Well Hello There

So... it's been a while, eh?  Sorry I haven't written in a while, I've been quite busy with the books and the what not.  The last few months have been very busy, but a lot of fun.

I have been writing a new book and it's been going fairly well.  The story is very different from the last books I wrote; less darkness.  As soon as I can, I'll be posting a summery of it, but as of yet, I don't even have a title that I'm very fond of.  Sooooo....... yeah.

Other than that, I hope you're all enjoying your holidays, and if you don't celebrate any, I hope you're having a lovely autumn/winter this year.  Here in California things have been interesting.  We had a horrible drought and now it's raining like crazy.  People here are incredibly lame.  They keep bitching about the rain now that it's flooding, but isn't that kind of what we need?  Silly Californians, they can never be happy.

Things are good here, and I hope things are good for you where ever you are.

Goodnight from California!

Banishment (Banishment Series Book #3) IS OUT!

Yay!  So, I finally got all three Banishment books out.  All three are available and ready for your reading enjoyment!  The final installment, if you've bought the other two, is Banishment (Banishment Series Book #3)  By J.D. Cole.

I am so happy to have the lives of these characters out for you to read.  It was a long hard road, but I wouldn't do anything different.  Well, maybe find  someone who could edit the books other than myself.  But hey, whatever works I guess.  As long as they're finished and out for those that enjoyed the first one, that's all that matters to me.

All I wanted for these books was to show the world of the characters I cared about.  I wanted people to know them as I knew them.  After all, why else does someone write a story down, other than to share it with others?

I don't do this for the money, and I never will.  I do this because I have untold lives that wander around my head and if I didn't write them down, I would probably go crazy.  :)

So, here's to Banishment, here's to the whole series, and here's to you, the reader.  Without you, my characters wouldn't have reason to exist.  They would mill about my mind and never have the lives they do now.  So, thank you, all of you.  To the ones who love the story, and to the ones who hate it.  You all matter.

So, goodbye from California for now.  My family and I are off to finish up dinner before the fireworks show.  Hopefully you've all had a wonderful 4th of July, or will have one. 

Until the next adventure.......

Healing is out!

Healing, book #2 of the Banishment Series is out for you to buy.  Yay!  I was able to edit to the best of my ability and have now converted it and it is ready for you to buy.  So you should all go buy it.  And if you haven't bought book #1, you should.  The first book is called Alone, and now book #2 is Healing.  I will hopefully be getting the final book, book #3 entitled Banishment, out to you in the next couple months.  I am still editing them all myself so it's taking some time, but I will get it out this year.

So, that's about all from here.  I'm going back to edits and all the other crazy things that are in my life, but I just had to share the awesome news.

Goodbye for now from California!

Life...

Today I read an interesting blog posted by an author that I really enjoy.  I haven't read a blog, by anyone really, for quite a while.  Said blog basically told a story of what I've dealt with in the last year.  It was like reading something from my own head, put in words, by someone else.  I was actually taken aback by it.  There, written on the internet, were my very own thoughts and feelings.

No, it wasn't exactly the same, and no, I don't know what that other author was going through in her life exactly, but the sentiment and feelings were much the same.  I have struggled over the last year with my writing and personal life as well.  Every person who blogs, be they an author, singer, entertainer in any way, or an awesome every day person who is telling their life tale, struggles with what to put on the internet.  Some put way more out there than anyone needs, and others don't put nearly enough out there for the world.

But, it is all down to the individual to decide what they share, and how much.  Or if they're going to share at all.  I have decided to share some.  I want to share what I can without seeming like a Downer Debbie.  I'm not complaining about my life in any way, or trying to justify my lack of getting books out to you, my readers.  I just want you to have a little perspective into my life so maybe you wont judge me too harshly for my lack of book.

My life in a nutshell is hectic.  For a few years, I was staying home with my young daughter and sick husband.  That's when I started writing.  I've always had all kinds of stories in my head.  As far back as I can remember, stories would jump to life while I looked out a window, ignoring the world around me.  When my husband got sick, I needed something to take me away from the horrible things we were going through.  It may sound somewhat heartless to say I needed an escape, but if you know anything about a loved one going through a tough sickness, you know that each person in the situation needs their own time and their own release.

Writing is what I used as an escape.  It allowed me to transport myself into these worlds that I'd thought about for years.  Some of them changed and grew as I changed and grew, but most stories in my head are ones I've thought about for years.  So, one day, I started writing them down.  That was the beginning of The Banishment Series.  They came from a time where I was sad and depressed about so many things that the only way to channel those feelings into something good was to write them down in a way that made sense to me.  I wrote, and one day, I gave Alone to a friend to read, just to see how she liked it.  She loved it and urged me to publish it.

Publishing, as most know, isn't easy.  It's damn near impossible to get a 'real' book deal any more.  That's when I learned about e-publish.  I decided to give it a crack.  The problem?  I still needed to have a book edited and someone to do the cover art.  Luckily, before my husband got sick, he was able to show me a few things on some computer programs that made creating a cover for Alone easier on me.  I just then needed to find an editor.

The problem with not working and staying home to take care of your sick husband and young child, you have little to no money to spend on things that aren't necessary.  Therefore, I had to be creative with who I got to edit my book.  I had a few friends go over it a few times, and I had a friend who did edits for companies and what not look at it as well.  But that was really it.

I decided to publish any way.  I've read more than my fair share of 'properly published' books and found all kinds of errors so I didn't really think much of it.  I also honestly didn't think any one was going to read my book.  I published because it was something I needed to do, for me.

I kept writing and finished the basic story for Healing, and Banishment.  But, like all people with a lot on their plate, life got in the way.  I wanted to edit and get Healing out, but life just kept getting in the way.  My family had many hardships it had to endure, losing people we loved, more people getting sick, and simple things like my house deciding it was going to fall apart around me, got in the way.

Healing, is done.  I cannot write any more in it, and it has been edited as much as it is ever going to be.  I cannot afford to have a 'real' editor look at it and all of my 'friends' that helped me last time are busy.  The friends I do have now are also too busy to help and that's okay.  People have their own lives and I'm not paying them to edit.  Healing will be released soon.  I just have to format it over for Smashwords and it will be available.  I will let you all know when that is.

Banishment is in the middle of having some rewrites done and will hopefully be available soon as well.  I want them to get out to you because I owe all of you.  I owe my readers the continuation of this series.  I not only owe it to you, I owe it to myself.

I am in no way trying to ignore how long this has taken or to make light of the hardships in life or even placate you by saying it's coming.  I just want to be as honest with my readers as I can.  I may not be the best writer in the world, and I'm sure many of you have only read the book because it was cheap and you thought, 'hey, why not'.  But it means a lot to me, and I want to do this for the few people who actually do care about the character.

There are no promises I can make about timeline or any of that.  But I will get this out to you.  One way or another.  I want it published not for just me, or you, but for the characters that I care about.

I am sorry it's been so long since I've said anything, and longer still since I've published.  But I will get this done.  So, good day from California.

Hello Out There!

Just stopping in to say hello and let you all know I haven't fallen off the face of the earth or anything.  I'm working really hard on fixing what happened to Healing.  Book two of the Banishment series will be out by the end of the year if I have to just not sleep until it's done.  I'm editing it all myself because I can't get an editor for it, so if things are off, I'm sorry.  I don't plan on putting out a crappy book by any means.  I'm editing and editing and editing some more.  I am working as hard and as fast as I can.  Thank you for not giving up on me.  I will get something out to you by the end of the year.  Thank you all for reading Alone.  Healing will be amazing.

Hope you all have a good week!

See ya later!

When it rains, it pours...

Have you ever heard the saying, 'When it rains it pours'?  Well, that's what's been going on in my life.  It seems that things have gone to pretty lame, to really lame around here lately.  And, unfortunately, it's effected my writing as well.

I'm not sure if I ever mentioned it, or if I have this is for those reading that don't know about this, but my husband has Multiple Sclerosis, which is a mental disability that effects the way your brain communicates with your body.  Well, five years ago he was placed on permanent disability because of this.  Then a few months ago we were told that he needed to go in for a reevaluation.  We did, and now suddenly he's not disabled any more and can go back to work.  Well, if they actually looked at him and watched my husband move, he's worse then when he was originally fired from his job and then diagnosed with the MS.  So, not only do I care for him, and our daughter, but now we're fighting this disability thing as well.

On top of the disability, I was attacked by our swamp cooler.  Part of the fan blade shot out at me.  Thankfully I wasn't hurt by it, but it was a horrible experience.  We were without cooling in our house for a while, and it took a toll on my husband.  He has a seizure disorder that goes along with the MS and because of the stress and heat, he had a seizure.  When he came around he was very disoriented and it's been a little difficult for him the last couple of days.

So, because of these issues, it's been difficult to get Healing formatted for Smashwords.  And then, luck would have it, something went wrong and my document reverted to an older version of it and I have to go back over it with a fine toothed comb.  I have looked everywhere for my most recent version of Healing, and still can't find one.  Part of me thinks something is saying I need to wait a bit longer before releasing Healing, even though I really want it out for those who have read Alone.  But, I guess I should listen to the fates in this.

Needless to say, I am now working to edit Healing, again, and will let you all know when I have it closer to a release date.  I am so sorry, and really hate what has happened.  I think some past life of mine must have broken a warehouse of mirrors and it's going to stick with my spirit forever.  Or something like that because I have horrible luck.

Well, goodnight from California.  I hope things in the lives of my readers are going much better.  And if they're crap like mine, or worse, then I hope you have an upswing soon.

I'm still a lame...

So, I've been telling you over and over how much it sucks not being able to find a reliable editor.  That still seems to be the case for me.  I am, however, confidant that I will probably not find one any time soon.  So, that leaves me with a big decision.  Do I publish Healing, and then hopefully Banishment soon there after with the edits I've been able to get done, and the edits I myself have done, or do I keep waiting...?

Simply put, I don't want to wait.  I'm not in this for money, or fame, or glory.  Yes, I do sell the books for a whole .99, but that's because the money then goes towards the covers and whatever else I can use it for, for the books.  I'm not trying to be a millionaire from this, if it happens that's cool, don't get me wrong.  But I did not start out doing any of this for money.  I have stories that float through my head on a daily basis, and if I don't get them out, then my brain becomes clogged and I don't function well.

I want nothing more then to put out an amazing book for my readers.  I want you all to have the perfect book that I've been trying to give you.  But in doing that, I've failed you.  I have not put out the story.  Personally, when I read a book, I don't care if things are perfect.  Yes, I catch the your and you're, mishaps, or the, there, their, and they're, flubs.  But, honestly, whole words have been spelled wrong in some of the books I love to read, and those are put out by publication companies, and people who are paid a lot of money to make no mistakes.  Hell, I've even read books where words are just left out and you have to figure out what should have been there.  Does it mess up the book?  I don't think so.  Do I catch it and giggle?  Sometimes.  But that just proves to me that the people responsible for the amazing story I just read,  are human, and I'm okay with that.

So, I guess what I'm trying to say is, I plan on releasing Healing within the next couple of weeks.  Maybe a month.  It will not be perfect.  I am not perfect.  But it will be the continuation of a story that it seems quite a few people like.  And with the release of Healing, there will be a sneak peak of Banishment, the third and final chapter of the Banishment series.  I will also be releasing Banishment by the end of this year.

I hope it's what you've been waiting for.  I'm excited about it, and of course I love the characters and the story as well.  So, for now, my sincerest apologies.  I hope you will all forgive me for how lame I have been, and I really hope you like Healing.  I'll let you all know as soon as it's out there for you to grab.

Goodnight from California!