Looking Back on 2021...

It's been another "Year" hasn't it? As a country, we're still fighting a pandemic, dealing with so much hate and division in the world, and publishing... well, publishing is still publishing: slow, heartbreaking, and impossibly difficult. On top of all this, I had a lot of personal struggles this year, mostly with my health, but also with saying goodbye to my daughter who moved out of state, mourning the loss of my beloved cat, Snowball, and recently, learning one of my close friends will be moving, too. Despite all of this, I keep pushing forward in an effort to meet my goals for the year. So, let's take a look back on the year to see what I accomplished, what I didn't, and what big changes I faced in 2021.

My original 2021 goals included: 

(1) SMALL TOWN COWBOY ROMANCE BOOK / SERIES

I did manage to get the first few chapters written, along with a full synopsis, but I didn't get the whole story written as I would have liked. My agent did send out my partial and proposal, but I'm sad to say the book / series didn't sell. I opted to set it aside (for now) in favor of other projects.

(2) CURSED SERIES SPIN-OFF BOOK

I did write and publish one spin-off book, EVERLASTING HOPE, that picks up right after the end of book 7, Eternal Life. I also began writing another spin-off series called WARS OF THE HEART that will finally give Jax his much deserved happily-ever-after.

(3) ADULT ROMANTIC SUSPENSE BOOK

Hahaha. NOPE! Other than a short story for an anthology, and the aforementioned cowboy book, I didn't really write much adult anything this year. For now, my heart is in YA, so that's probably where I'll stay for the time being.

(4) MORE YA BOOKS

As I've already mentioned, I did write a Cursed Series spin-off book and started a new, related series. Additionally, I co-wrote a YA sci-fi romance called EDGE OF NOWHERE with Rosie Somers. We're currently in the editing stage for that book while plotting out book 2. I wrote THE CULLING as well, which releases January 4, 2022 as part of The Magic of Midnight Anthology.

(5) READ TILL MY EYES BLEED

Sadly, I didn't read nearly as much as I would have liked, but what I have read this year was really great!

(6) GET OUT OF MY COMFORT ZONE

I'm proud to say I did do this! I had my first ever YouTube interview with the lovely Shraddha Nanda, which you can watch HERE if you'd like. I also attended a local craft / vendor fair where I sold my books. 

While I did fairly well with my goals this past year, so much more has happened that I never expected or planned for, so here's the quick rundown: 

Professionally: 

• I wrote a total of 361,123 words. That's 319,104 words LESS than last year, but considering all the sick days I had this year, I'll take this a win.
• I blogged a total of 8,951 words.
• I released 3 books: Eternal Life, Everlasting Hope, and One Night Vamp (as part of the Lovers Beyond Midnight Anthology)
• I wrote book 1 of Jax's series, and I'm currently halfway through book 2.
• I wrote Cursed, which is Eternal Curse as told from Trent's point-of-view. I released it one chapter at a time, weekly, via my newsletter.
• I sold licensing rights to my series to Readict and eGlobal Creative, so my books continue to reach new readers.
• I released Eternal Curse and Eternal Choice in audiobook format. Shoutout to my amazing narrator, Andy Garcia-Ruse!
• I hired an amazing PA -- Hi, Kris!! Having an assistant like this was something that had always been on my bucket list of things I'd love to do/have as an author.
• I've booked TWO signing events for next year. Check out my full schedule of appearances HERE.
• For Anaiah, I edited 12 full length novels and 1 novella. 
• I freelance edited 8 manuscripts.
• I removed ALL of my books from Kindle Unlimited and have distributed them wide.

Personally:

• I GOT A PUPPY! His name is Crowley, and he's absolutely adorable. I love him so much. 
• I made a new friend--my neighbor--who is, sadly, moving to Arizona next month, but having her around to hang out with has been fun. She's also the one who let me have Crowley, so for that, I'll be forever grateful.
• I survived a still-ongoing global pandemic without getting sick. Well, not any sicker than usual, anyway. Though, I did struggle quite a bit this year with my fibro and fatigue. In fact, I've had a total of 37 sick days where I couldn't manage to get out of bed, let alone work. 
• I gained back close to 10 pounds, which I know isn't a lot, but I've learned to not let this get me down, and I've reaffirmed my commitment to get back in shape.
• Both my son and daughter graduated from high school. I'm so incredibly proud of both of them.
• My daughter from NY was able to come to MI for the graduation ceremony and party. Spending time with her is always wonderful.
• I made a trip to NY to visit family. 
• My eldest daughter moved out of my house and in with her boyfriend in Missouri. 
• I made a trip to Missouri to visit my eldest daughter and surprise her with the delivery of her chosen puppy, Raven.
• I remodeled my office!
• I booked a Jamaican cruise for July 2022 that I'll be taking with my BFF, Emily, and all 4 of my girls. I'm crazy excited for this and am praying hard that it all works out. (Stupid Covid!)
• I got vaccinated for Covid, and surprisingly, I only had mild side effects.
• My daughter got her dream job working at a puppy daycare.
  
  

I even managed to read some this year: 

• His Kind of Cowgirl by Karen Rock
• In Bed with the Rancher by Sara Orwig
• The Rancher by Joanne Rock
• Big Bad Cowboy by Carly Bloom
• The Cowboy's Forbidden Crush by Deborah Garland
• Covet by Tracy Wolff
• Hush, Hush, Crescendo, Silence, and Finale by Becca Fitzpatrick
• Freak Frat by Nicki Greenwood
• Crimson Born, Crimson Storm, Crimson Bond, and Crimson Crown by Amy Patrick
• Awakening by Leigh Walker
• Captured by Erica Stevens
• Wide for the Win by Mark Leslie Lefebvre

Overall, it's been a decent year for me, and I'm excited to see what I can accomplish in 2022. Stay tuned for my official goals post :-) In the meantime, tell me in the comments what YOU did this year! 

How I Got my Agent Back!

Whenever I feel like I've hit rock bottom, or I'm barely surviving a low in my writing / publishing career, something good tends to happen, something I'm truly not expecting, and this is a trend I've never really noticed until recently. Then again, hindsight is 20/20. 

Way back in 2014, a publisher I'd been signed with was careening toward an unavoidable implosion. I was terrified of what might happen to my books I'd published with them, to what I'd do next. I mean, how do you recover from something like that? And then, I snagged an agent. You can read all about how that happened HERE. 

Fast forward three years and I was once again facing another major blow in my writing career. Read all about that HERE. As a result, I'd parted ways with my agent. I was sad and discouraged and really on the verge of just giving up. But I didn't. I took some time to assess what I wanted to write and what direction I wanted to take my career. 

Fast forward another three years, and here we are at the end of a very long and difficult year. Despite it all, I've had a productive year in terms of writing and publishing, and while I'm happy with what I've accomplished, I was left feeling like I was still missing something. I'd finished a massive 6-book series, and I was floundering on what to do next. Did I dive into a new YA series I could self-publish? Did I write an adult book I could query agents with? Did I finally finish my series written as Lexi and self publish that? (Which is something I'd been considering for a while.) And then, I got an email....

The publisher of my Lexi books was investing in some new marketing for my book in January. Let me tell you how big of a boost this was! I eagerly jumped in to help with their efforts, revived Lexi on social media, and my enthusiasm for this series sparked once again. I reached out to my former agent, who had originally sold this series for me and who I'd always been in contact with throughout the years and let her know what was going on. During our discussions, I asked if she thought my publisher might reconsider publishing the 3rd book in this series. We agreed I'd ask and see what happened. 

Much to my surprise, they agreed to take a look at the 3rd book and reconsider!!!! And so, I gave the book (which had been written for years) another read through, cleaned it up, rewrote the ending, and sent it off to Dawn, who had agreed to submit it on my behalf considering she'd repped the first two books in the series. 

And now it's official---I have re-signed with my former agent, Dawn Dowdle of Blue Ridge Literary Agency!! 

She has sent my third Lexi book to the publisher, and now we wait for their decision. If they ultimately say no, I'll forge ahead with self-publishing it so I can continue to rebuild my pen name. And I'll eventually work on something new for Lexi as well. In the meantime, after speaking with Dawn about what she's looking for, I'm working on a proposal for a new series: small town cowboys that will ultimately be published in some form under my Kara name! I couldn't be more excited about this prospect, and I'm so thrilled to be working with Dawn again :-) 

Does no really mean no?

Before I answer that question, let me clarify. This is not some in-depth blog post about a person's right to say no or choices or anything else deep and thought provoking. Nope. This is simply the story of how I found my agent!

That's right! I have an agent!!!! <--- Can you tell how excited I am? 

I have signed with the wonderful Dawn Dowdle of The Blue Ridge Literary Agency. She is representing me for my series of romantic suspense books. 

Now, back to my question: Does no really mean no? Usually, yes. But in this particular situation, no. lol. Allow me to explain.

In December, I participated in the #pitchMAS pitch event. During that event, Dawn favorited my pitch on Twitter. So, I visited her website, did some preliminary research, and sent off my query on December 20th. According to the email reply I got stating she received my query, it would take two months for a response. And so the waiting began. I should add that other agents had requested as well, and the rejections were quickly rolling in, but still nothing from Mrs. Dowdle. 

Then, on January 31st, I got a response. She rejected. What a hell of a way to start the new year, huh? 

As much as it sucked, I didn't let it get me down. I revamped my query, revised my novel (again), and geared up for #PitMad, which was taking place on January 8th. The day of the event arrived, and I was ready to go. My pitches were pre-scheduled throughout the day, and I have a positive attitude. I'm happy to say that the requests started to trickle in. I was excited. 

But then Mrs. Dowdle requested. Again. 

I was shocked and confused, unsure what to do. Typically during this kind of event, if an agent or editor requests something they've already requested, they state to take the second request as a compliment but not to send another query. However, there was no such statement anywhere on her website or Twitter feed. Ignoring her request seemed rude. Tweeting directly to her seemed unprofessional. And I couldn't send her a direct message because she didn't follow me on Twitter. So I did what I always do when faced with a difficult decision -- I turned to my fellow author friends. 

The consensus: Send another query with a little note letting her know she's already seen and rejected my manuscript. So, that's what I did. Do I recommend everyone do this? No. I took a risk doing this, and I knew that, but I figured because of the unique situation of Twitter pitch parties and that she'd already rejected me, what harm could come from it? All she could do was tell me no again, right? 

The second query was sent to her on January 8th. On January 9th I received a reply stating because she'd requested again, she'd reconsider. Now, I seriously thought she was just being polite, but it was nice nonetheless. 

Then, a few weeks later, I got an email from her stating she'd like to set up a time to speak on the phone. So, we did, and now she's my agent!!! 

Overall, I'm thrilled with my decision to sign with Dawn, and I have the utmost confidence in her ability to sell my book(s). And I owe a HUGE THANK YOU to every single person who hosted these contests, retweeted my pitches, offered encouraging words, and supported me in this crazy, wild, emotional endeavor. I wouldn't be here without all of your help :-)