Mail Bag #3: Answering Your Questions
Over on Facebook, I asked fans if they had any questions they’d like answered–about me, my books, or anything in between. That offer is still open; if there’s a question you’d like to ask, then ask it either over there or here in the comments and I’ll include it in the next post.
Steffanie asks, “why did you change the 3rd part of the “Dark Prince” trilogy from coming out in February 2015 to the end of 2015?”
The good news, Steffanie, is that I didn’t! I’ve been a little vague about when, exactly, The Black Prince is coming out, because I haven’t started writing it yet. But my hope is that it’ll be coming out in February 2015/late winter 2015. So, maybe March? The latest I’m hoping for is spring 2015.
The reason I’m not writing The Black Prince now is that I have a few other projects on my plate: two books coming out this month, I, Demon and The Prisoner, as well as two books coming out later this fall: A Dictionary of Fools, the sequel to The Price of Desire, and a book on succeeding as an indie writer.
So, editing, copy editing, and promotions for those things have taken up a lot of my time. Writing-wise, I’m working on a different romantic trilogy, which I’m hopeful will also be released at some point this winter. It’s set in the modern day, so it’s something of a departure for me, but it’s still–I hope–got that fairy tale feeling. It’s actually a modern day retelling of Beauty and the Beast.
The tough thing with predicting release dates is that you’re never sure how long actually writing a manuscript is going to take. Release dates, even tentative ones, are only released after a consultation with the publisher–and even once the manuscript is completely finished, polished and ready to go, there are a lot of other variables. Publishing scheduling, typesetting…a lot of people contribute to the final product. I’ve been at this for awhile now, so I usually have a pretty good feel for how long it’s going to take me to complete a manuscript. The problem is that sometimes, as has happened with my modern day trilogy, what started out as a stand-alone book actually turns into a trilogy. If The Black Prince turns out to be really long, I may split it up into two parts (both of which would be released at the same time).
Which isn’t, incidentally, a bid by writers and publishers to make more money! Or, at least, it shouldn’t be. Splitting up books is a way of, in the long run, keeping publishing costs low and thus print books more widely accessible. The cost of printing and binding a thousand page book is astronomically higher than that of printing and binding a book half that length, or less.
I’m hoping that The Black Prince won’t be a two volume event, but a lot of really exciting things are going to happen in the final installment. I want to do justice to these characters, and to their stories! I love them, too!
And thank you, Steffanie, for being such a wonderful fan and taking an interest!
Crystal asks, how do you keep yourself so absolutely stunning all of the time?
The short answer, Crystal, is that I don’t post pictures of myself doing what I’m doing right now, which is sitting on the couch in my PJ’s with the dog. My PJ’s which, to be honest, smell and look a little like the dog. But thank you for the compliment!
Here, for those who don’t know, is me:
In this picture, I have showered and removed( most of) the dog hair.
Yes, that’s my natural eye color.
For skincare, I enjoy affordable drugstore products. In particular, I enjoy Roc. You can judge for yourself whether I’m a good ad for their products; I’m turning 31 this year. Because I’m so pale, I wear makeup so my face doesn’t disappear. Want this look? When not dressing up to go fancy places (which I rarely do), I use the same five product makeup routine. Which consists of Bobbi Brown No Smudge Mascara, pressed powder, Benefit Dandelion all-over face powder, Sephora Collection eyeliner (black), and MAC Pro Longwear Paint Pot (quite natural).
I also usually fill in my brows because they’re naturally blonde, too. I usually just use eyeshadow, but have recently upgraded to Bare Minerals Brow Powder (dark blonde). After I cleanse and moisturize, I start by filling in my brows and then lining my eyes. The trick, here, is to get the pencil as much in the lash line as possible, really lining between the lashes rather than on top of them. Then, I use my fingertips to apply a little of the paint pot to my lids. I have several different shades of this particular item, and like it a lot. Then, using a blush brush, I sweep a little Dandelion over my lids to set the powder, and give a little more warm color to the rest of my eye area. I sweep up, over the brow bone. Then, I add a little more to my cheeks. Then, I do an all over wash with the Meteorites powder. If you have deep-set eyes, like I do, sweeping a little powder up over the bottom eye area to the bottom lash line can keep your makeup from migrating and giving you raccoon eyes.
Finally, I brush on a single coat of mascara.
And that’s it!
My other health tips include drinking a lot of water, wearing sunscreen, and eating a mostly vegetarian diet. I’m not a super hardcore vegetarian; I will and do eat meat, once in awhile (as in, once every few months). But for the most part my preferred sources of lean protein are beans and leafy green vegetables. I could quite possibly eat my body weight in hummus.
Going almost-vegetarian, as well as cutting out processed food whenever possible, not only helped me to feel more energetic but also helped me to lose a significant amount of weight. I still have quite a bit more to lose, but my body is a lot happier with me now. I also enjoy running, both purely for exercise and also to keep up after my toddler. And terrier. I have found, too, that investing in sensible shoes has been helpful for this. After all these years of wearing them, I’m still learning to walk in heels.
