Thursday 31 December 2015

My 2016 Schedule




Just so you know I plan to finish writing these books... It's doesn't mean they will all make it through to the releasing stage... It will all depend on submissions/ acceptances/ & edits.

FBP ~ MLR ~ TEB ~ Not Yet Housed

Writing Order (30 Books—8 may be taken out). I only need 22 done by 31 December 2016 to complete the challenge. Also any of the ‘Not Yet Housed’ books could be swapped for the next in a series if I think it's warranted. I have given you the approximate dates of writing and how many words I'll need to write in each story per day.

The Connelly Chronicles 2: Beautiful Goodbyes (need to finish)
Moon Runners 2: I Won’t Let You Go (Jan 1—Jan 20) 2K
Lancaster’s Way 3: Pre-Loved (Jan1—Feb 9) 1K
The Lines of Marsden 4: The Trail Of Red Roses. (Jan 1—Apr 19) 1K/100K
The Diamond Rose 2: So Pretty On The Outside (Jan 21—Feb 10) 2K
The Gaean Prophecy 1: Admetus Gaea (Feb 10—Mar 1) 2K
Sons of Evenmore 3: Fear The Scarlet Moon (Feb 10—Mar 21) 1
Spam Inc 1: Claiming Roxby’s Heart (Mar 2—Mar 21) 2K
Toowoomba Boys 4: Securing The Heart (Mar 21—Apr 10) 2K
Masters of Time 1: Shadows On The Heart (Mar 22—Apr 9) 2K FREE
TASH (Mar 30—Jun 8) 1K
The Connelly Chronicles 3: Because Of You (Apr 4—Jul 19) 1K/100K
The Gaean Prophecy 2: Broken Serenity (Apr 10—Apr 28) 2K
The Lines Of Marsden 4.5: On the 12th Day (Asher’s Coven) (April 10—May19) 2K
The Brothers McCrieve 1: Justice (Apr 29—May 19) 2K
Lancaster’s Way 4: Riding Fences (May 18—Jun 6) 2K
Experimentals 3: Messages From The Dead (Jun 7—Jun 26) 2K
Wardens Of The Guild 2: All That Shimmers (Jun 9—Jul 18) 1K
The Freedomer’s 2: Craine’s Everlasting Faith (Jun 20—Aug 6) 1K MF
 Lancaster’s Way 5: A Stuart Family Christmas (Jul 19—Aug 27) 1K
The Gaean Prophecy 3: New World Alliance (Jul 20—Aug 28) 1K
The Soul Guardians 1: Loving Callum McKenzie (Aug 8—Sep14) 1K
Masters of Time 2: On The Flipside Of Reverse (Oct 25—Dec 4) 1K
Taking Chances 1: Lie To Me (Aug 28—Oct 6) 1K
Flagstone Creek 1: Waiting For Superman (Aug 29—Oct 7) 1K
Jettermane (Sep 15—Oct 25) 1K
Quaide’s Crossing 1: Meghan’s Way (Oct 7—Nov 15) 1K MF
Preternatural High 1: Welcome To My World (Oct 8—Nov 16) 1K YA
Flagstone Creek 2: Battle Scars (Nov 16—Dec 25) 1K
Forever & Always (Nov 17—Dec 27) 1K YA?
Toowoomba Boys 5: Bending The Law (Dec 4-31) 1K

These two stories might replace ones from the list.

Hidden Hearts 3: Going By The Book (Travis)
House of Destiny 1: Trusting in Shane's Promises

Wednesday 30 December 2015

2015 ~ The Year In Reflection


2016 was going to be my year… but then life got in the way. I’m not saying it was a bad year, but it certainly could have been better.

The kids are doing fine at school, so that has all been great. Although, my son, Ethan has been offered a position in an Alternative Year 10 Class at his high school for next year. Which in a way I think will suit him better than regular year 10 classes… most of the classes will revolve around setting up and growing a vegie patch business… they sell the produce to the teachers. At the end of the year they get to spend the money on something. I’ve had meeting at the school about it… which i was told the mornings will be spent on Maths/English/Science and all will revolve around the vegie patch business. In the afternoons they will either be playing sport or working in the vegie patch, & each Friday they go out and learn some kind of trade… makes more sense to me, because at the end they will come out knowing something useful—instead of like regular year 10 where each subject you may be learning about different things and nothing links up.

I'm also proud of Ethan for getting a job, and paying back the loan for his motorbike...

Emily is still waiting to hear back from the uni to see if her change of bachelor has been accepted (from Business to Law). I’m hoping she finds out soon as then she can start organising books etc. Plus she will be moving out of home and into a share house with one of her uni friends... so it means I'll have my office back. I love writing in my recliner, and will do so on the days I'm watching the cricket, but honestly, I get more done when I work in the office, and lock myself away from the world.

I'm also proud of Emily for picking up the slack now the hubs is in NZ. For also picking up Ethan when he has to work late, as I can't see in the dark.

Dare I say it--I have two great kids--even if they do drive me insane most days.

My husband has moved to New Zealand for work. Eventually I will join him, but right now that just isn’t possible… this is what’s been stressing me out the most. Mainly because I have been dealing with the taxes, houses, co-owned properties, and I’m glad to say that after July 2016 I should be done with the taxes at least. I am tired of all the bullshit that goes with keeping them up to date. At least my husband has to deal with it after that.

Writing wise I didn’t get as much done as I would have liked to… again I put this all down to stress. Please let 2016 be a little less stressful—that’s all I’m asking.

Moments to be proud of:
Expirmentals 2: Running into Zero Tolerance
The Diamond Rose 1: Gateway to Kalethia
Storming Love~Flood: Adrian & Lockie
Hollow’s Trouble
The Lines of Marsden 3: You Make Me Die in Pieces
Hidden Hearts 1: Harder & Harder to Breathe

And for completing:
Hidden Hearts 2: One last Kiss Goodbye (extended & revised version)
The Freedomers 1: Zephania’s Chance
Wardens of the Guild 1: The Real You

And for mostly completing:
The Connelly Chronicles 2: Beautiful Goodbyes

This year I have found difficult to write anything. I swear to God every time I sat down in front of the computer, some family drama would jump right in front of me. Hopefully next year I'll be able to concentrate more on the important things.

Over the past year, I have done a lot of reading… most of it I have enjoyed immensely, while others left me scratching my head and thinking WTF! Yet I still found myself going back and reading old favourites ~ MMMF.
AKM Miles, Alexis Morgan, Andrew Grey, Bailey Bradford, Carol Lynne, Cassandra Clare, Charlie Richards, David Eddings, Dean Koontz, Diana Gabaldon, Gabriel Evans, J.K. Rowling, Joyee Flynn/Flynn Eirie, Kerrelyn Sparks, Lynn Hagen , Lynsay Sands, Mary Calmes, Sean Michaels, Sherrilyn Kenyon, Stephani Hecht, Stormy GlennOf course I’m sure there are many more people I think are fantastic authors.

Once again in 2015, I participated in being a judge for the Rainbow Awards—this is something I love doing, as I get the opportunity to read authors who have never crossed my radar before. Some of them I have already sought out more of their work. I will more than likely do it again in 2016.

I sadly had to pull out of being one of the co-organisers of the Hop Against Homophobia & Transgender blog hop. I seriously just don’t have the time to keep up with everything… though I have offered to keep open the HAHAT Facebook page open for everyone else… To be honest I’m not even sure I'll have time to participate in DRitC next year… It's always a great honour to be able to write a story from someone else’s prompt. Mind you, I’m not sure I’ve even come close to matching what they wanted… speaking of next year, my first ever DRitC: Shadows on the Heart is getting a major make over and extension done. I just need to add more detailed information if I ever have a hope in hell of writing #2: On the Flipside of Reverse.

As a family we are also striving to become healthier… not that my son needs to lose any weight (as over the last year he has dropped 12kg) now he just wants to tone up. If he wants to get fitter, I’m not going to stop him. Emily will be living across town so she can do what she wants (I’m not exactly sure how much she has lost). As for me I’m mainly changing my diet by cutting out any and all junk food. Not that I’m really a sweets eater, but I know I drink more coffee than what’s good for me. So more water and less sugars—more fresh foods and less packaged foods. I promise to give a monthly update for the whole of 2016 (this is probably more than you ever wanted to know about me, but I figure if everyone is keeping tabs on me then I will stick to my goals). Have no fear of calling me out on it if I start to let things slide.

I have many plans set in writing for the year ahead. Tomorrow I’ll be posting my 2016 writing schedule list. It will be great of everyone could drop me a line to keep me on track as the weeks roll by. More importantly stop me from getting an attack of the slack-itus.

Tuesday 29 December 2015

My Guest ~ Jambrea Jo Jones

Vegas Sin


Preorder: December 15th 
Early Download: December 29th 
General Release: January 26th 
       
BLURB
Sex, weddings and gambling hold a backseat to kidnapping and murder in the city of sin… 

Owen Carpenter sets aside one night each month to relax at the Totally Five Star, but a case has just landed on his desk that has those nights disappearing for the foreseeable future. Someone is kidnapping women in Las Vegas, and Owen needs to stop them before the women end up dead.

Harrison Boone is head of security at the Totally Five Star. He notices a man who comes in once a month and he wants to know more about him. When Owen introduces himself, there’s an instant attraction between Harrison and Owen, but they are interrupted by a kidnapping—at his hotel. After leaving the military, the hotel is his life, so Harrison will do anything to keep the hotel out of the news and protect its reputation.

Can Owen and Harrison find love in Sin City, or will the disappearing women crush what might be the best bet the men have ever placed?

MESSAGE FROM JAMBREA
Thank you for having me Norma! 

This is my first full length m/m book. I usually write shorter stories. Like... 100 pages or less. This one is more. And it is one of my favorite genres! On the Pride Publishing site they have it listed as: Crime and Mystery/Thrillers and Suspense.  It is a gay erotic romance, but so, so much more! I love to write bad guys. LOVE. So in this book you'll meet the man behind all of these kidnappings. I don't know why I enjoy writing them so much, I guess I have a dark side that comes out sometimes. 

I know why I love writing suspense. When I was younger I would watch all kinds of movies with my dad. Die Hard. Lethal Weapon. Rambo. Anything with Walker, Texas Ranger in it. You know... Chuck Norris. I fell in love with action adventures and I hope it shows in my writing. My favorite is action-adventure-comedy. lol I want it all!  It's my favorite to read, watch and write. 

If you like a little mystery with your romance with some action and a bit of comedy thrown in, I really think you'll like Vegas Sin and I hope you pick it up! :) 

ABOUT JAMBREA
Jambrea wanted to be the youngest romance author published, but life impeded the dreams. She put her writing aside and went to college briefly, then enlisted in the Air Force. After serving in the military, she returned home to Indiana to start her family. A few years later, she discovered yahoo groups and book reviews. There was no turning back. She was bit by the writing bug.
She enjoys spending time with her son when not writing and loves to receive reader feedback. She's addicted to the internet so feel free to email her anytime

FIND JAMBREA HERE

Monday 28 December 2015

My Guest ~ Caraway Carter

The First Time

Release Date: December 24
Publisher: MLRPress


BLURB
They know they can handle a crisis, but what about everyday life?

After surviving through a massive earthquake, Anders and Ujaruk know they can handle a crisis, but what about everyday life? Ujaruk moved in to help Anders while his leg healed, now that the cast is off, what happens next? Families, holidays and the first time.

EXCERPT
Chapter One

  The ground had opened up, and he was screaming.

  He was outside the cave, and the trees were falling down everywhere. His broken leg was throbbing and Ujaruk was nowhere to be seen. And then, with a heaving like a bear rolling over a boulder, the thin crack in the ground widened into a huge fissure less than five feet from where he lay on the slanted hillside. Anders screamed again as he began to slide helplessly down the slope toward the yawning, gaping mouth of the hungry earth.

  As he grabbed at the turf sliding away beneath him, he saw Ujaruk running toward him from the other side of the widening part in the earth. “Anders? Anders!”

  But Anders was sliding down the slope into the chasm, helpless, screaming all the way as Ujaruk shouted his name…

  He jerked awake.

  His hands were grasping bedsheets, not turf. He was here in his bed, in his house, nowhere near that cave. Safe. He was safe.

  It had just been a dream. He hadn’t been swallowed up by the earth. He hadn’t been in danger at all — Ujaruk had got him out of the cave and to the hospital.

  Why did I want to be a geologist, again? He wondered muzzily.

  Then he realized that part of the dream had been real. Ujaruk was calling his name. “Anders? You awake yet, hon?” There was a knock at the door, which creaked open as Ujaruk shouldered it aside. “Good morning!”

  “You’re still here,” Anders said, turning over in the rumpled bed and trying on a smile. “Good morning.”

  “Where else would I be?” Ujaruk grinned, holding out a cup of coffee with one hand and a breakfast tray with the other. Four strips of bacon and a scramble of eggs sat on a plate in the middle of it, overshadowed slightly by a bobbing yellow daisy that threatened to fall out of the too-short bud vase it was standing in.

  “I had a dream,” Anders said. “I dreamed that—that you’d taken a job in Arizona.” He turned his face away so that the lie didn’t show. His heart was still racing.

  “Crazy dream,” Ujaruk commented. “Can you see me in Arizona? I’d roast in nothing flat.”

  Anders smiled. “I’m glad it was only a dream, then.”

  I wonder how much longer I can stay in this cast, he thought as Ujaruk put the tray over him in the bed, smiling weakly at his—boyfriend? Roommate? Coworker…

  He turned his mind to the food in front of him as Ujaruk sat down in the single chair next to the bed.

  It’s been two months. How many more do we have?

§ § §

  After the big earthquake, when Ujaruk’s apartment had collapsed and he had no place to live, Anders had agreed to let him sleep on the couch. That had been nearly two months ago, and the couch had been a thing of the past for nearly six weeks.

  It had been almost too easy. They matched well, and before a week had passed, they had fallen into a number of habits—like breakfast in bed with an awkward flower on the tray. With Anders stuck in bed in a cast from above his knee down to his toes, Ujaruk shopped, cleaned, did laundry, cooked, and waited on Anders hand and foot while still going to work every day. The cast was awkward, but Ujaruk never complained, lifting Anders to and from the bathroom, giving sponge baths like a trained nurse, and keeping him from going crazy with inactivity. The cast had been on so long that they’d both devised ways to scratch the itch.

  The itch got worse the longer it went on. The first few times, Anders just put up with it. But then came the afternoon when it felt like a thousand ants crawling down his shin, biting madly as they brought a lunch to their queen. Ujaruk had been at work, and Anders had clawed uselessly at the fiberglass surface of the cast, even ripping a nail as he drilled a finger between leg and cast, trying to reach the ants so he could squash them.

  In his thrashing, he’d turned half over on his belly. A dull silver glint caught his eye, peeking out from under the bed. He’d strained to reach the wire coat hanger with his good leg hanging off the too-tall bed, and just managed to hook it on his big toe.

  Once he had it in his hands, Anders twisted the hanger into a long, bent loop and drove it down into the cast to his shin. The relief of scratching that itch was just as orgasmic as any climax he’d had thinking about Ujaruk.

  Only thinking, of course. What they’d done together was better.

§ § §

  “I have a surprise for you,” Ujaruk said as Anders finished his coffee and pushed away the tray.

  “You do?” Anders asked. “Could you hand me that coat hanger? I need to get at an itch again.”

  “Nope,” Ujaruk said. “I’ll be right back.” He grabbed up the tray and the empty cup and disappeared.

  “Can’t you give me the—” Anders started, and then gave up. The ants were biting the top of his foot this time, and he’d need Ujaruk’s help to get at those.

  It didn’t take long. With a squeak of hinges, Ujaruk jumped back through the door. “Aha! I’ve made a scratcher for you that puts that old thing to shame. Mine is the deluxe cast scratcher.” He handed Anders a long, thin, flexible wire contraption with a leather-bound handle on one end. “Please to notice the detailed leatherwork along the handle,” Ujaruk directed as Anders examined it. The solid handle was indeed wrapped with black leather strips woven around it in a spiral design.

  “I’ll be sure to use yours when we are out on the town. Can you get at the top of my foot with it?” Anders smiled as Ujaruk took it back and put it through the bottom of the cast. “Ahhh… that feels amazing.”

  “It better. I worked on this for two weeks,” Ujaruk said, setting it where Anders could reach it easily. “I just couldn’t see letting you use that old thing any longer.” He went around the foot of the bed and lay down next to Anders on the less-rumpled side. They smiled at each other across the pillows.

  I’m used to you now, Anders thought. It’s right, having you here. But you’ll leave me soon, and then what will I do?

  He and Ujaruk worked together. That was the fatal flaw. Anders had a strict rule: coworkers could not be his lovers. But during his recovery from the broken leg, that rule had somehow been suspended, without him realizing he’d suspended it. After all, while he was off on disability, they weren’t really coworkers. Were they?

  It was an issue he hadn’t resolved yet, and he’d left it on the back burner of his mind, hoping that at some point, a solution would present itself.

About Caraway
Hi, my name is Caraway Carter, and I am creating characters and worlds that I hope you love as much as I do. 

Find Caraway Here