16 Days and Counting!

I cannot believe there are only 16 days left until "The Search for Mrs. Claus" will be released! My editor has been working very hard to finish the final edits. My husband and I have been working on the cover design as well. We have several in mind but just need to narrow it down to one cover.

I sincerely apologize for not blogging in so long. I've just been so busy writing, editing, and designing the cover for this book that I put the blog on the back burner for a bit. I can't believe that the time is flying by so quickly though! Before I know it June 20th will be here and "The Search for Mrs. Claus" will be available! Once the cover's been accepted by the publisher I'll be able to release it. I'm dying to give you all a sneak peak but I'm going to hold off until the official cover has been decided.

Are you getting excited about the release? I certainly am!

Pagan Ways is finished!

Today I sat down and wrote the ending of Pagan Ways, my Camp NaNoWriMo novel! It really made me feel good to get the ending down on paper. It's been in my mind for a while but today the story just basically write itself. I love it when I'm so into what I am writing that the word flow so easily!

Blythe Barton, a writer for a local magazine, is asked to write an article about real witches for an upcoming Halloween issue. As a Christian Blythe feels very strange about researching the pagan ways but reluctantly agrees to do it in order to earn a promotion. She meets with a local potter and Wiccan, Rick Conrad, who agrees to give her an interview if she will agree to study his religion for a few months to fully understand why pagans believe what they believe. She agrees and Rick, along with his high priestess, Arden McMurphy, begin teaching Blythe about their religion. Arden's distrust in Blythe combined with growing feelings Blythe has for Rick complicate matters and could bring problems for Arden's well established coven. Will Arden's past, Blythe's future, and Rick's love all come together for the mutual benefit of all or will their own wishes break apart the coven for good?

This novel is very personal for me as it highlights some aspects of my own life. In fact, I've put my own wedding picture from my marriage to my second husband in the temporary cover art that I designed tonight. The temporary cover art is above and I hope you enjoy it!

Now that Pagan Ways is finished it's time to concentrate on the preparations for The Search for Mrs. Claus that will be coming out on June 20! Stay tuned to this page for more information on this fun, magical novel and to get into the Christmas spirit a bit early!

Camp NaNoWriMo Win!

Well today's April 30. It's the final day of Camp NaNoWriMo. I achieved the goal of reaching the coveted 50,000 word count! My novel, Pagan Ways, still isn't quite done yet but I managed to get enough words written to achieve a NaNo win. That's enough for me for the night! I can spend May editing and working on improving this novel.

Last November when I achieved my first NaNo win I was a bit lost after the month ended. I'd gotten so used to coming home from work and writing until I couldn't see straight that when the month was done and I wasn't spending my evenings glued to the computer I felt odd. I will probably have that same sort of writing withdrawal for the first week of May too. However, there will still be plenty to do now that Camp NaNo is over.

The Search for Mrs. Claus will be coming out in six weeks! I can't believe the release date is so close! I can't even begin to tell you how excited I am about this! It's a dream coming true!

Well, last Sunday we did successfully get the pool from my mom's house to ours. However, the filter pump cord was chewed through by some sort of little critter and there's an inch long hole in the bottom of the liner. We can buy a patch for the hole and my husband's going to order a new filter pump. Once we get those we can get the pool set up and ready to swim! My daughter will be so excited to have a pool at the house! I'm hoping this year we'll be able to teach her how to swim.

Well, my brain is shot and my fingers are tired. It's time for this gal to take a break from the computer for the night. Tomorrow is another day!

Yes! I am writing!

So today is the second day of Camp NaNoWriMo! Are you writing for this event too? I hope so! I'm extremely pleased with my progress so far! I am at 8885 words right now, which is really great for me! Perhaps making an outline ahead of time is the right way for me to handle a NaNo event. It really seems to be working so far. It's keeping me on track and allows me to keep writing without having to think on the fly the entire time. I'm really enjoying this so far!

Today I was introduced to my editor, Lisa Taylor, at Mountain Springs House. She'll be editing my novel The Search for Mrs. Claus. I'm really looking forward to working with her on this project! I hope she sees as much potential in my novel as I do. Lisa also blogs on Blogger. Please feel free to check out her blog as well!

Trust me, editing and proofreading are extremely valuable to writers! After all, I made quite a typo earlier this week at work. Oh how I wish someone had proofread this e-mail before I sent it! Of course, I've removed the customer's name, the recipients' names, and my employer's name to protect the innocent. Without a doubt I was quite shocked when I went back and read my message to my boss and three co-workers!

My apologies for the small print. I wasn't sure how to make sure it all fit on the page here and still keep the print large enough to read. Yep...that was a pretty good office typo there! At least folks got a good laugh out of it. Seriously though, it's errors like this that make editing and proofreading very valuable!

Sorry for the short blog post tonight but I've got a lot more writing to do on Pagan Ways tonight. The lure of the Word document calls to me! I'm off to Camp NaNoWrimo for more literary abandon and creative writing pleasure!