My book, Family by Design, is hitting store shelves as we speak and I’m excited to get the word out. Because of this, I decided to give away a prize package including a copy of Tristi Pinkston’s newest cozy mystery, “Target and Ties” (which is not quite off the presses yet), some fun swag and other stuff. This goes to the first person who can send me a picture of my book on store shelves. I know it’s going to be stocked in some Costcos soon, and Seagull Book (a new excitement for me since they haven’t carried many copies of my previous books) as well as independent bookstores. So if you’re going to be out and about, pop into a bookstore and see if you can find my book on their shelves–and if you can’t find it, you could always ask when they’re getting it in. =)

And while you’re there, buy a copy of the book and get a free copy of my spin-off novella, Shear Luck, which will be coming out in ebook form everywhere in a week or so (or however long it takes to trickle through the distribution channels). This book will be available for sale, but people who purchase Family by Design before the end of my blog tour (February 4) will get a free download in the format of their choice.

In other news, I just joined Tristi Pinkston’s quarterly writing challenge–yeah, me and a gazillion other people. It must be the new year’s resolutions pushing something like 50 people to take her challenge this time. Check it out here. I usually dream big and shoot high, but this month with my book coming out, something like 8 signings, my blog tour, and other crazy stuff going on, I’m trying to be realistic so I can reach my goals, so instead of planning on writing 50K or something like that here’s what I need to do six nights a week:

Edit at least one chapter of Cami or an equivalent amount on another story (ie, things I’m taking to my crit group).

Do at least one chapter or one hour (whichever is shorter) of critiquing or typesetting for others, as I have a typesetting job lined up, and several critiques I need to get done for people I’m swapping with.

And I really need to get the first couple of episodes to Karissa’s story to Big World Network since the second season starts soon (oh and a title wouldn’t be a bad idea, either.) Speaking of BWN, the latest installment of Homecoming came out today. If you haven’t been reading my serial novella (or listening to it, as it’s also available in audio–all for free) pop over and check it out here. There are only three more episodes left in this story before next season begins!

This is on top of my publicity and marketing, planning for some major landscaping projects this spring, and helping my hubby at our business (oh and that full-time job of mine). You might think it’s too early to get serious about spring projects, but planning ahead is key to making them go smoothly, and starting early can help spare me insanity if we get constant spring rains again this year, which preclude a lot of yard work when everything turns to a mud puddle.