Welcome to the new Author Brooke Williams website!  If you are reading this, that must mean you either found the site offhand or I got it posted correctly to authorbrookewilliams.com as I intend to do at the end of March.  Either way, welcome and I hope you enjoy what the site has to offer.

I want to make sure you notice the RSS feed for the blog in case you want to get updates on new information that way.  I post about once a week, usually on Wednesday.  So you can always check back or simply sign up for the RSS to get information on writing and other fun things.

I also want to make sure that you check out the Freelance Writing section of the website.  It has details on companies I've worked for as well as who might still be accepting new writers and who is not.  If you are a freelance writer and you want to break into the industry, that page has a wealth of information I've gathered over the years that could really help you out.  I'll be sure to keep updating it when things change in that realm.

Thank you for visiting the new website.  I'd love to hear what you think!  Leave me a comment or send me an email.  You can also contact me through facebook.  All of the contact information is at the top of the page so it's easy to get in touch with me or send me feedback.  You can also get all of the book links on the Books page as well as information like summaries and even what inspired me to write the books in the first place.

I look forward to announcing more information on the progress on "Wrong Place, Right Time," and "Accept this Dandelion," two books under contract for publication soon.

Thanks again for checking the site out, welcome, and we'll chat again soon!

I have to admit, I'm an introvert.  Very much so.  When people find out I was in radio for over a decade, they think that's strange.  But when you think about it, or at least when I think about it, it isn't.  I mean, sure there were public events like concerts and remote broadcasts when I would have to get out there and meet people and talk with people (I found them exhausting, by the way!) but for the most part, I was in a room by myself, talking to myself all day long.  Or at least that's how it felt.  Sure, I knew there were people out there listening, but I didn't have an immediate face to face connection with them.




I have managed to feed the introvert in me by becoming an author.  Now, I no longer have to go to concerts or remote broadcasts and meet with people who listen to me on the radio.  I imagine one day, if I'm lucky, I'll do book signings.  And they will exhaust me, but I will also be more than thrilled to meet and talk with people who have read or are interested in my books.  Being an author, I am even more alone than when I was in radio.  In radio, I was usually in a room by myself for most of the day.  But the room had windows on all four sides so it felt somewhat like a zoo.  Any time a tour came by, they could see me!  I always thought I should keep a banana nearby to act monkey-like when they did, but banana smells don't stay fresh for long and it wasn't a very big room. :)  As an author, I sit at the computer when my daughters are sleeping and create.  No one watches.  No one calls.  No one looks at me.

Okay, now for the other side of me.  I'm an author and I love it, but more importantly, I'm a mother.  I spend the vast majority of my days and even my nights with my two daughters.  The oldest is coming up on 5 and the youngest just hit a year recently.  Being around them is exhausting for other reasons and I wouldn't have it any other way.  And though my older daughter comes up with some doozies, talking to children is different than talking to adults.  And sometimes, though I am introverted to the hilt, I get lonely!




This is where you come in!  Though the introvert in me is very shy in person, I LOVE to talk to people by email/facebook etc.  In fact, having these types of conversations get me through my day of speaking only with my two little girls.  It helps wake my brain up and let me enjoy a little virtual conversation from time to time.  So I want you to know that if you comment on this website, comment on a facebook post, send me a message or contact me in any virtual way, you are NOT bothering me!  Not in the least!  I enjoy it!




I recently had a message from a reader who enjoyed "God in the Kitchen."  She asked a specific question about another book so I replied to her message.  I got a reply back from her and she sounded flabbergasted that I responded to her.  She thanked me for spending the time to answer her question and for getting back to her etc etc.  To that, I want to say it is MY pleasure and MY honor to do so!  I can't say that I will for sure get back to everyone who ever contacts me because things get lost in the shuffle.  But I promise to do my best.

If you have a question or comment or need writing encouragement or just want to say howdy, you are not bothering me.  Sure, I'm an introvert....but talk to me anyway!  I'm very friendly in the virtual world!  Actually, I'm friendly in person too if you can get past my awkwardness. :)

While introverts get refueled by alone time (which I feel like I never get right now because of my girls), sometimes too much alone time can be a problem too.  May days I feel like I am never alone and always alone.  Does that make sense?  While I thrive on spending time alone, I also feel refreshed by communicating with people online.  It helps me get through the day and feel connected to the world outside my house.

So to sum it all up, if you want to talk to me...talk to me!  No pressure.  You don't have to invent a reason because you now feel sorry for me.  :)  But if you feel the desire to send me a message, do it!  I won't bite and I most likely will enjoy and thoroughly appreciate it.

***Originally posted 3-5-14


A couple of weeks ago I got an email from my assigned lead editor from The Writer's Coffee Shop for my book "Wrong Place, Right Time," which hopefully will be released in December.  She introduced herself (name is Mavvy, very cool name!) and asked if we could Skype on March 3rd.  We set up a time during which my older daughter would be in preschool and I hoped my younger daughter would be asleep.  Then I worked on some pre-edits that the publishing company said a lot of manuscripts need to address.

My editor had a lot to say and it's hard to summarize really. I took several pages of notes. Small note pad but still. :)
 


The jest of it is that I have a lot of work to so between now and the deadline for this edit which is early June. The first thing I have to do is rewrite the beginning. The editing team that analyzed the book liked where it started but didn't like how I then had to tell back story things later. They want me to start the story earlier and lead up to the first scene I had. It makes sense and is something I'm willing to do. I have this week to make that happen. After that my lead editor will go through chapters five at a time and offer comments etc on the group. We will go back and forth until we are both happy with where it is.
 


The only thing she said that I didn't like I also did like. Let me explain. She said with the kinds of changes we will be making she couldn't guarantee the manuscript would stay a novel based on word length. It might become a novella or even a short story. She said she didn't want to concentrate on word length but rather the story itself and allow it to dictate length etc. When she put it that way I understand and agree. However on the other shed I desperately want this to be a novel and not a short story or novella. I haven't yet figured out how to address that issue. I might just see how it goes or perhaps I should speak up as to how I feel about that earlier. I don't know.
 


So I'm in for a lot of work between now and June. My editor said she doesn't say positive things unless the thing is really striking. So I have a feeling I'm in for some days of feeling blue. :). But in the end it'll make it better and I know that so I'll go through it and do what I can!  Send your positive thoughts my way. I may need them!
 


I'll keep you updated on the process for those interested in editing with a publisher and the process of getting published.

A couple of weeks ago I received an email from my publisher.  Editing on "Wrong Place, Right Time" was about to begin!  The information that followed that detail was more of a form letter, though a thorough one for sure.  It indicated that I was to go ahead and begin to edit the novel myself following a few specific guidelines that many authors need to fix.  It then went into details on several different things that I should watch for as I go back through my manuscript.  You know, common things that many people do that this particular publisher doesn't like.  As I read the email the first time, I felt the pressure in my head build.  Did they really just say dangling participle?  Am I supposed to know what that means?

If I could go back to my college self and talk to her one on one, I would have plenty of advice for her.  But regarding my future career as a writer and author, I might tell her to major in English because someday, she would really use and need it.

In college, I didn't really know what I was going to be when I grew up.  Though a career in radio sounded like a lot of fun so I decided I would head in that direction.  I declared a major in Religious Studies early on because I was in love with the classes and the subject.  I figured a minor in English would be good because I've always loved to write.

I took one or maybe two English classes and the professor was great.  A very nice man and a great teacher.  But to be quite honest with you, I don't think he got me.  And I didn't get him.  Let me explain.  He was a writer and a published author himself and he often would have short stories in one journal or another.  Sometimes, he would even read them out loud to the class.  You know the type of story.  Everything in the story meant something.  Symbolism was heavy and there was a literary aspect to every word.

Now there's a time and a place for that type of writing and it's wonderful that some people can do that, but I can't.  It's not me.  At all.  So as others in the class would nod with understanding, I would sit and wonder what in the world his story was supposed to be about and why it was entertaining to everyone around me.

Anyway, long story short, he was the first teacher I ever had that didn't seem to be impressed with my writing.  And because of our differences, I look back now and understand why.  Also because of those differences, I quickly decided that an English minor wasn't really right for me so I declared a second major to go along with my Religious Studies major.  I would also major in Mass Communications and go into radio.

I took the one radio class my college offered and worked at the campus station as well as other radio stations in town and some in other towns as well.  I went on to have a career in radio for a full decade.  I feel like I learned most of what I know on the job and not from classes, as is true of a lot of professions.

But with my career in radio now behind me and an email in my inbox with phrases that include "dangling participles" I now wonder if I should have perhaps given the English major, or at the very least a minor another try.  I know it wouldn't have taught me how to write.  As I said in my post last week, the only way to learn how to write is to write.  But perhaps I could have learned some of the technical aspects that would have helped me out in my career now.

Editing has never been my strong suit and I don't expect to enjoy it or be all that good at it.  I'm a storyteller.  I weave the tales and let them do what they want to do.  I don't analyze every word for meaning or technicalities or anything else.  But now, I have to.  I have to dig back into "Wrong Place, Right Time" and ignore many of the creative aspects and look for little details.  To that I say "Ugh."  But I will do it with as much of a smile on my face as I can muster...because it puts me one step closer to my dream of seeing it out in print.

Ah to have been an English major.  I enjoyed most of my classes in both of the majors I chose, but the whole "dangling participle" phrase that is so intimidating me now makes me wonder if perhaps I should have given English another shot.  Too little too late.  I shall use the internet to learn what I must. :)

Seeing the title of this post, you might think I will hit you with a long to-do list.  Things you need to do in order to become a writer.  Actually, the answer is quite simple.  And it all boils down to one word.  How do you become a writer?  Write!  That is all.  End of post.  Haha

I've been reading a book on and off for months called "Writing Motherhood."  I don't remember the author's name and I'm pretty sure it's a relatively old book.  Though I am just not getting into the meat of the book, I noticed a really good point in the book very early on in its pages.

The author was talking about being asked to teach a writing class before she really felt qualified to teach it as a writer.  She went ahead and taught it anyway and learned that she became a teacher through teaching.  Her students, in essence, taught her to teach.

The idea I got from that was that the only way to really become a writer is to write.  You can take all of the classes you want.  You can learn the craft.  You can read.  But if you really want to be a writer, the only real way to do it is to do it.

Let's use being a parent as an example.  Or more specifically, a mother.  I've been a mom for nearly 5 years.  Before I was a mom, sure, I wondered how I would do some things, but overall I had no idea what I was doing and I openly admitted that.  I had never changed a diaper...fed a baby...rocked a baby...the list went on and on.  I had no real clue what it took to be a mom.  And yet I had my daughter in 2009 and was thrown into the whole motherhood realm face first.  She taught me how to be a mother by allowing me to do it.




Since 2009, I've learned a lot about being a mom.  Things with my second daughter went much more smoothly in the early days of her life because I knew what I was doing from trial and error the first time around.  I became a mom because I had my daughters.  There was no other way.

The same can be said about writing.  You can read about writing and learn everything  you possibly want to know about the issue, but it doesn't make you a writer.  The only way to write is to write.  And once you start writing, then you can really hone your craft and learn and fine tune.  Do the things you do in advance help?  Sure!  But you aren't going to know what will work and what won't work until you try it.

So if you want to be a writer, quite talking about it.  You want to be a writer but...  There are no excuses.  If you want to be a writer...write.  The rest will fall into place as you are doing it.

Anyone that has children knows what it's like.  When one person in the house gets sick, it cycles through everyone.  And it's SO much fun!  We have been dealing with a plague in our house for the past week and a half.

It all started with the sweet little baby, JUST under a year old.  She got the flu and it was so bad I ended up taking her to the emergency room over the weekend.  We were admitted to the hospital overnight so she could get fluids by IV.




I've been in the hospital a couple of times to have my children and both were GREAT about having food for guests.  Not only did I get food as the patient, but anyone in my room could order from the menu and just pay for the food they wanted.  But at this children's hospital, there was NO food.  They kept telling me I should go to the cafeteria but there was no way I was leaving my baby screaming and terrified with people she didn't know.  I wonder if they have that policy to FORCE parents to take a break.

It was probably the longest night of my life but we survived and were released the next afternoon.  The baby was still sick for a few days but then got back to normal...just a few days before her first birthday!

The day before her birthday, though, big sister was sick.  Same sort of thing, but at least just for the day.  And since I had been covered in it all for a full week, ON the baby's actual first birthday, I was sick.  At least she felt decent and was able to pick at her cake a bit.




Once I got over it I was hopeful we were all on the mend.  Then the baby had a high temperature and cold symptoms.  And then a snow storm hit my area and we couldn't leave the house.  My husband joyfully went off on a business trip.  The house should  legally be condemned.  And so on and so forth.

Doesn't it just seem like it's one thing after another?  That's true for family illnesses and a lot of other things.  Even writing.

I've heard a lot of stories from other authors about things gone wrong in the publishing world with their book.  They do the final edit and get a preview copy and find a bunch of things wrong.  They get bad review after bad review.  They have their books pulled from shelves because of lack of sales.  There are SO many things that can go wrong and sometimes, it ALL goes wrong.

What do I say about that possibility and what do I tell those that go through things like that?  (By the way, I've gone through plenty of similar things with my own writing!)  Now, as a more seasoned writer, I say weather the storm!  Get to the other side.  There IS light there!

I survived the plague on my house.  The house is still worse for the wear, but everyone in it is starting to smile again.  And once I get done with this blog perhaps even the house will get some attention.  :)  And on the other side, things have calmed down and are falling back into place.  No such illness is fun....but it passes.

The same can be said about anything that can happen to you as a writer.  Sure, you got a bad review.  They sting.  I know.  I've gotten them myself.  But you read them, you shake your head, you mourn a little, you move on.

No matter what you face as a writer or whatever your passion, power through.  There are going to be rough times.  There are going to be times when it seems like nothing can possibly go right because everything is just so wrong.  Sometimes that's a good test for you.  How badly do you really want it?  Enough to keep going?  If so...go!  Don't give up!  Things will turn around and who knows where you could end up because of it.

When I heard no after no after no I was very discouraged.  But eventually, because I didn't tell MYSELF no, I got a publishing contract.  Endure the plague, whatever it might be in your life, persevere.  You can make it to the other side and who knows what might be there waiting for you.

Coming from someone who has carried a 20 pound baby on her arm nearly constantly for a full week...you're stronger than you think!

Since I love to multi-task, I have a lot of irons in the fire and I wanted to update you on everything going on with each of them and remind you of what is what and so on.  Here's your official Author Brooke Williams publishing update!

Wrong Place, Right Time

This is the romance novel I wrote after attending the writing conference a year ago November.  Once I completed it and did my best at editing and so on, I searched for a publisher to send it to directly.  I was tired of going after agents and failing.  I found out through another author's blog that The Writer's Coffee Shop accepts manuscripts directly from authors and once I looked into their genres and needs more, it looked like we would make a good match.  I sent the first three chapters and summary in and then forgot about it because most of the time I get no and it takes a long time to get it.

A few weeks later I heard from TWCS and they wanted the full manuscript to review.  I was excited, but still not overly optimistic as I have gotten that far with other companies in the past only to be disappointed.

A few weeks after that I got the news that they wanted to publish "Wrong Place, Right Time!"  Contract negotiations followed and were signed and the process began.  I did a few things like a marketing sheet for them and then sat back and waited more.  The novel isn't slated to come out until December 2014 so there's a wait before the editing will even begin.

Editing for "Wrong Place, Right Time" should start sometime in March.  I hope to get a full schedule of events for the entire process sometime in February.  I look forward to holding it in my hands sometime in or around December 2014.

Accept This Dandelion

Since I don't think idle hands are something I have ever had before in my life, I wrote another novel while waiting on details for "Wrong Place, Right Time."  "Accept This Dandelion" is something I started a long time ago because I pitched the idea to an editor at Harlequin and she liked it and wanted the first three chapters.  I then had to write the first three chapters so I did that and sent it in.  Ultimately, the story wasn't right for them, but I wanted to finish the manuscript and see where it went so I did that.

Once I had it complete, I knew it was something special and I wasn't going to want to let it just sit around.  Since I secured a publisher for "Wrong Place, Right Time" by then, I was hoping I could form a relationship with them and continue to release novels with and through them.  I submitted "Accept this Dandelion" and received an immediate response that they would  look it over and get back to me.  Several months went by and the publishing company, I know, was very busy so I didn't get an answer as fast as last time.

Last week, however, I did hear from them and they wanted to read the full manuscript.  So I'm excited that "Accept this Dandelion" has taken the next step forward.  However, I may not have a full answer for a while.  Those reading the manuscript have been instructed not to give me a full answer until the company sees how my first book does in terms of sales.  It's understandable.  As a new author they don't want to commit to another book with me if the first one bombs.  I just have to work hard to make sure that doesn't happen.

In the meantime, they are going to read "Accept this Dandelion" and let me know if it's right for TWCS.  If it is, it may very well go through after my first book is released (if it does well enough!)  If it isn't for them, then I'll know that right away and can move it on somewhere else.

Mamarazzi

Since two books wasn't enough, I decided to write another.  Back in December, I asked you to help me name the characters I would form for this book and the contest was a great success.  I got some great names out of it that I never would have come up with otherwise.  Then, in January, I set out to write the book.

I wanted to write the book in the month of January, overlapping into February if need be.  Well, anyone who knows my style knows that when I am writing a book, it's ALL I can do.  When given the time away from my two napping girls, that is.  So whenever they were asleep and I wasn't, I was working on Mamarazzi.  And I finished it before January was over.

Then, I wanted to do something I had never done before and utilize beta readers.  Mamarazzi was another romance novel, but it was based in Hollywood, somewhere I had only ever visited once for a day or two.  I wanted to make sure the story was believable and enjoyable to people other than me.  So I called out for beta readers and secured four.  As I am writing this blog post, I have heard back from one beta reader who completed the novel already.  She enjoyed it and had some very good, constructive thoughts about some of the characters.  I look forward to hearing what the other three think.  I gave them till the end of February to read it and get back to me with comments.

Once I've collected the comments and thought them all through, then I can go back through Mamarazzi and start editing a bit.  However, since I may not start that process until March and March is when "Wrong Place, Right Time" is supposed to start the editing process with my publisher, I am not sure when I will get back to Mamarazzi.  There is really no huge hurry because I won't even know about "Accept this Daisy" until the end of the year or even next year so I won't be submitting Mamarazzi anytime soon.  I just hate to leave things unfinished!  So we'll see how it goes.

So those are my irons, some of which are farther into the fire than others, but all of which are hot simply because I refuse to let them cool!!!

My journey in writing Mamarazzi is now complete!  Well, the initial first draft, at least!  This has been a very fun adventure.  It started out with a naming contest in December when you helped me choose the names of the characters.  Every time a character name was chosen, I would start to chomp at the bit to write.  It was hard to hold back.  I had the first scene in my mind and once I get going, it's hard for me to stop!




I began writing Mamarazzi on December 30th.  I took January 1 off and did not write on weekends, except for one Sunday.  I wrote every weekday during my daughter's naps.  Some days I would have an hour, other days two.  On the days when my oldest was in preschool and my youngest napped while she was away, I would even have three.  Adding it all up, I wrote the first draft in 13 days.  I don't know how many hours.  I know I work fast and a lot of people can't believe that I craft novels in this fashion, but I can't help it.  When I am working on something, I work on it.  I warned my clients that I would not be writing anything else but this manuscript in the month of January.  When I am working on a novel, I am a one track mind!  I work tirelessly every second I get until it's done.  It's like the characters bug me until I finish their story.

I do want to thank a few people before I move on.  First, thank you to my daughter Kaelyn.  She will be 5 in a few months and she doesn't really need to nap anymore.  But thank you, Kaelyn, for being so good about staying in your room until 3 o'clock whether you're asleep or not.  I do a lot of writing while you are singing in the background and I hear you playing with your stuffed animals and doing a number of things I can't even guess at.  But thank you so much for never fighting me about "napping" and never coming out of your room till 3.  Allowing me time to write like that really saves me sanity and makes me much more fun as a mom later on.

Thank you Sadie, my daughter who will be one shortly.  Thank you for allowing me to keep you up until your big sister was ready for her nap so that you would nap at the same time, allowing me to write.  Thank you for easily going to sleep and staying asleep so I could plot and write.  And thank you for not interrupting TOO many important scenes in the middle of a sentence.  Actually, while rocking  you to sleep, I did some of my best thinking and came up with a lot of great plot points.

And thank you to my husband, Sean.  Mostly for putting up with my strangeness.  When he was around, I would sometimes stare off into the distance and have a great revelation regarding the book.  In one instance, when we were taking down our 12 foot Christmas tree, he was at the top of the stairs trying to yank the top part of the tree out.  I was staring off into the distance.  I suddenly said...oo that's really good!  He looked at me strangely.  I explained that I had an idea about the book.  He continued to yank on the tree. :)

Mamarazzi is an idea I've had, in pieces, since college.  Since I graduated in 2001, the idea has been festering for a while.  I'm glad to have it out of my system.  But now what?

Now I would like to enlist the help of beta readers.  This is something I've never done before.  I want a few people to read through it before I go back through, edit and make changes and just tell me whether or not it makes sense.  Do you like the characters?  Does the story flow?  Are there things that confuse you?  That sort of thing.  I don't need help with spelling and grammar etc as I have someone that reads my work for those things already.  But I would love some outside opinions on the other details.  If you are interested in being a beta reader, please send me a message with your email address and I'll get more details to you for you to consider whether or not you want to move forward.

What happens to Mamarazzi now?  Well, I would love to someday submit it to my publisher.  I am awaiting the editing stage of "Wrong Place, Right Time," with The Writer's Coffee Shop now.  That should begin around March.  The book is set to be released in December or so.  No exact dates yet.  I also have another manuscript under consideration with them titled "Accept this Dandelion."  Once I know one way or the other about that one, I can decide when to submit "Mamarazzi."  But first, I Want to have beta readers go through it and I need to go through and edit so it will be a ways down the road.

I'll be sure to keep you updated on any Mamarazzi progress as well as the editing and other details that will go into "Wrong Place, Right Time" as they arise!  For now, I must get back to my paying clients.  I have put them off long enough in order to write Mamarazzi!

***Originally posted 1-15-14


I have to admit, I'm not all that tech-saavy.  There are certain things I can do, but when it comes to new stuff, I'm usually a bit behind.  I put the first book I ever wrote, "Someone Always Loved You" up for sale on Amazon as an e-book quite some time ago.  Actually, my husband did it and I later revised what he did once I learned a few things.  Later, I created a paperback version of the book and put it up for sale as well.


Someone Always Loved YouLet me digress for a moment.  "Someone Always Loved You" is a book I wrote from the heart.  I was inspired to write it and I felt I HAD to write it or it would never stop bugging me.  When I finally put it up for sale on amazon, I had no illusions about making money off of it.  I did not expect to find fame and fortune from it.  I simply wanted people to read and enjoy the story.  It's a story I, to this day, cannot get out of my mind.  I love the story and I want others to love the story.  It's as simple as that.

For that reason, I placed the e-book for sale for 99 cents.  Even if I sell hundreds of copies, I'm not going to make much and I don't care.  I just want people to enjoy the book as much as I enjoyed writing it, if that's possible.

Occasionally, as I was balancing my check book, I would notice a payment from amazon.  To be honest, I never really paid that much attention to them.  But after a few months of receiving $30 payments or more, I began to wonder.  Was this from “Someone Always Loved You”?  I began to investigate and after a little trial and error, I found the place I needed to look and discovered that the book was indeed selling.  The last few months it had sold nearly 100 copies!  I looked back and saw several months in a row of 90+ book sales.  Before that, 60, before that 50 and on down. 

Somehow, word had spread over the months and my little novel was being read.  Literally by hundreds of people! 

I was excited about the idea that people were actually reading “Someone Always Loved You.”  There have been five reviews up on amazon about the book for a while and I wondered where they came from.  Perhaps now I know! 

Days after I looked this information up, my mom forwarded an email to me.  She had gotten an email from Amazon that suggested, based on other purchases, that she buy “Someone Always Loved You.”  I had to laugh because she was the book’s very first reader.  However, I was thrilled to see that Amazon was actually suggesting it to people. 

Though I don’t know why, I don’t really care!  I was excited that it was spreading, however it was happening.

Perhaps emails from Amazon is how people are discovering it.  Maybe people are recommending it.  I don’t really know.  Like I said, it’s not my goal to make money from “Someone Always Loved You.”  I simply want people to enjoy the story as I do.




If you happen to have read the book, please let me know how you heard about it. I’m interested to hear how it’s spreading.  I hope that anyone who does read it enjoys it even half as much as I enjoyed writing it.

Someone Always Loved You e-book link


Someone Always Loved You paperback link


Someone Always Loved you Reviews

November is National Novel Writing month and many writers commit to writing a 55,000 word manuscript during that month.  Nanowrimo!  I watched as several authors I know embarked upon that adventure.  I even considered doing the same.  In the end, I did not.  I wasn't ready for a number of reasons.  For one thing, I had a lot of paying freelance writing jobs stacked up and I didn't want to put those off for something that didn't pay (until later if it gets published!)  I also had the holidays looming in front of me and a lot going on at home with my two daughters.  I couldn't do it.  But I could PLAN to do it.  So that's what I did.

I already knew what I wanted to do for my next romance novel.  I wanted to call it Mamarazzi and base it in Hollywood.  Since I admit that I am not good at coming up with names, I did a character naming contest and allowed readers to name the people who would appear in the book.  Once that contest was over, I took the holidays off.  Now that they are behind me, I am embarking on my own NanoWriMo.  Only it's more of a JanoWriMo.  I am doing my best to write the initial draft of Mamarazzi in the month of January.  So far, I am on track and it is going well.

Mamarazzi is my first goal for 2014 since it is the first thing I am doing in the New Year.  Once it is complete, I would really love to try using some beta readers to get some impressions from people before I go through and make changes, edit etc.  That is something I have never done before.  I do have someone who reads through and helps me with grammar etc, but outside that one person, no one really reads my stuff until it's in print...if it's ever in print.  So I would like to try something like that in 2014 and see how helpful it is to me.

This year, I am also going to see "Wrong Place, Right Time" in print in December 2014.  The editing starts in March followed by cover design and all sorts of other exciting steps.  I consider this book to be my first real published piece.  I have several other paperbacks but I have never been an intricate part of the process before.  Two of my paperbacks I self-published for fun (not saying anything bad about self-publishing here, it's admirable and lots of work.  I, however, did not put the work into it that many do.  My self-published novels were more so that I could see it in print and give it to family, friends etc.)  The other two paperbacks with my name on the cover were created by Blue Ribbon Books.  They bought the stories for ebooks and eventually turned them into paperbacks.  I had no idea the books would ever be in print and don't make any royalties from them.  So while it's cool to have all of those books out there, "Wrong Place, Right Time" is still what I feel will be my very first.

This year, I hope to get a publishing contract for "Accept this Dandelion" which is currently under consideration with my publisher.  With any luck, perhaps I can get a contract going for "Mamarazzi" as well and really get them lined up!

I would also like to set a goal in my freelance writing.  I just did my end of the year report and I made slightly more this year than last year.  I am amazed because I had a baby last January and there were several months where my grand total income was $0. :)  I don't have a number in mine, but I would like to grow my freelance business each year.  That doesn't mean I'll have time to write more, but perhaps I can write higher paying things each year.  Someday, when my girls are in school, I can write more as well.  But for now, I'm thrilled with the way things are going.




Outside of writing, I'd really like to leave the house alone more this year.  Haha.  With a 4-year-old and nearly 1-year-old I have left the house a grand total of three times in 2013 alone.  Each of those three times was when one or both of them was asleep and I was majorly rushed to make it back home before they awakened and terrorized my husband or mom.  :)  Perhaps sometime in 2014 when they are awake I can venture out alone.  Maybe at least once. :)




I don't want to overdo it with goals because I'm not good at backing down once I make them.  I feel like these goals are pretty decent and attainable and very exciting as well.  I look forward to letting you in on the journey as I go!