Memories from 2018


Memories from 2018



With the holidays wrapping up and a new year just ahead, it’s a good time to review all the things that happened this year. 

As is my habit, 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, subscribe to upcoming issues, and you’ll also find more information by following my website and other two blogs, Writing in the Modern Age and the I Love Romance Blog (ILRB). 

Shall we get started?

The Year 2018

January

Sometime at the first of the year in 2018, I found out that my third historical romance, Upon Your Love, and a new adult romance story, The Missing Piece, nailed the TOP 10 for both the Romance Novel category and the Romance Short Story category in the P&E Critters Readers Poll. Yay! Thanks for all your awesome votes then!



February

In early February the boxed set for my Victorian maritime romance series was officially released.

http://books2read.com/u/3yZ8qv

I love this cover, and I’m excited that the trilogy is now wrapped up! Starting on the 18th, readers could participate in a mega giveaway for a copy of the historical romance set, Heiresses in Love Trilogy, over on the Romance Novel Giveaways blog. Many thanks to my awesome host Lauren, for all her help! :) 

 
Two days later, I wrote a romantic poem titled “A Lover’s Vow”, and posted it on the I Love Romance Blog. Check it out here!

March

On March 2nd, my sci-fi romance, Blue Vision, got a remodel, when the book cover was redesigned. Sherry Soule at SwoonWorthy Book Covers is awesome!

http://books2read.com/u/mKJgZd


https://books2read.com/u/me2Ww9

Four days later, a recent loss in the family was weighing pretty heavily on me, and I wrote a post about it here on the MLB blog

 
The 21st brought a feature for the Heiresses in Love Trilogy on the British Romantic Fiction blog. Read some excerpts here from the series in the post! On the following day, I was interviewed on Angie’s Diary.

 

Five days later, a couple events happened for me; one was a review and an interview. Check out this stellar book review for the boxed set version of the Heiresses in Love Series, featured on the Romancing the Book blog! On the same blog, the host, Jen, interviewed me here, not only about the book and how I wrote it, but also a bit about my origin story as a writer.

Wow! Thank you so much, Jen!

April

During the first week of April, characters Fara Bellamont and Captain Grant Hill, from the Heiresses in Love Series, were interviewed on Devika Fernando’s blog. Learn all about them here!



On the following day, readers got a chance to hear from the fascinating yet cocky gentleman character Christian du Plessis of the Heiresses in Love Trilogy, in a bucket list feature on the Romance Lives Forever blog.

curaphotography, 123RF


Six days later, a guest post of mine was featured on the Night Owl Romance Reviews site. Discover a few of my favorite gowns from my Victorian romance series (it’s so hard to narrow them down). Several readers commented, and one was a lucky winner for a copy of the boxed set. Congratulations, Elaine! ♥ In any case, be sure to check out the article here.


On the 27th was a poem I wrote and posted here on the MLB blog. This one isn’t romantic at all, so I’m warning you it might be a bit dark, but still very real.

Milada Vigerova, Unsplash

May

May 25th brought a free book offer for Second Chance Heart, book one of the Eternal Hearts Series, over on the Romance Lives Forever Blog. If you’re getting my monthly newsletter, it’s possible you missed this opportunity. Any newsletter subscriber automatically gets a free copy of SCH. If you don’t already have the book, please reach out to me via email here, and I’ll give you the discount code and location to get the contemporary romance story which starts the Eternal Hearts Series.

http://books2read.com/u/brozre

On the 30th, Blood Instincts, a paranormal romance/urban fantasy with a slight futuristic angle, was released. Woo hoo! Check out my posts about it here and here.

http://books2read.com/u/bppKAk

June

With June 1st came a brief Q&A contest to win an ebook copy of the Heiresses in Love Trilogy, featured during The Romance Reviews’ Sizzling Summer Reads Party. And on the 7th, I had a guest post featured on Fiona Tarr’s blog. This article details my journey to getting published, and I mention how I landed a traditional publisher.

https://marielavender.com/

Eleven days later, I was interview by Nancy Wood on her blog. Learn a little more about my Victorian maritime romance series here. It’s always exciting to talk about! :)


http://Author.to/MarieLavender

July

From July 6th to the 22nd, a giveaway landed on the Romance Novel Giveaways blog for the Blood at First Sight Series. Wow! Thank you to the 1200+ participants who entered! Love my readers! :)


On the 7th, some official reviews for the paranormal series popped up on The Reading Café. Thanks, Julie B., for your kind comments! Two days later, I had a guest post on the Just Paranormal Romance blog. Stop by here, to see how ‘identity’ ties into Blood Instincts, book two of the Blood at First Sight Series. On July 10th, character Oliver from the book visited Devika Fernando’s blog. Find out what he has to say!

rdrgraphe, Fotolia

Also on the 11th, an official review for Second Nature (book one) appeared on Amy’s Bookshelf Reviews. Thank you, Amy! July 12th brought an author interview on Book Reader Magazine. Check it out here, and discover some of my background!

On the 17th, a new reader review popped up for Blood Instincts on Amazon and Goodreads. Thanks for your lovely comments, Devika! Two days later, I had a fun interview on the Reviews by Crystal blog. Don’t miss it!

On July 20th, another review for Blood Instincts materialized, this one on Amy’s Bookshelf Reviews site. I also discovered around the same time that the site had me listed in the TOP TWENTY AUTHORS FOR 2018.


Wow! Mega thanks, Amy! :)

Three days later, my new release was featured on K.A. Meng’s blog. Encounter a sizzling excerpt!


August

I wrote a guest post for Sue Vincent’s blog, and on August 2nd it premiered. Check it out here, and discover what it was like for me to write my paranormal series. The next day brought a book interview on Juneta Key’s blog. Two days later, an official review for Blood Instincts appeared on the MP Book Reviews site, as well as Amazon and Goodreads. Thank you for taking the time to read the book, Mandy! ;)

With August 8th came a cool interview with vampire Oliver, over on Diana Rubino’s blog. Three days later, I wrote a poem for my romance blog; this was inspired by my fiancé. Check out “Aching Heart” here!

ahmed ashhaadh, Unsplash


Also on August 16th, a great book review for Blood Instincts, a paranormal romance and the second book in the Blood at First Sight Series, popped up on Amazon. Thanks for your kind words, David! Three days later, I found a reader review from April for the Heiresses in Love Trilogy (boxed set) on Amazon. Thanks, Barbara! Ten days later, there was a cool book interview for Blood Instincts on Cindy Fazzi’s blog. Such fun questions!

 
On the following evening was an awesome radio show spot on Thorne & Cross’ HAUNTED NIGHTS LIVE!. Learn about Blood Instincts, some of my writing process, and random facts about me! I always have a great time with this author/host team.

Additionally, I made the top blogger for the month of August on Kayelle Allen’s RLF blog. Yay!


September



http://books2read.com/u/49PYEM
 
Thanks, Vanayssa! Later on in the month, on the 23rd, I had an author interview on Randall Krzak’s blog.

October

On October 14th, an author interview of mine appeared on the Shh, I Am Reading blog. Discover some background behind Blood Instincts, and a few cool facts about me! Nine days later, I had a great interview on Henry Anderson’s New Writing Hangout blog.



November

On November 12th, there was a one-day Q&A ebook contest for Blood Instincts during The Romance Reviews’ Year End Splash party. And on the 23rd, the same book had an official review for on BigAl’s Books and Pals.

December

Something exciting happened in December! From the 13th to the 20th, I hosted a BIG multi-author romance novel giveaway and 500th Anniversary post on the I Love Romance Blog. ♥ Among almost 200 prizes, I donated four of my own. It was so much fun, and I think all the readers enjoyed the contest!


 
On December 16th, there was an official review of Upon Your Return on Romance Novels for the Beach Blog. Very creative approach! ;) Eight days later, a book award contest commenced…and I’ll tell you about that shortly. And the 27th brought an author interview on Colleen Chesebro’s blog. Such great questions!

 
What’s Happening in 2019


Looking Ahead



You’ll find Blood Instincts listed in the Romance category, and the boxed set is over in the Anthologies section. The contest ends on January 14th. So, help me and out and keep on voting for these two titles! :)

  

In other news, on January 20th, I’ll be visiting the Golden State Media Concepts’ Book Review Podcast in an author interview. Catch my interview at 1 PM Pacific/2 PM Mountain/3 PM Central/4 PM Eastern! ♥

So…what do I have up my sleeve for this year? Well, I’m finishing up some final details with book one of a romantic comedy series, and the novel is called Chasing Ginger. Hopefully that will be ready for edits soon.

 

And in my free time, I’ve been working on fully revising a couple novellas from my backlist. Those will be merged into a romantic mystery collection, titled First Target

In any case, both of these books are keeping me very busy! ;)

Those are the book projects planned this year, but as you all know, the muse has a way of surprising me. Feel free to follow not only my website, blogs, and my newsletter for further updates, but also my official Facebook author page, my Instagram, and BookBub for other news.

One more thing I’d like to add here is an extra special thank you to all the guest authors on my blogs, specifically here on the MLB blog. 

rawpixel, Unsplash

We had a handful of guest authors on this blog in 2018. Life just got in the way (illnesses, a loss in the family, and so much more…but really it’s just too crazy to go into right now), and I couldn’t dedicate myself fully to posts here on this blog. For a list of numerous literary guests, you can check out the end of year posts for my other blogs here and here. I appreciate all of our guests, as well as our readers, for visiting and making this blog spectacular! Here is a brief listing of our guest author posts, plus our feline-related interview/takeover. Hey, maybe you’ll find some posts you missed!

Book Spotlights/Features





Even though we didn’t have a lot of author guests over here on the MLB blog, my schedule was kept very full with other events, as you’ve probably already noticed. Readers, thank you all so much for being a great part of my author journey this year! ♥♥♥

Pixabay, pexels.com

Here’s to a wonderful 2019! Happy New Year, everyone! :)

Crazy nana, Unsplash   




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