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So you’re a reader going to your first bookish event and you’re a little overwhelmed. If having a plan would ease your anxiety and help you enjoy yourself, then read on, friend.
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The template for the setting of Roots in Ink has always been the Vanderbilt Mansion and Museum in Centerport, NY. I grew up on Long Island and its familiarity allowed me to focus my creative efforts on building Liam and Emma’s story, rather than building a world completely from scratch.
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Being that it’s fantasy and I make the rules, I could have used whatever plants I wanted regardless of where they’re found in real life. But doing so would run counter to one of the central themes of the book: a symbiotic relationship with nature is necessary for humanity to thrive.
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Commissioning character art is kind of like getting a new tattoo: You do it once and you’re addicted. I could go broke bringing my characters to life like this.
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I had to choose between a backyard of wildflowers that included the sand spurs and a monoculture carpet that required water, fertilizers, and regular pampering, I’ll take the sand spurs every time.
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Pick up your copy of Bound by Ink as a treat for yourself or someone else this weekend. The eBook instant downloads and signed paperbacks will be on sale ONLY in the Sweet Magnolia bookshop from Friday, May 8 through Monday, May 11.
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Every year I wait with bated breath to find out what plants made it through the winter. I’ve learned over the past few years that the vast majority of them do, but I still get giddy when I see evidence of their survival. Here’s what I often tell newbie gardeners:
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I for sure know that the Big 5 publishing companies have the cash to make their books more accessible and offer more large-print editions without jacking up the price. Indie authors like myself can figure out a place in the middle that increases accessibility without severely increasing the price of the book.
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It’s a little unbelievable that in four days my next Scions of Belhaven book will be out in the world. Read on to learn four facts about this sapphic fantasy romance novella.
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So you’re an indie author who wants to sell their books directly to readers and bookstores. Here’s my convoluted explainer on how I do it with absolutely no promises that it’s the best or easiest way. Because it’s definitely not.
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Did you know I released my FOURTH book last weekend? No hard feelings if you didn’t. I barely did any promotion. I should just embrace being one of those mysterious authors who drops a book into the world with no notice and then scurries back into her writing hole.
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I thought Bound by Ink would be an easy project. Take Sara’s journal entries in Roots in Ink and write them like they were being experienced in real time. I’d just have to fill in the gaps and flesh out Sara and Bethany’s romance.
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Chasing Ember is a rock star small town romance set in North Carolina’s Blue Ridge Mountains. Readers can expect Ariella Monti Romance Staples, but lets take a deeper dive into this book.
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When I discovered a rabbit’s nest in the middle of my backyard, I did what any rational animal lover would do: I marked it off and told our landscaper to mow around it. Now the nest is likely empty for the season, but after weeks of not mowing this spot, we’ve ended up with this…
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Using my mediocre pottery skills and some moss from the backyard to add a little whimsy to my collection of houseplants.
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So you want to buy my romance novels. Let’s talk about where you can do that. Because my friends are the most amazing people to have ever walked the earth, they’ve been asking me where they can preorder my forthcoming contemporary fantasy romance novel, Roots in Ink (available Saturday, March 1).
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I started going through my stages of TikTok grief a while ago. The app might be back from the dead for the moment, but Pet Cemetery was one of my favorite movies as a kid. So I’m not sure I’ll get back on there with any consistency.
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I’m a learn-by-doing person, which is a polite way of saying that I like learning things the hard way. Other complementary personality traits include faking-it-till-I-make-it and too-impatient-to-research-things-first.
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I’ve been putting little bits of energy into places where I feel like I can make a difference while acknowledging that I don’t have much to give right now. This is the first anthology I’ll be a part of and probably the one that will always mean the most to me.
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I write bisexual main characters because I was a teen in the 1990s. I write bisexual main characters for the readers who relate to those 13 words. I write bisexual main characters so more people can see themselves in the books they read, but that’s an oversimplification.
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The inspiration for Roots in Ink came from a few different places, but the idea for the central conflict was born out of a writing exercise from October 2021 called Obsession will Set Me Free.
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Advance Reader Copies (ARCs) are a regular topic amongst bookish folks. The conversations range from ARC distribution best practices to bad behavior by authors and/or readers. How ARCs are handled is very much dependent on individual authors and publishers so consider this information the bare bones foundation.
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Every April and August romance author Mariah Ankenman hosts a daily prompt event to get to know the authors behind the books you love. My goal is to post one for each day and you can see how well I do by following me on Instagram, Facebook, Threads, or TikTok.
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My second year attending Literary Love Savannah was better than the first and the first was pretty freaking stellar. It filled my soul in more ways than I can count. I would love to give you a detailed breakdown of my time in Savannah, but I’m giving you the highlights instead.
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Is this another list of queer books to read during Pride? No. This is a list of queer books you can read any time you want. But seeing as though I thoroughly loved all of these books, consider this some gentle encouragement to bump them up your list.
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And then there were {checks QueryTracker} seven. Seven queried agents left to hear back from. Seven potential full requests. Eight potential rejections. While I attempt to make authoring happen, my seven–year-old is learning how to be a person.
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Happy Earth Day! I could quite literally write a whole book on large-scale stormwater infrastructure (someone please pay me to do this), but let’s keep it simple and look at three easy ways to improve water quality at the individual level using some excerpts from LET IT RAIN.
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I’d like to tell you that I learned most of this stuff when I was getting a masters in publishing, but unfortunately that information remains outdated and useless. Here’s a random sampling of things I picked up in the few years I’ve been doing this author thing.
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Bit-by-bit I’ve been building Yes Spaces for my backyard critters. Are you familiar with the concept of a “Yes Space”? A Yes Space is a dedicated area that allows small children to do a particular thing. Instead of outright prohibiting the thing, you give them a place to do the thing. Example: My kid is…
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I’m naturally drawn to stories about soul mates. I love the idea that there are people on this earth that are so well matched it’s like their souls are connected. It’s one that has stuck with me through my Catholic childhood and my secular adulthood. Something I don’t love about the traditional concept of soul…
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Reading challenges aren’t for everyone, but my particular brand of ADHD likes having a realistic goal and a deadline. 2023 Reading Goal 12 Final Count Published Books: 19 Unpublished Manuscripts: 3 Did Not Finish: 5 Did you read any of these? Let’s chat about them in the comments. ARCs and Beta Reads Two of the…
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Is your romance novel a romance novel if it doesn’t have even one glass of champagne? Of course it is, but stereotypes exist for a reason. Snippet challenges are fun because you quickly discover what words you gravitate towards and which ones you don’t. Writing happens in pieces and in order to keep moving forward,…
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I was surprised to find two possible snippets for #FridayKiss and neither are in reference to frozen water vapor. This one is more in line with the romantic vibe of the prompt challenge whereas the other is, well, the exact opposite. About #FridayKiss Each week author Gwynne Jackson posts a word prompt and encourages authors…
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This content is intended for readers 18 years and older The minute I saw the word prompt for #FridayKiss I knew my social media feeds were going to be steamy. My options for #FridayKiss were either completely innocuous or very explicit. I had one compromise that I shared on my social media channels. But as…
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It took nearly six months, but beta reader revisions for my first book, Roots in Ink, are finally complete. Each of my beta readers got a copy in their inbox on Dec. 1, a full two weeks before my Dec. 15 deadline. I anticipate getting this next round of feedback by the beginning of January.…
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In my mind, the setting of my book looked very much like Shelter Island, a small island tucked between Long Island’s north and south forks. I hadn’t stepped foot on the island since a 4th grade field trip in the mid-90s but the vague memories of it started drawing the picture of what would become…
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Add these six queer books to your To Read pile to celebrate Pride all year round.
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Remember when I was talking about the Marvel Cinematic Universe on the CK and GK Podcast?
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Each sentence is intentional because each sentence requires my brain to work really hard to create it.
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Roots in Ink is one of more than 20 queer books that are FREE today as part of the Queer Enough Book Blast. Don’t put this off!
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All the bookish corners of the internet are buzzing about Amazon’s book sale day starting three days before Independent Bookstore Day, April 23 and April 26, respectively.Here are some options to help you navigate all that.
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Happy Book Birthday to Let it Rain, the little novella that made me a professional author. I won’t be making any birthday cakes because I already tried that once and it was an epic fail. But maybe I’ll swing by the grocery store and get a cookie cake or something.
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To kick off Earth Month, I’m inviting you to check out this nature-focused book promotion to find your new favorite earthy read.
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I told my newsletter subscribers only four days ago that I expected to have something to share in the next month or so. Then a day later this concept sketch landed in my Instagram DMs.