Conference, Announcements, & More...

Happy Wednesday, Thursday, or whenever you read this, darling readers!

IMMORTAL DREAMS basket (bag of goodies)
I donated for the conference raffle

Things have been super busy in the Averie Household (although, when are they not?) And also busy in my writing life, too.

This past weekend, I attended the Northwest Houston chapter of Romance Writers of America (NWHRWA--which I am a member of this chapter) Lone Star Writer's Conference.

The conference consisted of being broken up into 2 parts, a morning speaker and an afternoon speaker.

ALL'S FAIR IN LOVE & LION
basket I donated for the raffle

Kerrelyn Sparks speaking at
the 2016 Lone Star Writer's Conference

In the morning we had the incredibly talented, NY Times Bestseller, Kerrelyn Sparks (of the Love At Stake series fame). Kerrelyn is someone I know personally and haven't seen in more than a year, so it was great to see her again, catch up, and hear what she had to say. She talked about different hooks, and about the different parts of writing and how to work within each part. She likened writing to the 4 quarters of a football game (the football part goes over my head, I'm not a football fan, but she broke it down nicely, so I wasn't lost). She also said "You're not JUST a writer. You're never JUST anything." she said that instead of comparing yourself to another writer and their successes or whatever they've done, to compete with yourself. To be the best writer, plotter, or whatever part of writing is your strength.

She gave away some copies of her novels, as well as copies of the ARC of her March 2017 release, How To Tame A Beast In Seven Days.

Me & Kerrelyn
at the 2016 Lone Star Writer's Conference

I really enjoy Kerrelyn's writing and speaking. She's so sweet, funny, and generous. She's a great friend, talented author, and very supportive of other authors. So, yeah, I recommend her for speaking or checking out her work.

I missed the announcement of the Lone Star Writer's Contest finalists, but they should be listed on the website soon if they aren't already (link is near the beginning of this post).

Sandra Beckwith speaking
at the 2016 Lone Star Writer's Conference

In the afternoon, the extremely helpful Sandra Beckwith from Buildbookbuzz.com spoke, and she had a lot of helpful hints and tips for marketing and promoting. Some ideas I've heard, and some of them I hadn't. There are a few I intend to try and see what happens. She says she has a lot of information on her website, so that's good for those who have or haven't heard her speak. If you get a chance to attend any of her workshops, I recommend it.

If you haven't been following me on Facebook, you probably missed my news!

I recently signed a contract with my publisher for a new Immortal Dreams novel. This novel, entitled Perfect Love is Laney's best friend, Hailey's story. (That's right Immortal Dreams fans, I've finally written Hailey's story!) I don't have a release date, yet, but I'll update when I have more information.

C.C. Hunter will have a brand new release THIS MONTH. Miranda's story, which has been highly anticipated, arrives Oct. 25th. This is the last book in the Shadow Falls series It should be quite an exciting finish to an incredibly imaginative and fun series.

Also, those of you who pre-order Midnight Hour will be able to get a brand-new Kylie-Lucas story entitled, Fighting Back, so get those pre-orders in BEFORE the release date! Click here to Pre-Order from Amazon. Click here to Pre-Order from Barnes & Noble. I'll have to do a more in-depth post about this, but right now, go pre-order Midnight Hour. :-)

Anyway, as you can see, there is a lot going on. I'll update more at another time, and give more of a look at C.C. Hunter's Midnight Hour in a different post, but for now, darling readers, (and for my Immortal Dreams fans, Immortals) I wish you the best of the rest of the week and hoping you're having a great start to October!

Have A Wonderfully Whimsical Wednesday!

It's Worth A Fortune

Happy Tuesday Everyone, Does anyone remember the song If I Had A Million Dollars by Barenaked Ladies ? I can't remember when or how I was first introduced to this song, but it's a fun song. So, how about if you had a million dollars? What would you do with it? Of course there's the responsible things to do with a million dollars--pay off debts, and such like that. Then there's the question of whether or not you give to charities, and how much. But, suppose you answered all those questions and you still had quite a lot left; what would you do with it? Maybe I'd go to Disney World. I've wanted to go, and I've never been able to. Or, perhaps I'd go to Germany and England, and Belgium (three of the countries my ancestors are from). Travel around seeing family and friends I don't see often. There's all kinds of possibilities. So, what about you? What would you do with a million dollars? Have A Tremendous Tuesday!

Spotlight On Author: Loretta Wheeler

Happy Tuesday Everyone, There's a gem of an author I've had the privilege of coming across...I'm talking about my friend, Loretta Wheeler. She's a sweetheart and very talented author. I enjoyed her YA Paranormal novella, The Pan Man immensely. And, she also writes Romance. So without further ado, come into my parlor and meet Loretta Wheeler: Me: In your YA novelette, The Pan Man , you mention Pan's looking for his long lost soul mate. What made you choose Pan out of all the Greek/Roman gods and goddesses? Loretta: I chose the Greek god Pan, because of the connection with the music. I found later on in the story, (my stories take over and write themselves usually) it applied even more than I realized because of the band's name. I won't mention the name of the band in here, because it's part of the surprise ending. Me: You're mostly known for your Romance stories. How would you describe your writing style? Hot, suspenseful, sensual, sw...

Myths About Writers

Afternoon Folks, I thought we'd do a post to dispel some of the myths people seem to have about writers. I'll put the ones that first come to mind then y'all can chime in. Myth: Writing is a great way to make a lot of money. I'm not sure exactly how this one matriculated. Probably in the wake of some of the big best sellers (i.e. Stephen King, Anne Rice, Stephenie Meyer, JK Rowling, and the like) but most of the time writers put in more money for their writing than they do get out of it. Generally a writer doesn't make a ton of money unless somehow his/her book is a blockbuster hit and blasts through what the author owes in the advance (which is paid back to publishers through royalties). Most writers I've met and talked to are not millionaires. I'm not saying it can't happen, I'm saying it's not one of those things that's automatic. Myth: Writing Is Easy Anybody Can Do It. Okay, granted this isn't entirely a myth, but it's not ent...

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