Christi Snow's Blog, page 8

Real success...

Friday Five for May 18th...

One photo from last weekend's girls' day with Kat... We had a fabulous time last weekend. She turned 11 this week and is getting interested in all those preteen things...so the highlight of the day for her was a trip to Ulta where she had her makeup done. Makeup...Wow, are we ready for this?Tonight she's at a school. dance.Whether we're ready or not, it's happening.
My present for myself...

Ever since spring hit, I've been drooling over various cherry blossom fountain pens. 
Most of them are limited editions with limited edition prices, but this week, I found this pen on Amazon for just over $10...so I bought it for myself.
And I LOVE IT!I enjoy pens that feel substantial in my hand...this one has weight to it and I can't imagine being more happy with it. I truly am thrilled with it. Now, I just need to figure out the perfect ink to put inside of it. Right now, it has Diamine Spearmint Diva in it, which I love, but it's not the right color for this pen. But I also don't want to put pink in it. I'll figure it out eventually.
A teaser... A coed in danger and the bodyguard who's hired to keep her safe.
Guarded Desire is coming.
I adore this book. It's romantic suspense, but with a touch of new adult feel.This is the first book in the NM Protectors series.All the books will feature separate couples so they will be standalones.
More info will be coming...including the gorgeous cover reveal.
But for now, mark it on your calendar...release date is June 21st.
Recommended for you!!!by Amy Lane
If you read m/m books, you NEED to read these books. I read (listened to the audiobook) the first book, Fish Out of Water, a year or more ago. I just listened to it again in prep of listening to book #2, Red Fish Dead Fish, and fell in love with it all over again.
Both these books rate A+ ratings in my book. I LOVE THESE BOOKS.
I listened to them both in audio and the narration by Greg Tremblay could not be more perfect. 
I HIGHLY recommend both these books. They are so, so, so, so good.
Seriously, read them!

This looks fun...

This totally looks like a book I'd read and although I'm not sure about Winona Ryder and Keanu Reeves as leads in a romantic comedy, the trailer really feels like they can pull off these two jaded souls. I'm intrigued and definitely want to see it.
Have a great weekend, everyone!smiles,Christi

Make the days count...

Friday Five...

Celebrating us girls!
About once a year, hubby has a few weeks where he's at work for days on end and Kat and I are on our own. That's what's been our lives for the last week and a few more weeks to come. (He shows up periodically to catch up on sleep and laundry, but otherwise, it's just the two of us...)
This year, this time also coincided with Kat's birthday (which is Tuesday), so we've turned our time into a series of GIRLS' DAYS.
Last weekend, that involved a pj & movie day where we did makeup and nails.  (these are Kat's nails using nailwraps from Color Street- Jessica Lemmon consultant)
This weekend, we're headed out on a roadtrip where we will be shopping and eating all the things. We're having fun, which is needed. She's turning 11 this year and about to head into middle school and mean girls have become a reality in her life. *sigh*
I hate that, but feel like these special "girl days" help to ease the pain of all that just a tiny bit. 
Write Better Faster...
Hey, everyone. I mentioned this class last week in my Friday Five. It was phenomenal and it just opened up again for June registration. I HIGHLY recommend it!!
You can register for it... HERE .
A different unboxing...Ever since I got into Travelers Notebooks, I've developed a huge love for leather goods. A few weeks ago, I was drooling over a leather company's site, Portland Leather Goods, and discovered they had Mystery Boxes at an amazing price. Since I'd never bought anything from them before and looking at their site, wanted it all, I figured I couldn't go wrong. 
I ordered the $99 box called the Big One that was supposed to have 9 items in it and I picked the Surprise Me option.
MINE HAD 11...OMG, and everything is GORGEOUS!!
I definitely recommend this box!!!
New Release info coming soon!!!I got new covers this week for TWO upcoming releases.*eeps*
So, information about all that will be coming SOON.Gah, I have got to nail down when I'm going to release these. One of them is completely ready to go.
So, I just have to decide on a release date...and cover reveals...and marketing (which is the real hangup). I feel like I'm not marketing my books as well as I should, so I'm trying to figure out how to do that better. 
In the meantime, how about a tiny glimpse...or two...



Ooh, have you seen this trailer yet? 
For #MerMay, Kat has been all about the mermaids, so I'm already writing this release onto my August calendar. I'm thinking it sounds like a good excuse for a girls' day to me!!


And bonus for MerMay, Unity Stamp Company's kit of the month this month is all about the mermaid. I'm totally IN LOVE!!

You can sign up to buy it HERE .
Have a great weekend, everyone!I'm gonna be playing with my girly.Maybe I'll have photos of her birthday celebration next week...smiles,Christi

Size Matters...

Friday Five...

April was Camp NaNowWriMo...And I WON!!
I'm a girl who does well with accountability, checklists (and I know this comes as no surprise to you that have been following me for a while here...hehe).
During Camp NaNo months, you can set any word count goal. I always set mine to 50k because if I can do it in November, then I can do it other months, too.
In April, I wrote 55,460 words. For those keeping track, I finished the first draft of When Love Surprises.I worked on edits in Guarded Desire.And I wrote half of Sweet Disaster (that book is slightly behind...eeps).
More details coming soon on all those books, including blurbs, covers, ARC information, and release dates!!!
Cover designs are happening next week, so things are getting closer.
Let's talk paper...
And I know...this is not going to appeal to the majority of you reading this...LOL. (or probably ANY of you...lmao)I realize this is epitome of nerdiness.Talking about the smoothness of paper is about the tippy-tippy-top of office supply geekiness.
BUT...I was so excited when I realized how smooth this paper was for writing on. 
It's no secret that I've gotten sucked down the fountain pen wormhole this year. The smoothness of the paper is just another facet of that. In fact, fountain pen people don't even flinch at spending $20 on a single notebook (I know...it's shocking) when the paper is smooth. But until you write with a good pen on amazingly smooth paper and realize just how good it can feel, you don't know how to appreciate good paper.
And I found some AMAZING paper in a very surprising place...TARGET!AND it doesn't cost a fortune. WHAT??
The Green Room line is so smooth and to write on it is like writing on butter. Right now I'm plotting my books longhand just because it feels SO GOOD to write on this paper. My favorite combination of writing tools are the Green Room ClipFolios with my Lamy Al-Star Medium nib fountain pen.
Write, Better, Faster by Becca Syme...I'm just finishing up an amazing class by Becca Syme that is hosted at Margie Lawson's site, called Write, Better, Faster.
OMG!Y'all...this class was incredible. 

Becca uses character analysis to figure out what in your writing routine is holding you back.Have you ever had another writer swear by a certain writing method that just did NOT work for you? That's because you both have different personalities and process things differently. 
Becca teaches how to customize your writing to your individual personality.It was a great class and I HIGHLY recommend it. She uses a combination of three personality analysis methods to come to her conclusions.
I don't see a listing on Margie's site for the class right now (probably because it has to be super-labor-intensive for Becca), but if you get the chance to take the class, I suggest you definitely do!!
And for  those curious, here's where I fall on the different personality charts...Myers-Briggs...ISTJ (Introverted 79%, Sensing 63%, Thinking 54%, Judging 61%)
DISCdominance...32.5influence...27.5steadiness...77.5compliance...70
Strengthsfinder (top 5)1. Consisting2. Intellection3. Achiever4. Individualization5. Analytical
Really interesting stuff. :)
I'm giving away a few print copies of When Love Comes Back... 

Go check it out.You can find the giveaway HERE .
or by following this link...https://giveaway.amazon.com/p/915c0e2c4bd054d7

This summer...it's happening...


I'll readily admit, I'm seriously behind in all the Marvel world movies, but I really want to go see this one ^^^...

Have a great weekend, everyone!
I hope you get to read a great book this weekend!
smiles,
Christi

Lift others...

Ack... Friday Five...

I swore I would not go another week without a Friday Five update, but OMG...there are not enough hours in the day. 
So...this is going to be super short and sweet!!
Writing...is going well.For the first time since I started writing, I feel like I'm getting a good handle on how to manage this whole writing thing. 2018 has been a phenomenal writing year so far
Be warned...releases (I think) are going to be a little slow for the next month or so, but then this summer, I'm going to release fairly quickly. *I think!*
I'm trying to market better and that requires my books be done earlier, so I can set up the marketing. This is all still a work in progress, so we'll see. 
I may just end up springing some new releases on you with no warning...maybe.(But that isn't likely...LOL)
But the point of this is...I'm writing a LOT!! And that means a whole lot of books coming at you...soonish...
What's done and coming....
Right now, I have a book ready for release that I haven't even really told you all about because it's the start of a new series. This is a romantic suspense series set in a New Mexico fictional college town that you've seen in some of my other books...Gran Colina.
It's m/f although there might be an m/m thrown into the mix, too...maybe book #3. 
The books will feel more new adult. They're written in 1st person POV and have main characters in their early to mid-twenties.
Right now book #1 is done... Guarded Desire
The series is called NM Protectors and features hot and sexy bodyguards/security. Um...can you say yum? There will be lots of little easter eggs that tie into my other series, but unless you're a diehard fan with a serious eye for details, you probably won't catch them. 
I need to start a new page about all  the easter eggs in my books because pretty much every one has at least one or two that tie it to another series or characters that you don't realize are related. ;)
I don't have a cover for this one yet, but as soon as I have a release date SET, then I will be sharing more...including the blurb.
What's going to the editor next week...
Right now I'm doing a final clean up on When Love Surprises .
This is book #6 in the When the Mission Ends series.
And like the title says, it's going to some unexpected places for this series. OMG, I love this book.There is some serious emotion packed into this book and I love that.
But again, I'm not going to say much more until I announce a full blurb, cover and release date. 
But just know...it's coming!!!
What I'm writing right now...
And right now I'm writing the first draft of the first book in a new series.
This is a series built around the sports world and the first book is a second chance at love/life story that takes place in pro baseball that I'm just loving. Writing it is coming so easy and natural...I love it!
Right now, this series is planned to all be released in 2018. Sweet Disaster Book #1 is a baseball book.
Disenchanted Hearts Book #2 is a hockey book.
Recovering Hope Book #3 is a football book. 
The series is the Play It Again series.
And they're all tied together by three men who bonded at a college sports awards event that ended in tragedy. I adore this series set up which I wrote two years ago, so it was like getting to read a new book when I plunged into my notes again after all this time.
There are three main books (all m/f) but there are so many plot bunnies flying into this first book, I imagine there will be a few novellas or further novels added to the series in 2019. 
Again...more details to come.But I promise, this is going to be good.
And this what I've been doing with the family...

The new series, Lost In Space, a remake of the old TV show loaded onto Netflix a couple of weeks. We have one more episode left and are totally addicted and worried about where they're going to end it all (I'm predicting huge cliffhanger, but we'll see)... I am really impressed with it and can't wait to see where they take the show.

***

Like I said...short and sweet, but that's better than no update, right?

I promise to try to do better next week.

Have a great weekend, everyone!
smiles,
Christi

Just be nice...

Shine...