So long 2013 - Another year over

Merry Christmas!!!!

Boy, I can't believe Christmas has already come and gone. I was going to post before Christmas, but time suddenly got away from me as I frantically finished up the final draft of a new story. I didn't know how much work I had left to do with that story, but I was in constant rewrites as my alpha reader and 'Japanese' consultant worked with me for four hard days trying to get everything just right.

Over the year I've had a lot of ups and downs. One big up was with the release of my debut novel, Shadow Embraced. I've had a change of career and life path, as well as big changes within my own family (such as my brother moving to Japan).

With 2013 finishing up, I'm not even going to predict where 2014 will lead me, but I can promise that I'm going to be busy as I get more of my stories out.

And now there are a couple of business I need to get out before new year. One is the winners of my birthday bash. Congratulations to:

Kerry Amburgy-Dickson (winner of $15 Amazon gift card) and

Shelly Hammond (Winner of a copy of Shadow Embraced)

You will receive emails shortly regarding your prize. Congratulations to the two of you, and thank you to everyone who entered.

The last thing I will leave you with is a little teaser from the story I've been working feverishly on to get it ready. Meet Shinigami Eyes.

Most children hope to grow out of their imaginary friends, for 17-year-old Rin Waters, she only hopes hers doesn’t kill someone. Especially after an incident at a dance puts a boy in a coma. Now she finds herself shipped half-way around the world (to Japan of all places) to live with grandparents she hasn’t seen for ten years and a cousin she can’t remember.

Rin would rather just forget about that one night that ruined her life, and pretend that her imaginary friend doesn’t exist - if it was only that easy - but she finds that hard when manga-obsessed otaku, Matt won’t stop pestering her about his magic manga and the tragic accident she’ll be involved in if she doesn’t listen to him. Yeah right, like she would listen to someone who sounds even crazier than her.

When Rin turns from victim to killer in the manga, she knows she has to pay attention to it, especially when her imaginary friend has proven she’s quite capable of injuring people that threaten Rin. The only problem is, she doesn’t know who she’s supposed to kill. 

In an attempt to find out the truth behind the manga, Rin uncovers an event from her past that she can’t remember, and no one wants to talk about. Soon Rin discovers that demons from the past can be deadly.

Well, I hope everyone had a fantastic Christmas and has an equally wonderful new year. I will be back just after new year as I need to try and catch up on all of the things I have been neglecting over the last few weeks with writing and Christmas. Hopefully then I'll have more news about Shinigami Eyes for you.

How are you spending your new years? How did you spend your Christmas?

Merry Xmas to Everyone

Just stopping by to say Merry Christmas and hope everyone has a fantastic holiday.

Xmas Christmas Wishlist

With just under a week till Christmas, and finishing all the Christmas shopping, I have been super busy. Christmas always seems to be a busy time of year, shopping for friends and family, figuring out what to buy for Christmas dinner (especially if you're working most of the day), and cleaning up the house in that last minute rush before the day gets here.

And then there's the last minute reading to get some way overdue books out of the way before my to-be read list grows exponentially with all of next year's releases.

The one thing I've had trouble with this year was thinking of what I would like for Christmas. Yes, my family is scared to buy for me because they have trouble keeping up with me when there's a book I want or movie I need, so they asked me for a list this year. After I did a list, I realised that I could only give it to my sister because I put all the books I wanted on it, so my brother still pestered me about a present.

Here's the list I ended up with:

 

My brother still said he didn't know what to get me (and I didn't know which one my sister was going to get me), so when we were shopping for the remaining Christmas items, I found a book... which actually wasn't on my list because I didn't think it was getting published until next year and he got it for me (which he told me that I have to forget he got it)... now I've got to wait until Christmas to unwrap it... yes, he wrapped it and placed it under the tree.

So, what is on your wishlist for Christmas? And, do your family and friends have the same problem with buying presents (that they have no idea what you've got/read/want?)

Xmas Rush...

It's been very busy around here, trying to find presents and preparing for a Christmas where my families going to be separated on Xmas day and most will be working at various parts of the day... trying to figure out what to buy, getting postage that will let presents arrive at their destinations before Christmas day and getting the right food and treats for a very mixed up day is very overwhelming...

And, I'm running out of time with only a week left...

So, how does everyone prepare for Christmas? Does everyone leave things to the last minute? Or is there some other unfortunate soul (like me) who has to work the majority of Xmas day?