Southern Comfort is out!

Good morning everyone! Southern Comfort released today on Phaze! Rosalie Stanton already bought a copy, so I'm doing better than I ever dreamed! I put a lot of work into this, so I really hope people go and at least check it out.

I admit, I'm dreading the first negative review. I know it's the nature of the beast, but still. When you put so much time and energy into something, it's hard to think that not everyone will love it as much as you.

Anyway, here is the blurb:

Kristen Meadows has faithfully served political strategist Jason Rosenberg for over four years. As his personal assistant, her duties range anywhere from coffee and doughnut runs to arranging meetings on Capitol Hill. She has been everything from his last-minute date to his drinking buddy, and while they make an effort to keep no secrets, there is one thing Kris knows she can never share with Jay.

The fact that she's in love with him.

Jay has a problem. Not many people can balance personal lives and professional politics successfully, and his mother has taken notice. If that wasn't bad enough, the crafty Edith Rosenberg has had an eye on a potential daughter-in-law for a number of years. Granted, Jay can't say he's never considered a relationship with Kris...but given the nature of the business, he knows pursuing anything would not only threaten their friendship, but potentially end his career.

Edith Rosenberg wants grandchildren before she dies, and Jay's snail's pace isn't helping matters. After coercing her son and Kris to join her for a relaxing southern retreat in Natchez, Mississippi, she attempts to speed up the road to matrimony by finagling them into one room with a single bed.

Four years of tension are about to come to a head.

If that sounded like fun, please head over to Phaze and check out an excerpt from Chapter One of Southern Comfort!

Worst Blogger EVER!

My goodness...it's been nearly a year since I've last updated my blog. How sad is that?!?

A lot has happened with my writing since I last updated. I am so excited to say that Southern Comfort has been accepted for publication by Phaze! *squee* Depending on when my editor gets it, I'm looking for my first release sometime this fall. It's exciting and nerve-wracking all at once.

I'm beginning to work on my second novel. Is it cheating if you plagiarize yourself? I'm taking a story I wrote nearly 8 years ago and reworking it into something I would feel comfortable submitting for publication. It's kinda fun because I never have reread it so it's pretty surreal when I read a line and have to say, "I wrote that? Wow, I was pretty funny back then."

So yes...I plan on using my blog a bit more in 2012. Thanks to everyone who is following me! Please feel free to hit me up on Twitter, Facebook, email or Goodreads.

Peace and good wishes to all.

May Day!

I must give a huge thank you to Rosalie Stanton and all the ladies over at Romancing the Muses for having me over for an interview this past Monday!  I've never been interviewed for a blog before, but I have to say it was a ton of fun. It you get bored, feel free to click over and check it out!

Interview with Nikki London, aspiring romance author!

It's now the end of May and I'm sitting on my bed and trying to figure out where the past month has gone! My motivation is on holiday and it's caused my house to start smelling funky as well as my Microsoft Word to start sending me angry documents demanding my attention.

The next month I am setting some goals for myself. I have my debut work, Southern Comfort, committed to paper, but I need to do some massive revisions and edits. By the end of June, I want to be halfway done. I'm pretty sure I can tackle that one.

Stay tuned to see if I can live up to my own expectations! :P

Where did all the time go?

Am I the only one who is completely dumbfounded that it's already the middle of May? This year has flown by so fast--I bought a house, took my first trip to Africa, watched one of my nieces graduate from high school and am preparing for my baby niece to enroll in kindergarten. That's just the highlights of the past year. Of course there is all the drama left over from 2010. All of that compounds into a world of real life that makes it next to impossible to find the time to sit down and work on writing.

One of my biggest struggles is that I've never set aside any special time to work on my writing. I've always loved the worlds I create inside my head and it's so much fun to put my fantasies on paper that I look at it as a reward more than a chore. If I have other obligations in my real life, I feel guilty when I sit down and try to work on writing. So what do I do? Nothing. I don't want to write because I feel guilty about the other stuff I need to do in life and I don't want to do that stuff because it sucks. I end up watching TV, playing on Facebook or taking a nap. All of that leads to a giant pile of nothing.

I'm going to start working on fixing my flaws. I think if I sit down and organize my time, I should be able to allow myself to concentrate more on my writing and actually accomplish a few of those chores I've been neglecting. I'll be happier at the end of the day and each morning when I wake up.

All of that aside, have you ever came up with a title for a book and then devised a plot around it? I came up with a couple over the weekend and shared them with Rosalie Stanton. That brings my list up to 6 different plotlines that I need to put down on paper. My imagination and muse are way more productive than my fingers and my words. :)

Well, I better get to work! Hope everyone has a fantastic day!

March Update

Sorry everyone that I have been so slow in updating. Let me tell you a few excuses before I give an update on my writing progress.

First off, I BOUGHT A HOUSE! Yeah, I am kinda excited about that. It's my first house and I'm going in solo, so it's been a daunting process of getting ready for the closing while also packing up all my crap. It happened a lot faster than I anticipated so I've been a little off my game because of it.

Second, my dad decided a month or so ago to take me to Victoria Falls, Zimbabwe at the end of April. First time traveling to Africa for both of us has made for a long list of vaccinations and visa requirements. I'm super excited to go see Victoria Falls (google it if you need to) and we are highlighting the trip with a helicopter ride and doing an excursion where we walk with lions.

Third, Rosalie Stanton has forced inspired me to give online dating another go. The past few weeks I have been experiencing the creepiness of horny men who spend too much time alone with their computers. Is it too much to ask to have a dinner and a movie before you ask me over to your place for sex? I'm not an angel, but a little class is appreciated.

That all being said, I have made some progress on my first potential novel, titled Southern Comfort. I have finished writing and am now working with the brilliant Rosalie Stanton on cleaning it up and fleshing it out in all the right places before I start submitting it for publication. I'd say...I'm about 30% done at the moment. I want to have it sent out by summer, but all that depends on whether the lions eat me in Africa or not.

Southern Comfort is about Kristen and Jay's struggle between work and romance. While battling the tension for years, once their comfort zone of Washington D.C. politics is replaced by a vacation in Natchez, MS, both are considering the consequences of giving in to temptation.

That's all I got for you now! Hopefully, I can give you a better teaser before long!

Peace!

Welcome!

Thank you for making your way here. It's not much at the moment, but hopefully that will be changing in the coming weeks.

Before I get started on myself, I want to give praise to the amazing Rosalie Stanton. Not only is she the greatest author on the planet, but she also took time out of her busy schedule to design my banner and layout. She is indeed a woman of many talents.

I've always been a lover of a happy ending. My vivid imagination along with my plight as a hopeless romantic made me turn to reading at a young age. As I grew older, I realized that the world was a better place when I focused on the stories in my head. My writings have been limited due to having a mind much quicker than my fingers, but now that I've realized one of my dreams in life I'm not going to let it get the best of me.

You'll notice quickly that I have a passion for politics. I graduated in 2007 with a degree in Politics and Government and it often finds its way into my work. I can't help but find campaigns, elections, legislation and Washington D.C. sexy. Hopefully, by the time you finishing reading my works you'll understand what I'm talking about.

I literally have five different story ideas in my head right now. Unfortunately, I've never been the speediest of writers. With a little patience and a who;e lot of encouragement, I hope to get my first work ready for submission by the end of the year.

In the mean time, I look forward to making a few friends and gaining more insight into the publishing world!