Michelle L. Levigne's Blog, page 86

Update: GOALS

(The plan is to check in every Saturday and tally up what I've accomplished, and add any new goals to the list. Feel free to jeer if I don't get at least half this list done this month!)

MAY GOALS LIST as of 05/02/20:

HERE, THERE BE DRAGONS: AFV Defender Book 2 -- revision 2, revision 3, polish/upload for print

QUITTING THE HERO BIZ: Neighborlee Book 6 -- polish, upload for print

YOUNG DEFENDERS BOOK 1: Outline, 1st draft

Mt. Zion Ridge Press online conference May 16

Format 3 Neighborlee books for Kindle upload

ACFW Ohio May online meeting
Today!

Tweak 4 published Commonwealth Universe novels
Done -- The Lady and the Order,

Coming title: FRIENDLY FIRE

The launch of a new SF series!
Space opera
Print release date June 1NOW available in Kindle/Kindle Unlimited.
www.YeOldeDragonBooks.com

Update: GOALS

(The plan is to check in every Saturday and tally up what I've accomplished, and add any new goals to the list. Feel free to jeer if I don't get at least half this list done this month!)

APRIL GOALS LIST as of 04/04/20: (remainder)

Outline: MAKING IT ALL UP
Match Girls Book 2
Done!

1st  Revision: HERE THERE WERE DRAGONS
AFV Defender Book 2
Started -- about 1/4 of the way through

Tweak 3 published Commonwealth Universe novels
Done -- Sunsinger; Spacer's Creed; Dead World

Coming title: NIGHT OF THE LIVING PROOF

Neighborlee, OhioBook 5
Print release date January 1, 2021
www.YeOldeDragonBooks.com

Off the Bookshelf: BLACK ORCHID, by Neil Gaiman

Graphic novel
with Dave McKean

Weeks ago, I indulged and hit Half Price Books and bought a huge handful of anything I could find by Neil Gaiman. This is the first one I've been able to read, between revising books for re-release and reading a lot of books to judge for a published novel contest (and I can't review THOSE books because we're not allowed to talk about the books we read until after the winners are announced, just so you know ...) and other projects.

Oh, the GLORY of being able to just lie down and read for an hour or two. For FUN.

You'd think with all the shelter in place and stay home orders I'd have more time to read, don't you?
NOPE!

BLACK ORCHID is a new kind of superhero. Kind of. I don't see the current Black Orchid flying around the city fighting crime, because she doesn't allow violence or killing ... although as she discovers in the course of the story, it's hard to find a place where hate doesn't intrude. She's been tainted by the memories of other lives, the lives that gave birth to her, so when she finds paradise she can't be satisfied there.

A sad, lovely, thought-provoking, and sometimes mind-bending story. Mad geniuses and greedy, powerful, evil men and sadists and mentally damaged, and souls wrapped in new kinds of bodies and the dream of saving the rainforests ... there's just so MUCH in this story. Plus the jarring little dips into the darkness of Gotham and Batman and Lex Luthor and Arkham Asylum. *shudder*

Essentially, a heroine called Black Orchid is caught and killed, but when she dies some of her memories transfer to a new Black Orchid, who awakens to a quest of exploration, seeking answers, a reason for being, and hope for the future. If the cruel and greedy and psychotic will allow her. And that's about all I can tell you without giving away too much.

Update: Goals

(The plan is to check in every Saturday and tally up what I've accomplished, and add any new goals to the list. Feel free to jeer if I don't get at least half this list done this month!)

APRIL GOALS LIST as of 04/04/20: (remainder)

Outline: MAKING IT ALL UP
Match Girls Book 2

1st  Revision: HERE THERE WERE DRAGONS
AFV Defender Book 2

Tweak 3 published Commonwealth Universe novels
2 Books Done -- Sunsinger; Spacer's Creed

Judge an online writing contest
Done.

Revise: QUITTING THE HERO BIZ
Neighborlee Book 6
Done.

Coming Title: LIVING PROOF (that no good deed goes unpunished)

Neighborlee, Ohio book 4

November 1 release

www.YeOldeDragonBooks.com

Update: Goals

(The plan is to check in every Saturday and tally up what I've accomplished, and add any new goals to the list. Feel free to jeer if I don't get at least half this list done this month!)

APRIL GOALS LIST as of 04/04/20:

Outline: BRIDE OF THE LIVING PROOF
Neighborlee Book 7
DONE!!!

Outline: MAKING IT ALL UP
Match Girls Book 2

1st  Revision: HERE THERE WERE DRAGONS
AFV Defender Book 2

Tweak 3 published Commonwealth Universe novels
1 Book Done -- Sunsinger.

Judge an online writing contest
2 Days left to the contest.

Revise: QUITTING THE HERO BIZ
Neighborlee Book 6
1/4 of the way through!

Coming Title: VIRTUALLY LONDON

Neighborlee, Ohio book 3

September 1

www.YeOldeDragonBooks.com

Off the Bookshelf: GOLDEN IN DEATH, by J.D. Robb

In Death Series

Dallas and Roarke are back. Combining their widely divergent backgrounds and viewpoints and talents to track down murderers and bring justice for their victims.

Never has a cold-hearted, arrogant, self-righteous, entitlement-attitude slimebag needed to be caught and punished, and have his face shoved in his mistakes like the villain in this latest installment. His assumption that he's too smart to be caught, and his cold-hearted treatment of anyone who is no longer useful in his schemes, or who might become  weak spots and liabilities, just makes it all the more satisfying when he finally falls.

A vendetta going back years provides the motivation for a series of cold-hearted, calculated deliveries of golden eggs filled with a toxic substance that kills its victims quickly and painfully. The worst part in all this is that the dead aren't the people the killer has set out to punish for denying him what he wanted and what he thought he was entitled to have. He kills to punish the people who love them, to make them suffer.

Dallas is on the case with her loyal team of friends and allies, and puts everything on the line to beat the clock and find the murderer before the next victim receives a mysterious package containing death. The byplay among characters and the continuing growth of the many relationships always satisfy. Worth waiting for, every time.