Monday Morning Wake Up Post

If you haven't realized it yet, yep it's Monday folks. School started back today after a very long break due to the ice storm and then Winter Break. The alarm clock went off at 6:00 this morning and it was rough. I'm working on my second cup of coffee and contemplating my third. Of course with Tax season in full swing my day is full of appointments for drop offs and pick ups. But for another hour I get to sit and enjoy my coffee, work on my upcoming book release and relax. This is my time when I can quietly work on things in the house. I already have a load of laundry and a load of dishes going. But more importantly I have a book to finish. Since I'm working on my first time travel romance, I'm excited about the upcoming release. I'm doing this one a little differently than my other books. It's going to have a pre-order available through Smashwords. The pre-order will be on Barnes & Noble, Apple iTunes and Kobo. I will be running several giveaways and some free books to select people that win the drawings. The contest will be announced this week so keep watching. Several of my books will be up for grabs to those that pre-order my book and send me a picture of their pre-order confirmation, but I'll announce the rules soon. As for the book that's coming out, I think my fans will be surprised. I'm hoping it will be a pleasant surprise. This is a little step away from my normal writing, but of course there is still a handsome cowboy and horses, I have to keep that going. But I've never delved into the time travel genre. It's been a great experience and I think it's a story that will make you think and wonder all the way to the end, which is an interesting ending. So, how are you spending your Monday morning? How many cups of coffee does it take to get you going? Let me know I'm not the only coffee addict... As always, good writing and May God Bless You...

Friday and Romancing the Coffee

Good Morning! It's Friday people. It's the last day of the work week for most, but for an author that works a full time job it's the start of the long work weekend. I work everyday on my manuscripts. Some days not as long as others and especially at this time of year. I have deadlines all around me. There's W-2's to finish, end of the year balancing, 1099's, Tax return prep, manuscripts that are being finalized, covers to design, editing to do, VBS pre season prep, and dare I go on, on my! As I sit here nursing my second cup of coffee, I contemplate my morning. I have a hour or so of social media, blogging, and a little editing before I go to the office. It's funny the life of a writer. I sit down at my computer and my fingers automatically go to the keyboard ready to write. It's just natural for me to put my thoughts in writing. Do you use your morning effectively? The morning hours are very productive for me. It's the mid day that I sometimes get a little foggy, but then as I sit down after dinner I get creative again. Generally I'm not a morning person, but after about two cups of coffee I start to wake up and get inspired. This morning I have a crackling fire going and a sweet little bird on the banister outside the window watching me. Of course he probably thinks my head is a nest as I've yet to run a brush through my hair or even get dressed for that matter. This is "Me" time. The sun is spreading across the front lawn and the world is starting to come alive. As you know, I love romance and in the mornings I love to write a little and feel the power behind romance. Have you ever felt it? If you're a romance writer or reader for that matter, you've felt that power. It draws you in and refreshes your faith in life. Yeah, I'm a romance advocate. I had a reader tell me the other day that they don't believe in romance, well they received a long talk about the possibilites of romance. Needless to say they laughed and said they'd give it another try. But they have read all my books. That's a start. Well I'm almost done with my Friday morning rambling, but I must leave you with this question. Do you believe in romance? It's a simple question. I'm curious about your responses. With romance being the best selling genre in books, I'm pretty sure at least more then 50% of you do. As always, good writing and May God Bless You...Image

Foggy Fall Morning

When I woke this morning it was foggy outside. To me a foggy fall morning is beautiful. The fall colors become a soft emerging color through the fog. It’s as though you’re alone in the world as the fog closes in around the house. As I sit here looking out the window I can only see a little ways and then you meet a gray wall. For some reason when it’s foggy as when it snows everything is quiet. It’s as though the creatures outside are afraid to make a sound or maybe they’re just in awe of natures shadowy appearance. Hopefully the foggy morning will not seep into my brain. I plan on doing some writing today. I need to get Open The Heart out and ready to go. Also, I need to do some promoting for Monday. I will be featured on Southern Writer’s Magazine’s Blog page called Suite T. This is so exciting. They’ve been so wonderful to me and my writing. If you’re a writer you need to subscribe to their magazine. It’s very inspirational and informative. I’d also like to recommend a website that’s very good for a writer and a reader. If you’re like me and grew up reading Avon Romance books, then you need to visit http://www.avonromance.com. It’s a great site to catch up with other romance readers and get to know their editors and authors. I’m proud to be able to contribute to their wonderful website. I recently went through some of my old romance books in the attic and was surprised at how many of them are Avon Books. When I was young I would look for the Avon logo on the spine and that always told me what was inside would be great. Avon Books carry some big author names. If you haven’t checked them out, then you’ve been missing out. I’ve found several new authors to read and recently was excited when I saw an older author of romance write a post on there. It’s funny how much I enjoy the posts on this site. Some of the posts even give you interesting insights into their world. As for me, I’m feeling pretty good this morning. I was able to spend a couple of hours last night with my nieces. One of them is my editor and cover designer. She’d been away at University of Georgia. I was so glad to get to talk with her and catch up. I was able to surprise her with a paperback copy of Victoria which was the last book she designed for me before she left for college. Wishing everyone great writing, and May God Bless You…