Farewell 2015, HELLO Sexy 2016!

I always love writing these New Year's posts. It's not because the new year is a fresh start, or I'm wiping the slate clean, or I'm setting new goals, or any of that. I'm a fan of doing those things throughout the year. For me, New Year's is that one point of the year to reflect on a cycle of time and dream of things to come, and where you'll be at this time in one year. It's a fairly arbitrary day, because of course we can do those things any other time of the year (and sometimes I do). But New Year's has that special magic when everyone else is also thinking these same things, and it's just fun to be part of this collective contemplation/dreaming exercise.

So, highlights of 2015 first:

First and foremost, 2015 is the year I became a published author AND the year I got an agent, and those two things happened less than three weeks apart. Talk about a roller coaster of awesome!! August 7th I self-pubbed Black Magic and Mojitos and August 24th I signed with Sandy.

2015 was the year I decided to make it happen, and quit wallowing in where my future as an author was going. I'd been writing seriously for five years and I decided I would get my foot in the door the self-pub route with my Zyan Star series. Sandy then signed me for my Huntress series, so I guess I'm now what they call a hybrid author. Which feels right and good - I like moving forward independently with Zyan, and I have learned a TON about marketing and all that craziness, but I'm also excited to learn about the traditional pub route.

I also went on several awesome trips: took my son to Seattle for his birthday present, then him and I hiked the Olympic Peninsula, just the two of us, which made me feel extremely brave and grownup and my kid and I returned alive (plus!). Also went to Dragon Con for the first time and then Asheville for Thanksgiving. Awesome stuff for sure.

I did a lot of training with my horse, who had not been ridden before, and got him comfortable with being saddled and mounted and we even walked around a bit, and then I recognized I needed professional help and sent him to a trainer for a month of intensive work (for both of us). Now I'm really riding for the first time in years and it's SO awesome.

I won first place in a short story contest for Area of Effect Magazine, which is my first published work in a magazine (and I guess my first indie pub credit). Read it here. Fun and exciting!

Also, I got a big promotion at my day job (educational non-profit director), so that was rad.

Now, plans and dreams for 2016:

Getting a pub offer for my Huntress series. My agent is pretty amazeballs so I'm optimistic this will happen. She's thinking we should hear from all the publishers by springtime. Then I'll be working on whatever edits the publisher wants, and start working on the second book in that series. And learning all about the world of traditional pubbing.

Releasing the first three books in the Zyan Star series. Black Magic and Mojitos, which released in August, is the prequel novelette to that series. Originally, I had planned to release the first novel in October. However, Sandy asked me to wait since we were shopping Huntress to publishers. So, at the moment Zyan's at a standstill, but I am about two weeks away from finishing the first draft of the second Zyan Star novel and then I'm probably going to jump right into book three and do edits for both of them after. I reached out to the self-pub phenom RaShelle Workman, who has sold over a million of her e-books (yeah. a million). She said her best marketing advice was to have 5-7 books in your series and release them all in quick succession, every few weeks. So, I'm writing pretty furiously so I can be ready to do that as soon as Sandy gives me the go ahead.

Traveling. My plans always involve traveling. At the moment, I'm locked in for Colorado in June for my BFF's wedding. I'm taking my son so we can hike the Rockies while we're out there and I'm SO excited for it. My son loved our west coast trip last year and I want to keep nurturing that adventurous streak in him. My mom's also turning 70 and wants to go somewhere tropical. We'll see where that ends up. Dragon Con again hopefully. And something else? That'd be cool, budget allowing.

I'd really like to buy a house in 2016. Not sure if that'll happen since I still own a house with my ex husband we're not having luck selling, but I'm throwing it out there anyways. Make it happen, universe :)

I want to make a significant dent in paying down debt. I was naughty in 2015 so time to behave! But finding a balance, also allowing myself some splurges and putting money into savings. In the past I've gone into overkill on paying off debt and then have no fun and nothing set aside.

My horse: this is a sudden vista of possibility. He did so well in training, so I just want to keep moving forward with that. We're just doing basics now, but in a year I'd like him to know some dressage, and also be doing some jumping. Maybe go to a local horse show or two towards the end of the year.

And an overall summary of what I wish for myself, looking back at 2015 and looking forward at 2016:

I want to get better at remembering to enjoy the journey. In 2015 I achieved publication/agent/trained horse and for a goal oriented person that leaves me with a feeling of "now what??" Well, plenty! But after striving for those things for SO long I need to remember that once I reach the end, the end is really just another beginning, and it's better to savor the ride and not just gun for the destination.

And now, as the last day of 2015 comes to an end, I'm heading to the beach for the night (it's raining, but whatever, that's Florida for ya). How about you?

Black Magic and Mojitos Cover Reveal and Pre-Order!!

Today is absolutely surreal. My first book, Black Magic and Mojitos, is available for purchase!!!

This day is the culmination of many years and many, many words written. I've known I wanted to be a published writer since I was twelve. And now I can finally reveal my book baby to the world! I gave a little sneak peek of my cover a few weeks ago, and now, without further ado, here is the whole shebang:

Isn't it gorgeous??!! I have the very talented Steven Novak to thank for its loveliness. It's up on Amazon now for pre-order at 99 cents, with a release date on August 7th! Pre-orders help bump me in the ranks on release day, so I'll give you a big cyber hug if you click here to order. Also, check out my Amazon author page! I'm now searchable by book title and my name on Amazon - such an amazing feeling! If you don't have a Kindle or other e-reader, you can download the Kindle app to your phone or PC for free really easily. 

I would greatly appreciate any help with promoting my debut book, from something as simple as a tweet or Facebook share to a mention on your blog or a review on Amazon or Goodreads. It takes a village and you guys are my village! 

In a few days, pop on back and I'll be sharing some of the amazing pictures from my epic Seattle trip, which I took in part to do setting research for Martinis with the Devil, the next book I'll be releasing. It was a fantastic trip, and my son and I had a blast.

Questions? Comments? Any exciting news to share? Let me know! And a big THANK YOU for stopping by here and helping me celebrate this HUGE breakthrough moment in my life.

In Which I Talk About Some Things and Not Others

We'll start with what I'm NOT going to talk about. I'm not going to talk about the fact that after a month of querying, I'm starting to get a little neurotic (because I've done really well not being neurotic all this time, so hey, a girl can only last so long, right?). I'm also NOT going to talk about the fact that my laptop screen has started coming apart from the keyboard part and I'm going to have to buy a new one even though everything else is perfectly functional (It's a Dell, btw. My new one will most definitely not be).

What I AM going to talk about is characters and how much I love mine. Non-writers and readers would probably think it's nuts to become very fond of a fictional character. But since pretty much all of you are writers or at least readers, I know you feel me on this one. Anyone who follows a series has experienced that connection with a certain character, and you get to debate which ones are your faves. Like the fantastic Edward vs. Jacob fights, or the Harry Potter fan fiction where people have Hermione end up with Harry instead of Ron.

But when you're the writer, and you create these characters, it's even more awesome and that connection is so much stronger. Over the course of 300 or more pages, you get to know these creations really well. Lately I've been realizing I really miss Eva, Seth, Ambrose, Elspeth and the rest of my cast from Countless. I placed that book on the back burner to work on Martinis with the Devil, and it's been more than a year since I've touched it. Later this year I plan on rewriting the whole thing in first person, and I can't wait to get back into it. And now, as I'm querying Martinis with the Devil, I think about how awesome my MC Zyan is. And the whole point of querying is to find that agent that falls in love with your characters and your book as much as you do. So, here's hoping I can stay sane until I find that person.

What's one of your favorite characters that you've written? Anyone else looking for an agent love match right now?

Back on the market

I think I've mentioned before how querying an agent is a lot like telling someone you have a crush on them. There's some definite soul baring in putting forth your work, wondering if they'll love it. And because I've done the supposed right thing and researched not only the agencies I'm submitting to, but decided on a specific agent to query, I get to feeling like I sort of know them a bit. At least their preferences when it comes to writing. After my sad rejection by the first agent I queried, my metaphor was apt as well... I did some introspection, stepped back and worked on my book until I felt I was good and ready to put myself out there again.

So, you might gather by my prattling that I've once again submitted my work for representation. This time I've submitted to three agents (well, at this exact moment two because I need a new ink cartridge to submit to the third). I've put myself out there once again, another fish in the vast sea of writers. And now I wait, the metaphorical words out of my mouth, to see if one of them says that they feel the same way. There is the glimmer of hope, the fear of rejection, all the lovely drama that rides on the query. And of course we can't forget the obsessive email checking...