2014 was an exciting year for me. I figured I'd share some of the highlights
First off, I dipped my toes into the Indie pool and launched the first book in my Urban Fantasy Romance series, BRIDES OF PROPHECY.
These characters have been in my head for FOREVER, but since the traditional publishing houses are reluctant to take on paranormal, especially vampires, I couldn't find a home for these stories there. But since that world is so important to me, I decided to release the series myself.
I present, WRENCHING FATE!
After that, I also got two new front teeth... okay, two crowns and a filling. After nearly dying from an abcessed tooth in 2013...seriously, I almost DIED. I decided that taking care of my crappy, poor white trash teeth was a priority. I still have a long way to go.
Umm...I'm not posting pics of that.
In May I got to attend the RT BOOKLOVERS CONVENTION in the city I've always wanted to visit, NEW ORLEANS!!
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| Me and author Sarah Humphreys at a Mardi Gras party they threw for the attendees. How cool is that? |
It was such an incredible and busy experience that it took 4 blog posts to recap it. Here's part one if you want to read about the awesomesauce.
Unfortunately, just a few days after I got back, a good friend of mine passed away. RIP, Bill Kieffer. You will always be dearly missed. :(
I'll never forget all the times we had fun talking about music, movies, and other quirky things. I'll never forget the time we got drunk on the front porch talking about every topic in the book until the sun came up. I'll never forget that you chose to aid me in a crisis, despite disapproval from some people you'd known longer.
Okay, after the sad stuff...
Over the summer, I was invited by editor, Alex Johnson to submit a short story to a heavy metal horror anthology.
I ACTUALLY had one gathering dust in my hard drive because I never found a home for such an oddity even though it won 1st place in the 2012 Idaho Writer's League Short Story Competition.
AND IT WAS ACCEPTED!
I'm pleased to announce that I will be featured in AXES OF EVIL II: RISE OF THE METAL GODS, which will be released soon!
Check out this badass Iron Maiden inspired cover!
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| And if you're a metalhead, you'll know which album inspired this! |
I finally had the opportunity to return to another beloved project. The restoration of my 1980 Datsun 210.
Her name is Little Beast. I'd rebuilt the engine, but her body's been a bashed-up mess. But I finally found new body parts for her so hopefully she'll be on the road and pretty by next year.
Right now her front end is all torn up, but do you see her shiny engine compartment?
I got some requests for the Heavy Metal Romance I wrote back in 2012.
It's called HIS ROADIE for now...and good lord, we need to find a better title. But right now I have 2 publishers looking at it and the first sent me a Revise and Resubmit request and now I'm waiting to hear back. Even if they don't accept it, I got some excellent feedback that helped to make it a better book.
I fell in Love.
It's really hard to nail down the exact time that happened, especially since we were friends for so long, but damn he's wonderful. I call him "Sexy Genius." Our first official "date" ended up with us working on a car together... which is totally my style. And I've never been treated so well.
Huckleberries.
An annual North Idaho tradition. In 2013, I had to sell all of mine. This year I got to keep some to eat! Seriously, if you're ever in the Northwest, you have to try these berries!
Release of ONE BITE PER NIGHT!!
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This was another important book for me.
When I got the offer for Bite Me, Your Grace, I had NO ideas for future books in the series. But it was a 3 book deal so I had to come up with something.
I wanted to put a different spin on the guardian/ward trope, and play with another fun setting in England: Cornwall, namely a castle! Ideas for a heroine came into play, but I was at a loss for a hero. I didn't want to the typical "tall dark and handsome alpha vampire" that I did with the last book. I wanted something different.
So, I had an acquaintance that had really cool hair, striking looks, and was as kind as he was mysterious. I inspired the hero after him.
We ended up getting to know each other and he actually came to my signing!
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| I now call him "Sexy Genius" |
ONE BITE PER NIGHT ended up being well received with reviewers. I was almost too scared to click on the link to Publisher's Weekly's review because they can be mean sometimes. (They were pretty nice to me with BITE ME, YOUR GRACE, though they threw in a bit of snark).
Publisher's Weekly LOVED IT!!!
But there was no rest for the wicked.
Since I'd decided to go hybrid, I also had my Indie series to deliver.
In October, I released Book 2 in my "Brides of Prophecy" series: Ironic Sacrifice
Before I was published, this book was a favorite of my beta readers. Razvan is definitely the most alpha hero I've ever written and people LOVE him!
He also has a twin brother, but you won't get to know him until book 4.
Thrills and Chills Book Signing
That month I also had the wonderful opportunity to participate in a multi-author Halloween themed book signing with Shelley Martin, Bonnie R. Paulson, Frank Zafiro, and Kaye Thornbrugh.
It was a blast!
Edits, edits, edits
Honestly, I would dub 2014 as "The Year of Edits" for me. I did not write a complete brand new manuscript the entire year. Instead I hacked away at stuff I wrote in 2012 and 2013 and added thousands of better words.
Not only that, but I also launched my freelance editing business and despite not having gotten around to putting up an official website, word of mouth grew, and I made almost as much money off of editing as I did on book sales. And as a bonus I got to help some awesome authors make their books shine!
Art projects
I was an artist before I was anything else, and it was a joy to finish off the year with my first love.
Here are the pieces I did:
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| Freddy Krueger: Pumpkin Carving |
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| Pinhead from Hellraiser: Scratchboard |
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| Trippy Zebras: Scratchboard |
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| My aunt's dog: Pencil. |
All in all, I had a pretty good year, but I have more goals for the next. Stay tuned!
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