2/16/15

• Dragon Deception is a hit.  It reached number 17 on All Romance e-books' best seller list!  The reviews have also been positive and everyone seems to be enjoying it.  Thank you so much to everyone who purchased a copy. 
   
  
• I have also seen the numbers for books sold last quarter.  Dragon Consultant's sales utterly shattered the previous sales record set by Stealing the Dragon.  It was amazing for me to see.  I won't know if Dragon Deception matched or beat Consultant's record for a few months, but I think it's close. 
   
  
• The entire Supernatural Consultant series is being considered for translation into other languages.  I don't know which languages or when they might be released, but I think it's really cool.  I'll keep you updated as I learn more. 
   
  
• I have been working diligently on Dragon Soldier.  There's only 4k words left to write, which at this point is basically the wrap up and the epilogue.  I'm planning to have it submitted the first week of March.  The battle scene I just finished writing is totally awesome, so I'm really looking forward to getting it started on the path to being published. 
   
  
• Next on my to-do list for this series is Dragon Adventure.  It's supposed to be a short story to bridge the two arcs of the series and therefore needs to be released before Dragon Spy, book six.  I'm also hoping to have Adventure submitted the first week of March, but there's still a lot to do. 
  

My goals in January were derailed slightly by all the editing I instead got completed.  I would still call this month a success, just not with what I was expecting.  Here's how I did:

1. Editing.  The two items originally on this list were Elemental Ride and Magnified and I'm happy to say that I was able to complete them both.  Elemental Ride has been submitted to LT3 and Magnified is back with the editor for round two.  In addition to those stories I also got the copy edits for Dragon Deception and the first round of edits for Dragon Detective.  The former I was able to send back to LT3 and the latter still needs a bit more work. 
    
   
2. Submissions.  I was also very successful with this.  Elemental Ride was submitted yesterday evening and I was able to get my Hanukkah story, Ner Li, and Ge-Mi: Part One properly formatted and submitted.  I hope to hear from LT3 soon.  I was not able to get any work done with editing Justified. 
    
   
3. Writing.  Luckily I left this goal open ended because writing ended up not being a high priority this month.  I got a lot done in my Coliseum story and some drips and drabs in Dragon Soldier and Dragon Spy, but nothing really came together writing-wise this month.  I'm really hoping next month is much more productive as there are a number of stories I would like to complete. 
   

My Supernatural Consultant series continues to grow.  I never expected to write this many books in one series, nor did I want to create something so involved.  Yet, that's what my characters asked for and I'm running with it very eagerly.  It's far more fun to work that way than to try to force my dragons into the box I had originally planned for them.  I still can't believe that what was once going to be a quick, three or four book series is now headed towards ten books with no signs of stopping.  What's even more amazing is the fact that I'm already seeing amazing success with readers. 

How the series stands right now: 

• Dragon Consultant, book one, will be released on December 9, 2015.  It hit number 35 on ARe's bestseller list and is purportedly doing very well in pre-sales everywhere else.  I am really looking forward to Consultant finally being in my readers' hands so you can all know what I'm so excited about too. To preorder your copy today, click HERE. 
  
  
• Dragon Deception, book two, will be released on February 10, 2016.  It is also available for preorder.  All it needs is a cover and this book will be 100% ready to go.   To preorder your copy today, click HERE. 
  
  
• Dragon Dilemma, book three, is in edits.  The first round is back with LT3 and I expect to see the second round sometime near the end of the month.  Dilemma probably won't be released until May 2016 at the very earliest. 
  
  
• Dragon Detective, book four, is in LT3's hands.  They're not going to do anything with it until after Dilemma is completely edited, so I won't see it again for a while. 
  

What I have planned next for the series:

• Dragon Soldier, book five, is next on my to-do list for the series.  Detective ends on a bit of a cliffhanger, so I want to have Soldier ready to go to keep my readers from lynching me.  Given the amount of time I have, I'm not worried. 
  
  
• Dragon Adventure is next.  I'm not entirely certain if this will pan out into a full book or whether it will stay short and sweet, which is why I'm hesitating on saying it's book six.  Right now it feels more like book five and a half.  It might end up being only five thousand words (and therefore a freebie) or it could grow all the way to thirty thousand words and rightfully be called book six.  I guess I'll find out as I continue working. 
  
  
• Dragon Spy is currently listed as book six, which may change to book seven depending on how Adventure grows.  This is the book that introduces Plot B, the next phase of the series.  Plot A was completed in Soldier and any/all future books will hinge on Plot B running smoothly. 

How the series is going to keep growing: 

• There's two directions I want to go with this series.  Both of which will, of course, be tied to Plot B, but they're such different directions that I'm not entirely certain how I can hook them together properly to keep the series one cohesive whole. 
  
  

1. My first idea stems from some issues raised in Dragon Dilemma, which are then reiterated in Dragon Adventure.  This idea would give a dragon that hasn't had a story written for him a stronger voice and would help tie Plot B back to things that happened during Plot A, thereby making the series feel like it all belongs together. 
   
   
2. Idea number two is to continue rolling with Plot B as far as it will take me, which can go two ways.  If the plot and characters in Dragon Spy need another book or two to tell their story, I'm not going to stop them.  This would continue with Plot B nicely, no doubt expanding on it with each successive book.  The other direction returns to the main characters from Dragon Detective and Dragon Soldier.  Writing with an established couple is always fun, but they would be working within the parameters of Plot B. 
   
   

• I honestly want to write all of it, and I don't see why I can't.  Idea one would give me the cohesiveness I was looking for while both parts of idea two give me space for the series to grow.  I just need to find a way to make them balance each other properly.  Right now that means an additional 3-6 books to write both ideas. 

I can't believe how much I've been able to accomplish in this series so far and I'm even more boggled by how much more is still in the planning stage.  There is no denying that this has been and will continue to be quite an undertaking.  The important thing for me to remember is that I have to keep having fun with it.  If I don't have fun, my characters will turn dour, and my readers won't have fun either, which is unacceptable.  I hope everyone will stay with me over the next few years as each of these stories is written, submitted, edited, and finally released for you to read! 

To stay informed as my Supernatural Consultant series continues to grow, please visit my current projects page on my website.