Benjamin Medrano's Blog, page 32

2020 Plans

Its a little late to give full plans for 2020, but to be honest, I wouldnt have been able to tell anyone even half of what I have planned at the beginning of the year. I must add that these are my current plans, not something which I can guarantee will happen. My muse is a fickle mistress, and theres only so much I can do to control her.

First off, lets start with the two items that I have roughly scheduled, Queen of Diamonds and Hives & Heroism.

Queen of Diamonds is complete and awaiting...

May 10th 2020 Update

I made more progress on Hives & Heroism than I did last week, which makes me happier! Its still not coming along quite as quickly as I might hope, but Im pretty sure Ive passed the halfway point in the book. I should be able to finish it in time for my late June editing date, but Im being cautious at the moment, since Ive been writing much slower the last month or so.

Beyond that, Im currently figuring out exactly what my plans for the rest of the year are. My original plan was to write Queen...

May 3 2020 Update

I have the edited version of Queen of Diamonds back, and Im now waiting on the cover art! The artist started on it this past week, and Im expecting the cover art around the end of May, so Im expecting an early June release there.

Hives & Heroism is coming along nicely, and I just got the cover art back from Domina last week! I find it ironic that I have the art for it done before the cover for Queen of Diamonds, but thats how it goes, some days! Im sharing the cover mockup below, and...

April 26th 2020 Update

I didnt get much done this past week. The loss of Baloo pretty much shut me down for the first half of the week, and Thursday and Friday I only got about a thousand words in on Hives & Heroism. Its a lot less than I was hoping for, but the immediate shock of what happened has passed, and hopefully Ill recover in the near future. My adorable kitty wouldnt have wanted me to wallow in grief.

There really isnt much more to say about what Ive been doing over the past week, though. Ive sent the...

Webs & Wards Audio Release

Better news than yesterday, the audiobook of Webs & Wards is out at last! As per normal, iTunes is lagging behind, but here are the links to Amazon and Audible!

Amazon.com Audible.com

Ive also received word from Sarah Goer, the narrator of Born a Queen and Down with the Queen, that she had space open up, so shell be able to get to Queens Move and Queen of Diamonds earlier than expected. Im happy to hear that, and hoping that they come out relatively soon.

Anyway, I hope those of you who get...

Losing a Pet

Yesterday stands out as one of the worst days in my life. My wife and I thought that we were finally going to get answers as to why my cat, Baloo, wasnt doing well. We did and the results were heartbreaking. I can hardly believe that he was as active and affectionate as he was, with three deadly conditions afflicting him (advanced pancreatic cancer, a collapsed lung lobe, and going into kidney failure). Worse, each time we heard from the veterinarian, the news was worse than the last. Oh, I...

April 19th 2020 Update

Good news, great news and bad news! First of all, the good news! The audiobook of Webs & Wards has finally been approved and is heading to retail in the stores. Ill send out an email about the release as soon as it goes live, which hopefully will be this week.

The great news and bad news are both part of the same thing. My editor had a cancellation, so Queen of Diamonds is at the editor as we speak! Well, as you read. This should have the book ready for publication by the end of the month but...

April 12th 2020 Update

This week I managed to finish the rough draft of Queen of Diamonds. It clocked in at a little under 97,000 words, which was a touch shorter than I originally expected for the story, but I feel it finishes it at a good point. Its definitely leaving some aspects for the next book, but thats how my writing usually works.

With that done, Ive shifted my focus to working on Hives & Heroism, at least until I have feedback on Queen of Diamonds for its first editing pass. Im focusing on them at the...

Through the Fire Omnibus Released!

As I forgot to mention it yesterday, Ill do so now. The omnibus of Through the Fire is out! You can get it via the link below.

https://www.amazon.com/dp/B086HV1G7K

April 5th 2020 Update

This week was better than last, which makes me hope Im getting over my slump. Queen of Diamonds is up to a little over 89,000 words, and moving along slowly but steadily. If my muse is kind to me, I might even finish it this upcoming week.

Speaking of the series, though, heres the main picture that my Patrons funded, of Shadowmind. This was painted by Crystal Rain, the same artist who illustrated the Dusk Gate cover I shared before. I think it came out absolutely amazing.

[image error]