Again, it’s been a while since my last update, so I thought I’d do a quick post to let everybody know I’m still around I made the mistake of taking a short term this semester. If you’ve never taken a graduate-level eight week course…don’t. Lol. It’s hell. Tack my independent study on top of that, and it was a wicked few weeks. Now that I’ve finally surfaced from the confusing tangle of Ethical Theory, though, I’ve made huge progress on Cody and the dragons. The independent study has actually helped with that. It’s on the fall of Rome, and I’ve been getting a lot of good ideas . Last week I was able to get close to 10,000 words done, and nearly half of that in edits, which means I should be able to have the story in to the publisher by the end of this month (as long as Cody cooperates, the stubborn little shit, lol. Kirit is easy, he just does what people tell him to.). I know, it feels like I’ve been working on this story forever. The first book in the series always takes the longest for me, as I work out the world-building and where I’m going with the overall story arc. I’m getting set up nicely for the next books, though; Chaos’ story is completely plotted out and I have a good third of it done already. Too bad he’s not the next in line to be written, lol. That would be Nyx. Once I get the story submitted, I’ll be working on a page for the dragons to stick up on the website, with some bios, background, and other nifty stuff. Tease you a bit with what’s coming . I’m completely hooked on these characters, and so far this entire world has been so much fun to play around in. I’ll let everyone know when the story is finally shipped off. It shouldn’t be long now!

The Lonely Heart has been nominated! It’s up for book of the month at Long and Short Reviews. Be sure to check out the poll and vote for your favorite book . Voting is today and tomorrow only.

http://www.longandshortreviews.com/uncategorized/february-book-of-the-month-poll-3/

Sorry, I couldn’t think of a better word than ‘stuff’, lol. What can I say? I’ve been working, and I’m all out of creativity for the moment.

It’s been way too long since I posted last…or sent a newsletter…or updated the website. Sigh. I’m behind on everything right now. So, let’s start with the news. I’m finally on the home stretch with Cody’s Dragon. The end is in sight! I’m doing some re-writing, and I have a few more scenes to add, but the bulk of the story is done. I’ve also plotted out the next book, and gotten a start on it and the overall story arc. I think I finally have a handle on where this thing is going, now, so that should make things go more smoothly when I start to get into it. I also have a short story that I’ve been working on to take a break, just a quick little thing about, well, two guys, what else . I don’t have details on the website, but it’s probably going to end up being a freebie, if I can’t get the length up a little more. Anything under about 12,000 words, and I feel kind of guilty charging for it.

Okay, newsletter. And, what the heck, website, too, ’cause they’re linked. I was working on a re-vamp of the website when my poor, tired laptop finally gave into its ongoing battle with illness, lol. It died around the end of November, and I had to wait for Christmas to roll around to get a new one. I was reduced to paper and pencil for writing (not that I don’t do that anyway). But, I have a shiny new computer that is far superior, all pretty and speedy. I’m back to work on the website, and I’m hopefully going to get the new site live in the next couple of weeks. In the meantime, it hasn’t been worth it to update the site. Between the smartphone and stealing computer time, I was able to keep up with emails etc, but I couldn’t sit down and spend hours working, so all that was put on hold. Along with the website, I’m probably going to make some changes with the newsletter, too. As I’m sure you’ve noticed, that whole monthly thing hasn’t really been working out . Honestly, when I have nothing new and exciting to report, it seems silly to write out a newsletter. Most people get enough emails a day, they don’t need me blathering about nothing. I haven’t come up with a solid plan just yet, but I’ll probably at least go to every two months or something, with special announcements in between if something exciting happens. Right now there’s nothing special about the newsletters, and I’d like to change that, too. Like I said, not really sure what I’m doing with that, but I’m sure I’ll think of something!

Phew. I think that covers it all. My resolution for this year was to do better with posting, social media, and all that good online stuff. Of course, my resolutions rarely get anywhere, but it’s the thought that counts, right? *Grin*

I hope everyone’s year is off to a fabulous start!

Tristan is now available for purchase from Amber Allure It’s discounted for about the first week through their website, so be sure to check it out!

http://www.amberquill.com/AmberAllure/Tristan.html

I just wanted to give a quick update on what I’ve been doing. For more detailed info, ie me rambling, check out the newsletter tab. It’s from September, but I think there might have been a glitch. I sent the newsletter out, but I don’t think it went through for whatever reason, so I’m going to leave it up for a while. I’m working on October, but I don’t know that it will have anything fun…I’m busy preparing for the two releases this month!

The Lonely Heart will officially be released on October 15th, although you can already download it from the Total-E-Bound website. Tristan will be coming out on the 28th of this month, just in time for Halloween! Both should be available in paperback sometime in November. Any questions or comments, let me know! I’m pretty excited about these two

I’ve updated all the relevant pages with excerpts, covers, etc. Please contact me if you run into something that doesn’t work. I did some reorganizing, and that often means broken links! I test, but it’s way too easy to miss things.

In the meantime, I’m planning on dropping in at the Love Romances Cafe yahoo group on the fifth, during their Creatures of the Night event, barring any unexpected disasters. The theme that day is shifters and werewolves, so I’ll be bringing along excerpts from Lucky and Tristan. Stop in and say hi!

The Lonely Heart is available today for Total-E-Bound VIP members. It seems like it’s been a really long wait for this one! The book will be available on Amazon, etc next month, and in paperback in November, for those who want to know

I hope you enjoy it!

Take two stubborn cowboys, add in one determined little boy, and toss in a snowstorm for good measure. Who knew building a family could be so hard?

If you ask Isaiah Preston, he’s pretty lucky. He’s happy in his job as a ranch manager, admires his boss, Grady, in more ways than one, and if he doesn’t have everything he wants, well, that’s life, isn’t it?

Enter one little brother, and suddenly Isaiah’s comfortable world is turned upside down. Everything becomes complicated and he’s seeing people in ways he never has before—good and bad. Near-perfect isn’t enough anymore. Isaiah wants it all—home, family and, most importantly, Grady, in both his life and bed.

To get what he wants, though, Isaiah is going to have to fight prejudice, misunderstandings, and even Grady himself.

http://www.total-e-bound.com/product.asp?strParents=&CAT_ID=&P_ID=1803

As promised, some very exciting news. Finally, Tristan has been finished and submitted to the publisher! It took about five times as long as planned, but I’m pretty pleased with the final product. I hope everyone else will be, too! I’ll be sure to keep you updated on release dates, etc. Thanks to everyone for their patience; the end is in sight!

Next up is my fantasy series, which I am tentatively calling “A Dragon’s Treasure.” Cody’s Dragon, the first book in the series, is well over half-finished. I’ve been knee-deep in research and working on scenes as times permits. Now, I can give it my full attention. With as much as I have plotted out, I’m hoping the last half will go quickly. I actually have some portions of the other books completed, and I’m hoping to do them back-to-back. Whether it works out that way or not, we’ll see, lol.

With the upcoming release of Lonely Heart, I should be online more often, so keep an eye on the blog for news and updates! I’m also going to try and get back into the habit of sending a newsletter, so if you aren’t signed up to receive that, now is a good time. I’ve been neglecting it lately, mostly because I haven’t had much news to share. That should change now!

This was supposed to go up a couple of days ago, and I am so very sorry that it didn’t. I was up north on a fishing trip. I was supposed to have internet, but if you’ve ever spent time in rural areas, you know how that goes. Most days, I was lucky to manage cell phone reception. And that was only if I stood ten paces from the cabin facing the birch tree at twelve thirty-two with a northwesterly wind. Well, not really, but you get the picture.

I’ve been fortunate. I don’t have any of the horror stories from high school that most people have; my class was small and surprisingly accepting, particularly for a farming community. We had a mix of ethnicities thanks to the Caterpillar plant and most of them I’d known since preschool. It’s harder to hate someone when you’ve known them since almost before you can remember. I can’t remember ever seeing any incidents of bullying or bigotry, even after 9-11. In fact, my school arranged for one of our Muslim students (who is now in the US military) to give a brief talk. College was much the same. It was a smaller community college. I remember several times rounding a corner and bumping into same sex couples. One gay couple in particular had a habit of making out in random places .

I, myself, am an out and proud bisexual. I’ve faced the occasional bigot, of course. There’s no way to avoid them. On the whole, though, I think we girls have it a bit easier. I’ve been known to link arms with my mom or hug my best friend in public and not get any looks. Girls are allowed to be more… touchy-feely than guys. Stupid, but there ya go. I’m still cautious. At the end of the day, I do live in a conservative, old-fashioned area.

I shouldn’t have to be, but that’s the way it is. That’s why I think events like this one are so very important. It’s the little things that make the biggest difference. My grandmother started out on the homophobic side when I first came out. She was for DADT, against gay marriage, the works. But I worked on her, lol. I didn’t lecture or preach. In my experience, telling someone they’re wrong isn’t usually productive! Instead, I would interject short facts. Such as, the inequality of a homosexual partnership. That, without the proper legal preparations, and sometimes even then, long-term couples struggle to gain the same benefits as a het couple. How under DADT a decorated soldier could lose everything because of his sexuality. That one got her; my grandfather was in the military and no discovery about someone’s personal life erases their service record, despite what the military used to claim. It didn’t take all that long, actually, for her to change her mind on a lot of issues. When homophobia touches people’s lives in a personal way, it makes a difference. It’s easier to be bigoted when the issue seems far removed from your life.

So, we have to keep pushing. Gently and subtly, but persistently. Many bigots that I’ve crossed paths with are spouting views they’ve been taught. When asked why they hold those beliefs, they won’t be able to give you a clear answer. It’s the view their parents, or their teachers, or their relatives, held, so it was passed along to them. We have to teach them differently. It’s a long, uphill battle. But so long as we keep slugging along, progress can be made. Just look at where we are today as compared to twenty, thirty, or fifty years ago. And within the last couple of weeks, we had a president endorse gay marriage for the first time. Bigotry and homophobia are never going away. It’s part of human nature, just like war and poverty. Keep talking and writing and showing, though, and I truly believe we can make a difference, that we can make it better.

If you made it to the end of my long…um, lecture, lol, than thank you! I’ll be giving away two books, winner’s choice. Please, feel free to comment, and thank you again for coming out to show your support for such an important cause!

KM