I'm Back and Raring to Go!

The last two weeks has shown me the importance of taking a break. Feeling weary at the end of 2013, I enjoyed a relaxing Christmas and New Year with my family and am now launching into 2014 with fresh energy. I am so excited and wanted to share with you my writing plans for this year. I actually have a bunch of other plans this year too, but for this particular post, I'll just let you know about the books I have planned. I'll tell you about the other stuff in tomorrow's Indie Life Post - "Taking Every Opportunity."

So - as far as writing goes, I have six books planned, four of which will be published by Evatopia Press.

True Colors, The Masks Series #1 is coming out on February 16th and we're kicking it off with a big party.

There are going to giveaways, competitions, author appearances...a whole bunch of fun. Plus, all party-goers will be able to purchase a copy of True Colors for only 99c!
I'd love for you to join me. Here's the event link: TRUE COLORS MASQUERADE BALL.

My second and third books, that I'm hoping to release in the first half of this year, are the I Know Lucy Series. I have had so much fun working on this series. I Know Lucy is already written and I just started the 1st draft of Set Me Free yesterday. I always say that I fall for my characters as I write and I really do, but this bunch have nestled into my heart and I can't wait for you to meet them.

My summer release this year is going to be the start of a Contemporary Romance Series - The Songbird Series. They will all be stand alone novels. I am branching away from YA for these particular books. I guess you could label them NA, but they are going to be clean enough for YA readers to still enjoy. Although it will be written about older characters in their early-mid twenties, I still hope my YA readers will be able to enjoy these stories. At this stage I'm planning on writing one Songbird book a year, but I may up that to two next year - I'll see what else I'm squeezing in :)

For the rest of 2014, I want to work my way through books 2 - 4 of The Masks Series, I don't like to leave readers waiting too long. This will probably end up taking me through until January 2015. And then for Valentine's Day, 2015 - I'm hoping to release a very sweet, poignant story that has been close to my heart for years. I don't know why I've been sitting on it for so long, but I need to get it out. I was going to write it earlier on, but I thought a Valentine's Day release would be perfect for this particular tale.

So that's what I'm up to this year. How about you?
How many books are you hoping to get through this year - either reading or writing?
If you're a writer, what have you got coming out next?
I'd love to hear your news :)

So Many Things To Tell You!

Okay, time for one of my favourite posts of each month...my progress report. I love filling you guys in on what I'm doing, because I love finding out what other authors are up to. I guess you like to write the kinds of posts you enjoy reading.

So, what have I been up to?

 I got back from my girls' week away on Friday night. I had the best time. Hanging out with friends in a new place is so much fun. Guilin is a beautiful part of China and although the weather was not the greatest, it didn't take away from the beauty. Here's one pic I took from the boat cruise we did down the Li River.

Writing wise, I have been a very busy lady. After making the decision to release my trilogy in rapid succession, I have had no time spare. It took me an hour to map out a schedule to make sure I could fit everything in. So far I'm only a couple of days behind schedule.

Unknown is in the final editing stages. Unseen is written and with critique readers, and Unleashed is planned. I hope to start on that next week. Trying to do this has been a trip, but a totally amazing experience. I feel like I'm being pushed to my limit on so many levels and it's good for me. I'm out of my comfort zone and I am learning so much.

So as you can imagine, I am in a bit of a writing flurry at the moment, but I am also squeezing other things in. I was invited to speak at an international school a couple of weeks ago and presented my stuff to three different English classes. It was great. I had so much fun talking about what I do and answering a bunch of great questions.

I also ran a Bookbub ad with Betwixt and was excited to see some real movement with that book. The proceeds are going to a charity, Love146, so it's awesome to be able to hand over a really decent donation. Thank you so much to everyone who helped me spread the word about my Betwixt sale and everyone who bought a copy. Your support means so much to me.

April is a relatively quiet month for me. I'm going to be spending most of my time in my writing/editing cave. Thankfully I love hanging out there.

I do have a few little surprises planned though, so keep your eyes and ears open.

If you'd like to be the first to find out my latest news, you can subscribe to my monthly newsletter.
Melissa Pearl's Updates.

So that's me - what have you been up to?

So Many Things To Tell You!!

February disappeared on me. It seriously did! I can't believe we are in March already. This year is flying by and I'm loving every moment of it.

I had some fun in February with a giveaway running on YAlicious and this blog.

Congratulations to the Valentine's Day winners: Lindsey and Danael.
Also a big thumbs up for the Indie Author Month winner: Christelle.
I hope you enjoy some fun reading over the next few weeks.

So what do I have to tell you for the month of March...

Well - my biggest news is probably my change of plans. After much deliberation, I have decided to go for rapid fire releases of my upcoming trilogy. I was originally going for 3 months between each book, but I have changed my mind. After some tricky scheduling, I have given myself the goal to release the books June, July and August. Yikes!! No, no, it's okay. I can do this. I am going to be spending many days in my writing cave and it is a huge workload, but I am really happy about my decision. I love the fact readers will not have to wait long between instalments.

In mid-February we had the Unknown Cover Reveal, if you'd like to check it out. You can also add the book to your TBR on Goodreads.

Read an E-Book Week is currently underway at Smashwords and I have enrolled all of my books. Use coupon code REW50 to get 50% off. Golden Blood is also FREE. You can find out more on my SMASHWORDS AUTHOR PAGE.

I am gearing up to run a big sale for Betwixt. As many of you know, I am donating $1 from every sale to the charity - Love146. So at the end of March, I'll be doing a big push for the book and hopefully can earn a little more money to pass onto this amazing organisation.

On YAlicious this month, we have a huge line up of fantastic authors highlighting their books and writing a little something about them. Alivia Anders visited yesterday with her new release, Ethereal and this Thursday we have Cambria Hebert featuring Recalled! Yay!

Other than those few things, I am going to be buried in my writing cave, working on Unseen (Book 2) of The Elements Trilogy. I'm hoping to have the 1st draft finished by the end of March, and then will be straight final edits and formatting for Unknown (Book 1). Wish me luck!!

If you'd like to be kept up-to-date with my news, you can sign up for the my monthly newsletter.
SIGN UP LINK.

What are you up to in March?

January Sale!

It's time for my monthly progress report, but to be honest, with being away on holiday, I don't have that much to share just at the moment. I am slowly finding my feet again and getting back into the swing of things.

I really needed a break and I enjoyed every moment of it. It's good to be back though.

To celebrate the start of a new year, I am having a JANUARY SALE on all my books.
Golden Blood is FREE and the rest of my books are on special at $2.99 for a limited time.

Here is my Amazon Author Page where you can purchase the books.

I hope everyone has had an amazing Christmas and is gearing up for a fantastic 2013. I know I'm excited :)

If you'd like to stay up to date with my news, please sign up for my monthly Book Updates Newsletter. This will keep you posted on all my latest book news and any specials or giveaways I have running.

I have some more exciting news brewing in February and I can't wait to share it with you. In the meantime, have an awesome start to your year everybody!!!

So Many Things To Tell You!!

Well, it's the beginning of December, so time for my monthly progress report.

November saw the release of Betwixt, so that was a great lead-in to one of my favourite months of the year... December. Why do I love it so much?

 Because I love Christmas!! The family time, the presents, the decorations, the food, the history... I love it all.

And speaking of Christmas, that is my first piece of news. I am involved in the Christmas For Authors celebration that is being run by Young Adult and Teen Readers. If you'd like to take part in the Treasure Hunt Giveaway, you can check out my recent blog post here. This celebration will be running throughout the month and there are so many giveaways and awesome prizes. It is definitely worth joining in the event.

December has kicked off with a bang for me as A Tale of Many Reviews is currently hosting the Betwixt Blog Tour for me. Day One was filled with amazing reviews. I am so excited that people are enjoying it so much. Thank you so much to all the participants. I feel honoured to be featuring on your amazing blogs. There is a giveaway running and there will be plenty more posts to come - including interviews, a tweet chat between Nicole and Dale and a few other goodies. If you'd like to follow along, you can check out the tour schedule on my YAlicious site - Betwixt Blog Tour.

The first book of my fantasy trilogy is well underway. In fact I am hoping to finish it before I fly home for Christmas (in two weeks!! Squee!!). I am finding this project extremely challenging, but also so much fun. I have never written anything like this before and it's really stretching me. I currently have a "Name That Troll" competition running through my updates newsletter. The person who comes up with the best name for my monstrous yet completely adorable baby troll will win an Amazon gift card. If you'd like to participate, you can sign up for my Book Updates and Giveaways Newsletter. Entries close December 21st.

I had a photo shoot last week with some of the students from Suzhou Singapore International School. One of the teachers there helped me out and snapped some shots of these gorgeous kids. They are going to be the faces on the covers of my fantasy trilogy - The Elements Trilogy. The books are tentatively titled - Unknown, Unseen, Unleashed. I can't WAIT to see what my talented graphic designer comes up with. We've been discussing ideas and I think these covers are going to be pretty awesome-sauce.

On my YAlicious blog this month I have some pretty cool posts coming up - I have the amazing Patti Larsen visiting the site on Thursday, a surprise book blogger will be doing an interview for me the week after that. I also have some posts planned while I'm away for Christmas, including a giveaway, so keep your eye out for that.

In the meantime, I really hope you have a fantastic December filled with lots of warm, Christmas fuzzies. I know this season can sometimes be stressful, but it's also a season of giving and reflection and I hope you can all come away feeling better for it :-)

So Many Things To Tell You!

Well, November is finally here, so it's time for my monthly progress report.

October went by in a flurry of activity. To celebrate Golden Blood's birthday, I listed it for free. This brought the book into the spotlight and it was great to see so much activity happening around the trilogy. It is such a buzz to see something you worked on for so long entice so many readers. I'm so glad you have been enjoying the books.

Golden Blood turned one on November 4th so I have decided to continue the celebrations and keep the book FREE, on all sites, for another month.

November has been the cause for another celebration - the release of Betwixt!! I feel like it has taken forever to get here, but finally I can share this book with you. It has been such a privilege to work on this project and the support of, and response to, this book has been overwhelming. Thank you to all my reviewers, I'm so glad you loved the book and have been willing to tell everybody about it as well.

I wanted Betwixt to be an emotional story that explored the effects tragedy can  have on people's lives and the healing power of unconditional love and forgiveness, but I didn't want to bog the story down so that reader's came away depressed either. Finding that mix of humour and sorrow seemed to come quite easily and it makes me wonder if this story was meant to be written all along.

If you haven't read it yet, I really hope you enjoy it :-)

The book can be purchased on any of the Amazon stores or on Smashwords. It will also be available on Barnes & Noble, Kobo, Apple and Sony very soon.

For every copy of Betwixt sold, $1 will be donated to Love146 - a charity fighting against child sex trafficking and exploitation.

A Tale of Many Reviews is hosting an awesome-sauce blog tour for me from the 3rd - 8th of December. So keep an eye out for that :-)

So November has started with a hiss and a roar, but I have no intention of slowing down. The rest of the month holds lots of goodies for me. The two major ones are:

1. YAlicious blog. Brenda and I are making some changes to the blog and are hoping to host many amazing authors, spotlight some fantastic books and get some good discussions going. I'll keep you posted on progress, but so far for this month I have lined up a couple of author visits, a book review, a movie review and hopefully a visit from a book reviewer.

2. My new fantasy trilogy. I am now in the first draft stage of Book One - tentatively entitled - Unknown. My goal is to have it finished by Christmas. Hopefully I can pull that off :-) I've had so much fun planning out the story and creating the world. It is going to be a challenging project, but it's good to test your skills every now and then, right?

Thank you so much for everyone who is joining me on my writing journey. I love being able to share all this cool stuff with you.

I have just started up a Book Updates Newsletter as well, so if you'd like to sign up, you'll receive a bi-monthly update on where my books are up to and what specials or giveaways I have going on. Follow the link below to sign up.
Melissa Pearl's Book Updates

So Many Things To Tell You!

I can't believe it's October already. Where is the year going?
Well - as I always do at the beginning of every month - it's time for a progress report.

September left me behind in a blur. Writing wise I managed to get some major work done on my fantasy trilogy for next year. I have now profiled every character, created a map of my world and a history. I have also completed a rough outline for all three books. Very soon I will be embarking on the individual scene plans where I break down each scene in detail. I actually really love that part, so I'm looking forward to it.

Another super awesome thing about September was sending out ARCs of Betwixt. I have heard back from a few reviewers already and the feedback has been so positive and overwhelming. I am so excited to share this book with the world. Bring on November 5th!!

So, as you can probably guess, I am going to be spending October getting ready for the release of Betwixt. EXCITEMENT!!

I will be posting excerpts, teasers, character interviews, a book trailer and more throughout this month. Plus I thought I might run a little giveaway, because they're always so much fun. Keep an eye out for these updates.

Speaking of updates, if you're interested, I have just started up a "Book Updates" newsletter. If you sign up, you'll be the first to know my latest book news. It will include updates on my writing progress, book release dates and any giveaways. If you'd like to sign up, follow this link to the form - Melissa Pearl Book Updates Sign Up Form.

Another fun thing I'm getting ready for is Golden Blood's first birthday. Can you believe it? On November 4th, I will have been published for one whole year!! If you'd like to find out more details of how I'm celebrating, sign up for my newsletter :)

On my YAlicious site this month, I am running an Author-fest. I thought it would be fun to highlight some authors with a quick interview. It's always fun to see what other writers are up to and get to know them a little better. If you're a writer and would like to be involved, you can message me via my Facebook Page - http://www.facebook.com/melissapearlauthor.

So that's me for now. I'd love to hear what you're up to as well, so please feel free to give me your own update in the comments section :)

So Many Things To Tell You!!

Well, it's time for my monthly progress report. I usually do this at the very beginning of the month, but since I missed August 1st - due to flying to China! - I'm going to do one today :)

As many of you know, August has been a quiet month for me. With shifting the family to China, I thought it was best to pull back from social media and writing commitments. Getting settled in China has had its ups and downs, but we are slowly finding out feet and I've been really pleased to get back into writing much faster than I thought I would.

So - this is where I am at...

- Betwixt is now edited, and formatted, up to an Advanced Readers Copy point. I have four proof readers helping me catch any line edit errors. The book is set in California, so I also have an American friend who is going to be checking that the text doesn't house any kiwisms that I may have missed :)

- Because I am ahead of schedule, I have moved the release date of Betwixt, forward to November 5th. This will give the book time to filter down through all the sale channels and it will be available for purchase everywhere for Christmas.

- I have spent the last couple of weeks rounding up reviewers and have been delighted to find out that some of them have read the book already... not only that, they have absolutely loved it. Needless to say, it has been an encouraging week :)

- A Tale of Many Reviews is also hosting a blog tour for me in December. If you are a book blogger and would like to sign up for it, you can follow this link... Betwixt Blog Tour.

- The cover is good to go and I will be sharing that with you next week. I know some of you have already seen it, but for those of you who haven't yet... excitement!!

- I have also finished the book trailer for Betwixt. I'm not quite sure when to reveal that. At this stage, I'm thinking October, so you'll just have to wait and see. I'm really happy with how it's come out. Hopefully it'll hit the mark and make people want to read the book.

- The last piece of exciting news I'd like to share is that I had a brain explosion about three weeks ago and from it a new trilogy has emerged. It is a YA Fantasy Romance series. I've never come up with anything like it before, but I am so excited that I've decided to shift my other planned books and make 2013 the year of the Elements Trilogy. It'll be a ton of work, but I say... bring it on!

So that's me for August. September will be all about planning this new trilogy and working on marketing stuff for Betwixt.

What are you up to?
I'd love to find out where you are at in your writing/reading/blogging journey :)

So Many Things To Tell You!!

Well, it's the beginning of July and you know what that means... time for my  monthly progress report.

June flew past so fast, my head is still spinning, but I had a ton of triumphs. A few highlights were...

- I finished my first draft of Betwixt and have had a few critique partners get back to me with really positive comments. Such a thrill :) Today is the day I promised myself I'd get it to my editor, so after this post, I'm doing my final read through then flicking it off to her. Nervous!

- I spoke to the New Zealand School Librarians Association. What an awesome bunch of people. School librarians rock. They are always so enthusiastic and encouraging. They love to get kids reading... and so do I. It's always such a buzz meeting them. Subsequently, I've managed to arrange two school visits in a couple of weeks, plus also sell some more of the trilogy. It was a great chance to promote Forbidden Territory too.

- Another totally spunky thing that happened, was I popped into our local library to ask if I could leave some Forbidden Territory bookmarks on the counter. They were so excited they ended up inviting me to the FUSE launch party, which is a initiative to get teens reading. How cool is that?!? Brenda's coming down to join me and we'll have fun chatting to the kids and promoting our new book...

Which brings me to July!!
Wow - there is SO much to celebrate this month. I will try to be brief as there really is a lot to say :)

- The release of Forbidden Territory!! Wohoo!!! The book can be purchased from Amazon stores or through Smashwords...

- Speaking of which, Smashwords is having a huge July sale. A heap of books are available at discounted prices - some are even free. If you'd like to pick up Forbidden Territory for 25% off, just click the link below and use the coupon code SSW25.
FORBIDDEN TERRITORY ON SALE!!

- Another fun thing happening this week is the Forbidden Territory blog tour. You can check out the schedule and enter the giveaway here. There are some pretty fun prize packs to win.

- Brenda and I are also running another giveaway through Goodreads. If you'd like to win a paperback copy, you can enter here. There are two up for grabs :)

- And the last thing I wanted to mention was the INDIEpendence celebrations going on. There are some fantastic indie authors to discover. It's definitely worth taking the time to discover them.
INDIEpendence Day Celebrations.

Thank you so much for all the blog tour participants who have given their time to read and review Forbidden Territory for us. You are all such fantastic people and we have LOVED working with you :)

Whether you're cooped up indoors with rain pouring outside (c'est moi) or lounging on a hot sunny beach somewhere (hopefully you!), I hope you have a wonderful July!!

So Many Things To Tell You!!!

Hey everyone :)

Welcome to the June addition of So Many Things To Tell You!!!

My May highlights were...

- Visiting a couple of the local high schools and talking to their book clubs and classes of students. They were very responsive and positive, asking great questions and showing such enthusiasm. A couple of weeks later I found out some of the teachers were reading Golden Blood aloud to their students as a shared class novel. That totally made my day!!

- Brenda and I put together a little LIKE-athon to promote our new Mica & Lexy Series Faceboook Page. We got a great response and were able to giveaway some really fun prizes.

- I also put together a book trailer for Forbidden Territory, which I absolutely love doing.

- The last big highlight for May was participating in the Taste Test Blog Tour. It was so fun highlighting all the authors involved and once again being able to hand out some really fun prizes :)

So what does June hold for me?

- Well it started out with my birthday present - a writing weekend away. I stayed at a hotel in town for two nights and wrote my little butt off. I managed to get through about 30,000 words of Betwixt. I'm feeling pretty shattered now, but it was worth it :)

- I also had the very cool opportunity of selling books with my friend T. G. Ayer at the NZ unCONventional Sci Fi and Fantasy convention. It was really cool meeting new people and making connections. We chatted with Trudi Canavan for a while too. She is such a sweet heart... and makes really great hot chocolate!!

- Next weekend I have a planning day with Brenda, so we can map out our next Mica & Lexy book - Forbidden Waters. I'm really looking forward to hanging out with her for the day. Writing with my bestie has to be one of my favourite things to do!!

- Later on in June I am going to be speaking to the Auckland Chapter of the School Librarians Association. They want me to talk about digital publishing and my experiences with that. I'm a little nervous, but I'm sure I'll be fine once I get talking :)

So - that's me for now.
What have you been up to?

So Many Things To Tell You!!

Well - it's May 1st here in Kiwi Land, so it's time for my monthly progress report. Yet again I have had a bunch of stuff on.

April whizzed by in a heart beat.

Writing wise I have finally managed to really get stuck into the research and planning stage of Betwixt. SO excited. It's really great to get into writing again after so many months of editing and then marketing. It's super fun to be working on a new project from scratch.

Marketing wise I have been involved with the Easter Book Bunny Hop, which was so fantastic. I will be announcing the winners tomorrow. Eeeppp :)

The Goodreads Black Blood Giveaway also came to a close last night and I want to congratulate...
Neville Krishnawamy from India and Lana Van Beelen from Canada. I will be posting off those books to you today.

Good reviews for the trilogy continue to come in. I'm so glad people are enjoying the books. I want to thank everyone for taking the time to leave reviews and help promote my work. I wouldn't be anywhere without your support, so give yourselves a hug from me.

One special highlight from the month was having coffee with a fan. My author friend, T. G. Ayer, set it up for me and we went together to meet Book Chatter Cath. It was SUCH a treat and so cool to talk about my work with someone who had read and enjoyed it.

The last super fun thing I'll mention for the month of April was the release of the FREE Sampler - A Taste Test, which is packed full of excerpts from 2012 YA Paranormal and Contemporary Romance works. It is definitely worth checking out. There are some great authors and books to be discovered.

So - what does May hold?
Well - a bunch of stuff!!

Today I am going into St Kentigerns College to speak to a bunch of English classes about writing. On Thursday I am visiting Pakuranga College to meet with their book club and in a couple of weeks I'll be dropping by Macleans College to talk to their writer's club. I'm really nervous about ALL these engagements, but super excited to meet the students and chat about writing. Hopefully the words will flow easily - if anything they may have a hard time shutting me up :)

Another exciting thing from today is that Pure Blood is now available in paperback. Yes!! The Trilogy is finally complete in both digital and paperback form. SOOOOO exciting!! The book can be picked up through Amazon.

In a few weeks time, I will be participating in the "A Taste Test" Blog Tour where eight of the authors from the Sampler will be featured over eight days. There are going to a bunch of fun posts so you can get to know the authors better, plus a huge giveaway with a ton of prizes to win. I'll keep you posted, but mark your diaries - it starts on May 21st.

As well as that blog tour, I am also looking for people to participate in the Forbidden Territory blog tour, which is at the beginning of July. If this is something you'd be interested in or you would like to review the book in July, then please let me know. Here is the link for the blog tour invite, which has all the details in it: Forbidden Territory Blog Tour.

And the last thing I'll mention for today - otherwise this post is just going to be ridiculous, is that I have been invited to join the staff of Indies Unlimited. Super excited. This is an awesome bunch of people who are real advocates of indie writing. I will be contributing one post a month. I feel very honoured to be asked :)

SO - what does May hold for you?

So Many Things To Tell You!!

Welcome to the April addition of So Many Things To Tell You!! Yes, in NZ it's April already. I can't believe how fast this year is going!

Anyway, March was such a fantastic month, in fact so much has been happening, it's almost ridiculous :) Here are some of the awesome things I got to celebrate...


- Golden Blood was released in paperback

- I have been to visit several schools in the area where I met the wonderful librarians and got to chat to a few kids. It's been so fun talking about the trilogy and personally selling books to the kids. They are so enthusiastic about it all and always ask the best questions

- Julie from A Tale of Many Reviews hosted a stupendous blog tour for me. THANK YOU, JULIE!!!! I had so many excellent reviews come in from the bloggers involved and there are no words to describe how good it feels to know people are enjoying the books. There are still opportunities to win copies of Golden Blood if you want to check out the tour schedule. I feel very honoured to be featured on these awesome blogs... they are worth checking out. Golden Blood Tour Schedule

- I ran a giveaway for Golden Blood on Goodreads and the two winners were announced last night. Congratulations Arielle from NZ and Colena from TN, USA. I'm so glad you guys won and I really hope you enjoy the book

- Goodreads has been ticking along with more and more people adding Golden Blood to their reading list. It's so exciting for me. I really, really, REALLY hope people enjoy the book(s) :)

- Black Blood and Pure Blood also won Top Choice Awards on Flamingnet.com, which is a very cool site that lets teens review the books that are written for them.

- And the last thing I'll mention from the month is that Brenda and I have handed out Forbidden Territory to our beta readers and so far, we are getting excellent feedback. We should have all the feedback in within the next couple of weeks and then we can do our final tweaks and edits and get on with marketing. Exciting!!

So - after such an amazing month, what does April hold for me?

- Black Blood is released in paperback TODAY, which means the first two books in the trilogy are now available on Amazon in paperback!! (Digitally, all three books are available through Amazon.com, Amazon.co.uk, Smashwords and all the distributors affiliated with them - Barnes & Noble, Sony, Diesel, Apple, Kobo & Baker-Taylor)

- I will be running a Black Blood Giveaway on Goodreads this month - keep an eye out for it :)

- Brenda and I are editors for a YA Paranormal and Contempory Romance Sampler that is coming out this month. It is packed full of awesome excerpts from nine great writers whose work has either just been released or is due out this year. The best part about it, is it's going to be absolutely FREE!!

- The school holidays are coming to town in NZ so I will be having a small break in early April, but when I get back, I'll be back to visiting schools - I have talks lined up at three local high schools, so I'm looking forward to meeting some older kids as well.

- And the last thing I'll mention - I am involved in the Easter Bunny Book Hop being hosted by Books4Tomorrow and TattleTale. It is a very cool event running from 5th - 30th April. There are SO many prizes being given away, so keep an eye out for it. Should be super fun :)


I think that's everything for now. I'm sure I'll think of more stuff as April rolls around. Thank you so much to everyone who has followed me on Twitter, liked my FB page and followed my blog this month. I so appreciate your support and interest.

I hope everyone has a FANTASTIC April. I'd LOVE to hear some updates from your writing and reading life

So Many Things To Tell You!!

I love getting updates on where other writers/bloggers/readers are at and what's been happening for them. So I have decided to turn my February progress report into a monthly feature. Please join me by adding your progress into the comments section below. It'll be fun to see what everyone is doing.

Okay - so what have I been up to... and what's around the corner?

February was a great month with the release of Pure Blood. People seem to be enjoying it and I have already received some great reviews on Amazon and Goodreads. It's such a relief to know it's hit the mark. I was really nervous people wouldn't like the way I've ended it, but they do. Yay!

March has brought with it some more sunshine...

- Golden Blood is now available in paperback with a brand new cover. I really love it and have been getting great feedback.

- I did my first public reading last week to a bunch of middle grade kids. It went so well. The kids loved the concept of the book and asked fantastic questions. It was so cool to see such interest and enthusiasm. I have another reading coming up in a couple of weeks, plus two other high schools have asked me to come and talk to their English classes about writing. Freaky!!! but awesome :)

- T. G. Ayer (a writing friend of mine) and I were interviewed by the local paper about our books. We were both a little nervous, but the interview went really well. I'm looking forward to seeing the article - hopefully this week.

- This week, Golden Blood and Black Blood are both on sale through the Read an E-Book Week promotion on Smashwords. There are so many excellent books to get your hands on. Definitely worth checking out.

- I have also listed a Golden Blood Giveaway on Goodreads. There are two paperback copies available, so I'm looking forward to passing those on.

- Writing wise, I have finished my final edits on Forbidden Territory. Brenda is now doing hers and then we're going to hand it out to one more lot of beta readers to see if our major changes have hit the mark. Exciting! Can't wait to see what the readers think.

Also coming up this month...

- The new Black Blood cover will be revealed. I'm so happy with it. I think it's GORGEOUS. Can't wait to show you guys soon!

- The Golden Blood blog tour kicks off on March 26th. There are so many awesome blogs participating. I really hope you can join us. Julie from A Tale of Many Reviews has done such an awesome job putting it together. "Thank you" seems like such an insufficient word sometimes.

- I also have a few features coming up on Indies Unlimited. This is a very cool site and they have been so awesome and enthusiastic about promoting my books. I feel very privileged.

Well - I think that's all from me.
What have you been up to?

So many things to tell you!!

I'm excited!!
You want to know why?
Because in NZ, it is February 1st and that means Pure Blood is coming out THIS MONTH!!!
Super happy! The trilogy will be complete. I can't wait for you guys to read it :)
Keep an eye out for the blurb and cover reveal soon. I'll also be running a giveaway leading up to the book's release. I hope you can spread the word and join me.

I'm also excited because I was given another blog award today.
I will be passing on the two awards over the next week or so. Look out for my first one tomorrow. Can't wait to hand it out :)

I also wanted to let you know I will be guest appearing on the Novel D'Tales blog tomorrow. It is a very cool blog run by HilyBee (Twitter name) and I am honoured to be featuring on her Authors Not-So-Anonymous spot.

Another exciting thing to happen recently, is that Golden Blood and Black Blood made it onto the Goodreads Very Best Time Travel Romance. They are currently sitting at #50 and #52. Thank you to everyone who has already voted. If you haven't, and would like to help me reach Top 40, I would LOVE your support :)

Another piece of news... I told you there were many things!!


Megan Curd is running a cool competition with some excellent giveaways. It's worth checking out her blog.

And last, but not least...

As some of you already know... my friend, Brenda Howson, and I have co-authored a book. Forbidden Territory which will be released later this year and we will be featuring interviews from the characters, excerpts from the book and a few giveaways on our YAlicious blog as the release draws near.
We are hoping to turn this into a series of one off books about Mica and Lexy - two kiwi teenagers who live in a gorgeous town in the South Island of New Zealand. They are best friends and experts at getting themselves in trouble.
Keep an eye out for their Facebook page... coming soon.

Well - thank you for indulging me in this update. I just felt like I had to get it all out.
I will see you again tomorrow when I give out my first blog award!

In the meantime, I hope you are all having a fabulous week.
Would love to hear what you've been up to. Your comments, as always, are most welcome :)