12/5/20
You might remember a few weeks ago I mentioned I was smelling oil every time my heat turned on. I finally had someone out to look into it, and it's bad. The technician found a puddle of oil underneath the pump, took the pump apart and found more oil, and guessed there's even more oil leaking somewhere he can't see. It's not a ton of oil, because the oil in my tank isn't mysteriously vanishing, but it's enough that he told me my furnace is shot. I have to completely replace it, which is going to be a fun adventure. Anyone have any recommendations on a good oil furnace brand? I'm especially thrilled because I've only owned said furnace for about five months, which means it was probably shot last winter and the previous owners lied to me about it being in perfect working condition. Now I'm wondering what else I'm going to have to replace. The AC unit is very old too, so I might try to get a package deal for that with the furnace since they're tied together. Do I need to take a closer look at my water heater? What other big ticket items did the previous owners ignore? Owning a home was supposed to reduce my stress, because living in an apartment really, really sucked. Unfortunately, until I have all the pieces and parts of my house fixed, my stress levels are going to remain incredibly high. Luckily, I have writing to escape with. Codified is going well. I completed a major scene and have started the bridge to the next one. The guys are about to travel somewhere new, so I'll have to do a bit of world building. There's still a lot to write, but I'm really liking how it's going so far. Although, I just received the first round of edits for the Magnified reprint (book one in the same series) and I have to finish those before I can continue writing.
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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. 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. 9/24/20
To anyone that celebrates, I hope you had a happy new year and have an easy fast! The response for Dragon Soldier has been beyond amazing. Readers really seem to love it, and that has me so excited! I was incredibly busy the last few weeks, so I never got around to posting the new cover, but it's as wonderful as the rest of the series. You can check it out here! Dragon Adventures, the next book in the series is completely ready to go. All we're waiting on is the cover, but the editing is done. I hope to have the official release date for you very soon. Sticking with news about my Supernatural Consultant series, I have been writing Dragon Spy again. I finally figured out one of the reasons the story wasn't flowing correctly was because the prologue really needed to be chapter one instead. I started writing a new prologue, which introduces a new dragon, and it's already looking so much better! There's still a lot of little plot details to work out, but overall this story is really starting to take shape. I have also finally finished the preliminary round of edits for Kelpie Blue, which is still slated to come out in January. The prelims were a beast to get through, and it took me a lot longer than I had hoped, but I did it and the story looks so much tighter because of it. I'm also super excited to start working on a different series. As much as I love my dragons, taking a break to play with a feisty kelpie was awesome. Next on my editing to-do list are the prelims for Magnified. I think I got into a groove with Kelpie Blue, so I'm hoping to carry that forward and blaze through Magnified. I am also expecting the first round of edits for A Little Fairy Dust, my fairy tale anthology. It's a huge book, so it will take a little longer to go through the editing process, which is why I'm expecting it to land in my inbox any day now. 8/26/20
I have tentative dates for when more of my books are going to come out! They are subject to change (they've already been changed once already), so don't go setting them into stone. I can almost guarantee the dates for the releases in 2022 will very likely be changed as more of my submitted manuscripts are accepted and woven into the release schedule. Still, it's good to know in terms of planning ahead, so I'm sharing them with you now:
As you can see, it's going to be very busy. There's a lot to do in a short time frame, but I'm looking forward to getting all my books re-released for you. In case you were wondering, the brand new, never before published books, are in bold. Fingers crossed I can finish another book and add some more bold lines for 2022! I'm also being lazy and not putting links for more information into this post. Instead, please go here where I've been adding the links as I get them. I will definitely keep you in the loop as these dates come closer, and if any dates are changed, I'll let you know that too. The next few years are going to be a wild ride, but it's so nice to see so much progress already being made! 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
2/23/20
It's been a very long February for me. Some unhappy family issues pulled me away from writing for about two weeks, and I'm only now caught up. That said, a lot has happened recently that I want to fill you in on, so I'm going to write another long post full of fun information. Read on: Submissions to NineStar Press:
That's it for news for February. I know there's a lot going on, and it's probably going to continue being a fire hose deluge of things to do until at least this time next year. I'm enjoying it, though, and I'm so glad you're all sticking through it all with me as we all patiently wait for all my books to become available again. 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:
12/16/18
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! 9/10/16
Despite my needing to take some time off from writing, things continue to progress with all my stories. Here's an update on how things are going:
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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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