2012 in a nutshell

Well, it’s New Years Eve. Another year has flown by and we are heading in to the next. The speed in which time is flying scares me in a lot of ways, but at the same time I find myself curious about what the future holds for me; both professionally and personally.

So, I’m afraid this is a little bit of a look back post from me today. I’m looking back and noting the good things that happened in 2012, because if there is one thing I have realised this year it is that I pay too much attention to the negative, but then, I guess we all do. It’s easier for us to focus on the bad things and brush the good ones under the rug.

2011 ended on a semi-bad note in the personal department, but that situation smothered my energy to write for a good chunk of that year. So at the beginning of 2012 I threw myself in to the idea I had been playing around with the year before; Generation Breed Series. Yes, I started the year writing the first two interlocking stories to my new series and I find that I may start 2013 the same way, but hopefully this time I will be finishing it.

This year has been full of inspiration for me. I have had a ton of ideas for new stories, which I have had to log away in my journal. I love getting ideas but the only downside is I can’t write fast enough to get them all on paper and finished. Not that I am complaining. I would rather have a variety of plots to pick from once current projects are finished then be stuck.

I also manage to write two books; On the Rocks, my dark erotic paranormal f/f novella which was contracted and published by Decadent Publishing. And my first erotic thriller novella which is currently titled “Creak,” which was contracted later this year with Secret Cravings Publishing’s. I actually received the edits for this book last week and have been informed it will be released in January 2013 – a good start to the year, if you ask me.

I had three books published this year; the most recent being “On the Rocks.” My first sweet contemporary romance, “Stepping Stones,” was released with Noble Romance Publishing. I love the cover, and can’t wait to hear what readers think of the story. And in the summer “Cranberry Blood,” Book 1 in The Blood Series was released. So far readers have liked the book, which I am very happy about since this book was the first I wrote . . . and then rewrote to get the version you can purchase. It’s a long story, but let’s just say, this is an important book to me for a few reasons.

Since getting my day job in August I haven’t gotten a lot of writing done. Something that I keep kicking myself about, but in looking at all the above I feel proud that I managed to finish and share those above works with you all. Another lesson I have only just recently learnt – and I am sure this will sound familiar from some of my other posts – but I need to stop comparing myself to a) other authors and how much they are able to write in zed amount of time with zed amount of responsibilities. But most importantly I need to b) stop comparing my completed projects for this year with what I completed in 2011, or 2010. Stuff changes and I won’t always be able to write as much as I want, or I will. I just need to be thankful that I still write and find the time, energy, and/of inspiration to do what I love. I am thankful for that. I just need to learn to relax. Sounds like a possible resolution for 2013, huh?

Most importantly, 2012 has brought me new friends. The authors I have met this year have helped me feel less alone. I know that may sound insane, but being an author is a very isolating job. Sure, we have characters to keep us entertained and occupied. Sure, we have family members and friends we still see and talk too, but sometimes it is good to be able to talk to someone else about writing. There is only so much my family and friends can take of me talking about plots and characters.

So I want to say a big thank you to all the authors I have connected with this year; especially, my co-blogger, Dianna Hardy. Dianna has been a huge support this year. She is a very talented writer, hard worker, and an awesome person. Thanks, hun. :-)

Lastly, I have gained new readers this year as well as some wonderful reviews. I want to say a big thank you to everyone who has purchased/read any/all of my books. It means the world to me that you have taken the chance and “picked” up one of my books. I hope that you have enjoyed my stories and will continue to.

This year has been good, and I have high hopes that 2013 will be even better. So, I guess the only thing left to say is Happy New Year. Have a wonderful night!

We will carry each other to new heights!

Technically, I'm still on my Christmas break, and will be until 2nd January, so this is a short post.

Thinking of all the things I'm grateful for this year, I'm grateful for my fellow indie authors (and I include authors that are published by small presses for the purpose of this post). There is A TON of good work out there just waiting to be read. I hear/see day in, day out, how people are adamant they'll never read a self-published piece of work, or a book that's not available in the book store... Although I respect everyone's individual preferences, that is so limiting! To say that you will only read a book you can find in a store? My local book store is the size of a cupboard!!!

I'm grateful to my fellow authors for pushing the boat out; for being brave enough to say, "to hell with what people think, I'm doing it anyway", because without those authors, it would have been one hundred times harder for me.

It's easy for authors to view other authors as competition, but the truth is that every independent author has helped to open someone's eyes to greater reading material; to eBooks; to a new story that would not have been heard of any other way... and in doing so, that person's eyes were opened to me as an author too. For them, I  suddenly became a possibility, and was no longer a liability.

So thank you, authors. Keep writing, keep reading, keep loving the written word and feeding those creative juices. By doing what we are already doing, we will carry each other to new heights.

Dianna xxx

A Very Merry Christmas!

Well, despite the fact we knew it was coming Christmas Eve still somehow managed to sneak up on us. I finished work nice and early today, and now I am offer to relax in front of the TV - last ever episode of Merlin is on tonight. I can't wait! - with something naughty to eat and something very bad to drink.

I hope all of you have an amazing Christmas! :-D

Where has this week gone???

I can't believe it's Friday already! It feels like just a few days ago when I wrote my last post on here :s

Tomorrow is that last day to post stuff if there's any hope of it getting to its destination by Christmas - #EPICFAIL on my part, but the people who know me the best will already have been expecting that. Me and greeting cards just don't seem to mesh that well...

Writing: I'm 13% into Cry Of The Wolf and loving every minute of writing it. BUT, I cannot for the life of me write two separate books at once. I've tried. And tried and tried and tried, but I can't do it. I get obsessed with the book I'm working on, so much so, that it's impossible to pull out and immerse myself in another. So when Cry Of The Wolf is done, I shall be obsessing over The Last Dragon. Then, it will be back to book three of the Eye Of The Storm series, Heart Of The Wolf. That is the plan for 2013: Those three books, and hell, I'm giving myself no more work for now!

That's it from me. I'm gonna go get my head down and get writing...

I'm finally feeling festive :D Everyone has finished work and the buzz in the air, even online, is palpable.

CHRISTMAS IS HERE, FOLKS!!!

Have a rockin' one :)

All I want for Christmas is . . .

Books! :-P The only problem is I have forbidden myself to buy any more until I have at least read the pile of paperbacks that I need to get through. :-( I'm ignoring the 200 eBooks in my "too read" folder on my kindle. I will get to them eventually.

I never know what to sat when I get asked "what do you want for Christmas?" because in truth there is nothing that I want that I can't save up and get myself. Is it just me or does it seem more difficult to make your mind up about gifts the older you get?

I love Christmas, but what I like about it the most is the festive feeling that invades the air during December. I don't know if anyone else feels it, but there is this homely feeling, and a particular scent to the season. Perhaps it's just me.

Naturally, Christmas is more for kids, or at least I believe that. When you are one, or when you have children of your own it somehow seems a lot more exciting, and I suppose that is a) due to the belief in Santa, and b) because when you're a kid you can't buy all these cool presents that mystically appear under that magical tree.

I don't know. There is nothing that I desperately want this year, so as always, I list off the things I would just like. At this moment in time DVD's are the first thing to spring to mine. I love movies. Plus the cinema is way to expensive nowadays.

But naughty little me spent an hour today snooping at all the upcoming books by my fave authors. Needless to say my wishlist has expanded once more. *le sigh* There are just too many wonderful writers out there, and too many fab stories. And I am so behind on all of the series I love:

Kate Daniels Series by Ilona Andrews - I need to read book 6 & 7 and all the novellas that have come out in between.

Mercy Thompson Series by Patricia Briggs - I actually got book 6 from a friend for Christmas - tehehe - so I may have to squeeze it in soon since book 7 is out early next year.

The Lords of the Underworld by Gena Showalter - I think I'm 3 books behind in this series.

Midnight Breed Series by Lara Adrian - yet again about 2/3 books

And they are just the four main series that I follow. I've been such a naughty reader this year. *hangs head* Well, I'm just going to have to catch up in 2013 because all the next books are due out as well as a ton of other awesome titles including "Cry of the Wolf: Book 2 in the Eye of the Storm Series" by my awesome friend and blogger, Dianna Hardy.

What? Don't look at me like that. I'm allowed to plug her upcoming book if I want to. Book 1 "Releasing the Wolf" was fab and sexy as hell. If you haven't read it, and you love Werewolf stories then you need too read it! Buy it for yourself for Christmas. We are all entitled to a little treat. ;-P

Talking about treats, what are you hoping to find wrapped and hiding under the tree this year??

Leaving 2012 Behind...

I'm jumping on Elizabeth's bandwagon here, and posting about 2013, with a look at everything that 2012 has brought.

I cannot believe that it was only this year, in January 2012, that The Sands Of Time was published. Gwain and Mary's story hadn't even been told, Wilted had not been written...

Just the other week, I was thinking that not a lot had happened this year, but when I sit down and think about it, I realise such an awful lot has.

The Witching Pen trilogy is finally starting to get some attention. The first book in the trilogy is still free, and I have decided that it will remain so, because it has stayed in the top #100 free titles of the Romance/Fantasy section. It's never dipped below that. That free book is still bringing in a new audience, so it shall remain free until such a time when it ceases to do that.

Releasing The Wolf is sitting pretty at around the paid #10,000 mark. It went over 10,000 about a week after publication and hasn't really dipped too much. Needless to say, I'm excited about writing book two, Cry Of The Wolf.

And I'm extremely excited about The Last Dragon - and apprehensive. I hope to god I tell that story well because, if you've been following the characters, you'll know it's gonna be one hell of a story  ... an intricate one...

2013, for me, is going to be about chilling out and letting go a little. In 2012, I focused so much on writing and the stories. I obsessed about getting it all done on time, and getting it just right, building my readership and getting all the marketing right. In 2013, I'd like to relax a little and just let the stories themselves do a little more work. My family have been so patient with me this year. I'd like everything that I put into place in 2012 to start to work for itself a little. I deserve that, and my family deserves that.

So that will be my motto for 2013 - CHILL OUT. Hold me to it, because I will need reminding :)

Dianna xxx

My 2013 plan

With us getting closer to Christmas - as in it is 2 weeks tomorrow. Yay! - I keep hearing the same comment from both customers and family in concern to a number of things; such as diets, career decisions etc. "Start in the new year. Wait until after Christmas."

What is it about the new year that makes us so excited? What is it about the beginning of the year that makes us hopeful, and ready to start a fresh?

Well, clearly it is because it is a brand new year, because it's another twelve months worth of possibilities.

It seems a little in sane really. It's just another year filled with the same months, but then again it is another year in our lives, and who knows what will happen?

I suppose I am a little early with this post since there is still three years until we roll into 2013 - where has the year gone? - but since the end of the year is looming I find myself naturally having to make plans in regards to projects next year. Feeling positive about work and how much I will - hopefully - complete and achieve.

The plan as it stands at the moment is as follows:

I plan to have my short contemporary erotic story "Truth or Dare?" finished by the end of this month so I can edit it and submit it in January.

My first erotic thriller novella has been contracted with Secret Cravings Publishing and will be released early 2013; either February or April. More news on that when I have it.

I'm hoping to have a clearer idea of the length of my other WIP "Let Me In," so that I can finish it - as I have 5k already - and get that edited and submitted early 2013.

But my biggest goal for next year is to self-publish the two interlocking books that will be kick starting my new series, "Generation-Breed."

This series is a bit of a genre mash-up and I don't know where it will land at the moment. It is a futuristic dystopian series with splashes of paranormal, and a superhero feel. I'm very excited about this series, and I can't wait to share it with you. I have already started these books. I will admit I've hit a wall, but I am determined to get through it because I love the world, and I love my main characters. And I think you ladies will like Christopher, and a lot. ;-P I don't have a date for it yet, but I'm hoping to have both books published before August 2013.

Last but not least, I hope to have Book 2 in The Blood Series written, and hopefully completed. The book is currently untitled, but I have already started planning, and I look forward to the progression of Heather and Brendan's adventure.

So, that is hopefully what I will accomplish next year.

What are your plans? What do you wish to achieve next year? Is there anything you're looking forward too?

Releasing The Past...

Firstly, my apologies for not posting yesterday. I had every intention of doing so in the evening, but I overestimated myself.

I was at a funeral yesterday - a family member's funeral. My partner's mother. My daughter's grandmother. And the service was beautiful, as was the woman it was for. I will never forget, and will always be grateful for, the way she welcomed me into the family with open arms :)

Perhaps it is needless to say that by the end of the day I was exhausted (obviously we all were), but I was, and I didn't think I would be quite as exhausted as I was. I still am in fact. My mind is wandering, I'm restless (despite being tired) and I can't seem to focus on any one thing.

I have Rogue Rider sitting here waiting for me to read it. It's been here for damn near a month now, but I have not been able to start it. I want to. I'd like to chill out for a few hours and read a book from a favourite author straight through, but for some reason, I'm anxious about relaxing. I guess it's because for the past month, we haven't really been able to. So now, it feels strange to...

Cry Of The Wolf is banging away inside my head ready to explode. I just know that when I write it, it'll all come pouring out - it has that feel to it - but I'm not in the right place to write at the moment.

Releasing The Wolf has done really well on publication and I'm over the moon :) Looking back, I'm not entirely sure how I got it finished, but writing can be like that. When you do it, you're in it one hundred percent.

I'm sure I'm being impatient with myself (as usual). I need to let go of everything for a bit and quiet my mind.

So this is me gone for the rest of the night: I am going to attempt Rogue Rider - finally. May the power of words do its thing. If it does, you won't hear from me tomorrow morning either ;)

Dianna x

Christmas . . .

Is like three weeks tomorrow! Where has the year gone; like seriously? I remember taking my tree down at the beginning of the year. God, it freaks me out how fast time is flying man, it really does.

But in saying that I am totally looking forward to Christmas. I love the fact that you can really feel the season. Something in the air changes and you just suddenly feel all warm and cosy. I love it.

Today I put the tree up. I hate going in the attic for it, but I did, and I'm happy to say I didn't get a giant spider on my head. Yay! Putting the lights on the damn thing always stresses me out, because they are made in a hoop instead of one long line, but needless to say, I did it and it looks pretty. I now have a whole month of telling my cat off for deep-throating the bristles, but unfortunately it has become a tradition in itself. What can I say, my cat is a weirdo.

What about you; is your tree up? Or do you do the twelve day before thing, and the twelve days after?

I get why people do that, but in my opinion December is tree month. So, tree goes up on the December 1st and then comes down on January 1st. I was just a couple days late putting it up this year, but never mind.

Christmas shopping is almost done. I'm on the ball this year, thank god. Last minute Christmas shopping is a super pain in the ass. I have my cards all written out. All I have to do is start sending parcels so they get to their destinations on time.

Needless to say, I am totally ready for Christmas! I even dug out my 3 disc Christmas Compilation album. My fave christmas song isn't on it, which is just typical really.

Wham - Last Christmas

What can I say? It's catchy. I know the lyrics. It's sad, but a little hopeful, and then at the same time realistic.

What's your favourite Christmas song? Are you all ready and excited for Christmas day?