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:

• Both Ground of Insurrection and Ground of Resurrection have been accepted at NSP!  The editor really seemed to like them.  I'm so excited Resurrection will finally be available for you to buy.  I can't estimate when a release date might be, but I'd like to think sometime in 2020.   
• I am still waiting to hear about Wounded Alpha, but I'm very hopeful.  I know the editor has it in her queue, so it's moving along in the submission process. 
• This editor asked me to submit all the other stories I had ready, so I have submitted six more books to NSP.  All the completed books from my Road To, Magnified, and Out of Underhill series have officially been submitted.  The editor will evaluate them all and will let me know whether NSP is interested. 
• My Dragon's Hoard series, The Coup and the Prince, and Elemental Ride are next on my list.  I need to get them formatted for submission first, which will take a little longer for The Dragon's Hoard as I'll need to read through to make sure all the page breaks are correct and such, but I hope to have all of those books submitted by next week. 

The Oracle series:

• I know many of you reached out to me asking for The Oracle series to get republished as well.  I inquired with NSP as to whether it was possible to republish The Oracle's Flame as-is, and the answer was the expected no.  However!   I have an idea that will fix the issue without substantially changing the plot or too much of the characterization.  I just need to find the time to actually get it written.  If I'm able to make that change, NSP is willing to assess the entire series, so I will have to find the time somehow. 
• Of course, this means Heart's Tournament will not be reprinted.  There's no way to soften the same issue within that story as it's integral to the plot.  Until I figure out whether it's worth trying to self-publish it, that story will have to remain out of print. 

Editing:

• The copy edits for Ge-Mi: Part One are complete.  I have sent them back to the editor.  I don't know whether NSP has one more editing step before it gets turned into an ebook, but it's closer to being ready to go. 
• The second round of edits for Dragon Consultant have arrived.  What about the first round, you ask?  That was one of the things I wrote in a previous blog post that never got published, but I finished those too.  I should have the second round complete within a day or so. 
• The Supernatural Consultant series as a whole will be marketed for a YA audience.  That means a few things will have to be changed to make it suitable for a slightly younger audience, but I promise there are no changes to the overall plot and characterizations.  Lumie will always be Lumie, and I don't think there will be any changes at all in the later books. 
• Once I finish the second round for Consultant, there will be copy edits.  I'm also expecting to see the first round of edits for Ge-Mi: Part Two, which I'm super excited about.  I'll try to let you know when those arrive. 

Writing:

• I completed The Beast from my fairy tale project.  That just leaves A Heart's Dream to finish and then the anthology will be complete.  As always, this is a time issue.  I need to find the time to sit down and write it, and this was at the top of that to-do list, but has been supplanted with fixing The Oracle's Flame. 
• Aside from that, I haven't had the chance to get much writing done.  I don't know I'll be able to write more as long as edits keep appearing regularly, but I'm going to do my best to keep on writing as much as I can whenever I can. 

1/3/20

I hope everyone had a very happy new year!  I couch surfed and watched the ball drop, which was fun for me.  I keep writing 19 rather than 20 for the year, but I'm sure I'll get used to it eventually. 

On to book news:

Ge-Mi: Nevada has been sent to a cover artist.  NineStar doesn't work with an illustrator.  What that means is they can't keep the original cover because they don't have someone that can continue with the same style cover for the next books in the series.  Ge-Mi will therefore be getting a fresh new look.  I have to admit I'm bummed.  I designed the original cover myself and had grand plans for the rest of the series.  I was really looking forward to seeing how the artist brought my characters to life in the next covers.  That won't happen now.  That said, there are definitely benefits to the new cover.  The new cover might actually be safe for work, which means you can read it in public, and won't be as confusing for readers that saw a naked man on the cover and immediately thought erotica rather than romance.  I can't wait to see what the new cover looks like, and as soon as I have a final copy I'll be sure to share it with you all. 

I haven't gotten any new edits yet, but I'm expecting them any day.  I also haven't heard yay or nay from NSP regarding my Wizard Wars series.  There's still a few more weeks left before their timeline ends, so I'm trying to be patient as I wait. 

Since patience is hard, and since I know a bunch of you were excited when I originally announced Wounded Alpha, I decided to go ahead and finish shining that story up.  I have just submitted it to NSP.  It fits within a theme they put out an internal call for, so I'm hopeful I'll hear before the 16 week timeline.  Wish me luck! 

And now I have to decide what story or series I want to fix up and submit to NSP next.  Since I just submitted yet another fantasy/paranormal story, I'm wondering if this might be a good time to slide my lone contemporary series across their doorstep.  Road To is my modern day spy thriller, but it's also one of my oldest series.  I'm honestly not certain NSP would be interested, but I do think it's worth a try.  What do you guys think? 

12/5/19

I just had a moment of realization.  It's December!  I knew the month had arrived, given Thanksgiving just passed, but somehow it just didn't quite compute.  For some reason, I'm mentally still thinking it's early November, but somehow nearly two months have passed since I last posted something!  I'm so sorry for vanishing like that.  I will try to do better from now on. 

That said, I don't have much to share.  I'm still in the waiting game for everything.  Edits for Ge-Mi: Nevada and Dragon Consultant should arrive any day now.  I'm hoping they'll be fairly straightforward, given they're reprints.  I am expecting more substantial edits for Ge-Me: Taylor, which should be the third set of edits I receive.  Hopefully that process will begin to move forward very soon. 

I am eight weeks into the 16 week timeline for when I could hear back from NineStar regarding my submission of my Wizard Wars series.  Given how many of my books they have already, I'm glad for the wait, but at the same time I want to know!  Fingers crossed I'll hear good news soon! 

I have been writing, of course.  For some reason, I got a really good idea for how to finally get Yani and Aaron out of the basement and therefore complete the prologue for Codified, the third and final book in my Magnified series.  I went ahead and cleaned up Magnified and Justified, so I can submit them to NSP whenever, but I'm hoping to make some real progress with Codified before I submit this series.  So far, I'm 1/6th of the way through writing Codified.  I still have some planning to do, but now that they're out of the basement I can hopefully start moving forward to the long-awaited final battle with Cain. 

Other writing has all been focused on trying to get my fairy tales complete.  There's just the last two to finish, both of which are completely planned out.  Mina needs a final push to get to the ball in A Heart's Dream, and then I can get that story moving again.  The Beast is flowing smoothly, but I had to stop to write down my amazing idea for Codified.  Once I have to pause Codified for some time on the planning board, I'm sure I'll return to my fairy tales. 

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! 

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. 

6/15/19

In case you missed it from my last post, Ground of Resurrection has a release date.  It comes out on July 17th.  I admit, I didn't expect it to come out until August or even September, but I can't complain.  I spoke with LT3 about the date being so close and they explained that it was decided the story didn't need a second round of edits.  It's with the copy editor right now instead, which means I should be seeing those pop up in my inbox any day now.  It also means July 17th is a very doable release date. 

Ground of Resurrection is available for pre-order from LT3 for a big discount.  LT3 is holding a Pride sale, so you can get all of my books for 20% off, and pre-orders are 32% off.  Resurrection is also up on Goodreads if you want to add it to your to-read list. 

In other news, I've been writing again.  The women's soccer world cup is going on right now and I've been watching as many games as possible.  I got a good idea of how to continue the story with the working title "Soccer Story" and have added about 2k words over the last week.  It's a contemporary story, which I don't write often, but I love soccer and have been hoping to work on this story.  If I'm able to get it completed in the next month or two, and if LT3 accepts it, it's possible it might be released to coincide with the summer Olympics, which would be really cool. 

Check out the cover for Ground of Resurrection, the second book in my Wizard Wars series.  The cover nicely hints at things to come, and the scenery is gorgeous yet again.  I also think the cover does a good job of showing the continuation and evolution from the first book. 

Ground of Resurrection comes out on July 17, 2019 and is available for pre-order at LT3:
https://lessthanthreepress.com/books...

6/1/19

Ge-Mi: Part Two was accepted for publishing with LT3!  I'm so excited!  Right now I need to get the contract in the mail so everything is signed and official.  I expect this book to come out in approximately ten months, so first quarter 2020.  Aside from signing the contract, my first step is providing LT3 with a description of what I want on the cover.  Readers either loved or hated the cover for Part One--there was no in between--and I think I'll get similar reactions for my idea for Part Two.  You'll just have to wait and see ;p. 

The Oracle's Golem was also accepted for a contract extension.  There won't be any edits or cover changes for this book, and therefore won't be any break in sales.  I'll get the contract in the mail with Ge-Mi's and Golem will be good for another few years. 

I forgot to mention earlier, but I did get the edits for My Truest Love back to LT3.  I still need the new cover, as well as a release date, but otherwise this story is mostly ready to go.  The second round of edits for Ground of Resurrection should be coming my way soon, as well as the reprint edits for Wings of the Stars, but I'm enjoying the brief respite.  I had to take a mental health break from working on my stories for a few days, but I eventually found the energy to resume working on The Oracle's Current and Di-Na: Part One. Neither story is anywhere close to being completed, but every bit of progress helps.  I hope to keep working on them until another round of edits comes my way. 

5/28/19

According to my records, The Oracle's Golem should be going out of print on May 31.  What does that mean?  Luckily, absolutely nothing.  LT3 has already agreed to renew the contracts for the previous two books in the series and I have not seen any indication that it will be different for Golem.  Since we're not editing or changing the covers for this series, there shouldn't be an interruption in sales.  I'll let you know as soon as LT3 and I have a conversation about it.  That should be it for stories going out of print in 2019. 

I am really hoping to get The Oracle's Current finished this year so I can complete this series.  I've been doing some planning for the book, which has always had a basic outline, but has lacked some of the firmer details.  Right now it looks like pirates will be back in play.  I'm still trying to decide if the pirates will be good or bad (or something in between), but Lichen is going to have some "fun" regardless.  I'm struggling on how to get Lichen away from the Monastery right now.  There's a big, emotional scene that needs to happen first, and the build up to that isn't flowing well.  Only after that scene is written can I really turn my focus on getting him into the hands of the pirates. 

In other news, The Coup and the Prince appears to be well liked!  The reviews have been positive and the comments seem to indicate readers are enjoying the story.  If you haven't gotten your copy yet, it's available at LT3 and on Amazon, as well as on your preferred bookseller's site. 

I have seen the second draft of the cover for Ground of Resurrection and it's even better than the first.  I can't wait to have the final version to share!

5/18/19

The Coup and the Prince comes out next week!  Right now LT3's having a big sale in honor of Sam's birthday, so you can get it for a big discount.  Otherwise, it will be available on Amazon and all other retailers very soon.  You can always check it out on Goodreads until then.  This book has been an adventure to write and to edit, and I do think it eventually turned out really well.  I'm excited for everyone to read it!  May 22nd can't come quick enough.

I have seen the first draft of the cover for Ground of Resurrection and it is phenomenal.  I asked for two tweaks.  Hopefully once the changes are made, I'll have it to share with you.  I don't yet have a release date for Resurrection, but given we're already talking about covers, it has to be coming soon. The second round of edits for this story should be coming soon too. 

A quick update on everything else:

I'm still working on the edits for My Truest Love.  I'm late in getting them back (again...sigh), but I'm hoping to get them done this weekend.  I can't believe how involved edits for a reprint are.  There were definitely some small changes, but the overall story isn't different.  If you purchased it previously, you probably don't have to buy it again.  I'm looking forward to the new covers for the series too. 

Wounded Alpha is still somewhere in the ether that is the editing process.  I won't see it for at least a few more months.  Ge-Mi: Part Two is still in the submission pool.  It's only been three weeks since I submitted it (it feels like forever ago!), so I won't hear for at least another two to six weeks.  I'm anxious to know whether LT3 likes it, but I'm also hoping to have some time to work on book two in the series too. 

Writing has been totally stagnant.  I've been burned out by the mono and by work, which isn't fun.  I need to be able to think in order to put words onto paper properly, and I just haven't been capable of that lately.  Also, I keep having interrupted weekends where something comes up that drags me out of my apartment for half of it.  That leaves me with only one day to do all the other chores and things I have to get done, and writing has unfortunately been taking a back seat.  Right now June is looking like a good month with no interrupted weekends or crazy work projects.  I am very hopeful I'll be able to get some real work done on my poor, neglected stories throughout June.