Feeds:
Posts
Comments

Archive for October, 2015

It’s Alive!!!

Posted in writing, tagged , , , , , , on October 28, 2015| Leave a Comment »

Sorry, couldn’t resist.

But BY SWORD, TALE, OR MAGIC is now live on Amazon (and free on Kindle Unlimited.)

By Sword Boxed Set

 

Three YA fantasy novels for the price of only two. It’s like getting one for free.

Read Full Post »

The New–Or Old–Bright Shiny

Posted in writing, tagged , , , , , , , on October 25, 2015| Leave a Comment »

It’s so tempting to run after the new, bright, shiny idea. Every author knows this.

So, officially, I’m working primarily on the final book of the DUAL MAGICS series, WAR OF MAGIC.

WarMagicBlank

And I am.

But, when I took that short break to refresh my enthusiasm for this project, I was working on the first draft of the first book of another epic fantasy series, BECOME. And that file is still open on my computer. And that’s not necessarily a bad thing. If, for any reason, I get temporarily stuck on WAR OF MAGIC . . . well, I can still be productive by getting a little work in on BECOME. Just as long as I don’t mix up the characters’ names. I prefer it when my second project is in revision phase, but this can work, too. I’ve done it before.

Now, in my brain-idle time–you know, all those times while your walking the dog or washing dishes or . . . well, you fill in the blanks. Those times when your mind doesn’t have to be completely engaged in whatever you’re doing and you can let your imagination run a little. That’s when a lot of the creation of stories happens–at least for me. Often, that’s when I figure out what happens next in a story I’m working on.

But I already know that for both WAR OF MAGIC and BECOME. So, in those idle times my subconscious has been chewing over another story of mine. One that had been written a few years ago but needs a complete rewrite. And Friday, my subconscious threw up several opening paragraphs to the newer, more epic, version. Which, of course, I put in a new file for this story, MAGE STORM.

So, now, I have three works-in-process. Plus, of course, the final steps to get BY SWORD, TALE, OR MAGIC out there.

By Sword Boxed Set

Yeah, I’m probably crazy. But, I’m still going to focus most of my attention on WAR OF MAGIC.

And all you other stories in the back of my head clamoring for attention, please, please go to sleep. I don’t want you to go away. I’ve jotted down notes on all of you. But I just can’t, right now. Okay?

Read Full Post »

The YA Boxed Set Has A Cover

Posted in writing, tagged , , , , , , on October 21, 2015| Leave a Comment »

I’m over the major hurdle. I have a cover.

By Sword Boxed Set

 

(Ha! I love that I finally figured out how to do boxed set covers.)

Just a few more things to do before I set this one loose in the wild. The files were already formatted for the stand-alone books, but there are a few tweaks for the combined file, of course. I’ll need to work up a blurb for the set. And I may just throw in one of my short stories as a bonus. We’ll see.

I expect to have this one up by the end of the month, possibly with a short pre-order period at a special price.

Read Full Post »

Log Jam Breakthrough

Posted in writing, tagged , , , , , , on October 18, 2015| 1 Comment »

I hadn’t been making much progress in WAR OF MAGIC.

WarMagicBlankI can’t even tell you why. There wasn’t a good reason I couldn’t make progress on the scene I was trying to rewrite. I just couldn’t find my way into the newer version. Until yesterday.

Whew. Now that scene’s done and the next one, too, and I’m well on my way to having this revised beginning in good enough shape to let me move forward again.

Sometimes these things happen. But they’re extremely frustrating.

Read Full Post »

YA Boxed Set

Posted in writing, tagged , , , , , on October 14, 2015| Leave a Comment »

Progress is being made. I actually have a cover demo I like. It’s been really hard to think of–and therefore to search for–images that have any relationship to all three stories. I finally had to broaden the concept.

I can’t share it yet because, since I haven’t finally decided on it, I haven’t bought the right to use the images.

I’m hoping to get this boxed set out in the next month or so–plenty of time for Christmas.

And then, before you know it, it’ll be time to start thinking about a boxed set for the DUAL MAGICS series. I don’t think I’ll have nearly as much trouble with that cover design.

Read Full Post »

Projects

Posted in writing, tagged , , , , , , , , , on October 11, 2015| Leave a Comment »

As I posted (sort of) on Wednesday Thursday, I’m working my way back into WAR OF MAGIC, the fourth (and final) book in my DUAL MAGICS series.

WarMagicBlank

Having decided on a title, I guess I can go ahead and finish the cover now.

I’m redoing the first couple of chapters because I just didn’t feel they were doing what I wanted or needed for the beginning of this book. This dissatisfaction may have been part of what was keeping me from making progress before. This is where taking a short break can really help.

It doesn’t help much with the other issue, though. Which is that I really think I’m going to have to kill off at least some of my characters at the climax of this one. It’d feel like cheating to get to this huge war and have everyone survive unscathed. But . . . I really don’t want to. Writing is hard, sometimes.

Meanwhile, I’m still tossing around the idea of putting together a boxed set of my three stand-alone young adult novels: FIRE AND EARTH, THE BARD’S GIFT, and DAUGHTER OF THE DISGRACED KING. But I’m still stuck on a cover image for these three disparate stories. So, I thought maybe coming up with a title would help. Right now, I’ve got:

BY SWORD, TALE, OR MAGIC:

Three Girls Who Changed Their Worlds

(Referring to the different weapons used by the heroines of these stories.) Not sure about that yet, though.

Read Full Post »

Oops

Posted in Real Life, writing, tagged , , , , , , , on October 8, 2015| Leave a Comment »

Wow, I just realized that I completely forgot to post yesterday.

Real life just came up and hit me in the face yesterday. Taken care of now, more or less.

My only excuse for today is that it’s Thursday and it never occurred to me because I post on Wednesdays and Sundays.

So, to make this just a little writing related, I’m working my way back into WAR OF MAGIC, the fourth–and last–book of my DUAL MAGICS series. The brief hiatus was just what I needed I think. Both to recharge and to get a little distance.

I’m reworking the first few chapters right now because the beginning . . . just wasn’t working. This will be better. Then I can move forward.

Read Full Post »

Boxed Set Covers

Posted in writing, tagged , , , , , , , , , , on October 4, 2015| Leave a Comment »

So, having decided to explore boxed sets, the next logical step was to figure out how to make a boxed set cover.

The only “boxed set” I currently have is the CHIMERIA OMNIBUS, which includes both BLOOD WILL TELL and BLOOD IS THICKER. The original cover was a sort of mash-up of the individual covers, but flat, like a regular book cover.

http://www.dreamstime.com/-image10567743This seemed like the logical place to start learning how to take this cover and turn it into a boxed set. And . . . I did!

Chimeria Box 2Yes, I did make a couple of changes to the cover, too. It doesn’t make much sense to have the individual book titles both on the cover and on the spine.

Now, on to considering a possible boxed set of my three young adult stand-alone novels. The sticking point here is in figuring out a cover image that works for:

I don’t think that’s going to be as easy as figuring out how to make a boxed set cover.

Read Full Post »