Okay, folks! I've been teasing long enough... Behold, in all its glory, the cover for "The Supernatural Reasons Why I Love You"! 

     So, there's actually an interesting story that goes along with this particular cover. As many of you may recall, I currently use BookBaby's self-publishing services to format and distribute my books. Well, when I submitted the manuscript and cover ideas for this anthology, their design team told me what I wanted on my cover was too complicated (as in, they didn't have stock photos that matched my request). My options were to pay for the "advanced" cover design option (which was not cheap), or do it myself. As you can see, the main image isn't that complex - it's a rose with a few bites taken out of it. (And if you want to know how that connects to the short stories, you'll have to read it to find out!) When I explained the dilemma to my husband, he told me, "I can that!" And that's exactly what he did! I found an image of a rose that I liked (thank you Shutterstock for royalty-free image licensing!), my husband did some tinkering through Adobe Photoshop, and voila! One perfectly-munched rose for my cover XD. Needless to say, I think we'll be doing straight self-publishing (no third party services period!) very soon - no point in paying someone to throw text on a cover if I have to put together the image myself. 
     Before I get too far ahead of myself, let's come back to this book that I'm about to launch! I've got an official book page for this anthology, where you can read the back cover blurb (click here or select "Short Stories" from the drop-down menu under the "Books" tab). I've also posted a teaser for the origin stories on that page, so be sure to check it out!
     Stay tuned for more on this new book - the next update will include the "Table of Contents" and hopefully the preorder links, along with an official launch date!

     First of all, as the title implies, I've posted another guest blog entry with The Paper House! This time, I'm talking a bit about my genre and what I mean when I say I write "paranormal romance with a Christian Twist." Follow the link to read it for yourself: 
https://www.thepaperhousebooks.com/post/your-genre-is-what

     Second, and perhaps more importantly, I've got some announcements about what's coming soon! As part of my book launch for this next book, I'm wanting to do a launch party through Goodreads WITH A GIVEAWAY. The trick is, I can only invite my "friends" to my launch event when I create it. So if you're already on Goodreads, add me as your friend! Click here to find my profile on Goodreads. If you haven't heard about Goodreads before, it's an online community designed for book lovers. You create a profile, and then you can rate and review books, join groups that share your interests, and connect with other book nerds! Click here to join Goodreads.
       Last (but certainly not least), I'll be unveiling the cover for "The Supernatural Reasons Why I Love you" in the next few weeks! Subscribe to my newsletter below if you want to be among the first to witness the cover reveal ;-). Otherwise, be sure to follow me on social media for the big announcement!

Today, I have a fun surprise to share with you...
I’ve teamed up with 50+ fantastic authors to give away a huge collection of Paranormal & Sci-Fi Romances to 2 lucky winners!

     I don't know if you could hear the excited "SQUEE!" that erupted the moment I received this... but it was pretty loud! XD
     I was SO excited to receive fan art!! You have no idea. Many thanks to JM for sharing her artistic talent with me in such a creative and amazing way!!!

    Those of you who have read The Heart of Everything will recognize the three main characters, and not just because the artist labeled them with their names. She actually captured them very well, based on my descriptions in the book! See Jesse's longer hair... Alex's polished look... the relative height of each character... all done to a T! Emer is even wearing the hoodie that Jesse gives her in Chapter two :-D.
    All in all, this made my day! Publishing your book and watching it become "real" is one thing - seeing your characters "come to life" in art is another step up! I know cover art is often used to give a visual representation of characters - or at least, it can be. Now that I am self-publishing and having to do research into book marketing, it seems cover art is just as often (if not more often) used to grab attention and sell the book, rather than meaningfully portray characters and plot (one of my biggest beefs with cover art is when it DOES NOT match the book descriptions... I absolutely HATE that... which probably explains why I prefer my covers to be people-free XD). But accurate or not, cover art is done professionally and for a fee. Fan art, which is done for the love of the story and the characters, means ever so much more. It's less about talent because it's done from the heart - though, I would argue that JM's depiction displays both talent and enjoyment of my book! Thank you again for blessing me with this :').
    To that end, I would like to invite any budding artists out there: if you enjoy my book (or future books!) and bring those characters or scenes to life on paper, please share them with me! Feel free to post them on social media (please tag me so I can see them!) or use the contact form on this website to let me know that you'd like to send it to me directly. Please tell me whether or not I'm okay to share your art here/ on my other channels - I don't want to infringe on anyone's rights but I do want others to enjoy it if possible! I can't promise to share everything I receive. But I do promise to keep and appreciate anything I receive from my fans - it touches my heart to see what these stories mean to you!!!
​     Feel free to scroll back up and give another happy smile at that cute picture (that's what I keep doing... the way both boys seem to be "claiming" her... so adorable!) and stay tuned for more updates!

​   The page design for the anthology is complete!!! Squee!!! I can't tell you how excited this part makes me. I just love seeing my book actually LOOK like a book! :-D
     Even more exciting is the fact that I'm receiving these proofs now, only a month since announcing that this book would be coming out. True, BookBaby said I would be receiving these proofs in 3-4 weeks (and here we are!), but still! Those of you who were here for the first book may recall that this is SO MUCH FASTER than it was the last time. This makes me really, REALLY hopeful for a release date before the end of the year! ;-)
     But enough about timelines and schedules! Let's talk about some beautiful book design, shall we?

     I've got four images for you here today - obviously not the whole book, but enough that you can get a sense of what it will look like overall. The first two images are the title page and the beginning of the first short story. The last two images are the "origin stories" title page and the first page of those stories. As you can see, the design is vine-like and floral, similar to the first book. Yet it's also quite different - more complex, I would say. And I love it!
     (Sigh.) It's becoming real!!! :-D
    Of course, it's not real YET. I still have to fully review the design proofs to make sure everything looks good, and verify there aren't any typos that snuck in during the process. And then of course, there's the cover. So I do not have a specific date for you at this time :-(. But rest assured that we are most certainly moving in a forward direction, and as soon as I know something, you'll know something!
     Stay tuned as we wait patiently for this next release! Now, if you'll excuse me, I need to go admire my new book a little more... ;-P.

     And I mean that, quite literally! This update is about the new and different places you might find me online.
     First of all, I've joined Pinterest! I'll be listing all of my books here, with direct links to buy through my BookShop page. You can find me here: https://www.pinterest.com/authorlynnwallace/pins/
     I've also joined BookBub! For those who don't know, BookBub is a free service that helps millions of fans find new books, while simultaneously helping authors and publishers find new readers. You can view my profile here: https://www.bookbub.com/authors/lynn-wallace
     Last but certainly not least, I've joined BookSweeps! BookSweeps is pretty much what their name implies: they feature giveaways (usually books but also other prizes!) as well as help readers discover and engage with new authors. You can check out my profile here:  
https://www.booksweeps.com/discover/lynn-wallace/
​     The most exciting part of joining BookSweeps is that I will be participating in a book giveaway next month, in the early part of September! I'll be posting more information once BookSweeps gets everything set up, so if you or anyone you know still needs a copy of The Heart of Everything, be sure to stay tuned!
     That's all for now! Until the next update, keep reading!

        Okay, okay! I've been dropping hints about the mysterious "next book" for several months now... both in updates and blog posts (go back and re-read a few if you missed them ;-P)... and it's high time I stop teasing and just tell you!
         So, are you ready? Are you REALLY ready? Are you sure?! Because here it is!
        The next book will be... The Supernatural Reasons Why I Love You! This is NOT the sequel to The Heart of Everything. (I know, I'm sad too, but I'm making good progress on editing that one!) But it DOES connect back to the first book! Or rather, connect forward - you see, this new book is actually collection of short stories, and it features a set of "origin stories" that provide the backstory for our heroes from The Heart of Everything. So if you're curious about how Jesse and Alex became friends, or how they met the priestess, or if you want the full scoop of that dark, fateful day in Jesse's past, then look no further. This is the book for you! This anthology will also have stories that follow other characters: some new, some familiar (like Lisa the witch, who turned her boyfriend into a zombie ;-P). All in all, it's a great collection of paranormal romance short stories, and you're sure to have a lot of fun reading them!
       Unfortunately, I don't yet have a date set for when this book will be released. I've just recently started the publishing process with the help of BookBaby, and I received an email TODAY that I should be able to review my book design proof in 3-4 weeks. Hopefully, that means I'll have something more to share with you next month!
      In the meantime, keep your fingers crossed that the process of formatting and design goes smoothly and quickly! It will NOT take as long as it did to get The Heart of Everything to print (those of you who kept up with the initial series of updates on that will recall it took FOREVER) because the editing part has already been completed. We're just making the book look like a book at this point, but I still don't have a guaranteed time frame. I really do hope to have this out to y'all by the end of the year - because what makes a better Christmas present than a brand new book?? ;-P
         Stay tuned for more and until then, keep reading!

     Great news! I've been invited to contribute as a guest blogger for The Paper House, a self-publishing company based out of New Jersey. They have multiple guest writers for their blog (which has a general theme of writing and publishing), so if you visit their site to read my post, be sure to check out what everyone else has written!
     Today, I'm sharing my publishing journey, with what I've learned, what I'd like to do moving forward, and what advice I'd give to anyone just starting out in the publishing process. You can read all about it here: ​https://www.thepaperhousebooks.com/post/not-all-who-publish-are-lost
        I'll be posting for them every so often, but each time I do, I'll be sure to share a link here in case anyone is interested :-). In the meantime, stay safe, stay tuned, and I hope to have more good news to share soon!

For immediate release:
Author's new book receives a warm literary welcome.
Readers' Favorite announces the review of the Young Adult - Romance book
"The Heart of Everything" by Lynn Wallace, currently available at http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/1098302680.

Readers' Favorite is one of the largest book review and award contest sites on the Internet. They have earned the respect of renowned publishers like Random House, Simon & Schuster, and Harper Collins, and have received the "Best Websites for Authors" and "Honoring Excellence" awards from the Association of Independent Authors. They are also fully accredited by the BBB (A+ rating), which is a rarity among Book Review and Book Award Contest companies.

Reviewed By K.C. Finn for Readers' Favorite
The Heart of Everything is a work of romantic fiction penned by author Lynn Wallace for young adults, which also contains some paranormal and Christian themes. The plot centers around Emer, who believes that she is a pretty normal young woman headed for a normal life. So when she is suddenly kidnapped and informed that in a previous life she has had different lovers and been an elfin priestess, shock sets in pretty fast. Getting to know the vampiric Alex and Jesse, the literal son of the devil, has its perks, but her handsome kidnappers also set Emer on the path to truly knowing herself, and with that comes the obligation to use her remembered powers to defend them all from danger.

Author Lynn Wallace has created a compelling romantic narrative that her YA and NA readership are certain to really enjoy. I liked the combination of Christian and supernatural themes at play, keeping the story firmly fixed in the realm of redemption with a classic and well-executed battle of good versus evil underpinning the tale. Emer is well developed as an emotive heroine who reacts fairly realistically to the shocking situation she finds herself in, and her relationship with the two men in her life builds gradually and endearingly as the plot unveils itself. The twists and supernatural moments of the storyline are described with cinematic language that really makes those scenes pop. Overall, The Heart of Everything is a read which is certain to beguile and entertain anyone who picks it up."

You can learn more about Lynn Wallace and "The Heart of Everything" at https://readersfavorite.com/book-review/the-heart-of-everything where you can read reviews and the author’s biography, as well as connect with the author directly or through their website and social media pages.
​
Readers' Favorite LLC
Media Relations
Louisville, KY 40202
800-RF-REVIEW
support@readersfavorite.com
https://readersfavorite.com

     First of all, happy belated Easter!  To celebrate a season of hope in the midst of this pandemic, I've created a coupon code valid for 20% off on my BookShop page!  It can be used on either digital or print copies of the book, and it's good until 4/30/2020.  Just use "EASTER2020" at the link below!

     Also, I now have a profile on LinkedIn!  You can connect with me through the button below:

     That's all I have at this time.  I hope everyone is staying safe!