Hi FRIENDS!

Happy February! So our groundhog friend saw his shadow which means six (more) weeks of winter. I would say the last few days winter finally showed up! I long for snow days; for a teacher & writer, that means found time.

There’s not much to tell in my author stratosphere. I seem to be in a bit of a holding pattern. Having just returned my first round of content edits for Of Lies and Honey, I’m waiting for my editor to get back to me with her notes. This was a big edit for me, one that took a lot of thinking time to reconcile some plot holes, if you will, before I even placed my fingers on my keyboard. But, alas, I did it and it felt good; here’s hoping my editor agrees. 

For All That is Sacred, I have an audio deal, but I can’t announce anything publicly until they do, and with that, I anticipate (finally) a release date which is still slated for Spring.

So what does an author do with all this wait time? I’d like to say relax, which I am affording myself a bit more time to do. However, there is a lot of work that goes into getting ready for a launch and building my author platform. For example, I just finished writing my monthly blog and an article for an online magazine called Women Writers: Women’s Books (I’ll be sure to let you know when that’s out). In addition, I’ve been trying to build my Goodreads and social media presence, so when my book does launch, I can share that information out as widely as possible. Please do me a favor, ask you friends who love bookish things to follow me and sign up for my newsletter. The best endorsement is personal recommendations.

I’ve also been working at my volunteer job as director of programming for Bookish Road Trip. We had our membership drive this past month and are almost at 5K members! You might have caught my lives on Facebook and Instagram, and, if you did, thank you for tuning in. I also stepped in as host for our monthly book club as we featured the actual host of the book club and award winning author Barbara Conrey sharing her newest book My Secret to Keep. If you haven't read it, I highly recommend it. The interview was so much fun! You know, there’s something to be said about stepping outside of your comfort zone. Before I became a soon-to-be published author, I was so uncomfortable in front of a camera. I never would have predicted agreeing to, let alone enjoying, being on a live or hosting an interview. So, do something–step outside your comfort zone; I promise you’ll be happy you did.

And I’m reading–starting the year off with a bang. I read five books in the month of January and just finished my first February read. How about you? I set my Goodreads yearly challenge at 30, so as not to stress myself out, but if I keep going at this rate, I could just surpass it. My husband tells me I have an addiction, but I tell him, it’s just part of the job.

This year, I added something new to my reading repertoire; I created a fun little graphic on Canva to determine my favorite read of the year. If you are interested in using my template for your own bracket, click the button below. Just add images of your favorite book each month. Have fun!

Stay warm this month. Read a good book and, go on, step out of your comfort-zone, do something you’ve always wanted to do! 

Until next time…