2023 plans

Aug

2022

Monday, Monday

It’s late (well, it’s late for me) on a Monday, and I’ve finally gotten the time to sit and actually write something. Which is about par for my days these days. If the words aren’t already on the page, I’m not getting to them. So The Sea Prince is officially on the schedule for 2023. I’m focusing on edits for the moment.

I finished my first read through of Children of Dreams and… yeah, there are some rewrites in that book’s future. It will probably be the book that changes the most from the version that went live on Patreon. And I’m okay with that! My plans right now are to finish the rereads of Wings of Air (currently in process) and Visions in Smoke (formerly Heir to the Firstborn: The Crossroads), and then get the rewrites done and get the book to Darling Editor. I may be pushing it on time, but I think it will still come out in November. But notice that I haven’t yet set up the preorder…

Preorder will go live once I hand the rewrites off. And the updated copies of books one through four will go live once Darling Editor has a chance to go through them. The paperbacks are down, and will remain down until closer to when Children of Dreams releases.

And, since books one through four aren’t going to get spiffy new preorders and ISBNS and rereleases, (because they don’t need them) I’ll just go ahead and show you those covers.

Aren’t those gorgeous???? No, you don’t get the last two yet. Not until the preorders are set. I’ve been using GetCovers.com for these, and they have been a joy to work with.

It’s time for me to start at least thinking about thinking about a cover for The Chronicles of John Zebedee. I can publish the book thirty days after the last episode goes live. Which means that The Chronicles of John Zebedee will be coming out in early March of 2023. Get Covers lets you hand them images for inspiration, so they’ll be getting the three Vella covers that I put together. (In order: John Zebedee and the Heir of the Elvenlands, John Zebedee and the Monstrous Town, and John Zebedee Meets the Witch Queen of the Elvenlands.)

And that’s about all in this neck of the woods. Newsletter will be going out in a few days, and I need to figure out what recipe is going in it. Hrm….

Aug

2022

Prioritize the Glass

I do a daily tarot post on Instagram. It’s a single card draw, and I just did today’s right before I opened this window to blog.

View this post on Instagram

A post shared by Elizabeth Schechter (@schechterelizabeth)

The phrase “prioritize the glass” is resonating with me at the moment. You see… that’s what I’m having to do.

So… there were no words written on The Sea Prince this past week. The word count remains unchanged. Instead, I’m focusing on edits, and on a proofreading project. I’ve finished the new edits on Forged in Fire, and have started Bones of Earth. I’m working on the initial edits of Children of Dreams, and I think this book is the one that’s going to change the most from what appeared in Patreon. I have edits open for Hidden Things for Book View Cafe, and I’m working on those around the proofreading project. And that’s on top of everything else that’s happening that I’m slowly getting a handle on.

So right now I’m focusing on the words that have already been put down, because I don’t have the bandwidth to put into new words. The Sea Prince will get written. Maybe not in 2022, but I’ll put it down for my January project in 2023.

Now, I was planning on releasing the new editions of Heir to the Firstborn one a week leading up to the release of Children of Dreams. However, it appears that I’d be making things much more difficult for myself than I have to — since there are no major changes to the first four books, all I have to do is update the files and the cover art. Once I get to Crossroads, which is the first with a new title, then I have to change the ISBN and create a new book. I’ll set Visions in Smoke (New title) to release the week before Children of Dreams.

Now, if you bought any of the first four books of Heir to the Firstborn in ebook from Amazon, your files will update (you’ll have to trigger the update, but you’ll get the new versions.) I do not know if any other ebook seller updates in the same way. So if you bought through Barnes and Noble or Apple, your files may not update. If they do, great! If they don’t, don’t worry. I’ve got you. If you have a file that does not update when I release the new versions, email me with a screenshot showing you own the book already, and I’ll get a new copy to you.

Now, in preparation of updating all the files, I will be taking the paperback editions down by the end of this week. Hopefully, that means that when they go back up for sale, people who order will not get the old copies. I hope.

In other news, episode 6 of John Zebedee and the Monstrous Town just went live.

This is the halfway mark for this part of The Chronicles of John Zebedee. I have to reread the Kindle Vella TOS and see what the turnaround is on putting them three parts together as a book. I think it’s 30 days after the last episode runs, but I need to be certain. So we’ll have the collected Chronicles of John Zebedee early next year, I think.

Time to get back to making sure the words on the page are the right words.

Aug

2022

Summer’s End

Yes, I know the rest of the world still has about a month or so of summer left, but in WriterLiz world, this is the end of summer. School starts this week, and I get back to a regular writing schedule. As much as I ever have a regular schedule.

I’ve been working on The Sea Prince in fits and starts (more fits than anything else, because we went on vacation.) I may have to shelve it soon because there’s something new on the horizon, but for now, it’s been coming together nicely.

The Sea Prince
(The Sea Prince, book 1)

36345 / 120000 (30.29%)

What’s on the horizon? Can’t tell you yet. But it’s exciting and that news will come to you as soon as I can share it.

I’m working on new edits on the Heir to the Firstborn series, too. Those will be coming out with new edits and new covers sometime next year. I have all the covers, and they are GORGEOUS and amazing, and I can’t wait to share those. But they’re not being shared until we get closer to the new release dates. I’m currently working on new edits for Forged in Fire, and I have a printout of Children of Dreams (formerly The Way Home) to edit for a Patron release in November. No, that one won’t be going wide until it goes wide through Book View Cafe. So if you want to see how the story ends before next year sometime? Go check out my Patreon.

We’re into the second part of The Chronicles of John Zebedee on Kindle Vella. Chapter 4 of John Zebedee and the Monstrous Town just went live today. I need to start thinking about a cover for the book, which will come out early next year — Vella requires that you wait some period of time after the last episode goes live before collecting episodes as a book. I need to look up how long — I want to say three months, but that may not be right.

I’ve seen the new cover for Princes of Air, and it’s GORGEOUS. I haven’t gotten permission yet to share it, but I’m really excited to show you all. I’m very fond of my original cover, but it’s not on trend anymore. I don’t have a date for the release of the anniversary edition yet, but as soon as I know, you’ll know.

Not much else is happening. At least, not yet. Once Wednesday hit and school starts, I’ll be back to work, and I’ll have new excerpts and wordcounts and news for you.

Until next week!

Jul

2022

In The Blink of an Eye…

Everything can change.

And in other news, this past weekend was a hell of a long year.

Shit happened. Shit happened that I am not at liberty to talk about, but the ripple effect is in play.

Now, I am fine. Darling Editor and Teen Boy are FINE. But there are extended family things that I must focus on, and priorities that must come first.

To that end, I will not be making any in person appearances for the remainder of 2022.

Children of Dreams (formerly titled Heir to the Firstborn: The Way Home) is now tentatively scheduled for sometime in 2023. No date yet. When I know, you’ll know.

As of right this moment, I’m not sure what’s going to be happening with writing in the fall. I will probably spend the fall focusing on editing, so that I can have Children of Dreams ready for you in 2023. I was poking at The Sea Prince, so I have a word update, but it may have to wait until things calm down for me to focus on writing.

The Sea Prince
(The Coral Throne, book 1)

34014 / 120000 (28.34%)

As things settle, this might shift and adjust. We will see.

John Zebedeee and the Heir to the Elvenlands is wrapping up — two episodes left after the one that dropped today. John Zebedee and the Monstrous Town will start August 1st. (Vella doesn’t give you a link until the first episode goes live, so once I have that, you’ll have it.)

Where Home Lies releases tomorrow, to wrap up the reissue of the Rebel Mage series. Which means that my last release for the year will be The Rebel Mage box set in October.

So… that’s where we are right now. If I miss a week on the blog, or miss a newsletter, please be patient with me. I’ll be back when I can.

In the meantime, if you can put some good thoughts out into the universe, I’d appreciate it.

Thank you all.

Liz.

Jun

2022

Things and Stuff

That’s about the state of things right now in my word. There are things and stuff. Things and stuff are happening, and I’m doing things and stuff.

At the moment, I’m about half finished with the synopsis for book 4 of Flesh and Blood. There’s one book after that, and that will, I think, end the series (at least for the foreseeable future? It has the potential to go on longer, because, you know, vampires.) The short story is still in limbo, and I’m starting to wonder if it’s going to come together, because every time I look at it, my brain goes blank.

Research into Imaginative Anthropology is going well, although I’m realizing that the book I’m reading right now is dated — the next one on my list is a more recent publication, which will help offset the cringe I’m finding in sections on gender and sexuality.

Vacation is coming up soon, but I had to put vacation sewing on hold because the machine needed to be serviced. I should have that back next week. I might go ahead and cut the pieces now, but I might not.

Episode 6 of John Zebedee and the Heir of the Elvenlands went live today. People are reading it, but I can see why folks are saying that Vella isn’t really getting the traction that Amazon hoped it would. I hope they figure out how to make this platform work. I like it, but they really do need to do more to push it!

I’m waiting for more feedback from the beta readers for BVC, but it looks like I have a job of work to do with new edits for Heir to the Firstborn. Serials and novels really are two different beasts, and they don’t translate well from one to the other. That’s on my to-do list for 2023, because I think the only book that will need minimal edits is Written in Water! The new covers are ABSOLUTELY gorgeous and I can’t wait to reveal them — I just got the proof for Wings of Air and it’s beautiful.

There’s also a title change coming — Heir to the Firstborn: The Crossroads will be republished as Dreams of Smoke. I haven’t yet decided what the new title for Heir to the Firstborn: The Way Home will be. It does need that Something-in-Something title to fit with the rest of the series (and there are three Something-OF-Something titles, so I need one more Something-IN-Something to balance. But I might not. We’ll see.)

I DO know that The Way Home needs to be edited HEAVILY — it’s way too long. There are subplots in there that may not make it to the final version, and there’s one character who told me more about them after I finished, so I need to change them up a bit. It’s still going to go live for my Patreon patrons in November, but I may hold off actually publishing book 6 in the wild until the BVC edition. Again, we’ll see.

Things and stuff. Stuff and things. Decisions to make.

I’m awfully busy for someone who is supposed to be taking it easy this summer. But, in the taking it easy part, I did binge the entire Book of Boba Fett yesterday (The Mandalorian, season 2.5?) Now on to the rest of my watch list — next up? Seasons 4 and 5 of She-Ra!

Jun

2022

Productivity

It’s amazing how much you can get done when you take time off.

That’s not supposed to be sarcastic, but it might be, just a little. Because I’m zipping through things that I’ve been putting off while I worked on finishing up Heir to the Firstborn. I’m moving things to the completed column of my kanban board, which is cool. I’m going to see how many things I can get done before I reset the board for 3rd Quarter at the end of the month. So, since I finished the book, I’ve completed my marketing and my financial plans, wrote a series breakdown of Heir to the Firstborn because I have five DIFFERENT beta readers at Book View Cafe. (The only one not at a disadvantage is the person who has book one…) I updated the series bible for Flesh and Blood (the BDSM Vampire series) and realized that it is five books, not four. Wrote the synopsis for book three, and started on book 4. I’ve completed two finance classes and am halfway through a third. And I’m having fun with the research for Imaginative Anthropology, and I have a book on order for a research paper I’m considering on the evolution of the woman warrior. (Working title: From Britomartis to Brienne)

Oh, and I’m sewing for vacation. And learning to shuttle tat.

Now, this seems like a LOT of things, and it is, but there’s no pressure to do any of it. Most of it is really relaxing to do, so it’s not even like work. I’m busy, but I’m not stressed about it.

Episode 5 of John Zebedee and the Heir of the Elvenlands went live this morning.

I’m not sure anyone is actually reading, though, so I might put together an ad to promote it. I can see why people are saying that Vella isn’t really being pushed by Amazon, though.

And Where Home Lies goes live on July 12th. Once the entire series is out (including the box set that is coming in October), I’m going to move this over to be wide. So that will be sometime early next year for wide distribution of Rebel Mage. (I have to wait until the box set comes out of KU, which will be in January, I think.) But this series may move over to BVC, too, so we’ll see what that changes between now and then.

Counsel of the Wicked is a freebie until the end of the month over in the Love Me Now giveaway. There are some interesting spicy romances in there, so take a look!

And that’s about everything for this week, I think.

May

2022

A World of Blurry Dilation…

Come with me, and you’ll be in a world of blurry dilation…

I’m typing this while still dilated from an eye doctor appointment three hours ago. Which means I’m touch typing. This is… challenging. And if any typos creep through, that’s why.

Announcements first —

The Wild West Paranormal project that I was working on has been cancelled, and I have these three novellas all finished and polished and ready to go. So I’m going to get them out into the world, and give Kindle Vella a try. The first three episodes of John Zebedee and the Heir of the Elvenlands will go live on May 30th, with a new episode dropping every Monday. Link as soon as I have one, and I am really kinda digging the cover graphic I came up with for this.

There are two more graphics for Monstrous Town and for Witch Queen, and I’ll show those off later. And the collected Chronicles of John Zebedee will be my first release for 2023.

Another announcement — I have recently gotten the nod to join Book View Cafe, which is a cooperative publisher. As part of this, and for my first releases from BVC, I will be getting all new covers for the Heir to the Firstborn series, and they will be re-edited and re-released starting later this year. I’m really excited for this, and I can’t wait to show you all the shiny new covers.

I announced the cancellation of the audiobook project last week. I did talk to Mark after, and he’s still incredibly upset (honestly, we all are.) So once the Heir books are republished, I’m going to send a set to him and see if he’s interested and has the time to take them on, and we’ll go from there.

Haven’s Fall drops two weeks from tomorrow, on Kindle Unlimited, and paperback wherever paperbacks are sold. ARCS are currently closed for Haven’s Fall and for Where Home Lies, but I may open them up again because they closed too soon.

I’ve set The Sea Prince aside for the moment. Again. Not because I’m stuck, but because my brain wants to play in the new, shiny world more than it does in The Way Home (what, this old thing?) I’ll pick up The Sea Prince in the fall, and hopefully have that done by the end of the year. And I’m hoping to have The Way Home done by the end of the month.

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

136347 / 170000 (80.20%)

I just need to stop having these characters throw new plotlines at me that I then have to nip in the bud. I mean, really, this is the last book. I do NOT need to add in a new plot thread with all new characters who are NOT IN THE OUTLINE in chapter FORTY!

So those new characters have been squared away, and today is the day I start writing the last, long slide down to resolution. I think. Maybe. Once I can see straight.

2023 plans

Monday, Monday

Prioritize the Glass

Summer’s End

In The Blink of an Eye…

Things and Stuff

Productivity

A World of Blurry Dilation…

Works in Progress

Appearances

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