laurenwaters

I wish good news was more common than bad news, but alas, that is not the world we live in. I purposefully didn’t say great news because I don’t want to get all my INFINITE SERIES fans’ hopes up for news of impending release of Book 5. That, I will title Great News in the future, but for now, here’s an update of what I’ve been up to while I take care of my house full of kids, pets, and persistent clutter.

I always wanted to learn how to write screenplays and so I read a few books and watched a ton of videos. THE INFINITE SERIES has played like a movie/series in my mind as I wrote it. I see it so clearly that it would be a dream to see it one day on the screen. I’m aware it’s a long shot for authors to get their books optioned and then produced.

Odds! Pish-posh! I’m fantasy prone like I’ve confessed, so I spent much of my creative time and energy into converting a whole season of screenplays (Books 1 & 2) with a different beginning and changes here and there for cinematic enhancement. I’m extremely lucky to know a few screenwriters/movie producers/directors and they have all given advice to increase my fan base to bring producers’ attention to the series. So I will be making much more effort to promote then I have been in the past. They have also said to put my pilot screenplay up on Blacklist. I never heard of it before, but it’s a great site to put up screenplays for agents and movie execs to notice. The more attention the screenplay gets, the more executive attention it receives as well. After reading about the process, I put my pilot up and bought a few evaluations. If any of you are on Blacklist, then I thought you all might like to read it since I added some things and played with the order. You can find it here. Fingers crossed that it gets high ratings!

The other good news might actually get my fans upset, depending how you look at it. Being a writer is a strange thing. Sometimes an idea for a story pops in your head and you. just. have. to. write. it. Maybe it’s fate trying to put everything in the order the universe wants it. So here it goes…

I wrote another historical fiction novel.

I still need to put it through all the editing, formatting, copyrighting, and publishing I always do, but I will give everyone a sneak peek soon with a blurb and cover release. I know, I know, I can hear you…

WHY DIDN’T YOU GET BOOK 5 OUT YET?!?

It’s coming, I promise. But a few other projects just jumped out and pulled on my shirt until I did what it wanted. Bare with me. At least you will have some things to keep you entertained while I’m getting Book 5 finished.

Since I still feel like this post did get everyone’s hopes up a little, I will let you know that Book 6 will be titled INFINITE SALVATION as the final installment of the series, but Book 5 will be INFINITE ENIGMA (maybe that gives you a hint of where I’ll be taking you all in Book 5).

Oh, one more thing! I lost my mailing list on Mail Chimp when they changed some rules without me knowing…

…and that’s all I have to say about that.

So now I’ve updated to Mailerlite, but everyone will need to subscribe again (so sorry). —->

It might be a good thing though because I’ve been able to figure out how to link signups for two separate mailing lists. One is for the book release list and the other is for book discounts and giveaways. So be sure to sign up for one (or both!) on the sidebar. I have a few fun giveaways planned and I always give my fan-base a loyalty discount for two days after I release, then I set the price back to normal. I don’ t like to bother people, so it’s good to be able to sign up for exactly what news you want to see. You can also subscribe to this blog on the sidebar (if you haven’t already) and that’s where I’ll update everyone on what I’m busy doing. I love hearing from you all, so feel free to comment! I have the best reader following ever! You are all so kind and understanding and I will make it up to you all with fun giveaways and discounts to come!

Off to writing more Book 5…

Yet haha. I wish I could tell everyone here about the blackhole I fell in since writing that optimistic Goals of 2020 post (a girl can dream, can’t she?).

Without specifics, I’ve had three years that will help me write about the TRIBULATION we experience on this earthly plane. I’m still going through a lot, all while running around after five crazy/amazing kids. But when my readers actually start questioning if something horrible happened to me…yeah that was time to update everyone.

(Aheem, I had to actually look up how I posted on my blog it’s been so long.)

I wanted to let everyone know I released my third audio book, INFINITE LOSS:

Click below to listen to the free audio sample:

https://www.amazon.com/gp/aw/d/B08VD3QRC4/ref=tmm_aud_swatch_0?ie=UTF8&qid=1676597854&sr=8-1

I LOVE how the narrator, Jessica, does all the amazing accents and sings!!! Even if you’ve read the books, I promise listening to her read them is even better!

Also, after much thought, and after consulting with my wise adviser (my sister), the evolution of this series is changing to a SIX book series. The fifth book is emerging as a whole book of it’s own. It will have a new title and a new cover that I will give a sneak peek a little later.

Book six will be the final book of the series, INFINITE SALVATION. I have great plans for it.

In a few months I will be traveling to get to know the interesting location where book five will take place. How EXCITING!!!

Now just all send good vibes that my kids will stop fighting with each other so Mama can write 🙏🏻

And with it, my long-awaited release of the fourth book of my series, Infinite Faith. I’m very proud of this book and hope you will all enjoy it.

You can purchase it right now (and take advantage of the one-day $4.99 discount price of the ebook) at the following locations, simply click on the link:

Amazon
Amazon UK
Kobo
Smashwords
Amazon Print Copy ($15.99)

Nook, Googleplay, iBooks and Sony will be up shortly.

Please take the time to leave some much needed reviews on this new book. It helps me so much! Thank you so much for your patience and support. I have the BEST fans!

Happily, this is not the last book. Infinite Salvation (Book 5) is already in the works and stay tuned for updates on its progress. It will most definitely be the caboose of my series and, with a tinge of sadness but so much joy, I look forward to completing the series.

~Lauren

Hello my lovely fans,

I’m pleased to say I made the pre-order deadline by one day and Infinite Faith is up on pre-order on Amazon here.

This is the first time I’ve used pre-order so this is new to me. Self-publishing is a constantly evolving process much of time leaving me to play catch-up on the new technologies and options.Because I don’t want my fans to loose out on the one-day sale I planned on release day I’m setting the pre-order price at the release day sale price. The price will go back to $5.99 on May 2nd so grab it up before then!

~Lauren

The results of the cover updating poll were close. Even though the poll leaned more towards keeping the original covers (which makes me happy that so many people loved them!), people emailed and left blog comments who couldn’t vote through the poll that they wanted to see it updated. So I started working on the free ebook redesign I won from the amazing Sylvia Frost and here it is:
(Drum roll please…)

Old cover (I do still love you):

New cover:

Ta Da!

Of course, I couldn’t stop from doing the whole series after seeing this one. I love how it still gives me the same feeling the original did, but it just adds a little more pizzazz. Sylvia went straight to work redesigning the rest of the series (no, I’m not going to show you Infinite Faith yet, but it’s sooo pretty!) However, I will show you Infinite Devotion:

(Cue the fireworks..)

Old Cover:

New Cover:

And here is Infinite Loss:
(Light the cannons…)

Old Cover:

New Cover:

Sylvia gave me three different mock ups to decide between and one of them appealed so much to me that we decided to put it on the back cover of the paperback version. I loved how they gave the ghostly impression of her past lives.

Well, please let me know what you think! Do you love them or are you still attached to the old ones?

(PS-I haven’t changed them all over on my distributors yet so if you love the old ones you can go by a print copy of them still.)

Maybe one day I’ll make a special edition of the original covers, but all I want to do right now is stare at these beauties! I can’t wait to hold them all in paperback form!

And to anyone who is looking for an extremely professional (and patient) cover artist, I highly recommend S. Frost Cover Design.

I better get back to writing Infinite Faith now…

I’ve been away from my blog for so long that WordPress changed on me and I had to completely relearn how to do this. Hopefully, I’ll be able to figure out how to attach a poll or this post will be pointless.

Awesome news! I won a free ebook cover design from the crazy talented (check out her portfolio) Sylvia Frost from S.F. Designs. I never really won anything before (except a $25 raffle at a doll house fair) and I couldn’t believe it when I saw my name—I guess this means I won’t have much chance winning the HGTV Dreamhome sweepstakes that I’ve been signing up for everyday 😦 The strange thing is that I was seriously thinking about updating my covers lately.

I knew exactly what I wanted on my covers before I published and I just needed to find someone who could put together what I saw in my mind. I wanted that infinity sign to be my brand and I wanted it to change with my main character’s progress through the series. The background photo I found on iStock after hours of searching though images and it just spoke to me. Since my book is so complicated, I thought a simple book cover works best. When I first saw this cover in my hands, I cried. It truly meant so much to me.

Which is why it’s hard to change it, but I realize that it’s a good idea to keep updating these things in hopes of drawing a larger readership. So my dear readers/blog followers/author friends, do you think they should stay just the way they are (I haven’t even revealed Infinite Faith’s cover..it’s my favorite yet) or would you like to see what Sylvia Frost can do to jazz them up? If I hear that most of you are attached to the original then I can always make a cover for the next project that I can’t wait to write 🙂 Either way, I LOVE creating covers!

Please take a minute to vote here to decide the Infinite Series cover fate. And I won’t have any hurt feelings or I wouldn’t have asked! Thanks so much for helping me make this big decision!

I realize that guessing your blog’s password three times is a good indicator of blog neglect. I feel terrible that things have gotten so busy that I’ve had to drop updating this blog. I used to love coming here like my weekly therapy session to vent/celebrate my latest writing/publishing adventures. The support I found from other authors and readers on here truly helped me grow and I thank you all for that.

Life just sped up for me this last year. The kiddos are growing and changing almost everyday and I have to keep evolving with them in order to keep the balance of nature in our house. Yet, the thing that consumes most of my free time is a huge project we took on last Christmas that had always been a dream. It has proven to be a much bigger project than I could ever have imagined. We decided to purchase a lovely old gingerbread Victorian on the Jersey shore that needed to be restored to its former glory (I’ve been watching way too many Nicole Curtis-Rehab Addict episodes…it’s all her fault).

At first, we thought that we could purchase it and hold off on the major work for a year or two, but that was before we found knob and tube wiring 😦 Then everything had to be opened up and we found other delightful problems of course. Fast forward almost a year and not much has progressed due to many different issues I won’t go into now. But here’s a peek of what it pretty much looks like throughout the house:

Just like getting my books out, it is a labor of love that I take very seriously and devote most of my time to researching and planning. I’m obsessed with trying to bring this house back to 1890’s even if it means finding 1890’s salvage from Ebay and Craigslist to make it that way. I spent the last year going down for day trips—a two hour drive each way—with my infant in tow, measuring and planning what needs to be done. Not to mention finding a whole antique tin ceiling, 1920’s gas stove, old barn siding, hand-hewn beams and old plumbing fixtures to the delight of my contractor. It has truly been an adventure of a whole other kind with funny stories, treasure hunts, trial and error, and lessons learned. Halfway through all of this, I decided I needed to document everything for a different type of home improvement book, that will illustrate the changes, but will be told in a storytelling way. To combine two great passions of mine will be exciting. I strive to put books out that I would love to read and I can’t get enough of home improvement shows/books, focusing on restoring old homes and giving DIY tips along the way.

Even though the house restoration is taking up a huge part of my life right now (especially since we keep getting thrown curve balls that call for creative fixes), I have managed to carve out an hour of writing/researching a day. And I am so happy to announce that I’ve finished writing the second life of Infinite Faith. That might not sound like a lot, but at nearly 100,000 words it could easily be a novel on its own and the first life of this book clocks in around 75,000 words. This is still only a first draft and I’ll need to do the proper beta reads and revisions on it, but it’s progress and I know my loyal fans have been patiently waiting for this next installment so it might help them wait a little longer for the last life of the book to be written. I’m already cracking open my research books for this next glimpse of history and hopefully the house project issues will die down as things start to fall into place and I can get more writing time this winter.

So, please forgive me for all of my neglect and delays. I still love writing my series and promise to keep sculpting it. Can I give an exact time that it will be released? Not yet. I never expected this last life to be so long, but my stories sometimes take me in unexpected directions. This next life will most likely take me on a similar journey. I can only promise that I won’t put this fourth installment out until it is everything I’ve dreamed it to be. Thank you all for being so patient and supportive (and sending good vibes to my little gingerbread house is also greatly appreciated).