• Marlin Shores series
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    Looking back on 2021 and towards 2022

    Wow, that’s a wrap on 2021 and I can’t say I’m sorry. I thought I’d kick off looking back on 2021 and towards 2022 for my writing life.

    The year started with my father going to hospital on the first and honestly it’s been a mixed bag since. I lost the first two weeks of January and I was playing catch up for months. (An excellent lesson in not being so last-minute).

    I do try to find the good, so here we go:

    Marlin Shores series

    1. I released Saltwater Tears and Saltwater Wishes in the first quarter of 2021. I love these stories and the town of Marlin Shores – I have ideas for some more stories set there.
    2. I finished my Upper Crust Series with Any Way You Wish It – there may be a spin off trilogy, we shall see.
    3. I released 7 shorts for one pen name in the first half of 2021. That was a lot of fun and that pen name taught me a lot!
    4. I walked away from a couple of writing commitments that were no longer brining me enough joy for the time invested. (This was huge for me!)
    5. I went to Melbourne in May for a week long intensive with a fellow writer and I got all my admin done and that hard work tripled my income in 2 months.
    6. My co-author and I released 6 novels and a list building novella between June and December for our shared pen name. This pen name has been a source of both joy and success for me and the highlight of my year in so many ways.
    7. My March release for a new multi-author series is already written.
    8. My newsletter building/free novella for another new pen name is already written.
    9. I joined two writing groups here in the Newcastle/Hunter region and made lots of new writing friends.
    10. I started doing plotting consults for Love Kissed Promotions and that’s been lots of fun and super interesting.

    Next year:

    1. I have a new release in March.
    2. I will put together a box set for the Marlin Shores trilogy in the first half of 2022
    3. I’m launching a new pen name in March and plan to release 4 books for that name in 2022
    4. I’m expanding my online paperback store to include more of my newer titles in January/February
    5. My co-writer and I have at least 10 books planned for our shared pen name
    6. I’m on the schedule to speak at RWA (Australia) in August about surprise surprise, Launching a Niche Genre Pen Name. (I don’t know that I’ll get to go with border issues, but I’ll cross my fingers)
    7. I’m hoping to go to 20booksvegas – an awesome writing conference I made it to in 2018 and for obvious reasons didn’t get back to.
    8. I’m rebranding a couple of my series
    9. I’m hoping to get my business Indie Author Rescue running properly so I can assist more authors (I do know how to finish a book, manage my time and launch a book that much i certain)
    10. I know it will be my best year yet!

    I hope you have big plans for 2022, do share them with me.

  • Cinnamon Bay booksin KU
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    A renewed commitment to blogging

    A little catch up on what’s happening in my author life.

    Cinnamon Bay booksin KU
    Get these Cinnamon bay Romances in KU today

    I’m sitting here in my office on a very damp Sunday afternoon blogging. Meanwhile most of the East Coast of my home state of NSW is having an “extraordinary weather event” in the form of way too much rain. Flooding, bursting dams and road closures are affecting a lot of people. Fingers crossed everyone stays safe and dry.

    It’s what you’d call “wonderful weather for writing”, but some days you just feel like curling up with a good book. Am I right? I know that’s what I’ll be doing next.

    The books in the original Cinnamon Bay Series are now all in Kindle Unlimited so if you’re a KU subscriber they’re free for you and if not, you can still buy them on Amazon.

    It’s 9 years since I started this blog and I realised over the last few days I really needed to get back to blogging, so hopefully you’ll start to see some more activity here in the coming weeks.

    There have been some changes on social media platforms of late that have made a lot of people nervous about how much visibility we will continue to have. You don’t own your content o Facebook for example but here this is my own domain (and domain name ha ha!)

    If you talk to any writer, they’ll tell you there are a lot of balls to juggle behind the scenes and sometimes things slip. Hopefully, it won’t be my blog  slipping anymore. I’ll be back hosting cover reveals and other writers here, as well as getting back to some of the memes  (Musical Monday, Taste of Tuesday) I loved during the week.  Thanks for hanging in with me during the leaner posting period.

    Apart from secret pen name projects – which I can’t discuss because they’re secrets –  I’m currently working on Any Way You Wish It, Book 9 in the Upper Crust series and Saltwater Wishes, Marlin Shores Book 3…both will be out mid-year. Both stories are pretty fun ones to write so I hope they become fun to read as well.

    If you have any questions about my writing or anything you’d like to see on the blog please leave me  comment below.

     

     

  • Blog

    Marching into March – an update from my desk

     

    saltwater wishes Fb banner

    The month of March is upon me and I’m wondering how that is possible.

    January is always a crazy month here because of summer vacation, and I had some family commitments that ate into the start. I released Saltwater Tears in January, so it wasn’t a total loss. I hope you enjoy reading Banner’s story as much as I enjoyed writing it.

    February I’ve been hunkered down in my writing cave, mainly working on projects for a couple of pen names and planning out my books for 2021. I’m happy to say I have a Cinnamon Bay romance out in June, which is all plotted and the next (and final Upper Crust Novel) will be ready for Christmas in July. I’ve started that one at least and it is all plotted too. I’m still trying to see if I’ll be releasing Saltwater Tears – the third Marlin Shores book in May or August – I’ve also started Tony’s story, and it’s a fun one to write.

    2021 for me is about reflection – I’ve written over 40 books, over 50 if we count pen names and I love writing but I’m considering moving in a new direction with my books so I guess that will take thought and planning. When I started out, I wanted to write a book, then I wanted to publish, then I wanted to see if I could do it again…and again. I’ve reset my goals many times to include being more productive, grow things like my social media following or release more often.

    Aside from my financial goals, I’ve hit every writing target I’ve aimed for. Maybe that’s where my focus needs to be in 2021.

    Meanwhile, there’s a sneak peak, of the cover for the cover for Saltwater Wishes above.

    I hope you have a wonderful month.

     

  • Blog

    It is release week for Saltwater Song

    It’s release week for Saltwater Song

    I’m so excited to be sharing this new series with. 2019 and the start of 2020 have been all about finishing up existing projects and working in collaboration with others ,but the Marlin Shores series is all mine and it’s the first new thing I’ve done in a while.

    I love the Montgomery brothers who feature in the first three books Saltwater Song, Saltwater  Tears and Saltwater Wishes. Parker, Banner and Tony are all totally different and they all have their own journey that’s kept them away from Marlin Shores, and thanks to a pesky clause in their father’s will, has forced them to come home.

    The quaint town and marina have been a blast to write and don’t worry, lots of the people you meet in the first books will be getting their own stories in 2021.

    So please grab a copy of Saltwater Song and if you love it do leave a review.

    Saltwater Song

    Parker

    Three years of caring for my father and running his marina had stripped me of everything – my old life in the music business was gone – and now so was he. I wanted to start my life again but even from the grave the old man was controlling me and my brothers.
    I wanted to get back to who I was before, who Kelsey saw me as, but I didn’t know if that was even possible no matter how badly I wanted it.

    Kelsey

    He discovered me in a bar at age seventeen and turned me into a singing sensation. He was my manager and my best friend and he promised me from day one we’d never be anything more. That made the fact that I was hopelessly in love with him more than a little inconvenient.
    He’d left me for three years for family reasons but now I was going to get him and prove to him we needed to make music together again.

    If you like high stakes small town romance with a hint of heat and a guaranteed HEA, Saltwater Song is for you.

    This small town sweet friends to lovers romance is the first book in the new Marlin Shores trilogy and can be read as a stand-alone novel.

    Get it here.

  • Blog

    Only a few days to go until Saltwater Song launches the Marline Shores series into the world.

    Saltwater Song profile picSaltwater Song, the first of my new marlin Shores romances launches in just a few days and it is so much fun to be working on and launching a new series. (It’s also super fun to have covers that say USA Today Best Selling Author on them – not sure that will ever get old). It’s a while since I worked on anything completely new and that’s fun.

    The series kicks of with a trilogy that focuses on the Montgomery brothers who inherit a marina from their late father, there’s only one catch, they have to run it together for a year or they lose it. If only they didn’t already have lives elsewhere…

    Saltwater Song introduces us to Parker, a record producer and Kelsey the star he discovered years ago. They’re a super cute couple…here’s a little teaser.

    ***

    “You guys are good,” he said with a smile. “Ever thought of trying out the music industry?”

    “Nope, never,” Parker deadpanned.

    “Nope, me either,” I said with a grin.

    “Well, something to consider,” he said, tilting his drink at us before disappearing inside without another word.

    We tweaked the song a little longer until we agreed it was done.

    “I think that’s it, baby, your next hit single.”

    “I’ll give you a credit and a cut of the royalties.” 

    He waved his hand dismissively. “No need for that, just helping a friend.”

    That response earned him an eye roll. “You don’t want another million dollars, Parker? I can see you’re living large, you might need it.”

    “Baby, I already have more than enough money. As long as you don’t let Derek touch that song, it’s all yours.”

    I sighed. “You had to go and ruin my mood by mentioning him, didn’t you?”

    He pulled me into his side and kissed my temple. 

    “Sorry about that. How can I make it up to you, Kels?” I wanted to say, just take those perfect lips and press them against mine, but I refrained because he had other ideas. “Are you free for dinner?”

    “Who else would I be meeting?”

    “I don’t know, you’ve been making friends. Could be Em or Hailey or Serenity? Anyway, good, I have an idea.”

    “You do?” I felt my tongue dart out to lick my lips, and I was aware of his eyes watching its trail. He wasn’t immune to me at least.

    “Yep.” He stood and held out his hands, pulling me to my feet. “Meet me at the marina at five and bring a jacket, okay?”

    It was more than okay. Whatever Parker asked me to do at that moment, I’d have done. Strip naked in his yard, yes. Jump into his arms and kiss the stuffing out of him. Yes. Write another song right now. Okay. Go home and grab a sweater seemed well below what I was willing to do, but it was progress, and it meant I’d have more opportunities to maybe get to some of the other things.

    You can order a copy of Saltwater Song here.