Wow!: 2015 Review

Wow!: 2015 Review

As is my habit, I’m going to do a brief overview of this past year with regards to my journey as an author. A lot happened in 2015 and I won’t be able to tell all of it, but I can offer some highlights month by month. For elaborate details, you can check my author newsletter archives here, as well as subscribe to upcoming issues. Here is a summary during each month of the year of 2015 for me as an author:

The Year 2015

January

In January, my new release at the time, Second Nature, a paranormal romance/urban fantasy which is book one of the Blood at First Sight Series, received several spotlights. On January 3rd, Second Nature was featured on Connie Bretes’ blog. The next day, I discovered that Writing in the Modern Age, my guest author blog, was nominated by Katrina Jack for a wonderful award, the Very Inspiring Blogger Award. So, that was exciting! Three days later, I offered readers a teaser of Upon Your Love, a manuscript currently in edits which will be book three of the Heiresses in Love Series. You can read the excerpt here. 

On January 12th, author Rachael Stapleton interviewed me on her blog, and asked me a few questions about Second Nature. Two days later, Fiona Tarr interviewed Desiree Edwards, the female main character of Second Nature, on her website. On January 15th, The Book Cove Reviews gave the same book a spotlight. You can also check out the book trailer on the feature here. 

A few days later, I wrote an article, “The Trouble with Titles” for the MLB blog. In it I gave some tips on coming up with that elusive book or story title. The following week, I reviewed Kris Tualla’s The Discreet Gentleman Series on the I Love Romance Blog. 

February

February brought more features for Second Nature, as well as some other interesting events. On Februrary 1st, author Nancy Christie gave me a detailed interview on her blog. You can also catch part two of the interview here, which aired in the second half of the month. In February, my publisher, Solstice Publishing, offered a big book giveaway, comprised of 26 books. On February 3rd, author Helen Alexander interviewed me on her blog, and had some questions about my books as well as my writing process. The following day brought a cool character interview with Alec from Second Nature on the same blog. On February 8^th, I wrote a love poem titled “Forever” for the I Love Romance Blog (ILRB). Author Geri Taylor also interviewed me on her blog on the same day. Five days later, I hosted a huge romance-themed dual blog book giveaway, and it ranged between two of my blogs, Writing in the Modern Age and ILRB. 

On February 17th, Crystal Miles Gauthier interviewed me on her website. Also on that day, I learned that I had made it into the TOP 100 on Authors Database during the last week of January! Very exciting! Eleven days later brought a love poem written by yours truly and titled “Lovers Like Us”. This was posted on the I Love Romance Blog. 

March

On March 4th, I wrote an article on the MLB blog, and it was titled “What Does Success Mean?” In March, The Romance Reviews site ran a big giveaway party for their 4^th anniversary all month long and on the 11th, a copy of Second Nature was offered to readers in the Q&A prize contest! Exciting! Four days later, I wrote a brief article about my love of books and reading on Ava Bleu’s site. The following day, Fara Bellamont, the heroine from Upon Your Return, visited author Devika Fernando in a great character interview. 

On March 18^th, I participated in The Next Best Thing blog tour. I was invited by author Lois W. Stern, and I tagged several other authors. In the post, you can learn a little more about UYL, which should be ready for beta readers very soon! Three days later, I wrote a love poem titled “Your Kiss” on the I Love Romance Blog. On March 23^rd, Grant Hill, the hero from Upon Your Return, got a character spotlight on Devika Fernando’s blog. Two days passed, and then a short author interview of mine appeared on the DigiWriting site. On March 30^th, one of my articles, “Being Different” was posted on the Star-Crossed Romance site. 

April

 

April was pretty busy. On April 7^th, I visited author Rachael Stapleton’s cool feature, the Treasured & Tipsy Timeslip, to talk about five different sites I’d love to visit. In the post, you’ll get to learn of my inspiration for the Bellamont Plantation in the Heiresses in Love Series. 

 

 

Three days later, I was lucky enough to get featured on author Diana Rubino’s blog, and Second Nature got a spotlight! Yay! And on April 21^st, humorous horror author A.B. Funkhauser featured Second Nature, giving me a Proustian interview. Catch a cool author interview hosted by J.R. O’Neill, which aired the following day! Also in April, I learned that I made Honorable Mention in the BTS Red Carpet Book Awards! So exciting! On April 23^rd, I wrote an article titled “Vampires Rule!” on the MLB blog. Two days later, the I Love Romance Blog received The Versatile Blogger Award, nominated by Carol Balawyder, and then I nominated six other bloggers. 

 

 

Also on the 25^th, author Michael Aronovitz asked me to give an overview of my writing process on his site. On the same day, Jeanz from Jeanz Book Read N’ Review interviewed me pretty extensively on the blog. You can learn more about me as a writer, as well as some of my writing or reading preferences. Five days later, I participated in a very fun radio interview on Cover 2 Cover with Jami and Michele! In the interview, we talked about the importance of book size, or whether it really is. Check it out here; you can still listen to it! 

 

May

On May 5^th, I wrote a love poem on ILRB, and it was titled “In Your Arms”. In May, I received word that I won the PNPAuthors Contest for Poetry! Woo hoo! My winning poem, “Lovers Like Us” was featured in the published anthology, Poets & Writers in Action. 

 

 

From May 11^th to the 15^th, Upon Your Return was briefly discounted on Amazon for readers! So exciting! On May 12^th, I had an #authorchat with Solstice Shadows on Twitter. And between May 14^th to the 18^th, Second Nature was free on Kindle! Yay! Around that time, Alec Sullivan, the hero from Second Nature, got a character interview on J.R. O’Neill’s blog. On May 30^th, I did a one-hour author timeslot on Facebook during Cathy Jackson’s book release for her new book, Broken! It was a lot of fun!

 

June 

A few things happened in June. The Fantasy/ Sci-Fi/ Paranormal/ Horror division of my publisher, Solstice Shadows, ran a writing contest from June 1^st through July 6^th. In June, my publisher also offered a summer cookbook, full of seasonal recipes by Solstice authors, even one by yours truly. Exciting! And if you’re interested, you can still grab a copy here! You can also check out other free books on this page.

 

 

On June 29^th, Second Nature was offered for free during a TRR giveaway. Also at the end of the month, I wrote a poem titled “Pressure” for the MLB blog. This time it wasn’t about romance, but I think a lot of people can relate to it.

 

July

A lot happened in July! On July 3^rd, Bernard Foong, a.k.a author ‘Young’, was kind enough to give the Heiresses in Love Series a very cool spotlight! So thanks, Bernard! Three days later, I offered a teaser from my sci-fi romance work in progress, Blue Vision. Check it out here! On July 9^th, I stopped by the awesome radio show, Thorne & Cross: Haunted Nights LIVE! It was an awesome experience, and they asked me a lot of questions about my paranormal books! 

 

On July 17^th, Olga Núñez Miret gave my new book, A Little Magick, a children’s fantasy and book two of the Magick Series, a cover reveal on her blog. Three days later, A Little Magick officially released on Amazon, Barnes & Noble, Kobo and Smashwords. 

 

 

Also on its release day, Rosie Hamilton, the main character of the book, got a cool interview on Diana Rubino’s blog. You can also catch a brief author interview at the end. July 20^th also brought a fun feature and Q&A on Rachael Stapleton’s blog for A Little Magick, or affectionately termed ALM. In July, I also found out that I won author of the week on D.M Sear’s site from the 20^th to the 26^th. On July 22^nd, A.B. Funkhauser gave ALM a cool spotlight as well. Two days later, I wrote an article titled “Don’t Limit Yourself” for the Writing in the Modern Age blog. On July 27^th, readers could catch a brief interview with me on author KateMarie Collins’ blog. The following day brought an interview about my writing on Fiona Tarr’s website. On July 29^th, I wrote an article called “DIY Your Book Cover (Or Not)” on the MLB blog.

August

On August 4^th, I wrote a love poem titled “A Language of Our Own” on ILRB. Three days later, I hosted and participated in a “Why Do We Write?” post on the Writing in the Modern Age blog, and it was comprised of 45 different authors. 

Also in August, my book Second Nature, was featured in a big event, the Tornado Giveaway, along with tons of other books by multiple authors. The giveaway started on the 5^th and ran clear through September. On August 18^th, I guest blogged on author Viv Drewa’s blog, and in the article I talk about the writing process, and where ideas come from. On August 21^st, I found out that I earned the TOP 25 Authors for the week on Authors Database, as well as the TOP 10 Award overall. 

Exciting! And on August 28^th, I did a guest post titled “Fighting the Naysayers” for author Penny Estelle’s blog.

September

On September 5^th, I wrote an article titled “So…You Want to Create Your Own Book Trailer?” for the Writing in the Modern Age blog. Three days later, I discovered that Second Nature was nominated to compete in the TRR Readers’ Choice Awards for Winter 2015. Yay! All thanks to the awesome people at The Romance Reviews site! Voting commenced for the awards on September 11^th. On the 20^th, I wrote a love poem called “Home” for the I Love Romance Blog. 

 

 

Four days later, I had an interview on Ch’kara Silverwolf’s blog. She asked me several questions about my children’s fantasy, A Little Magick. The following day brought an author interview regarding my upcoming book release, Second Chance Heart, on Raegyn Perry’s blog. Check out this fun interview here! SCH also got a spotlight the next day on the Babbling About Books and More! site. Also on September 28^th, I had an entertaining author interview on Malay Upadhyay’s Blog of the Fly, and it concerned Second Nature, book one of the Blood at First Sight Series. Check it out!

 

October

On October 5^th, author B.K. Irish gave me an interview on Facebook here. The following day, I landed on Mark Iles’ site in a Q&A about writing, as well as a brief feature of SCH. Eight days later, Dana Nelson, the heroine from Second Chance Heart, was featured in a character interview on Ch’kara Silverwolf’s blog. On October 16^th, I hosted a major Halloween book giveaway on the Writing in the Modern Age blog. With 44 participating authors, 69 different titles and over 135 chances to win, it was quite a turnout! 

Two days later, I had an author interview on Devika Fernando’s blog, as well as a brief promo for SCH. Second Chance Heart officially released on Monday, October 19^th. So, that was incredibly exciting! It's available on Amazon, Barnes & Noble, Kobo and Smashwords. 

The same day, author Linda Lee Williams gave the book a cool spotlight! Four days later, I wrote an article titled “Short Versus Long Fiction:  Should Size Really Matter?” for the Writing in the Modern Age blog. And at the end of the month, Olga Núñez Miret did a promo for SCH on her blog. 

November

On November 1^st, I visited author Deborah Melanie’s blog in a cool interview, and you get a nice excerpt from SCH! Five days later, I wrote an article titled “Writing Makes You Free” for Val Rainey’s Rainey Day Writing and Research site. Two days passed and then it was time for voting to commence for Solstice Publishing’s annual Author of the Year contest! Exciting, right? Voting ran until January 1^st. Also on November 8^th, I provided a teaser from Blood Instincts, a work in progress which will be book two of the Blood at First Sight Series. Check it out here! 

Three days later, Dana Nelson from SCH got a character interview on author Belinda Y. Hughes’ blog. On November 27^th, Second Chance Heart was offered for free in a simple Q&A contest on The Romance Reviews! Fun!

December

On December 1^st, I did an author timeslot during the big event, Sleigh Bells and Bookshelves, on Facebook. It was a lot of fun chatting with readers, and hosting giveaways! 

 

 

Four days later, I wrote an article titled “Tips on Carving Time Out for Your Writing When Life Drags You Down” for the Writing in the Modern Age blog. On December 14^th, I participated in a Twitter author chat with Solstice Publishing, my publisher. Exciting! Feel free to chat me up sometime on Twitter; I don’t mind. 

 

On the 15^th, SCH got an official review on Hines and Bigham’s Literary Tryst site. Thanks for reading the book, Mindy! On December 22^nd, I participated in the Festive Spirit Blog Hop. In my post, I featured several holiday themed books by some of my fellow authors, including writers who’d appeared before on Writing in the Modern Age. This post was just in time for Christmas! 

 

 

Updates/News

With regards to writing progress, I wrote on two projects and finished them this year: Upon Your Love, which will be the third and final book of the Heiresses in Love Series; and Blue Vision, a sci-fi romance and book one of the Code of Endhivar Series. 

 

I hope to have both published in the new year. After those books are released, I plan to return to finishing up work on Blood Instincts, book two of the Blood at First Sight Series. On top of that, I had several new story ideas come to me in 2015, including plans for a romantic comedy series called The Misfits. You can browse my writing projects on the Projects and Writing page of my website here for more information about these and other works in progress.

So, that’s almost everything that happened this year. As aforementioned, for a detailed summary, you can check my author newsletter archives here. Feel free to subscribe as well for future issues. In my newsletters, I usually discuss any cool book reviews my books received. I didn’t go into book reviews much at all in this overview because I didn’t want to talk your ear off. LOL. But if you’re interested, you can view all of them in one place on my website here. You can also check recent overviews of the past year for both of my alternate blogs, Writing in the ModernAge and the I Love Romance Blog. You'll be able to find more details as well by browsing through this blog archive, or the other blogs. Don’t forget to follow my Facebook author page, my Twitter handle and my Google+ page for further updates. 

And on that note, here’s a special thank you to all of my guest authors on my blogs, including this one, the MLB blog. We had 40 guest authors on this blog alone in 2015. I appreciate all of you, and I loved learning more about you and your books! Thanks for making the blog awesome! ;)

Readers, thank you all for being a part of my journey this year! Here’s to a wonderful 2016!  And Happy New Year, everyone! :)