Dominique Gibson

Hi! Dominique Gibson is back with another post. A lot of people are probably wondering where I have been within the last month or so considering I am not posting as much as I did earlier last year/beginning of this year. Well, let’s share the info on what I have been doing since my last post.

The Writing Stuff

So, I have been working tirelessly on the fifth book of the Truson S.E.T. series, The Reinmans, which will be the first book in the Reinman trilogy. As I am sorting through the book, I am quickly starting to realize that I had made yet another terrible mistake when it comes to writing a novella. This draft is quite awful and I don’t like it. This is only giving me the realization that I am just not the type of author who can write short stories or novellas. I can only WRITE NOVELS. Therefore, this will be my LAST attempt to try to write short stories and novellas. The stories never come out the way I want it to so I am done trying to write them in this fashion. The video you see above is the latest short video I posted on my Youtube channel. I am currently in the self-editing process when it comes to The Reinmans and only have one more week to go before I have to send the latest version of the draft back to my editor so that she can do an estimate of the book.

As for Courtney’s Redemption, I still have not finished the notes that my developmental editor gave me because of me doing something else in my life, which I will describe in the next section. I kind of wish things were different when it comes to the current situation that we are in now but I know that things happen for a reason and in some situations, there is nothing we can do to change it except go with the flow of everything and take things as they come. My hope is that things will be able to calm down soon so that I will be able to complete the projects and publish them as soon as possible.

The TEFL certification (and me being accused of A.I. content)

In case people have not been following me when it comes to my Youtube channel, I recently posted a video that talked about me taking a TEFL course (Teaching English as a Foreign Language) to earn my certification to teach English. The course that I am taking is a 120-hour course and I am almost finished when it comes to completing it. This has been a hard journey for me when it comes to this because it almost feels like I am going back to school again even when I didn’t want to. But, I am learning a lot of interesting things and I know that this will be for a good reason so I know that I have to bear it for the next adventure I am getting ready to do. It just hasn’t been easy and I know I have a lot of work to do when it comes to this certification.

Stay tuned, I will be posting some videos in the future that is not related to writing at all but to something else that has become my second love (even though I sometimes complain about it which is something I need to stop doing). I know what is going to happen to me in the very near future and have decided that I want to share the experiences of what I am going through now on my YouTube channel in the future.

My hope is that I will be able to get most of this stuff done before I submit the manuscript off to my editor while working on my TEFL at the same time. There might be a time where I would just have to take a week off in order to get the writing done vs me focusing on the TEFL. Let’s hope that works in the future.

See you soon.

Dominique Gibson

Hi! Dominique Gibson is back with another post. While I was doing the last post, I started to mention why I would not be able to participate in any of the contests that Harlequin books are holding this year. I had every intention of doing the Love Inspired Author Search this year, I even bought a book within the category line imprint just to get an idea of how my story would fit within the Love Inspired imprint. Now, I am not saying that I won’t be submitting to Harlequin in the future.

It is actually the opposite.

For years, I have been doing every opportunity I could to enter into the contests Harlequin sponsored. I have sent multiple projects to their contest plenty of times only to get rejected time and time again (especially when it came to the ‘Romance includes You’ contests). Every time I wrote the beginning of some of these projects, I would always feel discouraged because of the rejections I received to where I wouldn’t continue the projects and give up on completing them.

BUT, I think that might change this year.

Instead of me constantly trying to chase after the contests they sponsor, I decided to go another way and try to write out the full manuscript without entering into the contests. I am hoping that in this way, I will become more successful with my efforts and that it will finally land me the one thing I have been wanting for a really long time: A BOOK DEAl with HARLEQUIN.

I will be able to keep you guys informed in the future when it comes to this traditional publishing update. Just thought I shared what my future may or may not be when it comes to this topic.

That’s all for now.

Dominique Gibson

Hi! Dominique Gibson is back with another post. It’s been a while since I have been here and I wanted to apologize, as I have been super busy doing a lot of writing and non-writing projects at once and it has been a huge struggle for me to be able to balance both. But, I am trying my best to do so and let me tell you, it has NOT been easy for me in the least.

There have been days where I know that I want to write and explore the world I have created and at one point, I love it. I still do. Unfortunately, due to the current circumstances I am in, I am not always able to do the one thing I am passionate about all the time. I have a full time job, and I have other chores that I have to do to balance everything else out or else it won’t get done. Some days I want to throw in the towel and quit. Other days, I live to become a full time writer without having to worry about money. I hope that day comes but until then, I guess I will have no other choice but to continue to work a full-time job to help pay my bills.

Okay, enough of my rant. Let’s get on with today’s post.

This is a reminder to all the traditionally published romance writer who ever wondered what it would be like to write for Harlequin (myself Included). If you are writing Christian romance or even Christian romantic suspense, then this contest might be for you. Harlequin is still hosting the Love inspired Contest but it won’t be for long. The deadline for this contest is MARCH 17th 2025. So, get your query letter and synopsis in order and make sure you polish up the first chapter of your story so that you can send it in for them to review (You don’t have to have the full story completed at the first round of the entry). If you are one of the finalists for the contest, you will have to submit your FULL manuscript by AUGUST 1st, 2025.

Interested? The details for this contest can be found in the link below. Enjoy.

The Love inspired Author contest

Dominique Gibson

Hello! Dominique Gibson is back with another post. So, I started reading this book around the holidays but considering I have made this year to be the year that I decided to make the leap from being an indie author to trying to be a hybrid author (Me going from just doing it all myself to me (indie) to me doth both (indie and traditional publishing), I have been super busy working on multiple projects.

Despite my busy schedule, I did take the opportunity to take a break from my hefty schedule to finish reading another five star review book from one of my favorite authors of all time, RaeAnne Thayne. Let’s get started with my overall book review and rating for the book All is Bright.

Rating: Five Stars

Title: All is Bright

Author: RaeAnne Thayne

Publisher: Canary Street Press

Published: 2022-2023

Summary: Sage McKnight is an ambitious young woman on a mission: To show off her latest architectural project on her YouTube channel and to let the world know about her latest design, Wolf Ridge, in the town of Hope’s Crossing. The problem? Her grumpy client, Mason Tucker, a former baseball player who was involving in a major accident that ended his career and caused him to be in a wheelchair due to the severity of the accident. Despite her designing the marvelous house and wanting to be able to show it on her channel, she quickly realizes that Mason Tucker will be one tough cookie to crack considering the emotions he feels about being on camera and talking about his story from him being one of the greatest baseball players to where he ended up being a in wheelchair caused by a terrible accident. Sage McKnight doing the renovations of Wolf Ridge is more than enough for him as he continues to be cold and distant to her during the process.

However, the spirit of the holidays is upon them and although they try their best to stay away from each other as much as possible, that becomes impossible for them to do when Mason’s daughter Grace and her friends ends up going to different places to celebrate the spirit of the holidays and invites Sage to come along to the events despite the growing tension between her and Mason. However, the growing tension ends up being a hot and passionate attraction between them that they try their best to ignore but finds out that the attraction is a little more than they can handle…until they decide they can’t hide their true feelings for one another and how they would feel if an opportunity of falling in love again passed them by during the holidays…

Overall opinion of this book: I loved it! I felt like the author did a really good job when it came to the cast of characters in the book (Sage, Taryn and Mason). The story kept me intrigued about what was going to happen next when it came to these characters. I adored Grace and her friends throughout the book along with her relationship with her father and the intimate moments they shared together. It was nice to read a story where the hero is flawed to where he starts to feel angry and sorry for himself because of the circumstances he is in (Him being in a wheelchair for instance) and how the heroine tries her best to get him to learn that there is more to life than what he is experiencing and tells him off a couple of times on the life he could possibly live with her and his family if he would let go of the past and explore the future with them

I don’t want to give too much away because I really want people to read this book for yourselves (It’s going in as one of my favorite books of all time). If you love a romance with sweet, tender kisses, a love for family, and a hero and heroine you want to root for from beginning to end, then I would suggest you go out and read this book.

Enough said.

That’s all for now. Please be sure to check back on this website for more updates, tips, book reviews, and the latest posts on my writing and reading process. I will be very busy this year but I will be trying my best to catch up on some projects that I was supposed to do last year but never got around to it (But I will soon this year I promise). Anyways, I have to go now.

See you soon.

Dominique Gibson

Hello everyone! I know it’s been a while since I have posted on my website considering I was busy doing multiple things at once. But I wanted to quickly pop on here and let traditional publishers authors (or those that are trying to become one), know that Harlequin is holding another blitz, this time for inspirational romance writers. If you are someone who is interested in writing category inspirational romance, then this contest might be just what you need to get your foot in the door. If you want to learn more about this contest, click on the link here for more info .

See you soon. Dominique Gibson