If You Missed Parts of the Blog Tour...

...you can catch up right here: https://www.bryonyseries.com/2018-bryonyseries-blog-tour.

Rebekah and I spent a day whittling down various BryonySeries chores we let slide in favor of more pressing obligations.

We probably need one more Sunday (yet to be scheduled) to catch up, but we made a huge dent. Going forward, we'll be more on top of it (now that we know basically what we're doing with some of them), but it did feel good to cross items off the list.

The first four books of Before the Blood are at the print shop, and my editor will have them this week. I am looking forward to hearing the first bits of real feedback, making the corrections, and then finally sharing them with those who'd like to read them.

Back in the office today. Sooooo glad I kept up with email while I was gone.

Have a great Monday, readers, writers, and vampire fans! :)

Illustration by Kathleen Rose Van Pelt for "Bryony."

TurnAbout Tour: Vanessa Stephens

It's funny how things work out.

During the week, I stay pretty nose to the grindstone, working under the delusion that I'll get everything done and then can spend long interrupted time working on fiction.

So when plans don't work out according to my vision, I get a little grumpy.

The view from Friday night was discouraging. But the view from Sunday night was amazing. My goal was to finish chapter 17 in the fifth novel of Before the blood, and I very nearly did. I say "very nearly" because it took off in a few different directions than the original intention, and I simply ran out of time to explore those directions fully.

And that was even with going back and adding more depth to some newer characters.

I should be finished editing novel No. 2 by the weekend and plan to write chapter 18, too - but we shall see. The next two weeks are especially busy (more than the usual busy), but I do better at everything else when I can spend some time writing fiction.

I liken it to lying in the grass watching clouds. It relaxes my mind. I like when said aging mind is relaxed and ready for a fresh work week.

And now, enough about me.

The BryonySeries' first TurnAbout Tour continues today with Vanessa Stephens.

What is a TurnAbout Tour?

Well, it's something I made up, as my "thank you" to the writers who graciously and generously hosted the BryonySeries on their blogs last month.

During the Mondays and Tuesdays in June, I'm sharing links to three pieces I especially liked by these writers, giving them additional exposure without them have to write additional pieces. We're on stop No. three today, so if you missed the first two, please scroll back and catch up.

Today's stop: fellow Gothic writer Vanessa Stephens.

According to her website, Stephens is an aspiring writer who spends much of her time writing flash fiction, short stories, working on her debut novel, or spending time with her family. She lives in the Joliet area with her husband and daughter.

And here is a good place to add that Vanessa's daughter is a fan of Bertrand the Mouse. And Bertrand is a fan of hers.

Stephens is new to blogging, but I still had no trouble finding three posts I really, really enjoyed, all of them different in topic and tone. I hope you enjoy them, too.

Weather Vane

This is a piece of flash fiction with one of those great "surprise endings" that make me read a piece again just to get to the ending. The last line, WOW!

https://www.vanessajcstephens.com/life-in-the-flash-lane

Got Books?

This is a short piece on Stephens' discovering of a Little Free Library in her neighborhood.

If you don't know what a Little Free Library is, Stephens' explains it.

If you do, Vanessa's honest and sincere excitement in the discovery will make you smile.

https://www.vanessajcstephens.com/blog/got-books

Four Week Meditation Renewal

I've mediated for years and so has Stephens - until she fell away from it.

In this post, Stephens discusses why she is returning and her plans for persistence.

Again, for me, the liking of this post is less about the mediation and more about Stephens' desire top be a better person, a desire I can truly respect.

https://www.vanessajcstephens.com/blog/four-week-meditation-renewal

"Ten Reasons Why Gothic Fiction Still Rocks" Tour Host: Vanessa Stephens

We're are halfway through the BryonySeries inaugural blog tour, which picks back up today with a fellow fan of the Gothic genre.

I hope you're enjoying getting to know the tour hosts and, again, I encourage you to pick up souvenirs (i.e. check out their writings, etc.) along the way.

Today's tour host is Vanessa Stephens, who, according to her website, is an aspiring writer who spends much of her time writing flash fiction, short stories, working on her debut novel, or spending time with her family. She lives in the Joliet area with her husband and daughter.

And here is a good place to add that Vanessa's daughter is a fan of Bertrand the Mouse. And Bertrand is a fan of hers.

But most of all, Vanessa loves Gothic fiction as much (or more) as I do, so she asked me to write a post for her blog on why Gothic fiction is so great.

You can read that post here:

https://www.vanessajcstephens.com/blog/ten-reasons-why-gothic-fiction-still-rocks

Vanessa also wrote a lovely introduction to me, which I didn't see right away as I spent much of the weekend working and feeling like I was getting nowhere. So I felt very encouraged to read it, to say the least!

You can read that here:

https://www.vanessajcstephens.com/blog/a-prelude-to-a-tour

Take a Virtual Road Trip with Me?

In May, I'm tackling one item on my marketing bucket list.

I'm going on tour with the BryonySeries. And I'm not leaving home.

You see, instead of moving from state to to state and bookstore to bookstore, I'm moving from blog to blog, each with its own theme and "flavor," if you will.

The tour will have eight stops. Seven will feature original content written by me (giving my gracious hosts a break from writing posts) that reflect themes of both the BryonySeries and the host blog.

One stop is actually a YouTube interview between my host and me. It's cross-marketing in its virtual finest.

And you're invited to travel with me.

On each day of the stop, I'll post a short summary of blog we're visiting along with a link to the content. You simply click on the link, and you're there! No waiting in lines. ;)

At the end of the tour, I'll recap the journey (but you won't have to sit through a slide show) and introduce you to June's TurnAbout Tour.

What's a TurnAbout Tour, you may ask? Well, it's spending an entire month featuring some of my favorite posts from the host sites and the reason why I like those posts. This gives you the opoortunity to enjoy them, too, and perhaps check back with those sites for new content.

I'll explain more about the TurnAbout Tour in June. The link to May's blog tour is HERE.

Happy traveling! :)

Illustration by Kathleen Rose Van Pelt for "Bryony."

Upcoming Blog Tour

I wrote my first official poem this weekend!

A BryonySeries-themed poem, of course.

Now it required some back and forth conversation with local writer Holly Coop to revise it just right.

But this poem, along with some other fun writings (including essay-style posts and some themed Q and A's) will be featured in my first BryonySeries blog tour this May.

A blog tour has been on my wish list since I started the series more than a few years ago. During my research into these online tours, I've found they exist in two types: fee-paying companies (out of my budget, uncertain results/reaches) and vague instructions for setting up one of your own.

I finally went with the latter, for a couple of reasons.

1) I wanted to get a feel for structuring and participating in one.

2) I wanted to do a little more cross-promotion for certain blogs I already cross-promote on my personal Twitter account.

3) I wanted to write about the steps taken in hosting, so other authors can run one of their own.

4) If it went well and I liked it, I'd have the foundation to reach out to bloggers I have not yet met to set up a second tour.

5) And then repeat the steps.

So this weekend, instead of writing fiction, I wrote six pieces for the following blogs. And please feel free to check them out now; you don't have to wait until May.

* Holly Coop (Writer Beeme) writerbeeme.blogspot.com

* Tom Hernandez: (Fifty and Counting: This and That from a New AARP Member) tomhernandezblog.wordpress.com

* Topher Gleason (Blogs on LinkedIn) Read one of his posts at www.linkedin.com/pulse/my-memory-flawed-topher-gleason.

* Sue Midlock (The Unbeaten Heart) theunbeatenheart.blogspot.com

* Allie Rios (More Than Just a Mom) amijustmom.blogspot.com

* Vanessa Stephens (Life in the Middle) www.vanessajcstephens.com

This list may expand as I've contacted a few other bloggers, too.

If you blog and would like to be included in my first tour, message me at bryonyseries@gmail.com.

Have a great Monday readers, writers, and vampire fans! :)