The Writing Career...

Happy Wednesday All,

I hope everyone is doing well this March and enjoyed/enjoying their

Spring Break. We've had some sun and some rain, some cold and some warm weather. Basically, I think our weather has some kind of indecision problem. Either that, or it got into someone's liquor cabinet and is completely drunk. I'll let you decide which scenario best fits.

There's a couple of blog-related things coming up that should be fun, I've got 2 official blog book reviews in the works. One I'm planning to post next week, and one I'm going to post as soon as I can (I'm currently reading the novel).

On the writing front, I got the critiques back on one of my WIPs and I'll be working on that. I'm awaiting first round edits for book 1 in my Immortal Dreams Trilogy. I'm also waiting on cover art (I've already turned in the forms for all 3 books--each book will be released separately, though).

By the way, Immortal Dreams Book 1: Divine Love has a release date!  My publisher and me are looking at June 18th of this year for Book 1 to be released. As with All's Fair In Love & Lion, the novel will first be released to Amazon Kindle, then somewhere around 6-9 months later will go into print form.

As soon as I have a date for the print version of All's Fair In Love & Lion I'll announce that. At the moment, the only thing I know is that my publisher thought it would be sometime in April.  (Several people have asked me about the print version, and I'm looking forward to it being available to those who want--plus it'll be fun to have a "hard copy" of the novel!)

Funny thing I've encountered as a writer is how many people say to me "I could NEVER do what you do."  The thing is, anyone who can string together a coherent sentence can write. The question is, do you have the passion, drive, and determination to do this? Can you face endless hours of editing? What about rejection? Rejection hurts--even when it's a "good" rejection, even when you learn from it, it's hard to hear "This isn't right for us." 

It is a tough job. But it's one of the most fascinating things I've done in my life. There's something so freeing about letting my imagination run where it will. Whether I'm contemplating the next book, or the next scene, or how to fix something, it gives my imagination a chance to do exactly what it likes to do--create and image.


I guess I don't consider it especially difficult (there are difficult days, but the writing career itself is what I mean) because it's something I do every day (even if I'm not physically writing, I'm thinking about it). It's something I've pretty much done most of my life. 

In the end, it's a matter of perspective. What others view as "impossible" I think "Why not?" and the things I think "I don't have the patience for that." other people are like "Oh, it's no big deal." Everything depends on what your talents are and what you're passionate about.

If writing is something you're into, keep the passion brightly lit. Stay determined. And as so many other authors say:  "Don't give up." The minute you give up, is the minute you quit being a writer/author.

Happy reading and writing everybody. :-)

Have A Wonderfully Whimsical Day!

New & Upcoming Releases For Your Summer Reading Enjoyment...

Happy Thursday Everyone,

Thank you for the prayers and positive thoughts for offspring and I. Offspring is doing better--and I'm working on getting better.

There's been several new releases lately and I've been utterly remiss in posting about them, so here we go:

In no particular order:

Author pal of mine, Wareeze Woodson's debut novel, a Historical Romance, Conduct Unbecoming A Gentleman was recently released. You can find it on Amazon. 

I did announce when C.C. Hunter's YA Paranormal final book in Kylie's Shadow Falls series, Chosen At Nightfall. I did a short review of this one.

Teri Thackston put out a Paranormal Romance, Wait Until Moonrise, available in E-Reader format. 

J.D. Faver has a new Romance, The Reluctant Rancher available through Amazon. 

Contemporary Fantasy Author, Shanna Swendson has her newest Enchanted Inc. book available in print (I don't know if it's available on E-Reader yet. Last I saw it was going to be coming soon). Book 7, Kiss And Spell is now available through Amazon. 

I recently got into Kiera Cass's YA series, which includes a novella called The Prince, but the first full-length novel in that series is called The Selection. The newest release is The Elite. Very fun series. (And yes, I've read all 3 stories--interested to see what comes next!)

Author pal of mine, Will Graham, has another Thriller, One Minute After Midnight is available through Amazon for your E-reading pleasure. 

In no particular order (aside from what month):

Shauna Allen's matchmaking angel will return soon in The Halo Effect. (May 2013) (Paranormal Romance).

Josephine Angelini's YA Paranormal Starcrossed Book 3, Goddess. (May 2013).

Author pal of mine, Jenn Langston will have her debut novel, a Historical Romance, His Perfect Bride, coming out in June 2013. 

Of course, there's my debut Romance (Fantasy & Paranormal elements), All's Fair In Love & Lion coming out on July 10, 2013. But y'all already knew that. :-)

Lesley Livingston has her second book in her Starling series, Descendant, coming out late August 2013. (YA Paranormal).

There's an author pal of mine who I believe has her debut Romance coming out in August 2013. I'll double-check details and have to get back to you all on that. (It's not listed on her site or Facebook page, so I'll have to ask her).

What other novels are coming out in May, June, July, and August that you're looking forward to? Please share that information in the comment section. Thank you!

Side note:  For anyone new to commenting on my blog:  All comments come to me FIRST for review. Once I see them, I publish them, and then they show up in the comment section. I know this seems a little tedious, but after some problems I had in previous years, this seems to work best. It also cuts down on duplicate comments, since I can eliminate any extra same posts when I review them.

Have A Tantalizingly Thrilling Thursday!