Busy, busy, busy!

I cannot believe that we're at the end of September. 63 days remain before Mending Heartstrings is scheduled to release. Just over 30 days remain before the start of November, and with it, NaNoWriMo. After this past weekend, I have only one last turn remaining as a Flash! Friday judge.

Perspective, right? The inexorable passage of time is really getting to me at this point. As exciting as moments like deciding which kinds of swag to order for giveaways [Ideas? Share them in the comments!], I am also a bit overwhelmed, as there is so much to do. 

In the next few months, Mending Heartstrings will go through its final proofread, swag will be designed and ordered, a blog tour will likely be planned, and then this book, after about 25 months from when I first started writing it, will finally reach readers. 

Meanwhile, my two completed manuscripts continue their trajectory, hopefully toward publication. High holidays have started and will continue through mid-October. November will see me flying to Kalamazoo (real place, I promise!) for family reasons, and it is of course the start of the more active holiday season.  As I already mentioned, it is also NaNoWriMo. 

Sadly, reason makes me question whether I should take part in this annual writing extravaganza. Between traveling and preparing for the release on December 2nd, it seems impractical to simultaneously attempt to write 50,000 fresh new words. At the same time, I'm concerned about postponing writing something new for much longer. Yes, I have plenty to take care of with the works I've already written, but is a writer who doesn't write still a writer?

Random musings and stress aside, I do hope to return to a more regular posting schedule. 

Meanwhile, tell me how you are! What are your plans for this fall?

Mending Heartstrings Cover Reveal!

Here it is — the cover for my very own novel, Mending Heartstrings. I would absolutely love to hear your thoughts and reactions in the comments!  Please of course feel free to share this. Thanks to Xpresso Book Tours for organizing this reveal!

Mending Heartstrings

by Aria Glazki

Release Date: December 2, 2014

Swoon Romance

Bloggers Wanted: Mending Heartstrings Cover Reveal!

It's amazing how little moments along a journey catch you with the realization that this massive undertaking is actually happening. The original publisher's marketplace announcement seemed like such a moment, even with the foreknowledge that the path from a contract to publication would still be time-consuming and complicated. In a way, though, it still didn't feel real. 

I'm not sure that anything short of seeing my book published will actually make me internalize that all of this is actually happening, but the scheduling of the cover reveal is certainly having an impact. We're getting close!

September 19th, the cover for my novel Mending Heartstrings will officially be revealed.

Pinch me now, or better yet, sign up for the reveal organized by Xpresso Book Tours! And thanks as always for your support!

Scripting Change Submission Call!

I genuinely intended to post this earlier, but the day got away from me as they so often do lately. But I wanted to make sure to share that Scripting Change — the wonderful community writing project — is currently accepting submissions for their second project!

The rundown: 

• The project accepts poetry (up to 3 pages) and short fiction (up to ~1500 words)
• You can submit up to 3 pieces, and they'll select up to 2
• 100% of the project's proceeds are donated!
• Proceeds = cost of book — % taken by the distributor
• This year's project is focusing on supporting literacy advocacy, with the theme Opening Worlds with Words
• Writers receive: 
• Exposure! Your work will be published in a collection alongside established and aspiring authors plus your information, with link, will be posted on the Scripting Change website.
• The book! You receive a copy of the final e-book.
• Karm points! This is all for charity!
• Check out all the details here!

Let's be honest, a short story or poem won't take that long to write, but it could make a difference in the lives of children and adults who struggle with literacy. I know our community (writers, that is) is a strong and generous one, and literacy should certainly be a cause near and dear to our hearts. I hope you will join me in supporting this project! 

Follow Scripting Change:

Follow @ScriptingChange

Cover Reveal: Hemlock Veils

So excited to share with everyone the cover of fellow Swoon Romance author Jennie Davenport's debut, Hemlock Veils! Check it out below, don't forget to add it to your goodreads bookshelf, and of course, let us know what you think in the comments!

Hemlock Veils

by Jennie Davenport

Release Date: 11/25/14

Swoon Romance

Rumer Haven's Inspiration for Seven for a Secret

I've always wanted to write an old-fashioned, single-setting mystery in the vein of Hitchcock's Rear Window or Agatha Christie's And Then There Were None. Okay, so Seven for a Secret ended up not being that story (my WIP is, though! Sorta.), but what did stick was having a building essentially be another character, a place where all the main characters could be centralized and observe strange phenomena around them—and not be able to escape each other.

In Seven for a Secret, that building is Camden Court. And in real life, I lived in a very similar apartment building called Hampden Court in Chicago's Lincoln Park (where I also developed an obsession with the Francis Dewes house down the block on Wrightwood Avenue. I used to gawk at that urban mansion just like Kate does at the Hughes house). Fascinated with Chicago history in general and this neighborhood in particular, I'd been told Hampden Court was once a hotel, built back around 1920, and that just gripped me—the idea that so many lives had come and gone through that same space for so many decades. I look at any building that way, which inspires a lot of my writing, but for this story, Hampden Court was my muse.