Category: Dragon Detective - Mell Eight's Writing Blog

Tentative Release Dates

10/10/2019

10/10/19

You read the title of this post correctly! I have some new release dates to share with everyone. These are tentative dates. I only have the release month and they are subject to change, but I'm so excited to have them to share with you. Here's what I've got:

March 2020: Ge-Mi: Nevada
April 2020: Dragon Consultant
May 2020: Ge-Mi: Taylor
June 2020: Dragon Deception
July 2020: Dragon Dilemma
August 2020: Dragon Detective
September 2020: Dragon Soldier

I know March seems like it's really far away, but there's a lot to get completed before then. Multiple rounds of edits, of course, plus everything else that goes into getting a book ready for publishing. I'm a little concerned that they're all getting released so close together, as it will be A LOT of work on my part to get all those edits completed, but this is the fastest everyone involved can work to get my books back out as soon as possible.

As you can see, Dragon Detective and Dragon Soldier were both accepted for publishing at NSP. I'm hopeful they will also accept the last three books (and I'm hopeful editing the entire series again will galvanize me into finishing Dragon Spy).

I have also submitted both books in my Wizard Wars Series to NSP. Ground of Resurrection (book two) was the one you all got to pre-order, but were never able to read. I don't know where they might fit into this release schedule should NSP accept them, but I'm looking forward to finding out.

News: Recent Releases and Editing

11/11/2016

11/11/16

Elemental Ride is out! It was a best seller on All Romance Ebooks for a while and has generally been getting good reviews. The biggest complaint I've seen is that it's too short, which is more of a compliment than a complaint. I really hope everyone has been enjoying reading it!

I really liked the world I created for Elemental Ride with the coexistence of sprites and humans. When sprites reach adolescence, they stop being able to feed from their parents and are forced to learn how to absorb from the land on their own very quickly. A lot of sprites die when they can't learn before they starve. At some point, humans and sprites began talking with each other and they struck a bargain. In return for use of a sprite's magical powers for ten years, the young sprites could feed off a human body. The sprites could take extra time to learn how to survive to adulthood and humans could now use magic. From that premise I built a story for LT3's Roughhouse Raiders collection--stories written to the theme of motorcycle clubs--and I am very happy with how Elemental Ride turned out.

Will I ever write more in this world? I do hope to, but right now my to-do list is far too big. Once some of my larger projects have been completed I want to return to this world and see about putting together something.
Dragon Detective has also been doing very well. Readers are overwhelmingly enjoying the story, which I am so happy to hear. Dragon Soldier, the next book in the series and the conclusion to the plot started in Detective, will be one hundred percent ready to go by April 5, 2017.
I have returned the edits for Dragon Adventure to LT3. The editor really enjoyed the story and appreciated the shorter format. This interlude in the series was a ton of fun to write and I'm so excited to have begun polishing it for publication. I have no idea about a potential release date for Adventure just yet, but hopefully it will also come out in 2017.

Out Now: Dragon Detective

10/19/2016

Dragon Detective

Nickel might be a water elemental dragon, but even he has limits—and the sudden rain storms, hail, and snow in mid-summer are way over the line. Luckily, he works for Dane's Supernatural Consulting firm and can use those resources to figure out who keeps mucking with the weather and get them to stop.

It doesn't take long for Nickel to realize he isn't the only one searching for the weather worker: the enemy he has been hunting for ten years has finally reappeared, and it's a race to see which of them will reach the weather worker first. Nickel isn't certain he'll win, or even survive, the attempt, but he'll do whatever it takes to save the dragons.

Get your copy today: https://lessthanthreepress.com...

Giveaway: Dragon Detective

10/16/2016

Dragon Detective comes out in a few days! October 19th is coming so quickly. It's time to hold a giveaway! One e-copy of Dragon Detective to a lucky commentator. First, though, I want to say a little about the book:

Dragon Detective is different from the previous books in the series. Up to this point the series has been focused on Dane and Mercury. Their quest to save the dragons and to build a family was only supposed to span two books--Dragon Consultant and Dragon Dilemma. I added a third book--Dragon Deception--in between those two when I realized there was another story to tell. In Dragon Detective the story leaves Dane and Mercury and instead focuses on Nickel and on Nickel's love interest (if I say the love interest's name here I'll give it away, so read the book to find out who!), but that's not the only change.

Unlike the first three books, Nickel's two--Dragon Detective and Dragon Soldier--were written as a pair. Readers of this series will be used to each individual book having a completed plot and that there would be a significant time jump at the start of the next book in the series. Dragon Detective doesn't end that way: it's not a cliffhanger, but it's clear the story isn't complete. Luckily, it picks up again almost immediately in Dragon Soldier.

Each book in the series has been approximately 30 thousand words long. As I was writing Nickel's story I realized I was going to need more than that length to tell it properly. For the story to fit correctly into the series as a whole it needed to conform to the length so I ended up splitting Nickel's story into two. Dragon Detective is part one and Dragon Soldier concludes in part two.

I was looking forward to writing Nickel's story from the moment the idea for his plot manifested. He's always been one of the more interesting kits with such an interesting story. I'm really excited for Dragon Detective to come out so his story can finally be in my readers' hands.

Dragon Detective comes out on October 19th. There's still a few more days to pre-order the book for a 15% discount so buy your copy today: https://lessthanthreepress.com...

It might seem like a long wait, but Dragon Soldier, the second part of Nickel's story, will come out on April 5, 2017. I will let everyone know when it's available for pre-order.

And now, the giveaway:

Write a comment. I don't care what about, just leave a comment at the end of this post.
For extra entries, tweet, share, or like this post on the various social media sites. Tell me which ones you've done in your comment.
A winner will be chosen via random.org on: October 29, 2016.
Make sure you fill out the email section so I can contact you if you're the winner. Winner will have 48 hours to respond to my congratulatory email.

News: I'm Still Here

9/10/2016

9/10/16

Despite my needing to take some time off from writing, things continue to progress with all my stories. Here's an update on how things are going:

Magnified was released on September 7th and so far has been getting great reviews. Thank you to everyone that purchased a copy. I really hope you enjoyed it!
Cinder-Elle, my fairytale short story from Fairytales Slashed Volume 4, is out of print. I have some plans for this story, so look for it to appear on my to-do list again.
Speaking of stories going out of print soon, Cleanly Wrong, my story from the Bestiary collection will be going out of print at the end of September. I'm hoping to polish and resubmit this story, but it may be a while before I can get my act together and make that happen. Bloody Kiss, my story from the Proud to be a Vampire collection and Jack O'Lantern's Grin, my story from the Halloween Rentboy's collection will both be going out of print in October. Bloody Kiss might return as part of a larger series, but don't hold me to that. Jack O'Lantern's Grin will not be returning, so get your copies before they're gone.
I have also been getting a lot of editing accomplished. The first round of edits for Ner Li and Ge-Mi: Part One and the second round for The Case of the Wandering Wolves and Dragon Soldier are back with LT3, as well as a final proof read for Dragon Detective (out on October 19th). I have the second pass of edits for Elemental Ride sitting in my inbox that I will start working on soon.

News: New Developments

6/26/2016

6/26/16

Magnified is up for pre-order! It is the longest and most intricate story I've ever written. Vampires and werewolves, a touch of magic, and a bit of intrigue. I loved writing this story and am extremely excited for it to come out. September 7th is the big day, so make sure to get your copy now: https://lessthanthreepress.com/books... The best part is LT3 is having a massive sale in June for a few more days, so right now you can get it for 32% off instead of the usual 15% discount for pre-orders.
LT3 and I have been going over future release dates for some of my upcoming stories. We already knew Magnified was slotted for September 7th. We then moved Dragon Detective a week earlier to October 12th. Why did we move Detective a touch earlier? Because Elemental Ride, my story for LT3's Roughhouse Raiders call, is coming out on November 9th. Then, Ner Li, my story in LT3's Sharing the Seasons call, will come out soon after on December 14th. That's four stories right on top of each other. Admittedly, the latter two are fairly short, but that's still a lot to squeeze into such a short time-frame.
But wait. There's more! 2017 also has a lot of stories to look forward to. Ge-Mi: Part One, will come out at the end of January. Dragon Soldier will follow in March. The Case of the Wandering Wolves, book one in my Trickster's Eye series, will come out sometime in late April or early May. Dragon Adventure would be next, estimated to arrive at the end of June or early July. Then, Justified is looking at September and Dragon Home sometime after that. Everything I've outlined in this paragraph is a very rough estimation and subject to change based on editing and LT3's scheduling needs, but it's a good plan to start with.
I've been working on the edits for Dragon Soldier and I'm almost done. There's one more thing I have to do before I give it a final read through, but unfortunately it's the biggest item on the to-do list. I need to add one or two new scenes to up the romance, which means figuring out where to slot them in and how to keep the flow steady. I'm hoping to have it done soon.

May goals: Results

6/6/2016

I'm running late on my goals this month. Very late. In my defense I'm in the process of moving and that's taking up a lot of my time. Here's how I did in May:

Be Prepared. I returned the copy edits for Dragon Dilemma and Dragon Detective to LT3. I also returned the first round of edits for the Case of the Wandering Wolves. I haven't received any additional edits.
Writing. Unlike the last few months, I was able to get some writing done. The Case of the Hopping Hare, the second book in my Trickster's Eye series, is starting to take shape. I've also been working on two possible (currently untitled) knight stories for LT3's Heart of Steal call, neither of which may actually be submitted for it, but it's fun to work on them. I've also gotten some planning accomplished for Dragon Spy.

Cover Reveals: Dragon Detective & Print, Vol. 1

5/23/2016

I have two beautiful covers to share from my Supernatural Consultant series and a potential release date for Dragon Detective. Scroll down to read all the information.

Supernatural Consultant: Volume One

Print Compilation of Dragon Consultant, Dragon Deception, and Dragon Dilemma.

Will be released approximately June 1, 2016.

Dragon Detective
Supernatural Consultant Book Four
October 19, 2016

Nickel might be a water elemental dragon, but even he has to draw the line somewhere. The sudden rain storms, hail, and even snow in mid-summer are going to drive him mad. Luckily, he works for Dane's Supernatural Consulting firm and can use those resources to figure out who keeps mucking with the weather and get them to stop.
It doesn't take long for Nickel to realize he isn't the only one searching for the weather worker. The enemy he has been hunting for ten years has finally reappeared. Nickel isn't certain he can win the race to find the weather worker or if he'll even survive the attempt, but in order to save the dragons he knows he has to try.

News: Release Date and More Good News

4/16/2016

4/16/16

Magnified now has a release date: September 7, 2016. That's not too far away! LT3 and I have started talking about the cover and since the editing is complete Magnified will definitely be ready to go on time. I know I've said before how excited I am for this book to come out and now with a release date my excitement is growing even more.
The next big thing I've learned is LT3 is going ahead with a compilation print version containing Dragon Consultant, Dragon Deception, and Dragon Dilemma. We started talking about the cover, which is going to be awesome. I think this print book will be released along with Dragon Dilemma in June, so make sure to look for it then.
I've also spoken with LT3 about starting the cover for Dragon Detective, book four of my Supernatural Consultant series. I don't have an official release date yet, but my best guess might be this December or next January. It depends on whether Ner Li, my story for LT3's Sharing the Season call, bumps Detective's release date back a few months.
I haven't heard anything about any of my other stories. The Case of the Wandering Wolves is next on my list of submissions, so I'm hoping the first round of edits come for that soon. Although, given that TCotWW won't be released until at least ten months from now I'm probably getting way ahead of myself. I might see the edits for Ner Li or Elemental Ride first. I'm also waiting on copy edits for Dragon Dilemma. I don't expect to hear yes or no about whether LT3 accepted Justified for a while, but that is another item I'm waiting to hear about. I'll be sure to let everyone know once I hear about any of my stories.

News: So Many exciting Things

4/9/2016

4/9/16

The most exciting thing that happened to me this week is I found out where I'm going to be sent after my training is completed. I won't say where online, but I'm very happy with it. Of course, this means I need to find a new place to live and finagle all the other moving details. There's two months left of my training, so that's my time-schedule to get everything done. I still have to get through a number of big tests first, though, including another doozy on Monday, but there's so much to look forward to that I can't help being eager about my future.
The next bit of exciting news is the fact that I have finally returned the second round of edits for Dragon Detective to LT3. That's the last big step to take before Detective really starts hurtling down the path towards publishing. I'm hoping to see a 2016 release date for it, but there hasn't been any word yet.
The last bit of exciting news also had me jumping for joy. LT3 accepted four of my submissions! The next three books in my Supernatural Consultant Series--Dragon Soldier, Dragon Adventure, and Dragon Home--are a go! Additionally, my Hanukkah-themed short story, Ner Li (I Have a Candle), was also accepted to LT3's Sharing the Season call. I'm assuming a December 2016 release date for it, but I'll try not to count my chickens too soon.