Friday Five for August 22, 2014

1. This week, my son went back to preschool and he's loving it. I'm loving the fact I get to spend my mornings writing. I promised myself only to write and not surf around on the internet. It's blissful. I missed regular writing time over the summer. I'm in a better mood and feeling more like myself again.

2. I'm still waiting for the okay to share my news, but my newsletter subscribers were let in on the secret. If you haven't signed up for my newsletter yet, just pop your email address into the little widget on the right side of my blog. My subscribers get all the good news first!

3. I have my local writers critique group meeting tomorrow. This time I sent in a contemporary flash piece that I hope to create two very different emotions with. I do wonder if I succeeded.

4. I've submitted a few horror short stories this past week. It's that time of year when venues are looking to fill up October slots. I have one that is a twist on the Sleepy Hollow tale told from the horseman's point of view. He's not really that bad of a guy. Well, okay, maybe he is, but it's fun to get his side of the story!

5. I cut my finger on the saw of my tinfoil box the other night. It bled a lot. As I was nursing it, I wondered how I managed not to do that before. I'm often lost in my head, so I tend to get bumps and cuts, but never on the tinfoil saw which seemed really weird to me in the moment. What's the strangest thing you've ever cut yourself on or bumped into?

Have a wonderful weekend!

Friday Five for August 15, 2014

1. It's been a busy week with my mom visiting. We had lots of fun, and my little guy will be very sad to see his gramma go this morning.

2. One step closer to being able to tell you my news. Maybe this coming week! *crosses fingers*

3. Today it's preschool orientation and then school will officially start on Monday. Yay! I'll have five mornings a week (minus my participation days twice a month) to write. I'm dedicating it to only writing. I'm very excited about this. Summer went by quickly, but it feels like a long time since I've had time to write. I'm going a little bit crazy.

4. I've been enjoying the new fantasy-based reality show, The Quest. I've never kidded myself that I could do Survivor or any of the other shows, because I won't eat strange things and I burn after five minutes in the sun. But The Quest, I would happily do! Has anyone else been watching it?

5. No plans for the weekend. I'm on countdown to Monday morning. Have a great weekend!

Elven Obsession cover reveal and Friday Five for August 1, 2014

1. Last week I mentioned I was stressed out by my son's preschool relocation. Thankfully, the school has been allowed to finish out its lease, and so we can stay this school year. Yay! I've been helping clean up the playground and getting things ready for the children. 17 days until school starts!

2. Click on over to Untethered Realms for a review written by me. Also find out who won the huge giveaway! Thank you so much to everyone who entered and followed our blog.

3. I've been reading and critiquing a lot this week. I haven't gotten any writing done, but these are some darn good reads! I'm immensely lucky to have such talented CPs and beta readers, so when I read their stuff, I'm blown away.

4. My website is coming together. My husband has all the basics done. I aimed for minimalistic, and it turned out very... bare. We discussed what things we could add without making it crowded. One thing I'm adding is a background, and I had a few amazing images I picked for it. If people visiting the site can tear their eyes from my shirtless dragonslayer to see it! Keep your fingers crossed that the site will be live very soon.

5. I'm excited to help the tantalizing Decadent Kane reveal the cover for the Trouble With Elves series. This is my favorite one yet!

 Elven Obsession is coming August 29th.

You can find Decadent Kane here:

Facebook * Twitter * Blog * Goodreads * Newsletter 

Friday Five for January 24, 2014

1. I started on the third draft of my WIP. One step closer to a beautiful polish and then, oh no, querying! Yikes! Is it okay to start panicking about that now even though I'm not close to starting to do it yet? I have all these different scenarios playing out in my head. I think I've covered every possibility. Of course, something I totally didn't expect will happen. Hence the panic.

2. When I started the work on my third draft, I made a new list of plot points for the chapters. (Since I changed the chapters around in the second draft.) I marked out parts for action, romance, characterization, and key plot points. I even used colored pencils. I really liked using color. Did it help me? Well, everything looks to be in order just the way it is. Until my CPs and beta readers have their say, that is! I'm on the right track, though.

3. Lots of school delays this week. We don't have a ton of snow, but it's frigid. My day to assist in my son's preschool class is on Monday. By the look of the forecast, we're due for another delay. Class will be later, so I'll be sitting down to have lunch with nine three-year-olds. It has the possibility of great entertainment. Let's hope it's all comedy!

4. This week I ordered flowers for my mom (who's retiring in a week) and my Nana (whose birthday is at the beginning of February). It made me get excited about growing more in our garden this year. Then thinking about the warmer weather, I decided I needed a wide brimmed sun hat. Maybe a straw hat or something in that fashion. My thoughts came to a screeching halt. When did I become a woman who wears a straw hat?!

5. No plans for the weekend which is nice. What about you?

Friday Five for January 17, 2014

1. I'm almost at the end of draft 2 of my paranormal romance WIP. I have less than 5k to go. I rewrote the entire final battle. Last night, the villain did something that was simple and made complete sense. Why didn't I think of this before? It was awesome. I wanted to shout "Bravo!" Then I realized that was the villain. Drat. Okay, protagonist, you need to be equally as clever.

2. I came across a book I could not finish for the first time in a long while. I couldn't get past 10% on my Kindle. I only mention this because I felt really bad about it. I wanted to finish it. Is it strange I felt guilty?

3. My little guy had his first after school special on Wednesday. It's an Animal Science class that goes for six weeks. They learned about frogs. They put sticky jelly on their fingers and felt how it stuck to surfaces. Then they ate goldfish crackers using only their tongues to pick it up. He was really excited about it. (Plus mama got extra time to write!) I'm so pleased I enrolled him in a play-based cooperative preschool. I've been reading a lot of articles lately that reported upon the benefits of this type of preschool. Now that play-based preschools have been around for a while, several studies have shown how well it nurtures a love for school and learning. It is especially effective with boys, and studies have followed students up through the sixth grade with positive results.

4. I'm doing better with finding my balance, but I'm not there yet. I still spend too much time online when I should be writing. I've been going to bed at a better time, though, and that's helped during the days. I also take a little more time at night before bed to wind down. I sit in bed and read or watch a half hour show. Maybe I should use one of those timers and kid blockers to keep myself off the internet! Hmm, hey, not a bad idea. Anyone else ever try that?

5. I have my local critique group meeting tomorrow. Other than that, no plans for the weekend. What about you?

Friday Five for September 6, 2013

1. It's been a long week. I haven't done anything in terms of writing or revising. Yet today the boy is staying for lunch at school, so I get an extra hour to myself. I've got lots of emails and blog stuff to catch up on. I'm nervous about the reveal of my 13th Floor Collection cover in one week. If you search around the net, you might find a few spots to get a sneak peek!

2. In two days, it's the MORE THAN JUST A KISS blogfest! My lovely co-host, Cecilia Robert and I want to read your kissing scenes. We're offering prizes including critiques and ebooks. Two other generous romance authors have volunteered to help judge the entries. Thank you to Kyra Lennon and Laurelin Paige! You don't have to be a writer to participate. You can opt not to be entered to win a critique, but surely you don't want to miss out on the fabulous ebooks offered. I'll be posting kisses from my books every day next week. I hope to read one of yours.

3. I survived my first day assisting with my son's class at his preschool. The kids are very good and wonderful little helpers. I made mini blueberry muffins and brought apples for their snack, and the kids loved them. My little guy got a bit ornery with me there, but the teacher assured me he was much better behaved when I'm not around. Yup, saving all that for mom. He was testing me again yesterday and broke my camera. For the fourth time. Thankfully it's still under warranty. I really need my quiet time this morning.

4. I think I wanted to mention something else that was going on. Wow. My brain is on the fritz! I'll tweet it if I remember. Wait! I have a post on marketing next Tuesday on the Untethered Realms blog. Was that what I wanted to tell you? I don't know. Yup, brain fuzz.

5. No plans for this weekend. I obviously need to catch up on my sleep! Have a fantastic weekend!

Update: I forgot what I needed to add! Heather Musk shared her thoughts on THE DRAGONSLAYER yesterday. Pop on over and tell us what you thought about the book. :)

Friday Five for August 23, 2013

1. I want to first give a HUGE thank you to Heather Musk at Reading, Writing and Everything In Between. She started something new on her blog called Book Thoughts where she'll share her thoughts on the books she's reading every Thursday. Over the next six weeks, she'll be featuring the novellas from the 13th Floor series. She already has her thoughts on THE MARQUIS posted. Please stop by and have a read. She hit on exactly what I was trying to do with that first story.

2. I'm thankful that my son started preschool this week or else I wouldn't have had any time to be productive. I got my revisions done for my short story based on my CPs' critiques and sent it out to my beta readers. So far everyone loves the bonus story for the 13th Floor Collection. I put all the novellas and the short story together in one document to edit it for the collection, and it's over 139,000 words. Wow. I wrote, revised, and put all that out in a year? I'm a bit in shock and giddy with it.

2.5 My son had an excellent first week of school. He's comfortable with the new class and his teacher. He makes no complaints when I leave. Yay! I had my first school meeting, and I was saddled with more responsibilities. Not a huge deal, but I would've preferred to know these things before they were suddenly thrust upon me, and I had no clue what I was doing. I'm lucky to have some good helpers, though.

3. I sent out the info and cover for The 13th Floor Collection last night. I had a long list of people volunteering to help out. I'm so very grateful to you guys. You're awesome! Please forgive me if I forgot you on the mailing list. Just send me an email or leave me a comment if I forgot you or if you'd like to be part of the cover reveal on September 13th.

4. Have you heard of this wonderful group of speculative fiction writers called Untethered Realms? *wink, wink* This week, we all wrote a little something with the prompt: "awesomesauce." It's so much fun to see how different each one turned out.

5. Did you get a chance to peek at my workspace on The Writing Nut's blog this week? Please pop on over if you haven't yet. Here's another look into my world. I was excited to return to the library this week with my son's return to preschool. My usual spot is in a comfy chair at the end of the sci-fi/fantasy section, but unfortunately, that chair with its little table is gone. (You can see in the picture below there's a big empty spot by the windows where it used to be.) So I settled into the little desk with my laptop. It's not quite the same, but I'm trying out new spots. Hopefully I'll find a new favorite.

Have a fabulous weekend!

Friday Five for August 16, 2013

1. Big week! I announced a change to the release date of the 13th Floor collection. I'm looking for people to help out with the cover reveal on Friday September 13th. I got an awesome response for hosts for my blog tour in October. Every weekday is filled up now. October is going to be a fantastic month!

2. Don't forget on Monday it's the August W4WS event! This is a great way for writers to help other writers. It's easy to do. As fast and simple as a tweet. This month we're featuring Carrie Butler and C. Lee McKenzie.

3. I have a special guest poster tomorrow. T.F. Walsh is going to be here with her CLOAKED IN FUR blog tour. Stop on by and chat about werewolves with us.

4. Sweet, sizzling, fiery, awkward, mind-blowing. We want to read your kissing scenes. Don't forget to join the MORE THAN JUST A KISS Blogfest! We're offering prizes for the best scenes. It's less than a month away now. Tell your friends! Shout it out to the world!

5. On Wednesday, my son had his preschool orientation. He was ready for me to leave so he could play all morning! His official first day will be Monday. He'll be going three mornings a week this year (M, W, F). His new teacher is very nice and is eager to have my smart little guy in her class. Did I mention he's only 3 1/4 and reading several words? Also, in a surprise move by his school's board (at least a surprise to me), they offered me a position. I'll be taking the open chair this year. It's weirding me out a bit. I never saw myself doing something like this even as a parent. Yet I really do love this preschool, and I'm happy to give my time to them. I agreed to help out some friends too. So on Tuesdays, I'll be picking one child up from her school and watching her for a little while, and on Thursdays, I'll be watching another little guy. They're my son's best girl and boy friends. I'm a bit stunned at how my schedule has filled up for this school year. What happened to the wonderfully quiet hermit life I dreamed of?!

Have a great weekend, folks!

Friday Five for August 2, 2013

1. Not a terribly productive week. The boy only took one nap, and we've had some late nights. I started my bonus short story for the 13th Floor collection, but it's still in the beginning scene. I'm keeping my fingers crossed that I'll get some time to write today and on the weekend.

2. I received another rejection to add to my pile. I've been feeling frustrated with myself. I consumed way too many Oreos this week. I even tried my first fired Oreo at the county fair. I prefer them not to be battered and soggy.

3. In just over two weeks, the boy will be heading back to preschool. He's excited about it and so am I. Having three mornings to myself a week will help with my productivity and hopefully my stress levels.

4. I wasted a night last night watching G.I.Joe: Retaliation. Why oh why did I watch the whole thing? It was a bad movie and not in a good way. I was big on the comics and TV show when I was young. That's my only excuse.

5. I hope you all have a wonderful weekend! I'll leave you with a cute picture of my son playing at the park.

Friday Five for September 14th

1. Good week for writing again. I finished the first draft of my newest novella on Sunday night. It's sitting to the side and cooling off as I start the second novella in the series. I'm pleased with the way the ending went. I was afraid I'd get stuck, because I couldn't see the ending. Yet my muse did not fail me. The new novella is starting off well too.

2. FEARLESS has still been doing well. Over 2000 copies sold/downloaded. Huzzah! It's weird to think that many people are reading something I wrote. Just because I'm curious about how sales go for other writers, I'm posting my stats for you.

Amazon Kindle (free): 1339

Smashwords (free): 666

CreateSpace: 11

B&N: 0

Kobo (free): 0

3. Yesterday evening, a lady with a clipboard actually heeded our "no solicitors" sign on the front door!

4. Preschool is still going well. The boy will protest when going there and cry a bit after I leave, but then he's good for the rest of the morning. Everyone comments on his good manners and intelligence. I'm a proud mama. Today is the school's fall picnic. Socializing isn't my strong point. My husband is going to come during his lunch hour so I won't have to go it alone.

5. Yesterday while my son was in school, I decided to go some random place without a child in tow. Where did I end up going? To the library, of course! It's blissful to browse the shelves without having to chase a toddler around.

Have a wonderful weekend, folks!

Friday Five for September 7th

1. It's been a productive writing week. I finished a sci-fi short story for this month. I had another short story rejected and submitted it to another press. I'm over halfway done with my new novella. If I can keep up the pace, I might be able to finish the first draft on Sunday.

2. My productivity has been largely related to the fact I haven't been writing blog posts and making my rounds. I miss you guys, but I know you all understand we need breaks now and then. I'm going to continue to be around only for a little this month. If I can keep up my great writing pace, I'll be able to start putting out my new series by November or December.

3. I'll be visiting M. Pax on Spacedock 19 next Wednesday. We'll be talking about the paranormal. Make sure to stop by and have a drink with us.

4. My son is loving preschool. Yet he still has some problems being separated from me. And yeah, maybe I have a little anxiety about letting him go on his own too. Tuesday was a rough day. He refused to let go of me for over an hour. I stayed the whole morning with him. Yesterday was much better. I researched techniques to deal with separation anxiety and put them to good use. He made it through the whole morning without me. I'm so proud of him.

(That's my boy having thoroughly enjoyed a chocolate turn-over!)

5. I'm researching mini laptops. I want to get something small and light to carry around for writing. I don't need anything fancy, but I want something durable and with great battery life. Any advice and recommendations are welcome.

Friday Five for August 17th

1. I wrote a new flash piece, a twist on the myth of Cassandra and Apollo, and submitted it. I'm still keeping up with my goal this year to write one/submit one. Though, it's the only goal I've managed to keep. Time is slipping by so quickly, and I'm far behind on my other projects.

2. My steampunk Cthulhu short story that I wrote earlier this year was the one I really wanted to get accepted. It was short-listed. I was eager to contribute to the Mythos, but alas, my story was cut. I consumed a lot of ice cream and wallowed in the rejection. Now I'm making a few little adjustments and I'm submitting it to the YA steampunk anthology, REAL GIRLS DON'T RUST. The other story I started for that anthology fizzled out. I had a great character and story idea for her, but then I started writing about this huge mound in the desert and the workings of the people living in it. It was more fantasy than steampunk. The two concepts clashed and didn't work. I'll have to separate them and keep them in my idea files for later use.

3. FEARLESS continues to do very well. It makes my head spin to think of so many people reading it. I'm still promoting it, but I realize that I need to work on my other books and get them out there. One of the biggest thing that helps a writer with sales is putting out more books.

4. My husband is away at Gen Con. It's just me and the boy for three days. The boy hasn't been napping much lately. It's going to be a long three days. On Sunday, it's Family Day at Gen Con and we're all going.

5. The boy starts preschool next week. We have orientation on Tuesday and his first official day is Thursday. He'll be attending two mornings a week with five other two-year olds. For the past few weeks, I've been having stress dreams about this. Dreams where I end up being put in the position to teach the class, that I have to run all the parents' committees, and that my son won't let go of me or, if he does happily go, something bad happens. I'm use to dreaming about fighting monsters. I don't know how to fight parent stress dreams!

Have a good weekend, folks!