2015 was a crazy year for me. There were ups, and downs, but what I can tell you is it was a whole lot better than 2014. LOL.
I made SO many new friends...and I lost a few. I've learned lessons and got hurt, and maybe inadvertently hurt someone else. I guess I lived this year. I was human.
In 2015, I wrote:
LOSING CONTROL (most of it)
ROCK SOLID
TURN THE WORLD UPSIDE DOWN (Nyrae Dawn, YA coming in 2016 from Harmony Ink)
CROSSROADS
A HUNDRED THOUSAND WORDS (Nyrae Dawn)
RETURN TO BLACKCREEK
most of Rod and Landon's book which has no title. LOL.
And 32,000 words on a book for NaNo, which needs a revamp in 2016.
That's a lot of books, you guys. I look at it and wonder how in the hell I did it...but this is the thing. Writing makes me happy. I go a little crazy when I'm not writing. If I go more than a few days without writing, I feel antsy and like I'm not accomplishing anything, which then makes me a bit depressed. So, I write, all the time. I can't express how grateful I am that I'm able to do what I love. I'm lucky. I know that. I'll never take it for granted.
I sold audio rights to CROSSROADS, and A HUNDRED THOUSAND WORDS in 2015.
I sold foreign translation rights (Italian) for Collide, and (French) for Collide, and Stay.
The Italian translation of CHARADE (Nyrae Dawn) was released.
The German translations of RUSH, and MASQUERADE (Nyrae Dawn) were released.
THE HISTORY OF US one of my Nyrae Dawn YA's released from Harmony Ink.
I have to say something about CROSSROADS because...this year wouldn't be complete without talking about Nick and Bryce. You guys blew me out of the freaking water with your support and love of those two men. It was beyond anything I've experienced. Thank you, thank you so much. I can never thank you enough for your support.
I found out I would be one of the 1,001 Dark Nights Discovery authors for 2016. It's an amazing opportunity and I'm so honored to participate in it.
Oh, and this is the year I connected Riley and Nyrae which I'd been wanting to do for a while.
There are also some other things going on behind the scenes that technically happened in 2015, but I can't announce them yet. More on that soon.
When I look at this post...I think...holy crap. It's amazing and exciting and scary. Honestly? I wonder how it happened. I'm shocked as hell. I've been doing this a long time. I published with small press publishers under different names. I wrote three full length novels before I got my first agent. Went on sub, didn't sell, got agent number two, went on sub, didn't sell. That was the first time I self published (Nyrae). Things went a little crazy from there with the release of Charade. I sold to big five publishers, foreign and audio deals. I went from feeling like I FINALLY made it...to crashing and burning. I almost didn't recover that last crash and burn. I hadn't felt that low since I lost my second agent and almost gave up writing with the goal of publication (I could never stop writing all together. I love it too much).
Now some of those things are happening again and as exciting as it is, I'd be lying if I didn't say it's scary as hell. Nothing is a guarantee in this industry. Nothing. I've learned that, which is why I will never take anything for granted. All I can do is keep writing and trying to put out material that I'm proud of.
That leads me to 2016, my goals and what I have planned.
Crossroads is becoming The Crossroads Series. That doesn't mean another Nick and Bryce book, BUT you will see them again in at least one more novel (Rod and Landon), and a novella for 1,001 Dark Nights (unannounced couple).
I really want to revise my NaNo book which is at 32k. It's...angsty. More along the lines of Broken Pieces, than Blackcreek, but not AS angsty as Broken Pieces and not a threesome.
I really, REALLY want to write Rock Solid book two. I feel so bad that I haven't finished that book, but I think I'm too close to it. In a lot of ways, I'm Blake. I know what it's like to have a loved one who is an alcoholic. I know how hard it is to believe they're clean, even though you want nothing more than for that to be true. When your heart is broken a lot, it's fragile... That's how I see Blake. I will do my best though, and I hope his story will be worth the wait.
If you read my Nyrae stuff, I want to write Xavier's story. He was the pot smoking, roommate with the post/pre bang kit from A HUNDRED THOUSAND WORDS :). He intrigued me. I can't wait to write him.
Plus... a surprise that I'm hoping works out. I can't say much about it now.
Whew. I think that's it. I really want to say thank you to you guys. Whether you read all of my books in 2015, one of them, or none of them, but are considering it. Thank you. I love what I do. I love romance. I'm passionate about it. I love writing happily ever afters and flawed characters. I love getting inside characters' heads and hearts. Thank you for taking this journey with me and I hope 2016 is an incredible year filled with love, happiness, friendships, family and good books for all of us.
Oh, and one last thing!! I organized a book drive for an LGBT youth center and we collected SO many books!! Plus, a Kindle. I loved doing it and am already thinking about something else I can do next year.
