May you always have more reasons to be grateful for than you can remember.
Thursday, November 24, 2022
Sunday, November 20, 2022
Fatal Shadows: The Collector's Editon NOW IN DIGITAL!
Yes, Virginia, thanks to the gracious and timely intervention of Deb McGowan (a talented writer in her own right) at Inroad Publishing, there is a Santa Claus. Well, there is, but actually, I was going to say there is now a beautifully formatted epub version of FATAL SHADOWS: THE COLLECTOR'S EDITION.
It's up for preorder most places excepting Amazon, and it will be going live December 16th (on Amazon as well as everywhere else).
I CAN'T BEGIN TO TELL YOU WHAT A RELIEF THAT IS.
Anyway, while I continue to struggle with the concept of a collector's edition that can't actually be collected, I struggled more with the idea that a whole heck of a lot of Adrien English fans couldn't afford the collector's edition.
In short, another one gets checked off the list.
Also, I'm going to go ahead and do the Advent Calendar this year, so if anyone has any contributions, send 'em on over. I don't know for sure there will be codas from me. I hope there will be, but Lament at Loon Landing HAS to be done this year. I've already lost nearly a full week of writing due to prepping for Thanksgiving. Why do I always imagine I'm going to be able to write during a week spent doing everything from rushing to get the last fall plants in the ground to polishing silver? How does dinner for twelve turn into a marathon of what amounts to gathering nuts for the winter.
(Er, I don't mean my family are nuts. They are, but that's not my point.)
I'm sure there's other news, but that's plenty for now. I still have strings of outdoor lights to untangle, a lost birthday present to track down from Amazon, three rose bushes and one hawthorne plant to transplant, Advent Calendar posts to write... And hopefully another couple of chapters to write...
Saturday, November 5, 2022
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.
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!
Monday, October 31, 2022
Sam and Jason something
hahahahahahahahahahaha.
Oh my gosh.
So this was a spot I was holding for a little Sam and Jason...not exactly a coda and not exactly for Halloween. But a little something with Jason and Sam.
I got the idea from my friend Steve Leonard. It's called THE RETURN and it starts thusly:
“I can’t believe you thought I was dead.”
Ethan was laughing, but there was that slightly defensive
note in his voice that Sam remembered. His light, restless gaze avoided Sam’s,
and Sam remembered that too.
“Hell, yes, I thought you were dead.” Sam did not want to
recall the horror of the thing in that shallow grave. The thing that had been
wearing the tattered rags of Ethan’s red plaid shirt and rotted jeans with the
smear of viridian on what remained of the frayed hem.
If not, Ethan? Who? Who had been buried in that grave
wearing Ethan’s clothes?
“And that you’d tell my dad!”
Sam’s attention jerked back to Ethan. “Why wouldn’t you
tell him if you were still alive?”
“If I was still alive?” Ethan gaped.
Yeah, he was right. That was a strange thing to say. This was
Ethan. So why was he resisting the idea? Why didn’t he want to accept what was
right in front of him? This was more than a relief, so much more than good news.
This bordered on miraculous.
So why that unsteady but persistent flicker of unease?
Would he have known him if he’d passed him in the street?
Yes.
He’d have known Ethan anywhere.
Sure, he had changed. He was older. Mature. A man. There
were little flecks of gray in his unruly eyebrows, same as his father. Silver
threads in his soft, dark hair. He still wore it the same: soft waves springing
up from his forehead. He was thin. There were crow’s feet around his blue eyes;
his fine boned face had a weathered look, and it wasn’t all from painting
outdoors in hard sunlight.
Needless to say, I forgot all about holding a space on my blog for it!
It's not quite done. I'll share it here next Halloween. ;-)
Sorry for the confusion.
Friday, October 21, 2022
New(ish) Release: HIDE AND SEEK
For museum curator Andrew Allison, the sleepy little Maine village of Safehaven has always lived up to its name—until now. Fleeing an abusive relationship, Andy has returned to Safehaven for a few weeks while he figures out the future and helps his elderly Uncle Cuthbert run his antiques shop. But when Andy arrives, he learns Uncle Cuthbert is in the hospital, critically injured, the victim of a late-night break-in.
Worse, one of the first messages on the shop’s answering
machine is from Marcus, Andy’s ex, demanding to know Andy’s whereabouts.
Nor does the bad news stop there. It seems whoever broke
into Time in a Bottle is still looking for that mysterious whatever. Something
they didn’t find the first time. Something they now believe Andy has.
Something worth killing for?
The good news is former bad boy Quinn Rafferty, Andy’s high
school crush, is back in town and interested in renewing their acquaintanceship.
Quinn is not a man to run from things that go bump in the
night, be they mysterious midnight prowlers or a relationship-shy,
fish-out-of-water museum curator.
But Quinn has a few secrets of his own…
Friday, September 30, 2022
Spec Fiction Author SETH HADDON on Writing REFORGED
It's been a long time since I was genuinely excited about the release of a spec fiction novel. I can count my all-time favorite spec fiction writers on two hands--and Ginn Hale takes up one of those hands. :-D But from the minute I read the description of Seth Haddon's Reforged, I was hooked. And that was even before I saw the gorgeous cover art!
Granted, the book is coming out from Blind Eye Books, so you KNOW it's going to be good. Anyway, when BEB editor extraordinaire Nicole Kimberling asked if I'd like to host Seth on my blog during his launch week, I said, "You know it, milady!"
Okay, no. I didn't say that. But I was delighted.
Anyway, here's the blurb for Reforged:
Since time immemorial the warriors of the Paladin Order have harnessed arcane powers to protect their rulers. For Balen, who has given up his chance at love and fought his way to the top of the Paladin Order, there can be no greater honor than to serve his king. But when assassins annihilate the royal family, Balen suddenly finds himself sworn to serve the very man he abandoned.
Now with their nation threatened by enemies both within and outside the kingdom, Balen must fight hidden traitors and unnatural assassins, while also contending with the biting wit and dangerous charm of young King Zavrius. To save themselves and their nation they will have to put aside their past and reforge that trust they lost so long ago.
Available October 4th
AND here's Seth himself on learning that magic known as PLOTTING.
Why Writing My Debut Novel
Turned Me Off Pantsing
Seth Haddon
Anyone who knows me knows I am really driven
by aesthetics and vibes.
Sadly, these are not enough to write a
novel. But that never stopped me from trying.
All of my writing is inspired by a scene or
aesthetic before I get to any plotting. For Reforged,
there were two images that kickstarted the story. The first was an image of
the Maximilian I gauntlets–these beautifully articulated gauntlets on a red
velvet cushion–and the second was an Edward Light lute-harp from 1815. My
initial pitch centered on magical armor and a tournament to be the king’s
protector. But anything resembling a solid plot was non-existent.
I was still only working part time, so I had
the leisure of a few days a week to formulate something plot-wise. I spent a
lot of time walking down at the piers trying to conjure ideas. This wasn’t
really like me–I had always pantsed my way through a plot before. But I knew I
needed something solid here. Why? Reforged
was initially pitched as a 20k word novella.
Short form writing is a whole other ball
game. Before Reforged, I’d written a
necromancer manuscript, and then edited it, and edited it some more. It was
100k, then 112k, and at one point it had ballooned to 150k. I tried pitching it
to agents, but all my full requests fell through.
I realise now the result of my edits and
credits was this amalgamated mess of a novel that is still sitting on my shelf waiting
to be rewritten. But in the moment, it was really all I’d known. I wrote what
came to me in the moment.
So knowing I’d have to contain my usual
rambling self to 20k words, I researched and poked around the internet until I
found a good spreadsheet template to flesh out. I had one that tracked the
words in every scene, and I was determined to keep it under the word limit.
As you might have guessed, I failed. The
first chapter of Reforged was 6k, and
I’d barely gotten through the first two scenes. A novella wasn’t happening, but
a tightly plotted story could be. But if I’m going to be honest, that didn’t
happen either.
When I say I was turned off pantsing, I’m
not saying I completely ignored flexibility and stuck to a rigid plot. I really
don’t believe adaptability is something to be ignored. There’s great value in
letting go of a rigid structure when the story wants to change. And that is
what ended up happening in Reforged.
I was consistently getting feedback from
Blind Eye Book’s editor, Nicole Kimberling. That meant, on a weekly basis, I
was having plot holes and inconsistencies pointed out to me. Things were pushed
in different directions. Some of the scenes I’d initially imagined never came
to fruition. Half of that was because the characters were very different from
how I’d first envisioned them. Zavrius in particular was less villainous, and
far more witty. He really had a mind of his own half the time.
The point here is that a properly rigid plot
structure was impossible. But so was pantsing. By the end of Reforged, I felt I had a firm grasp on
what novel writing should be. I’d still consider vibes and aesthetics a crucial
part of the process, but I’m no longer willing to rely on them and nothing more
solid. In order for the
novel to have a truly meaningful climax, all elements of it have to build in
some specific direction. For me, a balanced pace wasn’t possible without clear
markers, which were achievable with a more structured plot.
But every
writer has a different way of working, and if you can do all that with only
vibes and aesthetics, I take my hat off to you!
That’s all
from me! Feel free to reach out with your thoughts on this!
Sunday, September 25, 2022
The Mystery of Hallmark's Movies and Mysteries Programming
I was trying to figure out what in the blue blazes happened to Hallmark Movies and Mysteries handsdown best series Mystery 101, when I stumbled on this little gem of an article at Giant Freaking Robot wherein I learned that Hallmark is locked in mortal combat with something called Great American Media.
Just the name alone, right? CLUE.
You can read the article for the full details, but one little nugget I gleaned is that some blame Hallmark's struggles for audience share on all that wild and crazy diversity Hallmark is shoving down everyone's throats.
Which... HUH? I guess they mean there are a couple of shows with African American leads and a couple of holiday movies with...GULP...g-g-gay people?
For example, Bill Abbott, the departing CEO of Crown Media Family (which owns the Hallmark Channel) AND an outspoken opponent of "diversity and inclusion initiatives," shared his concern that they (diversity and inclusion???) will change the tone of a channel where once, viewers could expect light-hearted fun without having to consider “dark situations, violence, sexual situations, things that just…create anxiety," says Abbott. His goals for Great American Media involve the integrity of its stars and heartwarming stories.
Take a moment to unpack all that and then consider the quaint notion that gay people are somehow not compatible with Faith, Family, and Country or lighthearted fun and heartwarming content.
For HEAVEN'S SAKE. And I do mean that literally. What is the MATTER with you weirdos?
Why on earth would stories about LGBTQ people have to be dark, violent and sexual? Do you think maybe you're projecting a wee bit?
But I'm not even going to try and tackle that level of insanity. Instead, I'm going to point out the obvious to whoever is currently in charge of programming over at Hallmark Movies and Mysteries. Oh. Right. Michelle Vicary.
If you call your channel Movies and MYSTERIES, you obviously want to attract MYSTERY viewers. You know, viewers who like MYSTERIES. And who have probably ALREADY seen all the episodes of Monk, Murder, She Wrote, Diagnosis Murder and Hart to Hart like a BILLION times. That's not fresh content, nor do we need to turn to Hallmark to see old shows that are pretty much streamable on every content provider we have.
NOR do your regular non-mystery viewers need to turn to the Movies and MYSTERIES channel to see the same schmaltzy content they can see on all your other channels.
Do you understand what I'm saying, Michelle? Viewers like me tune into Movies and MYSTERIES because we're hoping to see more MYSTERIES. Not just mysteries, mysteries with that peculiarly cozy comforting Hallmark vibe. The Faith, Family, Country vibe that--dare I say it?--is not the exclusive property of straight, white, right-wingers who create their content mostly in CANADA.
Do I wish you had a cozy mystery series or two that featured LGBTQ protags? I sure do. But at this point I'd be thrilled if you had ANY mysteries featuring ANY credible protags. I want to scream every time another of those month-long Christmas in Another Inappropriate Month extravaganzas start.
You had some charming little mystery shows with devoted followings: Mystery 101, the Martha's Vineyard mysteries, the Crossword Mysteries, and even Ruby Herring (she was growing on me!).
Personally, I think Aurora Teagarden and Hannah Swenson--as much as I enjoyed them both--have run their course, so oh well.
And then there were the so-so offerings. They tried. You tried. I respect that.
What I don't respect, let alone understand, is yanking shows that were just getting their footing, finding their audience, bringing in the views and market share you desperately need. That's not how the mystery world works! That's not how you win a mystery reading-viewing audience. Mysteries are more cerebral than romance. You have to win our minds as well as our hearts. It takes time. It takes more than beloved Aunt Joan dying in a freak logging accident and leaving spunky Samantha a Christmas Tree farm and a cranky but hunky (widowed-with-one-adorable-poppet) head lumber jack who's forgotten the meaning of Christmas.
I'll be frank. I think you lost your nerve. I see a new crop of not-very-promising contenders. Maybe Francesca Quinn, PI. Maybe. But I'm afraid to get my hopes up. I'm afraid to commit to any of your new shows because you broke that most sacred covenant. You commited the worst crime you can against a mystery reader: you cancelled mid-series. ON A CLIFF HANGER.
P.S. Signed, Sealed, and Delivered is NOT a mystery.
Friday, September 23, 2022
Now Available! HIDE AND SEEK in Audio
For museum curator Andrew Allison, the sleepy little Maine village of Safehaven has always lived up to its name—until now. Fleeing an abusive relationship, Andy has returned to Safehaven for a few weeks while he figures out the future and helps his elderly Uncle Cuthbert run his antiques shop. But when Andy arrives, he learns Uncle Cuthbert is in the hospital, critically injured, the victim of a late-night break-in.
Worse, one of the first messages on the shop’s answering
machine is from Marcus, Andy’s ex, demanding to know Andy’s whereabouts.
Nor does the bad news stop there. It seems whoever broke
into Time in a Bottle is still looking for that mysterious whatever. Something
they didn’t find the first time. Something they now believe Andy has.
Something worth killing for?
The good news is former bad boy Quinn Rafferty, Andy’s high
school crush, is back in town and interested in renewing their acquaintanceship.
Quinn is not a man to run from things that go bump in the
night, be they mysterious midnight prowlers or a relationship-shy,
fish-out-of-water museum curator.
But Quinn has a few secrets of his own…
NOW ON AUDIBLE
Friday, September 16, 2022
Cozy Mystery Giveaway!
If you're a lover of cozy mysteries, you're probably well aware that 99.9% of cozies feature female protagonists. Unlike NO sex, NO swearing, or NO on-screen violence, that's not a rule or anything; it's just how it shakes out.
That said, there are a handful of cozies (typically gay and occasionally referred to as "quozies") which do feature male protagonists. My own Secrets and Scrabble series, for one. SC Wynne's Kip O'Connor series. In mainstream we have Rob Osler's Devil's Chew Toy. Come to think of it, Dean James' may have started us out with his charming Simon Kirby-Jones gay vampire series, back in the day.
ANYWAY. That was a needlessly long intro to the fact that I'm taking part in a cozy mystery giveaway featuring cozies with male protagonists (a sprinkling of LGBTQ, but mostly not) which you can sample by CLICKING THIS LINK.
Friday, September 9, 2022
What I Did on My Summer Vacation - 2022
Other than nearly slicing my thumb off Tuesday night (ugh, don't ask) all is well in the land of Lanyon.
Unlike last year, this summer has been both creative and productive and, better still, pretty much drama-free. I completed The Movie-Town Murders, Death at the Deep Dive, and Hide and Seek.
The sibs and I are rehearsing and performing again--and batting around the idea of producing an eighth album.
I've got lots of audio coming, new translations, etc.
Currently, I'm working on Puzzle for Two (for Patreon) and Lament at Loon Landing (Secrets and Scrabble 6) with no hard ETA on either.
That's pretty much the update. I KNOW. THRILLING STUFF. :-D
My social media presence is pretty minimal right now. I guess I'm choosing to be present in real life as opposed to the virtual space where I spent the last twenty years? These last precious days of summer are being spent on swimming, gardening, experimenting with cocktails (hey, someone's gotta do it) playing with the pups, reading a little, writing a lot, and watching a fair bit of TV (I'm probably consuming more news than I should, but the midterms are coming and I want to brace myself). I got my first hair cut in three years and my first facial in six months.
We've had houseguests and family get-togethers. Life is returning to normal. This weekend we're getting our next booster shot.
The new normal.
You really can't ask for more than that. Yes, everything is different now. The pandemic years changed... everything. Changed me. But I'm happy and I'm more creative (and more productive) than I've been in years, so it's all good.
And what did you do on your summer vacation?
Thursday, September 8, 2022
Friday, September 2, 2022
Five Things I Love Right Now
Five Things I Love Right Now
1 - Vocal practice -
There's something really satisfying about stretching for and cleanly hitting those difficult upper and lower register notes. It's taken some work getting my range back after just about three years of not singing. Not just not performing, but not singing at all.
2 - Beauty crime bloggers -
What a weird-ass combo. And yet there's something peculiarly relaxing about listening to someone discuss ghastly murder while they expertly apply makeup.
Side note: One of the funniest things is listening to other YouTube crime vloggers bitch/criticize the beauty crime vloggers as "frivolous" or of "trivializing tragedy" or "turning murder into entertainment." Uh...yes. Because that's what YOU ALL DO. While it's true that citizen sleuths are a thing, anyone posting on YouTube is doing it for entertainment purposes. In the same way that Dateline is as much entertainment as journalism.
3 - Felix the Cat -
Everything I know about life I learned from Felix.
4 - Discretion
Are there any two more boring words in the English language than TELL ALL?
5 - WHAT WE DO IN THE SHADOWS
I haven't laughed this hard in centu--er, years.
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