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3/17/24
In fact, I have a book coming out in two days! For anyone who pre-ordered with NSP, you can read Gifting a Dragon's Heart right now! For everyone else, Gifting will come out at most major retailers on Tuesday. This fact literally dawned on me about an hour ago. I did send out a proper cover reveal in my newsletter a little over a week ago, but I also meant to re-post it here. I also wanted to do some more hype. Somehow, none of that happened. If I say I was distracted with writing The Spy, does that excuse me for not remembering to advertise properly? Probably not. Lol A combination of things have kept me totally fried. You remember from my previous blog post about how I was starting to catch up from being behind? Yeah, that failed. I'm still behind on everything. Work has been kicking my butt lately, so all I have the energy to do when I get home is nuke some leftovers and collapse onto the couch to watch anime. Weekends are therefore filled with all the things I couldn't get accomplished on the weeknights, and therefore aren't as relaxing or rejuvenating as usual. Truth is, I can find plenty of excuses as to why Gifting has inadvertently fallen by the wayside. However, there is light at the end of the tunnel! I am taking a lot of vacation very soon, and I am hoping the R&R will get me back on my feet. I will be traveling for fun and I'll be going home for the holidays next month. I'll tell you all about the traveling when I'm done, but I'm really excited! Anyway, Gifting a Dragon's Heart is available to read right now at NSP, and available for preorder at most major retailers until it comes out on March 19th! Please go and get your copy today! In the meantime, I have actually been writing. The Spy continues to go well. I have had a couple of fun ideas for my characters that are helping to bring the major plot points together, one of which I'm particularly eager to start writing in the next chapter. I also got a new idea for one of my older stand alone stories that was languishing. I'm hopeful that this idea will lead to something and I'll be able to get another story off my to-do list. We'll see. 2/21/24
Today it feels as if I'm behind on everything. One of the things I'm delinquent on is keeping all of you in the loop about my stories, so writing this post is a good start at catching up. There's a lot of information about what's going on to share, so here we go! The reception and reviews for Soul Bond have been excellent. Everyone seems to have enjoyed my Valentine's-themed short story! Mixing illegal magic with a good mystery and sweet romance appears to be what everyone wants to read this time of year. I don't currently have any plans for more short stories, but I will make sure not to ignore a plot bunny for one should it hop into my brain. Gifting a Dragon's Heart is my next story getting released. You can pre-order it at NSP, Amazon, or Smashwords right now! If you want, you can also add it to your Goodreads list, where positive ARC reviews are already coming in. Gifting officially comes out on March 19th, just over a month away. As usual, if you pre-order with NSP, you can get it four days early. For a sneak peak of the cover, head over to any of those sites. I should have the official graphic to share really soon! The Prince, book two in my Princes of Toval series, was accepted for publishing with NSP! I'm really happy, as this means it's just as good as the first book, The Chef. I expect the editing process for The Chef to begin really soon, but The Prince likely won't start that process until fall. I've made great progress writing the third book in the trilogy, The Spy. I have written over 30k words, which is more than halfway. I will definitely reach 50k total words, although I'm still aiming for closer to 60k. There was some major action right before the halfway point, which means this story needs to enter a lull as I set things up for the final punch. Making sure the slower build-up is as interesting as the fast-paced action is always a good challenge so I'm very hopeful the next few scenes turn out. Soul Bond is normally the most romantic night of the year, but for Hew, that night promises to be a nightmare. Afflicted by a terrible curse, Hew knows he must either submit to blackmail or get help. Magic is illegal, so Hew must break the law and dive into the seedy underbelly of the city, where he finds more than he ever believed possible. However, even with Ren’s help, breaking Hew’s curse might ensure their executions on Soul Bond Night, rather than experiencing the romance the holiday usually promises.
1/26/24 For those of you who pre-ordered Soul Bond at NSP, congrats! You can download your copy today! NSP releases their catalogue four days early. If you buy through them, you get to read my books that much sooner. I hope everyone who has gotten their copy already is enjoying my magical Valentines-style short story! The ARC reviews so far have all been excellent, with high praise for the world building and the romance. For everyone else, I applaud your patience! Soul Bond will be available for download at most major retailers on January 30th. Here's a few links for pre-orders: Is there somewhere else you guys prefer to purchase ebooks from? I would be happy to link those too, if you let me know. Unfortunately, I can't link Amazon to all your different countries, but at least I could include a more comprehensive list for you!
Soul Bond officially releases in just four more days! I can't wait to hear how much you all are enjoying reading it, so look for my official announcement then. 1/21/24
I have been so busy with writing stuff and chores lately, which is phenomenal! I'm feeling really accomplished. I know this level of work ethic will fade away whenever whatever adrenaline or manic energy fueling it is used up, but I'm taking advantage while I can. The most exciting thing is Soul Bond is completely ready for release. Those who pre-ordered at NSP will get their copy in a few short days. I expect the purchasing information for other retailers to be available imminently, and I will share as soon as it's there. Soul Bond comes out on January 30th! As promised, I pulled out The Prince and gave it a final edit. I was able to shine up some rough spots and I am very, very happy with how it turned out. I went ahead and formatted for submission, and sent The Prince to NSP for their consideration. I do think they'll like it, but I will let you know what they say as soon as I hear. Editing The Prince was exhausting, though, so I did pause in the middle for a mental health break. Rather than work on something else, for some reason I found myself up in my third floor library, putting together a bookshelf that had been languishing in pieces for over two years. If only all my procrastination efforts led to getting old tasks accomplished. Lol Thanks to the bookshelf actually being able to hold things, I was able to take piles of books that had been sitting on the floor and put them away, which means my library is less of a mess than before. I still need at least one more bookshelf, but for now it's a step in the right direction. After The Prince and the bookshelf, I turned toward editing tasks. I received the copy edit for Gifting a Dragon's Heart. The copy editor called the story "sweet" and loved the world building, so I will happily call this story a win. After I finished that, I rewarded myself by working on my latest paint by numbers project. The next step for this book is getting the cover, so I'm very excited! I should also have a potential release date to share soon too. Lastly, I have been writing! The Spy has reached 26k words and I haven't even reached the halfway point. However, I am about to write a big battle scene, after which the plot does shift into the second half. I think there's a good chance this story will reach 60k, so closer to the length from the first book (The Chef). While all the books have very intriguing magic, I'm finding the magic in The Spy to be the funnest, which makes writing this story very interesting. I am hopeful I'll have this story completed in the next few weeks, and can therefore start focusing on some new material soon.
1/1/24
My memory is comprised of Swiss cheese. I swear. I've written three separate posts in the past month, and said "I'll edit and post it after I [insert random activity here]." The realization that I never got around to actually posting came about two days later. By the time I found five free minutes, the contents were obsolete. I ended up writing a new post, and the cycle continued. I swore to myself that this weekend I would absolutely get my post actually posted. (You'll notice today is Monday...so I failed...sigh.) Anyway, I hope everyone had a very happy holiday season and a happy New Year! Here's what I've been working on the past few weeks: The draft of the cover for Soul Bond is absolutely perfect. And pink. I can't wait to share it with you, as it's completely different to every other cover I've ever had. I'm so excited for my fantasy Valentines story to come out. It was so much fun to write, and we're reaching the final countdown to release! Soul Bond is currently scheduled to come out at the end of January. I expect to have pre-order information to share very soon. Gifting a Dragon's Heart has completed both rounds of edits and is off to the copy editor. This story is moving through the editing process at a lightning pace. I expect to have a scheduled release date sometime soon. Generally, NSP likes to schedule releases after copy edits are completed, so keep an eye out for that step in the process. I have gotten a ton of writing done in The Spy, the third book in my Princes of Toval trilogy. I'm at 24k words, which means I've written about 15k in the last three weeks. The Spy is on track for at least a 50k, if not a 60k, final word count. My characters spent a long time stuck in the woods, and I couldn't figure out how to get them moving on to the next bit of plot. Chapter 8 is therefore a good bit longer than I usually want, but I'm finally on to chapter 9 and a new setting. I have almost finished the build-up for the midway point in the book, after which the story switches gears. I'm excited to write the next half, so I'm really hoping to get to work on it soon. My plans for this new year haven't changed from what I've said before. Now that it's January, I get to pull out The Prince, book two in my Princes of Toval trilogy. The Prince will get a final edit, I'll format it for submission, and send it off for NSP's consideration. I'm also expecting the first round of edits for The Chef, book one, very soon. Once I finish writing The Spy, my plan is to see about getting some of my older, languishing stories completed. I have so many ideas for new books, but my to-do list is far too big. Fingers crossed I can finish some of them in the next year! 12/4/23
Happy December! I swear, I blinked and November was gone. Turkey Day went well and now I'm into my long stretch of no plans until April. I don't celebrate Christmas, and I usually enjoy New Years from my couch. I find that very relaxing, certainly much better than having to interact with other human beings. #Introvert LOL In fact, the only thing on my must-do list is giving The Prince a final edit in January and then getting it ready to submit. What I'm hoping this means is I will have plenty of time for writing. Yes, I will be getting edits for my upcoming stories during that time period, but doubtfully all at the exact same time again. I therefore should make some great progress on The Spy, the third book in my Princes of Toval trilogy. Since I have all the major plot points of The Spy already planned out, all I need is to find free time to write it. The plan is to knock The Spy out over the next few weeks, and then return to some of the other stories languishing on my to-do list. I think it would be nice to finally finish writing Dragon Spy, and I definitely want to make progress on my Vivary Tales series. Plus, I have an idea for yet another new book. The problem with Dragon Spy is I'm still missing a vital bit of plot and until I figure that out I can't finish it. The problem with Vivary Tales is its a huge undertaking that is starting to feel daunting. My new story idea is also driving me crazy because I have two equally interesting main characters set in this world whose stories do not overlap. That means it's going to need to be at least two books and I already have enough other things to write. No matter what happens, I do know it's going to be fun! I'll be certain to let you all know what I do end up writing. All of my books are on sale with NSP! Check it out here: https://ninestarpress.com/
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Coming Soon
Gifting a Dragon's Heart
March 19, 2024 Soul Bond
January 30, 2024 Twin Elements
October 17, 2023 Witch
April 15, 2023 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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