Guys, I have an e-novella releasing tomorrow…

But you can get it early!

Three Little Words is available for download today by going here. Tomorrow you’ll be able to get it at B&N, Amazon, CBD and all the usual places. But do you really want to wait a whole 24 hours?? And bonus: There’s a sneak peek of From the Start at the end!

Three Little Words is my very first novella. I’ve written three (almost four—deadline in two weeks—gulp!) full-length novels for Bethany House, all of which fall in the 93-96,000 word range. And I released a short story in December (which you can still get free) which clocked in around 9,000 words.

This e-novella is 27,000 words, give or take. So just for perspective’s sake, that’s about three times the length of my short story and about one-third of one of my novels.

Could we all step back for a sec and acknowledge that I just did math?

This novella bridges my old series (Where Love Begins) and my new series (Walker Family) which kicks off in April with From the Start. If you’ve read my second book, Here to Stay, then you may recognize the character of Ava. She’s the heroine in Three Little Words and I’m plopping her in the town in which the new series will take place. (Blake/Blaze also makes a cameo!)

And the hero in this story, Seth Walker, is…

*mentally paces because she can’t come up with words*
*realizes she might love a fake person of her own creation*
*draws hearts on post-it note*

I just really like him, okay?

Anyway, one of the things oftentimes missing from novellas is an acknowledgement page. In my full-length books, I get a chance to gushingly thank the people who helped make the book possible. I thought since the novella itself won’t contain such a page, I’d just go ahead and list my Acknowledgements right here. So here we go:

Acknowledgements for Three Little Words

…Mom and Dad

A huge chunk of this story was written at my parents’ house and in their camper. They invited me home last summer when I was deep in the midst of deadlines for two stories. Dad got their camper—which is like a small apartment and so perfect—all hooked up to electricity and Mom stocked the fridge with food and pop. And I got to write my heart out in the prettiest setting!

…Susan May Warren

True story: I may or may not have sent Susie and some other author friends a slightly panicked email last summer. “Guys, I told my publisher I’d write a novella. But I have no idea how to write a novella!” Susie gave me exactly what I needed to structure the story. “If you’ve got two POVs, then you need X number of scenes with X number of words in X number of chapters.” As an author, my hope is that readers don’t even pay attention to the structure of the story because they’re so into it. But make no mistake, good stories have solid structure whether or not the reader (or even the writer) realizes it.

…Rachel Hauck

Who responded to that same panicked email and said, “Focus on the romance. It’s all about the romance.”

…Raela Schoenherr, my editor

Raela gave me perfect advice, too! She reminded me that in a shorter story, it’s super helpful if the hero and heroine already know each other. Working from that standpoint sparked what ended up being my favorite thing about this story: Seth and Ava’s emails.

…Amanda Luedeke, my agent

Because it’s her savvy work that helped make this novella and the books to follow possible. And because she is hilarious and awesome.

…Lindsay Harrel, my craft partner

Other than my mom, Lindsay was the first person to read this story and her reaction was exactly what I hoped for! She encourages me constantly and I couldn’t be more thankful for her. Thanks, also, to Gabrielle Meyer and Alena Tauriainen who are also always at the ready with prayers, support, and encouragement.

…Cheryl Haimann

Who named this story! Cheryl is one of my coworkers at my nonprofit dayjob and we were chatting about my titles so far one day. She made the remark, “They’re all three little words. HEY, that’d make a good title itself.” Actually, I should thank ALL my coworkers. They listen to me talk endlessly about writing and deadlines, ask questions about stories and characters and really listen to the answers, and are always up for brainstorming help.

…Rachel McMillan and Hillary Manton Lodge

Because they listened to me say “Oh my goodness, writing a novella is so much easier than writing a novel and I love it and it’s the best thing ever!!!” about a thousand times last summer. And because they make me laugh on a daily basis.

…Readers

I’m sooooo thankful for all of you. It’s a privilege to get to share my heart with you through my characters. Thanks to those of you who review and help promote books—you are amazing. And can I just say a special thanks to readers who go out and plunk down their hard-earned money on books? I want you to know that when you spend money on an author’s book, you’re not just investing in a story…you’re investing in the author’s life, her livelihood and her dream. And that…is huge. Thank you, thank you!

Attack hugs for everyone!

*****

Three Little Words officially releases tomorrow at Amazon, B&N, CBD.com and other online retailers, but you can get it now by going here.

p.s. I know I’ve been strangerly around these parts in the past couple weeks. I’m two weeks from my deadline, so my focus has been finishing my fourth book, Like Never Before. But I promise to be back here tomorrow AND Wednesday (three days in a row…whaaat?) with some GIVEAWAY fun and more!

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