Happy New Year for 2013

Another year gone in the blink of an eye, so that must mean it is Resolutions time again.

Okay let's start of with the recap, so what were my Resolutions for 2012?

Um... uh-oh!!

1) Shed that extra stone

I haven't got a clue if I've achieved this or not, as I haven't weighed myself in months. I doubt it very much, but my clothes fit well and I feel good in myself, and I certainly don't think I've gained either. I did at least do the Race For Life, albeit walking a lot of it, AND I jogged the Sport Relief 3-mile fun run with my year-old son, raising hundreds of pounds for very worthy causes.

2) Read 100 books

This one was cutting it very close, and resulted in a reading marathon to hit that elusive '100' on Goodreads.

2012 Reading Challenge

Aurelia B Rowl has
read 60 books toward her goal of 100 books.

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60 of 100 (60%)

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3) Complete the first draft of a full manuscript

Well, I did a lot better than that, wouldn't you agree? My first completed manuscript was released eleven days ago, and my second completed manuscript was also contracted and will be released this Spring under my other alter-ego.

Two out of three isn't bad - especially as I stomped all over that third one, which is partly why the others didn't do so well.

So what about my resolutions for 2013?

I'm sticking with the three - one personal, one professional and one other...

1) Read 50 books

After cutting it so close last year, and knowing the number of writing projects in the pipeline, I think just under one book a week should be plenty. If I read more, hooray, but I'd be happy to reach fifty anyway.

2013 Reading Challenge

Aurelia has
read 0 books toward her goal of 50 books.

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0 of 50 (0%)

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2) Self-publish my first novel

This year I want to finally finish Their Last Goodbye, and get that submitted, and then I want to return to Bye Bye, Black Sheep (Peer Pressure #1) and get that self-published this year. Obviously from September, I can treat writing as my job rather than my hobby, and my productivity will hopefully improve dramatically.

3) Take part in another sponsored event

I've been caught by the bug and would like to raise funds for a worthy cause again this year. It is currently a toss-up between doing the Race For Life again, or doing the Manchester Midnight Walk. I have to say, I really fancy doing the midnight one, and then maybe volunteer to be a marshall or carry out some other role for the Race For Life.

So what about you?
What goals have you set yourself for the year ahead?

Related posts:

> New Year's Resolutions for 2012 (13 December 2011)
> Off topic: Race for Life 2012 - for Nan... (18 January 2012)

> Off topic: Sport Relief 2012 (26 March 2012)
> My Poor Neglected Blog (29 June 2012)
> Update: New Year's Resolutions 2012 (20 July 2012)

Blog Guest: Why I Went Indie by Emma Mills

I am delighted to welcome Emma Mills onto my blog today, an author who I am privileged to be able to call a friend as well as a fellow writer. I am a huge fan of Emma's writing, which grows with each book as she weaves her world so fluidly, and brings her characters to life effortlessly -or at least that's how it feels when you read the WitchBlood series.

I also have a huge respect for self-published 'Indie' authors; having to become a jack-of-all-trades in the publishing business, with the writing almost having to take a back seat at times. To hear that I may have been instrumental in Emma Mills' decision to go that route is a huge honour, and I am very glad she did.

Anyway, rather than hear from me, I shall hand you over to the lovely lady herself...

Emma Mills

Big thanks to Aurelia for having me on her blog today, as she is a very busy blogger, with mountains of books stacked up (probably to the ceiling) and various writing projects on the go.

I thought a chat about why I chose to self-publish might be interesting and would let you know a bit more about me, so here we go…

Buy it now!

Amazon US Amazon UK

I wrote WitchBlood after becoming, quite frankly addicted to paranormal YA fiction. I happily devoured the Twilight series and then moved on to all the vampire fiction that followed. As a quick aside, some of my favourites are, the Sookie Stackhouse Series, Vampire Academy…I’m a big Adrian fangirl, Wings by Aprilynne Pike and more recently The Hunger Games.

The one thing I couldn’t find, at the time, was anything set in the UK. Now I have read, loved and become friends with some great UK authors, but they are hard to find in this genre. I also couldn’t find any YA fiction with witches in it…I hadn’t come across The Secret Circle then! So I decided to combine my two favourites and mix it up a little... vampires and witches, set against the wet, cloudy backdrop of my local city, Manchester.

I wrote WitchBlood throughout 2010 and after a thorough edit I was overjoyed to land myself a UK agent, who loved the book and believed in me. However, by the time she was sending to publishers it was the second half of 2011 and the response was always the same: We like her writing style but we have stopped taking on vampire fiction, or The market is saturated, could she write something else?

Buy it now!

Amazon US Amazon UK

In one way their feedback was great…at least they thought my writing was good enough, but on the other hand it was SO frustrating. I knew that WitchBlood was different, and I knew that people were still buying supernatural YA, but the tides had turned and there was nothing I could do.

I did try writing something new, but my heart wasn’t in it. I still wanted to write the whole series I’d planned out. My characters had become real to me and I couldn’t shut them away in a drawer, so when Aurelia suggested I self-publish on Amazon, I looked into it and decided I had nothing to lose.

Would I recommend becoming an indie author? Definitely! Do I still want a publishing contract? Of course I do, but I’d think about it carefully! Basically, self-publishing is hard work. I am the author, editor, cover designer and promotions team all rolled into one! The good thing about it, is that I can set my own timeframes and deadlines. I have total control over my work, when it’s published and what price to set.

On the other hand, I haven’t yet published in print, because self-publishing in print, in the UK, is tricky and can be costly. However, I would love to see my books in print on the bookshelves of my local bookstore.

Coming soon!

Do I think supernatural YA fiction is ‘over’? Not from what I’ve seen. I’ve had 25000 downloads of the WitchBlood series over the last six months and every day people I don’t know leave me messages asking when WitchLove will be out. I don’t think vampires will ever ‘be over’!

Me either, Emma - thank goodness - whatever would I read for fun without my regular dose of vampires?

But did I read that right? 25,000? And in just six months? Wow!! That is incredible, as well as truly inspiring. 

With so many self-published authors churning out what can best be described as 'dire', it is fantastic that readers are recognising your skill and coming back in their droves for the sequels. I've seen many of the reviews that readers and reviewers leave, and can totally see why you have such fantastic numbers.

I'm also not surprised to hear fans are getting in touch to demand to know the latest on WitchLove. I would be amongst them if it weren't for your regular status updates on Facebook and Twitter, letting us know how you are progressing. And on that note, I'm going to stop holding you up so you can crack on with those final edits. Patience has never been a virtue of mine!

Thank you so much for stopping by and sharing your publishing journey with us, Emma. I'd like to congratulate you again on your success, and truly hope that this is just the beginning for your writing career.

Happy Blogiversary to Me!

Doesn't the time fly?

A year ago today, I created this blog with the idea of documenting my mission to becoming a writer, following my dream of becoming a published author.

With two publishing contracts under my belt - and not forgetting I turned down a three-book publishing deal - to say I'm chuffed would be a massive understatement.

So, now seems like a good time to announce the release date for my debut story, Christmas in Cancelled...

If all goes to plan, Christmas is Cancelled it will be released on December 21st, just in time for Christmas to help you get in the festive spirit. It should be available for pre-order before then so keep your eyes peeled for my updates.

Then, in March, my debut writing as Allie A Burrow comes out. My short story, For One Night Only, will be featured in a Serviced (military-themed) anthology. Adults only though ;-)

What's next?

I have to say, I am unbelievably excited by the project I'm working on at the moment!!

I am working on not one book, not two books, not even three books, but a contemporary romance series consisting of FOUR books. A modern twist on a common historical theme, the series is based on the lives and loves of Lords and Ladies of the English peerage in the twenty-first century. The working title for the series is 'Peer Pressure' but it's not set in stone by any means.

And even more exciting, I am planning to self-publish it, putting me firmly in the driving seat. I've made enough contacts now to have access to editors and cover artists, and I'm no slouch when it comes to computers so foresee no issues with the formatting and uploading to the various portals. By self-publishing, I will also be able to offer a print option as well as digital format, and would love to see my books on the shelves of the local bookstore and beyond.

Not only is this my biggest project to date, pushing all my other projects down the pecking order, it will also be my most challenging. I need to create a group of characters who will each get their stories told, with the fourth book in the series being a male/male romance. I only hope I can do it justice because I would love to see more 'mainstream' non-erotic male/male romance stories. With the issue of civil marriages and courtesy titles for gay spouses of peers having been in the news this year already, it felt like I would be cheating my series by not exploring this as a potential storyline.

And at least I only have to please myself (and my Beta-readers) if I'm self-publishing...

I'm still in the midst of NaNoWriMo, as blogged yesterday, but with the introduction of new characters and a fourth book to foreshadow, I'm at a scratching-my-head point whilst I figure out how to handle the curveballs I've been thrown. Instead of sitting here blogging, I should be outlining and getting some writing done. Oops!

Thank you to everyone who follows this blog regularly!

The next year will also see the introduction of more guests and interviews, and hopefully more giveaways so I'd love it if you stuck around with me a while longer.

And now it's back to work...

Party Guest #5 - Louise Rose-Innes

It's no secret that I have toyed with the idea of self-publishing - and fully intend to in the future, becoming more of a hybrid - so today's giveaway is from self-published contemporary romance author, Louise Rose-Innes.

Today is the release day for her brand new novel, The Italian Inheritance, and having read the first chapter, I look forward to reading more. Louise is not only a brilliant author, she is also a marketing guru and offers advice on her website and blog, well worth a look.

Click here for full details of giveaway

After discovering a letter written by her mother shortly before her death, Anna Crawford, a London-based maternity nurse, decides to travel to the Italian island of Capri in search of her father. What she doesn’t expect to find is that she’s heir to a vast family fortune. She’s even more surprised when the suspicious trust attorney questions her very identity.

Rafael Vialli has a suspicious nature – it’s the reason he became a lawyer. He blames his rough childhood. It may also have something to do with the fact that in the months since Giovanni Albertosi’s death, he’s been inundated with opportunistic women claiming to be his client’s missing heir.

Can Anna prove to Rafael that she really is the legitimate heir? And can Rafael trust enough to award her the inheritance… as well as his heart?

Click HERE for an excerpt

How to enter...

To enter, just select 'Yes please, I'd like to enter' in Rafflecopter below and hit the green button - simple as that - however, you can also gain additional entries by leaving a blog comment, following the links to 'like' or follow' on Facebook and Twitter (just remember to click the green button each time).

And here's a tip... you gain a double entry bonus for tweeting about the giveaway (ignore the bit where it tells you to paste the URL - I'll know if you've tweeted the link) and you can do this every day, potentially giving you fourteen additional entries and boosting your chances of winning.

a Rafflecopter giveaway

Full Terms and Conditions

This contest is open for seven days, closing October 29th at 12:01am EST, and the winner will be announced on October 31st.

Don't forget you can tweet about all of the giveaways daily to increase your entries and your chances of winning.

If you are having any technical difficulties when trying to enter, please email me.

Good luck!

February already!

Wow, where does the time go? It doesn't feel like five minutes since I was writing my New Year blog post!

Both of my children are now another year older, and it's my sixth wedding anniversary soon - Valentines Day, awww! - but more crucially, my writing is going really well. Plus I've read some great YA paranormal books this past couple of weeks too. Happy Days :o)

So, back to the writing stuff...

Progress update for 'Love in the Aisles' (2)

Evening all,

It's been over a week since my last update so I thought I'd fill you in with the latest.

Work has had to slow down for the moment because I have a large admin project on the go for a client, but 'Love In The Aisles' is never far from my mind. Chapter 3 is progressing well but I have also been writing some other scenes that are out of sequence and have already written over 11,000 words and am therefore one-fifth complete (yeah right - until I start the revisions and cut loads!).

I emailed my manuscript to my Kindle today so that I could read it at my daughter's ballet lesson this morning and it looked SO unbelievably good and felt amazing to see my own words on there!!  So, with my Kindle in one hand and my HTC in the other, I made some revision notes for when I eventually come back to those chapters.

Book Review: Peachville High Demons series by Sarra Cannon

Book 1: Beautiful Demons

Book 2: Inner Demons

Book 3: Bitter Demons

Book 4: Shadow Demons

Book 5: Rival Demons

Book 6: Demons Forever (not yet released)

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Book Review: Ava Delaney series by Claire Farrell

Book 1: Thirst

Book 2: Taunt

Book 3: Tempt

Book 4: Taken (not yet released - expected Summer 2012)

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Book Review: The Rae Wilder Novels by Penelope Fletcher

Book 1: Demon Girl

Book 2: Demon Day

Book 3: Demon Dark (not yet read but on my Amazon wishlist)

Book 4: Demon Boy (not yet released - Summer 2012)

First draft of 'Love in the Aisles' - Chapter Two

If you have arrived here looking for a sneak preview of my debut romance novella, I must report that I have since taken it right back to the beginning to re-work, changing the writing style and switching between points of view.

I have left up my very first workings of my very first draft, which you are more than welcome to read, but they have already changed enormously since...

Chapter 2

As soon as her hand touched his, she felt the same tingle shooting through her arm as before.  Shutting the front door behind him, she enjoyed the close proximity to him as they stood in the entrance, able to smell the lingering scent of day-old aftershave on him.  “Can I take your jacket?” 

“Thanks,” he said, shrugging out of it.  The space was so confined that he couldn’t help but brush against her by accident, triggering a cluster bomb effect of goose-bumps wherever he happened to touch her.

“After you,” she said, ushering him into her front room whilst she hung his jacket up on one of the coat hooks, secretly grateful for having such a small entrance porch.

First draft of 'Love in the Aisles' - Chapter One

If you have arrived here looking for a sneak preview of my debut romance novella, I must report that I have since taken it right back to the beginning to re-work, changing the writing style and switching between points of view.

I have left up my very first workings of my very first draft, which you are more than welcome to read, but they have already changed enormously since...

Chapter 1

Karen’s head was banging, forcing her to concentrate even harder as she navigated the roads that would take her back to school.

“So much for my girl’s night out!” she muttered bitterly to herself. 

Instead, her glamorous fun-filled evening out with her sister and friends now had extra-strong painkillers, meal for one, a huge bar of chocolate and a bottle of chilled white wine stamped all over it.

Her outfit was still all laid out on her bed from where she had started getting everything ready.  She had been looking forward to tonight for weeks, months even, and she was finally going to get to wear her gorgeous new designer shoes for the first time too.  It had been a silly dream of hers to own a pair of ‘real’ designer shoes one day, but she had saved up for months until she had enough to buy a pair in the sale and had just been waiting for the right occasion.  Goodness knows when she’d get to wear them now. 

And it was all her son-of-a-bitch ex-husband Rob’s fault! 

Progress update for 'Love in the Aisles' (1)

I am delighted to say that the words are still flowing freely for my romance story 'Love in the Aisles'. So much so, that I have since abandoned the idea of it being a short story of 15,000+ words, having written over 8,000 already, and am now going for 50,000 words so that I have the option of submitting the full manuscript to Mills & Boon.

If you've been following this blog or my facebook page, then you will have been among the first with the chance of reading my first draft of Chapters One and Two, right here on this very blog (available for a limited time only so get in quick).

A huge thank you must go out to everyone who has already given me feedback. It has given me fresh hope that I can, maybe, pass myself off as a writer after all. My biggest fear before starting this writing journey was that I wouldn't be able to make my characters come to life, or create a scene, or emulate emotions, or write effective dialogue, or... well, you probably get the idea. So...

Kindle anyone?

I have never a been huge fan of electronic book readers, despite my love of gadgets, as I love the feel and even the smell of a 'real' book. Six weeks ago, however, I succumbed and asked for a Kindle for my birthday and I have to confess that I love it!

This is the one I went for, a refurb Kindle Keyboard...

So what made me change my mind?

Back in May, my family and I went away for a bargain holiday - only a week in a Eurocamp tent in Spain - but we decided to try and manage just taking hand luggage only. Some feat when you have two children aged 4 and 2, the latter still being in nappies, I can tell you! Anyway, we did it with two trunkies containing all of the kids clothes and toys, a small suitcase and a holdall, phew!