Changes in print schedule

I am posting this today to let you all know that there have been a few changes at my publishing house in the post month, changes that affect me as an author and you as a reader. Specifically, the change that affects us both is this—Triskelion has made the decision to scale back their print titles.

Unfortunately, this means that the print release of NOT WITHOUT RISK has been put on hold. At this time, the book is still listed for pre-order on Amazon and Barnes & Noble, but I expect the August release date will be pushed back.

Don't want to wait? You can always dowload a copy today.


~Sarah

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I've been tagged.

Okay, so I’ve been tagged by Melanie Atkins. What does that mean exactly? Well, it means that I am supposed to tell you eight things that no one knows about me, then tag eight people.

Wow, eight things…

1. Let’s see, the first story I ever wrote was in the fourth grade and I won a contest with it. It was titled MY CAT SNEAKER and was the true story about the cat I’d had since I was four years old. I still have the story and the award it won.

2. When I was fourteen, I met my best friend, Lisa. I swear we got into a fight at least once a year through High School. Twenty-three years later, we’re still best friends.

3. At twenty-one that same best friend and I decided on the spur of the moment to move to Kentucky. We went down for the weekend, rented an apartment and moved a few weeks later.

4. I got bored easily. I mean, very easily. I change my hair color or hair style often because it is one thing that can easily be changed.

5. I’d known my husband for six years before we ever went out on a date. It wasn’t that we weren’t interested in each other, we were just never unattached at the same time. Then one night I had a dream that we were married so I moved back to Michigan and hunted him down. We became engaged two weeks after our first date. This summer we will celebrate our 15th wedding anniversary and he still makes me laugh harder than anyone.

6. I love the smell of coffee, but can’t drink it. The only way I can stand coffee is to put a lot of sugar in it. I mean, a LOT of sugar. So I don’t drink it. Instead, I start my day with Diet Coke.

7. The worst thing anyone can say to me is that I can’t do something. That is, unless you really want me to do it. I take statements like ‘it’s not possible’ or ‘I can’t foresee you ever being able to’ as direct challenges. You tell me something like that and I will go out and show you why you’re wrong.

8. I have no problem approaching people and talking to them. I’ve always been this way. Even people others are intimidated by, I will approach just to say hi. I’ve met a lot of people this way: agents, editors, publishers, NYT bestsellers, even rock-n-roll stars. It’s just a part of who I am.

Is that finally eight? That was really hard for me to do. Now, I’m supposed to tag eight people. So, here's who I tagged:

Jennifer Loy
Rita Karnopp
MK Mancos
Tess Harrison
Maggie Nash
Sloane Taylor
J Morgan
Cindy Spencer Pape

Don’t forget my latest romantic suspense eBook, AFTER MIDNIGHT, releases in June from Triskelion Publishing. I’ll be back soon to tell you a little about it.

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Promos & Ads & Chats... Oh my!

As a young girl who dreamed of one day being a published author I imagined what life would be like. I would have nothing else to do but sit at my typewriter (computers weren’t the norm then, you know) and transfer the stories from my head to the page. I would spend my days doing the thing I loved most, and once the book was written, my job was done. Oh, how wrong I was.

Since the release of my first romantic suspense in March, NOT WITHOUT RISK, and the upcoming June release of my second, AFTER MIDNIGHT, I have been busier than ever. There’s brainstorming the next book, kids, husband, three dogs… you know, the normal everyday things that as a young girl I never figured into my plan. Then there is everything else that we as authors do to prepare for a release and promote: ordering postcards and bookmarks, setting up advertisements, and scheduling chats.

The World Wide Web has made some of these things easier, and some of them more complicated. It doesn’t take much time at all to jump online, design and order postcards. This, I’m certain, is far easier than having to make telephone calls or fill out order forms and snail mail them in. Using email, it’s fairly simple to advertise with an online reader’s site. However, there are so many now, how do we as authors know which are the best? What sites should we chat at? How many chats should we do?

These are some of the issues that I, as a new author, have faced since the beginning of the year. Some of these things I believe I have done right (even if it was by luck), and some of them I most likely need a bit more work at. It’s a learning process, one that my fellow authors have made that much easier for me, since some of them have been doing this longer than I and have shared their knowledge.

So when during all of this ordering, scheduling, chatting, mailing, editing, taking-care-of-family time do I find the time to write? That’s a good question. Honestly, this week, there won’t be much time. My edits are coming, my dog needs to see a specialist who is a three hour round trip from home, and there are a few more promo items I need to order so that I can do a bookstore mailing. But hey, there’s always next week, right?

Oh my…

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Changes...

Changes happen in everyone’s life and mine is no exception. There are a lot of changes going on in my house. From new cars, to the possibility of job changes for my husband. For some, changes as dramatic as a job change can be very stressful. For me, this is an exciting time.

Currently, my husband is self-employed. For those of you out there who are also self-employed, you know that while there are some very wonderful things about it (making your own hours, no boss to answer to, etc), there are a few down sides. Well, my husband is working on a deal that would give him the good things about being self-employed, while eliminating most of the bad things.

This would be a very big change for this house. Very. Big.

But as I said, I am excited. You see, besides writing, I also keep the books for my husband’s business. I do bill paying, taxes, billing of customers, etc. During the planning and negotiations about this job change, it has come up that they might like me to move my bookkeeping duties from my home to the new place of business.

Yup, I would be employed. GULP! I haven’t worked outside of the home in thirteen years. Yes, you read that correctly, thirteen! Could I handle it? Of course. After all, it’s nothing that I don’t do now for the business. But it would be a change. A big change.

I’m spoiled, I know, because my first thought is: “I don’t want to give up the freedom I have right now.” At the moment, if I want to take my kids to the beach, I shut down the computer and take them. If I want to set aside billing for an hour and watch a show on television, I do it. If I want to chat online in the middle of the day, no problem.

But there are upsides to this change as well. Tempting enough that I will give it much thought. If I make the change, I will have to re-train myself, actually get one of those schedules that my friend, Jennifer Talty talks about. Yikes! Me? Structured? I usually fly by the seat of my pants.

The biggest change, of course, will be in my writing time. That’s where I would have to make the most changes. And, perhaps, that would be a good thing. To have a structured writing time, a time that I sit down at the computer and write every day. Yeah, that could work for me.

Maybe. I’ll have to think about this some more.

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