Samhain Closing

On February 28th, 2017, Samhain Publishing will close its doors forever.

So what does that mean for me (and you)? Well, if you have books you purchased from Samhain's website, go download them now while the site is still live. If you have books from Samhain through third-party vendors (like Amazon, Barnes & Noble and Kobo) you should be fine. The books won't be yanked from your device.

As for me, it means I get to enter the wonderful world of self-publishing.

Oh yes. I'll be self-pubbing the Halle Pumas, Heart's Desire, The Nephilim and the True Destiny series at a minimum. There's a lot of work ahead of me to get this going, but the author community is awesome and they're all willing to help someone who needs it, especially Carrie Ann Ryan and Piper J Drake. One gave me sites to investigate and the other let me vent my fears and frustrations. Others have offered their input as well.

I'm lucky to be in a field where we are willing to help each other succeed. I hope to pay it forward some day.

So Speak Thy Name will come out sooner than June, the date Samhain had given me. I have to hire an editor and a cover artist before I can upload the book to the different sites. I understand the Google bookstore is not accepting any new authors, so I may not be for sale there in the foreseeable future, but all the others should be doable. It also means that Hide and Seek will be up as soon as I finish the two sex scenes I still have to write, have it go through the Meat Grinder and the beta readers and have the rights back to the rest of the series.

I'm hoping the rights reversion doesn't take too long.The sooner I own the rights once more the better. I have to find out if I need to get new ISBN's for the books that are already in print or not. I have to arrange to purchase the covers for both print and eBook editions. I need to learn how to format for ebook and print editions as well. There's so much to do, so many lists of things I need to take care of, so much to research...I...adulting is...

Stick a fork in me. I think I'm well done.

June? It's JUNE?

Where the hell did the rest of the year go? Tell me I'm not the only one thinking, "Crap, the little stinkers are out of school in one week!"

So much for afternoon nookie. Hmph.

Anyways, June is going to be GAH! BUSYBUSYBUSY! because I'm doing Lori Foster's Reader & Author Get-Together followed by Disney with my family.

I leave tomorrow for RAGT on a road trip with Stephanie Burke and Joy of Joyfully Reviewed, where we will have much fun laughing at each other.

Yup. It's Road Trip 2.0! Unfortunately, this version is minus the PJ, as she had commitments she couldn't get out of.

We miss you already, PJ.

So if you're looking for me in Ohio, I'll be in the lobby, or at the bar, or the Carina Press game Saturday night, or the book singing Saturday morning, or in the Samhain boardroom... at some point. I'm still going over my schedule and making sure all my little duckies are quacking like they should be. I'm also giving away a prize at the raffle, with a Nook tablet in it, as well as print copies of Bear Necessities and Cynful.

And yes, I will have posters.

I get back home, and two days later I head to the House of Mouse with my family.

(Yes, I'm crazy. You doubted that?)

Please forgive me if I don't answer any emails during this month. Things are going to be crazy insane. I have a release June 10th (Throne of Oak), plus the con, plus family vacation, and when I get back R and I both have doctor's appointments.

I am so totally sleeping during July.

I'm going to do my best to get a blog post up when Throne releases, and when I get back from Disney. Until then... have a great start to your summer, and I'll see you at Lori's!

P.S.: I'm hoping to send The Wizard King to my betas before I get back from Lori's. If I can, I'm going to try and send it out today.

Well. This Sucks: Part Two

I think the month of May hates me.

I came home from the RT convention and immediately got sick. I got over the cold, only to hurt my back.

Now I'm about to go on antibiotics because I'm sick as a dog. It may (or may not) be strep throat. The lab culture hasn't come back yet, but I feel even worse than I did yesterday, and my voice is completely gone, so Dana gets antibiotics as a precaution...and no Enbrel shot on Monday. You can't take it when you're sick and on antibiotics, even if you're feeling better.

Okay, May. I've got your message. I'm going to go lay down now, m'kay?

Good news: I've broken the 75% mark on The Wizard King. Despite my ass being kicked by this bitchy month (I think she's jealous of my fabulousness), I've managed to nearly finish the book. I should be putting it in the first round of the Meat Grinder by June 3rd, and off to my betas June 4th.

Bad News: I'm feeling pretty icky, so it's slowed me down. I should  have the rough draft done well before I leave for Lori Foster's RAGT. I'm hoping to hand it off to my beta readers before I head for the con. If I don't, I may need to work on it at the con. A feat any author will tell you is nearly impossible, unless you hide in your room and, well, skip the con.

Con News: I'm giving away a Nook and a print copy of Cynful at the Reader-Author raffle, so if you're attending, look for my bag! It will be a clear tote bag with black straps and a black paw print on the front. Oh, and a freakin' Nook inside.

Now to go drink some hot tea and pretend I don't feel like hammered death.

The Meat Grinder, and Fishies

I'm planning on putting Bear Naked through the Meat Grinder no later than Wednesday of next week. It might have been sooner, but yesterday, for some odd reason, I developed a fever but no other symptoms.

AS can be a very strange disorder. I'll get fevers, chills, exhaustion, pain and inflammation in joints that don't normally have issues (my hip has been killing me)... and all of it can be attributed to my ankylosing spondylitis.

A-Nnoy-Ing.

So instead of hitting around 95% yesterday like I'd hoped, I barely hit 92%. It didn't help that Eldest Son decided I had to hear about every single video game related thing he was working on, disrupting what little flow I had going. And when you try to explain to him that you're working, he gives you that blank stare, waits patiently for you to finish, then resumes right where he left off.

Le sigh.

I'm hoping today I'll hit near the 68k mark, but I doubt it. That would be a little over 3200 words, and my hands can't handle that. I'll probably hit between 1000 and 2300 words, meaning the rough draft will be completed next week.

On the upside of things, we're planning on taking the kids to the aquarium this weekend, unless my body decides that's not gonna happen. It's the one thing Eldest Son wanted for his birthday. That, plus teriyaki shrimp at his favorite Japanese steak house. So I'll be getting my fish two ways: swimming and sushi!

Have a good weekend!

Looooong Week...

And this next one is going to be longer.

Hello, holidays! Good-bye, word count!

I saw him in the mall parking lot. He took my spot. 

It looks like, barring a turkey induced coma, I should have the rough draft of Mr. Red Riding Hoode done and to my betas by next Monday at the latest. And tomorrow I plan on sending Morgan's Fate to my editor.

Speaking of tomorrow, I have a follow-up with my rheumatologist where I find out if I get to go on Enbrel (or a similar drug like Humera) to slow my AS down.

I hate needles... but I hate pain more.

 So. Yeah. Busy week coming up, busier month in December as I do some re-writes on a story I wrote a long time ago that I decided would make the perfect second installment of The Nephilim. Right now it's called The Fire Within, but consider that the working title. It may change over time.

And for everyone who wants to know, I'll be starting the next Halle Shifters novel, Stripped Bear, probably mid-January.

P.S. It's looking like the Shifters will be making a holiday appearance, as that's the series you've voted the most for a free holiday read. You have a few more days if you want to add a vote for a different series or if you want to shout out, HAYL YES HALLE! I'll have whichever story you choose up by mid-December.

Scaling the Heights...Or Not

There are times when you must admit to something that you truly don't want to. Something you can't really change, but affects the rest of your life. It makes you unable to do some of the things (and wear some of the things) that you truly wish you could.

I...

I am short.

I know, I know. The PC term is "vertically challenged", maybe even "height deficient". I get that. But not only am I short, I am of that class of vertically challenged people known as "fluffy". Now, to be fair, I've been on a diet for months and I've lost 25 lbs, but that does not take away from my inherent fluffiness.

(I prefer to think of myself as fun-size, but people look at you kind of funny when you say it. Especially this time of year. The last thing I want is to be saddled with the nickname Snickers.)

No matter how much I love it's peanutty goodness.

This is never brought home to me more than when I'm clothing shopping. Short and fluffy tends to equal big-ass flowers, v-necks and boat necks, and worse: black black black.

Just like this.

Yes. I'm wearing all black right now. But that just proves my point!

So I'm already looking at clothing for the Romantic Times Convention in 2013 (which I will be going to in Kansas City, MO). Usually, I'd be looking at Fairy Ball costumes, but this year, alas, there will be no fairy ball. Instead, they're having their 30th Anniversary Formal Ball. Which is cool, I admit. They even mention bringing your tiaras.

I am totally going to get my inner Disney on.

So I'm looking at gowns, and I see one that's absolutely stunning, and it's made for fluffy girls, which totally rocks, only...

...you have to be seven feet tall to wear it without tripping all over the beaded hem. And tripping the six people in line behind you.

See, I forgot the short part of short and fluffy.

But hey! I found another gown that meets the fluffy AND short requirements in one dress:

Now the model wearing it is 5'10", which means it will still puddle on the floor for me. But unlike the previous dress (which I desperately love, but has a beaded bottom so you'd have to practically take the dress apart to size it for 5'0"), this dress would cover me just fine. The one before it would cover me and the scooter with fabric to spare.

Yes, I know the two dresses I fell in love with are black. If I got it in pink... well...

I'm sure you see my problem.

Oh. On a side note, Morgan's Fate is officially in the Meat Grinder. I hope to have it out to my beta readers by the end of next week.

Time for the Meat Grinder (And Other News)

I'm done the rough draft of Throne of Oak, and that means it's time for revisions/rereading/self-editing, and generally taking what I did and making it shine. It's also time for me to write the (gulp) synopsis. 

It's time for... 

Mmm. Hamburger... Is it lunch time yet?

I've finished on-time, and right around where I wanted to be, so I'm content. If you're looking at the word count meter, you'll see I haven't yet hit the goal of 80k. That's a buffer. I'm assuming that, during the grinding process, I'll be deleting stuff and adding stuff and, in the end, I'll wind up adding approximately 4k to 6k the word count. Then it's off to my betas by the end of next week, and hopefully to my editor by the end of the month!

In other news, you'll see I've posted on my sidebar about my website being down for a day or two while Yahoo does some maintenance. This will be the first time since I made the site that it's gone down, and they've given me plenty of time to warn people. For that, thank you, Yahoo. Although I'll admit, I'm not thrilled it will be down for two days, at least we've got a heads' up rather than a WTF.

So hungry...

So that's the news for this week. To make up for the lack of a website early next week, here's a little snippet from the very unedited Throne:

“Mina.”

She screamed and clutched her chest.

Dragos, his eyes glowing red in the darkness, stepped out from the shadows of the trees. “I’m sorry. I didn’t mean to frighten you.”

She stared at him, shocked to the core. The forest hadn’t whispered his presence to her. Not even Ash could sneak up on her unnoticed, but here Dragos was, the forest content to let him pass unremarked, as if he belonged.

As if he were one with it, as she was.

Dragos stepped up to the line where the Throne began, leaving them toe-to-toe. He studied her closely. “You look tired, draga mea.” 

She tilted her head. “What does that mean?”

He smiled softly. “It means my darling.”

“You can’t call me that.” Not now. Maybe not ever. If she was so weak she couldn’t even leave the Throne, how could she lead the dryads? How could she stand at his side as an equal?

He cocked one eyebrow arrogantly. “Oh? Why not?”

She took a step back. “Because I can’t be yours.” She knew what a sotiei was, and Dragos was showing all the signs that she was his. It would harm him, to take her as his blood wife, the one being he could feed on for all his years. Her life span would expand, matching his, Mina dying when he did.

He cocked his head, the question clear in his expression. “Can’t... or won’t?”

Hear That Sound?

That's the sound of the Meat Grinder!

Insert book here...

Yup, the rough draft of The Hob is finally done. I'm exporting it out of WriteWay and into Word for one final read-through before I send it off to my betas. I've got a couple of notes I need to go through, things I'd thought of after finishing a scene but knew I'd have to go through the whole book to fix. Most were already done, so now it's just a little touch-up here and there and then... 

I get to work on Throne of Oak, book 2 of Maggie's Grove. But not until I get back from the Romantic Times Convention.

The writing, she is never-ending.

Meat Grinder and Blog Hop

The rough-rough draft of Guardian Angel is done!

It's still sitting at around 80k, which is a bit more than I thought it would be. We'll have to see what happens when I'm done with the Meat Grinder, which should be next week (I hope). Then it's off to the beta readers, and hopefully to my editor beginning of January. I'm probably going to submit it to Carina Press first. After that, if I don't start on Throne of Oak soon I think my Carina editor is going to hunt me down and tie me to the keyboard. I might get potty breaks.

Might.

Oh, and when I'm done with Guardian Angel, I'll be starting work on The Hob.

He's not that kind of elf.

So I'll be taking the last two weeks of December off. My kids will be home and hyper for the holidays, so I usually don't get much done during that time period anyway. I may start the outline on Throne of Oak, but that would be about it. 

It will give me a chance to clear my brain of angels and get it into Robin Goodfellow.

He's not that kind of elf, either.

P.S.: Don't forget, tomorrow launches the Mistletoe Madness Blog Hop! I'll be posting bright and early. You could win a copy of Blood of the Maple, or the Grand Prize: a color Nook, pre-loaded with tons of books!

Meat Grinding and Names

I'm going through Angel in my Arms, just like I'd planned. Unfortunately, Robin (aka the Hob) has different ideas. He's been sneaking scenes into my head, and whispering, "Write it. You know you want to."

He's evil. But right. I do want to write him, but I'm stubborn. I've got a file of notes on the scenes he's given me, but I'm determined to finish Angel before I start Robin's story. I just need a working title for it, since I'm not sure I want to call it The Hob forever.

Don't worry, I'm not setting you aside, Mr. Angel

I want something with a little pizzazz; after all, we're talking about Oberon's personal Blade here. The man who scares the piss out of the Dark Queen's strongest warriors. The man High King Oberon walks warily around.

Chuck Norris might be slightly more bad-ass.

So I'm leaning towards something along the line of The Hob's Heart or Puck's Match, but I need to ponder it a little bit longer. Dusty came up with Wicked Games, but I'm worried it sounds a little too BDSM for what I'm writing (plus I already have Mating Games). Maybe Hob's Game? 

I know. You're wondering why I don't just start writing it and come up with the name later. I'm one of those writers who likes to have a good working title in mind, one that likely won't change when I'm done the book. I'm weird that way. If I don't have it figured out by mid-November, maybe I'll put it to a vote.

P.S.: Don't forget about the Artistic Vision contest! There's plenty of Hobby goodness, as Akane is a Blade.

A Name Chosen and an Angel Takes Flight

The poll has closed, and the majority has spoken: Cynful will remain the title of Book 2 of the Halle Shifters. Two hundred and twenty-five of you voted. A hundred and forty-five of you loved the original title. I've gotten feedback from two of my beta readers, and so far the criticisms have been minor. (Dusty cackled during his first read through, which is always a good sign.)

No matter what, Cynful will be out to my editor on October 31.

I was going through what books to work on next with Dusty, when he mentioned something to me about the Nephilim series I've been talking about since, oh, 2009. I have this whole nine-book, full-length series about these descendants of angels and fallen angels. Two factions with mystical powers battle it out, one believing that they are the protectors of humanity, the other that they should be its rulers. The first to receive his HEA I named Seth, and his lady is named Abby. I've got it completely outlined. In fact, I started it quite some time ago (around, say, 2009), but I wasn't happy with the direction it was taking and set it aside. Dusty asked, "Are you ever going to finish it?"

Yes. Yes, I am.

He TOTALLY wants me to write him. Like, now.

So I started re-writes on what I'd already done to Angel In My Arms, and so far I'm happy with the new direction it's taken. Robin of The Gray Court is stomping his foot at being put on the back burner, but I've promised him that his book will be the longest Gray Court book so far, so he's calming down a bit. I'm not putting a word meter up yet for Angel, though, because it would be confusing as hell right now. I'm adding, I'm subtracting, I'm decimating and rebuilding, and the word count is fluttering  like a circle skirt over a subway grate.

Kind of looks like angel wings, doesn't it?

Once that skirt settles down (or I step off the subway grate, whichever comes first), I'll start the traditional word count meter. Until then, patience, and know that I'm writing!

EDIT: I did put the word meter up after all. It occurred to me that I like to know where I stand even when doing re-writes, so get ready for the roller coaster.

After You Type The End...

... what comes next? A friend of my Aunt Jeanne (who rocks, btw) wrote to me today and asked for me to give her some pointers on publishing. She's working on her first novel and is loving the writing, but is unsure about what comes next. I thought it would make an interesting blog post, so here goes:

1. Make sure at least two other people read over your novel, people whose opinions you respect. Listen to them, but if what they suggest goes against your instincts, feel free to discard any or all of their advice. It's your novel, no one can write it for you. But if all of them say the same thing, I'd pay attention!
2. If for some reason, the first novel isn't working for you, don't be afraid to scrap it a different one. Believe me, it's scary to say that it isn't working, but better to set it aside than to try and force something that doesn't feel right. 
3. However, if you find yourself doing this with every book you start, then you need to decide where you're going wrong. My suggestion: read! I was trying to write traditional, Harelquin-esque romances and it didn't work for me. Then I read a Mary-Janice Davidson novel and something clicked for me. I started writing like I wanted to, and I haven't looked back since.
4. Never start querying publishers/agents until after the novel is finished. This can be a red flag to them that you aren't serious. Wait until it's completed before sending it out. (You'll see this on a lot of agent's advice sites, so I'd pay attention to it.)
5. Once your novel is completed and you feel it's been polished within an inch of it's papery life, DON'T sit on it! Get it out there. Have a plan. Do you want to go the traditional publishing route, i.e., get an agent, go to the Big Six publishers, and cross your fingers? Do you want to go electronic publishing, with some of the smaller presses like Carina or Samhain, and cross your fingers? Or somewhere in between, like with Harlequin, who will accept unagented submissions but IS a big print publisher (and has imprints that will only accept agented submissions)? Once you know where you'd like to head, you'll feel a lot more comfortable about the journey. You'll have a direction, a goal, and that's a good thing.
6. Once you've decided, read the guidelines of the agent/publisher. If they say they don't accept romance, don't send it to them. If they say they do, check their "heat levels". I write on the mild side of erotic, so I can't send it to a strictly "sweet" publisher or agent. Also check and see if what you've written fits in with any of their imprints and, if so, who you'd send your query to. (The query step will be taken care of by your agent if one agrees to work with you.)
7. Do your homework. Don't be afraid to write to authors who write for that agent/publisher to ask their opinion. Not all will answer, but enough will to give you an idea if the fit will be right for you.
8. When writing the query letter, mention you've completed the novel and are working on a second. This lets the agent/publisher know you're serious about your writing.
9. Don't think your job is finished after you type the end. It's just beginning. This is your business as well as your passion, and you have to treat it as such. There's website design, blogging, social media (if it scares you, I'd suggest Facebook to start rather than Twitter), advertising and promotions, editing, monthly newsletters... LOTS of work goes into being a published author. I spend half my day writing, and the other half working on all that other stuff. How much time you put into it will be up to you, but at a minimum you'll need a website if you're accepted for publication. The readers need to know where to find you. 
10. You have to make sure your website is easily navigated. There's nothing worse than a reader who has to ask, "Where's the books?" when you're an author. Check other author websites to see how they're doing it, and with what. Several use Wordpress; others use programs like Yahoo!SiteBuilder. Still others will pay someone to create and maintain the website. It's all up to you and what you can afford.

Scared yet? Don't be. It's the most satisfying career I've ever had, and I'll give it up when I'm five years dead and buried. Maybe not even then.

P.S.: I'm mailing Cynful to my betas first thing in the morning! WOOT!

The Devil is in The Details

It may look as if progress is moving slowly on Cynful this week, but really it isn't. We're in what I call the Meat Grinder stage.

Picture Julian and Cyn going in here and coming out fabulous.

It can look like things are going really slowly, but in reality this is the part where things go quickly. What I'm doing is fixing grammatical errors, finding mistakes in continuity, and adding any scenes that should have been added from the beginning. Since I won't be able to work tomorrow due to family issues, I'll be finishing up this portion on Sunday. Then it's off to the beta readers, who will let me know whether the Meat Grinder worked or not. I'll take a look at the suggestions they send me and make the appropriate changes.

After that is the scary part. Once all of the meat grinding is done, it's time to write the synopsis and a rough blurb and send it to my editor. So far I'm on schedule. It looks like Cynful will be out the door at the end of the month, or at the latest the beginning of November.

At that point, it's just wait and see whether or not my editor wants to pick it up. Cross your fingers!

And your toes!

An Evil Attack Kitty Has Taken Over My Life

Yup. That right there is pure evil.

I know, it's been about a week since I posted. I've been hard at work on Cynful, the next in the Halle Shifters series. It's also been the first full month of school,with all the attendant learning curves and aggravation that me, Dusty and the kids have to go through every year. And in case you hadn't noticed through my tweets and my Facebook, we got a new kitten.

Gremlin wants to know what the hell we were thinking.

It's not an ordinary kitten either. It's an Attack Kitten, master of the stealthy noms. I'll be sitting at my computer, writing, either with my fingers or Dragon NaturallySpeaking, when I will feel a sudden sharp pain in my toes or my leg or my knee.  Really, he doesn't care what part of me he's noming. Any old port in a storm, right?

When he reached my chest I learned I make a pretty good kitten catapult. (Disclaimer: no Attack Kittens were harmed by the subconscious kitten catapult. My boobs, on the other hand, may never be the same.)

So now my hands look like shredded wheat, and my poor Julian plushie will be singing soprano from here on out. I'm pretty sure he lost his, um, manliness soon after Thumper discovered him.

I'm telling you: eeeeeviiiiil.

However, despite numerous distractions and a crap load of Kitten induced pain, Cynful has hit the 60K mark! The rough draft is almost complete. I have one or two more scenes to add before I send it through the Meat Grinder. I should have it out to my betas within a week or two, and then it's off to the publisher!

Music Time!

So I'm finishing up the rough draft of Howl For Me, when my playlist pops up with this:

And I thought to myself, Oh. Julian's song.

Now don't ask me why two singing guys from Scotland make me think of a Native American from Canada, but there you go. I think it's more the sentiment of the song than anything else. I also know Julian is one of those rare characters who will probably wind up with multiple songs, because this one also calls to me for him:

I think it speaks to his mystical side, the part of him that's Spirit Bear. They've got a heck of a connection to Bear.

Oh yeah, and because he's Julian:

Please don't ask. It hurts my brain sometimes to wonder why characters prefer one song over another.

Cyn's music is pretty much one song so far:

Believe it or not, the only other character who liked this song was Belle.

What?

What?

Sheesh. Okay, Belle liked it a lot. Your point?

Anyway, since I'm starting to hear their music it means I'm just about ready to sit down and start writing them. YAY! Jeff and Fen should be out to my beta readers by Monday, edits are almost complete on Blood of the Maple, and other than a big snowfall that has me feeling like I was hit by a Mack truck everything is going well.

Even if that means I'm going to be listening to a lot of Weird Al in the future.

Has It Been THAT Long?

Oh wow! I just realized how long it's been since I posted my blog. Gah. Bad author. No cookie for you.

In case you didn't notice, Noble Blood is out! I added the All Romance eBooks purchase link today. Last week was so rushed, updating purchase links, setting up ads, etc., that some stuff got pushed aside. Like my blog. Ahem.

Along with the new release came edits on Blood of the Maple, my very first Carina Press release. Working on them took a lot longer than planned due to an arthritis flare-up and various other factors, like children and releases and cats thinking it's okay to chew on the cord of my World of Warcraft headset, the little pita.

The good news? I should have a release date soon. When I do I'll post it on my website and add it under the cover art on the sidebar here. The bad news? Dana's off to see a rheumatologist. Sigh. The doctor mentioned talk to text software so I don't strain my hand so much, but I have Google Voice. I've seen how it can mangle speech to text. It's not pretty. I'd rather sit here and type it right the first time than have to go back and retype what I just spoke.

Plus Dusty pointed out there are some educations you shouldn't get from your mother, preferences in anal lube being one of them. Until I have an office with a door (and soundproofing) it ain't happening.

Unfortunately, due to my massively busy (and painful) week last week, Fen and Jeff had to be put on temporary hold. I'm hoping to finish the rough draft this week and send it through the Meat Grinder next week. I've also got scenes in my head for Cynful and Mr. Red Riding Hoode, as well as Stern Negotiations, my very first sci-fi romance.

Someone's gonna have to wait their turn, and it sure as hell won't be Julian. I'm thinking Chela of Mr. Red will have to sit down and have a latte while Mommy plays with the Spirit Bear.

Caution: Dragon in the Grinder!

 Shane and Akane are officially in the Meat Grinder, meaning I'm going through the first round of rough edits before sending Artistic Visions off to the Beta readers. The word count goal is still 60k and I know I need to add a scene or two, so I should come really close to that goal (if not over it). I'm pretty happy with the way it turned out, but I noticed a few things on the rough read-through that really need to be addressed before it's ready for the Betas.

Once I'm out of the Grinder with Visions it will be time to plot my NaNoWriMo project, Howl for Me. Jeff and Fenris are already beginning to, well, howl for me. I'm going to re-read both Very Much Alive and Eye of the Beholder to get me in the proper, godly frame of mind. Then I get to do some research on Fenris and his part in Ragnarrok, and how that will affect the Grimms. 


Fenris, for his part, will be trying to convince Jeff that fuzzy is the new black.

For those of you who are thinking of doing NaNoWriMo (or thinking "What the hell is NaNoWriMo?"), check out their website! November is the NAtional NOvel WRIting MOnth, and both professional and aspiring authors take a whack at it. Writing a 50,000 word novel in four weeks is a hell of a challenge, but that challenge made me write Noble Blood and have it ready for submission to an editor in less than six weeks. Here's hoping that I do as well with Jeff and Fenris as I did with Duncan, Jaden and Moira.

After that, it's my yearly break for the holidays as family and friends get together, children have off from school and I have my Mommy hat firmly tied down with green and red ribbons. After the holidays I'm looking at Julian and Cyn, who are looking back just as hard and tapping their feet impatiently. In fact, I'm not sure who I'm looking forward to writing more: Jeff from Howl for Me or Julian from Cynful!

Last but not least, I'll be at The Romance Studio's Release Party today starting at 1 p.m. EST and ending at 8 p.m. EST! Hope to see you there!

A Book By Any Other Name

So I spent the last few days polishing Ben and Dave's story and finding two, count them, TWO new names for books.

Carina Press, if you didn't know already (have I shouted it enough yet? I DON'T THINK SO!), has accepted my vegetarian vampire story, but requested I come up with a different name than Norwegian Wood. Poo. I liked that name, but it's not the first time I've had an editor say "Great book! Now we just need to change the name!" Ouch. The entire time I was trying to come up with a new name I could hear the song playing sadly in my head.

Then again, maybe that's why I was asked to change it.

So I came up with four possibilities and fired them off this morning. Hopefully they'll like the one that was my favorite, but I don't want to confuse anyone by mentioning what I sent them until I get final word back. I then booted up Ben and Dave's story and began writing the synopsis with the understanding I couldn't sent it to my editor without, you guessed it, a NEW NAME.

What's with me and coming up with bad names lately? It's probably a good thing I've already named my kids, or they'd be Apollo and Demetrius or something equally "My kid will get his ass kicked on a regular basis" bad.

Anyway, Worth Fighting For had to be ditched. It just didn't fit the story, and I hated the replacement name, Only You. It took writing the synopsis to give me the name. Oddly enough, it's the one that I'd originally intended for the story but changed my mind about when I wrote the outline. Finding Forgiveness has been fired off to my Samhain editor, and I'm liking the new name. Hopefully, so will Tera, or I'll be banging my head on the keyboard once more moaning "Naaaames! Naaaaaaaames!" while Dusty ponders what has to be the coming zombie apocalypse.

(Trust me. It's better if you don't know.)

Well. Huh.

Sometimes, The End can startle even the author. That's pretty much what happened when I finished typing the last scene in Ben and Dave's story yesterday. I sat back, stared at the screen, and thought, "Well. Huh. Whaddya know. I'm done." The rough draft fell a bit short of the 25k I'd envisioned, but that will probably change once the book has been Ground. I'm betting it hits a little above 23k, which is fine for a novella.

Now it's into the Meat Grinder, where I'll add, subtract, and get it polished for my Beta readers. I'm probably going to change the title; what started out as a pretty good one for the story turned out to be not so hot once I finished. I've got an idea or two, but I want to let them marinate before I make a final decision.

Once this is through the Meat Grinder and off to the Betas I plan on working on Shane and Akane, the next Gray Court book. I'm looking forward to getting back into my elves, especially since once Shane and Akane are done the next Gray Court book will be... ROBIN! Yup, I know, a lot of people can't wait until I write him. Well, neither can I. But Shane and Akane get to go first.

The Little Writer Who Could

Chug chug chug...


So Norwegian Wood is almost complete. Only another 7k to go before I hand it over to my beta readers and ride off into Mickeyland. And this one I've decided to send to an agent.

I know. I keep saying that. Partially because I'm excited as all get out to try and get one, and partially because I've got the Submission Heebie-Jeebies I always get when sending out something I've written. Parker and Amara wound up hitting the Meat Grinder earlier than I'd thought they would, but I'm thinking that's a good thing. It allowed me to rearrange my schedule a bit. This means I'll be starting work on Artistic Visions sooner than I thought. Laurie, my editor at Samhain, was really interested in seeing that one, so I thought I should move it up on my self-imposed schedule and, as the man says, git'er dun!

Ben and Dave fans, don't panic; I'm going to work on both stories at the same time.

During the summer.

While my kids are home.

I think I can I think I can I think I can...