Sometimes I can't find the time to do everything I have to do in a single day. It's a bit like when I was a mother. Lots of screaming for my attention and only me. Only now that I'm an author...and older...I have to somehow roll into the mix a nap every afternoon just to keep going. I can honestly say I work more now that I'm a retired/author, than I used to with a full-time corporate job and a house full of kids.

I'm really excited about my fall schedule of releases. I'm doing a whole block of men. Boom four in a row. 3 new heroes, my naughty Colin Rand, Ethan Manzone, Eric Manzone, and a hero you already love Graham Carson in His Man. My inner man voices seems to be dominant right now so no new book daughters until early 2017.

I'd like to write more and work at promoting the work less. Regrettably, the longer I'm in this Indie universe the less writing time I get. So at the bottom of this post I'm putting 3 ways to help so I can focus more on writing. I'd appreciate it if you did one and I understand if you don't. We all have so many things we juggle these days. It used to be less things, or maybe I just just younger. I don't know.

Thank you all for being wonderful readers and as ever I wish you peace...

PS: Here are those links I warned you about:
Sign up for an ARC for Sacramento Dirtier: 
Share my new Half Shell Series FaceBook AD
Sign up to enter a special reader appreciation project I'm doing with some incredible authors in 2017
Join my headtalker campaign for release day:

And, I almost forgot. Naughty Susan! My dear friend @KLshandwick has a new rocker release out today and she's started it off @ 99cents so I run do not walk those fingers to one clicking it now! Amazon Link>>http://amzn.to/2crn5e0

Colleen's blog on this subject is a beautifully written post and I won't dare to summarize it.  What she talks about every Indie sees. Even me. And I've only been in Indie World only  2 1/2 years.

I try to avoid the Indie wars. I don't take sides. I exist in my own zen place, even when I'm the target and I have been--once--I stay out of it. It's not my thing. Maybe it's because I'm a mother and some of it feels like the awful my daughters went through in junior and high school. Or maybe it's simply because half the time I don't understand it. I read post, angry post, after post where everyone in Indie world seems to know the 411 except me.

Sometimes I wish there was a one stop FB page, not for the drama but to decode it. As easy as it is not to participate doesn't make it easy not to have it churn in your mind. For a few weeks I kept seeing different Indie Rants #byefelicia. I didn't want to know about it, but the unavoidably human thing happened: I kept wondering, who the hell is Felicia. I've never heard of that author. I didn't want to think about her, but curiosity is a bitch. And I kept wondering. I wanted to focus on my writing and couldn't.

It was driving me crazy. I had to find out who Felicia was. And then my dear friend, the amazing Andrea said, no Susie, bye Felicia is a phrase. It means...

OH....

Now, I probably shouldn't share a story that makes me look really not 21st century, but I'm using it to illustrate what happens when we vent our unhappiness on social media. We assume everyone knows what we're talking about. I sure as hell didn't. And we assume everyone knows where we're coming from. I sure as hell didn't. And we make our hurts and offenses worse. I've seen things blow up on lovely authors and I've seen authors I don't know ruined by the social media Indie wars.

I guess what I'm saying is, we take for granted the power of social media and our own ability to express our thoughts clearly in this forum. And I would hope, people would think twice before they post something to harm another. You might end up harming yourself.... or in the least, sending a grandmother into ruin for a day and not writing because she can't figure out who Felicia is.

As ever I wish you love, happiness and peace.

Though I can honestly say I can't remember a time in the last two and a half years that I haven't worked. Remember, I didn't know Indie Publishing was work when I started. All the things an author has to do so a reader finds their books often makes it hard to focus on the stories I want to write. But as I enter fall, I'm catching up on my series and getting them out, and putting less focus on trying to promote my work. It's has to be done. Some of my heroes are angry to be left in silence so long. That's why so many of them--Alan, Graham, Dillon, Bobby and Jack- barged in on the pages of Krystal's story, The Girl in the Mirror. These men don't like not to share their stories.

Having just released The Girl in the Mirror--and thank you everyone who has reviewed so far. Truly humbled by your kind comments--this is the week I usually take some down time. Randy wanted me to take a month this time, but no, not doing it. Fall is my favorite season to write when I'm in Northern California. I can do without the winters/summers up here, but fall, yowza, incredible time of year in my little house close to the Sierras. Yep, it's writing on the patio time. So wish me luck because here's what I plan to have coming your way soon.

His Man(2nd Graham Carson Book, Locked & Loaded 3) M/M Romance
Sacramento Dirtier(All's fair in love and politics, Dirty Series 1) M/M Romantic Comedy
Ethan(Sand & Fog, 4) Parker Family Saga Book :-)
You can check out all the covers and blurbs here!

So, thank you all for being such wonderful readers, and remember there are 2 ways you can always help your favorite authors: 1. Leave a review on Amazon (2) Tell your friends about our books. Word of mouth is and always will be the best way to spread the word for an author. And you can always join my newsletter to keep informed of my upcoming releases and sales:http://www.susanwardbooks.com/newsletter.html

So, as we count down the days into Fall, I wonder what banner I'll be putting up next. These men are screaming at me all at once, and who I intend to finish, I'm not sure they agree with. It's hard to keep a good man down--or silent.

As ever I wish you Peace.

Well, to be honest, I'm not sure what I've learned yet, but I'm sure there's something. I do know what it is I've reaffirmed in me: Forget the rules, forget the market. I'm writing what I want the way I want because that's me. And, in all honestly, I don't know how to write any other way. I think of my characters and a story I want to tell, a meaning I want pressed onto the pages with the words I write, and I sit down, and my characters tell me their story. My books aren't always like what other authors release, The Girl in the Mirror certainly isn't, but they are my stories, they are filled with the things I know about life and love and family that I believe to be true. Sincerely from my heart, unfiltered by the pressure to create something that is more in line with what the experts say I should write.

I've pretty much broken with the trends of what everyone else is releasing in Romance in 2016 with this book. My girl is the one with all the power and wealth. My hero is a guy who has only heart to give. There life isn't perfect, there are heart wrenching moments, but that doesn't mean there is no humor or love because there is. There is no fairy tale ending. Only one of love and hope and family. If anything, I've reaffirmed in the 15th book in the Parker Universe, my belief in family.

The Girl in the Mirror goes live Monday September 5th. I will have a typical Susan release day. Underwhelming sales, maybe a few reviews, but I'm a tortoise not a hare. It would exhaust me to go live with a bang, and I am very much  like my books. And when a reader reads, enjoying the journey we go on together within the pages of my boos, it reaffirms in me my unending belief in hope, love, and family. That's what is most important to me.

As ever I wish you peace.