Book cover reveal

Are you ready?

I'm so excited to share with you my book cover for my newest books, a middle grade series about a young girl named Cassandra Jones. What's special about Cassandra? Absolutely nothing. She's as ordinary as any other fifth grader. And yet her ordinary life is riddled with hilarious and sometimes heart-breaking mishaps.

I can't wait for you to get to know Cassandra! The book is scheduled to release on May 16, 2015. The interesting thing about this book is I'm trying something new. It's being released like a television series: every month, a new episode of the book will come out, in ebook only. At the end of the "season," I'll compile all the episodes together into a longer book and make it available in print. I'll keep you posted how it goes!

In other book news: I finished the third and final segment to the PERILOUS series, called PRICELESS. It's out to beta readers now for any plot or character issues I missed, and then hopefully off to my publisher. Watch for a release date for 2016! (Fingers crossed.) PERILOUS and ALTERCATION are both out and available for sale as print or ebooks, as well as DELIVERER, an ebook short story told from the point of view of the kidnapper.

I'm currently in the midst of a book tour, and I just created a really fun giveaway for people who buy my books either via the website or in person. Nail wraps with my book cover on them! Each person who buys a book will get one nail wrap (not one sheet, just one nail wrap). These are in a very limited quantity, so if you want one, come to a book signing or purchase a book from my website. (Book signing schedule was in last month's newsletter, but I'll be happy to provide it again if you need it.)

I am also busy working on my Brazilian cookbook! I leave for Brazil in June where I will re-immerse myself in the culture and come back with even more recipes. I am constantly looking for recipe testers. Send me an email if you're interested!

Happy April! I'm so glad spring is here!

Creating a newsletter

There's a new gadget on the right-hand side of my blog. It's my newsletter sign-up form. Isn't pretty? I like it.

No, I don't have a newsletter yet. That's because I don't have anything to announce. And also because I don't have anyone to announce it to! :) But I will someday. And while most of you will get information about me from my blog, there will be people who's names and emails I collect through book signings and speaking engagements.

A newsletter is a great way to hold on to 'prospects.' Those people who looked at your book, blog, or website, but didn't buy. If they sign up for the newsletter, you know they are interested, but something held them back. So come up with a quarterly newsletter that details promotions, book signings, new releases, and maybe a few new favorable reviews.

Now I know what to put in my newsletter. I need readers.

There are many newsletter companies out there, but most of them aren't free. I found one that is. It's MailChimp. Mailchimp is free for the first 1,000 subscribers. So far, I've got 2, and one of them is me. If I ever get more than 1,000, I'll happily pay to upgrade my account! Chimpmail might be free, but it's got all the bells and whistles you could want. It gave me the coding for that sign up form on the right (and it works. Someone already used it). It creates your newsletter in pretty html designs. It--well, go check it out. It's pretty cool.

And in other news--my blog tour started today!!! You don't want to miss these contests. Not all of these reviews will be glowing, either, because I didn't pay these people. So hurry over to David J. West's blog and find out the good, the bad, and the ugly about Perilous.