Summertime Blues
I figured out the official word on my May book royalties today. That, combined with my estimated royalties for June and projected royalties for July have me disappointed. Not depressed or miserable, just kind of bummed. This continues my disclosure of what it means, financially, to be a writer.
March and April were outstanding months. I don’t know why, but for two years straight I’ve knocked the ball out of the park in the spring. Then May signals a slowdown that threatens my sanity. Again, I don’t know why unless people just buy fewer books in the summer. If somebody has any evidence, suggestions, advice, thoughts, or wiccan rituals they’d like to offer I’m all ears.
March and April were over $8,000 months. Yay! In may I broke $7,000, but not by much. I’m estimating just over $6,000 for June, depending upon exchange rates. they $1000 a month plunge slows in July. I’m hoping I’ll break $5,500. August and September? No idea, but if it’s anything like last year I’ll be sweating until November, when somebody turned a light on in the dark tunnel I’d found myself in. Take out 30% of that for taxes and things have a way of getting ugly fast.
I track my books and each series, and they all show a steady slide into darkness save for my Order of the Dragon series. The reason behind that is obvious – I released the second book in the trilogy (Chasing the Dragon). The third won’t come out until the fall, unfortunately.
So do I find some way to become a celebrity so I can boost my social presence to something that makes people interested in me, or do I just write more books? The solution is obvious: write more books! That I can do. That I am doing. That and having a day job pays the bills. It helps that I genuinely enjoy my day job these days.
The current project that I’m almost finished with is The Broken Slipper. It’s a Cinderella tale of love, sex, confusion, drama, and terrorism. TBS is the second book in my Homeland series, and it really sets the stage for an intense and action packed book three. It’s also worth mentioning that this is a big book. I expect the finished rough draft to come in around 110,000 words. Considering the often erotic nature of it, that makes this an unusually long book. And thick. Long and thick. Yes, I went there — but now you’re curious, aren’t you?
My problem lately, aside from slumping sales, has been all the ideas. I’m anxious to get started on Dragonlady, the fantasy finale for my Order of the Dragon trilogy. I’m excited at the prospect of exploring a fifth Lost Girls book. I’m dying to write my next Vitalis book – I have two great ideas and I don’t know if it’s going to become on book or two. I can feel a seventh Voidhawk novel stirring in the depths of my brain. And I have another concept that’s really tearing through me and making it hard to focus.
As much as I should focus on some existing series, I may have to write this new idea. I’m not sure it has legs enough to be a full novel though, that’s my only problem. I considered a small collection or anthology of three or four related novellas, but I’m not sure I’ve got material enough for that or that I can do it in a timely manner.
So what is the idea? Well, let’s take a young woman in the terminal stages of an incurable cancer. Young enough that she’s not legally an adult yet, but close. Young enough to be eligible for a Make a Wish trip on a cruise in the Caribbean, a place she’s always wanted to go. Her spirit, once bright enough to outshine the sun, is now broken by her sickness. The beauty of the ocean is nothing but a terrible joke. Nature’s way of mocking her by showing her what she can’t enjoy.
In the middle of the night she wakes up and finds she has strength she hasn’t had in months. Her ribs don’t ache and her throat doesn’t burn when she draws each labored breath. Her hands don’t shake and the room doesn’t spin when she sits up. Her parents sleep on, unaware of her turning off the machines that monitor her and administer the drugs that help her failing body cling to life. Disconnected and free, she leaves her cabin behind and makes her way to the patio of their room. She wants to smell the ocean and see the stars through eyes that aren’t blurred with medicine and sickness.
She gets her wish and embraces the warm tropical night air. The stars twinkle overhead and the water swirls as it rushes past. The briny smell of the ocean fills her and tickles her nose. She gasps in delight and forgets for a blessed moment that she is dying. That this moment may be her last. Dolphins leap ahead off the bow of the ship, accompanying it on its journey to a realm from where there is no return.
The dolphins dive, disappearing from the water and seeking to escape the death that approaches. The girl turns and lifts her head to see a great mass of darkness approaching the side of the ship. It towers as tall as she is as it races towards her. Towards them. It is the ocean come alive, come to take them all.
The rogue wave strikes the shape broadside, lifting it and throwing it like a paper toy. The girl clings to her railing as the water pounds at her and strips her from the deck. She opens her mouth to cry for help but there’s no air, only water. A frigid water pulled up from the deepest depths of the ocean that pushes itself into her.
The ship is gone, tumbled and broken by the wave. The young woman’s body is so light and so frail it floats to the once again calm surface. She stares at the twinkling stars and lifts a weary hand towards them. Almost as if the ocean is fearful she might escape she is yanked under the waves and a darkness unlike anything she’d ever imagined closes in on her.
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And that’s just the beginning! I’ve got so much more I’m aching to write but it’ll have to wait. Must finish The Broken Slipper first and then I’ll dive into this tale of supernatural fun!
To learn more about Jason Halstead, visit his website to read about him, sign up for his newsletter, or check out some free samples of his books at http://www.booksbyjason.com .
