The Deadly 777 Challenge

I was tagged by the talented, Linda LaRoque along with six other authors. My challenge is to go to page 7 of my current work in progress and post seven lines. When I'm done posting, I get to tag seven other authors. Hmm, who shall I tag? Oh and once I'm done, I challenge those seven to do the same and tag 7 more. Too much fun!

I just wrapped up my latest Work-In-Progress, The Tudor Revival (Calum’s Curse: Ultima Bellum) so I decided to snag seven sentences from that. *grins*

Here goes…

A light breeze caressed her face.

Seth said, “I want to live again.”

Something about the way he said it, even within her mind, set her teeth on edge, made her skin tingle with awareness. Opening her eyes, she gazed at the brief stretch of lawn and tried to focus on the slew of deep greens washed across the New England woodland.

Breathing became impossible. The mere concept of Seth's spirit so close made her knees grow weak.

And not because of the fact he might be a ghost.

My 7 authors to tag…

Hywela Lyn
Alisha Paige 
Skhye Moncrief 
Catherine Bybee
Beth Trissel 
P.J. Jones
Eliza Knight

Woot! Have fun all!

Sky

My Own Little Amazing Indie Story

Did you know that I am with a publishing house and I'm also an independent author?

I am not the 'HUGE' success story about Indie authors that you might have read about on the internet.

But I’m not the small story either.

And so begins my tale.

It began last summer when my Dad went into the hospital. I know that sounds weird but within all the terrible heartache that went along with my Dad being sick, I was receiving emails from fellow authors about this great thing… independent publishing. Dad was aware of it. I’d talked to him about it, mostly with a frown on my face. I didn’t like the idea or concept. I am… was all about publishing houses.

But Dad liked the idea of me going out on my own. He saw somthing good in it. And darn if he didn't make me a believer. He made me see something in myself I had not seen.

Self-worth.

And that was a skip and jump to my writing. After all, my writing was ME. So I listened to Dad.

Write for me and my readers. Nobody else.

I knew I could. I knew I had to. Since I've independently published I’ve sold over 60,000 books in seven months. Pretty cool. But don’t let your jaw drop too far down. I didn’t make 60K. I wish! I made a small fraction of that. But with that small fraction I helped with Dad’s medical bills. With that small fraction I finally showed my husband that I haven’t just been typing idly for the past five year. With that small fraction I developed and met a wonderful new reader base.

That’s right. Five years.

Being a writer is a passion, an obsession and truly, an author’s whole world.

I can’t lie. I hope someday that I can tell you that I’ve sold millions. But I’m not there yet. Will be though! Promise. Because there’s nothing but ‘forward’ for me. Being an independent author is AMAZING. It is the future. It is the way that readers will discover so many wonderful authors!

This post is a SOLID shout out to the people who made this possible for me…

#1 Amazon- Can’t tell you how much I love them. They were there for me 100%.

#2 Barnes & Noble- A great site.

#3 Smashwords- They never let me down.

Today I’m still swimming through the wild world of publishing but I’m doing it with a smile on my face. How could I not?

Sky

The Power of a Book Cover

Hello all! I hope you kicked off the first day of summer in style. I spent mine poolside with my son. Day one of summer 2012 was all about the steamy heat wave sweeping over New Hampshire and my silly attempt to enjoy an orange creamsicle before it melted. Let’s just say the heat wave won. *winks*

But my summer also kicked off with yet another fabulous Tamra Westberry cover. I’ll tell you what, the woman ‘has my back.’ She NEVER lets me down. I tell her I love a cover, she says okay then sends me another version which I love even more. I tell her “This is perfect!” she silently shakes her head and adds more to it. By the time she’s finished my jaw has officially dropped.

I love her work.

Then again, I’m a sucker for a great book cover. After all, there’s power in a book cover. If there are people on it they should engage through emotion. If there’s scenery, it should make you stare and stare. A good book cover should capture a potential reader. That is the face of an author’s story, the selling point.

But you know that.

To Blog or Not To Blog?

The countdown is on. It’s officially one week from the beginning of summer. Woo hoo! 

I feel like every time I post I’m saying sorry for not blogging more often but truly I am. Between finishing one novel, editing another novella and starting a new novel, my time is swamped. On top of that I have a six-year old son whom I love to spend time with. Which brings me to my latest topic, which I’m sure applies to many…

Should I worry about blogging right now?

For me, the answer is an inequitable YES.

Life can get super busy but my blog readers are just as important as my book readers and I’m sure some of you are one and the same. Either way, this blog is my passion and the past five years of chat have been a blast. Yep, A Writer's Mind blog is coming up on an anniversary in October but that’s better left for another post!

This go around I thought to keep the subject simple… to blog or not to blog?

What's Your Perfect Ending in a Book Series?

That’s right. I got it done. I rock. Check me out. Party time!

Um... really?

*Snorts* C’mon. Seriously? I’m not that author. Never have been. Never will be.

But I AM both pleased and sad to announce that I’ve typed the very last word in my latest Calum’s Curse trilogy novel, The Tudor Revival (Calum's Curse:Ultima Bellum). Aye, I know, I should be popping the cork off the champagne bottle. But I’m not.

I never do.

This is the second such experience that I’ve had with closing up a series.

As it turns out, by popular demand, I will continue on with The MacLomain Series. Great! But my Calum’s Curse Trilogy has consumed my every thought for over two years. That’s a lot of time and heartfelt investment.

Now these characters are being let out into the world in their entirety. Yep, I feel like a mom sending my child off to his first day at school. I’m saying goodbye. Can you blame me for feeling a little freaked out? It’s a terribly vulnerable sensation. But it’s also such a profoundly proud moment. If you’ve written a book, you know what I'm talking about. 

If you’ve ever written a series, you REALLY know the feeling.

SIDEBAR...Yawning Dark Fissure in the Sun. The Milky Way is Crashing?

Astronomer's Corner Time!

There is a newly formed fissure in the sun. The Milky Way is colliding (AKA- crashing). An iceberg did flip over. An unmapped asteroid appeared three days ago.

Bet the title of this post got your attention. Very good! Astonomer's Corner is part of my quarterly newsletter and always worth the 'check it out!' While I have your attention, (off topic) this summer is going to be smokin’ hot with romance writers popping in to say ‘HEY!’ and offering up some mad giveaways in my Hot Summer Nights blog event. But for now, in these rare few weeks when I’m crunching to finish my latest novel, it’s super laid back at A Writer’s Mind.

It’s all about the latest and greatest and the wha??? That’s right, the eye-popping stuff.

Because I do take what's going on beyond this planet and right here on Earth very seriously I like to share what I come across. There's amazing stuff going on around us folks. Seriously. So worth paying attention to!

First off, my fav, the asteroid that was discovered shortly before it passed Earth two days ago. Yep, you heard me correctly, this little bugger was closer to us than many of our satellites and we discovered it 24 hours prior. Go technology, go! No pun intended. I think.

Here’s the recap…

University of Colorado Prof. Richard Keen has done something unusual. He observed an asteroid flyby with nothing but optics and the human eye.

SMALL ASTEROID BUZZES EARTH: Newly-discovered asteroid 2012 KT42 is flying past Earth today (May 29th) only ~14,000 km above the planet's surface. This means 2012 KT42 will actually fly inside the Clark Belt of geosynchronous satellites. The 3- to 10-meter wide asteroid ranks # 6 on the top 20 list of closest-approachers to Earth. According to the asteroid's orbit, there is no danger of a collision. Even if it did hit, this space rock is too small to cause significant damage. It would likely disintegrate almost entirely in the atmosphere, peppering the ground below with relatively small meteorites.

Awesome discovery. Thank goodness it was small!

Other cool things (Again, I think. Not too sure.) ….

Iceberg flips.

By Eric Pfeiffer

“A tourist has captured some rare and startling video of an iceberg tipping over. The tourist was traveling on a boat near the Upsala Glacier in Argentina and caught the unexpected moment.”

Very cool. Click HERE to read more and view video! (Worth the watch. You'll probably never see this again. Hope you don't.)

The Milky Way is doomed to crash with Andromeda…

“Our Milky Way is bound for a head-on collision with the similar-sized Andromeda galaxy, researchers announced today (May 31). Over time, the huge galactic smashup will create an entirely new hybrid galaxy, one likely bearing an elliptical shape rather than the Milky Way's trademark spiral-armed disk.” Says Mike Wall.

Click HERE to read more!

And of course, I saved the best for last (until the Venus transit of course).

According to my favorite site, Spaceweather.com…

CORONAL HOLE: Spewing solar wind, a yawning dark fissure in the sun's atmosphere is turning toward Earth. NASA's Solar Dynamics Observatory photographed the "coronal hole" during the early hours of June 1st.

Awesome! I love all of it. Label me odd but I adore all things nature and outer space. Lots of stuff in the news lately!

Be in touch soon with more from the wicked world of romance writing and unusual star gazing. Until then, be good my friends.

xo