I was fortunate enough to attend the first-ever PennedCon in St. Louis this past weekend. Simply stated, it was an amazing experience and I would return in a heartbeat as they continue to grow.

I mean, it’s not everyday you’re sitting in a hotel lobby and have a New York Times bestseller pull up a seat next to you and start chatting. Or you have the chance to meet other passionate readers that are now called friends. Or heck, chat it up with a bunch of bloggers in the parking garage while the rest of your new found friends think you’ve been kidnapped.

Sunday morning I left St. Louis with a wealth of knowledge from the panels and one-on-one conversations I had with other authors in addition to a boatload of inspiration. Hearing Jack & Jasinda Wilder talk about their road to self publishing…and Abbi Glines discuss struggling with her work-life balance…and how Tara Sivec deals with the online haters…it just put everything into the right perspective. And it makes me feel so proud (and protective) of this wonderful indie community that I’ve been a part of as a reader…and soon to be a part of as a writer.

PennedCon in the future is an absolute must for anyone who is a fan of the indie market.

And in other news…I am two very short weeks away from hitting publish. And that is probably one of the most frightening things I’ve typed out in a while.

I have no words…except ZOMG THIS COVER IS AMAZING AND BEAUTIFUL AND I CANNOT WAIT FOR EVERYONE TO MEET PHOENIX AND IVY!

Enter the giveaway for a chance to win an ARC or a $10 Amazon gift card!

Seriously. I am so in love with this cover. And once you read Love Nouveau you’ll see just how perfect the design is for the story.

A huge shout out to Naj of Najla Qamber Designs for taking one simple idea and turn it into a beautiful work of art! I cannot wait for this to grace bookshelves. If anyone is looking for a cover designer…I highly recommend working with her.

And, of course, massive thanks to Bestselling Author L.B. Simmons for reading Love Nouveau and sharing such a wonderful quote for the cover. If you haven’t read The Resurrection of Aubrey Miller you need to check it out. It’s one of my favorite reads this year. And finally, thank you to Chicks Controlled by Books blogger Erycka Thesing for sharing such amazing feedback and providing me with such a thoughtful back cover quote.

Be sure to add Love Nouveau to your Goodreads Bookshelf! We’re only a few weeks away from the big release and we’ll have lots of giveaways coming soon!

Today was one of those days.

You know the one.

It was the kind of day you want to bottle up and stuff safely into your pocket for one of those stormy moments when you’re sad and lonely and crave that little single ray of sunshine to break through the clouds and cascade down to earth in an ethereal glow.

A day with enough sunshine to make the town miser crack a sly grin.

A day where thunderstorms were in the forecast every.hour.on.the.hour. And the sunshine was so resilient and stubborn that it refused to be ignored. And so lightness overcame the dark.

It was that kind of day.

A very good day indeed.

So I’ve been neglecting this little space of the interwebs lately. Mea culpa. I’ve been in and out of edits and second round beta reads lately.

BUT…

I have been receiving a lot questions lately. So I thought I’d take the opportunity to bring folks up to speed with some of the more common questions…

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1. Writing a book is arguably the most selfish thing I have ever done. I am truly fortunate to have people in my life who have allowed me to chase down this dream. Namely my husband. Because without him the first words would never have been typed. Our kids would be starving. And I would be living in a pile dirty clothes on the cusp of being turned over to the hygiene authorities. That man deserves a medal of honor and I have no idea how I got so stupidly lucky that he picked me out of all the women in the world. One million thank you’s cannot even begin to express my love and appreciation of him.

2. When you see a pre-made cover you like. Don’t hesitate. Just buy the damn thing.

3. When you see the next best pre-made cover you like even more than the first. Don’t hesitate again. Just buy the damn thing.

4. When all else fails with covers, be open minded to handing over creative license and see what the designer can create for you. I have complete faith that this approach will pay off. :fingers crossed:

5. Editors are worth their weight in gold. If you think you don’t need one you’re only fooling yourself. And when you find one you mesh with, hold onto him/her for dear life. How I hit it outta the park on my first try I’ll never know, but she’s amazeballs.

6. Blurbs are stupid hard to write. But oh, so rewarding to finally have hammered out. And sitting on it like a little secret is driving me crazy!

7. Just when you think you know what your title is…you don’t.

8. Figure out marketing sooner rather than later. And don’t hesitate to call in the big guns to figure it out for you.

9. Taking my time to navigate the indie waters has proved to be the smartest decision I’ve ever made. I know the final piece is going to look beautiful, legit and professional. It’s crazy how some folks think they can crank out a novel, self-publish the same week, and expect it to be a best seller.

10. It takes a whole damn village. At least it does for me. My acknowledgments section is going to be so damn long.

You stupid book blurb,
why can’t you write your damn self?
Oh, how I loathe thee!

I have come to find out that writing the book blurb is arguably more challenging than writing the book itself. Hook your reader, but don’t give away anything. Elicit emotion, but only enough to make them want more. Be provocative, but not too much. Introduce the character and hint at their conflict, but don’t solve any problems. Oh, and do it all in a matter of 150(ish) words.

But the most amusing thing about the book blurb? I keep mistyping it to be boob blurb.

Freud would have a field day with that one.

There may or may not have been some tears involved and a high-pitched sound that only the neighborhood dogs could hear. But I just wrote those two little words I’ve been chasing for months…

The End.