Hello all! Thank you for joining me for my monthly author column here at Love Bytes! This week is Thanksgiving, so I thought I’d post a little about giving thanks. This is by no means a once a year event, but this time of year certainly makes me stop and think about it a little more than usual.

Over the years, I’ve learned to better appreciate all the good in my life, focus on the positive and less on the negative. I’m lucky to have my parents still with me, and I know that won’t always be the case, so I try to make the most of the time we have together. I’m not always successful, but I certainly do my best. I’ve known so many folks who’ve lost loved ones, and the truth is that life is so precious and fleeting. I often think about the future and how I wouldn’t want to think back and wish I’d spent more time with certain people, or treated someone differently, so I strive to do my best each and every day.

Being a full-time writer has given me a freedom I hadn’t had before, one I’m so very grateful for. My time restrictions and work schedule are my own. I’ve worked more hours than I ever have in any other job, but for the first time, I enjoy it. I’m more readily available to family and friends, and if I’m needed, I’m here.

It’s amazing, yet incredibly terrifying being self-employed, depending on my writing and royalties for bills and car payments, health insurance, and any emergency that crops up. Learning to live with such uncertainty takes time, but I couldn’t be happier. I’m my own boss. I get to do what I love, and I’m having such a great time doing it.

It isn’t all sunshine and rainbows, and I’ve learned that some things are out of my control, but I’ve also learned to be more patient, to appreciate what I have, to cherish the good things, the happy moments. I’ve come a long way in the last few years, not just in my writing career, but as a person. This Thanksgiving, I’m once again reminded of all I have and how lucky I am to have it. What’s one of the happiest moments you’ve had this year?

ABOUT

From North Pole City to Winter Wonderland, preparations are underway after a royal announcement sweeps everyone into a frenzy of festivity. At the heart of the celebration are the city’s most beloved elf pilots, the Rein Dears. Once the Big Flight is behind them, the pilots prepare for the royal event. Assigned a special task of finding an Elska rose, Cupid and Blitzen are unaware of how their friendship is about to change forever.

Yet not all that glitters is gold. The sweet, angelic Cupid hides a dark secret, one that threatens to destroy his Rein Dear status, his friends, and the elf who’s captured his heart. It’s up to Blitzen to help Cupid see the light in the darkness and show him that together they can mend broken hearts.

Pre-order from Dreamspinner Press: http://bit.ly/CCLovingBlitzDSP

Released: Dec 16th, 2015

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Charlie Cochet is an author by day and artist by night. Always quick to succumb to the whispers of her wayward muse, no star is out of reach when following her passion. From adventurous agents and sexy shifters, to society gentlemen and hardboiled detectives, there’s bound to be plenty of mischief for her heroes to find themselves in, and plenty of romance, too!

Currently residing in Central Florida, Charlie is at the beck and call of a rascally Doxiepoo bent on world domination. When she isn’t writing, she can usually be found reading, drawing, or watching movies. She runs on coffee, thrives on music, and loves to hear from readers.

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