All Things Pretty. Part two

****  UPDATE FROM 11:00 AM EST--  Hi, y'all!  So, when I wrote this book, I wanted to give you the best story that I could, but that meant going over my word count.  The only thing I could come up with was to break All Things Pretty into two parts. I didn't want to charge you for both parts, though, so I thought to offer the second part for free.  The problem with doing that via normal etailers is that Amazon won't let you put something for free initially. It has to be free everywhere else for a certain amount of time FIRST and then they price match it.  So if I did it that way, I knew I'd get lots of emails from people upset because they have to pay for the book on Amazon when it's free everywhere else.  So what was I to do? 

Well, I have a Mailchimp account for my newsletter subscribers. It has an automated feature that would allow for the file to be sent automatically based on your response to the questions that you were asked in the form that I requested you fill out.  Unfortunately, some of the instructions were overlooked by quite a few subscribers, which resulted in some confusion. Below, I'm pasting the instructions from the form you filled out to help you remedy this if you haven't already.

I have spent the entire morning responding to you as quickly as I can, only now I'm locked out of my google account because I've sent too many messages.  

I know you're frustrated, as am I.  This was intended to be a good thing, and I apologize for the inconvenience.  I'm doing everything I can, which isn't much since my email is frozen, but this is what I CAN do.  I'm going to get through today and get the file to as many of you as I can, with as little effort on your part as possible, and then I'm going to upload the file to all etailer sites for $0.99.  Hopefully at least Amazon (since the problem is primarily with kindles) will be live today.  The first part is novel length and the second part is novella length, so a buck is a fair price.  I'm still going to offer it to newsletter subscribers for free, but it will have to be downloaded a different way.  But still, there will be the option to purchase it online if downloading it for free is too cumbersome.

To those of you who have been so extraordinarily patient and understanding, you have my deepest gratitude.  If it weren't for you, I might've just run away today.  LOL  From the moment Amazon didn't publish the book until 4pm on release day until today, this book has had everything working against it.  Luckily, I love it so very much and I'm not giving up. It's one of my favorite stories, period.  So I'm going to do what I can to salvage this release and make it available to those who truly want to read and appreciate Sig.  I love y'all more than you know.  ****



Oh.  Em.  Geeeeeeeee!  It's finally here! I know it's only been 2 weeks since part one came out, but I've never had to cut up a book before and it has been almost excruciating to wait on the ending like this.  UGH!  But, I wanted to write the story the way that it needed to be written, which was longer than what I can publish, contractually, so... here we are.  Finally getting the ending. A little later, but so worth it, in my opinion.  Eeeeeeeeeep  I hope you love it as much as I do!

When I started out on this journey with Sig and Tommi, I never expected to encounter some of the things that I did.  Sig was even more amazing than I ever thought he could be.  He's funny and charming and strong and delicious.  But, as you'll see in this part, he's also fiercely protective.  I couldn't love him one bit more.

And Tommi...I knew she was tough. I knew she was determined.  But I never expected her to be so fragile.  She's like a delicate glass sculpture that's been bathed in steel. Life kicked and dented her, but never managed to break her.  I admire her so, so much.

I hope that y'all find as much love and happiness and satisfaction as I did in this ending.  And, as always, you know I'd love to hear from you after you read it:)

So, without further ado...

If you haven't read part one, you can find it everywhere!

Amazon 
Amazon UK
Barnes and Noble
iTunes
Kobo
Smashwords

If you HAVE read part one and you want to read the conclusion, you can sign up to receive it FREE OF CHARGE automatically through my newsletter here if you haven't already done so.

Happy reading and thank y'all so, so much for loving this story as much as I have!

Dracula and a winner

Just in case you're stopping by to check out the winner announcement from my "Therapy" post, I'll get to that first and then babble about my Dracula...errrr, I mean about Dracula next:)  hehe

Let me first thank y'all for your wonderful comments! I read every single one of them and they all made me so, so happy!  Happy that I shared with you and happy that many of YOU shared with ME, which was just more awesome than words.  So thank you.  Truly.

The winner via Random.org is Lauren Rosa.  Lauren, please contact me with your mailing address at m.leighton.books@gmail.com to receive your signed paperback:)

Now, Dracula...

*sigh*

Y'all this movie... OMG it was fabulous!

• It had great character development-- I loved Vlad from the beginning.  Almost his whole story is tragic, but that's what makes the sweet parts sweeter.  And he's sexy.  Very, VERY sexy.  That always helps:D hehe

• It had great action-- lots of epic battles and cool special effects.  

• It had a fantastic story-- hard-luck underdog willing to fight to the death for those he loves, even if it means becoming a monster to save them.  *swoon*

• It had vampires-- enough said.  

• And, the best part, it had tons of romance-- undying love, loyalty, and, of course, sacrifice.  *sniff sniff*  There was even one part where I was blinking away a few stray tears. In a vampire movie no less!  Y'all, it was  little embarrassing, which was why I was blinking them away. hehe  But I'm a sucker for that kind of...well, you'll know the part I mean when you get to it.

Yes, it was a "scary" action movie with a paranormal theme, but at it's heart (although most men will probably argue), it's a romance.  A wonderful romance!   I hope they make the sequel!

I know, I know. It's just a movie, but for me, it was also an incredible (and visual) reminder of what I adore about my job.  It reminded me that if I lovingly develop my characters, that if I let you see into all their parts (good and bad, strong and weak, broken and working), that if I carefully and meticulously tell you their story, there's a great chance that you'll love them as much as I do.  That you'll see them as I do, know them as I do.  And, to me, that's the most amazing thing in the world.  It's a large part of why I do what I do.  But it's also a privilege.  And I won't ever forget that it is.

So, in short, Dracula Untold is:  a fabulous Dracula origin story, a wonderful romance, a tragedy that somehow ends in hope and it has a sexy leading guy.  And it's a great date movie.  What's not to love?  If you've seen it, let me know your thoughts. If not, what the heck are you waiting for?  LOL

Happy Saturday, y'all!  Be safe and enjoy:)

Therapy

I feel like I should preface this (and every post forEVER after this) with the warning that rambling, divulging of inconsequential information, sharing of too much personal crap and the general telling of things that I probably ought-notta shall commence in 3--2--1...

So, you notice that the title of this post is THERAPY.  Because that's what I need.  I once heard a therapist say that even therapists need therapy, that everyone needs a safe place to talk about their problems, air out their feelings.  Is this a safe place?  I hope so.  It's certainly public enough. LOL  For that reason alone, I'll try to keep more...sensitive stuff to a minimum. hehe  I'd hate to get flagged or something.  If I'm not already.  *looks over shoulder*

For about the last year, I've struggled quite a bit, career-wise.  Add to that some health issues involving my family and it makes for some significant stress.  My knee-jerk reaction when I'm stressed or overwhelmed is to withdraw.  That's just the way I am.  That's probably not always the best course of action, though, so today I'm gonna use y'all (bless your hearts) as my therapists.  The cool thing is, you don't really have to do anything. Just listen.  Maybe make an encouraging comment here or there as you feel the need to.  If you do, that's fine. If you don't, that's fine, too.

See, what I'm learning is that you can't always rely on your friends to see when you're hurting and offer you some encouragement.  Sometimes NO ONE can fix what hurts, if it even CAN be fixed.  But hurt doesn't last forever. Thank God. You just have to figure out how best to weather the tough times.  Whether it's yoga or actual therapy or mediation or, like for me, seeking spiritual guidance, do what you have to do get through to the next day. Or the one after that.  Weeping may endure for the night, but joy comes in the morning.  And it always does.  Eventually.  But in the meantime, look around.   What I've noticed recently is that God always gives me somebody, whether my wonderful husband who lets me know I'm loved a million times every day or an email from a reader telling me that, while she doesn't interact much on social media, she follows me and loves my work.  We always have what we need in our lives.  We are surrounded by people who keep us humble, keep us encouraged, keep us laughing, keep us wise.  It just might not be the same people all the time.  But they're there, nonetheless.  They pick you up, or sometimes HOLD you up, until you can stand on your own again.  And then, when it's all said and done, you blog about it. Or at least that's what I'm doing. hehehe

The moral of this story is that life isn't perfect for anyone.  Everybody has rough days or weeks or months or sometimes years.  We all help each other through it, whether on the giving or the receiving end.  We take turns. And that's what's so cool about the human race.  When we aren't buried in our own misery, we're helping someone else out of theirs.  And that's a good thing, because it might be THEIR hand that reaches into the quicksand for us next time.  #Truth

Just an FYI, because I'm feeling so, so good today, I'm going to choose someone who comments on this post to receive a signed paperback of ALL THINGS PRETTY.  I'll post the winner on Saturday:)

Have a  marvelous week!

All Things Pretty Scavenger Hunt, third and final day!

If you've missed the first two days, no need to worry!  Each day has its own fun excerpt and prize, so feel free to join in.  There's plenty of delicious Sig to go around.  #Truth

Here's how and where you play:

What we have for you today is an excerpt. It's not just any excerpt, we want you to find the pretty in the excerpt. Your guess at what the pretty is, will be your entry for the giveaway! 

Ex: My mile high Louboutin's were killing my feet.

Guess: shoes

Stuck In Books

Nose Stuck In A Book

Schmexy Girl Book Blog

Book Bitches

Always YA At Heart

Holly's Red Hot Reviews

Retailers: Amazon | Barnes and Noble  | iTunes | Kobo | Smashwords

Goodreads

All Things Pretty Scavenger Hunt, day 2!

More yummy Sig is happening!  Don't miss it!!

Here's how you play:

What we have for you today is an excerpt. It's not just any excerpt, we want you to find the pretty in the excerpt. Your guess at what the pretty is, will be your entry for the giveaway! 

Ex: My mile high Louboutin's were killing my feet.

Guess: shoes

A Bookish Escape

I Read Indie

The Autumn Review

Vilma's Book Blog

Retailers: Amazon | Barnes and Noble  | iTunes | Kobo | Smashwords

Goodreads

The "All Things Pretty" Scavenger Hunt starts today!

To celebrate the release of Sig out into the world---WAHOOOOOOO--a scavenger hunt for goodies starts today. Eeeeeeep  Below is how you play and, beyond that, a list of the blogs to check today for your clues.  I love fun things!  And I love pretty things, too!  This whole week is right up my alley:)  LOL

Okay, so here we go!

What we have for you today is an excerpt. It's not just any excerpt, we want you to find the pretty in the excerpt. Your guess at what the pretty is, will be your entry for the giveaway! 

Ex: My mile high Louboutin's were killing my feet.

Guess: shoes

True Story Book Blog

Mick Loves Books

The Bookish Babe

Globug & Hootie Need A Book

Retailers: Amazon | Barnes and Noble  | iTunes | Kobo | Smashwords

Goodreads

All Things Pretty- SIG IS LIVE! and some other things:)

Good morning, wonderful world!  I have exciting news to post.  All Things Pretty is LIVE!  WAHOOOOOO  *throws confetti*

The ONLY site that's giving me trouble is Amazon:(  I'm sorry to say that as of right now, it's in limbo. I'm hoping that the issue will be resolved around 12pm EST as that is when the KDP people that I know come in to work (they are on west coast time).  Please keep your fingers crossed!  I'll update the links below as soon as it's live.

**Update**  I spoke with KDP and they are pushing the file through, but it could still take a couple of hours. They'll be monitoring it, as will I, and I'll post more info (or hopefully just live links!!!) the second it's ready.  

Amazon  
Amazon UK 
Barnes and Noble
iTunes
Kobo
Smashwords

Now, I also have a special announcement to make.  As you begin to read ALL THINGS PRETTY, you'll notice a foreword in the very beginning.  Let me explain a little more about that.

I'm so blessed to be able to work with my amazing traditional publisher, Berkley.  They are a division of Penguin Random House and they were very gracious in their contracts with me in that I am allowed to self-publish indie books.  Their only requirement is that the books be NO MORE THAN 65,000 words.  That's not normally a problem, but sometimes a story needs more.  More time, more detail, more explanation. Just more.  And Sig's story is like that. I could've shortened it, rushed it to fit into one single book, but I felt that I would be cheating Sig and Tommi of their best story if I did that. So I didn't.  Instead, I wrote it as it needed to be written.  But that meant it was too long.

After much thought, I decided to do this.  I'm publishing ALL THINGS PRETTY today with a cliffhanger.  Now before you hate me, let me explain.  I had to find a good place to stop this book because I'm giving you the remainder of it on October 14th for FREE.  I feel it's the right thing to do, yet it keeps me out of trouble with my publisher.  Here's how I'm going to do it.

My newsletter is set up with an automation capability so that when you sign up for my newsletter, it will ask you what file type you prefer and then on October 14th, it will automatically send the remainder of ALL THINGS PRETTY to your reading device.  How cool is that?  Problem solved.  YAY!

I feel like this accomplished the right goal for all of us. I get to tell the story the way it needs to be told, y'all get all the detail that it seems like you want, and my publisher stays happy, too.  Win-win.  Well, win-win-win.  :)

So, when you pick up your copy today, expect the cliffy but know that the rest is coming. I'm editing it now and it will be ready on time.  As for those who are waiting for the paperback, I'm setting it up so that parts one and two are combined in the print edition, which isn't unusual, and there are clearly two very distinct parts to the book, neither exceeding 65k words (and both published separately digitally).  *happy sigh*  Those will be ready by the time part two is sent to you on October 14.

Now that you know why I did what I did, I hope you'll go into Sig's book with all the love and anticipation that I have for him and his story.  I fell for him.  I fell hard.  I can't wait to hear what you think of him!  I had some laughs, shed some tears, swooned many, many times.  This is one of my own books that I'll be re-reading over and over again.  I hope you do the same.

Here's a little sneak peak into the second part.

“You can’t be falling in love with me.  Love is pretty, not ugly.  And I’m ugly,” I tell him brokenly, the fight drained out of me, left lying on the floor with my puddle of tears.

“You’re wrong.  Sometimes love is ugly. And not all things pretty are loveable.  But you…you’re not just pretty. You’re beautiful. The most beautiful thing I’ve ever seen. Inside and out.  You did all this for your brother.  Since you were nothing more than a kid yourself, you’ve fought for him with whatever weapons you had.  That makes you worthy of the best kind of love. The kind that’s unconditional.  The kind that never leaves you, no matter how hard you push back. The kind that finds a way, against all odds.  You deserve that.  Actually, you deserve more than that.  You deserve more than I can give you, better than me.  But maybe one day, after all this is over, I can be worth your love.”

Happy Tuesday, y'all!  Enjoy Sig!!!