Category: Dragon Soldier - Mell Eight's Writing Blog

What I'm Working on Now

9/24/2020

9/24/20

To anyone that celebrates, I hope you had a happy new year and have an easy fast!

The response for Dragon Soldier has been beyond amazing. Readers really seem to love it, and that has me so excited! I was incredibly busy the last few weeks, so I never got around to posting the new cover, but it's as wonderful as the rest of the series. You can check it out here! Dragon Adventures, the next book in the series is completely ready to go. All we're waiting on is the cover, but the editing is done. I hope to have the official release date for you very soon.

Sticking with news about my Supernatural Consultant series, I have been writing Dragon Spy again. I finally figured out one of the reasons the story wasn't flowing correctly was because the prologue really needed to be chapter one instead. I started writing a new prologue, which introduces a new dragon, and it's already looking so much better! There's still a lot of little plot details to work out, but overall this story is really starting to take shape.

I have also finally finished the preliminary round of edits for Kelpie Blue, which is still slated to come out in January. The prelims were a beast to get through, and it took me a lot longer than I had hoped, but I did it and the story looks so much tighter because of it. I'm also super excited to start working on a different series. As much as I love my dragons, taking a break to play with a feisty kelpie was awesome.

Next on my editing to-do list are the prelims for Magnified. I think I got into a groove with Kelpie Blue, so I'm hoping to carry that forward and blaze through Magnified. I am also expecting the first round of edits for A Little Fairy Dust, my fairy tale anthology. It's a huge book, so it will take a little longer to go through the editing process, which is why I'm expecting it to land in my inbox any day now.

Out Now: Dragon Soldier

9/21/2020

Dragon Soldier

The aftermath of the last battle has left Nickel weak in bed and grounded for the next decade. Despite being in trouble, Nickel wants to return to the battle against the enemy as soon as he can, but thoughts of Platinum, the dragon helping to nurse him back to health, keep distracting him.

Platinum can’t believe how much his life has changed. He went from being a lonely fugitive on the run to part of a family in only hours. The last few days have been his happiest, especially now that he’s met Nickel. He knows it’s only temporary, though. The enemy that kept him captive for most of his life isn’t finished with him yet, but even Platinum and Nickel’s combined powers might not be enough to save them all.

A Break from Editing

7/15/2020

7/15/20

I am caught up on editing. Shocking, I know, but I don't have any edits to complete right now. The copy edits for Dragon Soldier, book five in my Supernatural Consultant series, are complete and off to the proof reader for final checks. I also completed the first round of edits for Dragon Adventure, and expect the second half for Dragon Home to arrive soon, but until then I have no edits on my plate!

Which means I finally have free time! Normally, I'd be taking this opportunity to get some writing done, but that's unfortunately not going to happen this month. I have been spending every free moment wrapping fragile things in paper, packing boxes, and bringing what I can safely carry on my own over to the new house. I already spent one long night cleaning and measuring for new appliances. Area rugs are arriving by mail and the place is slowly starting to feel like it's mine. Even after the moving van comes and goes, I know I'm going to be spending a lot of time I would normally devote to writing to unpacking instead.

What does this mean in the long run? Not much. NSP still has 25+ of my books to evaluate, edit, and publish. Anything I completed now would simply go to the end of that very long list and you wouldn't see it for a few years. While there are books I would love this chance to get ahead on (Codified being number one on that list), I have to be pragmatic here. Taking the time to get my real life in order is just as important as completing more of the research Codified needs. Truth is, one of the big impediments to my writing has been my environment. I'm constantly interrupted by annoying neighbors being obnoxious, and that hasn't been good for my writing for a while now. After the move, when I have my own, quiet, place, I do feel that writing will go better. Hopefully next time I get a nice break between edits I'll be in a position to really get some writing done.

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.

Out Now: Dragon Soldier

3/8/2017

Dragon Soldier

The aftermath of the last battle has left Nickel weak in bed and grounded for the next decade. Despite being in trouble, Nickel wants to return to the battle as soon as he can, but thoughts of Platinum, the dragon helping to nurse him back to health, keep distracting him.

Platinum can't believe how much his life has changed. He went from being a lonely fugitive on the run to part of a family in only hours. The last few days have been his happiest, especially now that he's met Nickel. He knows it's only temporary, though. The enemy that kept him captive for most of his life isn't finished with him yet, and even Platinum and Nickel's combined powers might not be enough to save them.

News: Giveaway and Writing

2/26/2017

2/26/17

Dragon Soldier is coming out March 8th and right now you can get it for a 15% discount at LT3. It's also up for LT3's monthly giveaway on Goodreads. Just leave a comment to enter:
https://www.goodreads.com/topic/show/18498851-giveaway---dragon-soldier-by-mell-eight
In case you missed my earlier post, Dragon Soldier also has an excerpt up. It's a nice chunk from the first chapter and if you're aching over the semi-cliffhanger Dragon Detective ended in, this will alleviate that: https://www.lessthanthreepress.com/excerpt-dragon-soldier/
I'm still tapping away at The Sentinel's Prophesy. I've written about 1k words today and I think the story's coming along nicely. There's a repetitive section in the first chapter I need to go back and fix, but right now I'm trying to work on the future parts of the story. My main character has finally started growing, the romance is blossoming, and the set up for the big confrontation has begun. I still have at least 10k words more to write and am hoping the rest of the story comes along smoothly.
In order to push my stalled muse, I went and reread some of my older, languishing stories. One of the ones I reread was my superhero story. It's a weird sort of anti-hero story and I do like what I've written so far, except for one very important factor: the romance is a bit sudden, without what would normally be very necessary build-up. I'm trying to decide if I need to go back and rework it. Since it's an integral aspect to the story I can't move forward with the rest of the book until it's fixed. It's also possible that I don't need to rework the romance. I could add in a bit of drama about them jumping into bed so quickly instead, which will add an interesting bit of tension to the middle of the story, but I'm still worried that the choppiness of it in the beginning might throw some readers off.
The other story I looked at was Ink, and I really, really like what I've written. It's snarky with enough humor that it feels light despite some rather horrible history one of the characters experienced. I'm a little concerned that I might bother some religious folks, given that in the first scene Lucifer feels up Jesus. Since Jesus holds his own in a properly pious way, I'm hoping it's not too offensive. The problem with this story is I haven't figured out what's next. Inky and Lucifer have gone through the proper introductions, the bad guy has been foreshadowed, and I have absolutely no idea what the next step might be. I know there needs to be mayhem at Lucifer's court and the bad guy has to do bad things, but I'm blanking on how to get there. Only once I figure that out will this story begin moving forward again.

News: This Past Week

2/20/2017

2/20/17

The Sentinel's Prophesy is still growing. I'm just about finished with the difficult section that I've been stalled on. The next step is building up the romance while heading to the final confrontation with the bad guy. The stories in this series are designed to be only 20k words, so at 8k Prophesy is really in great shape.
Aside from Prophesy, I don't really have anything on my short-term to-do list. Of course I want to complete every story on my current projects list, but none of them are really jumping out a me. A story has to call to me with new ideas, and right now I'm drawing a blank. Something will start percolating soon, but it's nice to be able to exclusively work on Prophesy right now too.
I have received my author copies of Dragon Soldier, which means it is 100% ready for publishing. There's only a few short weeks before it comes out. March 8th can't come fast enough. Make sure you have your copy pre-ordered so you get it for a 15% discount: https://lessthanthreepress.com/books...

News: Submissions, Editing, and Writing

1/31/2017

1/31/2017

Dragon Spy was accepted by LT3! I'm so excited! You have no idea how happy I am to finally be writing again and for the writing process to be bearing such wonderful fruit. More on that below. Spy is the start of the next arc (careful readers of the series will have some inkling of what the new arc might be because I have been hinting). Unfortunately, I'm still not sure what book I want to work on next for this series. Hopefully I'll figure it out soon because I definitely have some awesome plans for our favorite dragons!
The copy edits for Dragon Soldier have been returned to LT3. It's almost ready for release on March 8th, so make sure to get your pre-order in now: lessthanthreepress.com/bo oks...
And don't forget that Ge-Mi: Part One comes out next week! If you want it for a 15% discount, pre-order ASAP: lessthanthreepress.com/books...
Now that Dragon Spy is completed and accepted by LT3, and now that I've given up on forcing A Dream Is A Wish Your Heart Makes to be completed this month, I don't have a story I'm focusing exclusively on. I really want to take this opportunity to shrink my to-list, which is far too massive. There are a number of stories on it that I have been slowly working on for years and years. Ge-Mi: Part One was a story that sat for a very long time, so seeing it finally be released is galvanizing. There are two stories on my to-do list that are just as old--if not older--than Ge-Mi: my Dragon's Hoard Short Stories and Kelpie Blue. I've been stuck on the Dragon's Hoard stories for a while. I know what I want to write, but the words just aren't coming. Every once in a while I pluck away at it, but it's not growing the way I want it to. Kelpie Blue, on the other hand, is huge. This story has taken so long to write because of the sheer amount of research it has needed. The mythology, horses, and everything else that's gone into it has required careful checking and double checking to make certain my facts were all correct, which has slowed the writing process down considerably. I would absolutely love it if Kelpie Blue were the next story I submitted.

In the last few days I've added over 10k words to Kelpie Blue. It's finally approaching the final fight scene/climax and every last bit of remaining plot has been completely planned out. I know exactly what's going to happen next. All I need to do is write it all down. That will still take time, of course, but I've been working on Kelpie Blue since 2013. A few more weeks or months won't hurt.

News: My Current To-Do List

1/25/2017

1/25/17

The final proof for Ge-Mi: Part One is completed and Ge-Mi is therefore ready to go for its February 8th release. You can read an excerpt and preorder for a 15% discount at LT3:
https://lessthanthreepress.com/books...
LT3 is also hosting a giveaway for Ge-Mi on their Goodreads page:
https://www.goodreads.com...giveaway---ge-mi-by-mell-eight
I am working on the copy edits for Dragon Soldier. They're straightforward--fixing commas and smoothing sentences--and I hope to have it returned to LT3 this week. With the copy edits complete, all that's left to do for this story is the final proof and it will be ready for release on March 8th. You can also preorder for a 15% discount at LT3: https://lessthanthreepress.com/books...
I unfortunately will not be able to finish my story, A Dream is a Wish Your Heart Makes, for LT3's For the Hoard call. I really like the story, but the plot has been fighting with me. The first draft only wanted to be 5k words--LT3 was asking for 20k--and my efforts to expand were only leading towards 10k. I think I finally have a good idea to get the story's length up, but I won't be able to finish it by the end of the month. I do have a few ideas for alternative ways to submit this story (maybe I'll combine it with some of my out of print books?) so I hope to have it completed soon.

Dragon Soldier's Release Date

12/17/2016

Some of you might have noticed that when Dragon Soldier was posted on LT3's website and on Goodreads, the release date was March 8, 2017. I noticed too, especially since I've been saying for months now that Soldier wasn't going to come out until April. I have investigated, and it turns out the new date is correct; LT3 decided to move the release ahead a month. That's great news for everyone anxiously awaiting the conclusion to Nickel and Platinum's two-part story.

I didn't mind the date change, except it now means that I will be releasing one book every month for seven straight months. Magnified started it off in September, then Dragon Detective in October, and Elemental Ride and Ner Li in November and December. I still have to complete The Case of the Wandering Wolves for January, Ge-Mi: Part One for February, and now Dragon Soldier in March. That's a heck of a lot of work to squeeze into the same time frame, but it's doable.

Then I found out why Dragon Soldier was pushed up a month: LT3 wanted to create some space between the release of Dragon Soldier and the release of Dragon Adventure, the next book in the series. Dragon Adventure is slated for a May release date (I don't know the exact date yet, but I have submitted an inquiry to LT3 to find out more). It was deemed that releasing Dragon Soldier in April was too close to the release of Dragon Adventure in May, so the solution was to move Dragon Soldier earlier. What this means is you will only have to wait two short months between books in this series, which I know is more great news for readers anxiously awaiting each subsequent book.

(On a side note, as of writing this blog post I only have approximately 10k words left to write in Dragon Spy. I have also started planning the story that comes after Dragon Spy, which will feature Nickel and Platinum again, and I am trying to decide if Alloy's story should be a full sized one or if it would be better suited as a short story like Adventure and Home. Needless to say, I'm really enjoying writing this series and I honestly hope you're enjoying reading it.)

The warning LT3 posts on every pre-order page on their website that release dates are subject to change is a very apt one in this case. Regardless of the change, I'm very excited about how things are going for this series and on March 8, 2017 I know you will be too! Until then, feel free to pre-order Dragon Soldier: https://lessthanthreepress.com/books...