5/10/20

I've been working diligently on The Oracle's Current these last few weeks (in between all the editing) and I've made so much progress.  The story went from being stuck at the beginning, with me desperately trying to figure out how to get the characters started on their journey, to almost being complete.  I was on such a high with how well the writing was going.  Yesterday was a great day for writing.  I added a ton and was halfway through writing the final battle scene, and I was getting really excited.  This story has waited so long to be completed and all I needed to do was put the finishing touches on one last scene and write the epilogue.  Or so I thought. 

I looked down at my word count and realized I needed to add another 2k words to reach my minimum.  Enter a moment of total despair.  There I was, thinking I was almost done, and now I had to come up with another 2k worth of plot!  I abandoned writing for the day and put on a movie instead. 

Except, as the movie was playing, my nerve started to come back.  So what if I needed to figure out another 2k.  I just had to write.  Finish the one scene I was working on, write the epilogue, and then see what turned out in the process.  Well, that one scene I thought only needed a few finishing lines suddenly kept going.  And going.  I struggled to find a way to actually end it, and when I did, somehow the word count matched exactly what I needed.  It's weird that things magically seemed to work out, and I don't know why.  If I knew why, I'd replicate it for some of my other unfinished stories. 

Because, The Oracle's Current is complete! 

After approximately five years of writing (including a long pause while I wrote The Sentinel's Prophesy instead), I have finally finished.  I did a little happy dance when I typed the final period.  It's an amazing feeling to know the book and the series is complete.  Now comes the next steps.  I'll put Current aside until June, at which point I'll pull it out again to give it a thorough edit.  After that, it's up to NSP whether they'll accept it and the rest of the series, but I'm excited to see how it goes! 

5/8/20

I have so much news about Ge-Mi that I'm bursting at the seams!  First, an official release date for Part Two: May 18, 2020.  The best part is, you can preorder it right now from NSP, and if you do, you can get it three days earlier than from anywhere else!  Here's the link: https://ninestarpress.com/product/ge-mi-part-two/ I'm certain it will be available for preorder or to buy from other retailers soon, but three days sooner is awesome. 

Next is the cover, which is a companion to Part One's cover.  It looks similar, but is different enough (I hope) to stand alone.  It's very pretty and has red wolf's fur to signify this is Taylor's book.  What do you think? 

Ge-Mi will be released in print!  Parts One and Two will be combined into one lovely print version.  NSP is working with the cover artist right now to get a print cover completed.  It will take a few extra weeks, but sometime after Part Two is released, the print version will also become available.  I will let everyone know when I have more information, but it's something more for you to look forward to! 

5/03/20

I have a bunch of books coming out in the next few weeks, so I wanted to update you on where they stand:

Ge-Mi: Part Two

This story is completely ready to go.  I finished the proofreader's final edits and have seen the draft of the cover.  All that's left is for the ARCs to go out, which will happen soon.  Part Two is scheduled to come out in May, and I expect to have a firm date once NSP posts it for pre-order on their website. 

I am incredibly excited for this story to come out.  Not only have readers waited literally years for it, but it is the first brand new story of mine NSP is releasing.  I'm super excited to see how a new book does with my new publisher. 

Dragon Deception

Book Two in my Supernatural Consultant series is starting to take shape.  I have completed the copy edits for the story, which means all that's left is the proofreader.  I have seen a draft of the cover, and it is as awesome as the cover for the first book.  It will 100% be ready to go by June. 

Given the amazing reception Dragon Consultant has been getting, I'm certain Deception will also do really well. 

Dragon Dilemma

Dilemma is also making great strides in its journey towards reprinting.  I just finished the second round of edits and the story turned out really well.  The editor likes the story, which means all my new readers will like it too!  I have also submitted the cover form, so that's in progress too. 

There's still a lot to do for this story, but I think we're ahead of schedule for a July release, which is good. 

4/25/20

I have reached the halfway point in The Oracle's Current!  The main love interest has been introduced, and the conflict is about to really get going.  I recently came to a realization about this story: I can't have it meander throughout the world; it has to be focused completely on the Monastery.  As the final book in the series, I need to tie together all the last loose ends, and I can't do that if they're not in the location where those loose ends need to be tied.  I therefore had to scrap my idea of more pirates and heading to Altnoia, but I think the new plan with the Monastery at the center is ten times better.  I'm super excited to see how it goes, and to see if I can get it completed in time to submit to NSP with the rest of the series. 

As part of my work from home social distancing, I've been auditing some college courses to help my subject matter expertise grow.  One course I'm taking is about magic in the middle ages.  I promise, it does technically apply to the work I do for my day job, but they had a whole section on Jewish magic too.  I took a lot of notes, and some ideas are definitely swirling for Codified.  If you remember, Codified has been stalled because I haven't had the time to do the research the story needs.  This course has helped with some of that, and has also given me some new avenues to start digging through as well.  I don't actually know when I'll be able to return to writing Codified, but I'm happy with the progress I've made. 

That's it for writing at the moment, but between what I've added to Current and finishing my Fairy Tales, I think this has been a very productive last few weeks. 

4/16/20

I hope everyone had a lovely holiday (whatever you happen to celebrate).  I had a nice zeder (zoom Seder) with family and friends for Passover.  Social distancing at its best.  Please stay safe and healthy out there! 

Since my last post, I have been working hard on a number of different projects.  Number one is new edits, of course.  The first and second round of edits for Dragon Deception, book two in my Supernatural Consultant series, arrived.  Overall, there wasn't much to fix, however some small things were changed in order to make this series YA.  Next for Deception is copy edits, which should arrive soon, and the first round of edits for Dragon Dilemma should also be on their way. 

My last fairy tale story, A Heart's Dream, is complete!  This means the anthology is also complete.  I still need to put A Heart's Dream through edits to get it ready for submission, and to do that properly it first needs to sit for a month.  I'll pick it up sometime in May, get it and the rest of the stories in the anthology completely ready to go, and then I get to wait for NSP's go ahead to resume submissions.  Despite the wait, I know those of you that have begged me to republish my older fairy tales will be happy to know they, and some new material, will all soon be available for you again.  I'll definitely keep you appraised as this project moves forward. 

I have also been working with NSP on some more covers.  I have seen the first draft of the cover for Ge-Mi: Part Two and have been in discussion about the covers for Dragon Deception and Dragon Dilemma.  I think you're going to like them all, and I'm eager to get them out for you to see too.  Hopefully I'll have final drafts to share soon! 

I am still planning to return to The Oracle's Current as my next project.  I would like to be able to submit it along with the rest of the (newly fixed) series when NSP says I can send in more books, but that means I need to get cracking now.  Thankfully the story seems to have stopped fighting me, but I won't know if it will go smoothly until I start writing again.  I'm eager to get started. 

The new cover for Dragon Consultant has arrived, and it's a doozy!  Bright happy colors, a kit-made mess, and general chaos really fit the bill.  I can't wait for the newly edited YA version to arrive.  You won't have to wait long, as it's already April and it's available for pre-order at NSP*.  If you buy from NSP, you can get it three days early!

3/29/20

Social distancing is very interesting.  For an introvert like me who prefers my own company, being home by myself has been wonderful.  I have been teleworking, which means I primarily get to work from home (interspersed with office visits to keep the place running), and I've found I'm a lot less stressed and tired by the end of the day.  That means I have the energy to write on weeknights, energy that has been lacking since I started my current job.  I've therefore been working on trying to finish some of the stories you all have waited years for:

I have three (maybe four, if I write an epilogue) scenes left to write in the last fairy tale story for the anthology I've been promising since the day Cleanly Wrong went out of print.  I'm hoping to have it done this week, which means as soon as NSP tells me it's okay to submit more books to them, the fairy tales will be sent in first. 

Next on my to-do list is to try to finally complete the last book in my Oracle series, The Oracle's Current.  It's a series that deserves to have its ending, but I've been stuck on how to get the two main characters to meet.  I've finally had the time to figure that out, so now I need to write it. As soon as my fairy tales are done, I am looking forward to turning my focus onto this story. 

If the horrible virus continues to spread and social distancing and teleworking continue, my goal is also to make a lot of progress on Codified, the third and final book in my Magnified series.  Codified is a slow process because of all the research that goes into it, and also because it's triple the length of the usual stories I write.  I haven't had the time or energy to work on it, so I'm looking forward to it. 

That said, all my plans hinge on my not getting sick.  I am staying at home as much as I possibly can, am washing my hands obsessively, and am keeping 6ft away from other humans.  Please, please, please do your part to keep everyone safe by doing the same.  I hope everyone stays healthy during these difficult times. 

3/15/19

Ge-Mi: Part One is available for pre-order at NineStar Press!  The official release date is tomorrow, March 16th, however if you purchase* from NSP, you can get it now, as NSP makes all their books available three days before official release. It is also available for pre-order from Amazon, but you have to wait until tomorrow to read it. 

* For those that purchased the book when it was previously available with LT3, no substantive changes have been made.  There were minor edits and there's a new cover, but aside from that, the story remains the same.  While I would be flattered if you purchased the book again, you will not miss anything if you don't. 

Here's some additional exiting Ge-Mi news:

The cover is out!  It's not as spectacularly shocking as the original cover, but it's still beautiful.  I don't know how we ended up in outer space, but I can't complain when a cover is that pretty.  Let me know what you think. 

Ge-Mi: Part Two is moving along at pace!  The first round of edits was completed and I am now working on the second round.  I hope to have them back to the editor very soon. All the edits have been extremely positive, and the editor does seem to love Part Two just as much as Part One.  I think you'll all love it too, and I can't wait for it to be available for you to read!