February Update...

Happy Monday Everybody!

2019 has been rather busy for me so far. I've been working on finishing up a novel that I'm hoping will be done writing by early March and then I'll go through and do my personal edits, send it off to my assistant who has been clamoring to read this one (I send her snippets and she's chomping at the bit for the rest). I'm working with a consultant to brush up on some things that I needed help with and gearing up for BrazCon, which is this weekend.

BrazCon will be in Manvel, Texas this year. I've never been there, but it's not extremely far off, so my assistant is picking me up bright and early and off we'll go. I've got some fun swag ready and I'll have a door prize that I'll turn into to the people running that side of things. I'll also be selling LIMITED number of paperback copies of ALL my published books (yep, even All's Fair In Love & Lion is coming along this time). I'm also going to be on a panel around 11:30 a.m. (I think that's the time) about writing. I don't know what the questions are, yet, so this should be interesting.

Because of several things going on--getting a new phone, a family wedding, and such, I won't be at RWA Nationals in New York City in July. I'm looking at going next year, which will be in San Francisco. So stay tuned for more info on that later in the year.

I'm also planning a sequel to the WIP (Work In Progress) I've been writing lately, and I have 2 more books to write in the Immortal Dreams series, which have been started and have titles, I just have to finish writing and editing them.

Allergies have been driving the whole Averie Household crazy. Youngest is on meds, and I've been popping throat lozenges, but I think we're doing better.

This Fall is a milestone birthday for me, but I won't say which milestone. I need to keep a little mystery about myself going. *Laughs*

I've also been checking out some Book Tubers on YouTube. It's like reviews except on YouTube. They seem like a lot of fun and really are into reading and talking about books, which is right up my alley! I've been enjoying Hailey In Bookland.

Author Avery Flynn's Tomboy just came out, which is book 3 in her new series. I've read the other two and enjoyed them, so I had to pick up my e-book copy of this one, too! (It's also available in paperback, I believe).

I need to finish up Alyssa Cole's A Princess In Theory, which has been fun (I love fairy-tale-ish stuff!) and then I have a whole stack of other books in my TBR section of my bookshelf to get to reading. Including, but not limited to, C.C. Hunter's upcoming release--I have an arc copy of Another Life!

Movies:  I missed Bohemian Rhapsody in the theaters, so I'm hoping to stream that soon. I also want to see The Nutcracker And The Four Realms (I've seen mixed reviews of that, but we'll see, I might just love it). There are a ton of movies coming that I'm looking forward to, including the new Avengers movie.

What movies are you looking forward to releasing? What books are you reading/looking forward to? Comment in the comment section to let me know what's on your list of looking forward to/reading!

Have A Momentously Merry Monday!

2019, Events, Writing, & More, Oh Wow...

Happy Friday Everyone!

Well, we've made it to February 2019! January was super busy with researching some stuff and working away on a new novel. The novel is about 20,000-30,000 away from my target word count. My assistant, Roxanne, is eagerly awaiting the day I finish this novel because the snippets I've sent her aren't enough--she wants to know everything about this story. This story has been fun to write, although, like every story it's had its ups and downs and days where I just wasn't sure what I wanted to do with it.

News of imprints of publishers closing down has caused some difficulties for some friends/colleagues of mine, which makes me sad for them because that's a tough thing to go through. I wish them all the best and pray for them.

Talk of Romance Writers of America Nationals in New York City (July) is going on and I'm waiting to see if me and my narrator, the supremely talented, Christopher Hudson (who you can find on Twitter, now) will join the ranks of speakers for this year's conference. I don't know when we'll know, but I've been told it'll be before RWA opens up for registration this month.

Roxanne and I have been gearing up for BrazCon 2019. I was invited to make a return appearance for this year. I'll be another panel and I have limited copies of my all my books in paperback to sell. I also have brand-new swag and should be getting my newly-designed bookmarks soon, too.

Now that I've gotten my news out of the way, let me tell you what's really on my mind for this blog post and it's Mary Lindsey's YA novel, Haven.

It took me a while to get through this one not because of any flaws with the story, but because I was very distracted and have had a lot going on. But I finally finished it yesterday and I really enjoyed it.

Haven is a story that Mary Lindsey describes at author events as a book her editor really wanted her to write and one she wasn't sure whether or not would work. Let me tell you, it not only works, it's another example of her skill as a wordsmith.

We follow Rain (Aaron Ryland) on his journey from the streets of Houston, Texas to some itty bitty town full of secrets. Those secrets pertain to Weavers (witches/magic) and Watchers (werewolves).

Rain becomes enamored with the feisty alpha female, Freddie, and it sends him down a path of danger, suspense, conspiracies, and murder.

Mary has successfully taken the paranormal world of magic and werewolves and woven a tale that fans of Teen Wolf and YA Paranormal stories will likely enjoy.

From what I understand, there is talk of a sequel and I definitely will want to read that one!

To get your hands on Haven, check out Amazon and Barnes & Noble.

I'm not sure what I'll be reading next. My TBR (To Be Read) stack currently has several 1-2 chapter preview stories, and about 18 novels and 1 non-fiction. So, yeah, it's a lot and this doesn't even include what I have on my E-reader waiting for me!

What are you reading these days? How has your 2019 been so far?