writing-mom

Nov

2024

Making It!

It’s Maker Faire Week and we are making it! Making what? Well… words. And making it to Maker Faire. I found out this morning that we will be in the Spirit building, in space SF6. According to the map, this appears to be Writer’s Row — we’re one of three authors in that aisle, and we’re next to a bookshop. So come and check us out and read all the things!

Tomorrow is Election Day. You’ve voted, right? Or you’re voting tomorrow? Remember, it’s important!

According to my wordcount, I am just over 75% done with King of Swords. According to the story… not even close. It might be closer to 50%, with the hinge coming in the next chapter. Which may mean this is two books. I hope not, but we’ll see. I’m just going to keep going until the story is done, and then I’ll decide when I edit if I’m breaking it up or just having having the third book be bigger than the first two combined. I’d like to see this book done by the end of the year, but… yeah, we’ll see how that goes. I’m not going to rush it — there needs to be some resting in and around the rest of the end of the year things.

Last week saw the first for me. Worlds Begin was #1 in two separate categories! (And, for the record, it still is! I took this screenshot two seconds ago!)

I have never before had a #1 in a category of anything — best I’ve ever seen was #2.

Once Maker Faire is over, I’ll be starting to reserialize the Heir to the Firstborn books on THEO. It’ll take me a bit to get all of the books uploaded, but once I do, they’ll be available to read the way I originally wrote them. (Mostly — the original serial wasn’t fully edited. Remember, the chapters were originally going live as I wrote them, with minimal edits. On THEO, you’ll be getting the finished and polished chapters.)

And that’s about all from my neck of the woods. Remember, if you come out to Maker Faire, let me know you saw this post and you get a discount on books!

Work in Progress

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

90396 / 120000 (75.33%)

Appearances

Maker Faire Orlando
November 9-10th
Orlando, Florida

Sep

2024

The Rain Rain Rain Came Down Down Down…

“The rain rain rain came down down down. In rushing, rising riv’lets…” (from The Many Adventures of Winnie the Pooh.)

Our weather has been a song cue lately. The picture above is the view from my office window as I’m writing this, and it’s been like this every day for over a week. There are mushrooms growing in one of my potted plants in my garden, and it’s usually in full sun! That’s how damp it’s been recently. Which… I can’t complain too much — usually it’s too dry. But now there’s been flooding in our area. If we get a major storm? The ground is saturated already.

But we’re not going to go borrowing trouble. Trouble seems to have no trouble at all with finding us. Especially if it’s technology related. I had a lot of fun with my website last week, which hopefully no one noticed. And a book order that I placed for author copies to take to the shows I’m doing got very weird. I’ve never seen UPS generate the same tracking number for two different packages before, and yet, here I am with another author’s books in my house. My own order showed up over a week later, having apparently taken the scenic route. But both boxes had the same label, and the same tracking number, so there was no way to tell that there were actually two boxes! (the problem has been fixed, and the other author is getting her books replaced. There’s also a chance I might be getting MY order replaced as well, which… okay.)

It’s a momentous day in our house — in about half an hour, College Boy will officially become College Boy when he logs into his first class. Here’s hoping for no more tech troubles! (And for those of you who have known me forever, and who are thinking, wait, wasn’t he just five years old? I’m so there with you!) There’s going to be a learning curve. There’s always a learning curve. (My fingers wanted to type learning CURSE, and that’s true, too.) But we’ll figure it out.

In the meantime, there are books to write, manuscripts to edit, research to do, and coffee to drink. By the way, Trader Joe’s Chocolate Hazelnut coffee served with Silk Almond Sweet Cream creamer tastes like Nutella.

You’re welcome.

Listening to:

Gossip (featuring Tom Morello), Måneskin

Work in Progress

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

59078 / 120000 (49.23%)

Promotions

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

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

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!

Apr

2024

Partial Eclipse of the Heart?

If you’re supposed to fall apart during a total eclipse of the heart, what do you do during a partial eclipse of the heart?

We’re only at about 57% where I am, so the light got a little weird, and now it’s pretty much back to normal. The next time Florida will be in the path of totality will be 2044, I think. So… I’ll get to experience that when I’m in my 70s or so. Something to look forward to?

I’ve finished my readthrough of Morrigan’s Heir, and I did a quick read of Morrigan’s Wrath (for the first time since I wrote it, so there was a lot of “Oh, I’d forgotten about that scene!”) Now I’m reading for edits, and questioning some of the stylistic choices of Past-Me. See, Lorcan speaks Gaeilge in Eire (ancient Irish in Ireland) and he learns Latin in Rome. So Past-Me thought that it would make sense to italicize all the words in Latin when Lorcan was speaking Gaeilge, and all the words in Gaeilge when he starts speaking Latin.

Now-Me is wondering just what Past-Me was thinking because dear BOB, is that confusing and I am changing it RIGHT NOW.

Needless to day, there are a lot of editorial marks in my manuscript. I’ll still get it in by the end of month, though. My goal is to have everything complete before the Indie Bazaar. And then…

We picked up someone’s cap and gown today. May is coming at us at high speed, and Graduation will be here before you know it. The fun part of Senior year has started — prom was last week, and this week starts the Universal Orlando celebration of high school seniors known as Grad Bash, where the park is closed to the public and the seniors get the entire place to themselves overnight. I think EVERY high school in Central Florida participates, and it takes about two weeks for them all to have their turn.

So many things happening, and all of them wonderful!

Promotions!

I’ll be part of the Narratress Indie Book sale this weekend, from April 13th through the 15th. 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. If you’re not in the area, check out your local independent bookstore to see what they’ve got planned!

Apr

2024

What Am I Forgetting?

I know I’m forgetting something. What is it? What am I forgetting….?

Oh.

So now you know why today’s blog is so late. I plain forgot it was Monday. To be fair, I’m a little distracted. Edits for Morrigan’s Heir came in on Friday, and I’ve been going through them. The initial edits are minor — mostly house style changes and a couple of corrections. The actual work I’ve been doing has been making the the small changes I need to make with things that came up during the writing of Morrigan’s Wrath. That’s going nicely.

Right now, the plan is to make all the changes and updates. Then I’m going to go back through Heir from the start and transition right into a first read-through for Wrath. Why first? Because when I finished writing Wrath, I printed it out and put it aside to wait. I haven’t reread it since I finished it, which means that any edits that need to be made will jump off the page. I hope. Once I reread it, then I’ll update Wrath for any changes I need to make. Then I will send both manuscripts in to my editor so that he can read them both back-to-back.

And once those manuscripts are sent, and after the Indie Book Bazaar at Spellbound Books on April 27th, I’m off until mid-June. Except I might still keep working on the worldbuilding for “Frog and Fae are Friends,” at least until I know what the title REALLY is. But starting at the end of April, it will be all prep for graduation and vacation — cleaning and getting things in order for house guests, then packing and getting everything in order for a long-postponed vacation.

It’s been a while since I took an extended time off. I’m not sure I know how to do it anymore. I’ll report back in mid-June as to how I did.

Appearances

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A post shared by Spellbound Bookstore | Downtown Sanford (@spellboundbookstorefl)

Mar

2024

Monday, Monday…

Monday, Monday, can’t trust that day…

I have to admit that I like Mondays best when they’re not quite so… Mondayish. And today Monday is being an overachiever. Nothing I can share, mind, but beating my head against the wall would be a welcome respite, if only because I could STOP.

Needless to say, today has been a heck of a long week, and most of that was before noon. Some of it was even before coffee. It will hopefully all be resolved before dinner.

Hopefully.

Edits are coming in this week — I confirmed that. So I’ll be starting work on Morrigan’s Heir soon, and then doing a readthrough and editing pass on Morrigan’s Wrath. Deadline for me is having both back to my editor by the end of April (my target is to have everything done by April 27th — the day of the Indie Book Bazaar at Spellbound Books.) And I should hopefully have a rough synopsis for “Frog and Fae are Friends” done sometime this week, too, and then i can give a bit more thought to the worldbuilding. I’m still not sure if this will be a serial or a novel or a series of shorts. We’ll see what happens when I sit down to actually write it. Which, I have to say, not sitting down and starting either this or Tales from the Arena: Dead Man’s Hand is hard! Both of them want to be started right now!

The schedule for the rest of this week is packed solid, but it will end on a high note — someone has Senior Prom this weekend. The beginning of the fun part of Senior Year is starting.

I’d better lay in tissues…

Giveaways!

This is the last week where you can download a copy of my dark fantasy romance Counsel of the Wicked FREE through the On Fire Romance promotion. (Content warning — this book is the darkest thing that I have ever written, and includes on the page explicit sexual violence. Go carefully.)

Image of a flame. Text reads "On Fire. Free Spicy Romance Ebooks. March 1-31"

Jan

2024

Do All The Things!

January is supposed to be quiet, I thought. The holidays are over, and we all have time for some boring. Right?

Maybe for other people. In our house? We must do all the things! Post holiday time is Highland Game prep! And today? Is Highland Game recovery day.

I’m not Scottish. Not at all (I don’t think my family even has any connection to the northern Italian town settled by Scottish mercenaries in the 1500s.) But I’ve been working with a small group of my friends of Scottish heritage at the Games since 2012, as the founders and staff of Bairn Care — a family tent so that parents can care for their kids in comfort. We have changing stations, a private nursing and feeding area, extra supplies because there are never enough diapers some days, and on occasion, we will watch your child while you run to use the facilities next door. We’ve been told that our Games are the only ones to offer this sort of service, and it’s been amazing to watch the families grow over the years. It’s a labor of love every year — setup Friday, two full days on site, and tear down Monday.

It was on a quiet morning at the Games some seven years ago that I wrote the outline for The White Raven books. So occasionally I do get some writing in. Not this year, but sometimes.

On the upside, I now have a tiny Highland Cow.

Now I have a couple of days to recharge before my first writing event of the year — my Meet and Greet at Spellbound Books! I’m ready for it, although the advance copies of Valley of Shadows may not make it here in time. However, I will have the complete Heir to the Firstborn series for sale as ebooks on a thumb drive.

I’m trying to get my brains to wake up enough today to commit words on The Sea Prince. There’s been three cups of coffee, and… maybe? I’m not holding my breath, though. This might just be a true recovery day and I’ll go for a thousand words tomorrow.

Preorders

Coming January 30th to all your favorite bookstores — Valley of Shadows (Heir to the Firstborn, Book 7)

Print preorder is now available on Amazon and Barnes and Noble, which means you should be able to order the paperback at your favorite brick and mortar bookshop.

Works in Progress

The Sea Prince
(The Coral Throne, Book 1)

66791 / 120000 (55.66%)

Appearances!

For ONE DAY ONLY, I’ll be having a Meet and Greet at the Spellbound Bookstore in Sanford, Florida! I will be there for 3PM to 4PM on January 21st, 2024. Come out and support small business!

I will have a limited number of thumb drives for sale containing the COMPLETE Heir to the Firstborn series — including the not-yet-released Valley of Shadows! Get it from me before it’s available anywhere!

Jan

2024

An Advanced State of Higgledy-Piggledy

The first day of class is the perfect time to tell someone that their class isn’t at this campus, it’s at THAT one all the way on the other side of town. Right?

Needless to say, today has been in an advanced state of higgledy-piggledy.

I’m trying to convince my son that they’re predisastering the semester for everyone’s convenience. I’m not sure he’s buying it, though. Then again, I’m not sure I’d be buying it if I found out an hour before class that we have to drive half an hour to the back of beyond, to the campus with “Warning: Bear Crossing” signs on the walking paths. Oh, and if the person who was supposed to be doing the driving wasn’t home…

We made it work. The campus is pretty. There’s a Starbucks nearby (because of course there is), and the teacher seems to be a good sort.

But now you know why I’m getting to my blog post after 5PM Eastern… and since it’s after 5PM, I need to go start cooking dinner. Back shortly.

(time passes)

Two and a half hours later, I’m back to finish this post, and hopefully get some words in on The Sea Prince. Today feels like it’s been a lot longer than the clock says — the clock says 7:51PM. My body says 11:51PM and you should have been in bed two hours ago.

I’m not sure why we were all in such an all-fired rush to get older when we were kids. It’s overrated and I want my money back.

Off to attempt words. Wish me luck.

Preorders

Coming January 30th to all your favorite bookstores — Valley of Shadows (Heir to the Firstborn, Book 7)

Print preorder is now available on Amazon and Barnes and Noble, which means you should be able to order the paperback at your favorite brick and mortar bookshop.

Works in Progress

The Sea Prince
(The Coral Throne, Book 1)

64370 / 120000 (53.64%)

Appearances!

For ONE DAY ONLY, I’ll be having a Meet and Greet at the Spellbound Bookstore in Sanford, Florida! I will be there for 3PM to 4PM on January 21st, 2024. Come out and support small business!

writing-mom

Making It!

Work in Progress

Appearances

The Rain Rain Rain Came Down Down Down…

Listening to:

Work in Progress

Promotions

Appearances

The Wild Ride is Just Beginning.

Work in Progress

Promotions

Appearances

Did You Miss Me?

Promotions

Appearances

Vacation Incoming in 5…4…3…2…1….

Promotions!

Appearances

Partial Eclipse of the Heart?

Promotions!

Appearances

What Am I Forgetting?

Appearances

Monday, Monday…

Giveaways!

Do All The Things!

Preorders

Works in Progress

Appearances!

An Advanced State of Higgledy-Piggledy

Preorders

Works in Progress

Appearances!

Works in Progress

Appearances

Find My Books!

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