yippee

May

2023

Thirty. Finished. The End

Well, I guess that clears up any question about the topic for this week’s blog, hm?

The White Raven: Morrigan’s Wrath
(The White Raven duology, book 2)

106550 / 106000 (100.52%)

I finished the draft a week ago, after writing over three thousand words in a single day. (That’s a lot for me. But I was SOCLOSE to being done!) and it occurs to me that I wrote last week’s blog post AFTER finishing the book! So this is not news, unless you missed last week’s post because I was so late in posting it.

The manuscript is now printed off, along with the editing notes that I made for The White Raven: Morrigan’s Heir, and I have put them aside to wait for the edits to come in on Morrigan’s Heir. Once I have those, I’ll make my changes to Heir, then start my personal edits on Wrath. Once I’m sure both books agree with each other, then they’ll both go back to my editor. But I am now done for the summer.

Sort of.

I’ve spent the past week planning out the first two books in a new series tentatively called Iron and Silk (to be honest, the synopsis for the first book was already written — it’s that Pirate and Princess thing that came out of my trip to Nashville.) Book one is The Iron Virgin. Book two is The Silken Courtesan, which I just finished planning out today. This might be a trilogy, and book three is tentatively titled The Iron Queen. I still have to plan that one.

I’m also planning out book seven of Heir to the Firstborn, and trying to think of a title that fits the existing title patterns. The synopsis for this one is about a third of the way done, but I got distracted by The Silken Courtesan. Once this one is done, then I’ll dive into the worldbuilding for Iron and Silk, and for The Sea Prince.

And there’s research to be done for Imaginative Anthropology, which has been on the shelf for a bit while I finished up The White Raven. Time to get back to that.

Honestly, though? All of these are playtime. I am now off for the summer.

There are still five days left in the Red Hot book giveaway, where you can grab a copy of Hidden Things (or some twenty-five other books) FOR FREE! Click the image above to check out what’s available. I’ll have another giveaway later in the summer — keep an eye out for a Written in Water giveaway in August.

But for now, I’m giving myself a brain break and deciding what I’ll work on once August rolls around and school starts again.

May

2023

Late Post, But A Good Reason….

This is posting rather late on Monday, but there’s a very good reason for the delay…

That’s the final wordcount on The White Raven: Morrigan’s Wrath. That’s a draft, folks!

The White Raven: Morrigan’s Wrath
(The White Raven duology, Book 2)

106550 / 106000 (100.52%)

So, now what? Now, this manuscript gets read over quickly, to make sure I didn’t forget any scenes that I meant to fill in later. I’ll compile it from Scrivener, and print it off… and then put it off to the side for a bit. I’ll be sitting on it until I get the edits back for Morrigan’s Heir, and then I’ll read both of them one right after the other. That way, I can be sure that the details in both agree. (and there are some edits that need to be added to Heir, because of things that changed in Wrath. And one character name that needs to be changed because the name Owyn is now retired.)

Once that’s done? I’m off for the summer! Which means… well, this house needs to be cleaned. And I have worldbuilding and research to work on. And SO MUCH READING to catch up on.

And I have a short story to write. There’s one thread in Wrath that didn’t get tied off, and one couple that’s getting their own short. But I’m in no rush.

In other news, Hidden Things is currently part of a giveaway, and you can check out the other books here. The giveaway runs until May 20th. Just in time for beach reading!

Since it’s late, that’s all there is. I’m going to bed now!

Sep

2022

I Have An Excite!!!

Why am I excited? Because Friday, this happened:

I had NO idea that the release date was Friday, or I’d have said something sooner!

Now, this new edition contains two bits of new material. The first is old new — I wrote The Ice Raven for the Princes of Air launch ten years ago, and it was serialized on the Circlet Livejournal. It’s never before been available for sale.

The second new bit of material is an exciting announcement, because you get a sneak peak at the first chapter of The White Raven: Morrigan’s Heir… coming in 2023 from Riverdale Avenue Books!

Lorcan finally gets his own books! Two of them — I’m starting The White Raven: Morrigan’s Wrath today. (That was the mystery synopsis I was working on a few weeks back.)

The White Raven: Morrigan’s Wrath

0 / 90000 (0.00%)

***

The Sea Prince
(The Sea Prince, book 1)

37782 / 120000 (31.49%)

Yes, I am still going to be working on The Sea Prince.

In other writing news, I finished the rewrite of Children of Dreams, and I’ll be setting up a preorder for that and Visions in Smoke this week. I’ll post links to those on all the social media once they’re up. Bones of Earth went live last week, and is updating everywhere. Not sure what’s happening with the paperbacks — they’re listed as publishing, but Amazon hasn’t updated to the new information, and Barnes and Noble is still listing the old prices. Remember, if you find books with the old covers, it’s the old content.

Not much else to share, and I need to get on getting on to writing.

Have a great week!!!

Sep

2021

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.

Aug

2021

Back to Work!

Home from vacation! And what a wet vacation it was! There were only two days that we did not get rained on — the first day and the last one! Every other day featured a deluge of Florida proportions — I’m told there is video footage of kids swimming in the flooded pathways at Magic Kingdom. (ewwICK!)

It was fun, though. Our first time back in the parks for a vacation (as opposed to a day) in nearly 8 years, and our first vacation in 4 years. Introduced to Feather Bowling (or, as we called it, drunk curling), and Pandora (the planet, not the jewelry or the streaming service. James Cameron is an insane genius, the immersive technology in Pandora is AMAZING, and I want to have a talk with him about evolutionary tracks and his rationale for having his planet have hexapedal fauna while the dominant species is bipedal with a prehensile tail. Either that, or I actually have to see the movie. Maybe it’s explained in there?)

Enjoyed a couple of things at Food and Wine, and saw the neat little exhibit on Kawaii culture in Japan (and had fun after both Spaceship Earth and The American Adventure — turn to Teen Boy and ask “So, what did they get wrong?”) And we spent half a day in Black Spires Outpost on Batuu, had blue milk and a spherical Coke, and built a lightsaber (which is not cheap, but SO WORTH IT!!!)

It says Coca-Cola in Aurebesh — the written language of Star Wars.

We found the FUN Photopass spot — the photographer provided the sabers.

Protection and Defense — one of the four hilt options offered at Savi’s Workshop. I opted for a purple kyber crystal.
Not lighting it up because it is LOUD!

I forgot to get pictures of the blue milk — it’s a rice and coconut milk base, with pineapple and dragonfruit, and colored blue with spirulina. And it would make a killer pina coloda — they actually do offer it with rum! There’s also a green milk option, which I’ll have to try the next time I go. Whenever that happens.

Got home in time for the Vivian Awards, which meant dressing up to sitting my office.

I didn’t win, but I’m okay with that. Just being nominated in the most diverse contest class in RWA history is enough, especially when it’s with the book that I pulled from RITA consideration in protest of the board shenanigans in 2019.

Now I’m back on Earth, though, and back to creating my own worlds. I did carry a notebook with me all week… and I think I opened it once.

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

126114 / 150000 (84.08%)

I have an idea where this is going to wrap, though. And I’m shooting to have a draft complete by the end of the month, or by Orlando Reads Books, so I can dive into the revisions that it’s going to need since it’s not the last book. The book will drop quite a bit in wordcount when I finally call it a draft — there are three chapters, the epilogue and some bonus material already written that will be moved to the last book.

I’m also thinking on a new thing — working title is The Iron Virgin, and I’m blaming the Gaylord Opryland for it. Why? Because there was a Pirate and Princess event running when we were there, and I came home with a Pirate Princess in my head who wants her story told now, thank you very much. The worldbuilding is being interesting — it went from a steampunk setting with airships to a fantasy setting with living ships (which… I’m not sure why the ships are alive yet. They haven’t told me. There is more worldbuilding to be done.)

That’s a song cue right there — “The ships are alive, and I don’t know why yet…” (ttto The Sound of Music.)

If I want words on the page, I need to go get to writing them. Catch you all next week.

Apr

2021

What a Week!!!!

Last week was… wow. Just… whiplash week!

It started Tuesday, when my computer crashed because of an Microsoft update that didn’t go as planned. Yes, that happens. I know. When I finally got the computer straightened out and go everything back up, part of chapter 17 and all of chapter 18 of Heir to the Firstborn were missing.

That’s when I learned that something else wasn’t going as planned.

My automatic saves to Dropbox weren’t saving. And hadn’t been, for about a week.

Now, my editing files are in Google Docs, so I had all of chapter 17, and could replace those missing words into the Scrivener file. But chapter 18 was irrevocable gone, so I started Wednesday planning to get to work on recreating those words.

Yeah… there were no words written on Wednesday, because this happened.

I posted my “where were you when you found out you had finaled?” story on social media (Answer? The shower!) And I’m still just over the moon about this, especially since Written in Water is the book that I pulled out of the 2020 RITA contest in protest. So having it final in the 2021 Vivian contest is just that much sweeter.

(And yes, I’m still giggling when a certain husband of mine comes up and sings “Finalist!”)

And on Thursday, I recreated all the words.

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

64313 / 150000

So, last week was a pretty wild ride! And I don’t usually like roller coasters!

Nov

2020

Focus? What’s that?

HOLY CRAP! HE WON! HE WON! HE WON! HE WON!!!!

So… how was your weekend? Mine was fantastic but unfocused. There were exactly 369 words written on Saturday. The rest of the day was devoted to the polar opposite of doomscrolling — joyscrolling.

Spider Robinson wrote that shared pain is lessened, and shared joy is increased. There was an amazing amount of shared joy on Saturday! And tears. There were tears.

And now, I’m trying very hard to focus and get back to work. I’m behind on my Nano word count, but only by about 900 words. I can pick that up this week, no problem.

Wings of AirHeir to the Firstborn, Book 4

112629 / 150000 (75.09%)

***

John Zebedee Meets the Witch Queen of Elfland

6516 / 30000 (21.72%)

I’m starting to feeling that Wings of Air is wrapping up. I’m through the big reveal, and on the downhill slide to the end and starting Heir to the Firstborn. I’m not sure how many more chapters there will be in Wings — I need to see what loose ends need to be tied off here, and which can get woven in to the next book.

And John Zebedee Meets the Witch Queen of Elfland (I might shorten that to John Zebedee Meets the Witch Queen) has gotten off to a good start. Had to make some changes in Monstrous Town because of reasons, but they weren’t major changes. And, as usual, I keep having to stop and looking up details about the area. Did you know that Texas has records of all their land-grants going back to the 1800s? And you can pull them up and read them online? It’s very cool.

In other news, my last convention for the year cancelled this morning. Not surprising, since KeiserSupercon was a smaller event that would have been held in-person. It’s been a strange year, and I’m really glad we can see the end of it from here.

Now, I’ve been promising a cover reveal, haven’t I? The Hidden Things cover went out in the newsletter last Friday, so now it’s time to share it here.

In 773 AD, Roland, a young man of King Charles’ court, was gifted with the sword Durendal. That sword was one of four swords of rare power, three of which were held by Wardens, mages charged with protecting the sacred bloodline of the Merovingian kings. The last sword was held by their mentor, the mage known to history as Turpin. That same year, a Saxon priest seeking retribution against Charles enlists the aid of a mage who seeks the swords for his own purpose, setting into motion events that lead to the battle at the Pass of Roncevaux, and to Roland’s death.

A thousand years later, a research group doing excavations in part of Aachen Cathedral uncovers a collection of books and scrolls, a ring, and a sword. As they uncover the sword, they are attacked. Summoned to the site by the power of the magical attack, Yael Mystere and his apprentice, Warden-in-training Doctor Douglas Keith discover the sole survivor – Margaret Prentice, the daughter of the man leading the excavation. A second attempt on her life fails, sending Yael, Douglas and Margaret on a quest for the power behind the attacks ─ a power that has been waiting a thousand years to win the swords at all costs.

Hidden Things (Swords of Charlemagne, Book 1). Coming in 2021. Preorders going up soon.

Jul

2020

Fly, My Pretties!!!

Today, I have something happening that I rarely do — I actually don’t think this has ever happened to me before.

I have four book releases today!

One of these is an anthology appearance, my first with Riverdale Avenue Press. Under The Cape is a sexy superhero anthology edited by Rachel Kenley, and it was fun to work on.

My story in this anthology is Time for No Mercy, and yes, that’s a Doctor Horrible reference.

The other three all re-releases of short stories. I’m starting them out in Kindle Unlimited, to see how they do. So in 90 days, they might go wide. Or they might not. It’s an experiment.

First up — my erotic retelling of an already erotic poem.

To Market.

Do not go to the Goblin Market. Do not try their wares.

Second release was inspired by Tom Smith and his song Kidnapped by Pirates is Good.

Her Captive

What do you do with a kidnapped sailor…?

And finally, my action romp through an ancient temple.

Fools Rush In.

When someone tells you that something cannot be done, proving them wrong might just be interesting.

(I’m really very pleased with how that cover came out.)

EEEE!!!! New books!!!!

Jun

2020

And That’s a Draft!

Echoes of Light

37123 / 40000 (92.81%)

And that’s the Wandrering Jew in the Wild West (which originally was John Zebedee and the Elf-King’s Son, changed to Echoes of Light, and which may change again, to John Zebedee and the Heir of Elfland). It came in a little under my original goal of 40K, but barring major edits, I think this is where it stops.

For now. John and his Ethriel aren’t done with me yet. There’s more story there.

So… I think I know what’s coming next in Patreon!

Dec

2019

DONE!!!

A longer update tomorrow. For now, I’m just here to say that it’s DONE! That’s a draft!

Blood Bound
Book One of Flesh and Blood

84870 / 84000 (101.04%)

yippee

Thirty. Finished. The End

Late Post, But A Good Reason….

I Have An Excite!!!

Time to Clean!

Back to Work!

What a Week!!!!

Focus? What’s that?

Fly, My Pretties!!!

And That’s a Draft!

DONE!!!

Works in Progress

Appearances

Find My Books!

Social Media

Let's Keep in Touch!

Thanks for signing up!