For Ever's new paperback is here!

I love it. But maybe that's because I've been waiting so long for it! It is so pretty. And Never is coming along soon after. (If I get lucky, it'll be up by tonight. We shall see.)

On another note, I may very well be dedicating the third book in The Ever Series to For Ever's UK fans! Again -- wow!

All right. Back to editing the third book.

Happy Monday!

The kindness of strangers

So ... I was in a bit of a funk this weekend, and I wrote a somewhat rant-filled post. My apologies. I deleted it (you guys don't need to hear me whine!), and I was reminded the very next day of how some people who we've never met go out of their way to say nice things. It does not go unnoticed! (On a semi-related note: I was standing in line at an ice cream shop in Portland this weekend, and a man passed by me and gave me the remaining balance on his gift card. It was a tiny amount, of course, but it felt good to be in the right place at the right time. Kindness travels.)

Now, in my aforementioned (deleted) post, I talked about taking a little break to work on another side project, which is tonally way different than The Ever Series. Well, last week said project was sort of stealing my will to work on the third book ... but fear not. I'm going to try to do both at once. And if I can't manage it, I will go back to my first love -- Ever, of course!

In other news, the proofs of For Ever and Never's new paperbacks are ordered and coming soon, so they will be available for purchase in the near future. So excited about that!

Lastly, the first seven chapters of For Ever are up on Amazon for free right now. They'll be available for a day ... or maybe five. I haven't decided yet. If you have a friend who might enjoy the book, but he or she wants to try it first, this is a great time to check it out.

Hugs to all of you who have left the wonderful reviews of Never (and For Ever) on Amazon. Thank you from the bottom of my heart.

More soon!

CJ

Uh. Oh.

So ... I have a dilemma. I'm roughly a third to halfway done with the third book in The Ever Series, which is good news. The problem is that I've gotten to a point in the story where I'm thinking: "Uh oh. I need to go back and rewrite it." It's not so much the story itself that's giving me trouble; it's the timeline.

Usually if I start rewriting, I can tell if that's going to "fix" the problem. I've done this before, but it's always kind of a "hold my breath/is this gonna work?" plunge to take.

Cross your fingers for me! Will post an update soon.

CJ

PS -- Looking at the online proofs of the paperback covers. For Ever's is beautiful, but Never's is yummy. Will hold them in my hands soon. Stay tuned!

Beautiful

The paperback versions of For Ever and Never will be available shortly -- and this time I mean it! So, if you're sentimental (like me), you might want to order a copy of the first book with For Ever's original tree. (Otherwise ... Hillary, you're probably going to own one of the only originals! LOL)

Now, let me just say ... The new artwork for the paperbacks is gorgeous. My designer went above and beyond with beautiful detail, and I'm really looking forward to holding the proofs in my hands. (But in all honesty ... I just want to see Ever's bright green eyes staring back at me from the cover of Never. An e-book, sad to say, just can't do justice to his smoldering stare.)

Files will be uploaded soon. Then I will be ordering proofs. And finally they will be available to anyone who wants to hold Ever ... I mean For Ever and Never ... in both hands. (The books will be available via Amazon and CreateSpace for the United States and in Europe, and I'll post the associated links when both books are up for order!)

CJ

To For Ever's UK fans

Um, you guys rock! Wow. Did you guys tell your friends about my little book? Because I never would have guessed that For Ever's readership in the UK would be growing faster than in the US! I know where I'm traveling on my next trip abroad.

Much love to all of For Ever's fans, wherever you may be!

CJ

Back to work!

I survived my doctor's visit on Friday, but let me just say: twilight sleep is just weird!

So, now that I'm back in the land of the living, I am really hoping this week will be a monster write-a-thon. With Ever's first chapter out and available here (and on Amazon, iBooks & Lulu), I'm officially back to work on the third book. Now I just have to make some major headway before March when I have to report for jury duty. Don't want to get stuck with a half-finished book!

Last week I just started to dive into some of the nitty gritty about Ever's world that has remained pretty mysterious up until now, so it's getting very interesting. I have to say: there were a couple of really jaw-dropping revelations in the last scene, and I can't wait to find out what happens this week!

To those of you who reached out -- Hillary, you are my #1 blog buddy! -- thank you so much. I always love hearing from you guys, and I hope everyone had a great weekend.

I'll be back soon with more news. (FYI ... I'm thinking about starting a photo tour of For Ever, including some of the locations and other stuff that helped inspire the book!)

CJ

Back in Ever-land

So, I took a little vacation over the holidays and will be going in for a less-than-thrilling medical procedure tomorrow afternoon. As such, I've had little chance to work on the third book in The Ever Series. I did, however, have a good day working on the book yesterday! And let me tell you: this one is surprising me at every turn.

I'll start releasing teasers after I get the first draft done. It may take a while, but for now, I hope people are enjoying a little peek into Ever's mind with the first chapter of For Ever from his POV!

To those of you who have left the wonderful reviews of For Ever and Never in the US and the UK -- thank you! You are my heroes.

Happy New Year's! I hope everyone has a terrific 2013 ahead of them!!!

CJ