Insecure Writer’s Support Group – How much writing do writers do?

InsecureWritersSupportGroup

I’m back to posting about my insecurities. Not like my insecurities went away, but I was too busy to write about them last month.

First, big thank you to our awesome co-hosts today, Eva SolarMelanie Schulz, Lisa-Buie Collard, and Stephen Tremp! And, as always, huge thanks to Alex. J. Cavanaugh for his leadership.

As I writer, when I am working on a first draft of a WIP, I tend to not like to do anything else. It is my favorite part about this writing job and I allow my brain to be consumed by it, enjoy it, mentally live it until I get the words on the page.

But, as a writer, I don’t get to write as much as I would like to. That is so disappointing and counterproductive. I know …if you want to get better, get recognized, get a royalty check that allows you to do this full time, you have to find time to write.

I am trying. As soon as I finish, plotting, editing, marketing, Facebooking, Tweeting, book related socializing, networking, signing, mailing, filing, editing, editing, editing. Oh, I said that already.

As a writer, how much writing do you get to do? 

Quote for the month:

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*Courtesy of Jennifer Armintrout. Scroll down her feed and check out her video post on May 2nd. It helped.

Changing Tides by Sarah Darlington – Cover Reveal

Happy Valentines Day!! Love, love, love this cover, the inked girl, the title. Love all of it. Nice job Sarah. Sarah is part of my team of kick ass cool authors and I am excited to share her cover with all of you. – Sydney Aaliyah Michelle 

CHANGING TIDES

(Kill Devil Hills #2)

Author: Sarah Darlington

Release Date: March 16th!
 
Synopsis:

“Nate West. Hollywood bad-boy. Television megastar. Womanizer. Basically everything I hate about the male species rolled into one handsome package. And yet…I want him.”

Ellie Turner is a lesbian. She has tattoos, short hair, and a ‘don’t-mess-with-me-attitude.’ She knows who she is, loves who she is, and couldn’t care less what the rest of the world thinks of her. And since she has the most kick-ass best friend on the planet, Noah Clark, even when family drama gets in the way, nothing can offset her happy-go-lucky demeanor.

Until television star Nate West comes along. All thick muscle and alpha-male testosterone. When Ellie meets him on an airplane the only thing Nate West should be good for is a brand new profile picture on Facebook. Right? Wrong. Turns out he’s good for so much more.

This man is going to flip everything Ellie thought she knew about herself upside down.
***NA Romance. This novel is the second book in the Kill Devil Hills series, however it can be read as a standalone. Recommended for 18+ due to sexy scenes, explicit language, and adult themes. 

Changing Tides (Kill Devil Hills, #2)

Sarah Darlington lives in Virginia with her husband and two-year-old son. She’s a former flight attendant, navy brat, constant day-dreamer, wannabe photographer, and an avid scrapbooker. She loves to travel and is working on visiting all 50 states.

 
Other novels in the Kill Devil Hills Series:

KILL DEVIL HILLS

Noah is determined to escape his past and keep his life under control. Then he saves the life of his best friend’s little sister, Georgina Turner — who is battling her own demons. He can’t get her out of his head, even if Georgina tears down the emotional walls he so carefully built.

Read chapter 1 and 2 here

GIVEAWAY

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Call Sign Karma by Jamie Rae – Author Interview

CSK_CoverF
Author Interview:  
  • Let’s hear your Twitter Pitch! (140 characters or less.)

If you like Maverick, then you’ll love Tink, a feisty female fighter pilot. She is taking danger and love to a whole new level. NA Romance.

  • What inspired you to write this book? How is it a book only you could write?

They say to write what you know and as an Air Force veteran and military spouse, I know the military. I also love and respect strong woman, especially women in the military and in jobs that are primarily male dominated. As for why I was best equipped to write this story…Tink has a lot of my own voice––my inside voice, her outside voice. J Also, I’m married to a fighter pilot so it was awesome to able to consult with him to make sure the flying parts of the story were authentic. A lot of the flying scenarios in the book are loosely based off of real experiences.

  • What do you love most about your book?

I love the strength and vulnerability of my main character. I think she is very real. She’s a total badass chick who is willing to take chances and stand up for what she believes in. She’s also just a girl, who has unexpectedly fallen in love while dealing with the heartache of losing her brother.

  • Who was your favorite character to write? Why?

I spent so much time with Tink, that of course, I love her. So I’m going to disqualify her from the running and say Ash. I really had fun writing his character. He has a boyish charm, quick-wit and he’s an all-around stand-up guy. It also doesn’t hurt that he’s super hot and Special Forces.

  • Tell us something we may not know about you.

I have a fear of flying. I’d rather drive for days then ride on an airplane. I stress for weeks before the flight and my heart races the entire time. I suck it up because I love to travel, but I’m much more comfortable with my feet planted on the ground.

Book Blurb: Love in the no-fly zone…

Distraught over the loss of her brother in a fighter jet accident, Tinklee Pinkerton decides to follow in his footsteps and prove the tragedy wasn’t his fault. But when she’s chosen as the first woman to fly the Air Force’s F-35, her plan for a life that revolves around work is thrown off course by a handsome, mysterious stranger…

Thanks to Locke’s seductive British accent, sweet nature, and one too many beers, Tink is soon inspired to throw caution to the wind and herself into his arms. She thinks maybe love can heal after all—until she discovers Locke is her superior officer. Tink has no problem risking her life in the air, but with everything on the line, is she brave enough to risk her heart on the ground?

AUTHOR INFORMATION: 

JamieRae
JAMIE RAE is a New Adult and Young Adult author. She writes with one goal in mind–create stories with a positive message that will stay with the reader long after they’ve finished reading.

Jamie is an avid reader and loves discovering stories with a great hook, though she will not eat, sleep, or speak until she reaches the end. The Harry Potter years weren’t pretty!! Convinced that her Hogwarts letter was lost in the mail, she keeps a watchful eye for owls hoping her children will have better luck!

In her other life, Jamie Rae is an orthodontist, and literary agent. She keeps her heart overflowing with love as a mother of three and has perfected the art of nomadic living as a military spouse and Air Force veteran. Jamie has a passion for critters of all shapes and sizes and you can often find her sneaking them into her own home or volunteering for rescues.

Website: https://www.jamieraewrites.com/
Facebook Fan Page: https://www.facebook.com/JamieRaeAuthor
Twitter: https://twitter.com/JamieRaeWrites
Goodreads: https://www.goodreads.com/author/show/8295257.Jamie_Rae

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My Monthly Update: 2015 Goals – Professional and Personal

I am fond of a saying in my family, “I don’t want to be praying about the same thing this year that I prayed about last year.” Meaning, we are always going to have stuff to pray for, things we want, hopes, dreams, issues, problems, but as long as it’s not the same pray, the same things, hopes, dreams, issues & problems over and over again, then hopefully we are learning, moving forward & growing.  I feel so blessed to have a whole new list of goals for 2015.

Professional

Publish:

  • Hope for Us (Hope Series Book #3)
  • The Hope Series Box Set
  • Ambushed by Love – Contemporary Romance – love triangle
  • A New Season – Dark Romance – sports
  • Inked: Three Permanent Love Stories
    • Emilynn & Leo
    • Tommy & Cameron
    • Sabastian & Gracie

*All are written except for the last two in the Inked series.

Write:

  • Inked Series Book #2 & #3
  • Two other original MS

Marketing:

  • Create & Implement a blog post schedule
    • Tattoo Tuesday – features & stories
    • Teaser Tuesday – post excerpts from WIP
    • Personal Post
    • Feature other Authors & Books
    • Insecure Writer’s Support Group Post
    • My Monthly Update – Update on previous month & goals for the next month
  • Create & Implement a social media post schedule
    • Facebook Page & Tsu – 4x per week – 2 promos, 1 interactive & 1 personal/funny (connect to Twitter)
  • Send out Newsletter once per month (monthly winner of Amazon Gift Card)

Production:

  • Learn how to format my own books
  • Learn how to create teasers in photoshop

Personal

  1. Read 50 books (5 books on writing craft)
  2. Watch 50 movies
  3. Sweat 30 mins a day, 4 times a week
  4. Track my food daily
  5. Stick to my budget and save money
  6. Do something to feed my spirit at least once per month
  7. Say yes to more social situations and look at those as opportunities
  8. Write 1,000 words per day
  9. Write a personal blog post once per month
  10. Do something new every month

What are your goals for 2015? 

Love Addiction – New Adult Anthology – Cover Reveal

LOVE ADDICTION: a holiday anthology
8 moving stories of love and lust to melt away your winter blues.
Coming December 15th!

The books included:

#1: CRAVE by Violet Vaughn

Casey Cassidy gets what she wants.

Determined to get over Jason and find a man that wants a family, she moves to Breckenridge, Colorado.

Landing a job skiing every day, Casey finds Blaine Johnson – a wish come true. A hunky surfer turned ski instructor, he checks off every requirement on her list.

Except for the one she forgot to add.

Blaine has a secret. A secret so big it keeps intimacy smoldering, when Casey needs fire. No matter how hard she tries, the embers won’t ignite. Can she live without passion to get the family she craves?

When Jason comes to town, Casey questions everything she wished for. Their consuming love threatens to explode and ruin her dream. Will she have to choose between a family and the love of her life?

#2: ANOTHER NEW LIFE by Sydney Aaliyah Michelle

“I wanted him, but more than that, I didn’t want to disappear again. That scared me the most.”

Miranda Preston is a walking contradiction. Beautiful on the outside, but, insecure, haunted and damaged on the inside. Despite these contradictions, she’s ready to start Another New Life.

When her talent wins her a piano scholarship to the University of Texas at Austin, Miranda arrives on campus determined to experience everything college has to offer and to keep her secrets in the past where they belong.

An easy task, until the first guy who catches her eye happens to be someone she’s known all her life.

Eight years have passed since the last time Miranda and Troy saw each other. He reminds her of the best and worst times of her life, but she can’t think about one without dwelling on the other. As they grow closer, every day their attraction reminds them they are no longer kids.

The epic romantic love story that is Miranda and Troy seems to be destined for a happy ending, but Miranda knows it’s only a matter of time before her secret is discovered. A secret that will not only destroy their relationship, it will destroy Troy, too.

Can Miranda focus on her future with Troy while preventing her past from tearing them apart all over again?

#3: JARDINE by Leesa Bow (Book #1)

‘Nothing is worth losing you,’ he whispered.

‘You wouldn’t lose me. I’d be there to support you and help you reach your dreams.’ I smiled and ran my hand down his beautiful face.

At eighteen, Ava is sure she has found her soul mate in Jardine. Convincing their friends and family that what they have is more than just a crush, however, is an entirely different story. Jardine’s parents have his life mapped out with plans that don’t include Ava.

Their plans to get into med school and start their future together crumble when cricket sensation Jardine is selected to play for the Australian team, and expected to spend most of the year touring internationally. Ava knows since they agreed to follow their dreams, no matter the cost, she has to let Jardine go.

Ava also discovers a new inspiration to move on with her life. But can she keep it a secret from Jardine? If he discovers the truth, everything between them could be destroyed.

#4: KILL DEVIL HILLS by Sarah Darlington

“Sweet as hell. Unexpected. Reassuring. It was as if he wanted me to know, in his own particular Noah way, that he hadn’t forgotten about me.”

He’s twenty-four. She’s eighteen.

His life is exactly the way he’s always wanted it to be…stable.

She’s quite possibly the very definition of unstable.

Noah saved her.

Georgina never wanted to be saved.

Growing up, Noah Clark was passed from one relative to the next until he finally ended up living with his abusive, alcoholic uncle in Kill Devil Hills, North Carolina. Thanks in part to the unwavering love and support of his best friend, Ellie Turner, Noah survived those years, escaped his uncle, and grew into the man he is today. Now he runs his own business and lives a pretty normal, no-nonsense life—one where he maintains a high level of control.

Georgina is Ellie’s younger sister. Four months ago, Noah saved Georgie’s life, but he thought that was where his involvement with his friend’s sister would end. Now Georgie has returned home from the recovery facility her parents sent her away to and Noah, still haunted by the night that connects them, can’t stop himself from continuously trying to protect this girl he barely knows. But is he willing to give up all of the control he’s worked so hard to build in his life and risk everything for her? Even more importantly, would she do the same for him?

#5: CANDI FOR CHRISTMAS by Lilly Christine

McGreers Special Christmas Edition, McGreers #7

“He hadn’t taken his eyes from hers.

They were the blue-grey of the sky now. Sunlight sparked against them.His lips were close, then they met hers.

When she kissed him back, it felt like she was melting inside, melting into Shane McGreer.”

Fresh-faced intern Candi Bamberger flies to Beaver Creek, Colorado to scope out the action, but not the kind smokin’ snowboard star Shane McGreer has in mind! Shane shows her amazing moves, and not just in the half-pipe. He’s fallen hard, but Candi’s in deep freeze. Will he warm her up in time for a McGreer Ranch Christmas Eve?

#6: DOWN TO YOU by Addison Kline

“Here it is. Here is all I have to give. Everything in my life comes down to you.” ~Brant Edgemont

Holly Edgemont used to love celebrating Christmas, that is, until her whole world was turned upside down by an unexpected divorce from her college sweetheart Brant. This year, not only is she divorced, but the kids are going out of state with her ex Brant, leaving her utterly alone. Holly’s party-girl friend Sloane tries to break her out of her frump by dragging her along to holiday parties where Holly meets cute and available Chris. But when Holly realizes that she still has feelings for Brant, she has a decision to make: Learn to trust her long time love who broke her heart, or move on for good.

Brant Edgemont is a divorced father of three, and hopelessly in love with his ex-wife, Holly. He made the biggest mistake of his life walking out two years ago. Despite his pleas to reconnect, Holly still resists him. Is it too late to rekindle their love? Or will Holly move on for good, leaving Brant himself heartbroken and alone? Down To You is not just a romantic love story. It is a story of familial love, friendship, betrayal, redemption, and the magic that can happen at Christmas time when friends and family join together.

#7: ADAM’S LIST by Jennifer Ann

“We’ve entered dangerous territory. You can’t kiss someone with so much emotion if you’re preparing to walk away.”

She’s ready to give up on life, hiding her depression with sarcasm and booze. He’s got a secret and quit college, with few friends to lean on. When they discover each other, the sexual attraction is undeniable. So why does it seem impossible for them to be together?

Everyone wanted to be Jewels Peterson in high school. Naturally beautiful, exceptionally smart, talented cheerleader, life of the party, and with an All-American boyfriend to boot. One regrettable choice and fatal accident later, and Jewels found herself unceremoniously knocked off her pedestal. Now she’s in college, going through the motions, but not really living.

Adam Murphy is easy-going, charming, considerate, and crazy good looking; he’s exactly the kind of guy Jewels pictures herself being happy with. But Jewels is already involved with someone, and Adam makes it known that he’s guarding a dark secret, one that makes him the wrong guy for her. Trumped by the promise of an innocent friendship, Jewels is forced to ignore her overwhelming hunger for Adam.

After Jewels unknowingly helps Adam create a bucket list, they embark on the adventure of a lifetime that pushes their platonic relationship to its limits. But does she want to be with Adam without knowing the truth behind the skeletons in his closet, or is being with him just another pointless thing in her life?

#8: SNOWED UNDER by Jen Greyson

Passionate Hippie + Hot Lumberjack = Enough heat to melt the fiercest Alaskan snow storm.

Cassidy catches a plane to Alaska to meet celebrity and friend, Jeremy Wren, to tackle her biggest environmental protest to date. But when she gets there, Jeremy’s flaked again and now she has to take on the Goliath, Whetman Logging, by herself.

But lumberjack, Teague Whetman isn’t who she expected. He’s sexy and nerdy and nothing like his old man–the Whetman behind the monster that she’s come to destroy. Determined to see her protest through, she handcuffs herself to his saw and shuts down the operation…right as a late-Spring storm rolls in.

Hammered by the snow, the little town of Bear Ridge shuts down, including the airport and Cassidy’s way out. Left with no other option, and with the storm turning deadly, Teague takes her to his place…

Will Teague and Cassidy be able to keep each other at arm’s length, or will the softly falling snow, candlelight, and their intense attraction be too much to resist?