Not Just a Romance Writer...

You know, it's kind of nice to not be locked in to any one type of writing.  For most authors I've seen them go from writing romance to writing mysteries and thrillers, from righting light, fluffy romances to more in-depth novels with a romantic element.

I'm not there yet.

For me, I have always been a romance writer at heart.  I started messing around with it in high school and then let it go for years and then messed around with it again in my thirties and now here I am in my forties and making it happen.  But along the way, particularly in the last ten years or so, I got in to TEACHING writing.  I taught creative writing to middle school kids and high school kids who were homeschooled and I loved it.

I had created my own curriculum that I used but I stopped teaching about two years ago and still had all of these lessons on my computer.  So what did I do?  Well, I decided to start self publishing them too!  They were just sitting there not getting used and so basically, most of the work was already done; all I had to do was organized the files into a workbook format and upload them to CreateSpace.

There will be a total of four workbooks in the Creative Writing Series and this weekend I released the first two - Introduction to Creative Writing and Developing Your Character in Creative Writing.  The next two which will be released next month will be The Art of Dialogue Writing and then Introduction to Fiction Writing.  Each workbook is $9.99 each and as of now they are only available through CreateSpace but by the end of the coming week, they should be available through Amazon as well.  I will put the link out there once that happens.  For now you can order Intro to Creative Writing HERE and Developing Your Character HERE. 

So for now, I may not be writing blockbuster novels or doing the crossover genre thing, but I'm pretty darn happy to have my light little romances out there and my workbooks.  But it doesn't hurt to dream, right?

Oh, and while I'm in self-promoting mode (and really, when am I not?) don't forget that Monday is the big release day for "Ever After" on Amazon!!

Countdown to "Ever After"

So we have less than five days to go until the release of my newest book, "Ever After".  I am learning so much about publishing and marketing and promotion and I'm hoping that it will get easier with each book because right now it is still exhausting!

I feel like we are all over the web and very easy to find and follow.  That is truly the best way to market your book.  I am still feeling no love whatsoever from the local community - bookstores, newspapers, etc.  It was kind of depressing at first but then I realized that I want a much bigger audience than they have to offer and so, really, they are doing me a favor.  Plus, they are missing out BIG TIME!  LOL

I was blessed this week by two great websites.  Riley Banks did a wonderful interview with my alter-ego and published it two days ago.  It's titled "Samantha Chase gets her happily 'Ever After'".  Pretty clever right?  You can read it HERE.

Then the wonderful blog, Book Addict Mumma not only is promoting me as the author but is doing a giveaway for the set (The Christmas Cottage AND Ever After)!  You can go to the site HERE and enter for your chance to win the ebook set.

Both of these sites are amazing and it would be greatly appreciated if you shared the links with your friends, too.

So if you're thinking about doing any book marketing and promotion, where should you go?  Well here's the list of where to find me on the web (besides here at All Stace - lol):

Facebook:  http://www.facebook.com/SamanthaChaseFanClub 
Twitter:  https://twitter.com/SamanthaChase3
Tumblr:  http://samanthachasewriter.tumblr.com/ 
Website:  http://samanthachaseauthor.com
Amazon:  http://www.amazon.com/Samantha-Chase/e/B006CZWRGC/ref=ntt_athr_dp_pel_pop_1

I'll be honest with you, there is about another half dozen sites to go to but these are the main ones.  Check them out, like the pages and mark your calendars for Monday, February 25th, for the release of "Ever After".

And with a week to go...

So I am about a week away from the release of my next book, "Ever After".  I have gone with a new approach on this one - I've done a lot of pre-launch marketing and promotion.  We're going to find out if it actually has done any good.  

I got the contract in the mail from my agent. 

My agent.

I get to finally say that I have an agent!

Anyway, I finally got the contract and I am very excited to get started with them.  I have some edits to do on the book; nothing major, just my usual punctuation stuff and some wording changes.  All in all, I was very pleased that they didn't want me to do a whole lot of changes.

I'm going on a writing retreat next weekend.  It's a time for me to just get away from normal life and just sit and write all weekend long.  I tend to get a LOT done when I go on one of these and the timing couldn't be better.  Basically, with "Ever After" getting ready to release, and the edits on the agent book, I have a full-length novel that I want to release in March that needs some polishing AND I am in the middle of writing another novella that I want to release in April.  

Do I need to have my head examined??

Just smile and nod; I know that I do.

So in the midst of this madness, I have gotten heavily into the social media.  I created a Tumblr account for my alter ego.  We're going to see if this does anything for me.  I'll keep you posted on that endeavor.  Click HERE for the Tumblr link to "Chasing Romance".

And we're off... 

 

Ever After Book Trailer

Guess Who Got an Agent??

Sure, it took a lot of time.

Sure, it took a lot of work.

And sure, it took a lot of patience.  But guess what?

I GOT AN AGENT!!!

I cannot even BEGIN to tell you the excitement and joy that I am feeling over this!  I mean, I had pretty much given up on the idea of having an agent.  Plus, after doing pretty well with the indie publishing thing, I was actually OKAY with not having an agent.

But now that I HAVE an agent?  I feel like I have arrived.  Like I am a REAL author.  I mean, someone who does this for a living, who has an amazing reputation and KNOWS what sells in the literary world, actually has faith in one of MY books!  How cool is that?  I have a contract with The Seymour Agency and I cannot be more pleased!

The book I had submitted to her was actually a top five finalist in Harlequin Desire's Editor's Pitch Challenge back in 2011.  It was one of the the MOST nerve wracking events of my life!  In the end, Harlequin passed on it and really, at the time, it was probably for the best.  But now?  To have an agent behind it to help with the submission process?  I am breathing a sigh of relief!

I have no idea how long the process will take;  I have no idea how it will all play out.  All I do know is that WOO-HOO!  I have an agent!!!

Here's the blurb for the book entitled "In the Eye of the Storm":

The storm wasn’t only raging outside…

Forced to pick up her demanding boss at two a.m. in the midst of a storm, Holly Abrams quit her job.  Not one to deal with being inconvenienced, Stephen Ballinger refuses to accept.  Forced to be alone together at Stephen’s home to ride out a tropical storm, their relationship turns from a working one to a passionate one.  Holly has always wanted her sexy boss and the weekend is better than all of her fantasies.  Stephen would do anything to make her stay, but is he using seduction to keep his world organized or is this hard-working CEO ready to put some serious work in to a relationship?

EEK!!!  I even had a plan to self-publish this one and this was the draft of the cover that now I cannot even find!  I guess it doesn't matter because I'm sure that they'll want to change it depending on what publisher we sell to.  And you know what?  I am PERFECTLY okay with that!

So be watching here for news on when this all happens!!  Pretty darn exciting!!! 

New Release Anxiety!

Okay, so here we are, mid-February and it has begun; the pre-launch marketing hooplah for the new book, "Ever After".  I'm not going to lie to you, I really enjoy getting the word out and seeing people share it but this is the first time that I've ever done it PRE release!

When I wrote "Jordan's Return", I sort of just published and waited.  Not a good plan.  Clearly you have to market and promote your book in order for it to sell.  Then with "The Christmas Cottage", it wasn't supposed to be anything but a way to keep my name out there until I possibly heard from the agent in New York on a full-length novel I had written.  My assistant was AMAZING in getting the word out on it and we sold 15,000 copies of it in the e-book format!

Not too shabby!

So now here we are with "Ever After".  The release date is February 25th and we want to hit the marketing bandwagon hard so that we generate excitement and get people ready to purchase.  I am not going to lie to you, I would LOVE to match the number of sales that we had with "The Christmas Cottage" and even surpass them.  Realistically?  I'm not sure that lightning will strike twice.

So what's a writer to do?

Well, we keep moving forward.  Each book is it's own entity.  I have learned that sometimes even your favorite author - whose work you love - can sometimes put out a book that is less than stellar.  I can name a few right now but I'm not going to.  That just wouldn't be right.  I'm not here to bash anyone, I'm just saying that even the best writers can't put out books that are awesome all of the time.  All I can do is sit and wait and pray that people will enjoy it.

We're hitting the Samantha Chase fan page hard; I'm hitting my own personal Facebook page hard.  I will be blogging, I will be using Twitter.  My son is making me a Tumblr page and basically, anywhere and everywhere that I can get the word out about "Ever After", the better.  You know where I CAN'T promote the book right now??  Amazon!  The one place that will be primarily selling the book will not let me do any pre-launch, pre-release stuff on it!  How wrong is that??

Won't you help spread the word too?  Tell your friends!  Share the links!  Share this post!!  Send them to the Facebook fan page.  Let's make the week of February 25th a huge success!!

 

"Ever After" by Samantha Chase Video Trailer!

Try our slideshow maker at Animoto.

"Ever After" by Samantha Chase

You are hearing it here first!  

She walked away from her fairytale wedding in search of her true happily ever after.

She hadn’t counted on it coming searching for her first.

Eight months after canceling her wedding, Ava Callahan finally has her life in order and sees nothing but blue skies ahead.  A chance encounter with the man responsible for ruining her wedding has her newly organized world in chaos.

Brian McCabe waited eight long months to seek the woman he loves out and his patience was at an end.  Purposely putting himself in every path Ava was on might not always work to his advantage, but he wanted to make sure that she truly saw him for who he was.

Her happily ever after.

 Coming Soon!

Author Photo Shoot

Today I got to do something that I've never done before - I had a real photo shoot!  That's right, I went out with a photographer and took a bunch of pictures so that I could choose one to use as my author profile picture. 

So what do you think???

The new book is coming along very well and I think that it will be done and ready for the final editing phase this week!  YIPPEE!!!  So which one of these pictures should I use for promotional stuff?  

Leave your vote in the comments!!!

The Indie Romance Convention

I'm not going to lie to you...I TOTALLY want to go to this!  I believe it is the first one EVER and I think that I've had a pretty good experience thus far as an Indie Romance Writer and would love to go to a convention and meet other like-minded people and sort of brainstorm and network and see what I can do to get even further along.

Will there be a red carpet?  Probably not.  Which is too bad really because I happen to look fabulous on the red carpet.  Don't believe me, check out my post from the Carolina Music Awards.  I rocked it!

So anyway, other than being a smokin hot hottie on the red carpet...oh, wait, there won't be one.  So why do I want to go to this thing again?  That's right, because I'm a smokin hot Indie Romance Writer, that's why!  It's a two-day convention, it's in Tennessee and to me, I would feel like I totally "arrived" if I could go and be a part of it.  But what would be better than just going and being a convention guest.

Being nominated for an award.

Sigh.

THAT, my friends, is the dream.  I am looking for nominations in the Best Indie Romance Novella category for "The Christmas Cottage".  If you've read it, if you've seen it, if you're tired of hearing me talk about it, then PLEASE go to the 2013 Indie Romance Convention Choice Awards Nominations ballot and case your vote!  You can click HERE and go directly to the link.  You do NOT have to fill in all of the categories, just the one for me!  LOL!  

I'm gearing up.  I started Weight Watchers today.  I'm getting some professional author head-shots done on Sunday.  I am totally in "If you dream it, you can do it" mode.  Thank you, Walt Disney.  Help me make 2013 the year that I achieve literary success beyond what we've done so far with this little holiday romance novella.  It really has gone far beyond what I ever imagined it would do and I don't want to lose steam.  

It's been pretty cool seeing so many reviews pop up that are from people that I have no association with.  People are reading it and enjoying it and wanting to share that enjoyment with others.  It makes me smile every time a new one pops up.  People have gotten kinder and that has made it more enjoyable, too!

So in conclusion, go to Amazon and LIKE the book;  then BUY the book and then go over to the Indie Romance Convention ballot and VOTE for the book.  LIKE, BUY, VOTE.  Three little steps and the pleasure of knowing that you helped someone achieve their dream.

Not a bad way to spend your day!  THANK YOU!!

Take Another Little Piece of My Heart Now, Baby...

Twenty-one years ago I became a mom.  It was the most amazing moment of my entire life.  Staring down into the little face, the life that I helped create, and seeing him look back at me and hold my finger just made my heart stop.  He was so beautiful, so incredible and we began an a journey into our new roles in life.

A new journey begins tomorrow... he leaves for college tomorrow.

He moved out of the house almost two years ago so the transition will be easier than it could be but still, just knowing that he is not two miles up the road is going to take a little time to get used to.  He's all packed up; the trailer is loaded.  He's spending his last night in town here with us and I kind of feel bad because I took my prescribed cold medication and finding it difficult to remember how to type (barely know my own name) and Frank is asleep on the couch.

We're not an exciting group by any stretch of the imagination.

Tomorrow morning we take the trek up to school to move him in to his new apartment and help him get settled into his new life.  I AM SO NOT READY FOR THIS!!!

Have we raised him for this?  Yes.  Is he ready for this?  Absolutely.  Will this be a good thing for all of us?  I am sure.  Do I want him to go?  No.  Selfishly, I want him near by where I can see him whenever I want.  I want him to be happy - just living near by while doing it!

Sigh...being a mom is the hardest job in the world!  Just when we hit a point in our relationship where we are friends and that he enjoys the company of his parents, he's leaving!  When he and his brother are finally friends, he's leaving.

As sad as I am, as much as my heart is breaking and I just want to sit here and hold him close while I cry, I will let him go.  I will wish him every success that there is and beam with pride at all that he accomplishes.  

Tomorrow I will say goodbye and drive away while a piece of my heart stays behind.  

 

It's hard to be sick when you're a celebrity...

...I almost couldn't even type that without laughing hysterically!  

I'm sick. And no, just the funny/sick in the head sick, but physically sick.  I have bronchitis and I am miserable.  I had the opportunity to tape that morning talk show tomorrow but I am sick.  Who would want to watch a cooking segment where the guest coughed all over the food?  Or who would understand what a book was about when the author couldn't say three words without coughing!

Dang it, people, Samantha Chase/author has a book to promote and she's too sick to do it!!!  I have to snap out of it because I'm not that big of a name yet where people are going to remember me in a week's time.  Humbling, I know, but the truth nonetheless.

I went to the doctor yesterday, a big burly guy who talks a lot like Yosemite Sam and it's sometimes hard to take him seriously, but he listens to me and he doesn't fuss around a whole lot.  The entire appointment took less than ten minutes and he gave me some fabulous prescription cough medicine.  The problem?  It has codeine in it so I clearly can only take it at night.

This is no help to me whatsoever during the day when I am out and about at my job and around people.  Although I can guarantee you that I am HILARIOUS while on this stuff.  It took Frank all of five minutes last night of listening to me ramble and then almost trip over my own feet before he asked "What's going on with you?"

I'm a lightweight with this stuff but I don't want to be because all I want is to feel better!

I was author and book of the day today on BookPinning.com.  A pretty cool little site and I would have loved to promote the heck out of it more but I am just so run down!  I wanted to just bask in the glory of being in the spotlight on the website and it's hard to feel shiny giddy when you're coughing up a lung.

Sigh.

And believe me, I look as bad as I feel right now. Although not in that picture.  Don't I look sassy there?

So check out BookPinning.com and see me in the spotlight!  Go to Amazon.com and buy "The Christmas Cottage" or go and click like.  I just need a few more weeks in the top 50!  Share the link with your friends and co-workers!!

Making progress on the new book too during all of this.  I'm working with an artist on the cover and I think that we're going to be okay with having the rough draft done for January 31st and hopefully a full blown media launch for mid-February and then a full book release by the first of March.  Stay tuned!!

Writer's Block

So this is the first time that I am freely writing with a self-imposed deadline.  No, not this blog, my new book.  I'm used to the frenzy that goes with writing for NaNoWriMo (National Novel Writing Month) but I know that the deadline there (30 days) is just a somewhat meaningless deadline.  That sounds awful, I know, but at the end of those 30 days, if I don't hit the 50,000 word mark there's no consequences except I don't get the neat internet badge or the certificate to print out.  No harm, no foul.

I have a deadline of January 31st to finish this new book because I want to have a month to do edits so that I can release it for March 1st.  I want to have time to build up the buzz about it starting several weeks BEFORE the release.  I have all good intentions but my brain and my life are just not cooperating with me.

I thought that one of the benefits of being an indie writer was having some freedom but that only works if I allow myself to have it and having it, in my world, makes me lazy.  Even now I feel a little bit lackadaisical about the whole thing.  I do really well on a time crunch but it stresses me out.  Then again, I'm stressing right now and we're not at critical mass yet.

Sigh.

So the book is essentially worked out in my head, it's getting it on to the screen that is making me crazy.  I sit down to write and I am so easily distracted by anything and everything that I want to smack myself!  I'll play solitaire on Facebook, I'll offer to make Frank and Michael dessert - anything to keep me from writing!  

WHY????

So here's the thing, I have the blurb, I'm working on the cover design, I'm at about the mid-way point in the story.  In the next couple of weeks I have to move Nick to school, have Frank and Michael's birthdays and a party for Michael all while working a full-time job and being a wife and mom.  I have no idea how to do it!

Any suggestions?

Oh, and I'm trying to keep "The Christmas Cottage" in the top 50 in Women's Fiction on Amazon until the end of the month.  Will you help?  Please go to the Amazon page for it (HERE) and click "LIKE".  Please!  

And on a somewhat related note, a cool thing happened today, I opened my email inbox and there was an email from Amazon and in the subject line it said "New and Similar to "The Christmas Cottage" by Samantha Chase"!  I thought that was WAY cool!

Being a writer can be so much fun when I let it...

Life, Love and Losers

Life is crazy.  Am I right?  We are just moving forward at warp speed it feels like and yet somehow nothing feels like it's getting done!  My boy leaves for college in a week!  A WEEK!  I thought we had everything planned; I know I did.  The boy is packing, I've booked the hotel and am making sure that everyone will have what they need and all my husband really needed to be "aware" of was the fact that we needed to rent a trailer to hitch to the back to our little SUV.

Clearly, somehow he missed the memo.

So now we are trying to do the math on what exactly we CAN tow with our lightweight SUV and you'd think that we were doing rocket science!  I still don't know if we can hitch the damn trailer and we are picking it up in FIVE DAYS!!!  For real???

Oh, and did I mention that there are no cargo vans available to rent for a 100 mile radius??  Will we get the boy up to school?  No one knows.

Book sales are still chugging along and reviews - from people I don't know (take THAT Amazon!) are coming in and they have been very encouraging.  I'd have to say that the number of daily sales has cut in half but at least there are still sales!  I am amazed because today I compared the two BIG sites that I'm selling on - Amazon vs. Barnes & Noble - and they really don't even compare.  I've sold over 12,000 ebooks on Amazon compared to 50 on Barnes and Noble.  So heads up?  The next book may only be coming to you via Amazon.   

I got a very nice surprise today from author extraordinaire, Susan Mallery.  She invited little known authors (like myself) to introduce themselves and put the link to their work on her Facebook page!  She has over 31,000 fans!  And you know what was even sweeter about it?  Her wonderful assistant, Jenel, messaged me personally telling me about it!  I was so glad she did because I hadn't been on Facebook yet and had no idea that Susan had issued the invitation!  So a super big THANK YOU to Susan Mallery for being so gracious today and promoting "The Christmas Cottage"!  Love her!

Tonight was the season premier of "The Biggest Loser".  LOVE.  THIS.  SHOW.  What I don't love?  Watching people vomit.  Seriously?  Do we have to show this?  I understand that it adds to the drama of what that first workout is like but hey, I'm trying to eat some popcorn here and seeing these people throw up is ruining the buttery goodness for me!

There is a LOT wrong with that statement, isn't there?

The new book is coming along slowly.  I can't seem to stay focused.  I KNOW what I want to write, it's all there in my head, but for some reason staying focused to get it all down is just not happening.  I need a whole day of nothing to do to get some serious writing done.  I don't see that happening for at least another month and I just don't have that kind of time.  I have to make some serious decisions this week on how to find time.  There are things that are going to have to be let go and I'm going to have to be okay with it.  

But should any of you have some sort of way of helping me add a couple of hours to my day, feel free to let me know!

A Teaser, a Tumblr and a Thank You

Just when I think I am finally getting the knack of the whole internet and social media thing, something new comes along and suddenly I feel like I am still using a hammer and chisel while writing on a piece of slate.  Good grief is there a lot to learn!  I barely know how to use my iPhone and my computer is 8 years old and I am barely even wanting to know about anything new because as soon as I think I've got it all figured out, something new will come along and once again I'll be in the dark.

I have been charging forward with all kinds of internet marketing and promo stuff and I felt pretty good with the whole thing. I have the blog, I have a website, I've got a Facebook page, a Twitter account, I'm on Pinterest and Google+ but the other day I was out with my now-21 year old child and he's like "you should totally be on Tumblr".

Tumblr?

Really?

Like it's not enough that I have no idea what he's talking about but when I looked it up and saw the spelling I wept for our youth.  What in the world??  Can someone please explain the spelling of that word to me?  

*Note: For those of you interested, visiting time at the old-folks home is between 5 a.m. and noon - then I go down for a nap.

So I had to admit to my cluelessness and he promised that once he got settled at school that he would set one up for me and this would be HUGE for my book promotions.  Sure, we'll see.  Everything that has "guaranteed" me huge success for my book has fallen short of my expectations.  

Today I got a very sweet note from one of my dear aunts.  It was just a quick note telling me that she's proud and that she loves me and that she thinks that it's wonderful that we're experiencing some success.  I cried.  I literally cried when I read that because there are many CLOSE relatives that haven't said a word to me about the book's success.  I thought that it was amazing that my aunt took the time to just send me a note that was just so encouraging to me!  Don't you love getting a little uplifting surprise like that in your in-box?

I've received so many kind words of support from people that I barely know!  I had the opportunity to meet some great people last week at my cousin's house and one great lady friend requested me on Facebook and then promoted my book on her page!  She wasn't looking for anything in return, just wanted to be encouraging.  Love that!

I reached out to a fellow Indie author - Noelle Adams.  She's written three novella's and I've enjoyed them all - and so I reached out to her on Facebook and asked if she'd be interested in a little cross promoting and so she promoted "The Christmas Cottage" on her page and liked my author page, while I did the same for her with her newest release, "One Night With Her Bodyguard".  If you're looking for more novella's (until my next one comes out in March!), then check out Noelle Adams works.  She's wonderful!

So the next book - yet to be titled - is going to be released (hopefully) by the first week of March.  Want a sneak peak?  Here's a tiny peak:
 

When Ava Callahan walked away from her fairytale wedding, it was in search of her true happily ever after.

She hadn’t counted on it coming searching for her.

Keep watching here for more peaks at Ava's story!

So a writer walks into a Target...

True story...

Tonight I left work and had to stop at the Super Target to get some last minute stuff for Nick's birthday dinner lasagne extravaganza.  I was not feeling very well all day and all I wanted to do was get home and put on my jammies.  But in an effort to be a good mom, I stopped at the store.  

I roamed around, bought the necessary ingredients and got on the check-out line.  I'm waiting my turn and an older gentleman gets in line behind me and smiles. He looks at the contents of my order and says "Mmm...what time's dinner?"  I laugh we joke and I tell him how my son passed up a chance at a dinner out at a restaurant in favor of my lasagne.  He said "That must mean that it's good".  Naturally, I agree.  I tell him of my life-long love of cooking, coming from a long line of people who loved to cook, been in the deli and catering business, blah, blah, blah.  He turns to me and says "I have a show on the CW22...would you like to come on and do a cooking segment?"

I KID YOU NOT!!!

So I'm speechless (surprise, surprise!) and then he asks if I do any catering here in Raleigh and I told him no, I didn't carry on the family tradition down here so he asked what I do.  Now, I could have gone with what my full time job is, but I was feeling a little spunky and said "I'm an author" and his eyes lit up!  "We can do a segment on that, you know", he said and I just about wept with joy!

WHAT ARE THE ODD OF THIS HAPPENING???

We walked out together, he gave me his card and contact information and I have to get in touch with him on Monday!  EEK!!  I could quite possibly be on TV cooking AND promoting my book!  How flippin cool is that??  Thank GOD my son is difficult and didn't want to go to the Outback for dinner!  Thank GOD I didn't give in to my craving to stop at Chick Fil A for a milkshake to soothe my super sore throat!

The show is called "The First Choice Life Show with Dr. Tim Weir" and it's on every morning at 8:30 a.m. on the CW22.  I've never had the chance to see it because I'm at work by then!  I don't have a DVR (and it pains me to admit that) and so I may have to invest in that technology so that I can see what the show is about and actually record myself should I get on!

Now all I have to do is think about what I would realistically cook - I don't use recipes and I don't measure...that could be a problem, right?  Oh, and did I mention he's kind of into healthy things and I cook like a Paula Dean cheerleader?  

The book I can promote all day long!  I can promote "The Christmas Cottage", I can promote the new book, I can totally talk about the struggles of being an indie author and the stigma's that go with it...I have visions of one of those long canes with the hook on the end coming from stage right to yank me off camera because I've run out of time for my segment!  LOL!

Say a little prayer and I will keep you posted on how this all progresses!

Wake me up when January ends...

In case I haven't mentioned it recently, I'm exhausted.  Seriously, seriously, exhausted.  I think I have been that way since Thanksgiving week.  Why?  Let me give you a run-down of what life is like here in my world from the end of November through the end of January:

Thanksgiving week:  all of the shopping and prepping and cleaning and cooking that goes in to making a Thanksgiving that everyone loves.  We celebrate at home so I am the hostess and chef.  Then I released my book the last week of November because I thought, "Why not?"

Early December:  my birthday and then there are weeks of Christmas shopping and Christmas preparation - tree shopping, tree decorating, house decorating, writing out 4 dozen Christmas cards, mailing out gifts and just trying to be merry.

Christmas:  Again, I am the hostess with the mostess.  I make the traditional Italian Christmas Eve dinner (which is delicious but expensive and time consuming) and then we open our homes to at least 30 of our closest friends for a dessert open house.  I crash on Christmas Day but still prepare a full-on restaurant quality breakfast and dinner.

Then there's New Year's.  

My older son's birthday is the first week of January.  Then there is the un-decorating of all of the Christmas wares.  We move him to college the second week of January.  My husband and younger son's birthdays (the same day!) are the third week of January and by the fourth week, I barely know my own name.

Oh, and did I mention that I plan on having my next book written and ready for editing by the end of January?  

I want to go on vacation but I will need the kind of vacation where I lay around and do NOTHING for at least a week; no driving, no visiting with people, no touring or hiking or running around a theme park.  Just a "lay on my lazy butt for a week" (and maybe take a shower) type of rest.  Anyone know where I can find one of those on the cheap?

It's not good to wish your life away but right now, I really wish it was the end of January and all of that stuff was done.  I want to sleep without someone waking me up, I want to have nothing to do and all day to do it.  It would be bliss.  

I did manage to find a Groupon deal on a massage that I am going to be utilizing at the end of the month as a reward for merely surviving the month.  I plan on eating chocolate and wearing a tiara during it.  Is that allowed?  LOL!

Book sales are still there - which is a good thing.  Trying to maneuver how to keep sales at this level until the next book comes out.  Right now we are doing 250 books a day.  Not too shabby.  If you haven't gotten your copy of "The Christmas Cottage" yet, still .99 cents on Amazon and we're still looking to hit 100 likes.  Drop by, click the link, make me smile.

 

Resolutions

Every year I make a New Year's Resolution.

Every year I break my New Year's Resolution.

Why?  I don't know.  My theory is that I am more comfortable in the role of failure than I am being successful.  Some shrink would have a field day with me!  But I think the key to keeping the resolution is making it one that is realistic.  Saying that I am going to get down to a size 5 is NOT realistic.  Saying that I will lose 5 pounds is.  Saying that I'm going to save $10,000 to put down on a house is not realistic.  Saying that we'd like to save even $1,000 is.

It's all in the reality.  Which usually sucks.

I was a little bit sorry to see 2012 end.  It was a really good year for us.  It was the year that both Frank and I got jobs; real jobs.  Full time jobs.  We actually had time to enjoy our lives while having our bills get paid.  Believe me, it's been a LONG time since we'd lived like that.  This was the year that Frank's band Motrendus finally started playing local gigs; they cut a demo CD and it was all pretty exciting.  2012 was the year I became a best selling author on a little Christmas novella that I wrote in 3 weeks.

Are we rich?  No.  Are we happy?  Yes.  If you think about it, we're kind of an artsy couple - rock star husband, author wife.  We're a reality show waiting to happen.

NOT!

I started working on the next book.  This one will be Ava's story and I have to tell you, it's hysterical how many people have chimed in with who they want to see her with and how they think her story should go.  It's kind of cool getting some feedback but so far no one's guessed what I'm doing!  So there will be lots of surprises and I'm hoping for the same success with her story.  

I missed hitting the 10,000 ebook sales by midnight on New Year's Eve by 120 books.  I guess I still hit it on "New Year's" but it was 2013 and it sort of took a little of the fun out of it for me.  BUT...we're still selling and people are leaving some awesome reviews and so I am VERY happy.  I'm no longer considered a "Hot New Release" but I'm still in the top 30 in women's fiction.  It was an amazing ride and if I can just keep it going for another six weeks or so, we'll start again with the next book.

So what are some of your realistic resolutions?  Do you make them?  Do you keep them?  If I had to really go big and make one, I'd say that my goal is to sell 100,000 ebooks this year.

Only 90,000 more to go!