Wednesday, January 31, 2018

Notes from the Writer Cave: Progress is Progressing!

Another update for all of you, because I know everyone is anxious, always, for more Orc Saga news.


I have finally COMPLETED The Queen and her Brook Horse! Right now it's sitting just shy of 39,000 words, which is also long enough for me to do a paperback in addition to an ebook release. I have edits to do still, of course, which will take me a little bit of time because the length is way lengthier than I had originally intended, and then formatting, but this short-story-turned-novella will still be going out to Newsletter subscribers first, for FREE, so make sure you sign up if you're an Orc Saga fan! (I'm aiming for end of February.)

One other important note: PLEASE PLEASE PLEASE do not read this novella until AFTER you have read BLOOD OF THE QUEEN. I will be including this warning in my newsletter when it goes out, too, but this is a spoilery prequel and I don't want anything to be ruined for you. So even though this takes place BEFORE Honor Among Orcs, I'm going to be calling it 2.5 for a legit reading order reason.

Okay, I lied, ANOTHER couple important notes: This is not a romance. Bolthorn is not in it. Fossegrim, however, is, for those of you who loved him.

(I just don't want anyone to be disappointed! Can you tell I have turned a corner in my writing which is full of "oh god I have no idea what I'm doing how did I get here what if everything is bad?!")

In also exciting news--meet Postcards from Asgard's new cover art:


Pretty sure I just fell in love with Thjalfi all over again just looking at this. Designed by Caitlin Greer, who is fabulous, by the way. Augh I need to update my interior. *adds that to today's to-do list* SORRY CAIT I AM ON IT.

I'll also have a new paperback edition shortly with the new art, so if you are a paperback reader and haven't already picked this one up, hang tight.


Forged by Fate (Fate of the Gods, #1) Tempting Fate (Fate of the Gods, #1.5) Fate Forgotten (Fate of the Gods, #2) Taming Fate (Fate of the Gods, #2.5) Beyond Fate (Fate of the Gods, #3) Facets of Fate Honor Among Orcs (Orc Saga, #1) Blood of the Queen (Orc Saga, #2) Postcards from Asgard
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Helen of Sparta By Helen's Hand Tamer of Horses Daughter of a Thousand Years A Sea of Sorrow: A Novel of Odysseus
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Thursday, January 18, 2018

Notes From the Writer Cave I

So far this month I have gone from extreme optimism to extreme pessimism. I trust you won't be shocked to learn that this is entirely normal for me, in relation to writing and publishing. It is the BEST and WORST parts of my life.

But I'm writing! And your Orc Saga short has become a novella of 17,000 words and counting, with a title! And also a cover, which I'm going to hold back on sharing with you until it is Newsletter time. (Have you signed up for the Amaliad yet? I didn't even send one in December because nobody needs another email during the height of holiday season, let's be real. That's how considerate I am of your inboxes! Also you get to see things first like snippets of Works in Progress and cover art! And you'll get the Orc Saga novella FREE when I release it ONLY through my newsletter.) But the titlework is a go at last and if you follow me on facebook you probably already got a glimpse:


I've also been doing some reorganizing of my life/books/workspace, in the spirit of getting a fresh start with the new year.

Also my desk was a fire hazard. Literally, because I have a candle on it and sometimes I light it and it was getting to be a really questionable life choice with all the papers crowding around it. It is probably STILL a little bit of a fire hazard, if I'm being honest, but far less of one at least, now, and I have a place to keep the books I need at hand for easy reference and some of my earliest arcs, to remind myself how far I've come, and some fun action figures and figurines because who doesn't need a place for that? And a much less likely to be knocked off and smash on the ground location for my back-up harddrive which somehow is approaching 50% capacity even though it's a full terabyte and I really do not understand how this is happening.

That last part, the I really do not understand how this is happening--that could probably be applied to a lot in my authorlife. Alongside I really do not understand how this isn't happening, probably, in equal measure. But sometimes something not happening is the clearest sign that it's the wrong thing--like this scene I've been plodding through for three days in TQahBH. (I'm not sure I love that, I think I will probably just keep calling it the Orc Saga Novella instead because nothing that starts with TQ is something that is going to flow out of my fingers.) A lot of times, when I'm writing, the biggest clue that the scene I'm writing is bad--as in, begins in the wrong place or addressing the wrong plot point--is my plummeting daily wordcount. When I go from thousands of words to hundreds, or tens, or find myself writing a blogpost like this instead of tackling it again the next day, that means I messed something up somewhere, and my brain is trying to figure it out, and maybe even trying to keep me from throwing good words after bad and getting in deeper when the mistake somewhere behind me is going to make it all moot anyway.

Sometimes, it takes me a couple days of stifled frustration to get the point, like this time. Other times, I figure it out on the same day, a few hundred words in, and am able to cut and course-correct pretty quickly. But it's never reliably one way or the other, and no story-writing experience is ever the same as the last, either, and 2018 is my year to forgive myself for not getting it right always on the first try, rather than letting it turn into a thousand pound monkey of recrimination on my back.

So to soothe you, and me, here is a picture of my TBR pile, all one one bookshelf, unmixed with already read books, as I have dreamed it should be--a glorious triumph of this new year's organizational expeditions.

I hope you are having a satisfying and productive first weeks of 2018 as well! Or at least that you are enjoying it in good health and/or happiness. I promise to keep keeping you posted on this Orc Saga not-so-short. And if it makes you feel any better--I originally thought I'd have finished it more than 1084 words ago. But uh, my estimate was not even close.

Oh! I almost forgot-- DAUGHTER OF A THOUSAND YEARS is on sale for just $1.99 this month on Amazon, for kindle. And I'm pretty sure it's also on sale over at Amazon UK, too. I'm still super proud of that book, and I hope if you haven't, you'll grab yourself a copy and see what it's all about. Especially if you love Fate of the Gods! DAUGHTER is just as full of Thor Love, in both the past and the present.




Forged by Fate (Fate of the Gods, #1) Tempting Fate (Fate of the Gods, #1.5) Fate Forgotten (Fate of the Gods, #2) Taming Fate (Fate of the Gods, #2.5) Beyond Fate (Fate of the Gods, #3) Facets of Fate Honor Among Orcs (Orc Saga, #1) Blood of the Queen (Orc Saga, #2) Postcards from Asgard
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Helen of Sparta By Helen's Hand Tamer of Horses Daughter of a Thousand Years A Sea of Sorrow: A Novel of Odysseus
Amazon | Barnes&Noble

Tuesday, January 02, 2018

2017 Writing Recap and 2018 Goals

So, last year was a little hit or miss for me.
Those of you who follow the blog or twitter or facebook probably already know that it was a rough year. I struggled a lot to get back on the writing horse--to love writing again. But I got there, with a couple of passion for-fun projects that were just for me! And even though I "only" wrote two novellas and one novel in 2017, and didn't get done some of the things I wanted to, I'm proud of myself, and the work I put in.



I just set up my spreadsheet for 2018, and since Jamie Raintree upped her sheet to support up to 10 projects, I filled it up, but I really only have two priorities this year and both of them are Orc Saga! First, the short I promised you, which I want to wrap and get out to you this month, and then Orc 3 until it's done!

On the editing and publishing side, I've got a couple of completed manuscripts that I want to do something with though I'm not quite sure what or how yet, plus I want to get some of my serialized fiction, Imaginary Friend and Thor in Zombie Land particularly, into an ebook format for ease of reading and distribution, and get those out there for you all (Imaginary Friend will probably go out free to Newsletter subscribers, but likely it'll have a 99 cent price point via retailers. Sooooo. Sign up?) I also have plans to re-cover Postcards from Asgard this year so it's a little bit more representative of the moderately sensual contemporary romance (with fantastic Norse Myth elements) contents. (Why can't I write things that fit neatly in a box? WHY. WHHHHYYY.)

But after Orc 3--who knows? I have thoughts and plans for more Amalia Carosella titles (including a Theseus/Antiope book because all the hearts) and I have a Fate of the Gods novella-that-will-probably-be-a-novel-by-the-time-it's-done on my back burner, along with a couple more contemporary ideas, name and brand to be determined. But I promised myself I would spend 2018 giving myself a break from agonizing over the publishing side of things, so I'm keeping it nebulous and probably going to spend all my post-Orc 3 time just writing for the love of writing. And if that means I only release on book this year, I'm okay with that. Hopefully you will be, too.

I was going to leave you with a little teaser title for my Orc Saga short story but I've been staring at it all day now and still can't decide what the final title should be, never mind the final teaser image itself. Something to look forward to on another day, I guess!



Forged by Fate (Fate of the Gods, #1) Tempting Fate (Fate of the Gods, #1.5) Fate Forgotten (Fate of the Gods, #2) Taming Fate (Fate of the Gods, #2.5) Beyond Fate (Fate of the Gods, #3) Facets of Fate Honor Among Orcs (Orc Saga, #1) Blood of the Queen (Orc Saga, #2) Postcards from Asgard
Amazon | Barnes&Noble 

Helen of Sparta By Helen's Hand Tamer of Horses Daughter of a Thousand Years A Sea of Sorrow: A Novel of Odysseus
Amazon | Barnes&Noble