Happy New Year – 2018 Goals

A review of my 2017 Goals/Plans:

Rewrite and edit Boracay – Done
Write New York and Singapore – partially done
Publish Boracay and New York – Boracay Done
Set-up a blog – Done
Set-up a Facebook Author page – Done
Join Romance Writers of America – Done, plus the San Antonio Romance Authors chapter, too
Win NaNo again – Not done
Read 180 books – Read and reviewed 208.
Spend only $240 on books – Success! Spent only $190.
Attend a writing conference – Not quite. Attended a one-month editing workshop and four reader events all over Texas.

Based on these results, I consider 2017 to be a successful year.

For 2018, here are my goals/plans:

Finish writing New York Engagement, have it edited and published. Target date: Saturday, March 17 (St. Patrick’s Day)
Finish writing Singapore Fling. Publishing target: July 2018.
Achieve full PAN status at RWA.
Get Boracay Vows into independent bookstores all over the US.
Secure local distribution for Boracay Vows in the Philippines. Attempt a movie deal.
Read and review at least 120 books for Goodreads Reading Challenge:
– 1 craft book on writing/editing/publishing
– 1 male author/non-romance
– 4 historical romance (2 from my Mount TBR, 1 ARC, 1 new/new-to-me)
– 4 contemporary (2 from Mount TBR, 1 ARC, 1 indie author)
Rereads will be after the 10 have been fulfilled.
Attend a writing conference.
Spend only $180 on books.
Register a profit on all books.

So, here’s to 2018. May it be the Best Year Ever.

#Thankful – Boracay Vows

On November 21, I celebrated my birthday and the book birthday of Boracay Vows and it was awesome!

This has been an incredible year and I wouldn’t get here without the love, encouragement, generosity, and support of my family, friends, and even strangers.

My husband is a Rock Star. His belief in me is unwavering. I am not exaggerating when I say I couldn’t have accomplished this without him. He gave me the means to put this book together and have it published. Our son is my inspiration, my heart. I am grateful that at eight years old he can already prepare his own meals, otherwise he’d starve. Expert of things Stevie. Bad mommy.

I am thankful for my book club OSRBC. They were there for me from the very beginning of this journey. Their encouragement propelled me to turn my two-pager opener into a full-length novel. OSRBC members informed me about the National Novel Writing Month and cheered me on as I pantsed my way into winning in 2016 with Boracay. They’re the first ones to pre-order my book and help me spread the word around. Best book club in the world!

My editor Linda Hill is from OSRBC. She saw me through dozens of drafts from December in 2016 all the way to proofreading in November. If there are mistakes in the book, they’re most likely things I changed after she gave the final manuscript back to me. Thanks, Linda. Sorry, Linda. To my writer friends who are planning to publish independently, you are going to need an editor. I recommend you contact Linda ASAP.

Many of my Beta readers are also from OSRBC – Eva Moore, Rizalee, and Cecille. They’re the ones who pointed out what’s missing as well as what’s there that they loved. Thanks, ladies.

My cover designer also belongs to OSRBC. Lucy Rhodes of Render Compose was recommended to me by a common friend Leni Browne and I just marvel at how in sync we were while doing the covers. She’s in Australia, I’m in the US, but there were no barriers to our communication. Another note to my indie friends – ask me for Lucy’s contact information. You won’t regret it.

There are so many people to thank: my sister Myrtle and future brother-in-law R.G. Gallardo; one of my forever friends Chiqui; my first boss and fellow book-addict N; my Belarusian sestra Yulia; design consultant Celeste Odono; fellow Indie writer Rainne Mendoza; reenactors of my cover concept Renee, Tiara, Chippy, Lia, and Jonathan; my ARC readers, and my barkadas UNYLACE, CPP, and Burlesque. Thank you very much. Maraming salamat.

Special thanks to Tessa Dare for her wonderfully motivating words at the beginning of the year. She told me, “Doubt not.” Sometimes I did, but I persevered and now I’m a published author.

And now, I’m thankful.

Cover Reveal: Boracay Vows

Friends, meet the luscious, vavavoom Krista Lopez, heroine of my first book Boracay Vows. Krista is spending this week in the island paradise of Boracay, Philippines to fulfill her Turning-Thirty Vow — the promise she made with her barkada to do something extraordinary in celebration of this milestone birthday. Today, November 2, is her thirtieth birthday. Happy birthday, Krista!

Many thanks to Lucy Rhodes for her patience while I hemmed and hawed over every image, color, shade, and font before deciding on the final combination. I really appreciate you.

Thanks also to my sister Myrtle Ruaza, photographer-extraordinaire Celeste Odono, and my token male-point-of-view opinionator husband for bearing with my constant demands for observations and agreement with my concerns. Thank you, salamuch, mwah!

I love it, y’all! Release news coming soon.