My 2015 Recap

It's time for my annual recap of my year!

Holy Wow, 2015 was an incredible, busy year for me.

January

I attended my local RWA meeting where my wonderful author friend, Bonnie R. Paulson gave a talk on setting goals. This directly helped me recovered from the horrible bout of Writer's Block that I had for most of 2014. I cannot thank her enough. So yeah, I spent January WRITING!!

February

I had a ton of Dental work done which made me too doped up on pain meds to write as much, so I devoted a lot of time doing cover art.

I also officially hung my shingle for my editing business, Grammar Smith Editing Services. I'd been paid for editing work since 2013, but I didn't have a website or anything.

March

I attended my RWA chapter's first conference, Power of the Pen.

I pitched my heavy metal romance novel and ended up getting an agent AND a 3 book deal with Boroughs Publishing.

I was on cloud 9

April

I attended The Novel Experience convention in Las Vegas. My boyfriend drove us there and man, we had such an insane time that it took Three Blog Posts to recap it. It was the first convention I attended as an official author and it blew my mind when readers directly sought me out for my autograph. Incredible!

Then Bite At First Sight (Scandals with Bite Book 3) released and I had one of the best signings ever!

I don't care if the pic is blurry. I love being in pictures with that hot guy.

May

I did a ton of writing and work on a book cover for a short story.

June

I did a lot more writing, some work on my Datsun, and released a short Brides of Prophecy Prequel, Tesemini, which I'm going to put back up for free next week.

July

I finished the cover for Conjuring Destiny and finished writing Hearts of Metal book 2. The whole Northwest was on fire, which totally ruined summer.

August

The Northwest was STILL on fire.
But I managed to finish the rough draft of Conjuring Destiny
And my heavy metal romance, Kissing Vicious released!

September

That month was revision hell for Conjuring Destiny and Hearts of Metal 2. I also started Hearts of Metal 3 (Sort of.) That one was already written but I had to completely rewrite the middle. I also came up with the insane idea to make a quilt for my boyfriend for Christmas.

I also finally gave in and started a Newsletter!

October

Not a great start as my beloved laptop died. Luckily since it was 6 years old I was prepared and had money saved for it. However, I'd lost a ton of important files, including the master photoshop file of the cover for Conjuring Destiny.

However I had other image files and was able to piece together the cover and I had my most successful release ever!

It was also my most complex cover ever.

I also got started painting squares for the quilt.

I'm going to write a post about the entire process soon.

And I finished Hearts of Metal Book 3

November

I was in Editing Hell with a ton of client manuscripts. But damn I needed the money.
I also progressed further on the quilt and got all of my squares painted.

Then my awesome grandma started sewing it.

And I also did a scratch board of a wolf for my aunt:

December

Thanks to getting my shopping done early I didn't have as much holiday stress as usual. I did a dragon for my son and my grandma and I finished the quilt.

My boyfriend LOVE the quilt:

And it fit on his bed!

I also got over 1/3rd of the way done Scandals with Bite Book 4 and got started on the cover.

So for 2015 I had three books release and one short story. I wrote three and 1/3rd novels... and made a quilt.

And guess what? 2016 is going to be even busier. Stay tuned for my goals and plans!

TNEE Recap Part 2: Viva Las Vegas

Check out PART ONE

After our long drive and side trip in Reno, we made it to Vegas. The lights are so bright you can see them on the horizon long before the city comes into view.

Driving in was scary as hell as I encountered the infamous "Spaghetti-bowl" for the first time. As I saw an ambulance rush to a wrecked car, I was grateful that my boyfriend was driving.
We arrived at the Planet Hollywood late at night and exhausted. And that's where the trouble started. The valet was terrible and tried to tell us that we'd have to park and then haul our bags all the way through the parking garage, then the shops, then through the casino to get to our room. We got that part sorted out. And the front desk lady practically called me old when I checked us in.

"You look so YOUNG here!" she said, pointing at my driver's license. "How long ago was this taken?" I wanted to slap her. After a 15 hour drive, followed by a seven hour drive, of course I looked haggard.

The bellhop was nice, though.

Finally we checked into our room. I will say that the bed was comfy and the giant bathtub was nice. After a rant and a hard cider I had a nice long soak and some romantic time with my sweetie before having a much needed rest.

The next day just had panels, which I didn't sign up for because there was no guarantee I'd make it there Wednesday. Still, I figured that like most hotels I'd been to for conventions there'd be a lobby or common area for authors and readers to hang out. Another bummer was that I'd forgotten my top hat in the other car.

Not this one. They wanted to lure you into the Casino and shops. I had no problem hanging out in the casino since I could smoke in there, but I never encountered any other convention attendees there. All the other organized get-togethers were for Vegas shows and attractions that I had no desire to see. I can't handle crowds and loud noises. So aside from on Facebook and registration, where I got my badge and schedule, I didn't encounter anyone until the VIP signing on Friday.

Thankfully I had my boyfriend/assistant with me and I was able to implement plan B. He ended up showing me the fun local sites of Vegas. I had THE BEST chicken-fried steak I'd ever eaten at a little diner called "The Blue Skillet" and then he took me to Lovett's, a hidden place that sold frozen custard. Yum!

Then he took me to the Calico Basin to see some gorgeous rock formations and do a teeny bit of climbing before I took him out to Pasta Mia for his birthday dinner. It was decadent.

These are called "Indian Marbles" The wind carves them from the rocks.

On Friday, my fantastic man found a costume shop and got me a top hat! He's a miracle, I tell you. After picking up the hat, I went for a swim in the pool... which was only 3 feet deep and open until 5... in VEGAS. Still, I had a nice swim before it was time to meet up with the wonderful Rissa Watkins. She came all the way to Vegas just to see me, so I totally wanted to take her out to lunch.

We went to Bubba Gump Shrimp and although it was spendy, it was AMAZING! I wish we had one in my area. Then it was time for the VIP signing.

My magnificent assistant pretty much shooed me aside while he set up my table with books and swag. I sold a few books and finally got acquainted with some readers, bloggers, and fellow authors. Sahara Kelley and Connie Suttle were at the tables next to me.

Shortly after that, authors Amy Jarecki, Kathryn Le Veque, Dan Willis, and I hosted a wine and appetizers gathering with some readers. We had a delightful time and I gave them all signed copies of my newest book, BITE AT FIRST SIGHT.

The next morning was the signing. My poor assistant was run ragged running back and forth from our room to my table. We were almost late because the hotel put a bunch of extra charges on my card and we had to get that straightened out. (More on that later.)
The signing got a late start anyway because the hotel had changed our location and it took the readers awhile to find us. Still, we had a decent enough crowd and I almost sold out of my new release as well as sold a few of my other books. And everyone recognized me with my top hat. :D

I was stunned at how many readers knew me. Some digital readers even came to my table with print-outs of my covers for me to sign.

We also had a big raffle and a reviewer was very pleased to win a bag of books and my homemade huckleberry jam!

After the signing, we took off because there was no way in hell I was spending another night in that hotel.

My sweetie finally tracked down his friends so we had dinner with one of them and then went to another's house. There were a couple other guys there and as we were having beers and chatting, one of them served up bowls of exquisite sauteed shrimp. Then he served us a rack of lamb. Seriously, I wanted to kidnap that guy. He was an amazing cook.

After that my sweetie and his friend jammed out on the huge collection of guitars in the living room. Then with a pleasant buzz I was happy to check into the La Quinta, who not only didn't rob me, they also had a fridge, microwave, AND coffeepot.

But right after we checked in, another of his friends called to see if we wanted to meet up for pizza and beers.

And did I mention that his friend is now the lead guitarist for the band, HELL YEAH?

So yeah, we got to party with rock stars. Though only in retrospect. At the time it was just catching up with an old friend.

Needless to say, we had a lot of fun, though I was a little hungover on our drive back to Reno. 

The adventure continues in PART 3

TNEE recap Part 1: The Road Trip

I'd say the popular yearbook quote from the 70's is fitting for this: WHAT A LONG, STRANGE TRIP IT'S BEEN.

I went to The Novel Experience Book Convention last week. I planned on bringing my boyfriend to act as my assistant since he used to Live in Vegas and could act as my sherpa through that crazy city. He also has much experience with trade shows and similar events and boy did that pay off.

The adventure began far before Vegas, though. Because I couldn't afford two plane tickets, we decided to drive. Alas, the car we'd planned on taking had a computer issue that would cost big bucks to fix and he can't fit in my tiny car so we resorted to taking his 1963 Ford Falcon convertible. We would stop in Reno for the night to visit his dad who scheduled an appointment to get some dearly needed front work done on the car.

I was totally imagining driving through the Nevada heat with the top down. You can laugh now.

We took the scenic tour down highway '95 and it was gorgeous. However, between high winds, rain, and treacherous steep grades and passes, it was also kinda scary.

But we saw some beautiful sights:

This is us leaving Coeur d'Alene

The landscape changes a bit in the middle part of Idaho

Then goes back to trees nearing the south.

This was in some White Water rafting town. I still don't know what that skeleton originally belonged to.

We also passed through an area near Hell's Canyon with all these houses on giant hilltops, but I didn't get a picture. :(

Night fell by the time we left the Idaho border and dipped down into Oregon. By then, freezing cold wind was blowing INSIDE the car due to a leak in the firewall. His heater didn't work very well so by the time we got to Reno we were wrapped in blankets with teeth chattering.

His dad greeted us at 3AM and ordered us to go to bed.

In the morning his dad (a kind, brilliant, and amazing guy) took us out for breakfast and then took us on a tour of his wife's antique store. My sweetie ended up buying me this amazing vintage jacket that went PERFECT with a dress I had for the VIP signing.

I was also shocked to discover that Nevada didn't look like the landscape from the Roadrunner cartoons.

Then we got the sad news that the car would take a few days to be fixed. But then his dad decided to loan us his car to take to Vegas.

That was a much smoother, warmer trip. I got to see all sorts of crazy sights, starting with giant military bunkers and fields of buried missiles. Then there was this creepy lake that looked prehistoric. And then there was the infamous Clown Motel... that overlooks a $@%@ cemetery. Can we get any creepier?

Then we passed some brothels and area 51 before it got dark just in time for me to see the lights of Vegas on the horizon. 

(To be continued) PART TWO and PART THREE

THE NOVEL EXPERIENCE BOOK-SIGNING in LAS VEGAS!!

I am so excited to announce that I'll be at The Novel Experience Convention and Book signing at the Planet Hollywood this week!

The signing is at the hotel on Saturday, April 4th from 10-5. And it is FREE and open to the public!!

I'm going to be signing copies of my newest release, BITE AT FIRST SIGHT! It technically releases on the 7th, but I was able to have it available early for the signing. YAY!

I will also have copies of BITE ME, YOUR GRACE and ONE BITE PER NIGHT. I will also have copies of both of my "Brides of Prophecy" books, WRENCHING FATE and IRONIC SACRIFICE. If you're in the area, you'll definitely want to pick them up because not only are they hard to get in print, they'll also be discounted from 12 bucks to 10 bucks.

I bought some nifty swag as well!!

TEA, Lighters, bookmarks, and other fun stuff. :D

AND I'll be raffling off a gift basket full of books, a tee shirt featuring a hot Scotsman, and homemade huckleberry jam!

This is my first big book-signing I've participated in and I'm so excited and nervous! So if you're in the area be sure to come see me and the other fantastic signing authors!

EXPLOSION OF AWESOME NEWS!!!

First off, for the first time in history, BITE ME, YOUR GRACE, book ONE of my "SCANDALS WITH BITE" series is FREE until April!

Here are all the links:

Barnes & Noble
Amazon
Kobo
Google Play
ibookstore

And ONE BITE PER NIGHT is discounted for the first time at $1.99!!!

When Vincent Tremayne, Earl of Deveril and Lord Vampire of Cornwall becomes guardian to Lydia Price, he vows to get her off his hands as soon as possible. But once Lydia sets eyes on the enigmatic earl, she is determined to win his heart…for eternity.

Amazon

Barnes & Noble

Apple

Kobo

Second off: Book 3, BITE AT FIRST SIGHT is going to be available a little early in a few stores, as well as the big book-signing at the Novel Experience Booksigning in LAS VEGAS! The signing is on Saturday, April 4th from 10 AM to 5PM at THE PLANET HOLLYWOOD and ADMISSION IS FREE!

And I just got my author copies in!!

I will have all three books in the SCANDALS WITH BITE series for sale at the signing in addition to the 1st two BRIDES OF PROPHECY novels. I will also have some bitchin' swag. I will post more on that in a few days.

If you can't make it to Vegas, here's the blurb and pre-orde links! 

 Rafael Villar, interim Lord Vampire of London arrests aspiring physician, Cassandra Burton, in the cemetery, mistaking her for a vampire hunter. Cassandra longs to study the vampire and heal his arm. They form a bargain: One kiss for each treatment. As Rafe is healed, Cassandra’s scientific mind is in danger of being overruled by her heart.

Amazon

Barnes & Noble

Apple

Kobo 

And now for the BIG NEWS!! 

I just signed on with Nephele Tempest with THE KNIGHT AGENCY!!!

She attended THE POWER OF THE PEN conference in Spokane that was held by INLAND EMPIRE CHAPTER of ROMANCE WRITERS of AMERICA!

She was one of my dream agents. I've been querying her for years. And she wants to represent me and my heavy metal romance!!!

Oh, and there's another HUGE ANNOUNCEMENT! ... which I will announce soon.