The Lady and the Sword

31
May
2021

Wait… June? Where did May Go?

It’s June tomorrow. Was it just me, or did May just fly on past?

Granted, I’ve been busy. Between my own writing and Pen to Paper and RWA stuff and every other thing, I’ve barely had time to blink. And now it’s JUNE?

Write faster, Liz! There’s so much left to do!

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

95828 / 150000 (63.89%)

I hit the pivot point on Heir to the Firstborn last night. And there is an entire chapter written that comes after that pivot point, so while this book is going to be another monster of a book, it’s not going to be an 180K word monster.

I don’t think. And we’ll see how much gets trimmed (or excised entirely) in edits.

Gonna be a thick book, though!

My brain knows that this is the end, though. So it’s starting to look at the rest of the “Eventually, I’ll Write This” list and pick things. I may take another stab at The Willow Sword  and rework it as a serial once Heir to the Firstborn is done. And at that point, the question will be do I take it over to Amazon Vella, or keep it on Patreon? And once I rework Blood Bound and get it back to Circlet, then it might just be time to take up that steampunk retelling of Metropolis that’s been knocking around in my head for ages. (That one will be called Tower of Light, for anyone keeping score. And it’s all Lon Sarver’s fault.) Which means my 2022 plans are looking to be recover and rerelease the Rebel Mage trilogy, release The Chronicles of John Zebedee with the rest of the Wild West Paranormal boxset, and get something started for a new serial. Maybe get The White Raven: Morrigan’s Wrath started, depending on what happens with Circlet.

The Lady and the Sword released last week, with a wonderful release day review and some nice sales. I’m pretty pleased with the release. Ashes and Light in July, and Table of Stone in September!

And on top of all of this, two weeks ago, I submitted my name to run for reelection as a Director at Large for the RWA Board. Last time, I promise! (It has to be the last time — term limits are a thing for directors, and I’m not running for anything on the Executive Board. No. You can’t make me.)

We’ve decided that we’re taking a week off once I get back from the RWA retreat. Which is a good thing, because I think I’ve forgotten how to downtime. It’s been a LONG time since I last did downtime. (umm… last vacation was 2017? I think? Our financial advisor yelled at us. We’re under orders to do something FUN. So, we’re going to!)

I am looking forward to that retreat, though! I’ve never been to Tennessee, except for once when I was in the airport because we had to change planes. I don’t think that counts. And Nashville? The Grand Old Opry is on my list of things I want to see! (It’s a short list. One thing. I won’t have a car, so I’m sticking to things I can get to on foot, and the Grand Old Opry is five minutes from the hotel!)

I do need to finish my retreat presentation, though. One more thing to add to my to-do list!

 

 

Posted by EASchechter in 2021 plans, 2022 plans, a-writers-life-is-never-dull, accountability, Blood Bound, conventions, Deadlines Go Whoosh!, forthcoming works, Heir to the Firstborn, John Zebedee, Planning, Rebel Mage, Swords of Charlemagne, The Lady and the Sword, to-dos, upcoming books, upcoming work, WIP, wordcount, Write Faster!, Writer on the Go!, writing, 0 comments
24
May
2021

How to Get an Whole Week into One Day…

First, start with a Monday…

Today has been a very productive day, in all ways but one…

  • Got Teen Boy off on time to his second to last day of finals. (okay, I made sure he was in front of his computer…)
  • Worked out
  • Had a brief training on how to conduct an interview via Zoom — best video settings, that sort of thing.
  • Scheduled three Zoom interviews.
  • Prepped three different sets of questions for those interviews.
  • Reviewed Units 6 and 10 of Pen to Paper for two of those three sets of questions
  • Sent the interviewees out best practices for Zoom interviews.
  • Scheduled a meeting to discuss (REDACTED)
  • Scheduled three doctor appointments
  • Backed up the computer
  • Wrote the weekly blog (hi!)
  • Picked up groceries
  • Did my daily Tarot draw
  • Wrote this blog post

Notice what’s missing?

I haven’t written a durned word for Heir to the Firstborn today!

Good thing I had an exceptional writing week last week!

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

91772 / 150000 (61.18%)

I wrote out of order last week. There was a scene that needed to be written, even though I’m not there yet — I just needed to get it down before I lost it. Which means that I wrote two chapters and a bit last week. And I’ll hit the pivot point in the chapter I’m just about to start, and the pace is going to pick up dramatically.

I’m wondering how much of the first half of the book is going to get cut when I get to edits. It’s slow. It’s all necessary, but it’s slow. So maybe I can tighten things up.

Or maybe not. I never made any claim to being concise.

I’m also starting to wonder if I’ll actually make the self-imposed deadline of a November release. It’s the end of May, and I’m only halfway done. Heir to the Firstborn might just end up being  my first book of 2022 at this rate. Which isn’t a problem, really. But it means that I missed out on my feat of publishing 6 books in a year that will NEVER EVER HAPPEN AGAIN I MEAN IT!

Ahem…

Tomorrow The Lady and the Sword releases in KU for ebooks. Print should follow along shortly (it’s in review because I forgot to hit publish yesterday.) And I discovered something. The Term of Service for Kindle Unlimited only cover EBOOK distribution. It says nothing about exclusivity of print.

So The Lady and the Sword will go wide in paperback next week (on June 1st).

 

Preorders for paperbacks of the rest of the series are loading to all major retailers now, and will release when the ebooks release in KU (In July for Ashes and Light, and in September for Table of Stone.)

And that’s about all here. Time for me to run off to my next thing — making dinner.

Then… maybe some words? Maybe?

We’ll see.

Posted by EASchechter in 2021 plans, 2022 plans, accountability, Ashes and Light, Best laid plans, Best planned lays, Deadlines Go Whoosh!, forthcoming works, Happy Book Day, Heir to the Firstborn, Release date, Swords of Charlemagne, Table of Stone, The Lady and the Sword, to-dos, upcoming books, upcoming work, WIP, wordcount, Write Faster!, Writer on the Go!, writing, 0 comments
17
May
2021

Things Fall to the Wayside

The other night, my husband asked me if I was going to get started reading the T.Kingfisher books that have been piling up on my side of the bed. He’s read them all, and he wants to talk to me about them, but I have a firm rule about spoilers.

And I realized that my leisure reading has come to a near-standstill. I’m so busy, so being pulled in so many directions that I do not have the attention span for reading. Graphic novels? Sure. I just recently shotgunned the entire Girl Genius series, followed by Buck Godot. Magazines? I have several magazine subscriptions. But my book reading? The books I want to read because I want to read them, as opposed to reading for research or contest reading as a judge? That pile is growing (and I just got the shipping info that another one is on the way!)

This is double-plus ungood for a writer. I mean, if I’m not reading what’s coming out, then I’m not going to be on top of trends, or who’s doing what, or what the current big thing is (which, in the traditional publishing world, means what is the big thing that was being bought two-plus years ago. Indie publishing is more current.) And if I’m not reading, I’m not filling my own creative tanks.

But there is just so much to DO!!!

Pen to Paper is rolling along nicely, but there are a million and one things to get done to make sure that we launch on time in August. There’s coursework to write, and videos to make and interviews to… well… interview. I’m giving a presentation on Pen to Paper at the RWA Summer Retreat in Nashville, so I have to finish that (just some minor polishing left to do, but it still needs to be done.)

The Lady and the Sword launches next week, and I have barely done any promo for that.  There are ads running, and I’ve arranged for reviews and such, but not much else. 

Work on Heir to the Firstborn continues, and we’ll definitely be at the halfway point in the next chapter. Future plot points are starting to coalesce, and things that were fuzzy when I wrote the outline are now much more solid, to the point that I might spend today writing one scene in particular so I don’t lose it (character X is doing this for some reason that will become clear later. That reason is now clear. Mwah-ha-ha!)

Heir to the Firstborn
(Heir to the Firstborn, book 5)
83372 / 150000 (55.58%)

I do need to pick up my pace a little, since this book is supposed to be out in November. Hopefully, I’ll be able to do that once I get some more things finished with Pen to Paper. And hopefully, I’ll get some good writing time at the RWA Summer Retreat, which I’m looking forward to attending. I have exactly ONE panel to present (on Pen to Paper), and one touristy thing I want to do (which is going to the Grand Old Opry, a five minute walk from the hotel!) The rest of my time will be writing.

And maybe catching up on my reading.