1/1/24
My memory is comprised of Swiss cheese. I swear. I've written three separate posts in the past month, and said "I'll edit and post it after I [insert random activity here]." The realization that I never got around to actually posting came about two days later. By the time I found five free minutes, the contents were obsolete. I ended up writing a new post, and the cycle continued. I swore to myself that this weekend I would absolutely get my post actually posted. (You'll notice today is Monday...so I failed...sigh.) Anyway, I hope everyone had a very happy holiday season and a happy New Year! Here's what I've been working on the past few weeks: The draft of the cover for Soul Bond is absolutely perfect. And pink. I can't wait to share it with you, as it's completely different to every other cover I've ever had. I'm so excited for my fantasy Valentines story to come out. It was so much fun to write, and we're reaching the final countdown to release! Soul Bond is currently scheduled to come out at the end of January. I expect to have pre-order information to share very soon. Gifting a Dragon's Heart has completed both rounds of edits and is off to the copy editor. This story is moving through the editing process at a lightning pace. I expect to have a scheduled release date sometime soon. Generally, NSP likes to schedule releases after copy edits are completed, so keep an eye out for that step in the process. I have gotten a ton of writing done in The Spy, the third book in my Princes of Toval trilogy. I'm at 24k words, which means I've written about 15k in the last three weeks. The Spy is on track for at least a 50k, if not a 60k, final word count. My characters spent a long time stuck in the woods, and I couldn't figure out how to get them moving on to the next bit of plot. Chapter 8 is therefore a good bit longer than I usually want, but I'm finally on to chapter 9 and a new setting. I have almost finished the build-up for the midway point in the book, after which the story switches gears. I'm excited to write the next half, so I'm really hoping to get to work on it soon. My plans for this new year haven't changed from what I've said before. Now that it's January, I get to pull out The Prince, book two in my Princes of Toval trilogy. The Prince will get a final edit, I'll format it for submission, and send it off for NSP's consideration. I'm also expecting the first round of edits for The Chef, book one, very soon. Once I finish writing The Spy, my plan is to see about getting some of my older, languishing stories completed. I have so many ideas for new books, but my to-do list is far too big. Fingers crossed I can finish some of them in the next year!
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11/5/23
This weekend has been all about edits. So many edits! First I received edits for Soul Bond, which needed to be completed quickly because of the time crunch. Soul Bond is absolutely adorable, so working on the edits wasn't a chore, but they still took some time. I would say we are ahead of schedule in terms of a February release, but considering mine won't be the only story coming out then, being ahead is a good thing. I expect to have the second round of edits for this story soon. Next I received the first round of edits for Gifting a Dragon's Heart. That is the title my editor and I have decided on. It's shorter and more direct, and still has excellent connections to the book itself. You Can't Sell A Dragon's Heart is therefore no more, and I will be referring to this story moving forward as Gifting a Dragon's Heart. The edits for this story took a lot more time, mostly because this story is three times longer. Months have gone by since I last looked at this story, and I forgot how charming it is. The combination of sci-fi and fantasy, plus the very interesting main characters, and I've fallen in love with it again. I'm looking forward to the second round of edits, but those won't be ready for a while. I hope to have more information on release dates to share soon. Once I was done with both of those, I was finally able to return to my own edits for The Prince. I'm really, really happy with how this story turned out. It's got a sweet romance, some great action scenes, and a plot I enjoyed rereading. Despite taking longer than I would have liked, I was able to finish this round of edits. The Prince will now go into hibernation. At this point, I'm thinking late January would be the best time to pull it out again for a last edit and formatting for submission. The timing depends entirely on whether I'm editing other stories then, of course, but I'm already looking forward to getting this story submitted. I wanted to work on The Spy this weekend too, but the edits were too much. Fingers crossed I'll be able to get a lot of writing done this next week, but I have a feeling I'll be getting more edits again instead. Either way, I know it will be fun! 10/31/23
First off, Happy Halloween or Blessed Samhain to everyone who celebrates! I am writing this while waiting to see whether I'll get any trick-or-treater's this year. In past years I haven't gotten any, but I live in hope. My fake pumpkin is lit up (we have critters that eat real pumpkins, so it's fake or nothing), my candy bowl is full, and my porch light is on. We'll see if anyone rings the doorbell. With my luck, it'll be another political solicitor, of which I'm currently averaging one a week. Something about my neighborhood apparently attracts them. No idea why. Also, I'm eating the candy, but that's a different issue. As everyone who reads this blog probably knows, I struggle regularly to come up with titles for my books and my series. I can create a complex magic system and figure out how to incorporate it into a Valentine's Day plot, but deciding on a title for that story took me much, much longer. I eventually decided on Soulbond, simply because that's what the holiday is referred to in the fantasy world of this book. My editor loved the story and NSP has accepted it for publication. (I'm very happy!!!!) But. You guessed it. Soulbond is now Soul Bond, two words, to make it easier for readers to find. I told you my editor is brilliant! She's the one who pointed out something that simple. Soul Bond will presumably be released sometime around Valentine's Day 2024. When exactly is dependent on how editing goes, which should begin this week, and how many other themed stories are coming out at the same time. I'll let you know when I learn more. Another story having title trouble is You Can't Sell A Dragon's Heart. The title is apparently too long and will mess up all sorts of formatting. I didn't exactly consider the formatting when I thought of the title, but it's something I'm going to have to remember in the future. My editor offered a couple ideas, and I've thought of some, but finding something perfect is proving difficult. I'm going to have to sleep on it, but if anyone has a good idea, please feel free to share. We will also be starting the first round of edits for this story this week, so I'm hoping inspiration strikes while I'm neck deep in grammar clauses. Since I forgot to formalize it, I did decide on the official title for the series that includes The Chef, The Prince, and The Spy. I'm calling it Princes of Toval, for reasons that become clear in the books. If I tell you why, I might ruin some surprises, particularly in The Spy which I'm writing right now. Thank you so much to everyone who suggested options! I really appreciated it, and it helped me solidify which direction to go in for the series name. 10/29/23
Sometimes it's the little things that really make me feel like I've done a ton. Filled and ran the dishwasher? Check! Gotten to the grocery store? Check! Sorted the dirty laundry and put a load in the wash? Check! Submitted a new story to NSP? Check! All of those combined make me feel like I've accomplished something, and that's the positive mindset I need to delve into writing and editing. When all those chores and tasks start looming over me, each one demanding I take care of them first, I start to feel buried and overwhelmed. Not that I don't procrastinate like the best of them. The only reason my dishwasher got run was because I literally ran out of cups and had no choice but to muster the extreme effort to deal with it. And yet, somehow I felt really, really good when the dishwasher made that beeping noise four hours later, telling me it was done. Yes, I also submitted a story to NSP! I told you I had completed writing my idea for NSP's internal Valentine's Day call, a fantasy/romance story called Soulbond, and I wanted to give Soulbond a bit to rest before the deadline. Well, my editor requested I submit Soulbond as soon as possible, to ensure she had enough time to review it too. Since my editor is the absolute best, I had to do as she asked. Soulbond received my final editing round much sooner than I prefer, but it is shined up and good to go. I think my editor will like it as much as I do, but I'll be sure to let everyone know as soon as I learn more! Of course, focusing on Soulbond exclusively to ensure it was done in time means the rest of my stories had to be set aside for the moment. I am a little over halfway through with my post-writing, first pass edit for The Prince. This is the quick edit I give a story when it's all still fresh in my mind, before I leave it to sit and marinate for a few months. I had hoped to already be done and The Prince in its waiting phase, but I've learned sometimes you just have to roll with whatever comes. Getting Soulbond submitted was more important than getting The Prince to its next step. I should have plenty of time to work on The Prince this weekend, but at this point I likely won't pull it out for that final edit and preparation for submission until late January at the earliest. Writing is where I've fallen short in my accomplishments this week. I haven't had time to write anything because I've been so focused on getting all those edits done. That said, there's a good chance I'll finish editing The Prince soon, so I might be able to get some work done in The Spy this weekend as well. 5/5/23
...and I'm sneezing. The flowers are pretty, but behind that beauty lies a nefarious evil. LOL I live where I get to experience four distinct seasons because I love it. The anticipation as winter comes to an end, knowing warmth and sunshine and the beach are just around the corner is only matched by my anticipation in August that the oppressive heat of summer will soon be tempered by snow. The dopamine boosting cycle of anticipation and fulfillment is exactly why I never want to go anywhere else. That said, spring is probably my least favorite season, mostly because I spend a lot of April and May, and sometimes into June, fighting off sinus migraines, runny noses, and general blah. I always find my writing suffers because of this; if I have a major headache, the last thing I want is the bright lights of a computer screen. Luckily, I seem to be doing okay so far this year. The word count for The Chef continues to steadily grow. I passed 50k last week, making this officially the second longest single story I've ever written. Only Magnified is longer. I'm certainly happy with how much I've been able to put into this one new story. All that's left to write is the final battle and the wrap up, so fingers crossed this story will be done soon. If you pre-ordered Hunter from NSP, make sure you go download your copy to read! Hunter is officially released there. For every other retailer where Hunter is sold, May 9th is only a few days away! I can't wait for everyone to get a chance to catch up with Kana and and Ember, and Kana's familiars, and see where this new adventure brings them! I have also started working on the first round of edits for Twin Elements, my high fantasy stand alone about a pair of twins trying to survive some difficult political mechanizations all while falling in love with the people who come to save them. Twin Elements is such a fun bit of world building and character development. I loved writing it, so revisiting this story in edits has been wonderful. That's basically everything I've been up to this past week. I'm starting to plan my garden for this year, which is mostly veggies, and I'm mentally preparing for my first, inevitable sunburn of summer. I'm also starting a new paint by numbers project that will likely take a few months to complete (I chose a really complicated one this time), so I'm excited about that. Otherwise, it's just work, figuring out what my chef in The Chef will cook next, and sneezing. So. Much. Sneezing. Summer, here I come! 1/8/23 I hope everyone has had a good weekend! I'm not used to having normal, two day weekends any more. The last few weekends have been longer because of the various holidays; suddenly going back to normal has been a touch shocking. LOL Mentally, I thought I had more time to get everything I needed to done, and now the sun has set Sunday night and my to-do list hasn't shrunk all that much. I hope you all were able to accomplish more than me, although I did have a nice weekend despite how short. I finished my chamomile paint by numbers project a few weeks back. I hung it in my kitchen and am super happy with how it turned out. For those of you who might remember, my kitchen was sponge painted orange by the previous owners. It's far more cost effective to mask the orange than to sand the walls down and repaint. The white chamomiles with their gentle orange centers look like they belong while toning down the orange wall perfectly! I started my next paint by numbers project too. I found a series of four miniature paintings that look like watercolor flowers. I don't know where I'm going to hang them yet, but the first one I"m working on is going really well. I'm very happy with it! I also received the second round of edits for my short mermaid story Water's Price. The story is really coming together and I'm very happy with it. I hope to have information on a potential release date very soon. I was able to get a bit more written in Vivary Tales, too, and I also worked on some plotting to figure out the villain and the conflict. The first story is definitely going to be light enemies to lovers. I haven't figured out the second story yet, but I have basic ideas budding for the third and fourth. I am also planning to turn this into a series, since I have a great idea for book two, but first I need to make some real progress on book one. And now I'm off to enjoy the last few hours of the weekend, before returning to the daily grind in the morning. 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! 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! 6/10/22
I have a bunch of good things to share with you all! Let's start with upcoming releases. The reprints of Space Stars and The Oracle's Flame have both completed the proofing stage of the editing process. I have seen both covers, and they're amazing. All the books need are ARCs and a release date, which means they should be ready very soon. The remaining five books in my Oracle's Series are all with a proofer right now, so they're only one step behind. This includes the brand new final book in the series, The Oracle's Current. Aside from completing those proofs as they come in, I will have a bit more editing to accomplish this summer. I have been informed the first book in my brand new Witch's Circle trilogy is with an editor! This is the first step in the lengthy process of getting it published, but after a long wait, I'm incredibly excited to see Coven moving forward. I expect to have more good news to share about this story soon. And here's that good news! The latter two books in the trilogy, Hunter and Witch have been accepted for publishing at NSP! In NSP's response, they said they really liked them and that the trilogy as a whole was excellent. I will keep everyone in the loop as these two stories progress through the publishing process. In addition to that, NSP also accepted my mermaid fairy tale Water's Price for their NSP Shorts collection, so I'll keep you appraised of that story as well. My last bit of good news is that I have been writing! Unfortunately, it's not any of the stories on my to do list, but as far as I'm concerned, writing is writing. I don't have a title for it yet, but the premise of the story is the king gets poisoned and his identical twin has to step in to keep the kingdom from collapsing all while desperately trying to find a cure. In comes the handsome prince from the neighboring kingdom, and...drama. I've written approximately 10k words so far, so I've reached the drama portion of that explanation. There's also a lot of lava. I'm 50/50 on whether this story will be a stand alone, or whether I'll put it in with my second fairy tale anthology. If it ends up being longer than 30k, it'll be a stand alone, but there's too much for me still to write to be able to estimate the final word count just yet. Once I know that (and have a working title), I'll get it up on my Current Projects page. 5/22/22
I just realized how long it's been since I've posted! My books are all moving along, so I keep thinking I'll have something significant to share really soon. And then I never end up posting anything... Anyway, all six books in my Oracle Series are basically ready for publishing. I'm waiting on ARCs for the first few and final proofs for the last few. The new covers are gorgeous, so I'm very much looking forward to posting about them. I expect The Oracle's Flame will be available for pre-order in the very near future. Once I learn more, I'll definitely share it, because I know you all have been anxiously waiting for this series as much as me. In other news, I submitted three brand new books to NSP for their consideration. The latter two books in my Witch's Circle trilogy had been sitting around for a while, so I was glad to send them in. Hopefully NSP likes them both! I also decided to submit one of the fairy tales I recently finished writing. It's a Little Mermaid rewrite (of sorts) that is too short for traditional publishing, but is perfect for NSP's Shorts collection. It's one of the stories I'm planning to include in my second fairy tale anthology, but I thought it might be nice to give everyone a hint of what is to come. On the writing front, things have been less successful and I unfortunately don't foresee that changing this summer. I have been so busy at work, that by the time I get home I'm totally burned out. Then I need the entire weekend to recover. I've been fitting editing in, but that's about it. My summer is going to be crazy too. I am hoping things will calm down by autumn. In the meantime, I'll try to keep up with my blog posting a little better! |
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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