Skyla Dawn Cameron

My characters kill people so I don't have to.

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“When’s That Book Coming?” Spring 2019 Edition

When we last left our heroine…*checks*…oh, I’d sold a bunch of books over New Year’s. Sales were really good in January and February. They’ve dropped again now that those folks have caught up with the series (except at Kobo–love you, Kobo!), but I’ve picked up new readers excited about more Livi and who have joined Patreon. So that is amazing, and if you’re new around here, welcome! Please tell a friend or seven!

What’s New

The first Livi boxset is available–this contains Solomon’s Seal, Odin’s Spear, Ashford’s Ghost (novella), Emperor’s Tomb.

I’ve also set for re-release some of Aunt Judy’s books–Teacher’s Pet and Love by the Pound, two of her first books, are up for preorder. I recovered Big Fat Lies and Second Chances: Jack and Gillian with more traditional romance covers, which I think would please her.

Of her stuff, I think I still have a couple of novellas, and her novel Lady Blue left to release.

If you’re tired of me killing and torturing characters, check out her romances! They will not break your heart, as I am wont to do, but as her literary heir, I make full royalties.

What I’m Working On…

Livi #5 is once again in progress–I took a break because kittens–and it’s now up to 50K. I’m maybe at the halfway mark? There’s a lot of filling in to do but it’s coming along. While #4 is a game changer, #5 is what starts to set Livi on her path/mission/calling/whatever you want to call it.

ICYMI buried in the post a few days ago, here’s the look at the covers for the first six, all in a row.

Research for #6 is in progress, but I will likely need a break to let it percolate some. There are books beyond that, they just don’t have titles yet.

Also in progress, as announced last time, is the Waverly Jones mystery series. What was going to be a fairly simple thing I knocked out between Livi books has, of course, gotten a lot more complicated, and I’m actually sort of plotting properly with recipe cards and everything instead of leaving the tangles in my head.

Or, okay, I’m learning to plot before I can actually plot, and yes, I’ve written like forty books without plotting, and keep everything in my head. My brain is a very busy place. Stop judging me.

What’s Upcoming

New Livi novella this month! King’s Bounty is swinging your way in just over two weeks.


Kindle – Kobo – Nook – iBooks


It’s not always whirlwind international danger and adventures for single mom and treasure hunter Livi Talbot—this time, fun’s a little closer to home when she accepts a blind date set up by her brother. A perfect storm leaves her without a babysitter—at least until Dale West arrives at her door and is willing to watch her daughter for a few hours.

But even the nicest evening out can take a sharp downturn fast: Livi and her date are abducted, bound, and dragged to an abandoned farmhouse outside of the city.

No one is coming to save her.

Her date isn’t much help.

And the kidnappers? Well, they’re merely henchmen. The real boss is on their way—and Livi’s not sure she’ll survive long after they arrive.

For Livi Talbot, of course even an ordinary first date is going to end badly.

I didn’t actually have much of a soundtrack for this one, so I’ll be skipping Soundtrack Sunday, but this was the theme for the epilogue (with a bit of this one thrown in for West):

In addition to the kidnapping and West POV babysitting, in King’s Bounty you get:

  • a loose end from Emperor’s Tomb tied up
  • a celebration of Livi being super competent, at least in some circles
  • my editor saying, re: West “If she doesn’t marry him, I WILL”
  • Livi’s favourite mac & cheese recipe

After that…I think we will be looking at Shiva’s Bow releasing in August. I will probably decide that next month and, if that’s what I go with, I’ll have preorder links as soon as I set a date.

Prepare yourselves, boys and girls.

FOR REAL. MULTIPLE KISSING SCENES. THIS IS NOT A DRILL.

This is why I don’t write romance–it takes four fucking novels for anyone to kiss, I’ll have gray hair by the time they finally bang.

Waverly Jones should start in the back half the year–now that I’ve committed to plotting, I suspect writing will actually be easier with, like, all this shit in place so I don’t get halfway through and get hit over the head with information I should’ve had at the beginning. *cough*Emperor’s Tomb*cough*

Happy reading! I hope you like King’s Bounty! (Don’t tell me if you don’t!)

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“When’s That Book Coming?” Winter 2019 Edition

A strange thing happened New Year’s Eve: I sold a lot of books.

Solomon’s Seal had been a 99c deal as part of a Kobo promotion–which is where it tends to do best–then Amazon price-matched and the sale ended up advertised in some high-traffic places. Sales jumped up on Amazon for the first time (Amazon sales have never been good for that series), a bunch of books sold, and I had a panic attack. Yes, normal people would immediately be excited. I am not normal.

Anyway, the series as a whole has picked up a bunch of new readers and the first book has been selling steadily. Thus far, at least the new readers I’ve heard from really dig the books, so yay!

This has meant a spike in traffic to the site with queries about when Shiva’s Bow will be released, so let’s get to it.

What’s New

Nothing since last time!

Actually, that’s not true. I finally released the Demons of Oblivion series bundle on Kindle Unlimited, so it’s free to read there. (New readers! If you like urban fantasy that’s on the brutal side, you might dig it. If you prefer romance HEAs, it is not going to be your thing. Really. It’s a bit of a gut-punch and VERY different from Livi.)

The West Is Best Club ($10+ tier) on Patreon got a new West short story for Christmas.

And…yeah. That’s it.

I’d genuinely planned a big update for the New Year. I go away to visit family at Christmas, which generally gives me an opportunity to get some writing done since I don’t work do freelance work during that time.

My depression was pretty bad by late November and well into December–I have very specific triggers I try to avoid and I ended up blindsided by one. Eventually I’m going to do a “life hacks for living with depression” post–I survived for three weeks just eating instant meals off of paper plates and trying to do a handful of dishes a day just to get caught up. Then my anxiety was through the roof with the holidays (depression, plus being poor and unable to buy gifts, plus large crowds). Then come 11pm Christmas Day, my old cat ended up at the emergency vet and had forty-eight hours of seizures until I could talk to my regular vet and get a prescription called in for him. Then the tail end of last week I developed bronchitis and I’m presently certain I have the plague.

I did get a lot of early research for Livi #5 done and a bit of writing.

My other big project was revamping my freelance site.

I’ve kept my rates really low for a lot of years and it’s time I start placing better value on my time–and I restructured things so clients could better pick what will fit their needs and budgets. If you have writer types in your life, please keep me in mind if they’re looking for a freelancer!

What’s Upcoming

All that said, I do have stuff upcoming in 2019, and here’s the status of said stuff:

A Livi boxset! The first three novels plus Ashford’s Ghost, which, if you missed, I highly recommend checking out. It’ll be important even if not readily apparent. I promise.

Release date ETA: March 12 2019.

Okay, so what you’ve actually been waiting for…

Livi #4: Shiva’s Bow

The one everyone is looking for updates about.

This book is done-ish. I have the second draft done, and I plan to do another nitpicky draft before I send it for copyedits.

But…

I want to do that after I have a zero draft of the fifth book (more on that below).

Release Date ETA: None. This is a big book in the series and, once you get to it, you’ll be clamoring for the next one. I’m not picking a date until I know for sure I can get you the next in the series after a brief 3-6 month break.

New Readers: I’m sorry, I used to be one of those people who could write books in quick succession. I’m not now. I’m a pretty severely mentally ill, chronically ill, single-income person who works as a freelancer, and Livi books do not lend themselves well to being fast-tracked. I want them well-researched, unrushed, and crafted well for you.

I hope you can be patient! I promise it’ll be worth the wait because, well…

There is kissing in this book. Shiva's Bow, coming 2019.

Nowhere to run. No one to trust.

For once, life is looking good for single mom and adventurer Livi Talbot.

Work is steady, her team is dependable, her daughter is thriving. And then there’s deadly operative Dale West—who sometimes turns into a tiger and always throws her off her game. Just as she’s ready to confront her growing feelings for him, he invites her on a mission for his agency that will take her team to Nepal. A recent earthquake has revealed a mysterious temple deep in the Himalayas, and the secrets within could be fatal in the wrong hands.

A supernatural weapons dealer and his army of mercenaries are at their heels to complicate things, as is someone from West’s past who makes Livi question their potential future. She’s always been slow to trust, but believing in West might be the only way they survive.

If his lies don’t get her killed first.

I know plenty of folks are excited, and I am so thrilled for you to read it–but Emperor’s Tomb just came out in October, so it’ll be some time. I’m hoping by the summer for this one.

Livi #5 (Untitled)

I’m about 20K into it. The shape of the thing is becoming clearer for me and the research is helping me slide the pieces together. It’s a huge game-changer for both Livi and the series, and I am so excited for you to read it.

Once I get through the murky middle, the ending will be quick to write, as it’s stuff I’ve been planning for years now.

I’m hesitant to give it a title since we all know the third book’s ended up changing before release–I’m strongly leaning toward Yampellec’s Idol. The cover is in progress as well–by the time I’m ready to share it, the title will be nailed down.

Release Date ETA: late 2019 at the earliest but probably 2020.

Bonus Livi

To tide everyone over, there’ll be a fun novella which has been posting at Patreon. I’d hoped to release it in February but that’s not happening as it’s not quite done yet. It’s on the way, though! Essentially Livi goes on a blind date that goes very badly (it involves kidnapping) while West babysits.

I have a newsletter if you want announcements about upcoming releases.

New Series

I wasn’t going to say more until I had it set for preorder, but I promised news this month, so: I have a new, non-paranormal mystery series in progress.

I will talk in detail about it eventually–I can write entire ESSAYS about where it came from (essentially, Twin Peaks S3 pissed me off big time, which you know if you followed my livetweeting, and AUDREY DESERVED BETTER)–but as the stories have been rolling around in my head, I realized what I really wanted to do was have a PI series focused on women’s stories. I wouldn’t presume to call it feminist–it’s fiction, I’m only human, and there are bound to be problematic elements I’ll miss–but it’s definitely going to be a series that unapologetically centers women as villains, as heroes, as victims, and with the nuance their depictions typically lack, and turn those PI tropes around and examine how they change when the major players are women.

It’s more challenging than I anticipated but I think you’re gonna love it.

The goal is to eventually alternate them with Livi books to give my brain a bit of a break. I’ve been writing a prequel at the same time as the first novel, which will serialize this year at Patreon.

Her’s the cover and jacket copy for the first book:

Bodies of middle-aged men have been washing ashore in Port Milton. The police have confirmed homicide but not much else, which makes it the perfect case for PI Waverly Jones.

Who just happened to stumble upon the latest victim.

Driven to the point of obsession by the ghosts of her past, she’s been combing the beach to examine each body, afraid of finding one man in particular: Detective-Sergeant Sebastian Kyle, missing these past eleven years after investigating the now-dormant serial killer who made Waverly’s sister his last victim. Though none have been him so far, her familiarity with the murders has left her well-prepared when hired by the wife of the man most recently killed. Have the police unintentionally fumbled this case in the wrong direction, or does the widow not know as much about her husband as she thought?

Port Milton has always had its secrets, and Waverly will drag every single one into the light to get to the bottom of this mystery.

And maybe somewhere along the way, she’ll get another step closer to who killed her sister and what happened to Sebastian Kyle.

Waverly is manipulative and damaged and brilliant and I can’t wait for you to meet her.

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“When’s That Book Coming?” Fall 2018 Edition

My head is still spinning from last week’s release. Not that I particularly did anything–I don’t promote, I don’t tour, and some pre-set Facebook and mailing list posts did my “advertising”.

But it was stressful nonetheless. The book was so much work, I was unable to even think about it without the urge to revise or find things to tinker. Early reception has been good so far, thankfully. Once a book is out in the world, I pretty much never look at it again–I am my first and primary reader, and I reread my own books over and over again for pleasure (and to still revise) for years before they’re published. But once they’re out the door, they’re no longer “mine” and I almost never look back unless it’s for some small continuity in sequels I’m writing.

To that end, there’s probably also a bit of mourning for me combined with the release–a period of grief that it’s officially gone from me. I both don’t miss and do miss this book; revising it over and over for so long probably created pathways and connections in my brain like any other regular habit, and now I’m a little lost without it.

Thank you to everyone for your support during this one. From my good friends who cheered me on to the readers gobbling it up and recommending it to others…the worst thing upon release is silence, and readers reaching out to me to express their fondness for the series has been both a relief and heartening.

Now, onto the fall State of the Union!

What’s New

Unless you’re living under a rock…Emperor’s Tomb released last week.

That’s it for the rest of the year, except the monthly stuff released at Patreon.

What’s Upcoming

Stuff and things in 2019! There will be a little something hopefully around February that I’ll announce in January.

Shiva’s Bow, aka Livi 4, IS coming in 2019. I want it to release in close succession with the fifth book, though–you will thank me for it when you read it–but I’m still writing that book and I need a bit of a Livi break.

If you ordered the paperback, you got the semi-official jacket copy for Shiva’s Bow to give you an idea of what it’s about. There have been two previews at Patreon, posted last year, and the book is currently awaiting another revision from me.

There are other projects coming next year that I’ve previewed for Patreon and will talk about next update when I have more written. I’m hoping to launch a new series I can alternate with Livi books.

What I’m Working On

A few small projects–Emperor’s Tomb was 131K words, which is a massive thing to write, revise, and keep track of. I’m taking a break with some shorter things for a bit. 2-3 short stories and a short Livi novella (that ties up some loose ends from the last book).

I’m hoping around December to dive right into Livi 5 (untitled). I’m about 17K into it so far. That one is a huge leap forward in the mythology of the series, and sets Livi down an entirely new road, so I’m quite excited about it–I’m just pretty burned out right now and letting it simmer a bit more.

I still have Solomon’s Seal from West’s POV I’m serializing at Patreon–that’ll finish sometime next year, I think.

 

So this was a lot of hand-wavey “I promise I still have stuff coming!”, I just don’t want to set dates/announce things until I’m fairly certain. Check back in January when I’ve rested up–I should have details for you then!

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“When’s That Book Coming?” Summer 2018 Edition

It’s very hard to write books when everything you love is dead. Also hard to do: get up, work, clean, bathe, breathe, not cry, have patience with people who discard their cats like trash. But alas I manage to do most of those things, even if it takes longer and is quite taxing, and last night I finished the fourth draft of the third Livi novel.

There’s still a fifth draft to go. And copyediting. And proofreading. But it’s a big chunk of work done at last, and the book is now up for preorder.

But first…

What’s New

The West prequel novel, Tiger’s Memory, is complete, polished, and available at Patreon for folks $10+.

The prequel novel about West’s first major assignment, his first girlfriend, and how it goes terribly wrong for him on both counts.

Before he was known as brutal operative Dale West, he was Suh Dae-il, a twenty-year-old rising star in the agency who escaped a North Korean prison camp five years earlier.  Charismatic, brilliant, and manipulative, he’s the perfect spy—right up until he’s assigned his first target.

Becoming the person who could convince a girl to flip on her family means submerging himself in another world entirely. If he disappears in this other persona completely, he risks losing his job, his purpose, and the people who gave him a new life after he fled hell; if he remains the operative beneath the surface, he could lose the girl he’s fallen in love with when she learns the truth about his subterfuge.

Either way it may not matter when agency operatives and their targets in the area are killed. Dae-il is in someone’s crosshairs—someone who shares his unique abilities and has no qualms about his girlfriend becoming collateral damage in a mission that will change the magical landscape of the entire world.

That’s about all I finished. The Livi Postcard Story is in progress at Patreon, and I’ve just started Solomon’s Seal from West’s POV.

 

What’s Upcoming

Mark your calendars…

October 16, 2018

Yes, the title changed, but the cover hasn’t.

Preorder: Kindle US | Kindle UK | Kindle CA | Kobo | iBookstore (more coming soon)

This is a big book. Current draft is at 121 525 words (Livi books are normally 106K). That might bump up a bit as the book needs some prettying up–I try (and hopefully succeed) to make Livi’s books very visual and cinematic, but this one was difficult to just get all the pieces in place. Next draft will smooth it out. I’m frightfully insecure about it because it was so difficult, and I know it’s a year behind schedule, but I sincerely hope it’s worth the wait for readers and y’all enjoy it.

This book has…

  • Livi vs a terracotta army!
  • The elixir of immortality!
  • A hot Australian treasure hunter!
  • SEA MONSTERS!
  • A sort-of apology for Certain Things in Oblivion!

I think when I’m done hating it, I will ultimately be very proud of it. It caps off Livi’s character arc nicely–if I ended it here, it would make a solid trilogy of books, I think. There are of course more–I’m writing the fifth right now–but Livi is on life support and can use all the help she can get. Please, during the blood moon/eclipse, sacrifice a virgin or two (I mean, whatever you can find) and at least half a dozen unicorns to whatever deity of your choice and maybe sales will increase.

The countdown is on to be thanked in the acknowledgements of Emperor’s Tomb! Like the producer credits on the movie, Patrons of Snark get thanked for their monthly support in all my books. Join for as little as a buck a month and get added to the acknowledgements.

Then, coming either next month or in September,

The Oblivion bundle will be on Kindle Unlimited for three months before distribution is expanded elsewhere. Here’s the table of contents:

Bloodlines
“Thrall”
Hunter
“Malice”
Lineage
“Sunrise”
“Whiskey Sour”
Exhumed
“Fated”
“Prey”
Oblivion

It does not include 9 Crimes (or “Aftermath”), Damaged, “A Vampire Walked Into a Bar”/”Zombie Faeries”, “Resist“, or Dial V for Vampire.

I wanted to give the series a quick proofread (again) but I haven’t the mental capacity for it, so that’s why I’m being vague on the release right now. So…”soon”.

 

What I’m Working On

Besides more revisions on Livi 3, I have other stuff in progress I’m not ready to talk about yet. When I have details, I’ll share them, I just don’t like to jinx projects in early development.

 

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“When’s That Book Coming?” Spring 2018 Edition

Short answer to that question…that book–whatever the book* is you’re waiting for–is coming sometime. Eventually.

Long answer: I lost my beautiful girl last month, and the months/weeks prior to it threw me off my game as well. My heart is broken, I am exhausted and very tired, and I’m trying to keep myself afloat. I’m doing okay in a lot of ways, but I’m still having a lot of nightmares and battling low-grade depression.

What’s New

Not much compared to last time See above.

What I’m Working On

Not going to be the final title!

Chipping away at Livi 3 revisions (the title is likely changing; it’s something I’ll preview for Patrons of Snark first). I’d originally projected a June release.

That’s not happening.

I realized when I started revisions that it was going to need a lot of work, and I’m not done my second pass yet. Despite cutting a lot of boring crap and useless scenes, I had new ones to write, and the word count is creeping up. I could see this one being around 115-120K when all is said and done. For comparison, Livi’s books are normally 105K, but this one is a big, complex thing with a lot of moving parts, and it needs the space to breathe.

I am not entirely convinced readers will like it, but for a book that was never supposed to exist, it’s turned out to be absolutely critical and a fitting end to Livi’s first character arc (the first three books really function well as one complete story). I do think it might be a better book than the others as well, but I don’t necessarily like it yet myself.

Also, if you’re mad at me for certain aspects of Oblivion‘s ending…I will say that there is an apology of sorts in Livi 3.

Okay, but is that all you’re working on?

Nope.

I did finish Tiger’s Memory, the West prequel novel. It clocked in at 76K. The final installment posts next month for the West Is Best Club on Patreon. The Beta of Awesome has it right now–she read the original novella draft, but a whole lot is different in this one. This summer I’ll do a revision pass when I’ve had some time away from it, then get it copyedited and it’ll be an official ebook download for the West Is Best Club.

There are no plans to release it for sale any time soon as it spoils later plot points in the series.

Come July, West stories continue with Solomon’s Seal from his POV.

This isn’t just some of the novel’s scenes from his POV–he has his own story going on when he’s off the page as well, and it’s a glimpse at him trying to balance his various identities as he suspects his cover might be blown, his conflicts with the agency, and Livi managing to unintentionally make everything more difficult.

I wrote part of it a few years ago and I’m not sure how long it’ll take to finish. Afterward, I have West’s Nightmare on the docket–his POV before Livi calls him in Ashford’s Ghost and during the events of that novella. That’ll probably be next year, though.

Also on Patreon, I’ll be doing a Livi postcard story this summer. Patrons at $5+ will get a postcard in the mail every month (for five or six months) from Livi about an adventure she’s on. Folks at $10+ will get bonus goodies, like a travel journal to collect the postcards in and some special gifts at the end.

There are a few additional projects in progress, but I’ll talk about them when I have more to talk about.

What’s Upcoming

I literally have no ETA on Livi 3 at the moment. It’ll take as long as it takes. I’m finishing a revision pass hopefully this week, then I have to go back and do a third to clean up because I’ve made some major changes, then it’ll go for copyediting, more revision from me, proofreading…

So. It’ll be a bit. I’m hoping August? Or September for Solomon’s Seal’s anniversary.

That is not the answer readers want to hear, and believe me, it is not the answer I want to give. But it’s the best I can do given the upheavals in my personal life wreaking havoc on my mental health, and trying to do all this around freelance work.

Other Stuff

I made two Livi posters, they’re in my Zazzle shop (btw some products in the shop require you to be signed in to view, like the Cuntania t-shirts.)

Finally, if you’re on Patreon, or you’re thinking of checking it out, I put together a detailed Table of Contents linking excerpts, stories, and writing essays, and made it a public post so you can see what we do every month.

—–

*Except Wolfe. I have no news on that, so apologies to everyone behind the recent spike in site hits for that one.

MEET SKYLA DAWN

Urban fantasy writer. Fifth-generation crazy cat lady. Bitchy feminist. Cranky designer.

My characters kill people so I don’t have to.

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