Weekly Word Count #133

Word Count: 2,049

What story I’m currently working on: Making tiny steps with Airship, and I’m okay with that. I’m building into a crescendo, so that next week I’ll be back on top with pushing through the final 20k of the book in January. December was a turbulent month with a lot of reassessing and revisiting certain projects, so I had to slow down on the writing. I can write like a fiend when my target is clear, but while I’m figuring out my 2018 path, I needed to switch to heavy editing and get other things set up for next year.

What I’m editing/marketing: Captivating Melody is out on submission, so I’m still waiting to hear from 5 different publishers on that front. Fingers crossed! In the meanwhile, I’m almost done all of the Outlier Heir revisions and will be going back to submitting that in the new year. I also completely reworked Chasing Fate and now I’m tackling a new query, so that will be front and center at the start of 2018. I’m going to dive back into Musketeer Pirates next week since I’ll have all my submission items ready to launch come next week, and that’s when I can switch focus back to writing as well.

Teaser of the week:

Line of the week:

Geoff slammed into my side, knocking me off balance. I staggered to the side right as a bullet zoomed inches overhead.

“I know this place is fancy and all, but you’ve got to stop gawking,” Geoff said with a grin. “They might just figure out we don’t belong here.”

I snorted, lifting up Matilda and squeezing the trigger in the direction of those guards firing at us. “Because the bullets aren’t any indicator,” I drawled back.

2018: Never Give Up, Never Surrender

With the spectacular dumpster fire I was left with at the end of 2017, my usual goals were a lot more difficult this year. So much is unpredictable, so much is wavering. The master plan I had even one month ago is completely gutted, so I had to find an entirely new plan, and new goals to go along with.

However, I’m not one to back down.

2018, I can promise three releases minimum, though my hope is to get more on that roster:

Of Tinkers and Technomancers (After Glows Publishing)

A Reflection of Ice (Opal Moon Press)

and The Airship Also Rises (Final Take to the Skies book!)

My goal is to get at least three more contracts too, and once my rights are released mid-May, to find new homes for my Philadelphia Coven Chronicles and my Tribal Spirits series.

As for the writing plan, once Airship is finished, I hope to continue a series, whether that be one of the books I’m pitching to agents and publishers, my Tribal Spirits series, or another Cupid’s Cafe book. I also want to dive into my new pet project, a YA urban fantasy that started percolating this year. On the editing front, I’m going to get Airship ready for release, and I’m also going to finish editing my YA Fantasy from 2017.

Submission-wise, I’m launching a full-scale attack with Outlier Heir and Chasing Fate come January. Wish me luck.

I have realistic goals for next year, but as always, I’m shooting for the stars. Stick with me, and I can promise new reads and one hell of an interesting ride. I hope for my dreams every year, but year end is where I refill my well of optimism for the new year. I’m going to fight with everything I have to make 2018 my year.

 

2017 Accomplishments

So, anyone who has talked to me realized that this was a rocky year. On a professional note, I’ve never charged harder. However, the problem is, when you aim big and get close, the fall hurts that much more. I always have my big career-moving goals, but I set a couple realistic ones this year too. My goal was to have 3 books come out, and to get 3 new contracts.

What did I achieve in 2017?

Well, I had four new books come out:

Rising for Autumn (February 2017)

Waking for Winter (July 2017)

Forged Alliances (September 2017)

Captured Memories (October 2017)

I finished my first series, with all four books of the Philadelphia Coven Chronicles out!

I also got 5 contracts this year:

Waking for Winter, Forged Alliances, Captured Memories, A Reflection of Ice, and Of Tinkers and Technomancers

 

Now, unfortunately with Loose Id closing in 2018, I have to find new homes for my Philadelphia Coven Chronicles, and my plans for the Tribal Spirits series have been put on hold, but I’ll push forward with them next year.

 

On the writing front, I wrote A LOT this year.

Outlier Heir (80,000 words)

Forged Alliances (60,000 words)

Forged Decisions (60,000 words)

Of Tinkers and Technomancers (33,000 words)

Captured Memories (43,000 words)

My currently untitled YA Fantasy (80,000 words)

and I’m almost 60k into the final Airship book

That’s 416,000 words in total this year. Yay!

 

As for editing, on top of the comprehensive edits I did on all of the above projects, I also re-edited and found a home for A Reflection of Ice, a story I originally wrote in 2015, and I re-edited Chasing Fate this past month.

So, even though I faced a lot of setbacks this year, I wrote a hell of a lot and I fought a hell of a lot. I might not have made the drastic strides I wanted to, but I think I came closer than ever before, and I haven’t given up yet. 2017 did its best to crush my spirit into the ground, but I’ve got an amazing support system, from my friends and family who always listen when I get beaten down, to a group of author friends who helps build each other up as we all try to rise.

After the beating I got in 2017, I’m ready to face 2018 with new armor and new drive, having learned a lot from the past year about what’s holding me back. Let’s make this new year a great one.

 

Weekly Word Count #132

Word Count: 1,468

What story I’m currently working on: Still super slow with Airship, making it to 55k. Crazy to think this time last month I was closer to 30k or more down for the month, but after two consecutive months of heavy wordcount, I have some massive editing to do. I’m going to attempt to hit 60k by next week, meaning I’ll have 20k to write in January, which is more than doable.

What I’m editing/marketing: A Tale of Two Airships came out in audio book last week! While Captivating Melody is out on submission I’m turning to working on Outlier Heir and reworking Chasing Fate from last year. Musketeer Pirates is hanging tight for a little bit while beta readers look it over, so I’m currently juggling a LOT of editing projects. I heard some word on Of Tinkers and Technomancers that editing should begin in February, so hopefully you’ll be reading it by March/April 2018!

Teaser of the week:

Line of the week:

If she was in immediate danger, I could pull focus from the rest of my crew. To me, of course, but this plan wouldn’t be any fun if it wasn’t insane.

Sale on A Tale of Two Airships!

Have you read the second book in my Take to the Skies series? Join in the adventure for only 99 cents, or even better, get both books one and two for under $5!

An Airship Named Desire

A Tale of Two Airships

Weekly Word Count #131

Word Count: 3,018

What story I’m currently working on: So, I’m still slow going on Airship, but I’m picking up a little more speed on it this week and made it to 54k. I’m still trying to find my direction, since Loose Id’s closure is going to cause some trickiness next year. I do promise that by next year I’ll have the Take to the Skies series finished and a new romance series in the works, come what may.

What I’m editing/marketing: A Tale of Two Airships is out in audio book! Captivating Melody is on submission with at least 5-10 different publishers, so cross your fingers for me that I’ll find a home for it! So, in the interim, I started working on Musketeer Pirates, digging into the content edits and getting more beta readers to take a look at it! I also finished the updates on Outlier Heir, so I’m getting input on that at the moment! As for A Reflection of Ice and Of Tinkers and Technomancers, they’ll be coming out in the new year!

Teaser of the week:

Line of the week:

I opened my mouth, but the words dried up. All the bluster I’d been rolling in with, all the fire, and I still knew so little about what had been going on all along. I was still fumbling ahead in the dark, groping for any scrap of information to put these pieces together.

A Tale of Two Airships Audio Book Release!

Any audiobook fans? You won’t want to miss A Tale of Two Airships, book two in the Take to the Skies series, out on audiobook! If you haven’t read the first one, An Airship Named Desire, I’d highly recommend taking the plunge!

Bea and the crew of the Desire are back, and there’s one fierce storm brewing on the horizon. When Isabella’s old clan delivers a letter that sends their crewmate into a funk, Bea’s suspicious. However, when they’re intercepted by gypsies on the way to their meetup for the next smuggling job, her suspicions switch to pissed off. Yet none of that compares to the rage that ignites after Bea and their recon team return to the docks to find the Desire missing. Stolen. By those goddamn gypsies from Isabella’s old clan.

Which leaves Bea and her four crewmates stranded in Shantytown, home of redcoats who want them dead and Morlocks who want them deader. On top of that, she has no clue if her crew aboard the Desire is still alive. And once the Morlocks spot them in a bounty bar and put a price on their heads, if Bea doesn’t find a way to the skies and fast, they’re screwed six ways to sailing day with their home flying further and further out of reach.

Weekly Word Count #130

Word Count: 1,047

What story I’m currently working on: Airship, but I took a break this week due to the massive hit that happened on Friday. That’s when I got the news that Loose Id was closing, which puts my shifter series on hiatus as well. I’ll get back to Airship soon, but I’m licking my wounds right now.

What I’m editing/marketing: The audio book for A Tale of Two Airships will be out soon, so look forward to news on that! I just spent the last week working on rewriting Captivating Melody and just started submitting it out, even though I’m a bit nervous. And now that it’s done, before the end of the year, I’ll be working on the Musketeer Pirates edits! I’m still waiting to hear from my editor, and for Of Tinkers and Technomancers as well as A Reflection of Ice, I’m awaiting my first set of edits, but they’ll still be coming out next year!

Teaser of the week:

Line of the week:

Viola approached, her gaze fixed on the horizon. “What’s to bet the tackiest building in the neighborhood belongs to that cur?”

“Not everyone can fancify a joint like you, darling,” I drawled before skipping a pace or two ahead to try and get a better view. “The rest of us are slapping twigs together with glue.”

Loose Id Closing

“You may have a fresh start any moment you choose, for this thing that we call “failure” is not the falling down, but the staying down.” –Mary Pickford

So, one of my big goals from 2015 to now was writing and completing a whole series. I accomplished that this year with the Philadelphia Coven Chronicles, only made possible by my amazing publisher Loose Id. They saw me through a lot of different firsts–my first advance, my first individually assigned editor (a lot of other publishers assigned editors on a rotation basis), and I really, really treasured them for it. So, you can imagine when I got the news late Friday night of Loose Id’s decision to shut down in May, I was devastated–I still am.

Honestly, a lot of this year has taken me to the brink and caused me to take a hard look at why I’m really doing this, and how much rejection and defeat I’m capable of withstanding. Apparently, a lot.

I’m not going to sugarcoat things–this hurts. It slices me to my core, and I know the blow will linger for some time now. However, I’m an author, setbacks happen, and I need to keep dusting off my pants and moving forward. So, I will carry the hurt and the lessons with me, and even though the plan I had just got shattered, I will form a new one.

Just a bit ago, I spoke heavily of more in the Tribal Spirits series coming out next year. In fact, that was going to be my main focus. Unfortunately, the rights for the first book don’t revert back to me until May, and then I’ll begin trying to find it and the completed second book a new home. Once that happens, I’ll pick up that project again. So, what does that mean? A wide open slate for 2018? Not in the slightest. It means a readjustment.

I had been reworking my rockstar fae book, Captivating Melody, which after a bunch of rejections from the big leagues I set on the backburner. I’ve decided to put my time into that, shine that bad boy up, and start submitting it to other publishers. And of course, I still have A Reflection of Ice coming out with Opal Moon Press next year, as well as Of Tinkers and Technomancers with After Glows.

The other big focus for 2018 will be the Take to the Skies series. I plan to have The Airship Also Rises finished by January, so then I can begin the editing process. From there, I hope to have it released August 17, 2018, which will mark another completed series.

For those concerned about the Philadelphia Coven Chronicles, and the Tribal Spirits series, don’t worry. They’ll still be available for sale until May, and as soon as the rights are released on June 1st, I will work on finding them the best new homes possible, and hopefully be able to have the books you love back out and available in a newer form. This change is a massive overhaul, I know. And I’m going to miss working with MT, Allie, Treva, and my editor Tamzin, so, so much. However, I will not let this setback ruin me, nor this defeat steal my drive, even if it leaves its marks along the way. As always, I will continue moving forward.