Major Announcement

Big News!!

I am now officially an author with SAGA Egmont, the digital imprint of Danish publishing house Lindhardt and Ringhof.



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This is really exciting news, and I am frankly still a little shocked and amazed that it is happening.

"Glass Roses" is the novel SAGA has licensed, and it will be released as an audiobook later this year, probably sometime in September.

I am grateful for the opportunity SAGA has given me, and I hope our connection will prove to be a positive experience for everyone involved.

In the meantime, get excited! I'm working with a real publisher now!


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Let's Talk Twitter

My love for Twitter didn't happen overnight. It took a long time for me to realize just how amazing this platform is for budding authors. Once I did realize it, however, I was quick to take advantage of it. You really should too, which is why I am dedicating a post to talking about how I use Twitter to grow my audience.

Why I Love Twitter

1. Mobility: Using Twitter on my phone means I can publicize myself and my work from literally any location, any time I have a spare minute. As a mom of three very active little children, this is important.

2. Speed: Twitter is about the only publicity I have time for at the moment (without paying an arm and a leg for ads or some kind of help to get the word out), and I need it to be easy, quick, and pithy. 140 character tweets deliver on this big-time.

3. Social Networking: Do you know just how many opportunities there are for indie authors on Twitter right now? There are hashtags that everyone uses: #amwriting and #amediting are probably the biggest ones, but I also like to use #momlife, #momwrites (possibly my invention, lol), and #indieauthors. Lots of literary agencies and publishers are now hosting events called Pitch Days where agents and editors read through tweets tagged with their specific hashtag, looking at 140 characters story pitches. Many individual authors are hosting hashtag games where fellow authors tweet answers to questions or share information about their works-in-progress (WIPs), published works, or themselves. Some of the games I have participated in recently include #WIPjoy #PUBjoy #WIPRevelations #AuthorConfession #WIPTruthOrDare #WIPTunes, and my very own game #ShareWords. These games give authors a chance to find one another, connect, and share snippets of their work without being seen as obnoxious or obtrusive. It's fantastic! As if that wasn't enough, there are also whole accounts dedicated to sharing information about any and all free events where writers can enter contests (some with substantial prizes), pitch their work, and vie for the attention of those who can get us a coveted place in the publishing world we all dream of joining. My favorite account like this is Free Writings Events (or @writevent). And BONUS! The more things you participate in, the more visibility you gain, and the more followers you accrue. Since posting the graphic for my hashtag game, I have gone from 108 followers to 129! It's only been two days!

4. Image Sharing: Twitter is great for sharing pictures of your covers, GIFs that evoke the style of your story, or just using the myriad of digital graphics available to react to and interact with what other authors are tweeting about. It's a fun, colorful, emotive way to participate and show off your unique personality and style, giving people a sense for who you are as an author and an individual.

5. Writing Practice: Keeping my remarks to 140 characters is excellent practice in choosing which words are important to use, and which ones aren't. All writers struggle with superfluous words, and I am no exception. Making a point in a short amount of space is particularly important when it comes to pitch writing. Think that one-page query letter is impossible to actually make one page? Try pitching a 100k word novel with two main characters, two love interests, and two separate plots in a niche genre with only 140 characters. Yeah.

Basically, if you aren't on Twitter yet, get on it. You will be glad you did. There is a huge community that I think a lot of people have no idea exists, and it is a fabulous place for authors to engage with one another.

Wattpad Block Party: Summer Edition III

Hey Guys!

I am very excited to announce that I have been invited back to the Wattpad Block Party again! The third Summer Edition will be held during the month of August, and will feature a great list of authors from Wattpad. Kelly Anne Blount will be the hostess, as usual.

For those who don't know what the Wattpad Block Party is, I'll explain. USA Today best-selling author Kelly Anne Blount creates a "book" on her Wattpad profile where she shares the posts that we, the featured authors, create specially for the event. Every day during the month of August will feature a different author. We create all sorts of content for the Party: sneak peek chapters, short stories, Q&A with either ourselves or with some of our characters, major announcements saved just for the event, etc. And we all pitch in to offer a wide variety of giveaway prizes. I've seen everything from chapter critiques/edits to chapter dedications to free books and even European chocolate. Seriously, it's a lot of fun for everyone who participates!

To celebrate being chosen to participate again, I am going to join the Party giveaways and offer up one free copy of the "Glass Roses" eBook from Amazon.

Keep an eye either on my Wattpad profile or here for more information about how to enter the giveaway and which day I will be featured.

And... get ready to party!

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"Princess of the Peas" First Draft... Complete!

Today is the day! I have finally finished the first draft of "Princess of the Peas," and it is sweet, sweet nice.

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I've put my thoughts in the "Acknowledgements" section at the end of the story, since I'm feeling too crazy over the whole thing to write about it at the moment. Short version: I can't believe I finished!! SOOOOOOOO much writer's block! Thank you a million times to my patient readers who waited months for me to get my act together and finish the story. You guys are the best EVER.

Check it out here and see how I wrapped up Kate's culinary adventures with a sweet finish.

Thanks a bunch! Enjoy!

"Sea Girl" on Wattpad's TapChat App!

Hello!

My favorite writing website, Wattpad, recently put out a phone .app specifically geared toward conversation-based storytelling. Apparently there are already a few apps like this one out there, but since I am a big fan of Wattpad, I decided to check this one out. It's called Tap, or TapChat, depending on who you ask. On Twitter, you can follow them using the tag #tapbywattpad.

I currently have three stories available on the app. The first is a bonus scene for my work-in-progress novel "Princess of the Peas." It's meant to be a little extra for fans of the story. It is titled "Damage Control: A 'Princess of the Peas' Moment."

My second story is an on-going retelling of Robin Hood, set in modern-day Boston and featuring some rather heavy political overtones. It is inspired by some of the characterizations in the BBC television series, so fan of the show will probably have a chuckle or two over some of my naming choices. You can find it under the name "Sergeant Hood: Operation Retold."

The third story is also my most popular on the app. It is called "Sea Girl," and is a modern take on the classic tale of "The Little Mermaid." At last look, it had over 100,000 taps and continues to climb. It is also featured under the "magical" category heading.

If you are looking for a quick story, check these out and let me know what you think!

Happy Reading!

Short Story Day!

Hey Everyone!

Today is the big day... the day when my short story retelling of "Swan Lake" goes live on Wattpad! It is the eleventh entry in @_Once_Upon's "30 Tales of Spring" Anthology. We've already seen some really amazing stories from ten other authors, and there are still more to come between now and the end of the month. I have been very impressed with the creativity that has been on display in these spring-themed retellings, and I think you will be too.

In other news, I have recently decided to give Wattpad's new TapChat app a try, and boy, is it fun! For those who haven't heard about apps like this before, here is a quick breakdown. Writers create stories that are told exclusively in chat format. Text, IMs, that kind of chatting. They can keep everything in one scene, or break it up into multiple scenes that indicate location or character changes, or even just the passage of time between one part of a conversation to the next. Readers then "tap" through the story, following the conversation as though it were happening in real time.

I've got two stories up on my Tap account so far. The first is a bonus scene called "Damage Control: A 'Princess of the Peas' Moment," featuring Henry and Alice and their damage control plans after Kate learns that she is still competing in the culinary competition after believing she had been eliminated. It's short, sweet, and is meant to give a little insight into the characters while readers wait for the next chapter update.

The second story is one I've been trying to find a way to tell for a long time. It's called "Sergeant Hood: Operation Retold." Of course it is a modern-day Robin Hood retelling, starring Sergeant Robert Hood, a modern-day member of the American military who comes home from deployment to find that the government has been drastically undermining American liberties while he was overseas. I've gone over a zillion ways to tell this story, but haven't found the right tone yet. With Tap, however, I have a perfect venue to start working out some of the more basic elements of the idea. Pairing the whole thing down to just conversations and characterizations has been a fascinating and enlightening experience. I'm definitely looking forward to working more with Tap in the future.

Check out all of these new stories at the links provided above!

Happy Reading!

"30 Tales of Spring" on Wattpad

Hey Guys!

Now that it is March, I am excited to talk a bit about the project I am participating in this month. It is an anthology of stories that are centered around fairy tales and springtime. Thirty authors were chosen by invitation and through a contest, and each has written a short story (2,000-4,000 words). The anthology is titled "30 Tales of Spring," and it is hosted by the ambassador-run fairy tale account on Wattpad, @_Once_Upon.

The ambassadors are doing incredible work in bringing the fairy tale-writing community together on Wattpad. When I first joined the site two years ago, there wasn't much recognition by the community at large of fairy tale retellings. The sheer popularity of the genre, however, has inspired an effort to make it more visible to readers and writers alike. @_Once_Upon shares insights into the history of various tales, runs contests to encourage writers to create more content, and acts as a central location for fans of the genre to unite. It is especially fun to have been invited to participate in one of their first anthologies. Hopefully there will be more opportunities like this in the future to support their great work.

So, how can you get in on the action and read the stories in the anthology for yourself? Simply visit the @_Once_Upon page every day during the month of March, and you will be treated to fresh, original content until the month ends! Don't have time to read every day? Not a problem! The anthology will be available to read in its entirety even after the month is over.

I particularly recommend that you check out "Daughter of Spring" by Ffion (@welshfoxglove) and "Mildew and Dimwit" by Sarah Penney (@Pennywithaney). Both are friends of mine, and their stories are delightfully fun.

What is my contribution, you ask? I'm glad you did, because I am really excited about it! My story is being featured on March 11th, and it is my very first attempt at writing an actual short story. The story is a modern retelling of the story/ballet "Swan Lake." I have plans to either expand it into a novella or novelette, or to write some more short stories for an anthology of my own. I haven't decided yet. The story is set in Boston, my home city, and home to the iconic Swan Boats that take tourists for rides around the lake in the Public Garden. Boston is especially beautiful in the spring, and I have been looking for an opportunity to set a story there for quite some time. I won't say anything else about it, since it will be out in a few days, but please make sure to leave a comment on it when you read it and let me know what you think!

For now, check out the inspiration board I made for the story on Pinterest, as well as this peek at the cover I designed.

Happy Reading!