Twenty Three Years and Counting

Today is my 23rd wedding anniversary. I have now been married for more than half my lifetime.
It's a weird way of looking at it. But I do feel like I've led two very separate lives. My childhood came to an abrupt end around the time I first met my husband as my parents were getting divorced, my dad did a bunk to Australia to avoid legal proceedings, my mum developed cancer, my future step dad died from a stroke following a car crash, and my mum followed suit shortly after. All in the space of a couple of years.
And through those years, hubs was there holding my hand. He could have run. We'd only just met. He had no obligation to me at all. The fact that he didn't run proved to me I could always rely on him no matter what happened. It wasn't just that though. I was truly in love with him, a fact that blew me away. He wasn't the type of guy I'd ever gone for. Perhaps that was the reason - I'd been looking at the wrong ones. Whatever, we're still together after nearly 25 years since our first date when many of our contemporaries have divorced, split up, and even remarried.
And I haven't regretted a second of it. :)

Happy Fourth Anniversary #amwriting #amcelebrating

Today is my 4th anniversary as a published author. Woot! It feels much longer, and yet I still feel like I've barely started. I have fifteen titles up at Goodreads, from short stories up to novels and an anthology, romantic and non-romance, scifi, urban fantasy and paranormal, for adults and young adults. I never imagined I'd get so far.

It also means my adorable blue hero Keir - my sanity saver - is also four today. Kinda. While Keir was originally published on the 7th of May 2012 by Lyrical Press, he was MIA from the 1st of January 2014 due to the sale of my publisher, not returning until the 7th of May 2015. I suppose the complication is sort of appropriate for a time traveller, right? I couldn't tell you the exact day of his 'birth' - that was back in the days when I used actual pen and paper to write with, and sadly didn't date much of what I wrote, but officially his birthday is the 17th August 2009, when I sat at my computer with his unfinished short story in my hand, a playlist featuring The Rasmus, and a burning need to rediscover myself. I did. It was an insane few weeks, but it made such a difference.



So here's to another four years and maybe another fifteen titles!

#Beltane Blessings! #MayDay #celebration

Today is Beltane, a day to celebrate fertility, fire, and abundance. As a Leo (not that I'm really a follower of astrology) and a redhead, I have a strong kinship for all things fiery. I'll keep quiet about all the secret little fires I used to set as a child--hey, I never burnt anything down! Other than a few of my parents' flowerpots...
The first of May also marks the first anniversary of losing my main publisher as Breathless and Lycaon Press shut their doors and my publishing dream went down in flames. It was, however, also the day I decided to fully commit to being a self published author, partly to save myself more heartbreak at losing a publisher again. After all, it was my third experience of doing so in just three years as a published author. Over the past year I've seen more publishers closing - most shockingly Samhain - while others have cut their expenses and shifted their strategies in an attempt to remain viable. The early success of small presses pioneering ebooks has not been long lived. It just shows how changeable and unpredictable publishing can be, and why authors need to learn flexibility among our many other skills.
And in just over a month my final contract with a publisher will expire. It's a peculiar thought. Five years ago I had a very different view of my future, and it certainly didn't include being self published. In fact, I very much doubted I'd ever be published at all. I'd spent a year submitting to agents in the UK to no avail, and was in the process of submitting to various small digital-first presses in the US. I'd released a scifi short - The Bones of the Sea - on Smashwords, more as an experiment than as an official debut publication. How things change... A year later my debut novel Keir released via Lyrical Press.
So May is a month of special significance. I celebrate two anniversaries - my official debut as an author and my wedding. It was also the month my mum was born, now gone for 15 years. But I try to dwell on the positive. This year I will have been a published author for four years. This year I will have been married for 23 years - now more than half my lifetime - to a very wonderful man who has held my hand through highs and lows and all the bits in between.
Beltane marks an auspicious time and the beginning of summer. Here's hoping May will bring you good things too! And if you're setting fires, be safe and avoid the flowerpots. :P

The SFR Brigade House Party - Celebrating 5 Years #scifi #romance #giveaway

You're invited to the SFR Brigade House Party, a celebration of our 5th anniversary!

When: March 18, 2015
12 noon EST - 12 midnight EST

Where: Facebook

The party will be packed full of fun! Here are some of the festivities you can look forward to:

* Chat with authors
* Giveaways
* Meet 'n' greet with fellow readers
* Informative posts about sci-fi romance
* Topical discussions
* Interactive activities

PERMISSION TO FORWARD GRANTED

First Anniversary @BreathlessPress

Today marks a year ago that I signed my first contract with Breathless Press. Well, technically it was with their YA imprint at Lycaon Press, but BP is on the contract which was confirmed on the 6th March, 2014. And wow, what a year it's been! I have two novellas and a short with BP, and a novella and upcoming short with LP. This year also sees my three novellas coming out in PRINT! Love my digital titles, but holding a paperback with my name on the cover is still magical.

I'm grateful to Breathless Press for that first contract, not just because it saw a turn around it what started out as my worst year in publishing, but because it was for my freaky story - Restless In Peaceville. The one muse insisted I wrote despite all my protests. The one I was convinced would disappear into a virtual drawer unseen. It also turned 2014 from being my worst year into my best.

And what's to come? Well, the short I have releasing in April is the first part of a trilogy of YA dystopias. I still have the print of Tethered and When Dark Falls, releasing March and June respectively (pssst, Tethered is currently on the top ten best seller list on the site!). And I hope to write a sequel to When Dark Falls for my November NaNoWriMo.

And right now, Breathless Press is running March Madness. You can grab my ebooks (or any others on the site) for 25% off, AND get free shipping on all print book orders $20.00 and over for the whole of March!

No Angel at the TRR 4th Anniversary Party #giveaway

The Romance Reviews 4th Anniversary Party started on March 1 at 12:00am EST. More than 350 participating authors and publishers are taking part (including me!), and there are more than 350 prizes up for grabs during the whole month of March. Grand prize is a $100 Gift Certificate!

To take part, you need to register and be logged in at TRR before you can play the game. Registration is free and easy. As part of the event, I'll be giving away a digital format of the winner's choice of my futuristic UF fallen angel story (winner will be chosen randomly by the system and is totally out of my control). Just click on the banner above to visit the event.

Blurb:

How far would you fall for love?

Centuries ago, guardian angel Lucien committed a terrible sin. He gave into his own desires and revealed himself to the mortal woman he'd been charged to protect. By kissing her, he condemned himself. Torn of his wings and his angelic powers, thrown down into the City Below, Lucien now serves Satan as an incubus who claims souls for his master from the City Above, and who feeds on the energy stolen from his mortal lovers. Dark, sexy and charming, he's been top of his league for decades uncounted.

Until His Infernal Highness decides to send Lucien looking for a lost angel. Lucien has no idea what he did to deserve such a punishment, and the touch of an angel could destroy him. Yet the challenge and the potential kudos of seducing one of his former heavenly kin leads him on.

But when he finds the angel, he learns he still has more to lose than his already forsaken soul.

Announcing the Winners - Romancing the Hop and Third Anniversary Giveaway

So, there are some winners to announce!


From the Romancing the Hop -

Grand Prize Winners:

Kindle Fire Winner:

Laurie Goudge

(from It's the Journey that Counts's Blog)

$130 Amazon Gift Card:

Ellie

(from Carrie Ann Ryan's Blog)

Swag Pack:

Cassandra

 (from Dana Delamar's Blog)

The grand prize winners have already been notified and have their prizes or the prizes are on their way!

On my blog the winner was comment number 18 JFA for a $10 gift card

And the winner for my Third Anniversary giveaway of a copy of Keir was Grinelda.

Huge congrats to the winners, and thank you to everyone who stopped by to comment. :)