Alicia Justice's Blog, page 7

Preptober 2022…So far!

So, Preptober is here, well we’re actually right in the middle of it and I’m doing pretty well so far. Though I haven’t really updated much here on the blog, I’ve been working really hard on the prep for book 3 of the First to Fight series. Since the title was already leaked over on my Twitch, I guess I should call it Third to Come Home (Book 3). Anyway, so far I’ve got all my characters figured out, their conflicts figured out and I decided that this book would be a little different.

In both First to Fight and Second to Fall, the story was only told from Collin and Kyle’s POV in Third to Come Home which will be different. It’s going to be told from two points of view. Both Kevin’s and Addy’s POV will be told in alternating chapters.

Today I’m working on more of the actual outline and going to get Act 1 completely outlined. So you know I’ve got my plotting journal out and doing everything in that, but I’ve also started doing some plotting on my Ipad, I always forget I can put documents into my Goodnotes and use it that way. I’m loving this method more than I thought I would. Anyway, as I said this book, plotting-wise, is coming along great.

Sadly, I had wanted Third to Come Home to be released later this year, I don’t see that happening so I’m going to push it back to 2023. I ended up getting sick last month and wasn’t able to get any work done on the book, so that’s the main reason. Life happens and we just have to go with it. That’s what I keep reminding myself.

Anyway, that’s what I have for our first Preptober Diaries for this year. I look forward to getting back in the swing of things and hopefully posting more here on the blog. I hope you all have a great week. For now, I’m going to go work on the plot/outline and get ready for the concert I’m seeing tonight. No, I’m not in Busan, South Korea. I’m going to be watching BTS live tonight on Weverse. Yep, I’m a huge BTS fan and can’t wait to watch them tonight. Anyway, I best get to work. I hope you all have a great day and a fantastic weekend!

Are you participating in Preptober and/or NaNoWriMo this year? Let me know your plans and what you’re working on in the comments!

Hello August!

Where in the world did July go? It feels like I skipped it, but then again I know that I didn’t because the release of Second to Fall was in July.

Second to Fall went live on the 15th of July and so far it’s been an excellent start for this book. I love Second to Fall so much even though it is a bit darker than the first book in the series. I also started writing book 3 in the series and the title was released for it as well in the back of book 2 when it was released. The title for book 3 is Third to Come Home and for those that have read Second to Fall you will know that book 3 is Kevin’s story.

It’s been a whirlwind of a year so far and I can’t wait to see what the rest of the year has in store. Anyway, let’s get into August! My plans for August are a bit crazy and going to be very busy. I have several projects I’m working on.

August Plans August 6th – I’m going to be over on Twitch streaming pretty much the whole day. I’m going to be doing a 10k day, yep that’s right I’m going to write ten thousand words in one day…live on Twitch! Third to Come Home – By the end of August, I want to have the first draft of Third to Come Home complete and ready to go into the second draft and ready for my beta readers to go through. Secret Project – Also by the end of August, I want to start a secret project I’m working on. I’ll let you all know more about that very soon! Streaming Schedule will change – I’m going to be changing up my streaming schedule a bit as well, I’m going to be writing live on stream on Tuesdays and Fridays. Then I’m going to add one more streaming day during the week, which will more than likely be Wednesdays and I’m going to be reading First to Fight live for everyone! Not sure about the start date yet, but I will post that over on my Instagram and here as well as soon as I know for sure.

Like I said I have so much going on this month. I can’t wait to get started. What are your plans for August, let me know in the comments. I love to hear what you all have planned as well.

If you would like to see what I’m up to throughout the month, head over to my Instagram. I post almost daily over there.

It’s Live!!!

In case you didn’t already know, Second to Fall is now live. It was released yesterday and I’m super excited to share it with all of you. I can’t wait for you to read it, I also hope you enjoy it as much as I loved writing it.

Second to Fall Blurb:

Their meeting seemed to be by chance. A lone drink at the bar. A stranded motorist needing help.

Kyle Porter would never leave a woman stranded at night, and Lennox Barlowe is grateful for his kindness. A few days later she returns to his bar to thank him. Playful banter reveals both share a military background.

But their connection goes far deeper than that.

In the two amazing weeks that follow, they fall in love–even though Kyle is trying hard not to. Haunted with PTSD from the events that occurred when he was stationed overseas, he feels unworthy of her affections. Little does he know; Lennox has a secret of her own and it will change everything he thought he knew about his active wartime.

Can Kyle escape the ghosts of his past to be the man Lennox needs? Or will their chance at a future end after two blissful weeks?

Make sure you get your copy today and don’t forget it is available on Kindle Unlimited as well.

CLICK HERE to grab your copy of Second to Fall.

Goodbye May…Hello June!

Can you believe it’s already June?? I know, I probably…okay okay, yes I say this every single month, but where in the world has this year gone? The months are flying by and we’re already in the middle of the year. It’s crazy to me! With all of that being said, it’s time to say goodbye to May and hello to June. What does that mean, you may ask?

Well, I want to start giving you a bit of a heads up on how my previous month went and what my writing goals are for June. Also, any upcoming events or giveaways as well. So this will be the start of a new monthly post here on my author blog.

Goodbye May

So May was a bit of a hectic month for me, I had to finish all my edits for Second to Fall and get the book to both my beta readers and my editor. Guess what? I actually got all of those things completed! Second to fall will be back in my hands, from my editor in a few weeks and be ready to start revisions as well as formatting.

Hello June!

June is here and it’s going to be a good month! June is my birthday month, so I have some plans for my birthday. As for writing, I’ll be formatting Second to Fall so it’s ready, I’m sending out signed paperbacks of First to Fight.

On my birthday, which is the 17th, I’m going to be doing a giveaway on my Twitch Channel and other social media. I’ll be announcing that this upcoming week here on the blog and stream.

I’m also going to be working on the first draft of Book 3 in June! It’s still crazy to me that I’m already starting book 3 in the First to Fight Series! I already started writing it actually as of the minute I’m writing this post.

There is a lot happening this month! I will say that I’m on target to hit all my goals for the quarter, which is very exciting for me.

Another thing happening in June is the HB90 Bootcamp. Now I took this at the end of 2021, I love this course so much and have retaken the course several times now. I will be doing that again this round. I will say this if you struggle with what you need to do next or have so many things to do that you can’t figure out what to do when HB90 Bootcamp is for you. I am an affiliate, so if you click the link and want to join, just know that I get a kickback from it. But, it’s the best course I’ve ever taken!

Like I said there is a lot going on during June! Don’t forget Second to Fall is available right now for pre-order! Head over to Amazon to grab your copy today.

Events

The only event that I know of right this minute during June is my birthday giveaway and that will be on the 17th. I’ll be making more announcements about it here and on all social media in the next week.

I hope you all have a great week and a fantastic month!

Author Signed Copies of First to Fight Now Available!

Happy Friday everyone! How have you been? Let me know in the comments.

It’s been a crazy journey so far in this author world that I’m now a part of. Honestly, it’s been a rollercoaster ride, one that I’ve loved so far. First to Fight (Book 1) is finished and is now available for author signed copies as of today. It seems so crazy to me when I’m thinking back on how this book started and how far it’s now come.

All that said, today’s post is mainly to let you all know that right now I have 23 paperback copies of First to Fight ready to be signed here for you all.

To get your hands on one of the signed copies all you need to do is fill out the form: HERE and I’ll send you an invoice through Paypal. The paperbacks are $15 and $4 shipping, for a total of $19.

Also real quick, make sure you’re following me either through my mailing list or over on Instagram for information when my next set of books come in. The first set I’m only going to be shipping within the US, the next set will be international.

I hope you all have a great weekend.

Signed Author Copies Available Soon!

Happy Friday everyone!

It’s been a little bit since I posted on here, and that will change. I really want to get back into posting here at least once a week, so today is the start of that. I have some big news that I wanted to share with you all today, which made it a bit easier to actually get on here and post.

Author Copies are Here

As the title of this post says my author copies came in and I’m going to be opening up author-signed copies very soon. It will probably be in the next week or so. I’ll be making that announcement over on my Instagram, so if you don’t follow me over there yet, please make sure you do. I’m over there almost daily posting something.

In Other News

Second to Fall is now with my beta and editor! It’s almost finished and ready for everyone to read. It’s also up for pre-order over on Amazon, so head over and pre-order your copy today. I’m so excited about this book and for you all to read it. It’s totally my favorite so far, though I have only 2 books written so far .

I’ve also started plotting book 3, yep you read that correctly, I’m already plotting book 3! I haven’t released the title yet, but that will be happening very soon as well. So like I said above, please head over and follow me on Instagram, because that’s where I’ll be releasing the title first.

A lot has been happening lately, it’s crazy how fast everything happens honestly. It’s been a whirlwind, but I’m loving every single minute of it.

One more thing, if you didn’t already know, I am now streaming over on Twitch! I will be showing my whole process from plotting book 3 all the way to the end on my streams, so if you would like to get a behind-the-scenes look at how that all works, come hang out with me there. You can find me on Twitch as Author Alicia Justice.

Alright, so there you have it, all my updates in one blog post lol. Like I said I’m going to try my best to post more here on the blog. I hope you all have a great weekend!!

Author Update: Second to Fall’s Pre-Order is Live!

Oh my goodness, there has been a crazy amount of things happening lately. So much so that I figured one post would be a great way to showcase it all! I have been working nonstop this past month to get a few larger items off of my ever-growing to-do list. I wanted to update you all about a few things that have happened. As the title of this post states, Second to Fall is available for Pre-Order!!

CLICK HERE to Pre-Order your copy today!

The cover reveal and blurb reveal is also in the works and I plan on that in the month of April! So in a few weeks that will be something huge as well. If you would like to help with that, CLICK HERE and fill out the form. I will have images for everyone to share on the day.

Also, in case you haven’t heard, another huge thing that happened was that the paperback of First to Fight was released! Like I said there have been some amazing things going on lately.

There’s been so much going on lately, but I’ve also been working non-stop on Second to Fall getting it ready to be published as well. My round of edits is almost complete and it will be going to my editor here very soon.

I hope everyone is as excited as I am about Second to Fall almost being finished. I can’t wait for each of you to read this one. Though I will say Second to Fall is a bit darker than First to Fight. Honestly, I think it’s my favorite so far!

Hello March! March 2022 Goals

Hello everyone and Hello March! It’s already March? Yikes, where has the year gone so far?

Anyway, since it is March and the last month of Q1 of the year, I wanted to jump on here and tell you my goals for this month. Also going to share my kanban board and what it looks like right now. So, let’s get to it.

March Goals:

My main goal for March is to finish my rounds of edits of Second to Fall. Crossing my fingers This way I can get it to the editor in April and have time to get it ready by June. Yep, that’s the release goal! OMG.

Another goal for March is to set up a cover reveal with some blogs and bookstagramers. I am in love with the cover for Second to Fall and I can’t wait to show everyone.

The last large goal I have for March is to release the paperback for First to Fight this month, this is actually what I’m working on right now. It’s almost ready to be released, just making sure it’s exactly what I wanted. Seeing as I’m the one doing all the formatting myself, it’s been a learning curve, let’s put it that way.

Alright, so there are my main 3 goals for March! I have a few other small ones as well. Those include getting my Discord Server up and running as well as my Youtube channel. I also want to start posting over on Tiktok, yep you heard me correctly, I started a Tiktok.

What my Kanbon Board looks like right now…

So currently my kanban board for the quarter looks like this. It’s a bit messy but I’ve been working really hard to get things done. So far everything is going great, still have a lot of work to do, but it’s getting there.

My third goal this quarter was more of a for me goal, not a work goal. That’s the reason it’s so small. I think everything is going well. There are a few things I would like to get accomplished a bit faster, but I think we all hope for that in life right?

Alright, so there you have it. My March goals and what I’ve accomplished so far during Q1. I hope you’re all doing great and having a great start to the last month of the quarter.

Let me know your goals for the month in the comments. I would love to cheer you on!

How I Write War Scenes?

Recently this question came up in a chat I was part of over on Twitch and after I thought about it, I thought the question would make a great blog post…so here I am answering this question for you all.

How Do I Write War Scenes? 

I thought about this question for a little bit before writing this post and after hearing the other author’s answers. I think my answer to this question is that I write war in glimpses.

Each of the scenes I’ve written for First to Fight and now for Second to Fall have been through either Collin’s or Kyle’s eyes. Mainly the reader is only seeing, hearing, feeling, and even smelling what my main character is. So I write war scenes from their POV, not everyone else around them, you won’t see the whole huge picture. You’re only seeing/reading what they see or feel. So glimpses are the best way to answer this question for me. You only see the bits and pieces of the whole war, my characters tiny part of it all.

As the author I only want you to see a glimpse of the whole. You’re not even getting everything that’s going on with the main character, because everything is chaotic and crazy. Just a glimpse is all that is needed to get you, the reader, to imagine the whole.

So there you have it, how I write a war scene.

Why Do I Write Military Romance?

This is a question I’ve been asked numerous times now and at first when I was asked I wasn’t too sure how to answer the question. It was just what I wanted to write. The military romance genre was what I was pulled toward. 

That’s what my reply was in the beginning, now it’s changed a bit. So I figured I would answer the question here on the blog. Yes I’m still pulled toward the genre and yes it’s one of my favorites, but it’s more than that. I enjoy writing the darker side of military romance. I enjoy telling the stories of these characters who aren’t perfect. I love showing the brotherhood of Marines. I enjoy writing the ups and downs of that life and showing what the families go through, not just the Marines themselves. 

I just started writing military romance and honestly the First to Fight series isn’t going to be a small series, so I think my answer will evolve with each book I write. For now, though this is my answer…

I write military romance because I enjoy showing every aspect of that life. I enjoy showing readers what it’s like to be the sister left at home to worry about her brothers. I lived that life, though my brothers don’t know that part. I get to write it and share it with all of you. I’ve seen and or heard what my military/marine friends have gone through and I just want to bring that to light. 

Ask me again in a few years and I might tell you differently, but for now, that is my answer!