Meka James's Blog, page 10

Release Day Blitz: Getting Over Him by Catherine Edward

“When it comes to falling in love…never say never.”
GETTING OVER HIM by Catherine Edward is available on Amazon from Limitless Publishing! You can also read the eBook for free with a Kindle Unlimited subscription.


Falling in love for the first time should be the most amazing feeling in the world. For me, it was the exact opposite. 
See, the guy I fell in love with turned out to be a cheat. The best part, the real doozy? He cheated on me with my very own twin sister. 
The entire debacle left me with enough wounds, and knives in my back to last me a lifetime. I was convinced I’d never fall in love again. Ever. 
Until I ran into my past. 
Orlando was my first crush. My friend. But he’s not the Orlando I remember. He’s changed. Now he’s the silent, brooding type. The type I should avoid while nursing a broken heart. 
I know I shouldn’t risk it. I know I should keep my distance. 
But here’s the thing…I can’t. 
Amazon US: https://amzn.to/2RDvkYdAmazon UK: https://amzn.to/2LVxZXSAmazon CA: https://amzn.to/2TBLONLAmazon AU: https://amzn.to/2Cc1XlVAmazon IN: https://amzn.to/2se6lMO


MEET THE AUTHOR: Hailing from India, Catherine is an author and law graduate, specializing in Intellectual Property & Copyright Infringement. She is passionate about Lycans, Werewolves, Witches and Vampires, and writes sizzling tales of love and betrayal.
Her love for books started from a very young age, when her loving father would gift her books like Russian Tales woven with fantasy. But it was in late 2015 when she found the books of Paranormal Romance author Cynthia Eden, whose books introduced her to the whole new world of paranormals. The more she read the more she got enticed and she penned her first novel in 2016. Since then, she has resigned her full-time job as the HR and Operations Manager at a marketing/event management firm to pursue her passion as a writer.
When she isn’t writing, she likes to travel and read. Music and writing go hand in hand for this night owl. Her family and furbabies are her world.
She also loves to chat with her readers and fellow authors. You can find Catherine often chatting on Twitter or on her Facebook page.
To connect with Catherine Edward on Social Media, you can check out all her links here: http://www.limitlesspublishing.com/catherine-edward

Music Monday - Naked

Happy Monday. I hope you all had a wonderful weekend. We celebrated The Husband's birthday on Saturday. Partied late into the night, but had a grand time.


ANYTHING ONCE will be my first release for 2019 and I'm both excited and nervous. I've had a love/hate/despise relationship with this story, so I'm a little more on edge with this one. I'm trying not to focus on all the "what-ifs" and other negative-ish thoughts, and instead look toward the positives.

With that thought in mind, I'm pulling a song from the book's playlist. I've mentioned X Ambassadors before on Music Monday. I like a lot of their music. This week's song is no different. The story is about a married couple who are still very much in love and attracted to each other. Getting "Naked" with each other is not a problem for these two. They just founds ways to spice it up.

Anyway I hope you have a great week. And in case you missed the reveal, here's the cover.


Pre-Order
Add to Goodreads
Until next time
~Meka

"Naked" by X Ambassadors

A Dual Cover Reveal: #EstablishedRomances

Hello and happy Saturday. No this is not a mistake, I am in fact posting on the weekend. Yes, I realize I don't do it often, but I have a special reason.

Today I bring you not one, but TWO covers. You've heard me talk about Amelia before, because, duh, she's amazing. The linked post talks about how we're not only pub sisters, but we share a release date for our #establishedromance books. Due to our similarities, we're going full on "matching outfit" twin style and teaming up on things. Including this cover reveal day.

First up


MEANT TO BE KEPT
One night. One too many drinks. One mistake. That’s all it took to derail my marriage.

Now, all I can do is beg for a second chance. To try and redeem myself in a bid not to lose the love of my life.

I’m determined to use every second, every moment I have to show my wife how much she means to me—to rebuild the trust I shattered.

But the harder I try, the more I start to realize our marriage had fallen into a routine of complacency and misplaced priorities long before my indiscretion.

Isabelle is a strong, passionate, beautiful woman—a wife who has sacrificed so much for me. I just hope it’s not too late for us, and that I’ll be able to convince her that our love is meant to be kept.


Isn't it pretty!?!?!?!

You can pre-order today, available exclusively on Amazon.


Keep up with Amelia 
Website / Twitter / Facebook / Instagram / Pinterest / Newsletter 
***
And now
ANYTHING ONCE
Quinn has been happily married for ten years. Her relationship with Ian is built on love, trust, and honesty. At least that's what she thought...until a four-letter word changed everything.
P.O.R.N.
After finding her husband alone in a rather awkward situation, Quinn starts to question her beliefs about their marriage. 
While they've always had a healthy sex life, it was far from adventurous. She loves her husband, and he loves her, but the revelation allows worries to mount, and insecurities to grow. 
After having a candid conversation with Ian, Quinn realizes that it all boils down to one very important question.
Is she willing to try anything once?
The answer is...yes.
**this book contains discussions of infertility**

I love it, and I hope you do too.
One click now to pre-order
And add to your TBR on Goodreads
If one or both of these books interest you, join us on January 22. We will be hosting a takeover on the Limitless Reading Facebook group and will have giveaways up for grabs. You don't want to miss it!
Hope you enjoy the rest of your weekend
Until next time~Meka

Music Monday - Cover Reveal Special

Good morning and happy Monday. Welcome to the first Music Monday of the year! And we start it off with a 'bang' so to speak.


I'd not heard of it before, but after taking a look at the tropes they liked, I decided to give writing short a try. Anyone that's read my first two books know I'm a wordy gal, so trying to squeeze an entire story into 25k or less was going to be a real challenge.

From the list, the voyeurism stuck out to me for some reason. It would be something I've not tackled and after mulling over it a bit, the story took shape.

Ready for the cover????


Glass doors make great neighbors…
A broken AC forces Jess Watson outside for a little relief. But when she catches a glimpse of the sexy neighbor directly across from her having—ahem—a private moment, her rising body temperature is no longer due to the weather.
Ryan Branson is amused by the tongue-tied, flustered woman he suspects watched him as he pleasured himself. Intrigued, he sets out to see if her hedonistic desires stop at watching…or if she’d be up for more than loaning him a cup of sugar.
As their sexy encounters escalate, Jess and Ryan put a new spin on getting to know your neighbor. The chemistry between them is strong—but will friends with benefits be enough?
As the blurb states Jess first 'meets' her neighbor when she spies him having some "special" alone time. The story is short, but packed with steamy sexy times. The accompanying playlist matches it accordingly. 
This week's pick is a pretty decent hint to how the story opens.
Enjoy and Being Neighborly is available for pre-order so one-click for your copy today. Due out March 4th.
"Fingers" by Pink **NSFW**

Have a great weekUntil next time~Meka

IWSG - Onward and Upward

HAPPY NEW YEAR!!! Still kinda hard to believe 2018 is over and we are in the beginnings of a new year. I hope everyone had a fun and wonderful holiday. Fresh into the new year, we kick off with the first IWSG post for 2019.


Best way to do that is to set my goals for 2019, something I've now done for the last two years. Nothing major, just a few action items. But before I can look ahead, I need to take a look back at what I did for 2018.

You can read up on last year's 'year in review' post and see what I set for the coming year. But if you don't feel like clicking the link, here is the break down.



Publish two booksEstablish my 'publisher' nameGrow my fan baseRead all 25 books I boughtHow did I do? Gotta say not so hot after looking at what I'd planned in preparation for this post. 
Publish two books
Only got one actually published this year. The Lists, which was the companion novella to Not Broken which I released in 2017. It was set free into the world on Nov. 23, the one year anniversary of its mate. 
Though I only published one book, I did complete three. That is HUGE for me because I'm a #turtlewriter so to take not one, but three books from start to finish all in the same year (okay so they were started toward the end of 2017, but still) is nothing to sneeze at. The reason the other two weren't published was because I took a trip through query land this year and those two found homes with publishers. I will have two books published in 2019, so I don't count this as a total fail.
Establish my 'publisher' name
As an indie, some will publish under their own 'imprint'. Different authors have their reasons for why they do this and I can't speak to those. For me, it was more about 1)setting up a 'company' now in case I ever sold enough to need those sort of tax requirements and 2) using a name that was the root so to speak of getting into writing. 
Chalk this up to another partial fail. While I did decide on a name (see point #2) I did not go through the LLC steps as of yet. I'm not making anywhere near enough monthly to need to worry about tax stuff and because of that, my laziness took hold. Setting up the LLC in my country requires trips to the courthouse and paperwork, and a whole slew of things I didn't want to be bothered with. LOL Just being honest. 
It's still on my to-do list, but not near the top.
Grow my fan base
I think this goal will always be a WIP. As it should. I can say I did gain a new fan or two. I judge this based on people that signed up for my newsletter because they wanted to, not because I did one of those magnet/giveaway things. My follower counts on Instagram and Twitter have increased. Numbers don't translate to sales, but something in my random ramblings intrigued them enough to hit the follow button. 
For IG, I'm convinced it's a combo of the pictures of my dogs, and the wine bottles I show off. Brand building and such is still a mystery to me. All my accounts are a hodge podge of things that make up me as a person and an author. 
Read all 25 books I bought
TOTAL. FAIL! LOL In December of 2017 I took part of *Indie-cember* (or something like that) where basically you bought one book from an indie author from Dec. 1-25. I bought the books, showcased them, promoted them, but haven't read them. I know, for shame. I have plans to, but got side tracked. 
The great thing about books though, they never expire. One day I will knock all these off my list. 
Now that we've seen where I was, let's look ahead to where I'd like to go. Marketing has been and continues to be a major struggle for me, therefore most of my efforts in the coming year will be centered on finding something that works for me and my budget. 

I've kicked off a few action items for the first on the list. This includes researching PR companies, finding swag that works for giveways, and other things.
I'm coming out of my writer's blah funk, my characters are whispering to me again. Will I get all four done? Hard to say. Two are planned novellas, and two are full-length books. I need one of the full-lengths to be finished so I can hit goal #3 since the two novellas are proposals for one of my publishers.
The social media thing, when I attended RWA one of the things that stuck with me was a time management class where she talked about not trying to do it all, all the time. This year will be an experiment in focus of a chosen platform to concentrate most of my efforts, and it ties back into goal #1.
That's it for me. Again I wish you a very happy New Year! I'm looking forward to another year of support and community from the IWSG family!  Until next time,~Meka


The Insecure Writer’s Support Group is a home for writers in all stages; from unpublished to bestsellers. Our goal is to offer assistance and guidance. We want to help writers overcome their insecurities, and by offering encouragement we are creating a community of support.
The awesome co-hosts for the January 2 posting of the IWSG are: Patricia Lynne, Lisa Buie-Collard, Kim Lajevardi, and Fundy Blue!

Cover Reveal: Cowgirl Crazy by Jennifer Labelle

Cowgirl Crazyby Jennifer Labelle Publication Date: January 8, 2019 Genres: Adult, Contemporary, Romance


Preorder: Amazon
I’ve been pretty successful so far—in life that is, not love. Finding a man and falling in love wasn’t at the top of my priority list, not while raising my little brother. But he’s all grown up now, living his own life…and I plan on doing the same. See, I have a secret—a secret that hides all the naughty little tidbits of my deepest, most explicit sexual experiences and desires. It’s a world I created, a world where I can be myself around likeminded people, a world where no one knows who I really am. It’s perfect…until a motorcycle riding, tattooed temptation comes crashing into it. Mace is the man straight out of every fantasy I’ve ever had with his dark hair, broad shoulders and six-pack abs. He’s the perfect bad boy, the perfect distraction…the perfect way to get myself in trouble.
Also in the Series
Read for FREE in KindleUnlimited: AmazonAbout Jennifer LabelleJennifer Labelle resides in Canada with her husband and three beautiful children. After her third child she became a stay at home mom. In her busy household Jennifer likes to spend her down time engrossed in the stories that she creates. She is an active reader of romance, mystery and anything paranormal. With an education in Addictions work she’s decided to take a less stressful approach in life and hopes that you enjoy, as she shares some of her imagination with all of you.

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Music Monday - My Year In Music

Happy New Year's Eve!!! Can you believe it? The last Monday of 2018. Hell, it's the last day of 2018. This week I've decided to do something different. A year in review; musical style.


Let's get started.

First up is All On My Mind by Anderson East


This song kicked off my 2018 as a happy moment of completing my first project of the year, Anything Once. I was excited about getting this story done and in 'record time' for me, meaning months not years. LOL It also kicked off my decision to enter query land for the first time. The year started out on a high note.

That didn't last.

Legendary by Welshy Arms


Talks about how I hit a wall after a few rounds of #editinghell with Anything Once. The love had started to fade, and I had begun decent into the funk, aka The Writing Blahs. But at that point, I wasn't quite ready to admit defeat. I still held out hope that I would make it through and all would be okay.

Gonna be honest, even at this stage, the jury is still out. I had/have a real love/hate relationship with that one project, but my squad, my RChat ladies, they helped keep me from completely throwing in the towel.

But, I didn't fully give up. I took the most of the summer off. I didn't write much, just piddled around here and there working on other little projects, but nothing serious. I did manage to finish two other novellas that had been in the works. Being Neighborly and The Lists. Mainly because of my RChatters who wanted to know what happened based on the earlier chapters I'd written.

Not the first time I've caved to their peer pressure. LOL

Their other gentle shoving lead me to High Hopes by Panic At The Disco


My dreams of grander are rather small. I want to make enough from my books to afford one of those weekly maid services. LOL What can I say, I'm not a fan of cleaning. But really, I just want to write, and have people love my words. When I started querying, I fully expected all rejections and to take the projects indie like my other works.

I was okay being wrong.

But 2018 wasn't just a 'big' year for me. My RChat squad collectively had some wonderful strides. Having your people, those you can count on in good times and bad is important, and that's what I have with them. We cheer each other on during the ups, and give out virtual hugs during the downs.

Ain't No Stopping Us Now by McFadden and Whitehead


This song was a celebration of the group's ups in a major way. Even after this post, more great things happened to the ladies of RChat. If I remember correctly, we now have five with agent representation (Felicia [who has agent AND contract], Evie, MJ, Tia, & Lindsay). Three others also have contracts with publishers (Amelia, Deana, & Luna), one of them, my pub sister Amelia has three books at three different publishers!!!

Coralie, she made the decision to go indie, made a plan, and put out four books this year. Deana was hot on her heels putting out three books herself. 2018 has been an astounding year. 

We all have our paths and processes. We respect that about each other and celebrate accordingly. Friendships have been forged and one of my biggest highlights of 2018 was getting to meet some of these amazing women in person over the summer when I went to Denver for the RWA conference.

By all accounts, 2018 has been my 'best' writing year so far. Overall I finished three stories, published one that marked the end of my 'accidental' series, and have the other two due out next year.

I dealt with personal hard times in dealing with seasonal sadness for the first time surrounding the one year anniversary of my aunt's death. That did affect my mental readiness to write about couples and happy times when I wasn't really feeling the love, so I've been once again on a bit of a break.

But the holidays are behind me. I had family around to make things better, and I'm once again looking forward to the next year.

2018 was great, and I would love for 2019 to be better. More words to share with the world. More books to boost in support of my friends. More lessons to learn to make me better.

Wishing you and yours a very happy New Year! And many best wishes for all things to come. So let's start the year off with a song about looking forward and bringing about the positivity of all the goodness ahead.

Until next time
~Meka

"Gotta Feeling" by The Black Eyed Peas

Music Monday - Jingle Bell Rock

Hello and happy next to last Monday of 2018. Today happens to also be Christmas Eve so this week we will do a holiday song.


While I cycled through a list, The Teen came for his morning chat and ended up picking this week's selection. He can be 'teenagery' meaning he likes to pretend he's all grown and not into the 'childish' things, but other times he's full on, I'm still a kid and this is fun. The life of living with a teen.

Anyway, as I talked about what I was doing, he said I should make it "Jingle Bell Rock" so I did. We only have two more years with him before he graduates high school and is off to college. I take all the quality time I can get. And when he's in the rare mood to hang with his mom and give input on stuff, I go with it.

I hope you and your family enjoy this time together (if you celebrate). I'm wishing you and yours a very merry Christmas.

Until next time
~Meka

"Jingle Bell Rock" by Bobby Helms

Music Monday - New Rules

Happy Monday. Man, can you believe it? There are only two weeks left in 2018. I've yet to do the check on my goals to see what I hit and what I didn't, but that time is nearing.


So, what does that mean? Well it means I'm not working on anything in particular at the moment. Though one of the FMC (female main character) from another WIP (work in progress) has been giving me bits and whispering that maybe I should work on her story instead. So I have. But not in full chapters, no, that would be too easy.

Instead, Elaine (my FMC) has given me bits, flashes of some random times that may or may not make it into the final product when I actually give her my full attention. There have been two scenes that have been on repeat that I've started jotting down. The first, a talk it out after what could be the 'gray' moment of the novel. The second, another scene with her ex-husband, because apparently he won't go away.

This week's selection is fitting of the second scene. Elaine is done, ready to move on, but there is history there that can't be ignored. But she has to stay strong, set boundaries, and look forward, not backwards. All of this I know, even if I haven't written it yet.

Sometimes it's seems like the easy thing to do to go back to what you know as comfortable. Other times, you need to set new rules.

Have a great week.

Until next time
~Meka

"New Rules" by Dua Lipa

Music Monday - Head Above Water

We're back again. Hope everyone had a restful weekend. If any readers are also from Georgia and soccer fans, I'm sure you're still riding the MLS win. I myself am NOT a sports person, but my sister and her boyfriend are season ticket holders.
Anyway, moving on from sports talk. It's been a rough couple of weeks. Some of it writing related and some of it personal. Combined it's made for some emotional times. Having friends around that can understand the writing side helps keep me sane. I need that outlet.

Music is helpful for a lot of things, not only when I'm writing, but it can help my mood. If' I'm particularly down, I listen to songs that are up-beat. Ones that are motivating and can help me out of the sad place. I try not to repeat songs, but I was tempted this week.

But, I had a four hour drive over the weekend to a graduation, which meant a lot of listening to the radio. This week's selection came on and I was like, yup, this fits my general feeling on life right now.

I hope you have a great week, and if you're having a hard time around the holidays for whatever reason, or having other hardships, I hope this song helps you in some way.

~Meka

"Head Above Water" by Avril Lavigne