Checking In

I hope everyone had a great Christmas and a Happy New Years' Day!

I have been very busy since my last blog, getting ready for the holdiays and working on revisions to Waking Up. I am happy to report that I finished the last touches this morning and just need to go through a few more steps with my publisher to wrap things up!

January 15, 2013 is the release date for Waking Up! 

Keep an eye on my Facebook page for contests to win a free copy! 

Rain Musings

Many people don't understand why I like the rain. A buddy of mine absolutely hates the rain. She hates the dreary days, the wet, the inaction of waiting for it to go away so she can go outside and get things done.

But the scent of the rain, the feel of it tapping on my skin, the cool wetness of it and the sound - especially the sound. I love to play in the rain. I love to listen to it pound on the roof. I love to watch it skate across the windows and form puddles. I love to walk out into it and turn my face up to it so that it dances across my cheeks. I love to smell it on the wind before it comes and after it goes...

And I find myself writing while I listen to the comforting sound. Rain is my muse, I've often said.

Honestly, I don't even understand why I love rain. But for some reason I find peace in it, even in the darkest, scariest thunderstorm. The rain itself is cleansing, washing away the dirt and grime of life. It is a herald of the brighter days to come.

The sun always shines the brightest after a hard rain, after all.

Creole Escape on Sale!!

Now only $.99 for this week only, you can get Creole Escape EBOOK on NOOK or Kindle! Sale ends September 22!

The Romantic Heart

       Writing the next Dice vs. DMs blog is going to hurt my romantic heart. I don't want to spoil it, but it makes me very sad to write out what happened in yesterday's game session. I don't know what I'd do in their shoes, but I have a feeling it would be something similar. 

      Does it take a tender heart to write romances? A couple weeks ago I killed off a character in a storyline and bawled my eyes out while I did it. It hurt as bad as if I had gone through a breakup and maybe it was. I get so attached to characters that it's difficult to see them leave, even more difficult to force them to leave. It's hard to know when to put down the pen and leave them alone, or pick up the pen and write something nasty into their lives. 

     But that's part of being a writer. I find that when I can't control something, I turn to my stories because I can control them. I can control how the people feel as I manipulate their lives. 

     But in the end, I want them all to be happy (except the bad guys. The bad guys should be in jail or dead). 

     Anyway, I know that if I don't finish writing the other blog today, I won't before the next game. So I'd better run do that, even though my heart breaks for the characters...one in particular...

Autographed Copies Available Soon!

I have received a lot of requests for autographed copies of Creole Escape. They will be available in early August! Shipping will depend upon where you live, so please contact me for specifics at my email or at my Facebook page.

Now Available in Paperback!

Creole Escape is now available in paperback!!

On CreateSpace:
https://www.createspace.com/3829532 

On Amazon:
http://www.amazon.com/Creole-Escape

Happy Fourth of July!

It's getting rather late tonight and all I want to do is write. BUT I have to be up early to be at work tomorrow morning so I thought I'd wrap up a few things before I forced myself away from the computer...

I finished the last proof of Creole Escape today and submitted one last time for approval. I am not proofing it again. As soon as it's approved by Createspace, I will order my proof, approve the online proof, and then put it up for sale! I will let you know exactly when the paperback version is available for sale!!

I have recently rewritten a couple scenes for Waking Up. They were scenes that needed to be revamped because they just didn't suit the story or just didn't seem...right! I am still shooting for a December release for Waking Up. More on that project as it develops...

I have a new blog up chronicling my RPG (Role Playing Games for you who don't speak gamer geek) group's current adventures. I get a lot of my inspiration from the group, and would like to write the stories that come out of our DM's mind. I take notes by computer every session and compiled a huge file from the last adventure that I began to convert into a coherent storyline (my notes definitely do NOT tell the whole story!) but I ended up not finishing the conversion since I was busy with other projects.

So I decided that taking the adventure piece by piece is better than trying to tackle it all at once after the adventure's complete. So far it's working great! Go on over to Dice vs DMs and see what that's all about!

As always, don't forget to like my Facebook page if you haven't already! Author Amber Manuel

Hope you had a great Fourth of July!