5/10/20

I've been working diligently on The Oracle's Current these last few weeks (in between all the editing) and I've made so much progress.  The story went from being stuck at the beginning, with me desperately trying to figure out how to get the characters started on their journey, to almost being complete.  I was on such a high with how well the writing was going.  Yesterday was a great day for writing.  I added a ton and was halfway through writing the final battle scene, and I was getting really excited.  This story has waited so long to be completed and all I needed to do was put the finishing touches on one last scene and write the epilogue.  Or so I thought. 

I looked down at my word count and realized I needed to add another 2k words to reach my minimum.  Enter a moment of total despair.  There I was, thinking I was almost done, and now I had to come up with another 2k worth of plot!  I abandoned writing for the day and put on a movie instead. 

Except, as the movie was playing, my nerve started to come back.  So what if I needed to figure out another 2k.  I just had to write.  Finish the one scene I was working on, write the epilogue, and then see what turned out in the process.  Well, that one scene I thought only needed a few finishing lines suddenly kept going.  And going.  I struggled to find a way to actually end it, and when I did, somehow the word count matched exactly what I needed.  It's weird that things magically seemed to work out, and I don't know why.  If I knew why, I'd replicate it for some of my other unfinished stories. 

Because, The Oracle's Current is complete! 

After approximately five years of writing (including a long pause while I wrote The Sentinel's Prophesy instead), I have finally finished.  I did a little happy dance when I typed the final period.  It's an amazing feeling to know the book and the series is complete.  Now comes the next steps.  I'll put Current aside until June, at which point I'll pull it out again to give it a thorough edit.  After that, it's up to NSP whether they'll accept it and the rest of the series, but I'm excited to see how it goes! 

5/8/20

I have so much news about Ge-Mi that I'm bursting at the seams!  First, an official release date for Part Two: May 18, 2020.  The best part is, you can preorder it right now from NSP, and if you do, you can get it three days earlier than from anywhere else!  Here's the link: https://ninestarpress.com/product/ge-mi-part-two/ I'm certain it will be available for preorder or to buy from other retailers soon, but three days sooner is awesome. 

Next is the cover, which is a companion to Part One's cover.  It looks similar, but is different enough (I hope) to stand alone.  It's very pretty and has red wolf's fur to signify this is Taylor's book.  What do you think? 

Ge-Mi will be released in print!  Parts One and Two will be combined into one lovely print version.  NSP is working with the cover artist right now to get a print cover completed.  It will take a few extra weeks, but sometime after Part Two is released, the print version will also become available.  I will let everyone know when I have more information, but it's something more for you to look forward to! 

5/03/20

I have a bunch of books coming out in the next few weeks, so I wanted to update you on where they stand:

Ge-Mi: Part Two

This story is completely ready to go.  I finished the proofreader's final edits and have seen the draft of the cover.  All that's left is for the ARCs to go out, which will happen soon.  Part Two is scheduled to come out in May, and I expect to have a firm date once NSP posts it for pre-order on their website. 

I am incredibly excited for this story to come out.  Not only have readers waited literally years for it, but it is the first brand new story of mine NSP is releasing.  I'm super excited to see how a new book does with my new publisher. 

Dragon Deception

Book Two in my Supernatural Consultant series is starting to take shape.  I have completed the copy edits for the story, which means all that's left is the proofreader.  I have seen a draft of the cover, and it is as awesome as the cover for the first book.  It will 100% be ready to go by June. 

Given the amazing reception Dragon Consultant has been getting, I'm certain Deception will also do really well. 

Dragon Dilemma

Dilemma is also making great strides in its journey towards reprinting.  I just finished the second round of edits and the story turned out really well.  The editor likes the story, which means all my new readers will like it too!  I have also submitted the cover form, so that's in progress too. 

There's still a lot to do for this story, but I think we're ahead of schedule for a July release, which is good. 

4/25/20

I have reached the halfway point in The Oracle's Current!  The main love interest has been introduced, and the conflict is about to really get going.  I recently came to a realization about this story: I can't have it meander throughout the world; it has to be focused completely on the Monastery.  As the final book in the series, I need to tie together all the last loose ends, and I can't do that if they're not in the location where those loose ends need to be tied.  I therefore had to scrap my idea of more pirates and heading to Altnoia, but I think the new plan with the Monastery at the center is ten times better.  I'm super excited to see how it goes, and to see if I can get it completed in time to submit to NSP with the rest of the series. 

As part of my work from home social distancing, I've been auditing some college courses to help my subject matter expertise grow.  One course I'm taking is about magic in the middle ages.  I promise, it does technically apply to the work I do for my day job, but they had a whole section on Jewish magic too.  I took a lot of notes, and some ideas are definitely swirling for Codified.  If you remember, Codified has been stalled because I haven't had the time to do the research the story needs.  This course has helped with some of that, and has also given me some new avenues to start digging through as well.  I don't actually know when I'll be able to return to writing Codified, but I'm happy with the progress I've made. 

That's it for writing at the moment, but between what I've added to Current and finishing my Fairy Tales, I think this has been a very productive last few weeks. 

4/16/20

I hope everyone had a lovely holiday (whatever you happen to celebrate).  I had a nice zeder (zoom Seder) with family and friends for Passover.  Social distancing at its best.  Please stay safe and healthy out there! 

Since my last post, I have been working hard on a number of different projects.  Number one is new edits, of course.  The first and second round of edits for Dragon Deception, book two in my Supernatural Consultant series, arrived.  Overall, there wasn't much to fix, however some small things were changed in order to make this series YA.  Next for Deception is copy edits, which should arrive soon, and the first round of edits for Dragon Dilemma should also be on their way. 

My last fairy tale story, A Heart's Dream, is complete!  This means the anthology is also complete.  I still need to put A Heart's Dream through edits to get it ready for submission, and to do that properly it first needs to sit for a month.  I'll pick it up sometime in May, get it and the rest of the stories in the anthology completely ready to go, and then I get to wait for NSP's go ahead to resume submissions.  Despite the wait, I know those of you that have begged me to republish my older fairy tales will be happy to know they, and some new material, will all soon be available for you again.  I'll definitely keep you appraised as this project moves forward. 

I have also been working with NSP on some more covers.  I have seen the first draft of the cover for Ge-Mi: Part Two and have been in discussion about the covers for Dragon Deception and Dragon Dilemma.  I think you're going to like them all, and I'm eager to get them out for you to see too.  Hopefully I'll have final drafts to share soon! 

I am still planning to return to The Oracle's Current as my next project.  I would like to be able to submit it along with the rest of the (newly fixed) series when NSP says I can send in more books, but that means I need to get cracking now.  Thankfully the story seems to have stopped fighting me, but I won't know if it will go smoothly until I start writing again.  I'm eager to get started. 

3/29/20

Social distancing is very interesting.  For an introvert like me who prefers my own company, being home by myself has been wonderful.  I have been teleworking, which means I primarily get to work from home (interspersed with office visits to keep the place running), and I've found I'm a lot less stressed and tired by the end of the day.  That means I have the energy to write on weeknights, energy that has been lacking since I started my current job.  I've therefore been working on trying to finish some of the stories you all have waited years for:

I have three (maybe four, if I write an epilogue) scenes left to write in the last fairy tale story for the anthology I've been promising since the day Cleanly Wrong went out of print.  I'm hoping to have it done this week, which means as soon as NSP tells me it's okay to submit more books to them, the fairy tales will be sent in first. 

Next on my to-do list is to try to finally complete the last book in my Oracle series, The Oracle's Current.  It's a series that deserves to have its ending, but I've been stuck on how to get the two main characters to meet.  I've finally had the time to figure that out, so now I need to write it. As soon as my fairy tales are done, I am looking forward to turning my focus onto this story. 

If the horrible virus continues to spread and social distancing and teleworking continue, my goal is also to make a lot of progress on Codified, the third and final book in my Magnified series.  Codified is a slow process because of all the research that goes into it, and also because it's triple the length of the usual stories I write.  I haven't had the time or energy to work on it, so I'm looking forward to it. 

That said, all my plans hinge on my not getting sick.  I am staying at home as much as I possibly can, am washing my hands obsessively, and am keeping 6ft away from other humans.  Please, please, please do your part to keep everyone safe by doing the same.  I hope everyone stays healthy during these difficult times. 

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:

• Wounded Alpha, Kelpie Blue, If A Butterfly Don't Fly, Magnified, and Justified were all accepted for publishing at NineStar Press!  I'm super excited as I really love these books.  As soon as I have concrete information on release dates, I'll share more, but it won't be until August at the earliest.
  
• I have officially maxed out NSP's release calendar for 2020.  What that means is NSP can't assess any more of my submissions until they create their calendar for 2021.  Everything else I've already submitted to them will therefore have to wait, and I won't be submitting anything more until they tell me it's okay.
  
• I also submitted my Dragon's Hoard series (minus the short stories as I'll have to add one more to get to the length requirement), Elemental Ride, The Coup and the Prince, My Truest Love, and Wings of the Stars.  They're going to have to wait, along with my Road To series, for the 2021 calendar. 
  

Writing:

• I have fixed my Oracle series!  It took a bit of finagling, but I made the changes without having to significantly alter the plot.  The series is officially ready and waiting to submit when NSP gives the okay.  I have also added 1k words to The Oracle's Current, the sixth, and final, book in the series.  The real drama is just starting, and I'm about to introduce the love interest, so I'm really excited about where the story is going.  I'm hoping I can get it completed before The Sentinel's Prophesy is released by NSP (should they accept it, of course).
  

Editing:

• I was able to complete the second round of edits for Dragon Consultant.  I got them back to NSP late because of my family issues, so I don't know if that will effect the release date.  I'm hoping April is still far enough away that it won't, but we'll see.  Next for Consultant is copy edits, which will hopefully arrive soon. 
  
• I am working on the final proofreader's edits for Ge-Mi: Part One.  There's not a lot to do, so I'm hoping to have them completed and back to the editor by today.  That should be it for edits for this book, so I don't foresee any issues meeting the March release date.  I will hopefully have an exact date available for you soon.  The first round of edits for Ge-Mi: Part Two should also be heading my way in the near future as well.
  

Book Covers:

• I have seen the first draft of the new cover for Ge-Mi: Part One and it's really nice!  It's simple, but lovely, and is definitely more safe for work than the original cover. I can't wait to see the final draft, and then share it with all of you!
• I have been asked what I want for the new cover for Dragon Consultant.  I think I want to go with something simple again, but still bright and happy, and focused on kit-level destruction. I'm really looking forward to what the artist comes up with, and I can't wait to share it with you. 
  

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:

• 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? 

12/29/19

I hope everyone is having a good holiday season!  Hanukkah was very nice this year.  I got the obligatory socks, but this year they were Disney princess themed, which is awesome.  Tonight is the last night, and I saved all the cards to open, so it should be fun. 

Things are so up in the air right now in terms of writing that I don't dare make a New Year's resolution.  I know there's a lot of edits coming my way, so I'm going to try to get them all completed on time.  I would also like to finish some of my works in progress this year, but that depends on how time consuming edits end up being.  I hope everyone has a good New Year celebration and that 2020 is better than 2019.