Spotlight spent a little time in the spotlight in June and July!

The lovely katiebird reviewed it for Bookish Temptations and gave it 3.5-4 stars. Woohoo! Read the full review here.

I loved the thoughtfulness of her review and that she understood Lily’s perspective: “I appreciate what it is like to want support an actor but not invade his privacy.” Yes! That’s exactly how Lily feels – and how I suspect many fans feel about their favorites.

Thanks, katiebird, for taking time to read Spotlight and review it!

And a couple of weeks ago, I had the opportunity to do a book signing at Foxleaf Bookstore in my hometown. I’m so grateful to everyone who came out to see me and to Charion for allowing me to host it at her store. It was an amazing day!

They say you can’t go home again … but I’m not so sure that’s true. I love Louisiana, but Rocky Top will always be home sweet home to me.

So, I’m heading home – and bringing Spotlight with me!

I’ll be doing a book signing from 11 a.m.-1 p.m. July 6 at FoxLeaf Bookstore in Cookeville, and I hope you’ll come by. Check out all the details here.

See y’all there!

Time passes so quickly, doesn’t it?

I realize I sound like a proud parent … and in some ways, I suppose I am. My first-born book celebrates its first birthday this week!

It’s hard for me to believe that’s been a year since Spotlight was released. What a year it’s been! This experience has been everything I expected it to be and nothing I expected it to be.

I am so, so grateful to everyone who has taken the time to read Spotlight. You all have no idea how much it means to me.

If you have read it, I’d love to know what you think of it. Reviews are super-important, so I hope you’ll take a quick minute to leave one!

Here are a few places you can find it:

Barnes and Noble

Amazon (paperback)

Amazon (Kindle edition)

TWCS Publishing House

Kobo

iBooks

Don’t forget it’s on Goodreads, too. Add it to your lists!

Thanks again for being part of this remarkable journey! 🙂

When I was a little girl, one of my favorite parts of grocery shopping with my mom was standing in the checkout line.

Nope – I’m not kidding.

I loved reading the headlines on all the tabloids. The National Enquirer was always my favorite. Not that I actually believed Elvis was alive and chowing down on burgers at some truck stop outside Tulsa, mind you. But there was something intriguing about their creativity.

I must admit – I still do get a kick out of those headlines. But the world of entertainment news has changed quite a bit since the “Enquiring Minds Want To Know” campaign in the ’80s. That was before paparazzi were implicated in the death of Princess Diana. That was before reality TV gave us so many more people to gossip about.

Now we have entire networks dedicated to entertainment news. Now were have publications like OK! and Life & Style and Radar Online. Perhaps it’s even more important to consider the source.

In Spotlight, Lily talks frequently about being a reliable source for entertainment news. Much like her, I believe there *is* a difference between news and gossip. And it’s all in the source.

I do believe there are outlets that accurately and fairly report entertainment news. And I believe there are outlets that do not. So which ones do you trust? Enquiring minds want to know …

More than 10 years ago, J.Lo. taught us that love don’t cost a thing.

Well, perhaps that’s not necessarily true. In this case, love will cost you 99 cents.

To celebrate Valentine’s Day, several books offered by The Writer’s Coffee Shop will go on sale – including Spotlight! From Feb. 14-15, you can get the Spotlight ebook for 99 cents.

So, if you haven’t read Lily’s story, this is a great opportunity to get it. Stay tuned on Facebook and Twitter for more details and links!

After all … 99 cents seems like a small price to pay for a little romance …

It’s been an eventful year, and I have so much to be grateful for this Thanksgiving.

For me, publishing a book was a more-than-one-woman job. And in the spirit of Thanksgiving, I wanted to take a moment to share my gratitude.

I’m thankful to the TWCS team – especially Jenn for designing a beautiful cover and the fabulously wonderful editors who helped my words take shape.

I’m thankful to my family for being more than understanding when I was on deadline and for spreading the word about Spotlight when it came out.

I’m thankful to Amanda and Donny for giving me even more inspiration and the rest of my friends for their support and excitement about this book.

I’m thankful to everyone who has purchased and reviewed my book. I hope you’ve enjoyed Lily, Nate and Daniel’s story as much as I have!

And now it’s your turn … what are you giving thanks for this week? Share the gratitude!

The very first thing my pals at The Writer’s Coffee Shop told me about attending the Texas Book Festival was to save room in my luggage for books.

They weren’t kidding!

My weekend in Austin for the Texas Book Festival was full of lots of book promotion, lots of book talk and lots of … well … books! (Confession: My luggage was, in fact, significantly heavier on the way back.)

I had a blast getting to spend time with two of Spotlight‘s fabulous editors and getting to know some of my fellow super-talented TWCS authors. I also had a chance to sign a few books (see above!). And I even got talk with some amazing writers (R.S. Grey – it was a pleasure to meet you!).

If you’re a literature lover and hear about a book festival in your area – make plans to attend! It’s a fun way to indulge your love of books and support local writers.

And for your writers out there who are participating in NaNoWriMo – good luck!!!

Next weekend (Oct. 25 and 26), I – along with several other awesome authors from The Writer’s Coffee Shop – will be attending the Texas Book Festival in Austin.

AND WE’LL BE SIGNING BOOKS!!!

I’ll be at Exhibitor Tent 4, Booths 411-412, at 1:30 p.m. on Oct. 26. And my friends and fellow writers at TWCS will be at that same spot throughout the weekend. Come by and see us and get your book signed!

And happiest of happy birthdays to TWCS, celebrating its fourth year. I’m honored to be part of the team! Congrats to all who won prizes during the big TWCS 4th Birthday Party!

We all have those moments where things become … real.

It’s no different for writers.

I’ve had many surreal moments throughout the publishing of Spotlight.

Typing “THE END” after 103,000 words.

Signing my publishing contract.

Approving the final edited version.

Holding the printed copy in my hands for the first time.

But perhaps none have been as surreal as cruising through my local Barnes & Noble and seeing my own book. Right there. On the shelves. For people to buy.

I may or may not have done a little happy dance right there in the aisle. And then captured the above photographic evidence.

If you haven’t picked up a copy, you can get Spotlight from Amazon and Barnes & Noble. And if you do, don’t forget to leave a review!