Balance of Power

Sep

2023

Brains empty.

And today is a day when the words just don’t want to word. Occasionally, those happen to everyone, so I’m not too terribly worried about it. It probably as something to do with the fact that I’m a little under the weather today. So for today, I’ll take it easy, which is something I tend to forget to do for myself.

I think that’s a problem we all have these days — we take care of everyone else, and conveniently forget that if we don’t take care of ourselves, we CAN’T take care of others. And then we fall over and nothing gets done.

Oddly enough, this is the topic of one of the panels I’ll be on at NecronomiCon, which is happening in Tampa September 22-24th. I have two panels on Friday night, and two on Saturday afternoon —

Friday, 5:00 PM — Make, Remake, Reboot
Friday, 7:30 PM — Writing Sex ( the earliest I think this panel has ever been scheduled…)

Saturday, 2:00 PM — Don’t Panic! Balancing the Two Worlds of of Life and Creativity
Saturday, 3:15 PM — Let’s Structure Your Story.

In addition, I will also have a table at Writer’s Alley, so stop in and see what I’ve got for sale. I will have copies of Princes of Air on my table for the first time EVER, and they’ll be discounted because there’s a formatting error in the book that’s being corrected on later copies.

For my local fans, you still have a couple of days left before Written in Water leaves Spellbound Books. The bookstore is moving in October, so Written in Water isn’t being renewed for another consignment period, but it may be picked up again once they’re settled in their new space (which will be sometime in November.) So you have until Friday to get a copy locally and support a small business!

Written in Water is still in the running in SPFBO, but the end of the first round is coming up soon. It’s been fascinating to see the blogs coming in with their reviews, their cuts and their nominations, and the SPFBO Discord has got to be one of the most amazingly supportive writing environments I’ve ever found. I don’t think I’ve ever been involved in a contest that’s been quite this rewarding. But there’s still the waiting…

The Sea Prince
The Coral Throne, Book 1

53017 / 120000 (44.18%)

Balance of Power
Heir to the Firstborn, Book 7

23636 / 90000 (26.26%)

There isn’t too much else going on in this neck of the woods. Just getting words down, and getting ready for the convention. And trying to take it easy.

Catch you all next week.

Sep

2023

Calendar Fall

On September 1st, I saw something on the news that said that September 1st was the first day of calendar fall. Which… if you live someplace where you don’t have actual fall, like Florida, then having a purely calendar fall makes sense. I guess. School started a month ago, and Spooky season started July 5th, but sure, it’s fall now.

(If you think I’m joking about spooky season starting July 5th? There was Halloween merchandise on sale in Joann’s Fabrics over a month ago, and the wholesale clubs have the Halloween themed candy out.)

In two weeks we’ll be at Necronomicon in Tampa. I’ll be on four panels (I think it’s four? Maybe five) and I’ll have a table in Writer’s Alley. I WILL have print copies of Princes of Air (for the first time EVER!), but I will not have the new covers on House of Sable Locks just yet. (I MAY have a cover reveal for Sable Locks in the newsletter this week. Do you get my newsletter? Would you like to?)

I’ve heard from my editor about Morrigan’s Heir, and I should have edits in hand next month. He tells me that the edits are minimal, so there’s still a good chance that we’ll have this book out in 2023! More as soon as I know more!

In terms of current writing, things are moving slowly with The Sea Prince, as the characters reveal things that I hadn’t realized where there. And I am just about to finish chapter 6 of Balance of Power, racing to keep ahead of my Patreon! There’s a new myth in this book, which I’m currently working into the narrative, and which may show up as a short at some point later.

The Sea Prince
The Coral Throne, Book 1

49934 / 120000 (41.61%)

Balance of Power
Heir to the Firstborn, Book 7

18966 / 90000 (21.07%)

Two projects that I thought were hibernating have started to stir, one of which led me to reread Heart’s Master for the first time in an age. All I can say is that when I finally get around to writing Holy Orders (and yes, that’s the title of the next Drum Mage book), it’s going to be very obvious that there were a bunch of years and a lot of growth as a writer between the two books. Maybe I can talk to my editor about a re-edit at some point?

The other thing that started to make waking-up noises is the short/novella/what-is-this-going-to-be that will tie The Chronicles of John Zebedee into Swords of Charlemagne, and lead the way into Children of the Swords. The astute reader may have noticed the throwaway line in the first part of John Zebedee that told you it was the same universe. Did you catch it? Children of the Swords is still a few years down the line, because I know nothing of Gilded Age England, or about England in WWI, and I suppose I could just watch Downton Abbey, but that feels like cheating. I have to do research.

Written in Water is still in the running over in SPFBO, with just over a month left in the first round. The suspense is getting real over here!

And today… I applied to be part of the creative track at ICFA.

And that’s about where I am in my area. Planning for edits, writing words, creating worlds, and trying to keep ahead of my readers on Patreon. Busy, busy, busy!

Back to work!

Aug

2023

Here Comes the Rain Again…

Here comes the rain again. And the wind. And the pressure changes. Hurricane season in Florida is a pain in the sinuses. Right now, Idalia is a Tropical Storm, but by the time it makes landfall on Wednesday morning (I think that was the last projection), it will be a Cat 3 hurricane.

Now, this isn’t our first rodeo. We have our supplies. We have water, batteries and charcoal for the grill in case we have to cook outside. The porch is cleared, and all that’s left are a few things that need to be moved to the garage tonight after dinner. And we’re well inland and, like Obi Wan, we have the high ground. We’ll be good.

However, now that all the prep is done, the waiting starts…

In writing news, today is the last day of the Narratess August Indie Sale. Hidden Things is currently 99 cents, and there are over 300 other books to choose from.

There’s still also the Brave New Worlds giveaway, which ends Thursday, and where you can win a $20 gift card to the bookstore of your choice.

Writing is going slowly at the moment, mostly because my sinuses are yelling, “Danger, Will Robinson!” (I can’t remember starting to feel hurricane pressure two days before the actual storm before…)

The Sea Prince
(The Coral Throne, Book 1)

49416 / 120000 (41.18%)

Balance of Power
(Heir to the Firstborn, book 7)

15803 / 90000 (17.56%)

I still haven’t gotten permission to show the new House of Sable Locks cover, but I do have a tentative schedule for edits for The White Raven: Morrigan’s Heir, so the end of my year is going to be PACKED. Touch wood everything goes well with that and we’ll be able to keep to the 2023 release date.

That’s about all for me. Now, it’s just the waiting.

Catch you all next week!

Aug

2023

Back to Work!

Today is the first day of college classes, which means that I am now seriously back to work. Even though I’ve sort of been back to work for two weeks now. Now I’m serious! I mean it!

Yeah… it’s past 2PM and I haven’t written a word yet. So maybe not quite?

I’m learning more about the characters in Balance of Power as I write. One of Aeris’ Companions has hayfever. In the books, they say that they’re flower sick. But it led to this delightful little scene:

“How long have you been awake?”

“Who says I’ve been asleep?” Tiras opened their eyes and sat up.

“You drooling on my sleeve says you were asleep.”

“And snoring,” Aeris added. “You were snoring.”

“I was not!” Tiras protested. “I don’t snore!” They looked up at Gannet. “Do I?”

“Not much,” Gannet admitted. “Except when there’s Maiden’s Lace blooming. Then you get all red and blotchy, and you snore at night.”

“And Maiden’s Lace is in season now. There must be some growing along the road.” Dyna set down her stitching and held out her hand. “Let me see.”

“I hate Maiden’s Lace,” Tiras grumbled. “My head gets all foggy and my visions get weird. Owyn says he’s never heard of a Smoke Dancer whose visions are controlled by their nose before.”

Aeris frowned. “But Smoke Dancers used to train in the vents of the Smoking Mountain, and they were breathing in the smoke. Owyn was one of the last trained that way. So why is smoke different from the scent of flowers?”

Gannet looked thoughtful, then shrugged. “Because Smoke Dancer sounds more impressive than Perfume Dancer?”

I have to admit, the whole idea of Perfume Dancers makes me smile. According to Gannet, they use fans. And… well, I’m not sure if it’ll come up again later in the book, but it’s fun when something like this comes out of my fingers, because it amuses me.

Work on The Sea Prince continues, and we’ve moved into writing new content instead of fixing the content that already existed. There were a lot of changes to the existing files, which adds up to changes for the direction of the story, and I think I like where this is going a lot more the original. It means that we may not get to use one scene I’d planned for, but maybe we will. We shall see.

The Sea Prince
(The Coral Throne, Book 1)

49406 / 120000 (41.17%)

Balance of Power
(Heir to the Firstborn, book 7)

11990 / 90000 (13.32%)

In other news of the writer world, Written in Water is still available as part of the Brave New Worlds giveaway. You can enter for a $20 giftcard to your bookstore of choice while you browse the books — over 50 of them!

Image of deep space, superimposed with a woman looking down and away. Text reads "Brave new Worlds. Free Sci-Fi and Fantasy Ebooks. August 1-31. Win $20."

And I’m starting to get ready for Necronomicon next month. I got my shipment of copies of Princes of Air over the weekend… and discovered the formatting error. So the copies that I have on hand will be discounted at Necro while my publisher gets that corrected. I’m hoping to have the anniversary copies of House of Sable Locks, but I’m not sure where we are with the new cover, so while I have my fingers crossed, I’m not holding my breath.

It is, however, a very pretty cover and I will get to share it with you very soon.

Maybe… next week?

Tune in to find out!

Aug

2023

Back to School… Sort Of

I decided that even though someone doesn’t start classes for another week, I’m getting back to work on the actual school schedule. So when the high school went back to school, I went back to work. Balance of Power and The Sea Prince are both underway. Chapter one of Balance of Power went live on the Patreon last week, I’m currently finishing up chapter three, and Danielle (my co-author) and I are underway with The Sea Prince.

The Sea Prince
(The Coral Throne, Book 1)

48284 / 120000 (40.24%)

Balance of Power
(Heir to the Firstborn, book 7)

9027 / 90000 (10.03%)

As a reminder, Brave New Worlds is still ongoing for another two weeks, which means that you can still grab up to 50 Science Fiction and Fantasy novels and enter for a $20 gift card. You can grab a copy of Written in Water there, just for signing up for my newsletter.

I realized (at the urging of a colleague, that I really needed to get around to updating the cover for Worlds Begin, the Heir to the Firstborn creation myth, so that it matches the rest of the series.

I got the new cover the other day, and It. Is. GORGEOUS!

Cover for Worlds Begin. A wreath of green leaves and flowers, surrounding the title Worlds Begin in gol

(Reminder — Worlds Begin is a freebie everywhere EXCEPT Amazon, who refuses to set books permanently free. If you want it on Amazon, please price match. Or download from Smashwords and use Send to Kindle.)

I’ve also seen and approved the 10th anniversary cover for House of Sable Locks, but I haven’t yet been given permission to share it. Yes, my “modern erotic classic you’ve never heard of” (according to the now-defunct Cliterati website), is now ten years old. I can’t believe it either. (At some point, you all will see the sequel. It’s written. I promise. And there will be another, but that one is a title and a vague idea.)

There isn’t much else happening at the moment. Waiting on edits to come in, waiting on new books to arrive for Necronomicon in September — I will have copies of Princes of Air on the table! But for now? Time to go make some more words!

Catch you next week, hopefully with a new cover to show you!

Aug

2023

“Time is a concept and I don’t believe in it!”

One of my son’s favorite things to say is “Time is a concept and I don’t believe in it!”

He holds this truth so strongly that he is not, in fact, a high school senior.

He’s a college student. His last high school class was done last May. He’s taking all college courses from this point on, and when he graduates high school this May, he will also be receiving his Associates degree.

I’ll admit, this whole “earn a two year degree in high school” concept is still a little bizarre to me. I mean… he’s starting school ten days after his peers, and won’t actually have to GO to the high school unless he’s meeting with his counselor or attending a school function. What sorcery is this?

And, of course, it’s going to do strange things to my writing schedule. I’ve been writing to the school schedule for ages. And now… that’s not the schedule anymore. So I’ll figure it out.

I have set up the first chapter of Balance of Power to drop on my Patreon tomorrow for Early Access tiers, and on Friday for regular tiers. And that will be the pattern as we go. I don’t have much of a buffer yet, so it’ll be a little hectic going forward. But the story starts tomorrow, and new subscribers can get in on the ground floor.

I’ve also gotten a new cover for Worlds Begin, so that it matches the rest of the series. I saw the final proof today, and it’s GORGEOUS! I should have the files tomorrow, and I’ll get things uploaded tomorrow or Wednesday.

And work should start back in on The Sea Prince this week or next. Some of the work that was done already hasn’t really been touched in 12 years, and… well, it shows.

The Sea Prince
(The Coral Throne, Book 1)

43823 / 120000 (36.52%)

Balance of Power
(Heir to the Firstborn, Book 7)

6445 / 90000 (7.16%)

There are some other things in the works right now as well, but I can’t say anything more until I know more. Just know that there might be some excitement coming down the line.

Brave New Worlds is still ongoing as a promo, and there are 55 books to choose from! Go check it out!

Jul

2023

Prep and Promo and Sales and Wheee!!!

Nominally, we’re on vacation this week.

Notice that I said nominally. In reality, I’m prepping for a Facebook takeover tomorrow, and more next week. I may have blog interviews coming up, and the big Cavalcade of Authors book giveaway is coming up the weekend of August 4th (click the picture to sign up for updates!)

My takeover schedule is as follows:

Tuesday, July 25th, 1PM Eastern — Tribe Called Success Literary Cafe

Friday, August 4th, 1PM Eastern — Laverne’s News

Saturday, August 5th, 1PM Eastern — One-Click Book Addicts.

There may be other events, so keep an eye on my socials!

There’s another giveaway for the month of August — the Brave New Worlds giveaway, which starts August 1st and comes with a chance to win a $20 gift card

As far as I know, Written in Water is still in the running for SPFBO9. I know the blogger who was assigned my book has read it, but I haven’t yet seen the results being posted anywhere — they apparently come through slowly, as each blog posts their reviews and which books are being cut and which are being named semi-finalists. It’s a little nerve-wracking, to be honest. But the Discord where the entrants hang out is a good place, and there’s congratulations and commiserations in equal measure where appropriate. (I’m hoping for congratulations when it’s my turn, but we shall see!)

While waiting for the shoe to drop for book 1 of Heir to the Firstborn, I’ve been working on book 7.

Balance of Power
Heir to the Firstborn, Book 7

3401 / 90000 (3.78%)

And I have two new favorite characters — Tiras and Gannet. Tiras is Aeris’ Fire, and Gannet is her Water. The pair of them… well, take a look:

“Her Air and her Fire were a study in opposites — Gannet was both unusually pale and unusually big for an Airborn — his long hair was almost white, as were his feathers, and he was nearly as large as Aeris’ uncle Othi. His wingspan was twice Aeris’ own, and she didn’t think he was finished growing. Tiras, on the other hand, was outwither — presenting as neither male nor female — and they could only be described as delicate. At eighteen, they were the youngest of Aeris’ Companions, and as dark as Gannet was pale. They were stunningly pretty, and so slightly built that it seemed as though they would blow away in a strong wind. But looks were deceptive — Tiras knew more about fighting than the rest of them put together, and had proved it by breaking Gannet’s nose less than a week after the Heir’s Progress had returned to the Palace.”

A word on the above — Tiras is described as outwither. Outwither is a word that was created by Josie Giles, based on existing dialect and etymological patterns of word development in Scottish, and it means non-binary. There’s also a Scottish pronoun that I attempted to use for Tiras, but I could not get my brain around it and remembering the usage was slowing me down. I may go back in and change it, but that will be on the editing pass (the pronoun is thon, and usage dates back to the 1850s. Neo-pronoun? Not hardly!) For more information on outwither, check out this Tiktok, by a Scottish poet who is teaching and spreading the Scottish language as far and wide as she can.

This isn’t the first time I’ve used Scottish in Heir to the Firstborn — in Wings of Air, I use the word mirligoes, which is also Scottish.)

I know I said I was done with this universe, but it’s nice to see some old friends. And once this is done, then the series is DONE.

Stop laughing.

Jul

2023

A Bolt of Brilliance!

I’ve been talking about the Unnamed 7th book of Heir to the Firstborn for a couple of months, I think? If you missed it, I thought the Heir to the Firstborn books were done. Completely done. No more stories to be had in that universe. Right?

Wrong.

I left loose ends. And a plot bunny named Kaspin came hopping out of my subconscious and said “Where’s my book?” So I plotted out his book. And… it had no title. None. And I told myself that I wasn’t starting until I knew what it was called.

The other day, I was walking upstairs to my office, and I SWEAR TO BOB I walked into the title. Seriously, it felt like something hit me in the middle of the chest and there was the title…

Balance of Power
Heir to the Firstborn, Book 7

1156 / 90000 (1.28%)

I started work on Balance the day after I finished Broken Feathers. There may be something more to that story, too, and I may go back to visit my ravens at some point. But for now, they’re done.

Will they stay done? Hrm…answer hazy. Ask again later.

I’m also working on The Sea Prince, going back and forth with the person with whom I originally started the novel a whole bunch of years ago. We’ve both grown quite a bit as writers since we started this manuscript, so there’s been a lot of bringing things in line with what we know now. And it’s been interesting in that we both write very differently now, so we have to learn how to write together again. LOTS of chat in Discord, lots of “Why did they do that? Where is their head at?” Which… I usually don’t think of these things until the characters tell me, so it’s been interesting. I’ll get a wordcount update on it once we finalize the rewrites on the existing chapters. Then I’ll get started on drafting and we’ll be off!

I wrote a little last week on the upcoming Cavalcade of Authors promotion, which will run August 4th through the 6th.

This is turning out to be a MASSIVE giveaway, and it’s only for one weekend, so click on the graphic to sign up for notification when it goes live. There will also be a couple of Facebook takeovers, so watch my social media for more information on those.

We’re officially three weeks until the first day of school. The first day of senior year. Eek! My son took his senior pictures on Saturday (who is this grownup who was just in kindergarten???), and today was a college tour (a 2 mile hike in 95 degree heat… stick a fork in me…)

I know time goes fast, but it needs to slow down just a little. Just… just give me a second to catch up!

Catch you all next week!

Balance of Power

Brains empty.

Calendar Fall

Here Comes the Rain Again…

Back to Work!

Back to School… Sort Of

“Time is a concept and I don’t believe in it!”

Prep and Promo and Sales and Wheee!!!

A Bolt of Brilliance!

Works in Progress

Appearances

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