Sheltie Gazette: Introducing Sci-fi-orama! 👽
Apr 02, 2026 2:06 am
Hey, , let me tell you about my new series!
It's going to be a sci-fi medical dystopian thriller. There are twelve point-of-view characters in the first book alone, half of which are cyborgs and all of whom swear profusely. Every other chapter is a meticulously described battle scene. I included plenty of dogs, all bred for war with scales instead of nice fluffy fur. Everyone dies in the end, but it takes seventeen volumes.
Well.... in actuality, I have more than enough dystopia in my real life, I'm happily juggling my next fairy tale and edits for my Regencies, and I always, always want to write books that are thoughtful, uplifting, and more than a sugar rush.
I'm writing you on April 1st because I've got a couple of time-sensitive games and contests that I thought you would enjoy. But first...
Do you know what helps a new book at this point?
Ratings. Just a simple little star graphic.
You're a passionate reader, and I bet you've heard how important reviews are for authors. But I know some of you find writing reviews overwhelming, and I agree that it's just one more thing to do. I try to write a few every month, but I can't manage for all the books I read!
But now that The Little White Cat & the Dog Who Wasn't has a few reviews with clear descriptions, star reviews help just as much. Star ratings:
- show the algorithms that there's continued interest in the book
- are the first thing readers see — most don't even scroll down to the reviews
- are visible in thumbnails and lists
- ANNDDD.....
- if we get to 20 ratings on GoodReads, it will show on the Amazon page too!
So, if you've read the book, all you have to do is click the stars and submit. It's easy and it will make a real difference!
Or, if you'd rather, here is BookBub, StoryGraph, and the Amazon review page (you can just click the stars and submit).
Now for the fun stuff...
Historical Romance Easter Egg Hunt Hop!!!
It's an egg hunt for grown-ups! You get to hop around to 30 different authors' sites, match the colored egg to the correct author, and enter to win a really spectacular $150 gift card.... plus each author is running a giveaway, and is hosting games and historical tidbits on their pages. This really sounds like an awesome event for readers!
You can find the event on this Facebook event/group with the same name, where there are instructions, links, and comments from other hoppers. (I'm not including the link because the spam filters don't like it, sorry. 😕)
Or, you can head to the event page on my website. You get all my cool Irish history tidbit (do you know about the Whipping of the Herring?) and scroll down to find the list of all 30 egg-hopping sites.
While we're at it... which Irish fairy tale heroine are you?
I was trying to figure out a game for my page in the hop, and I came up with this quiz. It took me forever because I've never done a quiz before, but I love how it turned it! It might be my new favorite thing ever. 😍
If you've read my books, you'll recognize some of the fairy tale heroines.... but you'll also get some sneak bonus peeks at some new ideas that I'm playing with!!
Just be sure to use the same email address that you already get this newsletter. It does collect email addresses at the end, and the system recognizes the same address but might send you back to the welcome sequence with a new one.
Do you recognize these? A leprechaun, graveyard haunt,
selkie, and princess with her wolfhound.
Two prize bundles for BookBub follows!
Enter to win these closed-door or steamy book bundles! There are two winners for each set, meaning 76 books going out to lucky readers. You can choose either (or both) bundles from the same link, and you get entries from following various romance authors — you can see their subgenre/tagline on the entry page.
Not sure what BookBub is? It's a social and review platform like GoodReads, but generally a more positive community, and focused on good deals for the kind of books you like. If you follow me (for instance) you get to see recommendations/reviews for books I enjoyed, and you'll get a notice if I have a new book coming out, or one of my books is on sale. (I'm not sure what sales they cover, to be honest, but I know I get notices about sales from authors I follow.) It's a pretty mellow platform.
As a reminder, I write character-driven romance, rather than specifically including spicy scenes or specifically avoiding them. Boat on the Lake has light sensuality but no spice; Little White Cat has higher sensuality but no explicit scenes.
Bye for now! Happy April!
If you're looking for a puppy picture, here is Inish bounding along the trail on our Spring Break hike.
And if you're looking for your next thoughtful, uplifting read, full of found family and sprinkled with dry humor (not as much as this newsletter, sorry), then you can find my books here...
No cyber-borgs and detailed battle scenes here! 😂
