It’s Dating Advice from Romance Novels day! It’s been a while since I did one of these so I really wanted to add one this month. However, the most recent book I read was not a romance, but a Star Wars novel. Yes, I am a proud, proud nerd. I have no small amount of hero worship for Princess Leia/General Organa (as portrayed by Carrie Fisher–who I also have no small amount of hero worship for). Read More →
If you’ve paid attention to the Cupid’s Cafe world, you’ll know that it’s a multi-author series. Besides my contribution, Landra Graf has written two moving books, Katherine McIntyre has written one powerful story, and Catherine Peace has written an upcoming installment that I’m super hyped to read. And I have a sequel to Exactly Like You. It’s not contracted by our publisher (yet–I’m optimistic!), but I am so in love with these people, y’all. If you’ve read ELY, you may remember Aiden has a friend who is also a firefighter. His name is Kurt and he is a douchebag. He is not a nice guy,Read More →
Every year about this time, my critique partner and I start asking one another this question. We take a few weeks to think about it and then we discuss it. Are our goals realistic and measurable? How will we know when we’ve reached our goals? Are they goals we can reach (e.g. finish a manuscript) as opposed to goals that someone else has to take an active role in completing (e.g. nab an agent)? We’ve been doing this for a few years now, so we’ve gotten pretty good at setting goals that work. But this year? My life blew up–not in a bad way. ThingsRead More →
This has been a hell of a year. And, yeah, I know it’s too early for a year in review thing, so I’ll save that. But, like, for real. First of all, the publisher for my Vegas books isn’t publishing books anymore. Right in the dang middle. Well, two-thirds of the way through. So, I self-published. Which has been a long learning curve. (I’m totally still learning because there is so freaking much to learn.) For now, they’re all three available in Kindle Unlimited so go read the hell out of those, lovelies. Second, I went back to the day job. It’s a different day jobRead More →
Today is the big day–the Viva Las Vegas trilogy is complete. Now you can buy all three books and as a bonus, book one, My Fake Vegas Boyfriend, is on sale through the end of August for 99 cents. Want to know more? Fine, fine. I’ll gladly give you a little more. This is a story of reunion, of two people who have spent the last eight years knowing that they lost the love of their lives and feeling powerless to stop it. Ruby married her manager who became abusive and Anthony just became a playboy, trying to forget Ruby in the arms of woman after woman.Read More →
By now, my loyal blog readers, you know that My Vegas Comeback (the last book in the Viva Las Vegas trilogy) will be available in just a few short weeks. What you don’t know is that it’s time to buy the first book. Sort of. You see, it’s going on sale next week to $0.99! You can read more about My Fake Vegas Boyfriend, but here’s what you need to know: “This is one you should read for yourself, it is fantastically well written, with amazing attention to details and beautiful descriptions.” —Books Laid Bare “Little lightness, a little darkness and a whole lot ofRead More →
Finally, this book is going to be released. If you’ve read the first two, then I know you’re looking forward to the last book in the Viva Las Vegas trilogy. (If you click the cover to the right, you can see it in full-screen glory!) This book will be available on August 7 and I’ll update you with pre-order links as soon as I can. Here’s the blurb: In Vegas, everything is a gamble, including love. Ruby Kendall needs a chance to make a comeback. Her voice made her a legendary singer in Las Vegas, but a scandalous divorce from her scumbag manager has leftRead More →
So, I’m a little late to the party. I’ve heard people raving about this book for a long time. So I downloaded the sample. And I couldn’t stop–come on. And so I devoured this book. But, it wasn’t all in one sitting. Like Josh and his chocolate Easter egg, I wanted to savor it. This book gets about eleven million stars from me, so that translates to: go buy it. NOW. It’s worth all 899 pennies. It’s better than a movie ticket and you can make your popcorn at home. I’m kidding–home popcorn is never as good as movie popcorn. But it’s so good, you won’tRead More →
Today is exactly 30 days before the official release of My Big Fat Vegas Wedding, Book 2 in the Viva Las Vegas series. Coming up in the next couple of weeks, I’m going to be giving away a beautiful, handmade bracelet to commemorate the story (and I’m throwing in a $25 Amazon gift card, too). Here is the beautiful cover–you can click on it to see it better. Blurb He needs roots. She needs money. A whirlwind wedding could solve all their problems…if it doesn’t bring the Vegas mob down on their heads. Grace Winters needs a miracle in the form of cash. A youngRead More →
I plot. I spend weeks figuring out characters, locations, and flaws. And then I dig in deep. I plot my story out, by acts and beats, down to each and every scene of my story. And, sometimes, those scenes have beats and entire stretches of dialog in the notes. Thinking Through Our Fingers: In the Mind of an Outliner – Arcs and Structure. This is front loading a story with lots of work. I know this. But as a teacher, mom, wife, and all the other things, I realized I was doing more work trying to keep a story in my head than taking theRead More →