2016: Day 193 or Annual Pre-Conference Mixer

YAY! One of my favorite things about getting ready for conference is Laurie Tomlinson’s Pre-Conference Mixer! And it’s totally that time of year again! Want to play? Check out the end of the post.

The 5lb Shorkie Scaredy-Cat

The 5lb Shorkie Scaredy-Cat

Here are my answers!

Name: Carol Moncado

Location: SW Missouri

What you write/tagline/trademark: Romantic Dramedy in the Ozarks…and Elsewhere (yeah, it used to be and the Alps, but then I ended up with more places ;))

Place in the book world: Indie. Newly-minted USA Today Bestselling Author – thanks to the WHISPERS OF LOVE boxed set! It’s currently #79 on the USAT list :D. I have nine novels out, am in/have been in four boxed sets with novellas/short novels (two are out as singles with the other two coming out this month) plus one other novella. I have 2-4 novels likely coming out this year and at least two more (new) novellas. Right now, I’m loving my royalty niche ;). You can find all of them on Amazon.

On a scale of hugger to 10-foot-pole, please rate your personal space: I’m just gonna leave Laurie’s answer ;). All the hugs.

The unique talking points that will get you going for hours: Books, more books, even more books. Indie publishing. My kids. Friends (the tv show, not the people – but the people too). LOST. NCIS (Ziva? Not dead.). Royalty stuff (it’s all research. promise.).

Loved ones at home you’ll be missing: My amazing husband and four kids. I (will) have a freshman, 7th grader, 6th grader, and 4th grader (only boy!). Plus the 5lb Shorkie who is a total mama’s boy.

Conference goals we can pray for? That I can be a blessing and encouragement to others. To be in the right places at the right times.

Anything we can celebrate with you? See the note about the USA Today thing?!

One or two ways we can help you build your platform? You can “follow” my profile on Facebook (unless we actually know each other – then send a FR 😉 – but I don’t use my “author PAGE” anymore because FB has made it impossible for people to see things unless you pay them) and sign up for my newsletter (there’s cover reveals and preorder discounts and even free novellas occasionally)!

YAY! Can’t wait to see y’all! ETA: Find me! I’ll have chocolate chip cookies to share!

Here’s how to play:

– Copy/paste the questions and fill out your own answers in a post on your own website and paste the URL to that specific post (not your homepage) using the handy link-up tool on Laurie’s page. Just click on the button below that says “Add your link”. If you don’t have a website, feel free to answer the questions in the comments below! (And share it in my comments below!)

– Make sure to link back to this post after you fill out your answers so any of your readers who are conference attendees can participate, too! The more, the merrier.

– Click through the links below to get to know other conference attendees before Nashville!

2016: Day 179 or Two Months Later

Two Months Post Op

Two full months after eye surgery… I”m ready for them to be back to normal. Honestly, at this point, I’m almost ready to go back to my glasses at my old script. At least that was predictable. If I didn’t have my glasses I couldn’t see. Period.

Now I’ve got this double vision thing. I’m still working on the TV set up in a corner of the living room for a monitor (though, I’m gonna be kinda bummed to give it up). I have a pressure check tomorrow and am hoping they’ll do a whole appointment to see what progress I’ve made if any.

I’m trying to remain optimistic… but it’s hard…

I am making serious progress on Jonathan’s story though so that’s good…

What I’m Working on Now: Summer 2016

What I'm Working on Now Summer 2016

It’s time for another update! I know you’re waiting with bated breath ;).

And it’s kind of ironic, because the whole reason I’m writing this post right now is to procrastinate. Hey. At least I’m honest ;).

So…what’s coming up?

  1. A fun novella that will be part of a collection later this month. More details coming soon! And this novella will revisit a couple old friends while introducing a new set of characters that will be the subject of the first novel in the new royalty series later this year or early next.
  2. Jonathan William Langley-Cranston IV’s Still Untitled Story – but yay!!!! Hopefully hitting a Kindle near you in late July!
  3. Christopher Bayfield
  4. Prince William of Mevendia
  5. Three fun royalty novellas (hopefully this fall)
  6. A fun Christmas novella
  7. New royalty series mentioned in #1 (late this year or early next)

I’ve got covers mocked up for all of those but the first one! I can’t wait! I’m so excited about all of them!

To stay up-to-date, and get special preorder prices, cover reveals, occasional freebie novellas, etc. – be sure to sign up for the newsletter! I promise not to spam and will only send one when I have news!

 

2016: Day 152 or My Happy Place and #CoverReveal

So…I’m procrastinating. I’m supposed to be writing a super fun summer thing that should release later this month. I’m loving it, but am stuck for the moment…so I’m blogging. I also did mock-ups for covers for the next four (yes, FOUR) novels as well as three novellas I hope to release this fall. I don’t have TITLES for all of them…but they have covers… :p

The purple pin is on my seat. Mine. And everyone knows it ;).

The purple pin is on my seat. Mine. And everyone knows it ;).

I also wanted to come back after my last blog. It seemed more melancholy and whiny than I meant for it to be. I can see so incredibly much better than I could before surgery, but it’s not was I was expecting yet. Yesterday, my eye doc did use the word “improvement” so, hopefully, we’re on the right track and we’ll continue to see improvement. I will still likely need to have a touch up done at least 90 days after the original surgery, but I haven’t been back to that doc, yet. The massive screen is helping – though it only helps so much when trying to do fine detail work for one of the covers…

Lifeguard Heiress FinalAnd speaking of covers…I shared my newest one last night! The Lifeguard, the Abandoned Heiress, & Frozen Custard releases later this month in the Whispers of Love collection! I’m so excited to go back to the Serenity Landing Aquatic Center. Alivia is back, of course, but this story features Gwendolyn Cranston-Schmidt, who runs the front desk, and Adam, a lifeguard we met last year. It also leads into Jonathan’s story which will release later this summer.

Whispers of Love is only .99 for over 2000 pages of new books from 12 authors! You can’t beat that with a stick! The collection itself will only be sold for a limited time, so if you haven’t preordered yet, you totally should! The .99 price will go up not long after release, too, so grab it while it’s still a spectacular deal!

The pool opened this weekend so we were there both Saturday and Monday. Swim team started yesterday. It’s so good to be back in my happy place :). Yes, the purple pin is actually in my seat. Just ask anyone :D. I keep asking for a “reserved after 430” sign, but they haven’t gone quite that far yet ;).

And in a further effort to procrastinate, I think I’m going to do some more website updating ;). And will also pray I have a flash of inspiration for what comes next… 😀

2016: Day 147 or Coping with my (temporary?) New Normal

2016 Day 147

So I mentioned a couple weeks ago that I’d had PRK surgery* in late April. Recovery had already been slower than I’d been led to believe and, well, it still is.

Unfortunately, it’s probably about as good as it’s going to get.

For now.

Normal set up (though font much bigger than usual)

Normal set up (though font much bigger than usual)

See, prior to surgery, my vision was somewhere in the 20/3000 range. As in super stinky. The laser had to do fairly extensive reconstruction (at least based on the size and thickness of a cornea ;)). Which means more recovery time.

But…even after a month of steroid drops (including two weeks of every two hours while awake), I’ve pretty much stopped getting better. The doc wanted to put me on name brand drops, but because it had only been just over a week since my last refill, insurance wouldn’t cover it. And it’s super duper expensive. So I had to go with the generic refill again until next week. Hopefully, he can write the script in such a way that I can get more than one of the tiny bottles, because that will still only last about 10-12 days tops.

We hope that it will help, but honestly, I’m not holding out a whole lot of hope. Most likely, I’ll need a touch up surgery. They won’t do that until at least 90 days afterward. There’s a date in late July that would work – but it’s EXACTLY three months so there’s a chance the doc will want to wait. The first date in August would work, EXCEPT I’m driving – by myself – to Nashville for the ACFW conference less than two weeks later, and I’d rather not cut it so close. After that, there’s a slim possibility we could get it to work in September, otherwise, it’ll be December. Sigh.

Have I mentioned how fantastic my husband and kids have been?! I don’t know what I’d do without them.

In the meantime…

New set up (though replaced the chair with the office chair)

New set up (though replaced the chair with the office chair)

I can see well enough to read a book or drive. But details any further out than a couple feet? Notsomuch. I don’t recognize people more than 5-6 feet away, unless I know them well and/or expect them to be somewhere. If I need to figure out which similar something I need to get at the store, I have to be embarrassingly close – and squint.

And I can’t see my computer screen with my normal set up. Even super huge font doesn’t work terribly well. So, i’m having to adjust to my new normal.

To that end, there is now a card table set up in my living room – right in front of the fireplace (thank goodness it’s summer!) with the 42″ television sitting on it and the laptop underneath and plugged in.

I CAN SEE!

But even then, the letters are somewhat blurry. :/

Close(r) up of the new set up

Close(r) up of the new set up

But the cover I just finished for the Montevaro Monarchy compilation looks super cool on a huge monitor. I’m now officially excited for the day when I can have a dedicated office and multiple huge monitors! 😀

So…I can work on my super special, super secret novella project that should be out by the end of next month – AND I can work on Jonathan’s story, which should be out near the end of July.

Which means it time to get back to work :).

*Different procedure than LASIK, similar end result

2016: Day 135 or My Unintentional Hiatus

#3's art is down to her right

#3’s art is down to her right

So I’ve been mostly offline for the last couple weeks. I’m sure most of you didn’t really notice, but I was ;). (That doesn’t explain my lack of blog updating but my lack of presence on social media anyway… ;))

I had this…vision of writing a particular blog post after all of this and, well, this isn’t it :p.

On Thursday, April 28, I fulfilled a dream I’d had for far longer than seeing myself as a published author.

I got my eyes fixed.

#1 and #2 had a band concert...grades 6-8 - it was crowded. And hot.

#1 and #2 had a band concert…grades 6-8 – it was crowded. And hot.

Or so they tell me ;).

I’m sure I’ll be very happy with the results, but it’s taking far longer than I thought to get there. I was led to believe it would be 4-5 days, but…here I am two weeks later :D.

It’s so significantly better than it was, and it’s not surprising it’s taking on the longer end, because I was pretty blind. I just didn’t plan to take 2+ weeks off :/.

That’s not to say it’s been all bad. Not at all. Some of the good stuff…

*A writer friend (she writes Medieval romance for the general market) works with me and doesn’t live too far. She drove me to work three times and took me to my eye appointment – we went to lunch at the NY Pizza place owned by the parents of a friend of my daughter’s. Our end of day schedule was quite different so…

We dropped Steve off for a few minutes and Ginger drove us around

We dropped Steve off for a few minutes and Ginger drove us around

*I spent a lovely 25-30 minute drive with my step-father-in-law. He drove me home from work the Tuesday after the procedure. We went a back way he’d never driven before and got stuck behind a tractor. He didn’t mind because he could rubberneck some.

*Thursday, a week after procedure, a couple other friends of mine picked me up from work. In his brand new Ford Mustang convertible. With not just seat warmers but seat COOLERS! Ginger, very kindly, let me ride up front so my eyes wouldn’t get even more dried out. Steve gunned it a couple times and yep – pressed back against the seat J. If you follow my Facebook page, you see pics of me writing in their rec room from time to time. They also took me to get my laptop from a friend who was fixing it. Love them!

One Fine Night Jazz solo for #1 - I love listening to her play! MIL drove us to that too

One Fine Night Jazz solo for #1 – I love listening to her play! MIL drove us to that too

*This Tuesday, my work friend and I had finals at the same time so she took me home and we went to the local BBQ place for lunch.

*My fantastic mother-in-law drove us around quite a bit. The kids had several concerts and other school things. She’s not used to something as big as my mini-van, but she did fine ;).

*By the next Friday, I was able to drive short distances without feeling like my eyes would get too tired. #1 kiddo and I went to the swim team meeting. Can’t wait for our pool time to start! They’re supposed to fill the pool this week which also means… cover photo shoot coming up!

So I’m still seeing blurry and double, but that should be clearing up soon I hope!

#1 graduated from middle school two weeks after surgery

#1 graduated from middle school two weeks after surgery

What’s happening on the writing front while I can only half see? I’m trying to finish edits on the second Lifeguard book. It will release late next month. Look for more details in a newsletter coming soon! As soon as that’s done, I’m working on a Fourth of July project I’m super excited about! There will be more coming from that group, too! YAY!

After that… well, then it’s time to buckle down and finish Jonathan’s story! You’ll see him and a little bit about what he’s been up to in the Lifeguard book, but his story is due to release in late July – another newsletter will go out when it’s up for preorder!

Pretty sure it's gonna need more water...

Pretty sure it’s gonna need more water…

So that’s where I’ve been and what I’ve been up to. I’d appreciate prayers for continued healing. A newer friend mentioned on Facebook the other day that she was a year out and it’s fantastic. She was worse than I was but it took her a couple months. So there’s a light at the end of this particular proverbial tunnel – and not just the super bright one the eye doc uses… 😉

Today My Mother Would Have Been 70

Today my mother would have been 70.

The longer she’s been gone, the more my memories become vague impressions and less moving pictures of events playing out in my mind.

I’ve said this before, but it still holds true.

IMG_0002

Me & My Mom circa late 1970s

There is this Linda Gammel shaped hole in my life. Some days, it’s virtually imperceptible, but still there. Other days, like today – and this coming Tuesday when it will have been 30 years – it’s this gaping loss. This nearly all-encompassing vacancy in my chest.

It won’t last long at those levels. It will ebb and flow, at times nearly tear inducing and others bringing a wistful smile.

I have a great life. I love my life. I have a husband who loves me. I have four children who, usually ;), are well-behaved and hard workers and get along. I have a job where I get paid to talk to grown ups but still lets me stay home with my kids most of the time. I have a second job that lets me make up stories for a living and share those stories with the world.

I also have a husband who never had the privilege of meeting his mother-in-law. I have four children who, while loved beyond measure by six grandparents, will never be held or loved on by their seventh grandparent. And while those who knew her well have assured me that my mother would be proud of the woman, the wife, the  mother, the author I have become, I will never hear those words from her.

Mom & Stacy L. - one of my favorite pictures

Mom & Stacy L. – one of my favorite pictures – love the smiles!

This year is an extra tough one for me. That husband offered a birthday party to mark the likely halfway point of my life. Forty just a few months ago.

But by the time I went to bed three days after my birthday, I had lived longer than my mother did.

I have seen more milestones. I’ve seen more teenage days. I’ve seen more concerts, more victories, more defeats, more life in my children than my mother was ever privileged to see… from this earth anyway.

There is less than no doubt in my heart and in my mind where my mother is. She is spending her days worshiping her Maker, her Prince of Peace, the Lover of her Soul. Basking in the presence of The One who knew from the foundations of the earth, that we, those left behind, would believe she was taken from us far too soon.

My oldest daughter – named Linda Margaret for my mother – several years ago, suggested we mark this day with cake. I’m spending the day writing, but there will be some sort of remembrance while I’m here.

Page dedicated to my mom in the next yearbook - click to enlarge

Page dedicated to my mom in the next yearbook – click to enlarge

And three days from now, we’ll celebrate her entrance to Glory with cookies – because she made the world’s best. I wish I still had the recipe, but instead, I make my own version – and I’m teaching my children to. (And this year, I’ll have a brand spankin’ new KitchenAid to make them with.)

Thirty years. In three days, it will be thirty years.

Most days go by with just a passing thought or two. Some days, the grief is nearly fresh enough to be new.

They say time heals all wounds. And with some wounds it’s true. But some leave scars. And sometimes, if you pull or tug on those wounds just wrong, it brings fresh pain despite the healing.

I thank God for the time I had with my mother – far more than many will have. And I thank God I’ve had more time with my children than my mother did. All but one of them are older than I was when my mother went Home. And soon, I’ll raise a piece of cake in her honor. I’ll remember that she made the world a better place. I’ll remember that she loved me. I’ll remember that, more than anything, she loved her Savior.

And I can rest in that knowledge, knowing that someday we’ll meet again, and all the pain will have melted away.

Until then, the Lover of my Soul brings me peace that passes understanding.

And it is enough.

What I’m Working On Now – Spring 2016

Well… Prince from her Past just released! YAY! Sales have gone really well, so yay! So what am I working on now…
DSCF7852The project I’m hoping to finish this weekend is The Lifeguard, the INSERTDESCRIPTORHERE, and Frozen Custard – the second lifeguard book (though I’m not sure what that center word is going to be – heiress maybe?) It will release June 29 as part of a boxed set (and on its own a few weeks later).

As soon as I finish that, I’m working on another novella that will be part of a boxed set, but the details on that are still kind of under wraps. It’s probably going to be set in the bakery from Protecting the Prince. I’m excited about that! Keep an eye on the newsletter for more details when they’re available!

As for the next series… well, um… I started Jonathan’s story. I’m so excited about it! But I had to put it on the back burner to get LIFEGUARD done because there’s deadlines for it and other people relying on me. Something in LIFEGUARD though… well, it’s a perfect lead in to Jonathan’s story. It’s unlikely that you’ll HAVE to read LIFEGUARD to read Jonathan’s story, but it wouldn’t hurt. You’ll see when I get there (and the boxed set will only be .99 for books by about a dozen authors so… a great deal!) :D. (I might have kind of designed the cover for Jonathan’s story today. Oh my! I LOVE IT! It doesn’t have a title, or a completed manuscript but it has a cover!)

Mr. Benny - there's a contest related to this pic coming soon!

Mr. Benny – there’s a contest related to this pic coming soon!

So if Jonathan’s story comes AFTER the LIFEGUARD story that releases at the end of June, does that mean there’s NOTHING ELSE coming in the meantime?!?!?! Nope!

Christopher Bayfield – twin brother of Alexander, Duke of Testudines – was supposed to have book 2 in this series, but instead, he’ll get book 1. It will pick up with Christopher, Julia, and Alex on the plane back from Ravenzario to Serenity Landing after Winning the Queen’s Heart. It will hopefully release in May or early June, followed by LIFEGUARD, and Jonathan’s story.

Book 3 in this series (which doesn’t have a series title yet :p) is still pretty nebulous so I can’t tell you much about it yet.

After that…

I’ll be honest. I’m torn. I LOVE writing the royalty books and there aren’t a lot of them out there in the Christian market. I have ideas for a ton more (though moving away from the Commonwealth of Belles Montagnes and to some new countries set in the Western Hemisphere – though we’ll still see faces we know and love). I had planned to release Grace to Save late this summer. It opens on 9/11 and with the 15th anniversary and all… All of the books in that series open on 9/11 before moving to more modern day.

Grace to Save is the story of Travis Harders (drama teacher at Serenity Landing High School) and his daughter, Cassie, who’s popped up a few times.

I’m debating writing that series, and interspersing them with royal novellas (I have some AWESOME ideas for those! At least I think they are 😉 – I even made a cover for one of them today!) that will likely be free to newsletter subscribers for a time anyway.

The other option is likely release Grace to Save (as it’s been written for a long time but needs a good polish), write full length royal novels set in these new countries, and possibly alternate series (Grace to Save, royal novel, Grace to Redeem, royal novel, Grace to…, royal novel) and work the novellas in there somewhere. Or save the other Grace stories for “later” sometime depending on some combination of what I’m inspired to work on and what readers want.

If that all seems overwhelming or confusing… welcome to my brain ;). If it crosses your mind, i wouldn’t turn down prayers for guidance and clarity.

Thanks, all! 😀

ETA 3/21/16: YAY! Thanks for your prayers! I appreciate them!!! I had another opportunity come my way, but after a lot of prayer and discussion, I decided to pass on it, but out of those discussions came a full-fledged novel – not completely plotted in my head, but a chunk. And I already wrote the prologue and part of the first chapter. Oh my heart! I love them! I can’t wait!

So…plan…

Book 1: Christopher Bayfield and Julia (by late June at the latest…I hope)
Novella: Lifeguards 2 (Adam and Gwendolyn; June 29 as part of a set, likely mid-July as a single)
Novella: Mallard Township bakery…not sure when yet

Book 2: Jonathan Langley-Cranston (late July/August)
Book 3: Prince William (YAY!!!!!!!!!!!!!!; hopefully August/September)
Tuesdays of Grace book 1: Grace to Save (late August/September)

Then… NEW SERIES!!!!!! Set in San Majoria and possibly those royal novellas in there somewhere… 😉

2016: Day 38 or Yeah, I’ve Been Keeping Up Really Well

WTQH ProofYeah so I haven’t kept up with this “almost daily” or “pretty often” blogging thing. (In fact, I have a blog for InspyRomance this week that I haven’t written yet :p.)

So what’s been going on?

Well…I formatted the insides of both Winning the Queen’s Heart and Protecting the Prince and did the full cover flats for them. I got my proof copies and the paperbacks are now available on Amazon! YAY! I also ordered a TON of books for my own stash downstairs. They’ll be here in a couple weeks.

PtP ProofPrince from her Past is ALMOST done! I’m reading it right now, mostly for continuity, but I’ll also look at word choices etc if something seems a bit off. Then I’ll have my Kindle read it to me and then send it off to my proofreader (who is FABULOUS!) – and it’ll be out to the world on March 1! Yay! It’s still on a special preorder price (2.99!) until then! Protecting the Prince will also be available to purchase on Amazon in the morning if you don’t have it yet – just .99 :).

I’ve been to two high school meetings in the last couple weeks. Yep. My oldest will be IN HIGH SCHOOL in May! (Well, August, but she’s taking PE over the summer.) It doesn’t seem possible!

Wicked!

Wicked!

I went to WICKED last weekend! That was incredible! YAY! Though I didn’t love being in the front row of the third balcony…because it was FAR down! 😉

Uh…I’ve also written about 10K words on Jonathan’s story, but it’s going to go on the back burner for now :/. I’ve been asked to be in a boxed set this summer and need to write a Lifeguard book ASAP! It’s going to be a great collection with a bunch of great authors. More details will be available in late March or early April. As soon as that’s done, I’ll be back to working on Jonathan and Kenzie’s story! Meantime, I’m excited to see what happens to Lifeguard Adam and…uh, well, I don’t know his heroine’s name yet ;).

All right. That’s it for today. I promise to try to do better! Promise :D.

2016, Day 8: or Yep. Crummy Day.

The first sentence

The first sentence

I knew it would be. It was. It could have been far worse (can’t it almost always be far worse?) but it was bad enough. So this will be very brief.

Things I’m thankful for: family

Writingly stuff accomplished:

*Ordered new toner for my printer
*Sort of organized the table in the living room where lots of my stuff is stashed
*Printed the super duper long manual for using these map making etc programs I have (more on that another time – which also led to that first thing ;))
*Six sentences in my notebook while waiting for peeps
*Brainstorming with first reader Emily (who, in turn, brainstormed with her sister)
*Texted friend Ginger L. to see if I can use their rec room to write for a while on Sunday (Yes!)
*Made a new page for my website after a street team member asked for the chronological order of books – it can be found under the books link on top or here 🙂

As for tomorrow…it’s supposed to be filled with family stuff, but that requires a medium-short road trip (about 45-60 min each way) so I may get a little bit accomplished…

Quote of the Day:

“Is it bedtime yet?” – Me 😉

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