Deby Fredericks's Blog, page 29

What Next?

The website hosting has been worked out. All in all, it was pretty easy. With that handled and the second draft revisions for The Tale of the Drakanox being complete, I have time on my hands. What should I work on next?

Queen Titania’s Court is coming up and I still need more authors to participate. If you know any fantasy writers, I hope you’ll suggest it to them.

The re-release of The Seven Exalted Orders is pending, but I don’t have a firm date for that. I had planned for that to be my own feature in Queen Titania’s Court, but I may need a backup. There’s Masters of Air & Fire, which I recently re-issued. Some of you probably recall that this blog used to be completely focused on dragons. Having my character be a dragon would be very on-brand.

I could also bear down on a paperback omnibus of the fourth and fifth Minstrels of Skaythe novellas. Summer book releases are dicey, but it would allow me to then bring out The Tale of the Drakanox in November. There’s something to be said for releasing books in quick succession, especially where it completes a series.

This is where I open the floor for suggestions. Would it be better to publish The Tale of the Drakanox first, and the omnibus later? Should I publish one this May or June and one in November, or one in November and one in May of 2024? I’m interested in your ideas!

Have you read one of my books? Then it would be great for you to leave a review! Meanwhile, if you’d like to learn more about me and my work, check out my website, Facebook, Instagram and/or CounterSocial.

Behind the Curtain, Part 2

So, that hosting change I mentioned… It went relatively smoothly, except… The URL no longer points to my web page… It points here…

That means… Somebody looked behind the curtain…

IT WAS YOU, WASN’T IT???

I know I’ll get it figured out. Tech support has been really helpful. What it probably means is that I’ll have to completely replace my previous web page with something that’s in a WordPress-friendly format.

This isn’t completely bad. I actually enjoy making web pages. It’s just a complication.

Anyway, that’s going to take up all my spare brain cells for the next few days at least. Here, enjoy a funny meme based on something that happened at my school yesterday.

Have you read one of my books? Then it would be great for you to leave a review! Meanwhile, if you’d like to learn more about me and my work, check out my website, Facebook, Instagram and/or CounterSocial.

Done!

Yes, the second draft of The Tale of the Drakanox is finished.

I say this knowing a few extra sentences and details will pop into my mind over the next day or two. Basically, though, it is done. The length is down from 137K or so to 135K. A couple of dangling plot threads have been tied up. There’s a nice concluding statement.

Well done, me.

It’s Friday as I write this. I’m proud of myself for finishing the job before the end of spring break. Today we’ll be heading off for a family visit. Then on Saturday there’s a weather break that’s perfect for doing some yard cleanup. One more day, and it’s back to work for me.

I’ll focus for a while on Queen Titania’s Court and other things. Then I’ll give it one more strict pass to clean up typos and I’ll be on track for a November publication. Unless I decide to do a second compilation volume first… No, no. Don’t over-think it! I should just take this moment to enjoy the accomplishment.

Cheers!

Have you read one of my books? Then it would be great for you to leave a review! Meanwhile, if you’d like to learn more about me and my work, check out my website, Facebook, Instagram and/or Twitter.

Behind the Curtain

There are a few minor changes in the works, something behind the curtain that I hope no one will notice. Mainly it’s that I’m changing the host for my official website, debyfredericks.com. A good friend has been hosting me, but we no longer move in the same circles and I suspect it will eventually become awkward.

The new host will be WordPress, where I already have this very blog you’re reading. To make that change, I have to make WordPress the registrar as well. This is where we may have some hiccups. As I said, this will all be in the background and I hope it will be invisible to anyone looking for the site.

It’s a little nerve wracking for me, though, as I seldom do this behind-the-curtain website stuff. It’s all part of an author’s life. That said, if anyone does notice issues connecting to my site, I’d love for you to let me know.

Have you read one of my books? Then it would be great for you to leave a review! Meanwhile, if you’d like to learn more about me and my work, check out my website, Facebook, Instagram and/or Twitter.

Woman At Work, April/2023

What’s Happening? It’s no joke! Spring Break has started for me. I’ll be doing the traditional Spring Cleaning in addition to getting my garden ready for the new growing season.

What I’m Working On. With a week open before me, I hope to finish the second draft revision of The Tale of the Drakanox. In addition, I’m continuing to work through the second edition edits on The Seven Exalted Orders. The version I sent back to Carol at Wolfsinger was only 17 pages, that the?? So we’re still working on that.

What’s Next? Queen Titan’s Court will take center stage as I invite authors and organize their posts. As ever, if you know a fantasy author who might like to take part, please direct them to me.

Fun and Games. Currently I’m playing Skyrim’s 10th Anniversary update, but just today I’m trying out a new game, Terra Nil. You start with a desolate ecology and work to restore the ecosystems. It should be a different kind of spring cleaning, and I look forward to it.

Happy spring to all of you!

Have you read one of my books? Then it would be great for you to leave a review! Meanwhile, if you’d like to learn more about me and my work, check out my website, Facebook, Instagram and/or Twitter.

Travails

Software hiccups have led to minor delays in finalizing the draft of The Seven Exalted Orders. The editor was using “track changes,” which my usual word processor doesn’t support. I cast about for an online platform that would let me do that. I thought I had a good one, and I got all the way through the whole novel. When I went to download, it changed the format from .rtf to .docx and closed without saving. I can’t find the download anywhere on my drives, either.

Aaarghhh. The trials of an author’s life.

So I’ve had to re-do it all in the non-change-tracking software. I’m about 3/4 of the way through this second pass. The new editor’s main issue seems to be the word “that.” She strikes out almost every instance, even though sometimes the sentence needs “that.” It isn’t a word I toss in just to bump up the word count. I’ve had to rephrase a lot of sentences to avoid “that.” At least this time I know I’m able to save the document!

I guess it’s no big deal. There isn’t a firm deadline for this. It’s just that it takes me away from the second draft of The Tale of the Drakanox, which is where I want my head to be.

On the other hand, reading the book again after so long really reminds me that The Seven Exalted Orders is some of my best work. I can’t wait to introduce it to you again! Soon, I hope.

Have you read one of my books? Then it would be great for you to leave a review! Meanwhile, if you’d like to learn more about me and my work, check out my website, Facebook, Instagram and/or Twitter.

New Edition: The Seven Exalted Orders

I’m excited to have news about the second edition of my fantasy novel, The Seven Exalted Orders. Originally published by Sky Warrior Books in 2012, it is one of the titles that I got reverted last year.

Just yesterday, I got new edits from Carol Hightshoe, the editor/publisher at Wolfsinger. This weekend I’ll pause my revisions on The Tale of the Drakanox in order to look her changes over. The book was previously edited by David Lee Summers (I think?) so I’m not expecting any big surprises.

There’s no new release date yet for the new edition. Our plan was for this spring and it looks like that’s going right along. Meanwhile, I have a few copies of the first edition on hand that I’m clearing out for $10. I can take Venmo and Paypal, so feel free to reach out if you’re interested.

Have you read one of my books? Then it would be great for you to leave a review! Meanwhile, if you’d like to learn more about me and my work, check out my website, Facebook, Instagram and/or Twitter.

Advance Notice

This is the first call for my summer book event, Queen Titania’s Court! If you’ve been following for a few years, you know what it’s about. But for any new readers, here are the deets:

Coming up in June, this humble blog will host Queen Titania’s Court, a celebration of fantasy books. Titania, Queen of all Faeries, summons magical people and beasts from every corner of the fantastic world to join her for a grand ball on Midsummer Night.

This invitation is for any and all fantasy writers, especially independent authors. Each day in the month of June, I’ll feature one author’s book. Pick ONE character from ONE of your books to attend the Midsummer Ball.

This is the fourth year I’m hosting this event. It’s been fun every year, and hopefully it helped some fellow authors draw attention to their work. There’s always room for more guests, so here’s where I appeal for your help. If you are a fantasy author, you are welcome to participate. Or if you know some fantasy authors, I hope you’ll suggest it to them.

***IMPORTANT! You have to e-mail me in order to take part. You can’t just comment on a blog post! ***

Check out this page if you want all the details. My e-mail is there, too. To see some of last year’s gala, start here.

Have you read one of my books? Then it would be great for you to leave a review! Meanwhile, if you’d like to learn more about me and my work, check out my website, Facebook, Instagram and/or Twitter.

Revising Along

There isn’t much new to share this weekend. I’m working through those revisions on The Tale of the Drakanox. Currently I’m on chapters eight and nine of twenty-one chapters, so approaching the midpoint. There’s a lot of focus on Ar-Lizelle and the world she moves through as a high-powered mage. From the outside it appears mages are totally in control, but here we see how the mages are obstacles to each other.

So far, I’ve trimmed about 300 words from 138,000. That either means the story was tight to begin with, and the length is what it needed to be for the number of characters, or it means I still have too much backstory.

Eventually, the readers will judge!

Have you read one of my books? Then it would be great for you to leave a review! Meanwhile, if you’d like to learn more about me and my work, check out my website, Facebook, Instagram and/or Twitter.

The Weight of Their Souls

How about a little mid-month marketing? Today I’m shining a spotlight on my Swords & Sorcery novelette, The Weight of Their Souls. It was originally self-published in 2017 and is still a great deal at just $1.99.

The Weight of Their Souls

The epic war is over, the great Enemy destroyed. A ragtag band of survivors makes their way home, only to discover there were survivors on the other side, too. And even a lesser evil from that vicious host can still be a deadly threat.

It’s swords against sorcery, with more than just their lives on the line. The travelers, who barely know each other, must summon the courage to face one more battle.

Get it now from Amazon or  in your favorite e-book format through Draft 2 Digital.

Have you read one of my books? Then it would be great for you to leave a review! Meanwhile, if you’d like to learn more about me and my work, check out my website, Facebook, Instagram and/or Twitter.