Two years ago in May, I entered a contest on a blog that changed my life forever. The blog was Sharon Bayliss, and the result was a publishing contract for my trilogy! On Sharon’s blog, I read about another success story from her contest. Her name was Jessa Russo, and I remember falling in love with her voice on her celebration post and wishing she lived in Florida instead of California because I knew we’d be great friends if she did. Who knew that a year later, she would be my new editor for the second and third installments of my trilogy! And by publishing my books, who knew I’d help inspire a dear friend named Tiffany Pastor who I met in college a long time ago in a galaxy far away (okay, not that far away, but the year 2000 does seem like forever ago) to write and publish her own book!
I owe these three ladies sooo much, so I wanted to highlight their new releases on my blog today!
First up is Sharon’s book, Destruction.
David Vandergraff wants to be a good man. He goes to church every Sunday, keeps his lawn trim and green, and loves his wife and kids more than anything. Unfortunately, being a dark wizard isn’t a choice.
Now, David must parent two hurting children from a dark world he doesn’t understand and keep his family from falling apart. All while dealing with the realization that everyone he loves, including himself, may be evil.
She had me at wizard!
Next up is the wonderfully talented Jessa with DIVIDE!
From senior class president to dejected social outcast, with just the flick of a match.
After accusations of torching her ex-boyfriend’s home are followed by the mysterious poisoning of her ex-best friend, seventeen-year-old Holland Briggs assumes her life is over. And it is. But not in the way she thinks.
As Holland learns the truth about her cursed fate—that she is descended from the Beast most have only ever heard of in fairytales—she unites with an unlikely ally, good-looking newcomer Mick Stevenson.
Mick knows more about Holland’s twisted history than she does, and enlightening as it is to learn about, his suggestion for a cure is unsettling at best. Holland must fall in love with Mick in order to break the spell, and save their future generations from repeating her cursed fate. Having sworn off love after the betrayals of her ex-boyfriend and ex-best friend, this may be difficult to accomplish.
Complicating things further for Holland and Mick, time runs out, and Holland’s change begins way before schedule. With Holland quickly morphing into a dangerous mythical creature, Mick struggles to save her.
Should they fail, Holland will be lost to the beast inside her forever.
DIVIDE: Goodreads | Amazon
And last but not least is Tiffany Pastor, who really is a pastor! She married one of my good buddies in college & nobody wears that last name better (my daughter was even a flower girl in their wedding . . . didn’t use all her petals by the time she reached the alter, so she dumped her basket right there, lol). Her book, CHILDREN of the CITY, is a novel about child trafficking in America.
DON’T THESE BOOKS LOOK AWESOME!!! I hope you’ll check them out, and I hope you’ll forgive me for neglecting to visit your blogs the past month while I finished 18 Thoughts. Good news is I sent it to my CP’s last night! It is finished . . . until they rip the manuscript to pieces. A little warning: the series didn’t end the way I planned. My characters changed their minds with 3 chapters left. Don’t you just love it when they do that?!?
Jamie Ayres 
“She had me at wizard.” I love it. Ha! Thank you so much for spreading the word!
My pleasure!!!
So awesome Sharon’s blog changed your life. Thanks for sharing about their books.
It’s awesome how we’re all connected, isn’t it?
Will have to check them out 🙂
Glad to hear it 🙂
Congrats on finishing 18 Thoughts! You know you’ve found the heart of the story when the characters start to make their own endings. 🙂
And thanks for sharing all these awesome books! Looks like I’ll have some reading once the A to Z Challenge wraps up. 🙂
I’m in awe of everyone doing the A to Z challenge . . . I don’t have that kind of stamina!
Congratulations to all three ladies!
And cool connecting with Sharon led to the publishment of your books.
Thanks, Head Ninja Captain!
Well, that just uped my TBR list. All three look amazing! And it’s interesting to see how one little contest can change everything 🙂
Totally!!
Jamie, a wise woman wrote a book and coined a phrase that came to mind as I read this great post. Pay it forward. It’s the remembering of where we came from, the gentle hands that guided us to our our destination, the warm hearts that give us hope for a brighter tomorrow. You are a wise young woman to remember those who have been there for you along the way.
CONGRATS to all three for writing what sounds like three awesome books 🙂
Aww, you are too sweet ❤
Congratulations to all three writers! That’s pretty cool that your friend Tiffany’s name is really Pastor Pastor. It reminds me a bit of Major Major Major Major in Catch-22.
Oh my gosh . . . yesss! I’d forgotten about that one 🙂
Ain’t networkz wonderful!!! 😀
Yes, it is!
A post full of awesomeness! It does become a small world fast and writers are good at helping writers!
I do love batches of awesomeness 🙂
Love this post! Very cool to hear your origin story, since you were already with CQ when I signed. So glad I’ve been introduced to all three of these wonderful writers!
We’re in good company!
Oh these look great!! And I remember when you signed your contract. Look at you now! So fantastic!! 😀