PULLED IN TOO MANY DIRECTIONS

PULLED IN TOO MANY DIRECTIONS

 

 

      I'm sure in our every day lives we all feel a bit stretched thin, and pulled in too many directions. But what about in your writing life? For me that answer is a firm and loud YES! Ever since I started writing, I've been pulled in too many directions by my muse. What do I mean? Well I usually have a WIP I'm trying to finish before moving on to something new. But unfortunately for me, my muse usually has other ideas, such as me abandoning my current project and taking her advice to start on this shiny, new project that will be much more interesting than what I'm already working on.

 

     This never fails to happen to me. If I'm working on a paranormal, the muse is telling me I should be writing suspense. If I'm doing suspense, the muse is telling me I should try something new like a historical or thriller. This is a constant battle for me. I am happy to have the fresh ideas that my muse provides but I need her not to keep pulling me in so many directions. (Especially now when I'm on a deadline.)

 

      Being as firm as I can I try my best to put my muse's new ideas on pause until I complete my current WIP. But sometimes I get a little weak and am no longer able to fight the temptation of writing something on the new idea I've been provided with. Has this ever happened to you? If so, what do you do? Are there any projects your muse is currently tempting you to abandon? Drop me a line.



GENRE JUMPING

GENRE JUMPING

 

   To jump or not to jump, that is the question...at least when it comes to switching genres. There are so many schools of thoughts on this topic as to why you should or should not make that leap of faith. In fact there is so much other information out there, that even though this post is titled "genre jumping," it's not about what you should or should not do. Then what am I talking about? I'm sharing my own plans for genre jumping and the inspiration behind them.

As many of you know I jumped into the publishing world by writing paranormal romance- The Demi-god Daughters series that includes Goddess of Legend and Goddess by Chance. I do have definite plans to write a third in this series, Goddess by Surrender and possibly a 4th novel. My inspiration for the series came from a love of the Greek myths.

 I have also started another paranormal series- The Mermaids of Astaeria. Of the 3 books planned, 1.5 are complete. My inspiration for this series, Disney's The Little Mermaid and Splash. I love the paranormal genre and will probably always return to it. (Between you and me, I have at least 5 other standalone paranormal novels planned.)

As much as I love paranormal I also like variety and for that very reason I have branched out. My first mafia romance novel, Dirty Little Secrets recently sold to Samhain Publishing and I'm currently working on a follow up, Devious Little Lies. I tentatively have plans for 3 more mafia style books. Ever since I read about Al Capone, Lucky Luciano, and grew up to know who the infamous John Gotti was I've always been fascinated by the Mafia. I'm enjoying diving into this new genre and putting my spin on things, but I don't intend to stop here. I have plans.

I've written the first in what I hope to be a 5 book series called Fractured Fairytales where I put my own unique spin on some of the childhood fairytales I've grown up reading and watching. I can't wait to finish these and share them with the world.

Besides my fairytales I also have plans for a hot 4 book contemporary romance series following 4 cousins as they attempt to find love.

I also want to tackle writing a thriller and have one in the planning stages. Steve Berry and James Rollins are my inspirations for wanting to take a shot at this genre.

Moving right along, I have plans for a few novels in the romantic suspense genre. My inspiration for that is none other than the Lisa Jackson novels I've read.

And last but not least I want to write a historical novel and I have one outlined called, The Inheritance. After reading so many historical novels and researching my own family history I decided there was no reason I couldn't write this kind of story too.

So there you have it people, this author plans to genre jump and write in all the genres I love without fear, without worry. I love to read in all these genres I've named so why not take the leap of faith and create my own stories in them as well. So now that you've heard all of my crazy ideas and inspirations, tell me about you. Will you be making the leap of faith into another genre and if so which one?



THE YEAR IN REVIEW & LOOKING FORWARD TO 2015

THE YEAR IN REVIEW & LOOKING FORWARD TO 2015

 

Happy New Year everyone. I'm back from vacation. At the end of every year you look back over everything that happened and you make goals for the next year. At least I do, when it comes to writing anyway. When it comes to my life Jesus take the wheel. But I digress. Despite some setbacks and unforeseen things, 2014 was pretty good to me as I continued on the road towards being a professional author.

January- I was blessed to sign with an agent, Nikki Terpilowski of Holloway Literary Agency. In a day and age where getting picked up by an agent is still a hard thing to do, I remain ever so grateful.

April- I complete the second novel in my Demi-God Daughters series, Goddess by Chance.

August- I complete my fifth novel, my first mob romance, Dirty Little Secrets.

November- Goddess by Chance is released by Evernight Publishing.

December- Dirty Little Secrets is sold to Samhain Publishing and expected to release Summer 2015.

So looking back over 2014, things were pretty darn good. I wrote 2 novels and both those novels have homes. I signed with an agent at the beginning of the year and by the end she had me a book deal. Yes 2014 was good to me in the pursuit of my dreams and I hope 2015 continues to be even better.

MY 2015 GOALS

1. To finish my second mob romance, Devious Little Lies and find a publishing home for it.
2. To start and complete my third Demi-god Daughters novel, Goddess by Surrender and find it a home at Evernight Publishing with the others in my series.
3. To finish Siren's Embrace, the second in my Mermaids of Astaeria series that has yet to find a publishing home. But I'm passionate about this story and this series and even if it does not find a traditional publishing home I will self publish it myself.
4. And if I'm really, super ambitious maybe I can start on the 1st novel in an edgy, contemporary romance series called Fated.

That's a lot in addition to keeping up my grades in nursing school so I can graduate, studying to pass my boards, looking for a job and hoping Mr. Right will finally decide to show up. It's a lot, but when you have a passion you have to put in the work to make sure that it goes somewhere and I intend to do just that.

 I hope you all have an awesome year. What are you looking forward to in 2015? Let me know.