Blog, Writing, and Life Updates

Hi guys!

Some of you may have noticed my posts have been really sporadic over the last few months. I wish I had a big, exciting reason like I was traveling or something, but I've just been here, working away, as usual. I'll admit, I've lost some of my passion for blogging, and with so much else to do, it's taken a back burner. I don't want to give up the blog entirely, because I love it, and I love this community, so I'm hoping to get back to a regular blogging schedule this fall. To motivate myself to blog regularly, I'll likely be branching out from just posting reviews and other bookish things to talking more about my writing and general life stuff. 

Speaking of writing...I'm hard at work on my sixth novel, Take Them by Storm. This is the third book in the Angel Island companion series. For those of you who read After the Storm, you'll likely remember Sadie - this is her book. It's been a ton of fun to write, mostly because it's a huge departure from what I normally write. It starts almost a year after Ella's book ends, with Sadie moving away from Angel Island to start college. While I've written New Adult before, this is my first college book, and it's my first LGBT book, which is both exciting and terrifying. So many people have told me they loved Sadie in After the Storm, which makes me incredibly happy, but it's also slightly daunting. I feel like I have a lot to live up to, but I think (and hope!) you guys will like Take Them by Storm. You can add the book to your GoodReads TBR here. If all goes well, I should be finished the first draft in the next week or so, and then I'll be working on the cover, which means a cover reveal! Then it'll be time for edits, beta readers, ARCs, a blog tour, etc. Keep an eye on the blog for more information!

Speaking of the Angel Island series...right now, Waiting for the Storm is up against four other covers in a Cover Wars competition at Author Shout. I'm currently in second place, so I need your help if I'm going to win! I'd be so grateful if you'd take a minute and vote for Waiting for the Storm. You can do this once daily. Also, if you'd like a chance to read Waiting for the Storm and After the Storm for free, in exchange for an honest review, I have the books up for a Read to Review on the YA & NA Romance GoodReads group.

And finally, if you enjoy mystery with romance and humour, be sure to enter for a chance to win an ebook of Lucky Catch by Deborah Coonts (open internationally).

What's new with you? How was your summer? Are you looking forward to fall (or summer, depending where you are in the world)?

 
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What's Happening #8

What's Happening is a weekly recap post every Thursday or Friday, in which I talk about what I'm reading, writing, blogging about, and what's been going on in my life. It takes the place of my former weekly recap post, Update Thursday. 

 

 NOTHING. It's been a slow week! I am now officially no longer 'ahead' in my GoodReads Yearly Challenge (although I'm on track, which is the next best thing). I liked being ahead though!

 

 

Friends 'Til the End by David Wild {GoodReads} 

The Winter Sea by Susanna Kearsley {GoodReads} 

Madly by M. Leighton {GoodReads}

Walk Away With Me by Darby Davenport {GoodReads}

 

• I posted an ebook edition of Stacking the Shelves 

• I posted a review of Things I Can't Forget by Miranda Kenneally as part of the Xpresso Blog Tour and gave it 4 stars

• I participated in Top Ten Tuesday this week and talked about ten books I HAD to buy but still haven't read

• I posted my first 5 star review of the year: Bonnie of Evidence by Maddy Hunter, and then I had the great pleasure of interview Maddy the next day 

• I weighed in on the recent drama circling the blogosphere about author/blogger relationships

Posts on my other blog:

Saturday Smiles #1

First Road Trip of the Year

• Elsewhere in the blogosphere: Molli from Once Upon a Prologue and Suz from A Soul Unsung are hosting an Anna and the French Kiss read-along. I read Anna in 2011 and have been wanting to reread it for ages, so I signed up. It's going to be a lot of fun!

It's been kind of a weird week. I'm still recovering from the bulging disc in my back and it feels like it's going so. Freaking. Slow. I'm trying hard not to get frustrated at being so limited in things I can do.

 

In happy news, I finished final revisions of WAITING FOR THE STORM. My proofreader started the final read-through today and hopefully by next week I'll have ARCs for reviewers! I'm once again pushing it close to the deadline since the book comes out in just a little over two weeks. One of these days I'll be better organized and will have my books ready for review several weeks in advance!

 

That's pretty much it for me this week. I hope you've all had a great week! Any plans for the weekend? Special blog posts you're working on and want to share? I'd love to hear from you!

 

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What's Happening #7

What's Happening is a weekly recap post every Thursday or Friday, in which I talk about what I'm reading, writing, blogging about, and what's been going on in my life. It takes the place of my former weekly recap post, Update Thursday.

Hi guys! I didn't have time to post an update last week because the blog's been pretty busy with reviews, blog tours, and discussion posts, so I have two weeks worth of updates for you.

  Forever, Interrupted by Taylor Jenkins Reid {GoodReads}

None of the Regular Rules by Erin Downing {GoodReads}

Someday, Someday, Maybe by Lauren Graham {GoodReads}

That Summer by Sarah Dessen {GoodReads}

How Zoe Made Her Dreams (Mostly) Come True by Sarah Strohmeyer {GoodReads}

 

Friends 'Til the End by David Wild {GoodReads} 

The Winter Sea by Susanna Kearsley {GoodReads}

I reviewed Deep Betrayal by Anne Greenwood Brown and gave it 3 stars

I participated in the cover reveal for Game. Set. Match. by Jennifer Iacopelli

I reviewed That Summer by Sarah Dessen as part of the Spring of Sarah Dessen Reading Challenge

I was part of the Simon & Schuster Canada blog tour for Lucy Clarke's debut novel Swimming at Night. I reviewed the book (gave it 4.5 stars) and did an interview with Lucy.

I signed up for the Rory Gilmore Reading Challenge. I've only read 18 of the 341 books - how many have you read?

I was part of Entangled Publishing's blog tour for A Little Bit Cupid by Jennifer Shirk. I reviewed the book and gave it 4 stars.

I reviewed The Statistical Probability of Love at First Sight by Jennifer E Smith and gave it 4.5 stars

I posted a discussion about books we loved as kids/teens and how we feel about them as adults

I reviewed The Perfect Hope by Nora Roberts and gave it 4.5 stars

I'm still on the mend from this stupid back injury (I talk more about it on my other blog), but I've been able to do a bit more lately, which is great. Tomorrow I'll be going with my sister-in-law and nephews to the library (I haven't been in six weeks, since the day I hurt myself), and we'll be meeting one of my friends and her son and step-daughters, so that should be fun.

Besides reading, I've been watching a lot of DVDs lately. I'm up to season eight of FRIENDS (we're really zooming through - there have been nights when we've watched five or six episodes), and I'm finally back to watching Supernatural. I also finally got series one of Doctor Who because everyone (one Whovian in particular) keeps telling me I need to watch it and my library actually had it. I've only watched one episode so far but I'm hoping to watch more tonight!

Other than that, I'm very slowly getting through final revisions of WAITING FOR THE STORM. It comes out in just three weeks and I'm starting to panic because it's taking me so long to get through it (the edits aren't the hard part, it's sitting at the computer that's the issue). I'm hoping to get review copies out soon, and I'll also be posting teasers, excerpts, and extras (like the playlist) on my author blog soon!

I hope you're all having a great week! Anything new going on in your life? Plans for the weekend?

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What's Happening #6 + RCC Update #2

What's Happening is a weekly recap post every Thursday or Friday, in which I talk about what I'm reading, writing, blogging about, and what's been going on in my life. It takes the place of my former weekly recap post, Update Thursday.

Happy Friday, guys! It's been a quiet couple of weeks here on the blog. As some of you already know, I have a back injury that's been preventing me from spending much time on the computer. I didn't do a weekly update last week so I'm doubling up, but since there were quite a few days where I didn't have anything scheduled, there aren't a ton of posts to catch up on. 

 

The Water Witch by Juliet Dark {GoodReads}

Sacred Celtic Places by Iain Zaczek {GoodReads}

A Little Bit Cupid by Jennifer Shirk {GoodReads}

The Archived by Victoria Schwab {GoodReads}

Poison Princess by Kresley Cole {GoodReads}

Forever, Interrupted by Taylor Jenkins Reid {GoodReads}

None of the Regular Rules by Erin Downing {GoodReads}

Friends 'Til the End by David Wild {GoodReads}

I reviewed Mind Games by Kiersten White and gave it 3.5 stars

I posted the signups for The Spring of Sarah Dessen Reading Challenge. It's pretty lonely - nobody has signed up yet! *makes sad, pleading face*

I reviewed The Water Witch by Juliet Dark and gave it 3.5 stars

I reviewed Notorious Nineteen by Janet Evanovich and gave it 4 stars

Well...February is turning out to be a looong month. The three and a half weeks since I hurt my back feel like three and a half months. I'm getting way behind in everything (I haven't touched WAITING FOR THE STORM all month but I need to get started on final revisions so I can start sending it out to reviewers and get working on a blog tour). I don't want to sound like a whiner because I know there are people who live with pain every single day and who have it far worse than I do, and I know how lucky I am, I just get frustrated at times. I'm finally starting to get caught up in emails and I'm hoping to schedule a bunch of blog posts for the next couple weeks. I've gotten quite a bit of reading done, so that's one plus.

I've been watching a lot of FRIENDS. It's my go-to show when I need a pick-me-up. It's always been my favourite show; I own all 10 seasons and have watched them countless times, but not for a few years. It just never gets old and never fails to make me laugh. 

  

Review Copy Cleanup is hosted by Vicky from Books, Biscuits, and Tea, and Celine from Nyx Book Reviews

Weekly Update:

Bonnie of Evidence by Maddy Hunter (physical copy) 
The Water Witch by Juliet Dark (ebook)
None of the Regular Rules by Erin Downing (ebook) (Currently reading)  
The Firebird by Susanna Kearsley (physical copy)
Entanglement by Dan Rix (ebook)
A Little Bit Cupid by Jennifer Shirk (ebook)
Quicksilver by RJ Anderson (physical copy)
Someday, Someday, Maybe by Lauren Graham (ebook)
Nantucket Blue by Leila Howland (ebook)
Greta and the Goblin King by Chloe Jacobs (ebook)
Chantress by Amy Butler Greenfield (ebook)

Forever, Interrupted by Taylor Jenkins Reid (Currently reading)

 

I've read 3 review books so far and my pile keeps growing. I've added another 5 review books this week alone but I'm not going to add them to my list since there are already more than I can get through in the next week and a bit. I'm hoping to at least finish the two I'm currently reading before the end of the month.

What's new with you? What are you reading? Are you planning on watching the Oscars this Sunday?

Have a great weekend!

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What's Happening #5 + RCC Update #1

What's Happening is a weekly recap post every Thursday or Friday, in which I talk about what I'm reading, writing, blogging about, and what's been going on in my life. It takes the place of my former weekly recap post, Update Thursday. 

Happy Friday, darlings! Here's what's been happening this week:

 
 Incarnate by Jodi Meadows {GoodReads}
Bonnie of Evidence by Maddy Hunter {GoodReads}  
Will & Kate by Alice Hudson {GoodReads}

The Water Witch by Juliet Dark {GoodReads}

Sacred Celtic Places by Iain Zaczek {GoodReads}

I signed up for Review Copy Cleanup 3.0 and posted my goals

I revealed the cover for my upcoming novel, WAITING FOR THE STORM

I reviewed Incarnate by Jodi Meadows and gave it 4.5 stars

I posted my thoughts on rereading books and asked you guys to weigh in with your thoughts

I'm participating in the Wicked Valentine's Read-a-thon 

*My youngest nephew, Logan, turned 3 on Monday. We had a party for him on Sunday, then my mum and I had him over for awhile on Monday while my brother and sister-in-law went to a doctor's appointment to check up on baby #3.

*Last week I hurt my back really bad, and I've been in a lot of pain ever since and have had trouble walking (and just functioning in general). It's hard to sit at the computer so I'm getting behind on a lot of stuff, which sucks. You'd think it would be a good chance to get a lot of reading done, but I think the pain has addled my brain somewhat lol. I'm going to try to get a couple books read over the weekend for the read-a-thon and Review Copy Cleanup.

*I'm one of thirty authors taking part in the Better Than Chocolate Books for a Buck Hop. I've reduced the price of both BLUE SKY DAYS and THE GAME CHANGER to just 99 cents for today and tomorrow only. This is the first time I've reduced the price of THE GAME CHANGER since publishing it in November. Be sure to check out the post for 35 books in a variety of genres that have been reduced to 99 cents for the hop.

  

Review Copy Cleanup is hosted by Vicky from Books, Biscuits, and Tea, and Celine from Nyx Book Reviews

Weekly Update:

Bonnie of Evidence by Maddy Hunter (physical copy) 
The Water Witch by Juliet Dark (ebook) (Currently reading) 
None of the Regular Rules by Erin Downing (ebook) (Currently reading)  
The Firebird by Susanna Kearsley (physical copy)
Entanglement by Dan Rix (ebook)
A Little Bit Cupid by Jennifer Shirk (ebook)
Quicksilver by RJ Anderson (physical copy)
Someday, Someday, Maybe by Lauren Graham (ebook)
Nantucket Blue by Leila Howland (ebook)
Greta and the Goblin King by Chloe Jacobs (ebook)
Chantress by Amy Butler Greenfield (ebook)

What's new with you? What are you reading? Do you have a blog post you're particularly proud of this week? Feel free to link me up so I can check it out. Have a great weekend!

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