Happy Wednesday Everyone, Renovations to the blog and my website are still in line to be done but have been put on hold for a short bit because the consultant and I have joined forces to start a company geared toward authors and readers. The Author Encounter's mission statement is "Bringing authors and fans together" and that's just what we're working toward. We have an event scheduled for Saturday, August 1, 2020 called Books & Beauty. I'll be there with my amazingly talented audiobook narrator, Chris Hudson. Headlining the event is author Kerrelyn Sparks who not only did an amazing job with Paranormal Romance with her Love At Stake series, but she's got her Embraced beings in her Fantasy Romance series and a brand new one that will be showcased at Books & Beauty called How To Love Your Elf . It's going to be for people ages 21 and up because it's at a Wine bar. All the information is on The Author Encounter's website. Other tha...

Happy Monday Everyone, The newest news for me is that after 10 years, 2 months, I left Romance Writers of America. It wasn't an easy decision and I didn't make it lightly at all. I won't get into the reasons or any of the recent events. I made a decision I thought was the right one for me. I plan to keep the good relationships/friendships I made while a member of the organization and continue to learn and grow the best I can with the many other resources available to me. I'm grateful to the organization for the experiences that I treasure and for the connections I did make because of being a part of it. I plan to continue writing Romance, just not being a member of RWA. I'm working on several projects--some are books, and some are book-related but not writing or critiquing. I like keeping busy and I like the different ideas and things coming my way. Under my Jeannie Averie pseudonym, I've been querying agents and participating in Twitter Pitch parties. I...

Happy Friday One and All! Wow, I can't believe I haven't posted on here since July. I sincerely apologize for my absence. Life is crazy and crazy is life.  First things first: If you haven't liked & followed my Facebook author page , you'll want to do that ASAP. Why? Because I'm doing something called The Immortal Tour. What is it? Glad you asked! The Immortal Tour is a play off of the title of my YA series, I mmortal Dreams ( Divine Love, Astral Love, Immortal Love, and Perfect Love ). It's sitting down on Facebook Live and interviewing authors I consider Immortals. So far I've gotten Kerrelyn Sparks' posted to my page. Due to technical difficulties, I've had to reschedule Avery Flynn, but I've got Robin Covington appearing on October 25th, and Victoria Vane on November 8th, plus more to come! This is an ongoing event, but trust me, it's not your usual interviews! You, the reader, will get a chance to be involved, and of course, ask...

Happy Tuesday One & All, So, are you all ready? Today I have an official blog book review for you...the very first one of 2017. Pretty cool, huh? I think so, anyway. This one came about when I requested the ARC of her upcoming book one of her new series. I agreed to do a review in exchange for the ARC (Advanced Readers Copy).  When March 2017 hits, readers and Kerrelyn Sparks fans will embark on a brand new journey into a Fantasy Romance. Kerrelyn weaves a world of imagination, magic, adventure, suspense, danger, intrigue, and romance. As always, her story is well-mapped out and she handles the details well.  Lord Leofric (Leo) is an interesting leading man--he can be hit and survive a lightning strike, while absorbing the power and in turn, wielding it for his own purposes. Unfortunately, he can't TOUCH anyone. Luciana's character arc takes the journey of her taking a step that looks brave, and showing her actually becoming determined and brave. She's no ...

Happy Tuesday Everyone, The last time I posted was in November. That's pretty bad, but getting to post a blog is tough. Blog posts take a lot of time because I have to think of a topic, write it up, edit it, add graphics/pictures, and make sure any relevant links are set up. I'm thinking that I will go to once a week or once every other week for blog posts. Also, apparently there are some kind of European laws and Blogger is posting Cookie notices, but I don't know where they are and I don't know if they're showing up, so if they are, please let me know where to look because the directions weren't clear. Christmas in the Averie Household was eventful. On Christmas Eve we went to Mass and the Averie Offspring was rather rambunctious much to me and Mr. Averie's chagrin. I'm chalking it up to the excitement of the season, but despite the goofiness on the part of my offspring, it was a lovely service and we sang one of my favorite Christmas hymns ( Jo...

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 differe...

Happy Monday All, I know I haven't been good about keeping up with the blog. Currently I have a full plate. I'm working on a project my publisher has requested, plus something I did on my own, and a couple of stories I'm hoping to finish writing. On top of that, I've got the mommy/wife gigs going on, and the audiobook. However, I do want to make all writers aware that the time has come to get your registration for the Northwest Houston chapter of Romance Writers of America Lone Star Writer's Conference in! The deadline to register is September 15 , and we're about halfway through August already. Me with editor, Debby Gilbert at the 2014 Lone Star Writer's Conference I have been attending this conference since 2009. Every year is different, but consistently it's been fun, informative, and worth every penny. I'm excited that this year Kerrelyn Sparks is speaking. Me, author Kerrelyn Sparks, and author Christie Craig Kerrelyn is a fel...

Happy Wednesday Everybody! I'm one tired chica. For the last 4 nights either dizziness (due to allergies) or Youngest Offspring has made sure I don't get a full-night's sleep. In fact, I don't think I've slept from 11 p.m. to 8 or 9 a.m. in over a year. I imagine it's part and parcel of the whole Mommy-gig. But since I know things could be much worse, I suppose I should thank the Lord this is all I'm up against in terms of being a mom at the moment. The NWHRWA has opened up registration for the annual Fall Conference--the Lone Star Writer's Conference, which is happening Saturday, October 1st. This conference is open to ALL writers, NOT just Romance novelist. So you Thriller, Suspense, Horror, and such, you can come, too. YA and NA writers, you come, too. It's open to ALL writers. The fabulous NY Times Best Seller, Kerrelyn Sparks, will be Me, KERRELYN SPARKS, and author Christie Craig talking about world building and all of that fun stuf...

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 fr...

Happy Monday All, It's back-to-school for a lot of people (including my offspring) and I'm looking toward Fall. I love Fall and Winter (just not snow and ice) and fortunately I live in a place that can get cold but generally doesn't snow and hardly ever has ice. Warm sweaters, long pants, cozy blankets. Sign me up! I'm also looking toward the first weekend in October. Why? It's the Northwest Houston RWA's annual Lone Star Conference and it's my 5th year going! Contrary to previous years that I've gone, it's going to be the FIRST weekend in October, rather than the 2nd. Saturday, October 5, 2013 all day long. If you haven't signed up, go check it out and see if there's still room! You do NOT want to miss this opportunity. This year Donald Maass is our keynote speaker. There are so many great books coming out this week , I just know I'm going to miss one (or more) but I'll do my best... Elvis Is A Keeper by Shauna Allen (b...

Happy Wednesday All, Oh my! I'm so behind. Last week, I was up in Gatlinburg, Tennessee at a resort for a family reunion. We flew out to Charlotte, North Carolina on July 14th, rented a car, and drove up to the resort.  Offspring and Husband went swimming at one of the resort pools and hiking in a National Park. I hung out with my family, answered posts on Christie Craig's blog (on July 16th--congratulations to Kathleen O. for winning a copy of All's Fair In Love & Lion . Hope you enjoy it). Thursday we had a baby shower for my brother and his wife. That was fun.  Friday we went out to Dollywood for the day. Offspring and Husband are far more adventurous about rides than I am, but that was okay. I walked through the water that they had misting around for park-goers to cool off. Of course, I probably shouldn't have bothered since later we got totally drenched by a rain shower. However, before that happened, we saw birds of prey (including a bald eagle and g...

Happy Tuesday All, Today we remember and pray for those involved in the tragedy of 9/11, and we also remember all the brave men and women who defend the USA. May God bless them and be with them. This year September is bringing weather to the South of the promise of Fall. It's not as cool as I'd prefer, yet, but it's cooler. One of the little trees in my backyard has already got some red leaves on it (pretty!) and another one is showing signs of Fall. Fall and Winter are my favorite seasons. What's yours? Before I forget... There's releases coming right around the corner: Sophie Jordan's 3rd book in her YA series, Hidden , is out TODAY! Kerrelyn Sparks has the re-release of her Historical under the title The Forbidden Lady (out on September 25, 2012). Also, her next Love At Stake book , Wild About You will be out on November 27, 2012. C.C. Hunter's newest installment in her Shadowfalls series, Whispers At Moonrise will release on O...

Happy Tuesday All, It's so rainy and gloomy today, which is not cool. The rain is good, but the gloom? Not so much. So we're going to have to find ways to brighten things up in spite of the grayness outside. Yesterday, a writer-buddy of mine (and fellow blogger), Marsha,  posted a fun post with quotes . So I thought today I'd pull some of my favorite quotes from various sources and post them here: "Give me this moment. This precious chance."--Dr. Jekyll from the musical Jekyll & Hyde (song:  This Is The Moment ). "Fezzik, are there rocks ahead?" "If there are, we'll all be dead!" -- Inigo and Fezzik from movie, The Princess Bride . "I'm too sexy for my fangs."-- Gregori, from Kerrelyn Sparks'  book, Sexiest Vampire Alive . "We would call Monroe something else, except we don't want to want to insult donkeys." -- Bastian "Bast" Cantrell from my novel, Surreal . "I hav...

Happy Tuesday All, Before I get into today's post...don't forget...today is Kerrelyn Sparks' release of Wanted: Undead Or Alive and her launch party (which I talked about in yesterday's post ). They're the stars of novels. They're the ones who you wonder "What will happen to them next?" Oftentimes they're the "good guys", although sometimes there's shades of gray. We're talking heroes and heroines! Everything from contemporary genre to paranormal, there are heroes and heroines in pretty much every novel. Some of my favorite heroes were super-heroes, like Spider-Man and Super-Man...yes, Batman is cool, too. Some of the ones from the contemporary genres were unlikely heroes, like Simon in Debbie Macomber's The Perfect Christmas . Prefer a little mystery in your life? Check out Theodosia in Laura Childs' Tea Shop Mysteries . As in real life, sometimes a contemporary genre hero is a lawman, like in Christie Cra...