10 Reasons Why

            It’s one of those rare days when it’s so beautiful outside that the sunlight is reflecting off the pond in a shimmer of sparkles visible from my bedroom window. These are just the perfect days to stay inside, pull the curtains, and write until our fingers fall off. Or so I’ve been told. My muse doesn’t do well in dark places, maybe because she came from one. Isn’t that some untapped psychology there…

            It has now been three weeks since I published Shadows Rising to Amazon. Have I mentioned that it is also available to borrow for free now? With a Amazon Prime membership, of course. Barring that, it’s just a mere .99 cents. Feed the writer? If you need more convincing…

Ten Reasons Why You Should Give Shadows Rising A Try…

1. It’s a short novel with hardly a dull moment, because there wasn’t room for fluff

2. It’s a love story, but an honest one; too short for the “I love you” to come at the end, that will come later

3. This is just the introduction to the world! There will be more, especially with these characters

4. Zombie. He’s got a mohawk and those big ear gaps. He’s one of those rare characters who was supposed to die, several years ago, and instead looked at me, said “uh-uh” and got right back up and into the action.

5. I’ve been told the ending left people wanting more, which means there had to be something tasty about the overall story, right? Hehe

Version 3.2 of 4.5

6. My world concept for this particular universe is that all the magical races came to Earth as refugees from other realms, and sooner or later the past comes back to bite you

7. The story starts in Ireland and ends in Ireland, with a chunk of the middle taking place in Tennessee

8. I made a cool cover for it, going through several versions to get it right

9. You get to be a cool hipster who read this author when she was an unknown ;)

10. Kat and Grady. The first characters I’ve ever written who gave me no lip and let their story unfold with grace and ease.

The Circus Of Madness Has Begun

           The rumors are true. I’m now among the dirty, unwashed ranks of self-publishing writers on Amazon. And totally kidding about the dirty, unwashed thing, which is redundant anyway… Moving on!

I’m published. It’s available for the world to see, to purchase and have a tiny insight into my brain. That scares me a bit, because Shadows Rising is labeled paranormal romance and there is some…*ahem* romance about. But if this is what I want to do, I have to drop the embarrassment and proudly wear my tag of smut creator. *sigh*

            I am positively blown away by the support coming from family and friends. Honestly, I think Shadows Rising blew up my newsfeed on Friday from all the shares. Bear also brought me pretty flowers. All that will make a girl feel not only special, but hopeful and determined.

            Today I start possibly two new projects, one of which I want to see done and uploaded to Amazon by summer at the absolute latest. Shadows Rising was started five months ago and would have been ready a lot sooner but I dragged out the editing process. Summer seems reasonable, since I want to make this project a little longer. I’ll reveal more about it once it’s underway but I will say this, it’s going to be a departure from Kat and Grady’s world. Still magical, but an entirely different concept.

            With two projects in the back of my brain, begging for attention, I’m going to cut this Monday blog short. If you’ve purchased Shadows Rising, I just want to say Thank you, thank you, thank you! Whether or not you liked it, I would love to hear what you think! You can leave a review on Amazon or contact me through this blog or my social media.

            If you haven’t got it, what are you waiting for? Buy link incoming…

            Have a good week y’all. See you on Friday. Kelswitch, over and out.

Chasing a Dream....GOTCHA!

            The wise believe that the world is what we make it and the older I get, the more I realize that they are right. Take, for instance, the happiness in a jar challenge. From January 1^st onward, every time something good happens to you, you write it on a slip of paper and put it in your jar. On December 31^st, you are to open the jar and read all the wonderful things that happened over the last year.

            I decided to do happiness in a jar for 2014 and thus far, I have about three or four slips of paper in mine, but here’s the real kicker: I’m always looking for what will go in there next. I’m always searching for the next good thing to come into my life and it’s amazing how that state of mind seems to reflect in what is currently going on. I’m spending time with my loved ones, meeting new people, attending cool events, trying out my hand at freelancing with the local paper, and now, publishing my novella to Amazon Kindle Direct Publishing.

            Here’s another kicker. None of this stuff just manifested out of thin air. It’s all been in the works for some time, whether or not I was aware of it. So, in reality, we all might be surrounded by happiness but unaware of it until we purposely go looking. Mind blowing, huh?

            Today is a big day. Shadows Rising makes its debut on the Kindle scene. I’ve already hit some walls I didn’t expect, but there shouldn’t be any trouble and it’s all part of the learning process. I don’t expect big success with this, but the saying goes you get what you give. I give my first story to the world in the hopes that one day, I’ll be able to do even more.

            Writing began for Shadows Rising on the first of September, last year. I finished on the sixth of November, which is actually not too bad, given my track record. Then I dragged editing out for two, almost three months. Every bit of writing is a learning experience though.  What did I learn from this novella?

            I can finish something. I can write something that even my nit-picky mother will enjoy. I can be published and establish myself as a real writer. Who knows where this road will lead? All I can say is that I’m here for the ride and I’m going to enjoy the hell out of it, no matter where it takes me.

            Watch my Facebook and Twitter for updates on Shadows Rising. You can find these under the Links to Fun Stuff tab. Until later, Kelswitch over and out.