I really want some dull

The Ball is Rolling.

The Ball is Rolling.

I had another pain management appointment today, and the ball is rolling. What ball? The one that involves a referral to a neurosurgeon for spinal surgery to relieve the pressure on my sciatic nerve. My pain doctor and I are in agreement — surgery is the best option for me.

Which means that I’m now on crunch time. I NEED to finish King of Swords and Six More Weeks of Witches as soon as humanly possible.

I don’t know what this is going to mean for my summer shows. It all depends on when the surgery is scheduled, and we’re not there yet. Be advised that some of the shows on my calendar will probably be going away. More on that as I know more.

I’ve put my newsletter on hiatus for the foreseeable future. I’m probably going to do the same with the blog. I’m going to hold off on putting this on the shelf until I know more and have a date. And I’ll be continuing to plan for the shows until I know for certain I can’t attend. So for my next show, I’ll be back to the Oviedo Mall on June 6th for the Summer Lovin’ book festival. After that, I just confirmed that we’ll be in the vendor pavilion at the Enchanted Knights Solstice Faire in Sanford, Florida. We’re taking over the town, folks!

More news as I find out more.

Promotions

Yearning for a New Way to Read Fantasy Romance?

Check out Yearn! Newly launched, women-owned, and backed by luminaries in the romance world.  Combines the best of Booktok, KU and Goodreads, without the toxic messes. And now available on Android!

You can find my work there — the entire Heir to the Firstborn series. The Coral Throne, and The Chronicles of John Zebedee are all part of the catalog. And if you use my referral code, you’ll get 50% off your first month!

Referral Code: Schechter50
Download the iOS app here.
Download the Android app here
International users? Sign up here to be notified!


New Cover!

Time for a new look on an older book.

When Delan stumbled into the Temple, he wasn’t expecting to be welcomed as a Temple servant. He wasn’t expecting his only duty to be to serve Lyander, cloistered son of the High Priestess. He wasn’t expecting to fall in love.

And he wasn’t expecting that he was going to have to choose: save his love, or save the world.


Now Available!

The Imperial Navy has been destroyed. Now Tarjiaan must save his kingdom. With his beloved Nika by his side and their consort Daanir at his back, he must gather his allies and defeat the traitor hiding beneath the waves. To save his people, Tarjiaan must master his newfound magic, defeat the traitors, and conquer his deepest fears.

The end of the war is in sight, but treachery runs as deep as the ocean.


Work in Progress

Tales from the Arena: King of Swords
(Tales from the Arena, book 4)

73330 / 100000 (73.33%)

Six More Weeks of Witches
(Coven Tree, book 2)

8103 / 20000 (40.52%)

Appearances

Summer Lovin’ Book Festival
June 6th, 2026
11:00 AM – 5:00 PM
Oviedo, FL.

***

Enchanted Knights Summer Solstice Faire
June 20th, 2026
11:00 AM – 6:00 PM
Downtown Sanford, FL

***

Summer Creatives Market
July 18th, 2026
10:00AM – 3:00PM
Sanford, FL

***

Tanoshii Con
August 22nd – 23rd, 2026
Ocean Center Arena, Daytona Beach.

***

Smut Lovers Conference
September 16th – 20th, 2026
Orlando, FL

***

Page and Pen Festival
October 3rd, 2026
11:00 AM – 5:00 PM

Posted by EASchechter in 2026 plans, a-writers-life-is-never-dull, accountability, appearances, Best laid plans, Best planned lays, Coven Tree, Healthy writer, happy writer, I really want some dull, progress, promotions, Tales from the Arena, upcoming books, upcoming work, Waiting-for-the-other-shoe, WIP, wordcount, 0 comments
Clever Headline Goes Here.

Clever Headline Goes Here.

“Clever Headline Goes Here.” Otherwise known as “this is your brain on sciatica pain.”

I thought I pulled a muscle exercising. So I did what you usually do when you pull a muscle — anti-inflammatory medication, heat and ice, gentle stretching. Then the pins-and-needles started, and I hied myself off to the orthopaedist. Ortho set me up with six weeks of physical therapy and sent me to see a pain management doctor.

I know I’ve mentioned this in the blog before, back in March when I was just about to start PT, and I was going in for an MRI. The MRI showed that my L5 disc is sitting on the sciatic nerve. To fix it? Well, a week from today, I’ll be getting an epidural injection of steroids and painkillers into my lower back.

(Yes, this is my way of telling you that there won’t be a blog post next week.)

If the injection works? Great! I can get back to being exercising, sitting comfortably, and able to sleep through the night. If it doesn’t work?

Surgery.

Between now and then? I’m going to be a guest on Good Day Orlando on Thursday the 30th! (7AM call! Eep!) Then on Saturday the 2nd, we’ll be at the Great Geek Gathering at the Oviedo Mall!

As for next Monday? Think some good thoughts for me, will you?

Promotions

Coming this Summer!

Looking for something for your older teens to do this summer? Are they interested in writing? Send them to write with me! I’ll be leading a Summer writing camp on Tuesday afternoons in June, hosted by the Native Home Marketplace at the Volusia Mall. The program runs for 6 weeks, and is limited to 12 participants.


Yearning for a New Way to Read Fantasy Romance?

Check out Yearn! Newly launched, women-owned, and backed by luminaries in the romance world.  Combines the best of Booktok, KU and Goodreads, without the toxic messes. And now available on Android!

You can find my work there — the entire Heir to the Firstborn series. The Coral Throne, and The Chronicles of John Zebedee are all part of the catalog. And if you use my referral code, you’ll get 50% off your first month!

Referral Code: Schechter50
Download the iOS app here.
Download the Android app here
International users? Sign up here to be notified!


Now Available!

The Imperial Navy has been destroyed. Now Tarjiaan must save his kingdom. With his beloved Nika by his side and their consort Daanir at his back, he must gather his allies and defeat the traitor hiding beneath the waves. To save his people, Tarjiaan must master his newfound magic, defeat the traitors, and conquer his deepest fears.

The end of the war is in sight, but treachery runs as deep as the ocean.


Work in Progress

Tales from the Arena: King of Swords
(Tales from the Arena, book 4)

69017 / 100000 (69.02%)

Six More Weeks of Witches
(Coven Tree, book 2)

3476 / 20000 (17.38%)

Appearances

The Great Geek Gathering
May 2nd, 2026
11:00 AM – 5:00 PM
Oviedo, FL

***

Summer Lovin’ Book Festival
June 6th, 2026
11:00 AM – 5:00 PM
Oviedo, FL.

***

Enchanted Knights Summer Solstice Faire
June 20th, 2026
11:00 AM – 6:00 PM
Downtown Sanford, FL

***

Summer Creatives Market
July 18th, 2026
10:00AM – 3:00PM
Sanford, FL

***

Tanoshii Con
August 22nd – 23rd, 2026
Ocean Center Arena, Daytona Beach.

***

Smut Lovers Conference
September 16th – 20th, 2026
Orlando, FL

***

Page and Pen Festival
October 3rd, 2026
11:00 AM – 5:00 PM

Posted by EASchechter in 2026 plans, a-writers-life-is-never-dull, accountability, appearances, Coven Tree, Healthy writer, happy writer, I really want some dull, public displays of geekery, Tales from the Arena, why-the-writing-is-slow, WIP, wordcount, 0 comments
Fun. Weird. Slightly Random. That’s Me.

Fun. Weird. Slightly Random. That’s Me.

I was writing up the description for my appearance on SFF News and Interviews this Thursday, and described it as fun, weird and slightly random. Which, I realize now, is me in a nutshell.

Not that I mind. It makes things more interesting and far more entertaining. For me, anyway.

Last week was a lot of catching up, although not nearly as much as I’d have liked. Some interesting bits in an “I could have done without this!” sort of way (No, I do not WANT to have to put a new roof on the house, thank you!) This week will be still more catching up — I’ve already made two important phone calls. There was also one very confusing call asking why my dentist thinks we have a time machine:

Dentist: “You are confirmed for this appointment that happened today, two hours ago! See you then!”
Me; “Ah… your scheduling software appears to be having a stroke. What is this?”
Dentist: “Oh… umm… oops?”

This is the second to last thing on my to-do list before I can focus completely on King of Swords. The last thing is physical therapy intake. Yes, again. Apparently the degenerating disc in my back got on some nerve’s last nerve, and what I initially thought was a pulled muscle is actually sciatica. So i start PT today, and tomorrow I get an MRI. I go back to pain management in two weeks, and we’ll see where things go from there. Which means I really do need to get this book DONE, just in case things go in weird and not-fun directions.

I very much prefer the weird and fun directions, don’t you?

Promotions

Live on SFF News and Interviews!

This Thursday night, I’ll be appearing on the SFF News and Interviews video podcast with JB Caine! Tune in and watch what’s probably going to be a fun, weird, slightly random evening!


Free with Newsletter Sign-up!

Tomorrow is the last day to download any of the Spells and Spaceships books for free (newsletter sign up required). That includes The Sea Prince! You can also enter to win a $25 gift card to the bookstore of your choice!


Yearning for a New Way to Read Fantasy Romance?

Check out Yearn! Newly launched, women-owned, and backed by luminaries in the romance world.  Combines the best of Booktok, KU and Goodreads, without the toxic messes. 

You’ll be able to find my work there — the entire Heir to the Firstborn series. The Coral Throne, and The Chronicles of John Zebedee are all part of the catalog. And if you use my referral code, you’ll get 50% off your first month! That’s good even if you have to wait for the Android release — put the code in when you join the waitlist, and you’ll still get 50% off your first month. 

Referral Code: Schechter50
Download the iOS app here.
Android users (like me?) Sign up for the waitlist here.


Now Available!

The Imperial Navy has been destroyed. Now Tarjiaan must save his kingdom. With his beloved Nika by his side and their consort Daanir at his back, he must gather his allies and defeat the traitor hiding beneath the waves. To save his people, Tarjiaan must master his newfound magic, defeat the traitors, and conquer his deepest fears.

The end of the war is in sight, but treachery runs as deep as the ocean.


Work in Progress

Tales from the Arena: King of Swords
(Tales from the Arena, book 4)

56437 / 100000 (56.44%)

Appearances

Storyteller Summit
April 11th, 2026
11:00 AM – 5:00 PM
Oviedo, FL.

***

The Great Geek Gathering
May 2nd, 2026
11:00 AM – 5:00 PM
Oviedo, FL

***

Summer Lovin’ Book Festival
June 6th, 2026
11:00 AM – 5:00 PM
Oviedo, FL.

***

Summer Creatives Market
July 18th, 2026
10:00Am – 3:00PM
Sanford, FL

***

Tanoshii Con
August 22nd – 23rd, 2026
Ocean Center Arena, Daytona Beach.

***

This image has an empty alt attribute; its file name is 2026-Signing-Author-1024x1024.png

Smut Lovers Conference
September 16th – 20th, 2026
Orlando, FL

***

Page and Pen Festival
October 3rd, 2026
11:00 AM – 5:00 PM

Posted by EASchechter in 2026 plans, a-writers-life-is-never-dull, accountability, appearances, author chat, I really want some dull, promotions, public displays of geekery, Tales from the Arena, upcoming books, upcoming work, why-the-writing-is-slow, WIP, wordcount, 0 comments
Jiggery-Pokery

Jiggery-Pokery

In the past week, I’ve put my entire upcoming schedule into a Pop-o-Matic, which has created great jiggery-pokery in my calendar.

First and foremost, due to circumstances beyond my control, and which involve not owning a time machine and therefore not getting the books in time, my signing at Spellbound has been postponed until December 20th! So come out and pick up signed copies of the Blood of the Raven books. I’ll bring gift wrap. It will be awesome!

Second, remember how last week I mentioned that there were three book events on the calendar at Oviedo Mall for 2026, and that I applied for all three? I got in to all three! So my 2026 calendar is quickly filling up!

And finally, in the category of “Oh, this could mess up my schedule BIG TIME!” I’ve been summoned to be on call for federal jury duty, starting November 17th and running until December 5th. What that means is that I have to call in and see if they’ll need me the Friday prior. If they need me, I have to haul myself down to Orlando to the Federal courthouse, where no electronics are allowed. I might be there a day… or I might get put on a jury and be there until the trial is done. which could mess with Thanksgiving/Cookiepocalypse. On the upside, the courthouse is close enough to the Sunrail that I wouldn’t have to drive. So that’s good. And I’ll be able to read while I wait, so I can bring the edits for The Coral Throne with me, and some of my growing TBR pile.

For right now, I’m not going to fuss about it. Not until the 14th, when I find out if I actually need to fuss about something. I’m three or four chapters from finishing Have Yourself a Merry Little Witchmas, and then I need to write the series bible for these two because they will be back. But it’s due to my editor on November 1st, so I need to get back to work!

Promotions

Now Available!

A hero. A son of Eire. A reckoning long overdue.

Lorcan never asked for glory. Crowned a noble and hailed as a savior after crushing rebellion, he walks the marble halls adored by all—except himself. Haunted by prophetic visions, he sees not triumph, but torment: his family caged, his homeland threatened, and his cousin’s dark ambitions on the rise.

He knows where he must go.

Leaving behind the splendor of Empire, Lorcan returns to the emerald wilds of Eire, where ancient magic stirs and old loyalties are tested. Beside him stand his mates and his chosen kin—fierce, loyal, and willing to follow him into the heart of danger. But the blood that binds can also betray, and the most dangerous enemy may not be on the battlefield… but seated at his own family’s table.


Half Off Sale!

I am down to my final four complete sets of Swords of Charlemagne with the old covers. Remember, when these are gone, they’re gone! You can a single title for $12.50, or all four books for $37.50. This includes the thumbdrive!

Why? The Swords of Charlemagne have a new home with Riverdale Avenue Books! New covers and edits will be coming soon!


Sale!

To end the war with the Empire, all Prince Tarjiaan has to do is deny his heart and marry the Emperor’s granddaughter. Peace is assured…

Or is it?

On October 30th, and for one day only, The Sea Prince will be available wherever ebooks are sold for 99 cents! Click the image to see what other books will be available on the day!


Work in Progress

Have Yourself A Merry Little Witchmas

 
13103 / 20000 (65.52%)

Tales from the Arena: King of Swords
(Tales from the Arena, book 4)

 
35962 / 90000 (39.96%)

Appearances

Author Night at Native Home!
October 24th, 2025
6:00PM – 9:00 PM

***

Maker Faire
November 7-9th, 2025
Central Florida Fairgrounds,
Orlando, FL

***

Enchanted Knights: Winter Bazaar
December 6th, 2025
Oviedo Mall
Oviedo, FL

***

Ravenflight Signing!
Spellbound Books
December 20th, 2025
12:00PM – 2:00 PM
Sanford, FL


2026 Appearances

ICFA
March 18-21th, 2026
Orlando, FL

***

Storyteller Summit
April 11th, 2026
11:00 AM – 5:00 PM
Oviedo, FL.

***

Summer Lovin’ Book Festival
June 6th, 2026
11:00 AM – 5:00 PM
Oviedo, FL.

***

Tanoshii Con
August 22nd – 23rd, 2026
Ocean Center Arena, Daytona Beach.

***

Smut Lovers Conference
September 16th – 20th, 2026
Orlando, FL

***

Page and Pen Festival
October 3rd, 2026
11:00 AM – 5:00 PM
Oviedo, FL.

Posted by EASchechter in 2025 plans, 2026 plans, a-writers-life-is-never-dull, accountability, appearances, I really want some dull, progress, promotions, Ravenflight, upcoming books, upcoming work, WIP, Witchmas, wordcount, Writer on the Go!, 0 comments
Schedule? What’s That?

Schedule? What’s That?

Window install starts today. Between 8:30 and 9:30, they said. So tell me why it’s 11:00 and we haven’t started yet? Schedule? What’s that? Next, I’m fully expecting them to tell me that they’re not starting on the second floor the way that the project manager said they would. Which… even if they come in and say they’re not starting on the second floor, they’re starting on the second floor. That’s the floor that’s prepped and ready for them.

This is the kind of thing we call the joy of home ownership.

The annoying thing is that I really can’t get started on anything because they might show up at any minute now….

…….

That was your cue, guys!

So, while I wait, I’m getting the blog written. Let’s see if I can finish before they get here.

I’m starting to prep the files to start layout for The Sea Prince. I still need to write the author notes and the dedication, and I decided at some point in the past week that there needs to be a pronunciation guide because how do you say Tarjiaan?

(Break for the installers, who finally showed up. And the lead has no idea WHY the project manager told us they were starting on the second floor, because the installers always start on the first… why am I not surprised???? However, lead is open to starting on the second floor, and they’re now underway.)

Back to pronunciation guides. I have to break down the names the way I say the names so other people can say them, too. Which is interesting because of that double-a — it’s in most of the names in this book (Why? Because I was a baby writer when I started this book and they looked cool!) But now… how is that pronounced?

It’s Tar-zhahn, where the second syllable sounds like the French name Jean. Tarjiaan. Jean-Luc Picard. Same sound. Got it?

(Second break while the installer runs off to get the ladders he didn’t think he’d need because they don’t start on the second floor….)

Now I need to do this same sort of breakdown with all the names, because almost all the names in The Sea Prince and The Coral Throne are like this.

Note to any baby writers in the audience? Just because it looks cool doesn’t mean you should do it!

The installers have started. It’s time for me to stop. Catch you next week when I will hopefully not be as stressed.

Now Available!

Kidnapped from his home and sold as a slave in Rome, Raven-Prince Lorcan must survive in a world where entertainment is murder, diplomacy is betrayal, and love is a commodity. And where a raven who is only supposed to ever have one mate will somehow find two…

Work in Progress

Tales from the Arena: King of Swords
(Tales from the Arena, book 4)

27896 / 90000 (31.00%)

The Coral Throne
(The Sea Prince, book 2)

31207 / 90000 (34.67%)

Appearances

6th Annual Mother’s Day Bazaar
May 10th, 2025
Ormond Beach Elks Lodge
Ormond Beach, FL

***

Enchanted Knights: Summer Solstice
June 21st, 2025
Oviedo Mall
Oviedo, FL

***

3rd Annual Summer Artisan Market
June 29th, 2025
Brannon Center
New Smyrna Beach, FL

***

Smut Lovers: The Conference
September 17th – 21st, 2025
Orlando, FL

***

Necronomicon
September 26th – 28th, 2025
Tampa, FL

***

Page and Pen Festival
October 4th, 2025
Oviedo Mall
Oviedo, FL

Posted by EASchechter in a-writers-life-is-never-dull, annoyance, drama, I really want some dull, Joy of home ownership, progress, The Sea Prince, upcoming books, upcoming work, why-the-writing-is-slow, WIP, wordcount, Worldbuilding, 0 comments
The Most Mondayest Monday That has Ever Mondayed.

The Most Mondayest Monday That has Ever Mondayed.

Today has been the most Mondayest Monday that has ever Mondayed. The Monday of all times. I hope to never again have a Monday like this. Because this Monday started off with the entire family sitting in a closet because of a tornado warning, and when I pulled the news on my phone, I learned that A. there was a storm on the ground IN MY TOWN, and B. the storm track on the weather radar was MY STREET.

One of the local news stations has their studio on the other side of town, and they were a direct hit — the weather guy was live on the air reporting, showing the traffic camera feed as the tornado hit. That gentleman deserves a raise — he was on the air the entire time, warning the people in his own building to get under cover while being unable to do so himself.

I just now found out that the National Weather Service has confirmed the tornado was an EF2. Thanks. I hate it. Let’s never do that again, okay?

It’s bright and sunny out now. Although every time the wind picks up outside my window, I’m ready to head back to the storm shelter/primary bedroom closet.

Not how I intended to recuperate after a FANTASTIC Saturday at the Myths and Legends Renaissance Faire, I can tell you. The show was amazing — great crowd, great vendors, the wandering performers were awesome, and we sold a a bunch of books! LONG day, though — ten hours on site from set up to when we pulled out of the parking lot. The next Faire is in June, and we will be there!

My next thing will be next week at ICFA — where I will start my conference off as part of the opening session, a panel on the role of horror in storytelling, with Silvia Moreno-Garcia and Owl Goingback. Now that I have the time to think about it, the imposter syndrome is going in to overdrive! (I can speak on the topic, but… yeah, those are some heavy hitters!) I should have copies of Raven’s Fall by then, so I’ll bring a few for the book room.

I’m also sitting on some exciting news that I can’t say anything about until it’s announced. SQUEE!!!!

Now Available!

Kidnapped from his home and sold as a slave in Rome, Raven-Prince Lorcan must survive in a world where entertainment is murder, diplomacy is betrayal, and love is a commodity. And where a raven who is only supposed to ever have one mate will somehow find two…

Work in Progress

Tales from the Arena: King of Swords
(Tales from the Arena, book 4)

19525 / 90000 (21.69%)

The Coral Throne
(The Sea Prince, book 2)

21082 / 90000 (23.42%)

Appearances

ICFA
March 19 – 22nd, 2025
Orlando, FL

***

3rd Annual Spring is in the Air
April 13th, 2025
Venetian Center,
Leesburg, FL

***

6th Annual Mother’s Day Bazaar
May 10th, 2025
Ormond Beach Elks Lodge
Ormond Beach, FL

***

Enchanted Knights: Summer Solstice
June 21st, 2025
Oviedo Mall
Oviedo, FL

***

3rd Annual Summer Artisan Market
June 29th, 2025
Brannon Center
New Smyrna Beach, FL

***

Smut Lovers: The Conference
September 17th – 21st, 2025
Orlando, FL

Necronomicon
September 26th – 28th, 2025
Tampa, FL

Posted by EASchechter in 2025 plans, a-writers-life-is-never-dull, appearances, Blood of the Raven, conventions, I really want some dull, ICFA, progress, promotions, public displays of geekery, Ravens Fall, upcoming books, upcoming work, WIP, wordcount, 0 comments
Ready…Set…Wait….

Ready…Set…Wait….

That’s the current mood on our house. Ready…set…wait…wait…wait… We’re almost entirely ready for Necronomicon. We just need to pack. But there’s a blob that’s soon to be named Helene in the Caribbean right now. She’s heading for the Gulf of Mexico at the moment, and she may ALSO be heading for Tampa this week.

Driving into what projections say might be a Category 2 hurricane doesn’t seem like my idea of a good time. Hence, the “wait” part of the program. Right now, IF she comes to Tampa or the area just north, it looks like it will be Thursday. But we will see, and then we will decide.

Welcome to Florida in the Fall.

If there is a convention and we attend, then we’ll have a great time. I have five panels — two on Friday night and three on Saturday.

  • Friday, 9PM — Guess the Spec Fic Author By Their Sex Scene (Mystery Science Sex Scene 3K)
  • Friday, 10PM — I Want to Verb Your Noun (the annual Writing Sex panel returns!)
  • Saturday, 10AM — Author Quarters 2 (Reading from something non-spicy)
  • Saturday, 5PM — Gardening vs. Building (Pantsing and Plotting)
  • Saturday, 8PM — Cosmic Construction (Worldbuilding)

In addition, I have a table in Author Alley. Remember that if you tell me you’re a newsletter subscriber or follow me on social media, you get discounts! In addition, I’ll be running a Necro sale — 25% off everything except digital items and book bundles.

If things end up being wet and squally and we stay home, then I’ll run a Necro sale on signed books through my website, and I’ll put things up on sale on Smashwords (easiest place to put up a coupon.)

So… ready…set…wait…wait…wait….

Work in Progress

Tales from the Arena: King of Swords
(Tales from the Arena, book 3)

68776 / 120000 (57.31%)

Promotions

This may very well be the last week where Counsel of the Wicked is on sale. There are only three books left in my SPFBO cohort, and mine is one of them. I’ve seen the other semi-finalists, and I’m really not sure I’ll be joining them, so I think I’ll be out shortly. If you want to grab it while it is still on sale, now is the time!


Coming up on October 11th, I have Chains of Light available for free in So Queer To My Heart, a spicy queer romance event. Link to the event page will be coming soon.


I’ll be participating in a Stuff Your Kindle event from October 18-20th. There are over 400 books that will be free or discounted for that weekend, and I’ll have Written in Water up for free!


I’m also going to be a part of Enchanted Realms, and this promotion runs for the entire month of October — sign up for newsletters, get free books and enter to win a $30 gift card!

Appearances

Necronomicon
September 27-29th, 2024
Tampa, Florida

***

Not So Spooky Hallowfest
October 6th, 2024
Deltona, Florida

***

Wizards, Witches and the Weird
October 27th, 2024
Daytona Beach, Florida

***

Maker Faire Orlando
November 9-10th
Orlando, Florida

Posted by EASchechter in 2024 plans, a-writers-life-is-never-dull, accountability, Best laid plans, Best planned lays, conventions, Hurricane, I really want some dull, Necronomicon, promotions, public displays of geekery, WIP, wordcount, Writer on the Go!, 0 comments
Monday, Monday…

Monday, Monday…

Monday, Monday, can’t trust that day…

I have to admit that I like Mondays best when they’re not quite so… Mondayish. And today Monday is being an overachiever. Nothing I can share, mind, but beating my head against the wall would be a welcome respite, if only because I could STOP.

Needless to say, today has been a heck of a long week, and most of that was before noon. Some of it was even before coffee. It will hopefully all be resolved before dinner.

Hopefully.

Edits are coming in this week — I confirmed that. So I’ll be starting work on Morrigan’s Heir soon, and then doing a readthrough and editing pass on Morrigan’s Wrath. Deadline for me is having both back to my editor by the end of April (my target is to have everything done by April 27th — the day of the Indie Book Bazaar at Spellbound Books.) And I should hopefully have a rough synopsis for “Frog and Fae are Friends” done sometime this week, too, and then i can give a bit more thought to the worldbuilding. I’m still not sure if this will be a serial or a novel or a series of shorts. We’ll see what happens when I sit down to actually write it. Which, I have to say, not sitting down and starting either this or Tales from the Arena: Dead Man’s Hand is hard! Both of them want to be started right now!

The schedule for the rest of this week is packed solid, but it will end on a high note — someone has Senior Prom this weekend. The beginning of the fun part of Senior Year is starting.

I’d better lay in tissues…

Giveaways!

This is the last week where you can download a copy of my dark fantasy romance Counsel of the Wicked FREE through the On Fire Romance promotion. (Content warning — this book is the darkest thing that I have ever written, and includes on the page explicit sexual violence. Go carefully.)

Image of a flame. Text reads "On Fire. Free Spicy Romance Ebooks. March 1-31"
Posted by EASchechter in 2024 plans, a-writers-life-is-never-dull, annoyance, edits, Frog and Fae, I really want some dull, Planning, progress, publishing, Tales from the Arena, The White Raven, Vagueblogging, Worldbuilding, writing-mom, 0 comments

Now.

This is basically where I live these days. Now. I’m not really thinking more than a week in advance, because so much can change in a week. So, I live in the now. The future? That’s Future-Liz’s problem. Now-Liz has enough to deal with.

As you might imagine, this makes planning anything… interesting. I’m still sitting down with my planners on Sunday, but I’m not looking any farther out than the following Sunday.  Meal plans? Those are suggestions that may or may not happen (especially since my oven has decided it’s going on strike, and replacing a gas oven? That’s an interesting undertaking…)

On the upside, I’ll have an all new oven for Cookiepocalypse, when Future-Liz gets to that point. On the downside, I won’t have a new oven in time for next Sunday dinner. See why meal plans are suggestions?

So what’s happening in the now?

I’ve finished my read-through of the first four Heir to the Firstborn books, and passed them on to Darling Editor. New editions of the books will be going live in the next month or so, leading up to the release of Children of Dreams in November. I’ve updated the covers on the website, but I won’t be updating the covers in Goodreads or on any sale sites until the new content is available. Then I’ll do them all in one swell foop.

Today I start the read-through and rewrite on Visions in Smoke, which means that I should get into the read-through and rewrite of Children of Dreams sometime next week. At that point, I’ll probably set up the preorder for Children of Dreams. I’ll keep you posted on that.

Also in the now, I’ve confirmed that I can’t package and sell a book of compiled Vella episodes until 30 days after the last episode goes live. So that means that The Chronicles of John Zebedee will be an early March release, and I need to engage my cover designer at some point soon.

I’m doing another newsletter builder giveaway this month, with copies of Written in Water up for grabs, along with 30 other titles. Click the graphic to go over and see what’s available, and enter to win a $25 gift card.

I’ve gotten back into researching Imaginative Anthropology, but it’s hard to focus on even non-fiction at the moment. And I’m working on new edits on Swords of Charlemagne for Book View Cafe,

At some point, I may tell you what’s going on behind the scenes on this end, and WHY I’m so distracted. But right now, I don’t have permission from the others involved. Until that happens? You just get to know that there’s a lot of things happening here, and even vague good thoughts are appreciated.

 

Posted by EASchechter in 2022 plans, 2023 plans, accountability, Heir to the Firstborn, I really want some dull, Imaginative Anthropology, John Zebedee, Newsletter, promotions, Swords of Charlemagne, Updatey things, Written in Water, 0 comments

May we please have some boring now?

It’s been an interesting week, hasn’t it?

Are we all completely fed up with interesting weeks? I know I am. I’d dearly love a solid week where there’s nothing in the news but feel-good stories and kitten videos. Heck, I’d settle for one solid DAY of nothing but feel-good stories and kitten videos!

Now the weather only impacted my week indirectly. Most of my team on the Super Secret RWA project are in areas hard by the weather, which meant that for most of last week, I was the only one with power. Sort of puts the kibosh on group work, but that just meant that I focused more on words.

Heir to the Firstborn
(Heir to the Firstborn, book 5)

32677 / 150000 (21.78%)

I’m currently building up to one of those scenes that I’ve been waiting to write for months (there are four or five of those in this book.) And, because I really needed to get those words out so that I could write the other words, I’ve already written the ending. Now I just need to get from here to there.

I also worked on edits for Ashes and Light, and I’m almost done with the page proofs for Wings of Air. I should finish that tomorrow, which means that the final formatted manuscript will be uploaded by Wednesday at the latest, and we’ll be ready to go for March. Once I finish Wings of Air, I’ll start the page proofs on The Lady and the Sword.

Page proofs are usually the last thing that a writer does before the book goes to print. You’re checking layout, making sure the book looks good, and that words didn’t get left out. By this point, the book has usually gone through two or more rounds of edits, so there’s very little to do other than say “Hey, this looks good!”

Unless, of course, you’re me. And you just reread the first three books because why not, and you realize that you made one HUGE continuity mistake right in the middle of book 4.

Umm… oops.

So that was fixed, and I cleaned up all the stray periods that showed up in the middle of the manuscript (did I spill the punctuation bucket? I think I must have, for there to be odd periods in the middle of sentences. Weird.)

Ashes and Light is almost done as well, which means that I’ll be going in and redoing quite a lot of Table of Stone. The editor who read through the series to check my continuity pointed out a lot of problems with that manuscript, and since I have that one on the table as coming out in September, I have time to fix them all. (Depending on how Heir to the Firstborn goes, I might even be able to push Table back to November. We’ll see — I’ve been saying since I set the publishing schedule for 2021 that the last two books might switch places, depending on how things fall out.)

Not much else is happening here. I’m waiting (sort of impatiently) for the state of Florida to open up vaccinations to the 1C group. I’m hoping it will be before the summer — I want to be fully vaccinated before I have to to to Nashville for RWA Nationals. Until then… I’ll just keep on writing.

Stay safe, everyone.

Posted by EASchechter in 2021 plans, accountability, Ashes and Light, Best laid plans, Best planned lays, forthcoming works, Heir to the Firstborn, I really want some dull, Swords of Charlemagne, Table of Stone, The Lady and the Sword, upcoming books, upcoming work, Wings of Air, WIP, wordcount, 0 comments