Category Archives: writing

What Am I Working On?

Posted on August 9, 2018 | Leave a comment

In short: not my blog LOL!

Nah, just kidding. I did put aside weekly blog posts some months back, but that was a strategic decision. Sometimes I need to shake-up how I work to keep myself productive, and reducing my blog post frequency was part of that most recent shake-up. But that doesn’t mean I’m abandoning the blog entirely–not at all!  In fact, you’ll probably start seeing regular “What Am I Working On?” posts quarterly. See, I’ve started this new work management system I learned at the RWA National writer’s conference in July and it’s fantastic! Part of it involves focusing on 2-3 goals one quarter at a time, then reviewing my progress at the end of the quarter. So I’m going to post here each quarter with a quick rundown of what I’m focusing on.

Okay, where to start.

I completed a major revision in May of the first book in my latest project (it’s a 3.5-book series I’m currently calling The Cloaked Series.) The revision was requested by an agent I submitted to and really admire, so it was very exciting. I’ve sent that off and am now awaiting responses from that agent and one other.

Meanwhile, I attended the RWA National conference in July, as I mentioned above, and it was AMAZING! I met so many awesome writers, learned a TON, and brought back more free romance novels than I’ll likely be able to read this year (but I’m sure as heck gonna try!)

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Me and writer-friend Lin being silly in the photo booth at the RITA Awards after party during the RWA National conference. It was a good night 😀

This quarter (well, August and September–I’m doing a short quarter so I can get on track with Q4) I’m focusing on sending out all of the material that agents and editors requested from me at the conference, reinvigorating my social media mojo so I can continue to meaningfully connect with more readers, and getting SHIFT and RECAST ready for re-release.

WHAAA?

Yep, that’s right. I will be re-releasing new editions of all 4 books in the Shift Series (SHIFT, RECAST, DRIFT, and STAND) at the end of this year! Newly edited, with new covers, links to new exclusive content, and more. I’ll definitely be posting more about it, so stay tuned in the coming months.

So those are my focuses for Q3. In the spirit of reinvigorating my social media presence,  here are links to find me across the interwebs (including my new Facebook Group, Elle’s Belles!)

Facebook

Elle’s Belles (a safe place to geek out about our favorite paranormal/fantasy beings–from my books or ANYWHERE! It’s brand new and just getting off the ground, but we’re already having a ton of fun. Join us!)

Twitter

Pinterest

Elle's Belles

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Mythologicals Saga Updates

Posted on January 19, 2018 | Leave a comment

Hello Faithful Readers!

I’ve mentioned updating Harbinger and Augury a couple of times over the last weeks/months. The reasons for doing so are numerous and varied, but primarily, it’s a twofold issue:

  1. Harbinger no longer meets my expectations for quality. It was the first novel-length book I wrote. And, frankly put, the writing sucks. Still love the story–hate the writing.
  2. Even more importantly, Harbinger no longer fits with the rest of my brand as it exists currently. Now, that doesn’t mean I plan to change the story dramatically (though the book will read much differently when I’m done with the re-write, the core story will remain mostly unchanged), but I do plan to change how the story fits into the series, which will help the series in a couple of ways: fitting within my  paranormal romance brand, and letting Augury shine.

Harbinger cannot be considered part of the romance genre (even though it has very strong romantic elements) because, well, it does not end in an emotionally satisfying way. I’m sorry for that. It sucks. But, damn it, it’s how the story unfolds and to change that would be unauthentic. The worst part is that Harbinger’s tragic ending (combined with the crummy writing) seems to keep people from continuing on to Augury–which is a tragedy in and of itself.

Augury is quite possibly the most favorite thing I’ve ever written. It deserves to shine.

So, starting today, I’m enacting a plan to let it do just that. The plan has six steps:

  1. Remove Harbinger and Augury from all e-book stores (sounds drastic, but just wait! It will be worth it!)
  2. Revise Augury to support a new series order, placing Augury as the first book in the series.
  3. Rewrite Harbinger to align with readers’ expectations, and my own expectations for my work.
  4. Rerelease Augury as the first book in the Immortals Duology*.
  5. Rerelease Harbinger as a supplement to Augury. It will still be Augury’s prequel, but now it will be branded that way. Instead of a flagship title, Harbinger will be aimed at readers who are interested in exploring Luceam’s tragic past before the events of Augury.
  6. Complete and release Corrollary, the second and final book in the Immortals Duology* in 2019.

*Immortals Duology is my current working title for the revamped series. It might stick, it might change. You all will be the first to know, either way.

So why am I telling you all of this?

Primarily because I want you to know that if you own the Harbinger and/or Augury e-books, your copies will be unaffected when I remove them from e-bookstores. You’ll still own the copies you already have–they won’t disappear from your library or your ereaders, so have no fear.  When I get ready to release the updated versions, later this year, I will give an update on how to get a copy without having to buy them again if you own the originals.

So wish me luck! And check-in here, on Twitter, and Facebook for updates!

Augury (Mythologicals Saga | Two)

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Happy New Year!

Posted on January 5, 2018 | 1 comment

After a much-needed hiatus over the holidays, I’m back and ready to look back on 2017, as well as look forward to the year ahead.

So what in the heck did I accomplish in my author life in 2017 anyway?

  1. I wrote 2 books (the last two books in the Cloaked Series)!
  2. I found titles for those two books (a harder task than it sounds–it took all year!)
  3. I learned that an e-newsletter is not within my capabilities right now (but later, it will be!)
  4. I began re-writing Harbinger (Mythologicals Saga #1) (hint: it won’t be the first book in the series when I’m done!)
  5. I attended Emerald City Writers’ Conference for the second year in a row.
  6. I pitched Cloaked to three publishing professionals (and all three requested material!)
  7. I posted to this blog 46 times (which continued my run of success on one of my resolutions from all the way back in 2016, to post to the blog with regularity!)

Not too shabby, right?

That’s a high bar to live up to in 2018, but I think I can manage it. Here are my goals:

  1. Submit Cloaked to at least 50 agents/editors (or stop when I’m offered a contract!)
  2. Write All In (Cloaked #2.5) – which will fully finish the series.
  3. Complete the Mythologicals Saga re-write/re-order.
  4. Begin writing Corrolary (the last book in the Mythologicals Saga) for 2019 release
  5. Re-edit and re-release the Shift Series with new covers
  6. Write and publish Linking 2 (the second Shift Series Novella, telling more of Cici’s story.)
  7. Post to the blog at least 40 times.
  8. Attend Emerald City Writers’ Conference
  9. Bonus: Attend the RWA National Conference, if possible/reasonable.

Okay, so that’s a lot. When I started writing the list, I got a little overwhelmed, but when I read it back, it’s doable. And it’s awesome to list it all out like that, like zooming out on the year ahead and viewing my goals from 10,000 feet–which starts to look a whole lot more like a plan than a jumbled list of wants. This time, next year, I’ll come back to this post and check-off all the things I accomplished. Boo-ya!

So, what about you? What are your goals for 2018?

 

 

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