New Year…where did it go?

I’ve been MIA.
It’s been a whirlwind summer and I’ve met myself at the door so many times, I’m thinking I don’t know where I am anymore. Most recently, I’ve been at PENNED CON. If you’ve never been…make a point to get there. It is a phenomenal event all proceeding charity. Readers…180 Authors…someone has to tickle your reader fancy.

While I’m still hip deep in words, because I set an OUTRAGEOUS goal for this year…I can’t pass the chance to share so many great moments.

 

Highlight for me.
Gravedigger getting the nod for Best Ugly Cry in AMAZING company.

Best Keepsake ever!
READER autographs.

Signing Day one -Talking books.

Channeling PINK for the Lip Sync

Posing with the Beast Revealed for Lip Sync night

 

Signing Day TWO with the fabulous!

 

 

 

 

Awards Night – Roaring 20’s as Charlie Chaplain.

This is what Charity means.

RICK MILES – Organizer & Founder…dressing up to raise funds for AFA Academy

 

 

New year…new mud puddle

FABULOUSNESS. Total fabulousness.

You may or may not be aware of my Rhino philosophy, business model, or life plan…but I’m a Rhino. Sometimes, Rhinos need to plop into a mud puddle and just do the downtime.  Late last week, I and my mini-unihorns headed south for some R&R and dang it if wasn’t perfection. Sweet perfection with a double scotch on top.

Ever notice that you think you know how worn you are…but once you’re back, it’s like…I had no idea how out of psycho I really was? Or realizing how crappy you feel, but only after you feel better? I’m not going to front like I’m magically batting 1000 again, cuz Goddess knows I could use more of the mud puddle…but I’m better. And, I’m coming into clearer focus on what I need to do to hit the marks.

With so many looming deadlines, I couldn’t see how to do anything but keep pushing forward. Except, pushing forward was just bungling the gears and making me edgy. Pause the gas pedal and pull back. Breaks are good.

I literally slept in a lake with my head through an inner tube to keep it above water. Best nap I’ve had in ages. Not to mention time with the extended family was enlightening and pleasant. No pressure, no phones…just food and chill. All shop talk was dropped at the main road and left for the return trip.
Gods, I can’t wait to go again.

Tomorrow starts 3 weeks in a row of releases, so get your one-click fingers ready.

Twelve (Flip-Flopped Fairy Tales) hits the 14th
Rogue (Una-Mor Trilogy book 1) hits the 21st
Black Guard (Una-Mor Trilogy book 2) hits the 28th.

 

I’ll have an update on the other dates next week…There are at least 3 in September, but there’s a chance there will be more.
🙂 Just depends on how therapeutic that mud really was.

New Year – Need some new brain cells

Yep. It’s been a while since I posted. How can I tell? Because I couldn’t remember my password for the life of me. Woops.

I still have more covers to share with you, but thanks to some serious schedule shifting for releases…I’m under not one, not two…but FOUR deadlines. I’m living in the chair and feeling like I can’t make headway fast enough. OOF.

July took a renegade course as it was audit month at the daily deal and I lost an assessor mid-way. The buck stops here, so I ended up making a couple extra trips downstate to compensate for the shortage. Add 2 AMAZING signing events and I’m full up, but still running on E.

But, as we have learned over the past years…this too shall pass and my crazy ass will be wherever with bells on and books to share. It’s just how I go.

I’m restocking titles for Show Me Your Books Kansas City, Penned Con and maybe for Booking in Baton Rouge too…that one might be an additional order later. I am perilously low on several titles, and that just won’t do. So, the man in Brown will be visiting me for the foreseeable weeks as things come in and hopefully, I get my deal together before I hit the next hotel.

Where will I see you?

I’ll be in to share more covers and news soon. For now, read something great and tell your friends!
Sav

New Year – New Plan

Being an author in today’s environment is akin to being fitted for a straight jacket that you may or may not ever wear…and if you do, it will likely be without notice. The world as you know it will upend and scramble in the time it takes you to refresh the page. But, that’s also part of the thrill.

As such, being flexible to the fickle tide is imperative for anyone who deigns to dip their toe into the publishing world game. Thinking about the recent things (the last week or so)…namely trademarking words, and the accelerated closing of Amazon’s Kindle Worlds projects, it’s like waiting for the next fiasco to hit the current White House administration. Take a breath, turn the page…Whoops – there it is.

I myself am affected by the Amazon KW closing, but am fortunate enough to be writing in a world that will continue on, though differently, after the demise is final. The stories I’ve been working on to continue my little corner of the Paranormal Dating Agency world will find light and in a couple of ways…and be able to reach new audiences because of what has happened. Did I see that silver lining when the closure was announced? No. I don’t think any of us did. We all more likely felt the pinch of sliding into the jacket, and an uncomfortable buckle being cinched tight….limitation once again in the writing world.

My thanks go out to Milly Taiden, the matriarch of PDA for the quick action that will enable I, and others, to keep our stories out and add to the growing world that Gerri uniquely matches up pair by pair.

Cross one near-catastrophe off the list, and hang the jacket back in the stand-by closet for the next event. Meanwhile…there are words to write and worlds to build.

See you on the pages.

Sav

New Year…New lesson

As you may recall, I’ve been a busy beaver lately. With 4 releases in roughly 8 weeks, it’s been a bit helter-skelter. BUT, without it, I would not have the latest “Oh” moment, thanks to a reader.

Baiting a Berserker came out last week…and woahmygosh Y’all blew me out with the numbers. So far up to #3 in category AND on the Hot New Releases charts… I’m stunned silly and speechless…but let me say THANKS!

Anyhoop…one of the readers, who noticed that Fynn is a bit long-winded, made a comment about paragraphing in dialogue, which forced me to do what I always do…hit the books and research it. I’m tickled for the lesson. I was right to break the monologue into paragraphs, but there is a better way to distinguish it in the larger body. SO THANK YOU! I learned something new because you read my work and made me look. I love that.

A writer is never more than the reaction of a reader who enjoys the story. You guys have sent me flying. I’ll never have enough words for that.

Read something great til we meet again.
MWAH!!
Sav

New year…New…Nah – Rinse & repeat

Every time I think I’m going to embark on the new ground I thought I’d be covering, something really familiar jumps up and says, “Psych.”

Been there, done that…kinda like most things…only hitting a different beginning on the wheel I know so well. The trick will be avoiding the spots where I blew through the structure and fell before. I think I can do it.

New to me this year…though still a writing, editing, formatting, publishing event is Kindle Worlds. I’ve never done one, though I was invited previously. Whelp, today is the day. The release is not officially until tomorrow…but the almighty Zon popped the links and the 20 new Paranormal Dating Agency stories are up for readers to devour. If you’re on facebook…you should check out the group where the authors will be doing the launch tomorrow…MT Kindle Worlds I think it’s called. There are PRIZES for reading. WHO KNEW?!

Anyhoop, in the interest of getting back on the wheel before it laps me, I’ll just drop the fancy lil link right HERE and say Enjoy!

Thanks for checking it out. Who knows…I’m supposed to do a couple more of these things…this could be a new hump on the proverbial wheel of Savie. Let’s see how fast I can run.

New Year – Monday feels the same

Monday…just the word is menacing and foreboding, eh? This Monday is month end, quarter end, surgery for my father, wrap the to-do list, and pack for another signing day…which may spill into Tuesday at this rate.

I cannot possibly tell you about the last two weeks…but they’ve been manic, to say the least. I was asked last year about doing a Kindle World. No way that was going to fit into the agenda, so I begged off to wait for 2018. Guess what? 2018 arrived while I wasn’t looking and WHAM…here we are. I was supposed to do the KW in the summer and fall, but some other projects shifted and I thought, “Why not?”
Yeah…I’m just that crazy.

SO, I spent the 30+ total hours of road time to the coast and back working on the verbal manuscript…and a couple of other books via plotting and outlining techniques. Some schedule shifting is probably imminent…but now, so is a Kindle World release for Paranormal Dating Agency. Might I introduce you to Baiting a Berserker…joining the lineup for the April 10th PDA KW release group? 🙂

Addian Hevir doesn’t want a mate, he needs one…to save his clan, and himself before the beast within consumes what’s left of his humanity. As a berserker, it’s only a matter of time before one, or both happen. Time is perilously short.

Fynn Barrow has had more than her share of Mr. Wrongs. A strong, independent Mer-woman, she’s not going to be content with just any man. She needs to be wanted by one who can meet her challenges in return. She’s not interested in playing the damsel in distress, or the dutiful housewife, to anyone.

Gerri confidently pairs them, but it only takes one meeting for them both to have doubts. Can two dominant personalities find balance to come together before others interfere and send one to their death, and the other back to square one? Or, will it take the imminent threat to drive them where they need to be?

There you have it, and it’s the test…because I’m still tapped for summer and fall KW releases, which honestly is a weird idea to me. I’m used to writing around the literary world wherever the muse goes…this sticking in one place will take some adjusting. Let me know how I do.

New Year – same retreat week

It’s here!

Writing retreat week has finally arrived and I’m almost ready to go.
Yeah, you’re not buying that either, are you?

No…I’m not packed fully. Nor am I ready to roll out. There are a landmass ton of things left to do before I take the road south. Some from the list, others brand new, not even inked to be crossed off yet.

So…here’s the skinny, quick and dirty style.

First off…I’m totally jacked to share that my website has been rebuilt.
THANK YOU DRUE!
It’s beautiful and still in my style and colors. I love that this project came together. I never fully embraced what my website was, or could be. It’s so far off my collective forte of activities…but, I realize now, a vital piece of the New Year – New Everything that I’m embracing.
Check it out!!  HERE

Next up, because who doesn’t go away on release week to a place that they have no idea what their connectivity will look like. As mentioned before, Magic Rising releases this Thursday for everyone who reads kindle. You can find Ciannait’s side of the Rogue tale  HERE

Don’t worry if you didn’t get a chance to read Rogue. It’s coming back out in the sister release Dark Rising May 1st.

Last up, while I’m away I’ll be polishing the latest addition to the schedule…a Paranormal Dating Agency Kindle World release that’s coming out April 10th. Watch for the cover reveal and blurb about…

Baiting a Berserker

…when I get back from Mississippi. I’m quite excited about this. I was asked to participate last year but couldn’t make it work into the already jam-packed agenda…so, though I had signed on for later this year…this one is coming early. Addian Hevir will have his hands full once Gerri Wilder gets involved.
Stay tuned!

Before I get back though, I’ll be signing on the 24th at the IP Casino in Biloxi Mississippi with the Crazy Cajuns. It’s the last year for this event…so let’s make it massive. Hope you can join us.

The next post is coming from the beach…or maybe just a more leveled out me.
HEY! It could happen. See you then.  ~Sav

NYN….wait, which way is up?

It’s March…how is it MARCH already?
It feels like we just started this year and we’re on the cusp of wrapping the first quarter already? WAIT…I’m not ready.

I’ve been completely slammed with projects…writer ones, and professional other ones that I’ll tell you about later. But, added to that was 3.5 weeks of FLU. No, I didn’t have the sniffling, sneezing, achy flu…I got the monster coughing up my lungs, can’t see from my eyes watering whenever they were open, how many times can one person be hit by the same truck, flu. Goddess I wished for a coma.

Believe it or not, all that aside, I am one deadline away from wrapping my Q1 on schedule and heading off to my personal writing retreat along the coast. I can scarcely believe how close I am. That said…this last deadline is killing me. I’ve written so many versions of this story that I’m seriously considering putting out my own anthology with all the incarnations. Mind you…I hate every one of them which I why I’ve been rewriting like a madman. So, maybe not.

On that thought…I need to kick my own butt back into the chair and whap this out…so I’ll leave you with deets on the THREE sets I have coming out in the next 60 days or so. ALL THREE are available to preorder RIGHT NOW for $0.99

You read that right – 99 pennines!!

#1 – coming March 22nd to Kindle is Magic Rising.

For those who caught Rogue last year, the counterpoint story is Black Guard. ((Rogue & Black Guard are books 1 & 2 in The Una-Mor Trilogy btw))

Black Guard is Ciannait’s story, and I’m tickled to give him voice…he’s everything I thought he was, and a little bit more.

Magic and mayhem arise, and spell-binding tales of adventure await. 

 Join us as we explore dragons, shifters, witches, angels, and more in Magic Rising, a limited edition paranormal and fantasy romance collection from today’s hottest New York Times and USA Today bestselling authors. Get your copy HERE.

#2 comes out May 1st to all outlets. (Blessed Beltane) Dark Rising

From me it is a special re-release of Rogue for those who missed it. Thankfully, books 1 & 2 in the Trilogy can be read in whatever order you please, so if you missed it last year, I’m putting it out again in this limited edition set.

The final book of the Trilogy, Assassins, will be out in the fall and you’ll have the whole story of what happened after…if you grab & read these two here in the spring. 🙂

New York Times and USA Today bestselling authors present Dark Rising, a paranormal and fantasy romance boxed set with steam, suspense, and thrilling magic. 

 Explore worlds of darkness, danger, and magic in seventeen exclusive fantasy and science fiction novels, available for a limited time. There are tough choices to be made and dastardly villains to outwit in this breath-taking collection that will have you at the edge of your seat.

Sexy alphas, strong female protagonists, and devious villains team up with dragons, mermaids, witches, spirits, vampires, angels, and more in this limited-edition collection that contains a fantastic combination of epic fantasy, science fiction, romance, urban fantasy, sword and sorcery, and more!

This amazing deal won’t last forever, so grab your copy today!  Right HERE

#3 comes at you a week later on May 8th – Once Upon a Twisted Time.

It is a collection of flip-flopped fairy tales you don’t want to miss. Once Upon a Twisted Time is not the fairy tales you know…or expect. My story in the set is called Twelve – a take on The 12 Dancing Princesses.

Are you ready to dive into a world of *brand new & exclusive* fairy tales where your beloved stories are retold with a twist?

In this collection, new thrills are woven into the fables we know, both classic and modern. Uncover unexpected changes to old treasures, and fall in love with new adventures to explore. From Cinderella to Rumpelstiltskin, The Mad Hatter to 12 Dancing Princesses, come find your unique favorites as these authors unleash diverse experiences of magical creatures in their wicked contemporary and paranormal romance worlds.

Amazon Smart URL:   http://hyperurl.co/OUATz

Nook: http://bit.ly/2zythZw

iBooks: http://hyperurl.co/OUATT

Kobo: http://bit.ly/2yqXKLs

Goodreads: http://bit.ly/2gkvAXU

Make New Friends but Keep the Old

I have some pretty darn awesome friends. Friends I’ve had since Jr. High and High School, friends who I’ve known before I ever  thought of publishing anything I wrote, and friends who I’ve met since becoming an author. Some of the common denominators is that they are all supportive, they are real, and they aren’t the type of people who are your friend until someone new comes along.  I love that each and everyone of them comes from a different walk of life, but what connected us in the first place was our love of of something. Whether it was for an activity we participated in during our younger school days, or sitting on the floor of our dorm rooms talking and laughing as we learned to be self-sufficient without the watchful eyes of our parents making sure we didn’t fall, or through our love of books and the characters within.

Sometimes, I get so wrapped up in getting the next story on the page and into promoting the books I have out, I feel like I’m neglecting those friendships. There’s a certain amount of guilt that comes with that, and I’m so very lucky that as I travel down this road of being an author, those friends who aren’t a part of the publishing world have stuck with me…and even cheer me on.

There’s a song I learned when I was a Brownie/Girl Scout. It’s one of the few that I remember:

Make new friends,
but keep the old.
One is silver,
the other is gold.
A circle is round,
it has no end.
That’s how long,
I will be your friend.

True friendship doesn’t need constant attention and tending…but it does need  and deserves some of your undivided attention. Show your friends you see them, you hear them, you appreciate them, and you love them. In other words…be present in their lives. You never know…it could be just the thing they need to know in a moment when dark clouds are looming. Your time and attention may be the light to guide them through.

Until next week…hug a friend and Happy Reading!

~Jolanthe~