Some News and Notes

If you're going to be in Charleston on September 29, 2009 @ 7PM, why don't you stop on by the Moja Festival and...I dunno...meet me? And if not you, someone you know? Thanks. :)

Also, if you can mosey on to The Lub-Dubs and maybe vote for the categories that feature me and then vote for...me...that would be much appreciated. And, thank you to those who even did! Didn't expect that, and that's quite awesome.

This review of TROLLING NIGHTS is really kind of great. She almost makes me want to read my own book, and I RARELY do that after I finish one. I'm like an actor who can't watch a movie/show she's in...one day I'll get over that...maybe...But it wasn't only that review. I got two other separate messages from readers about that book and my work in general, and that was just so great because the vacuum is strong some days, and I reckon God needed to remind me I'm doing what I need to do.

Tomorrow I'll be at the SORMAG Online Conference as a panelist for self-published authors and freelance editing. Feel free to stop by and ask me some questions. I would actually go on today because it focuses on readers. But they have discussions and topics that think are relevant for readers and writers at all stages.

And apparently I released a new book yesterday lol. I'm part of an anthology, so check it out as well! Shara & Friends Naughty Bites, Volume 4.

A Letter from My Mama

I got this letter back in 2005 when I graduated from college. It's dated August 24, 1989, and it's written by my mother commemorating my first day of first grade. And I can be honest and say I hadn't looked at that letter from that graduation day until March, when I moved back to SC and started this "new phase" of my life to be a writer, or at the very least a professional wordsmith. When I opened this letter, the first thing I noticed was my mother had beautiful handwriting. And then...the letter was twenty years old, and I wondered where the hell twenty years went. Then the fact I wanted to know what she was thinking when she wrote it...what she imagined for me and my sister even as she sent me skipping on to first grade. And I wondered if she would be happy and proud of me, proud of my sister, and wishing she were here to say so. I also noted she was probably triply emotional because only two days prior had been her birthday, and who knew three years later she'd be dead.

"Marching off to another era" is what she'd said of my six-year-old self. Twenty years later I'm doing the same; instead of her crying this time, it's I. But I can't run from her arms like I no doubt did going to my first-grade class; or run into them like I did after that first day of school. And then my sister never got the opportunity, and how just...unfair that is. But here we are, her two baby girls marching, one of us wondering if she'll ever get to that destination she's had her eye on since junior year in high school, and the other still looking at the map to figure out where she wants to go. But hopefully Mama's marching with us. Hopefully we'll march as fiercely as she did, the majorette she was, as regally as she did, as beautifully as she did.

The letter is hanging on my wall, the only thing hanging on my wall in my bedroom. And I read the words she said to me 20 years ago. And I love her and I miss her.

I'd wished my sister a happy birthday on Mommy's birthday, because without hers we certainly wouldn't have ours.

Mommy would've been 59...I think she wouldn't have looked a day over 39. And apparently she passed that gene onto my sis and me, because I'm really not at that age where I can appreciate being thought of as still in high school when I've so been there and done that!

Available Now: Rerelease of AJ'S SRENDIPITY

In conjunction with Aliyah Burke's latest release from her Megalodon Series Dimitri's Moon also Available Now!

Available Now!

Greek Alejandro Melonakos hadn't been shopping for the love of his life during a routine market run for his restaurant, yet that was exactly who he found. The petite and curvy American Samara Grossman had captured his heart upon his first sight of her and he hadn't wanted it back—just hers in return. Will AJ be able to convince Samara they were meant to be together during her five-day vacation in Athens, or will his serendipitous find be all for naught?

The release features a new cover and an extra chapter for readers to enjoy!

Also get this and other titles in Kindle Format! For more, visit SJF BOOKS!

Ask the Character: Benjamin Drummond (8/09/09 @ 4PM EST)

Hi, all,

I'm starting up an institution on my Web site--Ask the Character. I'm not sure if it'll be once a month or bi-monthly, but I'm going to start with Benjamin Drummond from Being Plumville. To my knowledge, he's willing to answer any questions posed; he just won't guarantee you'll get a satisfactory answer! Anyway, I'm going to start the chat @ 4PM EST at my Web site on Sunday, August 9. I hope you can make it and armed with questions!

Re-Release of AJ'S SERENDIPITY! (08/17/09)

In conjunction with Aliyah Burke's latest release from her Megalodon Series Dimitri's Moon dropping August 15, 2009.

Greek Alejandro Melonakos hadn't been shopping for the love of his life during a routine market run for his restaurant, yet that was exactly who he found. The petite and curvy American Samara Grossman had captured his heart upon his first sight of her and he hadn't wanted it back—just hers in return. Will AJ be able to convince Samara they were meant to be together during her five-day vacation in Athens, or will his serendipitous find be all for naught?

The release features a new cover and an extra chapter for readers to enjoy!