How did it get to be March 2018?

2017 was crazy in my life. And sadly, it wasn't for great reasons. Don't get me wrong, there were plenty of good times, but my work life and home life decided to throw plenty of lemons my way.

Through all the ups and downs, writing has really kept me going. Escaping into the worlds I create and the crazy characters living in those worlds is a needed adventure.

The beginning of 2017 started with my day job being up in the air. By midyear, my husband's vision was going downhill. By the end of the year we found out little girl dog has Cushing's. So, yeah, I'm happy to see 2017 in the rearview.

2018 has been stressful so far, because of those medical issues I mentioned. Nothing seems to be getting better, which has led to me spending a lot of time binge watching TV shows and writing. I'm working on the Love on Thin Ice series. Book 2 - otherwise known as Nina and Brady's story - has been unleashed on the world.

And I'm hard at work editing Book 3, which introduces some new characters. Here's the current working synopsis and cover

Kelly Martin's life will never be perfect. She’s a recovering drug addict, who’s former profession as a model has left plenty of scars, mainly on the inside. It’s been a few years since she’s been in that world, and for the most part, her life is sort of track.

Coming back to New York for her cousin’s wedding puts her on edge, but when tragedy strikes and she is forced to stay in New York, she has to learn to deal with the temptations all around her. Those temptations include a hotter than sin hockey player.

Jake Hunter cannot get the sexy blonde he met at his teammate’s wedding out of his head. As everyone urges him to stay away, he finds himself wanting to fix whatever new problems are thrown in Kelly’s life.

Will those problems be too much for the couple to handle? Or will Kelly and Jake find out that he is the perfect solution to all her problems.

Well, that's what I've been up to. Back to binge watching and trying not to eat gallons of ice cream. I'm hoping 2018 gets easier, but we'll have to wait and see.

Things I wish I would've known about 40 self-published books ago

I think I've written posts like this before, but I'm always reminding myself of the different things I've learned over the last five or so years. I also saw something on Twitter recently asking what you would tell your younger writer self, which of course got me thinking.

I'll start out by saying that I don't have an official editor or proofreader for my stories. I know, most will tell you it's a must, but my budget restrictions make it difficult when I write so much to pay for services. I assume many people are in the same boat, so this list is kind of my guidance if you're trying to go it alone.

1. Don't rush into publishing
I know you've got your lovely book written and you've read it a few times and think it's ready to be shared with the world, but chances are it's not, and more importantly, chances are you're not really ready. Why? Well, I guess that's what this list is - a checklist of things to consider before you hit the publish button.

2. Make sure you have at least one unbiased person read your book before publishing
This one is key. Having your husband, sister, best friend, etc read your book and tell you it's great doesn't always mean it really is. Unless of course those people are professional editors or something, they probably won't give you honest reviews of your work. Seek out a critique partner, or maybe a few, to read your book. I've found these people in different writing communities over the years - places like Scribophile, Wattpad, Goodreads and Ladies Who Critique are places I've personally met people, but there are hundreds of other out there. You can also find beta readers that maybe won't go as deep into the story as a critique partner, but can help you find plot holes and give you clues whether your book will have the reaction you're looking for from an audience.

3. Listen to your book as one of your forms of editing
It took me a few books to figure this one out. As you edit your book, it's easy to read the words as they should be and not necessarily what's there. I've found taking my Word document and converting it to a pdf, then opening in Adobe Acrobat Reader and activating the Read Out Loud feature under the View menu helps me to hear what's there when I would otherwise read over mistakes.

4. A cover needs to catch the readers eye
There is much to be said about covers. I've seen many people use the cookie cutter cover generators out there, and when you see the same background over and over, it doesn't exactly entice a person to click. I personally find free images from sites like pexels or pixabay and see how well they fit into a template I have in GIMP, a free image editing software. I also find free fonts on Font Squirrel to pair with the image for a unique combination. Make sure the font is big enough that the cover is readable in thumbnail size and sticks out from the image. Also, if you're using different fonts, try to keep it to two.

5. What you write for your description is almost as important as the book itself
It feels kind of strange typing that, but when you think about it, your cover and description is what people see first. If there are errors in your description, people won't have a lot of confidence that the book isn't also riddled with them. So, get a second set of eyes on your description. It hopefully goes with out saying that what is said needs to catch the reader's attention. Don't give the story away, obviously, but find the right combination of enticing and explaining what the book is about. Ask questions that will be answered in the book that will pique the reader's interest.

6. Where are you planning on publishing and what's the right price
This one has a lot of different opinions. When I started out, I used Smashwords and Amazon's KDP to publish. Smashwords allowed me to upload in one place for almost all retailers other than Amazon, so this combination worked well. I still have books published in bother places, but only have my free books on Smashwords now because I enrolled pretty much all my paid books in the KDP Select program. There are a lot of people who say this limits your royalties, but I've done so much better with the page reads from folks with Kindle Unlimited that I can't see myself changing back anytime soon. That may not be the case for everyone, but it has been working for me. As far as pricing, this is a tough one, especially depending on the royalties you want to earn. I've been known to go on the low side of things, being that I'm not someone people are already out there talking about. For self-published books, I tend to see them around $1.99 or $2.99, which has always felt right to me, but others will say that's too low and start out at $3.99. In the end, as far as price points and distribution, it's ended up being what works best for an individual. There's a lot of trying different things that go along with that, which I definitely recommend. I haven't really mentioned anything about paperbacks, because I don't make one for every book, but those I tend to do through Createspace, which I currently recommend, even though I have tried out the KDP version as well.

7. Have a marketing plan
Okay, so this is the one I tend to fail at. I don't do enough to market, again that limited budget hinders some options for me here. I am good at making promotional items, like bookmarks and advance sheets and shareable images/gifs. Right now my marketing is pretty much solely sharing on my own social media accounts, but there are tons of places you can advertise if you have extra money. Ads on sites that have large reader populations, like goodreads and amazon, might be smart. There are also all sorts of book blog campaigns and social media accounts that will share your "ad" if you pay them. Another aspect of marketing should be thinking about getting reviews on your books. Sites like goodreads have whole community groups dedicated to authors looking for reviews. These come in handy because some advertising services require you to have so many four or five star reviews before they'll consider your book and a reader is probably more likely to read a book from a new author if they can see other people are already enjoying it.

It feels like there's more I could say about each of these and that there should be a few more things added, but I think I've reached my blog post word limit for the day (this is a fictional number in my head and really just means it's time to go to the grocery story).

I hope you find this useful and would love to hear of other things that should be on the list. Also, only 11 days left to nominate Blocked Shot on Kindle Scout.

Happy Thanksgiving

I want to wish everyone who's celebrating Thanksgiving a happy one. I'm hanging out at home today with my hubby and the dogs, spending most of the morning trying to decide on what huge TV we're going to buy. With hubby's vision still an issue, he's been lobbying for something he won't have to go stand in front of to be able to read it. I think we've finally decided on one after looking at them for at least a week. His birthday was Tuesday, so we'll call it a birthday present.

In other news, I've been doing this writing thing for over five years now. It's been a learning experience all the way and I've shared my experiences here and there over the years, but I'd really like to start helping other authors more. I'm not a marketing genius or anything along those lines, so I can't give you the secrets to selling thousands of books. But, I love formatting books, making book covers and general graphics - and I'm always up for giving a little constructive criticism.

If you're an indie author looking for any of those things, let me know. I'd like to build up a portfolio, so I'm looking to do some work for free on those kinds of things and see how it goes. Just contact me at amberlynnbooks@gmail.com and we can see if I can help you. Here are some examples of my covers, if you're curious on that aspect. I can also provide examples of paperback covers.

While I've got my Kindle Scout campaign running, I'd be remiss if I didn't take a second to promote the Blocked Shot campaign (https://kindlescout.amazon.com/p/35XWC13860Y7H}

New book currently on Kindle Scout

So I'm going to have to ask for your help again. I know, I'm so needy. But, any book that is shortlisted on Kindle Scout in November or December is supposed to get some editorial feedback and I would love to win that - the publishing contract usually offered if selected wouldn't be too bad either.

Ready to support this independent author without going any further? Here's the link: https://kindlescout.amazon.com/p/35XWC13860Y7H

Need to know a little more about the book before jumping over to nominate? Well, the link does have a short description and almost the first three full chapters, but here's a little fuller description for you.

Blackmail, lies and unprotected sex. What could possibly go wrong in a relationship built on those things?

Hannah Williams has a system. She doesn't sleep with a guy who rates over ten on a little scale her friend invented for her in high school. It sounds stupid, especially since she's still following the system ten years after she graduated. It's led her to live a rather boring but safe life.

That all goes out the window when she shows up at her ten-year high school reunion and Curtis Power starts whispering in her ear. The man was a hunk in high school and years playing professional hockey hasn't changed that. If anything, it's made him even more desirable.

Hannah never imagined she'd have a chance with someone like him. The scale doesn't even go high enough to rate Curtis, but that doesn't stop a Hannah from letting him show her everything she's been missing in life.

When secrets start pouring out, Hannah's world is rocked. Will Curtis' love be enough to put things back together? Or is she destined to live a meaningless life with strict rules to keep the dangers lurking in the world at bay?

And clearly, you need to see the book cover to make sure you're in the right place.

Oh, how about seeing the social cards I made with some quotes from the book?

Still not convinced to nominate? Did I mention that if the book is selected, once Kindle Scout publishes it, you get a FREE copy? Yes, a free copy of the fun and sexy tale of Hannah and Curtis. Need that link again? Here is is: https://kindlescout.amazon.com/p/35XWC13860Y7H

While I'm busy trying to promote and drive nominations, I've started working on the sequel. For those of you who follows me and my random ramblings, you know that means I've got a working cover going. I can't really say what I think the book is going to be about yet, because that would be a big spoiler to Blocked Shot, but I think it's going to be a fun, quirky little story.

Adulting is hard

I'm in my mid-thirties, so I like to think I've been doing this whole adult thing for a while now. I will say the word adulting gets on my nerves a little, but it's kind of how I feel right now.

You may have noticed I've been silent for a while - okay, a long while. I've continued to publish books, but my personal life, which you may know I rarely talk about, is a little rocky. My husband's vision has been funky for months now and we finally found out this week that it's because he's not getting blood to his eyes, and chances are good it means his arteries are on the no-blood-shall-pass side of things.

My hubby is a Scorpio, which if you are one or have had to live with one, I hope you know it generally means there's stubbornness involved in any decision-making. Surgery is not something he's game for, so I'm trying to get him to do some adjusting to his lifestyle. Believe me, that is almost a full-time job in itself.

I am still hard at work. I put a story I've had sitting around for a while (The Gray Side of Eden) up on Kindle Scout last weekend to see how it does. I haven't had much success there, but I'm sort of a glutton for rejection it seems.



I've also been working on two other books. Splitting the Defense is one of my contemporary romances that has a tie to my most favoritest sports, hockey. I'm hoping to get that published on Amazon this week.



The other book is the one that has probably suffered the most from my split focus. It's still in the early stages - even though I think I've finally played the plot out in my head. It's also my first real kind of YA or teen book, as the main character is in high school (even though she's over 200 years old). Can you guess this one isn't a contemporary romance?



I'm hoping to get some more time to work on writing, but I may be a little behind my goal for the year. Thank you all for your continued support!

Constantly moving forward

So, I think it's safe to say I have a problem. I can't stop writing things. That's not a bad problem to have when you've decided you like writing stories, but I seem to be easily distracted.

Case in point, I've recently been absorbed in various states of three different stories. I've heard other people do this, but I'm usually a work on one story until it's published, then move on to something new kind of person. I think it'd be better if the three stories were all in a series, but these guys cover very different story plots.

I'm sure you all know that I had From Earth to Oblivion in Kindle Scout for the last month or so, something that sadly didn't turn into a publishing contract, but that was fine. As I waited to hear what would happen there, I started a contemporary romance of the hockey variety that I've completely fallen in love with. That story has finished, gone through my first edits and a critique partner's perusal.

In the week or so since I liked where it was going, I had a dream that was so vivid I had to start writing about it, and have gotten about a quarter way through what I believe that book will be. It's in the sci-fi world, but my main character pushed for it to be written in first person, present tense, so it's been a lot of fun going back and forth between these three books.

Thankfully, I did publish From Earth to Oblivion, so one book is off my plate.

I've posted Delay of Game on WriteOn to hopefully get some more feedback. If you're interested in giving it a read, but don't want to click through the WriteOn site, let me know and I'll send you a copy.

Here's the very short blurb on the story:

Jason Miller’s life has been tilted on its axis, and then kicked to the curb for good measure. To say things haven’t gone his way would be an understatement, but eventually something has to work out for him. That’s what he’s hoping when he gives a cute bartender his number. He isn’t looking for more than someone outside of his teammates to spend some time with, but Hope may give him a little more than he’s expecting.

I'll say upfront that it's steamy. Here's the cover I'm working on for it, which hopefully gives you that idea.

Well, that's my update. I'll hopefully be checking in again soon.

Need your help

via GIPHY

If you've been following me for a while, you know fantasy is where my heart is. I took a bit of a vacation this last year to write contemporary romance, but my newest adventures are back to my roots. It kind of seems odd to call them my roots since I've been writing for four and a half years, but I suppose roots works.

What does this have to do with anything? Probably nothing now that I think about it, but I finished up my lovely From Earth to Oblivion and decided to try Kindle Scout again. As of a few minutes ago, that campaign is now live. CLICK HERE TO NOMINATE!

This will be my forth campaign with the program, which if you don't know is kind of a popularity contest for authors to try to get their books published by an Amazon brand. I have never been good at popularity contests. In fact, I have probably come in last at every popularity contest I've ever been in, but I'm not giving up on trying to get my books out in front of more people and Kindle Scout is kind of a baby step for me to try to do that.

From Earth to Oblivion is the longest book I've written. That's not really important, but I'm kind of excited about it. The cover has evolved and the summary I had to come up with is limited on words, but I bundled my submission together and sent it in. You can read the first few chapters and see how it's come together at https://kindlescout.amazon.com/p/H3J6AKMOFYRE.

I need all the clicks on nominate I can get, so if you're feeling generous, please share the link. I'll try to post updates on how things look to be going, but it's hard to judge for sure using their tracking metrics. The key is to be in the hot and trending as much as possible during the next 30 days, so I need to rally some support. The good news is that if the book is picked, anyone who voted will get it for free. I hope that's good news anyway. :)

Goals for 2017

I know it's not even December yet, but like every year, I'm starting to think about what I want to get done next year. Part of me misses the days when I wrote a new book every month and moved on to something else. It often takes longer than writing the book itself to go through and try to get a book ready to publish.

I just looked back at the list of things I wanted to get done last year, and it looks the Five for Fighting series took away from me getting the Argonauts and Daughter of Gaia series third books. I was happy to get Nightwalker tied up, though, and it looks like I'm right around the goal I have in my head to write six books a year. One of those books may not be published until early next year, but I have written it.

So, what do I want to get done in 2017? We'll move Argonauts and Gaia right along and hopefully check those off the list. The book I mentioned having written, but not yet publishing, has at least 3 other books to follow it, bringing me up to five books on my radar.

That being said, I know my mind doesn't always stay committed to a straight course of action when it comes to writing. That makes it silly for me to try to make any kind of commitments, but I always like to give myself a challenge.

Well, it's a day off work for me and I'm making cupcakes and watching romance movies, so I should probably get back to that. Have a wonderful Thanksgiving for all of those of you who will be celebrating the holiday this week.

Yes, I am still alive

With the days getting darker earlier and more often, my writing seems to have followed suit. After finishing the fifth story in my fun hockey series, I've gone back to my more paranormal roots and added some time travel into the story I'm working on now.

As with most stories, this one started as a dream that took on a life of its own. It's been a fun story to write and I'm now to the editing part. As I hope you know, I often share my works in progress between two different sites, hoping to get reaction and feedback. I'm only through the initial edit up to chapter sixteen as of this moment, but hope to get the other fourteen chapters done within the next week.

Links to check it out if you wanted to see where my not-always-sane mind has ended up: Wattpad | Write On

And a brief blurb and the working cover, just for fun.

Krinla has only ever known one way of life – a sheltered one. As a Dracul princess, she believes that’s the way things are. Knowing that doesn’t mean the desire to feel freedom isn’t something unknown to her. Trips outside the fortress she calls home happen occasionally, just not as often as the almost eighteen-year-old wants.

That all changes the day Krinla starts smelling something out of place.

It takes her a while to track down what the sugary smell is. When she finds the man behind it, her life starts on a roller coaster ride hundreds of years in the making.

Will finding Hunter solve all her problems? Or will the couple learn that finding each other only leads to sorrow?

Plugging away

So yeah, it's been a while since I've posted anything new. Life has been crazy busy, including me having to travel for my day job and doing enough yard work that I'm starting to think maybe I should change professions. Because of those things, it's taken me a little longer than I like to finish my latest book, but I'm excited to say The Nightwalker Fights is in the closing stages of editing.

I'd of course love to find a few more people willing to take a look before publication to let me know if you think it finishes the plot line up or if I'm leaving a bunch of loose ends (you all know how to get a hold of me, right?) Other than finishing it up, I'm trying to decide where to go next.

I love my paranormal/sci-fi/weird books, but my contemporary romance series is doing better than I ever hoped my books would do as far as sales. Well, technically, we're talking free reads from people here because they're enrolled in Kindle Unlimited and I get paid when people read pages, and you guys have been reading lots of pages.

I had enrolled some of my other books in Kindle Unlimited before, but it never had a great payoff, so I'd kept the distribution open. With the Five for Fighting series, even before I put the books in Kindle Unlimited, they seemed to kind an audience on Amazon, making it a pretty easy decision for me to switch to allowing people to read through the program.

All that being said, I think I'll jump to finish the fifth book in that series, hoping for a middle of September or so release day on it and then figure out where to go next. I have all sorts of ideas for new books, but I really want to get the series I've started finished up before moving on to the next thing.

Self-publishing can be exhausting

When I started out, I thought there was nothing to writing a bunch of words and then uploading them somewhere for people to find - and it seemed everyone was doing it. I'm savvy with technology, so formatting a Word document and putting together a cover seemed simple enough to do. But I'll tell you, in about four years I've learned there's a lot more to it than just slapping things together and uploading to Amazon or Smashwords or Barnes and Noble or any of the many different places you can upload.

My first books were only read by one other person (a friend) and I hadn't gotten to the point where I was audio proofing my stories. That usually meant my homophone issues, my anti-contraction writing and other general grammar mistakes were my best friends. I think I've grown a lot in my writing to the point where my initial draft is at least ten times better than the final draft of some of those early books. I've also learned to seek out critique partners and beta readers to help me become a better writer.

I'm not even going to get into the marketing and advertising part of self-publishing, because that's something I'm still trying to figure out, and probably the most exhausting part. I sadly don't have money to do an all-out assault, but I do what I can on social networks to try to get my books in front of people.

Yesterday I published my thirty-second book that was at least 50K words, and I'm over halfway through writing the thirty-third. There was a time I'd write a book a month and read quickly through it a couple of times before publishing. Now, I try to take a little more time. I can still easily write 60K+ words in two weeks and call it a story, but I try to ship it off to a few other people to read after my first edit and wait about a month to gather feedback and read it again so it isn't fresh in my mind.

I guess what I've really learned over the years is that the "self" in self-publishing isn't really a solo effort. I try to do as much as I can by myself, but if I didn't have my critique partners, beta readers, the people I come in contact with on a daily basis who give me inspiration and the few fans I have, I would've probably given up as a failure years ago. I don't have crazy dreams of making best-sellers lists with every book I publish, but I know what I write has entertained people, and I think as a writer that's all you can really hope for.

Empty Net on Kindle Scout

Doug's story was approved for a Kindle Scout campaign. Frequent readers of this blog know this is the third time I've submitted a book and I'm really hoping the third time is a charm.

If you don't know how Kindle Scout works, it's kind of like a crowdfunding website without spending money. You nominate books you find interesting to get a publishing contract. In return, if a book is picked, you'll get a free ebook copy.

In honor of the campaign, and hopefully to get some more people nominating Empty Net, I've got a few things planned on my Twitter account (if you're not following me already, it's https://twitter.com/amberlynnbooks). Today I'm sharing some random quotes and tomorrow will be a little game of guessing who said a certain quote.

Here's a little teaser:


To check out the first two chapters of Empty Net and hit the nominate button, because you know you want to, head over to https://kindlescout.amazon.com/p/2HLN0GZV7SND4

February 28 - Quick update

So it's been a little while since I've posted, but I have been busy. I feel I say that a lot. I've put the finishes touches on Blue Lines and have the third book in the Five for Fighting series written. It will be called Empty Net, if anyone's curious - and as always if you want to get a sneak peek, in this case of Doug's story, let me know.

The fourth book is already calling, but I'm debating working on it and working on the third Nightwalker story. It's kind of weird this need to get back to one of my paranormal stories and the desire to stay in the contemporary romance world. The worlds can be so different and yet the characters are all like children to me. As weird as that may sound.

Since I have been playing in both worlds, I decided it was time to change up the dark scenery of this site. I'm not sure I'm satisfied with the new background, but it's purple, which of course is my favorite color. I guess that's just a warning that the site may look different from time to time as I try to settle on something that spans my various moods of writing.

Well, I think that's going to be it for now. Maybe I'll set up a target with Five for Fighting on one side and Nightwalker on the other and fire some arrows at it to see what to work on next.

1/17/2016 Update

It has been a crazy two weeks. I've been so motivated to get Nelson's story written that in fourteen short days I had the rough draft all typed out. The word count currently sits a little lower than Game Misconduct, but the chapter length remained the same. I spent yesterday and today going through and doing the first edit - changing things in the beginning to match how it played out.

It ended up turning out better than the hot mess I thought was happening when I was typing along. Okay, a lot better. I'm usually skeptical when I do my seat of the pants writing (the only way I know to write). Almost every time I'm sure it's going to end up horrible, and every time I'm surprised.

So now it's on to letting some other folks take a look and tell me I'm crazy for loving the story. If anyone has a big desire for tearing me to pieces, I'm always looking for beta readers or critiquers who want to share what they think. Just send me an email at amberlynnbooks@gmail.com, and I'll send you a copy.

Otherwise, I'm hoping for a late March debut. I still have to write a synopsis for it, but it will basically be something like this (oh and check out the cover I've been working on - it helps to block the synopsis so you can read the spoiler alert)

WARNING: THIS MAY HAVE SPOILERS IF YOU HAVE NOT READ GAME MISCONDUCT - READ AT YOUR OWN RISK!!!

Nelson Palmer has a knack for finding drama in his life. You don't have to look any further than the fact that his sister once tried to kill one of his best friends to prove it. He thought he was in for a break from chaos, but when his oldest friend sends him a text saying she's pregnant, his life turns upside down. After a night out with his hockey teammates, Nelson isn't exactly sure what led to the pregnancy, but he's ready to take responsibility.

Annie Lake has loved Nelson for over a decade. She's watched as girlfriend after girlfriend came and went, without Nelson noticing what was right in front of him. She hadn't expected to get pregnant on the wild night he seemed to finally see her as more than friend. It was a dream come true for her, right up until the moment he woke up and had no idea why she was in his bed. Now Annie's left trying to figure out how to dodge a marriage of convenience.

Will Nelson and Annie be able to work things out? Or will the secret Annie has been keeping be too much for Nelson to handle?

Happy New Year!

It's not quite 2016 in my neck of the woods, but it's close enough that I think I can wish you all a happy new year. It's probably a good time for me to post an update, too, since it's been a little while.

I want to say thanks again for all the support you guys gave me for my Kindle Scout campaign, and even though Game Misconduct wasn't selected, it has made it out into the world. And even more quietly than it, The Monster in the Woods has also been published.

I still have a quest ahead to get my books noticed and published traditionally, but for now things are remaining self-published. Since all the books in my near future are going to be parts of existing series, I think that's going to continue for awhile.

Speaking of what's next, for those who have read Game Misconduct, I'm going to be writing Nelson's story. It's something that's been swimming around in my head for a few weeks now, so starting tomorrow it's going to coming to life. After that, I really want to finish out the Nightwalker Saga, along with Daughter of Gaia and The Argonauts Adventures. If I write nothing else in 2016, my goal is to get those four books written.

As you can see, it's going to be a busy year, and I'm excited to see where it leads. Thank you again to everyone who has supported me in this crazy dream of bringing the stories in my head to life. I wouldn't be here without all of you.

Happy Thanksgiving

Well, it's a holiday where I live, one of my favorites, and it's the last day of my Kindle Scout campaign for Game Misconduct. It would be remiss of me not to immediately thank all of you who have supported the campaign. It's taken a little while for it to take off - pretty much the whole campaign - but it's finally getting some looks, which is all I can ask for. I really do love this book and I'm hoping it will be out in some fashion before the next major holiday here.

So enough about books for now, although I have started shopping The Monster in the Woods around if anyone was interested in an update on it. I have a lot to be thankful for this year and I thought I'd talk about some of those things.

First, of course, is my wonderful husband. We've been together for fifteen years now and he seems to never tire of my craziness. Then of course is our "children," the two white fluffy dogs who think I am their pillow. I'm thankful I have a regular nine-to-five job that pays the bills while I try to figure out if my writing career will ever take off. It pays for things like the roof over my head and the hockey tickets I need, because only at hockey games do I seem to get the voices in my head telling me to write more books to quiet for a few minutes.

There are many other things I'm thankful for, but the only other one really important for this blog post is you. I am thankful for anyone who has been a part of my journey as an author. There is no way I could list you all out by name, because I don't even know some of your names, but I am thankful you have given me an opportunity to share the worlds I create with you.

The pains of being relegated to the last page

Happy November, one of my favorite months. I have a lot of those it seems, but I'm hoping November pops up on that list for many reasons in the weeks to come. It's been a busy hockey month already for me, and I'm getting ready to head to another game. I wanted to stop in and give a little update on where things currently sit with The Monster in the Woods and Game Misconduct.

Update: There is no update.

I haven't heard anything back from my agent query for Monster, which is to be expected. It's only been a couple of weeks, and I'm sure the stack of queries before me wasn't small. I may have mentioned that I only sent it to one person to start with, but I have a secondary list ready to go once I hear, or don't hear anything.

As far as GM, well after the end of campaign success I thought I had with The Call, I kind of expected things to be going a little better. It doesn't help that for almost a solid week the book has been the very last one in the listings for romance, no movement at all when I check multiple times a day. That probably means that it isn't getting very many eyeballs on it.

I need some help changing that. I know that most of the people who read my books probably lean more towards fantasy storylines, but GM has the same kind of feel as a lot of my stories. I just decided no one needed to sprout fur. Hockey players are already superheroes in my mind - I almost fainted just last night when I was waiting in line for something at a game and one ran by me for a pregame jog (I'm sure the fainting was just a matter of him being my favorite player).

Anyway, back to GM. Please take a second to check it out on Kindle Scout, https://kindlescout.amazon.com/p/2928DHO240K4J, and if you can find a hundred friends to also check it out, I will love you forever and ever :)

Please nominate Game Misconduct

And just like that, Game Misconduct is up on Kindle Scout and it needs some nominations. I'm hoping to do a little better than The Call did as far as time spent in the hot and trending area, so I need help.

I've got 29 days to get as many votes/nominations as I can and hope that the powers that be like the book enough to move forward with it. As you may recall, Game Misconduct is my first contemporary romance with no signs or hints of paranormal. It was a new venture for me, and I think it turned out pretty well.

If you nominate and it does get chosen by Kindle Scout to be published, you'll get a free e-book copy once the editors are happy with it. So, please, please, please, please get to clicking over to https://kindlescout.amazon.com/p/2928DHO240K4J and hit the nominate button.

THANK YOU!

Apparently I love sitting on the edge of my seat

So, I finally did it. Query letter, synopsis and first three chapters of The Monster in the Woods were packaged together in an email this morning and sent to an agent. I know I have been threatening it for at least a month, but it took a while to get the courage together to see the task through.

Game Misconduct also was finally submitted to Kindle Scout. Hopefully sometime next week I'll have a link to share - and everyone is ready to hit the nominate button.

With both of those actions complete, I have probably a month of nail biting to wait through before I hear anything. I should've probably submitted Monster to more than one agent, but I'm taking baby steps after going crazy and self-publishing for so long.

I should've probably sought out agents long ago, but the world of the Internet makes everything so easy to just hit a button and have your work out there. You also have to actually read the Internet to figure out that isn't always the right way to get started in your writing career. People don't magically find your books like I thought they would once upon a time. Marketing is a must for a self-publishing writer, and let's face it, it's not my strong suit.

If nothing else, the path I've gone done has taught me a lot. I'm not a perfect writer, editor, proofreader; I am still too shy to put myself out there and shout from the rooftops about my work; and writing takes a lot of work, it isn't just writing a book out, slapping a cover together and hoping everyone buys it.

Well, that's my update and ramble for the day. I'll share a link to the Kindle Scout campaign as soon as I get one.

It's always fun to see your name on the screen in a movie theater

So, this post isn't really about writing or what's going on with my two current work in progresses - still ironing out query letters there. This post is about how I spent a couple hours today in my 9 to 5 work life and ended up seeing my name on the screen for a documentary I was watching.

Sure it was just a special thanks at the very end for the work I did on the interactive digital portion that went along with the project, but I was sitting in a room full of probably a hundred people and got to see my name. I was also acknowledged at the beginning and had to stand up and wave to the crowd.

I've never had a moment like that and it was pretty cool. It was also nerve-racking for an introvert like me. I'm not a person who likes to have attention pointed at me, so when people clapped and cheered at the beginning for my introduction, I was quick to take a seat.

Anyway, that was how I spent my afternoon and now it's time to get back to those query letters, and maybe my paper mache projects.