Reader News for December 2015

We’re in the holiday season, and with a new Christmas novella to release,  I couldn’t be more pleased. After one of the hardest years of my life (months of lost work due to illness, hackers, broken computers, and household disasters), I’m finally able to announce some progress. First, though, I would be remiss if I didn’t mention you, dear reader, and thank you for your loyalty. During some of the roughest times, you encouraged me in small ways that mean a lot.

Christmas Novella

I’m delighted to announce the release of All I Want for Christmas, a Sweet Serenade Christmas novella and my very first indie title. I don’t plan to give up benefits of being traditionally published, but I also wanted an outlet that allows more creative control to the author. The cover is my own design, and I’m ridiculously pleased about how it turned out.

All I Want for Christmas will release for Kindle in the next couple of days, to be followed shortly by a print version. I’ll be reading this book free as part of my brand new podcast, so catch those details, below.

All I Want For Christmas

Hailey may just give up on men entirely.  When Corey broke her heart,  her best friend Matt helped pick up the pieces. Matt made his interest in her no secret when they first met, but seemed happy to accept a friendship, at least until now. With Corey looking her way again, Matt has started acting funny.

If Matt wasn’t a cubicle worker who moonlights as a Seattle street musician, this could have been easy.  Hailey can’t afford a drag on her ambitions. She needs to climb the career ladder to keep her childhood home, all she has left of her parents.

After Amy ditched him for a man with more money, Matt isn’t about to tell Hailey that the ‘fiddle’ he carries is a Stradivarius or that he owns a tuxedo. Let her love him for himself or not at all.

Epic Fantasy

I’ve submitted Sojourner, Tales of Faeraven 3, to my publisher. As I mentioned last month, this series, which I envisioned as a trilogy, has morphed into four books. DawnKing, Tales of Faeraven 4, is already stirring in my mind.

Western Historical Romance

I’m looking forward to beginning Hills of Nevermore, first novel in the Montana Gold series, which is set in Montana’s gold rush days. With just eight months between books, I’m reworking my schedule to accommodate more time for writing them, and my husband and I are discussing another research trip to Montana to gather information for the second book, Cheyenne Sunrise, which I’ll begin later in 2016.  I’ll be updating my author newsletter with details from my research and literary travels.

Romantic Mystery Novels

I’m enjoying writing Deceptive Tide, a romantic suspense novel set on Orcas Island in the San Juan Islands archipelago an unspoiled paradise off the coast of Washington state.  Watch for its release in the beginning of 2016.

Story Circle/Literary Wayfarer Podcast

I’m becoming leary about announcing dates, because right after I said I’d be starting the Story Circle podcast in November, the laptop I need to record the podcast broke.  It’s finally repaired, and I’m hoping to release the first episode on Friday with All I Want for Christmas, a Christmas novella. The chapters are short, so I’ll be reading several at a time so we can complete the novella in December.

Upcoming Events

This month I’ll be signing books at the December meeting of Northwest Christian Writers Association. If you’re going to be in the area, I hope you’ll stop by and say hello.