Tomorrow, after I work most of the day at my day job, I'm heading to the airport to New York City.

Dreamspinner is having a writer's workshop there on Friday, and then on Saturday, I'll be working at the Rainbow Book Fair from 3:30 to 5:30. Mostly, I'll be at the Dreamspinner Press tables, though I also hope to get a little shopping done myself.

I need more books. Really.

It should be a great time. I'm looking forward to meeting my fellow authors and seeing what everyone has to offer and maybe even meeting some fans. Stop on by if you're in the area and say hi!

In case you missed it, my brother is currently deployed on the USS Abraham Lincoln and they have just had their cruise extended for a second time. I'm collecting money and giving out names to send some of the sailors packages as they aren't very happy at the moment.

So far, I've collected $88 and sent addresses of three sailors out, which is awesome. I still have 13 names, and I'm going to use the money I've gotten and anything else I get to make sure each of them gets a package too. Currently, the plan is to buy a box or two of Girl Scout cookies (which also supports transgender rights) and some condiments to send to each of them.

If you'd still like to help, I'll be collecting through March 9, which is my next payday, and sending stuff out that weekend. You can go here to donate or request a name. Feel free to signal boost if you're so inclined.

Thanks again to everyone who has helped. More news soon, I promise.

For those of you who don't know, my brother is in the US Navy and is currenlty in month three of what was supposed to be a five month cruise on the USS Abraham Lincoln. However, this week, they found out that it was extended a second time, and what was supposed to be a five month cruise is now over nine months, and it might go longer as they're in a war zone right now. Unlike soldiers on the ground, they don't get days off or leisure unless they're in a port, so they're working seven days a week while they're at sea.

The sailors are not very happy about it.

In order to help cheer them up, I've gotten names and addresses from my brother, and I'm arranging packages to be sent to them. Personally, I'm sending Girl Scout Cookies (since that comes with the added bonus of supporting trangender rights), condiments (because the food is apparently very bland on board and they really appreciate things like that), and whatever else I can come up with.

However, I can't do it all on my own, so I'm looking for a little help. I'm offering two options.

Option 1:

Click the donate button below and give whatever you're able. I'll use the money to purchase Girl Scout Cookies, condiments, etc. and to pay for postage to send it to sailors on the Lincoln. Any donation amount is appreciated, even if it's just a dollar or two, and I'll post updates here as to what I send.

Option 2:

If you'd rather send stuff yourself, leave a comment here or send an email to nessa.l.warin (at) gmail (dot) com, and I'll send you the name and address of one of the sailors on the USS Abraham Lincoln. The only thing I ask is that, if you choose this option, you be sure to send something—whatever you want to send—as I'll be removing the name from my list of people to send to.

Either way, I and the sailors on the Lincoln appreciate anything I can do.

If you've ever wondered how Dylan and Brendan from Sauntering Vaguely Downward celebrate romantic events, be sure to check out SJD Peterson's blog today. I interviewed them for SJD's A-Z Valentine Blog feature.

If you go check it out, be sure to look at the other days too. Lots of great authbors participated and there are prizes to be won, including an ebook copy of Sauntering Vaguely Downward.

~*~

In other news, I've been working hard at the writing. I hve one novel back from the beta reader and another out with them. I'm now working on a short time travel story I hope to use for the Time is Eternity anthology. I'm really excited about it, so I hope I can pull it off.

The Rainbow Book fair is rapidly approaching, and I'm almost breathless with anticipation. It will be my first official Dreamspinner event and I'm looking forward to meeting everyone and participaring in the author seminar the day before the bookfair. And then, then! There's a bookfair! In New York City! (Where I've never been but have wanted to go for a long time.) Can you tell I'm excited? I realized the other day that I forgot to budget for books in my expenses, so I had to increase the budget. (If only I'd remembered that before I bought the new TV.)

I'm also going to go to at least one other DSP event this year. I'm hoping for Yaoi Con, but that wiki depend when it is. I'm already going to Dragon*Con and my stepbrother is getting married in August, so time off from the day job is at a premium in the fall. I hope to make it work, though.

Anyway, back to the day job. Someday, I hope to not have to work fill time so I can focus more on writing, but that day is not today. I hope you enjoy the interview!

For those of us here in the Northern Hemisphere, winter still has us in its grip. To help warm up those cold winter nights, Dreamspinner is offering 20% off all our eBook and paperback titles this weekend. Stock up now and save!

My titles can be found here, but be sure to check out the other great authors too!

I just signed a contract for a new novel to be published with Dreamspinner Press in July/August of this year. It's currently titled Stamp of Fate, and here's the blurb:

A dead body is never good news, but when Tadd and Declan return home to find one in their foyer, it's especially troublesome. Most people know the dead woman as a curator at the local museum, but Tadd and Declan recognize her as someone from their distant past—Athena, the Greek goddess of wisdom and strategic warfare. To Tadd and Declan, it's more than a murder. It's a threat to the lives they've worked so hard to build and a reason for them do something they haven't done in centuries—unleash their true selves.

They once again don the mantles of Ares and Hermes, but when they start investigating their fellow Olympians, Tadd and Declan discover that things are far more complicated than they seem. As the body count keeps mounting, tracking the killer becomes more and more dangerous, and the investigation starts to interfere with Tadd and Declan's relationship. Can they patch things up in time to find the killer, or are they destined to become victims too?

Welcome to 2012! Yes, I know, I'm late, but it is my first post of the year, so it counts, right? Right. (Leave me my delusions. They're part of my imagination.)

I have lots planned for 2012, including trying to expand this into something more than a "me rambling about my writing successes" blog and trying some new promotional things, but we'll see how it goes. I've got the writing side of this whole being a author thing down most days, but the rest of it is a little more challenging. I set all sorts of goals (not resolutions) for what I want to accomplish writing-wise in 2012, but I have one to add here.

Work on promoting myself more.

Honestly, the scariest part about being a published author is not just that my work is out there for anyone to read and comment on, but that I have to do more than just put it out there. I have to force it out there, shove it in people's faces and make sure that everyone knows what it is and where they can find it so I can generate more sales. My publisher does a good job promoting, and I appreciate it, but I need to take advantage of the opportunities they offer me as well find other ways to promote. I need to do chats and blog hops and figure out how to generate more traffic here.

I need to put myself out there, not just my books, and for the shy little girl that still lurks inside me, that's a very scary thing. I'm going to give it a shot, though, so if anyone has any ideas or advice, they'd be greatly appreciated. I'm still trying to find my footing in this world of being a published author, and I'll take any help I can get.

One thing I have done is set up Kindlegraphs. I think I may have mentioned it when I set up one for Sauntering Vaguely Downward, but now there's one for The Stars Are Brightly Shining as well. I have yet to get a request for one, but if you have an electronic copy of either (whether it's for a Kindle or not), you can get an electronic signature from me to add to the file.

So here's to a great 2012. May it exceed all of our expectations.

I am so far behind thanks to the craziness of the holiday season, but I did a "Naughty or Nice" interview at SJD Peterson's blog.

You can read it here.

Thanks SJD!

The Stars Are Brightly Shining comes out today!

Corbin wants to make a good impression on his lover’s family, so when Neil docks the Wanderer at the space station Noel Prime on the Christmas tree planet of Navidia, they set out together to find the perfect tree. On their quest, they relive the enchantment of their first times, and on their journey to Neil’s childhood home, they realize that magic is sometimes in the surprises and that if their love is true, the Wanderer is always home.

It's available as an ebook here.

Also, if you visit our Facebook Page, you will find a code for 15% off one entire order over the next year. Go check it out!

I was interviewed by Sue Brown on her blog about Sauntering Vaguely Downward.

The interview can be found here.

Thanks Sue!