Carmen Cook's Blog, page 3

Hi everyone! I'm so behind in keeping everyone up to date, but there's been a LOT happening. Jumping right in, today, Coming In Hot is on sale and featured with Red Feather Romance. If you've been waiting, now's your chance to grab it! It's available on all retailers. Next up, mark your calendars for the amazing Christy Reece's release day party over on Facebook on April 17th. There will be tons of authors checking in throughout the day with all sorts of wonderful goodies. THEN, I'll be hosting a signing at Third Place Books, Lake Forest Park, on April 23rd. If you're local, I'd LOVE to see you there. If you aren't local but still want a personalized paperback of your very own, call the store to place your order. They'll get me to sign the book for you and ship it right to your door. I hope to see you at one of these events this month! More soon,Carmen

Hi Everyone! Happy March! (where in the world did February go??) I hope the snow has stopped falling and sun is shining where you are. It's streaming in the windows here. I'm just wishing it was warm enough to actually be outside and play rather than sitting inside.Although, I have a book to finish, so no rest for me. If I could just get my writing "helpers" to understand that I'll have a lot more time for playing if they let the laptop take priority. Taz and Natasha love to snuggle and don't understand this whole writing thing.In other news, I'll be participating in Elizabeth Hunter's Release Party on Facebook this Tuesday, so be sure to watch for the link. I'll post it as soon as I have it and I'd love to see you all there! I'll be there at 6:45EST. April has some fun events in the works too, so stay tuned and I'll let you know the details as soon as I have them!More soon! Carmen

Hi All,With Valentine's Day right around the corner, I have to ask: What's the most romantic date you've ever been on? Or the most romantic thing a partner has done for you?If you've read Coming In Hot, you know that Connor is getting ready to set the stage and pop the question (again) to Bethany. I'm having so much fun with this, but I'd love to hear your experiences and ideas! Share away.More soon,Carmen

Hi Everyone!I've got a special reader treat for you. I'm one of the sponsors of the Night Owl Romance "A Tea Party & Books" Scavenger Hunt.During this event I'm going to help you find some great new books. Make sure to check my featured title out along the way.The grand prize is a $100 Amazon Gift Card.Enter Now at: https://www.nightowlreviews.com/v5/Bl... Dates: Feb 15 - Mar 8

I realized I'd forgotten to update everyone that our kitchen is DONE! My wonderful hubby fixed the whole thing, saving us money and keeping us on schedule (for those of you who have ever worked with contractors, you know how difficult that can be.) And, as a suprise bonus, I got a new faucet out of the deal. The one thing I'd never cared for about the old sink was that there was no sprayer/hose thing. Well, now I have one! YAY!And in a full out effort to win hubby of the year, Hubs also presented me with an early Valentine's Day gift of this Jones Glass piece of art (I know this because he asked if we were going to exchange gifts before he gave it to me). Jones Glass was a local glass art vendor who was in Seattle back when we were dating. Anyway, he gave me this awesome candle holder.But, here's my confession; I'm the least romantic person on the planet. Yes, I know, I write romance. Yes, yes, I KNOW! But seriously, I never think of these wonderful things spur of the moment. It takes some serious effort to keep up with this man in the romance department and I hadn't been planning on Valentines gifts this year. So I need some serious help to come up with something awesome for him. And, double whammy, his birthday is shortly after Valentines Day, so two ideas would be best.Any ideas to help a cleless romance author out?I'll let you know what I come up with. More soon,Carmen

Hi everyone! As I write this, I'm surrounded by chaos. Hubs discovered a leak in our kitchen early this week, so, being the handy guy he is, he went in and discovered the exit pipe from our kitchen kink was leaking. Once he removed the sink and drywall he discovered the pipe was actually crumbling and had probably been seeping for quite some time. (I'm not going to curse the contractor who remodeled the kitchen before we moved in, nor mention that he didn't insulate the pipes...I'm not. Really.)But, needless to say, the house has been in pure chaos all week long. And, if that's not bad enough, I going to say something I never thought I'd say. I'm tired of take out. REALLY tired of it. I want my kitchen back. I want to do the dishes in the sink, rather than the bathtub. I want to make coffee without having to run to the other room to get water. And I want to cook whatever I want, while wearing my pjs. (And if you think this must have created a little plot bunny for you, you'd be completely correct!)Luckily, Hubs is amazing and the kitchen sink will likely be back in place later today. And in the grand scheme of things, this is a very minor inconvenience. But man. I never thought I'd want to do dishes so badly in my life.So, there we go. I'm tired of take out and I want to do dishes. It's like I don't even know myself anymore. (Ha!)I hope you all have had a wonderful, stress-free week!More soon,Carmen

Happy 2018 Everyone! We're 5 days into the new year and, I don't know about you guys, but I'm hearing a lot about people who didn't make resolutions this year. This year is all about goals. Not a huge resolution to change a massive thing about their lives, but a little (or sometimes not so little) goal that is attainable. This has always been my approach to resolutions, so it makes me smile, but I have to admit. This year, I've got nothing specific. 2017 was a tough year right up until the bitter end, so I honestly haven't given it too much thought yet. But, now's the time, right? 1. Set a schedule for 15 minutes of housekeeping a day. I'm not a fan of housekeeping. Don't get me wrong, I love a clean house, but my boys are little-ish. And boys. It seems every time they come into the house they're dragging half the turf from the football field with them. And, they have chores (and they do them!) so I'm not one to trip over myself to clean up after them. But, they're not quite up to my standards of clenliness, even when they do pick up after themselves. It's easy to get overwhelmed. So, 15 minutes of something. Every day. Maybe I can get a head of this thing.2. No more zero word days. Like most of us, I work a full time job in addition to moming, wifing and writing. My brian gets tired. But, if I can just get some words down, I find I can get into the groove a little better and the words start coming easier. It's the only way the words will get on the page. What about you guys? Do you love resolutions and make them every year? Are you someone who picked a word to carry into 2018? (If so, what is it?) Or do you make the smaller goals? It's okay if you didn't do it this past weekend. It's not too late! I'd love to hear what you come up with.More Soon,Carmen

2017 was challenging for so many people for all sorts of reasons. But, I've decided that if I want 2018 to be better, I need to really be thankful for everything 2017 brought me.1. Coming In Hot finally made it into the hands of all of you. This book had been delayed for a long time for all sorts of reasons, but finally, in 2017, I pushed through all the road blocks (imagined and real) and finally got the book out to the readers. I can't thank you all enough for reading and reviewing the novel. I can't thank you enough.2. Business goals in the dayjob taught me all sorts of new skills. I don't know about you, but I'm always about learning new things. And, as a result, there is going to be a contractor in a coming book. It's going to happen.3. My family continues to be healthy and happy. Seriously, I couldn't ask for anything more.So, to all of you, I wish you the most wonderful of NewYears, filled with love and laugher.More soon,Carmen