Updatey things

Nov

2024

That’ll Do, Liz. That’ll Do.

Four shows in seven weeks, done. Barring any last minute direct sales through the website, I am done with 2024. That’ll do, Liz. That’ll do.

I do still have some housekeeping to get taken care of. Quarterly taxes in late December (I could do it now, but I already had to refile quarterly taxes once already this year because a direct sale slipped in last minute.) I need to repack the boxes and take inventory, but that can wait until December.

I’m not ready to blog about last week and the ~~heartbreak~~ elections. I spent most of last week in an anxiety whirl, and then went right into a show, which helped me break out of the death spiral (fake it ’til you make it is REAL, y’all. I was by necessity projecting happy and upbeat and cheerful all weekend, which gave my brain a hard reboot.) Now that I’m thinking more clearly, I need to figure out what the next step is.

I’m not stopping what I’m doing. I’m still going to write. As I wrote in my newsletter last week, I’ve got a manuscript to finish. I’ve got another book to edit. I’ve got work to do to tell stories about people who love unreservedly and with their whole hearts. I’ve got queer fantasy and science fiction to write and I WILL NOT let anyone tell me that I cannot.

Tomorrow, I ‘m going to sit down and go over consignment agreements for two new stores in my area, and decide which books I want where. I’m going to research Tiktok shops and see if I want to start one up for book sales. I need to keep working on King of Swords, which just had another wordcount bump. I also need to finish the outline for the Covert Saloon series, and decide which series I’m going to start as a serial on THEO. And I need to start uploading Written in Water to THEO, too. Oh, and get started on a slow clean of the house for Thanksgiving.

But for now, I need to rest. I’m more wiped out than I’ve been in a long time.

Things To Remember

You’re not alone.

We’re here.

We’re together.

What do we do when the hope is gone?

We make more.

Let’s make some hope.

Work in Progress

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

91626 / 150000 (61.08%)

Appearances

All done for 2024!

Oct

2024

Cleaning Up.

The storm is over, and now it’s time for cleaning up. Which, for us, wasn’t too bad. The pile of hurricane debris on the driveway is definitely smaller than it could have been. And once again, the storm gremlins played Frisbee with the lid of our compost container. I’m not sure what it is, or how they do it, but some storms just manage to unscrew the lid and fling it around the backyard.

There’s also the inside cleaning up — we have two leaks that are usually not an issue, but for a big storm, we have to prepare in advance. We go through quite a few towels. We’ll be getting those taken care of once the storm season is over, as well as getting the roof repaired.

Goals — finish this book before I have to abandon my office for potentially up to a week. Right now, it looks like the damage to the roof was minor — it just appears to be a missing shingle. But once the team gets up there, they’ll be looking for other damage. If there’s other damage, that means roof work, which means WHAMWHAMWHAMWHAM directly overhead for DAYS. (When the roof was replaced in 2010, it took them a week, but it was August and like an oven on our roof, so they had to go slow.)

Finishing this book — King of Swords is short about 30K words, more or less. Assuming that the book comes in where I think it’s going to, and doesn’t meander off into the weeds for another couple of thousand words. I mean, there are scenes that I want to include, but that I’m not sure will advance the plot. However, I want to write them because they make me happy… So I’ll write them, and then cut them in post if they’re not necessary. That’s what editing is for, after all. Right?

I’m still working on plotting out the Covert Saloon series — if you missed me talking about it, it’ll be another Weird Western. The pairing that I thought was going to be book three is apparently going to be a slow burn through all three books. The book 2 pairing is now taking over book one, and a third pairing in book three with a character I didn’t plan for. Yup, I just take dictation for the voices in my head.

Time to go listen to what my characters want to do next.

Work in Progress

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

79220 / 120000 (66.02%)

Promotions

Kobo is doing a Free First in Series promotion for the entire month of October, so you can grab a copy of Hidden Things for free! (You can find it free where ever ebooks are sold — not just Kobo.)

I’m also a part of Enchanted Realms, and this promotion also runs for the entire month of October — sign up for newsletters, get free books and enter to win a $30 gift card!

Finally, I’ll be participating in a Stuff Your Kindle event from October 18-20th. There are over 400 books that will be free or discounted for that weekend, and I’ll have Written in Water up for free!

Appearances

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

***

Maker Faire Orlando
November 9-10th
Orlando, Florida

Sep

2024

Prep All the Things!

Today is September 16th, and I have the first of five shows in a little under two weeks. It’s time to PREP ALL THE THINGS!

Books have been ordered (and in the cases of three titles, more books have been delivered than I ordered, because mistakes were made.) Stock boxes are packed. Prices lists have been printed. Hotel reservations have been made (actually, they were made a while ago.) Vaccines have been onboarded (yesterday.)

Still to do? Haul the boxes off show stuff from my office down to the living room. Print off packing lists. Prep for my panels (and possibly bug the person in charge of scheduling to let me know when those panels are going to be happening because it’s getting late…) And I have to do the things that have to be done before the end of the month, because I’ll be busy from the end of the month until the beginning of November, and a couple of these things are time sensitive.

And, of course, in the middle of all of this, there must be writing done. I’m just over the halfway number on King of Swords, and wondering if I need to increase my wordcount again. Honestly, at this point? I think I’m just going to put words on the page, and if it ends up being two books? It ends up being two books. I can’t imagine my publisher being annoyed at that.

I finished my editing pass on The Sea Prince the other night, and sent it over to my editor to take another look. There are still a couple of questions that need to be answered, but if things fall the way I think they will, then The Sea Prince will launch on Kindle Vella late this year or early next. That’s written in very warm Jello at the moment, though.

While I wait for edits and answers, I’m working on the outlines/synopsis/what my characters are going to laugh at this time for The Covert Saloon series. I sort of pushed that to the side to finish up The Sea Prince, and now I’m almost done with book one. I have a vague idea (nope, not gonna say it…) as to what book 2 will be like, and I know how book 3 is going to end, but not how it’s going to start. Not yet. This series may end up being more discovery writing than I usually do, but we’ll see when we get to that point.

I’m also not sure if it’ll be the next thing I work on, or if I’ll be starting The Coral Throne (the sequel to The Sea Prince.) Or maybe I’ll dive into the Iron and Silk series — that’s all plotted and ready to go, except for some of the research. Or lightning could strike and I could sell Blood Bound tomorrow, which would mean going back into the Flesh and Blood universe and my kinky vampires.

So many choices!!!!

Finish King of Swords first, Liz. Then decide.

Work in Progress

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

63263 / 120000 (52.72%)

Promotions

Shockingly, Counsel of the Wicked is still a contender for SPFBOX, which means that it is still on sale wherever ebooks are sold.

I’ll be participating in a Stuff Your Kindle event from October 18-20th. There are over 400 books that will be free or discounted for that weekend, and I’ll have Written in Water up for free!

I’m also going to be a part of Enchanted Realms, and this promotion runs for the entire month of October — sign up for newsletters, get free books and enter to win a $30 gift card!

Appearances

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

***

Maker Faire Orlando
November 9-10th
Orlando, Florida

Jul

2024

The Wild Ride is Just Beginning.

Last week was something else, wasn’t it? And the wild ride is just beginning.

I’m feeling a little more hopeful about… well, everything. The political news has evened out and looks very promising, and I’ve managed to get all those vendors to admit they’ve screwed up and get the supplies I need out in the mail (in theory. They’re not here yet. But they were supposedly mailed last Thursday.)

So things are looking up. Which isn’t to say that they’re not also promising to be exciting, but they’re exciting in a positive way, which is good.

I’m a third of the way into King of Swords, and enjoying myself enough that everything else has sort of fallen to the wayside. I do need to get back into working on plotting out The Covert Saloon series and revising The Sea Prince, but King of Swords is just so shiny and fun!

I haven’t had any updates on The White Raven books yet, but I’m hoping for something in the next month or so. Morrigan’s Heir is supposed to be out this year, but I don’t know what the turnaround is with my new editor, so I don’t know if I should be looking at edits coming in sometime next month or sometime in October. I’ll check in with him if I don’t hear by mid-August, and see where we are. I’m really looking forward to seeing these two in print and having you all meet Lorcan properly.

I need to make up my mind on what I’m doing with The Sea Prince when it’s all revised and ready. Do I want to run it through Kindle Vella? Or should I shop it around? Maybe I just want to just go ahead and self-publish? Decisions, decisions. If you have opinions, let me know? Where would you want to read a sort of steampunky Master and Commander-ish novel?

Next week, there may be no blog post — we have the double whammy of a young man getting three wisdom teeth pulled AND a 50/50 shot at the first hurricane of this season to make the right turn in the Caribbean and head for Florida. If I can post, I will, but I might be busy.

Work in Progress

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

29959 / 90000 (33.29%)

Promotions

Only two days left of the Smashwords Summer Sale. You can pick up my entire catalog 25% off here and here.

Counsel of the Wicked is still a contender for SPFBOX, so it is STILL on sale, but because of the Smashwords sale, it’s even BETTER — it’s FREE (only on Smashwords)!!! But only for another two days!

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.)

The Cavalcade is having a Free Book Promo for this weekend only! August 2-4 you’ll can browse and download books of all genres. The link will be coming in my socials and my newsletter on FRIDAY. If you don’t get my newsletter, you can sign up here.

Appearances

Necronomicon
September 27-29th, 2024
Tampa, Florida

***

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

***

Wizards, Witches and the Weird
October 27th, 2024

Jul

2024

Flowers Outside My Window

There are flowers outside my window. Purple ones. They’re on the crepe myrtle tree we got from the city for Arbor Day a couple of years back. I can just see them from where I’m sitting, because the tree is just finally tall enough to be seen from my desk on the second floor. It’s nice — a pop of color among the green that is my yard. I can see iris buds, too, so I’ll have some white and purple irises sometime in the next few days. Sadly, something ate the deep pink cranberry hibiscus that I could see from where I’m sitting, so I have to move if I want to see the sole survivor of the wall-o-hibiscus that was the back of that bed. (Said sole survivor is attempting to be a wall all by itself. I have a hibiscus with ambitions.)

If you think I’m trying to focus on the pretty and innocuous, you have much to go on.

Things are scary out there. And turning to writing stories helps, but at the same point, I write steamy, sexy books… and there are threats to my livelihood on the horizon. Now, I’m not changing what I’m doing. I’m still going to write my stories, and they’re still going to be about people falling in love, and about the many ways love can be found. But it’s still scary out there.

Flowers help. Games help. I haven’t finished Tavern Talk yet. It’s GOOD. It’s really good. Although the cozy isn’t as cozy, and the what just happened here? moments are getting more frequent. I’m about halfway through Act 3, and there are only 4 acts in the game, and I’m starting to worry for some of these characters. (Honestly? I thought that cozy meant… well… COZY. But I’m invested and I need to know how the story ends.) I think my next game will be something lower stakes, like Vampire Therapist or Capybarista. The art in Vampire Therapist is very nice. And honestly, using cognitive behavior therapy on vampires amuses me. as for Capybarista? It’s about capybaras who own a coffee shop. What’s not to like?

It’s thundering outside my window now — late afternoon Florida storms are rolling in. Time to get back to making words so I can wrap my writing day before dinner. I have a game to finish.

Work in Progress

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

18649 / 90000 (20.72%)

Promotions

The Smashwords Summer Sale is live! And, because of reasons too silly to go into here, I have two author pages. You can pick up my entire catalog on sale here and here.

Counsel of the Wicked is still a contender for SPFBOX, so it is STILL on sale, but because of the Smashwords sale, it’s even BETTER — it’s FREE (only on Smashwords)!!!

Appearances

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

Jul

2024

Outside Hates Me

Seriously. Outside and I are not friends. Usually, the outside tolerates me, but sometimes… well, the results can be explosive.

(AHHH-CHOO!)

Yes, I have allergies. Lots of them. When I was allergy tested prior to being treated, they gave me the list of allergens. Usually, they take a highlighter and mark the things you’re allergic to. On mine, they marked the things I was NOT allergic to because it used less ink.

Technically? I’m allergic to outside. I’ve been doing allergy therapy for years, and I’m getting to the point where I don’t react anymore, but there is something new outside that wants me to know that it hates me especially. Which means I’m in an antihistamine fog, and I’ve been staring at the screen for thirty minutes trying to think of what to write.

This does not bode well for my daily wordcount.

I’m enjoying the new WIP, and who Teren, the main character, is at the start of the work, as opposed to who he needs to become by the end of it. The growth cycle is going to be fun.

I did some other, non-writing writing work, and now have a press kit. This is one of those things that no one tells you that you should be doing when you start writing, so you have to put in major effort to put one together later. Now that it’s done, I’ll be turning my non-writing writer brain to revisions of The Sea Prince. Darling Editor pointed out one MAJOR plot point that I might have gotten away with when I first started this book some fifteen years ago, but that I absolutely cannot go forward with now, so there’s going to be a big rewrite early into the book. If I do it right, you’ll never know. But that means actually doing it. The plan is revisions, then another editing pass before I turn my thoughts to how this is going out into the world.

As part of my “I’m taking care of myself” plan, I’m trying to take time away from the keyboard, and part of that time has been spent playing Tavern Talk. It’s a visual novel video game where you are an Innkeeper in a fantasy realm, with a revolving cast of colorful characters who are incredibly fleshed out and beautifully rendered. If you want a hack and slash first person shooter, this is not your game. If you want something involving stories and puzzles and multiple different possible paths and endings, grab this game! (It’s on Steam, and it’s available for the Switch.) I’m enjoying it because writer brain has NOT been able to figure out where it’s going, so everything has been a surprise!

Time to go make words so I can play later.

Work in Progress

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

13327 / 90000 (14.81%)

Promotions

The Smashwords Summer Sale is live! And, because of reasons too silly to go into here, I have two author pages. You can pick up my entire catalog on sale here and here.

Counsel of the Wicked is still a contender for SPFBOX, so it is STILL on sale, but because of the Smashwords sale, it’s even BETTER — it’s FREE!!!

Appearances

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, Florda

Jun

2024

Did You Miss Me?

Hello! Long time no anything! I’m back and blogging again. Did you miss me? It’s been a wild month and a half.

Let’s see. First off, my house is now SPOTLESS and I’ve discovered the magical tool known as a steam mop. I’m in favor. It makes cleaning the floor SO much easier.

I am now the proud mother of a high school graduate. He graduated with honors — National Honor Society, Summa Cum Laude, and he also earned several industry certifications, as well a graduating high school with his Associates degree through dual enrollment. He starts college in the fall as a second semester sophomore.

A week and a half after graduation, we got onboard the Disney Fantasy, and had a lovely time sailing around the Eastern Caribbean. We got back Saturday morning, and the house is still swaying gently (I learned today that this is called disembarkation syndrome, and it can last up to a MONTH!)

Relaxing is something I keep forgetting how to do, but I managed it! And I read — two books off the Lord Ruthven Award reading list, and one that I learned of from Booktok. The vampire books are Immortal Pleasures, by V. Castro, and A Tempest of Tea, by Hafsah Faizal. The one from Booktok was The Queen is Dead, by C. H. Folan, and I LOVED it. It’s a retelling of Macbeth from Lady Macbeth’s perspective, and it also gives her a backstory. It’s a little loosey-goosey in the history, but it was still a good read.

Somewhere in the Atlantic, I also started the next Tales from the Arena book. Not reading — writing. The new title is Tales from the Arena: King of Swords. I wrote about three pages longhand over a cup of coffee, and I’ll start tracking the words later this week once I get them into the computer.

My plans for the rest of the summer? Stop swaying. That’s first. Then I have to do a reread and revision of The Sea Prince, and I’ll poke at King of Swords. At some point, I hope that the next round of edits will come in for Morrigan’s Heir, and that I’ll get a release date for you. I also have a few appearances set up, which are listed below.

Vacation is over. Back to work!

Promotions

SPFBO X started the day we set sail, and Counsel of the Wicked is included in the 300 entrants! So from now until it gets eliminated from the contest, Counsel is on sale!

Appearances

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

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

Apr

2024

Vacation Incoming in 5…4…3…2…1….

I’ve finished the edits on Morrigan’s Heir. And I’ve finished the revisions on Morrigan’s Wrath (well, sort of done — the manuscript is now with my first reader.) Vacation incoming in 5…4…3…2…1…

Now, vacation for me starts with cleaning. That’s sort of always been the way. I have finished a book, therefore it is time to deep clean the house. Which isn’t to say that I don’t clean during a book, but it’s more “pick things up and put them away, and maybe dust horizontal surfaces.” The actual “move furniture and dust the baseboards” level of cleaning only happens between books. Since I’m going to have a house full of people in May, I’ve given myself nearly a month to do the entire house. Why? Because I only do one room at a time. It breaks down large task into manageable bites, and keeps me from overdoing it and spending all my spell slots for the week on the first day.

(I use spell slots instead of the more common spoons. Being a geek, spell slots resonates with me more than silverware.)

What this means is that this may be the last regular blog until sometime in June. I might not get to blogging on Mondays until after everything is over. So if you don’t see anything from me and I seem to drop off the face of the planet? Don’t worry. I’m still here. I’m fine. I’m just having adventures with a steam mop for a bit.

Promotions!

Today is the last day of the Narratress Indie Book sale this weekend. Grab a copy of Hidden Things for 99 cents, or any of the other books on sale! A quick look at the promo graphics showed some good ones, so don’t miss out!

Appearances

Join me on April 27th at Spellbound Books for Independent Bookstore Day! I’ll be part of the Indie Book Bazaar from 2 – 3:45PM, but Independent Bookstore Day is a full day event. Make sure to check out your local independent bookstore to see what they’ve got planned!

Nov

2023

Back to Work

It’s the first Monday after Thanksgiving, and it’s time for me to get back to work. This book won’t write itself. Valley of Shadows has three, maybe four chapters left. And my incentive to get this done quickly is that December starts Friday, and that means…

COOKIEPOCALYPSE IS COMING!!!

I need to sit down and decide what cookies I’m making this year. There will definitely be three color cookies — there have to be three color cookies or it’s not Christmas. There will be struffuli on Christmas Eve (and if you want that recipe, check out Love at First Bite, which is a collection of recipes available as a free download from the Cavalcade of Authors.) But in between? I’m not sure yet. I need to ask the family what they want. As always, there will be pictures posted to my Instagram — I know there are some of you who wait for those pictures every year!

As I bake, I’m also going to get back to my research for Imaginative Anthropology. I’ve been putting that off because I had too much on my plate, but baking and reading seem to go hand in hand. There will also be the planning for next year, revisiting my business plans and setting up my annual goals for 2024. The end of the year is a busy time for the small business.

At some point, we have to put up the tree, and Hanukah starts next week (blended household, in case you didn’t know.) Fall semester is over next week, and we’re all very much looking forward to Winter Break. We found out last week that Teen Boy has been accepted to his top college, but we haven’t committed yet — we want to hear from the last two and see what they’re offering. But top school has started the process of evaluating the college credits he already has, so we’ll see what they come back with.

Spring semester will be all kinds of interesting and exciting — here’s hoping that senioritis holds off until the first week of May, though!

So much happening in 2024! But I need to finish 2023 first, so back to work!

Works in Progress

Valley of Shadows
Heir to the Firstborn, Book 7

62071 / 90000 (68.97%)

New Release!

Snowbound dropped today! You can get it anywhere you find ebooks!

Snowbound — because brown paper packages aren’t the only things getting tied up…

Promotions!

Cyber Monday Sale is Live!!!! You can find the first three Heir to the Firstborn books for $0.99 cents each! In addition, Hidden Things and Counsel of the Wicked are also still $0.99!

Nov

2023

The Plan is Afoot

The plan is afoot, a phrase that’s always attributed to Sherlock Holmes, but which he never actually says anywhere. Planning for the end of the year, and for next year is ongoing. I did my annual business planning seminar last week (and I highly recommend Amber McCue’s Planathon for anyone who is looking for business plan scaffolding. This was my third time, and I learn something new every time. The Planathon is free, and her other courses are pay-to-play.)

I wrote a little last week about my plans for next year, but I never really went into how I plan. And honestly, I plan like it’s my job — I have to. Things of which I am currently keeping track:

My writing schedule
My publishing schedule
the schedule from my publisher (different from the previous)
Business plans (show dates and deadlines, mileage, tax dates)
My family schedule that comes with being a Mom (doctor appointments, due dates, vacations, that sort of thing)
Various due dates that come with senior year (college applications and scholarship information)
Personal schedules like my workout schedule.

These inform things like meal planning and grocery shopping. It’s a lot, and I’ve referred to it in the past as juggling chainsaws.

I have three planners. Four, if you count the electronic one. I don’t, usually, because if I put something into the electric calendar, I will never remember it. I have to write it down in order for it to be “real.” So I have one planner that lives in my kitchen, which is the master book that includes EVERYTHING. I have one planner that gets carried around with me, which focuses primarily on business and writing. And I have a small planner that usually lives in my purse. Of the three, the only one that doesn’t get updated weekly is the purse planner, because it’s out of sight and therefore gets falls off my brain on a regular basis. I have other ways of planning, too, I’ve shown pictures of my kanban board, but it’s the paper planners that really help keep me from over-scheduling myself and getting overwhelmed.

For the business, there’s a binder that sits on the shelf over my desk. In that binder are my business plan, my marketing plan, and my financial plan. There are two versions of each — the overall plan, and the annual plan. The annual plan is the one that I’ll be sitting down to review and revise in December, and which is reviewed and revised again mid-year.

(Narrator: She did not, in fact, review and revise midyear in 2023.)

Shush, you. It’s SUPPOSED to be reviewed and revised mid-year, and as needed throughout the rest of the year.

Now, these are the things that work for me, because of the way my brain works. I have a friend who is my exact opposite — they cannot write down their plans, because if they do, those plans will vanish into the ether. Everything must be put into an electronic calendar in order to be “real.”

So this is what works for me. What works for you?

Works in Progress

Balance of Power
Heir to the Firstborn, Book 7

51789 / 90000 (57.54%)

Promotions!

First in Series Friday is Coming! Friday, November 24th (Black Friday in the US), the first books in Heir to the Firstborn, Rebel Mage, and Swords of Charlemagne will be on sale everywhere for 99 cents.

The sale has been extended to Cyber Monday, and will include one final Cavalcade event for the year! Sign up for my newsletter to keep up to date and for the direct links!

Work in Progress

Appearances

Work in Progress

Promotions

Appearances

Work in Progress

Promotions

Appearances

Work in Progress

Promotions

Appearances

Work in Progress

Promotions

Appearances

Work in Progress

Promotions

Appearances

Promotions

Appearances

Promotions!

Appearances

Works in Progress

New Release!

Promotions!

Works in Progress

Promotions!

Works in Progress

Appearances

Find My Books!

Social Media

Let's Keep in Touch!

Thanks for signing up!