From The Pages of Kassandra Lea

As you can see I've changed the header to promote my newest story. 😁 Consider me ever so pleased to inform you of the soon-to-be available A Christmas Kiss, the first in the Sugarbush Series  to be published by Totally Bound. Yes, you read that right. Series! I'm so excited. It'll be composed of 6 novellas that follow Clara and Asher and the townies of Sugarbush. Make sure to get your copy of A Christmas Kiss  when it comes out. You don't want to miss the beginning of this lovely series. On that same front, A Gargoyle Christmas will be out before too long and it wraps up the quartet of novellas featuring Io and Cinder. The publisher will be compiling all 4 stories into a paperback to be titled Blackstone Manor ; which you can get in print. How exciting is that?? I can't wait to get my author copies. Make sure you get this!! Also, from the same publisher I have a lovely holiday story coming out titled Love Speaks . Go buy that one, too. I'll make sure to post

Sorry I've been away. Guess you could say that it was the written word that kept me busy. There has also been some unhappy news on the non-writing side of things. Turns out I may be loosing one of my furry friends this week; which is utterly heart breaking. My adorable (appropriately named black cat Frodo) may have cancer. He's going into the vet on Wednesday for a closer look. I love him. My critters mean the world to me and it just... I don't want to think of him going so I shall keep my fingers crossed that he's going to be okay. It's not as bad as the vet says... On to the writing bits. Guess what?? They liked the rewritten The Christmas Foal !! Yay! And they're interested in the rest of the series as well. Super excited about it. Sure, it won't come out until February, but you know what that means? I have time to get a few more of the novellas done, like 3 or 4 of the 6. Can I just say it again and again? The contract hasn't officially been sign

I did it. Very early Tuesday morning I packaged up all the lovely documents required to send in The Christmas Foal. The manuscript, the series outline, the synopsis (have I mentioned how much I hate writing these??). Now comes the long (impatient) wait for an answer. The editor I work with at the publisher was previously interested if I lengthened the story to 30k and added a 6th book to the series, both of which I have done. So here's to hoping... Fingers crossed! This is officially available for purchase, make sure you get a copy. All the proceeds go to charity. Love is Proud Now I've got to get out Boots & Spurs, Promised and Paid For  all by the 15th. Most excellent. And also get at least 2 chapters more done on my novel. Alas, this morning I was turned down for one of my horror stories. Feeling a bit upset about that since I would like very much to branch out further from romance. I'll keep hoping for the others I've sent out. Oh, and if you haven'

When I got my part time job five years ago it was to help pay the bills. Ah, the very meaning of life, money. It was meant to be temporary while I worked on my writing and got my career as an author off the ground. Now here I am 5 years later and working full time. I hate it. My writing is suffering and it's the heart of my depression. This needs to change. I need to find a way to take back my life, immerse myself in writing like I used to do. Because working my FT gig is not my dream. Writing is. Today I finished up a round of edits and a galley proof (that it turns out they got the title of my story wrong). Now I'm trying to finally finish up The Christmas Foal. Fingers crossed I can get it sent out again tonight. I've sent a few horror shorts out, those calls close at the end of the month. Let's see how that goes... I've got so much work sitting on the desk waiting to be finished. Stories to be done by the 15th of August, one of which needs to be 15,000 wor

That's a horrible thing to say, but it's true. Lately I have been dealing with the horror that is self doubt. Most of it is born from the fact that I'm struggling with a novel. One that I have started a number of times, toyed with it, added scenes, removed some, etc, etc. The problem now is that I have become stuck. And that crack allowed the voice of doubt in. What if my failure to finish a novel is because I simply can't carry a story that long? Isn't that a troubling thought? It keeps bouncing around in my mind, chipping away at my confidence and leaving me afraid to attempt another novel. But I forge on because this is what I live for, this is my passion. So I get around to trying to outline a handful of stories, some of which need to be done sooner rather than later. One of which is a novel with an idea I absolutely love (and allow me to toot my own horn, I think it might be an awesome movie). BAM! There's that stupid little doubty voice again. Then

So here's an update of my 2016 writing goals. Write More I suppose you could say I've been good at keeping to this one. So I shall keep going! Publish More So the goal behind this was to publish more than I did last year. In 2015 I sold 13 stories. As it stands right now I've contracted 8 stories and it's only May! So I think I am right on track to crossing this one off the list! Write 52 Stories 17 down, 35 more to go. Two Months = One Novel Yeah, let's just say this one hasn't been working out for me. But I have a fresh idea that might help me get a couple novels written this year. Two Months = One Novella I've written quite a few novelettes.  But I guess this hasn't been accomplished either. Publish 1 Story in Another Genre Success!! The contract has been signed. Publish My First Novel Haven't done this either... Review 20 Stories I've done at least one. I have just been so busy writing. Definitely need to start getting into the hab

I'm terrible at remembering things sometimes. This should have been included in my last post, but then again, maybe I should start doing individual posts for released stories. Ah, there's an idea! So out now, just recently released into the world, is my short story Hardwood.  Another gay romance from the wonderful publishers over at JMS. The inspiration was mostly my own Construction Guy and the fact that I've fallen in love with "Property Brothers". You should definitely pick up a copy . And a wee side note on a different story... All but 1 story from January were rejected and I finally got word on the remaining piece. They wish to hold onto it a little longer for further consideration. Of course I said yes. This could be my first non-romance publication. Keeping my fingers crossed!!

Yet again time has slipped away from me and I find myself lax in keeping this blog up-to-date. Such is life when you're stuck working a day job at 40+ hours a week. But this isn't a place for me to vent about my unhappiness there, this is for writing! Lots and lots of delicious writing. Which is another reason why I haven't been here. So where do I start on what has been going 'round my end of the keyboard? I may have put out only 2 stories in March, but able to shove 8 out the door in April. To be fair, 4 were old pieces that I hoped to find homes for. No such luck. 3 of them I have no word on and 1 has sold. So for April I managed to get out 21,867 words . Definitely not a shabby way to spend the month of April. One of the pieces that went out was A Rescued Heart.  Finally. Only took me forever to see it done. Fingers crossed! Selling it would officially make it my longest piece. Unless of course I manage to finish The Christmas Foal  and sell it first. My sold co

Oh, it's been almost a month since my last post! Sorry! The task of writing has kept me fairly busy and I finally found some time to sneak in an update. Of course, there have been other things going on besides putting words on paper (the screen?). There has been a deal of hurt caused by the betrayal of a friend, feeling let down by my brother, and the passing of a horse I worked with briefly (what a sad story!). But through it all I managed to keep some form of sanity by retreating into my writing. Now I'm not quite sure how it happened by I only put out 2 stories in March. Weird. I could have sworn I wrote more than that! Did the month really just go by so fast I was unable to get more work done? Who knows. Maybe I'm forgetting something? I've been trying to keep track of the word count for each month along with the stories sent out on submission. Here's the breakdown. January - 11,268 words/5 stories (none published, mostly for contests and 4 didn't make

So what have I been up to since my last update? Writing and working, of course, what else? I think I'm finally getting the hang of my new work hours (nearly three months after starting it) and that's allowing me to figure out a proper writing schedule. This is good because I have big plans for this year in regards to what I'm kicking out of the writing folder and with fingers crossed I will be sharing most of them with the world. Since my last post I sold my first story of 2016, another gay romance short to JMS books. It's a naughty piece. My first zombie romance was finished and sent off. Waiting anxiously to hear whether or not they liked it. Should the publisher (they actually bought a previous story) take this piece it will be the most I've ever been paid for a single story. Besides, I absolutely adore this piece. Hey! I'm getting to like my own writing more and more. Is that a good sign? Right now I'm trying to finish the rewrite of my novella, Th

Maybe it's just my job but the days seem to be going by much too quickly and I haven't yet covered the ground I hoped to with my writing. I keep promising myself that I will be more disciplined, focused, get the work done in a timely manner, and instead I wind up spending my down time relaxing. Such is the pitfall of working so many hours. I wanted to have Leaving Hoof Prints done by now. Thanks to my mom I have a printed copy of the novel to read at my leisure; which hasn't yet happened, though I've figured out how to change the opening. That counts as progress, right? Never mind the fact I haven't yet actually written the new opening sequence. It'll happen! At present I am seeking to finish a 10,000 words short story with a quickly followed up 5,000 words short story. Both gay romance. There are two pieces that need to be done in March. One of them is a highly anticipated (at least on my part) new Samuel and Flynn story. Just need to find the perfect &qu

I really don't know where to start this blog. My mind is so tired all the time and I can't seem to keep my thoughts focused. Everything has changed since taking on a new-ish position at work. As I feared my writing has gone drastically downhill. Some days I barely get any writing done and on others it's completely non-existent. Is it possible that my dream is slowly slipping out of my grasp? When I am at the day job all I can think about is writing and how I can't wait to have free time so that I can do it. But when the free time rolls around there are other tasks that need tending or I'm just mentally tired. My brain is constantly on the go, a computer that never sleeps. Just about any desire to write has slowly seeped out of me during the course of the day. Am I losing it? Is the passion I once held for my writing, for my desire to be an author fading? Part of me thought getting a planner would help in some way, though aside from watching deadlines come sc

I live in a northern Midwestern state and the last few days have been single digit cold, if not colder. So of course it makes sense that I would stay inside as much as possible to get some writing done. I'm making great progress on my novelette-turned-novella. My intended word goal is a minimum of 30,000 words and right now it stands at just over 6,000 words. Hopefully I can double that by the end of the week. I am also working on my romance novel, Leaving Hoof Prints. The intended word goal is 55-60k and it's just under 30,000 words. At present I'm doing a little editing, rewriting, reformatting, then I'll see about finishing off the story. Not sure if I want to make a series out of it, but perhaps... Yesterday I enjoyed watching Murder She Baked: Peach Cobbler Murder, based on the book by Joanne Fluke. It's always a joy to watch Cameron Mathison and Alison Sweeney. And in my opinion Hallmark Channel is doing a great service to authors. Their Murders & Myst

A new anthology!! Yes, I'm excited to announce the release date of the next anthology featuring one of my short stories. When the Sun Shines  is another M/M story. A beautiful, sweet piece inspired by a recent bout of depression. I have been considering doing a give away, but am not sure what I would be offering. Actually, strike that, I do have an idea, just need to send an email or two to get some things sorted out. I'll keep you in the loop! On the writing front, I have started a rewrite of a short story/novelette I sent to one of my publishers. They made me an offer and it is definitely something I am very excited about. As usual, I'm trying to stay mostly hush-hush about it until the situation is more concrete. Let's just say it will be awesome! And I've gotten back to my romance novel, Leaving Hoof Prints , and hopefully it'll end up being the first novel done this year. As always, I've got a considerable amount of projects lined up and read

My first post of the new year! Welcome to 2016! And we all know what happens with a new year, right? Goals, lots and lots of goals. Though I've thought of a few non-writing related goals I do have an extensive list related to my favorite hobby. Honestly, I think I get carried away and come up with far more than I am capable of getting done, but isn't the whole point to challenge myself to try harder? In 2015 my writing picked up exponentially. I managed to send 13 stories out into the world thanks to some awesome publishers. Yay! For so long I fretted that I wouldn't even get 1 story published and I am extremely pleased with where I am now. This is only the beginning! So here is my crazy list of goals for 2016. I hope I get to check off as many of them as possible. Write More I will be keeping a monthly tally of how many words I do each month. This is something I've always wanted to do just out of curiosity. Publish More My control over this is non-existent! Bu