I have been blogging regularly at The Deadline Dames and shared a creepy snippet of Dweller on the Threshold this week. Check it out!
Category: My Writing Life
Short Update
I’ve been working on a few projects, so it’s been quiet around here. Finished up a longer, more improved proposal for a few publishers and I’m getting ready to receive edits on Dweller on the Threshold and some of the books I write under a pen name.
Also been reading my critique partner, Rachel Vincent’s, new work and looking forward to hearing publisher reaction to this one. It’s cool. Makes me want to go back and do the rewrites on Unnatural Selection. Miss that story!
BTW, Rachel is moving back and will be close to me! It’s been years since she left Oklahoma, and we’ve kept the working relationship and friendship alive mostly by Internet and phone, but it will be cool to have her here. In my town. We have big plans for projects, so I expect things will start hopping on this blog more soon.
This is my favorite time of year. I love autumn and Halloween is always fun. Have friends coming tomorrow night for the great pumpkin carving we try to do every year. I’ll post pics of the crazy ones we create.
That’s it. I’m digging into writing projects hard right now. Will post again when I have news. Expecting a cover for Dweller soon. Soooo excited about that!
New Office
Most people who follow me on other sites have seen the pictures, but I have to share again. I have a new office! Yes, my oldest moved out and I miss her like crazy, but I’m also excited for her. She’s at this really exciting stage of her life. (And we call and text and have dinner together often, so it hurts just a little less!)
My husband decided to turn her room into an office for me. I need a place to write some bestsellers! He re-textured the walls, gave it new trim, crown moulding, paint and doors! Here are a few in progress photos. In some, the walls look green, but they are actually a pretty light brown. Also got my keeper paperback shelf back up and I’m so happy! That sucker has been in storage more than two years!
All My Books?
What’s happening with all my books?
Dweller on the Threshold, the first in my new full length urban fantasy series from Samhain will be releasing in March. (I can’t WAIT for the cover. Samhain artists simply rock. Also, these books are magically up at Goodreads already.)
The sequel, Blood of an Ancient, is scheduled for July.
The first in my Norse YA series, Foretold, is still out on submission and still capturing a little interest here and there. I’d give it a rest, but nearly every editor who has read it, liked it. The Norse aspect seems to hold it back, but I know of some big Norse books coming up and really feel there could be a surge of interest in the genre. (Plus, I LOVE IT!) I’ve rewritten it for a couple of publishers and it’s had three beginnings now. The process on this particular book has been a bit heartbreaking. If I just didn’t love the trilogy so much. 😉 (There are supposed to be a few periods after much, but WordPress is grumpy.)
I still remember the day my agent called about it. She was so excited! She and I both still feel there’s a good home for the trilogy. Oh, I’m also considering putting the original beginning back into the book and marketing it as a “new adult” book instead. The heroines are all eighteen and I’m seeing the “new adult” term bandied about.
I’ve set aside the YA dystopian, Unnatural Selection, for now. There are so many of those out there, the market kind of slowed. I do like the story and the entire first draft is complete, so who knows? I might hold it back until it feels right.
I may have another series in the works, but I haven’t decided whether it will be under my name or the pen name I use for my erotic romance series. It’s this dark and sexy southern Gothic about The Brothers Bernaux. Oh, I’m also currently publishing two series under my pen name.
So, that’s what’s happening in my world. Hope yours is just as busy and fun!
Still Here
I’m so busy with deadlines and family stuff right now, this blog is sooo neglected. I am toying with the idea of building a website only for my books and blogging at the Deadline Dames. Not a lot is happening yet with my urban fantasy series coming out next year and until things are moving, I don’t have much to report. I am still blogging with the Dames, so you can find me there quite a bit. 🙂
Changes Again
I obviously don’t know what I want to do with this site. So, I’ll be randomly switching out themes and it’s possible I might delete it to build a website only. I”ll be having books coming out with deadlines and all the goodies I’ve hoped for, so it’s possible the blogging I do at The Deadline Dames will be sufficient.
But I’d like a place for updates when book news comes up and quite a few still check out this poor neglected blog still…
So yeah, I’m a’thinking. 😉
Dweller on the Threshold SOLD!!!
For those who have been waiting, I have news!
Dweller on the Threshold and Blood of an Ancient (Book 2) have officially sold to Samhain Publishing! These are full length dark, urban fantasy novels with a heavy romance kick! They will come out as ebooks first, then print later!
I am so excited about this I’ve been ready to burst into song for months. Dweller on the Threshold is the very novel that grabbed the interest of my agent, so this is such big, big news for me. It’s the first in a series about Beri O’Dell. Here’s a bit about it.
Beri O’Dell is working on the side investigating paranormal creatures because she wants to know what she is. She’s taller and stronger than most men, she astral projects with an annoyingly real instead of metaphysical cord, and she can peel through dimensional layers to see the creatures and spirits beyond.
She once helped her foster sister, Detective Elsa Remington, track down killers in Jacksonville, Florida, but stopped when a nasty fire elemental turned her strength against her. Now, she finds herself pulled back when something steals Elsa’s soul and puts her into a coma. This thing has put a lot of people into comas and beings called Dweller Demons are coming through the bodies. With little time to spare, Beri battles Dweller Demons while searching for the reason behind her sister’s coma. She has help in her spirit guides Fred and Phro, but others come along for the ride, including a pyro-nervous witch, and an androgynous necromancer. With all this on her hands, the last thing Beri needs is to fall in love with a centuries-old Minoan warrior—one who has something scary wrong with him. But unfortunately, Nikolos knows what creature she’s after because he battled it before on what is now known as Crete. It’s bad. Really, really bad.
He calls it the Dweller on the Threshold.
There is a big excerpt at The Deadline Dames. Here !
New Office, New Outlook
Gave my home office a completely new look over the weekend. I now have an elliptical next to my desk so I can get up and work out between long bouts of sitting. I have a new desk thanks to my sister’s move and it has a better setup for work with a keyboard tray and high monitor shelf. I had a messy bulletin board covered with encouraging notes, research notes and a few comments from my agent. Oh, and several YA blogger emails asking about Foretold–my Norse young adult novel. To make the office a little nicer on the eyes, I filed most of those away. Cleaned the messy up.
However, I kept one note out, and stuck it to the wall right by my desk.
There is something special about getting a fantastic response from an author you admire. She had asked about my young adult work and I sent her Foretold. I’ll share a bit of her response and you’ll understand why I keep this where I can see it.
“I can’t believe someone has not snatched this book up and run with it! I found it completely absorbing and fascinating, and I love that it’s not the same-old, same-old mythology.”
She went on to offer encouragement, called me a terrific writer, then said she won’t let me quit. Can you see why I keep it out?
I haven’t quit yet, but I did go through a period of discouragement and I’ve had such incredible support from other authors. But I worked through most of that. I’m loving the writing again and am becoming immersed in the stories while I fall in love with my characters again.
And to go with that new outlook, things finally started moving. Behind the scenes stuff happening with both my young adults and my adult urban fantasies, but these things take time, so I still can’t share what.
But hang in there… this blog could get a lot more fun soon. 😉
Scratch That
This theme popped back up intact, so I’m leaving for now. One of these days, I’ll find a theme that incorporates some of the mythologies and theologies used in my adult and YA books. 😉
But if you have the time, check out the Deadline Dames blog today. Dame Jackie wrote a fantastic and personal post about writers, rejection and depression.
Changing Yet Again
I haven’t found the right look for this blog, so it will be changing out quite a bit the next few days. Plus, I lose side widgets in the process. If you miss the images, links and more–they’ll be back. 😉