You know nothing, Jon Snow.
  As a debut author, (who still finds it difficult to accept the title), I've certainly felt like a bastard during my journey toward self-publishing. Yet even then, I am no Jon Snow. He at least enjoyed the comforts his lord father provided.
  I am a wildling. 
 A savage living North of a great Wall erected to keep my kind out. Watcher crows guard it; those given authority over who is permitted to live in the perceived comforts our opposites enjoy versus who must live in the wastelands of endless winter.
  In the event some of you have lived in a hole the past four years, I refer to one of my fantasy icons, George R.R. Martin's A Song of Ice & Fire series, more commonly known as HBO's Game of Thrones.
  My fellow indies will recognize my words for something different. 
  For many years, literary agents have played gatekeepers to the publishing world. More recently, their ranks have thinned. Many of those gatekeepers have cried out for more support from the lords of Westeros (i.e.-traditional publishers of NYC) and, as on the show, received none. You see, the gatekeepers realize a growing horde of wildlings unites to force our way through, even while the lords and ladies of up on high refuse to acknowledge such claims.
  Unlike HBO's fantastic show, however, it's not fear that drives we indie authors. 
  It's passion.

  My wife thinks you all should pity her.
 This woman puts up with my crazy aspirations and, worse, near constant need for feedback. For the past five years, she's (mostly) listened patiently as I've ran down the stairs, pulled her away from whatever more important thing she was doing, and cajoled her into listening to my Salt stories. 
  Yes.
  I am a thirty-one year old manchild who does this sort of thing on the regular.

  Another day of my fingers hovering over shift+command+3, ready to capture a screenshot of Salted climbing the ranks. I don't know what's normal for a debut author's release but wow! I'm beyond pleased. I've said this before, yet find myself mentioning it again. It's not everyone who is blessed to witness such a fantastic reaction from family, friends, and even strangers as I have these past couple days. Thank you all for that! It truly means the world to me. :)
  Now, about that little giveaway for two personalized and autographed print copies. The results are in. Hit the 'read more' option to find out who the lucky winners are.

  This picture was taken last night around 10 p.m. Why? 
  Well, Amazon has this little thing called a Top 100 Hot New Releases broken down by genre and sub-genre. With the holy wow, overwhelming support of too many amazing individuals to name, somebody's YA Urban Fantasy novel made it into the Top 50 bestselling new releases in under 24 hours. Just sayin'.
  So you see that picture? 
  That's what victory look like, folks. My thanks to you for putting Salted on the Amazon map. ;)
   For the record, I made Karen take this picture of me. 
 Hit the 'read more' to learn how that fun little conversation went. 

  It's finally here, folks. Release week! I plan on creating a new blog post every day this week so be sure to revisit my site or you might miss something. Boy howdy, are you people in for some treats!
  My first interview went live last night. If you missed it, you can read my replies by clicking here. There'll be plenty more interviews, guest posts, reviews, and spotlights these next couple weeks. I've been a busy little bee and can't begin to thank all the reviewers, bloggers, and authors for their generosity.
 Thanks to all of you who've sent emails, texts, and dialed me up with questions about autographed copies, I finally proved to the Missus you all were, in fact, real and not just more of my fanciful dreams. We're both incredibly humbled by that show of support so we put our heads together to figure out a way to thank you all in person. 
  So break out your calendars, people, and cue this "new" song I heard by Diddy feat. Skylar Grey...I'm coming home.

  Okay, be honest, doesn't my baby blue pop in that crowd?  
  The answer to both questions is a resounding yes. Apologies to those fantastic authors for my audacity. I wanted, if only for a moment, to see what Salted looked like on the shelf amongst these fantasy icons.  
  In case you are still wondering, I received my first ever print proof in the mail last night. Ahh! It's hard to share these moments with my Midwest family and friends since I live in Cali now. That's why I recorded the unveiling! Hit the click more option to view it. Enjoy! :)

  Holy cow. Today is off to a fantastic start and it's only 10 a.m. Love it!
  First, a big congrats to last week's ARC winner...ANDY ARRENDALE! :)
  Also, I woke up to an email this morning about another glowing review of Salted. Check it out here.
  And finally, we have another ARC giveaway this week! Yeah! 

  Meet my wife...Karen.  
 Aaron & Karen...aw. Our names rhyme. Starbucks employees love that one every time. 
 Ten points to Gryffindor if you can guess from the picture on the right what Karen's views on being quiet Suzie Homemaker are. Everyone says don't judge a book by its cover, but come on. Any of you out there ever met a silent wife?
   My point exactly.
  Today marks five years since Karen convinced me to march onto a stage, hit my mark, and say my lines. At first, I thought the applause from family and friends was for a performance well received. 
  It was only afterwards that I learned she had just long-conned me into marrying her.

   Oh, snap! Launch month is here!
   Know what that means? Several of you are going to win awesome stuff!
  I've ordered some fun things that should be on their way any day now. (More on that another time.) This afternoon, however, I'm feeling particularly generous. I was going to post this yesterday, but didn't want anyone to think I was fooling with them. 
    So here it is, folks. Your first chance to win one of these...