Category: - Mell Eight's Writing Blog

News: A BIG Change

5/9/2017

5/9/17

Dragon Home is available for preorder at LT3. You can get your copy HERE for a 15% discount. Some of you might be surprised to see it up before Justified. I know I was, and then I saw the release date and got very confused. Turns out, the releases of Dragon Home and Justified have been switched. Here are the new dates:
- Dragon Home: June 21, 2017
- Justified: August 9, 2017
At my best guess, this happened because Justified is running behind in the editing process. It's a big book with a lot of nuance, which requires more time to edit, and it definitely wouldn't have been ready for release next month. Dragon Home, on the other hand, is short and sweet with minimal edits. I am almost done with the second round and it will be back to LT3 with more than enough time for June 21st.
Dragon Adventure is coming out next week! I'm so excited to share the first half of Aqua and Rios' story. It's a fun little interlude before we hop back into the main story with Dragon Spy in October. If you want to get 15% off, make sure you preorder before Dragon Adventure comes out.

News: Release Dates

3/22/2017

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.

News: Coming Soon

3/19/2017

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.

News: Edits and Writing

2/6/2017

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...

News: Release Date and More Good News

4/16/2016

4/16/16

Magnified now has a release date: September 7, 2016. That's not too far away! LT3 and I have started talking about the cover and since the editing is complete Magnified will definitely be ready to go on time. I know I've said before how excited I am for this book to come out and now with a release date my excitement is growing even more.
The next big thing I've learned is LT3 is going ahead with a compilation print version containing Dragon Consultant, Dragon Deception, and Dragon Dilemma. We started talking about the cover, which is going to be awesome. I think this print book will be released along with Dragon Dilemma in June, so make sure to look for it then.
I've also spoken with LT3 about starting the cover for Dragon Detective, book four of my Supernatural Consultant series. I don't have an official release date yet, but my best guess might be this December or next January. It depends on whether Ner Li, my story for LT3's Sharing the Season call, bumps Detective's release date back a few months.
I haven't heard anything about any of my other stories. The Case of the Wandering Wolves is next on my list of submissions, so I'm hoping the first round of edits come for that soon. Although, given that TCotWW won't be released until at least ten months from now I'm probably getting way ahead of myself. I might see the edits for Ner Li or Elemental Ride first. I'm also waiting on copy edits for Dragon Dilemma. I don't expect to hear yes or no about whether LT3 accepted Justified for a while, but that is another item I'm waiting to hear about. I'll be sure to let everyone know once I hear about any of my stories.

News: Release Date and Edits

5/25/2015

5/25/15

In case anyone missed the news from last night, I announced the release date for The Oracle's Sprite. September 30, 2015. It is currently available for pre-order at a 15% discount at LT3. Get your copy today: http://www.lessthanthreepress.com/books
I have also heard about the status of the edits for The Oracle's Sprite and for Dragon Consultant, the first book in my Supernatural Consultant series. Sprite is back with the editor for the second round. I should see it again sometime in June. The edits for Dragon Consultant are also supposed arrive in my inbox at the same time, which means I'll have a lot to do in very little time. I'm looking forward to what each editor has to say.
I have made a mental health decision and have set aside the edits my beta reader gave me for Ground of Insurrection. After getting the edits completed for Sprite and knowing that the edits will return to me in a few short weeks, plus knowing that the edits for Dragon Consultant are also on their way, I decided to set aside the non-essential edits in favor of letting my brain rest. Once I know I have more than a few weeks of recovery between each round of editing I will absolutely be returning to GoI. I did take a moment to glance through what my beta reader said. There's a lot to do, but the overall reaction was very positive. I hope to see GoI back on my goals list this autumn.

News: Release Date and Pre-Orders

10/29/2014

Road to Home officially has its final release date: January 7, 2015. The edits are done and the hard part is over! The best part of writing any story is this moment, when I get to sit back, relax, and wait for my hard work to pay off. I really like Road to Home and I know readers will too!
Which is why you should pre-order your copy today! Road to Home is available for pre-order at Less Than Three Press with a 15% discount if you buy before January 6th! It's a great deal for a great book. Here's the link: http://www.lessthanthreepress.com...books
But wait! There's more! The Oracle's Golem will be released exactly two weeks after Road to Home on January 21, 2015. The highly anticipated next book in The Oracle's Series is also available for pre-order at a 15% discount! You can also get your copy today: http://www.lessthanthreepress.com...books

NEws:

7/2/2014

7/02/14

The edits for Heartbeat are back with LT3! That story is ready for publishing. Look for it in September. Of course the second I got the edits done, LT3 sent me more. The Oracle's Golem and Road to Home are sitting in my inbox right now, waiting for me to get started. Sigh. It's never ending!!!
I have a new release date for Road to Home. It's set to come out November 26, 2014.
I have finished writing Thunderbird. It still needs a thorough edit, but I've decided to put it aside for the summer. It's not due until January, so I have plenty of time. I want to focus on some of my other projects for a while instead.
Heartbeat is set in the same world as my Trickster's Eye series, which I haven't worked on in over a year. I decided since I was working on those edits I ought to dust off book one and give it a read through. I really like what I've written, but when I reached the end I came to the same problem that caused me to put it aside for so long. I have absolutely no idea where the story should go next. I'm hoping to figure out the answer to that problem, but not until some of my other big projects are also taken care of.

News: Release Dates and Another Giveaway

5/20/2014

5/20/14

I had a feeling it would happen the second I saw at the scope of the edits returned to me, and it has. The release date for Road to Home had to be changed. We're still working on a concrete day, but look for it to come out sometime at the end of the year instead.
I also have two more (tentative) release dates to share! Heartbeat, my story in LT3's Satisfaction Guaranteed Anthology, will be released on September 24, 2014 and The Oracle's Golem will be released on January 21, 2015!
Paint, Guns, Money, and Love is up for an ebook giveaway at LT3's Goodreads page. All you have to do is comment to enter!
I haven't gotten much done on the writing front this past week. I've been trying to focus on the edits for Road to Home and my friend got married this past weekend so free time has been limited. That said, I have gotten started on my potential submission for LT3's Intertwined Anthology. The story is titled Thunderbird and is focused on the Native American mythology of that creature. I'm expecting it to be short and sweet. It should be a lot of fun!

Edits, Writing, and PGM&L

3/22/2014

3/22/14

After writing my rambling blog post about how I have too many stories on my plate, my to-do list has grown. Instead of being buried under all my stories, I'm neck deep in edits! I am still working my way (very slowly) through the edits for Third Time's The Charm, but today I also received the edits for Road to Home. If I thought the rewrites for TTTC were tough, the editor for RtH decided to only edit the first 19 out of 73 pages because there were "too many issues" to continue. Oy. I've read through some of the comments and it's clear to me that while the editor does have a point in some places, in others I want to smack myself upside the head for not making some things that were perfectly clear to me also clear to others. It's a classic editing issue of not being able to read your own work. One of the problems is that I've described what the editor believes to be THE Department of Homeland Security in D.C., when it's really A super secret office within the DHS. Rafi isn't exactly your run-of-the-mill DHS agent and his office isn't either. The editor did amazing work google imaging and other fun things because I didn't make myself clear. And that's only the first issue I've messed up! So, yes, I have a hell of a lot to fix.

What this boils down to is I'm not sure if the July release date I pushed for is feasible. I have to fix a ton of issues, the editor has to edit those changes as well as go through the next 54 pages, and then it comes back to me again for more fixing. It's going to be a whirlwind couple of months for RtH.
I have been successful on the writing front, though! I've written 3k in Lynden Leaves (I really need to come up with an actual title for that story!), 2k in The Oracle's Golem, and 2k in Magnified. I have written more in a week, but 7k isn't a bad showing! If I could just write that much in only one story I could have something actually finished! Dear Muses, please let me finish writing a story soon!
Paint, Guns, Money, and Love is completely ready to go! The release date is June 4, 2014, which is when it will be finished running as a serial story. I have my author copies of the ebooks and I've heard that the paperback may be heading to the printers in time to coincide with the ebook's release. June is still a while away, but it's nice to have something to look forward to!