Category: Ground Of Insurrection

News: Submissions and Writing

8/19/2017

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8/19/17

I read through both stories I completed last month and they have ended up in totally different directions. The Coup and the Prince was first and I quickly realized that the story wasn't ready yet. I made a bunch of changes and have decided to let it sit for another week or two. At that point I'll pick it up again. I then took a look at If A Butterfly Don't Fly and I am super happy with it! I went ahead and submitted it to LT3 and I'm hoping they like it too. I will let you know what LT3 decides.
There still hasn't been any word on the stories I'm waiting on. I submitted Ground of Insurrection almost two months ago, so I'm hoping to hear whether LT3 accepted it any day now. I also haven't had any news about Kelpie Blue in five months. I don't know what LT3 is thinking about for release dates, but I could have the first round of edits in my inbox tomorrow or two months from now. The reprint of Hadash Aviv is in a similar position to Kelpie Blue: no projected release date and edits that could appear at any time. I am hoping to have some news to share for all three stories soon, so keep an eye out for my post about it.
The reviews for Justified have been stellar. Readers are liking it even more than Magnified. I really enjoyed writing Justified, so it's wonderful to hear how much you all are also enjoying it. Codified, the third and final book in the series, still has a ways to go before it's completed. I'm hoping to have it ready sometime next year.

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News: What's Next?

7/9/2017

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7/9/17

I completed writing If A Butterfly Don't Fly. I gave it a few days to rest and then read through it and formatted it for submission. Normally I would let a story sit for a month before reading through it again, but this story is a bit different. Because it's so old, I've read through it dozens of times at this point as I tried to keep writer's block at bay. Aside from the ending I wrote a few days ago, this story has been edited to heck and back. My worry is that if I let it sit, I'll start nitpicking, and then it'll get really messed up and might not ever be submitted. On the other hand, letting a story rest for a good while (more than the bare week I've given this story right now) provides a level of distance that allows me to better evaluate the editing I'm doing. I'm trying to decide what would be best for this story and right now I'm leaning towards a compromise by giving it another week of rest, rereading it again, and then submitting it. What do you think?
Nitpicking is exactly what happened with Ground of Insurrection. I knew when I finished writing it that it wasn't quite right, so I sent it to a beta reader who very helpfully pointed out where those issues were stemming from. I fixed it, but by that point the story had been stuck with a terrible label, a miasma of "something isn't right". Despite knowing the problem was gone and the story was good, I couldn't quite make myself hit the submit button. I kept poking at it, changing little things that only reinforced the false impression in my head that the story wasn't ready yet. I needed some sort of emotional boost if I was ever going to get this story submitted, so while I was running on the excited high of having finished writing Butterfly, I gave Ground of Insurrection another read through. As I thought, the story was good and the issues were fixed. So I submitted it! Finally, after two long years of the story languishing on my computer, I plucked up my courage. Now it depends on whether LT3 also likes it.
Now that Butterfly is completed, it's finally time to move on to another story on my to-do list. The question is, which one? I know many of you are yelling at your computer screens, trying to tell me "more Lumie!", but I'm not certain the next Supernatural Consultant book is ready to be written. I still have some more planning to do first. Others of you are demanding Part Two of Ge-Mi, but again I have the same answer: more planning first. That leaves me with far too many other options. I would like to finish The Coup and The Prince, which is short and sweet and whose writing time has dragged on a bit too long. I would also like to return to my fairy tales. I was making good progress with them before Butterfly reasserted itself. In fact, since I totally forgot to do goals for July, maybe I'll make both of those stories my goals list.
Don't forget my Dragon's Hoard series is coming out this week on July 12th. If you haven't read the first four books before, now is a great time to get a copy as they're all on pre-order discount at LT3. Gathering the Hoard is completely new and fans of Tori will really enjoy it, so make sure you pick up your copy today.

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July Goals: Results

7/31/2015

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I did manage to get a lot done this month! Too bad that next month I'm going to be far too busy. That's why my biggest goal for July was to write as much as possible. Here's how I did:

Writing. Dragon Soldier has tripled in size. The story is almost halfway done and in a good spot for me to pick it up again in September. My superhero story fell to the wayside this past month. I was working on everything else on this list instead. The Case of the Wandering Wolves is complete and off my to-do list. Completing one of the stories here was also a goal, one I am very glad I was able to get done. TCofWW is with a beta reader; I should see it again in September when I'll get it edited and formatted for submission. The Oracle's Current is growing steadily. There's still a lot more to do, but I don't foresee any difficulties with it.
Editing. The edits for The Oracle's Sprite are back with LT3. The story should be with the copy editor and will definitely be available on September 30th. Since I also received the edits for Dragon Deception I added them to this goal and they are back with LT3 as well. I also made some progress in Ground of Insurrection. The edits from my beta reader were amazingly helpful. I'm not done yet, but I made a lot of progress. Part two has begun, but does need some more planning before I can really get into it.

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July is a month of ups and downs for me. I enjoy summer and July is when the last vestiges of spring finally fade away. My birthday is also this month and I love presents just as much as anyone. There is a big downside though: my job from hell starts on the 24th. It's six days a week, full time, for six straight weeks. It's tiring and it's infuriating, but they pay me, which is why I go back every year. What the start of the job from hell means is as of the 24th my writing time utterly vanishes. I'll be able to squeak in a few minutes here or there, but any progress won't be significant. I need to get as much as possible done this month before the job starts and my goals list reflects that. Here's what I'm planning:

Writing. Work on Dragon Soldier, my superhero story, Case of the Wandering Wolves, and The Oracle's Current as much as possible. The more I'm able to get done, the better. Ideally, I would like to finish writing at least one of these stories so I can cross it off my to-do list entirely.
Editing. Work on The Oracle's Sprite. I want to have it back to LT3 within the first two weeks of July. I also want to make some progress in Ground of Insurrection. The edits my wonderful beta reader left me have been languishing for far too long and part two of the story is still begging to be written.

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May Goals: Results

5/30/2015

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May ended up being a pretty interesting month. I got a lot written, but not for the stories actually in my goals list. I also got to go shopping for a new car. The former was excellent, but the latter really wasn't. I know I'm going to like my new car a whole heck of a lot more than my old one, but the hassle of one car dying and having to scramble for a new one wasn't fun. Anyway, here's how I managed with my goals for May:

The Oracle's Sprite Edits. It took a few extra days, but I got them back to LT3. They should be with the editor for another round.
Finish Dragon Dilemma. Completed! This story is done and I set it aside. The plan is to return to it next month to edit and format it for submission.
Ground of Insurrection Edits. After the edits for Sprite, I made the executive decision to not drive myself crazy by starting these edits too. I had a look through what the beta reader left for me. She made a lot of good points and there are some scenes that need rewriting, but overall the story is good. Look for this to appear in my goals again, just not when I'm already exhausted from finishing edits with a due date.
Superhero Story. I know I said I would get a lot written in this story this past month. That didn't happen. I picked up Dragon Soldier and Kelpie Blue instead and got a lot written there.
Justified. I didn't get to this goal, but I hadn't expected to. Hopefully I'll be able to continue working on this story soon.

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News: Release Date and Edits

5/25/2015

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5/25/15

In case anyone missed the news from last night, I announced the release date for The Oracle's Sprite. September 30, 2015. It is currently available for pre-order at a 15% discount at LT3. Get your copy today: http://www.lessthanthreepress.com/books
I have also heard about the status of the edits for The Oracle's Sprite and for Dragon Consultant, the first book in my Supernatural Consultant series. Sprite is back with the editor for the second round. I should see it again sometime in June. The edits for Dragon Consultant are also supposed arrive in my inbox at the same time, which means I'll have a lot to do in very little time. I'm looking forward to what each editor has to say.
I have made a mental health decision and have set aside the edits my beta reader gave me for Ground of Insurrection. After getting the edits completed for Sprite and knowing that the edits will return to me in a few short weeks, plus knowing that the edits for Dragon Consultant are also on their way, I decided to set aside the non-essential edits in favor of letting my brain rest. Once I know I have more than a few weeks of recovery between each round of editing I will absolutely be returning to GoI. I did take a moment to glance through what my beta reader said. There's a lot to do, but the overall reaction was very positive. I hope to see GoI back on my goals list this autumn.

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May Goals

5/1/2015

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April showers bring May flowers, which also brings along allergies. I am allergic to being outside in the Spring, so I'll be sneezing and sniffling all month long. It's awful, but at the same time I love being outside and playing in the dirt. My strawberries are coming up and pretty soon the vegetable garden will be going in. There's lots to look forward to and hopefully I'll be able to get a lot of writing done too.

The Oracle's Sprite Edits. I only have a few short weeks to finish all the rewrites and return this story to LT3. Getting this completed is priority number one and only afterwards can I really focus on anything else in this list.
Finish Dragon Dilemma. I am so close to finishing this story. I only have 3k words more to write and that is more than doable this month. If I complete Dilemma in May, I should have it and Dragon Detective submitted to LT3 by the end of June, which is amazing.
Ground of Insurrection Edits. There are two things I need to work on with this story. First, I need to go through the edits and suggestions my wonderful beta reader left for me. Second, I need to start working on part two of the story. I want to have this submitted to a publisher in 2015, which means I need to get hopping.
Superhero Story. The writing for this story is going really well. I have a lot of it already planned out. Since I'm still not certain how long this story will end up being, it's very possible I might finish writing it this month, which would be cool. LT3 might kill me for submitting three stories this summer though.
Justified. Since I know I'm going to continue working on the prologue this month, I decided to include it in my goals list. There's still so much to do in this story that I'm willing to label this as a secondary goal to the previous ones. I guess I'll see whether I get to it or not.

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April Goals: Results

4/30/2015

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Passover did take up a very large chunk of my writing time for the first week of April, but after that it was smooth sailing. I got a good bit written and have also planned out a lot of future writing. Then the edits for The Oracle's Sprite arrived and getting those done trumped writing. I still managed to get a lot completed. Here's how I did in April:

Supernatural Consultant Series. The goal was to get Dragon Dilemma completed this month. The story isn't quite there yet, but it's certainly close. I reached 26k words and I know how the rest of the story is going to work so it should be easy to finish the last few thousand words. I was able to reach a point this month where I can definitively say that I'll definitely have it completed next month.
Other Writing. This was a broad category and I chose to fill it in a few ways. First, I continued working on Justified. I'm still writing the prologue, but there's a lot of set up for the rest of the book that needs to be done. I know exactly what needs to be written, it's just a matter of getting it all onto paper correctly. I only wrote 3k in April, but I've worked hard to make sure I'm prepared to write the next 7k of the prologue in May.

Second, I worked on my still untitled superhero story. It's definitely turning into an anti-hero story, but I think it's coming out well for my first attempt at writing in the genre. I added over 5k and have figured out most of the rest of the plot. I really just need to come up with a title.

In addition to the edits for The Oracle's Sprite, the edits for Ground of Insurrection are back from my beta reader. She did an amazing job. It's a big project that will unfortunately have to wait until Sprite is back with the editor before I can tackle. I'm really looking forward to it.

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News: Edits and Writing

4/20/2015

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4/20/15

The edits for The Oracle's Sprite have arrived! I've glanced through them once and there's a lot to do, as always. Editing is a mixture of me shaking my head at myself because I really messed up a scene or a bit of dialogue and fixing a lot of little things like missed tenses or extraneous words. It's also one of the best learning experiences I have as a writer. The opportunity to have a professional look through my book and point out how I can improve is something I look forward to with every round of edits I receive. Editing might be difficult and time consuming, but it's so very worth it. Hopefully these edits will go smoothly and I'll have The Oracle's Sprite back to LT3 quickly.
Ground of Insurrection should be back from my beta reader later today. I am really looking forward to starting those edits as well. The time sensitive edits for Sprite have to be completed and back to LT3 first before I can start tackling GoI, but that's only more incentive to work hard.
Dragon Dilemma is so close to being finished. There's still a lot more to write, but I have everything already planned out. I just have to get it onto paper properly. What I like to do after I finish writing a story is to let it sit for a few weeks. I'm hoping to have this story done soon because that means those few weeks of sitting can also be done soon. I'm looking forward to having Dilemma edited and submitted, because then I can edit and submit Dragon Detective and start really delving into Dragon Soldier.
Usually about the time I receive the edits for the next book in the Oracle series I announce how far I've gotten in writing the book after that. Unfortunately, I haven't been very successful with working on this series lately. There's just been too many other stories taking up my time. I think the next book that will be completed is The Sentinel's Prophesy, a side story, but I'm not certain anything from this series will make my monthly goals list again until the fall. I'm sorry if that disappoints any of you, but I promise I will return to this series. There's still a lot of story to tell and I am looking forward to telling it.

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News: April Continues

4/16/2015

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4/16/15

The wonderful artist who works on The Oracle series has contacted me about starting the cover for The Oracle's Sprite. I know it's going to be a great cover. Sprite is the wind book of the series and she's promised me that she can include an amazing breeze-like effect. I'm really looking forward to seeing the results. The cover is due sometime in July, so in approximately three months I should have it for you to see.
My beta reader has promised to have Ground of Insurrection back to me early next week. I can't wait to see her edits and suggestions and to start working on part two of the story. It's definitely one of the more interesting worlds I've created and I really do hope to have it ready to submit sometime this year.
I have gotten a lot written in my superhero/anti-hero story. I've written 5k words in the last two days and hope to add another 5k before the weekend. I started writing the story without any final length in mind, which is an unusual goal for me to leave out, but it's starting to look like a 20-30k story. There's a few twists and turns I'm really looking forward to writing. Once those pan out I'll be better able to estimate how long the story will actually be. After the length is figured out, I then need to come up with a title. Does anyone have a suggestion?

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News: Submissions and Writing

News: What's Next?

July Goals: Results

July Goals

May Goals: Results

News: Release Date and Edits

May Goals

April Goals: Results

News: Edits and Writing

News: April Continues

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