10/12/20
I'm sure it surprises no one when I say edits are continuing. I am still working my way through A Little Fairy Dust. If It were only one story, I'd be done, but with so many together in the collection it takes on a unique set of challenges. Each individual story has a slightly different tone, which means I have to switch gears mentally whenever I finish one and start another. Completing the edits has been much harder than I expected as a result, but I'm making a lot of progress and I'm really happy with how all the stories are turning out. I'm hoping to have A Little Fairy Dust back to the editor really soon, which means I'll be able to return to working on Magnified again! Writing has been...well...sparse. I want to be working on Dragon Spy or Codified, but neither story has good chi for me right now. I need to figure out where I'm blocked so I can begin moving forward again. Instead, my brain has been poking at one of the random stories sitting on my to-do list. It's untitled and there's no summary (see Spirit Story on my current projects page), yet my brain has been coming up with ideas for the next scene. Spirit is supposed to be a slightly darker detective story. I want it to be more horror-style than my usual happy dragons (think Magnified, but with less traditional forms of magic), but I've got to be in a certain mood to write (my style of) horror, which hasn't happened lately or Codified would be flowing better. The other story that has been bugging me lately is one of the stories I never got around to writing ten years ago. A witch, exiled from his coven because he's male when all witches should be female, is forced to visit the den of vampires and werewolves by the news station he works for. That fateful meeting sets the carefully rebuilt life the witch had made into a tailspin. I've wanted to write the story for years, but haven't had the time with all the other stories on my to-do list. Suddenly my brain keeps replaying the opening scene over and over again, to the point that I need to write it down. I am hoping once I finish the two sets of edits on my plate I'll be able to get some writing in. Whether it will be for the two stories I need to be working on, or the two stories my brain is insisting I work on instead, I can't tell you. All I know is I'll be glad for any writing I do accomplish.
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10/4/20
Happy October everyone! The leaves are changing, there's a nip in the air, and my AM alarm keeps going off before the sun rises. After the hectic holidays, I'm looking forward to the chance to relax in the calm of autumn where the only thing I have to worry about is how much candy to buy this Halloween. Of course, I just bought a new house, so figuring out how to get it ready for winter is still stressing me out. I had a long telephone call this morning with a prospective oil company (my heat is oil and there's a massive tank in my garage). The poor lady had to explain where the gauge is to tell me how much oil is in my tank, and that the big red switch that says EMERGENCY is actually my burner switch. As long as it's in the on position, just setting my thermostat will do all the work. Phew. Turns out, the only thing I need to worry about in regards to my oil is keeping an eye on that gauge, and when it gets too low, give the company a call. I also have to figure out where the turn off valves for the outdoor spigots are, but I think that's going to be a conversation with the neighbors sort of adventure. Aside from that, my house is in good shape. The new blinds were finally delivered (first ones delivered were wrong, so I had to re-order them) and will be installed this week. The only other project I need to do is figure out how to anchor my new pantry to the stud in the wall, and then this house is as perfect as it's going to get! Which leaves me much more time to focus on my writing. I didn't get as far as I would have liked in Dragon Spy. The prologue is done and the chapters renumbered, but I need to get cracking on the next scene. The story is going to abruptly switch to Alloy's perspective, which I have been looking forward to writing for months, but everything else going on in my life keeps getting in the way (like calling oil companies this morning instead of writing). Also, edits keep popping up. Today's addition to my editing pool is the first round for A Little Fairy Dust, my fairy tale anthology. While the individual stories inside aren't too long, combined this is the largest single book I've ever written. I have no idea how much time it's going to take to finish the edits, so working on them is my priority at the moment. Which means Magnified, which I have the pre-edits for, is getting pushed aside again. Hopefully I'll be able to finish both sets of edits soon, so I can return to writing again. 8/17/20
Things are happening at an incredible pace right now. Every time I try to write a blog post, something new comes up and I have to scrap what I've written. I'm hoping to get this one posted before that happens again! Let me break all the news up into readable sections: Accepted Manuscripts
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. 5/03/20
I have a bunch of books coming out in the next few weeks, so I wanted to update you on where they stand: Ge-Mi: Part Two This story is completely ready to go. I finished the proofreader's final edits and have seen the draft of the cover. All that's left is for the ARCs to go out, which will happen soon. Part Two is scheduled to come out in May, and I expect to have a firm date once NSP posts it for pre-order on their website. I am incredibly excited for this story to come out. Not only have readers waited literally years for it, but it is the first brand new story of mine NSP is releasing. I'm super excited to see how a new book does with my new publisher. Dragon Deception Book Two in my Supernatural Consultant series is starting to take shape. I have completed the copy edits for the story, which means all that's left is the proofreader. I have seen a draft of the cover, and it is as awesome as the cover for the first book. It will 100% be ready to go by June. Given the amazing reception Dragon Consultant has been getting, I'm certain Deception will also do really well. Dragon Dilemma Dilemma is also making great strides in its journey towards reprinting. I just finished the second round of edits and the story turned out really well. The editor likes the story, which means all my new readers will like it too! I have also submitted the cover form, so that's in progress too. There's still a lot to do for this story, but I think we're ahead of schedule for a July release, which is good. 1/31/20
I can't tell you how many blog posts I've written this month where, just before I was ready to post, I got more news and had to rewrite. I think this is my third or fourth attempt to get out a blog post, but there's so much to tell you I'm just going to post what I have, and I may end up writing another blog post tomorrow. Either way, this post is really long, but I promise there's exciting stuff inside. Read on: Submissions to NineStar Press:
12/17/19
As the title states, edits are moving along. The second round of edits for Ge-Mi: Nevada; Part One are complete and should be heading to the copy editor right now. There's going to be a surprise at the end, but I don't want to give it away! (It has to do with Part Two, which comes out tentatively in May, so don't feel you have to re-purchase just to get the surprise.) I don't know how long the copy editing will take, but I see no issues with meeting the March release date, at least from my end. I'm expecting to start talking with NSP about covers and other fun things in 2020. I don't know if NSP wants to keep the original cover, especially since they'll have to match it for the rest of the series, but I actually really like this cover so we'll see. Next on the editing list will be Dragon Consultant and Ge-Mi: Taylor; Part Two. I"m not expecting to see either of them until January at the earliest. As I said in a previous post, Dragon Consultant will likely be a quick job because it's been previously edited. However, I'm expecting Ge-Mi: Part Two to take a bit more time as it hasn't been edited before. I therefore will likely need to see both of them in January to ensure we reach their release dates without issue. I'll let you all know when they arrive. I've had to pause on the writing front as I had to work flat out to get the edits done with a very quick turnaround. Now that the edits are gone, I'm expecting to have a relaxing next few weeks. I'll get to enjoy some time without deadlines looming over me, which will hopefully allow me to get some writing done. I'm looking forward to that, and to hopefully crossing off one more thing from my to-do list before the year comes to a close. 12/7/19
I spoke too soon in my last post. The first round of edits for Ge-Mi: Nevada have arrived! I'm going through them right now, and so far it's exactly what I expected. Minor edits for word choice, a couple of sentences that need tightening, and some small grammar missteps. Nothing substantive will be changed. I should be able to get Ge-Mi: Nevada back to the editor this weekend. What's next? My awesome editor will keep moving down the list. Next is Dragon Consultant and Ge-Mi: Taylor. I don't know which will come first, but given Ge-Mi: Taylor has never been edited before, I'm expecting some significant edits. I'm hoping it will come first to give me more time to work on it, but it depends on my editor's time as well. Once Ge-Mi: Nevada is back with the editor, I will return to writing. On a side note, I've been asked to provide a biography to NSP. I can't decide if I should go the easy route and provide the same bio I've been using for years, or if I should take this opportunity to update it. What do you think? 10/20/19
NineStar Press has also accepted the final three books in my Supernatural Consultant series! The two short stories, Dragon Adventure and Dragon Home, will be combined into one book. Right now the working title will be Dragon Adventures (we added the 'S', because we're clever like that), but inside the book "part two" will still be called Dragon Home. We're not wedded to the new title, so if anyone wants to suggest something they think is better, please feel free. NSP also accepted Dragon Lesson, which I'm super excited about. This means the entire series will be republished soon! In other book news, there have been no new developments. It's too soon to hear whether NSP will accept the two books in my Wizard Wars series. It's also way too soon to get any additional tentative release dates. Edits for Ge-Mi: Nevada could arrive any day now, and once they start, edits for all my accepted books will continue to arrive almost non-stop for the next year. I know that is going to curtail my writing time considerably, but I am still going to try my best to get some new material completed as well. At the top of the list are my fairy tales, which I am sooooo close to finishing, and of course all the sequels everyone has so patiently been waiting for. I will keep working hard, so thank you all for your continued support! 8/9/19
As you no doubt read in my last post, Ge-Mi, Parts One and Two were both accepted for publishing at NineStar Press. I'm super excited about it, as I love this series and I know my readers love it too. A new publisher does mean there will be a few changes that I want to make sure everyone knows about:
As I continue to get more information about Ge-Mi and any of my other stories, I will share them here with everyone. I hope to have more news to share really soon! Thanks for all your words of support as we work through this together. |
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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