state of the union

Feb 20 2018

“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.

Oct 25 2017

“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!

Jul 21 2017

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

Summer state of the union! Read on for what released, what’s upcoming, and what I’m working on.

What’s New

Hauntings: Two Tales of the Paranormal released June 27. This is a pair of novellas by me and Dina James, and my contribution is a Livi novella, Ashford’s Ghost, which takes place after Odin’s Spear and dovetails into the third novel.

Four months ago, Livi successfully killed the afreet who abducted her family and tried to murder her. Then she took over his villa and made it her base of operations/home, as any respectable treasure hunter in need of better digs is wont to do. But this house is haunted, and she’s starting to think the ancient murderer she used the Seal of Solomon to destroy might not be entirely dead after all. Isolated in the house by a violent snowstorm, Livi is trapped with a dark force gathering strength by the hour, threatening not only the safety of her family but possibly her very sanity.

It was serialized for Patreon supporters in the months before release.

West Is Best

New on Patreon is also the West Is Best Club for members supporting at $10+ every month.

Part of that reward tier involved a second monthly snippet, which I sometimes have trouble fulfilling, but I have tons of West POV stuff both lying on my harddrive and that I write for fun.

The writers I’ve read who have success with Patreon suggest keeping it focused on things you already do: previews of what you’re already writing, behind the scenes looks at writing/revising, etc, and West POV stories certainly fall under that.

I’m starting with…

What I’m Working On

West Is Best Club is getting, for starters, a West prequel novella (will be a novel by the time revisions are done, though) called Tiger’s Memory. It’s about his first solo assignment for his agency, his first girlfriend, and how things go terribly wrong for him on both counts.

I’ve been working on it for a few weeks now and have added over 20K words already, still on the first act. It was originally a 27K novella just for me to get so background stuff figured out, but I’m delving deeper now, developing it a bit more, and I’m having a lot of fun.

There are no plans to sell it any time soon. I am, as always, exceptionally good at writing shit I will never get paid for, but for the first time in a while I’m having a blast writing. West and I get along very well–it took nearing the end of the first draft of Solomon’s Seal for him to start revealing anything to me, but now he never shuts up and I am a cat lady, so we have a good writer-character relationship.

Livi #3 was set aside briefly as it’s just giving me so many headaches. I had to rearrange a few scenes and try to figure out what’s been bothering me with it. I strongly suspect this is going to be one of those books that needs heavy revision, and perhaps more sets of eyes than I’m used to; I tend to get by with excellent beta-reading and copyediting, but this one’s really, really rough. I hate this book. I will finish it eventually, but in the meantime I loathe it.

It will not be out by the end of the year as I’d hoped; I’d rather delay books than put out something subpar. This means a big gap between releases, which is going to hit my pocketbook. I guess the question will be whether I hate Livi #3 more than Wolfe and if I’d rather jump into revising it, or what else I can consider releasing. I don’t think my heart can take a Demons of Oblivion short story or novella (fun fact: Oblivion crushed me too!). I have a (very) dark YA paranormal series with four of five books complete but I’d like the fifth done before launching it because, well, I know it sucks to wait and wait and wait for a final book in a series.

Some Patreon Thoughts

To be honest, doing a few things exclusive for Patreon (like Prey and Resist) makes me feel badly at times for the loyal readers I know can’t afford monthly support. I support a couple of things on Patreon myself at the lowest offered reward tiers as I don’t have the $$$ every month to support everything I’d like to, capped at about $5 a month, and that means missing out on some work by favourite writers at this time.

But I can’t sustain myself on book sales alone, and I’ve always been fortunate in having a few readers able and willing to give more beyond buying books. If I’ve learned anything over the years of asking for (and accepting) financial help, it’s that some people like to be patrons and one can reciprocate in other ways–for me, by sharing the stories I love. I’ve also learned that I have to be willing to do whatever it takes to survive in the arts so, well, here we are. Many friends and family chip in a few bucks a month as well–Aunt Judy was originally my very first supporter.

If you can’t kick in monthly, that’s totally okay!

If you have the spare pennies and would like to, there are lots of fun things you can get starting at a toonie a month. With my first of the month snippet, I’m including writing-related essays now, and at higher levels there’s swag, signed books, and soon I’ll be doing behind the scenes looks at the writing of stories.

What’s Upcoming

Only confirmed thing atm is Ashford’s Ghost as a single release probably late fall, no ETA yet. All Patrons of Snark will be getting a long-ish Livi Christmas story about her first Christmas in the villa, set after Odin’s Spear, the first of December (that one I might offer on Payhip for 99c afterward).

Apr 08 2017

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

Hai, I need a less depressing post at the top of my blog feed, so here you go. Onward and upward and all that. Last SotU here if you like.

What’s Recently Released

Resist: A Zara Lain Short Story came out February 1 for my Patrons of Snark.

Contract killer and snarky vampire Zara Lain is hired to assassinate a certain politician with fascist tendencies, and brings her saber-tooth cat Rodney Ballsgalore along for the ride. What they find in the mysterious golden tower owned by their target is bodyguards who aren’t quite human and a monster not that easy to kill.

It is 6300 words of killing fascists and punching nazis. Literally. I’ll be putting it together as a chapbook later in the year for Patrons of Snark and perhaps as contest wins.

You can join Patreon for $2/month to get this and other stories.

Odin’s Spear, the second Livi book, came out on February 7 in ebook and paperback, and can be found everywhere books are sold.

Livi is trying to take a break from things after the events of Solomon’s Seal and a death in the family, but the world of artifact hunting isn’t quite done with her yet. Some off-the-books work for West leads her to an abandoned, underwater city in the Mediterranean in search of the spear of a god capable of starting war. (This is my favourite review of the book and sums it up nicely.)

What’s Upcoming

Remember last time I mentioned wanting to write something involving a haunting? Well, I finally did, and it ended up being a Livi novella. Set between Odin’s Spear and Zheng’s Tomb, Ashford’s Ghost involves Livi finding something’s not quite right about the new house. Isolated out in the country during a blizzard, she, Pru, West, and Laurel set out to uncover a mysterious presence in her home and put a stop to it before they’re all burned alive.

Four ways to read this one:

It’ll be serialized for ALL Patrons of Snark over about three months (four chapters a month).
It’ll be available in a duo anthology release with Dina James called Hauntings: Two Tales of the Paranormal, probably June-ish for $4.99.
It’ll be a single release in the fall for $2.99 (basically taking the place of Zheng’s Tomb, which won’t be ready yet).
You can contribute to the fundraiser Dina Needs Reinforcements–if you kick in $10 or more, you’ll get an e-ARC when it’s done.

The novella’s pretty long–about 38K words, and a bit more might end up added in revisions–so the single might be released in print as well in the fall.

What I’m Working On

Ugh.

I did really well with Zheng’s Tomb for a while, it’s over 24K (of 100K) and missing a couple of scenes that would bump it up some. So I’m saying over a quarter done.

But I hit a wall last night and I know what’s missing–the personal stakes for Livi, aka “The Livi” in a lot of ways–but I don’t quite have it yet. I’m trying to roll it around in my head and figure out what’s going to make it click–I might have to go back and write a few things from other POVs to get it. I haven’t decided whether to put it on hold for a bit or dump it into Scrivener and at least write out the various scenes I do know happen and stitch it together again (of course I did something similar with Odin’s Spear and my god Frankennovel was a headache to revise).

I may have to work on my next for-pay writing project for a bit while I sort out ZT. In the meantime, Livi is on life support and can use all the help she can get to find her audience. Word of mouth of any kind is appreciated.

Two of the things I wrote so far this year weren’t planned–Resist and Ashford’s Ghost–and I have a few novellas in progress I’ve never finished, so I’ll wait and see what else want to be written this year and hopefully have something in the summer. I also have an old romantic comedy zombie novel I’ve never done anything with that I might revise and serialize for Patrons of Snark, but ugh, I’m afraid I’ll get it out and be so horrified by this thing I wrote twelve years ago that I never recover.

Snow White Flee — This is exactly how it feels rereading old work.

Also, TWIN PEAKS IS COMING BACK NEXT MONTH! <3 <3 <3 <3 <3

Very few things make me happy. This definitely does.

So anyway: plz buy stuff and help Dina and I hope you dig the stuff you buy!

Jan 14 2017

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

What’s Upcoming

Only firm release at the moment is next month’s return to the world of Livi Talbot with Odin’s Spear:

ALL’S FAIR IN SIBLING RIVALRY AND WAR.

After nearly losing her family and her life, Olivia Talbot is trying to leave the world of artifact hunting behind. But an adrenaline junkie unsuited for a 9 to 5 job can’t hide herself forever, especially when deadly operative Dale West comes knocking with off-book work for his covert organization.

It’ll be “easy”, West says—just a trip to the museum. But a deranged former soldier is seeking to reunite the pieces of Gungnir—spear of the Norse god Odin—which is capable of starting war, and this job is much bigger than anyone has let on.

Followed by the dogged son of a tabloid mogul, competing with her archaeologist older brother, and still struggling to trust West against her better judgement, Livi will venture into an ancient underwater city in the Mediterranean to stop the dawn of a new war. But the spear of a god has plans for them all, and power not even she might be able to withstand.

More Livi! More Pru & Em! MORE WEST! Coming February 7!

The paperback is now available on Amazon as well, if that’s your thing (and you want to read it early). ARCs and snippets have gone out to Patrons of Snark. And now I wait and hope it’s received as well as the first was. There’s some heavy stuff in this one and should probably have a trigger warning, so…trigger warning!

This is the only firm date I have at the moment, but we’re just into 2017 now–more coming next update.

What I’m Working On

Um, not a whole lot, I’m afraid. For the last several months, volunteer commitments have taken up so much of my time and energy, writing has dropped to a trickle. It’s not something I can keep up, so I’m trying to re-prioritize writing, because while I make about as much as I do volunteering, at least it somewhat saves my sanity instead of destroys it.

I have a little bit of Livi #3 done and some of it worked out, and I’m kind of itching to write something standalone to share with my Patrons of Snark. Rewriting Wolfe is still on my plate for this year as well, although I haven’t formally scheduled time for it yet.

What I’m Reading

I thought this might be a nice new addition to my quarterly state of the union.

I just finished Josh Malerman’s A House at the Bottom of a Lake. I loved his debut Bird Box, and was eager to read this new novella. It had an almost Lynchian creepiness to many of the scenes, which I enjoyed. Probably not for everyone but I found it intriguing.

I’m trying to read The Graveyard Apartment by Mariko Koike at the moment but, translated from Japanese, the dialogue doesn’t read as natural and there are niggly craft things that pull me out (which, again, is probably chalked up to translation). I’ll keep picking at it but I have so little pleasure reading time given all the editing I do, I’m not sure how far I’ll get. As a result, I decided to pull out Christopher Fowler’s Nyctophobia to re-read.

As you can tell, I’m in the mood for horror–preferably haunted house related. Have any good recommendations? I think I might end up writing one.

If you haven’t read Solomon’s Seal, catch up before the second book drops! Available in print and ebook wherever books are sold.

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

What’s New

What’s Upcoming

What I’m Working On

Other News