Patreon

Dec

2023

That’s a Draft!

And at 2AM on Sunday morning, I posted the final wordcount of Valley of Shadows (after increasing it by 3000 words the day before.) That’s a draft, folks.

The Patreon is scheduled out until late January, so I’m projecting a release in early February, but possibly sooner. Once I see how edits go, I’ll have a better idea. I will say that I think the ending is a little weak and fluffy, and it might change. 2AM writing isn’t necessarily quality writing, after all.

Edits will start tonight — I already have my printout and two general notes on things to change. Cookiepocalypse, however… that starts tomorrow, and will continue for the rest of the week.

Last week, I said that I was considering taking the rest of the year off, and I’m going to do that. So this will be the last blog post until the New Year. I’ll still be active on social media — cookie pictures must be shared, after all. But there is one exception — I will no longer be found on Twitter/X. My account will be there, but all that you’ll find there after this week will be a redirect to my other socials. (For the record, Blusky, Mastodon, Facebook and Instagram.) The only reason I’m not deleting entirely is that I don’t want anyone to hijack my name there.

What will I be doing for the next three weeks? Other than baking? Edits. I have to write a blurb. Finalizing the book cover (which you’ll see when the blog comes back.) Business planning, and getting back to my research. And catching up on both reading and TV — I still haven’t seen Loki season 2, and I have to watch the New Who episodes. Basically? I’m refilling my tanks and resting my creative brain.

So, this will be the last message until 2024. Here’s hoping that you have a happy whatever you celebrate, that you hold your loved ones close, and that we all come back together in this virtual space in the New Year.

Love you all.

Works in Progress

Valley of Shadows
Heir to the Firstborn, Book 7

78617 / 78000 (100.79%)

Now on to edits!

Promotions!

The Smashwords End of the Year sale is coming up December 15th. My ENTIRE self-published catalog will be on sale for 25% off ONLY on Smashwords!

Now, because of the Draft2Digital/Smashwords merger, I have TWO author pages on Smashwords (actually, I have four, but two of them are from publishers and I have no control over those.) The two that I maintain will be combined at some point, but until then, the catalogs that will be on sale are here and here.

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

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

All the Promos!

This is going to be one busy week for me! I have two Facebook takeovers, a promotion that starts tomorrow, and another one that starts on Thursday. So let’s get that out of the way first.

The Facebook Takeovers are on Friday and Saturday:

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

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

They’re only 15 minutes each, so blink and you’ll miss them.

The first promotion, which starts tomorrow and runs all month, is the Brave New Worlds promo through BookCave. Sign up for author newsletters to download over 40 Fantasy and Science Fiction books, and enter for a chance to win a $20 giftcard to the bookstore of your choice.

If you don’t want to sign up for newsletters, then we have the BIG Tribe Called Success promotion, which will be this weekend ONLY. SO MANY BOOKS! All genres, and all free.

Neither of those links are live yet — Brave New Worlds goes live tomorrow, and the Tribe link goes to a sign up for a reminder email.

We’re also getting ready for school this week — Senior Year starts next week. We get the schedule THIS week, and I’m not ready to be the mom of a high school senior. I’m not. He was just five a minute ago.

Once school starts, work starts back in on The Sea Prince, and on Balance of Power (which I have admittedly been poking at since I finally knew the title.)

The Sea Prince
The Coral Throne, Book 1

43823 / 120000 (36.52%)

Balance of Power
Heir to the Firstborn, book 7

4202 / 90000 (4.67%)

Chapter one of Balance of Power will go live on my Patreon next week. Joining me on Patreon also allows you to go back to the beginning of Heir to the Firstborn and see how it has evolved since I first started this project in 2018, and tiers start at $1 a month.

I started something new last week — I put signed copies of Written in Water into a local bookstore on consignment! Spellbound Bookstore is an absolutely adorable little bookstore right at the edge of historic Sanford, Florida. (If you’re local? It’s across 17-92 from the Firestone on 1st Street, on the corner facing the Burger King. Parking and the entrance are in the back.) Three copies will be there for at least 40 days, so go check it out and support a local bookstore!

(Okay, two copies are left. I know one has already been sold.)

I also entered a consignment agreement with This Bookstore Kills Fascists, which isn’t open yet but it coming to the Tampa Bay area. They will have the entire Heir to the Firstborn series available once they’re open. Those won’t be signed, but I have signed bookplates if you want an aftermarket autograph — just message me!

I’m going to have a chat with a third bookstore next week, so I’ll let you know how that goes.

Now, you can already get my books in paperback at your local bookstore but they have to order them for you. Or you can get signed copies directly from me.

Catch you next week, with hopefully more news!

Apr

2023

Sniffle

I have no idea what this virus was that hit me like a ton of lead-coated bricks. It wasn’t the flu, and it wasn’t Covid — the tests for both came back negative. If it was a cold, it was a much beefier cold than I have ever experienced before, because it’s been over a week and I’m still dragging. I’m better than I was, but still… the brain fog is real. And the fatigue. There was a lot of sleep last week. And surprisingly, there was a decent amount of words. I can’t remember what I wrote for most of them, but my word counter says I did actually write.

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

64046 / 90000 (71.16%)

I have a month and a half to finish this up before the end of the school year. And Camp Nanowrimo started on the 1st, so I’m observing National Novel Finishing month, and I’m going to get as much of this done in April as I can.

Once this book is in, I’ll be done for the summer, at least until edits on Morrigan’s Heir come in. So I’ll be working on the worldbuilding for The Sea Prince, so I can get a better handle on that book, as well as the synopsis for the book I didn’t think I was going to write — Heir to the Firstborn, book SEVEN. I remember distinctly telling someone that I was done with Adavar. There were no more stories to be told in that universe. And then the main character walked out of my subconscious mind and said “Really? What about me?” His name is Kaspin and he’s just as much of a brat as Owyn. Once I have a story and a title, I’ll start writing and putting this up a chapter at a time on Patreon, the same as the original books. I don’t anticipate starting back with either The Sea Prince or this unnamed Heir to the Firstborn book until fall, but we’ll see how it goes over the summer.

I’ll also be working on putting together an outline for Imaginative Anthropology over the summer, so I can start planning out more targeted research and reading. That’s something I can do while traveling, which we have planned for the summer. This way to the college tours!

Jan

2023

Rabbit, Rabbit!

So… here’s 2023. Let’s see how this goes. Here’s hoping for better than the previous three years.

Back to work for me today. There was a little noodling around with words over my break — it’s hard to stop. But on the whole, I really took time off for the first time in ages, and I feel so much better for it.

What’s in the cards for 2023? Well, I’m back to working on The White Raven: Morrigan’s Wrath.

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

20875 / 90000 (23.19%)

I have edits to work on for The Chronicles of John Zebedee, which should be coming out in March, and edits for The White Raven: Morrigan’s Heir will be coming in at some point. I’m keeping a list of things that I’m noticing need to be updated in Book 1 as I work on Book 2. Things like… I wrote Morrigan’s Heir before I wrote Heir to the Firstborn. Now that Morrigan’s Heir is going to be published, I really need to change the name of that one character… Lorcan has a friend in book one named Owyn. Nope. Can’t use that name again. Needs to be retired. So once those edits come in, I’ll make the changes. I found some stock photography that I loved for the cover, and sent it on to the designer. His mockups look amazing and I can’t wait to see the finished cover!

In other news, I’m still working on Imaginative Anthropology, reading through various anthropology and folklore texts. The outline is slowly coalescing, and at some point, I’ll actually start writing the book instead of just researching. Rebel Mage will be published wide next month — I’m taking the ebooks out of Kindle Unlimited and putting them up everywhere. That should happen sometime around February 10th or thereabouts. And I’m still working on figuring out what’s going to happen with my Patreon, and if I’m keeping it open or shifting my serialization over to Kindle Vella. I should check in with my Patrons about that. I’m still not sure what the next serial will be — maybe I should serialize The Sea Prince? I don’t know. I have to get back to poking away at that one. It was moving when I put it to the side again. I need to open the file again. But not yet. I’ll wait until John Zebedee edits are done before starting back in on The Sea Prince.

What else in in the cards? ICFA in March, and I’m not sure what else. I haven’t heard anything from Boskone about being a virtual guest, and it’s too early to plan Necronomicon. We will be doing some traveling this year because Teen Boy has college on the horizon, and there are some colleges that we should tour. And at some point, I should really decide what I’m doing about going back for my MFA (the two real questions are If? and When?) I should nail that down this year.

And that’s my 2023 in a nutshell.

Aug

2022

Monday, Monday

It’s late (well, it’s late for me) on a Monday, and I’ve finally gotten the time to sit and actually write something. Which is about par for my days these days. If the words aren’t already on the page, I’m not getting to them. So The Sea Prince is officially on the schedule for 2023. I’m focusing on edits for the moment.

I finished my first read through of Children of Dreams and… yeah, there are some rewrites in that book’s future. It will probably be the book that changes the most from the version that went live on Patreon. And I’m okay with that! My plans right now are to finish the rereads of Wings of Air (currently in process) and Visions in Smoke (formerly Heir to the Firstborn: The Crossroads), and then get the rewrites done and get the book to Darling Editor. I may be pushing it on time, but I think it will still come out in November. But notice that I haven’t yet set up the preorder…

Preorder will go live once I hand the rewrites off. And the updated copies of books one through four will go live once Darling Editor has a chance to go through them. The paperbacks are down, and will remain down until closer to when Children of Dreams releases.

And, since books one through four aren’t going to get spiffy new preorders and ISBNS and rereleases, (because they don’t need them) I’ll just go ahead and show you those covers.

Aren’t those gorgeous???? No, you don’t get the last two yet. Not until the preorders are set. I’ve been using GetCovers.com for these, and they have been a joy to work with.

It’s time for me to start at least thinking about thinking about a cover for The Chronicles of John Zebedee. I can publish the book thirty days after the last episode goes live. Which means that The Chronicles of John Zebedee will be coming out in early March of 2023. Get Covers lets you hand them images for inspiration, so they’ll be getting the three Vella covers that I put together. (In order: John Zebedee and the Heir of the Elvenlands, John Zebedee and the Monstrous Town, and John Zebedee Meets the Witch Queen of the Elvenlands.)

And that’s about all in this neck of the woods. Newsletter will be going out in a few days, and I need to figure out what recipe is going in it. Hrm….

Aug

2022

Summer’s End

Yes, I know the rest of the world still has about a month or so of summer left, but in WriterLiz world, this is the end of summer. School starts this week, and I get back to a regular writing schedule. As much as I ever have a regular schedule.

I’ve been working on The Sea Prince in fits and starts (more fits than anything else, because we went on vacation.) I may have to shelve it soon because there’s something new on the horizon, but for now, it’s been coming together nicely.

The Sea Prince
(The Sea Prince, book 1)

36345 / 120000 (30.29%)

What’s on the horizon? Can’t tell you yet. But it’s exciting and that news will come to you as soon as I can share it.

I’m working on new edits on the Heir to the Firstborn series, too. Those will be coming out with new edits and new covers sometime next year. I have all the covers, and they are GORGEOUS and amazing, and I can’t wait to share those. But they’re not being shared until we get closer to the new release dates. I’m currently working on new edits for Forged in Fire, and I have a printout of Children of Dreams (formerly The Way Home) to edit for a Patron release in November. No, that one won’t be going wide until it goes wide through Book View Cafe. So if you want to see how the story ends before next year sometime? Go check out my Patreon.

We’re into the second part of The Chronicles of John Zebedee on Kindle Vella. Chapter 4 of John Zebedee and the Monstrous Town just went live today. I need to start thinking about a cover for the book, which will come out early next year — Vella requires that you wait some period of time after the last episode goes live before collecting episodes as a book. I need to look up how long — I want to say three months, but that may not be right.

I’ve seen the new cover for Princes of Air, and it’s GORGEOUS. I haven’t gotten permission yet to share it, but I’m really excited to show you all. I’m very fond of my original cover, but it’s not on trend anymore. I don’t have a date for the release of the anniversary edition yet, but as soon as I know, you’ll know.

Not much else is happening. At least, not yet. Once Wednesday hit and school starts, I’ll be back to work, and I’ll have new excerpts and wordcounts and news for you.

Until next week!

Jun

2022

Things and Stuff

That’s about the state of things right now in my word. There are things and stuff. Things and stuff are happening, and I’m doing things and stuff.

At the moment, I’m about half finished with the synopsis for book 4 of Flesh and Blood. There’s one book after that, and that will, I think, end the series (at least for the foreseeable future? It has the potential to go on longer, because, you know, vampires.) The short story is still in limbo, and I’m starting to wonder if it’s going to come together, because every time I look at it, my brain goes blank.

Research into Imaginative Anthropology is going well, although I’m realizing that the book I’m reading right now is dated — the next one on my list is a more recent publication, which will help offset the cringe I’m finding in sections on gender and sexuality.

Vacation is coming up soon, but I had to put vacation sewing on hold because the machine needed to be serviced. I should have that back next week. I might go ahead and cut the pieces now, but I might not.

Episode 6 of John Zebedee and the Heir of the Elvenlands went live today. People are reading it, but I can see why folks are saying that Vella isn’t really getting the traction that Amazon hoped it would. I hope they figure out how to make this platform work. I like it, but they really do need to do more to push it!

I’m waiting for more feedback from the beta readers for BVC, but it looks like I have a job of work to do with new edits for Heir to the Firstborn. Serials and novels really are two different beasts, and they don’t translate well from one to the other. That’s on my to-do list for 2023, because I think the only book that will need minimal edits is Written in Water! The new covers are ABSOLUTELY gorgeous and I can’t wait to reveal them — I just got the proof for Wings of Air and it’s beautiful.

There’s also a title change coming — Heir to the Firstborn: The Crossroads will be republished as Dreams of Smoke. I haven’t yet decided what the new title for Heir to the Firstborn: The Way Home will be. It does need that Something-in-Something title to fit with the rest of the series (and there are three Something-OF-Something titles, so I need one more Something-IN-Something to balance. But I might not. We’ll see.)

I DO know that The Way Home needs to be edited HEAVILY — it’s way too long. There are subplots in there that may not make it to the final version, and there’s one character who told me more about them after I finished, so I need to change them up a bit. It’s still going to go live for my Patreon patrons in November, but I may hold off actually publishing book 6 in the wild until the BVC edition. Again, we’ll see.

Things and stuff. Stuff and things. Decisions to make.

I’m awfully busy for someone who is supposed to be taking it easy this summer. But, in the taking it easy part, I did binge the entire Book of Boba Fett yesterday (The Mandalorian, season 2.5?) Now on to the rest of my watch list — next up? Seasons 4 and 5 of She-Ra!

Patreon

That’s a Draft!

Works in Progress

Promotions!

Calendar Fall

Back to School… Sort Of

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

Sniffle

Rabbit, Rabbit!

Monday, Monday

Summer’s End

Things and Stuff

Works in Progress

Appearances

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