Once again, I’m behind on Facebook.  I’m a little behind on emails, but not as badly as I am behind on Facebook.  Tis the season for getting all my stuff ready for tax time.  I expect to get busier in the next two months as I gather all the papers together to give the accountant.  So please understand that I’m not ignoring you if it takes a while to get back to you.  I’m just overwhelmed.

I love writing.  The writing part is fun.  The record keeping is not, but it’s the part that takes up most of my non-writing time.  If anyone ever wants me to do a post about what a writer needs to be keeping track of for tax purposes, let me know.  Otherwise, I won’t bore you with the details. 🙂

Okay, so here’s the latest and greatest of what’s happening:

1. I was interviewed for an upcoming podcast!

I had a really fun time with Lorna Faith earlier this week.  She interviewed me for a podcast where we discussed tips that will hopefully help new writers gain confidence in their work.  I’ll post the link to the podcast on this blog when it’s ready.  I haven’t made a podcast, but I can only imagine how much work goes into editing the audio file.  My hat’s off to Lorna for doing it.  She’s a very nice person.  We ended up chatting for a while before and after the interview, and it’s so easy to talk to her.  She has a great personality that draws introverts like me out of their shells.  It was a privilege to be on her podcast.

2. I will be working on a series of blog posts to help explain the emotionally engaging character.

I got the idea from Lorna Faith during the interview, and I love it.  I’m still coming up with topics to work into this.  So far the big one is how to draw out the emotions that can help connect the reader with the character.  If anyone has any questions on how to create characterization in storytelling, please let me know.

3. I finally got a cover and book launch page for the Bonus Material from the Nebraska Series book I’m working on.  (This is due out April 3, but I might get it out sooner.)

Click here to reserve your copy!

This is a collection of blog posts I’ve done over here from 2011 to 2012 while I was working on Shotgun Groom, To Have and To Hold, Isaac’s Decision, and Her Heart’s Desire.  I don’t know how many of you were reading this blog back then, but Dave Larson came on to argue with me about pairing Isaac up with Emily Craftsman (boy, was he ever pissed).  Then he called for a boycott on my books, and when he went missing, I was one of the people blamed for kidnapping him.  (As if I have time to kidnap one of my characters!)  Anyway, I wanted to get these posts into a book so I’d have an easy way to find them (instead of searching for them all the time).

I’d like to do a book for the Regencies since there were a lot of fun posts there, too, but I don’t know if I’ll get to do that this year.  But I did get this one together, and it’s just about ready.  I’m hoping to publish it sooner than April 3.  I put April 3rd down because I wanted to make sure I would make the deadline.  When doing these pre-orders, I estimate further out than I think I’ll need.   That way if real life happens, I’m not rushing to get the book ready.

But I pulled this together for fun, and thought if anyone is interested in it, it’ll be available for them as well.

4. The Convenient Mail Order Bride is in the final stages of getting ready.  

Click here to reserve your copy!

(For anyone wondering if I’ll get this on Amazon for pre-order, the answer is yes, but I won’t put it up until I have the final version.  There’s been some issues with Amazon not getting the final version up if an author uploads a draft first.  I’m sure Amazon is working this kink out, but I’d rather not take my chances.)

This is one series where I wish Book 4 was Book 2 because I really want to write about Abe Thomas’ half-brother.  If you’ll recall from previous posts, Abe (the hero of this book) and his half-brother don’t get along at all, but the brother is not the bad guy Abe things he is.  In fact, I came to learn his brother is a very sympathetic character.  So I’m itching to write his story, but it doesn’t fit until Book 4.  So I have to wait.

I don’t have a cover for Book 4 yet, but I do have the description on the book launch page I made for it.  I’m sharing this so you can read the characters’ thoughts on the book.  My favorite part of making these book launch pages is when the characters don’t get along and bicker with each other.  It makes it so much fun.  Here’s the link if you want to check it out.

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Well, I see I hit over 800 words in this post.  I’ll end it by saying I am working on Her Devilish Marquess, The Mistaken Mail Order Bride, and The Marriage Agreement.  I can always go more into those books in later posts.  🙂