Short and sweet tonight. As I'm navigating the promotional arena of likes and retweets and posts, I am reminding myself of the advice I have come across time and time again...

The best type of promotion is your next novel. So, that's what I've been diligently working on the past few months. I hope to have it finished by mid-March (fingers crossed) if my "real" job doesn't bury me in paperwork.

I've also read that writing a series of books is also the best way to gain a following. Romance novels are their own animal entirely. Since the majority of romance readers require a happily every after, it's more about writing stories around a theme or a brand. I think I've got one - hopefully a good one. Time will tell.

I've also been itching to write some prequel-type/different POV stuff around The Sun King, in particular the two main heroes. The Sun King has a lot of factors that didn't fit the romance mold (written in 1st person and told entirely from the heroine's POV) so I may experiment with some shorter stories that expand on the other characters. And, ideas about the other ladies in King Louis's court have begun to pop up in my head. Plus, who wouldn't enjoy reading a tale about a musketeer?

And so, I write. :-)

My book was released yesterday! Yay me! What have I been doing in between all of the other "real-life" duties and responsibilities that wait for no one - not even a newly published author? When I wasn’t taking care of my day job to-do list, running errands with the hubby, appointments, etc., I was checking my Amazon sales rank. (They have a cool little chart for authors that lets you see your book rise – and fall – on an hourly basis; yeah, probably not great for someone who thinks she has obsessive tendencies.)

Oh, and, I found out my book got pirated!

Yep, it happened about 6 hours into the day that my book went on sale. How did I find out? Through a dear friend of mine who has been a cheerleader for my book’s release. She mentioned that she had done a search online for my book and saw that it was listed on a whole bunch of sites for sale. She was super excited for me! This didn’t immediately set off alarm bells, as I knew my publisher was putting my book on various sites. But, my interest piqued, I did my own search later in the day. There I am on Amazon – sweet! All Romance eBooks – alright! Barnes and Noble – awesome! Wait, what’s this one?