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Good Morning Monday ~ Finders Keepers, and other exciting news!
Well, Finders Keepers is almost here! ARCs have gone out and the first reports back to me is that it is incredibly sweet and lovely! So, yay!! And thank God! LOL
Waiting for that first feedback, to say what they think, is terrifying! But I can breathe a little easier now knowing that people have enjoyed it <3
So, who wants an excerpt??
Griffin
I got all moved into my new place and had everything unpacked on day one. I’d met my downstairs landlady for the first time as the two bulky removalists were lugging my bed up the stairs. I was at the bottom of the stairs watching them, not entirely ogling, when a tiny, five-foot-tall woman stood beside me.
She didn’t say anything for a while, just stared at the men straining to get the wooden bedhead up the flight of stairs. Still without looking at me, she hummed. “Nice arse.”
I almost choked on my sip of water. “Uh…”
“Don’t tell me you weren’t looking. I might be a little hard of hearing, but I ain’t blind.”
Right then.
I held out my hand. “Name’s Griffin Burke.”
She shook my hand, and her hard, firm grip surprised me. She looked kind of frail at first, but then I noticed her tattoos. Her entire right arm was now a mottled, wrinkled mass of blue and coloured ink on sun-leathered skin. Given she looked to be in her seventies, she must have had a full sleeve done forty or fifty years ago.
Jesus.
“Bernice Warren.”
She was wearing a sleeveless tank top and a flowing skirt. Upon closer inspection, she looked like a hippy that peace, love, and time forgot. Her face had seen too much sun as well, wrinkled and leathered, though I imagined she would have once been stunningly beautiful. Her blue eyes still had spark, her long once-blonde hair now ash grey.
“Come with me,” she said, turning on her heel and walking toward the roller door. When she turned, I noticed her left arm. Old, mottled blue tattoos went to her elbow, as well as two scars that looked like lightning strikes. They looked surgical and my first thought was shoulder reconstruction, but then I noticed one scar ran underneath her shirt and up her neck. She turned the latch on the roller door, and using her right arm only, lifted the door to review a storage space. Inside was a lawnmower, wheelbarrow, and some gardening tools.
Ah, right. I was the resident mower of lawns.
“I’d do it myself,” she said. “But the old arm doesn’t work like it used to.” She lifted her left arm rigidly. It didn’t hang useless but there was definitely restricted movement.
“It’s fine,” I said. “I don’t mind mowing lawns at all. My weekends will be Monday and Tuesday though, not Saturday and Sunday. If that’s okay?”
“It’s fine. Don’t much care what day you do ’em.” She nodded to herself. “Last tenant was a nice girl. Started out with good intentions, and she was gonna do all sorts of things to help me out, but that didn’t last long.” Bernice looked up at me and stared for a good long minute. “You’re not the churchgoing type, are you?”
“Uh…”
“I don’t mind if you are, I just don’t wanna offer you one of my special brownies and for you to totally hash out on me and start mumbling biblical shit at me every time you see me.”
I fought a smile and lost, and I tried not to laugh but couldn’t help that either. “Not biblical. Not in that sense, anyway. Unless you consider my earlier staring at that guy’s arse a religion. As for the special brownies, I haven’t had any for a while. Not since college.”
Bernice grinned and nodded slowly. “So you know what I mean when I say special brownie. Not like the last poor girl who thought it was my grandma’s special recipe or some shit.” She shook her head slowly. “Dunno what she was thinking. Do I look like Betty Fucking Crocker to you?”
<3
My God, I love Bernice!
Finders Keepers will be live on February 2nd, if the Amazon gods are willing.
In other news, I’ve signed contracts for the translations of Cronin’s Key series, Red Dirt Heart series, and Sixty Five Hours into Thai. That’s EIGHT books!! I’m super excited about seeing my books in the Asian market. <3
When I started this writing thing, I never imagined it would go this far. It’s truly incredible, and I have moments when I’m humbled and honoured and wonder how on earth I ever got so lucky.
And I owe it all to my readers. <3
I’ve started a new WIP and it’s working title is “Galaxies and Oceans” which will probably change. My working titles usually do. LOL I’m only 7K words into it but I think these boys might be something special… And I’ve only said that once or twice before. *sigh* Their names are Aubrey Hobbs and Patrick Carney. Patrick’s 15 years older than Aubrey and both have a tonne of baggage and emotional scars. I just hope hope hope I can do them justice.
A little pic to whet your appetite…
I’ll have some new covers to show off soon!! The incredible Reese Dante is working on three for me at the moment: the re-release of Three’s Company and Taxes and TARDIS, and the cover for Evolved.
I do have the cover of Galaxies and Oceans (title pending) but will wait until I have the title confirmed before I show it. It was a pre-made cover from Harper Design (the fabulous artist who made my Imago and Imagines covers) and I’m hoping for a late June / early July release date.
That’s it for now. As always, until next week…
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Good Morning Monday!
The new week brings with it new beginnings! I’ve finished the first round of edits on Finders Keepers, and the first round of revisions on the first draft of Evolved, and I’ve been researching a few things for a story I want to start next week.
Also, this week I found out I won a stack of awards at the Goodreads M/M Group Members’ Choice Awards!
BEST FAMILY DRAMA SECOND PLACE SWITCHED
BEST WHITE COLLAR THIRD PLACE SWITCHED
BEST FREE STORY FIRST PLACE BEST OF BOTH WORLDS
BEST CONTEMPORARY/MAINSTREAM THIRD PLACE IMAGO
BEST KINK/FETISH FIRST PLACE YANNI’S STORY
BEST FRIENDS TO LOVERS FIRST PLACE SWITCHED
BEST COVER ART SECOND PLACE IMAGINES, COVER BY HARBER BY DESIGN
ALL-TIME FAVORITE M/M AUTHOR THIRD PLACE
Don’t forget, Finders Keepers is coming soon! February 2nd to be exact. ARCs should be going out real soon, and I can NOT wait to share Dane and Griffin’s story with you all! Aussie summer sun, ocean breezes, and new romance loving is just what everyone needs right now, right? 😉
Blurb:
Needing a change of scene, Griffin Burke moves from Brisbane to Coolum Beach to start a new job. The beautiful white sand, aqua-coloured ocean, blue skies, and summer breezes are everything he longs for. What he finds is a mud-covered dog, lost and hungry, with a nametag and a phone number.
Dane Hughes is stuck in Surfers Paradise at a week-long work conference when he gets a phone call from his distraught mother. His dog, his fur baby, Wicket, has run away. Unable to leave and feeling helpless and miserable, he gets a text from a guy. “I think I found your dog…”
Griffin and Dane start talking, and Griffin agrees to look after Wicket until Dane can collect him. With a few days left before his new job starts, Griffin takes Wicket on some coastal adventures and sends Dane photos of their fun, and so the start of something new and kind of wonderful begins.
Griffin might have moved to Coolum in search of a new life, but what he finds is so much more. What he gets to keep just might take some four-legged help.
This coming week, I want to start my next story! I only have the bare bones of an idea (you know I’m a pantser, right? I don’t plan/outline anything LOL) so I’m hoping to start with Chapter One and go from there! 🙂
Until then… <3
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Good Morning Monday ~ 2018 has started with a bang!
Yes, 2018 has hit the ground running, that’s for sure! This week alone:
- I wrote 12K to finish the first draft of Evolved – release will be April
- I received edits on Finders Keepers – release 2nd Feb
- I edited Sense of Place and formatted for ebook and paperback (re-release is Jan 17th)
- Release of the Italian translation of Spencer Cohen Book Three
- Beta-read 75K story for a friend
- Had The Weight of It All win Audio of the Year at Open Skye Reviews!
- Had Imago win 2nd place as Book of the Year at Open Skye Reviews
- And The Weight of It All was featured on AudioFile, where Joel won an Earphones Award for the incredible narration, and for a LGBT book – this is kind of HUGE!
- Went through a tonne of admin stuff, including meetings with my accountant, organising blitz tours, ARC tours, and super exciting secret squirrel stuff.
I’m sure there is something else I’m forgetting… But as you can see, it’s been quite a week.
My time at My Fiction Nook as Author of the Month continues! You can read my latest post HERE and you can enter the draw to win an ebook!
Yes, my current WIP is called Evolved, and should be out in April. It’s 60K long (unedited) and I will be spending this week going through it, fixing/tweaking/adding/deleting before sending it off to beta readers. I’ve kept details of this one close to my chest as it’s quite different, and I’ll wait until I hear back from my betas to see what they think.
I did buy a pre-made cover for this about six months ago, but it’s really not right for the story, so I have asked Reese Dante to conjure up some magic for me 🙂
Speaking of Reese Dante and incredibly awesome covers, I don’t believe I’ve shown you the cover for Sense of Place!
In keeping with the first two covers, this will be the forever cover for Sense of Place, and it’s perfect!
And the paperback is GORGEOUS!!
I have the proof of the paperback and can’t wait to hit approve! The three covers together look stunning and I am SO happy to have these boys back under my creative control <3
For my Italian readers, Spencer Cohen Book Three is out now!
BUY LINKS:
Also, in case you weren’t aware, you can also follow me on BookBub for any new deals or discounts, and hang out in my Readers’ Group on Facebook for all the latest news and gossip!
I’m hoping for another busy (read: productive) week. Lots to do and plan for my next book! I have a pre-made cover for it, the location, and how it begins… now I just need the unimportant stuff like character names/histories, title, and plot LOL!
Until then… <3
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Good Morning Monday! Update and news
Like every January, I make a new Good Morning Monday banner pic for the year, and for 2018 I thought some rainbows were in order. Also, can you believe this is the third year I’ve been doing GMM posts! <3
So, to start with I have a cover and blurb for Finders Keepers!
Blurb:
Needing a change of scene, Griffin Burke moves from Brisbane to Coolum Beach to start a new job. The beautiful white sand, aqua-coloured ocean, blue skies, and summer breezes are everything he longs for. What he finds is a mud-covered dog, lost and hungry, with a nametag and a phone number.
Dane Hughes is stuck in Surfers Paradise at a week-long work conference when he gets a phone call from his distraught mother. His dog, his fur baby, Wicket, has run away. Unable to leave and feeling helpless and miserable, he gets a text from a guy. “I think I found your dog…”
Griffin and Dane start talking, and Griffin agrees to look after Wicket until Dane can collect him. With a few days left before his new job starts, Griffin takes Wicket on some coastal adventures and sends Dane photos of their fun, and so the start of something new and kind of wonderful begins.
Griffin might have moved to Coolum in search of a new life, but what he finds is so much more. What he gets to keep just might take some four-legged help.
<3
Finders Keepers has a new release date of February 2nd. I can’t wait for everyone to read and enjoy some Aussie summer fun!
As I mentioned before, I am the Author of the Month at My Fiction Nook for January 2018!
And you can read my first post at My Fiction Nook
For those wanting to know what I’m currently working on, my WIP now has a title! I usually have a title before I start writing, but the title I had just wasn’t working. So I left it hoping the right title would come, and thankfully it has.
Evolved is currently at 47K words and should be out early April. It’s an unusual story, set in a future where androids are in every household. It’s kind of sci-fi but not really – it is hard to explain and I don’t want to say too much about it until I have it finished. But it’s awesome and I’m really loving it! I think there might be around 10K to go and I’d love to finish it this week.
And as per usual with my brain, my next characters have started to get chatty. Well, I have a location, a pre-made cover, and a general plot line. Now if the character’s could just tell me their names, that’d be great. LOL
But first I need to finish Evolved! Fingers crossed I’ll have it done for next week’s post.
Until then… <3
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Good Morning Monday! *sings* And a Happy New Year!
Welcome to 2018!
Before we look forward, let’s take a quick look back at the year that was 2017. It was a busy, busy year, that was for certain. To highlight the positives, there was:
- Eight new releases
- Four re-releases
- Ten translation releases
- Eight audio book releases
No wonder I was busy! LOL I also had a trip to the US for GRL which was an absolute highlight for me. I also dealt with/am still dealing with some health issues but Australia legalised marriage equality, so I’m considering 2017 a win! 🙂
Also, I have a range of books voted for Best of 2017 on several sites, Best Cover for 2017, (with Imago and On Davis Row) and I’m also up for Author of the Year as well. I’m so honoured and stoked, truly. I really am blessed to have the best job in the world, where I get to create worlds were love wins, and I get to meet and interact daily with the best people. <3
So what does 2018 have in store for N.R. Walker?
Well, I’m hoping for much of the same. I said to a friend on Facebook the other day, all I want for 2018 is peace, health and happiness. Because if I have those, then the words will surely come 🙂 It’s about finding balance and peace of mind, and cutting the negativity out of my life. All I want to do is write books! Lots of them!
And so far my schedule for 2018 looks like this:
- Re-release of Sense of Place (Jan 17th)
- Release of Finders Keepers (late Jan)
- Re-release of Taxes and TARDIS (Feb 21st)
- Release of RDH4 on audio (possibly Feb)
- Re-release of Three’s Company (March 21st)
- Release of current (unnamed) WIP (late March)
- Spencer Cohen Series (all four books) audio releases – Book One in March
- Turning Point Series (all three books) audio releases – Book One in January
- Translation of The Weight of It All in German.
- Translation of Sixty Five Hours in Thai.
- I have NINE pre-made covers I want to write books for (I’m obsessed with pre-made covers LOL) though they won’t all be released this year, but possibly four of them will be.
- And there is the very real possibility of a new series beginning in 2018.
I’m what’s known as a “pantser” meaning I don’t plan or outline my books. That also means I don’t plan or outline my writing schedule. Well, I do. I try to, but it changes. I have no control over which characters get their story written first/next/at all, or how long each book will be. So you can see this writing schedule is pretty vague. The titles I’ve named are the ones I *know* are happening (audios/translations/re-releases). But the new books? Well, we’ll just have to wait and see.
It’s probably better to ask me what I’d like to release, and what I’m aiming for is:
A new release every two months. So far, though it’s subject to (and probably will) change, those months will be Jan, March, May, July, Sept, Nov, and maybe a short Christmas story thrown in sometime around Dec.
But real life will be the determining factor, and my good intentions may all go to shit by mid-January. LOL
I’m not sure what signings or cons I’ll be doing this year. I do know I’ll be at the Sydney Author Event in April (not as a listed author as such – more details to come later). I want to try and do more Australian-based events, so I’m looking around to see what’s on and where.
It’s very unlikely I’ll be at GRL in 2018, but I won’t know until it gets closer.
But in exciting news, I’ll be the Author of the Month for all of January at My Fiction Nook!
Aaaaaand what would a New Year’s Celebration be without a cover reveal?
Made by James at Go On Write, here’s the totally cute cover for Finders Keepers, due out late January. Blurb to come soon!
Okay, so that’s it for today! Wishing you all a very happy and safe New Years! And all the very best for 2018! I’ll be continuing my Good Morning Monday posts, so until next week…
<3
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