hi everyone!

it’s been a long time since i’ve written!!  and there is so much to tell you all. 

first of all, the biggest news…the independent publisher book awards were announced on friday, june 1st in nyc!  and i was awarded the IPPY gold medal for STORYTELLER OF THE YEAR!!   INSANE!  my mom, my dad and my sister were all on hand to celebrate with me too.  it was such a great night!  and they gave me the largest bouquet of flowers i have ever seen.  as in, bigger then miss america’s flowers.  she had nothing on mine!  i have to thank jim barnes and everyone at the independent publisher book awards for such a fantastic celebration.  and yeah, my gold medal!!!! 

the entire weekend june 1st-3rd was spent at book expo america in nyc.  oh my GOD!  it was so wild.  i don’t think i sat down for three days straight.  i signed about 500 books and met SO many great people.  the booth for before i go was so beautiful.  and i was so happy to see so many friends from my book tour!  what a perfect weekend.  i met a few production companies too…some that are interested in seeing before i go made into a independent feature…so stay tuned!

okay…big news on THE BLACK WIDOW!  IT’S SHOOTING AS I WRITE!  FINALLY!  elizabeth berkley was cast as the black widow, olivia and alicia coppola was cast as the cool photojournalist, mel, who will hopefully save the day.  i know if she does or not.  but i’m not telling.  heehee. 

and more big news!  BEING BAILEY, my coming-of-age teen drama, filmed before i left for nyc.  it came out SO great that gotv networks…who produced it…is taking it out to the major networks now.  i am so proud of this.  i was the creator, writer and also had my first producer credit on this one.  what an amazing experience. 

and the last news to report…two of my feature films are in development with a great company now!  one of the movies is a dark pyschological thriller called stay.  it’s like what you would get if you crossed “sleeping with the enemy” and “fear”!  the other one is a much lighter family comedy.  i’ll have more news on both of them soon.

if any of you have purchased one of my books on amazon, please write in a review!  and if you’re reading before i go now, please send an email and let me know what you think when you’re finished.  i’d love to hear! 

love, riley