John Zebedee

Mar

2025

Deadlines Equal Productivity

At the beginning of the year, I set up my planners (yes, planners — I have two paper and one electronic. I also have a kanban board and a bullet journal.) One of the things I take into account when I do this is something that is very true for me (and others) — the fact that deadlines equal productivity. The closer a due date is, the more likely I am to step up my efforts to get something DONE. So I set my kanban board up with quarterly goals, and I mark down on my planner the last Saturday before the end of the quarter as my day to reset the board, rework my goals, and wrap anything that needs wrapping.

The last Saturday before the end of the quarter was two days ago, and BOY, did things get done!

I finished my reread and preliminary edit for Dead Man’s Hand, and I have handed the manuscript off to Darling Editor. As part of the edit, I changed one scene that was bothering me, and I like it much better. Is it perfect? No. I think I still need to tweak the lead-in to that scene, but I want another set of eyes on it first. Next deadline? Having it in to Riverdale Avenue Books by the end of Q2, which is when I also hope to have King of Swords as a draft.

I’ve finished the outlines for all three Covert Saloon books, and set the series bible aside to marinate. I still have research to do on the Oklahoma Panhandle during the 1870s, as well as some religion research, but that’s not anywhere in the near future.

My to-dos for this quarter? I have a list:

getting The Sea Prince up for at least a presale (requires layout and page proofs, ordering a cover, and filing for copyright),
finishing a draft for both King of Swords and The Coral Throne,
getting some preliminary reading/research on Renaissance Venice done for the first Iron and Silk book.

I’m hoping to start The Iron Virgin in the fall, but that is tentative based on some other things that are in the pipeline, and that I can’t discuss at the moment.

Back to work!

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…

Promotions

This weekend, make plans to check out the Narratess Spring Sale. I’m marking The Chronicles of John Zebedee down to $1.99! Grab your copy, and see what else is available.

Work in Progress

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

24277 / 90000 (26.97%)

The Coral Throne
(The Sea Prince, book 2)

25166 / 90000 (27.96%)

Appearances

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

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

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

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

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

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

Aug

2024

A Long Day

Any Monday that starts with a visit to the dentist is by definition a LONG DAY. That’s my story and I’m sticking to it. Thankfully, it was a routine visit, but still. Long day is LOOOOONG.

It’s currently 7:22 PM on the East Coast, and I’m just now sitting down to write this. I have written perhaps a grand total of 50 words in King of Swords, and if I make it to 500, it’ll be amazing. I’m not sure I will, though. The next part of this involves a ritual, and I need to write it.

Maybe I’ll write another scene, just to get words on the page. Maybe. Or maybe I won’t push myself too hard on what’s already been a long day, and stop wherever I stop. That’s more likely, to be honest.

I have the DNC on in the background — I thought it started at 8PM, but it actually stared at 6:30 PM, so I missed a bit. (And you thought I wasn’t going to talk about politics!). Remember to check your voter status. And if you’re not registered, remember to do that. Do you have a primary tomorrow (or soon?) Remember that the down ticket elections are equally as important!

All right. Time to get some words on the page.

Work in Progress

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

45654 / 90000 (50.73%)

Promotions

The Narratess Indie Book Sale is this weekend, and you’ll be able to grab a copy of The Chronicles of John Zebedee for $1.99 (down from $8.99) There are over 300 books in this sale, so make sure you check them out!

Counsel of the Wicked is still a contender for SPFBOX (I’m at the point of holding my breath and looking very much like the Kermit the Frog meme where he’s chewing his fingernails). Counsel is still on sale wherever ebooks are sold.

Starting on August 1st and running through the entire month of August, Written in Water will be on sale via Kobo! For all of August, start the series for only $1.99. (And because I’m fond of you guys, the sale will be wherever ebooks are sold, not just Kobo.)

Appearances

Necronomicon
September 27-29th, 2024
Tampa, Florida

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

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

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Maker Faire Orlando
November 9-10th
Orlando, Florida

Jun

2024

Back to Work!

Vacation is over. So is vacation recovery (and all the laundry is finally done and put away.) Time to get back to work!

I will admit, I did get back to work last week. I started (and finished) a revision of The Sea Prince, and now I’m handing it off to Darling Editor for his first read through. Once he’s done, I’ll read it through on paper for the first time. Given how long this project has been in the works, and how much I’ve changed as a writer between writing the opening line and writing “the end,” making sure the voice is consistent throughout is part of the editing process.

I did do some writing on the cruise — the Disney Fantasy has the best little coffee shop in the adult only area, and I sat in there one afternoon with my notebook and pen, and I got started on writing King of Swords. It’s been an age since I last played in this world, and I did reread the books before starting, but I still feel a little bit like I’m visiting a place I haven’t been in years. Which, I suppose, is true in a sense — I’m going back to Tyese and Aakar some eleven years after I first wrote those books

Something else I appear to be going back to are Weird Westerns — last week, while watching Tasting History (a YouTube series I highly recommend,) I had new characters walk out of my subconscious. the episode was on Old West saloons, and before the end of the 25 minute episode, I had a cast of characters. No plot yet, but there was a Sidhe, a dhampir, an Irish werewolf, a human medium, and a Root Doctor, who all live in the Covert Saloon in a small town called Crossroads. I’m fairly certain that it’s not related to The Chronicles of John Zebedee, but it might be. We’ll see where this one goes.

That’s about all that’s going on right now. I’m waiting to hear on edits for the White Raven books, and I have a bunch of appearances coming up — two this weekend! The first is a live reading on YouTube — I’ll be reading from my SPFBOX entry, Counsel of the Wicked. And I’ll be having an in person signing of the Heir to the Firstborn series at the Writers’ Block bookstore in Winter Park on Sunday afternoon. More information on both can be found below, or on my Appearances page.

Work in Progress

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

2688 / 90000 (2.99%)

Promotions

Counsel of the Wicked is still a contender for SPFBOX, so it is STILL on sale! $.99 until it gets knocked out!

Appearances

My upcoming appearances — I don’t have graphics for most of these yet, so right now it’s just a list.

Live Reading for SPFBOX!
June 22nd, 2024
5:40 PM

***

Writer’s Block Books
June 23rd, 2024
3pm – 6pm
Winter Park, Florida

***

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

Jan

2024

Quiet Now.

I can has quiet now?

I love doing things and meeting readers and getting out, but there’s something to be said for an unbroken stretch of time where I can just drink coffee and put words on the page.

(sips coffee) Ah… quiet now.

Yesterday’s Meet and Greet at Spellbound was fantastic, and I am looking forward to being invited to more events there. At the moment, I am between consignment contracts, but look for The Chronicles of John Zebedee on their shelves real soon now. (How soon? I’ll let you know.)

The only thing that went wrong was nothing to do with the bookstore and everything to do with the mail — the box that should have arrived Saturday with advance copies of Valley of Shadows disappeared from tracking on Friday. Here’s hoping they find it, but there’s now no rush for them to do so — I’m not going to be in person anywhere until March, when I’ll be reading and volunteering at ICFA.

So what am I going to be doing with all my quiet time? Well… there are four started books on my nightstand that I really should finish. I have a started novel on my screen that needs finishing, and research that needs doing. There will be edits coming in sometime soon that will need to be taken care of and gotten back in. Quiet doesn’t necessarily mean not busy, at least for me. For me, it just means that I don’t have to change gears from backstage author to onstage author, with all the planning and prep that goes along with being onstage.

So, for the next month and a half or so, things will be quiet. There will be words, and research, and reading, and while there may be some shenanigans, they will be quiet shenanigans.

At least, I think they will be quiet shenanigans. If they’re not? Then you’ll be among the first to know!

Preorders

Coming January 30th to all your favorite bookstores — Valley of Shadows (Heir to the Firstborn, Book 7)

Print preorder is now available on Amazon and Barnes and Noble, which means you should be able to order the paperback at your favorite brick and mortar bookshop.

Works in Progress

The Sea Prince
(The Coral Throne, Book 1)

71295 / 120000 (59.41%)

Oct

2023

Keep It Simple

Otherwise known as the KISS Principle — Keep It Simple, Stupid (or whatever other s-word you want to have there. This is how I learned it). It governs a lot of forward facing properties from set design to costume design to websites. And translated into Liz Speak today, it means that I personally should not have two locations on my website to update the same information, because I will invariably forget that one of them exists.

Brought to you by the fact that I just remembered I had an Appearances page on this website, which hadn’t been updated since early 2021.

Oops?

It’s fixed now, and the Appearances widget has also been updated. I’m finished with appearances for this year, but there are two on the calendar for 2024 so far, and I’m waiting for more info on a couple of others.

Work is continuing, and I’m still waiting for edits on Morrigan’s Heir. My editor says that they are minimal, however, I don’t know how he defines minimal. Here’s hoping the turnaround will go quickly because this book was advertised for 2023, and I don’t want to let anyone down who was waiting. Once edits on Morrigan’s Heir are finished, I’ll go through Morrigan’s Wrath and make sure everything is consistent, and then send that in.

I’m hoping to have Balance of Power done by the end of the year. I just started chapter 14, and I’m starting to think this will be a shorter book than the others. My projection said 90K words, but I think it’s going to be closer to 65 – 70K. We shall see. And once that’s done, then I’ll go back to The Sea Prince and get that finished. Yes. Finished. This time I MEAN it.

And then? Well, I’m going to start the research for Iron and Silk, because my Pirate Princess is yelling at me. But is she yelling louder than Teren, the Three Day Emperor from Tales from the Arena, who finally told me his story and is just waiting for me to get it on the page? Or maybe, just maybe, I might pull out the bones of The Willow Sword and write that one — it’s started, but something wasn’t right with it, and I think it’s just that I’m not meant to write YA, and this needs to be aged up. Again, we shall see.

I do know that I’m going back to working on one writing project at a time. One in research, one actively writing, one in edits. I don’t seem to be able to balance two writing projects at a time anymore. I think I burned out that portion of my writing brain. But that’s okay. I’m still getting words on the page, and there are still so many books to write.

Works in Progress

Balance of Power
Heir to the Firstborn, Book 7

43409 / 90000 (48.23%)

The Sea Prince
The Coral Throne, Book 1

63623 / 120000 (53.02%)

Promotions!

My no longer final promo for the year is THIS FRIDAY, hosted by Stephanie Freeman. You can find more information and sign up here. For that event, you can grab free copies of The Chronicles of John Zebedee!

I’ve also decided to do that First in Series Friday for Black Friday, marking down Written in Water, Hidden Things, Counsel of the Wicked, and The Chronicles of John Zebedee. So keep an eye out for that information — I need to make graphics for it and get some ads set up.

Oct

2023

Tenth Anniversary!

I have to lead with this gorgeous thing — the tenth anniversary cover for House of Sable Locks…

Isn’t he LOVELY???

This went live sometime over the weekend, and I missed it until this morning, when I received a spam email from a book promoter about my “new book” House of Sable Locks.

That’s very much William… which is funny because that particular model is also on the cover of Infernal Machine! Clearly, the art director and I have similar tastes in steampunk cover models.

The tenth anniversary cover is still going out to all the booksellers and isn’t yet up everywhere. If you want one now, you can get it directly from the publisher.

In other news, I got the news this week that Written in Water was cut from SPFBO, and will not be continuing on in the contest. The reviewer was incredibly positive about the book, and loved the series as well. Really, I can’t complain — the entire experience has been amazing from start to finish. You can read the review here.

In and around working on The Sea Prince and Balance of Power, I’m planning out what the next book will be. Part of that depends on one thing that is out of my control — which books that are out for consideration sell. If I don’t have an answer for that by the time I finish with either of the two books I’m working on now, then I think the next thing I will write will be either The Iron Virgin (aka Pirate Princess), or Tower of Light (aka gay steampunk retelling of Metropolis). I’m not sure which, because it all depends on which one yells at me the loudest.

It’s hard to believe I’ve been doing this whole full-time writer thing over ten years now. What a trip this has been! I have to say, it’s not getting old — I love every minute of it!

Works in Progress

The Sea Prince
(The Coral Throne, Book 1)

63523 / 120000 (52.94%)

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

34357 / 90000 (38.17%)

Promotions!

A new Cavalcade of Authors promo is coming this week, from October 13th through the 15th. Again, 200 books or more free for download. For this one, I’ve put both Written in Water AND Forged in Fire into the pot.

There’s also a single day event on October 27th, hosted by Stephanie Freeman. You can find more information on that and sign up here. For that event, you can grab free copies of The Chronicles of John Zebedee!

Oct

2023

Fourth and Goal

No, I don’t watch football. Well, not anymore. I used to, but the last time I watched football really was… well, yesterday, to be honest. But it was the Funday Football on Disney+, where they did real time animation of the football game from London (it was hilariously glitchy.) No, In this case, fourth and goal doesn’t mean how far you have to go in football. It’s how far we have to go in 2023. October 1st marks the beginning of the fourth quarter. I’ve done my fourth quarter planning and my goals are up on my kanban board. It’s time to look toward bringing this year to a close.

My immediate goals? Finish Balance of Power. Keep working on The Sea Prince. Edits on Morrigan’s Heir will be in some time this month, so I’ll be turning those around to get the book out by the end of 2023. And then I have to revise Morrigan’s Wrath to get that in to the editor. The anniversary edition of House of Sable Locks will be coming out soon (how soon? I don’t know!) and there are things to be done for that. There’s research that I really should get back to doing, although that’s lower priority to closing out the year and revisiting my business plan for 2024. I’m also considering pulling some of my short stories and getting them up for sale, but that may be a 2024 goal and not a 2023 goal.

Balance of Power
Heir to the Firstborn, Book 7

30416 / 90000 (33.80%)

The Sea Prince
The Coral Throne, Book 1

62124 / 120000 (51.77%)

Work on The Sea Prince has slowed down a little, and will slow down even more once the edits come in. Co-writing is much more of a juggling act than writing a book solo, because my interruptions rarely coincide with Danielle’s interruptions, which means that one of us is usually waiting on the other to look over things. We’ll eventually get the hang of this and get this book done.

The SPFBO judges have to announce their finalists by October 31st. This means that, at some point this month, I will find out if Written in Water will continue on in the contest. I’m surprisingly okay with either option. There are so many amazing books that have been cut already so if I am cut, I’ll be in fantastic company.

Keep an eye out for a special blog post/newsletter post in the next week or so — I’ll be able to show you the beautiful new cover of House of Sable Locks!

Promotions!

A new Cavalcade of Authors promo is coming this month, from October 13th through the 15th. Again, 200 books or more free for download. For this one, I’ve put Forged in Fire into the pot.

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!

Mar

2023

Weird Like Snow in Disneyland

There’s a story behind that title.

At my regular WW meeting, our Coach (what we call the leaders now) asks us about how the previous week went. Thumbs up or thumbs down? Only two weeks ago, she asked “Was your week Sunny or Partly Cloudy?”

My answer? “My week was snow in Disneyland.” That is to say, weird.

This week is also going to be snow in Disneyland weird, but for an entirely different reason. This week I’m prepping for ICFA, which means packing and baking and doing all the things to prepare for going away for a few days, in addition to doing all the things I need to do regularly. And I need to attempt to get some words in.

The White Raven: Morrigan’s Wrath
(The White Raven duology, Book 2)

53431 / 90000 (59.37%)

Just about halfway through, and learning some things about one of the MCs that will require content warnings on this book. I don’t know about other writers, but I learn things about my characters and why the act the way they do right up until I write The End on the last page. Sometimes, a character will develop a personality quirk during the early stages of writing, and I won’t know exactly WHY until much, much later, and it’s usually like a thunderbolt when I find out why. Sometimes, an entire book will hinge on that one moment of “Oh, is THAT what’s going on????” (I was two and a half books into the Rebel Mage series before I knew who was actually behind all the mayhem, and it was not who I thought it was. The Big Bad had actually revealed himself IN BOOK ONE with a throwaway line that wasn’t important… until it was vital.)

That’s how my subconscious works, I suppose. I keep plot twists a secret even from myself!

The Chronicles of John Zebedee has been out for a week now, and it’s doing very well! I’m very pleased with this one. And I should have a date for The White Raven: Morrigan’s Heir soon.

And now it’s getting late in the day, and I still have a million things to do, so I’m signing off. Back next week! And if you’re at ICFA, stop me and say hi!

Mar

2023

Draft/2

Or… half a draft.

The White Raven: Morrigan’s Wrath
(The White Raven Duology, Book 2)

50256 / 90000 (55.84%)

Half a draft, and spring break starts next week. Which means that I need to count up how many days are left in school and figure out what my daily target needs to be to have this done by May 19th.

That’s 74 days (thank you, Google.)

40K words divided by 74 days… actually, call it 65 days because there’s ICFA in there, and there will be days where words just don’t happen, or at least not as many words as I’d like.

That puts me at (pulls out calculator) roughly 620 words a day to finish this on time.

That’s very doable. It does, however, mean putting The Sea Prince back on hold. But I’ve already done that because I noticed something — when I first drafted out this synopsis, I did some very sketchy worldbuilding, just to get the idea of the place. I never went back and filled it out. So in and around finishing Morrigan’s Wrath, I’m going to fill in the worldbuilding for The Sea Prince. I’ve already drawn a map and started sketching out a history and discovered things I didn’t know were in my brain. (I hate it when I don’t tell myself all details…) So The Sea Prince is on hiatus, possibly until the fall. Or it will become the next Patreon project, and I’ll post the worldbuilding as it comes together. I need to decide.

I am very much looking forward to ICFA next week. I’ve gone through the schedule and marked which panels I want to see, and I have my volunteer schedule. I’ll be at Registration for the conference opening Wednesday afternoon, and on Thursday and Friday mornings. If you’re going to be at the conference, say hi!

The Chronicles of John Zebedee releases tomorrow (and is currently on sale at Smashwords!) No one seems to be price matching the preorder, so you can grab it for 25% off at Smashwords only. Once the book goes live, the other venues should price match.

Time to get back to making words! Talk to you all next week!

John Zebedee

Deadlines Equal Productivity

Now Available!

Promotions

Work in Progress

Appearances

A Long Day

Work in Progress

Promotions

Appearances

Back to Work!

Work in Progress

Promotions

Appearances

Quiet Now.

Preorders

Works in Progress

Keep It Simple

Works in Progress

Promotions!

Tenth Anniversary!

Works in Progress

Promotions!

Fourth and Goal

Promotions!

Calendar Fall

Weird Like Snow in Disneyland

Draft/2

Works in Progress

Appearances

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