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. 

4/28/19

Those of you that follow me on Twitter already know that I successfully submitted Ge-Mi: Part Two to LT3.  For everyone else, Ge-Mi: Part Two was officially submitted to LT3!  I got confirmation that they received it, so now it's just a waiting game.  LT3's website says it's a 6 to 8 week waiting period while they evaluate the manuscript.  If they accept it, I should be signing the contract sometime in June and the book should be released anywhere from 9 to 12 months after that. 

So what's next?  Editing, of course.  I'm still working on the edits for the reprint of My Truest Love.  After that I'm expecting the edits for the reprint of Wings of the Stars.  The Coup and the Prince might have a copy edit or galley coming my way in the next few weeks, and then the second round of edits for Ground of Resurrection will arrive.  Editing continues to take the bulk of my writing time, but once that list is done, I'm expecting to have a few months without any edits. 

Which means, I finally get to write again!  Di-Na: Part One is, of course, high on my to-do list, but that list is incredibly long right now.  I think I need to focus on the stories that have languished the longest.  I really, really want to finish off my Oracle series and The Oracle's Current, so that's on the top of my list, and I also want to finish my fairy tale project.  There's also Codified and Dragon Spy, which are both patiently waiting for a bit of my attention.  There's so much still to do and I'm looking forward to finally having the time to actually do it! 

4/26/19

Wounded Alpha was accepted for publication at LT3!  This means the areas I fixed when the story was rejected the first time worked.  This story was a ton of fun to write, so I'm incredibly excited to have it accepted this time.  I'm expecting to see the first round of edits for this story in approximately six months, so start looking for publication announcements for sometime fourth quarter 2019 to first quarter 2020. 

I have returned the first round of edits for Ground of Resurrection to LT3.  I think the story is really looking good, but it still has to go back to the editor for another round.  I should start getting word about a potential release date and the cover approximately when the second round of edits arrive. 

I have also received the edits for My Truest Love, which is a reprint.  The story has already gone through the editing process, but I wanted it to get another look through to make sure everything was good.  For the most part the edits are simple, but there are a couple weak spots.  I knew about them before, but couldn't fix them when the story was previously released as part of the collection call.  The editor this time was kind enough to point them out and offer suggestions.  It's therefore going to take a bit of work to get this story ready, but I'm hoping to get it done quickly.  Even though Wings of the Stars, the second book in this series, is currently still for sale at LT3, I'm also expecting to get edits for it soon too as part of the series revamp. 

Next on my to-do list was Ge-Mi: Part Two and I'm happy to say this book is completely done!  After I returned Resurrection to LT3, as promised I pulled out Ge-Mi and ran it through a final edit.  I have to say I'm incredibly happy with how it turned out and I do think you'll love it just as much as I do.  My plan is to submit it to LT3 either tonight or first thing tomorrow morning.  I will let everyone know whether LT3 accepts it.  Next for this series is Di-Na, book two in the series, which will also be split into two parts.  I've begun writing Di-Na: Part One, so hopefully I'll be quicker about it and have it to LT3 within a year. 

4/14/19

I slept ten hours last night and I woke up feeling pretty good, so I'm going to do my best to buckle down on the edits for Ground of Resurrection.  I have a lot still to do for that and they're due next week.  Next week is also the start of Passover and I'm going to be incredibly busy.  Today is my last full day to really get these done and I'm going to do my best.

If I make a lot of progress with Resurrection, I'm hoping to start on Ge-Mi: Part Two today as well.  If not, Ge-Mi will have to wait until after Passover.  I know I promised I'd get the editing and formatting complete this month, but it's just not going to happen.  I will get it done next month.

The response for both If A Butterfly Don't Fly and The Sentinel's Prophesy have both been excellent.  The reviews have been positive.  Thank you so much to everyone that has read and enjoyed either of those books. 

4/4/19

The short answer is, surprisingly I'm doing okay.  Everyone I've spoken with is shocked that I'm not spending my days involuntarily sleeping.  Honestly, if the doctor hadn't told me I have mono, I would have assumed I had a weird cold for a few days and have now gotten better.  My day-to-day schedule has therefore been mostly uninterrupted. 

I work a full 40 hour week, eight hours each weekday.  Thanks to commute times and excessive traffic, it's actually more like a 10 hour day.  By the time I get home I'm wiped and all I want to do is collapse on the couch to recuperate until it's bedtime.  This is the only time where having mono has had a visible effect.  My need to couch-surf every evening has gotten slightly more prominent.  I'm not napping, but my energy in the evenings is definitely lower than I would like. 

Obviously, this hasn't been good for my writing.  In addition to my 40 hour work week, each week I try to put another 20 to 30 hours into writing or book promotion.  I used to be able to spend an hour or two every weeknight trying to get edits done, or working on a tricky bit of plot, or even putting together a blog post to keep my readers updated.  I couldn't work on something consuming as that would keep me awake past my bedtime (and therefore hinder my ability to get to work the next day) but I always tried to plug away at something.  The bulk of my writing is done over the weekend, in between my errands and chores.  Now the bulk of everything is getting done over the weekend and the hours I've been able to spend on writing have dropped significantly. 

What this means is I'm woefully behind on the edits for Ground of Resurrection, haven't had a moment to pull out Ge-Mi: Part Two to give it a final edit and get it formatted for submission, and haven't had any time whatsoever to work on my to-do list.  I never got around to posting a proper cover reveal for The Sentinel's Prophesy.  I never even posted about the excerpt being available (you can find it HERE if you're interested), or about Prophesy going up on Goodreads (for everyone that likes to add books to their shelves). 

I can only hope the last vestiges of mono will fade away soon and that I'll be able to catch up on everything quickly.  Thanks to everyone that left me comments of support.  I really appreciate every single one. 

3/7/19

I want to start off by reminding everyone that If A Butterfly Don't Fly will be released next week!  If you want to pre-order the book for a 15% discount at LT3, now's your chance: https://lessthanthreepress.com/books... It will be available on Amazon and all other major retailers by March 13th. 

I'll give you one guess as to what I'm working on now.  If you immediately thought "edits!" you're right.  I'm actually on time for all my edits, which is a nice change, but when I really want to be writing instead...  Anyway, here's what I'm working on right now:

First were the edits for The Coup and the Prince, which I have completed and returned to LT3.  I decided I liked the way the story ended as it was and I didn't want to muddle it up by adding an epilogue.  I instead added a couple of paragraphs to the last scene that should hopefully address why the editor was thinking an epilogue would be useful.  Next for this story are the copy edits, after which it will be ready for publication. 

Speaking of copy edits, I just received those for The Sentinel's Prophesy.  I've read through and for the most part they're very straightforward.  There are one or two minor tweaks I need to address, but overall I don't think they'll be a heavy lift.  Once the copy edits are completed, this story will be ready to go. 

The last set of edits I received were the first round for Ground of Resurrection, the second book in my Wizard Wars series.  I haven't had a chance to look through them yet, so I don't know how onerous they'll be, but they're going to be interesting either way.  I won't be able to get started on this story until Prophesy is back with LT3, so I'll give you an update on it soon.

I have also resubmitted Wounded Alpha to LT3.  I think (I hope) I fixed the issue, and I will find out in a few weeks whether LT3 also thinks it's fixed.  I'll let you all know whether they accept it this time. 

12/16/18

Today only, Magnified is .99 cents at LT3.  If you haven't read it yet, this is a great chance to get a copy: https://lessthanthreepress.com/books...  Magnified is a vampire story and is probably the closest I'll ever come to writing horror, and is one of my favorite stories that I've written.  I think you'll like it too. 

Ground of Resurrection was accepted for publishing by LT3!  I'm really excited and I honestly hope this is a sign that I will be able to get back on track.  I'm still waiting for word on If A Butterfly Don't Fly and The Coup and the Prince, but having this small success is definitely helping me get my confidence back.  I'm hoping this week will therefore be a good one for writing.  I am soooo close to finishing writing Ge-Mi: Part Two; with a couple days of focused effort I just might be able to do it.  Wish me luck!

Ground of Insurrection, the prequel to Resurrection, is available to vote for at the M/M Romance Awards on Goodreads.  I'm trying not to spam your inboxes with this, but I'm still so stoked about being nominated and I really want Insurrection to do well.  I have recently learned you have to be a member of the group to vote, so if you are a member please consider Insurrection as your choice!  You can vote here: https://www.goodreads.com/poll/show/181365-best-fantasy-you-must-click-on-the-book-you-would-like-to-vote

LT3 has confirmed receipt of Wounded Alpha, so it continues to be a game of patience on my part.  I have to wait for the call to close and for LT3 to go through all the submissions before I'll hear, but the story was so interesting to write and I just want to know now.  I can be patient, I promise, but it's definitely something I'm super excited about.  Until then, it's back to writing!

11/29/18

I am home sick today.  Sore throat, low grade fever, cough.  Ugh.  I keep waking up from a nap and wondering when I can take another nap.  It sucks.  Even if I had the energy to write, which I don't, I can't use my leave from work for writing purposes.  Instead, I'm hoping to read a good book.  Since I didn't have edits this past weekend, I got to read Mercenaries of the Stolen Moon by Megan Derr, which just came out.  I enjoyed it so much I went and reread the rest of the series...again...and bought Mercenaries in print.  Now I need something else to read in between my naps today.  I've got an overstuffed bookshelf in my apartment and a bunch of ebooks on my computer, so I'll figure something out. 

Here's some super wonderful good news: Ground of Insurrection has been nominated in the Fantasy category in M/M Romance's 2018 Members' Choice Awards on Goodreads!  The last book I had nominated was Hadash Aviv back in 2013.  Given I only have two books eligible for nomination this year, having even one of them chosen is amazing.  Voting opens next month and I'll post all the links you'll need then. 

I don't have any news to share about my upcoming books.  If A Butterfly Don't Fly and The Coup and the Prince are still in process, I know that much, but I don't know anything else about them just yet.  The Sentinel's Prophesy is also going to start the editing process sometime soon.  Ground of Resurrection has been submitted, but I won't hear whether it's been accepted for a few more months. 

As for writing, I've had a good week.  Ge-Mi: Part Two is almost there!  I've had to pause actually writing in order to organize and plan the final battle scene, but that's led to good progress.  I am hoping to have it completed by the end of the year.  Wounded Alpha, my story for LT3's Bound by Nothing call, has been sitting for long enough.  I'm thinking if I have some energy tonight, I might start giving it a final edit.  I've decided it would be better to get it done and submitted sooner, just in case I get drowned in edits again.  The last thing I want is for the submission deadline to arrive while I'm busy with other things.  This way it's one less thing on my plate. 

For now, though, it's time for another nap. 

11/18/18

I've seen some questions regarding where If A Butterfly Don't Fly is.  It was supposed to come out last week, and it has instead vanished.  The short of it is, the edits were too much.  I couldn't rewrite entire sections in the two week timeline before the story had to be back to LT3.  Missing that deadline meant the story couldn't come out in time, so LT3 had to pull it.  That said, LT3 is still moving forward with publishing, but are (understandably) not going to decide on a new release date until we are 100% certain the story will actually come out on that date.  I have since returned the completed story to LT3, so I believe the next step is copy edits.  I'm hoping to see them soon, and once those are done I should have release information to share with you. 

Given my working flat out on Butterfly for three weeks straight pushed back my ability to complete the edits for The Coup and the Prince, that story has also been temporarily pulled.  I returned the edits to LT3, where it will go on to even more edits.  I guesstimate Coup will now come out sometime in 2019, possibly second quarter, but again, no release date will be decided on until we're certain Coup will actually be ready for it. 

In happier news, I have had some writing success.  I submitted Ground of Resurrection to LT3 this morning.  I should hear whether they accept it sometime in the next few months.  I have also completed Wounded Alpha, the story I wrote for LT3's Bound by Nothing call.  All of my worry about whether it would be long enough or even get completed in time was apparently baseless and I'm quite happy with how it turned out.  It's not due until the end of January, so I'm going to let it sit until after the new year, and then start editing and formatting it for submission.  I have also added over 5k words to Ge-Mi: Part Two, which means I'm getting to the finish line.  All I have to write is the last confrontation with the bad guy and the wrap up afterwards, and this story will be complete.  I'm hoping to get it done in 2018, but this last section might be the hardest to write so we'll see how it goes.