This is why I had to take a break from Sever ...

While writing the end of the book, I literally couldn't stop crying big ugly tears.

And moments ago, I wrote the last line of Sever! Teasers to come soon. Keep a sharp eye ...

To all of you who have waited patiently, thank you!

PS -- I haven't been checking e-mail or Facebook frequently, but I'll have a bit more time on my hands now that Sever will be going through the editing process!

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

Ever: Chapter 1

Surprise! For the last few weeks, I've been working on the first chapter of For Ever -- only from Ever's perspective! (I'm still working on the third book in The Ever Series, but Ever's chapter is my little holiday season present to For Ever's super fans.)

***DISCLAIMER: This free chapter contains language that may not be suitable for all readers. Discretion is advised.***

Click the cover to the left for a first look at Ever! If there's enough demand, I'll start working on the full-length book, so let me know what you think in the poll to the right!!!

Again, I'm still hard at work on the third book, but I hope Ever's chapter is a welcome distraction.

Happy Holidays!

CJ

"A love letter" to For Ever's fans

I recently took a little break from the third book in The Ever Series to work on what someone (she knows who she is) called "a love letter to For Ever's fans." It's just the start of something, and I'm going to be putting it up for free on Amazon and -- most likely -- here very soon. Sort of an early Christmas present to those of you interested in "the other side" of For Ever. (Ha! I think I just gave away the surprise.)

Depending on the response I get, I may think about making this my next project. We'll see. And for those of you who have reached out, thank you! It is so appreciated. It keeps me going on the days I've thought about quitting.

I hope everyone has been having a safe and happy holiday season.

Best wishes,
CJ

Tidbits

It seems like forever (no pun intended) since Never went live on Amazon. I guess a lot's happened in my little world since then, and I haven't quite caught up. Quitting coffee over the weekend (l-o-o-o-o-n-g story) didn't help matters. :-/

On to some news ... First, I'm working on getting Never up on Barnes & Noble. Will post when I do. And I'm also looking into Smashwords. Last but not least, I'm also hoping to have the paperback versions of For Ever and Never available with their spiffy new covers.

 Even more exciting ... I'm also working on the third book in The Ever Series. I'm roughly a quarter of the way through the first draft. The question is: can anyone guess the title?

For those of you who have purchased Never, I hope you're enjoying it! Got my first review on Amazon, which made me absolutely giddy with happiness since I now know for sure that one person out there really loved For Ever's sequel! And like I said before, sometimes I think I'm writing for just one person. I still hope that a lot of people out there love Never. I had a great time writing it. And the end totally made me cry, but I cried at the end of For Ever, too. I do that a lot, I guess. ;-)

Last but not least, I'm working on some ideas for a raffle. It all depends on how it goes with the paperback copies. However, if it doesn't look like those will be finalized before the end of the year, first I'll scream. Then I'll probably just raffle off an Amazon GC. Those of you who are visiting the blog regularly deserve a little holiday season bonus!

Dark and stormy looking in Portland, Oregon. Hmm. Guess it's time to spend the next three months writing the third book. Title coming soon!

You guys are the best!

Sometimes during this little self-publishing journey, I've felt like I'm on an island. Then this week, I received a note from another fan of For Ever. You guys are the best!!! Truly. I appreciate you taking a little time out of your day to say something nice! After all, you are the ones pushing me on this uphill battle. I can shout until I'm hoarse, I can tweet all I want, but people who enjoyed For Ever and are looking forward to Never (big shockers to come!) will be the ones who make the difference in the life of this book series.

That said, every time I get a piece of positive feedback, I want to post all the teasers for Never in one shot. I'm restraining myself, mostly because I've still got a ways to go. I just finished last night cleaning up the current draft and it's now been sent off to the next pair of eyes, which is one more pair of eyes than I had reading For Ever.

I also have some other news that I should probably wait to reveal, but I have zero patience -- so here it is: I am currently (very early) in the process of getting For Ever's cover redesigned. I'll post more about that as it develops. I really wish I could share some of the beautiful images I've been looking at. I want to use all of them, so I guess this series can never (tee hee) end. Let me know what you think about a cover redesign -- in the comments or at author@cjvalles.com.

And lastly, I have started the third book in The Ever Series. I hope to make some major headway on that as soon as I can make sure my schedule is clear for a strict write-a-thon.

All right, I'm weak. One more itty-bitty quote from Never ... juicier ones to come!

*** Random Never quote ***