Let's all be happy!

Today, I'm going to go all emo on you guys because I am sooooooooooooo very happy. 

It's really not because I did something super great or that I'm expecting something great to happen to me. Mostly, it's because all around me such exciting things are happening to the people I know and really like and respect and I'm just so happy for them! I see endless opportunities and the loveliest and brightest future ahead of them. 

I want to thank God because He's made everyone so happy. At first, I kept trying to come up with just ONE WORD to express how happy, grateful, blessed, and excited I am about what's happening. But in the end, I realized that there's no one word to say all those things. What does exist is ONE WAY to return God's blessings and that's by doing what you can to help other people or just make other people smile. :) Yeah just like that - =D 

Now I'm going out on a limb here by sharing with you what makes me happy. 

You often read other authors saying that they never thought they'd make it to the NYT Bestsellers List, have their film adapted, never thought they'd get to be this super famous author...

You hear that a lot, right? BUT you only hear them say those things when it's already happened. :) 

Well, now, let's just say I'm going to jump the gun and share with you what I've always, always wanted since I started having my books published on Amazon. I want to make  my books to make it to Amazon's Top 100. I want my books to eventually reach the NYT / USA Today Bestseller Lists. 

Right now, the dream's like the lyrics from some old song --- "...so near yet so far."

And I know, a lot of people - especially those who don't like my books (we can't please everyone alas) --- will think that I'm just deluding myself into thinking that's gonna be possible.

And you know, I get it. I know I'm not the best author out there. My heroines cry too much, my heroes are such asses, my plots are just so shallow not even an ant's gonna drown in it - yes, yes, I get it. 

Also, I'm not even a native English speaker and most times, I don't get my books edited before it goes live coz I ended up cramming again. 

But - I love my work. I love writing, I love sharing my stories and making everyone feel good about love and life, and I make sure to improve with every book I put out. I can't promise that I'll change the way my stories work (that's impossible, actually, since I'm a very optimistic person and that's why my heroines are bordering on naive all the time) - but I do take everyone's criticisms into account and you won't ever see me getting into a mud-slinging match because of what this author / reader / blogger said. In the end, I respect people's right to say what they want, 'nuff said.

I also do my best to support other authors and everyone around me. I love my readers and I take the time to thank them because they've taken the time to read my books and even chat with me even though they probably have tons of better things to do.

And...this may seem odd for someone who writes really smutty romances, but I consider myself a pretty devout Catholic (Christian if you will) and I really, really believe that whatever you ask of God, He'll give. 

So...with all the exciting things going on around me, I just can't help but think that...maybe...maybe one day soon...I'm going to see MY NAME on Amazon's Top 100. If not with my most recent upcoming book then the one after that or the one after that. I just have to keep trying, right? I think that's all God wants from us. That WE DON'T GIVE UP. We all have to keep trying to reach for our dreams so what do you say about trying...

Here's to hoping we all have a fun and productive week ahead of us! Aaand to end on a happy note, here's the updated cover for Nick and Lilac!