Mell Eight's Writing Blog

News: What I'm Working On Now

9/9/2017

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9/9/17

The short answer is, unfortunately, nothing. I don't have writer's block, it's just for some reason I am much more interested in reading books than I am in writing them. This happens to me on occasion and I can't complain because if I don't read what I love, how can I write it? Still, I wouldn't mind having the urge to keep working on my stories.
I did have a lot of success last week with writing. I started and completed a short fairy tale to add to the group of tales I'm putting together. It was totally unplanned, but I kind of love the story. It's based off of Cinderella and I'm tentatively calling it Happily Ever After. Of course, this brings my total of fairy tale stories up to seven, which isn't a good number for me. I'll need to write another one for obvious reasons, but before that I would like to finish some of the others.
I did write another 1k words in The Red Apple Witch after I finished Happily Ever After. The Red Apple Witch is almost complete. I have one more battle to write, the true love's first kiss scene, and then the final wrap up. The story has been planned out for years and I'm really hoping that this year is the one I finally finish it.
That leaves my fairy tale stories with a lot to do. A Dream is a Wish Your Heart Makes still needs a new title and a lot of writing. I have been thinking about how to rework the issues in Thunderbird, but I haven't actually written it yet. I need to write the eighth story for which I have a tentative idea that still needs more fleshing out. And then I need to go through and edit Cinder-Elle and Cleanly Wrong, which I will be resubmitting as part of this group. It's a lot to get completed, but there's no due date so I am happy with every bit closer to completion I get.

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News: Good News to Share

8/28/2017

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8/28/17

LT3 has accepted Ground of Insurrection and If A Butterfly Don't Fly! Both contracts are in the mail, which means both stories are starting their journey to being published. I am so excited!
Ground of Insurrection marks the beginning of a new series, although I don't think it will be a long one. Right now I am working on the sequel, Ground of Resurrection, but don't have any additional plans for more books. The series is set in a high fantasy world that is definitely one of the stranger ones I've come up with. It was fun to write, so I'm hoping the editing process goes smoothly and you all will have it in your hands soon.
If A Butterfly Don't Fly is a completely different type of story. It's paranormal fantasy like Kelpie Blue (book one in the series), but it goes into a world that is also stereotypically high fantasy. Readers will want to have read Kelpie Blue first before delving into Butterfly, but I promise you all will love Kelpie Blue so that isn't exactly a hardship.
I will let you all know about release dates for both those books, as well as the two previously accepted books I haven't heard dates for just yet, the second I learn them. Until then, you can always read Justified, which was released just a few weeks ago, and Dragon Lesson, which will be coming out in a few short weeks.

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News: Submissions and Writing

8/19/2017

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8/19/17

I read through both stories I completed last month and they have ended up in totally different directions. The Coup and the Prince was first and I quickly realized that the story wasn't ready yet. I made a bunch of changes and have decided to let it sit for another week or two. At that point I'll pick it up again. I then took a look at If A Butterfly Don't Fly and I am super happy with it! I went ahead and submitted it to LT3 and I'm hoping they like it too. I will let you know what LT3 decides.
There still hasn't been any word on the stories I'm waiting on. I submitted Ground of Insurrection almost two months ago, so I'm hoping to hear whether LT3 accepted it any day now. I also haven't had any news about Kelpie Blue in five months. I don't know what LT3 is thinking about for release dates, but I could have the first round of edits in my inbox tomorrow or two months from now. The reprint of Hadash Aviv is in a similar position to Kelpie Blue: no projected release date and edits that could appear at any time. I am hoping to have some news to share for all three stories soon, so keep an eye out for my post about it.
The reviews for Justified have been stellar. Readers are liking it even more than Magnified. I really enjoyed writing Justified, so it's wonderful to hear how much you all are also enjoying it. Codified, the third and final book in the series, still has a ways to go before it's completed. I'm hoping to have it ready sometime next year.

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News: The New Title

8/12/2017

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8/12/17

After conferring with all of you, and emailing back and forth with LT3, the new title that will replace Dragon Spy has been decided. There were a number of considerations that went into it, including how well the new title flowed off the tongue and how many previous titles had the same initials. We decided against Dragon School because it doesn't really flow all that well and said no to Dragon Direction because there are already so many stories that are DD. In the end we went with my first instinct and I am quite happy with it.

What do you all think about Dragon Lesson?
I have just finished the first round of edits for Dragon Lesson. They're going back to the editor for a second round, since I rewrote a couple scenes that need to be looked over. Now that those edits are done, I need to decide which of my completed stories--If A Butterfly Don't Fly or The Coup and the Prince--I want to get ready for submission first. Unless the edits for Kelpie Blue suddenly appear in my inbox (which, since I don't have a release date for it to plan myself around, that could happen), I should have a few weeks without edits to focus on lots of other things.
Dragon Lesson is available for pre-order at LT3. You can get it for a 15% discount if you buy before October 11, 2017. You can also add Dragon Lesson to your to-read list on Goodreads in preparation for October. It feels like a long way away, but October will be here before we know it.

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Justified

The world of vampires and werewolves is in upheaval. The magical community is under attack by a great evil power trying to destroy them all and their strongest fighter is oblivious with his nose glued in a spell book. Yani has given up hope in getting Aaron back on track. He knows he instead has to focus on his own future and the lives of those he loves, even if it means losing Aaron, the love of his life, forever.
Yani's life isn't the only one in flux. As the battle heats up and lines are drawn, the rest of his friends must fight for their own survival in a world with no answers to the terrible magic attacking them.

Buy it Now

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News: Allergies Make Life Difficult

8/5/2017

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8/5/17

These last two weeks have been very interesting. Last week my family and I went to the beach for the entire week. I spent quite a few hours sitting in a chair, my feet buried in the sand, the sound of the surf in my ears, and a book in my hands. Needless to say, I didn't get much editing done. I had hoped to make up for that this week, but then something outside bloomed. When my allergies get really bad I start wheezing and my sinuses fill up. I end up with tightness in my lungs and a sinus migraine. In addition to the fact that I'm not breathing spectacularly well and am coughing to make up for it, the pain in my head is horrible. Plus, I get light sensitive with vertigo. Looking at a computer screen has been almost impossible. The only solution is Benadryl as painkillers don't touch it, so I've basically spent most of this week either suffering at work or asleep at home.
Given the fact that Justified comes out next week, I knew I had to suck it up and get the copy edits completed. I somehow managed it and Justified is now ready to go. Make sure you get your copy for a 15% discount before Justified comes out on August 9th.
I haven't finished the edits for Dragon Spy, which is a problem. If my head behaves, I would like to spend the rest of this weekend working on them. I need to get the edits back to LT3 asap as we're beginning to run short on time. I think I've settled on Dragon School as the new title, but I want to run it by the editor first before I make a decision.
You can probably guess how well the editing is going for the two stories I've completed and want to submit to LT3. I haven't touched them, but I have been thinking. I don't want If A Butterfly Don't Fly to come out too close to Kelpie Blue, the prequel. I don't have a release date for Kelpie Blue yet, but I know I want to give at least six months of space between the two stories. If I submit The Coup and the Prince first (and LT3 accepts it), that will increase the amount of space. It really depends on how the last bit of editing goes for both stories, which I can't start until after Spy is back with LT3.

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News: Edits and Titles

7/23/2017

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7/23/17

I have received the first round of edits for Dragon Spy, the next book in my Supernatural Consultant series. They appear to be pretty straightforward, so I'm making good progress. There was one major plot hole the editor pointed out and a few other smaller issues, but the biggest thing the editor recommended was that I change the title. The editor stated that they thought "Spy" didn't seem to quite fit with the overall theme, which made the title a bit misleading. I can totally see where the editor is coming from, so now I'm bouncing new ideas around in my head. I'm leaning towards something along the lines of "Dragon Lesson", but I'm not sure that's strong enough to fit in with the rest of the series. What do you think? Would you read a book titled Dragon Lesson, or can you recommend something else that falls along the lines of learning or growth?
Sometime in the next week I am going to pull out If A Butterfly Don't Fly and finally give it a last edit. It is ready to be submitted. I always feel guilty bombarding LT3 with multiple submissions at a time, so I'm definitely going to wait until after I've heard yes or no from them on Butterfly before I pull out The Coup and the Prince for that story's final edit.
I still haven't settled on a story to work on next. That's probably a good thing because it means I can focus on the edits I need to get completed. Still, I prefer to be writing. Hopefully one of my stories will jump out at me sometime this week.

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News: A Successful Week

7/17/2017

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7/17/17

I completely closed the document for If A Butterfly Don't Fly and have refused to open it again. If the document isn't available, I can't nitpick at it. It's been a full week since I finished the story and I'm going to try to give it one more week before I give it a last edit and submit it. I would like to wait until August, but I'm not certain whether I'll be able to last that long.
I focused exclusively on The Coup and the Prince this past week and to my surprise I was finally able to finish it. This story was stalled for a few months while I figured things out and I am happy with how it turned out. Unlike Butterfly, I haven't been regularly editing the story as I went to help stave off writer's block. I would instead switch to working on something else. That means Coup will need a full month of rest before I can start editing. I'll pick it up again at the end of August, clean it up, and get it submitted.
Which leads me to another what's next dilemma. I have so many books on my to-do list at the moment, but none of them are calling to me. I'll try poking at a bunch of them to see if anything bites. Unfortunately, if the muses aren't talking, I don't know how much actual writing I'll be able to get done. I'll let you all know whenever I settle on something.
The last bit of news isn't as exciting, but for those of you who love Lumie I know you'll be glad to hear it. Dragon Spy, Lumie's first story in my Supernatural Consultant series, has begun moving forward. LT3 has posted it on Goodreads, which is an indication that they think the story is still on schedule. I expect to get the edits any day now as there's only three months until release day. I'm hoping in conjunction with those edits I'll learn some potential release dates for the two other stories LT3 has accepted. There's so much to look forward to and I'm excited to get started.

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Out Now: Gathering the Hoard

7/12/2017

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Gathering the Hoard

Return to the world of The Dragon's Hoard in a collection of short tales about bored dragons and the trouble they can find, the fears of time and aging, painful memories of terrible times, sweet moments with good friends, and more...

Buy it Now

And don't forget to check out the rest of the series, which has been re-released as newly edited reprints: https://lessthanthreepress.com/books...

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News: What's Next?

7/9/2017

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7/9/17

I completed writing If A Butterfly Don't Fly. I gave it a few days to rest and then read through it and formatted it for submission. Normally I would let a story sit for a month before reading through it again, but this story is a bit different. Because it's so old, I've read through it dozens of times at this point as I tried to keep writer's block at bay. Aside from the ending I wrote a few days ago, this story has been edited to heck and back. My worry is that if I let it sit, I'll start nitpicking, and then it'll get really messed up and might not ever be submitted. On the other hand, letting a story rest for a good while (more than the bare week I've given this story right now) provides a level of distance that allows me to better evaluate the editing I'm doing. I'm trying to decide what would be best for this story and right now I'm leaning towards a compromise by giving it another week of rest, rereading it again, and then submitting it. What do you think?
Nitpicking is exactly what happened with Ground of Insurrection. I knew when I finished writing it that it wasn't quite right, so I sent it to a beta reader who very helpfully pointed out where those issues were stemming from. I fixed it, but by that point the story had been stuck with a terrible label, a miasma of "something isn't right". Despite knowing the problem was gone and the story was good, I couldn't quite make myself hit the submit button. I kept poking at it, changing little things that only reinforced the false impression in my head that the story wasn't ready yet. I needed some sort of emotional boost if I was ever going to get this story submitted, so while I was running on the excited high of having finished writing Butterfly, I gave Ground of Insurrection another read through. As I thought, the story was good and the issues were fixed. So I submitted it! Finally, after two long years of the story languishing on my computer, I plucked up my courage. Now it depends on whether LT3 also likes it.
Now that Butterfly is completed, it's finally time to move on to another story on my to-do list. The question is, which one? I know many of you are yelling at your computer screens, trying to tell me "more Lumie!", but I'm not certain the next Supernatural Consultant book is ready to be written. I still have some more planning to do first. Others of you are demanding Part Two of Ge-Mi, but again I have the same answer: more planning first. That leaves me with far too many other options. I would like to finish The Coup and The Prince, which is short and sweet and whose writing time has dragged on a bit too long. I would also like to return to my fairy tales. I was making good progress with them before Butterfly reasserted itself. In fact, since I totally forgot to do goals for July, maybe I'll make both of those stories my goals list.
Don't forget my Dragon's Hoard series is coming out this week on July 12th. If you haven't read the first four books before, now is a great time to get a copy as they're all on pre-order discount at LT3. Gathering the Hoard is completely new and fans of Tori will really enjoy it, so make sure you pick up your copy today.

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News: What I'm Working On Now

News: Good News to Share

News: Submissions and Writing

News: The New Title

Out Now: Justified

Justified

News: Allergies Make Life Difficult

News: Edits and Titles

News: A Successful Week

Out Now: Gathering the Hoard

Gathering the Hoard

News: What's Next?

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