2017 can only be better, right?

We're on the cusp of a new year and looking back, 2016 had its ups and downs, though it frequently seemed that there were more downs than ups. That means, though, that next year will be better. And I'm going to do the best I can to make it better.

I've talked about New Year's Resolutions before and if you're anything like me, they barely make it into the second week of January before something happens to throw them off. For example, I sat down at the computer tonight intending to transcribe some writing I had done in my notebook, and instead I've written two blog posts and played on Canva for an hour. 

At any rate, I do have some writing goals for this year. I hesitate to give timelines because I feel awful if I miss something, but here they are:

1. Finish and submit Losing It Two At A Time (Losing It #4).
2. Write a submission for Evernight's next anthology, Owned By the Alpha.
3. Finally finish that damn werewolf biker book I've had sitting on my computer for years! 

Of course, if I can get more writing done that would be fantastic, but I'm trying to be realistic. And positive. I'm my own worst critic and that never helps anything.

Have you got any resolutions for 2017? How do you stay positive when you struggle? I'd love to hear from you!

And Happy New Year!

Evernight's Holiday Hangover Hop

Happy New Year from Evernight!

Now that the Christmas cookies are gone, gifts unwrapped, and your holiday visitors have left, you’ve earned some well-deserved TLC. Evernight authors not only have the cure for your holiday hangover, they have fantastic new books for your 2015 reading list, too!

Be sure to visit every stop on the hop and answer each question. The more blogs you hop, the more chances to win the GRAND PRIZE of an iPad Mini sponsored by Evernight Publishing (one entry per blog). Plus, hop each blog for a host of other fabulous prizes.

So sink into your favorite chair and enjoy your holiday hangover!

Michelle here. It's that time again - saying good-bye to another year and looking forward to the one ahead. There's so much I'd like to accomplish this year, but I've learned that sometimes you have to take it one day at a time.

I didn't get much writing done in 2014. It was a rough year. My dad has been battling cancer and it's taken a toll on me and my family. In all honesty, we didn't think he'd make it to 2015, but he has and for that I'm grateful. But I realized how important writing has become to me because the less of it I do, the worse I feel. I've got all these stories and characters cluttering up my brain (and let's be honest, there's not a lot of space up there in the first place).

For 2015, I'd like to finish my Losing It series for Evernight. I got the first two books done and released, and partway through writing the third the EDJ got really hard, plus Dad got sick again and it faded into the background. I only need another 2k or so to finish #3 so I'd like to get that done by the end of January. I have two more planned beyond that.

I started writing a story for Evernight's Uniform Anthology, but I didn't make the deadline, especially because I realized that the story I was trying to tell was too big. So I'd like to expand it and submit it sometime this year. Hopefully I'll be able to participate in some of the anthologies in 2015. It was a lot of fun to see my story in the Executive Assistant Anthology released in 2014.

Of course, some of my favourite authors have great new releases coming up this year that I'm going to have to find time to read! I bet a lot of you are facing the same dilemma.

I'd love to hear about what you're looking forward to reading this year. Leave me a comment to tell me about it. I'll choose one commenter to receive a $10 Evernight gift certificate and their choice of one of my Evernight books.

Don't forget to visit my fellow authors who are doing their own giveaways, and you can enter to win the grand prize of an iPad mini! Happy Hopping!

My Evernight Books (Click the cover for deets!)

Happy New Year!

Well here we are, another year drawing to a close, and a time when we take stock of our lives and look toward a New Year.

2013 brought another whirlwind of excitement for me. My first book, Landing the Big Ones, released on January 8 (and nominated for Book of the Year at The Talent Cave Reviews!). It was followed by The Art of Love in February, and Training the Help in April. I had set a goal for myself of releasing one book per quarter and it looked like I'd be able to do that and then some. But another alter ego ran into some trouble with a book that required extensive rewrites and that pulled me out of the headspace I needed to be in to write erotic romance. Getting back on track proved more difficult than I had anticipated. And I found too many stories clamoring to be told, which distracted me a lot! What should have been Hedon Falls 3 got pushed back to #4, and then to #5 when a certain character kept begging me to write his story. In the end, I managed to finish Hedon Falls 4 and get it submitted, and accepted! My scheduled release is February 13. So I met my goal of 4 books last year, but one of them happened to be for a different pen name.

With all the craziness going on in my personal life as well (started a new EDJ, Dad has been diagnosed with cancer, hubby was out of work for a few months, kids are struggling in school) I've become much more withdrawn. I love interacting with readers, but I found myself with less time to devote to blogging and other social media.

So what's next for me?

I submitted a short story to Decadent and was rejected, but I have plans to revise that one and submit to another publisher. In addition, I'm halfway through another short for the same publisher, and I'm overrun with ideas for other shorts. My other self is working on a follow-up, and I have just started what I'm hoping will be a significant work for me (Michelle Graham).

My resolution is to devote more time to my writing career, both the actual writing, and the social media, though I'm going to start small. Here's my 2014 To Do list:

1. Check in on Facebook at least every other day, even just for a quick peek.
2. Ditto for Twitter.
3. Do at least one blog post each week, in addition to blog hops, hosting blog tours, promo blitzes, and doing reviews.
4. Finish and submit Hedon Falls 5.
5. Finish and submit 4 short stories for another publisher (Siren doesn't do short ones).
6. Finish and submit my alter ego's second book.
7. Finish a first draft of my big, secret project.

That looks like a lot of writing, but I did the math and if I reach my word count targets for all of those writing projects, it's only 727 words every day. When it's put like that, it seems totally doable.

So friends and lovelies, I'd love to hear about your 2013 accomplishments, and plans for 2014. And I wish you all the best!

2012 - What a year!

Today is the last day of 2012, and it's been quite a year for me. Last New Year's Eve, I had no idea what the year ahead would bring, and if someone had told me, I'd have laughed at them!

A bit of backtracking into 2011 here - I'm a big fan of Laurell K. Hamilton, though that was a more recent development. My husband, knowing how much I enjoy paranormal books, had picked up a few for me over the years, but I found I didn't have time to read them. And because the Anita Blake books are a series, I'm really anal about wanting to read them in order and I didn't have the first book! Late in 2011, I got around to it, and was hooked. I began devouring them, borrowing from the library, or buying it if there were no copies available. If you aren't familiar with the series, I won't spoil anything, but let me say that the heat level increases significantly around book 6. And I found I liked that a lot. When I was at the library next, I noticed that one of the categories in the catalog listing was 'erotic romance'. This was a genre I'd never heard of before.

By this point, we were well into 2012 and I discovered Fifty Shades of Grey. I'll admit - I loved it. And that term came up again - erotic romance. So I decided to start looking around online and discovered a whole world of books that I didn't know existed! These were not my mother's romance novels! I began to buy some and was even more hooked. Initially, I bought books for my Kobo, but then I decided to go right to the Siren Publishing website. At the top was a tab that read, "Submission". Out of curiosity, I checked it out. They accept manuscripts electronically with no need for an agent or representative.

Now a whole Pandora's box was opened! The ideas began to pop into my head and I decided to try my hand at writing an erotic romance. It took me a few weeks to reach the required 20, 000 words. I wanted to submit the story before vacation until I realized that I messed up something vital. Annoyed at myself, I left it until I returned from my trip. I fixed the problem and submitted the story.

A week later, the offer of publication popped up in my inbox. I was shocked, but super excited. It began a whole new journey for me as the summer wrapped up. Deciding that I could do it again, I began another book. And I wrote a mainstream novel as well (that's gone nowhere so far). As the release day approached, I got more excited and told a colleague about it.

Big mistake.

Unfortunately for me, my colleague couldn't keep her mouth shut, told a few people, who told a few people...you get the idea...and the next thing I know, I'm hauled into the boss's office for a chat about my hobby. I do work in a profession where writing erotica could be perceived as a very bad thing, and my boss, and his boss, suggested that perhaps I needed to stop, because if word spread any further, it would be very bad. So just as my new career began, it seemed like it would fail.

But I'm nothing if not determined, and Michelle Graham was born. I had already had another book accepted by Siren and ended up needing to change the release date and rewrite sections because it referenced my other work, by an author who is no more. At that point, I was in the process of writing my third romance, but because of all the crap, I was taken out of that head space and had trouble getting back into it.

Thankfully, I broke out of my funk, finished the book, and have submitted it. I should hear sometime soon. It's unfortunate that I can't tell anyone I know because becoming a published author is a big deal, and an achievement I am very proud of.

Looking ahead to 2013, my second first book will be released on Jan. 8. Hopefully, I'll have the other one accepted and published a couple months from now. I've started writing another, and it's my goal to have at least four books published this year.

So good-bye 2012. You took me on an emotional roller coaster that I won't forget, and which has changed my life forever. Let's hope your sibling, 2013, is a little gentler.