Word of the Year
Do you come up with a word of the year for yourself? If I remember correctly, my word for the year in 2022 was persevere. Maybe that was my word for 2021. Do those two years blend together for anyone else? Either way, I feel like …
News and Updates
Goals for 2023
Happy New Year! I spent 2022 republishing my entire catalog. Three were books that had been republished at the end of October/early November 2021, when they were with a small press, only for me to buy my rights back in May 2022 and republish them …
Muffins and Mediums is Live
I’m so excited to say that Muffins and Mediums is live! This is the first new book that I’ve published in over two years, and it feels so good to see it out in the world.
This is the author’s note that I put in the book. I know some people skip right over these, but this one really sums up my thoughts over having a new release once again and my thoughts of the book overall. It also gives you some insight as to what the book is about, which might be important for some of you. So here it is for you here.
Maybe you’re reading this book right after reading Potluck and Powers. Maybe there’s been some time—or even a lot of time—between reading the two. The editing of this book took a backseat when the series was signed over to a small publisher and then over the following year as I prepped the previous books in the series for republication. If you’ve been following me since the start of that, you’ll know that the books are back in my full control once again. But in away, despite the wait for this one, it all worked out.
You see, this book is by far the longest in the series, and having to go over the four books leading up to this one in-depth the way I did and back to back meant that after the year-long break of finishing the first draft of this book and revising it, I went into it with a full and refreshed eye on the entire series versus trying to remember everything from the earlier books, some of which I hadn’t looked at since my final proofreading passes of them a few years prior. It turned out to be a tremendous benefit, and I know this book is better for it.
This book is not the same book that would have come out originally. Although many things remain the same, the original book was darker and lacking some of the lightness that the other books have even in dealing with tough subjects. That’s not to say that this one doesn’t. It does. Without spelling it out but hopefully giving those who might need it a bit of a heads-up on content, you’ll meet someone in here who just is not nice and another who is in a position because of that not-nice person that may seem familiar to some of you either because you’ve been in them or because you know someone who has been. Please, if you ever find yourself in a position like that, reach out to someone you trust or be the person that someone else can reach out to. This book does end happily, as all mine do, and if you find yourself in a similar position, I hope you get your happy ending too.
Enjoy your time back in Heartwood Hollow and discovering the new issues that Joanie faces in this book. You’ll see some familiar faces as well as some new ones and will continue to discover secrets about them all as well as the place they call home. It really is one of my favorite small towns.
December Goals
In December, there’s a whole lot to do. It’s release month!! It has been ages since I’ve put out a new book, and I am so looking forward to getting Book 5 of the Mixing Up Magic series into your hands.
Large Print Editions
Looking for large print formats of Mixing Up Magic? They’re starting to roll out with a brand-new look.
Audio Dreams
One of my biggest goals is to make my books widely available and widely accessible. It should come as no surprise that audio is high on my list to get done for my books. Right now, I’m signed up with Findaway Voices and am listening to narrator samples to choose who I might want to request auditions from. I’m going through their voices share program where I pay for half of the cost up front and then split royalties with the narrator for the next ten years. Someday, I plan to be able to afford the audio outright (hopefully sooner rather than later–goal is for Book 4 and beyond for that), but for now, sharing royalties is the way to go.
Now if you know something about the various audiobook creation platforms, you might know that ACX has an option where you only split royalties with a narrator, no upfront payment. Been there, tried it, and nearly signed someone a couple years back until they backed out right before I offered her the contract. Somehow, still don’t quite know how, when I returned to my project to look at the auditions I had to begin talks with someone else I had liked, all of them were gone. The project existed, but all 40+ auditions and messages pertaining to the project along with how to contact those narrators just gone. It still kind of guts me to think about, and there are a couple of names I wish I could recall because I’d like to see if they still narrate, and there are a few I do remember and would be interested in again, but they no longer have profiles on ACX for me to reach out to. Anyhow, now a couple years down the road from that, I don’t think I’d go the sole royalty share route again. One, it would lock me into just distributing through ACX (meaning no audiobooks in libraries), and two, I want narrators to at least get something for their work up front.
So Voice Share through Findaway it is. I’ve been accepted into the program, but a narrator still has to accept to work with me. I hope they do. I had to load sales figures and everything, but given all of the transitions my books have gone through over the last year, it’s a little wonky looking in my opinion. So wish me luck! I hope to share more audio news soon!
Mixing Up Magic is Now Available
I’m thrilled to say that all four books of the Mixing Up Magic series are back out and available on Amazon.
Now Available!
The Matchmaking Baker series is available once again, and for the first time ever, they are available WIDE!
Introducing Fiddlefern Fjord
One of the conditions of me buying my rights back to my books was that I strip it of any branding related to the publishing company. This included the fictional region it was set in as it was one of three regions where all books published by them were set.
Initially, I jumped on something similar and reformatted all of the books to have that regional name (note, not town name. Heartwood Hollow along with the other town names I created will always be mine.). It was cute and I started having plot ideas related to it.
Then I opened a newsletter for a prominent cozy mystery author, who was happening to announce her new series. And what do you know? Same name I had just chosen for my newly named region. So scrap that idea. Fortunately one of my top strengths is adaptability. I’ll have to talk about those sometime, since I reference them a lot. Really, though, I’m grateful that I hadn’t already publicized it or published the books.
After much thought and bouncing ideas off one of my book besties, I came up with a new name. Fiddlefern Fjord, inspired by the ferns that can be harvested in parts of New England and cooked as a local delicacy. They grow from my home state of Rhode Island to Maine. This got me thinking.
I pull inspiration for my books from all over, often mashing towns together to create mine. So why limit myself to all of them being in one state (my original plan)?
Taking inspiration from the Last Green Valley (@thelastgreenvalley), which spans a multi-state area in New England, Fiddlefern Fjord also exists across multiple states. This is going to give me the flexibility I’ve been looking for as I create a new and permanent home for all of my books.
Lots of things are happening, and this is just the first reveal. I’m super excited to share everything else soon.
Where Did They Go?
If you’ve looked for them, you will have seen that you can’t find the ebooks online, and the paperbacks might show as unavailable.
So what’s going on?