Apologies & Updates

I know I’ve been conspicuously absent from WP for a couple of weeks. Most of what you’ve seen from me have been posts I scheduled a few weeks ago. I’ve been trying to really focus and buckle down on finishing edits for The Storm and the Darkness, and all my spare time has been going to that. On top of that, I’ve had a lot of other personal stuff crop up (all good stuff, don’t worry), and between those two things I’ve found myself with a lot less time on my hands. I used to be able to squeeze in time to catch about 70% of the posts in my Reader, and now I’m averaging 5-10%. I am not exaggerating when I say it pains me to fall behind on all your news. (This goes double for my RCC friends!)

On top of that, I’m looking into going back to school full time in the evenings to finish my degree. So I’ll need to figure out a way to juggle work + school + writing + blogging + everything else. I’m still not sure how I am going to do it, but I WILL, because I am nothing if not resourceful, and you should always make time for the things and people you care about.

So, for the good news…some updates!

1. I am ALMOST DONE with my pre-beta edits for The Storm and the Darkness. HUZZAH! This has been a long time coming, and took a tremendous amount of discipline to buckle down and do it. I won’t bore you with the editing details, but I project I am about a week out from sending it to my lovely beta readers 🙂

2. I had an exciting meeting with my book cover artist and I am THRILLED to work with him again. He did excellent work for St. Charles at Dusk and I can’t wait to see what he does for The Storm and the Darkness. He’s also going to help me jazz up the overall series branding so it matches the individual books. I should have the cover by June 1st!

3. My Guest Author Program got off the ground on May 1st, and I’ve featured eight different authors so far (and hopefully giving them some helpful marketing).

4. My Facebook site for The House of Crimson and Clover is up to almost 600 fans. I’ve been offering 5 free copies of St. Charles at Dusk for every 100 new fans (and still am, until we hit 1k), and I’ve given away 15 so far.

5. I’ve also been a part of several other author giveaways, and have given away an additional 15 copies of my book in different places. Most of the winners (in both cases) have offered to review my book once finished, so even if a couple do, that will help boost my rating on Amazon.

6. My aunt helped arrange a local bookstore in my hometown to start carrying St. Charles at Dusk in their store. This will be the first physical location that my books have been sold in, so this is a big milestone for me.

7. Finished some of the fun media extras I wanted to do, like a playlist for Dusk, etc.

So, for my lack of attention to everyone: I sincerely apologize! I still love you guys a ton, and I’ll be posting and commenting more often again. Once my book is off to the betas, that should clear up a little of my free time to spend on my favorite community 🙂

XOXO