Hi, there! Friends, I did a half poetry marathon (13 poems) a few months ago and I am excited to announce that one of my poems, "Rainbows," will be published in the Poetry Marathon Anthology, 2017 edition. I'll be sure to announce the publication date soon.  

Another anthology I took part in gave us a sneak peek of the cover. This will be published by the Dynamic Duo Anthology and is called We are Not Alone: Stories of Mental Health Awareness. Profits from this anthology will be used to support NAMI (National Alliance for Mental Health). 
I'll also be announcing the publication date soon. 

Both my books, Storm of Hope: God, Preeclampsia, Depression and me and Love, Defined are up for grabs on this giveaway, happening now through September 21st. Here is the link. 

If you've been keeping up with the news, you should know by now the devastation that Harvey left in its wake along the Texas Gulf coast region and Houston. Houston - I live 30 miles north of the city.....it takes me roughly 40 minutes to get to downtown. I can't even begin to tell you how petrified I was during the storm. My heart is broken for my city. My heart grieves for the neighbors whose homes I've seen get flooded; friends whose entire world swept away in this storm..... I've driven around our area and have seen with my eyes the helplessness but I've seen hope too. Hope in knowing that we're all alive. Our family is safe. Hope that our neighbors will be there for us. I've seen strangers go up to people's homes, introduce themselves and got to work. I've seen a plethora of  good and wonderful things. We truly will rebuild again.

So what did that mean for my August goals? Well, yours truly waited until the last few days to do things and then realizing when the storm was projected to hit here, most of my goals got put on hold....obviously.
August goals:
​ 1. Successfully make it to Ellie's Kindergarten without crying.
2. Finish beta readings for Anthology group --> my procrastinator side got the best of me. By the time I finally was able to sit and read and go through the beta stage, Harvey was coming.
3. Finish beta reading for friend's 2nd book 
4. Read and review 3 books --> I finished Amanda Lovelace's The Princess Saves Herself in this One, Intricate Deception by Jennifer Rayes and The Last Time I'll Write about You by Dawn Lanuza. 
5. Set up FB Monday Bible verses for September! 

Technically though, it's not as bad. I have a couple of articles I need to finish. I have to find time to reschedule a few online things.....so despite the storm, August was 3/4.

1.) Read and Review  4/5 books.
- Breaking Norms, Broken Rules, the Leftover, the Coronation, poetry: Remember me in Sleepless Nights
2.) Finish edits for Letters to Lenora (anthology group).
3.) Update site for following interviews.
4.) Finish articles for Echoes of the Struggle and Daughters of the Deep. 
5.) Host a farewell get-together for a fellow book club member.
And 6.) to continue to help, donate, sort, organize....for the victims of the Harvey flood. I know once the news find something new to cover, the victims will have been forgotten. But their rebuilding is still beginning and I want to make sure I continue to be of any help to my neighbors and fellow Houstonians. If you haven't had the chance to donate, please do so!

So goodbye August, hello September. What are your writing goals? 

I'm on several Facebook groups and on days when we're allowed to do "self promotion," I get to scoop everyone's websites. They're all so beautiful, unique to the author, "clean," and organized. I feel a little inadequate with my little simplicity over here. But each time I add something to it, I worry that it's too much and too cluttered. I remember that I actually love simplicity. So like it or not, this is probably what you're going to see.....I did find a few things that I liked and already incorporated that......Notice the sidebar? I added events and online things. I also finally sent out a newsletter but I'm terrible at self promotion anyway and have absolutely nothing to say. If you've signed up, great! But also be thankful that I'm a totally spaz when it comes to doing monthly things. I like the "seasonal" aspect of newsletter. Once every 3 months is perfect for me and your inbox!

I know it's the 11th, but I also really love some monthly goals that authors post on their site. Here are mine.

AUGUST GOALS:
1. Successfully make it to Ellie's Kindergarten without crying.
2. Finish beta readings for Anthology group
3. Finish beta reading for friend's 2nd book
4. Read and review 3 books 
5. Set up FB Monday Bible verses for September! 
​

Enter to win here: 

In exactly one week, I will be 35! I don't know if that's considered middle age.... don't huff, I seriously don't know! 
I had an anxiety attack last night when it hit me that people will be reading my words. These words were written with tears and desperation, and I thought what if someone I know reads them? Would I still be able to look them in the eyes?
And then I remember a quote a saw on Twitter from Realistic Poetry International......
"Your poetry can be the reason someone else survives something you already have."
Words have power. Words can build legacies or swat them away with insistence until they crumble. I don't know how much of my words will translate to someone who isn't a mom, or a preeclampsia survivor or walked in my shoes.... but if we listen to our neighbors or strangers around us, we find that our stories aren't at all that different. Some fights aren't unique to us and our situation. So, while I inhale and exhale and fight the urge to hit unpublish over here, I hope that my words find comfort in someone like me.
~ Happy Friday, friends. Writers, write your story. Readers, I hope you find some solace and see a semblance of yourself in a book

Two years ago, I didn't know that blog book tours existed. I was sent an invite to participate for a fellow Limitless Publishing author and decided to spend a few dollars on getting my own tour. The biggest problem I faced was my category. I was too "Christian" for my secular marketing sites that hosted tours and too "secular" for my Christian market. This line I had tiptoed was not doing me any favors and I happened upon Lola's blog tours. She and I communicated back and forth. She was always patient and accommodating to a newbie and as a result, I had a "best new release" on Amazon for Love, Defined. 
Soooo when I started to look for marketing my second book, of course, I knew who I wanted to work with. Over the years, you pick up networks left and right. My problem again was my category. Storm of Hope is a memoir first, and a poetry collection second. I needed to find marketing companies that handled nonfiction and poetry, specifically. I learned that Lola just started doing nonfiction recently. I signed up Storm of Hope for a book blitz and hopefully get in the hands of people that can relate to my story. I feel so blessed to be working with Lola's blog tours again! If you feature nonfiction in your book blogs, please kindly think of me and sign up here:
http://www.lolasblogtours.com/book-blitz-storm-of-hope-by-leila-tualla

Naturally I am way too excited about this image and went against everything "they" tell you about waiting, and teasing, and doing a giveaway. Here is my cover from the very talented @faridislam 

I just booked a cover reveal with @Lolasblogtours and I am so excited to show you all the final product. 

So to catch up: I finished my manuscript on May 11th. I sent it to an editor @poetfida for her to look through the poetry section and give the rest a look. I received  amazing feedback, as well as a title from her! We went back and forth a little bit on the edits and I took her words of advice to heart. 

I then sent it to a copy editor, @pencitedits, who looked at grammar, pacing, word usage and she too, offered amazing feedback.
Together, these two cost me $500 in edits. 

I didn't shop around for a cover design artist. I looked at my fellow poets' books and loved their covers. They got me in touch with Farid Islam through upwork.com. He took my concepts and turned it into something physical.....which you'll see in the next coming weeks! 

For now, I am waiting on Createspace to review both the interior and cover changes that I made. Once that is finalized, I can order a proof of the book!! Once I get the proof, I will continue to look for mistakes and offer a few files to "beta readers" to read before the book is out. 

My hope is that it comes out on my birthday, July 21st!! I'm looking for a venue to launch this book baby and I will probably be doing that in the next few days while I wait for both the physical proof and cover reveal to take place.

​In the meantime, I wish you well on your self publishing journey!