Skyla Dawn Cameron

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

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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.

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

*peeks out*

*sees everything’s steady*

Right, so after this post, as I said, I took another stab at the website. I think I have it all fixed. It took a few hours of combing through files, then I went back to Wordfence and fiddled with some settings and rescanned it several times to catch all the malicious files. Then scanned again. And again. And watched for any more inexplicable updates with hinky codes via CPanel.

And it looks clear. I have to redo my FAQ section as that plugin was abandoned and now poses a security risk, but for now, I think it’s solved. I also figured out why over a year ago I was flagged by Google for spam pages that didn’t actually exist–that too is fixed and I don’t think I have to nuke everything. This also means I should be blogging about stuff and things a little more regularly.

Hopefully I didn’t jinx myself.

Now, on to books!

What’s New

Ashford’s Ghost came out as a single release October 31 and it includes three chapters from the third Livi Talbot novel as a teaser at the end.

The Livi holiday short is available for a buck at Payhip (unless you’re on Patreon, then it’s free for everyone).

I also released one of my previous Patreon exclusives at Payhip, also for a buck–it’s another 9K word story about a pair of hitmen after Zara’s saber-tooth cat Sir Rodney Ballsgalore. It does not go well for them. (Still free at Patreon!)

What’s Upcoming

Livi #3! It’s with the beta, and from there we’ll discuss the major revisions I want to make, and I’ll hopefully make them in a reasonable timeframe, then they’ll go for copyediting. Still aiming for a June release. No preorder yet but tentatively thinking either June 5 or June 12.

I will update as soon as I know more, I promise.

No other potential ETAs for things this year. I have books in progress. There is a strong likelihood of Livi #4 (Shiva’s Bow) releasing in the fall. I’m still on the fence in a lot of ways but I’d really like to continue them.

I have no ETA on Wolfe yet, I’m sorry. I still have to rewrite it. I’m still dreading it.

What I’m Working On

Primarily, West’s prequel novel Tiger’s Memory. It should be done around June or so. At this point, it’ll remain exclusive to the West Is Best Club, but I might do a side release on Payhip if I get it polished up around the release of the fifth Livi novel.

When it’s done, I have several chapters of parts of Solomon’s Seal from West’s POV I might continue, or he had some things going on during Ashford’s Ghost that might be fun to explore.

Also, in no particular order:

  • First Dates (that end badly): a duo of stories, one of which is Zara going on a post-Oblivion date with Rodney’s veterinarian, and one where Livi is set up on a blind date. I’m writing Livi’s first and hoping to post the first half for Patreon soon (I am SUPER late but it’s been a busy month). It’s just a fun little side thing–I’m enjoying shorts set in existing worlds if only because it gives me something manageable I can finish in a small time frame. Right now they’ll be on Patreon; I’ll see about releasing elsewhere next year.
  • Summoning at Harrowood: my terrible gothic romance that I’m loving. I do not expect I’ll ever release it, but it’s something I write for my own comfort and sanity, particularly when stressed.
  • Livi #5: it does not have a firm title yet. Livi’s in a very dark place, there’s a lot of angst, depression, and bad decisions, so of course I am loving every second of it. I hit 17K and then had to pause to do a bit more research. This one’s set in Peru and I spent so much time working on the third book (which jumps around from Japan to Australia to off the coast of China), it’s a big shift to pre-Incan artifacts and ruins. Thankfully I know the bulk of Livi’s emotional journey, the big bad, and a bit about the artifact she’s hunting, but I need a few more pieces in place. I do think you guys are gonna like this one, though.

Other News

Patreon hit $200/month! (Mostly; there are always a handful of pledges declined that get fixed later in the month.) This is amazing news I am really excited for–every little bit of financial security there brings more of my focus to these books as opposed to for-pay writing. This weekend I’m aiming to do a video reading from a Livi book. With cats. Because y’all are my heroes.

Thank you for sticking around! I’ve re-enabled blog subscriptions again since I think the website issues are sorted out.

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“When’s That Book Coming?” Fall 2017 Edition

What’s New

Hauntings: Two Tales of the Paranormal released in ebook and print back in June.

Tiger’s Memory, a West prequel novella, launched at Patreon for the new West Is Best Club. It won’t be done until next year at the rate rewrites are pushing the wordcount up, but West fans are several chapters into it now.

 

What’s Upcoming

Ashford’s Ghost, originally in Hauntings, will be out next Tuesday as a single download (currently submitted for preorder a few places like Kobo, Kindle, iBooks, Nook, and Payhip, with others coming later in the week).

This is exactly the same novella that was in Hauntings. I owe some Patrons of Snark the final ebook, and I thought it would be fitting to release on Halloween.

It does have the first three chapters of the third Livi novel in the back, which is due out next year.

No, I do not have a release date yet. The (very, very) rough draft is done at 95K words. It needs heavy revision, which I’m hoping to start next month. It might need a few more passes after that, it’s seriously a mess. Best case scenario, it can release spring 2018, otherwise we’re looking at summer.

I’m sorry, I know that sucks. But I’d rather take the time to do some heavy revision and give you a book that’s the best I can make it than rush and publish something subpar. When I have a solid draft, I’ll have it up for preorder immediately and post the date on my upcoming page.

December 1 I’ll be posting a Livi Christmas short story for Patrons of Snark, and it’ll also be a 99c download at Payhip around then. It’s not a wild adventure, just Livi’s first Christmas in the villa. If you’re a Livi/West fan, you may dig it. (No, there is no kissing. There is just the Best Christmas Gift Ever.)

 

What I’m Working On

  • Livi #3 revision.
  • A really terrible gothic romance just for me.
  • Tiger’s Memory.
  • Some short stories that I am not telling you about in case I don’t get them done but if I do, they’ll release in time for Valentine’s Day.

When I get Livi #3 revised, I’m going to start another revision of #4 (I’m on the second draft–I held off polishing it up because I wasn’t sure what would need to change accommodating the new book), and then I’m going to dive into #5 which I am super looking forward to, as it deals with the aftermath of the fourth book and omg I loves me some angst.

Obligatory if you like the books, please leave a review and/or tell a friend, thank you, you’re awesome!

MEET SKYLA DAWN

Writer of urban fantasy, thrillers/mysteries, and horror.
Fifth-generation crazy cat lady. Bitchy feminist.
So tired all the goddamn time.

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

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What I’m Working On:

Writing Elis 5. Also kind of sort of writing Waverly 8.