Thursday, November 30, 2017

Celebrate the Small Things 1-12-17



This post is part of Lexa Cain's bloghop, Celebrate the Small Things. Head on over there to join up!

So what am I celebrating this week?

Friday!  And can you believe it's the 1st of December already?  Where has the year gone?

I've had an insane week at work, and it looks like the next three will be just as insane.  All I can say is, roll on Christmas break...  But I am celebrating getting our Annual Report out.  It's one of my biggest projects every year and it's always a wondeful day when the printed copies arrive and we get them out the door to the various government departments that require it.

This week I'm celebrating getting my cover art for Stumped. I'm really excited to get this book out into the world and getting cover art is always the first step.  I should have ARCs next week, so if you're keen to read it and review, just let me know!

I didn't win NaNo...  Not that I really expected to.  I finished the month with just under 32K written, two novels started and one that I realized I began way too early.  But that's okay. I wrote something and I can probably salvage something from both those ideas.

Next year though.

My younger son is going tramping this weekend with the Scouts, so I'm looking forward to a quiet, relaxing couple of days.  My vacuum cleaner broke last weekend, but my partner managed to fix it during the week, so I will have some serious cleaning to do.  With two cats, the house needs to be vacuumed every week.

What are you celebrating this week?

Tuesday, November 28, 2017

Books I've... Nope! Cover Reveal!

I was all set to do my usual Wednesday 'Books' post, but something awesome was waiting in my in-box this morning, and I just had to share it with you all!

Yes, I have my cover art for STUMPED!


Isn't it pretty?

I'm so excited to get this book out into the world so you can all read it.  I love this book SO much and I've worked on it so much to get it to this point.  It's a very different book than it was when I first fast-drafted it over one manic summer, but I think it's a more satisfying story now.

So, what's STUMPED about?

I've been describing it as American Pie meets The Sessions for a quick, elevator pitch because it's a book about sex and disability.

Seventeen-year-old Ozzy has a super-hot girlfriend who’s ready to take their relationship to the next level. Tonight. At the lake. 

But a missing condom scuttles his plans for seduction. Furious, Ozzy takes his girlfriend home and drives off - into the path of an oncoming truck. He wakes up in the hospital with both legs amputated above the knees.

When his girlfriend runs out of his hospital room gagging after one look at him, Ozzy knows he’s a hideous freak. He becomes convinced he’s blown any chance of getting a girlfriend and having sex.

Determined to prove he can still be a man, Ozzy throws himself into dumping the burden of his virginity, but finds there’s a limited number of people willing to touch legless dudes in wheelchairs. His obsession takes him into the seedy underworld of brothels and escort services where he discovers the difference between sex and intimacy, and that sometimes the price you pay for getting what you want is much higher than a sex worker’s fee.

Sound like something you might be interested in?  I will have review copies available within the next week, so if you are interested in reading and reviewing, drop me an email and I will send you an ARC as soon as I have them.

STUMPED will be available from 15 December.

Sunday, November 26, 2017

Weekly Goals 27-11-17

I managed to get some writing done over the weekend and am now sitting at around 32K on the NaNo book (I'm calling it Rhino Crisis for the moment) and that feels pretty good.  Although I think I've reached the part of the book where I should probably have started the story, rather than being at the halfway point where I should be.

Oh well...  I will have lots of material to pull from when I'm editing, should I need it.

So my goal this week is to keep writing.  I haven't got such a crazy schedule this week, so I hope I can get at least another 8-10K written before next Monday.  If I can keep that kind of schedule up, I could potentially finish this book by Christmas.

Maybe.

We'll see.  I'm not going to kill myself if I don't because I know I have a lot of other things to get finished and done before then too.  Like getting STUMPED out into the world.

(December 15, everyone!  And you can add it on Goodreads now.  Right here.)

Thanks for indulging that moment of self-promotion.  Now what are your goals this week?

Thursday, November 23, 2017

Celebrate the Small Things 25-11-17



This post is part of Lexa Cain's bloghop, Celebrate the Small Things. Head on over there to join up!

So what am I celebrating this week?

Friday!

It's been a really busy week with a lot of events, a conference, a premiere and way too much work.  So I'm pleased to be looking ahead at a weekend with nothing planned for it.  I might even get some sleep for a change.

I thought I might get a little work done on the NaNo book, but the one night I wasn't out, I was so tired, I gave up after writing 300 words and went to bed.  So I'm definitely not going to get anywhere close to 50K this month.

I just need to accept it.

And that I don't really like the book I'm writing either.  Possibly because I haven't had time to let myself fall into it, and possibly because it was just a bad idea anyway.  I don't know.  I'm going to push through and see if I can finish it over the next couple of months, just because I haven't really written much this year and I need to prove that I still can.

But no pressure...

What are you celebrating this week?