Coming back

Wow, my mini-break lasted a lot longer than I anticipated. We had end of school stuff, then traveling for the kids' camp, then my visit to NC to see my sister, then more traveling for the kids, then back to school. We are just now starting week three of the new school year, and my life is resembling normal more and more every day.

Which meant I no longer had a reason to be lazy and ignore the blog anymore.

That's the problem with taking breaks. The longer it stretches, the harder it gets to actually consider it a temporary thing.

So I'm back, though I'll be rolling into it a little slowly until I get up to speed.

Translation: Today's about waving to all of you out there to remind you I'm alive.

Another mini-break

I'm disappearing into a writing cave over the next couple weeks, so to save myself some time and stress, the blog will be on radio silence while I'm working.

The plan is to return June 8, but if I get what I want to accomplish done ahead of time, I'll pop back sooner.

Enjoy the next two weeks!

The State of Me and My Writing

I miss writing longer works. I really do. I'm trying to cut back some on my commitments to novellas, but it's not happening as fast as I'd like. I had sincerely hoped to only do a few this year, and somehow, that didn't end up happening. I've had two already, another this weekend, and at least three more before the end of summer.

I don't regret the stories I've been able to explore. But there are more, so many more, that I don't dare start because I know I won't be able to commit to developing them the way they deserve. Nobody wants that. The last thing I want is to disappoint the characters or the readers I hope will discover them.

So what do I do?

I'm hoping that chugging on as I am, gradually slowing down on other commitments, will get me to the place I want to be. I miss writing het. I'd love to do more menages. That requires time I don't have right now.

But I will. Eventually.

Bits and pieces for Friday

Blogging is likely to be spotty over the next two weeks, for obvious reasons. I'm the one who keeps Christmas moving in my house, so I'll be busy. If it was left to my husband, nobody would even get dressed on Christmas day, let alone eat.

I'm working on edits today, and I've been told there's more in my immediate future. I also go cover art for my EC menage coming out in 2014, but I'm going to save that for sharing later. Suffice it to say, it's gorgeous. I'm so pleased with how it turned out.

Don't forget to check out the Amber Pax holiday office party going on over at the pax blog, either. We're giving one more pax collection away next Wednesday, and you still have the chance to win the earrings I'm giving away on my post, too.

Have a great weekend!

On the writing front

I'm in a mild state of flux right now. I spent the first week of September catching up on administrative stuff I'd let slide while I raced to meet my deadlines, then did edits and a galley on two separate stories. I had every intention of starting my next WIP last week, but I struggled with it all week long. It's an m/m novella for the Brand Me call at Amber Allure, stories about tattoos and the men who wear them, and it just wasn't working.

I realized why yesterday. I was starting in the wrong POV. I need to be in the other hero's head, who I'm envisioning as this guy:

This is exactly what happened to me with Aria of the Eclipse, so you'd think I would have learned my lesson by now, but no. Oops. Anyway, I'm going to be throwing myself hard into that this week and next, because in less than two weeks, my family and I will be going to Florida for our vacation. I'll take my computer with me (it never stays behind, no matter where I go, lol), but obviously, my writing time will be greatly restricted.

I got some great news over the weekend, but until I get the contract signed, I can't share details. But hopefully it'll mean I'll be doing more het and menage in the future. I've published primarily m/m the past few years and got my het/menage fixes in other ways, but I'm hungry to get back to the stories I started out in. I won't stop the m/m, but I really want a more balanced mixture than what I've had in recent years.

Love is love, after all.

Writing status update

Since I've been mostly incommunicado for the past couple weeks, I figure I'm due for a status update on what's going on in my writing world.

First of all, I got my contract for The Hearts of Yesteryear, my m/m story about a 77 y/o actor who has to return to the hometown he hasn't visited in over fifty years. I don't have a due date for that yet, but it'll be out in either August or September. I'm in the throes of those edits right now.

I finished the revisions on an m/m/f paranormal erotic romance and have started the submission process. I had originally submitted it as a possibility for an anthology last fall, but that never panned out (I strayed too far from the theme, haha how not a surprise, lol), so I finally got around to adding the two chapters I'd wanted but couldn't because of the word restrictions. It's now a 21k novella instead of a short story, entitled Enthralled in Silver. I have high hopes for it. It's hot as hell and the first of a short series.

Once my edits are done, I'm going to finally finish a het WIP that's currently at 68k. I'd changed the title the last time I was working on it, but you know, I didn't write it down, and it's been a couple months and now I can't remember it. Hopefully I can find note of it somewhere.

Then, by July 1, I'll be starting my next m/m. It's working title is Sticking to the Seams, and it's set in an America far in the future that's been destroyed and is in the process of rebuilding. The main hero is a young train engineer who is on the search for his father. I'm rather excited about it, so July better get here fast.

Writing Update

I haven't done an update in a little while so it's probably time for that.

I just finished the first draft of my story for the upcoming Music pax at Amber Allure. It's a 35k sci-fi called "Aria of the Eclipse," and it just might be one of the most romantic things I've ever written. I had a few false starts with it. In a last ditch effort to save it, I decided to switch from limited 3rd of one hero, to 1st person of the other, and...it worked. That first chapter came out like water.

And then I made an even riskier choice.

I decided to do it in alternating 1st person. So chapter one is from Dek's POV, chapter two is from Tylen's, and back and forth like that throughout the whole book. I know it's not everybody's cup of tea, but I absolutely love 1st person. I love writing it, I love reading it, I love everything about it. And with this story? It really was the best way to serve Dek and Tylen's romance.

So with the first draft done, I'm going to set it aside for a week, then go back through it. In the interim, I have my galley of "Iron Eyes" to get through. I probably won't start a new project until both of these are done, though I have a couple ideas about what I'm going to try.

The state of me

We lost our internet two days this week. Comcast issues. It always shocks me how much I rely on it for everything when it's gone, and then even more so when I get so much other work done instead. I'm still in catch-up mode, so today's post is just a general state of my world thing.

Like...how relieved I am the election is over. We can move on from all the campaigning talk finally.

Like...how nervous I am about this steampunk story I'm writing. It's swinging higher on the "aw" scale than I've done in a while, plus I've never tried my hand at this genre before. It's daunting.

Like...how excited I am about the upcoming holidays. We spent two hours on a conference call with the family we spend the Thanksgiving holiday with, getting things organized. A family of six coming to our house for four days, so we have ten people we're feeding/providing for. There are spreadsheets involved, lol.

Like...how anxious I am when I realize just how much is yet to be done in preparation for said visit.

But life is good and really, I wouldn't change a single bit of this.

Feeling like a writer again

First of all, my sincerest hope that everyone is safe and well in the aftermath of the worst of the hurricane.

Secondly, I have more writing news. I have a release date for A Simple Charm. It'll be out with Liquid Silver on January 14, 2013. I'm in edits on it right now, and they're going well. I've also been assigned a cover artist, so as soon as that's done, you'll be the first to see.

I also sent in a new submission today. There was a call I've been meaning to write for, and I spent the 16-hour drive back from Albuquerque last week getting it all plotted and done in my head. That's what I've been working on since I got back. I won't jinx it with specifics, but it's a 15k m/m/f story that, if it gets contracted, will end up being the prequel for the full-length novel I want to write to explore this relationship. This short is essentially how these three hook up. I love these characters.

It's kind of nice being back on the wagon. I'm feeling like a writer again.

New contract

So while I was away at GRL, I got some fab news. Remember that historical m/m I submitted a couple weeks ago? Well, it got accepted! Liquid Silver Books is going to publish "A Simple Charm," probably some time in early 2013.

Here's the blurb, for those who might be interested...

In 1934, life in Brookburn, Indiana is quiet, simple, and peaceful, but young dreamer Levi Beckerman yearns for more. When the carnival shows up for the Fourth of July, he’s entranced by its many temptations. None is more seductive than the charismatic barker, Sebastian Gustineau.

Seb’s been a part of the carnival for almost a decade. Once, it provided him the escape he needed from a life he thought he didn’t want, but now, he craves things it can never offer. Flitting from dusty town to dusty town, he loses himself in pretty dalliances. Levi seems like the perfect distraction, until a single conversation convinces him that preserving Levi’s innocence and way of life is more important than his momentary satisfaction.

However, his plan to discourage Levi goes horribly wrong. When Levi’s family is threatened, Levi fights to protect them, doing what he can to hide the secrets he’s sheltered his entire life. The only person he trusts is Seb. He’s just not sure if the growing bond between them is enough to save them all.

I love this story to pieces. What's better, it's going to have a sequel, a project I've slated for next year.

But yay! I'm so glad it's going to see the light of day now. :)

One down, the next to go

So yesterday, I finally got around to feeling happy enough about my latest short novel to send it in for submission. I won't say to where for fear of jinxing it, but I'm quite pleased with how it turned out. It's a 46k gay historical romance called "A Simple Charm." I didn't mistype and forget to put in erotic. It's not, not really. There are two short scenes in the middle that yes, get graphic, but not in the sense that it qualifies with the stronger label. It's set in 1934 in rural Midwest America, and, with where the main character is in his life (as well as the setting), making it sexier just wasn't appropriate.

However...

I plan on writing a sequel to this one. It's got an HFN (my wonderful beta who reassured me it didn't suck thinks it still qualifies as an HEA), but I want to see the next step in the relationship too badly not to continue exploring. I couldn't write it all as one, either. Thematically, they're two very different stories. It just wouldn't flow.

In other writing news, I have 22k on my noir story due into Amber Allure before 12/1. I'd hoped to finish it before GRL, but I've got a busy week ahead of me and I'm not convinced I'll make it. By the time I get home, hopefully.

The state of my writing world

It dawned on me that I haven't actually talked about my writing since I started blogging again. I should probably rectify that.

There's an upcoming pax for Amber Allure featuring noir stories, of which I'm a part. I had a great idea for a scifi noir and threw myself into it. The only trouble is, last week when I hit 20k on it, I realized it was going to be too long--way too long--for the pax collection. Back to the drawing board for me.

It only took me a day or two to come up with something new, so I started that on Saturday. The way that's going, I might even have it done before GRL. It's called "The Low Between," and it's set in 1952 New York City, with an ex-cop, a wannabe actor, and a dead body they can't explain. I'm loving it.

I've also been editing an m/m historical that I finished a few months ago. This one's been a toughie for me, mostly because it was written during a time of such great stress in my life. I wanted to get some distance to make sure that I could look at it clearly. It's also tough to categorize. It's got magical elements, but I'm very reluctant to label it paranormal even though that's probably technically what it is. It's more like magical realism of a sort, though again, not really. Set in the rural Midwest in 1934, it's about a young man and his dreams when a traveling carnival arrives for the Fourth. As for a title...I'll probably be struggling to come up with one when I'm done with the edits.

My goal is to get both of these done and submitted by the time I leave for GRL. Then, when I get back, I'll throw myself into the m/m steampunk novella I'm doing for Amber Allure. My editing project then will be one of the het stories I've had rights return to me over the past few years. I had a shapeshifter novel that really should've been a menage that I've been meaning to redo, and I just got back the rights on one in an anthology that is dying to be expanded. We'll see which one catches my fancy.

Did I mention I want to write an m/m/f short story for a Total-e-Bound call, too? And that it's due November 1 if I try? Maybe that'll be my writing project while I'm in Albuquerque.

It's good to back in the writing saddle again. :)