I’m a little late on this announcement, but I’m happy to share that I was a Featured Author at the Three Black Cats store in Albuquerque, New Mexico.
Three Black Cats is an excellent snarky gift store that started as an Etsy shop and has blown up as a prominent place with its own brick-and-mortar store. In addition to the great items they offer, such as wine tumblers, home decor, clothes, and more, they also display a Little Free Library and provide free books to patrons. This month, I was the featured author and gratefully donated copies of my books, business cards, and bookmarks to share with new readers.
I will admit, the owner of Three Black Cats is a long-time friend of mine, and she is generously giving exposure in her shop to indie authors like myself. I couldn’t be more grateful and appreciative of this opportunity!
I’m hoping this sparks some motivation in me to finish editing some of my new stories. I admit I have opened up the file for my in-progress May-December romance story, “Autumn Fire” and started editing it again. Fingers crossed!
Here are some of the displays from the Three Black Cats store. It makes me so happy that people have taken my books! I am also honored to be mentioned on their widely followed Instagram page.
I highly recommend you check out their Etsy shop. And if you’re in the Albuquerque area, please visit their store!
This year I’m finishing some WIPs. Some are fanfics, some are short stories, and another one is a longer fic that I just haven’t been able to finish. My goal is to FINISH what I’ve started. It’s hard for me to finish incomplete stories, so I’m hoping this year’s NaNoWriMo will help me change that habit.
Tonight I started writing! It was hard with a needy dog and a wild toddler vying for my attention, but I managed to get a healthy word count in. Yay!
Yay, I’m doing NaNoWriMo this year. I hope I can finish it. I haven’t been able to finish it for a while. I get started, but I never make the word count. It’s been even harder since I’ve become a mom, and I really miss writing so I hope this works out. Now that I work from home, I’m hoping to find writing time during downtime or slow periods and keep up a healthy cadence.
Is anyone else doing NaNoWriMo this year? Add me as a buddy and drop a comment below with your screen name and I’ll add you back. Mine is hkrowe.
Here is another short Japanese drama, Coffee & Vanilla, which is based on a very steamy josei manga. The manga targets young women and is more explicit when it comes to sexual and adult themes. To be frank, the manga is very beautiful with wonderfully drawn characters, and yes, it’s full of a lot of smut.
The show itself is about 10 episodes and does have a bit of implied adult themes, more so than your typical Japanese romance and dramas.
The show follows the premise of a shy, reserved college woman named Risa who is so beautiful she is constantly leered at by any male who encounters her. Sometimes men get aggressive bordering on assault.
She is basically almost assaulted in the first episode at her favorite coffee spot by some random dude (stalker) who insists she go out with him. Luckily she is rescued by a gorgeous businessman named Hiroto Fukami who manages to scare off the flies buzzing around her and save her from possibly being raped or dragged off by men who don’t take no for an answer.
The problem with Risa is she is very meek and does not seem to have the backbone or agency to successfully ward off dudes on her own.
Enter Hiroto, who comes to her rescue and in the end, asks her to dinner. It’s okay though, he’s rich and handsome so he poses no threat, right? It helps that he’s played by Dori Sakurado, Japanese heart throb with a smoldering gaze that would make a table swoon.
Risa is predictably smitten, they have dinner and he’s so incredibly sweet and caring he convinces her to stay the night with him (oh, and she also gets drunk at dinner because she cannot hold her liquor).
Dori Sakurado – smoldering Japanese beauty (photo credit: IrozukouSubs)
I mean, as much shit as I’m talking at “I-have-no-agency-Risa”, I would bang him too. Not gonna lie. No alcohol is required.
The story after this is filled with misconceptions, Risa’s unending insecurities, other men who try to swoop in and break them up and just sugary sweet romantic scenes.
At one point Risa gives up on Fukami, only to come back to him easily which just makes you wonder in the end if she could actually live her life without him. He dries her tears, makes grandiose business plans for her, and gives her this comfortable little “cage” to keep her protected from the big scary world.
I didn’t care for the story itself, but I admit I didn’t mind watching 10 episodes of Dori Sakurado, sometimes shirtless. Okay so I’m trash. I did indulge in the whole series and enjoyed the romance and any scene Dori is in, even when he’s being possessive of Risa. I just got annoyed by Risa’s meekness, which I guess if you could get over, this is a show for you. I just prefer strong or quirky female leads (like Makino from Hana Yori Dango).
I kinda feel bad for the actress Haruka Fukuhara, who played this wet rag of a role. I know she’s awesome after her work on Good Morning Call.
Still worth the watch if you have time to kill and love pretty boys.
Holly says “Hello! And why aren’t you writing right now?”
I’m planning on several big changes for this site soon. There will be more sections added for reviews, articles, and other offerings. I plan on making this a little more active. It seems I say this and nothing happens, but I assure you it’s a lot of planning in my notebook and new posts will be coming soon as well as new stories and more insight and upcoming publications.
So far on the horizon you can expect:
Unbridled the second edition and new cover. I’m finishing up edits for this.
a camping themed short story
NaNoWriMo 2020 project – Hello, Professor – a new romance!
Articles on self-publishing, design and mindfulness
more reviews!
I hope everyone is staying safe and healthy during these crazy times.
I’m going to try to make this blog a little more active, even during this really hectic writing and editing period for me. So on weekends I intend to share something to help out another fellow independent artist or writer. Hopefully, you can check them out, give them kudos or drop a line, or check out whatever event their having and participate. Show some love! We’re all trying to make something of ourselves and do what we love.
The first recommendation is for a fellow writer Rebecca Crunden who is doing a Free Book Giveaway for her stand-alone book about angels and demons called A Game of Wings and Marks. I’m sure lovers of City of Bones would love this!
Comic artist Heather R. Holden is currently open for commissions. She does an online comic called Echo Effectand is working on her next comic The Undeath of Me. She is looking for Patreon patrons and freelance commissions. Please check out her Commissions Blog Post here.
Creatives thrive off making some extra money and starting a legitimate profession from their talents and endeavors. I hope you can help these talented ladies!
One of the hardest things as an independent writer is updating my blog with writing “things”. I’m definitely writing, yet some periods are slower than other, but this summer is one of the busiest writing times for me. I have multiple projects going on at once.
Come Halloween, I’m going to have two short stories in anthologies with other indie authors. One of the anthologies I’m organizing with other writers I’ve known for a long time, so it’s exciting. Though organizing it and keeping a schedule is the hard part! But it’s going well. Then, there’s another anthology I joined and I’m working on a story for that.
Plus, I’m still tapping away at War Fury, and the editing for Killer Orange has been a bit quiet. Most of the editing is in my head for ideas on how to improve it.
I’m also working on a couple side short stories – romance/erotica just to get more works in my library.
So here’s the list of my current projects:
Three Times Dead – my short story for the Ghosts anthology slated for Halloween
Little Girl Lost – another short story for a Halloween anthology
War Fury – the next book to Mod Fury
Blazing Heat – short story romance one-shot
outlining of Circle of Whispers, my series about Reapers
various editing of Killer Orange, fan works, and a couple of older short stories that might turn into something.
So yeah, I’m busy! I hope to be able to share something, as well as publish, soon!
The Free book promotion for Unbridled is over and I’m happy to say the book had a total of 223 downloads!
I appreciate everyone who took the chance to download my book. I hope you enjoy it!
I’m currently still working on a few projects, like War Fury and Killer Orange, and starting a couple new short stories. I will update everyone soon with the next published novel!
War Fury is the second novella in my Avenging Sisters Series. The first prequel short story, Mod Fury, will be released this Spring 2018.
The bad man had deprived her of this childhood with this wonderful woman and wonderful man, and now she had another life to live as she made a bargain with this goddess. Whatever that entailed, her future would never compare to the life she could have had with her mother.
“Come, we must go now. Your parents need their rest. After all, your mother is going to bring you a brother soon,” Nyx said.
The news startled Shana and she lifted up her head and wiped away tears and snot from her face. “What?” She met Nyx’s swirling starry eyes.
“Yes, your parents are going to have a baby. They will never give up searching for you, but they will never give up on their love either.”
“I’m going to have a brother?” Shana asked and though she felt joy, she almost felt jealous of the boy too. She didn’t mean to, and Nyx had read her emotions again.
“Do not worry about your future. I will take care of you, and you may see your family any time you wish, as long as it does not interfere with my duties,” Nyx said to her.
Shana sniffled and nodded once. “As long as I can see them someday…”
“Yes,” Nyx said. “Despite what is written about me, I am not a cruel goddess.”
Shana’s curiosity piqued at that statement, but she would trust this goddess. She had no choice. Nyx had saved her from a terrible fate from the bad man, and she gave her the gift of seeing her parents again.
You would think this blog is dead, wouldn’t you? But it’s not. I assure you. Don’t believe me? Well, I can’t help that.
Writing status:
Mod Fury is on it’s very very very last edits. I promise!
I signed up for Camp NaNoWriMo for April to work on War Fury, the next story. I started it back in November and plan to finish it for camp. Honest!
I have plans to update/organize The Sinner and the Serpent. SOON.
I have not given up on Killer Orange. Edits are going on. Voices won’t shut up. More scenes and rewrites are imminent.
Book Cover status:
I worked on a book cover for a fellow indie author Rebecca Crunden for her book Haze. I will post links and pictures when the book is out. I’m rather proud of it honestly.
H.K. Rowe 