So Many Projects...

Last night, my phone buzzed at 9:30. It was my boss letting me know he needed me to work this morning. I had planned to stay up studying/writing and had had a double cup of coffee at 6. I tried to go to bed at midnight. I really did, but my mind was racing and I couldn't seem to shut it down. I read J.P. Barnaby's Mastering the Ride (pretty good, by the way), but I still wasn't tired, so I spent the next three hours plotting out a new novel in my head.
The plan was to get home from work, write down what I had thought about and then set it to the side until I finished Ironhearted. It didn't work out so well. I can't seem to get it out of my head. Part of the problem might be that it's centered around dance, and now that I've started thinking about it again, it's hard to stop. Ten years ago, my entire life revolved around dancing. It was who I was, then life got busy and university happened and it fell to the side. I haven't been inside a studio in years, but I still dream about it. I miss it. And now the prospect of being able to recreate those feelings is making me itchy to write.
I don't want to abandon Trevor and Haydn though. Their story isn't even close to being finished and the other two couples are waiting for me to finish the third book before submitting. I have a lot of work to do and such a short time to finish it all. Now really isn't a great time for another project to creep in, but that is exactly what has happened.
And rather than tackling one or the other I am on here, rambling about it. Is there an award for worst use of time? I think I could be a contender.
I did manage to get a couple of the casting couch interviews set up to post though. They're going to be so good. I am so excited about having so many authors participating. It makes the weeks leading up to Keeping Sweets' release that much less painful now that I have something to look forward to for all those days. 

My New Home

Welcome to my brand new blog. There really was nothing wrong with the old one, except the TOS wouldn't let me post adult content, and we can't have that, can we?

With the casting couch interviews that are coming up next month, I wanted to make sure everyone was free to post as many sexy scenes as they wanted to.  In addition to that, Keeping Sweets is coming out in a mere 46 days (and yes, I am counting them down). Pretty quick I will be posting the excerpt from their own casting couch interview, and to be honest it gets a little steamy. Don't want anyone getting offended.


The second round of edits went back last night for Keeping Sweets. Let me just say, thank god for editors.  I've heard horror stories about other authors' experiences with editors. I was prepared to have my ego destroyed, but the editors I've had the privilege of working with at DSP have been amazing. They were encouraging and thorough. They found issues with my manuscript I missed in all those many readings I've done. They really have made my story so much better.

Everything is coming together and it's actually starting to feel real now. I realized today that in a few weeks, Keeping Sweets will be on the Dreamspinner Coming Soon page. It is almost a real book!

Et Voila, Keeping Sweets

It really has been a great week. First off, I have to mention that Paul sent over my finalized cover that Brooke designed. I am so in love with it. I had such high expectations from the Dreamspinner Art Department because they have turned out so many beautiful covers and I was not disappointed in the least.

Secondly, I now know my (scheduled) release date: March 11th! Two and a half weeks before my birthday, my first book is coming out. Pretty damn good birthday present, I think.

I received the first round of edits for Keeping Sweets, and looked through them all. My editors and I didn't seem to disagree on anything, which was really nice. I was a little apprehensive about the whole process. A part of me was worried that the person editing would try to change too much, or too many edits would shatter my fragile writer's ego. Instead, I was lucky enough to be paired with editors who seemed to understand what I was trying to achieve with my story, and an unforeseen perk of editing was getting to go back and visit with my boys. I'd forgotten how much I liked my characters and this was a nice little reminder.

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It also helped to solidify my gut feeling that I was meant to be writing. The nagging self-doubts build up in my mind and I think back to the story, all I could remember were the little things I didn't like so much about the manuscript. I had myself convinced that I am a terrible writer and the only people that will buy my book will be family members who feel obligated because my name is on the cover. Reading through it made me remember all the things I loved about the book and it really is pretty good, if I do say so myself! Maybe other people will agree, and maybe they won't, but I really love doing what I do and that's really all that matters.

In any case, I managed to get the first round finished up and sent back last night. Everything is finally coming together. It's almost a real book!

An Exciting Start to 2013

We are only one week into the new year and life has already been interesting. Busy, but interesting.
In my personal life, I am finishing up the last part of my course, and so will have a limited online presence for the next couple of months. The course is fairly intense and as much as I would rather be writing, school has to come first.

For Keeping Sweets, I have received a comp for my cover and have been working with Paul Richmond and Brooke Albrecht towards my perfect cover. So far, things are looking good and I can't wait to see the final product! The manuscript has entered editing and I should have the first round of edits in the next few weeks. I know I still have a while to wait, but I keep checking my mail. I really am impatient.

In the meantime, I have been working on writing my dedication, which was more difficult than I thought it would be. There are several people in my life who have been my cheerleaders when it comes to writing and I'd love to mention them all, but I think I'm supposed to keep the dedication to less than twelve pages!

Also, fellow author Lex Chase and I will be doing reciprocal guest blog postings in the next few months (both out books come out around the same time). She will be taking part in my casting couch interview series (check back for updates) and will be interviewing me about Keeping Sweets and writing in general. The interview is tentatively scheduled be to posted April 13th. My very first interview as an author. I am so excited.

The Hope Cove series is going almost exactly as planned. Installment Brokenhearted and Wholehearted are both finished and Brokenhearted is in beta editing. I am currently about one fifth of the way through the third installment, Ironhearted. I've set a deadline for myself of the end of January for completion of the series, but it may be a little too ambitious with the overload of school work I have looming. I will do my best to finish on time, but sometimes, life gets in the way, and that's alright. Lots of time to write once I've finished all my final exams.

So that is the update of what is going on so far this year. 2012 was so amazing for me and 2013 is shaping up to be even better. A banner year, and the year before I turn 30. I think that's something to be pretty proud of