My local RWA Chapter, Southwest Florida Romance Writers (SWFRW), recently had our every-other-year conference.

As in the past, I was in charge of the raffle. Our authors put together amazing baskets we raffle off and 50% of the proceeds go to our local libraries or literacy programs.

We also announced the winners of our High 5 Contest. We had one of our finalists attend the conference and she was thrilled to hear she won her category. Authors from around the country came to attend our little conference. I coordinated the Paranormal-Fantasy-Scifi category. My finalists didn’t attend since they hailed from New Zealand.

Here, I was helping to put together the goodie bags with the rest of the conference committee. I had a match after our get together, so I wore my tennis outfit. Isn’t it cute? We feasted on donut holes and sipped hot tea while we worked.

On February 23, 2014, on my way to play tennis, a conversation that took place in Sedona, Arizona between my sister and my friend Al popped into my mind. The two talked about string theory and infinite parallel dimensions while I drove in rain and hail. The real-life discussion morphed into five young fictional characters in my mind telling me they were children of dissidents from a parallel dimension. Holy Cow!

The next day, I left for Los Angeles and Mexico. I purchased a 5-inch spiral notebook and did character development, world building, and plotting while on vacation. In August 2014, ‘The Chameleon Soul Mate’, the first book in The Worlds Apart series was published.

My second series, Nightshade Saga, spun off from a world I created in the second Worlds Apart book, ‘The Crystal Telepath’.

To celebrate my 5th anniversary, ‘The Chameleon Soul Mate’ and ‘Nightshade’ are both FREE February 23rd and February 24th, exclusively on Amazon.  Both series will stay on Kindle Unlimited another 90 days for my KU fans.

Click HERE to download!

Click HERE to download!

Although I have not completed the fifth and final book in the Nightshade Saga series, I have the cover. This model just IS Drake! I was so happy with the cover, I ordered a new table cover. How do you like it?

You can check it out in person! Here are my upcoming events:

Weekend with the Authors: Nashville, TN- March 16th-18th
Join me, Cherry Adair, Cat Johson, and Teri Riggs among a host of other authors.
Get ready for a fabulous weekend

Space Coast Book Lovers: Cocoa Beach, FL- May 31st-June 3rd
Hang out on the beach with me and group of amazing authors, including ML Guida, Susan Hayes, Carrie Wells, Julie Morgan, Kait Ballenger, Kerry Adrienne, and the amazing Milly Taiden. I’m especially excited about somemores on the beach!

Literary Love Savannah: Savannah, GA July 26th-July 29th
Two luncheons, a ball, and a myriad of activities to get involved in that brings you up close with the authors that are attending. I am sponsoring a table at the ball and you can dress up as your favorite large cat, adorable & fluffy or dark & dangerous.
Authors attending include Milly Taiden, Laura Hawks, Leanna Renee Hieber, Savannah Verte, and Lia Davis.

Once Upon a Book: Frankenmuth, MI August 10th-11th
Yes, I’m returning to Frankenmuth, Michigan to attend this charming convention and eat more of the incredible fried chicken dinners.
Authors attending include Tish Thawer and Quinn Loftis.

Show Me Your Books: Kansas City, MO September 7-8th
This is a new convention that includes many of the authors that attended Authors After Dark, as well a some other authors.
Authors include Christine Alvarez, Jenna Jacob, and Robbie Cox

Penned Con: St. Louis, MO September 20-22nd
I’m excited about attending my second Penned Con. Authors attending Angie Fox, VA Dold, Terri Riggs, Dianna Love.
Please note, authors may be added or drop out. But be assured, I will be attending the conferences about.

Local to SW Florida Venice Book Festival: Venice, FL- March 24th

SW Florida Space Con: June 16th-June 17th 
(includes Marina Sirtis from Star Trek: The Next Generation)

Hope you can make it to one or more of these events.

I’m sure many of you traveled over the holiday. I spent Christmas with my sister and her husband in Jacksonville, Fl. While driving across Florida, I took the opportunity to have brunch with Susan (S.E. ) Smith and her husband Steve. Whenever I head to the east coast of Florida, I always make a point of seeing my good friend.

In January, I helped a friend move a sick cat from Austin, Texas to Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. It was great catching up with my friend, Katherine, and assist her in the move. The trip was uneventful accept for the truck that almost ran us off the road. The driver side mirror was the only casualty in that near accident. Here I am with Cinni. She had an appointment with a feline cardiologist who gave her a clean bill of health. Yes, I’m dressed for the frozen tundra again. Does anyone recognize the hat I’m wearing in this or the tennis photo?

Believe it or not, I’ve got four works in progress. I wish my muse would focus! Like everything in life, ultimately due dates have the final say in what I’m writing.

To say I’m anal is a bit of an understatement. I have four new series brewing in my head but I have two series I need to finish. As promised, I will finish Nightshade Saga (Drake’s story) and the Young Adult Zaratan trilogy this year. Finishing a series is always difficult. How many times have you read a book and anxiously awaited the next one, only to be disappointed? I was thrilled with how I ended the Worlds Apart series. It was not how I intended to end it, but a stroke of genius hit me while writing the last chapter. I hope you agree.

There has been so much negativity in our lives, I hope you enjoy escaping into the worlds I have created. Romance writers generally do not get a lot of respect, but what’s wrong with presenting a story that will always guarantee a happily ever after? Over the years, I have met many of the wonderful authors who allowed me to escape into their worlds. Yes, I go fan girl crazy from time to time!

Here is to a great 2018!!

I want to wish everyone a Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year. 2017 certainly had its highs and lows. In February, ‘A Touch of Prudence’ was the #1 Kindle World Best Seller for 3 whole days, staying #1 under Paranormal/Fantasy for weeks. That was THRILLING! Kindle World novellas are now available under Kindle Unlimited, so if you haven’t read my 4 Kindle World Novellas (3 in S.E. Smith’s Magic, New Mexico and 1 in Eliza Gayle’s Southern Shifters) and are a Kindle Unlimited customer…enjoy!

The United States was hit by three devastating hurricanes. Having been through a 7.2 Earthquake in California, and now a Category 4 hurricane, I notice people are generally at their best during a disaster. The wonderful S.E. Smith took me and the cats into her home to sit out Irma. Although we didn’t get any writing done, it was fun to think about creating stories about our experiences with 4 cats and 1 dog sharing a house during a hurricane.

It was VERY difficult to get back into a routine after the hurricane. ‘Drake’s Nightshade’ that I hoped to finish was shelved in November since I had a February 1st due date for a shifter box set. The book is the last one in the Nightshade Saga series and I wanted it to be special. Creative juices just weren’t flowing.

Here is what I hope to do in 2018:

February: ‘A Cougar’s Longing’ for a shifter box set. A 42-year-old cougar shifter mistakenly sleeps with her 27-year-old best friend’s son. He also happens to be a wolf shifter. More info to follow on this

June: ‘Designated’ The 3rd book in the Zaratan Trilogy. This is the book I’ve been asked the most about. Since I’ll be attending a 2-day Science Fiction Convention in Ft. Myers in June, I wanted to finish the series, plus make my fans happy! FAN GIRL ALERT: Jonathan Frakes, from Star Trek:The Next Generations will be there.

August: ‘Drake’s Nightshade’ It seems I’ve been publishing this series every August for the last 3 years. I will try to have paperback copies at Literary Love in Savannah in late July.

September: ‘The Soul Mate’ a Worlds Apart prequel novella featuring Zane and Leena Childers. The novella will initially only be available in an anthology published for ‘Show Me Your Books’. It will later be available on Amazon and ultimately a ‘Worlds Apart’ box set.

I also plan to write an adult sci-fi adventure. I don’t have dates for those books as of yet, since I want to publish the trilogy every one to two months.

As you can see, 2018 will be VERY busy for me. I’m also playing in 3 tennis leagues! Good thing, I’m a great time manager. I figure by telling you all these dates, I had better make them.