Monthly Goals: August

July's over already? Really? Well, I guess that means it's time for a new set of goals!

Nearly one month ago, my first short story, Call From The Grave, was released. I'm still ludicrously happy about that, even though I don't know how many I've sold yet (when I know, you'll know). If you haven't gotten a copy yet, please do! It's only $3 and available on Amazon, OmniLit, and of course the Mocha Memoirs site. Canadians– you don't need a Kindle to read the book. All you have to do is purchase a copy from any of the above listed sites and find some software to convert it to a PDF or ePub. Then you can read away and hopefully leave a comment on how much you enjoyed it!

None of that will be a problem of course when I release Needfire on August 19. Yup, that's the official date, and I think I have everything I need to go through with it. I'll go over it one more time, but once it's completely prepared, I'll be releasing it on Kindle/Amazon, Kobo, iTunes, basically everywhere I can. I'm super excited that this little story has come to its final stages, and can't wait to see where it goes.

Now that I've finally overcome my writers block with Cursed and Blood Moon, I can focus on completing the first draft of the final story in the Cursed trilogy. I had my much needed epiphany and can tell you that things have been running much smoother now. As excited as I am to complete the series, it won't be quite done yet. Cursed: Demon's Daughter is being reviewed by a lovely and talented lady named Teagan from Figment, so there is still some work to be done on it as a whole series. I know I for sure need to alter the ending of Dark Divinity so it matches my new one for Damnation's Door, and maybe that makes me a little sloppy as a writer. Or just super fast. Regardless, once it's all completed and sorted out for my liking, I'll work on sending it to professional editors. That means that the Cursed series might not be available until next year, but it'll be a small price to pay since I've been working on this series for about four years.

I'm also ahead with the Blood Moon series– number 5 is done– so that will give me more time to focus on Cursed as well as returning to the third Areios Brothers story and making plans for my next full length novel.

As for other upcoming releases, I'm still hoping to hear back from the publishers at Breaking Fate. Last I heard, they were looking for a cover artist and going through the edits. Mine are done and submitted, and it was cool to see my story placed in the middle of the anthology amongst so much other talent. I had a great time writing my short, and can't wait for more updates on how it's progressing.

Last but not least, I feel compelled to do some fangirling just because I'll be totally lost to it next week. I've been waiting for the release of Rob Thurman's latest novel, Downfall, since the beginning of the year. I pre-ordered the book in April and have been staring longingly at the order receipt every time I open my email. I've said it before and I'll happily say it again– Rob Thurman is my biggest inspiration as a writer. I hope that one day I can write half as well as she can. If you haven't checked out any of her work, do so. She truly deserves more readers, since no one in the world writes like she can. Check out her website for the list of her novels, and choose either one of her series, her stand alone novel All Seeing Eye, or her anthology Silver and Salt to understand why I hold her in such high praise. Thurman has written something for everyone, and you won't be disappointed by any of her works.

All right– ranting over. Hope everyone has a great month, and for my fellow Canadians, enjoy your long weekend! I know I will.

Amy