It's May Already...

 Happy Wednesday All,

I can't believe it's already May! April got away from me and I didn't get to post any other blog posts besides the initial April one. Yikes, I'm sorry!

Life continues to be crazy on my end. Our house is much closer to being ready (we have a great contractor!) and we have hopes of being back in our home not next week, but the week after. We'll see. Our contractor is industrious and efficient. He keeps us in the loop and gets things moving. We've been grateful to have someone reliable after the water remission people weren't the most communicative (which is a big reason why it's taking us so long to get back into our house).

This weekend is my and my husband's anniversary (I don't give out details on how long we've been married--my husband likes a lot of privacy, so other than a few pictures on here and Facebook, you won't hear a whole lot about him). We've been together for over 10 years, though, and I feel a sense of accomplishment saying that. So, while I'm not as young as I once was (or as thin!) and growing older brings about female stuff that sucks bananas, I'm grateful he's stuck by my side and still thinks I'm sexy, desirable, shares my faith and most of my beliefs/views, and thinks I'm funny, too. A girl can't ask for a lot more than that in my experience.  I thank God for him. (Of course, I also love him--that's a given!)

Editing my new manuscript (that's all written, just being edited so I can query) is sl-o-o-o-w going given my current living circumstances and life. But, I'm working on it and a Supporter Member of The Author Encounter (one of the Freelance Editors) wants to work on it with me (she offered!) so we put together a deal and will start making a schedule soon, I believe.

The Author Encounter has a special blog hop/scavenger hunt even this month, so be sure to get over to the website to check that out. June will bring back Behind The Page. A new Ex Libris will go out July 1st, so members of The Author Encounter should watch for that--and if you aren't a member, you should join! There are 3 different types of membership (Author membership is ONLY for published authors--and there are some genres that The Author Encounter doesn't work with quite yet due to being only a year old and needing to have departments for those). But we're growing and developing and there are some exciting things coming down the line.

I'm supposed to be reviewing Katie McGarry's upcoming release soon--I've had some trouble with getting to sit down and read it (health issues) so hopefully, I'll get it done, soon. My allergies have been AWFUL this season (not Covid-19, definitely allergies--I can pinpoint exactly when they began flaring and why and what things set them off again). It seems like an interesting switch from her normal work, so we'll see how that all goes. I've been a fan ever since she entered the Northwest Houston RWA Lone Star Contest all those years ago (I was YA Category chair at the time). I've read almost all her work (there are about 2-3 books I haven't gotten to, yet). I've also had the pleasure of talking with her on the phone and meeting her in person (back in 2013, so pre-Covid). She's super sweet and extremely talented in the writing and publishing world.

Other than that, I keep on being a wife, mother, daughter, sister, aunt, friend, niece, etc. I hope all of you are doing well.

Have A Wonderfully Whimsical Wednesday!

Fabulously Fun Five Fictions...

Happy Wednesday All,

I'm trying to figure out a blogging schedule. It's not something I've had for a while, yet, but I'm thinking about it. Maybe once a week would work best for me. So, I'll try that and let you know if that changes.

Under my other pen name I did a 5 Fun Facts about myself that you may and or may not know, I think I'll do something similar here with a YA twist.

5 Favorite YA Reads (aside from my work) I'll Always Recommend (In NO particular order):

Ashes On The Waves by Mary Lindsey. I'm not an Edgar Allen Poe fan. I think he's depressing. But, Mary's novel is beautiful, poignant, and well written. It's just a gorgeous book (as far as I'm concerned, and like I said, I'm no EAP fan, even though I recognize he was a talented writer). So, definitely has to be on this list.

Pushing The Limits by Katie McGarry. I've had the privilege of watching this author's banner fly and her popularity rise. The first 25 pages of this novel was entered in the Northwest Houston RWA Lone Star Writing Contest the year that I was a member and the category coordinator. I was really intrigued. Later, I went on to read it and Katie writes with a realness, a grittiness and honesty that people can immerse themselves in and really learn to care about the characters. She's fantastic with coming up with excellent contemporary YA romances.

Born At Midnight by C.C. Hunter. The first in her Shadow Falls series, C.C. has an interesting and fresh take on high schoolers and young adults with paranormal/supernatural abilities. Imaginative, well written, fun, and engrossing, I'm a fan.

Don't Die, My Love by Lurlene McDaniel. I love Lurlene's work because it's emotional, it's real, it's intense and beautiful. I've loved so many of her books, but this is one that really sticks out in my mind. I think I've read it three times or more.

Obsidian by Jennifer L. Armentrout. Well, technically you could read Shadows before this one, but it's the first in the Lux series. I'm not usually huge on aliens. In fact, I don't really read Sci-Fi, but her imaginative take, and the suspense, adventure, and romance--the emotion--it pulls you in and before you know it, you're hooked. At least, that was the case for me.

There are several other authors and books I'd recommend, but these ones were what I really found myself super into when I read them. Most of these on the list I didn't expect to like so much when I first picked them up, and then I found I loved them.

So, what about you? What are some favorite YA (Young Adult) novels you've enjoyed?

Have a Wonderfully Witty Wednesday!

When The Music Inspires You...

Happy Monday Everybody,

Last week on Facebook I revealed one of the songs from Hailey Banks' play list. Hailey's story is the one that's releasing in early summer/late spring this year. To get to know Hailey, read the Immortal Dreams Trilogy--Divine Love, Astral Love, and Immortal Love, she's Laney's best friend.

Play lists can reveal some of the moods of either the author, the scene, and/or the characters involved. To see the play lists from my Immortal Dreams Trilogy, click here.

Music has a way of inspiring a lot of writers. When I wrote my stand-alone Fantasy Romance, All's Fair In Love & Lion, I listened to a lot of Chris de Burgh's music. There was something so beautiful and stirring in his ballads. Interestingly enough, I didn't listen to very much of his music for the Trilogy (except for one song for Immortal Love) but that's because Immortal Dreams novels are a different story. All's Fair In Love & Lion is something of a fairy-tale, and Monroe is a lot more classically romantic than Jason or Laney (think Beauty & The Beast, Cinderella). Where Monroe would probably have a waltz played and dance with Sasha to it, Jason is all rock n' roll.


Several YA authors have play lists (Katie McGarry is one). I've found them useful for inspiration when writing, and to convey to readers a bit more of the characters' personalities.

So what music inspires you? Are you more classical, rock, rap, country, punk, etc.--or a bit of everything?


Have A Merry Musical Monday!

Motorcycles, Deep Characters, & More...

Happy Friday One & All,

And also, Happy April! It's April 1st. No, I'm not going to play any April Fool's jokes on you. Just a straight post, so no worries.

Today, though, is a surprise book review! No, the author didn't ask me this time, this is just me telling you about a book I read this week.

On Tuesday, March 29, YA Contemporary author, Katie McGarry's newest Thunder Road series book, Walk The Edge came out. I had pre-ordered an e-book copy and it arrived on Tuesday. I finished it at 11:38 p.m. (between family, and my own writing demands) I finished it.

Razor and Breanna are excellent characters--complex, emotional, and deep.

Katie's writing has a sense of honesty about it. I can't exactly explain it.

Her characters are "broken" and/flawed, but want what's good and right in the world. They have a strong sense of justice. Even if they're down a bad or dark path, they want what's good. They want something right, they just don't always know what the right thing is or how to get it.

Her stories are gritty, and pull no punches.

I've been following Katie's career with great interest (and have read everything she's published) since her first novel, Pushing The Limits (one of my favorites) was first released. (You can read about how I met Katie here).

I also appreciate the amount of time and research she puts into her work.

So, if you're in the mood for motorcycle clubs, emotional story lines, and complex characters, I recommend you head out to Amazon and Barnes & Noble and get yourself a copy of Walk The Edge.

Have A Fabulously Fun Friday!

Saying Goodbye & Saying Hello...

Happy Tuesday Everybody,

Did you all have a nice Easter? We did. Holy Saturday we got to see one of my sisters and her family. That was a lot of fun. We also went over to a friends' house to visit. On Easter we went to Mass, and my father-in-law came over in the afternoon. So not bad.

I did find out a piece of sad news. Mother Angelica (the nun who started EWTN--Eternal Word Television Network--a Catholic TV station) passed on Easter Sunday. Mother Angelica was humble, straight forward, and humorous. She will be missed. Rest in peace, Mother Angelica!

Now, for a piece of fun news...

Author Katie McGarry has a brand-new release out today! I've received Walk The Edge and I'm interested to see what Razor's story is like. This is the 2nd in her Thunder Road series, the first one was Nowhere But Here.

It's been a lot of fun for me to watch Katie's career grow and

flourish. I met Katie before Pushing The Limits was published. She had entered the first few pages of the novel in my chapter's annual contest (the Northwest Houston RWA's Lone Star Contest. You can find out more by clicking here--the 2016 Lone Star Contest isn't open to entries, yet).

I was the YA Category Chair at the time. I had the pleasure of calling her to let her know she was the first place finalist for the category (she ended up winning first place in the contest). She informed me she had just signed a contract with her agent and told me how exciting that was--how her agent called her and how much she liked this agent. Later, she landed the contract for the novel to be published.

I have followed her career, and read everything she's published ever since.

In September of 2014, I had the extreme pleasure of meeting Katie face-to-face. She's humble, sweet, and very personable. I'm honored to count her friend, and to be a fan of her work.

Congratulations, Katie, and best wishes on future releases and your career!

What is everybody reading these days?

Have A Thrillingly Terrific Tuesday!

Updates, Stories, & More...

Happy Monday All,

I finally got Book Three out to my critiquers, so I'm awaiting their notes, however, I'm staying busy!

This week is full of appointments and things, but not just that, I plan to work on critiquing a novel for another author, and work on this other project I have going. Plus be pregnant. But that's a constant for now.

I'm almost ready for Christmas. Got a few more things to take care of, but I knocked out some of it over the weekend, which was good. How about you?

Recently I read Katie McGarry's new YA novel, Breaking The Rules. I really enjoyed it. The way she pulls in emotion is incredible. Her novels are gritty and have an honesty about them that pulls the reader in.

Once Upon A Time had it's winter finale Sunday night and I thoroughly enjoyed it. It was a heart-wrenching episode that leaves me really looking forward to March 1st when it starts back up with with the second half of the season. In my opinion, this season has shaped up nicely. And yes, I had been expecting the "showdown" between Belle and Rumpel for a long time--but it was hard to watch just the same. :-(

One thing I love about this time of year is when authors get festive. And I was happily surprised that author Beth Fantaskey jumped aboard and gave us Jess and Lucius fans a little "stocking stuffer" (as she put it) of a story as a guest post for Star Shadow Blog. It was really sweet and fun to read up on those characters again. I really enjoyed Jessica's Guide To Dating On The Dark Side and Jessica Rules The Dark Side. I've read the wedding story, too. I really enjoy those characters.

I'd love to do a short story of Jason and Laney at Christmas time, but I can't do it this year--sorry! But I think it would be fun. I've always loved the idea of doing a Christmas story, I've just never had one that worked.

Anyway, that's what's going on right now. What's up in your world?

Have A Magically Merry Monday!

Lovely Louisville Wedding & More!

Happy Tuesday All,

Whew! It's been a very busy week:

On Tuesday, September 9th husband, offspring, and I boarded a plane for Louisville, Kentucky in anticipation of my eldest niece's wedding. The flight was mostly uneventful (although some turbulence, but nothing serious). We landed at the airport and had to wait to get to the jet way because there was a police car there. Apparently there were two airplanes that had to push back and leave before we could get dock there. It was about 20-30 minutes wait, but then finally we docked and exited the plane.

**Warning:  I didn't take very many pictures--sorry!**

At the rental car counter there was a huge line, which meant offspring and I had to wait with the bags while husband got our reservation. I was hungry and a bit on the dizzy side, but finally husband got the keys and we went and found our rental (a royal blue Chevrolet Cruze, not sure what year--anyone own one or driven one?) Husband opted for GPS system since we didn't know our way around.

The hotel wasn't real far from the airport, so that was good. We got our room and settled in.

My family arrived the following days and activities ensued.

One day, myself, husband, offspring, one of my sisters, her two offspring, my younger brother and his wife, all walked down to a

coffee house called Mrs. Potter's Coffee Lounge & Cafe. We stayed in the lounge area, which had couches and chairs. I got a decaf Mocha (so yummy) brother opted for drip coffee, sister-in-law got some kind of tangerine tea (sounded good), my sis got a regular coffee Mocha, offspring got a Strawberry Smoothie, and sis's kids got ice cream and chocolate chip cookie respectively (the chocolate chip cookies were HUGE!)

On the way to the coffee house, we passed the KFC Yum! Center. I

didn't know such a thing existed until I saw it. Apparently they hold

all kinds of events there, like Disney On Ice. So, it's basically a stadium of sorts. I think there was some kind of a rally going on in front of it. We never found out what the rally was about, though.

Thursday morning I got to meet author Katie McGarry (of Pushing The Limits, Dare You To, Red At Night, Crash Into You, Crossing The Line, and Take Me On fame!) Unfortunately, that's one picture I should have gotten, but I have a picture of the autograph. I haven't read Take Me On, yet, but I plan to.

Thursday night was the rehearsal and rehearsal dinner--but most of my family didn't have to be a part of that (except my parents, my younger brother and his wife, and of course, one of my sisters, who is my niece's mom and my sister's husband and my niece's brother and some other people--most of which I didn't know). So the rest of us got together and went out to eat at a place called Champions Bar & Grill that has really good food and wasn't at all far from the hotel (we walked). It was fun.

Friday we hung out doing various activities until it was time to get ready for the wedding--which was at 7 p.m. (Eastern time). The

My niece & her new husband
during their first dance

wedding was really lovely and the reception was a ton of fun. (Link to the Cathedral where the wedding was held).

They had a photo booth, so a bunch of my siblings and I crammed into there and took some photos. I'm pretty sure that booth was not meant to hold quite so many people, LOL! The reception was held at a place called Ice House which was a nice location.

Yep, we crammed into that photo booth!

Saturday husband and offspring went with a bunch of others on the Louisville Slugger tour. I stayed at the hotel and did some edits, and then later that evening we all went to Mass at the Cathedral where the wedding ceremony was held. That night we went to the Troll Pub Under The Bridge for dinner--very good food.

Most people left Saturday and Sunday, but we weren't scheduled to leave until Monday (September 15th). So we remained behind an extra day.

Sunday I didn't feel good, so I rested in the hotel bed while husband and offspring went off to the zoo and to play putt-putt.

Monday morning we got up early. I showered while husband and offspring went downstairs for breakfast, then joined them when I was dressed. We got squared away with the hotel, and left. Traffic wasn't bad, and we made it to the airport with plenty of time. Husband turned in our rental, and then we all went through security, found our gate, and waited to board. When the time came, we boarded the plane and the flight went really well (much better than the one over). We got back to Texas early. My dad picked us up at the airport and brought us home. We had several things to do (such as grocery shopping) and I rested while the husband and offspring went off on an evening excursion after dinner.

Anyway, we had a lovely time. Today husband went back to work and I'm doing edits and various other things.

Offspring and I have some kind of cold/allergies thing we're dealing with, but no fevers (thank God!) so hopefully we'll be all well, soon (which would be really good).

Hope you all are doing well! Please be sure to pass the word along

about Divine Love and the upcoming release of Astral Love.

 

Speaking of Divine Love, I got a wonderful surprise Sunday morning in the form of an Amazon email. I get email recommendations from them, and lo and behold, at the top of the email for Fiction & Literature was Divine Love! I was so excited, I cried. It really was a thrill.

You all have a good week. I've got edits and writing to finish up, so I'll probably be pretty MIA for a while. I'm gearing up for the Northwest Houston RWA Lone Star Writer's Conference (which, if you're a writer and you haven't registered, please do! It'll be a great conference!) For more information please click here.

See y'all around!

Have A Totally Terrific Tuesday!

A Bit Of This And That...

Happy Wednesday All,

It's late in the afternoon when I'm writing this, but oh well. I've gotten the mock up cover art for Book Two of my Immortal Dreams Trilogy and love it. It's not totally finalized (I asked about something so I'm waiting to hear back on that) but I'm happy with the direction and everything. I don't know when I'll do a cover reveal for Book Two since it's not scheduled to come out until Fall of 2014. 

Fountain in Frankenmuth, Michigan

We have been soggy in my neck of the woods. Rain for almost 3 days straight. Monday poured, Tuesday poured and rained on and off, and then early morning today it was raining hard. There was quite a lot of thunder and lightning, but at least it wasn't like Tuesday morning when we thought we were going to be dealing with a tornado (the wind sounded a lot like it was trying to form one, thank goodness it didn't happen--I certainly said a prayer of thanks to God on that one!) Now no rain, and trying to be sunny. Husband said it was very humid. Ah, Texas Summers...how I know them well!

Also, I've done some updates to the Books portion of my website, so if you click here, you can check it out. 

June 8th is the final day to enter NWHRWA's Lone Star Contest. It's a chance to get your work in front of professionals' eyes. It's also a chance to get feedback. You can check out the rules by clicking here.

I'm excited over author Katie McGarry's newest release, Take Me On. I haven't gotten it, yet, but I plan to.


What 2014 releases are you looking forward to? 

Have A Wonderfully Whimsical Wednesday!

Updates, Upcoming Releases, Etc...

Happy Monday All,

Here's hoping everybody had a great weekend! Mine was all right.

There are just HOURS left in the giveaway I donated a Kindle copy of All's Fair In Love & Lion to. For details check out author Patti Korbet's blog. 

For those of you who didn't hear:  Last week I turned Immortal Dreams Book 2: Astral Love in to my publisher.  It's exciting, nerve-wrecking, and a relief to have another novel finished. I'm working on another novel and got some ideas for others, too. 

Next month I'll have an official blog book review for another author (not going to say who the author is or what the book is, but it's coming!) I enjoyed this one very much that I'll be reviewing.

I'm looking forward to the upcoming release of Kerrelyn Sparks' How To Seduce A Vampire (Without Really Trying).  I pre-ordered a paperback copy of that one. It releases tomorrow (April 29, 2014).

If you all didn't hear the marvelous news from author Katie McGarry about another Echo & Noah story, check it out here. Very exciting news.

I'm also looking forward to author Kiera Cass's The One, which I think is coming out in May.

What books are you looking forward to being released this week and in May?

Have A Marvelously Magical Monday!

Christmas 2013...A Success! Also Writing Updates...

Happy Monday All,

I hope everyone had a wonderful and very Merry Christmas! We sure did.

Christmas Eve we attended church and then came back and relaxed a while before friends of ours came over for a brief visit. 

On Christmas Day, we slept in, (yes, Offspring does sleep in from time to time--which is lovely, especially when didn't have to get up

early!) We got up, Offspring and I ate breakfast, then we opened gifts (Husband opted to wait until after gifts to eat breakfast because he was going to have oatmeal and he said that took him a while to eat, and Offspring was going crazy wanting to open gifts LOL).

We spent the rest of the day just relaxing. Offspring and husband played in the backyard--I went out there for a while. I spent most of the day reading one of my new books, Katie McGarry's Crash Into You (She writes contemporary/romantic YA novels. I've enjoyed everything she's published so far).

Husband had to work the next day. I was supposed to be writing, but last week was a bust--I was pretty distracted (gee, I wonder why! New presents, and brain not focusing). I finished another book I got for Christmas last week--Jessica Day George's Princess Of The Silver Woods (I've read her other princess novels in that series and I really enjoyed it).

I got a bunch of new novels on one of my E-readers (we now how two) using a gift card I got from one of my friends. I read one of the short stories I got--Lisa Scott's Say My Name, which is a play on the Rumpelstiltskin story. 

Now I'm needing to read Rick Riordan's House Of Hades, then get moving on some of the other books I got on my E-reader until the

next round of library books come through here. (Yes, I both buy books and get books from the library--some books I own are books I first read from the library and liked so much I wanted my own copy). 

I'm sorry I don't have any pictures of all the awesome gifts I got, but I'll go ahead and list them:

1.  Several new books (as I said, gift card from one of my best friends).
2.  A blender from Husband and Offspring (to make smoothies)
3.  A board game called Damn You Autocorrect from one of my other best friends. I laughed when I saw the title. Looks like fun!
4.  Two pretty t-shirts from my parents
5.  Lounge socks, slippers, lip gloss, and a sample of lotion from my "lil sis" 
6.  10 Things I Hate About You anniversary edition DVD from one of my sisters (a sibling of mine has a program that takes me and my siblings, and our spouses' names and pairs us up with someone for Christmas)
7.  Perhaps Love Jonathan & Charlotte album from one of my sisters
8.  Kindle Fire for my family from my parents

I'm pretty happy with what I got. I really like that movie, 10 Things I Hate About You...husband and I both like it, actually. I'm looking forward to seeing the special features on it, too. It's also a movie my deceased friend, Sarah and I enjoyed.

Writing news?  I do actually have some. I may not have worked as hard last week on the writing as I intended, but I have made progress on TWO novels I'm working on:

*Book 2 of the Third Realm novels (Loralyn from All's Fair In Love & Lion story) has a few pages written (I still need to do a lot more work on that one).

*Book 2 of my New Adult (NA) Paranormal Romance has made some progress (and has some plot points for me to use for the rest of the novel--yay!)

I don't know when I'll have these two novels, done, but I'm glad they're moving forward.  There's been a few people who have asked about a book coming after All's Fair In Love & Lion--be patient, I do have plans for at least one. Right now, the New Adult series has taken a lot of my attention. When I have more news on that and other novels I'm working on, I'll let you know. :-)

So...

How was your Christmas? Do you have a favorite gift? If so, what is it?

If I don't get to posting before January 1st, Happy & Blessed New Year to you and yours.

Have A Marvelously Magical Day!

Weekend, Fun Books, New Releases, & Such...

Happy Tuesday All,

I hope everyone had a wonderful Memorial Day Weekend, and

found something fun to do. My husband, parents, and I went to an Italian restaurant to hear author, Raymond Benson, play the piano. Not only is the man a multi-published author, but he's a very accomplished pianist. We had a great time hearing him play, and I got to visit with him, his wife, and a few of my chapter mates afterwards. My family and I also had a nice dinner at the restaurant. I got to introduce my chapter mates to my family, which was fun, too.

Next week is super-duper busy for me, so I'll probably won't be posting any blog posts. I'm working on revisions for my YA novel, and working on the companion/sequel for All's Fair In Love & Lion, on top of everything else going on. I expect the 2nd round of edits for AFIL&L soon, too. (After all, July 10th is getting closer!)

While I'm busy with all these many things, here's some books to keep you happily occupied:

Recently I discovered author Lisa Scott. I've been reading her contemporary short story romances. They're cute and a lot of fun. She has several available on Amazon Kindle and Barnes & Noble Nook. I've read a compilation set, as well as My Fake Fiance, and Second Chance. They're fun, quick reads.

Today also marks the release of Katie McGarry's newest full-length contemporary YA, Dare You To. I've read her other full-length YA, Pushing The Limits, and her novella, Crossing The Line. I think she's a very talented author. It's available at Amazon and Barnes & Noble.

Also available is Josephine Angelini's 3rd Starcrossed novel, Goddess. I've really enjoyed how she's used the Helen of Troy story and made it her own. You can find Goddess at Amazon and Barnes & Noble.

Shauna Allen's next book, The Halo Effect will be out very soon!

For a list of upcoming novels, check out this post.

I'll try to have more blog posts this week, but I do have several things going on, so please be patient.

What novels are you looking forward to being released?

Have A Tremendously Terrific Tuesday!