Hello, 2017!!

I have some different things to cover in this post – the best books released in 2016, updates on my current writing project, and what else I have planned for the year – so please stick with me!

First, I know I said last month that my next post would be about what gifts to buy your husband for the holidays, but I couldn’t do it. I didn’t even know the answer myself! Besides mentioning the obvious PS4 Pro, Xbox One S, or the elusive NES Classic, I couldn’t think of anything else good to write a whole post about. For us, I had to think of things that’d fit within our budget, so I ended up hand-making my husband’s gifts: a twine bracelet and ceramic jar (I love “throwing” clay on the pottery wheel!), and some warm, comfy, winter clothes. Everything was simple and from the heart – and that’s what matters most, isn’t it?

What about you? What did you end up getting for your significant other? Let me know in the comments!

Along with your…

BEST BOOKS OF 2016

Did you gobble up all the books released last year? (I still can’t believe I’m calling 2016 LAST YEAR already!) Have any favorites?

For me (and most everyone else I know), it was such a crazy year – I moved across the country not once, but twice. I started a 3rd business and then a 4th business. I wrote a novel several times over, but kept changing things to where I’ve now decided to go back and restart again. So it basically feels like I’ve written 4 or 5 novels!! Of course, none fit enough to release. But I’m getting there.

Best of all, I had my first Barnes & Noble book signing event, and two of our friends from Florida moved in with us here in Colorado…just to mention a few.

It hardly left time for me to read books. Which is such a tragedy! There should always be time to read, am I right? A writer cannot write without reading. Since everyone is posting about their top books of 2016, I thought I’d do a short list of the ones I just knew I had to find time for:

• WEEDS OF DETROIT by Misty Paquette
  A NOVEL, BASED ON TRUE EVENTS.  I turned seventeen less than two months ago. A week ago, I ran away from home, in the country outskirts of suburbia. Now, I’m living at a hotel in downtown Detroit. At home, you could walk to the corner store when it was dark outside and hear frogs croaking in the ditches on either side of the dirt road. At the hotel, you don’t go out at night. All you hear is squealing tires and curses shouted from broken windows. At home, we didn’t lock our front doors at night. There are three locks on my hotel room door. One in the knob, a chain, and a dead bolt. I’m not sure it’s enough to keep everyone out. At home, I’d be starting my Senior year in high school. Here, I’m learning what it takes to survive. I hope I make it to eighteen.

• THE COACH AND THE SECRET by Mary Smith
  Dear Reader – This is not your typical synopsis you normally read. In this section, you would see a short overview of the book you may want to purchase. This time I’m speaking directly to you and warning you of this book. Most of my books have a lot of romance, sex, sometimes funny, and a lot of hot hockey players. This book is different. You see, The Coach and the Secret is loosely based off a real man’s story. At first his story was so outrageous I almost didn’t believe it, but after seeing an abundance of evidence my heart broke for him and his daughter. This book has extreme adult topics, so please keep in mind while you read this that you don’t know unless you’ve been in their situation. Thank you — Mary Smith
  ***All money will be given to the family of domestic violence***

• BEHOLDEN by Lila Felix
  Bayou Bear Chronicles, Book 4 – Aspen has done the unthinkable-the unforgivable. He was the last one she wanted. And now he has to earn a place in her heart. In the final installment of The Bayou Bear Chronicles, hearts are shattered, alliances are tested, and the strength of the mating bond between Acacia and Aspen is on shaky ground.

• CROWN OF CINDERS by Rebecca Ethington
  Imdalind Series, Book 7 - For centuries the war that has raged within magic has ripped the world apart. Fought between Skȓítek and Trpaslík; killing father and son, and destroying a fragile balance between mortal and magic. For centuries everyone has been awaiting the Silnỳ, searching for the girl who was prophesized. The girl with power strong enough to defeat the evil that plagued the world, and bring the war to an end. For centuries, everyone was wrong. The Silnỳ was not what they had been told, the promises of future distorted by a sight that was tarnished. The evil was not what they had expected, not what they had been fighting against. Instead it was hidden amongst them; plotting, waiting for their time to strike. And it did. With fire and blade the hidden evil took it’s place upon a throne of blood. The evil has shown itself and now only one person can save them all. But with Sights that are no longer infallible and armies that are abandoning their king – it is no longer clear who that person is, or even if they have the courage to stand up to the evil and face their end.

These books, all released in 2016, are must-reads!! WARNING: some of these books are part of a series, so be sure to start with BOOK ONE before reading the others!

Next up…

WRITING PROJECT: Untying Knots – UPDATE

You might’ve seen me mention a few times over the years that I’m writing a contemporary romance novel titled “Untying Knots”. This is the project that I’ve written over and over again, but can’t seem to get it exactly how I want it. So I keep trying. I realize it’s taking forever to finish and publish for you guys, but obviously, by now you know I will never publish a book that I don’t think is good enough yet.

I will, however, provide you a little snippet! It’s 2017, and my goal is to have this baby completed and released within the year. I don’t have the synopsis hammered down yet, but it’s basically about falling in love young – a love that seems to hold on to you forever – and learning to let it go.

Here’s a short excerpt to give you an idea of what the story will be like:

(Please note, this is raw, unedited material, straight from my working manuscript and subject to change. All Rights Reserved and owned by Bailey Ardisone)

I’d come to learn that the things in life that haunt you the most were what you didn’t do, not what you did. What you should’ve said, but were too afraid to let leave your lips. Those little actions that, had you taken them, would’ve changed everything. But instead, you’re left with that toxic regret that feeds on your sanity — always there in the back of your mind, wishing things were different, if only you had been braver.

My only regret in life was him.

And I was certain he’d haunt me forever.

I should’ve felt the warmth of the sun on my skin, but I didn’t. I should’ve appreciated the cool grass against my back on the hottest day this summer, but it didn’t even cross my mind. The tall, windswept brush of the field that I lay in remained ignored by my senses, though on a normal day I would’ve enjoyed it. Crickets chirped loudly, but I couldn’t hear them.

And that fly cleaning its antennae on my knee? Invisible to me.

I was numb.

Cold, and empty. A shell, waiting to crack against the pressure of wind and disintegrate back into the earth.

I had to let him go. And if I succeeded, it’d be the hardest thing I would’ve ever done.

Because Dylan was everything to me.

But I was nothing to him.

 
And that’s it for now! I’ll keep you updated as I progress closer to completion, and once I have a concrete release date, synopsis, and cover, I’ll make another announcement. If you have any questions, please give me a shout in the comments below, or you can email me through the contact section of this site.

PLANS FOR 2017

Giveaways, project news, and more – 2017 is going to be great. I know it is. But most important, I’ll be doing a second Barnes & Noble book signing on February 11th! Since the first one went so well, they invited me back, and I’m more excited than ever. It’s only ONE MONTH AWAY!! *happy dance*

If you’re in the Colorado Springs area, or know of someone who is and might be interested, please keep this date in mind! I’d love to see you at the event, where we can chat about books, munch on some yummy desserts, and hopefully win some prizes!

Mark it down on your calendar:

February 11th, 10 am

Barnes & Noble
795 Citadel Drive East
Colorado Springs, CO 80909
719-637-8282

I’m also confirmed to be an attending author at Penned Con this year, in St. Louis, MO. The dates are September 29th & 30th, so be sure to mark this down on your calendars as well! A huge lineup of amazing authors will be there signing books, and all proceeds from the event are given to a wonderful charity – Action for Autism. I hope to see you there!

I’d also like to give a special thank you to all the fabulous readers out there – I appreciate you more than I could ever explain. I’m forever humbled and grateful for the incredible support you’ve shown me, and I know 2017 is going to be a blast. Thanks again, and I’m looking forward to us meeting within the pages many more times to come.

Love…All things Fairy Tale? We’re celebrating them in all their forms…originals, adaptations, twists and retellings. Sweet or steamy or a little bit twisted! Hop through all the blogs for giveaways at each stop! And don’t forget to enter for the $100 Amazon gift card grand prize drawing too!

Welcome to my stop on the Fairy Tale Magic Blog Hop!

Being that I am currently in Paris, France, I thought I’d talk about one of my favorite fairy tales of all time – Beauty and the Beast. Disney movies have always been a huge part of my life, but I recently watched a version that was a re-telling of this oh-so beautiful story. I have been trying to learn French in preparation for my month long stay in Paris, and I found this version of Beauty and the Beast during my search for French movies to help me with the language. It is called: La Belle et la Bete

The beginning of this movie starts off so beautifully, I was mesmerized by the sounds, the warm softness of the lighting in the scenes, and the voice of the woman speaking. It was the most perfect beginning to a fairy tale I had ever seen. The film that followed was interesting and magical, and definitely a different twist on the familiar version we might have grown up with as children, but I really appreciated the concepts portrayed in this version. I won’t go into detail, since it would completely spoil it…but even if you don’t know French, I highly recommend this movie!

Thanks for stopping by! Be sure to continue with this blog hop by visiting the next one on the list! But before you do, enter the grand prize giveaway as well as mine! I’m giving away ebook copies of the 2nd and 3rd books in my Sweet Series (Sweet Escape and Sweet Requiem). Begin your magical, fairy-tale like journey with the first book, Sweet Oblivion, for FREE and be on the look out for the final book, Sweet Redemption, coming this October 24th!

a Rafflecopter giveaway

April 26th, 2014 Orlando, FL

Turning The Pages Book of The Year Awards Ceremony will follow an open to the public book signing event.

The book signing will be from 10 am until 3 pm. This will include a break between 12-1 for lunch. The book signing is open to the public and all are welcome to come see, meet, greet, and get autographs from the authors. Readers do have the option to buy a lunch ticket ($50). Otherwise lunch is for attending authors only.

The Book Of The Year Awards Ceremony is a ticket only event that will start at 7 pm. You must have bought a ticket to get into the ceremony. Dinner will be provided. Also winners of The Book Of The Year event will be awarded with certificates and medals.

ATTENDING AUTHORS!!!!

• Bailey Ardisone
• Jordan Deen
• K.T Dixon
• MCV Egan
• Ronnie Knox
• Jana Leigh
• Felicia Lynn
• Jacinta Maree
• Gracie Meadows
• Wendy Nystrom
• Cynthia P. O’Neill
• Terri Peake
• Dawn Robertson
• Stacey Rourke
• Jacelyn Rye
• Melissa Schroeder
• Toni Sinns
• Hannah Steenbock
• K.S. Thomas (Karina Gioertz)
• Rebecka Vigus

Hello everyone! I’m incredibly thankful for authors, especially Indie authors, and that is the reason why I signed up for this blog hop. I am so grateful because being a fellow Indie author, they have helped me in so many ways when I first started out. An entire group welcomed me with open arms, and without them I would have been lost.

So thank you fellow authors! Thank you for helping me, answering my questions, and promoting my books. Thank you for writing such amazing stories and allowing us to enter magical places through your words.

To show my thanks and give back, please enter my giveaway below:

STEP 1: Download the first book in my series – Sweet Oblivion (FREE everywhere ebooks are sold)

Amazon
Barnes & Noble
iTunes

STEP 2: ENTER THE GIVEAWAY for the second book Sweet Escape!

Is it Sunday already? Wow – that means it is time for another Indie-Licious Blog Hop teaser. This is going to be my last one for a while…if you want more you will just have to read the book! =) I am going to switch back over to Naminé again. Here is my final teaser from Sweet Oblivion, A Sweet Series Novel, Book One

Happy Indie-Licious Sunday! We’re going back to Nari this week, staying in Sweet Oblivion (The Sweet Series, Novel #1).

Welcome back to the Indie-Licious Blog Hop! I will continue with the posts from Sweet Oblivion, the first novel in The Sweet Series. This week you will get another glimpse of what Naminé had to struggle with. Enjoy!

Welcome to this week’s Indie-Licious Blog Hop! From now on (well, for the time being), I am going to be using teasers from Sweet Oblivion, the first novel in The Sweet Series.

Enjoy!

<3 Ardisone

My first Indie-Licious Blog Hop post!



This is a teaser from Sweet Escape, the second novel in The Sweet Series.