December has started with a bang. I’m finally feeling better and recovering from the flu, thankfully! I also finished writing Vile!! I’m letting it rest for a while; I like to give a rough draft a break before I go over it for the first edits so I can approach it with fresh eyes. I’m excited to be done writing but it doesn’t end there, it’s really just beginning. I'll read and edit first. Then if I decide to have beta readers, I'll ask a few trusted readers from my ARC team, I have two I trust for Beta and maybe a third I'll consider asking.
Once I've made all the changes I want to make and I've proofread, and checked for repeated words, I will hand it off to my amazing editor. She’s chomping at the bit to read this one. She says Violet is her all-time favorite character, honestly, she might be mine too. She’s such a badass and still vulnerable, even childlike at times because of her traumatic past. She’s direct and fierce, I love her spirit. I also really like her love interests, she has three. They’re smart, funny, and love her unconditionally.
I did an interview this week on Central Valley Talk with Mike Briggs on YouTube. It was about thirteen minutes, and it flew by. He was very professional and kept things moving in the best way. It was fun, usually I’m a nervous wreck but he put me at ease. I recommended him to a fellow author, and she’s never done anything like this before, she made me laugh so hard because she had “clicker’s remorse” after she clicked send on her email to him. But I know she'll be great. I will include the link at the end of this blog, for my interview and for the host if you’re interested in applying for an interview, I highly recommend trying it out. It was a great experience. https://youtu.be/PrWu5-yYa98?si=Be0G6NkXN6cEO9RN
In addition to the interview this month I’m participating in Stuff Your Kindle events. One is www.DarkModeSYK.com VioleNt will be FREE for that event on 12/27. I’m also participating in the Fireside Book Café Facebook Group Stuff Your Kindle with both Force of Corruption AND VioleNt, from 12/26-12/28. Both books will be FREE on Kindle from 12/25-12/29! I will include all links below.
On December 28th, I’m going to be part of an author takeover party on Plot Twisters on Facebook. I will be in charge of the FB group for an hour beginning at 2pm(EST 1pm Central). During the takeover I will post some games and have a sign up for a giveaway. If participants sign up for my newsletter during the party they'll be entered in a giveaway which will include a Starbucks Gift Card, FREE signed books, and a BEAUTIFUL skull bracelet made of glow stones worth $50! I will enter all the new subscribers into a wheel and spin it for the winner! I’m very excited about the drawing because I love this bracelet, and I can’t wait to see who wins it! Obviously, I'm so excited I can’t stop using exclamation points!! (If you’re a Seinfeld fan you might catch my humor about the punctuation! Okay, I’m done.
As I explained last week, we celebrated Thanksgiving on Saturday instead of Thursday to accommodate our daughter’s in-laws. It was great, I’m very proud of myself because I actually did some cooking. I got a lot of help, but I made cranberry sauce, pumpkin pies, green bean casserole, stuffing, and gravy. I haven’t been able to cook for Thanksgiving in years and it was so fun to be able to contribute again. I overdid it of course, so I was very tired on Sunday, but it was totally worth it. We had our son-law's mother along with our children and grandchild. It was very nice, we had a good time, and the turkey my husband made was fantastic.
Are you ready for Christmas? Hanukkah? Or some other upcoming holiday? I’m done shopping except for a few gift cards. We tried to get a tree last weekend but there was a terrible selection so we’re trying a place I found online tomorrow. I can’t wait to get it set up; live trees smell wonderful. I think we’re putting it in the living room, but I don’t know if my husband has decided how big he wants to go. Our living room has an 8ft. ceiling, but the family room has a high vaulted ceiling so it can accommodate a much taller tree. I'll let you know where we end up.
We went shopping last weekend for Angel Tree gifts. If you’re not familiar with what that is, our church hosts a toy drive and we choose tags from the tree which contain the sex and age of a child, then we purchase an age-appropriate gift for that child. We chose a handful of tags. Then we also chose a boy and a girl from the Angel Tree at the mall. Those tags include the names, age, sex, clothing sizes, shoe sizes, three toy wishes, and they give you a large bag to load up with the items. We went a little overboard and bought additional toys for additional kids through the church. My husband has a good job, and he likes to be generous when we’re able to help others. I used to volunteer almost full time before I got so sick, since I can’t offer as much of my time anymore, we enjoy offering gifts. It’s a rewarding experience and something we taught our children from an early age. We’re blessed with very generous kids who give their time as much as possible. Our son has made donations of money he won in a raffle at work as well, I was so proud. You may have noticed I try to join charitable events where I can donate my books as often as possible too. I highly recommend it.
Our hurricane ravaged community continues to struggle, people are beginning to leave Florida behind when their insurance companies and FEMA leave them without resources to repair their homes. They put them for sale at a huge loss and move with family or start fresh in a new state. Personally, we’re waiting for a check from our flood insurance company, but the news is reporting the mortgage companies are refusing to endorse the checks over to homeowners leaving them struggling once again to make the needed repairs. I'll let you know how we make out. As it is, the check will be less than the repairs and we'll probably need to make additional claims. We have significant damage to flooring, walls, trim, and the exterior wall of our home. Not to mention all the non-water related damage our hurricane carriers outright denied. I’m hoping we won’t need to involve our lawyer. Pray for us and our poor community, so many lost everything, and they’re older.
Okay, enough depressing topics. I have one more piece of exciting news. My voice artist was able to make a great recording of the first chapter of Origin of Violet and I was able to figure out how to embed it on my website!! I’m as amazed as anyone, usually I try stuff like that and then my husband has to fix the mess I made with my efforts. I am a tech dummy; I think they wrote that book for me. But I read the instructions, followed the steps, and it worked! Credit probably belongs to my website hosting service. If you have a chance, check it out and be amazed! The link will be below.
As always, thank you for reading your support makes my dreams possible!
12/26-28 Fireside Book Café Stuff Your Kindle- https://www.facebook.com/groups/thefiresidebookcafe/?ref=share
12/27 Dark Mode Stuff Your Kindle- www.DarkModeSYK.com
12/28 Plot Twisters Author Takeover Party- https://www.facebook.com/groups/907005587511214/?ref=share
Central Valley Talk with Mike Briggs- www.centralvalleytalk.com
All info, audio, interview, and updates at www.enchantingauthor.com