UPDATE: THE LIGHT OF XANDER 10/01/12

This wreath made out of book pages is really cool, but I don't think I'd want someone to do this to my book. :)

Okay, so as of right now, I am at 209 pages and 49,770 words

WRITING INTERRUPTED BY SPIDER

Why must spiders come and bother me while I write? I really hate them, and I wonder about you folks who keep them around because they eat other bugs. What's wrong with you? THERE AREN'T ANY WORSE BUGS THAN SPIDERS! But I love you anyway, really I do--ya'll just have issues, that's all. But here's a cute movie clip for fun, and to lift my spirits after my traumatizing morning with the eight-legged icky crawly that is now dead and flushed. :)

My Publisher

Many of you--mostly my fellow writers--have asked me about my publisher. The name is Lucky Bat Books, and they are wonderful. Here is the link to their site if you'd like to check them out. :)


www.luckybatbooks.com

Sweet Dreams Readers! 09/21/12

May your dreams be filled with the adventure!

Update for The Light of Xander 09/19/12

44,500 words and 190 pages!! I really was hoping to stop before 200 pages, but it's just not going to happen folks. I will shoot for 225, but you're all just gonna have to pray for me, because you know I can't leave out all the juicy stuff! :)

The Light of Xander 09/17/12

Man, I just want to say that God is good!! I was rolling today! I finished a mushy love scene, and then an entire battle scene, and all kinds of good stuff! I love it when the Lord helps me write, because he's a way better writer than me.

CURRENT COUNT: 174 pages and 41,086 words! I'm getting there!

BACK IN GEAR!! 09/11/12

Well, I've been a little preoccupied this past few days; my dad had to have surgery on his carotid artery, as it was 80% blocked. But God is good! His surgery went extremely well, and he should be released from the hospital today! 

Soooo....I am back on it! The Light of Xander is back in gear!

Love is...

A book, a light, and perhaps some hot chocolate with marshmallows. :)

(Even though we all know that love is actually God)

Back to Writing After a Day Off!!

Okay. I took a day off to rearrange part of my house. My poor husband has to watch me shuffle the furniture about every six months or so. He's always a bit distressed about it, and attempts to make a fuss. But I tell him to stay out of my way unless he wants to get hurt. I have no idea why I have this overwhelming urge to move things every so often, but I do. It's like I can't rest well until everything in my world is in the right order. Does anyone else have this issue?

So anyway, I am back on it. I have less time to write today, so pray for me that I can bust out a couple thousand words in a short amount of time!!

There is a fly who keeps buzzing around my head while I am typing, and apparently is set on disrupting my work...Spring SMASH!!

The Light of Xander UPDATE 08/28/12

I just want you all to know that the whole blood, sweat, and tears thing is true. And I have a very unhappy spine as well. Twelve hours of writing yesterday, and then another eight so far today--my shoulders are burning something fierce! But the words are flowing, baby. 140 pages / 32,144 words and counting!

THE LIGHT OF XANDER UPDATE 08/27/12

I'm now 28,280 words and 123 pages into The Light of Xander! Not only is this book a spin-off of League of Ascenders with a couple of the main characters in it, but I also just put a few other LOA characters in there as guest appearances, just for fun! Not telling you who they are!

The Light of Xander UPDATE 08/24/12

The Light of Xander is at 114 pages and counting! Whoo hoo!

Writing Update 08/22/12

Hi everyone! I've been working diligently on my new novella, The Light of Xander. It's coming along nicely, and Lord willing, I'll be done in a reasonable amount of time. I'm at over a hundred pages right now, and the story just keeps flowing!

I can't wait to be done with it, as I'm anxious to finish the second LOA--The Secret of Nebulus, next, especially since many of you have been hounding me to do so! :)

Stay tuned and God bless!

A TITLE!!

It's been quite a weekend--a beautiful one, but I was so grateful to get back to writing this morning. The words are just flowing out of me! I love it when that happens.

Anyway, I would like to share with all of you, the title to my new book--a novella, (unless I can't stop myself from writing more!!) that is coming along quite nicely. The title will be The Light of Xander.

ABOUT NEW NOVELLA

Good afternoon! Well, as some of you know, I have been working on two separate books at the same time--no particular reason, accept that they both happen to be in my head at the same time.

One of them, which is the second of the League of Ascender series, is called League of Ascenders, The Secret of Nebulus. However, The Secret of Nebulus will likely NOT be the next book released, as the other book I'm working on seems to be going a bit faster--it's a novella, and I'm hoping to have it done soon.

I am excited to tell you that this novella will be connected to the League of Ascender Series. But I will not share with everyone how they are connected, just yet, as it might give away too much to those who have not had an opportunity to read Journey of the Fledglings.

A NEW TITLE?

Thanks to a good friend of mine, I may have found a new title for my new book project! I will share it with you all as soon as I toss it around in my brain for a bit to make sure it's the right title.

No worries--I am still working on the second book of the League of Ascender Series, called The Secret of Nebulus, I'm just going back and forth between it and the new book project. Both stories just happen to be in my head at one time, so I have to write them down as they come to me.

Thank you Lord, for the gift of story!

Writing Update 1

Well, I'm on Chapter 8 for the second League of Ascenders, and for my new book, I'm on chapter 3. It's more slow-going than I would like, as my schedule is so hectic, but I have faith that my schedule will open up soon to allow me to write more.

I've never written two books at one time—it's kind of crazy, but fun. I don't yet have a title for my newest book, but I'm confident that it will come to me soon. I'm anxious to finish it, as it's got a totally different feel than LOA. Although, I'm glad to still be working on the LOA series, because I would miss the characters. 

TWO NEW BOOKS

Well, as I was in the middle of working on the second book of the League of Ascender Series, another book idea kind of popped into my head. So now I am working on both of them at the same time. 


I'm thinking that this new book will be more novella length instead of novel—if, that is, I can manage to wrap it up that early. Sometimes I feel like I can go on forever.

I NOW HAVE A TITLE FOR BOOK TWO OF LEAGUE OF ASCENDERS!!

Good evening! You know, for my first book it took me until I was half finished to find a title. So I was surprised to have come up with one so soon into the second.


Today I'd like to share it with you. It will be called: League of Ascenders, The Secret of Nebulus. And it is such a good secret!!


Some of you may not remember, but I mentioned Nebulus twice in my first book. I'm not telling you where! :)

WHO MY CHARACTERS REPRESENT

Some people want to know if my characters in League of Ascenders represent anyone in particular. Well, I am often inspired by different people in my life, but I'd have to say that my characters mostly represent me—who I am, how I feel; my flaws and things I've struggled with in my life. Sometimes, though, the characters represent someone I used to be, and sometimes they represent who I wish I was.

For example: the way Larimar longed to find a family and a place to belong is who I've always been; the way Brandolyn feels about love at the beginning of the story is how I used to be; and the way Vaughn loves unconditionally is sometimes how I wish I was.

The fact that they fly—well, I fly in my dreams. :)

WHEN MY LOVE OF WRITING BEGAN

People have asked me when it was I knew I wanted to write. I had to ponder it for awhile, but I believe the very first spark was in the second grade with my love of words.

I was an awkward kid around that time and hadn’t yet made any friends at my new school. So my teacher—Mrs. Tobin—I’ll never forget her—she spent recesses with me to try and catch me up on my work as I was behind. She told me I could spell the longest word in the English dictionary—antidisestablishmentarianism— and I did! From that point on, not only did I love words, but I believed I could spell anything!

In the third grade every kid in the class was given the opportunity to write a book and actually have it bound and everything! I was so excited! I actually still have it—it’s awful, but kinda cool to look back on.

In the sixth grade I was given my first real report to write, and I wondered why I was the only student in the class that was excited about it. I remember it was on giraffes; I got an A and was so happy about this that I couldn’t wait for the next report. In fact, I believe writing assignments were almost the only thing I ever enjoyed about school.

Unfortunately my love of reading didn’t come until I was about fourteen, when I tried my best to get my mother’s face out of a book so she would pay attention to me. She finally got tired of me pestering her and threw a book at me. She told me to read it, and I was so bored that I did. It was a Harlequin Romance novel, with a man and woman on the cover—probably embracing or some such thing. And my mother hadn’t thrown just any old book at me—it was a juicy one—well, it was for a fourteen-year-old anyway. I was hooked.

Although I wrote many papers in school, and much poetry, it wasn’t until I was thirty-five that I sat down to write my first book. And for some reason, it didn’t occur to me to start with a short story—I went straight for epic novel.

I began searching for a specific kind of book to read, something new that I hadn't read, something with lots of different elements to steal me away that I could get swept up in. But everything I picked up around that time seemed to be missing this thing or that thing, and for some reason, nothing was satisfying. At the same time, I was desperate for some new creative outlet, so, I figured that perhaps I should just write a book myself.

It was July of 2009 when I sat down at my computer, prayed to the Lord to type through my fingers, and then began writing what would become The League of Ascenders, Journey of the Fledglings.

My First Novel is NOW Available at Amazon, Smashwords, and Barnes and Noble

At Amazon

At Barnes and Noble

At Smashwords

Want to preview my book? Available for a FREE download, the short story, VAUGHN'S STORY.