Ready for this year to END!

What can I say, 2017 has been a year of many ups and downs. While I won't dwell on the negative, it has felt like I've been trekking uphill, in a blizzard, with no clothes on.

My motto for life tends to revolve around the following: When shitty things happen, we don't just lay down and die....we get back up, battered and beaten perhaps, but we get back up. I've had to do that a few times this year...and I'm tired...really tired, but I'm still standing.

And I've been working hard on things to come.

So 2017 is almost over and I'm ready for it to close...but not before I reflect on some awesome things that happened this year.

The year started with my beloved publisher closing...which I thought was the end of my world for a few heartbeats....and then my entire backlist was picked up by Entangled Publishing which has always been a bucket list publisher for me. 

I got to do a book signing in Salem (one of my favorite places on the planet)!!!



And I got to do a book signing with one of my all-time favorite authors, Kelley Armstrong!







And I managed to write three new books this year! (As well as a bunch of proposals and a crapton of editing.)

My motto for 2018 is going to be: Moving on with life.

While I'm still going to be dealing with some lingering health issues and a full time job, I am also planning on getting some new books out.

I have a dark thriller that will soon be released (March-ish).

I have written the sequel to The Dark War (title under review) and there is some news about that coming soon.

I have a new paranormal romance series starting featuring witches as healers.

And a few other secret projects that I will announce in due time.

Busy year ahead with lots of exciting things to come.

Happy holidays, everyone, and I wish you all a Happy New Year!

Book Signing and Bucket lists

As many of you already know (because I've been blabbing about it for months on social media), I'm going to be doing a book signing in November...but not just any ordinary book signing...

I'm going to be doing a book signing with Kelley Armstrong!!

Why is this a bucket list thing for me? Well, let me tell you...

Something like ten years ago (probably longer) a coworker handed me a copy of a book called Bitten and said, "Hey, Angie, I think you should read this. It's written by a Canadian author. I heard her speak at an event and she's just awesome! I think you'll like it. It's about werewolves."

So I read Bitten...and LOVED it! I immediately started looking for other books by this new-to-me author Kelley Armstrong. What I found was a forum where a bunch of Kelley lovin' people were chatting. I joined. And then I discovered that Kelley ran an online writing group (OWG) as part of the forum...so I joined that too.

I met a lot of amazing writers through that online group. Many of them I'm still friends with. Most of them have gone on to great success. I learned a lot in the years I was part of that group (unfortunately it was shut down a few years ago). Kelley would at times run contests and special events for us where she would critique our work. She was always honest which we all needed. She was also always available to help with questions we had. Her generosity and openness has been consistent throughout the years and I've had many, many opportunities to meet her, talk with her, and learn from her.

The very first time I met Kelley in person was at a book signing event she was doing at a little book store in Bolton called Forster's Book Garden. There were a number of authors there that day (one of whom was a fellow OWG member) but I was really there to see Kelley. And me being me...I completely choked up when I got the chance to talk to her. I got a copy of Bitten signed, and I totally went introvert on her and acted like a loser. (It took me a long time to NOT be star struck by her --in fact, I hope I don't make an ass of myself at our book signing but the possibility is extremely high that I will.)

Fast forward a gazillion years and here I am with a second chance at things in my own publishing world. As you all know, my previous publisher closed at the beginning of this year and I was lucky enough to get picked up by Entangled who republished all of my books. I thought it was the perfect opportunity to come full circle where Kelley is concerned so I asked her if she would do a book signing at Forster's with me...and she said YES!

So on November 25 1-4, I'll be doing a book signing with one of the most influential writers in my life. If it wasn't for Kelley I probably wouldn't have decided to get down to business writing a novel for publication. That novel got me my first agent (it has since been trunked because it's awful but it was the first open door for me)...which launched the real possibility of being an actual published author. To tell you how much this means to me really can't be done effectively in words. It really means a freakin' lot. A lot a lot. Times a thousand.

I hope to see some of you at the event. I know that it's far away for many of my readers but maybe one day I'll be able to do some more travelling and get out and about to meet more of you.

Wish me luck!

There's a little witch in all of us...

Come and join me on October 14 at the Wicked Witchcraft Fair where I'll be selling signed copies of all of my books, chatting with readers, and having a good ol' witchy time!

Where:Artscape Youngplace on Shaw St (Dundas and Shaw - Toronto)
When: 2:00pm to 9:00pm

It should be a great time so come on out and have some witchy fun!

More details can be found HERE

To Salem and Back

I'm home again from a short trip down to Salem, MA. Part mini-vacation, part book promo, it's safe to say that my trip down to Witch City was everything I'd hoped it would be.

I love Salem, not only because every day is Halloween but because everyone is super friendly and very welcoming.

The first day, my family and I spent doing the tourist thing. We shopped...

and I tried fried green tomatoes (which were delicious)! We toured a few places, the cemetery, memorials and some of the museums.

And then on Wednesday I set up a book table at Wicked Book Books where I got a chance to chat with a bunch of cool people throughout the course of an afternoon.

Overall it was a really fun experience. I met a lot of people from all over the place and everyone was super friendly. Some folks took pictures with me, some wanted to chat about writing and life as an author. I met a lovely writer named Bonnie who invited me to join her at the New England Author's Expo and I met another writer named Michael who has a western comedy rolling around in his head.

I had folks ask me some interesting questions as well, like Are you a witch? And, Do you believe in Astrology? For the most part, despite the fact that I was a tourist too, I felt like I really fit in and belonged there. I'm really glad it all came together and I was able to bring my books (and my kids) down there for a bit of fun.

I am regretting not partaking in some of the other entertainment while there. I was right next to a psychic on book promo day but didn't get a chance to sneak over. There are many places to have your fortune read, whether by psychic, tarot, or runes, it seemed to be a pretty common service.

Even the police have witch's on broomsticks as their badge! Everyday is Halloween down in Salem for sure. (One day I hope to get down there in October!)

All in all a great trip and a much needed mental break. I feel very inspired to get back to work and craft some new tales about magic and supernatural creatures.



IN OTHER NEWS...

Rerelease day is quickly approaching. I'm having a special contest running for just my newsletter folks and there's still time to enter. If you haven't signed up for my newsletter, you really should. I'll be sending the next one out July 31 with contest details/reminders so CLICK HERE if you're interested.

And just a reminder, all of my ebooks are on sale for the low, low price of .99 cents! Super great deal!

That's it for now!

Book Sale, Contest, and Salem!

Entangled is having a mega sale on all of my books (sale price is across retailers). If you have been meaning to check out my worlds, now is the time! CLICK HERE and select the book you're interested in, and the retailer you prefer!

Also, there's a fantastic contest going on where you can win a Kindle ereader, a $10 Amazon GC (from me) and many amazing ebooks! CLICK HERE for the entry form.

AND FINALLY,

I'm going to be in SALEM, MA at Wicked Good Books selling my paperbacks (for a great price), chatting with readers and being all witchy inspired on July 26 from noon to five! If you are in the area and want to pop by, I'll sign your books and give you some swag!


That's it for now!

Sweet Baby Girl is Live!

Sweet Baby Girl, a dark erotic story about a woman who takes the ultimate revenge, is live today! (Be warned, this is not romance!)

I really enjoyed dabbling in erotic horror for this collection of stories and am looking forward to sharing my next story, Good 'ol Boys with you in the fall!

Enjoy!

Re-Release Update!

This has been an exciting week for me!

Unexpectedly, my agent (the amazing Jessica Alvarez -Bookends),  put in a Publisher's Weekly announcement for the sales of my Samhain backlist.

See? How awesome is that? It's a huge milestone for me that really made my day, week, life!

AND then I got more great news!

I have a release date for The Order of the Wolf series and The Dark War! All of my backlist will release on July 31st!

New covers, new blurbs, so exciting!

I'll update with more news, release related contests, events, etc, as I figure things out but for now I'm busy working away at all the things...and there are so many things...

Recovery is Hard Work!

As many of you know (especially my FB friends who have listened to me whine for the past few weeks) I had surgery in April. It wasn't life or death surgery, but it was quality of life surgery and it needed to happen. It also came with four weeks for recovery.

Yay for four weeks off work....or not so much because I'm very type A and very much a control freak when it comes to my day job. I feel no shame in admitting that.

So, recovery...yeah...it's been hard. I underestimated how hard it would be. I mean, I knew I'd be in pain but I really, really didn't think about all the things that could/would happen. The surgery went well, I stayed for a night in the hospital, which did not go well...I had this roommate who was the spawn of Satan. When someone else was in the room, like a nurse's aid (not the nurses, they pretty much saw what I saw) or her relatives visiting, she was this sweet little old lady...but when they were gone she was horrible. She tried to engage me repeatedly in conversation by moaning about what a crappy hospital it was and how horrible the nurses were...lady, I just had surgery...ouch, be quiet...and when I didn't respond, she would bring her walker over and ram it into my bed to get my attention...which usually meant she'd wake me up. That night...oh man....that night she set up camp in the chair next to my bed and SNORED like a fucking I-DON'T-KNOW-WHAT-BUT-IT-WAS-LOUD!!! In the chair, next to my bed, for two hours!!! (I tried calling a nurse for help but I guess they were busy...no judgement...)

When I finally escaped and came home I actually stopped taking the pain meds that were prescribed...why???? Well, because I wasn't feeling any pain...hahahahaha...no pain....I was even shocked about how little pain I was feeling and did some day job work...lots of it (I'm sure I'll hear stories about how coherent I actually was at that time). I did some writing too...and finished off a proposal for a publisher. Lots of important things happened in that time. I feel I should not be held accountable probably. ;-)

And then the pain came...oh boy, it came. And it was bad....it was really fucking bad...and I got super scared that I was getting an infection...so I went to the ER and basically balled my way to the front of the line. I'm not proud of this...crying in public...but the pain was at like a 20 on a scale of 10 and I thought my surgery was failing...the stitches were opening and it would be like the last two weeks of healing didn't happen. Seriously. lol So dramatic, I know. Anyway, I still waited a long time before I got some pain meds but I was seen by my surgeon and he felt I needed to stay and get pumped up with antibiotics...so there I was...back in the hospital...and when I arrived in my shared room, what did I see???? A WALKER! Omg....I thought I'd been cursed with another bed rammer.

Turns out that guy was quiet and left the next morning and the next lady was quiet too, so all was good in roommate land. I got lots of good drugs and we whacked that infection away after a few days. Unplanned sleepover for a couple of nights in the hospital with portion controlled meals and nothing to do but zonk out on pain meds...it wasn't that bad actually.

So I got out, went home and pain, pain, pain...mega pain all week...got the green light to go back to work in a week and suddenly the pain is gone...vanished...weird, I know. And now I'm just exhausted...like three naps a day and at least eight hours a night exhausted.

At some point I have to drive. I have a week to get myself sorted...with a long weekend coming, so that's good.

Recovery has really kinda sucked. I've had a lot of folks checking in with me though and that's been lovely. My husband has been taking care of me, getting me peanut buster parfaits on demand...he's a good man, and reassuring me when I think I'm dying....recovery means a lot of crying apparently. lol

I have gotten some work done...that I'm sure is just fine...and makes sense...probably. I'm off the pain meds almost completely and have much hope that my quality of life will continue to improve.

It's been an adventure...an unwanted, unpleasant kind of adventure but maybe it'll show up in my next project in some way...keep your eyes open for a walker.

Mwuahahahahaha!

Like a Phoenix....

I rise again...mwuahahahaha

I'm baaaaaack! Wasn't gone long, but it was long enough for my liking.  I have an announcement!

Entangled Publishing has contracted my entire backlist of books! The Order of the Wolf and The Dark War series will be rereleased! That means new covers and it also means I'm going to get to work on writing more in those worlds.

I'm not sure about dates yet but the goal is sooner than later.

I can't tell you how happy I am that my books have found a new home and how excited I am to be working with the fantastic team at Entangled.

I'll update as I know more but for now....I have some work to do.

OH!

And don't forget to preorder your copy of the limited edition hardcover, Erotikos, featuring my dark erotic story, Sweet Baby Girl.

This is the end...for now

Once again I find myself writing a post about Samhain, my beloved publisher, closing. This time though, there's not going to be a sudden come back. This is the end. For real. Samhain is shutting down as of Feb 28 and that means that all of my books published by them will no longer be available.

This isn't the end for me, though. I am in the process of figuring out what to do with my Samhain books. Once I get it all sorted, they'll be up for sale again with a promise of more to come.

Thanks for all the support over the years. I'll keep you posted as I know more.

Beast Rising Release Day!

It's release day for Beast Rising which is bittersweet. I'm so thrilled to finally have the final Order of the Wolf book out in the world BUT I'm also sad that the FINAL Order book is out too.

I've got quite a lot happening at different blogs and as usual, contests happening for my newsletter folks. (If you haven't signed up, you're truly missing out CLICK HERE)



To get your copy of Beast Rising, click below. Hope you enjoy it and thanks again for all of your support!

Amazon

Kobo

Samhain

iTunes

Nook