March 28, 2016

UPDATE: Delay

As much as I hate to make this announcement, there is no getting around the truth: Elemental Blood will be delayed a month. The new release will be in April. 

The reasons for this are varied and numerous, ranging from health, to workshops, to a desperate desire to refill the well. The first two reasons are pretty clear cut. Health became an issue for me last year with my heart, so I have been striving to improve my longevity by exercising more and working a more healthy diet and lifestyle into what had become, in 2015, a very, VERY, sedentary life. IE: I had to buy a bigger chair last year in order to accomodate my ever increasing backside. 

Not fun. And not flattering. 

Second reason, there were workshops. One I took online for a week, the other I traveled to for a week and a half (that’s added in travel time). I always have grandiose ideas that I’ll get my word count in and finish a novel when I’m traveling. 

Uh….no. This has never happened. Past experience should educate me, knowing that while being a writer is a very awesome job, it is also a very lonely one. So when you throw a bunch of pro writers together in the same place, there is a lot of socializing, a lot of talking about writing, but very little writing ever getting done. At least for me. Because after being cooped up in our various rooms, offices and dungeons…living in these dwellings with people who just don’t get us, we feel like that rogue, separated from their family for all these months and finally reunited with their tribe. 

Yes…my peeps! 

And the third reason, and the most important for me, I had to refill the well. This has also been described as planting the garden. Ideas, scenes, characters, situations, novels, short stories…all of these things sprout from these wells, or gardens. Everyone has one of them. Some call them junk yards. Others, a pen of popcorn kittens. I have never wanted for ideas. But I also never looked at where they come from. 

Until my well ran dry. This is called…burnout. It’s very real and has nothing to do with writer’s block. Burnout happens when you stop refilling that well. For most writers, artists, refilling happens on a daily basis because we surround ourselves with the things that inspire us. I can only speak for writers, so if you’re an artist, your wells and gardens run differently, yet the principle is the same. 

In 2014, when I published the first in the Eldritch Files, December 31st, I started a goal for myself. Publish regularly, publish often, and entertain the reader. And I followed that plan as best as I could while raising a child and taking care of a house hold. That’s yard work, cooking, cleaning, laundry, housework, school activities… and somewhere in there, writing. But I did it. 

What I hadn’t realized was that in order to fit it all in, I’d removed the very essence of what fueled me. I stopped reading. I stopped watching TV. I stopped binge watching anything. I stopped watching anime. I stopped listening to podcasts. I stopped gaming (roleplaying). I even stopped our regular movie night and went down to a handful of movies in 2015 (Star Wars 9 times isn’t really refilling anything, other than Disney’s pocket). I just…stopped. All that extra time was taken up by writing. Writing. Writing. Always…writing. 

And it worked.

Until September happened and I started on a contract novel. And everything…stopped. A few days passed by where I stared at an empty page. Then I’d write maybe 500 words. Then nothing for a few days. I walked a lot, hoping that would jog something lose.

Nope. Nothing. 

I took naps. No. I drove around. No. Nothing. By the middle of October I had written 40K words. And they were terrible. And that’s not me judging it, that was letting a friend who plays the game read it. I continued on it… Weeks with not a word written, because the office had become a place I didn’t want to go. What did I do instead? I cleaned. I rearranged the closets in every room. I did dishes. I cleaned grout. I did yard work. I did things I thought meant I was productive in some way. This continued on for months, until some time in January when I finished the book.

Four months to finish a book. That was ridiculous for me. Seriously? 

I needed help. BAD. So I finally talked to someone, a friend who lives near me who is also a writer. We had coffee one morning and I just laid it all out. She was the one that finally said, after hearing my daily schedule, “Where is your fun?” 

“My wut?” 

“Your fun? I didn’t hear a word about those things you used to talk about. What books you were reading and fangirling over? What movies, or anime, or even what games are you role playing in? Did you stop?” 

I blinked. 

“Oh no. You did stop.” She looked at me with sympathy and I could tell she really meant it. She paid for the coffee and pastries and said. “I hearby give you permission to go home, pick a show on Netflix and binge it. Just grab a pizza if you get hungry. Walk to keep your health. But binge it. And then you have permission to play a game when you’re done. Play something you love. And when you’re done with that, play a new one. Tomorrow, binge again. No, better yet. I’ll pick you up and we’re going to the bookstore. And then you’re going to read.” 

I thought she’d lost her mind. 

I did what she suggested for a week. I played me some games, I watched anime, I watched movies, TV, and I read 11 books. When that week ended, I deleted what I’d written before and rewrote the contract book in 4 weeks, not 4 months and turned it in. Was it better? I don’t know. What I did know was that something shifted. Something I’d had and then didn’t and now had again. And it changed when I brought back in those things that give me joy. Those things that inspire my need to tell a story, my story. 

So here I am, a month off schedule (due to me finally sitting down and writing the contract book that was supposed to be done in October) but I am enjoying myself once again. I watch episodes of shows between writing sessions. I walk. I read 20 minutes a day, if not more. And I’m getting my word count in. At night I game, or I do something else that gives me joy (recently it’s composing music for one of the games). 

My well is full, my garden is tended. And I feel awesome

<3

 

 

 

January 22, 2016

Elemental Blood Cover Reveal!

Hello! Yes. I am alive, despite rumors to the contrary.

I know most readers are curious about the Eldritch Files and Elemental Blood. So, here is some news on the the series and book 7.

Book 7, Elemental Blood is now underway! Publication will be in March 2016. I know originally I said February, but the reasons for the extended period are below (and they reflect Amazon’s new warning notices on books with errors and formatting). Book 8, Elemental Dream, is tentatively scheduled for a July release. 

Schedule and Quality improvements. 

This month I contacted my editor and she is currently re-eding the entire Eldritch Files series for corrections and typos she finds and that readers have been so awesome to send me (she’s checking those as well, because sometimes what looks and sounds right, isn’t). Once finished, those books will be replaced. But this also means that I’ll be taking a bit longer on newer books, working harder to prevent mistakes from happening.

There will always be issues in books. Heck, my first traditionally published book had a dozen errors in it and a pretty bad continuity problem. But I’m going to make a concerted effort to bring the books up to quality for a better reading experience. All I can do is ask the readers to understand and continue to support the Eldritch Files as well as upcoming series. 

And to assure you that I’m not slowing down (just the preparation process is), here’s what’s coming next. 

COMING SOON

CHIMES AT MIDNIGHT: I know, I know…“You’ve been talking about Chimes At Midnight for months!” And I have. But it’s in my schedule to finish now. Though this book isn’t slated as the end of the Grimoire Chronicles, it will be a pause.  ;)  

HEX & WOLF: Cover reveal for Book 2 in the Discord & Rhyme series! Book 1 gave you, the readers, some insight into Dharma and Ivan as characters and also advanced their story. Hex & Wolf goes into Kyle’s training with his new mentor down the path of Southern Conjure, as well as his relationship with Jack Roberts and his pack. [Covers by the awesome Lou Harper!] 

PS…. there’s also been discussion with Adrian Phoenix about a Sam / Dante short story.  *grins*  We’re gonna work on that. 

October 27, 2015

GIVE AWAY AND NEW RELEASE

Yep. Elemental Storm is now available as ebook. Print is coming faster than usual. Why? Because there’s a giveaway coming tomorrow on Facebook! Yep! Click on the 13 DAYS OF HALLOWEEN URBAN FANTASY GIVEAWAY image below and it will take you to the page. The books will be delivered to the winner(s) first week of November, because I need to get approvals and proofs done on Storm. 

But this makes me so excited! Finally book 6! So a warning to readers for Elemental Storm – just remember – 

~ Love Endures

Kindle | Nook | iTunes | Kobo

FB 13 Days