Genuinely couldn’t believe it when I signed on and saw that I haven’t posted a blog in nearly a YEAR (!!??). I’ve always been pretty terrible at self promotion and was finding myself a bit discouraged by the non-creative hurdles of self publishing (i.e., the newsletter attempt), but an entire year really does take the cake. However, if I don’t have something important to say, I just don’t say it. I don’t want to waste your time with fluff and air for the sake of keeping you on the hook. That said, I realize more content draws more readers and this is definitely a part of the process at which I DO NOT excel. I just want to spin some sexy, fun stories and get lost in the fantasy of it all. Producing extra content for the sake of keeping you interested is as difficult to me as the whole editing thing. I don’t like it and I can’t imagine I ever will.
Add to that the fact that I’ve always had a problem writing during the holiday season (roughly Thanksgiving to New Year) because of all the other creative energy and time that goes into decorating, cooking, entertaining, gifting, and spending quality time with friends and family, and I’ve unwittingly created a big fat crater of dead air and silence. That said, I hope you all got to enjoy some much needed time with loved ones over the holiday season (in person!) and are looking forward to the glorious clean slate that comes with a shiny new year.
As far as future inspiration goes, I had the thrilling opportunity to travel to the UK in November and am super excited to weave my European adventures into Book Number 8 of the Incubus Rising Series, which is Portia’s story. I’ve also been knee deep in Book Number 2 of the Seven Souls Series for several months, which is another Sci-fi Alien Romance that picks up where Annihilation’s Song left off. My team and I haven’t had time for much promotion of Song and my numbers have dropped considerably because of it, but I try not to stress too much about that. It’s out there for readers to find when and if they want it and will be free for the next five days over at Amazon to help that along. Simply click the link between January 3rd and January 7th and viola! Free Stuff.
I did notice when I went back after a few months to check up on Annihilation that the epilogue, which I added at the last minute because I was hit with a surprise inspiration bomb, had several editing mistakes since I submitted it so late. I know that there are many, many people out there that will post that ever fun review of “needs punctuation and grammar” but I was so eager to get the content out there that the editing suffered. Annihilation itself is a huge book and took a long, long time to edit in the first place. (longer than I wanted to wait to be honest.) I’d like to believe that a good story makes up for some of the errors, but I know some people are a little fixated and I can’t change that. Therefore we addressed some of the most of obvious editing issues and republished the epilogue to help tighten things up a bit.
Otherwise, January means back to work for me and I will definitely be plugging along to create new stuff in 2023. I hope to see some of you along for the ride. Happy New Year! Nothing but good things to you and yours. As always, thanks for the support.
xo xo J