Happy New Year and New Decade!

When I started the last decade, I didn’t really mark the occasion. I barely noted it at the time! But it led into the most challenging but also most rewarding decade of my life.

So I’m excited to see what the next decade holds! I’d hope for more rewarding things, more exciting things, and less of the challenging things, but I was recently reminded that those who go through challenges are often the most kind, understanding, caring, selfless people. And that’s not a coincidence.

But this post isn’t about the decade. It’s about 2020! (My OCD just loves that number.) I have a lot of goals for the new year (some I’ve already made progress on!), so I thought that putting them here would help make me accountable to stick to them! There are a ton — and I know there will be adjustments made along the way — but I’m excited about this year and ready to get these things DONE!

Can you believe we’re at the end of 2019?

This year was pretty, um, challenging for me, so I’m glad to be moving on to 2020! But before I do that, I wanted to give you a rundown of everything that’s happened this year. I’m sure even I will be surprised as I go through it!

Last year, way back before my first book launch (was that just last year??), I wrote a guest post on Shayla Raquel’s blog all about Instagram. I talked about how authors can use Instagram to market themselves before they even have a book out.

I’d heard a lot about “building your platform,” but no one seemed to have good, practical advice. And the advice I could find led me to believe that I had to take pictures of me holding my book and fill my Instagram feed with it. What else would a writer talk about, right?

WRONG. Writers have so much more to say!

But Instagram kept coming up on my radar. So, naturally, I wanted to dive in and learn all I could.

So I did.

Today marks Thanksgiving Day in the US. It’s a time for family to gather, celebrate traditions, and eat a lot of yummy food. It’s a time that most enjoy.

But what if you don’t?

What if you’re dreading difficult conversations? What if being around your family is less than peaceful? What if the holidays are the farthest thing from love, joy, and peace and instead bring anxiety, guilt, and that horrible feeling in the pit of your stomach?

Writing a book is a big deal. I get it. You've spent hours, days, weeks, months on your book and can't wait to get it out into the world, right?

Let's not toss it up on Amazon just yet.

Remember those hours, days, weeks, and months you spent on your book? You've spent more time with your book than you've spent with most of your friends. (I mean, probably.) It's almost like your CHILD. They don't call it a "book baby" for nothing!

So why settle for less than putting your best possible book out into the world?

Happy Cover Reveal Wednesday!

Just wanted to drop in really quickly to reveal my new cover for my first book, The Secret of the Codex! It will be live November 12, 2019, with a new cover and new content (perhaps a snippet from book 2??). Barring any issues. 😊

Hope you love it!

I haven't talked about it much, but I've had some health challenges this summer. It hasn't been easy, but I wanted to give you an update to let you know why I haven't been around much. But, more importantly, I wanted to share what I've learned in the process.

GUYS. AuthorTuber Maverick Moses posted his top five favorite books from 2018—and The Secret of the Codex made the list!!! What?!

(You may remember him from before when he posted a review of The Secret of the Codex and an author interview with yours truly!)