Weekly News Update

Hello all! I know today is supposed to be Book of the Week, but unfortunately I had a few things come up, so we'll be getting back to that July 18th **updated. This Saturday I'll be posting the third part of my author web building series: designing your website, since Monday we kick off the Hell & High Water Blog Tour! Woot! Come Monday it'll be just one week until Hell & High Water is released. 7 days! I'm so excited!

Don't forget you can get 25% off your eBook preorder of Hell & High Water until June 30th! Then on July 11th, Blood & Thunder will be available for preorder, and we're celebrating with a Cover Reveal Blitz & Giveaway! There's also still time to enter the THIRDS swag giveaway over at Lex Chase's blog. So many giveaways going on!

I just finished the galley to Blood & Thunder and second round of edits on A Rose By Any Other Name--which I have the final fabulous cover for!! I'll also be receiving edits on Rack & Ruin any day now.

Did you know I have a Cafe Press shop? It's got all kinds of cute merchandise and there will be plenty more added soon. You can check it out here: http://www.cafepress.com/catspajamasboutique If there's a particular series or book you'd love to see designs for, let me know and I'll see what I can do. Just drop a comment here, or send me a message. I think that's all the random news for this week. Have a great weekend!

Hello: Take Two!

Hello folks. It's been a while since I posted something new, but this month has been somewhat disastrous for writing what with family obligations among a host of other family shenanigans. Life is bound to happen.

It's been so crazy, I forgot my own birthday. Well, nearly. I happened to look at the calendar today and realized it's tomorrow. I've also got family visiting from out of town, and next week there's a bunch of house stuff that needs sorting. Hopefully I can get everything back on track for the new month, and maybe even get a couple of posts out before then. There are some awesome guests coming up at the Purple Rose Tea House, along with some great giveaways.

As for what I'm working on (or been attempting to work on) Hunter's book and a historical have both been fighting for center stage pretty much nonstop, which has made things a little tough as well. It's hard to concentrate on one story when your brain wanders off and starts thinking of another story, especially when they're such completely different genres. I have managed to get some reading in. I want to hone my craft and make it the best it can be, so I've been reading up on some recommended writing books. Most of them I found on Kristen Lamb's Blog. If you're an author, and you haven't checked out her blog, don't miss out!

Yes, there are LOADS of books on writing out there, and a lot will rehash the same "rules" or principles, tell you things you already know, but there are certain books which I have found to be very helpful, not just because of the content, but because of how it's presented. I admit, I prefer textbooks where the author "chats" to me rather than presenting paragraphs and paragraphs of clinical sounding information.

As an author, it's my job to know my strengths and weaknesses where my writing is concerned. It's pretty safe to say that my strength lies in my characters. I LOVE creating characters and giving them life. My weakness, plot and structure, so I want to strengthen that. Here are the books that I've read/am reading:

Bob Mayer - THE NOVEL WRITER'S TOOLKIT: From Idea to Best-Seller (Writing)

James Bell Scott - Plot & Structure: (Techniques And Exercises For Crafting A Plot That Grips Readers From Start To Finish) (Write Great Fiction)

Jessica page Morrell - Bullies, Bastards And Bitches: How To Write The Bad Guys Of Fiction (This one's more for bad guys. I want to improve my antagonists) I finished Bob Mayer's book and took lots of notes, and I'm halfway through James Bell Scott's book, highlighting and taking notes. Most of the information isn't new, but it's done in a way where I can pinpoint those weak spots and try to make them better. So far, I'm enjoying these books. On the publishing front, I reckon edits on Johnnie's book will be coming through anytime now, and then at some point, production will start on Jack's. I've also got to start thinking of what I'm going to do for The Impetuous Afflictions of Jonathan Wolfe and The Heart of Frost once they're published. I want to come up with some creative promo, though with Jack it will be much easier since it's a Winter/Christmas story. Busy times ahead! x Charlie

Weekly News Update: July 7th - 13th

Welcome to this week's Weekly News Update. Due to the Equal Rights Blog Hop last weekend, there was no Weekly News Update. This week I've been working on a few different things, not all of it writing related. I've been taking a few days off to relax and refresh after my last two deadlines. I happily found time to read the three books I posted about on the 28th of June: Brute by Kim Fielding, Paid Leave by Hayley B. James, & Men Like Us by Brita Addams. All of which I thoroughly enjoyed. You can find my thoughts for them on my Goodreads shelf. As you've probably noticed, there was no themed posts Wed, Thurs, and Friday, and I'm afraid I might not be able to update the blog every day as I'm in the process of possibly moving to a new city, but I'll certainly keep you all updated. I'll still be posting and on the social media platforms whenever possible and before anything becomes final in the move. Here’s a rundown of this week’s posts: ♥ Monday Media: An easy tutorial on Pixlr.com, which offers a fantastic online image editing tool for free. Click here to view. ♥ Tuesday Talks: Chatted about conflict in romance and how much is enough. Click here to view. Tea House guests so far this month: ♥ Mychael Black - Fantasy Worlds and the Patience of Readers. ♥ Augusta Li - Creative Inspiration. ♥ M.A. Church - Shadows in the Night. ♥ Lane Hayes - Better Than Good. Upcoming Tea House guests: ♥ Andrew J. Peters ♥ Jamie Samms ♥ Augusta Li ♥ Tali Spencer ♥ A. Catherine Noon & Rachel Wilder ♥ J.B. Sanders

Weekly News Update: June 23rd - June 29th

Welcome to this week’s Weekly News Update. This week I wrapped up Jack and Rudy’s book The Heart of Frost, which came in at 30k! Woot! So I made both of my deadlines, though Jack's book was cutting it real close. The fellas were giving me a good deal of trouble this month, but we got there in the end.

Next, I hope to finish Hunter's book, and a whole new to-do list. I'll keep you posted on the stories I have out there. Fingers crossed! This week's roundup is short and sweet as I'm in much need of some R&R. See you all on Monday!

Here’s a rundown of this week’s posts: ♥ Monday Media: MTV Memories. I shared some of my favorite 80s music videos. Click here to view. ♥ Tuesday Talks: A Hero's Heart. Chatting about our favorite types of heroes. Click here to view. ♥ Wednesday Writing: WIP An excerpt from The Heart of Frost. Click here to view. ♥ Thursday Thoughts: My update on finishing Jack's book, Johnnie's, and what's next. Click here to view. ♥ Friday Fun: Gimme Some of that Book Lurve. Some recent reads that I've enjoyed. Click here to view. Contests! There’s still time to enter the current contests over at the Purple Rose Tea House! Check out what’s up for grabs: ♥ Andrew Q. Gordon is offering a chance to win a $25 Dreamspinner Press Credit. Click here to enter. (ends July 1st) x Charlie

Weekly News Update: June 16th - 22nd

Welcome to this week's Weekly News Update. This week I've been busy working away on Jack's book which is nearly done. I was aiming for it to be about as long as Mending Noel, which came in just over 18k, but it looks like The Heart of Frost is going to be a little longer than that. I'll make sure to update what the final count is.

In this book it's all about Jack and Rudy, although Tim and Noel are also in it, as well as a few new characters, such as Jack's sexy twin cousins, Hollis and Vale, as well as one of the other Rein Dears: Vixen. We get to learn about Jack's past and how he and Rudy first got together. I hope folks will enjoy it as much as they did Tim and Noel's story. Soon as it's wrapped up, I'll post an excerpt. If you'd like to see some inspirational pictures, check out their album on Pinterest here.

Here’s a rundown of this week’s posts: ♥ Monday Media: I gave in and joined Pinterest! Click here to view. ♥ Tuesday Talks: Chatted about plotters and pantsers. Click here to view. ♥ Wednesday Writing: An excerpt from Hunter's book, A Little Bite of Love book#2. Click here to view. ♥ Thursday Thoughts: It's Okay to Step Away, I talked about taking breaks from every day pressures. Click here to view. ♥ Friday Fun: It's All About Entertainment. Trailers for some of the movies and TV shows I'll be watching over the weekend. What will you be doing?Click here to view. Contests! There’s still time to enter the current contests over at the Purple Rose Tea House! Check out what’s up for grabs: ♥ An eBook copy of Save the Date by Kate McMurray. Click here to enter. (ends Sunday the 23rd) An eBook copy of Always the Groomsman by Cassandra Gold. Click here to enter. (ends Sunday the 23rd) ♥ Sarah Madison is offering an eBook copy of The Boys of Summer. Click here to enter. (ends Tuesday the 25th) ♥ Andrew Q. Gordon is offering a chance to win a $25 Dreamspinner Press Credit. Click here to enter. (ends July 1st) Additional guests this month: ♥ Sean Michael will be stopping by Tuesday, June 25th, so make sure to stop by!

Sale!! Dreamspinner Press is having a 30% off everything sale all weekend to celebrate Paul and Dennis' wedding! Not only is it a great deal, but 5% of all sales will be donated to MarriageEvolved!

***

Weekly News Update: June 9th - 15th

Hello! Welcome to this week's update. This week I've been mostly working on Jack's book with the help of a little visual inspiration. I should probably sign up to Pinterest considering all the pictures related to my books that I like to collect. It would make more sense than posting them to Facebook.

This week I re-introduced daily themes to the blog. Hopefully I can keep up with them, though if folks feel they're being overwhelmed by posts and can't keep up then I might slow them down a little. We'll see how it goes. In the meantime, hope you're enjoying them.

Here's a rundown of this week's posts:

♥ Monday Media: I talked about bitly and its usefulness for shortlinks and link click stats. Click here to view. ♥ Tuesday Talks: Was all about writer's block and the different ways I try to obliterate it. Click here to view. ♥ Wednesday Writing: An excerpt from Johnnie's book, the recently submitted The Impetuous Afflictions of Jonathan Wolfe. Click here to view. ♥ Thursday Thoughts: My thoughts on human decency on the interwebs or lack thereof at times. Click here to view. ♥ Friday Fun: I gave a more in-depth look at the connections between my historical fellas. Click here to view.

Contests!

There's still time to enter the fab contests over at the Purple Rose Tea House! Check out what's up for grabs:

♥ An eBook copy of Save the Date by Kate McMurray. Click here to enter. An eBook copy of Always the Groomsman by Cassandra Gold. Click here to enter. ♥ Next Tuesday, June 18th, Sarah Madison will be stopping by the Tea House and offering folks a chance to win a free eBook copy of The Boys of Summer. ♥ On Friday, June 21st, Andrew Q. Gordon is stopping by on his blog tour for his upcoming release Purpose, and offering a chance to win a $25 Dreamspinner Press Credit.

Additional guests this month:

♥ JoAnne Myers will be at the Tea House Thursday, June 20th sharing some of her lovely poetry with us, and Sean Michael will be stopping by Tuesday, June 25th, so don't miss it!

Tag - Weekly News Update

Weekly News Update

Hello: Take Two!

Weekly News Update: July 7th - 13th

Weekly News Update: June 23rd - June 29th

Weekly News Update: June 16th - 22nd

Weekly News Update: June 9th - 15th

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