Throw Away That List of Don'ts

I may lose friends for this post but as I sit here drinking a Dr. Pepper at six in the morning I am asking myself are those the friends I want to surround myself with? Probably not. Who am I talking about? The know it all judgmental assholes who think they are the end all be all of writing and publishing.  I have been guilty of doing it myself at times. I judge books based on their covers. I love covers. They are my first impression of a book. It doesn't make me a bad person, just an honest one. 
Am I talking about one individual no I am talking about hundreds of people. There is nothing wrong with having an opinion. There is nothing wrong with voicing your opinion, you don't have to agree with me to be my friend. I will repeat you don't have to agree with me to be my friend. All I ask is you show me the same respect I give you.

What am I even talking about you ask?  Every single day that I get on my social media accounts I see people telling others what not to do when it comes to writing and releasing a book. Sure there is some great advice. Like don't steal images off Google and Pinterest and try to use them as your own. Copyright is important but that is not what this post is about.

Let's talk about craft and voice. I see the comments in almost every writer group I am in: I won't touch a book written in first person present tense and I laugh when I see those comments because, I write first person present, but I also write in first past and third. You know why? Because some stories demand to be written in a certain tense or point of view. I don't earn the big dollars but I do earn a living and support a family of four with my writing.  It isn't easy and I work harder than I ever have in my life because I am getting to do what I love. Write your story however it speaks to you.

Don't use improper grammar.
Don't use that name.
Don't write cliffhangers.
Don't design in PicMonkey.
Don't format in Word.

 Why the fuck not?  Again, why the fuck not?

Grammar rules were meant to be broken. The key is to know the rules and when to break them. When I first began writing I was terrible. I unpublished my first seven book because the stories  while they were enjoyable they were not well written. I now think of them as practice books. They are not what I want to be reader's first impressions of me but at the same time those books are great example of how far I have come and how much I have grown as a writer.

Character names. Unless you are trying to use the name Harry Potter or something else that is trademark protected you are good to go. I'm not saying go out and name your hero Kellan Kyle or Christian Grey but if you want to name him Kellan Grey do it up. Hmm...I kinda like that...anyway back on track to what I am going on about.

Cover design. If you can hire a professional cover artist fantastic, if not it is not the end of the world. Photoshop is the number one graphic design program, but let's be real it is hella hard to learn if you are not familiar with it. Using an alternative program like PicMonkey does not mean your cover is awful despite what others may say. PicMonkey is user friendly. There are other programs out there like Gimp that are okay too. Just make sure that you are saving a high resolution photo. I make sure mine are 300 dpi for print quality. I have used all three. Yes, I design my covers. I love doing it. I think they look fantastic and they get compliments all the time. Again, I support my family of four  and some of my bestselling books have a cover that had some design elements done on PicMonkey. I often flip between it and Photoshop depending on what I am doing. Fight me.

Vellum, I am sure is a great program. I haven't used it because I am a PC girl. I love my desktop. I have used Microsoft Word to format every book I have written both in paperback and ebook form. I also use my word docx. to upload to retailers. They convert the file to an epub, mobi, or pdf for me and I use Calibre if I need to make a certain file type myself. It is a fantastic and free to use program. I am not saying one is better than the other. You can also use Scrivener too.

Take that don't list people keep shoving down your throat and smash the shit out of it. Write what you want to write how you want to. My dont's are simple.
Don't be a dick.
Don't steal.
Don't let critics dictate how you create your art.
I am sure I have more but  get out there and write for you or to show all those don't people you smashed the shit out of their list.

Be happy. Life is short. Surround yourself with good people who will give you good advice but also lift you up with encouragement.

Moonshine & Mistletoe

Moonshine & Mistletoe is coming your way soon!

A Black Rebel Riders’ MC Novella

Your favorite badass bikers are back.

Join the Black Rebel Riders’ MC for a Christmas to remember.

Axel Black is set to leave Drag Creek and everyone there behind after being dumped by his girlfriend. He knows ending the relationship was for the best. A new life is waiting for him in Texas. This is his chance to prove to his father that he has what it takes to be a leader. Falling for a gorgeous stranger is the last thing Axel needs.  Ainsley is a distraction he can’t afford, so after a one night stand he’s shocked to see her again. He’s sworn of relationships but when there is moonshine and mistletoe involved anything is possible—like falling into bed with the cartel.

Moonshine & Mistletoe reads as book 11 of my Black Rebel Riders' MC series and takes place timeline wise after Uno's Truth book 5 of my Devil's Rejects MC and crosses over with Cocky's Fight book 6 of my Devils Rejects MC. You can find the complete reading order for both series at the top of the page by clicking suggested reading order. There is no set release date but this will come out before Christmas. 

Uno's Truth is live Devils Rejects MC 5

Surprise! Uno's Truth is live early. The wait is over for book 5 of my Devils Rejects MC. I don't know if you are prepared for the mind fucks I bring you with this story but trust me you don't want to miss them either.  The twists and turns will have you ready to throw your e-reader. I am so excited to share this story with ya'll and it is leading up to some big things that involve the return of my Black Rebel Riders' MC. I will officially announce how these two series will come together at the end of Cocky's Fight book 6 of my Devils Rejects MC. I have another awesome announcement for ya'll below too! Glenna Uno's Truth

Will the truth set him free? Uno The past is a bitch to escape. No matter how hard I try to move forward, I wind up taking two steps back. The memories that haunt me…the secrets that hang over my head…if revealed could put me straight in the ground. All I want is a family of my own but the things I’ve done can’t be forgiven. Stephanie Revenge, that was our agreement. I married a man I shouldn’t have with a heavy heart. We both made promises we can’t keep. The lies we’ve told and the games we’ve played are deadly. I want out, but I know too much. Neither of us are getting out of this deal alive. It’s either him or me and I choose me. Melissa I fell in love with a monster and came to Webb Hollow looking for a new beginning. I can see a future with Uno. It’s mine for the taking, all I have to do is say yes to being his woman on the side. I’ve been the other woman before. I loved, and I lost. This time will be different. Read Now https://amzn.to/2J9Vn2v Catch Up Now! https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B07H7HYWW1/ref=series_rw_dp_sw Coming Valentine's Day 2019   Black Hearts AN AZ World Anthology  Goodreads https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/42116212-black-hearts Recommended Reads!  Diesel by Jordan Marie  https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B07FVGPKKM Renegade Sons by Dawn Martens and Emily Minton https://www.amazon.com/Renegade-Sons-MC-3-Book/dp/B011M963UI

Uno's Truth Devils Rejects MC 5 Cover and Blurb Reveal

Coming Soon! 

Uno's Truth 

Book 5 Devils Rejects MC 

Will the truth set him free?

Uno

The past is a bitch to escape. No matter how hard I try to move forward, I wind up taking two steps back. The memories that haunt me…the secrets that hang over my head…if revealed could put me straight in the ground. All I want is a family of my own but the things I’ve done can’t be forgiven.

Stephanie

Revenge, that was our agreement. I married a man I shouldn’t have with a heavy heart. We both made promises we can’t keep. The lies we’ve told and the games we’ve played are deadly. I want out, but I know too much. Neither of us are getting out of this deal alive. It’s either him or me and I choose me.

Melissa

I fell in love with a monster and came to Webb Hollow looking for a new beginning. I can see a future with Uno. It’s mine for the taking, all I have to do is say yes to being his woman on the side. I’ve been the other woman before. I loved, and I lost. This time will be different. 

Add to Goodreads

Crashing Into You Cover, Blurb, & Excerpt Reveal

Coming soon to an e-reader near you!
I am so excited to announce my upcoming release co-written with Allie Faye.
Who is Allie Faye, well she's me. Confused yet? I have been in the process of separating my dark romance and contemporary titles since this past summer.  I have announced the change a few times but some of you have missed it. I also have readers who don't follow me on social media so adding my Glenna name onto an Allie Faye title gives them a chance to find my Allie books that they might not know about. All my readers win this way, getting another fabulous book written by me.

Crashing Into you 

When June and her nightmare of a boyfriend get into an altercation she acts to defend herself, resulting in his untimely demise.

Scared out of her mind when the drug dealer he works for comes to collect the money he is owed she does the only thing she can—run.

Hiding in a small coastal town, the last thing she expects is to move next door to a good-looking sheriff’s deputy.

The longer she stays the more her lies begin to pile up and her relationship with her new neighbor heats up. The unexpected life she is building is about to come crashing down. When June’s past comes back to haunt her will the hunk next door be there to catch her when she falls?  

Excerpt 

The loud bass of my boyfriend’s truck stereo thumps under the carport as he pulls in and parks. The music cuts off with the engine. I hurry to put his dinner plate on the kitchen table as I hear his driver’s side door slamming shut with more force then necessary.

I jump as the back door swings open. One look at him and I know he’s drunk or high. Probably both. His brown eyes are rimmed with red and he has this lean to his walk. The scar above his top lip looks pink and angry as his mouth screws into a snarl. A dirty blackened hand runs through his greasy hair after working at the junkyard all day stripping wrecked cars of their good parts.

He moves to the fridge and takes out a beer, popping the cap off. Chugging the Miller Lite pony in three gulps he then tosses the drained bottle in the nearby trash. 

“I made you pork chops.” My voice comes out in a squeak. I never know which way his mood will go.

Sitting down at the table he picks up his fork and knife cutting into his meat. After chewing half a bite, he spits it out onto my freshly mopped floor. “Shit is fuckin’ dry just like your pussy.”

His insults don’t hurt me anymore. They did at first but not now. I stay quiet and taking away, the rose colored chipped plate dumping it food and all into the sink. I don’t know why I even try anymore. There hasn’t been anything left worth fighting for between us for nearly two years now. Dating the bad boy was fine when I was in high school. I did it to piss my old man off, but now the shit Chris is into is no longer cool. He’s not the guy I fell for. Addiction has an ugly hold on him and it is never letting go.

The chair scrapes across the floor as he pushes it back. I busy myself with getting him another beer. Feeding the beast. The monster who now lives inside him. He accepts my peace offering and goes to the bathroom. I let out a breath when the door shuts behind him and the shower kicks on.

I would leave him if I could. My father kicked me out when I became pregnant at seventeen. I thought Chris was my white knight when he moved me in with him. I was so wrong about him. I was wrong about everything. My hand goes to my stomach remembering how happy he seemed when I told him the news of our baby.

Then one day he got mad at me for no reason and accused me of trying to trap him. I should have seen the signs back then. There were warning signs. I chose to ignore them. I was determined to prove my father wrong and show him that Chris did love me. We were going to make it and be more than another teen parent statistic.

The shower shuts off and his cell phone rings. I hadn’t noticed it laying on the counter. I look at the screen. It’s his buddy, Flip, the guy he deals for. Chris marches into the kitchen with a towel slung low on his waist. The sight used to make my heart skip a beat now it only makes me sad. He’s skinny—unhealthy in appearance and no longer the muscular tough guy.

He grabs his phone and answers the call.

“Lo…yeah. Yeah. I got it. I just got out of the shower. Give me fifteen minutes.”  He goes back to the bedroom, and I lean against the kitchen counter taking deep breaths, trying not to cry as I remember the girl I used to be. The life I thought I should have. The life I imagined Chris would give me.

The bedroom door slams shut, and he stomps through the narrow hall, his eyes trained on me. I wish I could shrink or melt away as his gaze burns through me.

“Where did you hide my shit, you dumb bitch,” Chris roars at me, raising his fist in the air ready to strike.

“I don’t know what you are talking about.” I hold my arms up, folding them over my head for protection as he towers over me.

“Don’t lie to me, June. I know you took it.” I shake my head, but it only makes him angrier as his brows furrow. A crease forms across his forehead as he grabs both my wrists with one hand and yanks me by the hair with the other.  “Just tell me what you did with my stash and I swear I’ll let you go,” he seethes tugging me up by my hair. My scalp tightens and burns as he pulls so hard that he rips the blonde strands out.

“Please, Chris. Let me go. I swear I don’t know what you are talking about,” I cry and plead to deaf ears.

His response is to slam my head down on the green formica counter top. Pain radiates in my left ear as he holds me still. “I’m not playing, cunt. I want what’s mine,” he growls in my ear like a drooling beast and smacks his hand down next to my head.

I squeeze my eyes shut terrified for what will come next. “I swear to you if I knew where it was I would give it to you. Have you checked all your usual spots?”

His grip on my wrists loosens.  I take that as a no he hasn’t looked. He does this at least once a month. He hides his stash, so he doesn’t do up all of his product. The only problem with his method is he gets messed up and forgets what did with his drugs—use them himself.

Letting me go, he storms through our mobile home, and starts trashing the place. I stay where I am in the kitchen not taking the chance of getting in his path or setting him off again. Rubbing the tender spot on my scalp where he ripped my hair out I try to silence the sobs threatening to tear from my throat. 

The couch is turned up and the cushions strewn around in the small room. His fist goes through the mirror and blood squirts from his knuckles as he comes at me again. “I need that dope, June. I owe Flip a lot of money for it. If I don’t get it to him who do you think he’ll come after for payment.” His bloody fingers stroke my cheek and I shudder trying to shut my mind down from the bad memories, but they are all I have left.

Our baby would be a two and a half by now, but Chris got into debt with Flip and I paid the price. No, my child paid the price with his life. He beat me so severely I lost our child. Chris had blamed me. Said I took the drugs and we didn’t have any money to pay him.

Anger courses through my veins as his beer stenched breath blows in my face reeking like an old ashtray as well. His fingers move to my throat and he squeezes. My eyes widen as his grip tightens. Part of me hoping that this is it—the day he finally kills me and ends my misery.

“Look at me.” A dark laugh bubbles from his throat as I gasp for air and pull on his hand desperate for a breath. “That’s it fight me you dumb cunt.”

I don’t know what comes over me but the feeling of being tired and ready to give up dissipates as I think about the child he cost me. The happiness he stole from me. I want my life back, the one he robbed me of living. An eerie feeling creeps up on me and I know one of us isn’t leaving here alive. I pray that it isn’t me, but if it is I’ve made my peace. I put my hand on the counter, looking for a weapon. I mange to open a drawer and when I feel a blade slice my finger I don’t think I just grab it and defend myself.

I thrust my hand forward with my eyes closed not knowing if I will meet anything but air until I feel the cotton fabric of his shirt rubbing against me and the warmth of his blood coating my hand.

I open my eyes as shock masks his face and his fingers leave my throat. He looks at me and then the area where I stabbed him in his upper right side.  “You fucking stabbed me,” he chokes out as he grabs the handle of the knife and pulls it out.

I scoot away from him inching toward the back door. He points the knife blade at me. “Oh, you bitch. Nothing would give me greater pleasure.” A devilish smirk stretches across his face as he lunges forward. I grab the skillet from the stove, it’s still full of warm grease and three other pieces of meat, and I swing.

The moment moves in slow motion, like a TKO in a boxing match when the opponent’s mouth goes sideways before the rest of their head. The pan connects with his face and he goes down hard, knocking his head on the kitchen table before he meets the floor. The knife falls from his hand and slides under the stove.

Gripping the edge of the sink I tap him with my foot, but he doesn’t respond.  Bile rises in my throat as I look down at him sprawled in the floor laying like he is waiting to be traced in a chalk outline.

My hand flies to my mouth as hot tears slide down my cheeks. What have I done? Oh God, what have I done?

Are you ready to ride?

BRRMC will ride again.

You thought our story was over but that was only the beginning.

When my older brother went to jail I stepped up to fill his shoes. I held his club down. I did what I had to do to keep his growing family safe. I held Ainsley’s hand when he was sentenced. I held her hand when she brought my nephew into this world. I am still holding her hand when Axel returns to claim what should be his. There is only one problem, I don’t want to give him his life back. I’ve taken it and made it my own. – Abel 

More information to release soon. 

It all started with a smile

 I have sat here for some time trying to wrap my head around the death of Rick Genest aka Rico The Zombie or simply Zombie Boy. When my best friend messaged me to tell me of his passing I couldn't stop my tears as they fell steady as rain. I felt I had truly lost a friend. Rick was so special to me and I want to share how he touched me personally as both an artist and person.  I randomly came across a photo of him on the website Pinterest in the summer of 2015.  I was so taken in by his infectious smile.

image and media copyright Rick Genest (no infringement intended)

 It was almost hypnotizing. He had what I would call a perfect grin and his dimples were beautiful. For most he was a pioneer of body modification art or that guy from Lady Gaga's music video.  For  me he was my muse. His smile captured my attention and I was simply intrigued by his tattoos. A story idea came to me immediately and my idea for Beauty & The Biker was born. I couldn't get my ideas down fast enough for my dark modern twist on Beauty & The Beast. I have always been inspired by photos and the stories they have to tell. A picture truly does speak a thousand words.

What was even more crazy than the fact that I wrote the book in merely three weeks time was in my story I had written about Tristian my main character being sickly as a child, not knowing Rick's background at the time. When I read his story my mouth kinda hung open and I knew it was meant to be. He was my muse but more than that he was such a beautiful soul. I became entranced by this gorgeous tattooed man and when I watched an interview with him on YouTube I became smitten.
Rick had star power and charisma and he wasn't even trying, he was just being himself.  He was so humble and a great sense of humor. He had this ability to draw me in and make me think about life and the world. I thought about reaching out to him so many times and had always planned to send him my book, but put it off and now it is too late to take that chance to tell him he was a friend in my eyes even though we had never met. I knew he was a wonderful person with so much love and life to give the world.
He was an artist, a poet, a model, an idol...a muse and so much more to those that he touched worldwide. I hope he knew how special of a person he truly was and how many lives he touched just by being himself. I wish I could have met him and told him how he inspired me to be myself and that it was okay to be different and embrace the parts of ourselves that make us different or weird in the eyes of some.
So today in honor of his birthday and him I have made the book that his smile inspired me to write free for one day. Happy birthday, Rick. In the words of one of my favorite artist, Lana Del Ray,  from her song Woodstock In my Mind:
Maybe my contribution could be as small as hoping that words could turn to birds and birds would send my thoughts your way.

Listen to Woodstock In My Mind here YouTube
Read about Rick and his life here
His Career RickGenest
Beating Cancer Dailystar interview

Please note that I am not using Rick as a way to promote my book. I simply wanted to share how he had touched my life and inspired me as a fellow artist. 
Get Beauty & The Biker free from Amazon here Amazon Please check the price before you one click. Free promotion is for one day only.