Hi Everyone! End of August is coming up, and thus, it's time for a monthly update from yours truly. Currently, I'm waiting on some responses on queries for Sugar & Frost . There's been a bit more interest since #UnhingedPit and #questpit, so that's great. I love this story so much, that I'm happy with other people get interested. As far as I'm concerned, it's a fun read. I call it the "book of my heart" because it's just exactly something I'd pick up as a reader and cuddle up with a comfy blanket in a chair, couch, or in bed, with something hot to drink and just enjoy. I also dedicated it to my siblings, so there is a personal aspect to it, too. Other manuscripts:  Moonrise Pack: Shifter Secrets (YA Fantasy, wolf shifters, sweet romance) is in edits--I finally sat down and started working on it. I'm not very far along in the editing, yet, but hopeful about polishing it. I had made a poster for it for #PosterPit since they allow W...

  Hi Everyone! I've decided to provide a post that was just a whole list of resources and info for authors. I've done this before (I think it was 2017) so yeah, it's time for updating. I've done the legwork of inserting hyperlinks so that all you have to do is click on the links of whatever item you're most interested in. There is a TON of information out there for authors and it can be overwhelming to search and file through websites/social media platforms, so hopefully this post can help take some of the stress out of your search. This is by no means an exhaustive list of resources, it's just some that I know about and some that I've even used. At the very end I provide a basic template for constructing a pitch line for your manuscript (this template has helped me tremendously!) Let's Start With Websites/Resources: Manuscript Academy -- Offers workshops and events for authors in various stages of their careers. Also offers consultations with editors f...

  Happy Monday! It's the last day of June and I can't believe July starts tomorrow. This month felt a bit like a whirlwind, but there were several lovely moments. June 10th marked 59 years that my parents had been married. I didn't get to see them on that day, but I did wish them a happy anniversary. They've been such a special example and inspiration for me. (One of my best friends got married on their anniversary and when I found out I said, "You know, that's my parents' anniversary?" My friend responded: "I KNEW it was a good day to get married!"). Two of my out-of-town siblings came in for a few days on Father's Day weekend and I got to see them, as well as my sibling that lives near my parents. We had a nice weekend celebrating Father's Day. Saturday early evening we were at a Mexican restaurant and then Sunday evening had barbecue at my in-town sibling's house. It was very nice. My father is not only a father, but a grandfat...

Happy Friday Everyone! September has arrived! For some reason August seemed a little slower than other months, but then I thought how about how school days started back up and I was like "Wait...didn't we just enter summertime?" Let me think....August was busy. Some things that have been important to my family over the years have closed. Whether price, attendance, or whatever, they closed. One of those has been resolved, while we work on others. As for writing...yes, progress is being made. I've been editing Sugar & Frost and I still love it. I've been editing for a while, now, but polishing my manuscripts the best I can before querying is important. I really hope readers will like it / love it, too. It's such a fun story! I've also made progress on other things I need for querying. Major work on my blurb is done, thanks to the help of my long-time critique partner. When I sent it to her, and she sent me back her suggestions, ideas started coming. I t...

  Happy August! Wow, it's the beginning (or, rather continuation, if you go by what the stores have had in stock for awhile) of back-to-school activity...already. Didn't summer begin like yesterday? Somehow this year has seemed to zip past me at a rate I didn't expect. Then again, I've had plenty to fill my days. Auto insurance issues continue for the Averie clan. I won't go into detail, but let's just say I'm not impressed. 😑 Oh, and car issues aren't fun, either, but whatever. Just gotta keep going and trust that the Lord will pull you through (the only way I know how to manage). Hurricane Beryl barreled through my part of Texas and we were without power for about 3-4 days. Not long when you consider how some people were out for at least 2 weeks (maybe more?) But, luckily it wasn't worse. (Someone in my neighborhood had a tree fall on a car! We saw them working on it, they did manage to get the car out. I don't know if it was damaged...it look...

  Happy Tuesday Everyone! It's...July? Yep. July. Can you believe it? I know I often say this, but it feels like the month went by very quickly. Or maybe it just seems that way because of all the weird things happening in my life. And, yes, it's hot. (But when isn't it during June and July in Texas?) Real Life: At the end of May, lightning hit my car (at least, that's what we think happened, didn't SEE it, but based on what we know, that's what we think). Nobody was in it, but the car got damaged and wouldn't work properly. Insurance had it towed and thus began a saga (which is still going on at the time of the writing of this blog post). It's been about 3-4 weeks. We had a rental for a few days, and then had to return it. Then my husband's car had a problem and had to be towed to the dealership. So, husband talked to insurance and told them we were getting a rental because we needed transportation and he needed to get to work. Hopefully all this ge...

  Happy June Everyone, June is here! Yep, it's here. May was more eventful in my real life. So, off we go: Writer's Life Updates:  Nothing fun to report on the query front with the YA Fantasy I've been querying. I still have a couple out. Editing: I've got a YA Fantasy with a Christmassy theme to it. I'm enjoying getting it polished. I hope to start querying it, soon. I'm not sure what 'soon' is, yet, though. Writing: WIPs (Works In Progress) that I'm writing are on hold (for the most part) while I edit. Other stuff: I fixed up my Mood Board for the YA Fantasy (Christmassy) story and that's up on my social media accounts (Facebook, X/Twitter, and Instagram). As for real life...strap on your safety belts: it's a wild ride! There have been several storms in my part of the world (especially in May). We're all safe, which I thank God for that.  One particular storm did something strange (well, strange for us, it's never happened before to...

  Happy Monday Everyone! It's MARCH! Can you believe February is already over? I meant to make this blog post earlier than now, but I was busy with editing, and life, so I had to put the post on hold. Editing is currently done, so I've got some time to post. So let's see... Lent has begun, which was punctuated for me by Ash Wednesday. I like to go to church to receive ashes. It was nice. I had my offspring with me--which meant a bit of adventure, but we managed okay. The Author Encounter is gearing up for its 2nd Annual Authors March Forward events. A little smaller than last year, but still exciting. Watch TAE website and social media for more information. (I'm looking forward to it, as I do all our events because they're informative and fun). I'm not excited about the clocks moving forward on Sunday, March 13th. Losing an hour of sleep, not fun. I'm sure I'll adjust, though. Hopefully I'll have some exciting news in April regarding something that ...

  Happy Friday Everyone! It's February of 2022! February. Let that sink in a moment. February makes me a bit nervous this year. Last year, on February 15th, we lost power and water, got displaced for about 4.5 months (due to water pipe bursting and needing to fix parts of the house). With the talks of winter storms and things, I'm doing a lot of praying for this year not to have another Snowmeggeddon. (Yes, I'm praying for those who DEFINITELY will be dealing with bad parts of the storm, but I'm also praying that we don't have to go through what we did last year). In between all this, I'm editing. My freelance editor, the incredibly helpful Deb Ewing finished all passes on my manuscript and now it's down to me doing the final read-through and little nit-picky things. Deb warned me not to get so hung up that I lose the way my story works, which is a fair point. As a writer, you don't want to poke and prod your work into a oblivion and lose the voice that ...

  Happy January and Happy New Year 2022 one and all! There have been many times that I've said this, and I expect many times to say it again: my observation is that every year brings both good and bad. Some years there's more good, some more bad, some in the middle. I don't know what 2022 will be, but I continue to look for blessings. One of the blessings of 2021, was in spite of Snowmeggeddon (or, rather, because of it) back in February, I got a new kitchen. Now, a storm with broken pipes is not the way I'd PREFER to have gotten this kitchen, but I love it. So, even though the storm sucked and being out of my house for 4 1/2 months wasn't always easy, I got this brand new kitchen that is so much more me and my family than what we moved into when we first got the house. In August, I got a non-displaced fracture in my shoulder. Yeah, I hadn't known silly detergent had spilled and I wasn't looking to perfect my detergent-skating abilities (or, in this case, in...

  Happy Wednesday & Happy December! I hope December 2021 finds all of you well. I can't believe we're already nearing the end of 2021. It feels like the year just started yesterday or something. Who participated in NaNoWriMo2021? I didn't. I don't really do NaNo, but I fully support those who do. If you did participate, I wish you a great word count! If NaNoWriMo something that works for you as an author and/or you enjoy it, then I say go for it! I know people who do Camp NaNoWriMo or other NaNo-like events and they say they actually help them with their writing. Every author is different, so you have to find a process/technique that works for you. I'm working on getting into the Christmas spirit. We're in the process of putting up the tree (have to fix something on the lights so the ornaments aren't on there, yet). I've been playing Christmas Carols and I've almost completed my Christmas shopping. My biggest concern with the cooler weather isn...

  Happy Friday & Happy November! We're clocking in the first week of November if you can believe it! 2021 kinda started slow for me when we had "Snowmeggeddon" in February. Now, it feels like it's going by fast! My editor has sent some of the chapters for my manuscript, and I'm just waiting on the rest. My query letter is written, I figured out a tag line (which I will probably look over again) and I'm working on any polishing that's needed on my synopsis. I've got some other manuscripts in various stages of having started but not finished with the first full draft. I've also got other ideas that play in my head from time to time, so we'll see what happens with all of those. The Author Encounter's Indie Author Day is happening next week (Friday and Saturday, Nov. 12 & 13). Click here for more information on the lineup and tickets . (They're free!) I've started Christmas shopping (I always like to start early so I'm not c...

  Happy Happy Friday! It's been a little while since I updated, and there is plenty to say. :-) 1. I'm free of the sling! Yes, you read that right. No more wearing the sling for my non-displaced shoulder fracture. On Wednesday, Oct. 20th, I had an ortho appointment and the doc said that I didn't have to wear it anymore. I'm working on some physical therapy, which is going okay. My poor arm is stiff! More good news is that I can use my left hand to type, so I'm back to typing with both hands, which is awesome! 2. My mss (manuscript, i.e. story/novel) is with my freelance editor. The editor has my mss. She'd sent some edits back some time ago, which I finally worked on. So, now just waiting for the rest of her notes. 3. My query letter is all ready! It's been critiqued and revised and is now ready to be sent off when everything else is ready to go. 4. My synopsis is almost ready. I've got it out with a proofreader and have already had critique done on it. ...

  Happy Thursday! I didn't know I'd do another blog post for July. I wasn't sure I had anything to say, but you know, things happen and suddenly I've got some fun stuff for a blog post! Okay, since I list it first, let me talk discoveries:  I have discovered the existence of UK Actress, singer, author, vlogger, Carrie Hope Fletcher. So, this was completely by accident. She's got a new book release dropping in August (I don't know when it's supposed to be available in the States) that looks interesting. Rather prolific given in a short period of time she has published around 5 books (maybe 6?) and has a new one coming out. Anyway, she has an amazing voice, which gives me chills--hence the reason I wanted to tell you, darling readers, about her voice. I haven't read her work, since I only just learned of her existence, but her upcoming release sounds interesting. In terms of writing, I continue to edit my current WIP (Work In Progress). In any case, I...

  Happy Wednesday All, I can barely believe it's July already! Hope you all had a wonderful 4th of July American Independence Day. We didn't do very much for it, which was okay. There were plenty of people around us shooting off fireworks for 2 days (late into the night, too). After Texas "Snowmeggeddon" displaced us from our house from February 15th to late June, we're back in our house and things are fixed. We're unpacking boxes from things we had to box up while the contractors were here putting our house back together. We had 2 pipes burst--one in the kitchen, the other around the garage. My kitchen looks so different, but I love how it turned out. We were glad that insurance covered so much of it. While our house was getting help, we lived at my parents' house. We were lucky they're still living in the two-story I spent a lot of my growing-up years in. Except, my old room is now my dad's office so there is no sign of the pink walls anymore. Al...

  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 sen...

  Happy New Year Everybody! I hope you're having a wonderful 2021 thus far and that it's full of blessings, health, and happy moments to make it a special year. On New Year's Eve at 2:26 a.m. Central Time, I finished the WIP (Work In Progress) I'd been working on most of the year. I had wanted to finish it a month or so BEFORE December 31st, but life happens. So now it's written! The next step is to edit and then I'll query it out to agents. The Author Encounter has many events planned for 2021 and starting off great with D.C. Gomez's "New Year, New Mindset". While this workshop is mostly professional development for authors, you do not have to be an author to attend it. We're going to get into the harder parts of being an author: Imposter Syndrome, Rejection, Professional Jealousy, and More. It'll be about working through these feelings to a positive end. I've been impressed with what I've learned about D.C. in the time I've go...

  Happy Thursday Darling Readers! It's been a while since I last updated and there are plenty of things to mention. I'm still trying to figure out the new template I'm using on this blog. The template came with some options I don't even use, so ignore them (I'm talking about the link options that don't go anywhere). My website is still being worked on and figured out--lots of things have gotten in the way of getting that completely up and running, but it is on my mind.  I've been writing! Yes, yes, I have! For months now I've been working on a new story (no connection to my Immortal Dreams series or the out-of-print, All's Fair In Love & Lion ). I can't tell you where I am with the story because I keep pretty mum about the process until I have specific news. But I am writing and I am editing and I am working on query stuff. The Author Encounter has been taking quite a bit of my time (but yes, I have been working on all the stuff I mentioned ...

Happy Thursday One and All! Also, Happy Thanksgiving! My Thanksgiving is postponed until Sunday. My parents are out of town visiting one of my other siblings and well, we really don't have anywhere else to go. But, please, don't worry about us. We're actually happy to be at home. My Real Life Hero has to work half a day and Eldest has around an hour long online class to do, so we've got plans. I plan on cooking a little something--not a turkey (me and the Offspring can't have turkey without bad results). Sunday, we'll have Thanksgiving with my parents and one of my other siblings, so there you have it, I'm not missing it all together. I've been working on the Jeannie Averie novel (this is polishing, extra edits--the novel is written). Planning to do more of it in the next few days since Real Life Hero will be off and so I'll have a little more space to work. Recently, I finished reading a fun novel called Cinder & Ella by Kelly Oram . It w...

Happy Friday All, It's been a long time since I've updated and a lot of it has to do with feeling like I had no idea what to say. Yeah, that's brutally honest and definitely the truth. Also, when it's just you doing everything yourself, it's easy for things to slip through the cracks. But, yeah, I wasn't sure what to put on here, but lately, some stuff has been occurring to me, so I finally have something blog-worthy to post. So, let's start with a question:  What do you try to be perfect at? What is something that you try to do absolutely your best at and sometimes you manage it sometimes you don't? I'm that way with just about everything in my life, but specifically motherhood and writing. Motherhood for the obvious reasons--I want to raise my kids right, and I want to do what's best for them. Writing because I want to put out good stories for people to enjoy and I want people in the industry to pick me. I think that's how most writ...