audiobooks

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.

Apr

2022

Mondayist Monday that ever Mondayed

Today started with the disappointing news that, because of reasons beyond anyone’s control, production on the Hidden Things audiobook has to be canceled, and the contract dissolved. It’s not anyone’s fault, and everyone is very disappointed. Back to square one, I suppose. Although I think I’m going to have a hard time picking a new narrator — Mark’s voices were just so absolutely perfect.

Mark and I are hoping that we will be able to work together again in the future. So here’s to that hope, — maybe with Heir to the Firstborn or The Sea Prince. We’ll see what happens once those two are done.

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

131341 / 170000 (77.26%)

****

The Sea Prince
(The Coral Throne, book 1)

31308 / 120000 (26.09%)

I may be putting The Sea Prince to the side for the next month — school is out one month from today, and I really want to have The Way Home complete by then. Or I can use it as a carrot — if I get my words in for The Way Home, I’ll get to go make some words for The Sea Prince. We’ll see which works better.

So… for now, I’m going to keep working on The Way Home, getting that finished so that edits can start and we can get the series wrapped up for a November release. I’ll revisit the Hidden Things audio in the fall, once there’s some distance and I’m not hearing the voices that we set up already. I was planning on working on some non-fiction for the summer anyway, so I may just take a total fiction break and pick up The Sea Prince in the fall, too. I think I might need a break. We’ll see.

Apr

2022

New Server, Who DNS?

Remember how I said I was moving the website? It’s officially moved! My website is now hosted by Greekgeeks, and I’m already loving the change.

They said the migration could take up to 48 hours. It was done in under 12.

They said that the DNS change would take a couple of hours. FIVE MINUTES.

SSL certificate? Push a button and POOF!

Makes my geeky heart happy. If you’re at all interested in checking them out, click here. (affiliate link)

I’m in the middle of the 5 Day Author Ad Profit Challenge (taught by Bryan Cohen), so there haven’t been as many words as there might usually have been during a week. And I’m seeing that Sea Prince is going to need quite a lot of tweaking to bring the older chapters up to date and in line with where my writing is now, as well as making sure the characters voices are consistent. But I can do THAT once I have a draft. Right now, the words are flowing, and I’m not stopping! Write first, edit later!

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

126161 / 170000 (74.21%)

****

The Sea Prince
(The Coral Throne, book 1)

28452 / 120000 (23.71%)

I keep forgetting to put this out there. If you’re interested in reading my work before the general public, I have an ARC page on Booksprout. In exchange for your review of the book, you can get advance copies of any of my upcoming work! Right now, I have Haven’s Fall and Where Home Lies available, and as soon as I have a copy of The Way Home available, that will go up there as well.

Likewise, if you’re interested in any of my books, but can’t afford them? Drop me a note. I know that not all of my books can be gotten through the public library, so I’m happy to send review copies out. It helps me, and it protects my readers from pirate sites that are loaded with malware.

In audiobook news, there have been some delays with recording (mostly covid related). If all goes well, recording will start this Thursday, and may be done shortly thereafter. I’ve been invited to (virtually) hang out in the booth and listen in, because Mark (my narrator) and James (his engineer) want my real-time input on voice characterizations. I’m very excited about being involved in the project, which I know is unusual (and honestly, if I’d been able to be this involved in the recording of House of Sable Locks, the chapter Gunner’s Daughter would have had a VERY DIFFERENT SOUND!!!!)

Not much else to add. I’m working on business planning, and collecting resources to do research on the non-fiction project over the summer. Working on finishing The Way Home before the end of May, which is a big push because I’m thinking I have maybe ten chapters left? That’s 30K words, roughly. Which means… go write all the words, Liz!

Catch you next week!

Mar

2022

This Post is Late.

But it’s here, which counts, I suppose.

I spent most of last week at ICFA (the International Conference for the Fantastic in The Arts), which was wonderful! Take an academic conference, and smash it together with a science fiction convention. Papers presented on animation and video games and fairy tales and movies and just about any other media in which you find science fiction and fantasy. Bring in some luminaries and legends, and finish it all off with a formal award banquet.

Which I suppose is a way of saying that I have not written a WORD since last Tuesday, and I haven’t touched The Way Home since last Monday!

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

110386 / 170000 (64.93%)

I finished up the synopsis for Tales from the Arena: Dead Man’s Hand on Tuesday, so I’ll dive into that at some point. But for now, I have The Way Home to work on, and the other, smaller project that I have going.

I forget if I mentioned that? I could go back and look at last week’s post, I suppose, but I’ll just say it again. I’ve got a series of BDSM short works planned, under the name E.A Butcher. Why the pen-name? Because there’s nothing paranormal about these, and they’re written in second person point of view. The premise is a pair of lovers, who take turns being the one in command. He calls her Pet, and she calls him Poppet. I’m about half done with the first one, and we’ll go from there and see how they go.

On the downside, the Kickstarter failed to fund. Not a shock, really — it had started going backwards, and the early traction never really picked up again. So I’ve learned a thing or two about Kickstarters, and I know for next time. What does it mean for the audiobooks? That they’ll be coming out more slowly than I’d originally planned. That’s all. We’ll still have all four, and I will try my hardest to make sure that Mark is the one reading all of them. Production is still underway, and we’re still working on getting the voices right.

There isn’t much else to talk about right now. I’m still trying to wake up and catch up from a long few days away, and tomorrow is am early morning because school is back from spring break. Which means there’s two months left to school, so I really need to get to work on finishing The Way Home before school gets out!

One last reminder — I’ve got a freebie out in the Worlds of Fantasy giveaway. Written in Water is free, just for signing up for my newsletter. There are over thirty other book in the giveaway, too, as well as the chance to win a $20 gift card! Click the graphic to check it out.

Mar

2022

Reflections

This past weekend, I did something that I haven’t done in a while. I sat down and reread one of my older works. Not because I was researching anything, or checking details for a sequel. Just… read it.

I re-read House of Sable Locks.

It’s a daunting thing to go back and read the second book you ever wrote, and realize that it’s possibly the best work you’ve ever done. That you’ve written twenty-four books since that one, and that none of them have reached the benchmark that led one outlet to call House of Sable Locks a modern erotic classic. (that outlet no longer exists — it was Cliterati, for the curious.)

Now, that’s not saying that the rest of my work is crap. It definitely isn’t! (House of Sable Locks isn’t my only award winner, after all.) But I think that they all are a step below that level. Well, maybe Hidden Things is closest. Or Written in Water. Or maybe not — House of Sable Locks was something truly special.

And it was my second book. That’s really kind of mind-blowing. You’re not supposed to front-load your writing career!

While I’m pondering this, I’m also working on book 26:

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

105627 / 150000 (70.42%)

(If anyone just happens to be looking at my Goodreads or Amazon book list and thinking — hey, there aren’t 25 books here? The Rebel Mage books are being reissued this year — see below. I have one under contract with Circlet/Riverdale, three in the Circlet/Riverdale queue, and three set up for another project.)

Counsel of the Wicked drops tomorrow, and I’m really looking forward to having these books back out in the world. Yes, the Rebel Mage books are dark. No, I’m never going that dark again. But I did it once, and I did it well.

Written in Water is free in a couple of places this week. Smashwords is having their Read an Ebook promotion this week. And I have a Book Cave giveaway for this entire month — sign up for newsletters, get free books!

And the Kickstarter is… well… going backwards. I have to say, it’s very disheartening. I’m trying to put my mind to how to turn this around and go forwards again, and not coming up with much. But there’s still time. And hopefully, my appearance today on the These Mums Write podcast will help!

Not much else to report in. Time for me to go back to trying to exceed my early brilliance and write a new modern erotic classic.

Feb

2022

We’re Doing What? When?

Some variant on this question was repeated a few times during Boskone on Saturday. Why? Because the Writing the Naughty Bits panel was scheduled for 12 noon.

During the day.

I don’t think I’ve ever done this panel during the daylight hours! Ever!

So, for the first time ever, we began the panel by asking “Is there anyone in the room/Zoom who is under the age of 18? Will you please leave?”

It was a fun panel. Writing the Naughty Bits is usually is a fun panel, but this was also a Circlet Press reunion panel.

Being a virtual guest at a convention is fun, but it’s not nearly as much fun as actually BEING at the convention. For one thing, I’m not really there, so I get distracted by things around the house, and things that are a little more immediate, and whups! Con is over!

The recordings of the panels that were offered via Zoom are still up, though. So I’ll be able to go back and see the panels that I missed. (If I remember to do that before they take them down in 30 days…)

I didn’t get a lot of work done on The Way Home this weekend, but I did a decent amount last week.

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

97128 / 150000 (64.75%)

I also have a good idea as to where Tale from the Arena: Dead Man’s Hand is going, so I may start writing that in the next week or two, and finally bring some closure to that series.

The Kickstarter is… well… it is. There are three weeks left, and it’s nowhere near where it should be. I’m starting to resign myself to only getting book one out this year. Unless a bag of money falls into my lap, that is. I do have a sample to listen to in my inbox, though. I’m saving it for after dinner.

The Bookcave giveaway is also still ongoing. There’s one week left for you to grab a bunch of free books and samples, and all you need to do is sign up for some newsletters.

The entire Rebel Mage series is now up and ready for preorder, and will be exclusive to Kindle Unlimited for the foreseable future. I’ve also set up a box set, which will be available a month or two after Where Home Lies (Rebel Mage 3) releases.

And that’s pretty much where I am at the moment. Also, it’s late and I need to go make dinner.

Feb

2022

So Busy!!!

This past week feels like I’ve been running from pillar to post all week, and yet I’m not sure I have much to show for it. Strange.

I didn’t get as many words down as I’d have liked, but I did get to write some interesting scenes that revealed once again that my characters keep secrets from me, and only tell me when it’s the right time. If you’ve seen “Who Framed Roger Rabbit?” you probably remember the scene where Roger slips the handcuffs? And Eddie demands to know why he couldn’t do it before, only to have Roger reply that he couldn’t do it before. He could only do it when it was funny.

My characters only reveal things when it’s going to complicate the plot. However, I like this complication, so it stays.

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

94275 / 150000 (62.85%)

Then again, I usually like the complications, and they usually stay. My characters have more of a direct line to my subconscious, which is where these stories start. I figure they know what they’re talking about.

The Kickstarter has another month to go, and I really hope it picks up. If you want to see audiobooks produced for the Swords of Charlemagne books, please share the graphic and the Kickstarter link?

Another thing that’s still running is the Red Hot giveaway! You have until the end of the month to grab your free books!

The last thing that I’ve been working on is the revisions on the Rebel Mage books. Counsel of the Wicked and Haven’s Fall are ready, and I’m putting the final polish on Where Home Lies. All of the books will be out this year, with Counsel coming next month, on March 8th! You can preorder now on Amazon — these ebooks will be Amazon exclusives for purchase or for reading through Kindle Unlimited.

I was also interviewed for the These Mums Write podcast, which was an enormous amount of fun. As soon as I know the date that the episode will air, I’ll let everyone know. I think it’s in early March.

Okay, so maybe I did get a lot done last week. And I have even more to get done this week, including attending Boskone virtually this upcoming weekend, and finding out the results of the Paranormal Romance Guild’s Reviewers Choice Awards!

Wish me luck!

Feb

2022

Toss A Coin To Your Writer…

And on this gray and rainy Monday, I’m having a slow start. Sort of like my Kickstarter…

You did know about the Kickstarter, right? To fund all four audiobooks for Swords of Charlemagne, so that we can have the same narrator for all the books?

The Kickstarter has a little over a month left to go, and hasn’t broken 10%. Not going to lie, I’m starting to worry here…

If we don’t make it, there will still be an audiobook for Hidden Things — I’ve already contracted that, and Mark (the narrator) is working on it now. But I’ll be paying him out of pocket for that, which means that I won’t be able to get The Lady and the Sword into production until later this year, which means gambling on Mark’s availability.

So… if having an audiobook series change narrators halfway through annoys you as much as it annoys me? Share the Kickstarter, and maybe throw something into the hat. And if nothing else, go read the updates — I’ve been posting about the visual inspirations for the main characters. So far, I’ve done Turpin/Yael, Roland and Olivier. Margaret is next.

Which I’m on the subject of Swords of Charlemagne, voting is open for the Paranormal Romance Guild’s Reviewer’s Choice Awards. The Lady and the Sword is up for best LGBT Fantasy, and Swords of Charlemagne is up for best LGBT Fantasy Series. Voting is open until February 12th.

I’m now twenty-seven chapters into Heir to the Firstborn: The Way Home. I think I’ll be pulling this one off as the last book. We’re about to hit a point where I can move them along more quickly, so I think we’re almost to the top of the big hill on the plot roller coaster. I’m debating adding a scene not in the outline (because that never happens. Ever.) I’ll see if it actually fits when I get to that spot.

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

91442 / 150000 (60.96%)

Preorders are up for the re-released of the Rebel Mage series, and the first two books have been finalized. I’m going to get started on the reread and revision of Where Home Lies today. I’ve already made a note of something that came up in one of the earlier books that I never addressed or resolved, and I’ve caught a few places where people leave the same room twice, or say they’re going to go get something, never leave, and then magically have the thing they never went to go get.

It’s interesting, going back and rereading something that I wrote with an eye on republishing it. There are some things that I did then that I wouldn’t do now, or would do differently now. If changing them wouldn’t break the story, I made changes. But for the most part, there’s very little that I’m changing other than editorial goofs that were missed the first time around.

And finally — FREE BOOKS!

Yes, really. The Red Hot book giveaway is ongoing for this entire month. Nineteen books either free to download entirely, or as a sample. Go check it out!

And that’s where things are in this neck of the woods. Plugging along until next week!

Jan

2022

On a Cold and Frosty Monday.

How cold was it?

My car door froze shut.

Let me repeat that. MY CAR DOOR FROZE SHUT!

In Florida.

As a friend of mine put it, Florida has forgotten how to Florida.

So, while I try to stay warm (Florida houses are not built for this sort of weather), let’s see what’s going on in the weird, wild world of writing!

I have an upcoming promo — the Red Hot book giveaway. It runs the entire month of February over on My Book Cave. You can click the link now, but nothing will be live until next Tuesday.

Also on next Tuesday, the box set for Swords of Charlemagne drops!

This will be ebook only, and will be available wherever ebooks are sold!

The Kickstarter to fund the Swords of Charlemagne audiobooks is off to a slow but steady start. I have some newsletter mentions upcoming, and a podcast although we haven’t yet set a date for that. If you’re interested in seeing audiobooks for the Swords of Charlemagne series, maybe toss a coin to your writer? And share the Kickstarter with your friends!

Heir to the Firstborn: The Way Home continues.

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

85073 / 150000 (56.72%)

Slightly more than halfway on my anticipated words, and we’re slightly past the halfway mark, so this is good.

I have virtual Boskone coming up in February- virtual for me, anyway. There is an in-person convention, but I’m not going north in February. It might be warmer, but there will almost definitely be snow! I’ll be on two panels:

The Name Game

18 Feb 2022, Friday 19:00 – 19:50,
If you think baby names are hard for Earth parents, try naming characters for a fantasy realm or a totally alien planet. Let’s ask our panelists where they find sources of inspiration for the name game. What are your favorite memorable names from fantastic fiction? Are there any rules for painless name generation?

Writing the Naughty Bits

19 Feb 2022, Saturday 12:00 – 12:50,
With the increased popularity of erotic romance and erotica, more and more genre authors are trying their hands at adding sex to their stories. Let’s discuss the differences between romance, erotic romance, erotica, and pornography, and talk about how to incorporate sexual scenarios into a story. [This panel will contain frank language.]

They’ve put the naughty bits panel at NOON. The programming chair may need to put their asbestos underwear on because having this panel during the day? Um… okay?

Should be interesting! And hey, I’m virtual, so if there’s outrage, I won’t be there when they come for me with the pitchforks and torches!

Although a fire might be nice right about now…

Jan

2022

New Things!

It’s been a WEEK, y’all. Three new things to discuss today, and only one of them is on the usual radar.

New Words!

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

81461 / 150000 (54.31%)

Of course there are new words. I’ve been working away at Heir to the Firstborn: The Way Home. If you follow me on Facebook, you may have caught a glimpse of some of those new words — there was one phrase in particular that struck me as amusing enough to share:

“You might as well spit on a fish for all the good it will do.”

Patreon readers haven’t yet met the character who says this, so that’s all you’re going to get.

There’s also been some more planning on Tales from the Arena: Dead Man’s Hand. I will hopefully get to that book late this year, but there are some other things that have to come first. Like finishing the revisions and re-release on the Rebel Mage books, for example. And prepping for the next thing on my list….

New Audiobooks!

Friday evening, I got the approval from ACX to start accepting auditions for the Hidden Things audiobook. I immediately sent the audition page to a narrator whom I’d picked out months ago… AND HE SAID YES!!! So Hidden Things will be narrated by Mark Oosterveen. I’ve already told him I’m interested in having him read all four books.

Putting together an audiobook is not cheap, even under royalty share. So I’m starting a Kickstarter to fund all four books. The Kickstarter will go LIVE on Wednesday, and we’ll have 60 days to raise $5000. You can click the link to follow on Kickstarter, which will notify you when the page goes live for bids.

New Awards!

I got an email out of the blue last week telling me that Hidden Things has been nominated for the Paranormal Romance Guild’s Reviewers Choice Award for Best of 2021 (I’m not sure what category), and that Swords of Charlemagne has been nominated for Best Series. I have no other information on that but OMG!!! More to come when I know more.

New Shop!

Conventions are starting to say, “Um…. maybe meeting in person isn’t a good idea” again. So, because I probably won’t have that many opportunities to get out and meet people and sell signed books this year, I’ve gone ahead and made a virtual dealer’s table! You can buy print books and I’ll ship them directly to you, personalized however you like. You can also buy the limited edition Swords of Charlemagne thumbdrive, which is a 2GB thumbdrive that contains all four books in mobi, epub and pdf formats.

And that is, I think, everything that happened this past week.

Wow!

audiobooks

A World of Blurry Dilation…

Mondayist Monday that ever Mondayed

New Server, Who DNS?

This Post is Late.

Reflections

We’re Doing What? When?

So Busy!!!

Toss A Coin To Your Writer…

On a Cold and Frosty Monday.

New Things!

Works in Progress

Appearances

Find My Books!

Social Media

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