Meet my new "baby"

I'm taking a break from my usual Wednesday post for a little shameless self-promotion.  Or maybe that really isn't a break at all since this blog is always about me.

Anyway ... 

I wanted to introduce you all to my new "baby."

Yes! I wrote that book!

As I've mentioned on here several times, I'm a writer.  I've always been a writer.  At any given moment of the day, I'm either writing or thinking about what I'm going to write next.  That's how my brain works, and I don't want to know what life would be like if it didn't work that way.

After I graduated college, I started my job search.  But it took me awhile to find employment.  Too long for my writer brain.  So I started writing every evening on my parents' computer.  Those ramblings turned into my very first novel, You'll Never Know, which was published in 2004. Gainfully employed but still seeking an outlet for the thoughts swirling in my head, I continued writing and published my second book, A Promise Worth Breaking, in 2005.

Life got a little busy after that.  I lost a close friend.  I moved back to Iowa.  I worked two jobs. I was still writing and thinking about writing, but didn't really finish anything I liked.

Last November, I got in on National Novel Writing Month (NaNoWriMo), which is a month-long push to encourage authors to write 50,000 words.  When Nov. 1 arrived, I had no idea what I was going to write, but I was determined to participate.  I opened a blank word document and just started typing.

I started with a general concept of four people road tripping to a music festival in Austin, Texas.  From there, the story took off and took several turns along the way.  Even I was surprised by what was happening even though it was coming out of my brain. I reached the 50,000 mark with a few days remaining in November (and that's even with taking about a week off to be in my best friend's wedding), but the story felt like it was just beginning.  So I kept going.  And going.  And going.

As I continued with the story, I e-mailed it to a few friends, one chapter at a time.  They fell in love with the characters and were hooked on the story, which only fueled my writing.

I finally finished the story in May.  I stepped away from it for a few weeks and then spent the summer editing, formatting and consulting with friends about the cover art.  Self-publishing is hard work, but very rewarding.  I've learned a lot through this process, and I am enjoying the sense of ownership.

Finally, about eleven months after I opened that blank word document, my third "baby" is in print and ready for purchase.

Available on Amazon

(And, yes, I hate that the cover image isn't on the paperback page yet.)

Description:

A weekend of discovering new music sounds like the perfect break from reality. Cori Stevens is bored with her job and jaded when it comes to the dating world. Luke Walker works hard but lost his creative drive years ago. Mutual friends invite them to one of the nation’s largest music festivals, and the four of them take off, eager to get away from their everyday lives. As the weekend unfolds, it proves to be a turning point in the lives of all four twentysomethings. Even as they return from their musical excursion, the missed chances, broken hearts and regrets are only just beginning.

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To celebrate, I'm doing a giveaway!

You can enter through Rafflecopter below for a chance to win one copy of each of my books.

a Rafflecopter giveaway

Good luck!

And thanks in advance for your support.