2019 First Quarter Check-In

Anyone else find it hard to believe we’re already a quarter of the way through 2019? January and February moved along at a slow but steady pace for me, while March flew by. I wish I could say the weather was spring-like in my little corner of Ontario, but considering we’ve had snow on and off the last few days, we’re not quite there yet. 2019 has been a great year for me so far. I’ve made some big changes in my life, especially pertaining to my physical and mental health. I’ve created a morning routine - 30+ minutes of exercise, followed by yoga and meditation - that I’m really proud of. I’ve been working away at my current work in progress (a contemporary romance), I’ve been reading as much as I can, and I’ve succeeded at my goal of having one new blog post each week. Here’s a closer look at what the first quarter of 2019 looked like for me: *I wrote 50,000 words on my current WIP. I’m so close to being finished the first draft!
*It’s been a weird reading year for me. I’ve completed 11 books, but have had 10 DNFs. Ten! Of the books I’ve read, my favourites have been: -Happy New You by Brenda St John Brown, Cassie-Ann L Miller, Ceri Grenelle, Elizabeth Lynx, Jami Albright, Julia Wolf, Laura Lee, Marika Ray, Mya Martin, Nikky Kaye, and Sylvie Stewart -Hold Me Today by Maria Luis -The Upside of Falling Down by Rebekah Crane -At the Mountain’s Edge by Genevieve Graham You can see all my 2019 books (both read and DNFs) here. *On the blog: -Thoughts on How You Want to be Known in Life and How You Want to be Remembered -Spring Cleaning Isn’t Just For Your Home. Here’s How to Spring Clean Your Life Too -7 Books to Satisfy Your Ireland Wanderlust -2019: The Year of Big Life Changes -Experiencing Jealousy as an Author And How To Turn It Into Something Positive -One Day in December by Josie Silver: Did it Live Up to the Hype? -2018: A Year in Review *TV shows I’ve watched and loved: I haven’t been watching much TV this year, but I did watch Bodyguard and Medici: Masters of Florence in March (and I’ll admit both were 100% because Richard Madden was the star). I particularly loved Bodyguard and talked about some of the reasons why here.

Looking ahead at the next quarter of 2019:

*I’ll be finishing and publishing my WIP. I have a title and a publication date in mind, but I’m keeping quiet about both for now. Stay tuned for more details! Once that’s finished, I have a *secret project* I’m excited to work on. I can give you a few hints: it's a series of three books, probably novellas, and they’re romantic comedies.

*I’ll be doing some not-too-far travelling. Next month I’ll be spending a weekend with my bestie in my favourite Canadian city, Kingston, along with the Nation’s Capital, Ottawa. We’re planning to do a day at the Tulip Festival. I love Ottawa and I haven't been there in over a decade, plus I've always wanted to go to the Tulip Festival. In June, I’ll be spending a weekend in Toronto with another friend, attending a 90s Nostalgia Dance Party. If you know me at all, you'll know I live for 90s music. So much so, in fact, that in my last book, Only You, the main character Ivy was obsessed with 90s music too. I’m excited beyond words about both these things!
*I’m going to continue focusing on my health and wellbeing. My body craves movement now, and I love the changes I’m seeing in my body, and how much better I feel. Meditation and journaling have also led to a vast improvement in my mental health. I’m much calmer, less anxious, less stressed, and I find it easier to just roll with things.

How were the first three months of 2019 for you? Do you have anything big planned for the next quarter of the year?

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Changes at Ramblings of a Daydreamer

Week before last I put up a notice that the blog was under construction because of how Photobucket’s new Terms & Conditions were forcing people to pay $400 for 3rd party hosting and it had screwed up my entire blog. I’ve been blogging for almost seven years now, and nearly all my pictures (we're talking hundreds and hundreds) are hosted on Photobucket, which left my blog looking like a hot mess. Since each of my posts has several graphics, my entire blog is filled with these ugly things:

AAAAARRRRRGGGGGHHHHH!!!!!

To say I was distraught is a massive understatement.

This situation forced me to think not only about the blog, but also about my writing and my reading habits. At the end of last year, I debated whether to continue with Ramblings of a Daydreamer. Readership was low, and I got next to no comments, even if a blog post had a ton of views. I wondered if I was wasting my time, but I decided to give it one last shot, and I ended up enjoying blogging for the first six months of 2017.

Now, though...it’s not that I no longer enjoy it, it’s just that I realize it’s time to make some changes. For the last several years, at least 3/4 of the books I've read have been review books. I feel incredibly fortunate to have had access to so many ARCs directly through publishers and through sites like Edelweiss and Netgalley. I’ve loved working with authors as well, and have discovered some of my favourite books because I’ve been given the opportunity to read the books for free in exchange for honest consideration.

But it’s time consuming. And it can be stressful. It’s left me wishing for more time to read the books I want to read that don’t have deadlines for reviews. Some of the dozens and dozens of books I’ve bought/won/been gifted over the years that sit forlornly on my shelf, getting very little attention unless it’s to photograph them.

Then there’s my author blog. Ohhh, my poor, pathetic, neglected author blog. I never posted there regularly, but my last post was over two years ago! *cringes* I’ve kept the book info up to date, but haven’t made any effort to post there, and now I have the same problem of it looking like a mess thanks to PB.

So I’ve come to a decision. I’m going to slowly transition Ramblings of a Daydreamer into a more general blog.

What can you expect?

•  Occasional book reviews and bookish posts like lists, discussions, maybe even a meme here and there. I’m planning to focus more on promoting the books and authors I love rather than reviewing every single book I read whether I loved or hated it. That will take a massive amount of stress and pressure off my shoulders and free up more time for writing and reading.
   

• More posts about writing - my own (updates, teasers, etc) and in general (tips, advice, self-publishing info, etc).
  
  

• More personal posts. Stuff that's going on in my life, things I like, maybe even a few photo essays thrown in.

I've gone through several pages of posts, fixing them with new pictures. The only good thing about this happening is that I've always wished my graphics were the same size, and now I can redo them so everything is uniform and looks more professional. It would take me forever to do the entire blog, so I'm not even going to make that a goal. I hate that some of it will always look horrible and have blank spaces, but there's no way I can go through 1000+ posts and redo them all. I've also designed a brand new header, and I'm in the process of redoing and streamlining all my pages.

This way, I won’t be giving up a blog I’ve worked hard on for 7 years. I also won’t feel as much pressure to write reviews and read a gazillion ARCs (which is largely my own fault; I’ve been saying for years I was going to cut back and I never do). Plus I won’t feel as bad about my neglected author blog because Ramblings of a Daydreamer will be an all-in-one deal.

I’m aware I might lose followers through this transition, but that’s a risk I’m willing to take. I want to love this blog and be passionate about it and proud of it. I’m hoping readers, both old and new, will follow along and be more willing to engage (I know I need to do my part and start commenting more on other people's blogs). Numbers don’t mean anything when no one is reading or commenting on your posts.

I want to help and inspire as well as entertain, and I’ll do my best to do all of that and more. Thank you to those who stick with me through this new adventure.

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SOMETHING IN THE AIR Release Day!

Something in the Air hits virtual bookshelves today!

I’m so excited that Rose and Declan’s story is finally out in the world. This book has been a long time coming. I started writing it in the summer of 2013 and got stuck, so I decided to set it aside for awhile. ‘A while’ turned into almost two years, during which I wrote and published several other books. When I finally went back to Something in the Air, I had an amazing critique partner who helped me get through the issues I was having with the story so I could finally finish. After over two years of carrying Rose, Declan, and the other characters in my mind, this book feels like a labour of love. I really do love this story about self-discovery, friendship, love, and following your dreams, and I hope you’ll love it, too!

Add to GoodReads

When Rose Morgan put off her college plans to help her mother through a difficult time, she thought it would just be a bump in the road of her journey. She got a job to help pay the bills and started picking up the slack at home. But three years later, her bumpy ride hasn’t smoothed out yet, and Rose feels stuck. She’s working at a job she hates and living with a manipulative mother. She’s tired of feeling like her life has stalled, tired of the resentment and anger building inside her with each passing day.

Then Declan Connolly appears in her life, and even though the hot Irishman is seriously tempting, Rose is determined not to let him in. She’s afraid to suck anyone into her bizarre life, especially someone who seems too charming for his own good. She soon learns there’s more to Declan than his sexy accent and charismatic personality, though. He’s a good man, and he wants Rose in his life, baggage and all. He’s got his own, and he isn’t scared away like she originally feared he would be.

Everything in Rose’s life is changing quickly. It’s finally her time--time to figure out what she wants and what her future holds. Time to get swept off her feet and not fight it. But when her plans might take her away from all the amazing new things in her life, including Declan, Rose has to make a choice. Is she willing to chase her dreams, even if it means letting go of love?

 

• Amazon US
• Amazon Canada
• Amazon UK
• Barnes & Noble
• iBooks
• Kobo
• Smashwords

The Something in the Air release week book blitz, hosted by YA Bound Book Tours, started yesterday. The blitz includes a special giveaway with goodies related to the book. You can check out the main blitz post and enter the giveaway here.

Annnnd I have another giveaway! Want to win a Something in the Air swag pack that includes a signed postcard, some mini bookmarks, a bottle cap charm (made by Jessica Sankiewicz - aka my bestie! - at Impulsivities), and a Celtic knot charm? Enter below! Open internationally. 

 

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Thank you so much to everyone who has helped me get here, whether it's by reading early drafts, cheering me on while writing, leaving comments on the blog, buying my books, reading and reviewing ARCs...it all matters, it all means the world to me, and I'm so grateful.

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NaNoWriMo 2015: Update #1

Toward the end of October when I saw everyone talking about NaNoWriMo, I decided to give in and try again. I participated (and ‘won’) in 2012 and 2013, and since I have a few new(ish) projects, I figured I could join the fun (*cough* insanity *cough*) and use the time to really focus on my writing, cheer on other people, and have other people cheer me on.

My NaNoWriMo Projects

I’m doing this in an unconventional way, but words are words, and I figure as long as I hit 50,000 by November 30th, it doesn’t matter how, right? So I’m starting with a short story that’s a follow-up to my book Something in the Air (which comes out next Tuesday!). It’s set around Christmastime in London, and it’s basically reading like a love letter to London, which I'm okay with. ;-) 

Once that’s done, I’ll be going back to my NaNoWriMo project from 2012. Heh...yeah. I got to 50,000 words three years ago and abandoned the story because I was so stressed and I thought it sucked (even though it really didn’t). The main character has been nattering away at me for the last few months, so I’m finally going to finish her story. I have a lot of rewriting to do (like changing the story from third person to first, adding in all the details I’ve come up with over the past three years, and changing a few of the plot points). A lot of it will initially be rewriting, but I’ll eventually get to actual writing. This one is a contemporary YA, and it involves a character who’s been seen before in a couple of my books...but that’s all I’m going to say for now! Its working title is ‘Dark Side’ because the main character is worried she has a hidden dark side, like a certain family member of hers, and when I first heard the song Dark Side by Kelly Clarkson, it got stuck in my head and I started referring to the story that way, even though I doubt the title will stick.

Week 1 Word Count

• November 1st: 2,033

• November 2nd: 2,345

• November 3rd: 0

• November 4th: 0

• November 5th: 0 - UGH, FAIL!

Total: 4,378

Where I should be: 8,330

What happened?! 

Well, it's fairly simple. This week has been CRAZY. With release week for Something in the Air being next week, I have guest posts to write, interview questions to answer, graphics to design, and a million other little things to do. I thought I was caught up and would be able to concentrate on writing, but between that and real life stuff, it wasn't the case. Throw in the fact that early in the week my bff asked if I would come cat/house-sit for her all next week, and I've been scrambling to get stuff done around here, make sure posts are scheduled for next week on Facebook, Twitter, and the blog, plus do a bunch of RL stuff. She lives out of town, and my anxiety will likely prevent me from going out much (or at all) once she's away. She's picking me up on Sunday and she'll be there until Wednesday morning, then gone until Friday night, so I'll be on my own in her apartment for three full days and two nights. But because I'll be on my own for most of the week (she'll be working Monday and Tuesday before leaving Wednesday morning), I'm confident I can get a lot of writing done and catch up to where I should be with my daily numbers and overall goal.

Are you participating in NaNoWriMo 2015? I'd love to cheer you on if you are! Feel free to add me as a buddy. Let's talk here or on Twitter!

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5 Days of Angel Island Day 1: Series Fun Facts

Today is the release of The Complete Angel Island Series - a box set that includes all three of my Angel Island companion novels, Waiting for the Storm, After the Storm, and Take Them by Storm. For this week only you can get the set for just $2.99 - that's all three books for the price of one! If you're curious about the series and haven't started it yet, or if you've read one but not the other two, now would be a great time to give them a try!

To celebrate the release of the box set, I'm dedicating this week to posts about the series. Today I'm kicking things off with some fun facts from the books.

• There is an Angel Island (which I didn't know until recently; I believe it's in California), but my Angel Island is a fictional place in the Thousand Islands area of Ontario. It's a combination of Amherst Island and Wolf Island (two real islands - my Grama was born and raised on Amherst Island), and just plain old imagination.

• Waiting for the Storm wasn't the first book I set on Angel Island. In my teens, I wrote a book about a girl who spent the summer with her grandmother on Angel Island, where she made new friends, discovered some family secrets, and fell in love. That book will never see the light of day, but I fell in love with my own fictional island and wanted to use it again. I chose the name 'Angel Island' because I was obsessed with Buffy the Vampire Slayer and I went on a kick where every story I wrote incorporated the name Angel in some way - haha!

• A few reviewers assumed I got the name Ezra from Pretty Little Liars, but I actually just started watching PLL this month (side note: I'm obsessed). I’ve always loved the name Ezra. There was a band in the 90s called Better Than Ezra, plus Larry Mullen Jr (the drummer from U2, my favourite band) has a son named Ezra.

• All of my characters carry some small trace of me, but Charlotte is the character who's most like me. She's a book blogger, she loves to write, her family is her life, and she has a lot of the same anxieties I do. It seems kinda narcissistic to say Charlotte is my favourite character since she is so much like me, but I feel very protective of her and she has a special place in my heart. I loved watching her grow, change, and learn throughout the series, and become braver and stronger than she ever thought she could be.

• I wrote Waiting for the Storm in 20 days. It's the fastest I've ever written a novel. I started it less than a year after my Grama died, when I was still drowning in grief and trying to focus on work to take my mind off how much I missed her. A lot of my books are emotional, but this is the one that truly feels like I cut myself open and bled onto the pages - Charlotte's grief, her anxiety, her dad's depression, that was all very real for me.

• Angel Island may be fictional, but Tyendinaga, the reserve River is from, is a real place. I live just a few minutes away from there, so I thought it was fitting. River is a proud member of the Mohawks of Bay of Quinte.

• Anyone who's read my women's fiction book The Game Changer, will likely recognize Bellevue and a few of the characters in Take Them by Storm. Bellevue is loosely based on the city I live in, and Loyola College, where Sadie and River go, is based on the college I went to. As much as I love Angel Island, it was a lot of fun diving back into Bellevue and having Sadie meet a few of my other characters. 

• I didn't set out to write a companion series. I had the idea for Charlotte's story and it poured from me with ease. I can't remember when I realized Ella would get her own story. She was horrible to Charlotte in the first book, and in my mind, she kept demanding a chance to redeem herself. I thought the books would be a duology, but then there was Sadie, and I knew she'd get her own story, too. She was just supposed to be a secondary character, a friend to Ella when she desperately needed one, but she ended up being a show-stealer and I knew she deserved her own book.

Buy The Complete Angel Island Series now

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I hope you enjoyed my fun facts about the Angel Island series! Be sure to come back tomorrow to see some pictures related to the stories.

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Preparing to Refill the Creative Well

No Wanderlust Wednesday today, although this ties in a somewhat, because I’ll be talking about my trip (3 weeks!).

2015 has been a strange year for me so far. This past winter kicked my ass. The weather made it hard for me to get out, or want to get out. I work from home, and most of the time I was happy to just stay in my nice warm apartment. But then it turned into something more...it turned into me not wanting to go out, and from there it turned into me not wanting to do anything. I would have been content staying in bed most of the time, and that was when I knew things needed to change. I couldn’t get motivated to do anything - write, blog, exercise...function normally. It was horrible, and I kept wondering what was wrong with me, telling myself I needed to get out of this funk, and blaming the weather for my lack of motivation. I talked to a couple friends about it, and for the most part, got very little support, care, or understanding. I think when you tell a close friend that you’re having trouble even getting out of bed, there would be at least a modicum of concern, if not support, but I had trouble finding it, which made things worse. That wasn’t the case with everyone, thank god, and I leaned on the friends who made me laugh, made me feel loved, and made time for me.

Things slowly got better. I focused on my upcoming trip, concentrated on the thought of getting away for two weeks, seeing and doing things I’ve always dreamed of seeing and doing, and being with a friend I’ve known my whole life. I don’t know what I would have done without that to look forward to the last few months.

My lack of motivation seriously affected my writing. In January, I pulled out a project I started during the summer of 2013, a book called Something in the Air. I'd abandoned it around 42,000 words because I had no idea where it was going. I started and finished a project or two in the meantime, and then I decided it was finally time to go back to Something in the Air. As soon as I started reading it, I realized it was better than I remembered - or gave myself credit for - and I actually didn’t change anything while reading it...but I still had no idea where it was going. After seeking advice from a friend and bouncing around ideas, the wheels finally started turning and I started writing again. It took a few more frustrating weeks until I really knew where the story was going, and I was excited that I was finally going to be able to write this story.

So why is it almost June and I’m still writing? Good question. I don’t really have an answer. I originally intended to publish Something in the Air on April 21st, but that didn’t happen. As of the time I’m writing this post, I’m at almost 65,000 words and hopefully fairly close to finishing. I just couldn’t find the motivation, no matter how much I wanted to write or knew I should write. It wasn’t happening. I wouldn’t call it writer’s block, because I knew what I wanted to write, it was more like an everything block, a lack of desire to do anything, even the things I love most.

Then the other night, I had a revelation: my creative well is running low. My life has been so monotonous for so long; I’ve lacked new experiences, new places, new adventures, new people. I stare at the same four walls every day, I see and talk to the same people, I shop at the same stores, I go the same places. When I finally realized this, it was like a huge weight had been lifted from my shoulders. I was beginning to feel like a complete failure, but once I had this revelation, I knew there was so much more under the surface of simply feeling a unmotivated.

It’s been years since I’ve been on a big adventure, and I’m so ready. I’ve waited a really long time for this and I’m both excited and nervous. I know this is something I need to do for so many reasons, and I’m hoping that seeing and doing new things, having new experiences, and meeting new people will help refill my creative well and I’ll come home ready and able to write. To tackle new projects and push the boundaries. For years, I’ve had a bunch of ideas for stories set in different countries, but I’ve wanted to do first-hand research first, and now I finally get to.

This trip is pushing me outside my comfort zone in a lot of ways, but I know I need that. I need to carry that into my writing as well as other areas of my life. I need to make some big changes in my life, and I have a feeling this trip is going to be the beginning of great things. 

  

Have you ever felt like your creative well has run dry? What did you do to fix it? What do you to rekindle your creativity or keep it at a healthy level? Let's talk here or on Twitter!

   
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What Happened in January

We made it through the first month of 2015! How is everyone doing? Are you kicking butt with your goals/resolutions? Making plans for the rest of the year? Easing into something new?

January was a bit of a mixed bag for me - mostly good, but I didn't get quite as much accomplished as I'd hoped. I felt restless and unmotivated a lot, and I'm not sure why. Maybe it's because I had too much to do, and I didn't know where to begin and felt overwhelmed in a lot of ways. I was busy, always working away at stuff, but felt like I didn't get far with any of my projects. I'm hoping to turn it around in February, though, and really start working in earnest on my goals.

Here's what January 2015 looked like for me:

BLOG HIGHLIGHTS

My very first blog post of 2015 was reflections on 2014 and a look at the year ahead, including some of my main goals. I spent a lot of last year feeling stuck, being negative, and letting things (and people) who didn't matter have way too much of an impact on my life. I'm working hard to change that.

I celebrated my 3-year publication anniversary. I can't believe I've been a published author for 3 years! I talked a bit about my decision to self-publish, how it led me to make some amazing friends, and how I haven't regretted my decision to go indie.

I wrote a post about writing the types of books you want to read. I want to read more f/f LGBTQ books, particularly New Adult ones, and especially ones where same sex couples get a happy ending, so I wrote one. It wasn't easy - in fact, writing Take Them By Storm scared the shit out of me, but in the best ways possible. I want to continue challenging myself to write books with diversity, and hopefully fulfill a need for the types of books others want to read. This was also my first post for the Dive Into Diversity challenge.

WRITING

My 6th book came out on January 6th! Take Them by Storm is my first LGBTQ book, and the third book in the Angel Island companion series. I had a release day blitz, hosted by YA Bound Book Tours, and there's still a giveaway going for a $10 gift card. You can also win an Angel Island swag pack on Reading is My Treasure. 

Waiting for the Storm {Amazon || Kobo || Barnes & Noble}   
After the Storm {Amazon || Kobo || Barnes & Noble}

Take Them by Storm {Amazon || Kobo || Barnes & Noble}

I've been working away at my next book, called Something in the Air. I'm hoping to finish writing it in the next few weeks. In the meantime, I've added it to GoodReads, so add it to your TBR if it sounds like something you'd like to read. ;-)

LIFE STUFF...

I kicked off the month with a movie night with my friend Molli Moran. This was our second one - the first one was in December, and we watched The Santa Clause, and we did our third one last night, when we watched 13 Going on 30. If you'd like to join the next one, watch our hashtag on Twitter -#MolliAndMarieMovieNight. It's a lot of fun!

One of my few local(ish) friends came to visit on the first Saturday of the month. I hadn't seen her since last July, and even though the weather was terrible and she had an hour-long drive each way, she still came and spent ten hours with me. We talked, watched The Avengers (and drooled and squeed and fangirled over Tom Hiddleston), had a yummy dinner and ate a bunch of chocolate. It was exactly what I needed, and it was a great way to kick off a new year.  

My biggest news of the month is that I'm going to Europe this summer! I'm going with the friend I just mentioned. We'll be gone for two weeks, and we'll be visiting England, France, and Italy. The first three days and the final day we'll be on our own, and the other nine days we'll be doing a Contiki tour. I've been dreaming of this my whole life, and I still can't believe it's actually happening! Plans are coming together nicely - the trip is fully paid for, the flights have been booked, and by next week we'll have our insurance, plus a day trip booked, which I'll talk more about next month.

Books Read

*links lead to my review

Thornhill by Kathleen Peacock

Garden Spells by Sarah Addison Allen

Leave the Window Open by Victoria Schwab

First Frost by Sarah Addison Allen

My True Love Gave to Me ~ holiday anthology

I'll Meet You There by Heather Demetrios  

Between Everything and Us by Rebecca Paula

Every Breath by Ellie Marney
Rebound by Noelle August

Watched on TV

Basically the only thing I watched all month was How I Met Your Mother. I started watching about two months ago when my friend Jess sent me season one on DVD, and then I binge-watched the rest on Netflix. I loved this show so freaking much. It's only been a few days since I finished, but I'm already in major withdrawal. I have a lot of thoughts on the show in general, and the finale in particular, so I'm thinking I might write a blog post about it eventually, especially since I've been trying to  branch out from just book talk. Any other HIMYM fans out there?

   

That's my month in a nutshell. How was January for you? Did you do anything fun? What was the best book you read? What are you watching or listening to? Let's talk here or on Twitter!

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3 Years Ago...

Three years ago today, I published my first novel, Blue Sky Days.

Saying that feels surreal. The last three years have been a roller coaster. Being a published author has been my lifelong dream, and I still can't believe that dream came true.

This book, and getting it published, was a labour of love. I wrote the original draft when I was in my early twenties. I'd written other books, but this one was my favourite - it was the one I was proudest of. I sent it to a local publisher, who rejected it (thank god), and then I set it aside for about seven years. I wrote other stories in the meantime, and eventually started writing with a partner. We wrote a cozy mystery novel together, and started querying agents, but no one was interested. We talked about self-publishing, but it had a horrible reputation at the time, so we dismissed that idea pretty quickly.

Shortly after we parted ways as writing partners, I started writing on my own again. I dug out Blue Sky Days, reread it, and fell back in love with it. I did some research on self-publishing, and discovered it was becoming what appeared to be a viable option. I knew I could go through the process of querying again, but I wanted my story out in the world. I wanted people to read it, I wanted to touch people. I spent months researching self-publishing, reading countless articles and blogs, and finally decided it was the route I wanted to take. I spent several more months revising and polishing Blue Sky Days, having people read it and give feedback, then I sent it to an editor. I planned to publish it in September of 2011, but between my editor missing my deadline, and my beloved Grama's death, I decided to push the publication date back and be a 2012 debut author. 

The rest, as they say, is history. In the last three years, I've written and published more books, I've made amazing friends who range from fellow authors to bloggers to readers, and I've learned so much. It hasn't always been easy, but I haven't regretted my decision for a minute.

Thank you to all the people who have supported me over the last three years, either by buying my books, reading them, reviewing them, reading my blog, chatting with me on Twitter and Facebook, or cheering me on while I'm writing. Your support and encouragement keeps me going and means so much to me.

GoodReads

Emma Ward has always been the type of girl to approach life with a plan, but at nineteen, she's drifting aimlessly. She's spent so long trying to be perfect, and now she doesn’t have an identity beyond that. Desperate for a change, Emma jumps at the chance to leave Toronto and move in with her free-spirited Aunt Daisy in a town that makes Emma feel like she's stepped back in time.

Immediately at home in Riverview, Emma begins to bloom for the first time in her life. When she meets handsome and charming Nicholas Shaw, everything changes. Nicholas is old-fashioned, sexy, and believes in living life to the fullest. Soon Emma is doing things the old Emma never would have done, like jumping in rivers, or picking berries in the rain. She steps outside her comfort zone and falls in love for the first time. Between Daisy and Nicholas, Emma feels like she belongs somewhere for the first time in her life, and realizes you don't always need a plan—sometimes life steers you where you're meant to be.

Life is a wonderful string of blue sky days, until a sudden life-changing event shakes Emma to her core. Now it's time for her to help Nicholas the way he's helped her. Emma will have to use her new-found strength, and discover along the way if love really is enough to get you through.

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Writing the Books You Want to Read

You know how they say if you can’t find a book you want to read, you should write one? Obviously that’s not always an option since not everyone is a writer, and sometimes even writers don't think they can write the type of story they want to read, for whatever reason. 

It can be hard to find a book with a specific theme or type of character or even setting. I love LGBTQ books, and I’m always looking for more of them. I’ve read a few really good ones, but many of them tend to have similar themes. A lot of them are coming out stories, which are great - those books are needed, there’s no question of that. People need to see themselves in characters, whether they’re just realizing their sexual orientation, or they’re ready to come out, or they’ve been out for years. But I have to admit, I’m a bit tired of those stories, especially since so many of them are similar. There are also a lot of LGBTQ books with sad, bittersweet, or even tragic endings. I’ve read a few happy-for-now or happily-ever-after books, but a lot of stories leave me with a sour taste in my mouth, or feeling sad.

So what’s the solution? One of them is to keep reading LGBTQ books and hoping to find some really great ones that are different. Stories with characters who are out and proud, stories with positive portrayals of relationships. The other solution: write those books myself.

When I started writing After the Storm, I had no idea Sadie Fitzgerald, the main character’s new best friend, would become so real to me that she’d demand her own story. When I began turning the idea over in my mind, I knew she deserved her own story. She struggled a lot in After the Storm, but I wanted her to find happiness, find her place in the world, and also find love.

So Take Them by Storm was turned from a seed of an idea into a book. I took a lot of the things I’d been longing for in other books and included them in Sadie’s story. A few great YA LGBTQ books came out last year, and there are more coming out in 2015, but I wanted characters that were a bit older. Characters who aren’t afraid to make mistakes, learn from them, and get back up when they fall…or are pushed. Characters who don’t necessarily make the ‘right’ choices, but who own who they are and are proud of who they are. And, yeah, girls who kiss other girls, because I like that stuff. ;-) 

That’s Sadie. Her love story isn’t necessarily a conventional one. She doesn’t always make the ‘right’ choices...but I know I sure didn't make all the right choices when I was her age. But she’s smart, she’s creative, and she has a huge heart. She’s quirky and wonderfully weird, and she’s proud of who she is. She falls in love, she experiences heartache, she has obstacles to overcome, and she has some really great things happen to her. And, ultimately, she gets her happy ending. I knew the outcome of her story from the beginning, and there was never any doubt that Sadie would get a happy ending, just like all my other characters in all my other books, because those are the types of stories I like to read.

I'll continue to write the types of books I want to read, whatever that may be at any given time. It changes constantly, but I promise to do my best to write complex characters, swoony romances, and books that make you feel. And I hope you might give them a chance. :-)

  

What are some of your favourite LGBTQ books? Do you like the darker stories without happy endings or do you prefer a HFN/HEA ending? Do you have a preference between coming out stories and stories where the characters are already out? If you’re a writer, have you ever considered writing an LGBTQ book? Let's talk here or on Twitter!

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