Category: Kelpie Blue

News: I'm Way Too Busy

6/18/2017

6/18/17

I feel a bit like I'm drowning under edits. It's my own fault because I submitted so many books right on top of each other, but the edits are hitting me one after another without a real chance to catch my breath. So far this month it's been books 1-3 of my Dragon's Hoard series. Then right after that I got book 4. I returned book 4 to LT3 and not even a day later the short stories and Justified arrived. All of my free time has been spent editing. I didn't even notice I had forgotten to put together my goals for June until June was half over. There isn't even a reprieve on the way, because once I've finished with Justified I'm expecting the first round of edits for Dragon Spy to get sent my way. This is absolutely insane for me, but in other ways it might be a bit of a blessing. Since I've been working solely on edits for so long, I won't have a dozen stories ready to submit this year, which means next year I won't get buried under edits again.
That said, I have managed to fit some writing into my schedule today. I added about 3k words to If A Butterfly Don't Fly, the second story in my Out of Underhill series. Right now it's looking like the story will only need 10-15k more words. It'll be shorter than Kelpie Blue, which I didn't really want to happen, but I can't magically force the book to be longer than the plot is calling for. Maybe I'll be able to come up with another twist, but at the moment I'm working on the beginning of the big final battle scene and I really can't see a way to expand the story any more.
I can't forget to mention that Dragon Home is coming out next week! So far the pre-release reviews have been wonderful. If you preorder your copy from LT3 before June 20th, you can get it for 32% off thanks to the big sale LT3 is holding in honor of pride month.

3/22/2017

There are many reasons why I shouldn't guess potential release dates for my upcoming books, the main reason of which is that I'm usually wrong. In this most recent case, I was very wrong. LT3 has provided me with all the upcoming dates they were able to schedule this far ahead of time and pretty much all of my guesses proved to be way off. Here's the official dates (which are subject to change, but should be mostly accurate at this point), so mark your calendars:

Dragon Adventure: May 17, 2017
Justified: June 21, 2017
Dragon's Hoard Reprint and Short Stories: July 12, 2017
Dragon Home: August 9, 2017
Dragon Spy: October 11, 2017

The only book that LT3 has accepted for publishing that is not on that list is Kelpie Blue. If I might guess (and at this point you've hopefully realized that my guesses aren't worth much), I would say December 2017 or January/February 2018.

In other news, Dragon Soldier, Dragon Detective, Dragon Adventure, and Dragon Home will be released in print in Supernatural Consultant Volume 2. This print compilation continues from where Volume 1 left off and should be released around the same time as Dragon Home in August.

Supernatural Consultant Volume 2 is also being considered for release in audio. The decision hasn't been made just yet, but I have been told it is on the list of potentials.

And the last bit of release news is that once the edits for the reprint of The Dragon's Hoard series are complete, the series will be submitted for translation into Spanish.

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News: Coming Soon

3/19/2017

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3/19/17

The next three books on my coming soon list are starting to come together. First were the covers, which if you missed you can check out HERE. Next are the release dates. Dragon Adventure will come out on May 17, 2017. Mark your calendars for this short story.
I was also given a tentative date range for Dragon Home of sometime in June or July 2017. That date can't be finalized until LT3 and I are through with my Dragon's Hoard series rerelease process. The series will most likely be released in the same time frame as Dragon Home (barring any unforeseen editing snafus). This matters because LT3 isn't going to want to release Dragon Home too closely to my Dragon's Hoard series. This could be as simple as one comes out in June and the other July, but that determination can't be made until Dragon Home and my Dragon's Hoard series have completed the editing process.
Adding to that is Justified, which will also need a release date. It's far too soon to even guesstimate when Justified might be coming out. It is currently in a long line waiting to go back to the editor for a second round. Once it's through the line and the editor's time, I still need to complete those edits. Then it's off to the copy editor. Only at that point will the story be far enough along to start thinking about dates. If you give a month for each step in the process (March for the editor, April for me, May for the copy editor, June for formatting and other considerations) we're looking at a potential for July, August, or September, but again that date would be dependent on when the Dragon's Hoard series and Dragon Home are released.
After that it's impossible to guess anything. Dragon Spy is presumably next on the list, followed by Kelpie Blue, which was accepted by LT3 this past week. Those are months and months away from being published. Fall or winter of 2017 or even early 2018 is the best guess I could give. It's really exciting to me to see all these books slowly fall into place and, as always, I'll keep my readers updated as I learn more.

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News: Writing Progress

2/14/2017

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2/14/17

The first round of edits for Justified are back with LT3 to start round two. I completed them early, which means this story is off to a strong start. Hopefully the second round will go as smoothly. I'm also expecting the second round of edits for Dragon Adventure to appear any day now, given it's been almost three months since the first round was completed. I have a feeling the edits for Dragon Home might be coming soon too. It's a lot to look forward to and I'm excited to get these stories polished and ready for publishing this year.
I finished editing Kelpie Blue and gave it a final polish before submitting it to LT3. In a few weeks I'll learn whether the funky formatting is good to go if LT3 accepts it. The next book in this series, If A Butterfly Don't Fly, is stuck on a tricky bit of plot. I'm working on a build up that leads to a big battle. The problem is, I can't decide if I want the big battle to be the final battle, or just one fight that eventually escalates into the final battle. The romance has also hit the rocky point in the plot and I need to figure out how my characters want to overcome this and start really falling in love. I want to have this story completed soon, but until I figure those two bits out, I'm stuck for the moment.
Instead, I've been working on two other stories. I started working on the third book of my Magnified trilogy again. I added a few thousand words to the prologue, which is starting to shape up nicely. I have some ideas for the rest of the book, but I really need to flesh out more before I can delve in. Getting the prologue completed is important because it introduces the structure the rest of the book builds off of, so I'm glad to be working through this important first step.
The other story I've been working on is The Sentinel's Prophesy. You don't want to know how long it's been since I last opened the document for this story. I never meant for this story or the final book in my Oracle series, The Oracle's Current, to languish this long. I was distracted by my Supernatural Consultant series and by the travails of a new job, but now I'm hoping to figure out the rest of this series so I can get it off my to-do list and into my readers' hands. Prophesy is a side story to the series, but it is important because it explains the origins of the Oracle and her Dragons. The problem I've had with writing it is that the two main characters spend the first half of the book extremely depressed. Writing that emotion--and making sure to get it correct--is hard work. Last night I worked for hours on this story and when I looked at the word count I realized that I had only written 500 words. As soon as I get my characters through the depression phase, this story should start really moving. I've had the plot planned out for a while now; it's just been the actual writing that's been hard going. Here's hoping this story is the next on my completed list!

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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: Edits and Writing

2/6/2017

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2/06/17

I have received the first round of edits for Justified. There are a few things I need to add, including elongating one scene, and a few things to fix. Overall, the editor had wonderful comments. The new character I introduced in the story, a dragon named Khan (because how can I write a story without a dragon in it?) is a big hit and overall the editor enjoyed the story.
I can extrapolate what getting these edits now means in terms of release dates for the rest of my submitted manuscripts. After Dragon Soldier comes out on March 8th, I don't have any firm release dates. I believe Dragon Adventure was scheduled to come out sometime in May. LT3 likes to keep about three to four months in between the release of another book in the same series, so Dragon Home will probably be scheduled for late August, in September, or for early October. Sometime between May and August--possibly July, but remember I'm just guessing here--is when Justified will be released. Dragon Spy will most likely have a fourth quarter 2017 or first quarter 2018 release date. Of course, all of this will only occur if I get my edits back in time. I am hoping LT3 will contact me with additional information soon.
Kelpie Blue is complete! After four long years of research, writing, getting stalled, writing some more, getting distracted by dragons, returning to this story, etc. etc., Kelpie Blue is done. This is my story with the adorable blue water horse (ie. Kelpie) that just wants a hug and to maybe take a bite out of your shoulder for lunch. The next step is to start editing, which I'm hoping won't be too onerous. I've edited the first two thirds of the story over and over as I was trying to figure out how to bring this story to the climax and the ending. While I"m definitely going to go over the entire story, I will be primarily focusing on getting the ending as perfect as the rest. The goal is to have Kelpie Blue ready to submit to LT3 this month. I'll definitely keep you posted on how that's going.
And don't forget that Ge-Mi: Part One comes out in a few short days. Make sure you get your preorder in for a 15% discount today, because it comes out on February 8th! https://lessthanthreepress.com/books...

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News: Submissions, Editing, and Writing

1/31/2017

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1/31/2017

Dragon Spy was accepted by LT3! I'm so excited! You have no idea how happy I am to finally be writing again and for the writing process to be bearing such wonderful fruit. More on that below. Spy is the start of the next arc (careful readers of the series will have some inkling of what the new arc might be because I have been hinting). Unfortunately, I'm still not sure what book I want to work on next for this series. Hopefully I'll figure it out soon because I definitely have some awesome plans for our favorite dragons!
The copy edits for Dragon Soldier have been returned to LT3. It's almost ready for release on March 8th, so make sure to get your pre-order in now: lessthanthreepress.com/bo oks...
And don't forget that Ge-Mi: Part One comes out next week! If you want it for a 15% discount, pre-order ASAP: lessthanthreepress.com/books...
Now that Dragon Spy is completed and accepted by LT3, and now that I've given up on forcing A Dream Is A Wish Your Heart Makes to be completed this month, I don't have a story I'm focusing exclusively on. I really want to take this opportunity to shrink my to-list, which is far too massive. There are a number of stories on it that I have been slowly working on for years and years. Ge-Mi: Part One was a story that sat for a very long time, so seeing it finally be released is galvanizing. There are two stories on my to-do list that are just as old--if not older--than Ge-Mi: my Dragon's Hoard Short Stories and Kelpie Blue. I've been stuck on the Dragon's Hoard stories for a while. I know what I want to write, but the words just aren't coming. Every once in a while I pluck away at it, but it's not growing the way I want it to. Kelpie Blue, on the other hand, is huge. This story has taken so long to write because of the sheer amount of research it has needed. The mythology, horses, and everything else that's gone into it has required careful checking and double checking to make certain my facts were all correct, which has slowed the writing process down considerably. I would absolutely love it if Kelpie Blue were the next story I submitted.

In the last few days I've added over 10k words to Kelpie Blue. It's finally approaching the final fight scene/climax and every last bit of remaining plot has been completely planned out. I know exactly what's going to happen next. All I need to do is write it all down. That will still take time, of course, but I've been working on Kelpie Blue since 2013. A few more weeks or months won't hurt.

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January Goals

1/1/2016

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1/1/16

Happy New Year! I'm hoping to start off this new year with a lot of writing, particularly focusing on my stories that are almost complete. Here are my goals for January:

Editing. I have two stories that need editing. Elemental Ride is back from the beta reader and I need to finish those edits so I can get it ready to submit on time. I also received the first round of edits for Magnified, which I need to get back to LT3 this month.
Submissions. Once the edits for Elemental Ride are complete, I need to get it formatted and ready for submission. It's due at the end of this month. I would also like to submit my Hanukkah story this month, although it still needs a title. If I'm able to finish both of those, I would then like to move on to getting Justified and Ge-Mi: Part One ready to submit as well. Will LT3 hate me for submitting too many things at once again?
Writing. I'm leaving this open ended again, but I want to try to focus on the stories that I'm almost finished writing. I would like to get a large portion of Ge-Mi: Part Two done and see about getting Dragon Soldier and Kelpie Blue completed, but I'll be happy with whatever I work on.

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November Goals: Results

11/30/2015

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My first goal was to eat lots of pumpkin pie. Since I cooked two of them, I made certain I ate a ton. It was delicious. I also got a lot of writing done this month, which was even yummier. Here's how I did:

Edits. The first round of edits for Dragon Dilemma were back with LT3 with plenty of time to spare. I managed to get all the rewriting done on time. The second round of edits has just arrived and I'm hoping to have those done soon as well.
Elemental Ride. I finished writing this story and have sent it off to a beta reader. It should be back with me by mid-December, which gives me plenty of time to edit before the due date.
Everything Else. This goal was to work on any of my other stories. I got a good bit written in If A Butterfly Don't Fly and Kelpie Blue, worked a bit on my Supernatural Consultant series, and am almost finished writing part one of Ge-Mi. There's still a lot to do for all these stories, so expect to see them back on my goals list next month.

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News: Getting Work Done

11/23/2015

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11/23/15

Don't forget to enter the two giveaways for Dragon Consultant.
Mine is here: http://melleightsblog...giveaway-dragon-consultant
and Magnolia's is here: http://magnoliareviews...interview-and-giveaway-with-mell-eight
I'm expecting more giveaways for Dragon Consultant to start appearing soon, LT3's included.
I have gotten a lot of work done in Ge-Mi today. Over 3k written and I know how part one is going to end. I also know how part two is going to begin, so I've put together a working summary for it on my current projects page. I literally woke up today and, after months of not touching Ge-Mi because I couldn't decide where I wanted the plot to go, I realized I knew exactly what needed to be done. Is that weird? Anyway, I have one more build-up scene to write and then the climax. After I'm done with that, I want to start working on part two. I need to have both parts completed before I can start thinking about submitting, so there's still a ways to go, but it's nice to finally be making some progress in this story again.
I've also been working on Kelpie Blue. I am so close to being through with the transition scene I've been struggling with, but I realized it won't be smooth sailing after that. I'm putting my characters into an entirely new setting with new rules to how the world works. I need to find a way to fit in all the necessary description without losing the plot or getting boring. It's going to be slow writing, but I expect it to be a lot of fun.
There are two new stories floating through my head right now that I'm trying really hard not to start writing. They won't be short and I really don't want to add anything else to my to-do list. One is another dragon story of sorts that is high fantasy and completely different to anything I've ever written about dragons before. The other is a Colosseum style coming of age story with a really interesting world building aspect to it. I want to write both and I'm afraid that if I don't start getting both stories to paper soon I'll forget important bits, but my to-do list is far too long already. What do you think I should do?

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News: I'm Way Too Busy

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News: Writing Progress

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