Always at Work + Sweet Nineteen || July Recap

 

Yes, this is late again. Yes, I'm aware. As with last month's, I almost just skipped, but I didn't want to break a trend. But at the same time... there's not much to report, as I was basically at work all month. xD 

|| House-Sitting

• I was house-sitting for about five days this month, making a little extra money. And having an entire house to myself (except for the puppy dogs) for a few days, mwahahahaha. So I basically ate junk food and watched Hallmark every night. :P

stinkin' adorable baby

|| Sweet Nineteen

• So, I turned 19. Which is kinda freaky. And also kinda scary. Because I now have less than a year of teenager-ism left?? and then I'll probably have to be a real adult or something????

tired birthday selfie. just cuz.

A dear sweet friend (you know who you are <3) made these darling wood-burned signs for me, with the titles of all of my published or about-to-be-published books. Aren't they amazing? I adore them so much! 

looking into the future like... "lots of clouds...but it's pretty so"

|| Independence Day

• So, the 4th of July happened. We were supposed to dress in red, white, and blue for work that weekend, so I pulled out my very patriotic and very adorable, thanks for noticing sandals. And blared patriotic country over the speakers at work. (You're welcome, customers.) 

Yet again, I really don't know what to put in this section. I read some here and there, but only finished one book—The US Marine Corps by Rebecca Rowell. I did buy a few books—The Reinvention of Skylar Holt series by Stephanie Morrill. It was a birthday sale or something, so I went ahead and snagged all three books, even though I haven't even tried Mrs. Morrill's writing yet—except in Go Teen Writers, which I adore.

So yep.

|| Freedom Update 

Writing wise, Freedom is really all that got my attention during the month of July. Like, at all. Since my editor finished the last week of June, I started working through and applying her edits to the book in my free time. I should be finished with this final edit in the next day or two!

25 days until release!

|| Snippet

I’m suffocating, dying the slow, defeated death of a prisoner. Freedom…  

There’s only one way out.  

A war surges through my mind.  

A war between giving up and getting help. A battle between getting out and waiting until I can think clearly. A fight between doing what my broken mind wants or sticking to what I know is right.  

I grip the top of the dresser with a shaky hand as my head spins, threatening to send me to the floor.  

I can’t, I can’t… 

|| Favorite Posts

Showers of Blessing >> Only in You, Lord

Kaitlyn Krispense, Author >> Beloved + Freedom: Blog Tour Signups

RebekahAshleigh >> Exciting News

|| My Posts

|| July Goals

• Because I posted the June recap soooo late (later than this one, actually), I didn't state any July goals.

|| August Goals

• Finish the final edit of Freedom.

• Send Freedom to the formatter.

• Prep for the 13 Reasons Why blog tour.

• Answer all blog tour author interview questions.

• Pre-write over half the blog tour posts.

• Order a proof copy of Freedom.

• Finalize paperback preorders of Freedom.

• Anything and everything Freedom. xD

• Probably 74 other things I'm forgetting.

• Sleep occasionally.

how goes it, my peeps?! anyone else out there just trying to keep up? *raises hand*

Mission Trip + Birthday Bash || June Recap

Yes, that says June. Yes, I realize this is two days shy of being a month late. Am I back to a consistent schedule? No, but I'm back for right now. Am I promising I'll do better? No, but I'll try. I could make up a bunch of excuses, but I'm basically just a procrastinator who needed some time after a trip the last week of June. And is still trying to get things re-aligned. :P

All that to say...this may be boring and lame, but I didn't want to break my trend of doing a recap every month. And I didn't rly wanna combine it with July, because they felt like distinctly different months. For some reason. xD

So hey there, friend! Please—forgive me for disappearing. And prepare yourself for a photo dump. Also let's talk and catch-up in the comments. :D

|| Random

• Work, work, work...and did I mention work?  Okay, seriously, I'm not complaining. At all. But sometimes I feel like I spend 60 hours a week in a checkered uniform shirt. xD

• I also spent a lot of time camped out at the library—hoping for a spot by an outlet, wearing a hoodie, chugging coffee, taking up a whole table with my notebooks and planner and schedule and editing notes and...such—because our internet at home has been iffy.

• When your bro comes by where you work...and as he's leaving, you realize that his means of transportation is farm equipment. 

take a look at dat plow boy

|| SOS = Servants on Site

My family and a group from our church participated in the same mission trip/group ministry that we've did for the past few summers. It was an absolute blast, and as good and powerful and life-changing as always. <3

in the chow line ;)

SOS 2019 theme

my work crew!

posing in Smithfield's

that sky tho

hauling home ALLL the dirty clothes...

group scavenger hunt on Thursday night :D

girl time!

my pretty mama <3

I read like one book (A Letter to the One by Abby Rose Nichols) during the month of June...which might have been even worse than May, actually—can't remember. I did acquire several books. Including The Broken Prince by Kara Linaburg which I'm super excited to read sometime! Hopefully soon. :D

(Told you this would be lame and boring.)

|| Freedom Update

Freedom is coming along quite nicely! The lovely Abi Claire finished edits while I was away from home, so as soon as I finish sorting and applying those, the next step is formatting!

Meanwhile, there's a lot of blog tour prep going on behind the scenes. Ya know those situations where you have wayyyy to much to text someone so you call them? That's me and my bestie trying to plan this thing out. It's so crazy—in a good way. xD

Speaking of the blog tour, the lovely Kate and I will be opening the signup form tomorrow! How exciting is that? We'll be sharing an ARC option as well, for anyone who wants to help out but doesn't have a blog and/or just likes to review. ;D

Also, if you're someone who likes for Kindle books to be downloaded directly to their device on the day of release... Freedom is available for preorder!

|| Snippet 

Goodbyes said, I pocket my phone and, foreseeing the opportunity, step ahead to hold the door for the older couple.  

The lady’s eyes lock on mine as she nears. “Was that your girl on the phone?”  

My girl? I can’t help grinning. “Well… she was once.”  

“I hope you’re doing whatever you need to to get her back.”  

“Edna!”

* 

“I could lie and say I hoard phone numbers.”  

The elevator door opens, revealing the walkway to the front doors of the trauma center entrance. I motion for the other couple to exit first and then follow, falling in step a pace behind them over the crosswalk.  

“But that would be a lie. You’re one Lysol can shy of a clean freak.” 

|| Favorite Posts

The Danger of Writing << Ink Blots and Coffee Stains

Waiting for Nothing << The Storybook Journal

|| My Posts

|| Dandelion Dust: Birthday Bash

• For those who missed it or didn't realize something was going on, I hosted a birthday bash for Dandelion Dust in June, since June 30th was the 2nd anniversary of the book's release. Many other bloggers and friends in the community helped spread the dandelion love, shared about the book-birthday, and talked about my books on social media!

>> Abigail Harris did an amazing week-long author spotlight. Which was super sweet and a fabulous idea! Give her posts a read.

One ~ Two ~ Three ~ Four ~ Five ~ Six ~ Seven

>> Julia @ Lit Aflame and Liz @ Home with the Hummingbirds and Molly @ Qadash - Set Apart, for Him each did a fantabulous interview!  

>> Brooklyne @ Showers of Blessing — This girl's photoshoot, y'all! I am totally in love. *heart eyes* 

>> And let's not forget the epic peeps on Instagram! So many lovely bookstagram pictures. <3  I felt so loved-on. ^_^

• The Kindle ebook was free on the 30th...and I expected *some* downloads. I was thinking, maybe 50-60 at the very maximum. Guys... we topped out with 576 free ebook downloads of Dandelion Dust.

FIVE.HUNDRED.AND.SEVENTY.SIX.

I'm greatly indebted to and appreciative of y'all for spreading the word! I did very little to promote the free day, and the bash in general, so I was absolutely blown away by that number. Wow, y'all. God is good. <3

• I have some DD bookmarks and postcards left over from the party. If anyone would like a couple, shoot me a message or email with your mailing address and I'll send you a few to keep or share with friends. :)

|| June Goals

• Send Freedom to my editor.      YES!

• Celebrate the 2nd book-birthday of Dandelion Dust.         YES! 

• Go on our annual in-country missions trip with the church gang.       YES! 

• Blog weekly.     No-ish?? 

• Read 4 books.      Not quite.... *ahem*

• Resume staying alive.    So it would seem. 

|| July Goals 

• Considering the date, I'm not going to post July goals...because it would sorta kinda probably be cheating to list things I've already did and/or will finish in the next, like, two days. So check back soon for my July recap + August goals. :P 

how was your June? anything exciting happen/happening/happened over the course of your summer? 

Freedom + Beloved || Cover Reveal

Y'all... Y'all...

It's here. The time has come. I get to share my A.M.A.Z.I.N.G. cover of my HOPEFULLY-AMAZING book with the world! *literal shrieking in the background because Faith is losing her grip on sanity* 

Okay, okay, I won't make y'all wait around forever. Here's the cover. Just feast yo' eyes on that heck of epic. :D 

Having just returned to American soil from the desert sands of the Middle East, James Greene is done with his life. 'Double amputee' doesn't seem like a strong enough phrase to label the physical and emotional pain he bears. Add the lack of love and communication with his family members, the demons that haunt him day and night, and he can find nothing worth living for. Ending it all is the only way out.  

Alexandria Lorance is a not-so-ordinary physical therapist, content with aiding in her patients' recoveries. Her work gives her fulfillment, but alone in the silence, she still endures the hidden scars of a past, unhealthy relationship. Reminding herself that true healing is found in Christ alone, she seeks to show kindness and love to everyone she meets. 


When these two broken ones' paths intersect, the spark of friendship is ignited, bringing hope and joy to both. Can they step out of the darkness of suffering and into the freedom of grace?  


A Marine, broken by war. A therapist, scarred by words. A chance meeting in a parking lot bonded them together. But can love grow in these two hurting hearts? Or are they truly too broken to ever find lasting happiness? 

As you all already know, I'm co-releasing this book in September with my friend Kaitlyn and her book, Beloved. Today is her cover reveal as well, so stick around to the end of the post for a link to see her beautifulness! Did I mention Kate designed both covers? *heart eyes*

Also... Because Kate and I are amazing human beings with ginormous bank accounts and plenty of free time on our hands (yes, both are lies, in case the sarcasm didn't translate), we ordered early proofs of the not-final books to test out the covers. So, not only is this a reveal of the front cover of the book, but you get to see the back cover, spine, and interior too. And we get to hold the books in our hands a few months early!

I'll be posting pics on social media throughout the day, and I'll add any new ones here as well. :D

*happy sigh* I love it so much. I'm literally at the point where, the more I look at it, the deeper I fall in love. 

(Also, I need to quit spending money on things like, ya know, book covers so that I can pay for counseling. But that's neither here nor there.) 

Head on over to Kaitlyn's blog to see the amazing cover of Beloved! 

So many amazing peeps—some who are fellow authors themselves—are joining us in this reveal. Be sure to check out their posts and share some love!

Kara  ~  Isabel  ~  Molly Anne  ~  Anita  ~  Kaylee

Lily  ~  Neey  ~  Victoria  ~  Rebekah Ashleigh  ~  Angela

Izzy  ~  Kaitlyn S.  ~  Shine  ~  Faith Blum  ~  Merie 

Kassie ~ Rose  ~  Rebekah Morris  ~  Abigail  ~  Elizabeth

And follow the cover reveal hashtag on social media to see everyone's cover reveal flailings and the lovely quote graphics of each book! :D

#FreedomBelovedReveal

coming in September! Sign-ups open next month. <3

opinions on the cover(s)? are you as hyped about the book release as we are? 

A Soldier's Freedom vs. Freedom || Title Change Explanation

As promised, I'm here today to explain the reason behind the title change of Freedom (formerly, A Soldier's Freedom).

It's really not too big of a deal, but I want to explain everything to y'all so there's no confusion as we move on toward the cover reveal (signups close in 7 days!) and then the blog tour in a few months.

I have several "reasons" for the change—one being that I was never totally sold on the original title—and I could ramble about it all day. But the cut and dry of it is this...

Marine vs. Soldier

James is a Marine. Not a soldier.

Yes, there is a difference. Marine are, well, Marines. Soldiers are Army. Airmen are Air Force....and so on. Don't feel bad if you didn't know there was a difference—I didn't for the longest time. But there is, and because I want this book to be as true and right as I can make it, "soldier" in the title has got to go. 

Yes, yes, some of y'all already pointed this out to me. Yes, I was aware of it then. But I was hesitant to mess with the title when I wasn't sure how I was going to change it. (Nothing is quite as confusing as when an author changes the title of their book a half-dozen times. A time or two doesn't bother me so much. But when it's continuous? Make up your mind, people!)

I considered A Marine's Freedom, but I've never been a fan of how that sounds. I didn't realize the title I wanted was staring me in the face the whole time...

Freedom IS This Book

...but it was.

Y'all, freedom is this book. It's the word, the theme, the meaning that has been stuck in my head concerning this book for, like, ever and ever amen. It's the essence of all this book is.

I even kept saying I wanted "freedom" to be in the title. (What a droolin' idiot!**) It was literally slapping me in the face until one day (or night—I honestly don't remember) I went, "wait, what if Freedom is the title?" And the rest, as they say, is history.

And one word titles? So much #yassss.


** Pardon the grossness, peeps. It's a joke. One which approximately 0.07% of the people reading this will understand. xD 

Correlating Series Titles

Speaking of one word titles, something else I dealt with while configuring a new title for this book was that I wanted the title of each book in the trilogy to correlate in some way.

Freedom is, or will be, the first book in the Liberty's Battlegrounds series. Book #2 is in the works at an on-and-off sort of stage, while the only attention book #3 has received is a bit of brainstorming here and there.

I wanted each of these books to have titles that make it somewhat obvious that they're connected. At first I was thinking, A Soldier's Freedom, A Soldier's Future, and A Soldier's Faith. But, not only is that a bit redundant, it's easy to confuse.

Right now, I'm thinking each book will have a one-word title, beginning with F. Future and Faith are examples and possibilities that may or may not stick around. ;)

so there's that! 

thoughts on the new title? how do YOU choose titles for your WIPs?

Freedom's Release + Cover Reveal Signups || I.Am.Screaming.

Good morning, lovely people!

As I promised yesterday—and as you've probably gleaned by the title—I have supercalifragalisticexpialidocos things to talk about with y'all.

Let's jump in, shall we?

|| A Soldier's Freedom / Freedom's Release

First off, Freedom—formerly titled A Soldier's Freedom. (If anyone is interested in hearing why I changed the title, drop a comment. I could literally write an entire post on that. xD)

This is something that I don't think I've talked about on #TheBlog yet, and certainly not in detail. I'd previously mentioned that I might be interested in pursuing the possibility of traditional publishing with this particular WIP. I'd been tossing around that idea for awhile, wasn't really sure what I wanted to do with it, and went ahead and called upon some fabulous beta-readers to give it a read.

Last fall, while Hurricane Florence was ravaging the east coast, I was perusing beta-reader comments when a thought struck me. What better time to release a book that deals with the darkness of suicide than during the month and week that's devoted to spreading awareness?

Knowing it was a year away, I knew I'd have plenty of time—which I liked. I talked it over with a friend (Kaitlyn from Twin Thoughts, who also happens to be the author of a book that also deals with suicide) who was toying with the idea of self-publishing for the first time. "You should," I encouraged. "Actually, you should dual-release with me during National Suicide Prevention Week."

Even from a thousand miles away, I could see her eyes widen at the thought. We both liked the thought. A lot. We agreed to pray about it for awhile, and make sure it was what He wanted.

A few weeks later, we talked about it again. I asked how she felt about it, after prayerfully considering the possibility. She said "I think we should go for it." (Or something like that. Don't sue me, child. I'm quoting from memory.)

Guess what, folks?

We're going for it. We've been praying about it since last September. We've been making plans since January. We're co-hosting a blog tour that will run during early September. And we're dual releasing these two books—Beloved by Kaitlyn Krispense and Freedom by Faith Potts—on September 10th.

Here's the basics: I'm releasing Freedom in September. I'm co-releasing/co-hosting the blog tour with my bestie. And we're opening signups for the cover reveal RIGHT NOW.

Oh,  did I mention we're crazy excited?! <33

|| Cover Reveal

Because half the fun of something is the anticipation, we're upping the hype with a cover reveal! On June 1st, both Kate and I will be releasing the covers of these darling books to the world. And we'd love to have you help us out. Need more incentive? You'll get to see the covers before anyone else (besides, ya know, us) and you'll get shoutouts on our blogs!

Don't have a blog? No problem! We're also offering a social media option.

Scurry on down and sign-up! :D Form closes May 25th.

are you as excited as we are? have you signed up yet? *nudges you*