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Can you feel it? That itchy sensation where one thing is coming to a close and another is on the horizon? Well, I’m definitely there, albeit a little slower than I planned. I’m still only halfway through Laken’s book and I’m thinking I might be stalling because I’m so sad to see this series come to an end. 🙁 The Trumans have wiggled their way into my heart and it’s always hard to let them go.
But! The exciting part of this is that we get to start something new and that is what I wanted to chat with you about. I have been soooo overwhelmed lately. I won’t go into details because it doesn’t really matter, but sometimes life just has seasons that are harder than others and I’m in the middle of one and one of my stresses is the fact that I’m still trying to get this writing career off the ground. May was my year writerversary! Woot! During the last 13 months, I have put out 2 novelletes, 10 novellas and 5 novels. Holy cow, I’m tired just talking about it! And the truth is… I LOVE doing it. I love it, absolutely adore it, but life is beating me down a bit and I need to focus on the business side as well as the writing side. What I’m doing requires way too much of my time and energy to not get a good return on it. (I know that’s ugly, but it’s the truth of it)
Anyway, my point in telling you all this is to let you know that I have planned out the rest of the year for my writing and hopefully that above explanation will help you understand why I’ve pushed back projects I am planning on getting to.
So… here’s the plan. Next month I will release Laken’s story, “The Billionaire’s Best Friend”. Since I’m a bit slower than normal it might be later in July than planned, but still in July. In August, rather than a regular new release, I will putting out the box set for the Truman series. In September, I will be releasing a book for my other pen name (the Christian Historical one), so there will be nothing new for my contemporary romance.
HOWEVER! Fear not! During those couple of months when I won’t have any true new releases, I have come to the decision that I need to bring my Middleton Prep series up to par with the rest of my writing. Many of you here have been with me from the beginning and I can’t even begin to tell you how much that means to me. You’ve read those fairy tales and have been sweet and kind in your reviews and feedback. But the more I progress as an author, the more realize those first stories are not where I want them to be.
I’m proud of those stories, they were my first attempts at this gig and they were all I could ask of myself at the time, but I also want to be able to sell them to audiences and right now the first few books are not at a level I can do that with.
Now, for those who enjoyed those books, don’t worry. I’m not completely changing them. My plan is to keep most of, if not all, of the major plot points, but restructure the writing so they are not quite as… “fluffy” is probably a good word. The characters need to be a bit deeper and the writing more descriptive. More than anything, I’m looking to add a bit of depth. I plan on doing this for the first 3 books, maybe #4 if I feel I have the time for that.
By book #5, I feel like my writing had improved enough to keep them as is. Whew! I just realized how long this letter is getting! Let me finish up quick and let you get back to your regular life! 🙂
So, in Aug and Sept I’ll be doing those rewrites and then rereleasing the books. Come October, I will start releasing my Christmas stuff! I plan to do 5-6 novellas and release them back to back through October and November, then release the whole boxset in December.
Now, here comes the really exciting part. In January, I will be starting a new series. *imagine me gleefully rubbing my hands* I will be doing a bodyguard/suspense series starring the Lockwood brothers! (if that name doesn’t ring a bell, they are Goldie’s triplet brothers from the last book in the Middleton Prep series) Believe it or not, those boys are leaving the military and starting a personal security company! Lockwood Industries. Imagine all the fun we’re going to have watching them fall in love!
Ha! I have used way too many exclamation points and this note is way too long, but I wanted to let you all know where I’m at and what to expect for the rest of the year. 🙂 Thanks for hanging out with me! I love having you here and am excited about the changes to come. I hope you find a fun book below and I’ll see you next week! |
