Melissa Cummins

Happy Saturday, Romance Reader! I hope you've had a great week and you've remembered to take some time for yourself.

I'm frankly, thrilled that Summer is almost over! I got hit with heat exhaustion the week before last, and now I've got a cold on top of it, so I'm completely over the season. We have a nice cool breeze right now and I was almost dancing while whisper chanting around the house that, "Fall is almost here!"

I do actually have some exciting news for you though, the Claimed By Beasts Kickstarter Prelaunch Page is officially live!

There's still a lot of work to do and I don't have any graphics ready to go up just yet, but the page exists now, which puts a huge smile on my face. I've known I wanted to do this Kickstarter for over a year and being able to finally start building and putting everything together feels incredible. If you want to follow along with the campaign, you can do that here:

Follow the Claimed By Beasts campaign on Kickstarter

Following also means Kickstarter will notify you the moment the campaign actually goes live, so you won't have to keep checking back to see if it's started.

As things move along, I'll be posting the campaign updates on Kickstarter itself. There's already some fun stuff I'm working on behind the scenes. Patreon members voted that they're interested in an idea I had to speak with a jewler and see if they could make Sienna's pendant! I'm thinking about candles too. And, I talked to my contact for the print run, and it turns out they can do custom boxes as well, so I'm waiting to hear back on pricing to see if it makes sense to include as a possibility.

My Favorite Things

My husband's birthday was on the 18th and it was lovely being able to celebrate with him.
I got these luxury extra large bath towels and they are so awesome! They're incredibly soft but also big enough to wrap around you. 10/10
We watched Colony and I LOVED it. I can't get what I call the "Buffering Zombies," out of my mind and it's now become an inside joke round the house.

Saturday, August 29

Happy Saturday, romance lover! I hope your weekend is off to a good start.

I've been a busy bee lately. A draft of one of my books got lost — I didn't know until I sat down to edit it and found half of it missing — and then I found some issues with another draft. I decided to get those sorted out before hopping into anything new, so everything would be copacetic. Writing is the fun part for me, and I'd rather clear the friction out of the way first than keep running into it.

Outside of that, I've been working on getting the Kickstarter for My Brutal Beast and My Vicious Beast together. I finished going through 300+ campaigns today because Kickstarter has changed (even in the last week) and I needed to think about and get inspiration for graphics, campaign planning, and what we can offer. Nothing is set in stone yet, except that each book will be its own separate creation, not a box set or an omnibus, so if you only want one, you'll be able to get just that one. If you want both, you can get both.

I want this to be a print run and to work with the same person who did the Crowned In Blood print run last summer. The books came out so beautiful last time, and she was an absolute joy to work with. Because of that though, I'm planning to launch once we hit a certain number of followers — that way we can be confident it'll be funded.

As soon as I haven more details, I'll let you know! But if you'd like to follow me on Kickstarter you should be able to do so here!

My Favorite Things

I recently found out and ate a donut peach and it is RIDICULOUSLY good! I like peaches just fine but I'm not overly obsessed with them, but this?! It's now one of my top favorite fruits.
Have you seen those backless nightgowns with the tie in the back so you can raise or lower it however you want and it works for all sizes? Well I finally got my hands on the short version and it is absolutely wonderful!
I finally finished Widows Bay and it was so good! I cannot wait for the next season which I believe they said will come out next year!

Saturday, August 8

Happy Saturday, Romance Lover! I hope your summer is going wonderfully and you're staying cool! I know I am doing everything I can to stay out of the sun, which means I'm getting some real writing work done.

In the last newsletter, I mentioned I was diving into some secret projects, and I have an update on one of them.

This project came about because I woke up from a dream, and the moment I opened my eyes, I had it all penned out (this is how Crowned In Blood came to be too). The thing was, it didn't quite sound or feel like me. It felt more like an experiment of something I had thought of once, but never again. But, I couldn't get it out of my head, so I wrote it all down, and even came up with a possible new pen name I'd use if I decided I wanted to write and publish the book.

The original story was going to be a short, spicy, smutty, dark romance focused on a carnival (the research into that was fascinating) where the MMCs are all masked stalkers.

After I got done brainstorming, I finished the prologue, but when I got to the first chapter, I realized I was completely wrong. The story actually did sound exactly like me. In fact, it sounds like a cross between My Vicious Beast and Crowned In Blood, just without the paranormal/monster qualities.

Once I realized that, I decided to keep it on this name, flush it out more, change a couple of things, and now, the prologue is up on Patreon to read for free!

If you liked Marco's and the Creature's devotion and brutality for their women, I think you're really going to like this story. I haven't decided if I'm going to keep the MMC masked or not, but the stalking is on point and he's funny too!

Read the Prologue here

I've also been working through some issues across a couple of different stories that were keeping me from moving forward on them. One of them is fixed, which I'm thrilled over, and I'm working on the other now. That's part of why I love having stories in rotation, so when something's going on with one of them and I need a break to see the bigger picture, I can still feed my creative muse.

My Favorite Things

One of the things my husband did for my birthday was make me a delicious garlic bread and he just made it again. I could eat it as a full meal and be absolutely delighted. It is so good!
My Vicious Beast copies came in and they look gorgeous! I'm especially in love with the back of the full wrap. It's definitely one of my favorites to date.
I am learning how to release myself from problem solving. I am an excellent problem solver, but it's tiring and I have enough on my plate without exhausting my mental capacity. So, I'm learning to say, "Hey, do we even need to fix this or can someone else do that? Do I even like it this way to spend the time fixing it, or is there a better and easier solution?" It's been really good for my mind and if you tend to be someone who solves problems, I'd like to recommend you ask those questions to yourself too.

Saturday, July 25

Happy July, dark romance reader! I hope that you're enjoying your summer and staying cool! I've been a busy bee and spending my time catching up on some previous tasks, and pushing forward on some really fun ideas.

My Vicious Beast Paperbacks

I'm so happy to announce that My Vicious Beast is in production! Here's the full paperback wrap (which I may be a little in love with):

These books are currently being printed and packed to be shipped to my PAs. Once they receive them and everything looks good, we'll start shipping them out. So, if you bought a copy, your shipping confirmation email should be coming soon! And if you'd like to grab one, click the button below!

Grab your copy of My Vicious Beast's paperback here!

The Scratch & Dent sale updates

The Crowned In Blood Special Edition Scratch and Dent copies are almost sold out! If you bought one, thank you so much! We still have a lot of normal copies and I'm not planning on putting in another order this year, so grab your discounted copy before they're gone!

Get the Special Edition here!

I've gotten my last package from my old printer for retail paperbacks and will be updating the inventory numbers for Scratch and Dents tonight. Then, I should also be closing those out for a bit too!

Writing

I'm really excited to be wrapping everything up here soon so I can sit back, relax, and write. There's some secret projects I'm working on, and the Kickstarter I'm dying to jump into so I think it's going to be a good time.

My Favorite Things

My birthday was on the 17th and my husband gave me the most beautiful, thoughtful, romantic day. It was beyond anything I could have ever imagined or hoped for and it's a memory that will stick with me for a long time.
I did a little bit of baking for my extended family which it was so nice to do and to see them.
I got all of my voice notes, normal notes, and ideas down for Mafia Story #2 and being able to see it all, plus the timeline is wonderful. I'm so excited to jump into this book!

Saturday, July 4

Happy June romance reader!

I planned on sending you an email earlier but I started this month with a summer cold. While I'm not 100%, I am on the mend and happy to finally be able to get back at it.

There isn't too much to update you on, but there are a few little surprises coming up. I hope you enjoy them, romance reader!

A summer clear-out

The printer I use for my retail paperbacks had an error and now I have an excess amount of scratch & dent paperbacks—copies with tiny cosmetic flaws that do not disrupt your reading—so I've decided to discount all of my scratch & dents (including Crowned In Blood's Special Edition hardcover) by 30% through September 30.

I'll be moving away from this printer for my regular paperbacks once the last shipment comes in, so once these are gone, they're gone. If one of my books has been sitting on your wishlist, this is a lovely (and cheaper) way to finally get it in your hands!

Shop all Scratch & Dents here

What's on my docket

I'm working on formatting the paperback for My Vicious Beast and I'm really excited to see it done. I likely won't get my own version until I run the Kickstarter so if you've pre-ordered a copy, you'll have yours before I have mine, but I always love being able to physically hold my books.

I've also started writing just a bit, and I'm happy to jump back into it more. The prologue of Carnal Claim is up on Patreon for free, which you can read it below, and I'm itching to get its first chapter down and the prologue for my next mafia romance written.

Read Carnal Claim's Prologue Here

My Favorite Things

Bagels. When bagels are in the house it's always going to be one of my favorite things. I devoured them and now I'm sad I don't have more yet.
My husband made me potato croquettes which were the peak of my month. I first had a potato croquette in the form of Papas rellenas when I'd gone to my mother's friend's house. She then made a batch for me, and I learned how to make them myself. However, I never really thought we'd have them here because we eat very differently in Egypt then I ever did in America. My husband stuffed them with cheese and roast beef and they were divine.
While I was sick and couldn't sleep, I decided to try the movie Pretty Lethal and I really enjoyed it! It was such a different take on a ballet film and it was also really funny.

Talk soon!

Saturday, June 13