Wednesday, January 25, 2023

Wednesday Weekly Blogging Challenge: Something I'm Proud of Doing

 

This week's topic: Something I'm Proud of Doing

As I think about this week's topic, I realize there are many things I'm proud of doing in my life.

I'm proud of being a mom of four amazing kids. Not only that, but I'm a single mom. My journey in life hasn't been easy, but I'm happy where I am now. Of course, things aren't perfect. Life is never perfect, and there are certainly struggles. But I'm proud of who I am, the journey I took to get here, my successes, and yes, even my failures. It's all what makes me, well... me. I'm proud of who my children are becoming, the decisions they're making, and knowing I help guide them.

Also, I'm proud of my career as a romance author. This, too, has been a struggle. I've been writing all my life, always with the dream of becoming a successful author. As I look back, I see the mistakes I've made in this journey, the many times I nearly gave up. But here I am! Still writing! Still learning! Still growing! Still working toward my dream. At this point in my life, I know many people who've given up on their dream careers. I haven't. And I'm proud of my determination and persistence.

I'm also proud that I've achieved many of my writing career goals. I wrote a book! I wrote many books. I'm published! Many times now over the last decade. One of my biggest goals was to become a USA Today Bestselling author. And I did it! Even if I'll only ever see my name on that list just one time, it was worth it. I'm still a little fish in a ginormous pond, but people are reading my books. Better yet, they seem to enjoy them! How cool is that!? I'm proud of each book I write and publish, as each work is a huge accomplishment for me.

One more thing I'm proud of, and it might seem a little silly, but I love it. I'm proud that I taught myself how to knit and crochet. It's something I've always wanted to learn, something that my mother had only started to teach me before she died. It is incredibly satisfying to create useful everyday objects out of bits of string. Really, it almost feels like magic!

What are you proud of?



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I write sensual paranormal and historical romances. Interested in learning more about my stories? Sign-up for my newsletter where you'll learn about my new book releases, updates on my works-in-progress, writing tips, book reviews, contests, and other fun book-related info!


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Happy Reading!
~Tricia

Wednesday, January 18, 2023

Wednesday Weekly Blogging Challenge: New Things I've Tried Recently

 

This week's topic: New Things I've Tried Recently

I like trying new things whether it's food, books, movies, or traveling to new places. You never know when you will discover your next favorite (fill-in-the-blank). It's part of what makes life an adventure!

Food:

I'm a chocolate lover. I'm always happy to find new chocolate to eat! :) Shortly after Christmas, I found a bar of extra-dark mocha chocolate in the discount section. It was so yummy with bits of coffee flavor mixed into the bitter dark chocolate. Better yet, my kids are not fans of dark chocolate like I am (the darker the better for me!), so when they asked to try a piece, they didn't care for the taste. That meant more for me! Unfortunately, I think it was just a Christmas-gifty kind of thing, so I'm not sure if they stock this chocolate on a regular basis at the store. I'll have to remember to check next time I'm there.

Books:

I love finding new authors to binge on! In 2022, I found three! I stumbled upon K.M. Neuhold while reading an anthology. I love anthologies! It's a great way to discover new-to-you authors. She writes M/M romances that are both steamy and sweet. Another M/M romance author I found is Robin Lynn. She has quite a collection of fan fiction which I adore, but recently she released a title of her own called Fire & Ice. I grabbed it right away, and I hope she continues to write more. And for nonfiction, I found a book called 7 Figure Fiction: How to Use Universal Fantasy to Sell Your Books to Anyone by T. Taylor. The title certainly called to me. 7 Figures? Yes, please! I found this book so interesting that I've read it twice. It's really made me think about how I write my fiction and what readers take out of it. I definitely recommend it for any fiction writer!

TV/Movies:

I've recently discovered two new-to-me shows that I'm simply crazy about!

The first one is new on HBO, but it's not exactly a new story to me. Kinda. Years ago, my husband (at the time) bought a new Playstation 3 for himself. With it came a game called The Last of Us. I enjoyed watching him play certain video games that had storylines that interested me. (I am a huge Uncharted fan although I've never once played the game!) Since this was a new game, he started playing The Last of Us to give it a try. He didn't play it for long. The main character Joel and his daughter were just getting into the town when my ex decided he didn't like the game and stopped playing. But I was interested in these characters, and being a fan of apocalyptic stories, I wanted to see more. Unfortunately, not enough to play the game. My gaming skills stopped with Pac-man, Tetris and Super Mario Brothers. So, for years, this story remained unfinished in my mind. 

I was super excited when I heard that HBO was filming The Last of Us. And with Pedro Pascal as Joel! Oh, I thought he was perfect! (Yes, I'm a Mandalorian and Game of Thrones fan, too!) This news interested my 16 year-old son. He already knew of my interest, so he brought his Playstation 4 into the living room so I could watch him play. Finally! After all these years of waiting, I know what happens to Joel and Ellie. Last Sunday, HBO released the first episode of The Last of Us. I was thrilled that they kept the characters and the storyline so close to the game. It was heartbreaking, breathtaking and nail-biting! And I can't wait to see more!


Since I have to wait for the next episode of The Last of Us to release (one episode every Sunday... Ugh! The wait!!), I decided I needed another show to watch. So, on Monday, I was scrolling through Netflix, looking for something to interest me when I found The Blacklist. I've heard of this show. I've seen a few clips and I knew James Spader played in it. I loved James Spader in his role as Daniel Jackson in the movie, Stargate, although he's not on my auto-watch list. With Netflix's little preview portion, I watched the opening scene of the first episode of The Blacklist where James Spader as Raymond Reddington walks confidently into FBI headquarters, requests to see Assistant Director Harold Cooper, then calmly sets down his briefcase, slips off his jacket to fold over his briefcase along with his hat, then waits in a room full of people. When the lady at the desk gets the notification that she is talking to a criminal on their Most Wanted list, the alarms sound and men with guns surge into the room. Reddington simply places his hands on his head and slowly gets onto his knees. 

I was so intrigued by this beginning. Who is Reddington? What has he done? Why has he turned himself in? So many questions! I had to find out more. My 15 year-old son and I started watching The Blacklist on Monday. We're only up to episode 11 in Season 1, so no spoilers! But I am so hooked on this show! The storylines are intriguing, the characters are compelling. It's filled with action, suspense and mystery. It's definitely addictive! I can't believe I haven't watched this show before now!

That's enough for now! As you can see, I love talking about the new things I find, too! What have you tried new recently?


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I write sensual paranormal and historical romances. Interested in learning more about my stories? Sign-up for my newsletter where you'll learn about my new book releases, updates on my works-in-progress, writing tips, book reviews, contests, and other fun book-related info!


You can Follow me on ...


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Happy Reading!
~Tricia

Wednesday, January 11, 2023

Take It One Day at a Time #NewYearsResolutions #WritingGoals #LongandShortReviews

 

It's been a while since I've participated in the Wednesday Weekly Blogging Challenge! Well, I'm back! I've always enjoyed blog challenges, and this one was always one of my favorites. I missed last week's topic which was to share my goals for 2023 which I did in another post.

This week's topic: What I Think of New Year's Resolutions

I enjoy making New Year's Resolutions, but I don't think it's good for everyone. So many people make tremendous goals for themselves only to find them too overwhelming and then quit halfway through January. 

Quitter's day falls on January 13 this year if anyone was curious. Yes, I looked it up.

I've found making small, more achievable goals is necessary for my success. Yes, I would love to write 20 books this year! But can I actually do it? Being a single working mom of four kids? No, probably not. It might be possible for some people, but not for me.

Ten books? Maybe. If I push myself, I know I can write a book in a month. But I don't want to do that every month. Although rewarding, writing a book is equally exhausting. I'll need to plan some breaks in between so my brain doesn't implode. And if I fall behind, I don't want to get upset with myself either.

So I'm not going to start the year telling myself I'm going to write ten books. Ten seems overwhelming to me. I have anxiety, depression and procrastination issues. Ten in a year is intimidating knowing what I'll have to go through to get that done. I don't want to set myself up to fail.

So, I'll trick myself, or more like ease myself into it. Well, let's try for five, I can definitely achieve five, but I'll push for ten.

That sounds better.

Five is doable. I know I can write five books this year. I've done it before. Then I'll re-evaluate where I am with my goals quarterly and readjust if necessary. If I can squeeze one more than five, it's celebration time! Even more than that? Hooray!!

I'm making five my goal because I know I can do it.

But to start off, I'm focusing on only one book at a time. I'm not going to even think about the rest.

Each month, I'm giving myself three weeks to write and one week to take a break. I'm planning to repeat this process throughout the year. Hopefully, it will stick. On paper, it looks good, especially because I have so much other stuff going on.

But if I fall behind because life gets in the way, no problem! My goal is five books. I'm good with that. I'm not going to get upset if I can't do more. I want to have fun with this. If it starts feeling like a chore, I'm not going to do it.

Will I get ten books written? Will I even get five done? Who knows? My life often comes with unexpected plot twists that I need to work around. But I'm breaking up my goals into smaller, more manageable chunks. One month at a time. One week at a time. One day at a time.

By the end of the year, hopefully, I'll see progress.

Goal-making isn't for everyone. And it's not even necessary at the beginning of the year! You can make goals anytime! Or don't even bother with goals at all! It's up to you! It's your life. Your sandbox. Do what you want! :)

I want to have fun with my writing. Ultimately, that's my main goal. I want to create stories that feel fun to me. Create worlds where I lose myself and fall in love with the characters I meet there. I want to bring joy into my life through writing.

The finished books are actually a by-product of my success with my goal of having fun with my writing. As long as I'm having fun with my writing, it really doesn't matter to me how many books I write.

Be sure to check out the other blogger's suggestions at ...


I write sensual paranormal and historical romances. Interested in learning more about my stories? Sign-up for my newsletter where you'll learn about my new book releases, updates on my works-in-progress, writing tips, book reviews, contests, and other fun book-related info!


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Happy Reading!
~Tricia

Wednesday, January 4, 2023

What's Your Word of the Year? #IWSG #NewYear #Goals #Resolutions



The first Wednesday of every month is officially 

The Purpose: To share and encourage. Writers can express doubts and concerns without fear of appearing foolish or weak. Those who have been through the fire can offer assistance and guidance. It's a safe haven for insecure writers of all kinds!

IWSG Asks: Do you have a word of the year? Ist there one word that sums up what you need to work on or change in the coming year?


As always, I have a lot I want to accomplish this year. I've written about my goals in a previous post. I have several series I want to write. Books that have been sitting on the back burner for quite some time that I want to give my attention to.

I've given this some thought. I even read a few blog posts about choosing a word for the year, because I've never done such a thing before.

I think my word for 2023 is CREATION.

It seems appropriate seeing that I want to create several new series. For two of them, I even have the book covers ready to go. All I need are the stories themselves. Which means I need to write them.

And the word CREATION feels fun! It invokes new ideas, exciting things! That's just such a word that I need for this year.

I've struggled with a lot of personal and family issues in the past, but I'm ready to move on. I want to create, not only new series and new books, but a new and better life for myself and my kids. I'm discovering what makes me happy! And creating is definitely on that list!


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I write sensual paranormal, sci-fi and historical romances. Interested in learning more about my stories? Become a VIP Reader by signing up for my newsletter where you'll learn about my new book releases, updates on my works-in-progress, book reviews, contests, and other fun book-related info!


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Monday, January 2, 2023

Happy New Year 2023! #AuthorUpdate #WriterGoals #Resolutions

 



Happy New Year!

Another year is over, and a new one has begun!

Do you have any goals or resolutions?

I always make lists throughout the year with projects I want to work on and complete. While I've learned over the years not to overwhelm myself, I still give myself lofty goals hoping to inspire me.

This year, I want to keep it simple.

I want to have fun.

Somehow, during these last few years, I've pushed myself so hard that I started to not get excited about my writing time. Writing was becoming work. And that mindset wasn't helping me get my word count goals. I was becoming too concerned about what others wanted from my writing that I lost focus on what I wanted.

I started writing because I had stories to tell. Somewhere along the way, I became too concerned about the process of writing and the marketing that followed.

I realized recently, that writing wasn't feeling fun anymore. It was becoming a chore.

And like my kids, I'm not a fan of chores.

So, this year, I want to bring more fun into my writing. I want to enjoy losing myself in the worlds I create, going on adventures with these characters, and falling in love with the heroes and heroines of my stories.

My goal this year is to feel joy with creation!

If it's not bringing me joy, then skip! I don't need it.

I'm not going to compile a list of books that I'm going to write this year. I'm going to take it one project at a time and see how it goes. From a business viewpoint, that's probably not ideal, but I want to have fun.

Hopefully, my readers will enjoy this journey as much as I do!

So, instead, I'm adding a list of books I completed in 2022! It's not as impressive as some previous years. I didn't get as much writing done as I'd hoped. But, I'm still pleased with my accomplishments!



Some of the boxed sets were limited-time collections and are no longer available.

Here are the links for the books still available at this time...