New blogfest badge and schedule

I LOVE this new badge! The artwork is amazing. It has the perfect atmosphere. I was happy to get permission from the artist, an extremely talented woman named Nina. I discovered Nina on deviantART. Please check out her site. Her artwork is beautiful. Some pictures are lively, some are dark, and others are simply breathtaking. Every piece inspires a dozen stories in my head.

Don't forget to sign up for the "What was your childhood monster?" blogfest to help promote the release of my novella, FEARLESS.

I added FEARLESS on Goodreads. It took a little bit to figure out. I also can't find where you can add tags for your book to list it under certain genres. Does anyone know if you can do that?

I'm excited to be doing a guest post on writing action scenes at Kathleen Doyle's Thirsty Thursday blog on July 31st. Pop by for a visit! Don't worry, I'll remind you again on Tuesday.

I have a big week lined up for my release. Of course, there's the blogfest happening August 7th - 9th.

On August 6th, I have an interview with Shelley Sly, a fellow writer and geek. I also have a guest post on writing fear at my hard-working critique partner, Cherie Reich's blog. You still have one more day to enter to win the entire Gravity trilogy by Cherie!

August 7th is the official release of FEARLESS. That day I'll be over at Tania Walsh's site with a post about monsters. Tania is awesome, and we share a love of mythological creatures. Every Monday, she has a fascinating post about a mythological monster.

I'll be visiting the lovely Aubrie Dionne on August 8th. We'll have a fun chat. In other Aubrie news: on July 30th, Aubrie will be revealing the cover to her newest sci-fi romance novel, Colonization. There will be a giveaway!

Finally, on August 9th, I'll be interviewed by M. Pepper Langlinais. Be prepared for something out of the ordinary. I can't wait to find out what she'll ask me!

Thanks and awards

First off, a BIG thank you to Kathleen Doyle for surprising me

on Monday with a Random Act of Kindness.

You really made my day.

And that's hard to do on a Monday!

The Random Act of Kindness Blitz is a fabulous idea started by

Becca and Angela at The Bookshelf Muse to commemorate the

release of their book The Emotion Thesaurus.

Come pop by my blog tomorrow for my contribution to the Blitz.

I received the Beautiful Blogger Award from the wonderful Sheri L. Swift.

Thank you for passing it on to me.

 Another thank you goes to the cool E.J. Wesley for passing on

the No Strings Attached - Real Trooper award.

Both awards ask you to share some random facts about yourself. (The Trooper Award also has some specific questions, but I will spare you an overly long post!)

Ten random facts about me:

1) I enjoy doing laundry. It's the clean scent and the warmth of clothes fresh out of the dryer.

2) I've been engaged twice, but not to my husband.

3) My husband and I had been together for ten years before we decided to get married in Las Vegas by Elvis.

4) When I get a chance, I love watching cheesy SyFy movies.

5) I have a fear of speaking in front of groups of people, but I force myself to do it whenever I have the opportunity.

6) I have a sonic screwdriver on my desk.

7) I have my own set of special game dice.

8) I set my son's toys up in fun little scenes, so that the next time he comes upon them, he'll wonder what they've been doing.

9) I took karate in high school, and I was two belts away from my black.

10) I cannot imagine life without writing.

I'm not going to nominate anyone, because I want to share these awesome awards with you all. Take one or both if you wish. You're such fabulous people. You deserve them.