The last couple of weeks since the release of Seeing You from Samhain Publishing have been really wonderful. Overwhelming in a good way.
And crazy. I’m starting to sympathize with that poor chicken running around looking for its head. *g*
I’ve been guest blogging a fair bit. I know my own blog is very jealous of the time I’ve spent with others, and I’d promise to blog more on here but I think I might be blogged out for a bit. Surely I can’t be interesting enough to talk THAT much. Heh.
Don’t think I ever posted about it, but I was over at lovely and talented Clare London’s spot for her month-long birthday bash (which was a blast!). I talked about the value (or not) of the epilogue and one of the reasons why I love epublishing so much.
I spent some time over at the Samhellion blog talking about size. Of fiction, get your mind out of the gutter! I like ‘em long these days.
Today, tomorrow, and Saturday I’m over at DIK, invited by the fabulously discerning and prolific Jen from Well Read. I have to say it’s a blast, with sand, sun, fruity drinks–and of course–hunky men. Today I’m answering some questions about the REAL Dakota, and tomorrow and Sat. I”ll be talking about some of my favorite romance tropes and sexual tension. Stop on by and make sure to leave a comment on any of the three posts as I’ll be picking two commenters to receive a FREE FREE FREE copy of Seeing You. (the FREE FREE FREE…well that’s a flag for anyone skimming this post, aren’t I sweet? *g*)
Seeing You has also received some great reviews for those of you who are thinking about buying–you should!–or are curious. 
Wave over at Reviews by Jessewave was the first to offer a review, giving it 4 out of 5 stars and hitting on an ingenious marketing strategy: curiosity. She said, "I thought that the best part of the book was Wade’s unusual courtship which you will have to read for yourself – let’s just say that the author showed a great deal of imagination." You can read the rest of the review here.
British Bulldog over at Rainbow Reviews also gave it 4 stars out of 5 and thought, "The story’s greatest strength is how it shows the slow coming together of Wade and Dylan, as both men heal from Simon’s death." He also commented on my "first-class job" and "mastery of words." (That TICKLED me, I say!) You can read the rest here.
Jen over at Well Read gave Seeing You a grade of Very Good and found that "as a study in overcoming grief this novella was spot on" and it "managed all this without being too heavy on the angst." You can check out what else she said here.
Joan/Sarah F. from Dear Author also reviewed Seeing You (I was completely flabbergasted that it had even been reviewed on such a popular site). She gave it a B- and thought it was a "beautifully-done story of loss and recovery." You can read the rest of the review here.
Mrs. Giggles also reviewed Seeing You, and while some parts worked for her, some didn’t and she gave it a 78 out 100. The review itself made me laugh out loud three times while reading it, which is probably an odd reaction to enjoy a less than positive review of your own work, but what can I say? I’m strange. You can read her review here.
And finally the lovely Elisa Rolle reposted her review of Seeing You, saying the "mood is definitely not light, but the story is very romantic." You can read the rest of the review here.
So that’s what a few people have thought so far of my wee little story. And though it’s early days, it seems to be selling pretty well. SY spent two weeks on the MBaM Bestseller list, with a few days at #2. It’s also listed as one of the highest rated and bestselling gay and contemporary ebooks over at ARe. It fluctuates a lot (and I’m not sure how much it really means) but it’s been staying pretty high in a couple popular Amazon categories. (I think at the moment it’s #5 in Kindle Store > Kindle Books > Fiction > Genre Fiction > Gay & Lesbian and #6 in Books > Gay & Lesbian > Literature & Fiction > Fiction > Gay.)
And after all this news I should probably say…If you haven’t already and you’d like to, you can pick up a copy of Seeing You here.
So there it is. Post-release news and updates. I hope you’re not as tired as I am! *g*
Seriously though, I can’t tell you how pleased I am. I love hearing from readers and reading reviews (truly I do, whether positive OR negative) because I like to see what worked for someone and what didn’t. And if you’ll forgive me a moment of emotionalism on my professional blog…I wrote Seeing You over two years ago and it was very different from anything I wrote before it and everything I’ve written since. It’s special to me, flaws and all, and I thought for a while of not trying to publish it (but submitted it impulsively the first time around). Writing it helped–in a small way– during a time when my heart was breaking as someone I loved was losing a battle to a terminal illness. The grief…well that was my own. But the recovery…that was how I imagined it to be at the time. Whether I was successful or not in terms of the story, I’ll leave that up to the readers. And now in some ways, I feel like I’m quietly closing a chapter in my life–and I’m smiling about it. That’s a good thing.
accomplished