooling gets mocked, but it allows children to learn at their pace. With Roo, repetition is the key. Every kid learns differently, but a classroom teacher can't change their plans to fit each student. I can and Roo has really excelled.

Having teenagers isn't nearly as horrifying as many people make it out to be. My boys are pretty mellow. Whenever they get moody, I remind myself how stubborn I could be at their ages. It's a little weird to write romances about guys Tigger's age, but he's nothing like the alphas in my books.

Sally had a great year. Like most people, when my family is happy then I'm happy. We were healthy too. Another benefit to homeschooling is less flus and colds to bring home. A great year all around.

Here are a few resolutions for the next year...

Resolution #1: Work on my marketing skills

I admittedly hate marketing. Damaged and the Beast was published in April. Before December, I'd only requested a single review. With all the blogs dedicated to romance, I was simply being lazy. I've learned a lot about marketing from Lauryl and Candy Girl. In 2014, I'll market my books consistently (without becoming a spammer or obnoxious) and strengthen my relationships with bloggers.

Resolution #2: Prioritize Books

Even if I could write a book a month, I still couldn't publish everything I want this year. As such, I've reorganized my publishing schedule. As much as I love my Angela and Dakota books, I need to focus on Bijou and new romance pen names. I have two or three more Damaged books scheduled plus the new Lush Gardens series for Bijou. I want to publish Gator and Sing for Me under two different pen names. Plus, Rebound Biker for Etta and Dmitri for Carys. I'm sure there are more, so I need to organize and prioritize. I'm writing for a living now and not simply for pleasure.

Resolution #3: Blog Less

I have a lot of blogs. Duh, right? This year, as with my publishing schedule, I need to prioritize. With F&G's surrender, we shouldn't need to blog as often about asshats. I'll also cut back my interviews with authors and reviews. I enjoy blogging and promoting good authors, but there are only so many hours in the day.

I guess 2014 will be all about prioritizing. This month, I attend my first book signing. It'll be a great chance to meet readers and others authors. Plus, I'll learn more about marketing. Already putting those resolutions into action.

La La Fun Facts

As part of the promotion of the Bikers-Babes & Books signing next month, I wrote up a few fun facts for the Damaged series. Since I'm vegging at the end of the year, I figured I'd write up a few fun facts for the La La blog.

Fun Fact #1: Pen Names

Bijou is the name of a character in my Angelic Redemption series written by Dakota Shepherd. Dakota is the name of a character in the Vivi Rios series written by Angela Horn. Angie is the name of the whore who cheated with Tony and suffered Belladonna's ghostly wrath in Blood Tide. Circle of life.

Fun Fact #2: Character Names

In my first series (Angelic Redemption), I just used my favorite names for characters - Lila, Sophie, Ivy, etc. As I wrote more books and needed more names, I relied on the Baby Name Wizard book.

I also like to theme family names. Lola, Jules, Rocco, Bruno, and Maisy from the Shadowburbia series were "Guys and Dolls." Cooper, Tucker, Bailey, and Sawyer were "Last Names First." Lark and Raven were "Charms and Graces." A crazy method to my madness.

Fun Fact #3: Angelic Redemption stuck in a loop.

I worked on the first book for several years. I could let it go. Finally, I started on the second then third. Eventually, I found the urban fantasy genre and began writing Vivi, Gigi, and Shadow Sisters. Now, I average seven books a year. I guess that means I'm less obsessive.

Fun Fact #4: Shadow Sisters are my answer to a depressing Supernatural episode.

I was driving to Denny's one dark morning and thinking about an episode of the show Supernatural. I imagined if the show was about two sisters and funnier and less angsty and involved considerably less crying. The Shadow Sisters were born.

Fun Fact #5: Gigi Monroe is my cliché girl.

With Gigi, I threw in every UF stereotype I was reading. The special chick who gains the attention of every hot guy (for no apparent reason) and is the only one who can save the town even with more powerful creatures around. To make her different, I imagined Gigi with Asperger's like awkwardness. I figured readers would love or hate her. I was right.

Fun Fact #6: Destroy my enemies

I often use the names of people I don't like as the bad guys or losers in my books. In Damaged and the Beast, Farah's nasty mother was originally named after someone I ended up liking. I had to change her name to Amy after someone else who pissed me off.

Fun Fact #7: I take on the some of the characteristics of my characters while I write them.

The most obvious of this is cussing. When I am working on my Christian books, my cussing dries up to nothing (unless I'm watching The Walking Dead. Man, I hate Rick.).

When writing the Damaged series, I say fuck like I'm Judd and using the word as salt to give flavor to everything I say. Let's just say after writing four Damaged books in 2013, I cuss like a sailor most days.

Fun Fact #8: Christina Perri is my go-to mood music.

No matter what I'm writing, I can listen to Perri and concentrate when I write at Denny's. At home, I don't listen to mood music since I write downstairs where the TV is playing and kids are talking.

Fun Fact #9: Changing the font in Word can break my writer's block.

I was stuck recently with what to write. I changed to the Papyrus font and wrote 2500 words. Sometimes changing a little detail can make all the difference in my head.

Fun Fact #10: I hate coffee and it shows.

Until Blue Sacrifice, none of my characters drank coffee even though most people love coffee. Since I hate it, I couldn't stand having my characters drink it. After awhile, I realized having them all drink Diet Coke wasn't going to work either.

I don't know how fun those facts were, but they needed to be said, dammit!!!

Merry Christmas!!!

We had a very La La morning with ups and downs, laughter and tears, and lots of fart jokes. Hope everyone had a wonderful holiday!!!

Happy Birthday, Tigger!

This week, my oldest darling stink machine turned nineteen. To celebrate, he chose The Cheesecake Factory for dinner. We were fortunate enough to be seated in the cove section and had a wonderful waitress. I learned I hate arugula and there is something even Tigger won't eat. Here's a hint: arugula.

It was just last month I learned I actually love Brussels spouts. At least, I love them in Longhorn's au gratin. Little cabbages, so different from the horror show my grandmother created when I was a kid. Just yummy. I'm hoping Longhorn still has them for my birthday even though the Brussels sprouts au gratin is a fall special.

It's still Tigger's birthday week. He's excited to get our tree and about the now falling snow. While Tigger is the same age as most of the characters I write about (including Nick for the next Damaged book), he is so much sweeter than an average nineteen-year-old dude. He's a gentle kid who loves music, animals, and caring for others.

Even though this week has been great in many ways, I finally visited the doctor about my nearly constant headaches. I hadn't gotten much editing done all week, but hopefully the antibiotics for the sinus infection will get my ass back into gear.

I'm still chugging along (oh so slowly) on editing Scattered. I'm also writing up a new romance idea (another one) and trying to get into Blue Awakening. As a result of my sickie, post-publication funk, and a good dose of laziness, I won't be able to publish Blue by the end of December. Just another book on my overbooked schedule for 2014. I'll have to be satisfied with publishing only eight this year.

In blog news, most remained on vacation mode through the holidays. However, on Just That Good, Sheena wrote a glowing review for Bad Games by Jeff Menapace. 

It's been a wild week with lots of fun because of Tigger. Next week will be another busy one, but that's how it is for everyone around the holidays.

Thankful in La La Land

I meant to write this sooner, but it's difficult to put into words how blessed I've been this year. Finding enough success as an author to consider writing as my career was a giant turning point in my life. 2013 will go down as one of my best years.

All of the blessings from this year were thanks to the Lord. Even the hardships He provided were meant to test me and my faith. There have been times this year when I wished to take the easy route. Instead, I relied on the Lord to lead me and I was never disappointed.

Preparing for our ninth Christmas in Indiana, my family is healthy and happy. The boys are home for schooling, so I get to spend more time with them. Sally loves her new den and reads like crazy. This has been a great year for her too and she's rarely been happier.

One of the decisions I made a year ago was to take up the cause of reader rights. It hasn't always been easy. On several occasions, people I liked on a personal level lacked the professional behavior I could support. Losing people I considered friends was the most difficult part of the last year. In the end, they showed their true colors and I realized I had lost nothing. God tested and I passed.

Another blessing from this choice was learning to love blogging. I started Indie Angie with no clue how to blog. What would I write about? Who would care? I was just writing to myself, so I started interviewing authors. Writing about others is always easier than writing about myself. I eventually created the zombie and review blogs. Had I not decided to reach out to other authors, I'd still find blogging an awkward pursuit.

I've met many amazing people through my reader rights efforts. The most important is Candy Girl who became my friend, co-blogger, sounding board, beta reader, and voice of reason. She was a sweet thing from the Netherlands who showed up on my blog to share how she was attacked after writing a negative review. Both new to the cause, we became fast friends. Oh, but do we go meow with each other on occasion! It's our personalities. Where I'm impulsive, she's wise. Where I'm hard, she's soft. We make the best team.

The weirdest turn of events from the last year is my friendship with Lauryl. Man, did she piss me off at the beginning of the year. I really hated how someone who wrote cool books would turn out to be such a dumbass. I thought Lauryl was a whiny brat. She thought I was a jealous bitch. We joined forces when someone messed with our friends (don't mess with our friends EVER). Months later, we're like sisters from a different mister.

We each have three boys and  enjoy writing more than one genre. We have the same phobias and pet peeves. If we're sisters, I'm the bossy older one and she's the patient younger one. Meanwhile, Candy Girl is the youngest sister enduring us both.

So this year, I've made wonderful friends and grown as an author. I learned a lot from my amazing readers on how to improve my writing. I was one among many indie authors who found varying degrees of success this year. From the huge hits to the smaller ones, I've heard more and more about indies building fan bases.

This year has been amazing in so many ways and I'm thankful for every blessing and trial the Lord has given me.

Next post: I return to my snarky self.