Skyla Dawn Cameron

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

You are here: Home / Archives for update

By 1 Comment

The Book Is DED

Once again, our heroine is victorious, wounded but the one left standing. I wanted Livi #3 done by the end of the month, and by god, I did it.

Physically and mentally, I am completely exhausted. I know some writers get this and some writers don’t, but the feeling is difficult to describe to non-writers.

First of all, the last ten thousand words or so were non-stop action–I am physically tired from the constant running and fighting and running some more. When the survivors got out of the tomb last night, before the book was done, I literally dropped to the floor and lay on the carpet from exhaustion, my heart pounding. (This was a REALLY EXCITING DEVELOPMENT for the cats.)

Second, my brain feels like swiss cheese. Literally, I think if you did an MRI right now, you’d find holes in my brain, little dark spots where the story came out. I can feel them there. All I want are carbs. Pasta, bread, fries, chips. I always stuff those holes with starch and let them repair for a few days.

The rest of me is all raw nerves. I’m a little jittery, sensitive to light and noise, and after humanning today, I went to my bedroom where it was dark (no windows) and my entire body sighed with relief. The changed in me, physically, mentally, and emotionally during the final lunge toward completion are literal and palpable to people around me, particularly with Livi books given how physical they are for the character.

I need at least a few days to repair and recover before I’m myself again; this weekend is for celebratory booze and carbs and working on the gothic romance.

Revision is going to be…rough. I’m taking a few weeks to step back, then I’ll begin the process of trying to sew Livi #3 into something presentable for readers. Then I’ll find out from the beta if I succeeded. I’ve kindly asked Lili to help me with the cover copy. Because it’s going to need very heavy revision, I’m not setting a release date. Best care scenario, late February to fit when it takes place in the book; otherwise I’m hoping for April or so? I am so grateful for reader patience between releases; before I got sick, I probably could’ve kept up with two books a year, but a lot has changed since 2014. Stress could make me sick again, and it’s more important to me to get these books right than whip them off in a couple of months. I promise, no matter what, Livi #3 will be the best goddamn book it can be.

In the meantime, a reminder that Ashford’s Ghost–Livi #2.5–will be a single release in a few months, a Livi Christmas short still will be available in December, and if you have the pennies to chip in on Patreon, folks at $10+ get a monthly dose of West.

For now…for now, I rest and will rise again soon.

By Leave a Comment

“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.

Kindle US | Kindle UK | Kindle CA | Kobo | Nook | iBookstore | Smashwords | GooglePlay | Payhip| Print

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).

By Leave a Comment

More West on Patreon

Irrelevant to anything here, but I’ve been having fun with Inspirobot.

On Patreon for over two years (!) now, I’ve offered monthly excerpts, exclusive stories, and other goodies to my patrons on the first of every month. Two years have given me a chance to tweak things and experiment, and figure out what’s doable for offerings and what readers might like.

One thing I’ve struggled with is the second monthly update for the $10 and up people–there are signed print books, tuckerization, swag, ARCs, but what’s given me pause is trying to find another snippet when I’m having a bad month. Livi #3 has been giving me all manner of trouble, and I think nearly everything is terrible and will require extensive rewriting if not being trashed completely. And I don’t really want to share excerpts I’m not proud of and will likely cut.

So what to do?

Well, for fun this week, I’ve been writing bits of Ashford’s Ghost from West’s POV, because there’s a lot he knows that he won’t tell me until I’m in his head, and it’s usually information useful for other books. I did the same with Solomon’s Seal–I got about 12K into it, and it revealed some things I needed to know for the final truth Livi discovers from him in the epilogue for Odin’s Spear.

The trouble there is that his POV tends to be very spoilerish for future books since, well, he always knows more than Livi and the reader does about damn near everything. These are fun writing exercises for me and a couple of friends who read them, but not really stuff I can publish.

But what about Patreon, right?

When I can steal an hour here and there, I’ve been knocking away at little Patreon changes, and one of the things I’m introducing for $10+ people is the West Is Best Club. Instead of a random monthly excerpt, it’ll be West POV stuff (with everyone sworn to secrecy).

I’m starting with his prequel novella Tiger’s Memory, which I wrote early 2013 after I was done Solomon’s Seal. As it stands, it’s kind of a mess–it needs a structural overhaul, more fleshing out with additional scenes, and some pacing fixes as I’d just written a collection of scenes to give me background. A couple of friends have read it and always loved it, but it’s very spoilery for later things so I’ve just held onto it.

It was one of the last new things Aunt Judy read, though–the below tweet is in reference to it–and as she was my very first patron, I think she’d be happy if it was made available.

So…I’ll be serializing Tiger’s Memory for my mid-month updates. I’ll be rewriting chapters and adding new ones, but I’ll aim for a roughly regular posting schedule. When the novella is complete, I’ll have other West POV stories and scenes. As something new, at the $15+ level I’m going to try for chapter commentaries–audio or maybe video–as a behind the scenes look, probably interrupted by me yelling at cats.

This doesn’t change anything with regular Patrons of Snark–everyone still gets story excerpts, serialized chapters, and exclusive goodies the first of every month like always. This is just the new extra thing I’m offering.

I’m…I’m actually excited! Writing lately has involved plucking each word from my brain with tweezers and I’ve hated every moment, but spending time with my favourite manipulative feline has me giddily anticipating writing time. It’ll hopefully help me relax and I think ultimately help Livi #3 be written.

I don’t have a formal blurb for Tiger’s Memory, except to say it’s about West’s first major assignment and his first girlfriend, and how it ends very, very badly on both counts.

Up next on the blog: Sunday the soundtrack for Ashford’s Ghost will go live, Tuesday Ashford’s Ghost releases in Hauntings, and sometime next month a formal state of the union. I’ve got two big freelance projects eating up next week, then it’s all West all the time. <3

You’re welcome.

By Leave a Comment

“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.)

If you don’t have a copy yet, you can get it one of these places: Kindle US | Kindle UK | Kindle CA | Kobo | Nook | iBookstore | Smashwords | Payhip | Print

 

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:

  1. It’ll be serialized for ALL Patrons of Snark over about three months (four chapters a month).
  2. 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.
  3. 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).
  4. 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!

By Leave a Comment

Wherein Livi Talbot’s on Life Support

Nov 21 Update: the series has been cancelled prematurely.

So titled because of this post. Hey, I like carrying a rough metaphor through, okay?

If you’ll indulge me for a moment, there are some things I have to get off my chest, and it may be lengthy and something I regret, but this is my page so, well, here we go–whatever, I do what I want.

[Read more…]

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.

read more

Become a Patron!

Socials

What I’m Working On:

Writing Waverly 8 and revising Waverly 4.