Time for an Update

 It probably says everything in that I'm staring blankly at my blog title and literally nothing comes to mind. 

I mean, I can just cut to the chase: I'm not writing much at the moment. I'm not blocked or burnt out or ill or retired. But I'M JUST BUSY doesn't really explain it. 

But, for example, this is my upcoming week.  We currently have no running water--this is heading into week three--due to a burst pipe somewhere in the slab beneath our (probably) kitchen floor. Maybe--hopefully--the new contractors will get permission from our house insurance company to start work this week. Meanwhile, I'm trying to pack for a gig in Ventura this coming weekend--vocal exercises, a rehearsal, laundry--oh, wait, no running water--set lists, etc. I'm also trying to pack for GRL, because when we get back from the gig, I literally have one day to get ready for the flight to Virginia. So I'm packing books, digging out swag--in between emptying out my office and the kitchen cupboards--because when the contractors finally get the go ahead, they'll be rerouting the plumbing through the walls, which means cutting into the walls of a bunch of unrelated rooms. 

Much of yesterday was spent trying to get a COVID booster. Because...long plane flight, conference, and the fact I have low immunity due to working in a bubble, worries me. I didn't react well to Covid. I wasn't one of the lucky people--like the SO--who was down for a two days and then back to normal. I was sick for a month and then suffered all kinds of ridiculous after-effects. IT'S WHAT I DO. Apparently. Anyway,  Kaiser has NO appointments available locally, and even if they did, they don't have the Moderna vax. I'm considering paying the $240. to get the shot out of network, but now my window for recovering from the after-effects (because, yes, of course, I can't even get the damned booster without being laid low) has closed. I did get my flu shot yesterday, though, so yay.

This is a snapshot of how my year--particularly the summer--has gone. It's actually the third time we've been without running water for a prolonged period. It has been a year of sick dogs, sick house, sick parents... 

The sick parents thing. My mother can not remember conversations or events that happened even half an hour earlier.

This all sounds so dark and gloomy, but actually, it has also been a great summer in a lot of ways. I've spent a lot of wonderful, precious time with family and friends--I've reconnected with friends I hadn't spoken to in decades: my best friend when I was five-years-old, my college roommates. I'm working on a huge Storyworth project with/for my dad. I've started an Etsy store (LOL I know). 

And I am writing a bit. On Patreon I'm "rewriting" the Secrets and Scrabble series from Jack's POV. Which is to say, I'm doing codas from Jack's POV covering all the encounters between Jack and Ellery in the books. Despite what that might sound like, it's actually a useful creative exercise because it's refreshing my memory of the series and the characters before I attempt to finish Corpse at Captain's Seat. 

I can't make any guarantees, but I would like to be able to finish that eighth book before the end of the year. It's a challenge because not long after I get back from GRL, my dear chum (I love that word) is coming for a week-ish and then we'll be into the holidays and then more holidays and birthdays and then it all starts again. 

Which is why when I try to think of what to say in an update, I'm not sure where to begin. 

Well, I could talk about translations--so many translations this year, which has been fantastic and a large part of what's kept us afloat financially--but, despite the strong start in the spring, the latter part of the year has not seen any fresh fiction from me. I can't tell you how much I'm looking forward to finally having a stretch of time to simply write. In theory that time begins when I get home from GRL. In practice? 

Time will tell.

Lemme Tell You a Liddle Story...

 

When my sisters and I were growing up, that was one of our favorite routines when we had some long, convoluted story to relate. This announcement was always accomplished by mis-propping our chin on our hand--accompanied by elbow sliding off the edge of the table...

{You know, coz we were pretending to be drunk. Which apparently was sidesplitting stuff back in the day. (What can I say? We had a goldmine of drunk Scottish and Irish relatives to pan for material.) ;-D }

Enywhoooo. I may have bitten off more than I can chew this month, but I'm going to aprise you of the current schemes simply because it's been a while since I had an update.

There's just a lot going on right now, and I'm working around it as best I can. Please notice the lack of any firm release dates.

So I'm back to work on Lament at Loon Landing (Secrets and Scrabble 6). This is the priority project. 

I'm also doing a chapter a week of Puzzle for Two on Patreon. The novel is now half-complete, so there's one for the win column.

AND because I may be writing slowly but (or maybe because) I'm going through a super-creative phase, I signed up for NaNoWriMo this year to kickstart a novella called 44.1644° North. The goal is set at 50,000 but that's way more than I'd need. This will be 35,000 words at most. Tense and tight. That's the goal.

Basically, the writing is going very well, but also it's going very slowly. 

The Movie-Town Murders is due out in audio any day now. Death at the Deep Dive is supposed to be out in December, but... We'll see. Even if it's completed in December, the backlog at ACX will be horrendous. 

Hide and Seek is now available in ebook, print and audio. It's a nice little Christmassy one.

Speaking of the holidays.

I'm not sure if I'll be doing the Advent Calendar this year or not. I'd like to, but it's is a LOT of work. And although the page views remain high, the engagement is low. So is it worth it? I don't know. 

Okay. Here's a big one.

Despite my very best efforts, I just cannot come up with an affordable print edition of Fatal Shadows: The Collector's Edition. I really did try, but the best I could manage was a paperback edition that still costs $49.99. That's... Ouch. For a lot of readers that's still prohibitive. 

(OH! It's on sale right now for $33.96 at Amazon. That's the lowest I've seen it--and Amazon seems to have set that price. I have no idea how long that might last.)

Anyway, it's not very fair to have a collector's edition that a large percentage of Adrien and Jake's most devoted fans can't even afford. So I'm going to try and do it as an ebook for the holidays. I say TRY because I'm going to have to format it, and that is a very intimidating idea. UGH. But I will try. It might have to go up without the artwork? I don't know. I'll do the best I can. We all remember what happened when I tried to format the newspaper article for Slay Ride...

How the heck can it already be November? This was such an action-packed year, and yet it passed in a blip. I mean, it was a good year. It felt like a peace and prosperity year--possibly the last we'll enjoy for some time, if the elections go the way I fear. But let that go for now. 

That's it for the updates. Still here. Still writing. Still doing the things. I hope you're doing well! 

 

  

It was twenty years ago today, Sargent Pepper taught the band to play...

 

Okay, no, it was last year, and I sincerely wish Sargent Pepper had been there in time. 

Anyway, what a difference a year makes. Last Memorial Day was the weekend everything started to go off the rails, and it went downhill from there. But the good news is this year we have running water, air conditioning, no sick doggies...no drama and no trauma. Yes the people in the house of doom did nearly start another backyard fire with their barbecue, but this time one of their guests saved the day. I just can't...

DID I MENTION I ACCIDENTLY DELETED MY MAILING LIST?

I mean, it wasn't totally by accident. I detest Mailchimp and pressing that DIE, DIE, DIE button was SO (momentarily) satisfying. And I did preserve all the names and emails of my little bitty list. I just haven't had time to do anything with them. YET. Obviously, I'm going to fix that. 

So the good news is The Movie-Town Murders (Art of Murder 5) is out and available.

THAT DIDN'T TAKE SO LONG, DID IT?

Ouch.

And Hide and Seek is just about complete. This month for sure.

But given the fact that I now write five words a day (KIDDING, though there are days it feels like it) I had to remove Lament at Loon Landing as a preorder on Amazon. I can't write a book in two weeks. Yes. there are them what can and yay for them. I need more time. 

Plus, I haven't had massage/physical therapy in over two years and, no surprise, my achy-breaky wrists are feeling it big time. So I'm aiming for the end of June for Lament at Loon Landing. Basically, we're looking at two weeks longer than originally planned? Fingers crossed.

From that point on, I might actually be able to stay on schedule. I mean, stranger things have happened.

There is a LOT of catch up needed on a LOT of things, but at least I'm writing again every day and the books are coming, slowwwwwwly but surely. 

More news to follow. ;-)

A Whole New World

 

Okay, probably not. 

But at least a world we're better prepared for. ;-) 

I've gotten a lot of worried emails and messages over the "cancellation" of The Movie-Town Murders on Amazon, so let me reassure you, the book is NOT cancelled. I'm working on it right now. Or at least, yes, it's cancelled on Amazon, but the book is still coming out! I'm aiming for the end of February.

So, if you preordered anywhere other than Amazon, your order is still right where you left it. (And you got it at a discounted price too, so good for you!) If you preordered through Amazon, you'll have to purchase the book when it goes live. That's all. 

What else is planned for 2022?

Well, let's talk about that.

I'm feeling creative and energetic and even optimistic again, which is promising. More than that. It's a huge, HUGE relief. When you make your living from your creative output, burnout isn't an inconvenience, it's a catastrophe. I've struggled with burnout before, but never like this, and yes, there were extenuating circumstances that would surely never repeat themselves, but still. I can't risk anything like last year ever happening again. 

So I'm going to try something new, and keep everything as loose and flexible as possible. As of right now everything looks good. I've tried to make sure there's plenty of room between projects. I'm not going to list any additional preorders, because I don't want another scheduling trainwreck like last year. But just because something isn't listed on Amazon, doesn't mean it's not going to happen. 

That said, I do plan on a much slower schedule this year. 

Which doesn't necessarily mean fewer projects. It means more time between projects. 

I do want to point out, though, that even with all the disasters and delays of last year, it was still my most productive year in the last five or so. I put out four novels! That's not bad. 

I just have to be more realistic about how much I can do in a year. I have to stop planning based on the best case scenario, and schedule for the worst case scenario. And, maybe even most importantly,  I have to stop thinking out loud when I'm dreaming of the books I want to write. 

Right now, I'm not looking beyond next summer. If I can get through the next six months and stay on schedule and still feel creative and energetic and optimistic, well, there are plenty of possibilities for the fall. But fewer promises mean fewer disappointments. For everyone.

So that's where we are! I hope you're also looking forward to 2022 and making plans that will help you turn your dreams into reality. The last twelve months were tough. Here's to turning the page.

Earworm free of charge. ;-) 

The Dog Days of Summer

 

Currently it's 99° and headed for another day in the triple digits. It's been like this for an entire week, and I think I speak for everyone is this household when I say UGH. 

We woke to the sound of patio lights falling and the backyard umbrella crashing down when a sudden windstorm ripped through the yard...and then disappeared. Next, our neighbors' German shepherd puppy escaped and was on the lam, so we helped chase him down. (The SO used Marlowe as bait to lure the runaway back). Now all is quiet. Dead still, in fact. Hot and humid and still. I'm settling down to work, my faithful doggie companions curled up in the giant comfy chair with me (it is a bit warm for curling up together, but they don't seem to mind).

I don't know how people can say dogs don't dream. Spenser's tail is wagging as he sleeps. Marlowe's little muzzle is twitching and wrinkling like he's telling Cowboy what he thinks of him for running away. They are most definitely dreaming--and not about the same things.

Body at Buccaneer Bay is off to a slow start. There's just a lot going on right now (not that that's anything new) and I'm trying not to fall too far behind on all the other stuff that has to happen in addition to writing. I can't wait for next year when I've got eight weeks between projects and can actually have something close to a normal working life. Anyway, I've made most of the adjustments to this year's schedule now (The 12.2-Per-Cent Solution still has to be pushed back to the end of July at Amazon, but other than that, I think everything is now looking pretty solid--barring the next disaster.)

IT IS A WEIRD SUMMER. Am I right? Even as we climb out of the pandemic--not that we're out yet, but I do feel we're getting there--everything still feels...unfamiliar and precarious. Maybe it was always unfamiliar and precarious, and I'm only now noticing? 

ENYWHOOOOOOOOOOOOOO.

Things I'm working on this month:

Exclusive audio for Patreon. Which I'll talk about on Patreon. ;-) 

But speaking of audio, I set up my own audio storefront at Findaway Voices. To celebrate, I've knocked everything down about 50% for the month of June. Now, not all my audio books are in my storefront, but some thing are in my storefront that are not--and will never--be at Audible. AND now I'm thinking maybe I'll create more collections that are unique to my storefront and maybe a couple of other channels not including Audible. It's an idea. It might not be a good one. We'll see.

I joined the Alliance of Independent Authors as an Authorpreneur (you have to be able to prove you earn a living at your writing by showing that you sell a minimum of 50,000 units over 24 months--or whatever the page read equivalent of that is) Basically, I was looking for a discount coupon at IngramSpark, but as I read about the benefits and goals of ALLI, I realized this was an organization worth supporting. If you're an indie author, I think you might want to check it out!

I'm going through contracts and setting up accounts at various mobile publishing platforms. I'm really fascinated by mobile publishing--which is kind of a cross between Candy Crush and Netflix. On the one hand, it seems like the least efficient way to buy books. On the other hand, I play Candy Crush, so...I get it.  Right now, I'm just uploading backlist stories. And of course, that's not really the most effective way to write for these platforms, but the thing is, I'm just looking for another passive income stream. I ALREADY make a living at my writing, and as we all know, I'm not great at having to produce under super-stressful deadlines. 

There's surprisingly little insight or info about the Asian market--even though it dominates this industry--but I did find an interesting article here. What is really fascinating is that the fiction app readership is NOT your "normal" book buying audience. It is sure as hell not a KU audience given that readers could ultimately pay three times what a book would fetch on one of the mainstream book-selling platforms. Which is why I wonder how successful Amazon will be with Vella. Readers go to Amazon to buy books at the lowest possible prices. I understand why Amazon wants a slice of this particular pie though.

Always things to consider and explore in this brave new world of publishing. 

Are you doing anything special for Father's Day? I bought my dad something called Storyworth. And then I thought it was such a cool idea, that I also bought it for the SO on behalf of my step-kids. Essentially, it's a book made up of photos and reminiscences. I can't think of a better gift for my dad or the SO given that they are both writers AND big time reminiscencers. ;-D 

Anyway, that's my weekly update. 

Just a reminder that Body at Buccaneer Bay will be out toward the end of July. If you've already preordered, thank you so much.