10/20/23
Toss in a little magic, a bunch of political intrigue, a pair of twins and their love interests, and apparently you get a great story! At least, per the reviews I'm getting for Twin Elements. I'm so happy everyone seems to have enjoyed it! If you haven't gotten your copy yet, I posted a bunch of links HERE, but it's available at most major retailers. I have completed writing my story Soulbond, which I plan to submit to NSP for their internal Valentine's Day call. The story ended up being short and sweet, almost fairy tale style, with a strong emphasis on the magic and the romance. I really think you guys will like it! It's due to NSP in just a few weeks, so this is a bit of a rushed timeline for me. Normally when I complete a story I give it a quick edit before setting it aside for a minimum of six to ten weeks. This allows any nuances of what I meant to say versus what is actually on the page to fade from my memory, and when I return to the story I can be much more objective. Soulbond can only sit for about two weeks before I have to start editing or else I won't make the deadline. Luckily Soulbond is a short story, so I should be able to get it finished in time. I'll be sure to let you know how it goes! I have completed writing the epilogue for The Prince in my Princes of Toval series. which means this story is also done! I really, really like how this book turned out. The magic is advanced, the characters are dynamic, and I think I've pulled the romance in nicely. Especially in the epilogue, which is all about the romance. This weekend I am going to give The Prince a once-over to complete a basic edit, before setting it aside. Unlike Soulbond, The Prince will receive the full two months rest I prefer. I plan to pull it out again for a more in-depth edit sometime in the end of December or early January, and submit it to NSP for their consideration once it's ready. Keep an eye out on this blog around then if you want to know more! In between all that other writing, I've somehow found five minutes here and there to start writing the third book, The Spy. I'm maybe 500 words in, so it's not much, but it's a start that I think is very promising. The Spy is set a few years after The Prince concludes, with a totally new set of magic rules and a fun new plot. I expect this will be the final book in the series, as it finally ties together the last loose ends from The Chef (book one). Also, Vivary Tales has been mentally harassing me, begging to know when I can return to working on it. I chose to focus on The Chef (and the sequels) instead, as both books were too intricate to write simultaneously. Plots are percolating so I can't stay away from Vivary Tales too long. As soon as The Spy is done, I will have to return to Vivary Tales. That said, I don't actually know how long The Spy will be. I have two major plot points that need to be explored in separate, but interlinked, arcs. I'm going to aim for 50k words, hope I actually get to 60k, but be willing to settle for 40k if that's what the story calls for. As soon as I'm really able to start digging into the writing, I'll be able to make a better estimate.
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10/14/23
There's so much to talk about and I'm not sure I can fit it all into one post! Sorry if this one is a little long. I'll start with the most exciting news first! Twin Elements is available for pre-ordrer at most major retailers. You can reserve your copy today! Here are some links:
NSP accepted The Chef for publishing! I'm so excited! They seemed to really enjoy it, which is always a great sign. I expect we will start working on editing sometime next April-ish, and you'll have it in your hands around this time next year. I am so incredibly close to completing The Prince, the sequel to The Chef. The story itself is done; all that's left is writing the epilogue. I am hopeful I'll be able to write the rest this weekend or next, depending on whether I get distracted by anything else. Wish me luck! Speaking of distractions, I am 90% finished with a short story for NSP's internal Valentine's Day call. When they first put out the call, I had no idea if I was going to write something for it, and I certainly had zero idea of any sort of plot. Then, last weekend I had a moment of epiphany: What if magic was illegal and my main character was cursed and needed to find some magical help without also getting thrown in jail in the process! Somehow, this crazy idea has turned into a Valentines-themed story. My working title right now is Soulbond. If I can complete it this coming week, I should have just enough time to get it edited before the submission deadline. I'll keep you all posted. On another note. I have purposefully chosen to leave politics and anything real-world out of my blog and separate from my life as a writer. However, some of you know I lived in Israel for a year while I was getting my Master's. All I'll say is so-far all my friends in Israel are okay. They've been very lucky. Some are fighting, and the rest have found other ways to give support. I might not be able to do much, safe on my couch in the US, but for anyone from Israel who reads this, please know I support you, I'm praying for you, and I wish this somehow ends with the terrorists removed from power in Gaza so all people in the region can finally live in lasting peace.
9/28/23
I usually take some time off around the holidays to spend at home with my family. The holidays themselves are very hectic. Rosh Hashanah was multiple big dinners with family and friends, and synagogue. Then Yom Kippur was a 25 hour fast (sundown to sundown), much of which was spent in synagogue. And then about 30 people came over to my parents' for Break Fast, which is a large, buffet-style meal to help recover from fasting for so long. I went a touch crazy with baking. I made apple bread, pumpkin bread, zucchini bread, blondies, mixed berry pie, lemon bars, gluten free plum cake, and hermit cookies. It was a ton of fun, of course, and now that the holiday is over I'm spending the rest of the week hanging out with my parents. What all that means is I haven't had much time for writing. At all. The Prince reached 39k words and I've added 1k to Hadash Aviv, but that was last week. This week has been nothing. I guess you could say it's been relaxing, and when I return to the real world of work and responsibilities I should be refreshed enough to tackle the rest of these stories. The Prince will probably not reach 50k as I hoped. All that's left is the finishing touches, which is probably only 5k more. I'm hopeful I'll be able to add more during the editing process, but we'll see. Hadash Aviv is also a toss up as to whether it'll reach the 15k minimum. I would need to add 6k more, which is a lot for a story that was originally purposefully short and sweet. If I get to at least 10k, I'll ask whether NSP wants it for something else. I've seen the draft for the cover of Twin Elements, and it's glorious, but I can't share it with you yet. I'm hopeful the preorder will be up soon, so I can share that too! And that's everything I've been up to the last few days. Like I said in the title, I don't have much to share. Maybe next week things will pick up again! 9/17/23
Right now I'm celebrating the Jewish New Year, called Rosh Hashanah, which translates to "head of the year". It is a lunar new year, since the Jewish calendar is lunar. We celebrate by having large family dinners featuring apples and honey, and attending synagogue for special services where the shofar (carved rams horn) is blown. I baked apple bread and traditional honey cake and had a great time celebrating with my family. For anyone who celebrates, L'Shanah Tovah! May you have a sweet and happy New Year! Next we start preparing for Yom Kippur, the Day of Atonement, which comes ten days after Rosh Hashanah, and is the most important holiday in the Jewish tradition. I have a few days before that, though, so I'm trying to get some writing done! The Prince has reached 32k words, which is excellent! I have some really fun scenes left to write, and then an epilogue that will hopefully help set up book three. I do think I'll reach 50k, but it'll be close. However, I am hoping that when I go back and edit, I'll be able to increase the word count by expanding some scenes. I'm still only on the first draft, with two or three editing rounds to go before I will send it for submission, but I'm really liking how it's turning out so far! Speaking of editing to increase word count, there's a call for spring-themed stories and I immediately thought of my short story Hadash Aviv, meaning New Spring, that was never republished. Hadash Aviv is one of my few contemporary action/adventure stories. I've always really liked it and was very disappointed I couldn't figure out a way to republish it. Of course, the call is for stories a minimum of 15k words, and Hadash Aviv was originally written for a call for stories less than 10k. I have begun expanding this story, with a couple of new scenes and more description in the existing story. I basically need to double the length of the story. So far, I've added over 1k, so I only have 6k more to write before I can decide whether it's worth submitting. I'll keep everyone updated on my progress! I got to see the first draft of the cover for Twin Elements, which comes out in exactly a month on October 17th, and my jaw dropped. I can't wait to share it, because it is amazing! Aside from that, it's been a quiet week, but I hope to have more good news to share very soon. 9/3/23
Twin Elements has a release date! October 17th! That's really soon, much sooner than I expected. I haven't seen a draft of the cover yet, which is a really big step in terms of getting this book ready for all of you to read. I therefore didn't expect to see a release date until November or even December. October 17th is a very pleasant surprise. I will let everyone know when Twin Elements is available for preorder and will definitely share the cover as soon as I get to see it myself. In more great news, as I promised, I took The Chef out of hibernation and gave it another read through. I fell in love with the story again as I was reading, and as I was editing I somehow managed to expand it just enough that it squeaked past 60k words, which was my minimum word count! The Chef is still my second longest story; Magnified is longer. However, I'm really, really happy with how The Chef turned out! So happy, in fact, I've gone ahead and submitted it to NSP for consideration. I don't expect to hear whether NSP says yes or no for a while, but I'm excited to move this story on to the next step. Writing for The Prince, the second book in my Princes of Toval series, is going really well. The new scenes I'm adding after getting my characters down from that cliff have really helped this story flow much better. I have resigned myself that this book will likely tap out at 50k words, rather than the 60k I originally wanted, but I think 10k words fewer is better than forcing this book to expand when it doesn't want to. That would make the story feel tough and stilted, rather than the fun flow I'm going for. I still have a lot left to write, but I'm hopeful this story will also be ready for submission before too long. Aside from that, I haven't done much else with my writing. I have started some planning for book three in Princes of Toval. I'm calling it The Spy. I know who the main characters are and have been figuring out some of the major plot points. The main conflict still needs some work, but overall this story is in good enough shape that I can start writing as soon as The Prince is complete. I also have a vague idea for a fourth book, but it's entirely dependent on one of the plot ideas for The Spy going well, so I make no promises just yet. 8/26/23
First off, I am amazed at how positive the response for Witch has been. Every review has had something good to say. I'm sad that Kana's story is complete because I loved writing him so much. Unfortunately, Kana doesn't have much more to say. He has his newfound family and his community and his happily ever after. Maybe one day I'll be able to write another story set in this world with a different main character, but for now I'm happy to focus on new characters running off on totally different adventures. Speaking of which, I have been on a roller coaster writing The Prince these last few weeks. I was so certain I had reached the middle point of the story, where all the build up was done and I could move into the final battle and the climax. And then I wrote myself and my characters into a literal corner. Or, well, up a cliff if I'm actually being literal. I could not figure out how to get them down from the top of said cliff, and if they weren't on ground level I couldn't start any kind of battle. Rewriting everything also wasn't possible as the setting for this scene was codified in The Chef (book one) pretty much from the first page. I had zero idea how to fix this. Luckily, my sister got married. For a long, wonderful weekend I got to watch her be happy and I only thought about family stuff. The ceremony was beautiful and now she's off on a well-deserved honeymoon. And I returned home with my characters still at the top of the dang cliff. Except, the time away somehow allowed the story to percolate and when I sat down to start writing again I had a thought. "What if this isn't the climax at all? What if this is the last bit of the puzzle I need before my characters reach the climax?" Epiphany. They're finally down from the cliff and the plot is moving forward again. The best part is this change will require at least another full chapter of preparation, possibly even two. The final battle also promises to be even more epic so will take even longer to write. For a story that has consistently fallen short of my word count goals, this is great news! There's a ton still to write, but I finally feel like I'm rounding the final turn and the homestretch is definitely going to be worth it. In completely different news, Twin Elements, my upcoming standalone story, has completed proofreading. There's only two steps remaining before this book is ready for publishing: a cover and ARCs. What this means is it's very likely you'll see this book in 2023, probably in the last quarter. My best estimate is November or December, which will be here before we know it. The editing process for my next book, You Can't Sell A Dragon's Heart, should begin around the same time, and I really hope to have The Chef submitted for consideration at NSP by then, so things will continue to move along in my writing world. 5/5/23
...and I'm sneezing. The flowers are pretty, but behind that beauty lies a nefarious evil. LOL I live where I get to experience four distinct seasons because I love it. The anticipation as winter comes to an end, knowing warmth and sunshine and the beach are just around the corner is only matched by my anticipation in August that the oppressive heat of summer will soon be tempered by snow. The dopamine boosting cycle of anticipation and fulfillment is exactly why I never want to go anywhere else. That said, spring is probably my least favorite season, mostly because I spend a lot of April and May, and sometimes into June, fighting off sinus migraines, runny noses, and general blah. I always find my writing suffers because of this; if I have a major headache, the last thing I want is the bright lights of a computer screen. Luckily, I seem to be doing okay so far this year. The word count for The Chef continues to steadily grow. I passed 50k last week, making this officially the second longest single story I've ever written. Only Magnified is longer. I'm certainly happy with how much I've been able to put into this one new story. All that's left to write is the final battle and the wrap up, so fingers crossed this story will be done soon. If you pre-ordered Hunter from NSP, make sure you go download your copy to read! Hunter is officially released there. For every other retailer where Hunter is sold, May 9th is only a few days away! I can't wait for everyone to get a chance to catch up with Kana and and Ember, and Kana's familiars, and see where this new adventure brings them! I have also started working on the first round of edits for Twin Elements, my high fantasy stand alone about a pair of twins trying to survive some difficult political mechanizations all while falling in love with the people who come to save them. Twin Elements is such a fun bit of world building and character development. I loved writing it, so revisiting this story in edits has been wonderful. That's basically everything I've been up to this past week. I'm starting to plan my garden for this year, which is mostly veggies, and I'm mentally preparing for my first, inevitable sunburn of summer. I'm also starting a new paint by numbers project that will likely take a few months to complete (I chose a really complicated one this time), so I'm excited about that. Otherwise, it's just work, figuring out what my chef in The Chef will cook next, and sneezing. So. Much. Sneezing. Summer, here I come! 2/26/23
I have some amazing news! Hunter, the second book in my Witch's Coven trilogy, has completed the editing process and has an official release date! Look for it on May 9th! I haven't seen the cover yet, but that and reviewing the ARC are all that need to be completed before this story is ready for publishing. Coven (book one) had such an amazing reception. I can't wait for everyone to be able to read Hunter! Also, we're aiming for August/September to release Witch, the final book in the series. (Keeping in mind all release dates/time frames are subject to change without warning, Lol) I think that's a doable target, but keep any eye on my blog as I'll update you as I learn more. I also have a release date for my mermaid short story, Water's Price! NSP plans to release it June 27th. Water's Price is one step behind Hunter in the editing process--still waiting for the final proof--so June is a perfect date. More great news: Twin Elements, my fun story about a pair of twins forced to switch places when one is poisoned, was accepted for publishing with NSP! The contract is signed and the book now in the editor's queue. I am hopeful it will be available for purchase this time next year. I will keep you posted as I learn more, but feel free to check out the tentative summary on my Coming Soon page. As promised, I pulled You Can't Sell A Dragon's Heart out of storage and gave it a final edit before submitting it to NSP for consideration. Letting the story simmer and percolate for a couple of months helped a lot, so the manuscript looked really good (in my opinion). I do think NSP will also enjoy my quirky sci-fi/fantasy crossover story. However, this book is currently at the very bottom of their submission pile, and will likely take a while to be reviewed. I will try to be patient while I wait. Lol I promised some writing news. The Chef, my quirky story about a chef being waylaid on his journey to a new job and the ensuing adventure, has crossed the 10k words mark! I originally thought part one of the story would tap out at 30k, but it's leaning closer to 25k at the moment. That said, the next chapter begins the build up to the fight scene. The line that convinced me to start working on this book was when the character in my head said "don't drip blood in my oatmeal", however, this coming fight scene is the bit that has kept me writing eagerly. It's the first place I get to fully explore the magic in this book, and I can't wait to write it. I'm very hopeful the fight scene will help me meet my original word count hopes for part one, but either way this book is turning out to be awesome. It's been a busy few weeks, so I haven't been able to work on anything else. My insurance company came through, but I have to follow up with the remediation company to get on their schedule. The drama from the burst pipe will soon only be only an unpleasant memory. I have also been extremely busy at work, so I'm collapsing on my couch in the evenings with very little brain left to make dinner, let alone write. I do expect work to calm down again, so presumably I'll be able to return to my waiting stories very soon. |
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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