Everything is Ready...WooHoo

I ordered the ARC (advance readers copy)  for Wilson Mooney Eighteen at Last, I should have it in my hot little hands before Saturday! I am going to read through it and check the formatting. If everything is the way it should be...then it looks like WM18@L will be available the first full week of November! 

What a process it has been. 

I want to thank my graphic designer Eunice Ortegon and my editor Tiffany Grayson. These two women are beyond fantastic! They are amazingly giving, super cooperative, completely open, and extremely talented! I am so lucky to have them in my life and part of my journey. I can't explain how awesome it has been having authentic and selfless people surrounding this project. My BFF Becky Codere, which without her constant attention, Wilson and Max would have still been hanging out in my head.  Seriously, she was the one who kept pushing me, locking me away for writers weekends and read-throughs...I am truly fortunate to be surrounded by such wonderful people. They give without conditions and support me through it all.

Okay, enough mushy stuff...A couple of things to hold you in suspense until WM18@L is available....

When it becomes available it will be available and distributed in all formats at www.smashwords.com and of course Amazon, iTunes, and Barnes and Noble.

I will announce the release of WM18@L  on the following Social Networking sites...
Twitter...@delaogk
 Facebook....www.facebook.com/wilsonmooneytheseries
My Blog.....www.wilsonmooney.blogspot.com
Goodreads...http://www.goodreads.com/book/show/16086588-wilson-mooney-eighteen-at-last
My Website...www.gretchendelao.com

So keep checking back!

**DISCLOSURE**
WM18@L will not be categorized as  a YA novel. I will not tout it as a YA. I don't even think I will offer it even under the guise of a "Mature" YA.  It is an adult romance novel (even though the main characters are still quite young.)

I hope you enjoy the read, and truly, thanks for all your support and kind words!

Don't forget to keep checking in!

With Gratitude and Love,

Gretchen

Getting Closer...

Okay, so if I would have remembered how frickin' frustrating editing in html was when using Mobipocket Creator I would have taken better notes when uploading the first Wilson Mooney! Urrghh…The most time consuming part, for me, is making sure the table of contents is working properly. After that, I always seem to need to re-set the title page, and each chapter heading. Forget ncx…that is just way out of range for me. Besides all new Kindles don’t use the ncx feature, because the reader can drag the bar across the screen. So Yay, on leaving behind the ncx formatting!

After writing, editing, and type-setting for print, I must go and create a couple documents for all the different electronic formats. I end up with roughly 3 different copies of Wilson, formatted 3 different ways. Print version has their requirements, Kindle has theirs, and Smashword (a distributor for all electronic formats) seem to have theirs too!

I don’t have the cover yet, but I am very close to having the book ready to go. What I’ve worked on last night was checking the formatting and functionality of different options with the electronic/eBook formats. Once I get the cover for the paperback and the electronic copy...I will be able to finish uploading the book…WOW, that was a pretty LOUD Whoop!

Oh man, if you guys only knew how crazy nervous I have been lately—I’ve been, driving everyone around me bonkers. I don’t bite my nails, but I do require the occasional “really, really” when I start to feel inadequate or unsure about the book.

Gosh, I just can’t get over the fact that there are thousands of readers waiting at the door. Waiting to find out what happens next between Wilson and Max. It’s pretty amazing that people—I don’t know, have become emotionally invested in the characters from my head. Let me just say…the pressure is on…

It’s close to that time to get ready for Wilson and Max to dance across the screens of your e-readers as they live amongst the words that give them their lives.

Thanks for waiting…it won’t be long now…So here’s a little something I’m working on to keep you excited...

Wilson Mooney ~ Eighteen at Last

(Back of the book description Rough Draft #1)

Eager to take the next step in their relationship, Wilson and Max return to Aspen to celebrate Wilson’s eighteenth birthday. When an uncontrollable situation leads to a split second decision, both will be tested like never before. Butterflies will soar, hearts will clash, and Wilson’s relationship with Max will spin into a silken cocoon with choices that seem too impossible to overcome.

Could it be…uncovering the deep ache that lays dormant in their hearts will become the real threat to their forbidden love? Or will the pressures of keeping their relationship a secret be too much to bear?

Are you ready?

How Do I Explain?

OK, time for me to plaster my heart against the screen of your electronic devices. Just let me crack my chest open and pour out every last emotion that tries to cling to whatever is left dangling in my heart. What words can I say that would give you a glimpse into the pleated folds of my mind that nobody has ever seen before? I don’t know, maybe the possibility of speaking before I think of the ramifications, or in the attempt to keep my sacred moments locked away in my heart...I may appear distant or uninterested. 

If you only knew I am exploding inside, wanting to connect with every word, letter, email, and review. And the deep gratitude I feel for each person who has invested part of their life in Wilson and Max’s story.

Life is so precious, and how we spend it is so important. I am completely aware that what we do with our lives equates to how we end up spending our time. And in today’s world, I know that time is one of our most valuable commodities. A commodity that once spent, we can never get it back. We can’t ask for a refund or exchange it for something different.

Time is priceless, treasured, and irreplaceable; therefore, I truly understand the price you’ve paid to spend time with the characters that found their way through me and out into the world. Is there even a word in existence that can explain the emotion that swells through my body when I find out that someone has fallen in love with Wilson and Max? Possibly, but at this particular moment I can’t seem to find it.

Maybe it’s like when you see the man of your dreams and the spark it ignites deep within your heart. Or the unconditional, untainted love that saturates you when you see your child for the first time. This whole experience really does rank up there for me. When people give their time to my words, it is an indescribable feeling. A feeling I want to blurt out, share with everyone, and canvas the world with it; but it is so personal, so intense, and so awe-inspiring that to try and explain it seems almost too…limiting.

It is so powerful to feel people’s emotions. Every response I get from a reader about Wilson is poignant because they have taken their time to think, feel, and process the emotions that boiled to the surface of their life when they read her story. That resonates with me.

I can’t tell you what waits for me later today, tomorrow, or even the next. But I can tell you this…I am exceedingly grateful to all of the people in this world who have decided to share in the stories that swamp my head and pour out through my fingers. To those of you who have invested your treasure and time in my words—I thank you from the bottom of my heart!

With Gratitude,

Gretchen 

Okay, Let's just Visualize okay! Humor me!

Hello, Jennifer Lawrence as Wilson?

Are We There Yet?

It’s funny, people who are close to me and my process can tell when I am coming to the end of a story. I start looking for the reassurance that what I wrote isn’t sh*t. I begin to question what I have written. It’s a bizarre feeling when my thoughts begin to morph into different advocates that cheer or hiss in my head.

I have to admit, when I decided to publish Wilson’s story…I felt like I took every stitch of clothing off and ran butt naked down the median on the highway. Every flap of skin, every pocket of cellulite, mole, and gnarly scar exposed for anyone who wanted to look over and point a finger (Pay attention, traffic is stopping up a head!). And yet as I awkwardly tried to run with my hands over my no-show parts, I felt the need to just free my arms and start waving at all of the rubberneckers checking me out.

Because, now that people are taking a chance on me and read my writing; they are beginning to wave back instead of point. They smile instead of scowl, and they actually roll down the window to cheer me on. They don’t notice the flaps bouncing with every step and somehow my moles and scars seem to disappear. Suddenly the shift from apprehension to confidence has taken place. Don’t get me wrong, I live the teeter-totter of cheers and jeers daily.

Everyday I’m learning that being an author is a game of patience and gratitude. I am completely aware that some people search their entire life to find something that drives them and they never discover what it is. I realize how fortunate I am to have found what drives me. There’s something deep in my heart…actually it’s in every cell of my body that tells me that I have to write. It’s almost like breathing. It is so personal, and yet at the same time so communal. 

It’s as if the huge metal claw in the grab-o-matic game hovered over me before it dropped down and snatched me up by the head and waved me precariously over the sea of prizes. And before I knew it, I was in the arms of the people who celebrated who I was and what I wrote. It's been the most humbling experience and continues to be!

So I guess I want to tell you, my wonderful readers…Thank you! Thanks for your support, your loyalty, and your patience as I edit, re-work, and revise Wilson Mooney, Eighteen at Last. Thanks for all the emails and letters you send me about Wilson and how her story has resonated with you in your own life.

From the bottom of my heart I am truly grateful.

Please keep checking back for updates and little teasers as I get closer to releasing the second book in the Wilson Mooney Series.

Want more?

Visit my website: www.gretchendelao.com

Follow me on Twitter: @delaogk

Send me an email: gretchen(at)gretchendelao(dot)com

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