4/14/23
It has been far too long since I wrote a blog post. I've been trying to do better this year about posting, but somehow this past month just slipped through the cracks. Getting ready for Passover, then Passover itself, probably contributed, but I also haven't had much to share. I need to come up with something fun I can post semi-regularly for those lulls. Let me know, do you want something about my writing style, how I come up with my books, or something totally different? I want to share things you're interested in! Luckily, the lull is over! I have great news to share: You Can't Sell A Dragon's Heart has been accepted for publishing at NSP! The contract is signed, so I'm hopeful this time next year you'll be able to read my quirky sci-fi/fantasy crossover story with dragons and magic and futuristic technology. You Can't Sell A Dragon's Heart is one of those stories that practically wrote itself. I didn't have long pauses or breaks to figure out plot, so it flows really well. I think you'll like it as much as I do, so I'll be sure to share any updates as this story moves through the editing process. Speaking of updates, Hunter, the second book in my Witch's Circle trilogy has gotten some excellent ARC reviews! The book is apparently an excellent continuation from Coven, book one. If you missed it, Coven is available at most major retailers. Hunter comes out on May 9th (less than a month away!!!) and should also be available for preorder at most major retailers soon. If you preorder from NSP, you can get your copy four days earlier than everywhere else. My last update is some of my writing is going really well. The Chef, my story about a chef trying to survive and cook in some difficult situations, is almost completed. I have two more major plot points to write, with some minor stuff mixed in between. This includes the build up to the final fight, the fight itself, and the aftermath. I had initially thought this book would reach 60k words. Then the first half of the story didn't expand as much as I anticipated so I moved the expected count down to 50k. However, the Chef currently stands at 44k, so I think a goal of reaching 55k words is achievable. That said, the overarching plot of the story is nowhere close to being completed. Plus, I realized Char, my main character, is not the correct person to be resolving those issues. This means a sequel is in order! It's going to be called The Prince. I know who the two main characters are and I've plotted out the opening scene, but I can't delve into it more until The Chef is completed. I haven't written anything in any of my other stories, which is sad, but I believe The Chef is good enough to warrant my full attention. Fingers crossed I finish writing The Chef soon, so I can start digging into The Prince and see where this series might take me, and then I can return to some of my other stories as well!
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1/21/23 I sent this out with my newsletter last week, so this may be a repeat for some of you. I wrote up a short history of how Coven, and the rest of my Witch's Circle trilogy, came to be. Check it out: It might not seem like it, but Coven is actually one of my oldest stories. Waaaay back in 2010, when I was still mostly writing fanfiction, I had an idea for an original story about an awkward reporter being forced by his nasty coworkers to go interview some vampires. I started writing. The main character reached the front gates of the vampire house, and then I hit a conundrum. An ordinary human wouldn’t survive a vampire encounter! I needed to figure out that aspect of this story before I could move forward. About a year went by while I thought about it. Could the love interest be a vampire, willing to help the main character survive? Except, the vampires were supposed to be evil in this book so that idea went nowhere. (The failed idea for the love-interest vampire is what helped me create Shannon, a secondary character who plays an interesting role in the latter two books.) I realized the main character had to be powerful in his own right. However, that led to a major problem: if the main character was so powerful, why would his coworkers treat him so poorly? My initial thought was the coworkers were family who hated him, and the main character was desperate to get away, but that felt rather flimsy and didn’t go with the “powerful MC” idea. Also, what sort of powers should the main character actually have? I couldn’t figure it out. Besides, I was distracted. A cute baby dragon had bounced across my desk, insisting I write his story instead. First Nyle, then Tori, and all the dragons, wolves, and other creatures in my Dragon’s Hoard series came to life. Coven fell so far onto the back burner, I almost completely forgot it existed. Fast forward to 2020, almost ten years later. COVID, working from home, waist deep in reprints, and I was exhausted. I desperately wanted to write something new, but was struggling to come up with an idea that felt viable. Burned out was an understatement. I don’t know what prompted me, but I started digging through my older, long-forgotten material. Some only have one line, some close to 20k words, but all very, very dead. Also, my writing way back then was…yeah. Let’s just say I hope I’ve improved a lot since. Unfortunately, that went nowhere. Or so I thought. About a week later I was at work when I had a sudden thought: What if the MC was a male witch? Since witches are stereotypically female, that would be a reason for the conflict! However, a male witch wouldn’t be sent maliciously to interview vampires by cruel coworkers, since if the coworkers knew about his powers they knew he would survive. The idea that his coworkers were ignorant was born. Which meant I needed a new backstory. When I got home after work that afternoon, it was research time! I looked up types of witch powers, the function and structure of a coven, and fell into the age-old idea that werewolves were the daytime protectors of vampires. I decided on the feminine-sounding Kana for the MC’s name to hammer home the fact that he had been born male into a female-dominated society, and suddenly I had it! On the run from his coven because he was powerful, Kana ended up by coincidence in the same city as the vampires and their werewolf protectors. One werewolf in particular having rather nice shoulders. LOL The story, and the entire trilogy, bloomed from there. So, there you have it. Coven almost wrote itself at that point. The following books, Hunter and Witch, flowed easily. Burnout gone. I can only hope my next projects go so smoothly. You can buy Coven now at most major retailers. Hunter has completed editing at NSP, so I should have a release date and more to share very soon.
*If you liked hearing about the history of one of my books and want to know the history of a different book or series, let me know and I’ll be happy to write another post for you! 12/31/22
I hope everyone has wonderful plans for their New Year's celebration! I will be going full-on couch potato, and it's going to be glorious! I'll watch the ball drop on TV from the comfort of my couch in my cozy pajamas. I'll read a good book, maybe write a bit; I'll do whatever I want all evening. I can't wait! My New Year's resolution is to try to write more in 2023. I have so many works-in-progress, and series that just need one more book to be completed. Since reprints are over with, I know I'm not going to have a lot of editing taking up my time; refocusing on my older stories is going to be a priority. I also want to continue my new ideas since they're interesting too. Basically, I want to write a ton and start checking off my to-do list! If anyone was wondering, the response for Coven has been phenomenal. I've yet to read a negative review, which is rare and wonderful. LOL. If you haven't gotten your copy yet, it's available at most major retailers. For those of you who have read Coven and are waiting for more, never fear! Hunter, the second book in the trilogy, has just completed copy edits. I should have a release date, cover, and more to share with you very soon. Speaking of edits, my short story Water's Price has finished the first round. There's still a long way to go, but my mermaids are looking really good. I had a lot of fun writing them and it seems like my editor liked them too. I am hopeful I will have a release date to share soon, so keep an eye out for more information to come. Thanks for staying with me over this last year. There's so many great things to look forward to in 2023, and I can't wait to share it all with you! Happy New Year! Out Now: Coven
12/24/22
Tonight is Christmas Eve. I hope everyone who celebrates has a wonderful time. For Hanukkah, I will be lighting the seventh candle in my menorah. I put my menorah in my front window so the light can shine out of my house, symbolizing the hard-won freedom of the Jewish people to practice their faith without fear of persecution. That said, I know a number of Jews are choosing to light in private instead, because antisemitism around the world is on the rise. Our fear of our neighbors learning we're Jewish, and of potential attacks because we dare to display our faith, is definitely justified this year. I hope this season of peace and joy helps remind everyone around the world to practice kindness and understanding as we head into the new year. On another note, if you're looking for a gift for Christmas Eve, Coven is available at NSP for early release! You can read it right now. Coven will be available at most major retailers on December 27th, including on Amazon, where you can pre-order today as well. I know you'll enjoy this first book in the trilogy, Kana's powers as a witch, and his adventure with the werewolves and vampires as much as I did writing Coven. Some additional good news is I received the first round of edits for Water's Price, my mermaid-themed short story. Having this book also begin the journey to being published is very exciting! There's a bunch of edits, so I will probably spend most of tomorrow and Monday (Federal holiday!!!) working on it. I'm glad to have something constructive to do, although I also have to finish the last touch ups for the chamomiles paint by numbers I've been working on for the last six months. If I find some time, I would like to continue writing Vivary Tales, but writing is unfortunately third on my to-do list for this long weekend. The good news is if I finish everything on my list this weekend, next weekend I have four days off in a row to write. I should also mention I have finished writing You Can't Sell A Dragon's Heart. I gave it a once-over to fix any glaring issues and have set it aside to marinate. My plan is to give it another thorough edit in February and get it cleaned up to submit to NSP. I hope everyone has a lovely weekend whether you're celebrating a holiday, hibernating from the bombo-plunge, or simply enjoying some time off work!
12/4/22
After a long week of soccer, work, soccer, writing, soccer, and...more soccer...I need a nap. Lol I haven't watched every game since I was sleeping during some of them, but I caught up on the highlights for the ones I missed. For anyone that cares, I think France has a good chance of repeating as champions, I'm withholding an opinion on Brazil until after they play a challenging team, and I'm wondering if Japan might stun the world and beat Croatia on Monday. I'm not going to say anything about the USA team right now, in case someone has taped the game and doesn't know the result yet. All I'll say is I'm pleasantly hopeful for 2026. For everyone who isn't as sports crazed as me, on to what you want to know about: my books! I have seen the first draft of the cover for Coven and it's amazing. I hope to have the final soon so I can share it with everyone. It really embodies the feel I was aiming for in the series. I believe pre-ordering should be available soon, and I will definitely let everyone know when I have more news. I didn't get as much writing done this week as I would have liked. I added a bit to the epilogue for You Can't Sell A Dragon's Heart and a few paragraphs to Vivary Tales. I've been distracted by soccer, but work has also been busy. I think everyone is trying to get things done now in preparation for vacation in a few weeks. Which means, unfortunately, that I return home in the evening too wiped to do any significant writing. On the flip side, it means work will slow to a crawl soon, since I'm going to be pretty much the only person in my office the week of Christmas. Fingers crossed I'll be able to write a ton then! 11/4/22
Happy Friday everyone! I had today off from work and it's been magical. I slept in late, had a leisurely breakfast, and relaxed all morning reading a book interspersed with leaf peeping out my back door as the last of the trees have finally decided to accept autumn has arrived. I also added another color to my current paint by numbers canvass, my COVID hobby which is thankfully making the walls of my house a lot less bare. I'm currently attempting a canvass of chamomiles I'm planning to hang on a large blank wall in my kitchen. I have two more colors to paint, and then I have to go back and touch up for all the numbers I missed and where I had trouble staying within the lines. Lol Of course, I also managed to squeeze in some editing and writing! My amazing editor and I have been figuring out the official blurb for Hunter, the second book in my Witch's Circle trilogy. After a lot of back and forth the last few days we've settled on something that sounds amazing. I can't wait to share it with you. Speaking of Witch's Circle, NSP has decided on a tentative release date for Coven, book one! Look for it on December 27th! (Keeping in mind all dates are subject to change, lol.) I hope to have a cover and pre-order information to share for it really soon. Hunter will likely be released sometime first quarter in 2023. And, yes, I have gotten some writing done! I added almost 3k words to You Can't Sell a Dragon's Heart and reached the minimum word count I was aiming for in this story. There is still a lot more to write before it's done, though, so I upped the expected word count on my Current Projects page. I've never written a fantasy/sci-fi crossover before so this book has been a bit of an experiment, but it's been a ton of fun and I think it's turning out great. When You Can't Sell A Dragon's Heart is completed, there are a few directions I could go in next. I really, really want to get some of my backlog of older works in progress completed, so ideally I would focus on those. However, I have two new stories also percolating. One is a paranormal story about a three-legged crow set in the real world where everyone has the power to turn into an animal. The main character is mistaken for a regular crow and ostracized. Tentative working title is Harbinger, but we'll see whether that still fits once the book is written. The second is fantasy about some of the cases the guards in the city take on. I'm hoping to have multiple main characters, which will make writing this a real challenge. Working title is Vivary Tales, but I expect that to change. Either way, I will have something fun to work on next! Of course, I can come up with titles for two books I haven't even written yet, but I am still drawing an absolute blank for Fire and Water. I thought about something punny about twins switching places, but quickly realized that wouldn't fit the tone of the book. Then I was haunting a thesaurus to find synonyms that might work better and drew a blank. This book is 100% ready to be submitted for consideration with NSP, and I can't until I come up with a title! It's really frustrating. The cherry on the top of what has been a lovely Friday is the wonderful support The Oracle's Current has gotten since being released last week. Everyone seems to be enjoying it, and knowing that makes me incredibly happy. If you missed it, it should be available at most major retailers and at NSP. I hope everyone else has had an equally amazing day! 10/15/22
For the past three years, it feels as if all I've been releasing are reprint after reprint after reprint. I know I've peppered in some new material here and there, but it really felt like the process of re-releasing older books would never end. I have loved revisiting beloved characters and worlds, particularly my earliest works that helped me grow into the writer I am today. However, I have missed the process of crafting new things. That is why I am very happy to say that with the release of The Oracle's Prophecy (renamed from The Sentinel's Prophesy) on October 11th (buy here), I am done with reprinting old material! It is an incredibly exciting milestone! I really appreciate everyone who stuck with me through what has been a very long road. Re-editing and getting 29 reprints available again for you all to enjoy took a lot out of me (and out of my wonderful editor!), and greatly reduced my writing time for new material. Thankfully, I had written some new stories prior to starting the reprinting process, so you were able to enjoy brand new material like Wounded Alpha, Ground of Resurrection, and the new fairy tales included in A Little Fairy Dust while you were waiting. Still, I know there is a hankering for more new books from me. Which brings me to what's next. I was able to finish writing the sixth and final book in The Oracle series, The Oracle's Current, in between all the editing. Current has since been waiting for the rest of The Oracle series to be reprinted. When Current is released on October 25th, it will officially mark the start of my only publishing new material from here on out. You can already pre-order from NSP! As the reprinting process slowed throughout 2022, I have been able to spend more and more time focused on writing. I recently completed a trilogy of books called Witch's Circle about a witch, his familiars, a werewolf, and the difficulties they encounter while navigating the supernatural world. The first book, Coven, could potentially be released at the very end of this year, but certainly no later than very early 2023. The latter two books in the trilogy, Hunter and Witch, will definitely come out next year. Plus, I completed a short story called Water's Price about some mermaids, which you should also see in 2023. But wait, there's more! Lol While that is everything NSP has currently contracted with me to publish, I have a few other things I've been working on that I hope to submit for NSP's consideration within the next few months. I have finished writing and am editing a stand alone fantasy story with the (very tentative) title of Fire and Water. As soon as I come up with a better title, I plan to submit it to NSP. I have also passed the halfway point in writing another stand alone fantasy/sci-fi crossover story called You Can't Sell A Dragon's Heart. I still need to write the major climax scene and tie the HEA off with a pretty bow, so there's still a lot to do, but I definitely think I'll have this story completed soon. Plus, now that I'm done with reprints, I should have more time to focus on my oversized to-do list, upon which I hope to begin making progress again very soon! I look forward to keeping everyone in the loop as I continue to work on more of my new stories and get them ready for you to read. 9/5/22
This past month has been crazy! I went on a trip to South Africa, Zimbabwe, and Botswana for two weeks, which was absolutely amazing. I saw so many animals and unique places, some of which you might see in a future book. Lol Taking a break from everything--no work and (since we didn't have WiFi or cell service) also no writing--was therapeutic. I definitely came home ready to hit the ground running again. At the beginning of this past month, NSP and I started releasing my Oracle series, of which the first five books are reprints and the sixth is brand new. Those first five are the last of the many, many reprints I've been working on. When The Oracle's Current, the sixth and final book in my Oracle series, is released, we will have officially completed revising my older material! I expect Current to be released at the end of 2022, so keep an eye out for it. I am excited for these to come out, and to be able to switch focus to working on exclusively brand new books. Which isn't to say I haven't been working on new material in the interim. Coven, the first book in my Witch's Circle Trilogy, is currently undergoing copy edits, which means there's a good chance it will also come out this year! I have not yet seen a draft for the cover, so there is still a ways to go, but I am very excited for you to meet Kana and his magic. I really think you'll like him and his story. The latter two books in the series have been contracted, so look for more information about them early next year. I am also still writing! I have two current projects I'm very happy with. The first is completely written, but I need to do a thorough clean up. The working title is Fire and Water, which needs to be changed. As soon as edits are completed and I've thought of a title, I will send it to NSP for consideration. (If you can think of a title based off the summary, please let me know! I'm always open to suggestions.) The second story I'm currently writing is called You Can't Sell a Dragon's Heart. The story can't decide whether it wants to be 30k or 40k words. Sometimes the characters want to jump off into a lengthy adventure, and other times all they want is to curl up together around a fire. Right now they're doing the latter, which is why I'm leaning toward 30k, but we'll see where it goes in the end. Once the reprints are complete, I'm hoping to be able to focus on my waiting to-do list. The next few months as we inch closer to that point are going to be very interesting! |
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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