From Start to finish

When I started writing I never dreamed I would be as involved as I was with my books. With the publication of my first book The Kings of Angkor, it was basically write, edit and that was it. With One Thousand Years to Forever and now with the second one, I've Been Waiting for You, from conception, writing, editing sending to my editor, working on edits and then sending to my final editor and formatter... well you would think that is it. No, it's just the beginning. You have to get out there and push without (I hope) being obnoxious), Keep your name out there. Provide some freebies in hopes that you will make a connection that when your next book comes out, people will be more likely to purchase. This time last year I was working on OTYtF and had some contacts. This year I have a great deal more contacts and three books out. Am I on the NY Times Best Sellers List yet? No, but I am as an author trying to write really good books that people will enjoy... see me as a personable author who takes the time to say hi and hopefully that will help. I am after all writing for enjoyment and for my readers. I love to write and that's really important. So maybe someday I will have a book on the NY Times Best Sellers List. But first and foremost happy readers. So remember when you read a book from one of your favorite author, a lot of work goes into these books.

Home for the Holiday Blog Hop

Below you will find a link to the Home for the Holiday blog Hop that I will be participating in. Leave a comment along with your email and then hop onto the next one.

http://www.theromancetroupe.com/p/home-for-holidays-blog-hop.html I love to cook but what with writing and editing I don't have the time, unless I set aside a day. So the day before thanksgiving is making pie day. At least 6-8 just for our family. Then there is the homemade stuffing and cranberry sauce. Less is better for our family. Now when I lived in Cambodia someone always sent me herbs and spices to make homemade stuffing out of stale baguettes. Now that I live back in the states I have breadcrumbs handy. Turkey Stuffing 1 bag of stuffing mix (for Thanksgiving) 2-3 bags. Measurements will be for one bag. 1 box of chicken broth, 1 stick of butter, onions, mushrooms, celery. Saute veg. in butter till done according to taste. Add to stuffing mix then add chicken broth. I add a bit more or less or even water till I get it moist enough. Put in baking dish, cover with tin foil. Bake. So moist and not salty like boxed stuffing.

Working on a website and contest coming up !

Well I have finally bitten the proverbial bullet. Yesterday I started working on a website... My oldest daughter, one of three of my children who still live in Cambodia is doing up her own. She is going to have an online shop for children's clothes, made in Cambodia. Well looking at her's gave me the courage to finally try. At first I was like "OMG I can't figure this out!" Was pulling my hair and doing a whole lot of talking to the screen. After a few hours I was starting to get along just fine. This morning after some writing time I got back on the page. I have a few glitches here and there BUT I figured out some stuff that I couldn't yesterday. So I am happy. I kinda deleted something and have to work out that but again I am not too upset... yet. It amazes me that I am actually doing this. I would much rather be writing, so I do throughout the day. Then I get back to the web page and work things out, adjust this and that. Move things, figure things out and voila! It looks half way decent. I will keep at it till it looks great. Also I will be running a contest in conjunction with the release of "I've Been Waiting for You" on December 15th. There will be swag and a gift card to be given away. So until next time...

My InD'tale Review for One Thousand Years to Forever

On Monday, late afternoon I went and peeked at the November issue of the magazine InD'tale. I was a bit timid about reviews, though I have received very good ones so far... but to get one from a magazine like InD'tale... Well I was saying to my self If I receive one of 3 stars that will make me happy, it will make me work that much harder. I dared not hope for a 4 star or higher... So slowly I turned the pages through the reviews till I arrived at Paranormal... Then I turned to page 73 and there was my book and next to the cover was a Crowned Heart and under the title is not three stars or four but FIVE stars! It received the Crowned Heart for Excellence also! It also earned itself 5 teakettles... Five Star Review With Crowned Heart for Excellence, InD'Tale Magazine Reviews Review for One Thousand Years to Forever

"The characters and the plot are woven beautifully! Moriarty did a wonderful job melding thousands of years of history with current day without missing a single beat. This novella is truly quite a gem!" ~Julie Caicco~ InD'Tale is a great magazine and gives the Indie and Self-Published Author such as myself a voice in the publishing world. Thank you goes to InD'Tale it's Editor TJ Mackay and to my reviewer Julie Caicco. Do I now sit back on the laurels I received? No, it gonna make me work that much harder to make my next books even better. http://indtale.com/

An Interview with Grigoris Drakakis

I want you all to know a new face in the Romance Cover Industry that I think will be on quite a few covers in the near future. I have my cover in my mind, now just need him in the shot I want for a new series... I had seen a few photos of him on facebook, on some of my friend's pages who are authors and then oh happy day, he sent a friend request :-) So without further ado please enjoy this little interview from Grigoris!!

~A chat with Grigoris Drakakis~ First off I want to thank you Grigoris for taking the time to answer some questions.~ I know a lot of times myself included we see covers on books and we don’t always think there is a real face behind that cover or don’t give it much thought… So I wanted people who have liked my author page, read my books or are connected to me on twitter to know who is the man behind the face who will grace some of my future covers. Who I think will be a new, big name for the covers of the Romance Genre.~ So hello Grigoris, can you tell everyone when and where you were born? It’s obvious with your name you aren’t from Maine ☺ Also is this your real name?~ First of all I would like to thank you for your nice words an also to congratulate you for your work, I would be really very happy to co-operate with you at some point in the future. So I was born in Greece, Athens, where I was living in Kholargos the first years of my life and then I moved to Lavrio since now. I have lived periodically in USA for job reasons doing modeling. And yes this is my real name. Now I know from reading another interview the answers to some of these questions but for my readers. Are you Single?~ Yes at this period of my life I'm single as I have put my career as a priority, but who knows? If the right person is found then this might change. How did you get into modeling and how long have you been doing it?~ In the beginning I started it just to get some extra money but in the process I realized that I love modeling and is something that I do it happily! I started it almost five years ago. What was your first big modeling job?~ I don't want to differentiate any of them, I have done many nice jobs in different areas of modeling like in major catwalks, photo-shoots in magazines, I have participated in TV-spots for beg companies and also on TV-series. How did you find your self on the cover of “Much Ado about Vampires”~ I believe that I'm very lucky that I was chosen for Katie Machalister's cover because she is a very good writer who's work has been mentioned on the New York Times. Do you act?~ I have a proposal for an action movie in Los Angeles. I believe it will work out nicely. Do you live in the city or the countryside?~ I live in the city. Do you have any pets?~ Yes I have a dog but in the future I want to create a mini farm. Will you becoming to the states at any time in the future?~ I will be in USA end of November. What do you do in your spare time? When you are not modeling?~ I like gym with weights, boxing, listening music and going to the cinema. I want to thank you so much for taking time out of your very busy schedule to answer these questions. I look forward to working with you in the future!~ I thank you and looking forward to work with