Friday, January 13, 2012

Books Everywhere!

Last year, my books weren’t a large focus for me. However, I my spare moments planning out the books I have swirling around in my mind, but I didn’t actually get to do much writing or taking action. I was able to participate in a wonderful event at my local zoo – Summer Safari Nights. I hope to be able to do the same this upcoming summer. And other events as well.
This year, I have a lot in the works as far as new novels go. Besides for the anthologies, you haven’t seen anything from me since 2009, which has been way too long. But this year, we’re looking at the release of Howl. It will be released exclusively on March 12th and I’ll be signing off the first copies at the Tucson Festival of Books.

Howl is part of what has kept me so busy! After I begin this semester at college, there’s no doubt I’ll be busier, so I’m attempting to get this thing as ready as I can get it before then.
Also, here’s something I haven’t mentioned in awhile – The Jewel of Onsolot, the first book in my Artifact Series, I’ve just been assigned an editor and will be working on getting this gem (pun intended) out, hopefully by the end of this year.

Both of these novels are different from anything you’ve read from me before. A Gift from Above was a bit of a young-adult, contemporary, fictional, novel-ish…thing.

The Artifact Series is a fantasy about witches and wizards and… pretty much every single magical element I’ve ever heard of – dragons, unicorns, vampires, ghosts – you name it, it’s in there.

Howl is a paranormal… fantasy… thing… it focuses on werewolves – and only werewolves – and it’s my first novel that has a bit more romance than any of my other novels. The romance has a bit of a written-in-the-stars vibe, so those who are into that type of thing, should look out for it.

Okay, I’m done taking up your time! Get back to work!

Tuesday, January 10, 2012

It’s a New Year!

Hello readers,

This blog post is long overdue. Every time I’ve sat down to write the post, something else has captured my attention. And after you read this post, you’ll have a good idea of what has captured my attention. This is going to be a longer blog post, so grab your cup of coffee or tea and settle down – it’ll be worth it!

First, over my holiday break, I was able to finally get my YouTube channel started. I actually have two tutorials posted, and some other random videos on there. I’m really looking for input about what you’d like to see me do on the channel next. So either head over to my channel or post in the comments with suggestions.

I’m working on getting some of my cover songs uploaded and do some new tutorials as well. My goal for the new year, is to just try a wide variety of everything… Within reason!

I’m getting ready to upload the final video in a series of my own painting DIY thing that I decided to film with my brother. So, go check that out.

2012 New Years BannerNow, here’s the part where I stop talking about me, and start talking about stuff that you can do that I’ve put together. A big event that is going on right now is the “Happy” New Year Challenge. You can get all of the details on the page, but the basic idea is I’m challenging everyone to post something online that is “Happy” and positive every day for a month.

For every participant who completes the challenge, I will be donating $1 to the American Heart Association. And I’m also bribing participants with prizes too. Also, if you’re participating or not – you can sign up for the official daily newsletter. It only goes until the 15th of February, and it’s chock full of happiness – and also short – so you aren’t bothered to read a long email. Every day, it features a “happiness” tip – like hanging out in the sun, and playing with charities and other things that I do that make me happy. As well as daily song suggestions and a quote of the day.

male-profile-with-text-hiFinally, today my eCourse launched – How to Create Indepth Characters - If you’re a fellow writer, trying to get inspiration to start a story, or just interested in improving your writing skills, check out my course. The first 10 people to enter the code – CHARACTER – get in free, after that it’s $5. So get over there and check it out!

There’s a bit more babbling I have to do about my writings and some great stuff coming up in the future, but I’ll save that post for later this week.

Sunday, January 1, 2012

Happy New Year!

So, in honor of New Years, I’m sitting down and writing a quick blog post. It’s probably crazy of me, but I did actually make some resolutions before the clock struck twelve. This year, instead of making a resolution to lose X pounds, I’ve gone for something a little bit easier.

First – and most importantly – I’m not going to make a resolution to do anything that I wouldn’t normally do, instead, for everything I shall do, I shall do it with the utmost passion and to the best of my ability. Whatever I do, I shall do it my best – and then some. It shall be a year of over-the-top performance.

Second, I shall explore hobbies. Because after this holiday break, I’ve realized that I really need to find some hobbies. I need something to do in my off-work hours besides work.

These past few weeks, I’ve been completely lost trying to do something – anything – that didn’t have something to do with work. Very difficult since apparently all of my hobbies are my work.

So, I shall be testing out new hobbies. Going to start with dancing, see if I can get into that… Take some YouTube lessons… Have a hobby that you enjoy? I want to hear about it.

In light of the New Year, I’ve put together a challenge for you all based on my observances. I think it’s a great idea, and I’m even bribing you all to do it – for every successful participant, I’m donating 1 (one) dollar to the American Heart Association. So, head over here to check it out, and get your friends to join in - http://hcpaye.webs.com/partypage.htm

I have so much going on right now, and will be doing a post in the next few days attempting to cover it all. For now, I’ll end it here.

Recommended New Years song – Good Life, by OneRepublic