1/15/21

The installers got to my house a little after eight this morning, worked all day, and by 4 PM I had a new furnace!  Right now my house smells like whatever crud is burning off the new furnace, but that toasty marshmallow/acetone smell is still better than the burnt oil stench I've been enduring the last few months.  Once everything is burnt off, I'm hoping I won't even notice when my furnace is on. 

I have received the first round of edits for Wounded Alpha.  This is a brand new, never before published story, so I'm incredibly excited it's moving closer to being released!  My amazing editor really likes the story too.  I am hoping to finish this round of edits this weekend so the story can continue moving along in time for its April release date. 

I have also had a lot of success on the writing front.  My witch/vampire/werewolf story is complete.  It needs a lot of edits.  I started writing the sequel, which is when I realized I needed to fix a couple of things in book one to ensure I had proper continuity.  After I fix things in book one, I'm going to set it aside until the sequel is also done, just in case I find something else I want to change.  At some point I will also have to come up with book and series titles, but for now I'm just going to enjoy writing again. 

12/31/2020

I hope everyone has a very happy new year and I'm wishing you bright things to come in 2021! 

So far my writing in 2021 is looking good: 

For my upcoming books, A Little Fairy Dust will be released on the 4th (you can pre-order it HERE), Magnified is in excellent shape for a March re-release, and we have begun the first round of edits for If A Butterfly Don't Fly, which is currently scheduled to come out in April.  Once this first round of Butterfly is complete, I should receive edits for Wounded Alpha, which is also scheduled for April.  This is excellent progress on both re-releases and for some brand new material! 

I am excited to continue moving forward with getting all of my old stories available again, but I'm also really happy to offer brand new books for my longtime readers.  Right now I have three completely new books coming out in 2021: A Little Fairy Dust (which does reprint Cleanly Wrong and Cinder-Elle, but also has seven additional new stories), Wounded Alpha, and Ground of Resurrection in September. 

I am really hoping to fit in some writing in 2021 as well.  I already know editing my re-releases will be a constant, just as it was in 2020, but I am going to try my best to try to continue to work on brand new books.  I have made good progress on the start of my brand new (currently untitled) series about a witch having some difficulties with vampires and werewolves.  I'm hoping to complete at least the first two books in that series over the next year.  Of course, I also want to spend some time with Lumie (as his stories in Supernatural Consultant series aren't done yet), and I want to make progress on the third and final books of my Magnified, Out of Underhill, and Wizard Wars series. 

And now it's time to watch the ball drop and get 2021 started! 

12/26/20

My next re-release with NineStar Press is a book called Kelpie Blue.  It is available for pre-order right now at NSP, and comes out on December 28th.  You can pre-order, check out the official summary, and read an excerpt HERE. 

Kelpie Blue is the first book in my Out of Underhill series, but it wasn't supposed to be.  When I first started writing about Underhill and the chaotic overlap between the worlds of fae and human, I was working on a book titled If A Butterfly Don't Fly.  Butterfly was supposed to be a stand alone novel, but after starting to dig into the story I came to a realization: there was too much content without full backstory!  Basically, Butterfly was reading like a sequel.  Luckily a happy kelpie came frolicking by at just the right time.  Blue was a loveable, flesh-eating kelpie who just wanted a hug and to maybe take a large bite out of your shoulder.  He also wanted his story, and he wanted it now.  I couldn't say no. 

Kelpie Blue took a long time to write.  I had to do a ton of research about horse racing and rearing.  I had a massive chunk of plot written and was about to move onto the next section when I thankfully took a moment to look up horse gestation and had to quickly add a few months into the story.  The Celtic magic and creatures were also really interesting.  Blue's character and personality evolved a ton the more I learned, but I also changed a lot about Rin too. 

Fun Fact: Rin's name was originally Brin.  My first editor said Brin and Blue sounded too similar, and they recommended I change one.  Brin therefore became Rin. 

Kelpie Blue will be coming out in just two days, and you won't have to wait too long until If A Butterfly Don't Fly comes out in March!  Don't forget to pre-order Kelpie Blue today at NSP, and it will be available at all major ebook and print retailers on December 28th. 

12/12/20

How editing works:

    Wow, I've made so much progress!  I've reworked sentences, approved a ton of commas, and clarified a bunch of issues with the editor.  I'm moving along so fast and I'll have this finished in no time! 

    Looks down at the page count.  I've only done two pages?!? 

Editing is a roller coaster.  There's the high when things are going well, when the edits are moving along smoothly and I feel like I'm making progress.  Then there's the low when I realize despite all the work I've done, I still have over a hundred pages to go.  Or when the editor (helpfully) points out something I've done very, very wrong.  And then the high again once I get through those snags and start chugging along, and then the low...  You get the idea. 

I'm behind on the edits for Magnified, and every time I get into the groove and start feeling like I'm making progress, I look down at the page count and realize just how little progress I've actually made.  It's hard, but this is how all edits work.  The difference is Magnified is 20 to 40 thousand words longer than most of my stories (it's double the length of one of my Supernatural Consultant books), which means it takes a lot longer to complete.  The plan is to finish Magnified quickly this weekend, so maybe I'll have time to write something too. 

Thanks to everyone for sending emotional support about my furnace.  I have decided on a brand, and I have decided to bite the bullet and get an AC unit too.  It took a ton of research to figure out the best model for my climate, and to decide on Energy Star ratings, but a decision was finally reached.  Of course, I made my choice too late on Friday, so I won't get the contract until Monday, but hopefully I'll have a new furnace before the new year! 

12/5/20

You might remember a few weeks ago I mentioned I was smelling oil every time my heat turned on.  I finally had someone out to look into it, and it's bad.  The technician found a puddle of oil underneath the pump, took the pump apart and found more oil, and guessed there's even more oil leaking somewhere he can't see.  It's not a ton of oil, because the oil in my tank isn't mysteriously vanishing, but it's enough that he told me my furnace is shot.  I have to completely replace it, which is going to be a fun adventure.  Anyone have any recommendations on a good oil furnace brand? 

I'm especially thrilled because I've only owned said furnace for about five months, which means it was probably shot last winter and the previous owners lied to me about it being in perfect working condition.  Now I'm wondering what else I'm going to have to replace.  The AC unit is very old too, so I might try to get a package deal for that with the furnace since they're tied together.  Do I need to take a closer look at my water heater?  What other big ticket items did the previous owners ignore?  Owning a home was supposed to reduce my stress, because living in an apartment really, really sucked.  Unfortunately, until I have all the pieces and parts of my house fixed, my stress levels are going to remain incredibly high. 

Luckily, I have writing to escape with.  Codified is going well.  I completed a major scene and have started the bridge to the next one.  The guys are about to travel somewhere new, so I'll have to do a bit of world building.  There's still a lot to write, but I'm really liking how it's going so far.  Although, I just received the first round of edits for the Magnified reprint (book one in the same series) and I have to finish those before I can continue writing.