Aaaaaaaand we're off!!!

 

Hm. Maybe I should have added AND RUNNING! :-D 

But yes, it's a whole new year, a whole new world, and I am feeling alarmingly hopeful. 

But seriously, I do feel different. Of course part of that is the clear mandate of both the presidential election and the Georgia runoff. Part of it is (and this is kind of sad) I'm just getting used to living in a pandemic and a country teetering on the brink of slipping into Fascism. 

Hey. So it's true. You really CAN get used to anything.

I have a lot planned for this year. And I'll be the first to admit that I may (as is my wont) be overly optimistic about what I can achieve in these twelve tiny months. I'm not immune to what happens in the world around me. Like most of the country--most of the world--I was glued to my television set last week while we watched insurrection happening in real time. Needless to say, not a lot of writing happened. Impeachment? Another distraction. Necessary, sure. But not good for the creative process.

So I'm excited and energized and I'm setting stretch goals for myself. Which means I might be shooting for the moon. We'll see. 

YES, I REGRET SETTING UP ALL THOSE PREORDERS. BUT THEY'RE UP AND THERE'S NO GOING BACK. OKAY? I KNOW. I ALREADY KNOW.

So first up is Mystery at the Masquerade. Why the switcheroo with BB&S? I felt I needed something easy and light to begin with. I mean, I haven't really written--other than managing to complete one little short story--in almost a year (ten months) so I felt like I needed an easy win before I tackled Bell, Book and Scandal. 

If I can hit both of those targets, I'll feel a lot more confident of tackling the rest of the year. If I slip on either of those, well, I still might pull manage to pull off most of the year, but it's going to be more slippery, more fraught with peril. 

Usually at this point I'd list what I have in mind for the year, but like I said, I'm optimistic but also cautious. The last couple of years have been BRUTAL on my productivity and ability to hit deadlines. So we'll see. 

Take this list as more of a My Publishing Hopes and Dreams than my hard and fast schedule for the year. 

Mystery at the Masquerade

Bell, Book and Scandal

Scandal at the Salty Dog

Body at Buccaneer Bay

The 12.2% Per-Cent Solution

Murder is Served

The Movie-Town Murders

Mr. and Mrs. Murder 

Anyway, that's it. That's the plan. Let's hope life cooperates this year. 

 

Halfway Home

As we're halfway through the year -- my second year back from sabbatical -- I thought this might be a good time to take stock. There is good news and bad news here, depending on what you like to read and what you were hoping to see from me in the future.

I keep reading bizarro comments about how I've barely been writing since sabbatical, but actually I think my output is pretty much back to normal.


Written on or since sabbatical:


Green Glass Beads (this was actually completed at the point of my most extreme point of burn-out, when I could not bear to write, could not stand to even think of writing -- yet no one seemed to see this in the work, so maybe it WAS all in my head)
Perfect Day
Blood Red Butterfly
I Spy Something Christmas
Haunted Heart: Winter
In Plain Sight
The Parting Glass
Kick Start
Merry Christmas, Darling (Christmas Codas - various)
Stranger Things Have Happened: AE CYOA
Stranger on the Shore
Everything I Know

That's everything, I think.

Okay, well, I guess it looks like I'm writing less in general -- partly because I'm trying to stick to my sabbatical-conceived rule of taking enough time off and keeping the creative well filled. (Oh, and getting exercise.) And of course, I did always mostly write novellas, but I always did short stories too, and the sole post-sabbatical novel is longer than most of my other novels -- and there will be two more full-length novels this year -- so I think my output is back to normal. It's more a matter of smoothing out the production schedule now that I have so many other things to deal with.

Maybe I'm experimenting more? Yes, probably. With formats (the CYOA book) and content (Blood Red Butterfly). Some experiments are more successful than others, but everything has earned out. So far, so good. That said, experiments are kind of tricky because while we all, as readers, pride ourselves on being open and even eager for creative experiments, the truth is...are we? Of course not! What addict wants a supplier experimenting and getting creative with their fix? What we readers really want is for our favorite author to keep writing our favorite book, only make it somehow new in this version. In other words...can you somehow up the dosage?
 
And the answer is no.

But then again, I've always experimented with genre, theme, format. A Vintage Affair was certainly experimental. The White Knight. The Petit Morts. I like to try different things.

So maybe it's just back to status quo? Only now I'm a lot more relaxed? I'm having more fun?

I can see from the enthusiastic response to Stranger on the Shore that readers want more novels and they want those novels to be classic mystery novels. Which works for me. It's what I most enjoy too. I just have to time everything more carefully than I did this year. Six months between releases and then a flood of everything coming out in the final six months of the year is not ideal. Yes, I did notice that!

So taking a look at the remainder of 2014 and what I had initially hoped to do, I think realistically I'm cutting everything in favor of the two remaining novels.

Fair Play
Boy with the Painful Tattoo

Fair Play is November. BWTPT will likely be September/October. (And yes, it is half-written now, so it is really happening.)

Those are the two releases you can rely on for this year. Everything -- if there is anything -- else is bonus. And that leaves...a lot of very disappointed readers, I know. I'm not happy about that either.

So the newly revised Coming But I'm Not Giving an Actual Date list is:

Winter Kill
Ill Met by Moonlight
Slay Ride
Bite Club
The Mermaid Murders
Shadow on the Sun
Blind Side

These are things I know will be written. But I'm not giving dates. That just makes us all crazy.

There are other projects that I want to do -- the sequel to The Ghost Wore Yellow Socks (oddly turning out to be my most translated title) a number of holiday stories, etc. One thing post-sabbatical is I have so many ideas, and there really is not going to be enough time to write them all. And, in honesty, probably they all aren't worth writing anyway. Not every idea is strong enough to carry a coherent story.

And some of the ideas -- like the short story about a guy who is recovering from a stroke and is haunted by a ghost and ends up dying...I'm going to guess you probably wouldn't be too terribly thrilled with (genuinely creepy though it is).

Anyway, moving forward I'm going to try not to officially announce anything I'm not absolutely positive will be completed within eighteen months. I think that's less wear and tear on all of us. One project a year will be through a publisher and the rest will be through my own publishing imprint.

So that's where we are!  What do you think?

Down to Earth

It has been a crazy ass month.

Last night I was saying to the SO that I’d had a confused and unfocused day, and as I was standing fretting and fuming (and he was ignoring me as he lovingly basted the lamb we were having for dinner), it suddenly dawned on me how very few unproductive days I have now.

It is a rare day that I don’t get a ton of stuff done, including some writing. I think that’s one of the big changes post sabbatical. I work much more effectively now. I think overall my habits are healthier -- I had deep tissue massage yesterday, I worked in the garden twice this week, and I almost always sign off the computer by seven o’clock at night. I’m not saying I’m a contender for the Healthy Living Award of 2014 -- I don’t begin to get enough exercise -- but I feel pretty stable in mind and body.

And when I start to stress, I try to remember to step outside. The garden is starting to take shape and in another week or so the pool will be up and I will be swimming again. The chimes are back in the trees, the hummingbird feeders are full (and well-attended by buzzy guests), the newly potted plants seem to be taking root. All is well in the garden.

And when all is well in the garden, all is usually well with me.

Anyway, this is where we are heading toward the end of April. I’ve got the rough draft of Everything I Know done and I’m about to start the edits. I’m probably going to do something very short and sweet to follow that up because it’s a bit angsty. So I’ll finish the rough on Slay Ride, but then I think we’ll let that sit a bit while I -- YES, FINALLY -- get back to work on Boy With the Painful Tattoo. I have to get moving because it’s close to time to start Fair Play, the sequel to Fair Game.

And, if you were on my Facebook page yesterday, you saw my excitement at the news that Fair Game is going to be available in trade paperback for a limited time starting June 2^nd. Carina Press is experimenting to see what demand there is for print in this genre, and I am one of a group of test authors. A lot of people have been asking for this book in print for a long time, so this is your opportunity. I’ll remind you again when we’re closer to the date.

In audio Don’t Look Back will be the next title up. It’s narrated by Graham Halstead for Brick Shop Audio.  It’s one of those stories that seems to slip through the cracks. I know I hadn’t thought about since it was originally published, so I was pleasantly surprised at what a tightly-written little suspenser it is. It is also a bit heavier on erotic content than some of mine, so WEAR YOUR HEADPHONES if the windows are open.

On May 5^th we have the long-anticipated (by me) release of Stranger on the Shore.  It sounds like on the 3^rd and 4^th we’ll be hosting a little launch party on my Facebook fan page. I can’t seem to stop those crazy Fanyons from throwing celebrations. I did tell them we could just do something quiet at home that week, and they tell me that’s what they’ve got planned, but I saw the list of prizes and games, so…I’m standing clear and letting them do what they do so very well. I know when to shut up and be grateful.

And speaking of gratitude, I would like to thank those of you who’ve pre-ordered Stranger on the Shore already. If you don’t want to order through Amazon, you can preorder through Kobo, Barnes and Noble, and maybe even iBooks. Heck, you could even just wait till the book comes out.

So that’s April. Yes, we are already up to April. Can you believe it? Are you making time for sunlight, fresh air, and the good earth?