conventions

Mar

2022

Fitting an entire week into two and a half days

Or at least, I’m trying to.

The International Conference for the Fantastic in the Arts starts Wednesday, and I’ve been looking forward to it since i attended the October conference. It’s local, so I’m commuting Wednesday and Thursday, but I’ll be staying on site Friday and Saturday. Which means getting everything I usually do in a week done today, tomorrow, and Wednesday morning. All while trying to make sure I get in some words, finish up some things, do laundry, and pack.

Speaking of words, if you’ve been paying attention to the wordcounter, you might notice a change this week…

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

109552 / 170000 (64.44%)

I bumped the total words for The Way Home. It’s going to be massive, but it’s also going to be complete. There will not be a book seven for Heir to the Firstborn. That thump you heard was my foot going down.

If you haven’t yet started the Heir to the Firstborn series, and you want a low-entry way in, Written in Water is a freebie in the Worlds of Fantasy giveaway, which runs until the end of March. All you have to do is sign up for newsletters, and you also have the chance to win a $20 gift card!

I’m working on some stunt writing — some purely erotic non-speculative BDSM short reads that will be going up in KU under the name E.A. Butcher. The pen name is because this is very different from my existing work. The title of the first one will be Tell Me, and I’ll let you know when it’s available.

In other news, unless there’s a miracle or a sudden, INCREDIBLE boost of pledges in the next six days, the Kickstarter for the audiobooks for Swords of Charlemagne will not fund. In the past week, it’s gone backwards. But I’ve learned a thing or two (or six,) and the next time will be better.

And that’s about everything, I think? Even if it isn’t, I need to go cram some more things into a day that’s already way too short.

See you next week with a conference report and possibly a sale link for Tell Me!

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!

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!

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

Surprise! It’s a Convention!

Guess which romance writer whose blog you’re reading RIGHT NOW will be a guest at a convention starting THIS FRIDAY!

Yup. I was asked last week, and I’ll be a guest at virtual Chessiecon November 26th – 28th. Since it’s virtual, I don’t have to go to Maryland in November (yay! But also boo! because there are people I love in Maryland and doing it this way means no hugs.)

My schedule:

Friday, 6:00PM Eastern — Do Immortals Enhance or Detract From your Story?

Friday, 10:30PM Eastern — Reading. (Hrm… what to read?)

Saturday, 10:00AM Eastern — How Has Diversity Affected SF/F?

Saturday, 2:30 PM Eastern — Where is the Indigenous American Fantasy?

Saturday, 8:30 PM Eastern — Genre Mixing

Sunday, 10:00 AM Eastern — Your Universe, Your Gods

Sunday, 11:30 AM Eastern — Has Fantasy Lost its Wonder (moderating)

The convention will be held via Zoom and Discord, and panel links will be up on Friday.

In other news, Heir to the Firstborn: The Crossroads comes out next week. To celebrate, I’ve made Written in Water FREE all this week! You can grab a copy wherever ebooks are sold.

(And for some reason, WordPress isn’t letting be upload the ad graphic. Sigh… if it’s not one thing, it’s two things.)

Not much else is happening, mostly because it’s been a busy week, and about to be another busy week. Last weekend was the RWA National Convention, which was fantastic. And this weekend… well, there’s something involving a lot of cooking. And cleaning.

There might not be as many words as there should be this week… and definitely not as many in this post as there could be. There were some last week, but not many.

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

50198 / 150000 (33.47%)

If you celebrate this week, have a happy. If you’re traveling, stay safe.

In this time for expressing gratitude, know that I appreciate each and every one of you. Thanks for being on the other side of the internet.

Sep

2021

Home Again, Home Again.

This weekend was NecronomiCon, and we had an exceptionally good time. It was our first time back at a science fiction convention since 2019, and… well, okay, it was a little weird. I would not have expected quite so many people to be so… cavalier with regards to the convention’s mask requirement. I mean… we’re FEN! We’re smarter than that!

At least, I thought we were.

Definitely had a good time, though. Friday night was the return of the Writing the Naughty Bits panel, which I hosted, and which this year was a wonderful craft discussion on writing sexual tension and sex, and how one doesn’t necessarily have to lead to the other. My Saturday panel was unfortunately cancelled due to technical difficulties. Sunday was a really great discussion on the Hero’s Journey and the Heroine’s Journey, and how the names of those don’t necessarily have to match the gender identity of your protagonist — I proposed that they be renamed to the External Journey vs. the Internal Journey, which seems to be the major difference between them. Following that panel, I had a delightful conversation with an independent filmmaker who came up to me and said, “I know NOTHING of the romance genre! Teach me your ways!” Not because he’s interested in writing romance — he wants to be sure that if he picks up a romance project, he gets it right! So we spent a good half an hour with me explaining and him taking notes.

Came home. Crashed HARD (tired Liz was TIRED!) and woke up to an invitation to be a guest at a new-to-me convention in February! I’ll be a virtual guest at Boskone from February 18th to the 20th And yay for virtual guests, because I don’t really fancy the idea of going to Boston in February!

Today also marked the arrival of the author proof of my first hardcover, and me posting my first Tiktok — an unboxing video of the hardcover. As I said in the video, it’s PRETTY, but I need to fix the cover art, which is in process now. I also need to remember to turn off the notifications on my phone when I record a Tiktok — Beaker makes an unexpected cameo.

@easchechter

#booktok #newbooktoker #unboxing

♬ original sound – Elizabeth_Schechter

Never had a book before that I could click my nails on. That’s pretty neat! Those hardcovers should be available soon-ish.

Edits are now underway for Heir to the Firstborn: The Crossroads, and I’m almost done with the synopsis for Heir to the Firstborn: The Way Home. I want to finish the edits before I start writing the final book, so that I have all the details fresh in my mind. We’ll see how the timing goes, though — I have until November 19th, which is when the last chapter of Crossroads goes live on Patreon. So I need to have at least a chapter or two of The Way Home ready to go by then. I don’t want to break my never-missed-a-week streak in the home stretch!

And I think that’s about all in my neck of the woods! See you all next week!

Sep

2021

Mondayest Monday Ever

Today is indeed the most Mondayest Monday ever.

On Friday, my windshield caught a kicked-up rock, and cracked. I’ve always been taught that you shouldn’t drive with a cracked windshield, so I got the car home, and set up an appointment through my car insurance to have the windshield fixed.

This morning, bright and way-too-early, windshield company shows up. They’re going to try to repair the crack first, because it’s not large and not in the direct line of sight. But injecting the resin made the crack get bigger. The tech stopped immediately and told me “We need to replace the windshield.”

Okay, but guess what they don’t have in stock? If you answered the particular windshield for my particular car? You win a gold star!

They’re going to try and get a new windshield for me before Friday and Necronomicon, but they assured me that the car is safe to drive. So that’s something.

I’ve got something of a busy week this week — tomorrow is the Kindle Unlimited release of Table of Stone, the last Swords of Charlemagne book. To celebrate that, Hidden Things is on sale everywhere for 2.99 this week.

Wednesday night I’ll be doing the Busy Black and Beautiful with LaQuette video podcast, and I’ll tweet the link to watch live out once I have it. And Thursday and Friday will be con prep. And in the meantime, I’m doing all sorts of writing prep.

I spent most of last week working on synopses for future writing. Ready to go are Tower of Light and Blood Brothers (Flesh and Blood 2). I’m working now on Blood Price (Flesh and Blood 3), and I’m refining the synopsis for Heir to the Firstborn: The Way Home, so it better aligns with what happened in Heir to the Firstborn: The Crossroads. I also need to update the series bible for Flesh and Blood, because i noticed that I left a lot blank that shouldn’t be left blank (There are whole character pages blank, and that’s not good. That’s how you end up reading three books to see if you ever mentioned a character’s eye color.) I’ll be starting the editing reread of Crossroads at the convention, and I’ll be starting to write The Way Home once Crossroads is handed off to my darling editor.

I’ve also got a bunch of things in the RWA pipeline, but I can’t talk about them yet. Exciting stuff, though! You’ll learn more about it soon.

And that’s pretty much it for what’s happening in my neck of the woods. See you all after the convention!

conventions

Fitting an entire week into two and a half days

We’re Doing What? When?

So Busy!!!

On a Cold and Frosty Monday.

New Things!

Where’d This December Come From?

I Want a Do-Over!

Surprise! It’s a Convention!

Home Again, Home Again.

Mondayest Monday Ever

Works in Progress

Appearances

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