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10/31/20
Just a dusting of snow, they said. Hah. A few inches isn't a bad snowfall, but the meteorologists got it so very wrong. At least it was pretty. Now the temperature is starting to dip and I've had to turn on my oil furnace. I've never had oil heat with forced air before, but it seems to be working. The place warms up when it runs, and I just have to keep an eye on the gauge to make sure I don't run out. However, my entire house has started smelling like oil. Not burnt oil, just oil. Does anyone out there know anything about oil heat? Is smelling oil normal, or is there something wrong with my burner or exhaust vent? My brand new smoke and carbon monoxide alarms (and that was a saga to install) haven't gone off, so it's not dangerous, just annoying. Any advice you can give me would be super appreciated! On a more writerly note, I've had two books come out recently! Readers really seem to be enjoying Dragon Adventures. My two side stories featuring two dragons who demanded their adventures be told were incredibly fun to write, and I'm so glad you're enjoying reading them too! I promise we return to our main family when the series returns with Dragon Lesson in just a few short weeks, but Aqua and Rios might have some cameos in books down the road. And speaking of Dragon Lesson: I have seen the first draft for the new cover, and it's amazing! I can't wait to share it with you. I had another recent release, but this one snuck up on me. I knew NSP was creating a print volume to compile together the first three books in my Supernatural Consultant series, but I had zero idea it had been released. NSP doesn't sell print on their website, but you can buy it at Amazon and Barnes and Noble (and probably other retailers too). If you like print books, please let me know. I'm hoping NSP will release more of my books in print in the future. Which print book are you looking forward to the most?
 Check out the awesome cover for Dragon Adventures, the combined short stories of Dragon Adventure and Dragon Home! When I first introduced Aqua and Rios in Dragon Dilemma, I described them as Nickel's little blue satellites. They were a bit of humor added to a section of the story that needed it. Except, those cute little satellites wouldn't leave me alone, insisting they needed their own stories. I finished writing the second arc of the series, knew there was going to be a few year's break before the start of the third arc in Dragon Lesson, and decided it would be awesome to use Aqua and Rios to try to bridge some of that gap. Dragon Adventure begins with them going on an adventure and Dragon Home focuses on how they all get home again. Of course, there's romance, drama, and a lot of dragon shenanigans. You can purchase your copy of Dragon Adventures at NineStar Press right now. It comes out on October 26th, which is in just a few days, so pre-order your copy today! 10/12/20
I'm sure it surprises no one when I say edits are continuing. I am still working my way through A Little Fairy Dust. If It were only one story, I'd be done, but with so many together in the collection it takes on a unique set of challenges. Each individual story has a slightly different tone, which means I have to switch gears mentally whenever I finish one and start another. Completing the edits has been much harder than I expected as a result, but I'm making a lot of progress and I'm really happy with how all the stories are turning out. I'm hoping to have A Little Fairy Dust back to the editor really soon, which means I'll be able to return to working on Magnified again! Writing has been...well...sparse. I want to be working on Dragon Spy or Codified, but neither story has good chi for me right now. I need to figure out where I'm blocked so I can begin moving forward again. Instead, my brain has been poking at one of the random stories sitting on my to-do list. It's untitled and there's no summary (see Spirit Story on my current projects page), yet my brain has been coming up with ideas for the next scene. Spirit is supposed to be a slightly darker detective story. I want it to be more horror-style than my usual happy dragons (think Magnified, but with less traditional forms of magic), but I've got to be in a certain mood to write (my style of) horror, which hasn't happened lately or Codified would be flowing better. The other story that has been bugging me lately is one of the stories I never got around to writing ten years ago. A witch, exiled from his coven because he's male when all witches should be female, is forced to visit the den of vampires and werewolves by the news station he works for. That fateful meeting sets the carefully rebuilt life the witch had made into a tailspin. I've wanted to write the story for years, but haven't had the time with all the other stories on my to-do list. Suddenly my brain keeps replaying the opening scene over and over again, to the point that I need to write it down. I am hoping once I finish the two sets of edits on my plate I'll be able to get some writing in. Whether it will be for the two stories I need to be working on, or the two stories my brain is insisting I work on instead, I can't tell you. All I know is I'll be glad for any writing I do accomplish. 10/4/20
Happy October everyone! The leaves are changing, there's a nip in the air, and my AM alarm keeps going off before the sun rises. After the hectic holidays, I'm looking forward to the chance to relax in the calm of autumn where the only thing I have to worry about is how much candy to buy this Halloween. Of course, I just bought a new house, so figuring out how to get it ready for winter is still stressing me out. I had a long telephone call this morning with a prospective oil company (my heat is oil and there's a massive tank in my garage). The poor lady had to explain where the gauge is to tell me how much oil is in my tank, and that the big red switch that says EMERGENCY is actually my burner switch. As long as it's in the on position, just setting my thermostat will do all the work. Phew. Turns out, the only thing I need to worry about in regards to my oil is keeping an eye on that gauge, and when it gets too low, give the company a call. I also have to figure out where the turn off valves for the outdoor spigots are, but I think that's going to be a conversation with the neighbors sort of adventure. Aside from that, my house is in good shape. The new blinds were finally delivered (first ones delivered were wrong, so I had to re-order them) and will be installed this week. The only other project I need to do is figure out how to anchor my new pantry to the stud in the wall, and then this house is as perfect as it's going to get! Which leaves me much more time to focus on my writing. I didn't get as far as I would have liked in Dragon Spy. The prologue is done and the chapters renumbered, but I need to get cracking on the next scene. The story is going to abruptly switch to Alloy's perspective, which I have been looking forward to writing for months, but everything else going on in my life keeps getting in the way (like calling oil companies this morning instead of writing). Also, edits keep popping up. Today's addition to my editing pool is the first round for A Little Fairy Dust, my fairy tale anthology. While the individual stories inside aren't too long, combined this is the largest single book I've ever written. I have no idea how much time it's going to take to finish the edits, so working on them is my priority at the moment. Which means Magnified, which I have the pre-edits for, is getting pushed aside again. Hopefully I'll be able to finish both sets of edits soon, so I can return to writing again. 9/24/20
To anyone that celebrates, I hope you had a happy new year and have an easy fast! The response for Dragon Soldier has been beyond amazing. Readers really seem to love it, and that has me so excited! I was incredibly busy the last few weeks, so I never got around to posting the new cover, but it's as wonderful as the rest of the series. You can check it out here! Dragon Adventures, the next book in the series is completely ready to go. All we're waiting on is the cover, but the editing is done. I hope to have the official release date for you very soon. Sticking with news about my Supernatural Consultant series, I have been writing Dragon Spy again. I finally figured out one of the reasons the story wasn't flowing correctly was because the prologue really needed to be chapter one instead. I started writing a new prologue, which introduces a new dragon, and it's already looking so much better! There's still a lot of little plot details to work out, but overall this story is really starting to take shape. I have also finally finished the preliminary round of edits for Kelpie Blue, which is still slated to come out in January. The prelims were a beast to get through, and it took me a lot longer than I had hoped, but I did it and the story looks so much tighter because of it. I'm also super excited to start working on a different series. As much as I love my dragons, taking a break to play with a feisty kelpie was awesome. Next on my editing to-do list are the prelims for Magnified. I think I got into a groove with Kelpie Blue, so I'm hoping to carry that forward and blaze through Magnified. I am also expecting the first round of edits for A Little Fairy Dust, my fairy tale anthology. It's a huge book, so it will take a little longer to go through the editing process, which is why I'm expecting it to land in my inbox any day now. Dragon Soldier
9/09/20
Yes, you read the title correctly! Every single manuscript I sent to NSP for consideration has now been accepted. The last stragglers were my entire Dragon's Hoard series (minus the short story collection, which I cant submit just yet), Elemental Ride, The Coup and the Prince, and Space Stars. It's taken a year of hard work to reach this point, and I am incredibly excited! When will you be able to buy any of those books? I can't say with any certainty right now, but I'm hoping NSP will weave them into the 2022 release schedule. "What do you mean, I have to wait until 2022 to buy Tori's book again!?!?" Sorry, but I have so many books in NSP's queue that my Dragon's Hoard series was unfortunately pushed to the end. It's my very first series and Finding the Wolf was my first accepted manuscript at LT3, so I promise you I'm as eager to get Tori, Nyle, and White back on the digital shelves as you are. (For anyone wondering, Tori is a very similar and equally lovable character to Lumie.) This also means I can start shifting my focus from the past to the future. It's time to start writing brand new material again rather than just worrying about all my reprints. Yes, I will be editing endlessly for the next few years, so writing time will continue to be limited, but it finally feels like I'm making forward progress again with my writing. 8/26/20
I have tentative dates for when more of my books are going to come out! They are subject to change (they've already been changed once already), so don't go setting them into stone. I can almost guarantee the dates for the releases in 2022 will very likely be changed as more of my submitted manuscripts are accepted and woven into the release schedule. Still, it's good to know in terms of planning ahead, so I'm sharing them with you now:
As you can see, it's going to be very busy. There's a lot to do in a short time frame, but I'm looking forward to getting all my books re-released for you. In case you were wondering, the brand new, never before published books, are in bold. Fingers crossed I can finish another book and add some more bold lines for 2022! I'm also being lazy and not putting links for more information into this post. Instead, please go here where I've been adding the links as I get them. I will definitely keep you in the loop as these dates come closer, and if any dates are changed, I'll let you know that too. The next few years are going to be a wild ride, but it's so nice to see so much progress already being made! |
Coming Soon
Dragon Lesson
November 30, 2020 
AuthorMell Eight is an author writing with NSP. For more information about Mell and her writing, please visit her website: http://melleightfiction. Tags
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