Counting the Days and Some Other Stuff

Some days I feel like our family turtle who sticks his head out of his shell occasionally and looks around. So here I am, sticking my head out to say, "Hey, I'm still here and I'm still writing!"

Of course I'm not too busy to notice that we're only THIRTY-SIX...count them...THIRTY-SIX days till the release of my debut novel, RESCUE ME! I thought last year was hard because it seemed like forever...a whole year...until the book released. However, this seems even harder. The days are agonizingly slow. I am thrilled to see that the early reviews of RESCUE ME are wonderful. And I just read a review of RETURN TO ME, the second book in the trilogy, and it was excellent. Several squee moments for sure!

In between writing, angsting over reviews and counting days, I've had plenty to keep me busy. Here's what I've been doing since my last post:

I've started my new book and can I just say, WOW! I'm loving it! I wasn't quite sure I liked my hero. He plays a role in the first three books. In RUN TO ME, his role is quite significant but he's got an attitude and I wasn't sure what his problem was. But he's been telling me his story and well, let's just say he's got plenty of reasons to have an attitude. Now he's about to go on the most important mission of his life and learn that not everything is as it seems. Love that part of a book!

Also, I read and signed the contract for my German sale to Random House Germany...yay! And, I've scheduled a couple of blogs, finished the page proofs for RUN TO ME, completed another interview, ordered bookmarks for my trilogy, signed a gazillion bookplates and sent them off. And, oh yeah, worked with my website designer to completely redo my site. I'm hoping to get the site up and running before my first release. It's going to look totally different, so check back often!

Hope you're enjoying the lovely spring we're having and that you take some time to read a good book. Oh, and remember, RESCUE ME will be released on April 28! Of course I'll probably stop in and remind you again!

Writerly Stuff

I'm amazed how time continues to fly. Where did winter go because spring is here! Yay!

And guess what? 50 days till the release of RESCUE ME!!! And yes, I'm getting VERY excited!

However, I have to admit, I get a bit paranoid that people who read my blog think I must not be very busy since I only blog every few weeks. What does she do between blog posts? Since I have three books due this year and have only a rough first draft of one of them, I became a bit anxious of how much progress I'm making. Recently I started jotting down my daily activities to see exactly where my time is going.

So, in case you're wondering too, here's what's happened since my last blog post:

Finished first draft of new book; read four books for the RWA Rita contest, completed three interviews, reviewed and signed contact for new trilogy; made contact with several bookstores and booksellers; sent list of my promotional plans to agent, editor and publicist; attended monthly chapter meeting; bought new laptop; received page proofs of RUN TO ME and started working on them; reviewed new changes to website with my web designer; brainstormed and made notes for new book I'm beginning next week.

Whew! It makes me feel better to write this down to see that I have made some progress. Unfortunately other things can get in the way of my writing, which has to be my main priority. Without the writing, there's no reason for most of the other stuff.

Really hope to finish the first draft of the new book by the end of March. Fingers crossed! I'll check back in a couple of weeks and let you know my progress.

Till next time, hope you take the time to stop and smell the spring flowers and also, that you buy and read some great books! And don't forget, my entire trilogy can be pre-ordered!