I struggled with what to talk about this week. Even though things are happening I’ve been feeling a little disconnected over the past week. It’s weird, it’s probably a side effect of one of my many prescriptions. I saw my rheumatologist, he’s ready to treat me more aggressively and hopefully prevent some damage instead fixing it with surgery after the fact. Fingers crossed or in my case straightened, his plans will work out.
My ARCs for Origin of Violet and VioleNt are going well. I was a little worried when my first review for VioleNt had some serious issues with the ages of my FMC and her MMCs. Nobody else has mentioned the age difference so I’m hoping it won’t be an issue overall. Here’s the thing, I considered her age and their ages quite a bit, but Violet is an unusual girl. She’s been through so much. A younger guy wouldn’t be equipped to cope with her issues. Plus, she’s incredibly mature and she needs partners on her level who will treat her with respect and as an equal. Someone who was much older would be creepy for her considering her past, but someone her age wouldn’t be experienced enough in life for her. All of her friends are years older than she is, even Max. He may have been her high school boyfriend, but he’s about three years her senior due to his being held back and her being moved ahead. It makes sense for her to date guys a little older than her, it doesn’t make them predators. A predator seeks out a vulnerable person as prey, someone who may be younger, weaker, mentally less accomplished. Violet is not vulnerable, and Jackson and Austin see her as an equal they love and respect.
There are about ten reviews for Origin of Violet so far and five for VioleNt. I’m hoping this bodes well for getting into double digits for VioleNt in time for the release. I had around forty ARC readers sign up and I also put them on Book Sirens so I’m not sure how many reviews are from which at the moment. I also tried something new for physical ARCs. I offered them at a huge discount and the readers pay shipping. It came out to $9 for both books shipping included. I wondered if anyone would actually purchase the ARC physical copies. They did! I have at least four orders. I’m thinking the ARC readers who bought a physical book will actually read and review it, since they have skin in the game.
Another thing I’ve brought back from my first ARC campaign is a drawing for everyone who posts a review before the end of October. The drawing is on Halloween, if you post a review before then and send me a screenshot or a link to your review, I'll enter your name in the drawing. The prizes are signed copies of my books, a gift card for books and coffee, and swag. It worked pretty well during my ARC campaign for Force of Corruption, I’m betting on it working again. I ended up with over 20% reviews posted in the FOC campaign. Average is 10% and much closer to where I ended up with Force Majeure at the end of that campaign.
Speaking of that series, I haven’t seen an uptick in reviews from my free event yet, but I think it will happen eventually. There are almost 400 copies of each book in people’s Kindles now. Ten percent of them would be an awesome number of reviews for me. I continue to see sales for all of my books since the first SYK event I joined. I have hope it will continue to increase organically. The next SYK events should be in December if the past is any indication.
I have registered to participate in a few Book Signing Events coming up in my local area. The first one will be July 12th, Feel the Heat Romance Event in Tampa. I signed up for half a table to keep my costs low on this first signing event. It’s going to be an experiment for me to check out how all this stuff works. I’m excited to attend another event this October 5th as a reader. I waited too long to sign up as an author and it was full by the time I decided. It will be a great place to check out how these things go, how well they’re attended, and if I’d like to try that one in the future if they come back. It’s Flirty in Tampa, a romance author book signing event. I also signed up for one in Lakeland in August of 2026, it’s Nugget Con, an author book signing extravaganza which will include voice artists and cover models. I rented a full table at that one. I’ve also invited my voice artist friend, Raven Morningstar to attend. If he is able to come (from Nevada) I'll add him to my table. I applied for one more event in September 2025, but I haven’t heard back from them yet. It's a much bigger event with well-known authors and I’m a nobody so they may not accept me, which is okay. I’ve made a goal of attending at least one a year and I’ve got that covered through 2026, if I get any extra opportunities is just frosting on the cake!
Another thing I’ve been doing is lurking on Threads and signing up for any podcasts or promo things I see. As a result, I'll be included in two newsletters, a promo package to an influencer, and two podcasts so far. I’m waiting for scheduling of the podcasts as soon as I have a date for them, I'll let you know. Threads seems like a place to chat with readers and influencers without all the BS on FB. I’ve had some great discussions, learned some new things, and connected with new to me authors. It’s helpful and fun.
The Horror Edition of Readers Break the Internet has been moved to October 12th which is also the date of release (midnight) for Origin of Violet and VioleNt. It will be 7pm EDT, I'll put the sign-up link at the end of this blog. There are only three authors participating so if you want to join as an author, I'll put that link too, it’s not too late if you register by the end of this weekend. I don’t think there are very many participants, readers, which gives the ones attending a much better shot at the prizes. I thought horror would be popular, but I guess this type of event is more for romance readers than horror fans. I wouldn’t have guessed there are more romance readers than horror readers, I mean Stephen King, Dean Koontz, Peter Straub, Anne Rice…to me they’re the biggest authors around. Well, J.K. Rowling owns her own country these days, right?
I wanted to say one more thing about Origin of Violet and VioleNt, I know I can’t stop talking about them. But you can’t blame me, with the release coming up and I'm knee deep in my WIP, Vile, the next volume in the series. I was really excited to see readers understanding Violet and her necessary evil streak. She’s my favorite character so far and I’m just so happy people get her and appreciate her work and her struggles. She missed so much of her childhood she’s childlike sometimes and she’s been through so much she has wisdom far beyond her years. Add in how freaking smart she is and she’s a very interesting person. I love to write about strong women who are great at the things I’ve never been capable of doing. I love physical strength, amazing talents with what’s usually “guy stuff” and mental strength to rival geniuses of our world. I’ve never been good at quick comebacks. Talk to me three hours later and I'll burn your socks off, in the moment I'll be the deer in the headlights. Writing sharp quips for a funky female character is so much fun for me. Plus, who can resist a badass chick who can kick the butts of her enemies? Can’t you just see her foot connecting with the jaw of some jackass as she delivers a roundhouse kick and saves his poor dog from abuse? I wish she could hang out with me all the time.
Okay Violet rant complete! I hope you have a lovely weekend filled with quality moments with your friends and family. If that’s not on your agenda, I wish you many fun hours of Netflix and junk food!
As always, thanks for reading!
Authors sign up here for RBTI Horror Edition: https://docs.google.com/forms/d/e/1FAIpQLSeDSr7yof5WMMT5tp1anWzet285weT3SJWBxxIG4Um3ICaCVQ/viewform?vc=0&c=0&w=1&flr=0
Readers sign up here for RBTI Horror Edition: https://docs.google.com/forms/d/e/1FAIpQLSdfdK684r5E44PaD6rmw9kXC7AQVr9Unx7EkLb1gfN_QZ1jpQ/viewform
Visit my website to subscribe to my newsletter and get a free E-copy of Origin of Violet:
https://www.enchantingauthor.com