Tuesday, December 31, 2013

Ring Out 2013 in Style!

Today is the last day to grab a copy of either of these lovely e-books for only 99 cents. They go back up in price for 2014. Don't miss out!

Krystal’s peaceful life as queen of Fayterra is shattered when a stranger arrives with a connection to Jareth that threatens to change everything. Soon her loved ones are threatened, her people are under attack, and Krystal must face a devastating loss.
As the future becomes bleaker and the mystery continues to unravel, Krystal’s enemies will learn just how far she will go to defend the people she loves.
 The Tyrant King links:
Amazon
Smashwords 
Nook
 In the exciting prequel to The Peasant Queen, Lucien, the young king of neighboring Demarde, comes to Roweena’s father seeking an alliance, but comes away with a marriage contract for young Roweena’s hand. Furious and stubborn, this untamed beauty vows he will never conquer her. But the contract purposely gives her time to come to terms with her fate.
Roweena’s home is attacked and her parents are murdered. The Healer’s Grove is also attacked—burned to the ground. With nothing more than her horse and the clothes on her back, Roweena goes to the only person she knows can help her--Lucien.



The Wild Queen links:

Amazon
Smashwords
Nook

Tuesday, December 17, 2013

Holiday Sale!

 If you haven't gotten your copy of The Tyrant King, now's your chance. Or, if you're considering giving e-books for Christmas--or loading up a Kindle for a loved one with great books--you can pick up The Tyrant King and The Wild Queen for only 99 cents EACH! Now through December 31, 2013.

Grab a copy today!

Krystal’s peaceful life as queen of Fayterra is shattered when a stranger arrives with a connection to Jareth that threatens to change everything. Soon her loved ones are threatened, her people are under attack, and Krystal must face a devastating loss.
As the future becomes bleaker and the mystery continues to unravel, Krystal’s enemies will learn just how far she will go to defend the people she loves.
 The Tyrant King links:
Amazon
Smashwords 
Nook

 In the exciting prequel to The Peasant Queen, Roweena is the crown princess of Norvallen, a tiny kingdom with only one thing of value—the Healer’s Grove. The trees in this small section of forest are enchanted, giving a sap that can be mixed into potions or salves to heal almost any wound.

Lucien, the young king of neighboring Demarde, comes to Roweena’s father seeking an alliance, but comes away with a marriage contract for young Roweena’s hand. Furious and stubborn, this untamed beauty vows he will never conquer her. But the contract purposely gives her time to come to terms with her fate.

Roweena’s home is attacked and her parents are murdered. The Healer’s Grove is also attacked—burned to the ground. With nothing more than her horse and the clothes on her back, Roweena goes to the only person she knows can help her--Lucien.



The Wild Queen links:

Amazon
Smashwords
Nook

Tuesday, December 10, 2013

Are You Pondering What I'm Pondering?

Likely not, but I can never resist a Pinky and the Brain reference.

Bryan is supposed to come home today. If you've been watching me on Facebook, you'll know he's been gone 125 days. That's a really long time. I know other people do this separation thing for many reasons, and many longer than what I've endured, but for me this is huge.

So is the realization that I'm kind of nervous. I mean, seriously nervous. About my husband coming home.

Why? I love him. If anything this separation has intensified those feelings. I can't wait to have him back. Can't even tell you how great it will be to have parental back up. And I also know in the long run that everything will work out but I can't stop being nervous.

What the heck? Is this common? We're all familiar with the scenes of families greeting returning troops. Hugs. Smiles. Kisses. Tears of joy. I don't see anyone being apprehensive. At. All.

Maybe they hide it well. Maybe I'm just a nutball.

But if you stop and think about us being apart, maybe I can help you understand. He's been living on his own for 4 months. Eating alone. Sleeping alone. Our patterns have been disrupted. And though I tried spreading out and sleeping in the middle of our king sized bed I always gravitated to my side, so I gave it up and let the cat sleep on Bryan's side. (Inigo has since moved to sleeping across my feet--seriously bedtime is such a joke. I have a king sized bed and me, the dog, and the cat are all curled up on my side)

Life has gone on for us at home, too. School started. The girls' classes started. Seminary. We have new patterns, patterns that don't include Dad. He's going to come home and we're all going to have to readjust, re-adapt. Change. It's not just a matter of adding his dishes to the dirties, or his laundry schedule to ours, or setting him a place at the table. And no, it's also not a complete upheaval of our lives. But it's an adjustment. A change. And we're all going to have to deal with it. Probably in different ways and in different times. There are 7 of us after all.

Then there's the other stuff. The couple-y stuff. I haven't been kissed romantically in 125 days. I haven't been held. And for him it's the same. Nobody's just held his hand because she wants to. Nobody's kissed his cheek because it's there. (And that's all the detail you're getting on a PG rated blog)

So, I'm nervous. I know it will all work out but I'm still nervous. Excited, but full of anxiety too.

Tuesday, December 3, 2013

How I Both Won and Lost NaNoWriMo



I wrote 62,700 words from November 1 to November 30, 2013. I wrote almost every day, save Sundays, whether it was just a couple dozen words or a few thousand. I started at the beginning and worked my way through.

And still I lost.

But I won at the same time.

First I want to explain the way I lost. You see, I actually set a goal to write *2* books in November for a total of 100,000 words. I set up an alter ego on the NaNoWriMo site and uploaded that book’s progress separately from the book I worked on under my own name.

I failed. I didn’t make it. I didn’t even finish either book. During the month I switched from one to the other as the mood struck. Both stories deal with difficult topics but are otherwise nothing alike. Yet as long as I wrote consistently I was able to keep each story straight and it was awesome. Those first two weeks I burned through the pages.

Then I started slacking off. Doctor appointments for the kids, calls from the school to bring medications or whatnot, pretty much anything started interfering with my writing time. But the plan I had was solid. I could still catch up. I could still make my goal.

Until I just couldn’t anymore. So I still have two rough drafts to finish and it’s December. I had other plans for December, not the least of which was publishing my little Christmas short story and offering my books for sale for the holidays.

Now I’m going to tell you how I won. I wrote 62,700 words in November. That’s a personal best. I’ve never written that much in a single 30 day period. Never. I’ve hardly written anything since my husband went up north in August for work. I mean, a few thousand words maybe in 3 months but nothing to write (ooh, punny) home about.

But the actual words aren’t why I’m counting the victory. I reopened the vault within, refocused my creative energies, and actually made progress on *3* novels—not just the 2 NaNo books.

And all that great stuff that I plan to unleash on my poor unsuspecting characters is waiting in the wings for me to do just that. And I have 3 weeks before the kids get out of school. That’s 7 hours a day x 5 days a week x 3 weeks = 105 hours that are just mine. Sure, kids will get sick or injured, or forget something and responding to it will throw off my groove. My husband is expected home during that time and yeah, that’s going to mean less writing time.

But just think of what I can accomplish with even 80 hours. I’m going to continue the process that I started in November. I’m going to complete those novels.

And then I’ll look at them in January and probably red pen a couple hundred pages. But at least I’ll have something to edit, right?