Today, I celebrate not just love itself, but the art of capturing it on the page. As a romance author, I have the unique privilege of crafting stories that resonate with readers' hearts and create lasting emotional connections.
Whenever my readers come to me and tell me they felt something I stirred their hearts, I am over-the-moon happy.
Today, on Valentine's Day, I want to share with you a review I got. Reviews are like love letters to me about my books. They mean so much, and I am not sure why, maybe it is because a reader stopped and took a moment to tell me that what I wrote touched them.
***
An Alien Love: Living and Surviving (Pete's Love)
Reviewed by Joyce

"I loved everything about this story! I hated the ending, but the author's promise to continue the series made it tolerable. I have fallen in love with this alien race, and I want one of them for my own."

***
This little post made me smile. I want to thank Joyce for her kind words, and all of you who take a moment to leave me reviews on my stories. They help me to know if I touched your heart, lightened your day, or even just made you think.

Every kind review stops me from crying in my shower and wondering what the hell I'm doing with my life! ​

Thanks again.

​
Toward the end of the year, I was put on a drug for a health issue I was having. I will not bore you with my health issues, how dull, but I will say the drug did a number on me.
It was one of those moments when the cure was worse than the illness. 
Anyway, the drug did things to my mind, and it plunged me into a deep depression. I have always heard of the word depression, but I think I didn't really know what it meant until I was waking every day with no ability to get out of bed. It was the strangest feeling for me. If someone had asked me if I wanted to cut my wrists or go for a walk in the park, my reaction would have been the same. I wouldn't care either way. 
For me, I have always been passionate, and I have always felt things deeply. To be plunged into a world where everything was the same gave me a strange new perspective on people who suffer from chronic depression. 
To make a long story short, I stopped writing. Honestly, I stopped doing a lot of things: meeting with friends, having sex, exercising, laughing. I did nothing, and then I got off the drug. 
So here I am. My brain chemistry has leveled out, and I'm back in the saddle. Just give me a minute, and I'll have my fingers on the keyboard again.
I hope.

​​
As I have gotten back to writing, I have felt listless and lonely. Looking for a community to help me feel grounded was where I decided to start. I returned to Wattpad in hopes of talking to some authors and some readers and just getting in the mood for writing. 
That didn't work for me. 
There is nothing wrong with Wattpad, but when I posted my Alien books, they banned the second one. They did not tell me why it was banned from the site. That bummbed me out hardcore. I think I was so sad about it because I was trying to find some readers and writers, and just zen a little.
Getting a story banned from a website felt far from zen.
That is when someone suggested Inkitt to me. I had never been there before, but as soon as I was on the site, I fell in love. I found a home for my alien novels where I wasn't judged for my writing, and the books I created weren't banned. 
I have not left Troll River, and my Ice Era Chronicles are still at the house, but I have been hanging out on Inkitt simply because I have readers who chat with me and writers who give me advice. I am also there because it is a home for all my alien books, and there are no judgments. I have them all up, and I even added my Alien Love: Offspring Edition. Two of those stories are on the site.
For the moment, unless something changes, I will keep posting stories there. If you want to check out my page, you can find me here:

https://www.inkitt.com/AuthorCMMoore 

Inkitt

Signing up for Inkitt is free, and it's a lot of fun!

As we reach October, I always consider writing something a little dark. Normally, my writing is a little more “sunshine and happy endings” than “moonlight and mysteries.” But I sometimes consider writing a haunting love story. Maybe a charming ghost or a killer we can fall for. I am fond of monsters. I have one at home, so it’s an idea.

When I think about a mystery, I picture what fun it would be to have a blend of both romantic and spooky elements. I think of candlelit dinners in haunted mansions or first kisses in web-shrouded graveyards. I know vampires are overdone, but there is something to it that gets me. 
We will see. To soothe my longing for something creeping in the woods, I am going to have one of my aliens fall in love with a shapeshifting wolf that howls at the full moon.

It’s something. Have a happy and safe Halloween.

​As my birthday approaches, I always pause to reflect on the precious moments over the last year that have enriched my writing and my life. I know that each of the novels I have created comes from a blend of happy times and sad times, mixed with my unique voice and parts of my soul.

This month, I want to tell you all the things I am grateful for. I am alive another year, and I have another year to write, love, and laugh. That is a magnificent blessing.

I am happy for the blank page that holds nothing but possibilities.
I am joyful over the characters whispering their secrets at night.
I appreciate the readers who understand me and my work and those who fall in love with my heroes and heroines.
I am thankful for my fellow writers who have helped me in my journey…
Finally, I am blessed to have an entire book flow from my fingertips onto a page and somehow end up in your hands. That truly is magic.

Thank you to all of you out there—to every cherished reader, to every heartfelt connection, and to that special moment when stories bring us together.

With gratitude,
C.M.