Category: Editing

News: Procrastination is Going Well

6/24/2017

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6/24/17

I received the edits for Gathering the Hoard, the Dragon's Hoard short stories, and for Justified and I did start working on them both, but then the next thing I knew I had somehow managed to write 5k words for If A Butterfly Don't Fly and hadn't touched my edits in a week. That was not my intention in the least bit, especially since both sets of edits are already running a bit behind schedule. My plan to bust my butt this weekend and see if I can get the edits for Gathering the Hoard done and get a good chunk of Justified completed too has so-far been successful. Gathering the Hoard was just returned to LT3, so if I can get a lot accomplished in Justified, I can stop feeling guilty about procrastinating from edits by writing.
Speaking of If A Butterfly Don't Fly, that story is going amazingly well. I've added 5k words and I think I've figured out an extra twist that will make the story longer and will also help to strengthen the romantic elements. Right now there is a romance, but it's a little stilted, and the twist will hopefully help to iron everything out. I hope to reach my goal of 40k soon.
The reviews for Dragon Home have been beyond amazing. Everyone seems to have really enjoyed reading it, which I am so ecstatic to hear. The next step for this series is Dragon Spy, which is slated to be released this October. I'm hoping to have the next book in this series mostly written by that point, but that's only going to happen if the edits stop coming in so quickly. Since I still have three more stories I haven't seen edits for just yet, I have doubts on my ability to get book seven completed before book six is released. The good news is, I think I've come up with a title for book seven. What do you think of Dragon Trick? That's still subject to change, of course, but it fits with how the story is writing so far.

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News: Edits and Books Going Out of Print

6/3/2017

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6/3/17

The edits for the first three books of my Dragon's Hoard series are back with LT3! (And I got them back on time for once...) I should be getting the edits for book four of the series and the short stories soon. I also returned the second round of edits for Dragon Home. Those were late because I got distracted by my Dragon's Hoard, but hopefully LT3 will still be able to get the story out in time.
For those of you that receive LT3's newsletter you probably already know this, but a few more of my stories will be going out of print soon. On June 15, 2017, My Truest Love (from Rocking Hard V. 2) and Hearts Tournament (from Won't Back Down) will both be going out of print.
As always when one of my stories goes out of print, I have to decide whether I want to reprint. At this moment I'm fairly certain I will not be resubmitting My Truest Love, which means you only have a few more weeks to get a copy before it'll be gone forever. I'm less certain about what to do with Heart's Tournament. I really enjoyed writing that story, but my readers weren't so enthused. I need to read through Heart's Tournament and see if there are sections I can edit to try to smooth out some of the issues. If I'm happy with what results, I'll resubmit, but I can't make any promises.

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News: So Many Edits

5/23/2017

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5/23/17

I expected this to happen, given how quickly the various deadlines are approaching, but I've been buried in edits. Okay, maybe I'm exaggerating a bit, but I didn't expect the rewrite edits for my Dragon's Hoard series to be quite so involved. I've received the edits for the first three books in the series and have begun working on them. I knew there had to be some grammar and spelling issues given that it was my first full series, but I assumed the overall content would be fine. I was wrong, particularly with Stealing the Dragon, which has one of my minor, but still important characters needing a bit of an overhaul. I started with that story, since it needs the most work, but it's definitely going to be a bit of a struggle to get all of it done in time. (I should probably get to work instead of writing this...)
What I'm really amazed with is how much my writing has changed over the years. Back in 2010 and 2011 when I wrote my Dragon's Hoard series, I was definitely a novice and these stories do show a little of that. I definitely wouldn't have been capable of writing something so involved as Justified way back then. And yet, at the same time I can see glimmers of the growth I've since had in some of the twists and turns my characters go through. In many ways, going back through these older stories is a reminder of where I started, but it's also a lesson in understanding where I've since gone and I think my writing ability will be improved because of it. I can't wait to see what will happen as I keep on writing!
Speaking of editing, I finished writing my Rapunzel story and now I need to give it a quick edit before I set it aside. I want to fix the glaring mistakes now when I know what I meant to write. I also think I might need to bump up the romance a smidge as so much of the story is focused on the tower itself rather than the characters. Of course, this story will have to wait until all my other edits with actual time limits are completed.
Those edits also include the second round of edits for Dragon Home, which I am now remembering I never returned to LT3. I am clearly failing at being a good author at the moment, so I'll stop writing this and will get back to doing the work I would very much like to get completed before the looming due dates.

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Given my lackluster success at last month's goals list, I'm going to be a bit more broad this month. Since there aren't any major holidays this month, I should have three solid weekends for writing. The last weekend is my cousin's wedding, so I'll be traveling for that, but that's the end of the month and I'm really hoping to have all my goals completed by then. Here's the plan:

Writing. Any writing at all will accomplish this goal, but I'm hoping to complete my Rapunzel story this month.
Editing. It's getting to be crunch time for some of my stories. The release of Justified is coming very quickly in June and I haven't gotten the second round of edits yet. Plus, the reprint of my Dragon's Hoard series is this July and I haven't gotten any edits for them either. I'm certain there will be a lot of edits to complete this month.
Planning. Two of my stories need more planning before I can really start writing: Book Seven of my Supernatural Consultant series and Book Three of my Magnified series. If I can finish this, I hope to be able to start writing next month.

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News: Things I'm Working On

2/11/2017

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2/11/2017

Reviewers are really liking Ge-Mi: Part One, which is so amazing to hear. This story is so different to what I normally write, since it's sci-fi and there isn't a single dragon, and I was a bit worried that my usual readers might not flock to Ge-Mi the way they have to my Supernatural Consultant series. I'm glad to learn that my fears were unfounded. If you've read and enjoyed Ge-Mi, don't forget you can always post a review to Goodreads, Amazon, or wherever you purchased your copy. I am always eager to know what you thought and to learn from any constructive criticism you can offer.
I'm still plugging away at the edits for Justified, but I'll have them back to LT3 this weekend. There's a few more little things to fix and an overall read-though, and then it's back to the editor for round two. I need to start working on the final book of the trilogy (although my editor has already asked for an additional side story about the dragon in the book). I have some ideas and have started building the prologue, but each of the books has been set on a theme and I haven't settled on what my theme for this book will be. I'm leaning towards a Passover/Exodus sort of idea, but I need to flesh it out a bit more before I can really start working on it.
Once the edits are back with LT3, it's finally time to return to Kelpie Blue. I've let it sit for a bit to marinate, and now I need to go over it with a fine toothed comb. Editing for submission is always exciting because it's my last chance to polish a story before LT3 makes the decision if they want to accept it for publishing. This story is also a bit quirky in that it's different to what I usually write, but I really, really love the story and the characters so I think it will go over well. My only concern is that it has some odd formatting that LT3 and some readers might not appreciate, but I'm going to give it a try anyway.

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News: Happy Holidays

12/26/2016

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12/26/16

I hope everyone is having a wonderful holiday, whether you celebrate or are simply having a good weekend. My siblings and I went to see Sing and lit candles together, and then we went for Chinese food last night. It was a lot of fun.
I'm a little behind on the copy edits for The Case of the Wandering Wolves. That's not good because it's coming out soon. My plan is to spend all of today working on it, so I can get it back to LT3 asap. The edits are considerably more involved than I expected for a copy edit, but they're all absolutely necessary. It's time consuming, which is why I'm devoting an entire day to it.
I've been working on Dragon Spy, which I am really excited about. It's at 24k words and all I have left to write is the conclusion to the final action scene and the epilogue. It's come a long way in a short amount of time, but now I've reached the stage of 'what next'. Nickel and Platinum have a story that occurs at the same time as Dragon Spy, so do I want to write that one next? Lumie needs another story too, however I haven't planned anything for him yet. There's also Alloy's story which I'm still dithering over. I'm also certain that after you all read Dragon Adventure and Dragon Home I'm going to start getting requests for more Aqua and Rios. There are so many options to choose from. Do you all have a preference?

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July Goals: Results

7/26/2016

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July was supposed to be my comeback month, but I am still plagued with writer's block. I am having a lot of trouble finding the motivation to keep working on any of my works-in-progress. It's honestly a bit maddening. I want to write, I do, but it's just not happening. July ended up not being a good month for my goals.

Editing. I returned the edits for Dragon Soldier and Elemental Ride to LT3. I'm still working on the edits for The Case of the Wandering Wolves. I have also received the edits for Ge-Mi: Part One, so have been trying to get those completed as well.
Magnified, Book Three. I haven't touched this book all month. I wanted to, especially since I know what I need to do to finish the scene I working on, but it just wasn't happening.
Ge-Mi: Part Two. I tried to get some planning accomplished in this story. I know the overall plot, but am missing a lot of final details that are needed to have a smoothly-flowing story. Once I have those details figured out I should be able to return to writing this story.
The Oracle's Current. This is the story I wanted to work on the most, however when I read through what I have written I realized there is a lot of editing that needs to be done. It's missing something, which is why I think this story has been sitting stagnant for so long. I need to figure out what that something is so I can finally complete it.

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News: Where Has This Month Gone?

7/25/2016

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7/25/16

I swear, July just started. It was literally just the first week of July an hour ago. Why the heck is my calendar telling me it's actually the last week instead? I can't believe how quickly this month has flown past and how little I've been able to accomplish this entire time. I thought I still had plenty of time to finish my goals, but it looks like that's not going to happen. That's not good; I'll have to work even harder next month.
Magnified is out on pre-order at LT3 and posted on Goodreads. Make sure to check it out both places because I know you're going to love it when it comes out on September 7th.
I received edits from the proof reader for Magnified yesterday. It's all simple fixes that can be time consuming, but they need to be done. Since Magnified is coming out soon, I'm focusing on getting those completed ASAP before returning to the rest of the edits I'm still working on. The Case of the Wandering Wolves is being stubborn, but I'm slowly making progress. I also received the edits for Ge-Mi: Part One. I have a bit of an issue with passive tense, which I knew about beforehand, but I apparently didn't apply any of that knowledge to Ge-Mi so there's a lot of 'was' to fix in the edits. There's still a good bit to get done in both sets of edits, so I'm going to keep on working and I'll hopefully have them back to LT3 soon.

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News: Lots of Edits

7/8/2016

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7/8/16

This past week has been all about the edits. First, I finished the overdue edits for Dragon Soldier. I was a few days late getting them back, but it wasn't bad enough to cause any problems with the release. I'm hoping the editor can save me, since I couldn't quite figure out the issue they wanted me to fix. I made an honest attempt, but it still needs some help. I'll let you know how it goes when the editor finishes the second round of edits and LT3 sends them back to me again.
As I was finishing up with Dragon Soldier, I started getting emails from LT3 with more edits. First, the second round of edits for The Case of the Wandering Wolves appeared. The edits look fairly straightforward. I needed some clarification and advice in a few spots that the editor helped me with. Once I get those spots smoothed out, this story will be awesome.
Next, the first round of edits for Elemental Ride appeared. There was one big issue, but it was a fairly easy fix. Aside from that, there wasn't really much else to do. I fixed the issue, read through the story, and have already returned it to LT3 for a second round of edits. The editor, I have to say, absolutely loved the story and I have to concur. Elemental Ride is easily one of the favorite stories that I've written.
After that, LT3 informed me that the first round of edits for Ge-Me: Part One were complete. However, the file was corrupted so they had to figure that out before sending them to me. I'm hoping to receive them soon.

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July Goals

7/1/2016

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July is a wonderful month. Everything is warm, but it isn't scorching outside yet. My birthday is coming soon. And, of course, I usually have a great time with writing. This has always been my "last month of freedom" before that hellish six week job I've been doing every summer, except this summer I don't have to go back! I have my full time job, which, admittedly, I'm still settling in to, and it is so much better. With all that to look forward to, I'm really hoping writing will start picking up again.

Edits. I still have to finish the edits for Dragon Soldier. I'm delinquent on getting them back, so they're a priority right now. I also have the first round of edits for Elemental Ride and the second round of edits for The Case of the Wandering Wolves in my inbox. The first round of edits for Ge-Mi: Part One are on their way as well. That's a lot to do, so I need to get cracking.
Magnified, Book Three. I need to think of a title for this. It will be something-fied, but I haven't figured out what will work just yet. I also want to finish writing the prologue this month. It's only about 7k words to write, which is doable.
Ge-Mi: Part Two. With part one now having a release date, I realized I need to get cracking on part two. Mostly I need to start planning out the overall plot, which will require a good bit of work considering I haven't thought about this story in a long while.
The Oracle's Current. Speaking of stories I haven't touched in a while, I think this story wins that bet. It is long past time I finish writing this and complete the fifth and final part of this story set in the Oracle universe. There's a side story I want to write too, The Sentinel's Prophesy, but let me stick to one story at a time. When Current is finally completed I'll return to Prophesy.

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News: Procrastination is Going Well

News: Edits and Books Going Out of Print

News: So Many Edits

May Goals

News: Things I'm Working On

News: Happy Holidays

July Goals: Results

News: Where Has This Month Gone?

News: Lots of Edits

July Goals

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