to-dos

Cookies Called on Account of Pain.

Cookies Called on Account of Pain.

I’ve had to delay the start of Cookiepocalypse. With my incredible sense of comedic timing, on Day 2 of Cook All the Things, I pulled a muscle in my back badly enough that standing is mind-numbingly painful. Cookies called on account of pain. I should be up to baking later this week or early next week, and I have a list of four cookies so far (there might be one or two more before I’m done. I’ve been challenged to make a coquito shortbread to go with the coquito poundcake….)

There wasn’t a lot of writing last week, because cooking and pain medication don’t add up to a lot of words. Granted, they’re words I’m starting to wonder if I really need, but I think I’m just going to keep going the way I’m going and see how the story falls out. If it needs to be cut, then I’ll cut it in post. If I second-guess myself, I’ll never get done.

The Sea Prince is going to be off to a sensitivity reader today or tomorrow. Writing a character who is a double amputee was more than a little challenging, and I want to be certain that I’ve done it right. If I haven’t, then I need to know what to fix. I’m hoping to have this book out in early 2025, but that will depend on how much work needs to be done when I get it back. Once it’s done and out in the world, I’ll need to start The Coral Throne.

The other thing I need to start is planning for 2025. I know I’ll be at ICFA in March. I’m considering a mall show in May, and that’s about all I have written in warm Jello at the moment. I’ll update the list of appearances as soon as I know where I’ll be.

That’s all for this week. Make sure you check out the books on sale with Stuff with Fantasy!

Special Offer!

Stuff With Fantasy is hosting the December Dash promotion, where you can buy signed books and book bundles directly from indie authors (like me!) I’m already set up with a 25% off coupon on my signed book site for those dates. Use code DECDASH to get the discount, and your books will arrive wrapped, with a gift tag for you to personalize, and with a couple of goodies added for good measure. (Please note: anything purchased this week will be shipping on Monday the 9th, because I’m not up to running to the post office every day this week.)


Work in Progress

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

100602 / 150000 (67.07%)

Appearances

All done for 2024!

Posted by EASchechter in 2024 plans, 2025 plans, accountability, appearances, baking, Cookiepocalypse, forthcoming works, From the Writer's Kitchen, Happy Holidays!, ICFA, Planning, progress, promotions, Tales from the Arena, The Sea Prince, to-dos, upcoming books, upcoming work, WIP, wordcount, 0 comments

Hinges

I’m writing this up on July 3rd, so we’re just past the hinge of the year, heading on toward the end. Time to reflect on what worked for the first half of the year, and plan for the rest of the year…

Yeah, I don’t really do that. It sure sounds good, though.

I do like the concept of the hinge, though. The hinge is where your direction changes. It’s where your potential changes. Things that were previously closed can now be opened. I talk a lot about pranayama breathing — specifically, box breathing or four-sided breathing. That’s where you breathe in for a set count (for beginners, you can start with a four count.) You hold it for four, then breathe out for hour. Hold it for four and repeat. It’s fantastic for helping center and quiet anxiety, and for increasing focus, but the pause at the top of the breath is where potential lies. It’s where tension builds up for the release.

It’s the hinge.

Hinges also factor into storytelling. If you’re writing three-act structure, you have a couple of hinges where your direction changes. But if you’re writing to a climax (stop laughing…), then the hinge is the midpoint and where you start to bring the story home. It’s where the tension releases and you start the slow descent off the mountain to the conclusion. You might have other, smaller hinges along the way — foothills are a thing, after all — but your major momentum is starting to release.

If you don’t like the mountain analogy, you can think roller coasters. I’m not particularly a fan of roller coasters, but it’s fun to watch them.

We’re starting to release toward the end of the year now. Yes, it’s still 90 million degrees out, and tomorrow there will be fireworks, we’re past the hinge of the year. Time to start thinking about bringing it home.

I’ve laid out my kanban board for the next quarter — I’m going to finish Broken Feathers (hopefully this week), and keep on researching for Imaginative Anthropology. I’ll be starting back with The Sea Prince in August, and D, the person with whom I originally wrote the first few chapters, is back on board to finish it! We’re going over the first thirteen chapters now. I have one or two pure business things to work on, and in three months, I’ll revisit and see where we are on the path of bringing 2023 to a close.

Right now? We’re about halfway.

SALES: My entire catalog is on sale at Smashwords for their annual sale, running July 1 through July 31. Because of Draft2Digital acquiring Smashwords, I have two catalog pages (that I’m assured with be merged later this year.) So you can find some of my books here, and the rest here.

Posted by EASchechter in 2023 plans, accountability, Best laid plans, Best planned lays, Imaginative Anthropology, promotions, summer, The Sea Prince, The White Raven, thinking thinky thoughts, to-dos, Worldbuilding, writer on writing, 0 comments

Prioritize the Glass

I do a daily tarot post on Instagram. It’s a single card draw, and I just did today’s right before I opened this window to blog.

The phrase “prioritize the glass” is resonating with me at the moment. You see… that’s what I’m having to do.

So… there were no words written on The Sea Prince this past week. The word count remains unchanged. Instead, I’m focusing on edits, and on a proofreading project. I’ve finished the new edits on Forged in Fire, and have started Bones of Earth. I’m working on the initial edits of Children of Dreams, and I think this book is the one that’s going to change the most from what appeared in Patreon. I have edits open for Hidden Things for Book View Cafe, and I’m working on those around the proofreading project. And that’s on top of everything else that’s happening that I’m slowly getting a handle on.

So right now I’m focusing on the words that have already been put down, because I don’t have the bandwidth to put into new words. The Sea Prince will get written. Maybe not in 2022, but I’ll put it down for my January project in 2023.

Now, I was planning on releasing the new editions of Heir to the Firstborn one a week leading up to the release of Children of Dreams. However, it appears that I’d be making things much more difficult for myself than I have to — since there are no major changes to the first four books, all I have to do is update the files and the cover art. Once I get to Crossroads, which is the first with a new title, then I have to change the ISBN and create a new book. I’ll set Visions in Smoke (New title) to release the week before Children of Dreams.

Now, if you bought any of the first four books of Heir to the Firstborn in ebook from Amazon, your files will update (you’ll have to trigger the update, but you’ll get the new versions.) I do not know if any other ebook seller updates in the same way. So if you bought through Barnes and Noble or Apple, your files may not update. If they do, great! If they don’t, don’t worry. I’ve got you. If you have a file that does not update when I release the new versions, email me with a screenshot showing you own the book already, and I’ll get a new copy to you.

Now, in preparation of updating all the files, I will be taking the paperback editions down by the end of this week. Hopefully, that means that when they go back up for sale, people who order will not get the old copies. I hope.

In other news, episode 6 of John Zebedee and the Monstrous Town just went live.

 

This is the halfway mark for this part of The Chronicles of John Zebedee. I have to reread the Kindle Vella TOS and see what the turnaround is on putting them three parts together as a book. I think it’s 30 days after the last episode runs, but I need to be certain.  So we’ll have the collected Chronicles of John Zebedee early next year, I think.

Time to get back to making sure the words on the page are the right words.

 

Posted by EASchechter in 2023 plans, accountability, edits, forthcoming works, Heir to the Firstborn, Hidden Things, John Zebedee, The Sea Prince, to-dos, upcoming books, upcoming work, Updatey things, 0 comments

It’s Monday Again

That just keeps happening, doesn’t it? Mondays, I mean.

I suppose the alternative isn’t very good. So we’ll keep the Mondays, and keep on plugging away.

Work continues on The Way Home, and Owyn and Alanar have once more surprised me. Not saying what yet, but when you get to the “Where did THAT come from???” in Chapter Three, know that I’m asking the same question.

 

Heir to the Firstborn: The Way Home
(Heir to the Firstborn, book 6)

22230 / 150000 (14.82%)

I’ll be finished with line edits on Crossroads tomorrow, and I’ll upload the document and set up the preorder so I can order the author copy and proof that. It’s looking like I will make that November 30th release date that I’d picked out when I set my publishing schedule for the year, so yay, me! And since this entire series revolves around choices and consequences, it seemed fitting to pick crossroads for this cover image.

One of the next things on my to-do list is set up my publishing schedule for 2022. I know The Way Home will be coming out, and I’m planning on rereleasing the Rebel Mage books in 2022. I’m hoping for some new from my traditional publishing submissions, too. Which might turn anything I plan on end, depending on when and if they set anything for 2022. I’ve also got a box set of Swords of Charlemagne coming out February 1st, 2022. And I’m going to look into a Kickstarter to fund audiobooks for the Swords of Charlemagne.

There’s not much else going on. I’m working on things for the RWA, and I’ll be able to tell you more about those next week (I think). Pen to Paper just started back up after a week break, and everyone is loving this program. There are a bunch of other irons in the fire, and so many wonderful things in the planning stages. I have a class coming up next week on business planning, because I really should have done that by now. And I’ve been looking at the book on branding that I picked up over the summer, and that’s been taunting me… time to actually READ it!

Sure… that’s not much.

Really.

It’s not like I’m writing two books at a time right now, right?

Right?

 

Posted by EASchechter in 2021 plans, 2022 plans, accountability, audiobooks, forthcoming works, Heir to the Firstborn, Rebel Mage, Release date, Swords of Charlemagne, to-dos, upcoming work, WIP, wordcount, writing, 0 comments

Down Time and Catching Up.

I’m taking a week or two to rest my brain before launching into Heir to the Firstborn: The Way Home. I actually haven’t even started on the edits for Crossroads yet — I figured I’d work on them at the table at Necronomicon, and shoot to have them done by mid-October. Which means that the on sale date for Crossroads will probably be December. Once I have that set, I’ll announce it.

I realized just now that I’ve been sitting on the cover for Crossroads, too.

Choices must be made. But choices have consequences.

Part of my brain break has been laying the groundwork for what I’ll be doing after I finish The Way Home (or while I’m working on it, depending on things.) I’ve written a synopsis for Blood Brothers (Flesh and Blood book 2), The Iron Virgin (that Pirate and Princess thing), and I’m working on the synopsis for Tower of Light (the gay steampunk retelling of Metropolis that I was challenged to write years ago by one of the best editors I ever had). I’m hoping to get the rest of the Flesh and Blood synopses done before Necro, but Tower of Light is going slowly — I’m having to be very conscious of matching the beats of Metropolis. So I may save Tower of Light to actually write until I have nothing else going on.

Stop laughing.

I’m also still working on RWA things. Pen to Paper is running, and my team is working on incorporating our development tester feedback into upcoming units. I’m tech support on call for our participants, and having a great time with that. I’m also working on another couple of projects that are still in the warm Jell-O stages, and won’t be solidified until after our first Board meeting, which will be… soon? Ish? I don’t have a date for that yet. So there is a lot in flux in that area.

Coming up on the end of third quarter also means starting to look at what I’ll be doing and publishing in 2022. Right now, I know for certain that I’ll be wrapping up Heir to the Firstborn, releasing a box set of the Swords of Charlemagne books (February 1st, 2022!), and I will be rereleasing the Rebel Mage books — I have all new covers for them. I haven’t set up a schedule yet for most things yet, but I will next quarter. I need to decide if I will be doing a box set for the Heir to the Firstborn books, but I’m not going to decide on that until I finish The Way Home. If I do put one out, it will be late 2022.  That’s the publishing that I have control over. I’m waiting to hear what’s happening with John Zebedee (it appears that the project may have been pushed back, but no official word yet), and with the myriad of things over with Riverdale Avenue Books.

And that’s about it for this week. Back to work!

 

 

Posted by EASchechter in 2021 plans, 2022 plans, accountability, Best laid plans, Best planned lays, Flesh and Blood, forthcoming works, Heir to the Firstborn, Necronomicon, Planning, presales, publishing, queue, Rebel Mage, Self-publishing, Swords of Charlemagne, Ta-da, The Iron Virgin, to-dos, Tower of Light, upcoming books, upcoming work, Worldbuilding, 0 comments

Time to Clean!

I’m cleaning the house.

Now, if you’ve been with me long enough, you know what that means.

Heir to the Firstborn: The Crossroads IS FINISHED!!

Heir to the Firstborn: The Crossroads
(Heir to the Firstborn, book 5)

126460 / 130000 (97.28%)

I figured out what the problem was Thursday night — I’d been slogging over one scene for nearly a week, and I finally took a step back and asked myself “What is the point of this scene? What does it do to advance the story?” Answer? There was no point to scene. It did nothing for the plot that couldn’t be done somewhere else. So I ripped it out and finished the book Saturday.

One of these days, I’ll pay attention to my subconscious telling me to stop that.

So, since the book is done, now what am I going to do?

Well, clean the house, to start. I have synopses that I want to finish up, and work that needs to be done for Pen to Paper and for other RWA projects. I’ll get started on editing Crossroads in a week or two, but in the meantime, I want to put together a box set of Swords of Charlemagne to release in 2022 (once Table of Stone is out of KU), and I need to start uploading the Rebel Mage books for 2022 releases. I have Necronomicon in a couple of weeks, and I need to plan for that.

But first? This house will be cleaned.

 

 

Posted by EASchechter in 2021 plans, 2022 plans, accountability, appearances, forthcoming works, Heir to the Firstborn, kvelling, Necronomicon, Swords of Charlemagne, Table of Stone, to-dos, upcoming books, upcoming work, WIP, wordcount, yippee, 0 comments

That’s a Draft!

Heir to the Firstborn: The Crossroads. Thirty-nine chapters, complete at 126,460 words.

Heir to the Firstborn: The Crossroads
(Heir to the Firstborn, book 5)

126460 / 130000 (97.28%)
Posted by EASchechter in accountability, Heir to the Firstborn, Ta-da, thirty, to-dos, WIP, wordcount, 0 comments

Trying to Fit One Week into Two Days

What? Liz, why are you trying to fit a week into two days?

Because on Wednesday, at an ungodly hour of the morning, I leave for the RWA Summer Retreat in Nashville. So before I leave, I have to get all the other things done that are usually done in a week. And pack. And finish up things for the retreat. And… probably something I’m forgetting. There’s always something I’m forgetting.

So there’s not going to be a lot of writing done, at least not today and tomorrow. There’s a dedicated Writers Room at the Retreat, so I’ll get some work done there.

 

Heir to the Firstborn
(Heir to the Firstborn, book 5)
 
122957 / 150000 (81.97%)
 

And… I have come to a decision. See that total number there? And the percentage?

Yeah, Heir to the Firstborn isn’t going to be one book. It’s two. (Which, yes, I know. I said that with Wings of Air.) There’s still a lot of story left. This isn’t an issue with the serial — it’ll take as long as it takes to finish. But when I go to make print books? There’s a limit to how large a print book can be before it self-destructs under it’s own weight.

So, we’re looking at two books. Right now, I’m calling them Heir to the Firstborn: The Crossroads, and Heir to the Firstborn: The Way Home.

On the upside? This means that there will indeed be a November release, because Crossroads is almost done!

Today has been more than a little “If You Give a Mouse a Cookie”, because my brain is going in fifteen directions at once.

For example — I got a new fitness tracker today. I have screen protectors for it, so I left this post unfinished to that I could go into the bedroom to get the package. While looking for the package, I realized that when I’d packed this morning, I’d forgotten to pack jewelry. So I went through and picked out some things, including a pair of statement earrings that I haven’t worn in ages. Packed them away and went to put them in my carry-on. Realized I’d forgotten something else, and went back to the bedroom for it. Found the package of screen protectors and took those out to the kitchen. Realized what time it was and that I had to start dinner.

Nearly four hours later, I’m back at the computer to finish the blog post.

In other news this week, I’ve gone and done something I should have done years ago.

I now have my own logo. And it’s GORGEOUS!!!

I mean, seriously. Isn’t that pretty?

New business cards and other marketing paraphernalia have been ordered, and I’m working on figuring out what new swag I’ll be getting for Orlando Reads Books in August. I don’t want to get something cheap, or… well, ordinary. Remember, I’m the one who brought naughty dice to my first RWA National convention. I need something different.

Hrm… I had an idea….

See you when I get back from Nashville!

Posted by EASchechter in 2020 plans, a-writers-life-is-never-dull, accountability, appearances, Best laid plans, Best planned lays, conventions, edits, forthcoming works, Heir to the Firstborn, Orlando Reads Books, Swords of Charlemagne, Ta-da, to-dos, why-the-writing-is-slow, WIP, wordcount, Writer on the Go!, 0 comments

On Your Mark…

This week starts the race that will be July. I have just over a week before I leave for the RWA Retreat, and I have THINGS that must get done between now and then.

Things I need to do:

  • Finalize the presentation that I’ll be giving at the retreat.
  • Save presentation to a thumbdrive  and put it in my travel purse.
  • Email the presentation to the office (just in case)
  • Finish the video logs for Unit 11. (These will be DONE before I leave, durn it.)
  • Write the Unit 11 quiz
  • Decide which knitting project I’m taking with me for the Fiber meet-up I’m hosting.
  • Decide which research materials I want to bring (Hrm… Tower of Light or SooperSekrit Edwardian-era project?)
  • Write up a packing list
  • Pull out my suitcase
  • Pick out clothes

And in and around all of that? Working on Heir to the Firstborn, prepping for the Ashes and Light release on the 20th, and maybe going out for dinner (to an actual restaurant – gasp!) for our anniversary right before I leave.

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

118734 / 150000 (79.16%)

Heir to the Firstborn proceeds nicely, if slowly. I sincerely doubt that the 150,000 word target will stand for another week, which will then lead me to the question of… one book or two.

I know. I KNOW! I said this was going to be one book. But, I also said that about Wings of Air, and look where that got us (hint — 118,734 words into the second book of what was supposed to be one book.) Heir to the Firstborn is going to be massive. And while that doesn’t much matter in serial or as an ebook. In print, that’ll be a problem. Because there are only so many pages you can put into a trade paperback before it falls apart.

So we may very well have Heir to the Firstborn: The Progress and Heir to the Firstborn: <something that has to do with the second half of the book>

(Book one may not be The Progress. I have to decide. Book two will either be The Crossroads or The Way Home. We’ll see.)

But we’ll also get to meet an interesting character in that half of the book. I started writing his scenes already, and I love him to bits. Nope, not telling.

Now, if I do break this into two books, then I will definitely make the November release date that I was worried that I’d miss, because that part of the book is done.  I will need to make new cover art for the second book, those. Not a huge problem there.

I’ll make up my mind about it at the retreat.

 

Posted by EASchechter in 2021 plans, 2022 plans, a-writers-life-is-never-dull, accountability, Ashes and Light, Best laid plans, Best planned lays, cover art, Deadlines Go Whoosh!, deep thoughts, forthcoming works, Heir to the Firstborn, Planning, publishing, Release date, Swords of Charlemagne, thinking thinky thoughts, to-dos, upcoming books, upcoming work, WIP, wordcount, Write Faster!, Writer on the Go!, 0 comments

Brain Weasels

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

115201 / 150000 (76.80%)

Okay, Liz. What the heck is a brain weasel?

That’s what I call anxiety. The brain weasels.

(Occasionally, I’d call them Dementors, but I haven’t been doing that much recently because reasons.)

Anyhow, brain weasels. This is still a relatively new thing — they moved in a few years back, and decided my brain was comfy and entertaining, and decided to stay. Used to be, the brain weasels were nice and quiet. But over this past year, it seems to be that they’re active a LOT more often.

(As an aside did you know that increased anxiety is a sign of menopause? Yeah, me either. Why do they only talk about the hot flashes?)

Now, for those of you who don’t know what anxiety is like… have you ever ridden a roller coaster? You know that feeling of dread you get in the pit of your stomach, the one where you’re questioning yourself, your sanity, and all of your life choices that led you to this moment that you can get right before you go over the top of the big hill?

Imagine that on feeling on sustain. There’s no big hill. There’s no scream and it’s over and when can we do that again? There is only complete, total, unending dread, with no release.

It’s exhausting and brain numbing, and because mental health is not a priority in this world, we’re supposed to function through it. Or medicate it away.

I’m not medicating it. Not yet. My doctor and I aren’t sure if this is brain chemistry or menopause (or both) and there’s no clear pattern of triggers that let us say “Oh, it’s hormonal, and we can do HRT instead of anti-anxiety drugs to address it.” So for now, I keep track of the days when it’s bad, and what’s happening around me that might be a factor.

In writing news, I’m plugging away at Heir to the Firstborn, and I’ve sat down to read Metropolis so that I can get started on planning out that queer steampunk retelling that a former editor challenged me to write. I have the audiobook, too, and the restored version of the original movie is available on YouTube. So I’ll have a research day at some point (the restored movie is two and a half hours!)

Pen to Paper opens to participants today, and we’re plugging along behind the scenes with revisions from our valiant team of development testers. The program opens in August, and spots are limited, so if you’re unpublished and interested, go check it out!

And I’m getting ready for the RWA Retreat in two weeks. Not going to lie, this may be part of what’s got the brain weasels riled up. (OMG, I’m getting on an AIRPLANE and I’m going to spend several days in a HOTEL with people I don’t KNOW!)

The retreat will be fun, once I’m there. I’m pretty sure of that. It’s the anticipation, just like at the top of the big hill. And when it’s done, I’ll be asking “When can I do that again?”

Posted by EASchechter in 2021 plans, a-writers-life-is-never-dull, accountability, appearances, Heir to the Firstborn, to-dos, WIP, wordcount, writing, 0 comments