New Wattpad Reads!

Have you checked out my new series on wattpad yet? Why not? Free reads, people!

WATCH OVER: The DeLucas Book 1

Melanie Blythe is perfectly happy staying home and focusing on her graphic design clients. She knows her limits and has been burned before. She certainly never intended to become involved with the gorgeous cop down the street.

Finn DeLuca has more than enough on his hands recovering from a hit-and-run accident that has left him temporarily in a wheelchair. He’s on the rebound and has no intention of getting romantic with the cute girl two doors down.

But they didn’t count on his five brothers and sisters sticking their noses in Finn and Mel’s business. They are a force to be reckoned with in the first installment of this family’s story.

Safe Guard: The DeLucas Book 2

The DeLucas are back in this second installment of the family saga.

Hugh DeLuca knows what he wants from life: marriage, family, contentment. He’s had it with women more interested in their careers than anything or anyone else. The last one broke his heart and nearly broke his spirit. So why can’t he get his brother’s partner out of his mind and his dreams? She’s exactly the sort of woman he’s trying to avoid, but they keep getting thrown together and he can’t seem to forget her.

Chris Hart was the youngest person ever to make detective in her precinct and she’s proud of the career she’s built. She loves her partner, but wishes she could forget about his gorgeous older brother. He makes her nervous and she’s developed a ridiculous school-girl crush that he seems completely oblivious to. She’s much too old for this sort of thing! But Finn’s wedding keeps her in all-too frequent contact with Hugh. How is she supposed to forget him when she has to see him nearly every day?

When six bodies are discovered on Hugh’s new job site, it shuts down construction and he turns to Chris for help. Will they be able to solve the mystery before one of them gets killed? Will they be able to overcome their preconceived ideas of what the other is looking for in a relationship and find the love that is waiting for them?

COMING SOON:

SEEKER is 1 Year Old!

 

It’s the 1-year anniversary of the publication of my first book, SEEKER! Happy Anniversary to ME!

It’s still FREE on amazon, so before you read any farther, you should def skip on over and download it. Who says no to FREE???

So, what have I learned over the past year about writing and publishing? Well, it’s a fascinating tale, so sit back and relax.

I wrote the first draft of Seeker in November 2013—yes, all 74K or so words in 30 days. It was my first NaNoWriMo and I was all in! I was doing it as a project along with my senior English students, so I had to finish. How would it look if the teacher failed to complete 50K words? Now, I had never in my life written a full-on novel, so I was completely clueless. I’m really embarrassed about it now. Plus, I had spent the weeks leading up to Nov. 1 helping prepare my students to write their novels and hadn’t actually given much thought or planning to my own. On Nov. 1, I got the whole class quietly launched on their writing and then sat down in front of my computer. And stared at a blank GoogleDoc. And thought, “Crap. What am I going to write about?” I continued in this vein for about 30 minutes. The mad clicking of computer keys all around me didn’t help at all. Just before utter panic set in, I started thinking about what kind of person I would like to write about. That’s how Jack Ruiz came into being. It’s funny that the entire series (with the small exception of a short scene in book 2) is told from Ally Moran’s point of view, when I actually created Jack first. Once I got started, the book actually flowed pretty fast and I discovered I REALLY LOVE writing. I didn’t know if I would. I mean, how many people think, “I should write a book some day.”? Lots. How many actually DO it? Not as many. And I didn’t know if it would be like so many of my other hobbies (knitting, cross-stitch, stamping, sewing) where I start a lot of projects and get bored and never finish. I shudder to think how many half-finished scarves are lurking around my house, just waiting for someone to come along and breathe life into them. Maybe my mom will finish them for me. Love you, Mommy.

I finished Seeker and promptly started nagging my friends and family to read it. I put it up on SwoonReads and got a few reads. Most importantly, I began the arduous process of revision. I took out some truly cheese-in-a-can scenes and replaced them with some good old-fashioned violence. I went to a writer’s conference and talked to a couple agents. Then I began the looong process of querying my manuscript. My baby, this piece of my soul I had committed to virtual paper. I sent it out into the world. And the rejections started rolling in. Yay! But I kept revising and polishing, even as I started on Book 2.

I eventually got a bit discouraged and decided to self-publish. I changed the title to one I thought was clever and oh-so literary: The Stern and Wild Ones. I decided to title each book in the series using a reference to the literary work that was featured in it. Book 1 featured The Scarlet Letter, hence the lovely title. Book 2 became The Charge of a Star because it was based on King Lear. Book 3 was slotted to become A Spirit Too Delicate (The Tempest). I can’t remember what I was thinking for book 4.

One thing you can say for me: I don’t give up easily. I still kept querying publishers and agents. Imagine my complete and total surprise when, as I was working on book 3, a desktop notification popped up from Limitless Publishing. I opened it, fully expecting yet another politely worded rejection, but saw the magic words: We want to offer you a contract. OMG. I handed the computer to my husband and asked him to read it just to be sure I wasn’t hallucinating. Nope. They actually wanted to publish my book. They offered me a contract for the entire 4-book series!!! Book 4 didn’t even exist yet! They did make it contingent on a change of title, however. I pitched them my original titles: Seeker, Dreamer, Seer, and Oracle. Boom. They liked them and we signed all the paperwork. The next few months were a flurry of revision, editing, blurbs, and cover design. I discovered I love working with an editor—who knew? I didn’t have to do anything with the blurbs or covers except give feedback.

Then on April 28, 2015, my very first book baby was born.

So, here it is: 1 year later. I have published 5 books with Limitless: the 4 in The Seeker Series and a stand-alone YA romantic suspense titled The Way to Her Heart. I have a featured story on Wattpad called Like Wildfire and a work-in-progress called So They Loved, my first foray into adult contemporary romance. It’s picking up some nice steam on Wattpad, so give it a try and let me know what you think!        

I’ve learned a TON this last year about writing, revising, editing, and marketing. And I have so much more to learn! But it’s a great journey and I love it! I have so many fun story ideas rattling around in my brain, so stay with me, people!

To celebrate my anniversary, I will pick 1 lucky reader who comments on this post or on my Facebook page to win a FREE ebook of The Way to Her Heart OR your choice of Book 2, 3, or 4 in The Seeker Series (since Seeker is FREE—did I mention that?) 

I’ll pick a winner 

May 5 2016.

Thanks SO MUCH for all your amazing support and encouragement this year! You guys ROCK!!!

Amy

 

Wattpad Featured Story: Like Wildfire

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I am excited to announce that I just got a story featured on Wattpad! I hope you’ll take a moment to swing by and add it to your reading list and maybe let me know what you think.

This story is near and dear to my heart because it is a modern retelling of one of my all-time favorite Shakespeare plays, Much Ado About Nothing. Most of you probably don’t know that my day job is as a high school English teacher (shocker, I know!) and a few years ago I had my seniors study this play. A random comment by one of them is what started it all: “Ms. Reece, this play is just like high school with all the drama and gossip!” I totally agreed so we created a modern adaptation and filmed it. It was one of the most difficult projects I’ve ever done, but the result was a fully edited 56 minute film that we showed to the entire school. It was a lot of fun! But I will never do it again. 

I couldn’t completely forget about Much Ado, however, and decided to write Like Wildfire  for this year’s NaNoWriMo project. I had so much fun writing it! I set it in a fictional town in West Texas called Messina, which I plopped on the map near Sweetwater. I have lived in Abilene, El Paso, and Marfa, so I thought it would be amusing to set a story in the general vicinity. I usually set my stories here in Albuquerque, New Mexico, so it was refreshing to try something new.

I soon found out that writing a novel based on a play can be challenging! My biggest challenge was point of view: in a play you can see what everyone is doing, but in a novel you need to get inside the characters’ heads. But which characters? I chose to stick with the Beatrice, Benedick, and Don John characters (ooh, creating my villain was AMAZEBALLS!), but I did a few scenes from other POVs. I don’t know if those work and would LOVE some input!

The best part, to me, is that my oldest daughter (also a writer and English teacher) got interested in the project and is now working on revisions of Like Wildfire. We have great plans for it to be the first book in the Shakespeare High (or something like that) series. She’ll begin work on Love’s Labours Lost soon and I’ll pick up with revisions for her.

I’m also working with a group of high school graphic designers for a new cover, so stay tuned!

This is all so much fun! I do hope you’ll drop a comment and go check out Like Wildfire on Wattpad. Hey, it’s free!