2021 plans

Dec

2021

Cookiepocalypse Now!

It’s that time of year again!

But you don’t get pictures until next week. Because I only just started yesterday. So far in the containers are Coconut-all-the-way-down macaroons, three color cookies, and carob chip. Baking will go on for the rest of the week, and you can follow on my Instagram.

Heir to the Firstborn: The Way Home
(Heir to the Firstborn, book 6)

66848 / 150000 (44.57%)

I’m almost to the point of stopping for the rest of the year on writing, too. I need a breather, so once I hit the halfway point, I’m done for the year. I’ll pick up again in 2022 to bring this thing home.

Not much else to say, really. The last show of the year was this past weekend. It’s time to put 2021 to bed. And not soon enough, really. It’s been a busy, busy year.

And my alarm just went off, so I need to head out to pick up High School Boy from school. Short blog post this week. But again, there’s not much else to say.

See you next week with pictures!

Dec

2021

Where’d This December Come From?

No, really. November was RIGHT HERE a minute ago! I blinked and it was gone!

Seriously, I feel like I missed most of November. There were things that were supposed to happen in November, and I think they happened? Maybe? I don’t quite remember them. But no one is grumbling at me that they’re not done, so I must have done them.

I think.

There are still a lot of things to do before I take time off (starting the 19th). I have Keiser Supercon this weekend, and I have meetings this week and next. I have plans to make — I need to start putting together the information for the Kickstarter to have Swords of Charlemagne made into audiobooks, and 2022 is the year I finally make a business plan, and marketing plan, and a financial plan. This is my business, right? I need to treat it like one!

I have a couple of holiday things to finish, and Cookiepocalypse starts next Sunday! (I’ll be working on business planning while cookies are in the oven.)

My goal for writing is to have half the novel scheduled out on Patreon before I go on vacation. Which… yeah, I’m really darned close to that!

Heir to the Firstborn: The Way Home
(Heir to the Firstborn, book 6)

61163 / 150000 (40.78%)

The writing slowed down a bit this weekend because I hit a heavy emotional scene, and my brain didn’t want to go there. Yes, there was sniffling when I wrote it. I’m right in the heart of it now, and everyone is dealing with the fallout, and I still have to wrap things up and get them moving again. But yeah, I’ve known this scene was coming since book one, and now that it’s here, I don’t want to write it!

But, if I don’t write it, no one will get to read it. So… time to put words on the page!

Cookie pictures start next week on my Instagram! Cookiepocalypse is coming!

Nov

2021

I Want a Do-Over!

Last week was supposed to be a week off. Right?

Last week, I had two conventions back to back. Several professional obligations. Thanksgiving….

Clearly, I’m doing this whole week off thing wrong. I think I was more busy last week than I was in the previous MONTH.

And there were words in there, too.

Heir to the Firstborn: The Way Home
(Heir to the Firstborn, book 6)

55808 / 150000 (37.21%)

So… yeah, I need a week off from my week off. And I’m not even done yet.

Heir to the Firstborn: The Crossroads releases TOMORROW!!!

KeiserSupercon is next week!

Cookiepocalypse is nigh! And I still don’t know what I’m baking! (other than three color cookies, because there must always be three color cookies. Always.)

And then?

Once the last cookie sheet comes out of the oven, I’m taking the rest of the year off.

….

…sigh….

You can stop laughing now. I know. I know!

I don’t do time off right, either.

This time for sure!

Nov

2021

When The Going Gets Tough, The Tough… Redecorate…

I have a quirk.

Yeah, I know. I have a lot of quirks. I have one in particular that only raises it’s head when I’m under a large amount of stress.

I nest.

When things around me spiral out of control, I will take control over my immediate environment. If it can be cleaned, it’ll get cleaned. If I can move it, I will. And… well… I break out in Ikea trips.

And that, dear reader, is how I managed to snag the last short Billy bookcase in Orlando yesterday.

(Could have been worse. There’s a Container Store across the street from Ikea. This trip? I did not go across the street!)

The entire thing started Saturday. I sat down to work, and my brain said “We cannot possibly work under these conditions!” So I cleaned up — put some things that were supposed to be donated out to actually go for donation, cleaned my desk, filed some papers and put supplies away… and then I reached the part of the room where the stacks were stacked. They were very neat stacks, but… yeah, stacks. I needed a bookcase.

Which meant moving my kanban board up 2.5 inches, because the bookcase I wanted was 41.75 inches high. I measured the heck out of that, and the kanban board is now flush against the bottom of my ink shelves, and the bookcase I built today is flush underneath the kanban board. Measure twice!

There was also a stool with storage purchased, because it was neat. And… some storage boxes because I needed to put things in things. And… yeah, new bedding for the day bed because I’m still annoyed I missed the tie dye set Ikea had last spring.

Somehow, the office feels bigger now.

The room is still cozy.

And look at that alignment!

So, yesterday was bookshelf buying. Today was bookshelf building (much easier than that stool, I tell you! For that, I needed to borrow some hand strength from the husband in the office next door. Yes, the husband is, in fact, mine.)

Writing happened last week. A lot of writing happened last week.

Heir to the Firstborn: The Way Home
(Heir to the Firstborn, book 6)

44550 / 150000 (29.70%)

And we’re revisiting a couple of places we haven’t seen since book 2. It’s interesting going back the way we came, because these characters have changed so much since they started this journey. It’ll be even more interesting when they get farther down the road and… spoilers.

This week is the RWA National Convention (starting Thursday, and my panel is Friday evening), so I don’t anticipate getting as much writing done. And next week is Thanksgiving, and I most definitely won’t get as much writing done. But things are progressing, and I can’t complain. And the week after that, Heir to the Firstborn: The Crossroads releases! Hrm… should I have a sale? I think I should have a sale.

Let me go set up a sale! Written in Water will be free for Thanksgiving week!

Catch you next week!

Nov

2021

Things and Stuff

Heir to the Firstborn: The Way Home
(Heir to the Firstborn, book 6)

38961 / 150000 (25.97%)

I am all KINDS of busy right now. Between writing and Pen to Paper and REI and RWA and business planning and book releases and starting to plan for holidays and one more convention this year and why is there never enough sleep in this house?

Rhetorical question, I know. I know very well why there’s never enough sleep in this house. Also, why I always seem to be running out of coffee.

(looks at empty coffee cup)

Next week is the RWA National Convention (online!) and I’ll be presenting on Friday the 19th, talking all about the Romance Education Initiative and what that means. When talking about this project to a friend, I made a joke that I needed to get a long coat and an eyepatch, so I could pull a Nick Fury and say “I’m here to talk to you about the Romance Education Initiative.”

Guess what arrived from Amazon two days later? (hint — it was not a long coat…)

No, I’m not going to wear it during the panel! Really. I’m not! (There is, however, a certain slide in my presentation…)

That’s next week. The week after is Thanksgiving, which I think is going to be a small thing for us this year. And the following week is a book release! Heir to the Firstborn: The Crossroads drops November 30th wherever ebooks and paperbacks are sold.

There will, maybe, be something NEW to announce at the end of the month, too. I hope. Once I know that I can share something, I will.

Then we move into December, and you all know what that means! Cookies for miles!!!! And my last convention of the year — Keiser Supercon. Following which, I shall turn into a puddle. I might even take time OFF!

Stop laughing.

I have my publishing schedule planned out for 2022. A box set, some rereleases, and the final book in the Heir to the Firstborn saga (no, really! This time for sure!) Now, these are preliminary dates (except for the box set), and they might shuffle. Right now, this is what next year looks like for the publishing that I control:

February 1st, 2022 — Swords of Charlemagne Box set. (preorder is up now!)

March 8th, 2022 — Counsel of the Wicked rerelease

May 17th, 2022 — Haven’s Fall rerelease

July 12th, 2022 — Where Home Lies rerelease

October 4th, 2022 — TBD

November 15th, 2022 — Heir to the Firstborn: The Way Home.

Wait! A full YEAR for the last Heir book?

Preliminary date, remember? If I finish it up quickly (and I’m already a quarter into it), then I’ll shuffle the other dates around. That publishing date also depends on when the chapters run out on Patreon — I’m not publishing the book until after everything is complete for my Patrons. So those dates are written in warm Jello.

Having most of 2022 be rereleases means that I can focus on business planning, which I really should do at some point. Right? I mean, this is my business. It should have plans — both business and financial. I’m also doing research into a Kickstarter. I want to do audiobooks for Swords of Charlemagne. If I figured the costs right, paying the narrator who I really like will cost about the same as a used car for all four books. This is not cash that I just have lying around, so I’ll be running a Kickstarter. Which means learning how to run a Kickstarter, and what goes into making audiobooks for yourself — the only one I have so far was a book acquired by Audible, and I wasn’t involved in the process at all.

So, I have something that sort of looks like long-range plans for both publishing and business.

And I need more coffee.

Nov

2021

Boom! Christmas Everywhere!

It’s November 1st! You know what that means, right?

Christmas everywhere!!! Never mind Thanksgiving, it’s the official start of the Christmas season!

Which… yeah, hold your horses there. I like Thanksgiving. And I’m of an age where the Christmas season doesn’t start until the Macy’s parade is over (and until the Hallelujah Chorus is sung at Darkover/Chessiecon… but that’s geeky me, not New Yorker me.)

But the Christmas season has been getting closer and closer to summer every year, and today I had my first “November 1st… Christmas EVERYWHERE!” experience outside of retail.

School starts here at 7:25AM. So we leave just before 7AM, and head out (in the dark!) for school drop-off. It’s before dawn November 1st…

And there’s a Santa inflatable outside one of the houses down the street.

Wait… that was NOT there yesterday! And trick or treating here goes until 8PM. So someone went out last night, when it was dark as the bottom of a barrel and Florida cold, and started decorating for Christmas.

(For the record? Our tree goes up after Thanksgiving, and stays up until Twelfth Night/Epiphany/Three Kings Day/Little Christmas.)

Today is also the first day of NaNoWriMo, and I’m not doing it this year.I have page proofs for Heir to the Firstborn: The Crossroads to finish, and those words don’t count towards Nano. Preorders for Crossroads are up, and the book goes on sale November 30th (so I really need to finish these page proofs! Then I have to get my presentation ready for RWA Nationals. So I’m kinda booked this month. Good luck to all of you who are writing your fingers off this month! I wish you no typos and ample supplies of the beverage of your choice!

I am writing, though. Just not putting in the words that would win Nano for me. (see above, page proofs).

Heir to the Firstborn: The Way Home
(Heir to the Firstborn, book 6)

32418 / 150000 (21.61%)

Just finished and queued up Chapter 5, and in tonight’s writing sprints, I’ll dive into Chapter 6. Someone is in trouble, and for a change it’s not Owyn!

Not much else going on, and it’s time for me to run off to get in car line for school pickup. I wonder if there will be more Christmas on the way back?

Oct

2021

Busy Week Ahead!

This week is going to be just PACKED!

To start with, words are flowing nicely with Heir to the Firstborn: The Way Home. They are not flowing linearly, but they’re flowing nicely.

Heir to the Firstborn: The Way Home
(Heir to the Firstborn, book 6)

29387 / 150000 (19.59%)

What do I mean by that? Well, the chapters that I moved over from Crossroads revolve around Owyn. Who wants his resolution NOW, dammit. So when I hit a stopping point in the early chapters, I go and write more for him. And get snarfy and sniffly, because there’s this one scene…

Yeah, you’ll find out later.

The preorder for Crossroads is up and running, and I have the proof copy to start reading through to make sure it’s really ready to go on November 30th. But I’m not going to be able to really focus on that because I’m taking a class this week.

That’s reason two that I’m extra busy this week. I’m taking Amber McCue’s Planathon class on business planning. I’ve been doing this for ten years almost exactly. I’ve never had a business plan. I kinda need to do something about that. So I’m writing this blog post in the break between video classes.

And reason three — the reason I couldn’t tell you that I was so busy for the RWA. I’ll be at the helm of the new RWA Romance Education Initiative, overseeing and revising all of the educational offerings that the RWA currently offers, as well as those to be developed. We have so many plans, and so many new things we want to bring to our members, and I am so EXCITED for this opportunity to give back! There will be more information on this later, but if you’re a reader, and an RWA member, and you want to be a part of this? Let me know!!!

Gotta get back to class! Busy busy busy!!!

Oct

2021

It’s Monday Again

That just keeps happening, doesn’t it? Mondays, I mean.

I suppose the alternative isn’t very good. So we’ll keep the Mondays, and keep on plugging away.

Work continues on The Way Home, and Owyn and Alanar have once more surprised me. Not saying what yet, but when you get to the “Where did THAT come from???” in Chapter Three, know that I’m asking the same question.

Heir to the Firstborn: The Way Home
(Heir to the Firstborn, book 6)

22230 / 150000 (14.82%)

I’ll be finished with line edits on Crossroads tomorrow, and I’ll upload the document and set up the preorder so I can order the author copy and proof that. It’s looking like I will make that November 30th release date that I’d picked out when I set my publishing schedule for the year, so yay, me! And since this entire series revolves around choices and consequences, it seemed fitting to pick crossroads for this cover image.

One of the next things on my to-do list is set up my publishing schedule for 2022. I know The Way Home will be coming out, and I’m planning on rereleasing the Rebel Mage books in 2022. I’m hoping for some new from my traditional publishing submissions, too. Which might turn anything I plan on end, depending on when and if they set anything for 2022. I’ve also got a box set of Swords of Charlemagne coming out February 1st, 2022. And I’m going to look into a Kickstarter to fund audiobooks for the Swords of Charlemagne.

There’s not much else going on. I’m working on things for the RWA, and I’ll be able to tell you more about those next week (I think). Pen to Paper just started back up after a week break, and everyone is loving this program. There are a bunch of other irons in the fire, and so many wonderful things in the planning stages. I have a class coming up next week on business planning, because I really should have done that by now. And I’ve been looking at the book on branding that I picked up over the summer, and that’s been taunting me… time to actually READ it!

…

Sure… that’s not much.

Really.

It’s not like I’m writing two books at a time right now, right?

Right?

Oct

2021

On Your Mark… Get Set… GO!

Heir to the Firstborn: The Way Home
(Heir to the Firstborn, book 6)

18295 / 150000 (12.20%)

I finished edits on Heir to the Firstborn: The Crossroads, so I started writing Heir to the Firstborn: The Way Home last week.

No, I did not write eighteen thousand words in a week. (That would be something, though!) There were five chapters that were already written when I decided that Heir to the Firstborn needed to be two books. Last week, I actually wrote 4,830 words — Chapter One, and part of Chapter Two.

Last week, I also worked a bit more on the synopsis for Blood Price, which will be book three of the Flesh and Blood series. There was some backstory that had been alluded to in Blood Bound that actually needed to be worked out because they find out the truth in this book.

Pen to Paper is on its first scheduled break, and I’m working on getting a couple of units for the last level finished up. (Specifically, the last two levels). This program… it’s just been a year since they came to me and said “We’d like for you to take on this task force and put together this program.” What a YEAR this has been!!!

For my next trick? Well… I can’t tell you yet. What I can say is that I also need to get to work on the presentation I’ll be making at the RWA National convention. Which is coming up… ah… next month. Okay, I REALLY need to get to work on that!

More on the sooper sekrit project in two weeks.

Back to work!

Oct

2021

New Beginnings Lead to New Endings.

This is it. I’m starting the last book in the Heir to the Firstborn series this week. I finished my first read-through of Heir to the Firstborn: The Crossroads (and discovered a couple of places where a Scrivener crash led to changes that I made not making it to the final document! Eek!) The manuscript is now in the hands of Darling Editor, and I’m starting Heir to the Firstborn: The Way Home either later today or tomorrow.

It’s a little weird. I’ve been writing this series now for three years, posting it on Patreon one chapter at a time. It’ll probably be four years of writing by the time it wraps.

And then what?

Well, I’ll have six books and a short story to show for it. Two award nominations and one win. I’ve learned a lot. Grown a lot, both as a person and as a writer. Have I changed so much? Not sure, but I’m in the inside. I don’t know if I’d see it.

So where do I go from here?

Might be a little premature to ask that question. I haven’t written the book yet! But once it’s done, and in edits, then I get to decide what I want to do next. Do I keep the Patreon? What do I put there once Heir to the Firstborn is done? I have a couple of options there, I think. At least three projects that would lend themselves to the New Adult model I’ve already established on Patreon (If you’re keeping score, those possible projects are The Willow Sword, The Iron Virgin, and The Mentalist’s Cat.)

Things are currently in a holding pattern with other writing. The things that are out in slush piles remain in slush piles, and I’m waiting… which, in the traditional publishing model, is a lot of what you do. You write… and you wait.

That’s what I do. I write, and wait for things.

(I might need to put that on a shirt…)

The things I’m waiting for?

- The White Raven: Morrigan’s Heir
- The Ice Raven
- John Zebedee and the Heir to the Elvenlands
- John Zebedee and the Monstrous Town
- John Zebedee Meets the Witch Queen of the Elvenlands
- Blood Bound (Flesh and Blood, book 1)
- Bonds of Blood and Steel

And that’s not even counting Sapphires and Gold, which has been under contract for a while, but things happened and more things got delayed.

Meanwhile, I keep writing. Because that’s what I do.

2021 plans

Cookiepocalypse Now!

Where’d This December Come From?

I Want a Do-Over!

When The Going Gets Tough, The Tough… Redecorate…

Things and Stuff

Boom! Christmas Everywhere!

Busy Week Ahead!

It’s Monday Again

On Your Mark… Get Set… GO!

New Beginnings Lead to New Endings.

Works in Progress

Appearances

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