2019 Memories and What to Look Forward to in 2020


2019 Memories and What to Look Forward to in 2020





I hope you’re having a wonderful New Year’s celebration. With the holidays wrapping up and an all new year just ahead, it’s a good time to review the things that happened this year. 


I’ll do a brief look at some events that occurred in 2018, offering highlights month by month. Because of space and time constraints, I won’t be able to go over everything, however. For more details you can check out my author newsletter archives here, join our mailing list, and you’ll also find more information by following my website and alternate blogs, Writing in the Modern Age and the I Love Romance Blog (ILRB). 


Let’s get started…


Author News from 2019


January


On January 1st, I discovered that I had one of the top ten posts of the year on the Romance Lives Forever blog. Thanks for the mention, Kayelle Allen! Also, my science fiction romance, Blue Vision, was specially selected to participate in the AllAuthor Cover of the Month Contest! Check out the winners here! Additionally, Linda Lingle interviewed me on her site on the 13th…what a fun Q&A! 

Two days later, I found out my paranormal romance, Blood Instincts, and my historical romance boxed set, the Heiresses in Love Trilogy, both earned the TOP 10 status for the 21st Annual Preditors and Editors Critters’ Readers Poll. Woo hoo!

https://www.critters.org/predpoll/2018/final_tally_novelr.ht

https://www.critters.org/predpoll/2018/final_tally_antho.ht
 
An author interview of mine was featured in Womelle Magazine. To view the January 2019 issue for free, just click ‘view online’ to the right side of the page, and you’ll find my interview on page 32. ;) 

https://www.womelle.com/magazine/view/January-2019

On the 20th, I had a fun radio interview by host Sarah on Golden State Media Concepts’ Book Review Podcast. Listen in here and find out more about Blood Instincts




What a great experience! You can also check out Sarah’s book review of Blood Instincts on Amazon. ;)


February


In February, readers could catch a spotlight for the Heiresses in Love Trilogy, among other books, during Valentine’s week on Elle Marlow’s blog. Also, I wrote an article specifically to commemorate the romantic holiday. Check out my prescription for a good romantic relationship with this A to Z’s of Romance ILRB post from last Valentine’s Day

Created by Freepik



March




During the same month, a brief Q&A contest ran for an ebook copy of the Heiresses in Love Trilogy along with the 8th Anniversary Party on The Romance Reviews. You can check out two posts about it here and here! :) On the 22nd, an article of mine posted on Writing in the Modern Age. Check out this step-by-step writing process/writing tips blog post, “From Idea to Fruition: What’s Next?”


April


From April 1st to the 6th, readers had the opportunity to vote for the cool book cover for Blood Instincts in the Cover of the Month Contest on AllAuthor. You can see my post about it here. Check out the winners too! On April 3rd was my contribution to National Poetry Month, when I wrote a poem dedicated to my connection with my fiancé. It was featured on the I Love Romance Blog here. The 5th of April offered something different, an article of mine on Writing in the Modern Age, in which I listed several great writing tips I found on Twitter, and went into a little detail about how they were helpful for writers at any stage of their careers. On the 12th, I wrote an article for the same blog, pertaining to different ways writers can approach naming their characters. Additionally, the 14th brought a guest post of mine on Kris Francoeur’s site about my writing journey. The next day you could catch my article on ILRB about the typical romance novel myths; watch me disprove every single one! ;)



In April, I discovered two great new reviews for my books; one for my historical romance boxed set, the Heiresses in Love Trilogy, and another for Blood Instincts, a paranormal romance with a futuristic angle. 

https://books2read.com/u/4XaA7g
https://books2read.com/u/4XaA7g

Yay! April 30th brought a feline guest post on the MLB blog, when Emma the cat told readers about a very special occasion.

http://marielavenderbooks.blogspot.com/2019/04/emma-cat-corner-the-birth-of-a-queen.html


May



https://books2read.com/u/mY15jG
https://books2read.com/u/mY15jG

Check out the winners here! One of my own articles popped up on Writing in the Modern Age on May 3rd. Discover ‘25 Pieces of Advice from Famous Authors That Are Actually Useful. Three days later, I hosted a poll on my author website about our romance reading origins. You can still participate! ;) Also on the same day, an official book review for Blood Instincts landed on the Totally Addicted to Reading blog. Thanks for your kind comments, Nadene! On the 15th, I wrote an article for the romance blog, about how shopping relates to dating and relationships. Check it out! 

https://books2read.com/u/mg0eMv
https://books2read.com/u/mg0eMv


On May 22nd, I had an interview and a feature for my children’s fantasy, A Little Magick, on the When Angels Fly site. Two days later, I answered some interview questions for AllAuthor. View it here…just keep scrolling down on the page.


June


On June 7th, I had two features. One was a spotlight for my Writing in the Modern Age blog, featured on the Personalized Marketing, Inc site and blog. Also that day, my contemporary romance story, Second Chance Heart, had a spotlight on the Romance Novel Giveaways, to celebrate its free promo.

https://books2read.com/secondchanceheart/



Three days later, a cool event occurred on Writing in the Modern Age. I got the chance to interview eighty-six authors about some of their reading and writing habits. This was to celebrate our 500th Anniversary post. You should really check this out

https://marielavender.blogspot.com/2019/06/500th-anniversary-do-authors-read-while-writing-multi-author-special-blog-event.html



https://books2read.com/secondchanceheart/
https://books2read.com/secondchanceheart/


July


Not much happened in July, except a lot of work with my blogs. Check out the month's archives for Writing in the Modern Age and ILRB!


August



https://books2read.com/u/47zqKA
https://books2read.com/u/47zqKA


Sweet Ice Cream Photography, Unsplash


September


September 9th brought a cool book review from that month for Blood Instincts. Thanks for your kind words, Allison! :) Around mid-September, on the 12th, I did a book lovers tag post on the I Love Romance Blog. Learn about my reading preferences with all twenty questions, and please participate in the reader poll. Feel free to join in, and create your own post on your blog! 

 
The 18th brought a new author listing for me on Booksradar.com. I wrote an article on for Writing in the Modern Age as well. Read about my impression thus far of the traditional publishing industry, with some pros and cons listed


October


On October 3rd, readers had a chance to win a copy of my first science fiction romance novel, Blue Vision, on The TBR Pile's 'I Heart Romance Week'. Here are two posts about it, one on MLB and the other on ILRB. The 7th brought another opportunity to win, when I offered some cool swag as the final prize in the event! :) There were tons of other prizes as well. On the 14th, I found a wonderful new book review on Amazon for my paranormal romance, Blood Instincts. Thanks for your lovely comments, Brandy! Four days later, D.G. interviewed me on her awesome blog. Take a look!


December


Nope, I didn’t forget a month! ;) In November, I was actually busy prepping my sci-fi romance, Blue Vision, for re-release, as I just got the rights back from my publisher. Around December 1st, however, the book was published again. Yay!


https://books2read.com/u/bpEJZW









Universal Reader Link: 





And…that brings us to the present. Let’s glance over some spotlights for other authors’ books and such, which were featured here on the MLB blog.


Features for Other Authors & Books on MLB/Guest Posts







News on Other Blogs


If you’ve followed this site thus far, then you probably know I moderate other blogs. We had 104 authors featured in 2019 on Writing in the Modern Age. As for the I Love Romance Blog, there were 84 authors and content writers this year. Wow! :)

Here are the two New Year's posts for those blogs...

https://marielavender.blogspot.com/2019/12/writmodage-blog-year-in-review-big-reflections-past-and-present.html 

 


I also tried my hand at writing some book reviews, both on Goodreads and through my romance blog. Kevin Ethan, my former book reviewer for ILRB, wrote eleven for the blog. But here are several of mine worth mentioning.


Book Reviews I Wrote This Year











I have a long book review list to tackle still, and it’s why I’ve taken a hiatus from them on ILRB. But I will get through it! ;)


Coming in 2020


In other news, the romantic comedy novel I’ve been working on for the last while, Chasing Ginger, is set to have an initial release date around Valentine’s Day. So, definitely look for it in February! ♥

https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/43184542-chasing-ginger


#romcom #billionaireromance #curvy #BBWlovers #bodypositivity




Also, First Target, a romantic mystery collection, should be ready for release sometime in 2020. I already have the book cover for it.




Additionally, I have a young adult mystery story in the works, which I intend to submit to a literary journal. That’s a little different from my usual projects! ;)


After that, I’ll set to resume work on Magick Sunrise, a contemporary romantic fantasy, which is also book three of the Magick Series. This will finish out the trilogy with Rosie’s grown-up tale, and at some point, I plan to merge the two adult stories into a romantic fantasy boxed set.




Further out, I’d like to get back to a historical romance project. I have so many works in progress in that regard. I do miss writing that type of manuscript. I would also enjoy writing book two of the Code of Endhivar Series. I have a cover for that one too! :)

 


https://books2read.com/u/4XaA7g

And Second Chance Heart, a contemporary romance story and book one of the Eternal Hearts Series, is permafree everywhere! ♥♥♥


https://books2read.com/secondchanceheart/
https://books2read.com/secondchanceheart/


Plus, if you’ve been wondering that part of the Heiresses in Love Series has gone MIA, then don’t worry too much. At the end of June, I received the rights back for Upon Your Return, as well as the boxed set, and in August after final proofreading, I started query submissions to literary agents and publishers. I’m still looking for a home for book one. Just be patient with me while I see if another publisher would be interested in it, or I might publish it on my own when I find the perfect book cover. It shouldn’t be much longer, though!


There’s one last thing I want to mention, a cool event coming up at the end of January. From January 20th to the 27th, we’re having a huge multi-author book giveaway over on Writing in the Modern Age. So, mark your calendars and don’t miss out! Join us at this cool celebration, and win some awesome prizes! ;)


http://marielavender.blogspot.com/
http://marielavender.blogspot.com/


Have a wonderful week, and Happy New Year!



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