Off to the Big Apple!

Hey Friends and Followers,

I hope you’re all enjoying your summer. I’ve been busy promoting my Chronicles of Lily Carmichael Trilogy and writing up a storm! If you haven’t had a chance to download your copy of WANING MOON for FREE,  it’s still available. Please share the link with friends and family so they, too, can enjoy this entertaining, action-packed first installment in the trilogy.

After taking some time off from writing to, well…deal with life and recuperate from a  long hard winter, you’ll be happy to hear that Stella has gotten her groove back and that I’ve been hard at work on two new projects! I can’t wait to share them with you.

But let me first mention that I–like a few thousand other romance writers–will be headed to New York City later this week to attend the annual National Romance Writers of America Conference. This will be my sixth such excursion, and I can tell you, if it holds a candle to every other national conference I’ve attended, it’s going to be a blast! The five day convention consists of fabulous workshops, plenty of opportunities to schmooze with industry professionals, and a chance to hang out with romance royalty. I’ve had more than one fan girl moment when sharing an elevator with the likes of Nora Roberts or chat with Bella Andre. This pic was from RWA Nationals 2013. Miss Andre was gracious and gave me some terrific advice.

One of the things I love most about RWA National (other than all the amazing foodie opportunities) is meeting in person all the people I associate with on-line every day in my writer’s loops, and reconnecting with those I don’t see often enough. It feels like old home week. It’s also a blast putting on some party clothes and dancing the night away with a bunch of wild and crazy romance writers. Those folks know how to have fun! If you can’t be there, the event will be LIVE streaming on https://www.rwa.org/ on Saturday night. To watch a short and entertaining video about the event, check out the Queen of romantic comedy, Kristan Higgins. This is hilarious.

Best of all, I get to celebrate with one of my dear friends, RITA nominee, Katy Lee, author of GRAVE DANGER and several other inspirational romantic suspense stories. Go Katy Lee! Another of my CTRWA and YARWA pals, Patty Blount is also up for a RITA for her YA novel SOME BOYS.  The RITA Awards are for romance writers what the Oscars are for actors, so this is a huge honor for these ladies. I’m super excited and will be there whistling and hooting with the rest of my CTRWA peeps. You can follow our tweets from the conference by searching the hashtag #RWA15, or #RITAGH

And yes, I still need to pack!

In addition to there being plenty of parties and opportunities to socialize, this year I’m a presenter as well as an attendee. On Friday, the 24th, at 12:45, I’ll be speaking about ERGONOMICS and STRETCHING for WRITERS, subtitled, Is your writing killing you? I’ve witnessed first hand through my massage practice and through my many years as a PT Assistant, Personal Trainer and Yoga Instructor, the damage done to the body with prolonged exposure to poor ergonomics and a sedentary lifestyle. It’s one of the reasons I decided to write a non-fiction book and share tips  my clients, students, and fellow writers have found so helpful.

“As a writer and a publicist, I spend a lot of time sitting at my computer.  After learning and following the simple stretching and ergonomics lessons taught by Ms. Sharon, I have less tension and can work for longer periods of time without painful interruption.”

Jennifer F.

Author and CEO of Market or Die Author Services

This leads me to my non-fiction project and one of my favorite things…a COVER REVEAL!

OVERCOME your SEDENTARY LIFESTYLE

(A Practical Guide to Improving Health, Fitness, and Well-being for Desk Dwellers and Couch Potatoes)

Due out in January of 2016, this self-help book will guide even the most sedentary of people toward improved health and wellness with easy to incorporate exercises that you can do–even at your desk, and a doable 21 day plan to make or break any habit. There will be tips on ergonomic design of office space, help with choosing your Healthcare Team, ways to snack healthy, and much, much more.

Be sure to sign up for my newsletter for updates and excerpts. For now, you can learn more about the book and read a chapter here. You might also notice that I’ve added a Healthy Teen Tips page to my website.

I hope you’ll find it entertaining and informative.

Are you ready for the big reveal?

A huge THANKS to Kim Killion of The Killion Group.

Once again, I believe she has outdone herself.

 I’ll let you know when the book becomes available for preorder!

Ready for some more fun?

On the fiction writing front, my current WIP (work in progress), FINDING HOPE (a SAVAGE CINDERELLA Novella), due out in November, is the follow up to Holt Medallion winner, SAVAGE CINDERELLA. It’s now two years later and Brinn Hathaway is adjusting to her life in the real world after surviving in the North Georgia High Country when her kidnapper left her for dead as a child.

Since the protagonist will now be 20 and learning to live in the adult world, the story qualifies as New Adult, but rest assured, it will have the moderate heat level of my other novels and will still be suitable for teens. The novella will focus more on the crime solving aspect and Brinn’s reentry into civilization…think Nell meets Castle. In this first of a planned series of novellas, Brinn will be called on to help solve a kidnapping case by FBI Special Agent Cody Hansen, her boyfriend Justin’s best friend. No worries, though, Justin will be on scene to help–and to ratchet up the tension.

Justin Spencer is an up and coming nature photographer and reporter for Real Life Magazine, and he and Brinn are struggling to negotiate the twists and turns of an adult relationship. Brinn’s working so closely with Cody isn’t making it any easier. Amid the back drop of the steamy Southeast and her stumbling into a human trafficking ring, Brinn has more challenges than even she could have imagined. Needless to say, there will be plenty of conflict, action, adventure, mystery, and yep…romance.

I’ve hit the halfway mark of the first draft, which we writers like to call the sagging middle. It’s the part of the story where nothing seems to be happening and we feel like we’re just putting words on the page that are taking us nowhere. Which usually means (according to my pal, and romantic suspense queen, Jessica Andersen), that someone needs to kiss, or something needs to be blown up. I feel a kissing scene coming on! Still plenty of time to blow something up later, LOL. The question will be, who will Brinn be kissing?

#TeamJustin?#TeamCody  

 I’d love your input!

Leave a comment below letting me know how you like the new cover and/or if you have a preference for #TeamJustin, or #TeamCody. If you mention you’re interested, you’ll be entered to win a FREE Download of THE Girls of Thompson Lake Box Set to celebrate Christmas in July, since the thought of snow was the only thing that kept me cool today, LOL. Just wanted to share the love…

Contest ends at midnight August 1st.

Next month, I’ll be participating in the Read a Romance Month.

Thanks for stopping by!

Have a fun summer, and stay safe and healthy on whatever adventure awaits you. I’ll be chillin’ in the Big Apple!

PJ