Waiting-for-the-other-shoe

Oct

2024

So Many Stapler Memes

You know, up until yesterday, I couldn’t have told you that the character in Office Space was named Milton. Then they named the hurricane Milton, and now there are just so many stapler memes.

Dark comedy is dark, and Tampa is about to get slammed for the second time in two weeks, as Milton is projected to come on shore in that area, and take I-4 across (expecting the usual slow downs in Champions Gate and around the theme parks because you cannot take I-4 through those areas without a traffic jam or six.)

We’re in a slightly higher area, with our power lines underground. We’ve got our supplies and everything that was outside has been put away or secured (with the exception of things that are coming in tomorrow.) We have water, and we’re filling containers with more. Groceries will be picked up in the morning, and then we’ll be in for the duration. We might board up the first floor windows and the screen door, but we’ll make the final call on that tomorrow. (Boarding up is… challenging when you have limited mobility and even fewer spoons. Our last time doing this was seven years ago, I think. I was a whole other person then.)

What is it with M-storms, huh? Matthew was the last time we boarded up, and here we go now with Milton!

There will be writing, but possibly not on the laptop. There will be reading. I’m not entirely certain there will be classwork, because internet and power may not be a thing. But we didn’t lose power or connectivity during Matthew. Everything crossed that this holds true again.

And now… we wait.

Work in Progress

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

76396 / 120000 (63.66%)

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!

I’m 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!

Coming up on October 11th, I have Chains of Light available for free in So Queer To My Heart, a spicy queer romance event.

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

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

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!

Oct

2021

New Beginnings Lead to New Endings.

This is it. I’m starting the last book in the Heir to the Firstborn series this week. I finished my first read-through of Heir to the Firstborn: The Crossroads (and discovered a couple of places where a Scrivener crash led to changes that I made not making it to the final document! Eek!) The manuscript is now in the hands of Darling Editor, and I’m starting Heir to the Firstborn: The Way Home either later today or tomorrow.

It’s a little weird. I’ve been writing this series now for three years, posting it on Patreon one chapter at a time. It’ll probably be four years of writing by the time it wraps.

And then what?

Well, I’ll have six books and a short story to show for it. Two award nominations and one win. I’ve learned a lot. Grown a lot, both as a person and as a writer. Have I changed so much? Not sure, but I’m in the inside. I don’t know if I’d see it.

So where do I go from here?

Might be a little premature to ask that question. I haven’t written the book yet! But once it’s done, and in edits, then I get to decide what I want to do next. Do I keep the Patreon? What do I put there once Heir to the Firstborn is done? I have a couple of options there, I think. At least three projects that would lend themselves to the New Adult model I’ve already established on Patreon (If you’re keeping score, those possible projects are The Willow Sword, The Iron Virgin, and The Mentalist’s Cat.)

Things are currently in a holding pattern with other writing. The things that are out in slush piles remain in slush piles, and I’m waiting… which, in the traditional publishing model, is a lot of what you do. You write… and you wait.

That’s what I do. I write, and wait for things.

(I might need to put that on a shirt…)

The things I’m waiting for?

- The White Raven: Morrigan’s Heir
- The Ice Raven
- John Zebedee and the Heir to the Elvenlands
- John Zebedee and the Monstrous Town
- John Zebedee Meets the Witch Queen of the Elvenlands
- Blood Bound (Flesh and Blood, book 1)
- Bonds of Blood and Steel

And that’s not even counting Sapphires and Gold, which has been under contract for a while, but things happened and more things got delayed.

Meanwhile, I keep writing. Because that’s what I do.

Jan

2021

Heck of a Start!

Boy, that was a heck of a start to the year, wasn’t it? And we still have the rest of the year to go!

I would very much like some boring now. Anyone else with me?

Unfortunately, it’s likely to get more interesting before it gets boring. So I’m going to hole myself up in my writer cave and try to ignore the outside world. I have edits to work on, and a new book to write.

Heir to the Firstborn

(Heir to the Firstborn, Book 5)

3083 / 150000 (2.06%)

Heir to the Firstborn is going to focus more on Del, Treesi and Aria (as much as the boys will allow. I need to wrestle the focus of the books back from Owyn and Aven. They keep trying to take over.) It’s been slow getting started, but I’ve also been working on edits. The edits on Wings of Air are done, and I’ll be getting the preorder up this week. I’ll be starting the edits on The Lady and The Sword today, but I’ll be taking those more slowly. The Lady and the Sword isn’t scheduled to come out until May. I have a little bit of time there.

Focus is… challenging at the moment. (for example, I’ve been staring at this blog post for over an hour, trying to find the next word.) There’s been doomscrolling, and stress eating, and rather a lot of yoga to try and offset the effects of doomscrolling and stress eating. I’m trying not to engage with conspiracy theorists online, for the good of my heart (remember, the block button is your friend!). If I didn’t have books coming out that need promotion, I might go on a social media hiatus… or, you know, not. Because let’s be real — all my friends live in my computer, and social media is how I talk to them.

How do you maintain focus when the world around you is chaos? I know this has been a real issue with a lot of other creative people. After ten months of quarantine, a lot of us have found workarounds. But now things are going even weirder and focus is gone.

I think the first thing is to be gentle with ourselves. Things are so far from normal that we can’t even see it from here. And honestly, there’s no way back to that normal. Nor should there be — normal is what got us here in the first place. We need to redefine normal, and we really can’t do that until the chaos factor eases up a bit and stops acting like someone mixed their Jumanji cards up with Cards Against Humanity.

So, here’s hoping that soon normal will be something other than a setting on our dryers.

Preorder now on Amazon!

Nov

2020

It’s November! Quick, Write a Novel!

(I had written a brilliant post. Absolutely brilliant… and lost it when I accidentally closed the browser. Ummm… genius is fleeting?

Wings of AirHeir to the Firstborn, Book 4

107521 / 150000 (71.68%)

***

John Zebedee Meets the Witch Queen of Elfland

724 / 30000 (2.41%)

It’s November, which means that Nanowrimo has started, and everyone is going to write a novel this month. Or at least, everyone is going to write 50K words. That’s most of a novel. Or, if we’re looking at the Heir to the Firstborn books, about half of one. If we’re looking at John Zebedee? That’s a book and a half.

I started John Zebedee Meets the Witch Queen of Elfland for my Nano project, and I think I can finish it in the month. And, since it’s novella length, I’ll be doing it while finishing up Wings of Air.

And then what? What am I going to do after I finally put John Zebedee to bed and get him out of my hair? Well, I have one more Heir to the Firstborn book to finish up after Wings of Air. And I have edits. Lots and lots of edits. I’m releasing the Swords of Charlemagne books in 2021, and while Hidden Things is ready to go… the other three books are not. I have my notes from the editor who worked on them, and I’ll be working on those once John Zebedee is finished.

There’s a cover reveal for Hidden Things this Friday in my newsletter. If you don’t read the newsletter, you won’t get that cover until next week. You’ll also miss this month’s recipe for one of my favorite Thanksgiving sides.

Let's Keep in Touch!

Name

Last name

Please wait...

Thanks for signing up!

I’m trying hard not to think about tomorrow. Tomorrow scares me in ways that I think I have never been scared before. And I keep trying not to think of the scene from Attack of the Clones:

So This is How Liberty Dies on Disney Video

I have hope, though. That’s about all we can have at this point. I mean, I voted two weeks ago. I did my part. But like any group project, our final grade is now dependent on if everyone else did THEIR parts.

So… hopeful but nervous.

However… I do a daily Tarot card drawing during the week, which I post on Twitter. I started almost a year ago, and the cards have not been wrong. Ever. They’ve been scary accurate in places (like the day they didn’t want to talk to me, so I just pulled any card. It was Justice, and that was the day that RBG died.)

This was today’s card:

Today's card

I like this one. I like this one A LOT.

Today's card is Death.

Significant change for the better. A positive, transformative cleansing.

SO MOTE IT BE!!! pic.twitter.com/H4sp69E6md

— Elizabeth Schechter (she/her) (@EASchechter) November 2, 2020

Significant change.

Positive, transformative cleansing.

Please let it be so!

See you on the flip side.

Oct

2020

Suspended in Amber

Did you see recently that scientists have discovered how to extract DNA from insects trapped in amber? The geeky world immediately went “You know, there’s an entire movie series that explains in great detail why this is a bad idea. Maybe you’ve heard of them? Jurassic Park?”

Turns out that those scientists were inspired to do it by the Jurassic Park movies — they saw it in the movie and said “Hey, that’s a cool idea. I wonder if we can do that?”

No word yet on when the velociraptors will be showing up. (actually, they’re not sure if they can extract DNA from samples that old. Thank Heaven for small favors! That’s all we need in 2020!)

Wings of AirHeir to the Firstborn, Book 4

102282 / 150000 (68.19%)

***

John Zebedee and the Monstrous Town

36437 / 30000 (121.46%)

John Zebedee and the Monstrous Town is finished. Not terribly over the target wordcount, even. Edits will happen this week (and possibly next, depending on how fast we get through them). I will be starting John Zebedee Meets the Witch-Queen of Elfland for my Nano project next Sunday. No, it won’t be 50K words. I’m a rebel.

Wings of Air continues apace. I’m thinking I’ll have a draft by the Solstice, which will mean a release in February or thereabouts. I’ll know more once I get closer to the end, and there are a couple of major scenes that still have to be written. I do know that I’ll be wielding a scalpel (or a machete) when edits come around. Written in Water was 85K words. Forged in Fire was 118K, and Bones of Earth was 109K. If you look at the counter, Wings of Air is already 102K and not complete. And there are sections that I think are kind of draggy. So yes, once all the words are done, there will be words excised.

I’ll have a cover reveal in two weeks (on November 10th) for the cover art for Hidden Things. Yes, I did my own cover again, and I really like how it turned out. Release date for this book I have the breathing space to plan releases for 2021. But if you want the cover reveal? That will be going out in my newsletter before it hits the blog, so if you want to see… well, you can go sign up and see that cover on November 6th!

Let's Keep in Touch!

Name

Last name

Please wait...

Thanks for signing up!

How is it November 6th in two weeks? That means Election Day is next week and I promise you, there will be no sleep in this house next Tuesday!

That’s about all from this neck of the woods. Be well, y’all. Stay safe.

Mar

2020

Work in Progress: Bones of Earth

Bones of Earth
Heir to the Firstborn, Book 3

85870 / 95000 (90.39%)

Today is day one of self-isolation. Which you might think means “Yay, more writing done!”

Umm… no. Because today was to have been day two of Spring Break (day one was last Friday), and I now have three children at loose ends. (Yes, I said three. No, you’re not misremembering. I only gave birth to one of them. Long story.)

School might resume on the 30th. Maybe. Or maybe not. We’ll see.

So right now, I’m stealing some writing time thanks to the collective power of Minecraft and Roblox.

It’s also taken me about an hour to type just this ^^^^.

Needless to say, the writing may be a little slower than usual over the next two weeks, or at least until I get a handle on juggling this new chainsaw. And it doesn’t help that the pollen is through the roof here in Florida, so… umm…yeah. Sniffles, coughing, and headaches abound!

Keiser Supercon has been postponed, with a tentative date of sometime in June. We’ll see what happens there, too.

So, for the duration, we’re home. We’re all healthy. And we’re all keeping on keeping on.

Wishing you all the best.

Jan

2020

Work in Progress: Bones of Earth. aka Why the Writing is So Slow.

Bones of Earth
Heir to the Firstborn, Book 3

55602 / 95000 (58.53%)

I’m not sure what writing week it is anymore. I lost track over the winter break. Which I really didn’t have much of. And frankly, I’m shocked that I got as many words in as the counter says I did. Over 5K words? Amazing!

So why am I so shocked? Well, if you follow me on Twitter, you know the reason. The Romance Writers of America has imploded, and… well, I kinda got involved. And that involvement has eaten my brain.

It’s bad, folks. It’s REALLY bad.

How bad?

Well, in writing terms, it took three weeks to write one chapter. I literally have two chapters of Bones of Earth queued and ready to go, and I’m panicking a little. I haven’t missed a week in two and a half books! I don’t want to miss one NOW!

If you’ve missed the whole RWA mess, check out Claire Ryan’s blog — she’s keeping it current. However, if you don’t want to go check out Claire’s blog (which I do recommend), here’s the “in a nutshell” explanation. A conman manipulated his way into the Presidency, and in doing so, he weaponized the RWA’s systemic racist, homophobic undercurrent. Then he picked exactly the WRONG target for his first salvo. And he completely underestimated just how ferocious Romancelandia can be when provoked.

He’s gone now. he resigned when it became clear that we were on to him — that we knew his credentials were a fraud (and just how that wasn’t discovered last year is a question that still needs to be answered).

But that undercurrent has been exposed for the whole world to see, and the RWA is in a shambles. It’s hemorrhaging members, the RITAS have been cancelled this year, and there’s a possibility the National conference might go that way. There are no sponsors left — they all bailed. A lot of the speakers are withdrawing, as are publishers and agents. There’s not much left.

We either need to rebuild it… or put it out of it’s misery.

I’d like to rebuild. Which is why it’s taken me three weeks to write one chapter! And why I didn’t have much of a winter break to speak of — that first salvo went out at COB on December 23rd. (The resulting uproar brought the RWA Board back in to session on Christmas Eve to rescind their decision. )

Now I need to figure out how to find balance — working with the people who think the RWA can be saved to do just that, working with the chapter of which I just became President-Elect, and… well… WRITING. Oh, and being a full-time mom to a rising high schooler.

And to think, I thought this year was going to be easy!

Jan

2020

Back to work!

Welcome to the New Year. I think.

We’re five days into 2020, and it’s already been a long year. On the first of January, I stepped up into the position of President-Elect of the Fantasy, Futuristic and Paranormal chapter of the Romance Writers of America. The entire RWA Shitshow had been doing on for about nine days at that point. I’ve been a little preoccupied with that. If you follow me on Twitter, you’ve seen my Tweets about it.

Part of the fallout of this mess is that I’ve withdrawn Written in Water from RITA consideration. I may still enter the Prism (the FFPRWA chapter) and the Maggies, but we’ll see if they actually happen. There are a lot of things in flux right now. There’s a lot of “wait and see.” Mostly, it’s wait and see what might still be standing when this is all done.

But tomorrow is a new day, and it’s back to work time! Back to working on Bones of Earth. And it’s time to get the synopsis for John Zebedee and the Elf-King’s Son written, so I can start writing that (and maybe think of a shorter title for it…) Also time to start doing a reread on Hidden Things, with an eye to maybe self-publishing it if the agent who was looking for something different doesn’t find it to be different enough.

I have plans. I have schemes.

And I have a path through the RWA quicksand.

What’s going to happen?

Wait and see!

Waiting-for-the-other-shoe

So Many Stapler Memes

Work in Progress

Promotions

Appearances

Flowers Outside My Window

Work in Progress

Promotions

Appearances

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

New Beginnings Lead to New Endings.

Heck of a Start!

Suspended in Amber

Let's Keep in Touch!

Thanks for signing up!

Work in Progress: Bones of Earth

Work in Progress: Bones of Earth. aka Why the Writing is So Slow.

Back to work!

Works in Progress

Appearances

Find My Books!

Social Media

Let's Keep in Touch!

Thanks for signing up!