Winner of the First Drawing

The first basket winner is Virgina in Clifton Falls, VA.

There is still time to win, you can enter one of two ways, go to my website and sign up for my newsletter, or you can hit the contact me button on my website and send me an email with your name, address and email address.

Come Visit Me Today at The Spicer Side

On Wed. 1/27 and Thurs. 1/28 I'm a guest at Emma Lia's blog The Spicer Side.

Please feel free to stop by and leave me a comment. Wednesday we're talking about my book release In Plain Sight from The Wild Rose Press. And on Thursday I answer so spicy questions from Emma.

Come visit me

I'm a guest at Sloane Taylor's blog today.

Come on over and say hi.

Donald Maass Workshop

I was lucky enough to attend an all day workshop given by Donald Maass based on his book Fire in Fiction, this last weekend.

Mr. Maass, is not only a great agent, but a great speaker and teacher as well. I learned new techniques to make my books better, but also had a great time. He made me laugh and learn.

I want to thank no only Mr. Maass for a great workshop, but the Silicon Valley RWA, Sacramento RWA, Black Diamond RWA and Monterey RWA for making this workshop possible.

This week I'll be applying what I learned to my WIP.

Delay in Announcment of Winner

I'm very sorry but there is going to be a delay in the announcement of the winner of my book release contest.

I'm waiting to receive the information and hope to have it very soon.

Release Day & Guest Blogging

I can't believe it's here.

I'm so excited today is my release day. I'm up at The Wild Rose Press website in the Wilder Roses Catalogue.

Here's a direct link to In Plain Sight (click on the title).


Tomorrow I'll announce the first contest winner. If you haven't signed up, you still have time. Go to my website and sign up for my newsletter and you'll be entered.

I'm also guest blogging today at Honoria Raven's blog click here to be take to her blog. Please stop by and leave a comment or two.

Still Learning

My book releases on Friday, and I'm still learning.

Since I accepted the contract with The Wild Rose Press I've grown as a writer and learned much more about the business of writing.

Writing is a business. Publishers are there to make money, and while a lot of people would like to believe writing is just a creative outlet, it is so much more. You have to remember the business side of it.

Many artists - and writers are artists with words - have trouble separating the business side from the creative side. Luckily I'm not one of those people. I have the ability to keep the business totally separate from the creative.

I keep records to prove I am in the writing business. I log my hours, my mileage, my expenses, and my income. I also record where my time is going, so I can find ways to make myself more productive.

Even with that in mind, nothing stops me from writing a story I want to write. I don't stop to think if it will sell or not, or is this character too over the top. I just write.

I do have an idea of my target market when I start a boo, be it a series romance reader, or a contemporary erotic romance, or even a paranormal erotic romance. And to some extent I do write the book to that market. I usually let the book tell itself, sometimes it doesn't fit the market I thought it would, I shrug my shoulders and go on.

In order to improve and understand my writing, I need to write. Writing is a learning process all it's own. The more I write the more I learn. It's a journey that is never ending.

I'm posting a special blog on Friday in celebration of my release day.

Release Date & Contest

My release date is 1/22, that's in less than two weeks. My excitement level is building.

Head over to my website and enter my contest. All you have to do is sign up for my newsletter, this will automatically enter you in the contest. There will be two drawings. One on my release day 1/22 and the second on 2/8.

Also by signing up for my newsletter you will be put automatically on my mailing list to receive goodies from me and a newsletter to announce upcoming sales and releases. None of your information will be released to a third-party.

After 2/8, I will have monthly contest either run on my website or here, I will announce in both places, so be sure to check back. Make sure to invite your friends to enter the contests as well.

Continuing the journey next Monday.

Goals for the New Year

It's a new Year and I already have so many things to do.

Have you set your goals for the year?

I have, I do this every year on New Year's Day. I write out my goals for the year, print them out and put them in my writing binder. At the end of the year I pull them out to see what I can check off as accomplished.

It doesn't matter if I acoomplished one item or all items, it shows I'm committed to my writing and have set time aside for it.

Last year I had 14 items on my list, I completed 10 of them. The other 4 I wasn't able to complete. The one item that was not on my list was To Sell A Book. I added that to my list of accomplishments.

There is a reason I didn't put To Sell A Book on my goal list, that is because goals have to be realistic and reasonable. I can't guess when I'm going to sell a book, it all depends on the publisher and what they're looking for.

I'm very grateful that The Wild Rose Press offered me a contract and bought my first book. The sale came about because one of my goals was to submit to different publishers, The Wild Rose Press being one of them.

I'm looking forward to this year. A few of my writing goals for this year are:

1. Write a novella and submit it by end of March
2. Write a second novella and submit by end of June
3. Write a novella/novel and submit by end of year

Continuing the journey next Monday

Happy New Year

Time to celebrate the New Year