Book Holly-Days Promo and Giveaway!

It's the day after Christmas, when all through the house,

There's a big mess of boxes, and too many cookies for a giant mouse.

Settle in with your ereader and under the covers you stay,

Relax and enjoy a happy Book Holly-Day!

Yeah, no one ever said I was a poet.

Fantasy Book Giveaways is hosting this spectacular holiday event. We have 30 fabulous authors participating, and all of their books are free to read on Kindle Unlimited.

Plus there's a big giveaway for books and an Amazon gift card! Just click on the image above to take you to the site.

Many of the authors are having sales on their books too. Like me! All the books in my thrilling TOTEM series are 99 cents now through January 1st.

Indulge yourself.

Happy Christmas! All the books in the TOTEM series are 99c until January 1st!

Merry Christmas from my house to yours!

Enjoy the fun and festive times with your friends and family.

As a big thank you to all my wonderful readers, I have put all the books in my thrilling urban fantasy series, TOTEM, on sale for 99c.

Dark Dawning

Silent Whispers

Cloak of Snow

Shattered Spirit

Ghost Cat

Deep Current

Shadows Fall

Descending Moon

True Shifter

The series is always free to read on Kindle Unlimited.

Word Witch Wednesday - reviewing 2017's goals and looking to 2018

It's that wonderful time of the year where we sit down with holiday treats and make plans for next year. I'm sharing my cookies, if you'd like one.

2017 Goals

1. Write and published the TOTEM books. Done! A nine novella series. Yikes! I had a lot of fun with it, but I don't think I'll take on a series as long as that again. Trilogies sound perfect in my mind right now.

2. Self-publish the nine books I had with my publisher. I did that at the beginning of the year. Will I be writing more in the erotic romance genre? I don't know. I might if I'm in the mood for something light and funny.

3. Write the first drafts of the second two books in the Of Blood and Sorrow trilogy. I didn't do this one. My feet have been dragging these past few months. I will finish one before the holidays. I'm right at the big climax, but I won't start on the final one until January.

4. Read and review 100 books. I'm right on track with 93. Only 7 more to go!

5. Write and submit six short stories. Done. I'm constantly learning and improving. I wrote a lot of speculative fiction this year.

6. Study and try various marketing techniques. Ugh. This was my big time suck this year. I lost a lot of writing time to trying to figure out how to market my work. The only lesson I learned that will work: write more books.

7. Improve my writing speed and focus. I started the year off well with word sprints, but it got lost under my worrying about marketing.

2018 Goals

1. Write and release the second two books in the Of Blood and Sorrow trilogy. I haven't set release dates yet for my own sanity.

2. Read and review 100 books. This is a good number for me. I will try to do it every year for the rest of my life.

3. Write and submit ten short stories. I'm upping the number for this coming year. I can do a flash piece in an afternoon. It will be a nice break from the dark world of my trilogy when I need it.

4. Write more, market less. This year, I only wrote in the afternoons... if I had any time left. Next year, I'm making time in the morning and afternoon. Marketing will be scheduled for very limited times. Hopefully that will decrease my anxiety over it.

5. Take up the word sprints again and increase my writing speed. I'm hoping I'll write more with less marketing anxiety to weigh me down.

6. Work on new project. I have several written down I want to write. I'm not going to name one right now, because I might come up with something new and want to work on it! I'll go with what I'm feeling passionate for in that moment.

Did you meet your goals this year? What are yours for next year?

I'll be back on Christmas Day with a special surprise!

#IWSG for December 2017

The Insecure Writer's Support Group (IWSG) is the brilliant idea of Alex J. Cavanaugh. The purpose of the group is to share doubts and insecurities and to encourage one another. Please visit the other participants and share your support. A kind word goes a long way.

This month's awesome co-hosts are: Julie Flanders, Shannon Lawrence, Fundy Blue, and Heather Gardner!

Before this month's question, I wanted to share with you an exciting event coming next month. It's a fabulous way to start off 2018.

Create a Twitter-length pitch for your completed and polished manuscript and leave room for genre, age, and the hashtag. On January 18, Tweet your pitch. If your pitch receives a favorite/heart from a publisher/agent check their submission guidelines and send your requested query. Read the rules HERE.

Many writers have seen their books published from a Twitter pitch - it’s a quick and easy way to put your manuscript in front of publishers and agents.

Our first #IWSGPit was amazing!

We had about 2300 Tweets and became a trending topic on Twitter.

The next #IWSGPit will be Thursday, January 18, 2018!
8:00 am - 8:00 pm Eastern Standard Time

December's IWSG Optional Question: As you look back on 2017, with all its successes and failures, if you could backtrack, what would you do differently?

I would spend less time worrying about marketing and more time writing. At the beginning of the year, I was determined to improve my marketing skills. I don't know if I did that, but I now know what doesn't work for me. I spent half my days just on marketing alone, and that's way too much. What I did learn is that writing your next book is the best thing you can do.

I'm a book behind where I want to be right now, but I'm trying not to stress out about it. I didn't set any deadlines for publication. Being my own boss is sometimes nice, but I'm hard on myself often.

2018 will be about writing and publishing novels. Two at the very least. I don't know which project I'll go on to after I finish my Of Blood and Sorrow trilogy, but I have a lot of ideas!

Have a fantastic holiday season, IWSG!

P.S. If you have any news you'd like me to share in the IWSG newsletter, please send me an email at christinerains.writer@gmail.com. We love to celebrate with our members. And if you haven't signed up for the IWSG newsletter yet, click here to do so. We have great articles and writing resources in it. This month we have a top book cover designer sharing a few tips, and in January, our industry guest is New York Times best selling author, Jennifer Estep.

Signup For the Book Holly-Days!

Attention authors with books on Kindle Unlimited!

Book Holly-Days is an awesome free promo event hosted by Fantasy Book Giveaways. We're celebrating everyone spending their Amazon gift cards after filling their bellies with yummy stuff and enjoying time with family. Then it's time for a break and snuggling up with a good book.

Signup HERE.

The hosts are holding a giveaway with a gift card prize. All you have to do is make sure your books are on Kindle Unlimited and promote the event by sharing on social media.