This week has been full of the unexpected for me. There was certainly plenty of progress, but at the same time, I got lost in the chaos and I can't believe it is already Saturday!

While I don't want to share much of the personal things that happened over the week, know there have been a lot of tears. 

Sometimes my favorite thing about being an author and owning a business is that good things still happen that allow me to cheer and smile when smiling might seem impossible.

I received an order yesterday for Awkwardly Strong and a t-shirt from my website. And this is not an every day occurrence for me. It's been at least a month, so this was a bit of a thrill to see it come in!

I also made progress on fulfilling the Kickstarter campaign, Madamn is waiting on proofs to be sent to me for final approval, and the bookmarks story just kind of makes me happy.

So I ordered bookmarks from a local supplier that didn't have the 2 bottom graphics and were HUGE. So they apologized, let me take them home while we worked on a corrected version. Turns out their software doesn't play nice with Canva, where I do my designs, so I ordered replacements directly from Canva.

But I hated the thought of just throwing away 120 bookmarks, even if I didn't pay for them. 

I took it to social media where there were so many great ideas from people, some even liking them as they are.

In the end, I took a paint pen and signed all 120 in the blank space and I'm so happy with how they turned out. So now I'm STOCKED with bookmarks for the Kickstarter, as well as book signings! I'm so excited about it!

Look how good they turned out!

Anyways, I'm going to spend a day away from the business and spent time with my husband today.

Rest and recover is so important and I'm so grateful I'm in a place where that is an option!

Happy Birthday Ernestine!

Hey friend! I'm currently enjoying the relaxation of the Reader's Escape, so it will be a short post this week. I'd like to say I'm enjoying the break, but most of my reading has consisted of reading and re-reading Madamn. 

The formatting software has changed and things are not translating correctly, so I'm reading to find fonts and sizes changed, missing accents and making sure italics are where they need to be. 

It is weird because there are times I just get lost in the story and I'm enjoying it, but also, I'm tired of reading the same book and I want to read something new!

Not to mention, it's a bit of a kick in the gut knowing today is Ernestine's birthday and should have been launch day... yet I'm still reading and re-reading and re-reading...

But there are fewer mistakes each run through and I should still be ready to launch in September. Although prayers, good energy, etc. are all welcome and appreciated!

But if nothing else, I need to make sure I acknowledge the 225th birthday of Ernestine Emilie Prondre de Guermantes. Not to mention this is 200 years since she saw Dr. Itard and put things in motion for a diagnosis of Tourette syndrome to be possible.

I have loved getting to know this woman and her story and I really am so excited to share with you!

Happy birthday, Em!

Launch Update for Madamn!

This week has simply flown by! It's funny, when I first left full-time employment, I felt like I had SO MUCH TIME and was crazy productive. I got so much done and still felt like I had extra time on my hands to relax.

But apparently the relaxing part has taken over a bit.

Time is a fickle thing. I heard someone earlier this week compare it to money. They said that both have to have a plan or they can disappear through your fingers. 

But every once in a while, I just need out of the strict and scheduled routine, so I haven't used my planner at all this week.

But then I realize how little I'm able to get done and need to get back in the habit. It's a complicated balance.

It means I had to officially reschedule my launch date for Madamn because it's not done and won't be done in time to launch in just one week. 

I do still plan on attending my Reader's Escape and a tea party to celebrate Em's birthday next week, while plugging away at my novel.

It's so close, I can taste it. 

So mark your calendars for a launch on September 22, 2025.

Even better, if you are in the United States, you can finally pre-order your copy on my website! 

This is for the physical books. If you are more of an e-reader, it is currently available on Amazon for preorder as well.

It was a really difficult decision to change the launch date since I was so set on publishing on Em's birthday, but I do think she would be proud of my efforts and I know we both want to put out the best possible story.

It still is the 225th anniversary of her birth this year, so I'm still happy with how things are progressing and moving forward.

Be sure to get your copy, because it is going to be amazing!

Happy International Cat Day!

I don't know how it is Friday already, but can I just tell you how excited I am to finally have Madamn with the formatter?

I actually spent part of yesterday wondering what to do with myself, before I remembered all of the other things I have going on and had to do. There is still a Kickstarter campaign to fulfill, I'm on the board for a local book festival that I had a meeting and assignments for, etc.

So I am keeping busy, but there is just so much less...pressure. 

I am able to accomplish so much more now that I'm not so focused on finishing the book because it is DONE. At least as much as I can do. 

So assuming all goes well with the formatter, I am still on track for my soft launch on Em's birthday! Which would really make me so happy.

I am however, still working on the issues regarding my physical cover. 

One exciting thing this week, I finally have the stickers to fulfill the Kickstarter campaign. If I was smart, I ordered extra that I can have a few extra to sell at book signings, but we will see what I did. But look how good they turned out!!

The lighting isn't the best, but I'm still quite happy with how they turned out. 

Also, it's apparently International Cat Day, so I have to give a shout out to these little cuties.

This is Bella and Scooter and I love them. So today I also want all the snuggles with these two while I plug along with promotion and fulfillment and figuring out what is going on with my physical books.

Hope you have a marvelous weekend!

Important Update

How has another week passed already?? Good news, it was productive. Bad news, I still have lots to do. 

Upon receiving more feedback from beta readers (some of them even having the updated version!), I still have lots to fix. One of them I've been working on for the past 2 days and I'm still only a third of the way through it. 

Things are getting a bit tight if I'm keeping to this deadline of publishing on Em's birthday... which unfortunately means I will likely have to delay publication for a month or so. I'm not sure details yet, I'm still considering a soft launch for the book, allowing the ebook to launch on schedule, but delay the print copies.

I'm not sure exactly what yet, I just know there will be some changes regarding the official launch. I'll keep you posted when I know what those are. For now, I'm still plugging away at it to attempt getting it done in a timely manner.

Which means this will be another short post so I can get back to it. 

I'm just SO glad and grateful we are finding all of this before it goes out! Beta readers are amazing and I'm so glad that I've got such talented people willing to help me out during crunch time! 

Hope you have a fabulous weekend, don't forget to pray for me!