Bad Reputation

My busy January is nearly over. The month began with my birthday and it proved to be one of my best. I enjoyed my free Denny's breakfast. My new laptop was my Christmas/birthday gift, so I was already deeply in love with Pheebs. Later in the week, I enjoyed a wonderful dinner with Sally, Tigger, and Roo at Cheddar's. Finally, I was able to visit Pooh for the first time in a month.

Damaged and the Saint has sold well and most readers seem happy with it. I admit I was nervous to finish the Damaged series since it was what put me on the map as an author. In 2014 though, my best selling books were Gator and Little Memphis. The time had come to say goodbye and try new things.

Rebound Biker is now nearly complete. The novella is with my beta readers currently and I'll finish the final edits next week. Before I start Broken Memphis, I plan to write my first erotica short. I have the plot and characters sketched out. I only need to get writing. It'll be a fun exercise, but I won't publish the short until I have a few ready. Miranda came up with that idea based on what she's researched in several author forums. Candy Girl remains a badass.

This month, the boys and I adopted a cat from the local shelter. Pixie is a year old Tiger and super sweet. She's smaller than our other two cats. So far, Tinker and Bow aren't thrilled with her. Tinker especially isn't happy with another chickadee in the house. A lot of hissing and growling, but Tinker tolerates Rafe (who she still doesn't like after two years) so she'll learn to get along with Pixie.

February will be a turning point month for me. I need to keep up the momentum of Saint's release and finish my second series with Broken Memphis. In 2014, I got bogged down with personal issues during the beginning and end of the year. My specific goals for 2015 won't allow me to lose focus for a few months. I need to produce books fast and keep them varied. February will be a glimpse into how quickly I can transition from one book to another.

I also need to start designing new swag for this year's signings. I've added a third one for August in Charlotte, North Carolina. Things certainly have changed since my first signing a year ago. Back then, I only had four books out from a single series.The idea then was to sell the series. Now I need to sell the Bijou brand. I can't believe by the two year anniversary of Beast's publication in April that I'll have published twelve books. Well, assuming Broken Memphis is completed as planned. I've decided to frame my series when they're complete. My first inclination was to create large posters, but figured I'd run out of wall space in a year or two since I don't have a designated office space yet.

I'll finish up by sharing my mama pride. My eleven year old Roo showed me new tricks he's learned about Photoshop. He's also promised to help me create book trailers. The little man has mad skills.

Miss World

Hello 2015! Here's hoping we'll get along just fine.

I finally published Damaged and the Saint after over three months of unfocused writing. My readers remained incredibly patient and understanding while I struggled to overcome personal problems. Of course, romance chicks are notoriously loyal and prolific readers.

I have already begun writing Rebound Biker. The novella is the shortest story I've worked on before. RB is for a box set, so the word count is out of my hands. I'm working with several talented authors too. I decided to use the Rebound Biker idea because the story is lighter. The plot will be easier to wind up in the allotted word count rather than something with a lot of angst.

The deadline to hand in the novella is Valentine's Day. I'm hoping to finish RB much sooner, so I can begin Broken Memphis. I'm looking forward to returning to Little Memphis and spending time with the Reed brothers and the girls they love.

I'm praying this year is productive. I get such a surge of energy when a new book is released. All I want to do is write more and create new worlds and characters.

Contrary to commonly accepted wisdom, I want to stay away from long series in the future. I enjoyed each of the Damaged books. I worked hard to ensure each story existed on its own, rather than relying on cliffhanger gimmicks to keep readers coming back. Yet the same world gets creatively tiring after awhile. Plus, new readers have trouble signing onto such a long series.

For 2015, I want to vary things up, writing series of two or three books along with standalone romances. I'm hoping by keeping things "fresh" I can write and publish more quickly than I did in 2013-2014.

I do plan to continue with both darker themes (Gator) and lighter vibes (Little Memphis). I also plan to try my hand at writing short erotica. Doesn't hurt to improve my sexy times and get more creative. I don't want to fall into the trap of only writing what readers liked yesterday and assuming they'll want the same elements tomorrow. As I wrote above, romance readers are prolific. They aren't simply reading my books, but hundreds of others. So as an author, sticking with trends and what was hot before will get very old very fast for these readers.

I'm stoked to have a new laptop even though Queenie remained in solid shape. Now Roo can stop bugging me about borrowing her. My new one has a bigger screen. Better for my old lady eyes. It's taking some getting used to with the different key placement, but I've already finished Saint on the laptop and started Rebound Biker. Princess Consuela Bananahammock has been officially broken in.

Despite all my big plans, real life remains the wild card. I never would have guessed Pooh's health would deteriorate so quickly last year. Nothing is really set in stone with writing either, yet I have some control. 

One thing I know is my family will always support me. They endure my bunker mentality when I'm working against a deadline. Sally gives me pep talks when I'm feeling overwhelmed. My boys hug me when I'm feeling down. In a few days, we'll go out to celebrate my birthday and a new year together.

Miranda and I met two years ago this month. Such an accidental encounter led to her becoming my sounding board and BFF. The other day she was offline for most of the day because of internet problems and I felt like I was suffering through Candy Girl withdrawal.

2014 really kicked my ass, but I struggled my way to the other side. Now, I'm left feeling optimistic and powerful. If I could survive the last few months, I can get through pretty much anything.

Happy New Year!

 

We've Got Tomorrow

2014 is nearly over and I've spent the last few weeks celebrating holidays, missing Pooh, and finishing (finally) Saint. In a few days, I'll publish my 7th book of the year and the final one in the Damaged series. Candy Girl, Sally, and my beta readers saved my ass with this one.

Let me get nostalgic and look back at the year. I had planned to blog less because of time constraints. The BBA blog took a lot of my time. Making those idiots seem funny ain't easy, you know? Fortunately, the main BBA imploded, turning on her allies. In her heyday, she posted private emails and group conversations. After she pissed off enough people, her emails and group conversations were posted. She threw whiny fits and played the victim, but no one was impressed. Especially not karma who is known to be a bitch.

Miranda and I were able to put the BBA blog on vacation after posting our payback (you know, for them posting our private info). STGRB stayed around for a while longer, running with paranoid accusations. All we had to do was not refute them and the dorks lost their minds. It was pretty funny.

Other bloggers now focus on the leftover BBAs since STGRB went silent. We share our info when someone asks for help, but otherwise the entire scene is old news.

Professionally, I had a weird year. Aiming for ten books, I was lucky to publish seven. Gator and Little Memphis expanded my Bijou brand. I enjoyed a productive late spring/early summer when I published three books in three months. This year, I also had long stretches when I didn't publish anything. Saint alone took over three months to finish. Not cool.

In 2015, I'm aiming for eight books since the last three years I've published seven. I plan to focus on both series and standalone novels. I'm also expanding my brand by working on a box set with a lot of really cool authors.

I tried a few different marketing avenues with varying success. I've never requested a spot on Bookbub, so it's something I'll try next year. I know it's tough to get approved, but I should have plenty of books to submit. Fingers crossed that one of them will make the grade.

Next year, I need to stay focused and keep doing what's worked. I also plan to try new things like marketing towards non-Amazon outlets and international markets. Finally, I'd like to get a few audio books out.

If I had one major publishing problem this year, it was my lack of consistency. Even with the large gaps when I didn't publish, I earned $15,000 more than in 2013. The readership is out there, despite the naysayers. I just need to keep my fanbase while reaching new readers.

My resolutions aren't so different than last year's. Write more. Expand my marketing techniques. Focus on positive people. Ignore the negative ones.

This year was full of stress and sadness along with peace and joy. I have a wonderful family, a great BFF, and awesome readers. With so many blessings, can I really complain?

Happy New Year!

Something About December

Christmas is nearly here. Tree is up. Cards are mailed. Presents have been bought. Normally this would be a quiet time of year, yet nothing about this year has been normal.

Pooh remains in the hospital, but this should be his final last week there. He'll be in his new home by Christmas. Once he's settled, the rest of the family can begin to relax. One of my hopes for 2015 is for tranquility.

This year, Miranda and I transitioned away from blogging. We focused less on stupid people doing stupid things and more on smart people making smart moves. Miranda learned new tricks for sexy covers. I expanded my author brand by publishing standalone romances. Despite wishing I put out more books this year, I'd say we took many positive steps.

Even with the asshat movement fractured and quiet, I do have a new BBA obsession. I'll call her Glenn Close because she has a Fatal Attraction kind of "love" for a special guy. Anyway, Glenn is fascinating, but she isn't really an author. Not even an "Author."

Glenn is just a troubled young woman with delusions of grandeur. Yet whenever I need a break from RL problems, I check out her Twitter feed and blog. The way she sees the world is pretty damn interesting. Though I pity the people she targets.

For my next post, I'll do the whole New Year's resolutions. Until then, I wish everyone a Merry Christmas.

Black + Blue

God never gives us more than we can bear. I believe this with all my heart, but there are moments when I doubt I'm as strong as God thinks. This year has brought many of those moments as Pooh's health deteriorated. In the last few weeks, his troubles hit a peak and only prayers kept us afloat.

Again a glimmer of hope revealed itself. Now the pressure slowly begins to lift away. God really does know how much we can bear.

As Pooh finally gets the help he needs, the rest of my family adjusts to our new reality. Things haven't settled down quite yet. However, we're making strides to get into a more relaxed groove. Roo and I are even planning to have our first visit to Denny's in over a month. He'll do schoolwork while I write Saint.

Even as far behind as I am on my books, I feel like a few solid weeks of writing is all I need to finish Saint and complete the main edit. Once I get the book into the hands of Miranda and Sally (with Sarah, Patty, and Stacie after them), I'll be able to focus on Broken Memphis.

Next year is pretty booked. I'll attend two signings (which is nothing compared to the schedule of most midlist authors). I'm working on my first contribution to a box set. I also plan to look into audio books. My main goal for next year though is to publish a lot.

Since Broken Memphis won't be out in 2014, it'll be added to the list of books for next year. I have a ton of them. Yet even with planned series and standalone books, I plain to try my hand at erotica shorts. Why? Think of it as doinking for dummies.

I started my writing career with Christian fiction. The love scenes were all fade-to-black. In one case, Sally wasn't certain a newly married couple even had sex because of how vague the scene was written. So when I began writing urban fantasy, I needed to be more specific. With romance, the scenes became even more graphic. While I worked to be more creative, Miranda still teases me about my wording for each doinking scene.

So I've been doing research and now want to have a little fun. I've come up with a few contemporary erotica ideas along with a few paranormal ones. Clearly, I can't focus on them currently since I'm behind with my must write projects. Next year, I'll give it a try. I'm even thinking up pen names.

Next year will bring new opportunities, yet 2014 isn't quite over. In fact, Thanksgiving is only days away then Tigger's birthday and Christmas. To prepare for the holidays, I'll finish my post with a list of what I'm most thankful for:

1. The Lord
2. Sally, Tigger, Pooh, and Roo
3. Miranda and my warmhearted friends
4. My patient and loyal readers
5. My two kitties and Sally's stinky dog
6. The roof over my head, food in the fridge, money in the bank, and stories in my head.

Happy Thanksgiving! Enjoy a lovely song from the lovely Christina Perri.

Crimson & Clover

Life in limbo sucks. I like a forward momentum to my days, but for the last week especially, I feel stuck. Pooh's health remains poor and finding him the proper care has proven difficult. We can only wait to hear back from those with the power to help him.

I can't really write. Sure, I churn out a paragraph or two, but there's no flow. I'm so stalled that Sally suggested I work on editing Wounded Soul for my Dakota Shepherd pen name. Whatever I'm able to finish now will be less I'll need to work on later.

The end of the year is always a time for reflection. I look back at the books I've published and the marketing I tried. I ask myself what I want to focus on in the upcoming year. What projects do I personally love, but might not sell well? What is the market like? What's hot? What genres are saturated?

The one project I know I'll write next year is the novella for the box set. It's a lighter second chance romance. Besides Rebound Biker, I have a few darker ideas for standalone books. There are also a few spin-off series in the works.

In reality, I have too many ideas to complete in 2015. Even if I published a book a month (which I've never managed before), I wouldn't have enough time for all the books and series I have lined up. So I'll spend the rest of this year attempting to finish Damaged and the Saint and Broken Memphis while also making tough choices about which books are front burner ideas and which ones will need to wait.

Despite the stress of the last weeks, I've been blessed with very understanding readers. When I explained why Saint wasn't published and Broken Memphis might not be completed this year, their warm responses brought me to tears. One mother of a child with autism sent me a beautiful heartfelt message that improved my mood after an especially gloomy day.

Candy Girl remains my sounding board. Even though she doesn't have children, she understands what I need to hear. She pushes me when I'm lazy and backs off when I'm stressed. I know Miranda won't kiss my ass if I have a bad idea. She tells me the truth because she wants me to succeed. Let's be honest, some of my ideas are f'ing stupid. If she won't tell me the truth, who will?

Right now, I'm overflowing with ideas, but lacking the attention span to make any of them come alive. So I watch crappy TV and movies with Tigger. I also spend way too much time on Listverse. Oh, and in a random thought, I love those DirecTV commercials with Rob Lowe. The Creepy Rob Lowe one makes me laugh every time.

Today's snow flurries made me realize how soon the holidays will be here. My Amazon shopping cart is full of items for Christmas and Tigger's upcoming birthday. As usual, Roo wants a million things. All I want for the holidays (besides a happy family) is to finish Saint and Broken Memphis.

In both 2012 and 2013, I published seven books. I was really hoping to beat that number this year, but seven isn't too shabby. I know a few authors who didn't published a single book this year while others managed that book a month magic trick.

I hope in my next post will be less gloomy babbling and more happy babbling. I might even be all full of myself because I'm writing again and ready to publish. Yeah, that would be sweet.

Time Warp

One reason I love Halloween isn't simply because I’m a horror movie fanatic. It's also the start of the holiday season and I love this time of year.

Sure the weather gives me constant sinus headaches. On the plus side, we experienced a really wet spring and summer, so the trees in the yard and neighborhood grew tall and healthy this year. All of those changing colors have never looked as lovely as they do right now. I don’t know if I’ll actually move to Texas before the next autumn (seems unlikely), but I’m feeling nostalgic the last few weeks. Autumn around here is rather picturesque even on gloomy days such as this one.

Overall, the month's had its share of ups and downs. Tigger and Pooh are still adjusting to their med changes, so they've had good and bad days. My allergies have been smacking me around a whole lot which slowed me down with writing. It’s difficult to concentrate when you’re sporting a headache or doped up on sinus meds.

I was hoping to have Saint done by now. I think on a deep level my fears of ending the series has held me back. True, I've found success with non-Damaged books. My readers are hella loyal too, yet I've dealt with a lot of uncertainties regarding Saint that I’m only now getting over. Saying goodbye is tough to do especially for a long series. I’ll avoid such closure issues in the future since I’m planning to keep upcoming series to three books tops.

October a great month income-wise which is a good thing since I have a new obsession. It started innocently when I bought a Halloween Hello Kitty at CVS. I normally buy a new Beanie Boo when I pick up the kids’ prescriptions. This time, I also bought the Hello Kitty doll and my obsession began. It’s in the early stages, but I’m already eyeing a few super cute Christmas dolls.

I completed the redo of the Whisperer website, but still have work to do on the Bijou one. Mainly, setting up the store. I also want to change up the template once I have a cover reveal for Saint and can add a new banner. I’m not a super visual person and usually leave the design stuff to Miranda. Since Candy Girl is iffy about messing with the websites, I do my best with my limited artistic talents.

Halloween is so much more relaxed now that my boys are older. Roo is only eleven, but this is the second year he's decided not to go trick or treating. He’d much rather kill zombies on the computer than dress up like one. Pooh has never really understood Halloween, doesn't enjoy candy, and isn't a horror movie buff. He’d prefer to stay safe and warm in the house. Tigger and I do love horror movies, so we’re spending Halloween watching a few. I’m typing this while we watch Sinister and it’s a creepy gem. We plan to finish off the night with one of my new favorite movies This Is The End.

I’ll finish up this post with a song that always reminds me of one of my best days as a sub teacher. It was just before Halloween and I took over in a music class. The assignment was listening to popular Halloween songs. The kids danced (even the too cool 5th graders). It was a fun day especially when this song played.

Happy Halloween!