Beth Alvarez's Blog, page 9

Cover reveal: The Spymaster’s Prize

New year, new cover? It’s not the way the year usually starts, but it’s how we’re starting this time!

Here’s your first look at The Spymaster’s Prize, the second Artisan Magic book and another stand-alone story that can be read all by itself…

Ta-da! This installment in the series will be finished in a couple weeks, but I’m doing things differently this year, so here are a few things to know…

• This time, the book’s not going up for preorder. I’ve had a lot of health issues pop up in the last few months, so I need a lot of flexibility and setting hard deadlines for books isn’t doable this time around. Instead, the book will just launch the moment it’s ready, and I’ll let you know when it happens.

• This installment follows Elia, Thea’s sweet cousin who we met in The Assassin’s Bride. She may be feistier than you’d expect, and if you think the book’s title gives you hints as to what the story is about, you may be in for a few surprises!

• Yes, Thea and Gil will be making an appearance, so if you want to know what became of them after The Assassin’s Bride, you’ll be able to find out.

• Some things you can look forward to in this one are grumpy/sunshine characters, forced proximity, and as you probably guessed, a good bit of mystery-solving. There’s action and combat in the first chapter, but sorry, spice lovers… I’m sticking with clean/sweet fantasy for this series!

I’ll have more information to share as we get closer to time for the book’s release, but it’ll show up some time in Q1, since it takes place in winter and I’d love to see it out when there’s still the potential for snow on the ground.

Stay tuned!

Plans of my own

For the past several years, I’ve used a quarterly planning system. That means four times a year, I was supposed to have a fresh start to figure out what I was working on, where I was headed, and how I was going to get there. Recently, however, I noticed something about my use of the quarterly system.

Starting with a clean slate four times a year was supposed to be encouraging, letting me plan smaller and focus on more granular tasks. But it also included a milestone system where I was supposed to see how close I was to achieving my quarterly goals. Without fail, three months ended up being too big a span of time, with too many unpredictable pieces, and I found myself disappointed the end of every quarter instead of empowered because I was always so far off track. Always too far behind, with no hope of being able to catch up.

Pairing the stage of life I’m in–where things change radically in my schedule week over week–with some developing health problems I’m working to fix, I realized it was just unrealistic to plan that far out.

So I started thinking about what I really need, and over the course of several months, I started developing my own planner pages with InDesign. This meant learning a whole new program, so going was slow, but I’m starting January with something new: the first draft of my own custom planner system, something designed to flex around big schedule changes, no matter how often they come. Something designed to help me get through one month at a time, while still making serious progress toward the things I want to achieve in a year’s span.

And man, let me tell you, developing something like this is a lot harder than I thought it would be. This is my first month using the system, and even just from sitting down to fill it out to get January rolling, I’ve already found four things I want to change, one section I want to completely redo, and one place that needs to be expanded by several pages to make sure everything runs smoothly each month.

But it gives me a chance to use a lot of methods I’ve experimented with over a few years, and while it will take a while to refine it into something really effective and efficient, I’m hopeful for how a few things in particular will help me stay super-focused on the things I want to achieve.

It’s strange to see how many of the different systems I’ve tried have amalgamated into this layout, and I’ll probably make a lot more changes because I’m not sure the layouts I’ve created will be the ones I need or want all the time. For example, having large daily pages for my usual work weeks is great, but what about the weeks I’m on the go? Having a set of more compact overview pages that I can swap in as needed sounds super useful, and I’ll be adding that to my list of things to make. It helps that I can do everything at home and just print it off as needed, so I can experiment with a lot of different layouts and designs to find something that truly works for me and my family’s schedule.

When everything is done, I’ll probably share a full explanation of how I set everything up and how I use it, and at some point, I hope to make it available for other people to use, too. That said, while I’ve got some people helping me test it to make improvements, it will probably take a while to iron everything out and also create something fresh and unique enough to make it worthwhile. Maybe it’ll be ready in a few months. Maybe it’ll be ready this summer. Or maybe this time next year is when you’ll see me sharing a look at the final version.

Either way, it’s a fun experiment and I’m honestly surprised it took me this long to sit down and work on a planner system of my own. I’ll share more information about specifics as I work things out, but the new year is calling, and my new monthly planner spread awaits…

 

Vlogs

One of the hardest parts of making plans is realizing that sometimes, nothing you do will ensure you’re able to uphold them. Sometimes things come up, unexpected events that sap your time and leave you unable to keep up with the things you intended to do. And sometimes, the things that come up are bigger. Changes to more than just your schedule, things that mean rethinking a lot of what you do… and what you plan to do.

One of those changes came for me in November, when a visit to the doctor that was supposed to help me figure out how to be more active went the opposite direction. Instead, I went home with directions to cut huge amounts of activity from my schedule, get extra rest, and pursue more intensive testing to determine what’s wrong with me, because it turned out it may be more than just lingering long Covid fatigue.

Rest, however, is hard to come by when you have a full schedule. And cutting things from your schedule is hard. Especially when I’d already streamlined what I do, cutting out all but the things that moved me toward my goals. Of course, this came with its own downfalls. I’ve been struggling with a case of burnout for the past two or three years, and even cutting back my schedule for videos (since I had been posting doll projects on YouTube each week for years, and it had begun to stifle my creative freedom) didn’t help alleviate its symptoms.

That burnout actually gave rise to one of the questions I put before my doctor: did pushing through to keep up my production levels lead to me getting sick? I was glad when the answer she gave me was no, but we also discussed that it probably didn’t help. After all, every bit of time I spent working was time I wasn’t resting. Plus, every time I got stressed over deadlines, that did run the risk of aggravating my developing health conditions. So her instructions were simple. Cut stress. Cut projects. Rest more.

I spent the next few weeks working over my schedule again and again, trying to figure out how to keep up with all the things I do that I love doing, and after several weeks of trial and error, I made a discovery: I can’t.

So then I spent time working out numbers. How many hours could I work while still meeting the minimum amount of rest the doctor wanted me to get? Which projects took more energy? Which ones could be changed to better fit my shrinking schedule?

I learned a few things.
One, the amount of time it takes me to edit a doll project or tutorial video skews strangely depending on the length of the video. It took me proportionally far less time to edit longer videos, even though they’re typically more complicated.
Two, the doll projects are way more fatiguing than the book projects, which makes sense, and admittedly also came as a relief because I’ve always said if it came down to it, I would prioritize writing.
Three, the easiest type of video for me to produce was vlogs, which I practiced recording while writing.
And four, doll content does not translate well to vlog format.

And of course, these discoveries gave rise to a few conclusions.
I need to cut down my doll content even more… or else give up making it altogether. I’d never quit my doll hobby itself, but it’s finally come down to a situation where I have to choose between persisting with YouTube tutorials for other doll hobbyists to learn from, or continuing to write. And I can’t give up my books.
And… because of using them to practice making shorter/easier content, now I’ve ended up with a bunch of simple writing vlogs. They don’t make sense to share on a doll channel, but I made them, so they’d be nice to share somewhere.

As a result, I ended up starting a second channel where I can post things about my books and writing without detracting from the doll content people are looking for on my main channel.

It took a while to convince myself it was okay to start a secondary channel to post stuff I’d already made while also cutting down what content I make for my doll channel. But it’s stuff I’d already recorded, stuff that was a learning experience, and people have asked me to share more about my writing and publishing ventures, besides.

It certainly won’t be updated frequently, especially since I’m cutting back and not giving myself more work to do. But the vlogs are low-pressure content that’s easy to edit and only takes a few minutes here and there to film, so it’s a nice way for me to let people know I’m still going, too.

You can find my new channel here:

As for my doll channel, it will keep going for as long as I can manage it… but I’ll be changing to uploading longer videos whenever they’re done, instead of adhering to any strict schedule. That may be the death knell for the channel, since algorithms hate that sort of thing, but it’s better than letting it fall completely fallow, right?

Tea Review: Pukka Night Time Berry

After how much I liked the Pukka Love tea my sister gave me, I was delighted to see the grocery store near my house began carrying other options. The first one that jumped out at me was the Night Time Berry variety. The package promised berries with and chamomile and echinacea, so I had pretty clear expectations when I decided to give it a try. The ingredients list boasted rose hips, elderberry, blueberry, and blackcurrant as the berries, which sounded appealing, as I tend to like all of those as fruity flavors. I took it right home and brewed up a cup.

As far as flavors go, though, I expected a lot more berry and a lot less herb. The main taste players are the echinacea, licorice root, and a bit of the ginger, which lends a little unexpected heat. The berries are barely detectable beneath those notes, a faint hint of sweetness, and the aftertaste is primarily ginger with the tiniest bit of a floral note from hibiscus and lavender. The rose hips are all but undetectable,

It’s sweet enough without any additions, which was one thing I liked about the Love variety, but the main focus in this brew is clearly the healthy (and relaxing) herbs. I suppose that makes sense for a bedtime tea, but ginger isn’t high on my list of favorite tea flavors, and the lack of noteworthy berry taste left it a little unsatisfactory for me.

It’s fine as far as herbal teas go and I wouldn’t turn my nose up at having a cup, but I’m more likely to reach for the Love flavor… or stick to my favorite vanilla chamomile.

Use it or lose it

Or, I guess we could say, the death of my art skills.

There was a time I used to draw every day. I don’t know that I would say my skills were ever really honed, but at least they were consistent. If I sat down to draw something, I had a vague idea of how it was going to turn out. Consistency, it seems, is the first to go.

A couple weeks ago, I sat down to doodle a little chibi version of Andriun, in the spirit of his book being released late last month.  I got it done, but man… it was something.

Don’t get me wrong, it worked out okay. But I definitely don’t love my art attempts like I used to, and it makes me wonder if I would benefit from getting back to it. I only drew two things in 2022; it wasn’t a great year for me to be artistic, though I did do other things, like sculpting some doll heads and making some book covers. But there was a time I thought I’d be doing art for a living, too, before I decided to focus on my passion for writing.

Being able to draw a bit was a boon for some book covers. I’ve had people say they love that I drew the covers for Snakesblood. But those sort of burned me out, and I sort of wonder… how long would I have to be at it before art started to come back to me and feel natural again? A month? Two months? A whole year?

Maybe that’s a goal for 2023. Looking at drawing again, spending more time doodling, bringing back some things I enjoyed before life went wild. 12 months, 12 drawings. Not necessarily anything complicated, maybe just line art, or flats, or whatever tickles my fancy but gets me drawing again.  The new year is right around the corner. It’s time to start planning goals, right?

Paragon of Water is out now!

Saturday morning, the third Spectrum Legacy book made its debut, which means two things:

One, you can get your ebook copy now! The book is currently available in Kindle Unlimited, so if you’re a KU reader, you can get started right away!

Two… this book being out means the crew’s adventure is now halfway over. Can you believe it? It feels like it’s going pretty fast. If everything goes well, I’ll write the last 3 books in this series before the end of 2023. I’m working on things for the fourth book, and it’s going to be pretty intense, so I can’t wait to get started.

As per what has become usual, the paperbacks are running a little behind due to delay issues with the printer, but they’re less behind than the last few have been, so the print edition is available on Amazon now and I expect signed copies to be available soon.

If you’ve forgotten what this one is about, keep scrolling to read what’s on the back of the book…

Restoring the power to seal evil depends on one man. Evil may have reached him first.

For helping Zaide recover the artifact needed to access the Spectrum Blade, Andriun was labeled a traitor. Resigned to his fate, he now lives in exile, but Zaide and Lark need one more thing. The blessing of Andriun’s father, the Paragon of Water, is the final key to unlocking the ancient sword’s power. Only once the blade is restored can they confront their enemy and halt the Rise.

With Andriun’s banishment, Zaide sees little reason to trust the Paragon, especially when the mountains under the man’s protection now teem with the enemy’s monsters. He’s certain there’s another solution, but his confidence in that—and himself—is shaken when Andriun’s knowledge uncovers secrets Zaide never wished to know.

As these revelations threaten the foundation of their fledgling group, Lark is forced to take charge. She still believes Andriun can help them, but confronting the Paragon to learn where his allegiance lies could cost the only thing Andriun has left: his life.

Click here to get your Kindle copy of Paragon of Water now!

Here there be no dragons

I had a weird realization the other day, while I was working on plotting out story stuff for the next Artisan Magic book. I was trying to decide how much I wanted to expand the world beyond Kentoria, and I realized that for all that I love dragons, I sure don’t write them.

There was a time in my life that pretty much anything I did was guaranteed to involve dragons. Yet, somehow, looking at the number of things I’ve written–I mean, my twenty second book is about to come out–gives me a disproportionate number of dragons. I have dragons on my desk, on my bookshelves, in my doll room, on my bed, in my dreams. Yet for all my love of the big scalies, how many dragons are in my books?

One.

Because no, contrary to popular belief, Rune is not a dragon.

Don’t get me wrong, I’m glad to have that one dragon in Spectrum Legacy, but I can’t help but feel like I need more.

Back when I used to draw, I sketched dragons a lot. I never did anything with some of the concepts I came up with, but as I thought about all this, I went back and looked at some of those doodles and wondered if they were ideas I should revisit.

Which story needs dragons? Part of me is tempted to see if they would fit into the story world I’m fleshing out for the Artisan Magic books, and another part is tempted to keep the story world much the same as it was presented in The Assassin’s Bride. Largely non-magical, with just artisan skills tapping into something a little more mystical.

So then I think, should I start another series after Artisan Magic? Something heavily bedragoned? The red squiggle under that as I’m typing tells me that’s not a word, but I’m leaving it there, because I’m still having a quandary. Dragons? No dragons? Little tiny dragons that like climbing on rocks and hoard crystals?

I don’t know. I really don’t.
What team are you on?
Team dragon, or no dragon?

Coming soon: More Artisan Magic

If you read The Assassin’s Bride, you might know what that means. If not, well, there’s the link. Why don’t you go give it a try?

The concept of artisan skills being how people access magic has been so much fun for me to play with, and I’ve gotten a lot of good feedback that lets me know readers feel the same. So around and in between finishing books for Spectrum Legacy, I’ll be exploring that world a little more. There’s a lot more magic to see, and a lot of intriguing pathways opened by The Assassin’s Bride that are begging to be explored.

Right now, there are two further books planned what’s about to become the Artisan Magic series. All the ground work for the first of the two is ready, so I just need the time to sit down and take a crack at it! I don’t know how long it will take to write each book, but I anticipate the next one will be ready for release early in 2023. Further information will come along as I get into the project, and while I skipped NaNoWriMo this year to focus on eliminating some contractual obligations and doll commissions, I am ready to get back to writing full-time.

So, tell me… who do you think these two books are going to be about? Guesses are very welcome, and I’ll give you a hint as to what you can expect: Someone  we’ve met has to become a spy.

Tea Review: Pukka Love

Over fall break, my daughter and I traveled for a dear friend’s wedding. It was a fantastic trip and sort of a funny story, because I was headed up there to be her matron of honor, but we had never met in person. Internet life is weird like that! Despite her being one of my best friends, we’d never come face to face before her big day. I’m honored she chose me and I was so blessed to be able to attend the wedding. Two of my sisters met me there, and I gave them a ride back home, which allowed us to stop by and see some of the rest of the family.

While my daughter visited with her grandparents, I took a short trip into town to visit my third sister and see my youngest brother’s new house. Yeah, there are a lot of us! While I was there, my sister and I talked a bit about tea, because somehow, my opinion of Independence Coffee Company’s Earl Grey had traveled all the way through her friend group, and she was now drinking it and recommending it to people, not knowing the recommendation had originated with me. Since we both liked that one, she popped open her tea drawer and gave me a bag of Pukka Love to try when I got home.

The packaging was delightful, so I was looking forward to sampling the tea when I got home. The label indicated chamomile, lavender, and rose, so I knew to expect something floral. I’m not always a huge fan of rose, as it easily becomes overwhelming, and lavender sometimes takes a bit of a soapy taste. This herbal blend creates a lovely balance, though. The flavor that stands out most is the chamomile, which makes it a great tea for relaxation time. Rose comes after that, and it offers a hint of a fruity aftertaste–which is interesting, because reviewing the ingredients the company provides indicates that rose is only 4% of the blend! Maybe that’s why it tends to be overpowering? It doesn’t take much to give it sweetness.

It’s worth note that I drank this tea without any additives. Normally I sample things plain, then with a bit of sugar, then with a little milk. This was delightful as brewed, though, and since it’s purely herbal, there was no bitterness to contend with or try to cover. As it cooled, I tasted the lavender a little more, and I found the other additions didn’t provide too much of a noteworthy flavor in the overall taste of this tea. I often have chamomile or mint blends as I settle in the evening, and I think this one will make an excellent addition to my collection of bedtime teas, nicely filling a niche where I wanted something with a little more natural sweetness but hadn’t found anything that worked. I also appreciate that it’s a bagged variety, because while I adore my loose leaf teas, there’s something delightful about a good tea that comes in a bag of its own so I don’t have to fuss with it when I’m already tired.

Overall, this was very good, and I certainly intend to order some more!

NaNo Freebie: Word count progress stickers

Surprise! More free printable stickers for writers this week. It’s a couple days later than anticipated, but still early enough that you should be able to use them this month! This time, I’ve made stickers for landmark word counts. I’m only taking these up to 50k in the spirit of NaNo, but I may make a second sheet that goes higher at a later date.

Here’s a peek:

Little bubbles for increments of five thousand, and big bursts for the 10k marks. Fun, right? I feel like it would also be fun to try to make some with a heavier glitter effect, but again… maybe another time. In the future. Like next NaNo, because I don’t have time to make them before November starts.

Click here to download the printable PDF.

Happy writing, and good luck with the first day of NaNoWriMo!