May your bouquet be beautifully chaotic

Look, I don't know that I'm usually one to make my blog titles overly poetic. Punny? Sure! Forthright. Absolutely! But poetic? Not so much.

But May is the month where I feel like I've got the garden where I just tossed a bag of random seeds into a yard then spent months waiting for it to grow. Now, almost as soon as May 1st hits, I'm surrounded with the effects of my actions.

It's the end of the academic year and my kiddos are big into the whole "spirit" part of school. My eldest's school has an "alphabet countdown" where they start with the Spirit days when there are 26 school days lefts. Yeah. You thought those weeklong events were bad? Try nearly a month and a half of coming up or finding things for these children to wear or bring! Jersey day. Hat day. Decades day (which, my kid chose to wear Percy Jackson and Greek/Roman mythology, bookish merch to represent the BC decades. So I might be in the running for Parent of the Year. Just sayin...)

There's also the not-so-fun part of academics. I have meetings each year to determine what services my youngest might need for the upcoming school year. This year, after 6 years of various services and levels of interactions, it was determined my kiddo would no longer need ANY regular assistance! This was a huge milestone but also meant another meeting to confirm termination. I have multiple assessments to review for both kids; they have state testing. And, oh yeah, we've got Field Days coming up!

And that's just the school stuff.

Personally, I'll be celebrating 8 years married, 13 years together with Babe this month. We also have several birthdays to celebrate plus Mother's Day is in May. I'm trying to talk Babe into doing one of those challenges for our anniversary. Where we go into a store and by the other: their fave snack, fave drink, something in their favorite color, and something they need. I've always wanted to do that and our anniversary feels like a good time.

Professionally, I still in awe of everything I'll be getting to do this month and/or early June.

eBooks are Live!

As of today (Thursday, May 1st), I finally can list my pro-hockey romance series on my own personal website! This decision was made after years of stating I would stay on Kindle Unlimited. Honestly, the entire time I thought there was no way I would ever pull my books from the subscription service. I always talk about how I was that person: the mom at home with a newborn, a family of three living solely on my partner's income. How, if I wanted to support my reading habit, KU was the only way I could do that.

But lately, I've noticed that AI has flooded KU with shitty "books," dropping the amount per page that I would get paid to less than a QUARTER OF A PENNY. $0.0025 per page. There was a lot of chatter about boycotting the big boys of consumerism, and that included Amazon and KU; this definitely didn't help me grow or support my family.

I want to say that I didn't make the transition easily. And I'm not doing it to gouge my readers. The prices on my website are the same as on the Zon. Actually, if you order directly from my store and have the promo code I share with my newsletter subscribers, you can receive a discount and get them for cheaper! That's how much I want to show what you mean to me. It's not about making it big, but it's also not about letting myself be taken advantage of my AI and big corporations. Not when I can take control.

Speaking of prices...

Called Up and Full Court Press are on Sale!

I've decided to set Called Up and Full Court Press to just 99 cents for the month of May.

With it being hockey playoffs as well as the end of the college basketball season, it felt fitting to give you readers these intro stories at a banger of a deal! You can get both on Amazon, but remember: Called Up is on my store too!

Called Up: Amazon Rosie's Store

Full Court Press on Amazon

Audiobooks coming soon

That's right! I have Man Coverage back under contract! Jennifer Walls, the incredible voice actor that gave us Court & Clara's story in FCP, is back to bring Becky & Beau's love to the next level. I am so grateful to have this incredible person in my corner and know she's going to give us the version we deserve.

Not only that, but I have Playing Hooky and In The Zone also under contract! These books are in various stages of production, but I've been in communication with both VA and love what I'm hearing so far. Louise Cooksey will narrate Spencer & Ryleigh's story, while Paxton Hite will have you shivering when he gives us Conor's infamous line in an Irish accent!

All of these books will be available on Audible but not until later in 2025.

Author Elevation Hub: COMING SOON!

The Author Elevation Hub will go live on Monday, May 19th! This multi-tiered program offers community, education, and support to anyone who is or wants to be an author.

I'm partnering with Amy Vogel, author of incredible works such as The Assist and Teleosis, to bring a well-rounded Hub to our members. Subscriptions start as lo as $10/month that offer community access and body-doubling. We'll have options to fit all of your needs. And you're not locked in to any one level. So, say one month you just need to log into our Discord and have someone sit with you while you write your manuscript, but then the next month you need the full shebang: coaching, marketing advice, branding assistance, maybe even some PA help... you can go up and down the levels as you need. Or add Ala Carte options and customize the experience to be exactly what you need, when you need it!

What would you think if I told you we're currently allowing "Founding Members" to receive a reduced rate... that you will be grandfathered with each month? Sound like something you might be interested in: Saving money while achieving your dreams? Hmmmm....

The HUB's website

"Clear My TBR" Summer Reading Challenge

I have a goal for 2025 that I want to read more of the books I already own. But, I mean... there's just so many books out and coming that sound soooo good! How am I supposed to stop reading the new ones just to grab one already on my shelves?

Well... Game-ify it, of course!

I've decided that I'm going to knock 2 birds from my "25 for 2025" list with a single stone. Read more books I own and Complete a Reading Challenge. I've tried those ABC challenges, the Tropes/genres ones, all kinds. But as a mood reader, it's really difficult to stick with the guidelines of those. Plus, most are like the whole year and my ADD won't let me focus on something for that long.

That's why I'm doing a Summer Challenge.

Each week, running from Memorial Day (5/26) through the week of Labor Day (9/7), I will read a random book that I already own. Not one that I've preordered or know is coming; but a book that, if I wanted to, I could pull from my shelves (physical OR audiobook) RIGHT NOW. I chose well over twenty, so there's a lot of options. Then I had a friend put them through a randomizer. They created a fun graphic revealing the secret story.

On Monday, they will send me that week's corresponding selection. I will have until 11:30pm CST on Sunday to finish the story. That's when my break at work ends. If I complete this 100%, If I do it 75%, I will gift myself lunch out. (This also means I can't just do takeout all the time or my "gift" will be worthless, so I'll save even more money!). If I do 50%, I will gift myself a bookmark from my friend who has a small business. Anything less than 50% means I have to redo the challenge completely to fulfill my 25 for 2025 list. Anything between 50-100% would be like I finished the book, but not within the week; that kind of thing.

If you want to follow along, I've included a screen shot of all the book options I pulled. You can use these (libraries are great if you don't want to spend anything for this challenge) or you can do your own TBR challenge and just keep with the format. I'll be sharing this process over on my IG, so you can comment what you're reading and how you like it.

Romance Events

Summer is a great time for romance readers and authors. It's when we get to go out and interact with people just like us!

I'm heading back to Wild & Windy in the City: Chicago at the start of May. I'm actually taking my SIL so I'll get to experience it "for the first time, again." A few of the women I met last year and I have reached out, making sure we'll be able to catch up again. We might be once-a-year friends, but man--- it's freaking awesome! The energy at something like that, where dozens of our favorite authors are gathered to meet with us, sign our books, chat with us... where other readers share their favorites and eagerly introduce you to that author. True story. A random attendee saw me alone and took me under their proverbial wing. They "drug" me to Piper Rayne's table and there I was, in a group, chatting with PIPER Freaking RAYNE! I can't wait to see what situation I find myself in this year!

That's not all.

For those of you who were around last year, you might remember that I participated in the Romance Hockey League's Virtual Book signing. This year, we're doing things a bit different but it'll be a similar vibe. I'm actually sharing the slot with Taylor Delong. Together we'll be talking about our books, our experiences, and answering questions you might have. We're doing another "Power Play" experience where you get prizes for showing up to each attending author's hour.

This even will take place Friday June 6th through Saturday, June 7th. I cannot wait to see you there!

Speaking of sharing the spotlight...

SpotLight Sunday

Starting Sunday, May 4th, I will be highlighting a single author each week. Snippets of banter, spicy scenes, blurbs, or even the occasional full chapter; there's bound to be someone new to you. An author you never heard of that suddenly you can't stop reading. That's how it goes for me!

I know I'm a fairly small indie author. I don't imagine that I'll make this massive impact. But I also know that lifting up others is something universal, a free way to support someone. And that's been my overarching passion since I read Jay Shetty's Think Like a Monk as part of my book club a few years back.

If you want to see what's out there, just follow me and find authors you didn't know you needed to know!

And finally...

Upcoming Projects!

I can't believe that we're a third of the way through 2025! That's crazy to me. Not just because it means four months have flown by without me realizing it... but also because that means I'm four months closer to the release of my newest projects.

I have two currently in progress.

The first is Sin Bin: my Dropped Puck/6th Man Series crossover novella. This short will be available exclusively through a promo that is running through the length of the summer; it won't be available until June 1st and you'll have to subscribe to my newsletter to receive your copy.

The other is Book 4 in my 6th Man Series. This is JP and Honey's story... the player and the coach's daughter. It's got me giggling and blushing --and I'm the one writing it! These two are going to keep us on our toes, that's for sure.

Currently there is no official release date so keep an eye out.

Okay. I think that's it. Honestly, I HOPE that's it. I don't know that I could fit anything else into these next few weeks!