Tag Archives: chicklit

Cover reveal! Title reveal! Contest! Exclamation points!

14 May

Thank you guys so much for being so supportive of the Three Girls and a Baby sale! The book was downloaded quite a bit yesterday and it was so fun to see it show up on some best-seller lists. For a while Baby was the #16 ebook on BarnesandNoble.com! Weee! The sale will continue through next Monday so if you haven’t grabbed a copy yet there’s still time to get it cheap;)

The big news for today is that I am finally ready to reveal the title and cover of my next book. Without further ado, I present…

rachelschurig_lovelondon_eBook_final

Lizzie Medina went to London to reinvent herself. Tired of being the quiet baby sister, and in no hurry to settle into a boring existence in surburbia, she escapes from home at the first opportunity. When she settles in London for a year of post-graduate studies, Lizzie is sure she’ll be able to start a whole new life. Immerse herself in the books she loves. Explore a new country. Work on her dream of writing a novel. She might even be able to find a little bit of excitement for once.

But falling unexpectedly in love with up-and-coming actor Thomas Harper causes Lizzie to re-think her wishes for excitement. When Thomas’s career suddenly explodes to superstar levels, Lizzie finds herself forced to navigate the fame game of red carpets, catty co-stars, gossip magazines, and paparazzi. When she wished for a new life, she had no idea it would be anything like this!

Lizzie must now determine if her love is strong enough to get her through the complications of dating a movie star. Even if she and Thomas are able to pull through before she leaves London, how will she deal with the inevitability of returning to a life at home that no longer feels like her own? Will the changes Lizzie made in London be enough to help her find true happiness?

Find out in Lovestruck in London, available from Amazon, Barnes and Noble, and the iBookstore Tuesday, May 21st 2013!

I am so excited to release this book! I researched it and started writing during my trip to the UK last fall. It seems so crazy to me that a book I started while sitting in Hyde Park one afternoon, worked on while cruising across the ocean, and finished after moving into my new house will actually be published. I really hope you guys like it as much as I do! I think the thing I’m most excited about is introducing a whole new set of characters. I tend to get really invested in my characters–in fact, I kind of refuse to believe that Kiki Barker Thompson is not a real person and my actual friend. I hope you guys will enjoy meeting Lizzie and her friends because I’m so excited for you to get to know them!

To help spread my excitement, I’ll be giving away a $20 Amazon.com gift card to one of my readers. To enter, all you have to do is comment below and let me know your email address and who your favorite literary character is. The contest is only open to those living in the United States, sorry!  I’ll randomly select a winner the day of the book release, Tuesday, May 21.

I’ll be doing at least two more contests throughout the week in anticipation of the release. One will be open to newsletter members only, so if you haven’t already, sign up to be on the email list here. I only send out *occasional* emails regarding new releases, sales, and contests, promise! I will not clog up your inbox because I hate that as much as the next girl;)

I’m still working on the last minute polish of the novel so I better get back to work. Hope you all have a lovely Tuesday. Good luck with the contest!

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Oooh, Look at the pretties!

11 Dec

Lots of fun news today!

First of all: Did you know I have a mailing list? Check out the right side of the page, there’s a link there to sign up. I’m going to use the mailing list to alert readers of new releases, sales, contests, and free books. I also plan to send out some sneak peaks of what I’m working on and exclusive looks at my books as they progress. I’d love it if you’d sign up! I promise to use the list very sparingly–I know we all get plenty of email. You won’t be hearing from me on a weekly basis, or anything like that (which would be super annoying and I don’t want you guys to get sick of me!). I will only send out newsletters when I have something really good to share, promise!

Next up, the sequel to In Search of a Love Story is almost ready! This is the second in the Love Story series and will be titled An Unexpected Love Story. The book is edited and formatted (by the very talented Shelley Holloway) and I just received the GORGEOUS cover art from Scarlett Rugers. I’m so excited! I’m looking to have the book live on Amazon before the end of the week. I’ll let you know the exact day ASAP. While we wait, let’s check out the cover, which I ADORE:

Unexpected cover

Isn’t that lovely? Scarlett does such a great job. I think she really nailed the feel of the book, and I love how this one goes with Emily’s book so well.

In all the busyness of getting these books ready, I realize that I haven’t talked too much about the actual content of An Unexpected Love Story. This book focuses on Brooke Murray, Emily’s best friend from her small hometown in northern Michigan. It was fun to write about “up north” Michigan, as it’s one of my favorite places in the world to be. And Brooke was one of my favorite characters to write. Even though she’s very different from Kiki, writing her was a similar experience. Both of those girls took on a life of their own. I had little say in how their character’s developed–as soon as I started to write them they took over. That’s always a fun thing for an author to experience. I hope everyone likes Brooke as much as I do! Here’s a little synopsis about her story:

Brooke Murray is looking for an escape.

Breaking away from her small town to go away to college, she thought she’d finally made it. For someone like Brooke—smart, sexy, bold, and confident—the sky should have been the limit. But a mere five years later, she found herself right back where she started: living in her parents’ apartment in the same little town in the middle of nowhere.

Though she’d rather be just about anywhere else, Brooke is determined to help her parents save the inn they nearly bankrupted. With this heavy responsibility on her shoulders, Brooke has little time—or inclination—to put much effort into her love life. Instead, she relies on her best friends, Emily and Paul, for companionship and support, and relegates the men in her life to the role of drinking buddies and one-night stands.

Brooke is perfectly happy with this arrangement until a new guest at the inn challenges everything she once thought about love. John is gorgeous, sophisticated, and exciting, and it looks like he might be hanging around for much longer than a weekend visit. 

But when hidden mistakes from the past surface, the inn’s very survival is threatened—and John himself may be involved in its imminent downfall. Suddenly forced to question everything she ever assumed about her small-town life, Brooke must now take a closer look at what is truly important to her. In doing so, she will find that true love is not nearly as complicated or scary as she thought—and may be much closer to home than she ever imagined.

 

In other exciting news, I’ve decided to put together a digital boxed set of the Three Girls books. Now people can download the entire series all at once, for a discounted price. Scarlett did another lovely cover for this digital collection. I’m probably a giant dork but it made me so happy to see the different Three Girls fonts on a cover once again. Check it out:

rachelschurig_threegirlsomnibus

rachelschurig_threegirlsomnibus3d

 

Isn’t that cool?

Okay, I think that’s all the fun, exciting news I can handle for a day. Hope everyone is doing good! I’ll have more to share later this week!

 

 

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What I’m Working On

6 Dec

I am so happy to see December on the calendar. I’m really, really happy. November was a bit rough. NaNoWriMo fell smack dab in the middle of me trying to get two books ready for publication (Don’t know about NaNoWriMo? You can read more about it here or in my blog post from last November). In addition to editing and lining up marketing stuff, I managed to write 64,813 brand new words during the contest. Some of those words were for a short story collection (more on that in a minute), some were for something brand new (a project I’m calling The London Book in my head), and a lot of the words were for rewrites on the last book in the Love Story series. I know, I know, NaNo is supposed to be 50k words of one single novel, but my schedule didn’t quite work out that way this year. One of the things I love about NaNo is the sense of freedom surrounding the project. I decided to exercise that freedom to do things my way this year. NaNo is so good for getting me productive, and this year that was more true than ever.

So let’s talk a little about the various projects I worked on in November. The first was a short story for this awesome collection:

holiday_wishes_final

Holiday Wishes, a short story collection to raise money for children’s charity.

Fourteen bestselling indie authors have come together to write a holiday short story collection to benefit a children’s charity this holiday season. These authors, who write in genres ranging from contemporary romance to science fiction, have joined in the holiday spirit to write all new stories for this anthology.

The collection includes contributions from the following authors: David Adams, Jason Brant, Elle Casey, Deanna Chase, Kate Danley, Dee Ernst, Ashley Mackler-Paternostro, Becca Mills, Dalya Moon, Christine Pope, Deanna Roy, Rachel Schurig, Jack Sheppard and Amber Sweetapple, with cover art donated by Claudia McKinney of Phat Puppy Artwork.

Holiday Wishes was the brainchild of Amber Sweetapple, a really great author I’ve been lucky to get to know over the last few months. Amber and her husband, Jack Sheppard, write really cool books AND they’re from Michigan! You can check out their author pages here and here. I was so stoked when Amber asked me to contribute a story. There are some seriously talented people involved in this! I decided to write something about the Three Girls and I’m so glad I did! It was so much fun revisiting Ginny, Jen, and Annie. The Christmas themed story takes place after Annie’s book. It was really fun to write and I hope you’ll check it out. All of the proceeds benefit a great children’s charity. The paperback is lovely and would make a lovely gift! You can get it here:

Kindle

Paperback

In addition to working on the short, I also spent a lot of time last month getting two new books ready to publish. Have you checked out In Search of a Love Story yet?

rachelschurig_insearchoflovestory_front_web

It is the first book of my new project, the Love Story series. I’ve been hard at work getting the two sequels finished. The next book, An Unexpected Love Story, will feature Emily Donovan’s best friend Brooke and her life running an inn in northern Michigan. The third and final book of the series, An (Almost) Perfect Love Story, will feature Ashley Phillips, who you may remember as Emily’s roommate. Like the Three Girls books, this new series celebrates love and friendship, with a dose of laughter mixed in. I really hope you’ll check them out! I should have cover art to reveal very soon! Oh, and if you look very closely, you may spot one of the Three Girls in each of the Love Story books;)

One more fun piece of news: I’ve been working on getting the Three Girls books put into a digital boxed set. I’m hoping to have this ready for Christmas!

I hope everyone is enjoying December as much as I am! It’s been rainy here in Detroit, and not very cold, which is strange. I’m hoping for some real snow by Christmas!

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Crazy Dreams

31 Oct

Okay, I’ve been awful at keeping up with my blog lately! I’m sorry! I kind of have a good excuse. First of all, I’ve been writing like a mad thing. Kiki’s book came out in July and it’s been selling well. I love the feedback I’ve gotten from readers. I really love Kiki and it makes me so happy to hear that other people enjoy reading about her too. I’ve been working hard on the sequels to In Search of a Love Story. I like how they’re coming along so far and I’m hoping they’ll both be ready by the new year.

Another reason I’ve been MIA relates to a very fun adventure I got to go on earlier in the fall. I got home a few weeks ago and I’ve been meaning to post this. It’s a blog entry I wrote while crossing the Atlantic ocean on a cruise ship. Here goes:

Last September I was heading back to the classroom after a summer of amazing, fulfilling, humbling writing experiences. I remember a feeling of almost desperation. I had been able to focus on my writing all summer long, and it made me so happy. While I was excited to get back to my students, a huge part of me badly wanted to continue to write full time. I had published my first book over the summer and had finished writing and revising the second. The excitement of those experiences was unlike anything I had experienced. The thought of regulating the writing stuff to after school hours made me feel so sad—and scared, in a weird way. What if I never got to write full time?

What a difference a year makes.

When September rolled around this year, instead of heading back to the classroom, I got on a plane. Many hours later I landed in Scotland, a grand UK adventure ahead of me.

I’ve always wanted to write a book set in London. Most of my favorite books are set in England, from Jane Austen’s classics to Sophie Kinsella’s chicklit to J.K. Rowling’s Harry Potter series. I’d been to London before, years ago, but I knew that to really do justice to a book set in the city I would have to spend more time there. Now that I’m not teaching, I finally had the opportunity to do it. I would spend some time in Edinburgh Scotland, London, and Winchester, before heading home on a transatlantic cruise (The cruise doesn’t really have much to do with the book research, but it seemed much more romantic and interesting than just flying home).

The experience was everything I wanted it to be. All three cities were amazing. I saw castles and churches, museums and markets, parks and palaces.

Buckingham Palace

Big Ben

Westminster Abbey

Edinburgh Castle

I went to the house where Jane Austen lived, where she wrote and published her books. I went to the church where she is buried and cried as I read her sister’s correspondence announcing Jane’s death.

Jane Austen’s house

Miss Austen’s writing desk

Well said, Jane!

Winchester Cathedral

I met interesting people everywhere I went and got enough material and inspiration to fill several books. Cruising home across the vast Atlantic I spent hours sitting out on deck, writing and watching the waves.

It was the trip of a life time. When I first arrived in Edinburgh and went through customs, the agent asked me my profession. Without hesitation, I told her: “I’m an author.”

Before I left home my best friend made me a series of CDs to listen to in the various cities I would visit. There was a moment listening to that music in London that I will remember for the rest of my life. As I walked along the Thames, in the shadow of Big Ben, a song came on my iPod called Crazy Dreams. Do you know this song? I guess it was originally done by Carrie Underwood, but it was covered last season on the show Smash. You can hear a clip of the Smash version over here on NBC’s site. Anyhow, the song is basically all about not giving up on stuff and how amazing it is when our dreams come true. It’s a little cheesy, but totally appropriate for walking around in London on a grand adventure of sightseeing and book writing. Ooh, and the actress who sings it on Smash, Megan Hilty, is who Andrea and I would want to play Kiki if they ever make a movie of my books.

Doesn’t she look just like Kiki?

It was such an amazing moment, walking along the river in this amazing city, hearing those lyrics randomly start up on my ipod.

Here’s to you free souls, you firefly chasers
Tree climbers, porch swingers, air guitar players
Here’s to you fearless dancers, shaking walls in your bedrooms

There’s a lot of wonder left inside of me and you

Thank God even crazy dreams come true

I think sometimes of what would have happened if I had given up last fall. My books weren’t selling well, teaching was taking a lot out of me, and it was difficult to write as much as I needed to in the limited amount of time I had after school. Writing the third book of the series was hard for me. I remember feeling tired and frustrated. The writing didn’t flow the way it did with the previous two books. What if it was no good? What if I never got my chance, if my books never started selling? Would it be worth it to continue to work so hard when the rewards seemed so little? A voice in my head told me it was time to slow down a little, stop writing so much, take a break.

Thank God I didn’t listen.

And thank God even crazy dreams come true.

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One More Day!

25 Jul

You guys, Kiki’s book comes out TOMORROW!

Can you tell that I’m excited about this?:) I really had a great time writing this story, and Kiki is one of my favorite characters, so I cannot wait for people to read this book!

Here’s a little synopsis so you can see what it’s all about it!

Kiki Barker-Thompson has always lived a charmed life.

Blessed with wealth, a loving family, a dream career, and the perfect husband, Kiki appears to be living a modern-day fairy tale.  But when a startling loss turns Kiki’s world upside down, she realizes that her perfect fairy tale life may not be so perfect after all. Maybe living happily ever after is not all it’s cracked up to be!

For the first time in her life, Kiki has to learn to deal with true heartache—and the repercussions for her marriage are far-reaching.  To make matters worse, Kiki must work with a nightmare client in the form of a frenemy from the past—or risk endangering her new business. Their uncomfortable reunion will force Kiki to confront issues and insecurities that she left behind long ago.  Or so she thought.

With her unshakable spirit and optimism, Kiki Barker-Thompson must now learn to re-evaluate her choices—and her dreams. In doing so, she may just find that a real-life happily-ever-after could be possible after all.

I really, really hope you guys like it!

To celebrate the release, I made the first book in the series, Three Girls and a Baby, free on kindle. The promotion has been going really well so far! More than 20,000 copies of the book have been downloaded so far! Yay! If you haven’t read Three Girls and a Baby yet, now is your chance to pick it up for free here at Amazon.

Hope everyone is having a wonderful week so far!

 

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Kiki’s Book! Excitement!! Exclamation Points!

18 Jul

As I write this, I am literally jumping up and down on my seat—that’s how excited I am right now. Why am I so excited? Two words: Kiki’s book.

It’s almost ready to go, you guys! I’ve worked so, so hard on this book. At times it was a struggle but I ended up loving how it turned out. Kiki is such an awesome girl and I just can’t wait to share her story with everyone!

Now that things are getting so close, I can share some details with you guys. First of all, the book should be available for Kindle and Nook next Thursday, July 26th. That’s a little over a week away! I can’t wait for it to be out in the wild so I can talk to people about it. I’m sure my beta readers are tired of hearing me go on and on about these characters:) Soon I’ll be able to talk to everyone else as well!

Now for the name: I thought long and hard about the title for this story. For so long in my head it was just called Kiki’s Book. But I doubted that would go over so well as a title! In the end, I decided on The Truth About Ever After.

Kiki’s book is the story of a girl who seems to have the perfect fairy-tale life. Kiki has money, power, a great family, and is married to the love of her life. But even Kiki will find that life can’t be perfect forever. I wanted the title of her book to reflect that. Kiki had the perfect happily ever after when she married Eric in Three Girls and a Wedding: but what happens next? What happens when the fairy-tale is over and real life kicks in?

Of course Kiki deals with all these difficulties in a very Kiki-like way. She’s funny and optimistic and completely loyal to the people she loves.

If you can’t tell, I really love Kiki. She’s one of my favorite characters that I’ve ever written. From the moment I first started writing about her, she took on a life of her own. Originally, the rich girl in Jen’s book was supposed to be a snobby brat. But right away Kiki let me know that that wasn’t her—not by a long shot. I had little choice but to go along with it and write her the way she demanded to be written. I know there are some people who might find her a little over the top, but I hope learning more about her life will convert even those who may not always have been crazy about her.

One of the most exciting aspects of the publishing process, in my opinion, is getting the cover art back from my amazing artist. Scarlett Rugers has, once again, exceeded my expectations. I absolutely love her work. If you’re an author looking for a great cover to make your work stand out, you should really give her a try at www.scarlettrugers.com. Here’s what she did for The Truth About Ever After. Isn’t is gorgeous??

Alright, that’s it for me, for now. I am currently hard at work on my next book—or I am when I can drag my mind away from how excited I am for The Truth About Ever After. I have managed to get my stop-work-to-stare-at-pretty-cover-in-amazement breaks down to a bare minimum—hopefully that can continue!

 

Happy Wednesday everyone!

 

 

 

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Celebrating Chick Lit!

12 May

I’m really excited to be participating in the Chick Lit Author Blog Hop 2012! There are some awesome authors involved in this blog hop and I think it’s going to be a really good time. The blog hop was planned to celebrate International Chick Lit month, which takes place every May. I love writing (and reading!) chick lit, and I’m pumped to be part of something that celebrates and promotes the genre.

So what’s the blog hop all about? It’s pretty simple, really. Beginning on Monday, the 34 participating authors will all upload a chick lit-centric blog post. By checking out each post, you’ll have the chance to win a free ebook from each author. All you have to do is leave a comment and you’ll automatically be entered to win! That’s more than 30 ebooks–all up for grabs! And there’s more! At the end of the week you can enter to win the grand prize–a $150 Sephora gift card! All you have to do is collect the “secret word” from each blog post you visit (the word will be italicized). If you collect them all, you can be entered to win the grand prize. Pretty good deal, right?

To find out how to participate, head over to Tracie Banister’s blog. She has all the rules and info on how to get started. I hope you’ll join us! i think it’s going to be a really fun week. And I can tell you from experience–there are some AWESOME authors participating. I would be eager to win books from any of these ladies, for realz!

See you next week!

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Book Release!

11 May

I’m doing a happy dance! That can only mean one thing–my book must have come out today! (oh, and Vampire Diaries is on. That makes me do a happy dance too)

I’m so excited, anxious, nervous, and happy for people to finally get the chance to read the book I’ve been working so hard on. This is always kind of a terrifying moment. Like, I-think-I-might-puke kind of terror. I know I’m getting close to release day when I start having nightmares that I uploaded the wrong file. Hitting that publish button on Amazon requires a great amount of blind faith. But it’s also one of the most exciting, awesome feelings in the world. I’m so glad I get to experience it!

On a related topic, this is chick lit month! Next week I’m participating in a blog hop–I’m going to post a bunch of information tomorrow. There’s going to be prizes and giveaways and lots of new authors to discover. I hope everyone checks it out!

And if you want to check out my new book, that would be pretty awesome, too! You can follow this link to find the kindle version on Amazon. The paperback isn’t showing up quite yet, but i’ll let you know when it does! if you want to stop back in and let me know what you think, I’d love to hear it!

In Search of a Love Story for Kindle.

Oh, Happy Mother’s Day to all the mommas out there. Have a great weekend!

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So much excitement! So much!!

30 Apr

Things are moving right along with the release of my fourth book, In Search of a Love Story. I can say with a good amount of certainty that it will be available for your kindle reading pleasure on Thursday, May 10th (paperback might take a little longer). Huzzah!

I am really excited about this book. Like, really, really excited. Writing it was kind of a struggle for me. I had a hard time getting into a flow until about half way through the writing process. I think I was just so used to writing about the Three Girls I had a hard time getting into a different character’s head. But once I did, I became really attached to this story and these characters. Because the writing process wasn’t all sunshine and roses, I think I feel even more strongly about this book. It’s all well and good to be proud of something that came easy–creating something that was hard fought gives even more satisfaction.

The reaction of readers to the Three Girls series was so positive and amazing. I really, really hope you guys like the new one as much. I know I do! I’ve sold more than 40,000 copies of the Three Girls books since January, which is absolutely mind blowing. I don’t know that I can ever really live up to that kind of response, and that’s okay. If people read and like this next book, I’ll be pleased as punch!

So to give you some idea of what I’ve been working on (and obsessing about. And sweating over. And crying about), I wanted to share with you the synopsis. And if you haven’t seen it on Facebook, I’ll also post the cover. My designer, Scarlett Rugers, once again did an AMAZING job on the cover art. Seriously, she is the best. My books would be wallowing in obscurity and none of you would have ever heard of them if it wasn’t for her awesomeness and eye-catching covers.

So, without further ado, I present In Search of a Love Story!

Emily Donovan doesn’t have a romantic bone in her body.

At least, that’s what her friends Ryan and Ashley keep telling her. They’re convinced her bad luck with men is directly related to her life-long lack of interest in all things romantic. When Emily’s latest relationship crashes and burns, she decides to go along with her friends’ plans for a romance research project. Sure, the idea that she’ll have better luck if she learns about the great romances of literature and film seems a little silly, but Emily figures it can’t hurt.

In no time at all, Emily finds herself buried under a mountain of romance novels, chick flicks, and sappy love songs, hopeful that her hard work will pay off with true love. When she meets Greg, Ashley and Ryan are convinced she’s found prince charming—after all, he’s rich, handsome, and totally into Emily. What more could she want? And why isn’t her friend Elliot exactly happy for her?

Faced with misunderstandings, miscommunications, and a seemingly endless string of missteps, she is nevertheless determined to give love a try. In doing so, Emily will eventually find that true romance, the kind that lasts, has little to do with stereotypes or clichés, and everything to do with finding out what’s in her own heart.

In Search of a Love Story, available on Amazon.com May 10th, 2012!

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dilemma

10 Mar

I have a SERIOUS problem. I’m leaving for vacation in a few days and I have no idea what books I want to take with me!  I’m not sure if I want to read chicklit or YA or some kind of thriller. It’s a beach vacation so I definitely want it to be light and easy reading. I’m a pretty fast reader, and I plan to read pretty much all day, so my book list is essential! Does anyone have any suggestions?

Speaking of the vacation, I’m so pumped for it! Like, so SO pumped! I’m going on a cruise with some of my best friends and it’s going to be a blast. We’ll be hitting Key West and Cozumel. I’m hoping for hot weather and cold drinks for a blissful 4 days! Oh, and food. Man, there’s a lot of good food on a cruise ship. I’m drooling a little, just thinking about it.

While on this trip (the day we’re in Cozumel, which is also St. Patrick’s Day) I will be celebrating a pretty big birthday–30. How the heck did that happen? A few days ago one of my co-workers was telling me that after my birthday I should probably start getting regular mammograms. I looked at her in confusion and said, “They don’t recommend that for 25 year-olds.” Uh, yeah. Not so much 25 anymore. But I still feel like I am! Actually, I feel about 20. It still shocks me sometimes that I’m allowed to go into a bar and drink. Or that I own my own house. My friend Maddie had a baby a few weeks ago and I can’t wrap my mind around it. Kids our age don’t have houses and babies! Except they do. Because we’re not kids, we’re grown-ups. So weird!

Don’t get me wrong, I’m not upset about getting older–just incredulous. I think 30 is going to be an AMAZING year.  I have plots hammered out for at least 5 books and I plan to publish my booty off in the coming year. I can’t wait!

I hope everyone is having a wonderful weekend! On the 17th, raise a green beer to me. I will be on a beach in Mexico doing the same:)

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