Monday Mayhem – Because you’ve gotta have friendssssss

I believe it’s important for every woman to have a close female friends. Wether it’s one, or a dozen, makes no difference. The strength and resilience of female friendships is something I try to incorporate into every story I write.

The friends you can text with random questions concerning bodily functions. Those who will hold you through the worst times and cheer you through the best. I have a few I lose contact with for months or years, but when we do get together, it’s like no time has passed at all. I have some I talk to every day.

I’m lucky enough to have two groups of friends who are integral to my life:

The first is simply known as The Cabinet.

These are my closest advisors. The ones who knew me in those halcyon days before everything we did went digital. We’ve been friends since we were teenagers and will be in each other’s pockets when we go to our graves. They pre-date the husbands and kids, and have outlasted the parents in some cases. Fodder knows better than to even think about contradicting the word of the cabinet.

Smart nieces and nephews know that inviting and/or allowing Aunt Moogie’s rowdy friends to come to the festivities results in more fun and quadruple the presents! Here we all are at my nephew’s wedding + my mother the photo bomber. <3

The other group you’ve heard me mention a number of times, because without them, I would not be a writer. Period. End of story.

They are my Super Cool Party People.

This is an ever expanding group of women drawn together by a common love, and bound together by unwavering support. We are scattered all over the globe and came to each other later in life (for some of us), but that doesn’t make our bond any weaker. My life would truly suck without them.

Love Game is the start of a new series that features three women: Kate Snyder, basketball superstar and all-around champion at life;  Millie Jenkins, the PR spin master who’s better at sorting out other people’s problems that thinking too hard about her own; and Avery Preston, Feminist Literature and Women’s Studies professor who harbors a secret desire.

I hope you’ll get a chance to meet them all. LOVE GAME goes on sale in just two weeks! And, in case you missed my gushing, you can read a couple of great pre-release reviews here and here!

Amazon ~ Apple ~ B&N ~ Google Play ~ Kobo  ~ Powell’s ~ Books-A-Million ~ The Ripped Bodice

Monday Mayhem – Ramping up!

Gang, we are t-minus 29 days until LOVE GAME is released into the wild, and boy-howdy things are happening. Big things. Wow things.

In case you have somehow managed to miss my spastic whooping, this happened this week:

Yes, Publishers Weekly gave my book a STARRED review! If you want to read the whole thing, you can find it here.

I admit I cried a little when I read it. Not just because they liked my book, but because they got it. I wanted to write a book where two stubborn, strong-willed people fell in love and neither of them had to make themselves less so they could have more of a relationship.

I’m particularly proud that they caught the strong feminist streak that bonds the three female friends in the book.

Feminist is a word I had to grow into, but now I find it fits me like a glove. Maybe that’s one of the perks of becoming a woman of a certain age. I am so over apologizing for being awesome. Like Kate, Millie, and Avery, I am a strong, accomplished woman with opinions that matter, and a voice that carries. I no longer feel the need to explain or tone down my feminist tendencies.

I just hope the world can handle us.

Both LOVE GAME and PLAY FOR KEEPS are available for pre-order at every outlet imaginable (Target! Walmart!) and will be in stores February 6th and April 3rd. Be watching for a call to action here.

Avery’s story, DOUBLE PLAY, is shaping up nicely!

I’ve started reading for BINGO, have you?

I admit I’m not being very strategic, but since I can’t give myself a prize, I figure I can flit around a bit.

How about you? How is your new year going thus far?

 

Monday Mayhem – Ramping up!

April is here! That means it’s almost time for FLIP THIS LOVE!

At last!

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All month long, I’ll be ramping up to release day. That means you can expect lots of blog posts, giveaways, and tidbits on social media. The fact is, writing the book doesn’t take nearly as long as the editing, packaging, and promoting does.

I received my author copies in the mail a couple weeks ago, and ordered a supply of paper books to have on hand for the book signings. Remember, I’ll be at the Chicago North RWA Spring Fling (May 21st, Hyatt Regency Schaumburg, IL 3-5pm) and the Diamond State Romance Authors 10th anniversary signing at Hastings (Benton, AR) on June 18, 2016.

In the meantime, I’m still making new words for Ransomed Heart. I’m past the 70k mark. That means I’m heading into the last quarter of play. Gotta keep moving!

How about you? How are you ramping up for Spring?

Monday Mayhem – All the news

Okay! So this week’s post is all about the news. First, the big news I’ve been hinting at for a month or so:

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That’s right, the Warrior series (FULL COURT PRESS, RANSOMED HEART, and TOSSING THE PLAYBOOK) will be available in audio starting with the release of FULL COURT PRESS in December 2017! Read all about it here!

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Second, as you know, I re-released the HOT NIGHTS IN ST. BLAISE novellas as a set. You can grab all 12 stories for just $3.99. If you’d like to tempt a friend into trying them out, I’m posting book #1, JUMPING MR. JANUARY on Wattpad as a free read. Chapters 1, 2, & 3 will be available as of this week. Please help me spread the word!

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Third, don’t forget that GOING DEEP is on sale for only $0.99. I think the sale ends this week, so tell all of your friends to pick up a copy today. FLIP THIS LOVE will be out in April, and LOVE AND ROCKETS in October. If you haven’t read it, give it a shot – I think you’ll really love the Coastal Heat series!

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Whew! That’s a lot going on, isn’t it? Well, it’s not all I have cooking. I’m over 15k into drafting RANSOMED HEART and I have to tell you, I’m loving this story! I’m using the delicious Boris Kodjoe as my inspiration for basketball coach, Ty Ransom. I’ll just leave this here for a minute:

Ty Ransom

Yeah. Uh huh.

You’ll be pleased to know that I was a good girl this past week and got ahead of my goal. Keep your fingers crossed that I can keep the streak going!

What’s new with you?

 

Monday Mayhem – Diving in

Here we go, kids!

I just turned in the manuscript for LOVE AND ROCKETS (Coastal Heat #3) last night. Wooohoo! What does this mean? It means it’s time for me to get to work on RANSOMED HEART (Warrior #2)!

I’m excited to start on something new, but that doesn’t mean I’m done with the Coastal Heat series. I’m preparing a proposal for two more books in the series, so cross your fingers and toes. I’m also excited because the first book in the series, GOING DEEP, is on sale!

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Brooke and Brian started it all. Now they’ll have company as Laney and Harley’s story comes out in April and Jake and Darla’s in October. It’s so much fun to see this world grow to encompass so many new love stories.

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A new year means new plans. As 2016 starts, I’m working on 2017 and beyond. I can’t wait to share these new adventures with you!

 

Monday Mayhem – Kicking names and taking…

I have to tell you, I had a killer awesome weekend writing-wise. I started a new project called Play Dates. Yes, I know, you wanted Hooligans next, but trust me when I tell you that there’s a whole bunch of convoluted reasoning behind the switch in schedule. Anyhoo, I started Play Dates this week, but didn’t have a lot of time to get words in. So, I scheduled some play dates of my own.

First, I hooked up with my pal, Parker Kincaid, for pastries and pantsing at Panera. No, that doesn’t mean we pulled each other’s drawers off. It mean we both write by the seat of our pants. Fueled by bagels, danish, and toffee-nut cookies, we managed to put up some respectable numbers in the old word count column.

But then on Sunday, I took part in this:

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As I type this, we are in the dinner/break portion of the day, and I am proud to report that I have over 4k for the day!

Between sessions, I did a little stint on the elliptical (part of the Body by Gilmore Girls program-I’m on ep 3), threw together some crock pot salsa chicken with black beans, ran to the store, and frolicked outside with the puppies.

I hope to get at least another 1000-1500 words this evening, and round out chapter 2. Jewels has totally kicked butt too. We’ve decided that we like having more defined writing times. Eyes on the prize and all that.

How was your weekend? Hit any goals? Take any naps? Share! I like to live vicariously. 😉

Oh! And starting this week, I’ll have a new feature on my blog – Teaser Tuesdays. These will give me a chance to introduce you to some of my writer friends and their latest projects.

That means this joint is jumping at least 5 days a week. Remember to stop by for all the fun:

Sunday – 8 sentence challenge

Mondays are Mayhem

Teaser Tuesday

Whatcha Reading? Wednesday

Fangirl Fridays!

Oh! Oh! Don’t forget to add your email address to my newsletter list. I have combined Margaret and Maggie’s previous lists and will start moving most of my future contests, excerpts and giveaways to the newsletter mailings thanks to Facebook and other social media outlets restricting the fun stuff, so be sure to hit then newsletter sign up on the sidebar if you aren’t already on there. 🙂

Happy Monday!