Hello Again

Was away from the blog longer than planned 🙂 A few updates:

~I have started revisions on two of my four first drafts. Those are going well!

~I have been writing like crazy in my notebooks on a story that came out of nowhere. I’ll share that it’s a blend of dark fantasy, dark academia, and horror. The strange thing about this story is that it’s writing completely out of order and in scenes, not chapters, so I’m seeing the story through snippets and I’m actually loving the chaos of it! I’ve had one other book write out of order, but that was middle/end/beginning and in full chapters, which is far different than getting the book in scenes. I’m finding this fascinating and I admit that it’s taken up a lot of my writing time and that’s why my revisions are moving slower than normal.

~I’m still trying to find a good balance on my other socials, but what I’ve been doing is slowly raising my follower and view count so I’ll take that as a win 🙂

My plan is still to self-publish three to four books this year, and the new book (that’s writing in the notebooks) will be submitted to a publisher when it’s ready. So stayed tuned for updates!

Starting Fresh

One of my goals this year is to streamline my social media pages so they aren’t as cluttered and are a touch more organized in terms of content. I’ve gone through my TikTok and Instagram pages and deleted a bunch of posts and am trying to post once a day on each page. So far, so good in that regard. I’m horrible at keeping up with trends, but I’m learning what types of posts are best and started using Instagram Reels a little more, which has helped with interaction with other authors as well as readers.

If you listened to the latest podcast, you’ll know that I’ve started an Instagram page for my spiritual stuff and tarot reading (plus the chakra healing and energy healing). I’ve recorded additional mediations as well but those aren’t posted yet. If you want to follow me for this on Instagram, you can find me HERE.

I’m happy to report that writing is going well on all projects! After looking at my schedule and finances, I may have to push back on some of my planned releases, but I will have at least three new books out this year. I also am focusing on two that I plan to submit to agents/publishers.

Stay tuned for updates~ a lot is coming down the pipe ❤

2023 Recap

I hope everyone is having a wonderful holiday season ❤

2023 was a good writing year for me, surpassing my expectations (especially since I was dealing with burnout and and bad mental health). I have four books that are in the revisions stage and several books that have been writing extremely well. The books that were released/rereleased:

The Arena– Tuck Houston, book 3 (rerelease)

AMAZON ~ KOBO ~ NOOK

Salt & Iron, an Eden Hollow Story (rerelease)

AMAZON ~ NOOK ~ KOBO

Hell Ain’t A Bad Place To Be (brand new novella in the Isles & West World)

AMAZON ~ NOOK ~ KOBO

I also have a fantasy flash fiction piece coming out as part of an anthology (details coming soon!), which I am so excited about! I can’t wait to share this one 🙂

And while writing hasn’t always been easy this year, my word count has been amazing and I could not be happier. I’m looking forward to releasing new books next year (self-published as well as indie press), and I will also be submitting to traditional publishers as well.

Thank you for being here with me and sharing the journey. I can’t wait to bring you new stories in 2024!

New Release: Hell Ain’t A Bad Place To Be

Happy Tuesday!

Hell Ain’t A Bad Place to Be is now available! You can also read this for free on Kobo Plus. Happy reading!

AMAZON ~ NOOK ~ KOBO

Blurb:

Having ghosts show up at all hours of the day is nothing new for clairvoyant Vic Hawthorne. She takes both private cases as well as helps local law enforcement. But when the ghost of dear friend comes to her for help, Vic’s shaken to the core.

She hasn’t seen the ghost of Darrell Smoke since the night he was murdered in their senior year of high school—his murderer was caught the same night. Darrell tells her his killer wasn’t working alone, and that the ghost that aided in his death is back in town. Vic is immediately on the case, and it doesn’t take her long to realize that the unfinished business the dark ghost has come back for doesn’t just include Darrell.

Pre-Order: Hell Ain’t A Bad Place To Be

This Isles and West World novella is now up for pre-order! B&N may not show up immediately, saying “no results”, and if you get that message it should clear up by tomorrow.

Release Date: 12/12/2023

AMAZON ~ NOOK ~ KOBO

BLURB:

Having ghosts show up at all hours of the day is nothing new for clairvoyant Vic Hawthorne. She takes both private cases as well as helps local law enforcement. But when the ghost of dear friend comes to her for help, Vic’s shaken to the core.

She hasn’t seen the ghost of Darrell Smoke since the night he was murdered in their senior year of high school—his murderer was caught the same night. Darrell tells her his killer wasn’t working alone, and that the ghost that aided in his death is back in town. Vic is immediately on the case, and it doesn’t take her long to realize that the unfinished business the dark ghost has come back for doesn’t just include Darrell.

“Hell” of a Day

I just finished the last read-through of Hell Ain’t A Bad Place To Be and put the finishing touches on the file. It is now off for formatting 🙂 When I have a firm release date, I will let everyone know. I think I’ll be doing a pre-order for this one, so those links will be up as soon as I set a firm date.

I can’t wait for you all to meet Vic and experience her part of the Isles and West World ❤

First in Series Sale

Happy Monday! Today through December 3rd, The Damned and Over the River are FREE on Kobo and Nook. Amazon won’t let me offer these for free because I don’t sell solely through them~ I am immensely sorry to Kindle readers that I cannot offer these for free ❤

The Damned:

KOBO ~ NOOK

Over the River:

KOBO ~ NOOK

Forward Momentum

I made a bunch of notes on the story ideas I got in Ireland, and part of that was also jotting down character names as well writing the opening line/paragraph. As I’ve said in the past- I have so many notebooks scattered around so I never lose an idea again!

I finished first pass revisions on one of my Libby Bishop books, and I printed out Shards and The Scrying House. Both books are now reading for edits/revisions and I’m so excited!

I’m still aiming to publish Hell Ain’t A Bad Place To Be by the end of the year. I just want to do one more read-through before setting a solid date. The edits, from my editor, were finished before I went to Ireland, so I’m just reading it over to look for any small errors.

I’ve also finished the editing rounds for my fantasy short story- that will be in an anthology- which means I’ll be able to share more on that project soon. Excited for you all to read that one! I was part of the kickstarter for the anthology, and I have no idea why I was pulled to it so strongly, but I’m glad I was. As an author, this story challenged me in the best ways, and I’ve learned so much from writing a 1200 word story than I thought was possible ❤

Haunted Ireland

I just got back from my trip to Ireland. It is a beautiful country, and I can’t wait to go back and explore more! This is just one picture, from the Cliffs of Moher. The history I felt just standing at the cliffs and taking them in…I can’t find the accurate words, but it was powerful.

Ireland is also quite haunted 🙂 Scotland is the only other country I’ve been in where I sensed and interacted with so many spirits. The history bleeds out of the ground, and the spirits, and other non-human entities, seemed to touch nearly every place I went. If you are a paranormal enthusiast, I highly recommend visiting Ireland (and Scotland). Even if you don’t go for the ghosts, Ireland is a breathtaking country, and the people (at least the ones I met) are kind and welcoming.

I have so many story ideas! I wrote them in my notebook so I wouldn’t forget 🙂 But I think Scotland and Ireland will be in future books ❤

Rainy Day With Copyedits

I just finished copyedits for my fantasy flash fiction story. That story has now had a name change, and though I loved the original title, the new one fits much better. I’m so excited about the story and the anthology it’s in, and I’ll share more soon.

In other writing news:

~I had this amazing idea for a horror story last night and wrote the first chapter, plus hand wrote the beginning of the second chapter. While writing that opening scene for chapter two, I realized that I’m still so excited about storytelling and writing. I wrote my first story when I was about 5 years old, was first published by Musa Publishing in 2012, and now I’m self-publishing as well as submitting to agents and bigger publishers.

I love the art of storytelling, the process of writing (I actually really love the revision stage- it’s my favorite!), and I don’t think that will ever change ❤

~Tuck 4 had stalled a few weeks ago but after changing the ending of the newest chapter, she’s back on track and lined up for the big fight scene. The words are flowing again so I’m hoping that means the rough draft will be done by the end of November.

~I’m still working on my fantasy novel as well. I think writing that fantasy flash fiction kicked the novel into gear again. The novel is now over 35k, and I’m thinking the rough draft will be around 45k, but with revisions and edits that count will most likely end up around 70k.

~I’ve not printed out Shards or The Scrying House yet. The timing doesn’t feel write so I’m letting them sit for a little while longer.

~I finished the first pass of edits/revisions for Hell Ain’t A Bad Place To Be, and sent a note to my editor to look over one of the changes I made to make certain it flows well. I’m aiming for a December release and will update you as soon as that’s concrete.

I fell behind on my podcasting because of all of the writing, but I’ve got some Halloween/Samhain plans coming up next week that I’m so excited about. I can’t wait to share that on here as well as the podcast! Expect a new podcast around the first weekend of November 🙂