I kicked off my summer this year with the release of a new book: the final book in the Bound Trilogy, Fated. With that book release came a few extra events, in addition to the “one every month” goal I’ve been keeping strong over the last two years. 


Today, I thought it would be fun to share with you a quick highlight or each event, including how many sales I made and my general experience.

Let’s do it.

MAY 16th
Event: LAGG Meet Cute (Pre-release, first sales for Fated)
Location: LAGG, American Fork, UT
Summary: This book event kicked off the summer with a strong start. At this event, I sold 18 books. This was my first event with the LAGG staff and community, and I had a blast. Keep reading for more info on my experience with them.

MAY 30th, RELEASE DAY
Event: The Dang Book Bash
Location: West Valley, UT
Summary: At this event, I sold 20 books, and 1 Bound Trilogy puzzle. I met tons of amazing people. This was my second time at one of the events put on by this same host, and by golly she is one of the coolest, most organized, energetic people I know. I loved my time at this event just as much as the last time I was there. I was upstairs this time, which got a little less foot traffic and a little fewer sales, but it was still awesome, and my booth neighbors were fantastic.


MAY 31st
Event: Books Signing
Location: Park City Barnes & Noble
Summary: I sold 8 books.
Man, I don’t know what happened. When I started doing book signing events, I started with Barnes & Noble. They were all so open and kind, and I soon gravitated toward Park City, because I swear that location had something special. They communicated quickly and professionally, and my favorite, they kept inviting me to come back. I enjoyed signing so much at this location that I thanked them in the acknowledgements in my newest release. Alas, things have changed. It’s rare now that I even get a response to an email or a returned phone call. Paperwork has been inaccurate, and seemingly unimportant. At this last signing, I left a book box set for my trilogy at their location because I was promised they would send me consignment paperwork. Over three weeks and five phone calls later, I still couldn’t get anyone to send me the paperwork, so I drove up there and picked up the book box myself.


JUNE 6th
Event: Summer Pop Up
Location: LAGG, American Fork UT
Summary: I sold 1 book, to a very kind human being who left and came back so she could purchase Bound. I also sold one sword bookmark. I honestly don’t think I’ve EVER met a more professional staff. No kidding. All of the staff at LAGG are friendly, engaged, and so on it. This was my second event with this team, and they were fantastic, and very thoughtful. 

My general experience? It was hot, and we were outside tucked under a tree, so we didn’t get very many people who came by. Still super fun to get to know my booth neighbors, and honestly I loved the staff. If you haven’t been in that store, they’ve done an amazing job with it. You should definitely go check it out.


JUNE 20th
Event: Car Show Charity Event, Put on to Support Finding Missing Persons
Location: Ogden, UT
Summary: I felt very cool to be allowed to set up my table inside the shop on such a hot day. I donated a book to the raffle, and I sold one book and a couple of sword bookmarks. All in all, the people were amazing, but the little foot traffic I did have were folks not really looking to purchase books. 


JULY 25th
Event: Pioneer Days Fair
Location: Wellington UT Park
Summary: I had a nice long break to wait for more books to come in the mail, and I was genuinely surprised by how many people came to this one. If you don’t know, Wellington UT is a drive-through town. Basically a smattering of homes and small businesses along the highway on the way to Moab. But man, people show up. 

I partnered with the author of The Little Red Fergie, which I illustrated and published. The author, his wife and I would partner together for the last three events of the summer. Including The Little Red Fergie, we sold 23 books, and had 11 other miscellaneous merch sales. 


AUGUST 1st
Event: Books Signing
Location: Barnes & Noble Orem UT
Summary: I partnered with the author of The Little Red Fergie. Together, we sold a total of 14 books.
This time, I was at given some information as to what was going on at this Barnes & Noble location. There had been a shift in management since I had scheduled and confirmed this event, and the person who took over was not aware of the event until I called about three weeks in advance to see if they had already ordered books. They had not. Thankfully, I had some books left over, which I said I would bring, and they had Bound, Severed, and Twice in a Lifetime in stock at their store. It turned out fine, but this is not the only BN location where management has dropped the ball. I sincerely hope that they figure it out, because man, I really love these bookstores. I know there's a lot of controversy right now because Barnes & Noble is a corporation, but they were the only bookstores I ever had access to growing up, it has always been a dream of mine to get my books into those stores, and they responded and took a chance on me when many indie bookstores wouldn't.


AUGUST 7-8th 
Event: International Days Fair
Location: Price City, UT
Summary: This was not my first time doing events back to back, or my first time selling books two days in a row. This was, however, my first two-day event, and the most costly to attend. This was a tricky one, because I’d had some personal things going on that made attending and sticking through this event difficult, especially in the heat. But the music was great, and the people were lovely. I partnered again with the author of The Little Red Fergie, and together we sold a total of 61 books, plus 12 other, non-book merchandise sales. Of those sales, I sold NINE complete Bound trilogy sets. I sold out of box sets, so I started giving away Bound trilogy tote bags if they purchased the whole trilogy. That’s 27 books alone, and I also sold entirely out of my hardcover stock for Bound, and came home with only two Bound paperbacks remaining. 


Overall, this summer has been great. I’m very grateful to have been included in so many awesome events, and I hope to continue this trend. Not only do I sell WAY more books in person than I do online, but I also genuinely love talking with people about stories. I still have a number of events in the remaining months this year, some of which will even take me out of the state of Utah. Doing these events has allowed me to make enough money to invest in rebranding, and finally, FINALLY to invest in the equipment and training to create audiobooks. Stay tuned, folks. 

One more thing I will say: I love having a completed trilogy out there, and I will absolutely be putting together more Bound trilogy book box sets, because they look great and people really seem to love them! 


I hope you all have had a good, eventful summer, and that you’ve had lots of opportunity to read good books and connect with great people. 


If you were one of the folks who saw me at an event this summer and you signed up for my email list, keep an eye on that email of yours. I’m doing another, sort of “end of summer” giveaway, and you will be included in the drawing!

Hello hello, everyone! It feels like it's been ages since I shared a blog post with you all, although in reality I think it's only been about two weeks. Still, I've been posting weekly for quite some time now, and a lot has been happening, so it feels strange. I've missed you!

Today's post will be fairly casual. Mostly, I wanted to take a moment to share with you all the writing things that I've been doing when I'm not working, and the changes that I've recently made. 

First, I stopped writing at night. I know. I've been writing at night since I started taking my own writing seriously, and it has been an odd transition. I'm sleeping better (most nights), because my story isn't so fresh on my brain. And I've unlocked a seriously productive mode within myself. Here's how my writing routine looks different now:

1. Instead of writing in the evenings after my son goes to bed, I've been setting aside 30 minutes to an hour before I start work or after I'm supposed to be finished with work. That way, I'm already in my office, and I can get some things done without feeling too guilty about being "at work" for longer than I usually am. I'm also working halftime at the moment, which helps a ton with that. Some days, my schedule doesn't allow for me to squeeze my writing in during the day, so there are still occasional evenings where I do write after my kiddo goes to bed, though it's sporadic at best.
2. My evenings have been designated as "chill" times, where I sit down with my husband and we do something together. Now, because I've been writing at night for so long, I really didn't realize how much time there is between 7:30 or 8:00 when my son goes to bed (sometimes later, you know how it is) and 11:00, which is when I usually head to bed. Now that I'm not writing in the evenings, that time feels like a lot. My husband and I have been re-watching A Game of Thrones, and we watch it about every other night, with Friday night designated for our scary movie night. On the other nights throughout the week, I usually do something book related that's not writing while I watch him play a video game, or we do some kind of project together. This has given me a ton of time to work on things that I've wanted to do for forever, but had trouble finding time for.  like making notepads to sell, designing my author journal planner (which is out now!), cutting out bookish stickers I've printed off, and so on. 

​So, what have I been up to?

1. Writing (of course). I plan to finish the rough draft of my current work in progress, and I'll dive right into developmentally editing its contents thereafter. I'll be sharing more details soon, but this book is a gothic dark fantasy. I've been calling it a horror fantasy, but my purpose is not to scare my readers necessarily; instead, the dark elements and themes within the story are used to drive the plot and develop character motivations.
2. Putting together my next poetry collection. I'm almost halfway through with putting the poems in one collection, editing them as I go. 
3. I've finally made time to create and release the author journal planner I've been dreaming of doing for over a year! That's out now. Stay tuned on my socials if you'd like a video walkthrough. That should be coming later this week.
4. Doing other author business things that I've been putting off, like rebranding; redesigning my website; listing some of the merchandise I have to offer on my website in addition to my books; and designing, printing and assembling notepads and other fun bookish things (I've now even got temporary tattoos!).
5. Reading. I've finally gotten to start making consistent time during my days to actually sit down and read a dang book. I'm currently reading two of them: Wish Wrecked, by Sara George (for fun, and it really is a fun read), and Energetic Selling and Marketing by Lenka Lutonska (this one is really helping me think through what I want for my author journey and how I want to get it. It's also just been really great for making me think differently about my life as a whole). 

So, yeah! Lots of things happening. Lots of little things that I'm hoping will help me make a big difference. I'll keep you updated as things progress, but I'm thrilled to see how the rest of this year pans out. 

Until next time, keep writing. Keep trying. Stay awesome.

I'm a firm believer in the idea that if someone feels compelled to write a story, they should probably write the story. I'm an even bigger believer in the idea that if you've got enough motivation that you have started drafting your story, you CAN finish it. I also believe that finishing a first draft is the absolute hardest part of the book-creation process. 

Here's why.

Most people have had the idea at one time or another that they want to write a book. They may even have an outline or a pretty well developed idea for the plot or characters. Most of these people will play around all day with the idea of writing a book. They'll talk to people about it. They'll do hours upon hours of research for their book. They'll travel to places that they would like their book to be based on. And most of these people never write a single word for their first draft. 

Let's say that they do start drafting. Maybe they get a few paragraphs, a few pages, or even a few chapters in. Their drafting process is slow, and arduous, and eventually, self-doubt gets the better of them, and they stop writing. The idea was there, and they even started drafting. Perhaps they still even feel passionate about the story they want to tell. But the writing stops. This happens to most of the people who try writing a book.

It's not because they had a bad idea. It's not because they're a bad writer, or that they're not good enough to complete the story. It's not even because life got in the way (most of the time). 

If this sounds familiar to you, if you've wanted to write a book or have even started writing a book but are struggling to finish your first draft, here is my advice to you in this stage of the writing process. Below you'll find four tips that I have seen work for myself and for others who have tussled with the same writing troubles. Some of these tips are easier to implement than others, but ALL of them have the potential to help you get that first draft finished.

1. Write. Yes, outlining is important. Research is important. Marketing on social media is important. But if you're not writing, if you're not putting words on the page, your draft will not be finished, and all these other things will be for naught. Write your ideas down when you have them. Write often, so you can keep your momentum flowing. 

2. Make notes to yourself within your draft. You can take them out later, but they're so helpful to have so you remember where to pick up after a break, or so you don't have to go back and re-read a bunch of stuff to know where you were going. They're also very helpful to keep you from coming up against writer's block. Making notes to yourself like, "BREY, YOU NEED TO COME BACK AND WRITE THIS SCENE. HERE'S A GENERAL IDEA OF WHAT YOU WANT." or "BREY, YOU'RE STRUGGLING WITH DIALOGUE HERE. WHAT WOULD THEY SAY? COME BACK AND WRITE THIS PART LATER." Doing this allows you to put down your general ideas so you can remember what you wanted later, without getting stuck staring at a blank page and waiting for the magic to happen for a scene or a piece that's not ready yet.

I also find it tremendously helpful to write a quick sentence or two about what I want to focus on next time. It might look like, "BREY, NEXT TIME, HAVE YOUR CHARACTERS TALK ABOUT THIS, OR DO THIS THING." Sometimes I even get a whole little chapter outline this way.

Every single time I've done this, when I finish the draft and go back to look over my notes, I've been able to answer to these notes much more methodically, much more carefully, with much more detail, because I know where the story went afterward, and now I can make some really cool connections. We all have stuff we struggle with when it comes to our writing. The key is to keep going. Leave a note, and come back. DON'T WORRY ABOUT IT WHILE YOU'RE DRAFTING.

3. DO NOT EDIT OR EVEN RE-READ YOUR DRAFT WHILE YOU'RE DRAFTING IT. I mean it. I know there are a lot of people out there who say they can edit a book while they're drafting. I believe them. They can do that. I used to be one of them. But here's the difference. If you're editing while you're writing, then much of your precious writing time will be spent going back to look at stuff you've already read. This makes writing that first draft take sooooo much longer, and that initial edit you did while you were writing does not (and should not) replace the editing that will come after the draft has been completed. The reason for this is because you don't yet have all your scenes. You don't have all your dialogue. You may not even know for sure where the story will end up, or how your characters will react. If you save your editing for AFTER you've finished your first draft, you'll be able to make much more meaningful edits, and it will save you so much time. 

Another thing that happens when we edit while we're drafting is that our obnoxious companion, imposter syndrome, kicks in hard. We look at our words and hate them, or at least dislike them because they should be better. We kick ourselves for not being able to write a story perfectly from the first attempt. But... nobody writes a perfect story at the first attempt. That's why we have editors. That's why we have beta readers. The purpose of drafting is to vomit all the words on the page, to spill the story as it comes out, so that you have something complete to model and refine. 

I edited my first book as I wrote it. It took me five years to complete the first draft. When I published it, I found out it was still riddled with errors, even though I had also done some editing after my draft was complete. While you're drafting, I highly recommend that your attention be on drafting, and on leaving yourself notes for things you want to check on, research, come back and reword, etc., so you can do it later. 

4. Don't find time. MAKE time, and make it consistently. I hear this a lot. "I want to write, but I just can't find the time." or "I hope I can find time to work on my manuscript this weekend." Guess what? Time isn't hiding from you. And I know this one all too well, as I still find myself saying this in particularly busy weeks. I still find myself wishing for more time, or wishing that I could wake up in the morning before my kiddo does so I could start my day with writing. Wishing is very different from doing. I know that there are mornings I just won't be able to make it happen. I know that my son is a very light sleeper, and if he hears me getting up in the morning, he'll just be up. It's nearly impossible to find time to write. 

But. 

I do have some control over my schedule. I can make time. If I have five minutes to scroll on my phone after dinner, I have five minutes of writing time. If my son goes to bed earlier than usual, I can make time to write. And, something that I've started to do more frequently, I can set aside ten, or twenty, or thirty minutes of writing time before or after work, while I'm still in my office. This has actually been really nice, because I'm not staying up super late into the night trying to get my writing in for the day. If for any reason this doesn't work out, then I know I want to make extra time in the evening, or add some extra time in the next day. 

My challenge to you, dear writers, is to make time for it, if it's something you want, and do it consistently. Pay attention to idle times, and utilize them. Even if you only have five minutes and you only get three sentences down. That's three more sentences than you had before. Three more sentences that will build you toward the end of your first draft. Plus, if you're doing #2 already and make notes inside your draft, that five minutes can go a long way, because you won't have to sit and wonder what you're supposed to be working on next.

Remember, first drafts are supposed to be messy. The challenge is finishing it. Then you can fix it. You can do it. You can finish that draft, if you want to. Just keep going. 

​Until next time, keep writing! Stay awesome. :) 

If you're new here, welcome welcome! I've had a lot of new email list sign ups over the last couple of months, and I thought it would be a good time to share a little bit about who I am, so you don't feel like you're following a stranger. 

Quick Questions:
Favorite Color? Green. Any shade or hue.
Favorite Hobby (besides writing)? I love doing art, playing video games, and watching movies. 
Favorite Food? Alfredo, with or without chicken.
Favorite Weather? Rain, 100%.
Favorite Standalone Book? Relentless, by Dean Koontz.
Favorite Author? Probably Tolkien. So much about his work has inspired my life and my writing. And dang it, the Lord of the Rings trilogy is just so awesome. 
Favorite Movie? Silence of the Lambs
Favorite Music? I have no idea. I listen to all kinds of music, and it varies greatly depending on my book. I have been listening to a lot of indie stuff lately.

Harder Questions: 
What's your life philosophy? I've always believed that if you put your best out into the world, you'll get your best back. 

What's something that you try to remember always? Something that I try to remember always is that we're all human. We're flawed. We all get awkward, we all get hurt. Kindness is all that matters.

What's your ideal day? My ideal day would be waking up before the sun, reading a book or writing with a cup of tea, then opening the rest of the day playing with my son and hanging with my family. Or spending the day with my family at the beach. I love the beach.

What's something that drives you? Oh, man, I love to learn. Any certification, training, professional development or class I can take, I'm all in. If I could afford to go to college until I die, I totally would.

What's your day job? I'm a reading intervention specialist. I love my job, but I do not like trying to explain what I do, because there's so much of it. The short version is this: I assess and work with students, teachers, and the general public to enhance reading development and reading instruction. I am certified to work with all levels of developing readers in a tier 1, tier 2, or tier 3 setting.

What's your professional background? I graduated from college with my bachelor's degree in creative writing. I taught middle school and high school English and I absolutely adored teaching. During the years I spent teaching, I also worked with students on their reading after school, and that's when I was offered the job I have now.
 
What's something you've changed your mind about? I grew up with a lot of siblings, and I spent the first several years of my relationship determined that I didn't need a kid, because I was able to help raise my siblings, so I'd already gotten the experience. When I finally did come around and decided to try for a baby, and when he finally came, my whole world was flipped upside down in the best way possible. This little creature I had made became the absolute most precious thing I've ever known, and I still feel that way.

And of course, What do you write? I write a lot of things. I write and illustrate children's books, I write poetry, I've written romance, I write fiction, and I spend most of my time writing fantasy. All of my books, no matter the genre, have some things in common: deeper themes, connections and reflections of fate and free will, darkness and light. 

Thanks for reading, and for joining me on this crazy journey! Do you have questions you’d like me to answer? Comment here, or send me an email!

Hey everyone. Today I wanted to share with you an experience I had at my last author event, what happened, and how I feel about it.

Almost two weeks ago, I had a multi-author event that I had a ton of anxiety over. A ton of self doubt. Leading up to the event, I kept feeling like I wasn't prepared enough, or that I was missing something. That feeling didn't go away. I was so worried about making sure I had everything ready. When I got there, I set up, and then I kept looking at my display wondering what I should change. I worried that people wouldn't be drawn to my table. I worried that my books looked bad.

Two hours into the event, I hadn’t sold a single book, while the romance authors around me were selling bunches.

I felt inadequate. Like I didn’t belong there. I've done several multi-author events, and ended up doing near 20 events last year. Even after doing so many events, writing and releasing so many books, this feeling, these worries... well, they still come around pretty often.

During this event, I even had one lady talk about “self” publishing in that way that many people still do, the way that tells you in their eyes, you’ll never measure up, even to those who are “traditionally published” under a small imprint or vanity press that still have to do all the work to sell their books.

But here’s the thing.

I ended up selling 18 books at that event. I sold 4 complete sets for Bound before the third book in the trilogy even technically released. I brought in over 400 dollars in the last 2 hours of that event. 

I left still feeling a little weird about how things had gone, but then I remembered something that helped me so much. I wrote these books. I put my soul into them, and I’m working hard to get them out in the world. I “self” publish because I want to choose what happens with my book, where it goes, what it looks like, and I don’t want all the money to go into someone else’s pockets. 

That’s my choice. It’s not because I couldn’t get an agent, or a publisher never wanted me. Truly, I've never submitted my work to a traditional or hybrid publisher, because I know what I want for my work. So I made my own path by founding AzureStar Press. 

You can too. Keep doing things the way you feel in your gut they need to be done. Trust yourself. Keep working at it, even if your efforts are made in small spurts. Put yourself out there. Keep trying. Every choice you make, every thing you try, is building toward something. Don’t let it slip, and please don't call it early. You never know how things might turn around if you keep going.

Your words matter. Your work matters. YOU matter.

I'll write again. Until then, stay awesome out there. 

I hear it a lot: "I'm so sick of reading about 17-year-olds who save the world."

And I get it. I do. As an adult especially, reading about a teenager going through all the things a teenager should be going through, then adding in the weight-of-the-world stakes that many of our YA protagonists take on can feel... a bit redundant, and unrealistic, as well. 

But here's the thing. I really do think that our world, our teens (and even our adults) still need this kind of hero. We still need to read the kinds of adventures that these teen protagonists go on, and here's why. 

Teens, young adults (and heck, even full-fledged adults with steady jobs and mortgages) go through a lot. Your teen years and early adulthood is full of change and turmoil. Add in hormones, finding first loves (and potentially losing them), and stepping out into the world on your own, and it can feel like you've got the world on your shoulders. Everything depends on you. Everything is your responsibility. And what happens if you don't succeed? Well, I think many of us out here shudder at the thought. 

But then we read about those seventeen-year-old protagonists who rise up against all odds. They often don't want the challenges and obstacles that are thrown their way, either. They face demons (often literally), walk through fire, and look armageddon in the face and say, "You're nothing."

All of a sudden, our own challenges, especially in our teenage years, don't seem so frightening. They don't feel so momentous. We find solace in the misery of the characters we relate to, because we have faith that they will overcome. In turn, I think that makes us in the real world actually more resilient. We become better problem solvers. We're able to compare our breakups to so-and-so's battle with a demigod.

We measure our successes up to those our characters achieve. 

Above all, these young, resilient characters, help us realize in times of rapid-fire change that we are not alone. That although we're reading fiction, it really could be worse. 

I think our world still needs these young fictional characters to show us the way. To show us that we can survive, and thrive, against all odds. That we can overcome, too.

Thank you for reading! I had this discussion with my husband today, and I felt inspired to write about it and share with you! If you like the image above, thank you! I drew it. It's a depiction of the main character in the Bound Trilogy, Lane, in one of the final battles. And yes, she is 17!

​Keep writing. Keep reading. Stay awesome, and I'll see you soon.

Hello everyone! I hope you're all doing great. 

Today, I wanted to share a little bit about how the KickStarter for the Bound Trilogy Grand Finale Book Launch went, where I am with filling orders (and prepping for launch) and what else is in the works.

Last Tuesday, I went to bed pretty bummed out, and I was very much in backup-plan making mode. First, I wanted to figure out how to do all the things I planned to do (or at least the most important things I wanted to do) for Fated's book launch if the KickStarter was not successful. How was I going to thank the people who put their faith in the project if it didn't reach its goal?

On Wednesday, thanks to a few of my wonderful, supportive family members spreading the word like it was their job, we met our funding goal, and then some. I cannot express how grateful I am for these amazing people who took the project from 62% funded to 108% funded in 24 hours. I will write a post in the near future breaking down what I did for this KickStarter, what was helpful, and what was not, but for now, my focus is on getting ready for launch, and getting rewards out to those who paid for them.

Through this KickStarter, folks ordered a total of 57 books (and Fated doesn't come out until the 30th!). I've got orders for 30 ebooks and 27 physical books. I'm so happy about this! 

So here's what's happened since Wednesday last week.

1. We met our funding goal! Yay!
2. I made a BookFunnel account to distribute ebooks to those who ordered them.
3. Rewards have been sifted through and organized so I can keep track of what all needs to be made (and who it will go to).
4. Bookmarks and stickers have been ordered!
5. All art has been printed.
6. Backer survey was sent to gather item preferences and shipping info.
7. Bound Trilogy puzzles were ordered.
8. Ebook design for Fated is about 70% complete. I'm hoping to finish it today, then I'll go back and make some tweaks to Bound and Severed's ebooks so they're all the same.
9. I added Fated to my website and made some graphics that I'll print for my table setups that allow people to sign up for my email list via QR code and see the pricing for the art I've made.
10. I've been working on my outline for my next book. Very slowly. But still working on it.

Next, I will be...

• Ordering more books to fulfill the orders.
• Tweaking my measurements for the book box sets just a little bit and getting those started. 
• Spraying page edges (once books arrive). 
• Finishing my outline (hopefully this week) so I can start drafting my next book by June 1st. 
• Contacting all the bookstores I've made a connection with this last year to let them know the new book is almost out (and hopefully setting up an event with them). 
• Attending the 4 events I have scheduled between now and May 31st. 

Thank you all for being with me on this wild journey. If you have any ideas for how to make the book launch for the FINAL book in the Bound Trilogy even better, please comment or send me an email! I'd love to hear your ideas. 

For now, keep writing. Keep reading. Stay awesome. I'll write again soon.