Traitor Release Day!!! Welcoming My Second Book into the World

YOU GUYS!!!!! We finally made it! Traitor is here!!! I'm SO grateful for and encouraged by the enthusiasm you've all shown for this book, and it means the world to me that you've been willing to wait THREE YEARS for Traitor after the release of Common. The journey has been long and challenging, but so worth it!

Releasing my second full-length novel into the world has me sifting through such a flurry of emotions. Relief (it's finally here!), shock (wait, it's April 27th already?!?), and satisfaction (I did have more than one book in me after all!) are definitely among them. Also a fair amount of trepidation. When Common released, there was some fear of the unknown, but it was easily overcome by the rush of being a first-time author. 

This time, I know what to fear. I know what it's like to see negative reviews with the sinking feeling that a reader didn't understand or connect with my story. I know what it's like to watch Amazon rankings take a nose-dive and to lose momentum while everyone around me seems to be progressing faster and farther. I know what it's like to wonder whether I truly have the strength and creative energy to produce another quality book. Then there are the worries that the fans of Common might be disappointed by this next installment!

But despite the fears and anxieties, I'm grinning. In fact, I've been grinning for weeks. Because I also know the amazing experiences that await me - that are already in progress - due to this new book release. Reaching new readers who will connect with my characters and eagerly join in their adventures. Having friends and neighbors share that they enjoyed my book or passed it on to a friend or niece or co-worker. Discovering the themes and connections readers find in my words that I didn't even intend. Signing books for family members, friends, and strangers, renewing my awe that this dream really did come true.

How perfect that Princess Penelope's story in Traitor corresponds so well with all these mixed feelings! She's definitely a little sadder and wiser than shy, innocent Leah from Common. But the mistakes in her past set her up for an even deeper, richer path as she moves forward toward hope and redemption, learning that it's never too late to find her own happily-ever-after. I hope you love her story!! Make sure to check out the other stops on the blog tour for lots of behind-the-scenes looks at the characters, setting, and writing process, plus some sneak peeks at what's coming next in the Tales of the Mystics! Not to mention some reviews that have absolutely made my heart melt :) Thank you so much for celebrating with me today, friends!!

Traitor Blog Tour Schedule

Monday, 19th, “Redeeming a ‘Villain’ in Traitor” Laura A. Grace, www.lauraagrace.com

Tuesday, 20th, “Connecting Companion Novels in the Tales of the Mystics” Pam Halter,

www.pamhalter.com/fairiesfantasyfaith

Wednesday, 21st, “Visual Post: Characters of Traitor” Anne Wheeler, www.anne-wheeler.com/blog

Thursday, 22nd, “Integrating a New Language and Culture into Traitor” J.M. Hackamn, www.jmhackman.com

Friday, 23rd, “Author Interview with Laurie Lucking: Traitor Blog Tour” Riella Cristobal,

www.booksandeverydaylife.home.blog

Saturday, 24th, “Interview with Traitor Author Laurie Lucking” Amelia Nichole, www.amelianichole.com

Sunday, 25th, “Review of Traitor” Breny Maurtua, www.brenyandbooks.home.blog

Monday, 26th, “Dive-in Review: Traitor” Cathrine Bonham, www.cobonham.com

Monday, 26th, “Review of Traitor” Laurin Boyle, www.laurinboyle.wordpress.com

Tuesday, 27th, “Welcoming My Second Book into the World” Laurie Lucking, www.laurielucking.com

Wednesday, 28th, “Visual Post: Traitor Storyworld” Jenelle Schmidt, www.jenelleschmidt.com

Thursday, 29th, “Celebrate Laurie Lucking’s New Release Traitor Tonight” Michele Israel Harper,

www.MicheleIsraelHarper.com

Friday, 30th, “What’s Coming Next in the Tales of the Mystics” Peter Adler, www.arsilverberry.com/blog

Traitor is available for pre-order!! Plus some blog tour news :)

My friends! Things are moving ahead quickly for Traitor's release in less than two months! This book has been such a long time coming, and I couldn't be more thrilled that it's almost here! Which brings me to my exciting news - it's time to reserve your copy!! That's right, Traitor pre-orders are now available! Eeeeek! You can find links for a variety of retailers HERE. The publishing industry has experienced a lot of delays during the pandemic, but hopefully the sooner you pre-order the more likely you'll be to receive your book on April 27th!

After you complete your pre-order, make sure to fill out THIS FORM so I can send you some pre-order goodies!! You will receive:

• Two 5x7 art prints (one of Leah and Rafe from Common, and one of Princess Penelope and her new fiance, Prince Vander, from Traitor);
• Two double-sided bookmarks (one for you and one for a friend!);
• One signed bookplate (paperback orders only); and
• An EXCLUSIVE bonus scene from Common written in Rafe's perspective!

*Art prints, bookmarks, and signed bookplates can be mailed to U.S. addresses only. (Sorry, international shipping is rough!) But the bonus scene from Common will be e-mailed as a PDF and is available internationally!*

I hope you enjoy this small token of my HUGE thanks for your interest in my books!!

In other news, we're planning a blog tour in April to celebrate Traitor's release! The tour will run from Monday, April 19th, through Friday, April 30th, and I'd love for YOU to be a part of it! If you have a blog or know someone who might be interested, check out THIS FORM to sign up. As a big thank you, each blogger in the tour will receive a free e-copy of Traitor!

And speaking of blog tours, the Clean Fiction Blog Tour is running for the entire month of March! It features author interviews, book reviews, and more, all highlighting clean indie books for middle grade and young adult readers! I had the opportunity to do an interview with 5WildeFlowers, which you can find HERE. It was so much fun sharing about my favorite characters and scenes I've written (I had so much trouble deciding!), my inspirations, and some insights into Traitor. And stay tuned for a sneak peek at a scene from Traitor over at Lands Uncharted coming up on March 16th! You can find the entire schedule (plus information on how to enter a GIVEAWAY!) in THIS POST.

Have a fabulous March, everyone! I'll be back with more updates next month :)

A New Story and a Blog Tour (with a Giveaway!)!

Happy New Year, friends! Once again, I'm embarrassingly late with this update. Between several rounds of illness in our house and the holidays, it's been a busy stretch! But I have some exciting news!

First of all, I had a new release in December! My short story, "Fairy Lights," (which I like to think of as "Steampunk Cinderella"), was published in the Winter 2019 issue of Deep Magic! Deep Magic is an e-zine dedicated to clean fantasy and science fiction, and I was SO excited and honored they chose to publish my story! I had the opportunity to read the entire issue last month, and the stories are fantastic! You can grab your copy HERE. Isn't the cover gorgeous??

AND, Common was featured in a blog tour! As part of winning the Excellence in Editing Award (which I talked about in this post), I won a tour with Celebrate Lit, and it's been fabulous! Each post has featured a lovely review, and it's been such a blessing and encouragement to hear so many kind words about my book! Thank you SO MUCH to all the readers who took the time to read Common and share your thoughts! Today is the last day of the tour, which includes a giveaway for a themed basket with a signed paperback copy of Common, a beaded velvet bookmark, a handmade book sleeve, and a wooden "Have courage & be kind" sign (each of the posts has a link at the bottom to enter the giveaway). You can find the tour home page HERE, and here's a list of all the stops:

Among the Reads
Books, Life, and Christ
My Devotional Thoughts
For the Love of Literature
Pause for Tales
Debbie's Dusty Deliberations
Through the Fire Blogs
Texas Book-aholic
Library Lady's Kid Lit
Rebecca Tews
Blossoms and Blessings
Emily Yager
Reading Is My Superpower
Truth and Grace Homeschool Academy
Janice's Book Reviews
Locks, Hooks and Books
For Him and My Family
Inklings and Notions
A Reader's Brain
Mary Hake

I hope your 2020 is off to a great start! Hopefully next time I'll have some updates on Tales of the Mystics, Book Two - Traitor! Until then, happy reading!

ENCIRCLED IS HERE!!!

It's here!! Encircled is finally here!!!!! The third published book with my words in it, and the first in which I played a significant role in the publishing process (beyond just the writing, of course!). What began with my critique group getting excited about a contest for fairy tale retellings and my vision of a modern-day Snow White character encountering a dryad prince on her strolls in the forest has turned into a gorgeous, real-life book! (For more behind-the-scenes details on how my Snow White retelling, "Edged in Silver," came about, make sure to check out my guest post on Kandi J. Wyatt's blog!)

Despite having an amazing critique group and loving the idea of putting together our own anthology of fairy tale retellings, I'll admit there were many points along this journey when I thought it was never going to happen. When several members of our group who initially started on stories had to back out. When we tried to wrap our minds around the amount of investment and work it would take to publish a high-quality product ourselves. When we faced list after list of difficult questions we had to agree on in order to move forward.

But we did it! I can honestly say that despite all the challenges and hard work, it's been a wonderful experience. Our group has really bonded through the process and worked through every disagreement with respect and good humor. Each member has given generously of her own talents and specialties to make this a true team effort, from editing to formatting to marketing. And I think all our efforts have made the reward of seeing our dream become a reality that much greater. (And seriously, isn't it gorgeous??) In fact, there may even be talk of another Ever Afters anthology in the future... :)

I hope you've enjoyed following the posts in the Encircled Blog Tour so far, I know I have! The tour wraps up on April 18th, so we still have a few days to go! (See this post to get the full schedule - I've been trying to update the links as each post goes live.) And did you hear about the giveaway?? The Ever Afters have teamed up with the Just-Us League to host an epic giveaway celebrating their fairy tale anthologies releasing in April! Enter below for a chance to win one of FOUR sets of prizes!

Grand Prize (U.S. residents only)

• Two paperbacks (Fractured Ever After and Encircled)
• Book cozy
• Slipper ornament
• 3D-printed bookmark (pick one design)
• Set of four signed illustration prints

First Prize (U.S. residents only)

• Two paperbacks (Fractured Ever After and Encircled)
• “Fairy tales do come true” charm bracelet
• 3D-printed bookmark (pick one design)
• Set of four signed illustration prints

Second Prize (international)

• Two ebooks (Fractured Ever After and Encircled)
• 3D-printed bookmark (pick one design)
• Set of four signed illustration prints

Third Prize (international)

• Two ebooks (Fractured Ever After and Encircled)
• Choice of 3D-printed bookmark (pick one design) *or* set of four signed illustration prints

a Rafflecopter giveaway
Here's a little more about the Just-Us League's newest anthology, Fractured Ever After:

Old classics are fractured into exciting new tales in this international collection of magic, mystery, and adventure.

Some heroes go searching for their happily ever after: a dragon cocoon hunter explores the dangerous woods for his sleeping beauty; a prince forces a perfect romance on an unsuspecting maiden; and when a girl leaves town, she must quickly decide to trust—or be wary of—a new stranger.

Destiny is thrust upon others: a disconnected emperor struggles to retain his title; a frog prince leaves his pond in search of answers; and after Rapunzel is rescued, a new quest is awarded to her savior.

Whether it is destiny or choice, all actions have consequences: sibling rivalry pushes one little piggy to extremes and a princess must choose to follow her heart or step up as future queen.

Prepare for an adventure as these eight fantastic fairy tales transport you to places beyond your imagination.

Fractured Ever After is the Just-Us League’s seventh anthology, an illustrated collection of fractured fairy tales. It can be preordered here: https://www.amazon.com/dp/B07Q5H39GH.

Thanks so much to everyone who has helped spread the word about Encircled through the cover reveal, blog tour, Instagram photo challenge, and in so many other ways! We're so very grateful, and we hope you love our stories!!

Encircled Pre-Order Goodies, Instagram Photo Challenge, and Blog Tour!

Encircled comes out in less than two weeks!!! Eeeeek! We have been so busy getting ready for this release and have all kinds of fun stuff going on to celebrate, so I wanted to make sure to keep you guys in the loop!

First of all, have you heard about the pre-order goodies? If you pre-order a copy of Encircled, make sure to fill out THIS FORM! Everyone will receive printable downloads of this gorgeous postcard and bookmark, plus you'll be entered in a giveaway for a pair of homemade socks, an e-copy of To Catch a Magic Thief by E.J. Kitchens, and a bar of New Zealand chocolate! Also, remember that Encircled is currently set at a special pre-order price of $1.99, the price will go up to $2.99 later in April.













Next, we're only a few days into our #encircled Instagram photo challenge, so there's still plenty of time to join in the fun! We have lots of fairy tale-related prompts for you to get creative with, and it comes with a chance to win an e-copy of Encircled and a bar of New Zealand chocolate! (Can you tell we love chocolate??) Make sure to stop by Jebraun Clifford or J.M. Hackman's Instagram profiles to get all the details about how to enter. And check out my Instagram profile to see the photos I've posted for the challenge so far :)

And last (at least for now, there will be more coming soon!), we have our Encircled Blog Tour schedule all put together and ready to start next Monday! I can't wait to see all these reviews, book spotlights, and features for each author! Here's the full schedule, I'll try to update it with specific post links once they're available:

Monday, April 8th

• Author Interview with Tori V. Rainn – Heather Hayden

Tuesday, April 9th

• Review of Encircled – Allie May

Wednesday, April 10th

• Guest Behind-the-Scenes Post with J.M. Hackman – Pam Halter
• Book Spotlight – Iola Goulton

Thursday, April 11th 

• Book Spotlight – Jackie Castle
• Author Interview with Jebraun Clifford – Beyond the Borders

Friday, April 12th

• Review of Encircled – Katie Brown

Saturday, April 13th

• Review of Encircled – Teisha Priest
• Guest Behind-the-Scenes Post with Laurie Lucking – Kandi J. Wyatt

Sunday, April 14th

• Author Interview with E.J. Kitchens – Elisabeth Wheatley

Monday, April 15th

• Book Spotlight – Tammera Ayers

Tuesday, April 16th

• Author Release Day Spotlights – Laurie Lucking, Tori V. Rainn, J.M. Hackman

Wednesday, April 17th 

• Review of Encircled – Ginger Solomon

Thursday, April 18th

• Author Interview with S.E. Clancy – Michele Israel Harper

Stay tuned, because the blog tour also involves an epic giveaway! It's going to be a fabulous few weeks, I hope you enjoy all the various festivities! Thanks in advance for helping us celebrate :)

A Winner, A Release Date, and Blog Tour Signups!

Thank you SO MUCH to everyone who helped me celebrate Common's first birthday last month! I so appreciated all your love and creativity! And I'm excited to announce we have a giveaway winner! Congratulations to...Jebraun Clifford! I'll be in touch about mailing your prize :)

Here's a picture of me and Leah baking cookies to mark the end of the Common birthday celebration!

In other news, I have tons of updates about Encircled, my critique group's collection of fairy tale retellings! We've set a release date of April 16th, which is only a month away! Eeeeeeek! We'll be revealing the gorgeous cover on March 20th - if you'd like to get a sneak peek at the cover and help us share it with the world, you can sign up to be a part of our cover reveal HERE. And, we're in the midst of planning the Encircled Blog Tour, which will run from April 8th through April 17th! If you're interested in participating, you can find the signup form HERE. *Both forms include an opportunity to be an advance reviewer of Encircled!*

I hope everyone is having a fabulous March, I'll be back next week with the Encircled cover reveal!!


P.S. Please consider voting for Common in the Christian Indie Awards if you haven't yet (it's in the Young Adult category), you can find the ballot HERE. Common is also eligible for the Alliance Award this year, a readers' choice award run through my favorite writing conference, Realm Makers :) Stop by HERE and nominate your three favorite fantasy / science fiction books that released in 2018! If Common happens to be one of them (YAY!!), it's ISBN-13 you'll need for the nomination is 978-1943788279. Thank you!!!

Mythical Doorways Blog Tour and Facebook Party!

Mythical Doorways is here!!! Hooray! It released on March 27th, and now is available for FREE on Amazon! The first reviews are starting to roll in, and I've been thrilled by the response to "Threshold" so far! One reviewer said, "This story is quite remarkable. It's a poignant, moving coming-of-age tale with a fantasy twist." And here's how another reviewer described it: "The feels!!! This story was SO good, and that ending was SO worth every minute of not knowing which decision Heidi would make!" *Cue giant grin accompanied by happy dancing*

The blog tour celebrating the release of Mythical Doorways wraps up today! Check out the full schedule of posts here. And TONIGHT, we're finishing up the celebration with a Facebook party! The fun starts at 7:00 pm CDT (8:00 pm EDT), and my featured author slot starts at 9:20 CDT / 10:20 EDT. I hope to see you there!

Happy Release Day to Common!!!!

You. Guys.

The day is finally here!!! The day I've been dreaming of for ages and yet hardly dared to dream of at all...it's TODAY. Today, my debut novel releases! A gorgeous book with 291 carefully formatted pages that has MY NAME ON THE COVER!!!! (You knew this post was going to involve a lot of exclamation points, right?)

I have been in love with books and stories since I was a little girl. Many years later, as a college student, I didn't sell back my books as so many of my classmates did, because I couldn't bear to part with them. Even the ones I didn't like! I've always just had this strange reverence toward books, the need to cherish them.

But the idea of creating my own book? That was too much to hope for.

I remember so clearly the day I wrote the first scene of my first manuscript. I'd done some soul-searching while pushing my newborn around in his stroller on a beautiful fall day, and come out of it with the crazy idea to write a book. I even had a story idea - something I'd imagined years before but never thought to write down. After my son fell asleep, I opened my laptop, stared at a blank Microsoft Word document for a few minutes, and then started typing. It was so much fun! Way more fun than my memories of grade school creative writing assignments.

But then my husband came home. I'm in the habit of telling my poor husband EVERYTHING at the end of each day. So part of me really wanted to tell him about my writing, and yet...part of me really didn't. I confessed at dinner, waiting in trepidation for the laughter or scorn. Not because my husband is that kind of guy, but because I felt I deserved that kind of reaction. Instead, he nodded and said something along the lines of "Cool. That sounds great." And that inner spark that had been lit grew a little bigger. Because maybe I wasn't crazy or unworthy to write a book after all.

That was over five years ago, and I've learned and grown so much along this writing journey. It hasn't all been as fun as that first moment, but it's been one of the most challenging and rewarding ventures of my entire life. In some ways today feels like a culmination of all that dreaming and hard work, in others just a major stepping stone, because I have so many more stories I can't wait to tell, and I hope this will be just the first book of many!

Thank you so much for coming on this journey with me, I'm beyond thrilled to have the opportunity to share Common with you!

So excited, in fact, that I decided we need to celebrate with a giveaway!! I am SO GRATEFUL to everyone who preordered Common or is considering purchasing it - THANK YOU! And now that the books are starting to arrive, I want to see you all hanging out with Leah! So here's how the giveaway works. To enter, post a picture of yourself with your copy of Common, either a paperback or on your e-reader, or a picture of Common outside or somewhere around your house - feel free to get creative! Then post it on Facebook, Twitter, and / or Instagram, and make sure to tag me so I can count your entry! If you haven't ordered Common yet, don't worry! I'm keeping the giveaway open until 11:59 pm CST on Wednesday, February 28th, so you have 2 whole weeks to post your pictures! You can purchase your copy here. (***UPDATE: I initially said the giveaway would close on February 21st, but you guys have ordered so many copies of Common that it's on backorder! Yay!!! So to give people who order over the next few days time to take and post their pictures, I'm extending the entry deadline to February 28th.***)

I suppose you'd like to know what I'm planning to give away... :) The randomly chosen winner will receive the $10 Amazon giftcard bookmark and gorgeous handmade mason jar luminary pictured below!! So start snapping those pictures - I can't wait to see what you come up with! (The giveaway is open to U.S. residents only - I'm so sorry to my friends outside the U.S., the shipping is just too hard!)

Also, the Common Blog Tour is still underway! We've had so many fun posts so far, sharing everything from my writing process to a character interview to visuals from the world of Common. So make sure to check out all the posts from the past week and a half, and stay tuned for a few more fun posts to wrap up the tour. I'll list all the blog tour stops below, but first I have to mention that the release celebration continues with a Facebook party TOMORROW, February 15th, from 8:00 to 10:00 pm CST. It's going to be a great opportunity to hang out with fun people, chat about amazing books, and enter for a chance to win even more giveaway prizes! I hope to see you there!!! You can RSVP and see some sneak peeks here.

As promised, here's the full list of blog tour posts. Thanks again for stopping by to celebrate with me today!!!!

Monday, February 5th, Review of Common, Pam Halter, www.pamhalter.com
Monday, February 5th, Interview with Laurie Lucking, Taylor Bennett, www.taylor–bennett.com
Tuesday, February 6th, Visual Post, Nancy Moors, www.antrimcycle.com
Tuesday, February 6th, Behind-the-Scenes Feature, Rae E, www.anewlookonbooks.com
Wednesday, February 7th, Visual Post, J.M. Hackman, www.jmhackman.com
Wednesday, February 7th, Guest Post: Author’s Journey, Kristen Stieffel, www.newauthors.wordpress.com
Thursday, February 8th, Guest Post, Laura A. Grace, www.unicornquester.com
Friday, February 9th, Interview with Laurie Lucking, Jebraun Clifford, www.quillsandinkblotts.wordpress.com/
Friday, February 9th, Review of Common, Erica Hogan, www.booksaholic.wordpress.com/
Saturday, February 10th, Top 3 Post, Laurie Lucking, www.landsuncharted.com
Sunday, February 11th, Behind-the-Scenes Feature: Laurie’s Writing Process, Liv Fisher, www.livkfisher.blogspot.com/
Sunday, February 11th, Review of Common, Jebraun Clifford, www.jebraunclifford.com/
Monday, February 12th, Character Interview, Brenda Anderson, www.brendaandersonbooks.com
Monday, February 12th, Visual Post, Jannette Fuller, www.jannettefuller.com/blog
Tuesday, February 13th, Interview with Laurie Lucking, KaLyn Cummins, www.authorkacummins.com
Wednesday, February 14th, Release-Day Feature, Laurie Lucking, www.laurielucking.com (Release Day)
Thursday, February 15th, Facebook Party Feature, Michele Israel Harper, www.micheleisraelharper.com (Facebook Launch Party)
Friday, February 16th, Review of Common, Cathrine Bonham, www.dolphin18cb.wordpress.com

Release Date, plus a Blog Tour and Facebook Party!

Happy New Year, everyone! My January has started off with a bang with new book release preparations practically every day. And Common has a release date!!! It will be available February 14th - just a month away! I laughed when I saw the news because I should've seen it coming! We announced the signing of my publishing contract on Valentine's Day last year, plus at its heart, Common is definitely a love story :)

And we have big plans to celebrate next month! There will be a blog tour from February 5th to February 16th, which will feature everything from book reviews to interviews and guest posts. I'll make sure to share the full schedule once I have it! The grand finale will be a Facebook party the evening of Thursday, February 15th, from 8:00 to 10:00 CST. All you have to do is click on the event link (which I'll include below) and enjoy chatting with fellow readers by commenting on posts, many of which will include giveaways! We worked on the giveaway list earlier today and believe me, you want to be there to enter! So prepare to get comfy, grab your favorite warm beverage, and spend the evening of February 15th hanging out with us! You can find the party here.

My last news for now is that I did an interview as part of Christen Krumm's #RealLifeWriter series, which was a blast! She asked some really fun questions, plus it includes the chance to enter a giveaway for the e-book of your choice from Love2ReadLove2Write Publishing! Check it out here.

Keep an eye out for more updates over the coming weeks...Common is almost here!!!