Hiatus & Life...

Happy Friday All,

If I don't update this very much or for several months there are several reasons for that. One of them is edits and getting ready for the release of Immortal Dreams Book Three: Immortal Love. The other is preparation and eventual arrival of Baby Averie. 

I appreciate all your support and encouragement over the years.

Please continue to check back here on occasion for when I return.

Also, watch Amazon for the release of Immortal Love!

Have A Fabulously Fun Friday!

To Eyre Is To Read...

Happy Wednesday Everybody,

I hope your week is going well! I've got a surprise for you...

an UNofficial blog book review!

That's right. I was not asked at all to do this review. I just up and decided I wanted to do it.

There is a whole interesting way I came across this novel:

I was invited by another author to join a Goodreads group which seems to be mostly comprised of authors who are published with Kensington Publishing Corp. They were talking about what books they were reading and I went ahead and got on the publisher's website to see the books they published. I've read some books published by them (although at first I didn't know that, I've since come to realize I've read some of the titles they've published), and recognized some of the authors' names, but I thought I would see if something jumped out at me.

In the YA Category, I came across Eve Marie Mont. I thought her story sounded interested so decided to read it.

So here's my review:

16 year old Emma Townsend is on scholarship at an exclusive private school for girls and dreads the new year. Being a reader, her is escape is in books.

When assigned a class project, she chooses Charlotte Bronte's Jane Eyre to read and write her essay on. As she identifies with Jane's character, a series of events sweep her out of her own world, into Jane's and she finds herself navigating the strange and emotional world that is Thornfield.

As she finds herself torn between her reality and Jane's, she has to make tough decisions and face the consequences of both.

Is Mr. Rochester all she thought he was? Is the Mr. Rochester in

her life the man she pictured, or someone entirely different? Can she figure out where she belongs before things get entirely out of hand? Can Emma handle A Breath Of Eyre, or is she in over her head?

A Breath Of Eyre by Eve Marie Mont sucked me right in. I was struck by how Eve weaves the two tales together and intrigued with the different events (how Emma's real life, mirrors what happens in the book and so forth). I liked the outcome and enjoyed this book so much, I'm planning on reading the two sequels, A Touch Of Scarlet and A Phantom Enchantment. I can hardly wait to see what journey the author takes her readers on this time.

To check out this interesting and intriguing novel, go to Amazon or Barnes & Noble.

Have A Wonderfully Whimsical Wednesday!

Sinuses, Updates, & Events...

Happy Tuesday All,

The Averie Household is dealing with allergies and sinus infections. The good news:  so far the allergies are staying allergies

and relatively not too bad. Antibiotics have been gotten for sinus infection (managed to get in with doc's office on a MONDAY morning!) And offspring who has the sinus infection isn't doing too

badly.  The bad news: That we even have to deal with this when offspring suffered bad congestion for over a month not THAT long ago. Luckily, mostly cheerful and no fever. So count the blessings, right?

I'm waiting on first round edits from publisher on Immortal Dreams

Book Three: Immortal Love. We're shooting for an April 8, 2015 release date and hoping to have it ready for pre-order some time before that. April and May are most likely "hiatus" months for me (depending on how things are during those months either cut it short or lengthen it in regards to whatever the needs are at the time) from writing for various reasons, so I'll be doing as much PR ahead of time and possibly invoking some help from those around me. I'm beginning to plan ahead on this one. I'm not giving up writing, it's just with what's coming up, I know that I need to plan ahead and keep the pressure as easy as possible so I can deal with what's going on during that time. Nothing bad, but it has the potential of keeping me from writing for a time. But I do not plan to LEAVE the writing world. I'm just giving myself permission to take care of things that will need a lot of my attention during those months and possibly a little longer.

Events:  Two are coming up. First one is on February 14, 2015 at 7:30 p.m. Central Time. If you're in the Houston, Texas area and want to come hear me do a reading of a passage from one of my novels, check out Writespace's "A Night Of Love and Letters" for details.

The second event is on February 26, 2015 at 7pm Central/8pm Eastern until 8pm Central / 9pm Eastern on Facebook. I'll be on the Two Chicks And A Dude Reviews Facebook page talking about my novels and probably doing at least one (if not more) giveaway. To find out more, go to the event page I made on Facebook.

Other than that, I'm doing a lot of reading and trying to get back to writing on some of my other projects.

What's going on in your world?

Have A Terrifically Toe-Tapping Tuesday!

Take A Trip Into The Everglades...

Happy Friday All,

I've decided to do an impromptu book review. Recently I finished reading Stacy Hoff's Desire In The Everglades.

When I read Anne B. Cole's blog post where Stacy made a guest appearance, her story and the background behind it intrigued me. Stacy and I emailed each other and decided to exchange books. She sent me a copy of Desire In The Everglades, and I sent her a copy of my novel, All's Fair In Love In Lion.

Anyway, I finally got to sit down and read Stacy's story:

Stephanie Lang has enough stress being a producer for Teleworld Broadcasting Company without being forced into working on the insane new show her boss and the Board of Directors have come up

with. Seriously...a guy armed ONLY with a knife surviving in the Everglades? Have the higher ups lost their minds?

But between being strong-armed and then catching the photo of Colin, who they plan to contract to be The Everglader, she finds herself agreeing to the whole idea.

Little does she realize what she's about to experience.

The story has plenty of action and adventure for those who crave it. It's definitely a romance novel, and the romance is done well.

If you're someone who loves a bit of danger, a bit of romance, and suspense, then head over to Amazon to pick up a Kindle copy of Stacy Hoff's Desire In The Everglades. You can also pick up a paperback copy through Amazon or go to Barnes & Noble to order a paperback copy.

Hope You All Have A Fantastically Fabulous Friday!

Excitement Abounds...

Happy Tuesday All,

Excitement abounds in the Averie Household...if it's not every day things (new toilet seat for the master bath, pregnancy, being a parent, writing, editing, you name it) it's other excitement:

I got some of the notes back from my proofreader, so I've started in

on those notes. It's going well so far, so I'm glad about that. Proofreader is almost done with Immortal Love, and has

pronounced it "a rip-roaring and imaginative story." Which made

me smile. It's definitely got a bunch of action in it. I did my best to throw everything I possibly could into this novel, especially since 

it's the final book in the Trilogy.

Another exciting happening is that Immortal Dreams Book One: Divine Love got a wonderful review from Coffee Time Romance. You can read the 5/5 cup review here.

So, what's it like coming to the end of writing a trilogy? A myriad of emotions. Sometimes it was sad. Other times I experienced relief--I managed to complete the task. And in other moments, it's been a sense of accomplishment. I've never written a story using Greek mythology, so this was definitely an adventure. Some of the research was a lot of fun--cars, and the mythology--I know quite a bit on the outset of mythology, but I still learned a lot and I'm sure I'll learn more.


In the meantime, I'm going to finish polishing this novel up, turn it in, and get it out (hopefully in March!) I have other projects I've also been working on, so like I said...a lot of excitement!

What exciting thing is going on in your life?

Have A Tremendously Terrific Tuesday!

It's All About The GMC...

Happy Thursday All,

Smokey Mountains in
Gaitlinburg, TN, 2013

In writing, editing, critiquing, and being a judge (yes, I've done a little judging for a contest) there's a few things about writing that are true all the way across the board--no matter what genre, no matter if you're a newbie, or best seller, or somewhere in between. Or if you're a "pantser" or a "plotter". And that's organizing your story.

Every writer is different and every writer does this differently. I call myself a "half-in-half" writer because I do a little plotting and I do a little pantsering. But the main things every writer needs whether they do it before they write the first draft, or in the editing process are for every important/main character(s) in one's novel:

Me, at the NWHRWA
Lone Star Conference, 2014

Goal, motivation, conflict.

Yes,  GMC that leads to the actual plot.

Whether you're writing the hero, heroine, villain, whatever character, you have to know their GMC.

I'm not the first author to talk about this, and I doubt I'll be the last. I won't say my way is the only way to do things, it's just one idea of how you can organize your characters' GMC and a method that has worked for me.

Me, holding paperback copy of
ALL'S FAIR IN LOVE & LION
(I believe this was 2014).

In my files I have what I call my GMC Worksheet and I make this up for every main character I write. (Side note: I didn't use one when I wrote All's Fair In Love & Lion), in my writing it became apparent I needed something to refer to so that I didn't write myself into a corner, so here's what I do:

I have the title of the new novel--usually a working title or something that says what the novel will be, if I don't know the title. Like say I write something about a magic coat, but I don't know the title, yet. I'll put "Magic Coat Story"

Below that I have the following information:

GENRE:

Name:

Type of being:

Hair:

Eyes:

Physique (height/weight):

Goal:

Motivation:

Conflict:

I have these categories outlined for every character, and then at the very bottom I put in a basic plot line--I write out a draft of what the story will be about. (By the way, I have "type of being" because I write Fantasy and Paranormal, so not every character is strictly human--although, I do have some fully human characters).

And this is how I organize my work. This is how I know what each story is going to be about. If I can't sit down and start the story right away, I have the worksheet on file and can refer back to it whenever I want. These worksheets help me figure out what direction my story will take, where I am going and what I'm doing. I didn't do a detailed one for each of the Immortal Dreams books because I had a basic idea of what was going on after Book One. But I played with some ideas. But I do use this worksheet for every other novel I haven't written or finished yet. It gives me a chance to hash out ideas.

If you're someone who has trouble getting that first draft written, I

Me at the Botanical Gardens in Arkansas
2013

really recommend doing something like this. It'll help you get started. Whether you're a pantser or a plotter, sometimes playing around with ideas without the pressure of actually being within the manuscript itself can make the difference between writing yourself into a corner and knowing where you're going. I've been on both sides of the fence and I can tell you I do a lot less writing myself into a corner since I started thinking in terms of GMC than I used to do.

But, every writer is different and whatever way you write, you have

to know your strengths and weaknesses and what helps you and what doesn't. No writer is perfect. Trust me. I run across best selling authors who tell me such-and-such thing is their Achilles' heel. It happens. But if a writer learns from his or her mistakes and keeps working, he/she will get better. You don't get better if you don't work on your short-comings and sharpen your strengths.

Hope you all are having a great week! I've been getting a much needed break while waiting for my proofreader to finish with Immortal Love. That doesn't mean I'm not doing anything. I've done some writing and I'm doing some reading and stuff with the family. Also sleeping. Pregnancy is tiring at times.

Have A Totally Tantalizing Thursday!

Updates & Projects...

Happy Tuesday Everybody,

I know I'm doing a lot of inconsistent posting, but as always, I'm very busy.

Recently I sent Immortal Love (Book Three in the Immortal Dreams series) off to my proofreader. Once I get the notes back from my proofreader and get them all finished, Immortal Love will get turned in to my publisher. Then we'll do edits and eventually the book will be released (I believe we're shooting for March).

I also completed a critique for another author who asked for my input on their novel. That took a while because I've been really tired with the pregnancy (and uncomfortable) so everything is a lot slower than it normally would be. But, at least I got it done and sent off to the author, so now that author doesn't have to wait for it anymore.

My thoughts are turning towards the next project. There's about 3 that I'm really interested in getting into. One I'm working on some

research for, one is a spin off of one of my other novels, and another is a project I've had waiting for me for a long time that I'm hoping to complete. Each project is different in the sense of different characters/worlds, so the each have something different to offer. It's pretty exciting to be in this position of being able to pick and choose my next project to work on, but I don't know exactly what I'll do. I guess I'll have to figure out which one is calling the loudest to me.

So what are you all reading these days? Please include the title, author, and genre!

Have A Thrillingly Terrific Tuesday!