Writing Update - A Darling Secret

I know I haven't been posting much lately. I'm in the final writing stages of Book III in the Strange Luck series (A Darling Secret).

As of this week, I'm pleased to report that I've officially surpassed the length of The Nightmare Birds. If all goes well, the book will be finished by the end of the month. Woot!

I'm so excited that the series will be coming to a close soon, and that Daisy will finally discover her true self, but I'm also quite sad that it will be over. :( I've really enjoyed getting to know these characters and sharing their stories. It has been SOOOOOOO much fun writing these books and creating these worlds. I don't know what I'm going to do with myself once it's over.

Is it weird that I grieve over my own characters???

Each of my books has focused on a different theme. In Strange Luck it was memories. In The Nightmare Birds is was meaning. A Darling Secret will focus on strength. My hope is that this final book will be even more intense, magical, dark, and full of surprises than the first two, and that overall, this series will be something that will stay with you forever. I can only hope you'll agree when you read it. :D

More details to come soon. Now if you'll excuse me, I've got a book to write...

The Little Ninja

So I'm sitting at a cafe writing a fight scene for my new book, when I get the feeling that I'm being watched.

I was right.

A ninja was watching me from the crevice!

I'm wrapping up Chapter 14 right now and hope to have more writing updates soon. :D

Writing Update + A FREE Copy of Strange Luck

I'm pleased to report that Book III in the Strange Luck Series is coming along nicely.  I just finished writing Chapter 10 of A DARLING SECRET yesterday!

That's one of the benefits of living in Pennsylvania - when it's 5 degrees out you don't want to go anywhere or do anything else, so writing is that perfect activity. :D

My desk

This is where I've been spending all of my time this winter. As you can see I have piles of notes, my trusty writing notebook filled with more notes, and a warm cup of tea. What more does an author need?

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If you haven't read Strange Luck (Book I) yet, I've got a surprise for you! If you sign up for my newsletter I'll send you a FREE e-copy of Strange Luck. That's it!

A Darling Secret UPDATE!

Me. Writing.

I'm sooooooooo excited to report that I've just started writing Chapter 3 of REALM OF THE SHADOW GODS! This will be the third book in the Strange Luck series and I couldn't be happier with the direction of this story.

You can expect lots more dark magic, an even darker world, and LOTS of strange surprises (*insert evil laugh here). At this point, I'm planning for this to be the final book in the series. I've toyed with the idea of a prequel, but am still undecided. 

I started a Realm of the Shadow Gods Pinterest board where I've been collecting inspirational images. This pic is my absolute favorite:

I want to wear this all day. Every day.

 Love these pics too:

Hopefully these pics will give you an idea of what to expect.

At this point I don't have a release date yet, but I'm hoping summer/fall 2017. I'll definitely be posting any and all updates about my progress here, so please check back. Or, you can sign up for my newsletter.

By the way, I decided to do a spontaneous Kindle giveaway today of The Nightmare Birds. Enter now before it's too late. 

Now, back to writing.... 

Driving For Inspiration & The Title Reveal of Book III!

Since finishing writing The Nightmare Birds, all of my energy (creative and physical) has been completely and totally zapped. I'm one of those people who gets anxious though if they aren't always working on some big project, or several big projects. But, as luck would have it, every time I sat down to write, I just wasn't able. It was like my brain was frozen.

I HAD WRITER'S BLOCK! Something I had always heard about, but never really experienced...until now.

I knew that I needed to take some time off and recharge, and recharge I did. For a whole month. That might not sound like a lot, but for me it was agony. I read all of these articles on how to recharge to get back into the writer's chair and everything I saw said to read, read, read. And when not reading, watch, watch, watch. So for the entire month of August, I read as many YA, fantasy, and supernatural books I could get my hands on, and watched as many fantastical things I could watch hoping to recharge and be inspired. Stranger Things is freakin AWESOME by the way. That little girl seriously deserves an Oscar!

My goal was to start writing Book III in the Strange Luck series starting September 1, and when August 31 rolled around, I still had the same unsettling and blank feeling. That day I happened to go for a long drive down to Pittsburgh for a doctor's appointment and like a bolt of lightening, I got tons of ideas while driving, including a title! Suddenly my brain felt completely recharged. But why then? Why when I was driving?

To psychoanalyze myself for a moment, I think I was inspired because I was completely alone with my thoughts. I was free to think about my book, but also free not to think about it. I came home that night and wrote down all of my ideas and expanded them more and more. Overjoyed that I had gotten my writing mojo back, I suddenly remembered that's actually how I was inspired to write Strange Luck in the first place - while driving to work one day. There's just something about driving that relaxes my brain and energizes me as a writer. This is something I need to remember for the next book!

I'm pleased to report that just over a week later, I've officially finished the first chapter! It's so much fun writing these characters, especially the new ones!

And that, my friends, is how I started writing my new book - A DARLING SECRET.