THURSDAYS AT COCONUTS is here!

I can't believe I haven't blogged about my debut novel, THURSDAYS AT COCONUTS. It seems as though everything has gone from 0 to 200 in five seconds flat this summer. I've been spinning a lot of plates while my daughter got married, doing three rounds of edits, setting up a website and preparing for this launch. I'm afraid a couple of plates crashed to the floor, including this blog.

The great news is THURSDAYS AT COCONUTS  is now available on Amazon as an ebook for just $2.99 (cheaper than a fancy cup of coffee at Starbucks) and I'm thrilled to say it has garnered 20 amazing reviews in less than two weeks. The majority are from complete strangers! It's surreal. I know that's an overused word but it is. Don't pinch me if I'm dreaming.

My publisher is Soul Mate Publishing from New York and I'm eternally grateful they believed in me and my story. In fact, I thanked them as well as a TON of other people on the Acknowledgement Page. You might be one of them but you'll have to get a copy before you can take a peek. Here's the buy link where you can read five chapters to get a feel for my novel: tinyurl.com/l9m26ht

THURSDAYS AT COCONUTS is women's fiction at its core but has many elements of romance and mystery. I love plot twists and surprising the reader. I can almost guarantee you'll be surprised while reading it.

To celebrate the release, I had a big launch party on Facebook. It was a virtual party where I had contests to win swag and gift cards. It was on my birthday, August 14, so that added to the fun. I'll talk more about the virtual party and swag in another post. For now, I'm enjoying the ride. A huge thanks to everyone for their support, downloads, and reviews. I wish we could all meet on a Thursday at Coconuts so I could buy a round of drinks! 

#AmEditing

#AmEditing takes on a whole new meaning after you've gone through your 400-page manuscript a gazillion times. It feels like the editing process will never end. My back is killing me, my eyes are bloodshot, and I keep forgetting to eat. Sound familiar?

 I am now working on the final galley for THURSDAYS AT COCONUTS so this is the LAST go-around before the ARC (Advanced Reader Copy). I'm very nervous about this process. I hate typos but we're human and they're inevitable. I decided to have a print copy made and bound but the print is so light I am straining my eyes. I don't have time to have it redone and didn't bother looking at my printed masterpiece(!!) at the store. Oy.

I've learned many things from my talented Soul Mate Publishing senior editor, Debby, and will share those with you after I'm finished editing. Don't let me forget. It's good stuff. For now, I'm finding errors since my editor asked me to change a couple of small plot points and they were woven throughout. I thought I had found them all on the second major edit but I didn't. Scary. I'm going underground Jack Bauer style until I've tackled my 400 pages. I can do this. That's what I keep telling myself. That said, it's a dream come true. I'm not complaining. It's an incredible whirlwind of a process and I'm thrilled to be in this position, bloodshot eyes and all.


Side note: Please mark Aug. 14, 3-6 p.m., on your calendar. That's the date for my online launch party on Facebook. It's going to be fun!. I'll give away tons of prizes/swag, gift cards and books. More about that later, too. I may have an in-person launch party later in the fall after my print books are available.

I also have a couple of other BIG announcements in the wings. So, stay tuned. A new website will be launched next week as well.

Whew! When is a writer supposed to sleep?! How do you like the editing process?