It’s here! It’s here! The Shattered Dark’s final cover!

I’m so excited to share this with you guys. I absolutely love it. I feel like I’ve totally one the book cover lottery with these two books. I love how The Shadow Reader’s cover was kickass and pink, and I love how The Shattered Dark’s cover is kickass and purple!

Yes, McKenzie is holding a sword again. No, she still doesn’t know how to use the darn thing, but she does hold one for more than two minutes in The Shattered Dark.

So, here it is. The cover for The Shattered Dark!

I’d love to hear what you guys think of it. (I love McKenzie’s pants!)

I really need to update my website with info on this book, but if you haven’t read the back cover summary yet, I included it in this post. It’s also on Goodreads, and can I just say, you guys are fast! Someone added the summary to Goodreads within 24 hours of me posting it. I wonder how long it will take someone to add the cover…

ETA: It’s 3:20pm and I just checked out Goodreads. Guess who’s cover is up already! That took less than an hour. Like I said, you (whoever you are) are lightning fast!

• Two weeks ago, when I wrote down my weekly goals, I forgot one tiny detail: I was leaving town for a week and a half. All my goals pretty much flew out the window when I remembered that, and I spent my time scrambling to get ready instead of crossing things off my list (although I did finish my copy edits!). So, lets pretend that week’s goals are this week’s goals. ‘kay?
• I was reading through Fitness Magazine the other day. It was it’s anniversary issue. In it, it talked about fashion changes over the years. One of those fashion changes is that scrunchies, apparently, are so ’90s. At least, that’s what Carrie Bradshaw said on Sex in the City. You guys can probably guess what I’ve been using to pull my hair back with for the last, oh, 30 years. I like scrunchies – I feel like they break my hair less – but I guess I can try out some of those new hair-puller-backer things they’ve come out with recently.
• Lose it! I need to lose weight. Seriously. About 10 lbs. This isn’t pregnancy weight, but weight I put on after two back to back surgeries and infertility treatments. It needs to go. So, I’ve downloaded this app called Lose It! that let’s me track my calories and exercise. I just started it up today. I think people can friend me on it? I need peer pressure to be successful at this, so if you have the app and are interested in cheering me on, you can try to find me at sandy AT sandy DASH williams DOT com. (I think that’s how you would add me.)
• Went to Jazz Fest in New Orleans last weekend. We used the event as an excuse to see our friends who moved out there. We took the boys. Not the best idea, but I knew that going in. It’s an all day festival of music. That could be fun, but it required 10+ hours of driving (split over two days) and it was so freaking crowded. We could barely move our double wide jogging stroller around so it was hard to find a good place to sit and lay out a blanket. One of our boys is… wiggly. He will not stay still! And what’s worse is that he has no fear. None. So when we finally did take him out of the stroller, we had to constantly corral him on the blanket. Some grass may have been eaten anyway. The other boy was just plain miserable the whole time. So, I opted out of day two of Jazz Fest and stayed home with them the next day. I think everyone had fun on day two, so that’s good. The husband was able to see the Foo Fighters, and it was nice seeing all our NOLA friends.
• Speaking of NOLA, I really had no idea just how hard it would be to be away from home for a week and a half with two crawling boys! When we’re at home, I don’t have to watch them quite as closely as when we’re out. Our home is thoroughly baby proofed, and I know where they can and can’t get into trouble (for the most part. I’m sure they’ll prove me wrong any second now). But when we’re away, even at our friends’ who have baby-proofed their houses, I have to pretty much watch them constantly. I don’t want my boys to tear anything up, or make a mess, or get into things they shouldn’t. It’s exhausting, watching them so closely. I am so happy to be back home!
• I am REALLY ready to start writing again! For realz! Not sure if the nanny will be here tomorrow, but hopefully, I can get a synopsis written this week and start pounding out new words.

I just realized I never updated my goals last week. Oops. I actually did well on them! And I had a super productive week, writing wise last week. I finished my copy edits! I finished them EARLY! Tell me your impressed.

Of course, I’m not quite relinquishing the manuscript yet. I’m going to read through it at least two more times before it’s due, just to make sure I’m not missing something obvious and I might tweak word choices or sentence structure or something, but the book could be published as is and I’d be extremely happy with it.

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I have two posts up on other blogs today. The first one is my regular Magic and Mayhem post. You guys might find it interesting. I keep notes on my progress while I’m writing, and a bit of writer-angst shows through in my Quotes from the Writing Log.

The other post up is an interview and giveaway. It’s over on the Reading Between the Wines Blog (absolutely adore the title of that blog!). Hop on over there to learn about my take on mythology.

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Goals from Two Week’s Ago:

1. Create a meal plan for the next week.

2. Write three blog posts. (I really, really need to write blogs in advance or they don’t get done!)

3. Finish edits on TSD. (I’ll get copy edits back soon, but there are some things in the second half that need to be tweaked, and I’d like to give the full manuscript a complete read before I work on the copy edits.) I didn’t finish the edits I wanted to do until last Wednesday, so I didn’t actually meet this weekly goal, but since they ARE finished, I’m totally crossing it off.

4. Finish labeling the pantry. (Since I can’t find those damn labels, I’ll print my own as I mentioned. I think I’ll need to make a trip to Target or Michael’s to “laminate” them and get a couple of other things. I’ll try to post a before and after pic.) I found the labels! Unfotunately, I didn’t have enough to completely complete the pantry, but I’m going to call it done for now. It’s so much more organized than it was before! I went from this organized mess

where everything was just thrown in and I couldn’t find stuff and things I didn’t want fell when I grabbed things I wanted, to this:

It’s more impressive in real life, I swear! (And please ignore my overflowing recycling on the floor. Gotta figure out a better way of containing it!) I really love the over the door Elfa system I bought from The Container Store! I thought it would rattle around and being annoying when I opened and closed the door, but it’s not at all. It’s perfect and customizable! Here are a few closer up pics:

5. Cook at least one Deadline Dinner! (I’ll post more on “Deadline Dinners” later.) My husband actually gets credit for this. He made a double recipe of his mom’s enchiladas. We hate some and froze enough for more meals. We haven’t tried these frozen yet, but if it works out well, I’ll let you know (and see if it’s okay with his mom if I post the recipe!).

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This Week’s Goals

1. Organize my bathroom sink!

2. Plan menu for this week.

3. Read through The Shattered Dark at least twice.

4. Write four blog posts.

5. Declutter bookshelves! We are out of space on our bookshelves. Most of the book we have, we’ll never touch again. I’ve decided I’m only going to keep print copies of my absolute favorite books and signed books. This is a massive project that might take more than one week to accomplish!

Why, hello there, Thursday. Where the hell did you come from?

I’m way late on posting the winner of my latest newsletter contest. This should have gone up on Monday. Life is just crazy, crazy, crazy, which is why I’ve been debating temporarily closing down this blog. (The poll on that link is still open if you want to offer your input. I’ll try to post the results in a week or so. So far, the answer isn’t what I thought it would be!) It’s going to be even crazier for the next two weeks. I received my copy edits yesterday. I have two weeks to make the book perfect. The copy edits aren’t all that bad, but over the weekend, I received a critique from my very brilliant, best-est, ZOMG-I-love-her beta reader, Renee Sweet, and she’s totally nailed The Thing that’s been bothering me about my book. What’s even better is that I know how to fix it!

Cue supremely happy dance.

Newsletter Contest

Thank you for everyone who emailed me with input on what you like to read about in author newsletters. It sounds like I’m doing some things right, and I have some ideas of other things to add in there and maybe some things to take out. Anyway, I appreciate you guys subscribing and for taking the time to email me.

The randomly drawn winner of the newsletter contest is:

Jill B.!

Congratulations! I’m sending a $10 Amazon Gift Card to your email address. Thanks again!

You know how every blog I post here begins with an apology for not posting here more often? I think I’ve finally come to the conclusion that I can’t keep up with this blog like I should and like I want to. The only thing worse than not having a blog, IMO, is having a blog that’s rarely updated.

I wouldn’t be going dark on the internet, though. I’d still post every Monday on the Magic & Mayhem blog. I’d link that to my Amazon and Goodreads profile (you should be able to subscribe to my Magic & Mayhem feed by entering this url: http://www.magicandmayhemwriters.com/tag/sandy-williams/). And then, I’d write more guest blogs and respond more often on other people’s blogs (I read a lot of blogs, but don’t usually respond b/c of time issues). I’d then include a list of recent/most popular guest blog posts on the Blog page of this website.

The reason I hesitate to shut down this blog is because I’ve heard for years and years that “Authors MUST have a blog!” and “Authors MUST build a web presence.” I’d still have a web presence on Twitter, Facebook, Pinterest (really want to work on my Pinterest site!), and via the guest blogs, but sometimes, I have the itch to blog about things that aren’t writing or book related. Like couponing or playing board games or my twins or just random things that catch my interest.

Also, I’d still have a pseudo-blog via my “News” feed on the front page. I can update that with my status, news of signings/appearances, recent sales or upcoming releases, etc. So, this website wouldn’t become completely stale (and I hope to add some extras to the site when I get a chance).

I’m really torn on the issue. The last nine months have been insane, and I have to recognize what my limits are. On the other hand, I like having a blog. I *want* to blog regularly; it just seems impossible sometimes.

Anyway, I thought I’d put this question out to those of you who read this blog. I’ve embedded a real quick poll below. If you’re viewing this on a feed, you might have to click over to my site.

I know there’s very little information out there about the sequel to The Shadow Reader, The Shattered Dark. The main reason for that is because I’ve just now reached a point with the book where I actually like it. Honestly, I was ready to just kill off everybody and stop writing in the middle of the story, but I gritted my teeth and kept typing.

And kept typing.

And kept typing.

Seems like it took forever to write that book, but now that I only have copy edits and galley pages to work on, I feel so much better about everything!

And, now, I have permission to share the back cover summary with you guys!

The tagline for this book:

 A love declared. A war waged. A future endangered.

Back cover:

McKenzie Lewis has a gift. It allows her access to a world few have seen,
and even fewer can comprehend. It’s her secret. And it exists in the shadows…

McKenzie was a normal college student, save for one little twist: she’s a shadow reader, someone who can both see the fae and track their movements between our world and the Realm. It’s a gift for which she has been called insane, one for which she has risked family and friends—and one that has now plunged her into a brutal civil war among the fae.

With the reign of the king and his vicious general at an end, McKenzie hoped to live a more normal life while exploring her new relationship with Aren, the rebel fae who has captured her heart. But when her best friend, Paige, disappears McKenzie knows her wish is, for now, just a dream. McKenzie is the only one who can rescue her friend, but if she’s not careful, her decisions could cost the lives of everyone she’s tried so hard to save.

There it is! I can’t wait for this book to hit the shelves! So, do you guys have any questions? I may or may not be able to answer them.

First, the winner from the giveaway two weeks ago is:

Lexi!

Email me your address at sandy AT sandy DASH williams DOT com and I’ll send you an autographed copy of Mari Mancusi’s THE BLOOD COVEN. :-)

I had every intention of updating the blog last week with a real post instead of just a quick one, but getting ready for the RT Convention sucked away every second of my free time. Actually, it was probably the babies that sucked away the seconds, but still. I thought about getting ready for Chicago a whole lot! So, I didn’t get a chance to update my goals from two weeks ago. I did pretty well on them!

Two Week’s Ago Goals (there is so much wrong with the grammar in this heading!)

1. Catch up on emails! (I’m so far behind on this. Like, two months behind, I think. This is my top priority this week.) I caught up on reader emails. Yay! I didn’t catch up on ALL emails, but I feel a big weight lifted off my shoulders after sending the last reader email, so I’m crossing this off the list.

2. Get a hair cut! (I haven’t had one since before the boys were born. So the last one was almost nine months ago. I’m thinking of getting some highlights this time.) Did this on Tuesday! It’s not the greatest haircut I’ve ever had, but much better than the scraggly, nine months-no-trim thing I had going before.

3. Finish labeling the pantry. (I organized the pantry a couple of months ago, but didn’t finish because of the book. This shouldn’t take long to do.) I would have finished this, but I could not find the rest of my labels. I looked at least three different times for them. I guess that’s okay, though, since I wasn’t 100% in love with the Martha Stewart Labels I bought, mostly b/c I had to write “Rice” and “Pasta” etc on them, and my handwriting is awful. I’m going to print off labels from the Better Homes and Gardens website.

4. Shop. (I cleaned out my closet three weeks ago, tossing into a box anything that I hadn’t worn in two years and the clothes I really just didn’t like. So, um, now I don’t have anything to wear. Yes, it’s that bad. I have maybe 3 or 4 short sleeve t-shirts that are decent to wear out, and the rest are Hard Rock Café and band t-shirts. I’m not in my 20s anymore, and I had twins. I need decent clothes that fit! Oh, and I need clothes for the RT Convention!) Success! Found a pair of gray pants that fit, and black pants. Or so I thought about the black pants. I swear the fit when I bought them, but they were a bit big at the con. I kept having to pull them up! Better than to small, though, right? And I found nice, comfy shoes that didn’t hurt my feet. I will say, though, that I totally could have felt comfortable wearing jeans the whole time. Many authors were. I think I’ll only wear slacks next year if I’m doing something official-y.

5. Write quarterly newsletter! (You can sign up for it here.) Written and sent!

Not too bad, right? I think this is the best I’ve done with my goals this year. Hopefully, it’s the start of a trend.

This Week’s Goals

1. Create a meal plan for the next week.

2. Write three blog posts. (I really, really need to write blogs in advance or they don’t get done!)

3. Finish edits on TSD. (I’ll get copy edits back soon, but there are some things in the second half that need to be tweaked, and I’d like to give the full manuscript a complete read before I work on the copy edits.)

4. Finish labeling the pantry. (Since I can’t find those damn labels, I’ll print my own as I mentioned. I think I’ll need to make a trip to Target or Michael’s to “laminate” them and get a couple of other things. I’ll try to post a before and after pic.)

5. Cook at least one Deadline Dinner! (I’ll post more on “Deadline Dinners” later.)

I’m scrambling to get out the door to catch a flight to Chicago. Just wanted to say I’ll post a winner from last week’s giveaway next week. I’m behind on everything still! I did do well on my goals last week. More later!

Hi, guys! I’m back! I turned in edits for The Shattered Dark on Friday after working nonstop for the last month. Well, okay, I slept and ate and watched the boys for a few minutes here and there, but seriously, I was basically working 12 hours a day 7 days a week since the beginning of March. I was practically doing the same thing in January and February, too, but I made time for grocery shopping then and did go out once or twice with the family/friends. So, am I tired? Yes. Utterly exhausted and pretty much near urnout
with the writing thing.

At least, I was on Friday, and on Thursday, I was in a near fetal position because I was so, so sick of the book, and so, so stressed out trying to get it turned in on time. Oddly, though, on Sunday, I already had the itch to start working on it again. On it, and on other projects. So, hurray! I still love writing!!!

I’m trying to force myself to take the next two weeks off. I really need the break, and I really, really need to catch up on life. A while back, I was posting a list of weekly goals here, and I’m going to try that again. I’m changing it to the To-Do list, though, because so often, I don’t cross everything off on the list, and not crossing off a to-do doesn’t seem as big a FAIL as not crossing off a goal. At least, it doesn’t in my mind.

Weekly To-Do

1. Catch up on emails! (I’m so far behind on this. Like, two months behind, I think. This is my top priority this week.)

2. Get a hair cut! (I haven’t had one since before the boys were born. So the last one was almost nine months ago. I’m thinking of getting some highlights this time.)

3. Finish labeling the pantry. (I organized the pantry a couple of months ago, but didn’t finish because of the book. This shouldn’t take long to do.)

4. Shop. (I cleaned out my closet three weeks ago, tossing into a box anything that I hadn’t worn in two years and the clothes I really just didn’t like. So, um, now I don’t have anything to wear. Yes, it’s that
bad. I have maybe 3 or 4 short sleeve t-shirts that are decent to wear out, and the rest are Hard Rock Café and band t-shirts. I’m not in my 20s anymore, and I had twins. I need decent clothes that fit! Oh, and I need clothes for the RT Convention!)

5. Write quarterly newsletter! (You can sign up for it here.)

GIVEAWAY

I did do one writing related thing this weekend. I signed books Friday evening at the Texas Two Step Conference. It was a lot of fun! And I snuck away from my table for a minute to pick up a couple of autographed books. Mari Mancusi was there, so I grabbed a signed copy of The Blood Coven Vampires, Volume 1, which is an omnibus of her books, Boys That Bite and Stake That. To enter, just leave a comment telling me what you hope to accomplish this week. I’ll choose a winner next Monday, April 9th!

Also, I’m giving away another signed book on the Magic & Mayhem site! Hop on over there to enter to win Marshal of Hel Dorado, a paranormal western by my writer-friend, Heather Long. Yes, you read that correctly – a paranormal western!

The Shadow Reader has been on the shelves for almost five months now, so I realize it’s ridiculous that I’m just now doing a public signing. The only books I’ve put my signature to so far were for my friends and family and for giveaways on blogs. With the twins and the deadlines and the general chaos of life, I just haven’t had the time (or the mental energy!) to set something up.

And I didn’t exactly set this one up. Actually, I didn’t set it up at all. Others have put a lot of hard work into organizing the North Texas RWA’s Two Step Conference this weekend. I won’t be on any panels, but I will have my favorite pen, bookmarks, and copies of The Shadow Reader to sign.

Here are the details:

When: Friday, March 30 @ 6:30 pm
Where: Hilton Garden Inn Las Colinas (Irving, TX), 7516 Las Colinas Boulevard, Irving, Texas 75063

For a complete list of authors at the signing, you can go here.

Anyway, if you happen to be free on Friday night and you happen to live in the DFW area, I’d love it if you dropped by and said hello.