Beth Alvarez's Blog, page 7

Making a perfect writing space

Even as I type that title, I realize it’s probably an unrealistic pursuit… but as I’ve been putting together my new creative space, I feel like maybe I’m close.

When we moved into this house 3 years ago, the front room quickly became kind of a catch-all. It was where the pets got their meals, but otherwise, it was just a place where building supplies and tools sat around, waiting to be used. Over the course of those 3 years, we’ve done a lot of remodeling and repairing, and eventually, we didn’t need that space to serve as an oversized tool closet anymore. It was meant to be a formal dining room, but we’ve never been the sort of people to use a formal dining room, and we much prefer having guests in our cozy breakfast room right off the kitchen. The dining room was in sort of an awkward spot for meals, anyway, down a long, dark hall from the kitchen.

So it sat empty, home to just pet dishes and an old china hutch that was too small for my collection of teacups. I knew I wanted to upgrade the hutch at some point, at least so my teacups didn’t have to be stacked. Then, by happenstance, I saw a china hutch on Facebook marketplace. Not just a china hutch, but the china hutch. The most perfect, beautiful hutch, exactly the aesthetic I wanted, except that it was a tar-stained and yellowed oak veneer and not the dreamy white I wanted.

Well, we’d just remodeled most of a house. What was one piece of furniture? So, a little bit of white paint later…

Suddenly, my teacups had a new home. So did my pothos, which is the only plant I’ve managed to keep alive. Both looked happy, and from there, I thought… well, why not go all the way?

I always thought it would be nice to have a place to sit and drink tea, a dreamy spot to read books as well as write them. I already had a bistro set my parents had given me after they found it on clearance. I only really needed one more thing to put me on the track to having my ideal writing space.

So the hunt for a desk began. I collected artificial flowers for the space while I hunted for just the right desk. I knew what I wanted–something French provincial to nicely accentuate my china hutch, something that would work well for both me and my daughter so she could have somewhere dreamy to do her homework, too. She even asked for exactly that, particularly after the night I dragged a 12 foot long branch into the house and cut it to fit in the corner.

My husband took me shopping for artificial flowers to make the boughs. Originally, I was going to get white. “No,” he said. “Do pink.”
So cherry blossoms it was. Sprawling, crawling across the ceiling. Not all of the branches match, but we bought everything they had. We’ll fine-tune it later, using the ones that don’t match so well for arrangements in pots or vases.

Then one evening, I found a listing for an antique vanity in need of refinishing. The seat needed a cushion and upholstery, too. “It’s perfect, but it’s too far away,” I said to my husband. He looked at the location on the listing and checked it out on the map.
“It’s not too far,” he told me. “If it’s the perfect desk, then let’s go.”

So we did, and when the weather cleared up, he helped me cut stronger plywood for the seat. I repainted and reupholstered on my own.

And then, the room was… well, almost done. Done enough that a good chunk of The Artificer’s Wife was written in there, and done enough that it’s a welcoming and airy place I love to spend time in. But some areas are still a little bit sterile. I want more pictures for the walls, maybe a rug for the floor since the tile isn’t great–one of few things left in this house that we haven’t redone. A few house plants would be nice, if I can keep from killing them. I thought my monstera would love this room, but it much prefers the patio out back. This winter, it won’t have any choice but to liven up this room.

So it’s close. Almost there. Not quite perfect. But it’s a good place to sit and work on Paragon of Light, too, and this week… that’s just what I’m doing.

While shopping for rugs, of course.

The Artificer’s Wife is out now!

It’s finally here – The Artificer’s Wife, the last of the books I planned for the Artisan Magic trilogy!

If you preordered the book, it’ll be available on your device now. If not, what are you waiting for? You can still grab the book for just 99 cents. It’s also available through Kindle Unlimited, if that’s your preferred way to read.

Each book in the series can be read on its own, but they’re also connected in a way that reading all of them gives additional context for events and enriches the story world. Writing stand-alone stories was new for me, but also fun. I’m so excited to have brought the series this far. There’s room for more if I decide to add them, but right now, the main players have had their stories tied up.

If you have any other characters (or places!) you’d like to see explored in more depth, you can always email me or leave a comment here or anywhere on social media, letting me know what parts of this story world you’re itching to hear more about.

The paperback edition will be out shortly – after the delays that kept The Spymaster’s Prize from getting into print, it felt wise to prioritize resolving that. Now that it’s finally in print, I’m just waiting for the proof of The Artificer’s Wife to ensure all the graphics turned out well, and it’ll be along soon.

Until then, happy reading!

Slow times ahead

When school started, my days were suddenly wide open again–practically for the first time all year. I got to sit down and write without distraction for the first time in ages, and that resulted in over 40,000 words of The Artificer’s Wife being written across the span of 8 days. It was good, but it was a hard pace and not realistic for me to pursue all the time. It did, however, lead me to spend a lot of time thinking about how to handle things now that my schedule is back to the school year normal.

I’m at an interesting  place now, having just finished The Artificer’s Wife. It’s up for preorder now, and I’ll be getting it into paperback alongside The Spymaster’s Prize, which as been waiting for its paperback since February. I only planned for Artisan Magic to be 3 books, so while there’s room for the series to be expanded later if the fancy strikes, it’s done for now… and I have to start looking ahead.

The next thing on the list to be done is finishing Spectrum Legacy. I’d still like to see Paragon of Light go out this year. It was supposed to be released in the summer, but things happened, as they do, and my plans changed. How much they’re going to change is still up in the air, because the same problem that plagued Snakesblood Saga has worsened with Spectrum.

You’ve probably heard authors talk about this issue before. A lot of readers, burned too many times by big series, are reluctant to pick up fantasy books before the series is done. I get it. I don’t blame you. But that makes things hard for me as a writer, too, because I need my books to pay for themselves. Most have done very well, but as of yet, none of the Spectrum Legacy books have earned back what it cost me to produce them… and they’ve been the most expensive books I’ve produced yet.

I know where this goes for a lot of authors, so I know what you’re probably thinking. It’s something like, “So here’s where the series gets canceled.” Let me go ahead and interrupt that to make it clear that’s absolutely not the case, and the series is going to be finished. In fact, if everything goes the way I hope, the last 3 books in the series will be done before summer break starts next year. That’s close to 400,000 words more that I need to get on paper across the next nine months, which is a lot of writing to pack into that time frame. The story is going big places, and I’m excited to see it happen!

But since I also have to lean on my other books to finance these, it means I might have to slow down the publishing schedule for them to make sure I don’t have to cut corners. If Spectrum proves to be anything like Snakesblood was, things will pick up after book 5, because the end will be in sight. The trick is getting to book 5 right now. If everything goes well, then books 5 and 6 will both be released next year, but there’s no way to know if that will be the case just yet.

I’ll still be working hard to finish the books, but getting them edited will be slower. And in between releases of Spectrum Legacy titles, I’ll be starting my next fantasy romance series. Other books, like the Snakesong trilogy and the next installment of Tahl’s story… well, I’m not sure when I’ll be getting to those. After Spectrum is completed, most likely. Those are the books I want to write the most, but they aren’t the most viable right now, so they have to simmer as low priority titles while I wrap up my existing obligations.

If all goes well, Paragon of Light will be arriving in December, but it could be January, too, depending on what fall looks like around our house.

Book 5, Paragon of Shadow, will come out no sooner than next summer, but also no later than December 2024.

And then book 6, Spectrum Legacy, will most likely land somewhere in 2025.

So that’s it. That’s the new plan for my release schedule. Big books farther apart, with smaller books happening in between so I can afford them. If stuff gets better, I’ll gladly move them up. It would be great to have the series fully released before the end of 2024, but we’ll see what happens. It’s not a fun update, but it’s where things are.

Work writing Paragon of Light resumes at the beginning of September, so stay tuned for updates on the book–things are starting to look pretty hairy for the heroes…

The Artificer’s Wife is now available for preorder!

It feels like this took forever, like the last book release was an eternity ago… but in reality, it was only late February, and these two books are barely more than six months apart! But it’s time–The Artificer’s Wife, the last of the books planned for the Artisan Magic trilogy, is coming on September 5!

Are you ready? Click here to preorder your copy now!

Or, keep scrolling to learn more…

A lonely prince, his charismatic best friend, and an assassin with lips he would die to kiss.

These aren’t the words Rilion thought would define his life when he agreed to attend a wedding, but the moment he stops the assassination of his dearest friend, he knows he’s in too deep to deny it. Now he’s caught between two countries who should have been allies, and the deadly woman he must escort home is more enticing than he’d like to admit.

Aedi swore revenge on the king who had her sister killed, but Rilion’s interference could be a blessing in disguise. With his gift as an Artificer, able to sense and manipulate artisan magic in ways no other mage can, there’s no one better to help her navigate the trap-filled castle and treachery that await her at home.

Securing his assistance is easy. He’ll aid her in exchange for help infiltrating the royal library, where he can clear his best friend’s name. But as they begin to unravel the secrets behind her sister’s death, two new dangers come to light: Whoever killed Aedi’s sister is after her next… and the growing bond between them might be too much to ignore.

The Artificer’s Wife is a fantasy romance with no spice, but contains high action and some combat violence. It is a full stand-alone story with a happily-ever-after ending of its own, though readers may enjoy the additional context provided by previous Artisan Magic books.

The Artificer’s Wife will be released on September 5.
Click here to preorder your copy now!

What does AI know about my books?

AI has changed a lot about the digital world this year, but whether you love or hate AI, it’s not going anywhere. I have my own thoughts and opinions on the matter, but I’m also sick to death of hearing about it, and I’m sure you are too! Instead, I thought it might be fun to do something a little different: I asked AI to tell me about my books.

The idea came from an Instagram story game I saw people doing, and while I found its answer about me completely unremarkable, I had a great deal of fun asking it to explain my books. I saved the images and made a video about it.

You can watch it below, but honestly? It became clear pretty early on that it didn’t know much.

And if you aren’t interested in watching, here’s a summary:

Snakesblood Saga
The AI knew I was the author, and it had the general plot summary down. But it thought it was a 4-book series instead of a 6-book series, and it didn’t seem too sure on who the publisher was… At least it got all the names of the books right?

Westkings Heist
Not even close. It knew who Tahl was and that it was a 3-book series, but it only got one book title right and the understanding of the plot was a good jump left of what you really find in the stories.

Spectrum Legacy
Who the heck is Adeena?! Clearly, the AI has no idea what these books are about. It knows I wrote them, but it only listed 3 of the 6 books, and it got the titles of two of them right. I’m pretty sure it just took the elemental theme and ran with it, because it named elements that don’t show up in the series.
And thinks the book series is about a girl named Adeena, apparently.

Suffice to say, if you’re looking for a simple book synopsis, trust Google before the AI chat bots.

Happy reading!

How I make my book covers

Everyone always says authors should not make their own book covers, so I get a lot of raised eyebrows when I tell people I make all of mine. I get a lot of questions, too. So when it came time to make the cover for one of my upcoming titles, I thought it might be fun to record the process and share a peek at what it’s like.

I posted the video on my author YouTube channel, which I started not that long ago. You can view it here:

The Artificer’s Wife will be the third and last book in my no-spice fantasy romance series, Artisan Magic. I hope to release it this fall, but there’s no set release date just yet.

I guess this also kind of serves as a cover reveal for this upcoming title, but I’ll share a better look at it soon!

Time to dig in

Last month, I set a goal to write 500 words a day. On the whole, I’ve been doing it – I just didn’t expect so much of that writing would be devoted to refining outlines instead of hammering out prose to fill the pages of my next book.

On the plus side, that means the outline for the last Artisan Magic book is pretty solid now, and it’s ready for me to dig in and start really making progress. That’s been hard to do lately, but this week, I think things are settling enough that it’s time to dig in and really make some headway.

This week, I’ve got several hours set aside each day from Monday to Thursday, and I’m hoping that will let me knock out at least 10,000 words of this draft. That would be almost 15 percent of my target word count and would put me close to the halfway mark on this book, which would be a fantastic feat to help get me back on the rails for writing.

Since I hope to keep up that momentum through the end of the month, I’m going to give myself until July before I check in with the final word counts from this week, because by the time I’m done with this month, I should have a rough idea of when this book will be heading to my editor… and when it will be finished and ready to read after that.

As much as I’d wanted to get 3 more books written this year, I don’t think I’ll make it beyond 2. I’ll accept that as okay, especially since it means I should have those two out this year, as well. I’ll just be one book behind. The Artisan Magic trilogy will be finished this year and the Spectrum Legacy series will still finish next year, as originally planned, so even though things are a bit behind, it’s not as bad as it could be.

Once Artisan Magic is complete, Spectrum Legacy should go a bit faster, and I won’t be starting the next series until that one is done, so that readers won’t have to wait longer than necessary.

Getting back to writing after a drought has been interesting, but this is only day two, so I won’t let myself be intimidated by how hard it’s been to get back into the groove. By the end of the week, it should be easier, right?

Three minutes

Last week, I had the opportunity to speak before a group of writers and share what I knew about something I do here pretty often–blending writing with other hobbies to help connect with people who share similar interests.

One thing I was tasked with was coming up with a writing exercise for the group to do. What I ultimately came up with was the suggestion that a piece could be written to overtly connect writing with a hobby, either by having characters participate in such a hobby in a piece of flash fiction, or by discussing how a specific hobby helped in a specific field of non-fiction.

The group’s leaders set a timer for three minutes, and in those three minutes, we had to compose our very short story.

I greatly enjoyed hearing the diverse stories others put together, but I wasn’t exempt from the exercise, but I added a bit of a twist to mine. Instead of writing about one of my own hobbies–which I do often enough!–I decided to write a flash fiction piece about one of my husband’s hobbies, instead. Silly me had put my laptop away after I was finished with the presentation, so I tapped away on my phone instead. Not the best place to write flash fiction, but it worked.

Here’s what I wrote:

The chisel skipped across the spindle, landing with a crack at a base that was meant to be square. The apprentice grimaced at the size of the chunk that had come away. He’d been at the lathe for days, yet the pile of spindles his master requested had grown no larger.

He’d pressed too hard, maybe, or perhaps he hadn’t pressed hard enough to keep his chisel where it was meant to be.

“Again?” The master’s gruff voice was more sandpaper than soothing.

The apprentice bowed his head, but instead of a reprimand, what he got was a hand on his shoulder.

“Bad wood,” the master said as he pointed out a knot too hard for a chisel to cut. “No amount of practice can fix that.”

I don’t think I’ve written any bits of fiction that short before. It was a fun experiment. There are a few things I’d change if I were to go back and actually edit, but that’s always the way, isn’t it?

What kind of story do you think you could create with three minutes to write?

Word count check in, because why not

I haven’t been posting much lately – aside from having too much going on, I haven’t had a lot of new writing stuff happening, and I haven’t had any ideas for articles or general chatter. But when I sent an email newsletter earlier this month, I mentioned that I was doing my best to commit to writing 500 words a day. Unfortunately, this means just week days – I have never, ever had sufficient time to write on weekends and I don’t expect it to suddenly change now.

I sometimes try to keep word count tallies on social media, but I haven’t had time to take photos or come up with things to post there, either. So I guess for now I can default back to here. That’s sort of the point of having my own site with a blog, after all–a catch-all for everything “me” to go when I don’t know where else to put it. So until I think of something more interesting to write about, I can share weekly updates on how writing is going.

The short answer is it’s kind of not, but I know that’s not satisfactory, and it’s also not true. I am getting words in… just at an absolutely glacial pace.

Across February/March/April, I was doing my best to make progress with Paragon of Light, but it ended up proving too much of a task right now. I don’t have the energy or brain power to write a deeply involved epic fantasy story at the moment, so until my mental and physical energy make a comeback, I decided to switch to writing something shorter that doesn’t take as much effort to ensure things stay on track and accurate. So while I got a bit done, it’s less than I’d hoped for:

Paragon of Light word count so far: 14,522

That’s less than 5,000 words a month, which is pretty crushing when that’s what I used to average across two days. It’ll probably also need pretty heavy editing to ensure everything is accurate and the same quality throughout.

For the time being, I’ll be working on finishing the Artisan Magic trilogy instead, since it’s another interconnected standalone and not a huge series. I’m estimating it’ll be around 70,000 words, although both The Assassin’s Bride and The Spymaster’s Prize ran a little longer than that. Either way, it’s still less than two thirds the length of one of the Spectrum Legacy books, and there’s way less prophecy and world building and multi-book continuity to worry about.

I started writing The Artificer’s Wife at the beginning of May, when I said I’d do my best to make sure I got 500 words of writing in, Monday through Friday. That got me this far.

The Artificer’s Wife word count so far: 6,828

Which puts me a tiny bit ahead, but also means the book would take about 30 weeks to finish at this pace. On the plus (or negative?) side, summer break starts after the end of this week, so I will hopefully be able to write more. I had desperately wanted to take summer off, but it’s just not going to happen if I want to get another book out this year.

So that’s it for now. I’ll check in after another week, and we’ll see how things go.

Slow, but done

A story of how steady persistence still sees things to completion, I suppose. That’s sort of the theme of my life right now; everything has to happen so slowly, it feels like nothing is moving at all. But at least I know that’s not true – I just finished a hobby project I started in 2021. It’s a doll thing, and not a book thing, but I think the lesson is the same. Last week, I attended an author meeting, and something said to me has been hanging in my thoughts ever since: “It’s not hard. You just have to do it.”

So I did, and now we’re here.

Around this time two years ago, as I started leaning into digital sculpting for doll making, I decided to make Link. The Zelda games have always been dear to my heart, and they’ve been a huge inspiration for my writing, too–something that’s been pretty evident, with several readers referring to Spectrum Legacy as “if Zelda games were books.” It’s high praise and a great honor. But things have gone so haywire this year that I don’t know when the next Spectrum book will be going out at all, and that sense of uncertainty has given me a lot of anxiety about my work.

But it’s not hard. You just have to do it.

That’s part of what makes my Link project a great reminder, I think. Almost every bit of him was handmade; I didn’t make the boots, because I already had a pair that worked well enough for his outfit. But I made the doll itself, every layer of clothing, his hair, his gear. Even the face painting and eyes. It’s all me, and even though it took a long time, it’s done, because that’s what you do. You just have to do it.

Right now, I’m trying to approach my writing the same way as I approached making Link. Five minutes here, ten minutes there. Maybe, if I get lucky, an hour somewhere I can just sit down and really focus. It’ll get things done just as well as writing for an uninterrupted 8 hour shift, which is something I can only dream of right now.

It’s like that popular saying: How do you eat an elephant?
One bite at a time.

Link’s elephant is eaten now, and he gets to be a fun reminder that even when progress doesn’t feel tangible, it’s there, and it’ll eventually come together in a beautiful whole, where all that work suddenly becomes clear and obvious.

The book elephant, though? I guess this week is the first bite.