Cate Morgan's Blog, page 17

Author’s Log: Post-Tryptophan OD Edition (&ROW80)

 Oof. I don’t know about you guys, but I ever see another turkey again, it’ll be WAY too soon. Blerg. X-P

My Christmas shopping was completed without much more than a “clickety-click” over at the Amazon (I’d had my cart built for a couple of weeks in anticipation), so no pressure there, thankfully. The SALE SALE SALE extravaganza this year made me wonder what the heck is wrong with civilization (as it does most years, I suppose, but I probably block it out in self-defense). So many stores opened 8:00 on Thanksgiving, because yanno…the almighty dollar supercedes family time, at least for store employees. I know I’m dating myself here, but I remember when Black Friday meant stores were CLOSED (i.e. it was a Blackout Date). I’m not sure when that changed, but when I worked retail in the 90s Thanksgiving weekend meant I worked double shifts.

*sigh*

Anyhoo, now whenever I jump online to make with the annual credit card damage I remember the Halcyon days when the Tech Monkey and I used to do knock out our shopping the a couple of days after Halloween in New Orleans at the French Market. By then we’d more or less recovered from Halloween night in the French Quarter, and before we began the gauntlet we’d purchase banana daiquiris. Daiquiris in one hand, canvas shopping bags in the other, we’d then troll the Market in search of charming kitcsh unique to New Orleans.

Production Schedule (&ROW80)

BRIGHID’S MARK (In Production): Just received Round 2 Edits from Editor Awesome. She liked the additional world-building I did, she just wants me to add a little something else and clean up some lingering POV issues. *growl* I thought I’d eradicated all of these, but apparently not–and I like to do things right the first time. This round is due Dec 10. So I’ll do a pass this weekend and a final return sweep next weekend.

KEEPERS 3 (In Revision): This week I knocked out my query blurb/jacket copy and synopsis. YAY!

KEEPERS–ORIGINS #1 (In Revision): I’ve set a tentative release date of Dec 29 (the three month mark before Brighid’s Mark is due to be released). The story is cleaning up nice, so now I just make sure I need to get the formatting done correctly, hopefully with a time cushion in place in case I experience issues.

In additional to all this, I’ve been working on new Home page for this site and am playing around with the idea of a quarterly newsletter starting next year. It’s all still in the works, but so far it’s not turning out half bad.

I’m also (trying) to get back on board with my original goal of 1,000 words written/day, regardless of what else I’m doing, revision or marketing wise. Somewhere along the line I’ve gotten lost in the Revision/Release hurricane, and now feel I need to get back to basics.

How about you guys? Any holiday traditions you’re looking foward to? Any goals you need to revisit? We’re in the home stretch of 2013 now, folks!

Because Thanksgiving, And Reasons Thereof

 Ah, yes. ‘Tis that especially special time of year, when one hacks the head from an otherwise blameless, flightless bird that sounds as stupid as it looks–to then get up at an ridiculously early hour in order to roast the ever-lovin’ stuffing of said poultry version of Jar-Jar Binks.

In other words it’s THANKSGIVING! YAY!

There are a multitude of things I’m thankful for. Granted, I tend to wake up each morning the sun brings with some amount of gratitude in my heart, because I’m lucky. Incredibly so. Things could have turned out so much differently for me, y’all, had I made different choices or taken advantage of different opportunities. So out of the multitude, here are my greatest hits:

My Husband. This never changes, nor does it ever dip below the #1 spot. Not only does he do all the Thanksgiving head-whackery and subsequent cookery, he does almost ALL the cooking in the household. He is also my greatest, fiercest advocate and works really hard–juggling job and school–so ensure the brightness of our future together. He is very Teh Awesome in the Cranberry Sauce. Also, my in-laws? Let’s just say the hubs doesn’t fall far from the Awesome Tree.
Writing. Granted, I’m not doing this for a living quite yet, but I’m getting there. I’m grateful I get to do this, not so much for the money (though this is pretty cool, too), but that I get to do it all. Beyond talent I’ve gotten to develop my craft well enough to be published, and to see my stories enter the world with professional cover art and editing through an amazing, supportive publisher. I have the tools and community that I need to do this, which not everyone has. There was a point, not so long ago, that all I had was a pad of paper and a pen and an empty apartment. Now I have the tools of my trade and, yanno, people. *waves*
Readers. The bestest part of this writing gig is the satisfaction I’m not playing to the black empty. I love my readers. You’re exactly why I do this. (Well, that, and to get the #$%^! voices to shut the heck up.) But 98.9% readers. YAY!
Not-So-Evil Day Job. There have been a lot of (positive) changes on this front. I’m fortunate I get to work at an ethical, conscious company with copious resources. I get to do something I’m good at, and to get paid for it. This means I can afford the tools of my writing craft, I’m not at the mercy of soulless, psychic vampires, and to appreciated for all the work I do. For example, I was recently promoted to a level appropiate for the work I actually do, rathen than the work I was getting paid for. Yes, this job has its moments–more often than not–as well as its share of incomprehensible office politics and pyshic vampirism, but with the changes we had this year I’m more or less out of that particular special level of hell. I’m lucky that I have an advocate I work closely with on a daily basis, because I’m almost certain she had a significant influence on my recent change of fortune in this respect. Also, my new boss simply lets me carry on and actually do what I do best–i.e., my job. (Crazy talk, I know.)
Stories. Beyond writing my own stories, I get to surround myself with stories of all media–books, movies, TV and, of course, music. I get to surround myself with storytelling of all genres and calibers, and I feel so fortunate–and fuzzy happy–when I come across something really, really good. This year I discovered Kresley Cole, Brenna Yovanoff, Lindsey Sterling, The Book Thief–just to name a few. Gail Carriger’s latest installment of the Soulless manga, for example, had me alternatly squeeing and hugging it to my chest like the Abominable Snowman with George.

Okay, your turn guys–what are you thankful for? Family and friends? Deep-fried turkey? The decided lack of Jar-Jar Binks in your geekery? Sound off in the comments!

Author’s Log: Digging Out, Then Digging In (& #ROW80)

So it’s been a Keepers of the Flame: Revision Editon sort of couple weeks. I’ve also learned a lot about my own writing from Editor Awesome, so I’ve been trying to figure out some tricks to hone my craft based on the editorial revisions and notes I receive from her, other than just “being aware” of these issues. As a craftsperson, I want to be better, smoother, more masterly. Maybe I’m a glutton for punishment, but I seek out this kind of coaching rather than shy away from it. After all, you don’t get better by hearing how good you are all day long–you get better by specific feedback. Or, rather, by the patterns of specific feedback. If more than one person tells me there needs to be more world building, I believe them. I multiple people tell me my protagonist is the bomb-diggity, and two people think she’s wishy-washy, well, I’m going with the majority shareholders on this vote because this is just a prime example of subjectivity. I need to trust my readers and editor.

I’ve never had this level of coaching before, and I love it. Yes, it’s hard work. Yes, I was halfway through before I wanted to fall over in Dead Author’s Sprawl (TM). But by the time I was done, it was worth it. By the time I was done, I was exhilarated. Yes, relieved, too. But also exhilarated in that heaving, drooling, gooey-at-the-knees-thank-gods-it’s-over way.

Editor Awesome politely thanked me, and let me know she’d have the next round to me within the next week.

*collapse*

*birdies*

Did  I mention this was hard work? Because it’s more than that. This is really where the metal meets the meat. You clench your cutlass between your teeth, swing over to the good ship Revision, and confront your story–and your craftmanship–face-to-face. Hopefully you don’t trip and decapitate yourself in the process, like I did the first go ’round.

HA. And you thought your job was done once you got a publishing contract, didn’t you? No, getting that contract in your hawt little writer monkey paws means your job is pretty much just beginning. I hope you’re in this for the long haul, friends, because you’re going to have to battle your way though some sticky wickets. There’s probably going to be a point when you’ll never want to see the damned story again. “No, really–it’s not you, it’s me…”

Here’s a rule of thumb, and a friendly warning: if it seems like it’s too easy, it probably is. Because the hard is what makes the cake worth the bake.

Production Schedule (& ROW80):

BRIGHID’S MARK (Editorial Revisions): Big news this last week, as I was finally to do my highly anticipated (at least by me) Cover Art Reveal on Friday. W00T! Cover art is one of the best rewards about this entire process, and one of my most favorite things. In addition, I turned in Editorial Pass #1 to Editor Awesome, and I should have the next round from her some time this coming week, probably by Wednesday. In the interim I’ll be working on:

KEEPERS ORIGINS #1 (In Revision): Now that I know what my pattern weaknesses are (aka “The Greatest Blips”), I can turn my attention to polishing the ever-loving almighty out of this Self-Pub project. I also need to figure out the proper formatting, so I’m studying my Brighid’s Mark revision packet for that as well.

KEEPERS #3 (In Revision): Ditto Origin #1 notes here, minus the formatting project. The first pass I’ll do for content, since I need to add some word-building. The next will be a line edit on the hunt for my “Blips”: POV, vagueness, and word echoes. The final, pre-submission pass will be to apply the final gleam. Then I’ll do my query/cover letter and synopsis.

I’m also now looking forward to December. I’ll only be drafting Big Dang Projeckt at that point (I hope), plus whatever Keepers #2 revisions come whipping my way from Editor Awesome and Samhain Publishing. In addition, I’m looking to do a new home page for this here site for my readers, and doing some proactive market targeting to engage potential new readers. Hey, the more the merrier, right?

Also, I don’t know what’s been going on with WordPress lately, but they’ve reformatted their Appeareance dashboard, and everytime I try to change something in the widgets it errors out so my images don’t appear and won’t save to be restored. Blerg.

In the meantime, have a Happy (and safe) Thanksgiving, y’all (for my fellow Americanites), and here’s to a productive rest of the month!

BRIGHID’S MARK: Cover Art Revealed!

THIS. This has got to be one of the very best parts about being published. I know it’s my favorite part, second only to launch itself, and I doubt it will ever get old.

BEHOLD! COVER ART! IT’S COVER-ARTY!

One chance for survival, and everyone’s rolling the dice. Even the gods.

Callie Trevelyan, Keeper of the Flame, has a reputation as a highly effective demon hunter. So the SOS from New Orleans isn’t a surprise. What is? The news her mentor has been murdered. Keepers are nearly impossible to kill—Callie has the scars to prove it. An even bigger surprise: her partner in the hunt for the murderer is Marked, like her, as a champion.

In two centuries of protecting Crescent City from supernatural threats and answering the occasional summons of the Loa, Liam Byrne thought he’d seen everything—until Callie and her entourage take over his life. Their hunt for the demonic killer leads them on a Crossroads journey to betrayals, Otherworld intrigue and, eventually, each other.

But the Demon patiently awaits Callie’s arrival on the battlefield. Callie is ready and willing, but there’s just one problem: Brighid’s Flame, the source of her power, is every bit as missing as Eva’s soul. And as the full truth unfolds, Callie realizes she’s in for the fight of her life.

If she’s lucky, winning will only cost her everything.

Warning: Contains magical tattoos, angsty demon hunters, tricksy Loa, smokin’ hot…jazz…in the Big Easy, and rum. Lots of rum.

Big, BIG thanks to Kanaxa, for putting up with all the series-branding shenanigans and making this cover even better then Keepers #1 (aka End of Days #1). Equally Big Thanks to Editor Awesome, Holly Atkinson, for making sure it turned out just right and for putting up with all my questions. You guys are the best!

So You Want an Advance Review Copy (ARC)?

Because Brighid’s Mark is a novella, it will be available in e-Book format only. If you’re interested in an advance review copy you can use the “Contact Cate” form above or email me directly at cstcross [at] gmail [dot] com. Be sure to let me know where you plan on posting a review, even if it’s just a quick hit at Amazon or Goodreads.

Author’s Log: Series Updates (& #ROW80)

Holy wow, y’all. How did it get to be November already?! And we’re a week in! Where did the time go?

There’s something about autumn and winter that makes me want to write. Really, really write.  The season comes late to Florida, but as soon as the weather cools and the rain comes, suddenly all my writerly senses become narrowly focused and you can’t see for the smoke wafting from my keyboard as the heat generated causes keys to pop off, one by one, like popcorn kernels.

I don’t know what it is about this time of year that connects with some internal chemistry on my part, because I read a lot during this time of year, too. There’s something about snuggling up with the written word that brings music to my heart and peace to my soul. It feels like this is exactly what I should be doing, and as a result my productivity tends to go through the roof.

Quick! To The Update-Mobile!

Production Schedule (& ROW80):

BRIGHID’S MARK (In Production): I finally got to see the preliminary cover art, and OMG Y’ALL—it turned out fuh-mazing! Kanaxa did a stupendous job. I can’t wait for the final approval to come through so I can share it with you. *tries not to explode*

Also this week, I received Round 1 of edits and my editorial letter from Editor Awesome, which are due on November 20. Apparently, I need more world-building whilst avoiding info-dump, and while she loves the lyricism of my prose, she fears this can occassionally lead to vagueness. I love being thought of as lyrical, not so much on the vague. This is a weakness I’ll need to work on. Also, there seems to be a few lingering POV snafus–also something I need to work on. (Hey, better a snafu than a FUBAR*, right? I live in fear, as I’m sure many of you do, of the dread FUBAR.)

KEEPERS ORIGINS #1 (Drafting/In Revision): Working on finalizing this companion piece, and I have to say the story’s come together nicely. Characters from Brighid’s Cross are introduced, and there are even one or two revelations that I didn’t think of the first time around, which should add resonance to Keepers #1, as well as answer some questions.  I’m really close on this, you guys, and I’m looking forward to unleashing it out into the world.

KEEPERS #3 (In Revision): Got my notes back from the Stunt Monkey, and she loved it—YAY! It turns out my fears regarding over-world building, the romance arc, and the ending were apparently unfounded. Editor Awesome may have her own concerns, but for now I’m going to look over the one scene the Stunt Monkey had questions on, and give the manuscript a final polish before working up a query blurb and synopsis.  I should be able to submit this to Editor Awesome by Nov 30, once I get it into the best shape it can be.

Once I finish Round 1 Edits on Brighid’s Mark, I can then apply those same editorial notes to Keepers #3 so Editor Awesome doesn’t have to repeat herself. For example, Editor Awesome’s “Needs more world-building” notes on Keepers #2 are consistent with the Stunt Monkey’s “wants to know more” comment on Keepers #3.

Are you guys participating in NANO? How’s it going?

*F—ed Up Beyond All Redemption

When The Going Gets Tough, The Tough Get Writing (#IWSG)

 Ugh. Uuuuuuuuuuuugh. *falls over*

I’m still recuperating from my weekend at Universal Studios: Orlando, amidst the sort of weariness that makes you feel like an old, wrung-out dishtowel, and lingering shin splints from all the walking. OMG the WALKING. I always forget how huge the Island of Adventure is in comparison to the main park until I’m forced to walk from the Superhero stuff through all the other stuff (Jurassic Park, Dr Suess, etc) in order to get to Harry Potter. And then there’s the walking all the way back to get to City Walk, through City Walk and back to parking at the end of the day. Seriously? Where’s the Hogwarts Express when you need it?

I am, in the immortal words of Michael Palin, “tired and shagged out following a prolonged squawk”.

Also, did I mention “ugh”?

It’s at times like these I’m reminded of the “D” word. No, not that one. Not that one either. Really? C’mon, guys–get your heads out of the gutter. Sheesh.

The word I’m thinking of is “Discipline.”

And I’m kinda sorta BAD at it. Not so much in the normal course of things. But when I feel like this, all saggy and draggy, it takes a Herculean, physical effort just to get the laptop open. Yes, it’s good to take a day off now and again, but my problem is once I tumble off the wagon I tend to stay down for awhile, until the wagon comes round again. Then I have to be driven, like a team of mules and just as stubborn.

Because it’s easy to write when it’s, well, EASY. A professional, however, writes when it’s not. Especially when it’s not. After all, I have a day job I go to whether it’s easy or not. Often it’s not. I get tired and cranky there, too–but I push through the hard, because it’s my job.

Guess what? Writing’s my job too. I passed the aspiring, no-deadlines stage some time ago, when my first book came out. My second is coming out in April 2014. I have a couple of others in varying stages of progress. I have readers. *waves merrily* Therefore: Job. And I love it, I really do. But I have more stories I need to write, probably more than I’ll ever get done in a lifetime since I keep getting ideas. In order to get through as many as possible, the “D” word is an absolute must.

Besides, you only get better with practice. In order to get better playing piano, I have to limber up by doing excerices and drills before working my way through a piece. I have to do the same with writing–exercises and drills before hitting a WIP. It eases the pain, because instead of just staring blearily at a blank screen and the mockery of a blinking cursor, I know what needs to be done, and I get into the right mindset.

Now I just need to do it, lest I become an ex-writer.

COMING SOON: Sooper Sekrit Projeckt Revealed!

One of the realities of the writing life is being struck by lightning, often in the wee hours, when one’s production schedule could not be busier. The other reality is being unable to escape the lightning. Because once it has hold of you, there is no peace until it’s fulfilled.

This happened to me. With Keepers 2 just announced, Keepers 3 and another novella as well as a novel to finish, lightning struck. My Divine Muse jumped up and down, squealing like a fan girl at a New Kids On The Block concert. My Infernal Editor scowled and told me not to be ridiculous.

My Divine Muse proceeded to jump up and down on his head.

First, I had to make sure I wouldn’t be doing anything to jeopardize my contracted work with Samhain. Then, I had to figure out how to go about executing the thing. I thank the incomparable Hugh Howey for his excellent panel on Self-Publishing at Tampa Bay Comic Con.

Then there was the matter of cover art. I do not own Adobe Photo Shop; nor was it a feasible investment for something I planned to offer for free. I do, however, have several sources of royalty-free images. Fortunately, the universe colluded to send me Joanna Penn of The Creative Penn, who provided an extremely helpful guest post from Derek Murphy of Creativindie on designing your own cover art using MS Word.

Then, of course, there was the story itself, which came from a couple of factors. The most significant one of which was the number of questions left unanswered in Keepers 1. Brighid’s Cross came about because of a special call for an anthology at Samhain. This meant I had to concede to strict word count limits. The rest was entirely my own fault. It was my first publication, and I became obsessed, with every editorial pass, to make the writing as tight humanly possible. I fought with every passage, every phrase, like Buffy struggling with each and every demon of the week. It was exhausting, but I was desperate for people to enjoy it, for my first ever published story to do well. In short, I over edited.

It’s a pitfall of being published. During editorial passes you’re eye deep in the material, over and over again, in rapid succession with that heightened sense of “OMG! Published!” permeating every decision you make. This is especially exacerbated by what I like to refer to as Newbie Nerves.

The good news is I still had my production notebook, and it occurred to me I could answer those questions, and offer something for free on a self-pub forum. This is when lightning struck: origin stories.

Know what an epiphany feels like? It’s an audible, physical pop in your head, apropos to absolutely nothing.

Epiphanies must be respected and obeyed, lest they go away.

So, very soon indeed, I’ll be offering Aika’s origin story, the prequel to Brighid’s Cross, for free on as many platforms as possible.

I hope you like it.

Author’s Log: Pre-Halloween Happy (& #ROW80)

 Halloween is one of my favorite holidays, though I’m sad to say it’s changed so much over the years. Even so, I still have some favorite traditions. Watching Rocky Horror Picture Show, for one. I cut my teeth on that show as a theatre geek, besides the fact it’s trippy fun.

The first thing I do the week of Halloween is take the week off Evil Day Jobbe. I don’t take time off very often, but this is my week, and everyone knows it. I hardly have to schedule it off anymore; it’s just a given. (Actually, Evil Day Jobbe isn’t all the evil anymore; I like the realignments we did over the summer, and I like my new boss bunches. It’s so much easier to do my job now, and I’m not no longer a quivering ball of stress and coffee. Now it’s all coffee.”

So, as I finish up Sooper Sekrit Project #1, here are a list of OTHER things I’ll be doing this week in honor of the season:

Today, October 27, is my eleventh wedding anniversary. Though we haven’t returned to New Orleans in years, the city will be in our thoughts. After all, we got engaged on Halloween night on Bourbon Street. So we’ll go out to dinner and imbibe copious amounts of seafood and rum drinks in honor of the occasion. If Jack Sparrow comes along wondering where all the rum went, send him our way–we’ll make a party of it.
Reading: Veronica Roth‘s Allegiant, Book 3 of the Divergent series and one of my favorite YA Dystops. Also out this week is Nalini Singh‘s Archangel’s Legion, and the reason I pushed finishing Big Dang Projeckt to November for NANO is entirely the fault of Kresley Cole‘s Immortals After Dark series, which I’ve been blowing through like a carful of Valkyrie through town with mayhem on the agenda and C4 in the trunk. Also, there’s Diana Rowland‘s White Trash Zombie Apocalypse, because the Authoress Her Own Self assured me via Twitter that she’s currently working on Book 4. Zombies for Halloween! YAY!!
DVDs: My copy of Joss Whedon’s Much Ado About Nothing came this month, so I’ve been highly anticipating the first viewing on the Big Screen TV. I’ve also got Wicked and Book of Mormon, both live performances I picked up at Tampa Bay Comic Con, on the barbie. And, of course, Rocky Horror Picture Show, Little Shop of Horrors, and Nightmare Before Christmas.
Travel: Next weekend I’ll be On Haitus as we’re spending a couple of days at Universal Studios: Orlando to try out the new Transformers Ride, visit the Wizarding World of Harry Potter (and hit Honeydukes like a House Elf on speed), and catch a performance of Blue Man Group. This will be the first time we’re leaving the Ninja Katz on their own for more than a day, so hopefully they can handle it. Hopefully I can handle it.
Cover Art for Sooper Sekrit Projeckt #1: I’m inching closer to a final copy. Must figure out how to convert .eps files into something I can actually work with, but there are viable alternatives if I don’t.
Keepers #3: On the docket is to go through the Stunt Monkey’s notes, make the necessary revisions, and get the manuscript off to Editor Awesome.

What have you guys got going on for Halloween?

 

 

Author’s Log: MORE Series News, #ROW80, and Other Highjinkery

 So last week there was this announcement thingy where I embarrassed myself by drinking all the christianing champagne for my series renaming announcement and danced the “Elaine” for all to gawk and wince at.

The gist of the whole thing was that, due to Brighid’s Cross being the first in the End of Days anthology and therefore said series name is on on BC’s cover. This meant, to avoid reader confusion, it was put forth to continue to put “End of Days” as the series title for all the books in “Keepers of the Flame”.

Editor Awesome took this change to Publisher Amazing’s Contract deptartment (aka Legal Eagles), who offered the argument that keeping the series named “End of Days” would, in the long run, lead to MORE confusion than actually rebranding the series to “Keepers of the Flame.” This is due to web searches not just on the Publisher’s website, but on Amazon, Barnes and Noble, etc.

SO. (Ahem.) KEEPERS OF THE FLAME HAS GONE BACK TO BEING KEEPERS OF THE FLAME! HUZZAH!!

Editor Awesome did apologize for the take-backsies, but she really didn’t need to. I told her whatever is best for my readers is best for me.

In Other Newsy-type Things:

Editor Awesome forwarded me Publisher Amazing’s jacket copy for review. This would include the tag line and Samhain’s signature “Warning Labels” as to what the book contains. (In the case of Brighid’s Mark, this mostly involves rum.) Basically, Samhain took my query blurb and tweaked it. Here’s my original query version. Now compare it to the one below.

Publisher Version:

Callie Trevelyan, Keeper of the Flame, has a reputation as a highly effective demon hunter. So the SOS from New Orleans isn’t a surprise. What is? The news her mentor has been murdered. Keepers are nearly impossible to kill—Callie has the scars to prove it.

An even bigger surprise: her partner in the hunt for the murderer is Marked, like her, as a champion.

In two centuries of protecting Crescent City from supernatural threats and answering the occasional summons of the Loa, Liam Byrne thought he’d seen everything—until Callie and her entourage take over his life. Their hunt for the demonic killer leads them on a Crossroads journey to Otherworld politics, betrayals, and, eventually, each other.

But the Demon patiently awaits Callie’s arrival on the battlefield. Callie is ready and willing, but there’s just one problem: Brighid’s Flame, the source of her power, is every bit as missing as Eva’s soul. And as the full truth unfolds, Callie realizes she’s in for the fight of her life.

If she’s lucky, winning will only cost her everything.

It’s neat-o to see my query blurb make its way to jacket copy. There’s a whole editorial, evolutionary process involved. I got to choose one of three tag lines, based on the original I provided in the marketing packet I turned in. I also changed one or two minor things in the name of accuracy or effectiveness before returning the copy back to Editor Awesome. I’m really in love with the entire process.

I have to wonder if all Publishers are this collaborative (probably not). This is my second book with Samhain, and I gotta say they’re really focused on keeping the integrity of the author’s work and vision while doing what they can to clean it up for public consumption, because that’s what they do best–making good stories even better.

Production Schedule (&ROW80)

1. BRIGHID’S MARK (In Production): Series name change-back to “Keepers of the Flame”, and my jacket copy has been reviewed, touched up, and returned to Editor Awesome. Things are picking up!

2. SOOPER SEKRIT PROJECKT #1 (Drafting): Officially began drafting this week. I’ve also got the cover art, er, covered as far as how I want it to look. Now I just need to figure out how to execute it. Done right, this could be my new logo/icon as well.

3. MINSTREL’S DAUGHTER (Drafting): Two critiques completed this week, with two more on the barbie. *Quest Completed* As I’m going through more of these, I’m pinpointing things I need to improve in my own writing. This awareness is a happy bonus to helping others improve their work. I plan to start submitting chapters of my own in November.

4. KEEPERS #3 (In BETA): No updates as of yet.

Your turn–what have you got going on this week?

Introducing FIENDISH!

Reblogged from Brenna Yovanoff:

At last (at long, long—no, seriously, I first told you about this book SO LONG AGO—long last), it gives me great personal satisfaction to present:

Fiendish is a book about being wild. And loving where you live. And sticking to your principles. And loving the people who love you back. And figuring out what makes you magic. And whenever I describe things, I always seem to think that subject and theme are the same as plot, which is NOT true.

Read more… 225 more words

If you've never read Brenna Yovanoff, get thee to a bookery right now. Her prose is haunting, her stories devastating, and she leaves me in little broken happy pieces every damn time. To anticipate her next book is to make me shiver, excited and a little afraid.