Success By Any Other Name....

Well the results are in and I am pleased as punch to say that during the free promo this weekend, 1917 copies of "Rebel Heart" were downloaded. Yes, I will admit that I calculated all the money that I technically "lost" by making the book free, but at the end of the day, I'm still thrilled by the idea that 1917 people have my book in their hands. If you were one of those people, I would like to extend a heartfelt thank you for your support. Please (don't make me beg) take a few minutes to review the book on Amazon or Goodreads once you have finished it. Despite author meltdowns and sock-puppets, I still believe a review counts for a lot. Plus I would like to know my reading public's thoughts. There's always room for improvement (unless of course you thought it was perfect...definitely feel free to share that!)

With what I think was a fairly successful launch behind me, I cracked open "Rebellion" to see where I stood. I don't know if it is the bad mood I've been in or what, but I was very disenchanted with the whole thing. I hate when that happens! Nothing seemed to read correctly or the characters annoyed me or something was just.not.right. And even though I started plotting out a potential sequel to 'Rebel Heart' yesterday, I'm not feeling completely sold on going in that direction either.

This could easily be a photo of me. I was blond as a kid
and often prone to pensive stare-offs

So what do I do? Do I take a few days to ponder something wholly new? There's always a late Victorian novel or even though "Rebel Heart" didn't find a home in the English Civil War, it's still a good time period. I still have a Revolutionary War novel that is in various stages of completion.
What do you do when nothing seems write right?

"Rebel Heart" is Back!

Good morning, folks!

I'm pleased to announce that "Rebel Heart" is back up for sale on Amazon. I did decide to do KDP Select only this time around, so it will be 90 days before I can get it published to other platforms. To celebrate the re-release, "Rebel Heart" will be available for FREE this Friday, August 24th and Saturday, August 25th. So mark your calendars for those dates or if you prefer, help a starving novelist out and go ahead and purchase the book. OK, so I may not be starving thanks to the day job, but you get the picture.

I did get my very first review from the Romantic Historical Fiction Blog last week. Four out of five stars, so very exciting! I'm currently getting the novel out to other reviewers so I will post about those as they come in. And don't forget, if you read "Rebel Heart" please take the time to review it on Amazon or on Goodreads. It's very important for those of us who self-publish. And remember, if you have criticism, please be constructive and respectful about it. Perhaps it's just me, but any author, skilled or no, takes the time to put themselves out there, and at the very least, their time and effort should be recognized even if their execution is off. **steps off soap box**

How about you guys? Are you preparing to publish anything or are you just trying to get through these dog days of summer?

"Rebel Heart" and Other Updates

Just a quick update for all of you, my very lovely readers. I have taken "Rebel Heart" off sale temporarily. Several typos were brought to my attention and so I wanted to correct those before offering the novel for sale again. I hope to have it back up this week, but this time, I am using Kindle Select. So for the first three months, it will only be available to Kindle users. Once that time period is up, I will be publishing to Barnes and Noble for all of you Nook users, and possibly Smashwords again. Thanks for your patience with me. I want to have the best product to offer you all.

In other news, I have been accepted as a reviewer for the Historical Novel Society. I believe my first review will be up in November. I'm super excited about this opportunity. I've also learned that their 2013 conference will be in St. Petersburg, Florida, so I'm hoping to attend next June. I'm also hoping to attend the Romance Writers of America conference next year since it is in Atlanta--which is an easy three hour drive for me.

So what about you all? Any news or updates you would like to share? Are you planning on attending any conferences this year or next?