Reading

Dec

2024

Cookies!

Today starts the annual Cookiepocalypse! Pictures of cookies incoming! If you want to follow along with the baking this year, be sure to follow my Instagram. There will be five or six types of cookies this year, starting with the non-negotiable, it-isn’t-the-holidays-without-them Three Color Cookies. I’ve written about these cookies, including the recipe if you want to give them a try. They are tradition, and we do not mess with traditions.

The rhythms of the holidays are comforting. We set up the tree yesterday. Baking starts today. Darling Editor will be taking time off, and we’ll do our usual holiday things. Go down to Disney Springs and do the Christmas Tree scavenger hunt and have lunch and shop and maybe go get gluten free beignets. We’ll have far too much fish for Christmas Eve. We’ll watch the Disney parade on Christmas Day, then light the candles for Hanukkah. Usually, by this time of the year, I’m done with writing and taking the time to reset and plan for the new year before I start over in January. Now… well, I’m not done, but I may still take those two weeks off to read and reset and make my plans.

King of Swords is hitting the hinge point in the next chapter, and I’ll need to decide if it’s going to be one book or two. I think I’m just going to keep writing and decide once it’s done, because I already pulled one full chapter out as cool, but you don’t advance the story at all. That, and it revealed something I decided shouldn’t be revealed just yet. I have a feeling there are other scenes in this monster that fall into this category, so once it’s done, I’ll be going back through with a machete and cutting hard.

But that will happen sometime in the new year. For now, I wish all of you Happy Holidays! See you in 2025

Work in Progress

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

100628 / 150000 (67.09%)

Promotions

It’s time for Smashwords End of the year sale, and everything in my catalog will be 25% off! The sale starts Thursday the 12th and runs until January 1st.

And because my accounts still haven’t been merged yet, I have two Smashwords accounts. If you want the Heir to the Firstborn books 1 through 6, you can go here. If you want Valley of Shadows (Heir to the Firstborn 7) or any other of my books, go here.

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

May

2023

Productive Downtime

Productive downtime sounds like a contradiction in terms. Like jumbo shrimp and near miss (if you’re not familiar with George Carlin’s routine on contradictions, go see if you can find it.) It’s a contradiction, but it’s where I am right now. I’m not actively writing, but I’m being very productive.

The synopsis for Book 7 of Heir to the Firstborn is done, and all that needs is a title. I’ve also finished the synopsis for The Silken Courtesan (Iron and Silk, book 2), and am about to start worldbuilding for that series, while thinking about what book 3 might be about. I think that The Iron Virgin (Iron and Silk, book 1) may by my Spring 2024 book, but we’ll see where things lie when I we get closer to the end of Winter 2023.

I’ve also pulled together all of the little bits of worldbuilding that I’ve done on The Sea Prince, and realized that there was more than I thought. It just wasn’t organized. Now it is, and there was very little that needed to be added. So I’m ready to get back into working on the book, and this time I’m going to finish it!

I mean it!

Really!

Back to summer stuff. I’m rereading a manuscript that’s completed but unpublished, with an eye toward submitting it to a new imprint that’s opening up for Fantasy Romance. (Bramble Publishing, a Tor imprint.) I attended a webinar with the acquisitions editor this past weekend, and she says that they’ll be reading unagented submissions. I just don’t know when, so I want this ready to go when they announce. And I’ve started a bonus short story to go with Morrigan’s Wrath, because I left some loose ends for a character who needs his HEA, thank you very much.

Once those are all wrapped up, I’ll be spending the rest of the summer reading and outlining Imaginative Anthropology. I have an idea as to format, but I need to see if it’ll actually work the way I’m thinking. I should know by the end of the summer.

And just regular reading. I have a stack as tall as I am of books I’ve been meaning to read. Time to get to it! First on my list? Babel, by R.F. Kuang.

And that’s my plan for the next two months. Productive downtime.

Nov

2020

Coming November 27th…

The Cavalcade of Authors Black Friday to Cyber Monday event!

I’ll be doing a Zoom reading and AMA on Friday the 27th at 7PM.

Click the picture for tickets, or click here.

Jul

2020

I Forgot the Title

Wings of AirHeir to the Firstborn, Book 4

47038 / 120000 (39.20%)

It’s Monday again, isn’t it? How did that happen?

Not much is happening at the moment. That I can talk about, at least. I have a new anthology coming out next week — Under the Cape is a look at sexy superheroes, brought to you by Riverdale Avenue Books. No cover art yet, but once I have it, I’ll post it. My short story is Time for No Mercy. Yes, that is a Doctor Horrible reference.

I finished the synopsis for John Zebedee and the Monstrous Town. And I’ve pushed John off to the back burner to percolate while I work on the thing I can’t talk about. He’s immortal. He can be patient.

Work on Wings of Air proceeds. I’m finally getting our heroes (the whole lot of them) out of Terraces (comma dammit). I’m really kind of amazed that there were enough things going on before the main things that it took me sixteen chapters to get the main thing moving. Like… what? I know I write wordy, but this seems a lot even for me. And going through the chapters to cut things down? There wasn’t anything I could cut! So, since it seems to be all pretty necessary, I’m just going with it, and we’ll see if anything can be pared down in edits when the story is done.

I’m starting to try and catch up on my reading. First on the list? Real Men Knit, by Kwana Jackson. Next up? I’ve got a hard choice — I have Well Met by Jen DeLuca (Renn Faire romance!) and The Chai Factor by Farah Heron (barbershop romance??? I hit the Buy button so fast!!!) Also on my list is To Have and Hoax, by Martha Waters. Regency Rom-com is catnip. I think the determining factor on which I read next will be if the romance reading hubby grabs one of them first. And then…. well….

View this post on Instagram

A post shared by Elizabeth Schechter (@schechterelizabeth) on Jul 16, 2020 at 7:28am PDT

I have a few more things to read.

The heavens have just opened up here, and I have a package to go grab off the front porch. So I’m off until next week. Stay safe, everyone.

Apr

2020

Work in Progress: Echoes of Light

Echoes of Light

9368 / 30000 (31.23%)

And here I thought that the only thing that really slowed me down when I was writing were scenes that required blocking, like fight scenes and sex scenes.

Add scenes that require verification to that — as in, where exactly was Skullyville, OK during the Civil War (when it was Skullyville, AR. They moved the border later). Reason I’m asking? It’s NOT THERE now, it’s somewhere else! From the maps of the era, Skullyville used to be right on the Arksansas River, and was a regular stop for steamboats. Skullyville today? NOWHERE NEAR the river!

So yeah, there was a lot of looking at maps and comparing them and figuring things out this past week.

I’ve also been working on Wings of Air, or at least, figuring out where Wings of Air is going to go. I plan on finishing the outline this week, and starting the actual writing.

I’m doing something new this week, as well. I’ll be doing two readings this weekend (May 1-3, 2020) at FutonCon. Friday night I’ll be holding at 18+ reading from 9PM to 10PM EST, and on Saturday I’ll be reading from 5PM to 6PM EST, with an all ages reading. I’m figuring on something from Blood Bound for Friday, or maybe bring out an old favorite and read The Succubus. Or, you know, I have an hour. Maybe both? For Saturday, I’ll be reading from Heir to the Firstborn.

Still no word on the rest of my conventions scheduled for the year. We’ll see what happens with them.

Bones of Earth is ready to go with preorders on Amazon and everyplace else, and I’m experiencing something I never have before. I picked several stock images for my Facebook ad series — they commonality is that they all have birch trees, to echo the birch trees on the cover of Bones. And apparently, I picked some very striking images, because people are sharing the ads and commenting on the pictures! That’s new and different.

Then again, everything is new and different these days. It’s all strange and more than a little weird. Some of it is a good weird. Some is not. But we’ll manage.

Stay safe, everyone. Wash your hands. Stay inside if you can. If you can’t, be careful.

Oct

2016

Come and find me…

At Chessiecon!

I’ll be one of the writers guests at Chessiecon from November 25th to the 27th (yes, Thanksgiving weekend). In addition to hanging out and seeing people I haven’t seen in FAR too long, I’ll be on these panels:

Friday:

5:30PM — The Other Side of Over the Top: Writing Your Turkey Award Entry
Previous winners and judges give advice on how to make your bad writing the best kind of bad it can be. The deadline for entries is 9pm, so you still have time to write yours after the panel, or you can start planning for next year!

8:00 PM — Writing Outside the Lines
Writers live with a cast of thousands inside their heads, all vying to come out and play on the page. The dilemma comes when the writer must write a character outside their experience — be it race, gender identity or sexual orientation. How does a writer accurately portray a character with whom they can’t fully identify? Join us for a discussion of writing outside of your identity — how do you do it? What kind of research is required? Should it even be done?

9:15PM — Slash: The Card Game
Slash: Romance Without Boundaries is a game all about matching romantic partners from across the canons of pop culture, literature and history. Our panelists pick their favorite characters and pitch their love stories to a matchmaker in search of the ultimate One True Pairing.

10:30PM — Reading
Elizabeth will be reading “Layover”. Vampires exist, their ritualized society and strict laws allowing them to live peacefully alongside mortal men, feeding on the blood of those who chose to enter vampire service as bond-slaves. The ignorant believed that vampires were savages, that they would half-murder their bond-slaves with their brutality. Daniel, bond-slave to the vampire Itami Hiro, knows better. ADULT CONTENT

Saturday:

1:45PM — Turkey Awards Panel
Writers were asked to send in the best terrible paragraph they could write, as the beginning of the best terrible science fiction novel you (n)ever read. Finalist entries will be presented, and judged with humor and harshness. The panelists will decide who gets this year’s dubious prizes!

4:15PM — It’s Awesome, Well-Written, and Groundbreaking…But Do You Like It?
Sometimes the greatest thing since sliced bread isn’t your cup of tea. How do you handle it when everyone around you is singing the praises of something that just didn’t click for you? Is it OK to dislike something even if it’s changing the world? Can you appreciate it for what it tried to do even if it didn’t do it for you? Are there ways to still usefully participate in the conversation?

6:45PM — Group Book / Art / CD Signing
Authors, artists, and musicians gather in one room for signing/book-selling/chatting with fans.

10:30PM — Everything You Ever Wanted to Know About (Writing) Sex
We discuss the how-tos, the pitfalls, the throbbing purple prose to avoid.

Sunday

1:45PM — Stupendous Bollocks
Our host asks obscure questions which exist not as much to be answered as to encourage panelists to tell us what they know (or what they can make up) about the subject. Points are awarded for interesting answers, regardless of their correctness or relevance to the original topic.

Larry Smith will have some of my books in the dealers room (which ones, I’m not entirely sure — House of Sable Locks and Counsel of the Wicked, definitely. Possibly both Tales from the Arena books, in the soon-to-be-retired self-published versions. Anything else depends on forces outside my control.)

Sep

2011

The Night To-Do List

And you can read that as either The Night Kitchen or The Night Circus (which I am very eager to read, but has to wait until I finish The Magician King. And yes, Catherine Valente was right when she said the Quentin still needed to be smacked out of the book. I do like Julia, though.)

Heart’s Master is humming along nicely. I did almost 7000 words last week (6,999), which is good because I fell over with the flu Friday afternoon, and didn’t write a blessed word yesterday. I tried to take a day off on Wednesday, and still wrote over 800 words. Which just goes to show I don’t write because I want to, I write because I HAVE to.

In any case, I’m almost ready to start posting chapters to the ERWA Storytime board for critique. That will wait, I think, until mid-November, though. Princes of Air comes out in just over a month, and I will be doing promo (which will probably be starting either October 1st or the 15th. Watch this space!) The week after the book comes out, I am slated to do an Livejournal author chat on the Circlet Press LJ. So progress on Heart’s Master may just slow to a crawl.

So, on to the To-dos.

To Revise:

Nomad”s Moon (?) — Wait for response from small press

To Write:

Heart’s Master (used to be Drum Mage)
Playing For Keeps (short story to launch Tales from the Arena)
The Willow Sword
Sea Prince (To be written with Danielle Jones)
Wanderer’s Moon (next book in the Midnight Moon series. Not to be done until we sell Nomad’s Moon)

To Outline

Coral Throne (sequel to Sea Prince)
Hidden Things (Mystere Book 1)
The Lady and the Sword (Mystere Book 2)
Ashes and Light (Mystere Book 3)
Tablets of Stone (Mystere Book 4)
Rainbow Wars (the teach-in idea. Definitely a YA. And it needs a better title)
Holy Orders ( Sequel to Heart’s Master)

To Sell

Nomad’s Moon
Exile’s Moon
Silk Skin (short story)
Infernal Machine (reprint, sent to Mammoth Book of Best New Erotica)

Aug

2010

>Recap of the reading.

>Last night was the EroticBliss Party at Blissful Lotus, where I had the pleasure (and honor) of being the closing act. The evening went really well, and the place was packed! At one point, you couldn’t walk from the front of the store to the back without difficulty. Fantastic surreal art by Elizabeth Shupe (and she showed up dressed as a steampunk Lolita. VERY nice!), a grand reading by Liz Allen, and the amazing art of Perego, who did some literal perfomance art last night. First, he painted the model (literally, he painted ON the model). Then he painted a portrait of the painted model. He started with bare canvas, and ended with a complete painting. I am so completely in awe of artists who can do that. There was also a scary accurate tarot reader, a henna painter, and chocolate. (I was good. I didn’t eat much.)

By the time my reading came up, the crowd had thinned out, and I had the amazing sensation of having a completely quiet house while I read. Everyone giggled in the right places, and feedback was fantastic.

Now, what did I learn last night?

1 – Followup!
Because of a communications glitch, there were no CDs to be sold last night. The next time I do this, I MUST followup and make sure that all the i’s are dotted and the t’s are crossed. I did pass out cards with this URL so that people can get to the link. (Oh, if you’re here from the card? The book that Succubus appears in is Like Clockwork. It’s over there, about halfway down the page —->)

2 – Heels.
I am never, EVER wearing heels again! I wore my sandals out to Blissful Lotus because I can’t drive in heels. I put my heels on when I got there. And almost immediately realized that I haven’t worn any kind of heel in over five years! the heels lasted about half an hour, then I took them off and spent the rest of the night barefoot. (not the worst idea. The floor was cool, and that helped keep ME cool! It was WARM in there last night!)

3 – Spoons.
I am SO out of spoons right now! I actually kicked the husband and son out of the house this afternoon so I could have some alone time (and now I feel a little guilty. There’s a heckuva storm out there!) I have to remember to plan for recovery days after an event like this.

On the whole, had a grand time. Thanks to Blissful Lotus for inviting me!

Jul

2010

>EroticBliss pARTy – August 7th!

For Immediate Release

For more information contact:
Stacey Murphy, Co-Owner
Blissful Lotus Romance Boutique
1810 N. Orange Avenue | Orlando FL 32804
www.TheBlissfulLotus.Blogspot.comBlissfulLotus@gmail.com
407-462-8298 (cell)
The EroticBliss pARTy is Coming!
Blissful Lotus Romance Boutique presents EroticBliss! A sensual celebration of Erotic Art, Artistic Nudes and Erotic Poetry.
Blissful Lotus will be a “buzz” on Saturday August 7th, from 8:00 to 11:00 pm as the EroticBliss pARTy gets underway featuring the provocative feminist art of Elizabeth Shupe, the captivating performance art of Perego, a reading of Steampunk erotic poetry by Elizabeth Schechter & the sharing of a coming of age love story by Liz Allen.
We bring to you an evening that will inspire, seduce & tantalize your artist palette. This pARTy will also feature Love Tarot Readings, Corset Models that will tease and tempt the crowd and Perego will “WOW” the guests as he creates a sensual work of art LIVE.
Join Us on Saturday, August 7th
8:00pm – 11:00pm: Mix & Mingle ~ Schmooze with the Artists & Writers
8:30pm – 10:00pm: Love Tarot Readings in the Lotus Lounge
8:30pm: Reading of “Who Got Liz Gardner” by author Liz Allen
9:00pm: Live art performance by PEREGO
10:30pm: Erotic Poetry Reading of the SUCCUBUS by author ELIZABETH SCHECHTER
Other Important Details:

EroticBliss pARTy will be held at: Blissful Lotus Romance Boutique at 1810 N. Orange Ave (south of Princeton)
Door Fee: $5/pp
Audience: Adults 18+
Special Offer: All guests will receive 10% off their entire purchase @ Blissful Lotus

EroticBliss will feature this arousing line-up of both artistic and literary talent:

Elizabeth Shupe: A featured Nude Nite Artists, Elizabeth’s art is filled with intense symbolism drawn from feminist, Tarot, Fairy Tale traditions and more. In her words…”Art to me has more to do with spirit than with the finished object. Art peers into the dusty drawer of the artist’s personal history. Art is the resurrection of an ancestor’s tea-stained imaginary world. An untouchable past is opened, hopes for the future are explored and the joys and anxieties of the human experience are expressed; all in a personal symbolic language. That to me is art.” Elizabeth Shupe Website
Perego: The artist that brings you the Vagabond Art Party and the Art Army, how do you define his artistic style? Perego is all about Performance Art, and “his art” is Performance-Art-Theatre. In only a way Perego can do, he combines light, sound and movement in a striking and provocative exploration of the material and spiritual worlds; incorporating action and the spontaneous energy of his environment. Well tonight, we’re going to see his erotic and sensual side. Go To Perego’s Website
Elizabeth Schechter: Well…Ms. Elizabeth is a pansexual pagan perv with a penchant for purple pornographic prose (and a great love of alliteration). She’s been writing since very early grade school, and finally seems to have gotten the hang of it. Her professional fiction debut, the Steampunk short story The Succubus, appeared in the Circlet Press anthology Like Clockwork. As her day job, Elizabeth is a stay-at-home mom, and is the mother of an active and rambunctious toddler who loves to keep Mommy from writing during the day. She lives in Central Florida, where she amuses herself at playgroups by describing herself as a pervy fetish writer when other moms ask what she does for a living. Surprisingly, she actually does get invited back to playgroups! Elizabeth Schechter Website.
Liz Allen: Born and raised in the Sunshine State. Her career path has spanned from physical to fiscal to literary starting in nutrition, then riding the roller coaster we call the stock market as a financial advisor and ultimately penning her first book at age 49… Liz’ debut novel “Who Got Liz Gardner” was published in April 2009 as the result of an international contest and is now enjoying tremendous popularity in book clubs around the world. Her short story “Radiance” was published in the 2009 winter edition in Literary Magic Magazine and will be included in the anthology “Wisdom of Our Mothers”. A second short story “A Dark Secluded Place” will be published Summer 2010. Liz Allen Website

Reading

Cookies!

Work in Progress

Promotions

Back to Work!

Work in Progress

Promotions

Appearances

Productive Downtime

Coming November 27th…

I Forgot the Title

Work in Progress: Echoes of Light

Come and find me…

The Night To-Do List

>Recap of the reading.

>EroticBliss pARTy – August 7th!

Works in Progress

Appearances

Find My Books!

Social Media

Let's Keep in Touch!

Thanks for signing up!