Thursday, May 31, 2012

Upcoming Lori Foster Event

I will be at the Lori Foster event this weekend mingling with readers and other authors. It will be my first time attending, but I've heard great things from fellow authors.

If any of you are in the Cincinnati, Ohio area, there will be a book signing on Saturday, June 2nd, that's open to the public from 2:00pm-4:00pm. I will not have a booth at this signing (I'm signing Friday night, which is not open to the public), but if you want to stop by and have me sign a book, leave a comment and once I'm at the hotel I'll let you know how to find me on Saturday.

I'll also have all three of my books with me at the event.



Sunday, May 27, 2012

Six Sentence Sunday - May 27, 2012

"Get dressed and come to the living room, please."

And then he was gone. I was more confused than ever. He wanted me to get dressed and come to the living room?

Then I got it. He was getting rid of me!



Friday, May 25, 2012

Flash Fiction Friday - 5-25-12

Flash Fiction Friday. What can you do with only 100 words.



She stood waiting.

He said he’d be here over an hour ago, but she wasn’t giving up hope. Something could have delayed him. Yes, she had to keep telling herself that.

The rain soaked the boards of the pier sending a cool breeze across her legs and up her dress. Normally, it would bother her, but she was too busy watching, waiting.

Another twenty minutes went by, and nothing.

She was just about to give up, go back to her empty house, when she saw something…someone walking towards her. Without giving it a second thought, she ran to meet him.


Saturday, May 19, 2012

Six Sentence Sunday - May 20, 2012

"Cali? Cali, honey, is that you?"


"Yes, Dad, it's me. Is everything okay?" she asked, worried.


"No, sweetheart, it's not. I need you to come home."


Monday, May 14, 2012

Ohioana 2012

This past Saturday I spent the day at the Ohioana Book Festival. It was my second year at the event, so I had a more of an idea what to expect.

I arrived just before ten to set up my little table. We were in a different building this year, but that turned out to be a good thing. There was more room, and everything was laid out a lot better than it was last year.


After getting checked in, I had a little time to breath before my author panel. There were five of us on the panel and it turned out to be a really great experience. Roughly thirty people showed up to hear us speak and asked a decent amount of questions, so much so that was actually ran out of time.

One thing I learned about Ohioana from participating last year is that while you may have your books for sale at the event, that's not what it's about. Ohioana is about celebrating authors, both published and aspiring. Throughout the day, I had several people come up to me who had listened to the panel discussion that morning and wanted to ask more questions. One has notebook after notebook full of information, but can't seem to take the next step. Another was asking about his son who has written several stories and dreams of becoming a published author.

I was lucky enough sit near some other really great ladies. One has been writing for years and is also going to be at the Lori Foster event in Cincinnati I'll be attending June 1st and 2nd. And beside me was an English professor who'd just published her first novel. The three of us were on the same author panel and we all shared the same message with those aspiring authors...

There is no one right way to write.

I think too many assume that you have to follow a certain program in order to write a novel and get it published. The three of us were proof that wasn't the case. The English professor doesn't start writing until she has everything plotted out and in a detailed diagram. Me, I'm a seat of your pants kind of writer. I get a general idea in my head of what I want to write and go for it. The third author fell in the middle. She does a general outline, and then lets her characters lead the way. See. No one right way.

Do you write? What method works best for you?

Sunday, May 13, 2012

Six Sentence Sunday - May 13, 2012

I thought I'd give everyone a taste of the matriarch of the Daniels clan today in honor of Mother's Day. :)


“All right then, tell me what’s wrong.”

“What do you mean?”

“Christopher Allen Daniels, do not play stupid with me. We’ve lived in this house for almost ten years now, and I can barely get you to come one Sunday a month. Last night you call, out of the blue, wanting to come for the weekend. Something is up.”



Friday, May 11, 2012

Book Signing - Eldchrist Winery

Last night was Ladies Night at Eldchrist Winery. There were four 'vendors' there with tables set up to display, and I was one of them. I set up the table with my books and got ready to go while the other ladies arranged their tables as well. One table had jewelry. A friend of mine who came brought three necklaces. There was also a woman from a company called Scenty. And yep, it's all good smelling stuff. :)

The fourth vendor set up beside me and were from a copy called Sweet Mamas. They make cake pops and boy are they good. There were samples and I got to try one. It's not what I was expecting in a really good way. Instead of the spongy type consistency cake typically has, it was more of a brownie. Oh and did I mention they were cute too. ;) Turns out, I went to school with one of the owners and a whole group of ladies I grew up with showed up that night to support them. It turned out to be a mini reunion of sorts as I'd not seen most of them since I graduated high school.

I had a lot of people stop by my table last night. One of them...

It was about an hour into the event when I see this guy across the room. Remember this is ladies night, so he sort of sticks out. He walks straight towards me and says, "You're the author?" After I confirm that, yes, I am the author, he shakes my hand and introduces himself. Nothing strange so far, right? He then asks me about my books, etc.

Everything is going fairly normal. That is, until another woman walks up. The man immediately throws his arm around my shoulders, pulling me up against his side. He then introduces me to the woman and tells me she's his girlfriend. She just laughs, say hi, acts like this is perfectly normal for him to be doing. Meanwhile, I'm just sitting there (I'm in a tall chair) trying to figure out what's going on and if I should just let things play out or ask the man to kindly remove his arm.

Thankfully, he does eventually remove his arm on his own after a little more conversing with the woman and he eventually picks up Slave and says he wants to buy it. I tell him how much, and he reaches into his wallet, pulls out the money and hands it to me. As usual, I ask if he wants me to sign the book. He says yes, but that he's not going to make it that easy for me. No, he wants me to write a dedication to him in the front of the book. And not just any dedication, but something fun and silly based on our conversation. Needless to say, I had to think about that for a while. So he left the book with me and in between talking to other people, I tried to figure out what to write. I did eventually, and he came back to get the book before he left. I honestly have to chalk that one up to one of the strangest experiences I've had yet as an author.

There was one other highlight of the night and that came through a little device I added to my phone two days ago called Square. If you're an author, you're missing out. It's an app you can download to your android phone, iphone, or ipad, and it allows you to run credit card transactions. Seventy-five percent of my sales last night were handled that way. It was fairly simple to use and everyone got a kick out of using their finger to sign on the phone. The best part, the app and the device that is being mailed to me where I can actually swipe the cards, is free. If you want to know more, click here.

All in all, it was a great experience. I'd definitely do it again. Now, I'm gearing up for the Ohioana Book Festival on Saturday. If you'd like more information on how to come see me and the 80+ other authors that will be there, click here.

Monday, May 7, 2012

Good Morning Texas

Today turned out to be a pretty exciting day. I woke up this morning to a picture on my Facebook page of two of the TWCS staff (Amanda Hayward, CEO and Jenny, Marketing Director) on Good Morning Texas. The picture also had a row of books lined up on a coffee table with some of the publishing house's more recent titles. My novel, Behind Closed Doors, was among them.


The interview mostly talked about Fifty Shades of Grey, but it was still exciting to see my book sitting there. It's first time on TV! :)

If you'd like to check out the interview, click here.

Saturday, May 5, 2012

Six Sentence Sunday - May 5, 2012

Elizabeth Marshall drove her red Honda Civic into the little town of Springfield, Ohio. The simple name was one of the things that attracted her. It wasn’t complicated, and that was exactly what she needed in her life right now: no complications.

She wanted a fresh start, far away from all the memories of the city she’d left behind. Away from the person everyone thought she was. A person she’d really never been, before or after.


Wednesday, May 2, 2012

My World - Update

For those of you following me on Facebook, you know I've been really busy lately working on the edits for my upcoming novel Need. This is the next installment in my Finding Anna series. I just finished the final batch of edits last night, so it's now off to the readers and formaters for polishing. July 26th will be here before we know it! :)


In the meantime, I'm working on the next Daniels brother novel. For those of you who've read Behind Closed Doors, you know that Chris has three brothers: Paul, Trent, and Gage. The story I'm working on now, Red Zone, is Gage's story. I'm almost half way through, and so far my betas are loving it.

I'm also going to be making some appearances over the next two months. If you are in the Ohio area, I hope you can stop by one of these events and say hi.

May 10, 2012
Ladies Night at Elchrist Winery
I'll be there from 6pm to 9pm.


May 12, 2012
Ohioana Book Festival

I will be participating in a round table panel discussion, Fiction by Women, from 10:45am - 11:30am in room 130.


June 1 and 2, 2012
Lori Foster Reader and Author Event