Roll with the Changes

What was I saying a week ago about my plans? Oh well, I'm rolling with the changes now. Blue (oh, poor sweet sacrificial Blue) is again on the back burner. I am focusing on Bijou books again. Little Memphis to be specific with Saint as my backup. What changed?

Pooh's health continues to improve, so I plan to travel to Houston for a book signing. Possibly two, if all goes well with the organizer. Assuming everything comes together, November will be a wild month. Two weeks away from Pooh and Sally will be emotionally tough, but I'm looking forward to the trip.

Ideally, I would love to promote both the Damaged and Memphis series at the signings. To make that happen, I need to finish them both. Three books in three months. It'll be tricky, but a girl's gotta dream.

So Blue waits again for her HEA. Gigi's final book will also be an end of the year project. I have too many ideas. Standalone books for Bijou plus I'm beginning two (possibly three) series next year. I need to write faster, dammit!!!

Last weekend, I ran a promotion for Damaged and the Beast which is permafree. I saw a big increase in free downloads and the book was ranked in the 50's in Amazon's free store. Of course, the hope is a large number of the readers who download Beast for free will enjoy it enough to buy Knight, Cobra, etc. There's already been an uptick in sales for the follow-up books along with several positive reviews for Beast. Once again, Miranda found me a marketing avenue that paid off. Would it be a blog post without a shout out for Candy Girl?

Writing Bulldog was tricky for me. There's no loser parent to show up and create tension at the end. Winnie and Dylan aren't the most dramatic or funniest characters in the series. The book simply comes down to a damaged girl, a man struggling to be worthy, and how they build a life together. I admit I was nervous readers wouldn't click with the book, but all the feedback has been positive so far. Now I need to give the series a strong send off with Saint. However it looks like I'll also write one more Damaged book next year for Sawyer and Jace.

In personal news, school just began around here. Not for Roo, but the kids in the neighborhood are already up early to catch the buses. Roo starts Monday since I saw no reason for his first day to be on a Wednesday. Homeschooling definitely has its perks.

I really enjoyed my summer break. Pooh's health improved. Roo and Tigger were my assistants, always running errands with me. We got a Netflix subscription and watched movies for the first time in years. Our favorites so far have been comedies like "This Is The End" and "Heat."

The only downside is I haven't been visiting Denny's often. I miss Zaby ~ my favorite waitress. She's kinda like a muse since I always do solid writing when she's around. My new plan is to take Roo to Denny's a few days a week. I'll work while he does school assignments. Changing the location can make a kid more excited about learning. I know it makes me happier.

This week's songs are by REO Speedwagon. Yeah, they're classics for a reason.

Happy Birthday, Candy Girl!!!

Today is a very special day. No, not because of the high five for book four in 2014. Even better! Candy Girl a.k.a Agent M a.k.a Thunderkitten a.k.a Marvelous Miranda is celebrating her birthday!!!!

We "met" a little over a year ago and have never spoken except online, but she's still my BFF. After Sally, Miranda is the first person to know what's happening in my RL. She's always willing to give me pep talks (even the tough love ones). Creative and quirky, Candy Girl shows me things I would never see on my own. There's no way to express how blessed I feel to know her.

Used is her "baby" too because she found the guy's picture and took it in a completely different direction than I would have. The consensus is the cover is smoking hot. Aces, CG!!!

More proof of Miranda's awesomeness is the thank you she got in Emilia Winters's new romance Electric. Yep, everyone cool loves Candy Girl.

This week has been great and it's only Tuesday! Used is out. Miranda is celebrating her sweet birthday. Pooh is showing real signs of improvement after only a week on the new medicine. Roo is out of school. With the little man on summer break, I'm also on vacation since I'm his teacher. More time to write!

With Sally and Miranda's help, I made my deadlines for both Damaged and the Dragon and Used. Planning to stay in my writing groove, I've already begun working on Damaged and the Bulldog and my side project of Blue Awakening (yes, I've said that before). My goal is to release twenty books by the two-year anniversary of the first book I published. I seriously doubt I'll make two more books before the end of July, but one can dream.

With so many great books coming out in June, Miranda will keep her Kindle busy. Just this week, there are new books from Emilia, S.N. Garza (my girl Stephanie), Amity Cross, and Jo Wylde.

Speaking of awesome authors, I will publish the interview with Sera Bright this week. Yep, I'm finally getting caught up. I do think there's a Deadly Dee review I need to post too, but that's for another day.

Candy Girl deserves the best birthday imaginable. She's a great friend, co-blogger, beta reader, illustrator, BBA Whisperer (makes those whiners wet themselves), and all around awesome chick. I hope everyone enjoys the songs on this week's post. They're two of Miranda's favorites. :)

Lovin', Touchin', Squeezin' Open Arms

La La is on a roll so forgive me for bragging. I just published Dragon a week ago and now I'm nearly finished with Used. Aces, baby. At this rate, I can start Bulldog next week. Heck, I might finally get started on Blue Awakening after a year of saying I would.

While I'm still behind on my publishing schedule, I should hit my goal of ten books for the year. This is what I must write this year:

1) Used (next week)

2) Bulldog (July)

3) Blue Awakening

4) Little Memphis

5) Saint (final Damaged book)

6) Broken Memphis

7) The Moon Burns

I'm also hoping to begin the new Bijou series Lush Gardens and Coliseum by the end of the year. Might even get a few standalone novellas published too. My hope is to finish at least two of the open Angela series ~ Blue Davison and Gigi Monroe. That'll leave Vivi Rios's final book. I also have the three books for the Dakota Shepherd Angelic Redemption series, but it'll likely take two years to finish them.

Dragon has sold well and readers seem happy with the book that took me forever to give them. I also had a pretty successful free weekend for Gator a.k.a. the little novella that could.

In more good news, the day Dragon went live, Ammy agreed to make Beast permafree in the US. I'm already seeing an uptick in the sales for Knight and it's been less than a week. I'm planning to set up The Fallen as permafree, assuming Ammy is willing. Making the first book free for these longer series is a great marketing tool that many authors on Kboards have talked up. Miranda was a godsend by pointing me to the awesome threads there.

Speaking of Candy Girl, she's turning her creativity towards writing a book. Oh, it's a doozy too. Here's the link to her GR page. How badass is she? Blogger, Whisperer, illustrator, she's now working on adding author to her resume. I'm not worthy...

Unfortunately, Pooh remains ill. In the last week, we've changed his medications and hope to see an improvement soon. I'm also happy to report Lil Sis learned her son's tumor was benign! What a blessing for Marcy's family.

In BBA news, STGRB decided to institute a new commenting policy on May 24th. This respectful version of the hate site lasted until May 27th when they posted comments like this one. Charming, huh?

 

In happier news, June 2014 looks to be an exciting month in indie publishing. Books by S.N. Garza, C.M. Lema, Ember Casey, and Laramie Briscoe will be released. Oh, and those are just the ones I can remember off the top of my head. Even though summer is known for slower sales, many great authors will soon deliver awesome reads. I'm excited to read them all.

 

In honor of the great Steve Perry's first public performance in decades, my songs are Journey classics.

Hey, hey, jealous Bertha!

Why would anyone be jealous of little old me? Could it be that I have such awesome readers? Yeah, I think so. Sarah and Patty gave me great feedback for Gator and the romance is in its final proofing.

I'm really excited to try something different in the romance genre. Gator is what I'm calling a Bijou Bullet book or Miranda's cool idea of a "romance noir." Shorter, darker romances with bad guys who fall hard for damaged girls. I know, I know. It sounds like the Damaged books except most of the dudes in that series aren't really bad. They're simply young. Judd and Vaughn are enforcers, but nowhere as dark as Jake "Gator" James.

Along with Gator, I am planning to publish Scattered this Tuesday. The third book in my Christian romantic fantasy series is also in its final proofing phase. These books are so different from each other, but that's what I love about indie publishing. There are no rules dictating what I can write. As long as I can imagine it, I can publish it.

I'm already working on Damaged novels, Dragon and Bulldog, plus another Bijou Bullet book. Used is a romance between a dude just out of prison and a MC whore paying off her dying father's debt. Two broken people finding love is fun to write and hopefully fun to read.

The weather is still wacky and I'm still wishing for Houston. This winter has sucked so thoroughly that the whole family is looking forward to a new start. The move can't happen this year, but 2015 might be when we become Texans.

The next few months, I'll be busy with writing. Plus, I have a few "projects" with Miranda related to BBA. Since our free time will be limited, we're taking a break from the Whisperer blog. I have a few interviews set up for my Indie Angie blog and others for Where Zombies Come to Read. Yeah, we'll keep busy.

Congratulations to Lil Sis who published her first New Adult romance this week. This Side of the Sun is at Amazon for an introductory price of .99. Now, Marcy is hot in two genres. Pretty badass.

On BL, people were listing random things about themselves. I'll finish this post with ten about me.

1) If I was a dude, I'd sport a mustache. Despite what chicks say about 'staches, I have no doubt I'd get plenty of play.

2) If I lived alone, my whole house would be painted lavender.

3) I'd also have six cats and likely die from them tripping me near the stairs.

4) My fantasy US vacation would be to Disneyworld.

5) My fantasy overseas vacation would be to Japan. Or the Netherlands to harass Candy Girl. I might just have her meet me in Japan, so we can get lost together.

6) Prepping for the zombie apocalypse, I've planned my family's last stand in the house. We'd last two weeks tops.

7) Speaking of zombies, I hate Rick Grimes from TWD and hope he gets eaten one day. Seriously, I hate that guy!!! Can't Carl shoot him already?

8) The Axe "Peace" commercial is freakishly stupid and I hurt myself rolling my eyes each time it comes on.

9) Whenever I'm tempted to feel pity for whining asshats, I read something nonfiction that details real human suffering. Currently, I'm learning about the horrors that occurred under the former Soviet Union.

10) Finally, I don't watch the Olympics. Too much filler and I avoid NBC whenever possible. Community is my one exception.

Later, gator!!! Get it? Even Bertha would approve.