Dead As Dreams - Update and Cover!

I'm nearing the end of April and I'm not done with the revisions of Dead As Dreams. The main revisions were supposed to be completed in the middle of this month. Clearly I was too optimistic in planning my release schedule with this novel!

That said, I'm still making great progress. I'm approaching the 90k mark, which is 3k more than the draft was before I started revising it (with at least 10k left of that initial draft to wade through). The back half of the novel is getting a major overhaul, though, and that's slowing things down. More like a rewrite, actually - more often than not, the old words are getting chucked into the cut document, making way for fresh storytelling. It's looking like I might exceed the 100k word goal, possibly by 5k or more.

And I don't want to rush through it. This novel has been in the works for so long that I feel it deserves the time and attention before it sees the light of day.

This isn't a gloom and doom post, though! I'm focused and determined to finish. My original goal was to publish Dead As Dreams at the end of May. However, it's looking more like mid to late July now. So a couple of months delayed. Not too bad, right?

Anyway, I would like to leave everyone with a teaser. The cover! It's mostly finalized, but if I get any suggestions for tweaks between now and when I put up the pre-order, it might change a bit. Enjoy the cover, and happy reading!

Fortunes of Fate Series Cover Update

Hello, loyal readers! (Do I have any of those? If I do -- thank you for reading!) The first two Fortunes of Fate covers were bugging me. I felt like I needed to go simpler than I did, since the texture and the gold outlining was a bit distracting. So, I have redone the covers for Dreams in Shadow and Love Fades!

That's not all that's in this post, though. After you admire the new covers, you'll have a chance to vote on the cover for the next Fortunes of Fate title: Reversed! Make sure to scroll past the first two covers to take a look at the two options for Reversed. And do it soon because there's not much time to vote.

First we have the Dreams in Shadow cover. Please understand, I just pushed the changes on Amazon, so if you take a look at it there, it may be 2-3 days before the new cover shows up. Heck, it will give you the chance to compare covers at least!

And then of course there's the Love Fades cover. I still love this story. Got to have a little bit of romance with the fantasy once in a while. As a matter of fact, I'm hoping to do a free promo for Love Fades some time in May! So, watch my Facebook and Twitter feeds if you're interested in snagging a copy. Again, the cover changes were just pushed to Amazon, so it may take a bit for them to show up on the page.

Now for the cover sneak peek you probably quickly scrolled down to see. Reversed is the third story in the Fortunes of Fate series. It will be available from Amazon on May 13, 2016, but the pre-order will be up this weekend. And I'd like to have the cover figured out before the pre-order goes live! That's where you come in. What do you think? Should The Magus card be upright (as you see to the left) or should it be reversed (below and to the right)? The latter would reflect the title, but the former might be better pleasing to the eye.

Take a look at the covers and let me know what you think. You may post here, on my Facebook page, or on Twitter. If you want to keep your vote super secret, feel free to use my Contact page to e-mail me your vote. I will be taking votes up to Noon CDT on Friday, April 22.

EDIT: The REVERSED version of the cover won the votes! And the pre-order for Reversed is now up on Amazon!

"Dancing in the Wind" Cover Update

I've been sitting on this for a while because I needed to update things in all of the stores. And then things like writing kept getting in the way. =D

Anyway, here's the new cover for "Dancing in the Wind"!

I also reformatted everything for Amazon, B&N, Kobo, and Smashwords (Smashwords also distributes it to iBooks and some other stores). Things look a little nicer, plus I added some back matter (About the Author, Newsletter Sign-Up, Connect Online, and Other Stories). If you purchased a copy already, you can probably contact who you purchased it from to get the updated version (it's not a new edition, since there were no changes to the story or front matter).

Also, if you've read it and liked it, please leave a review on Amazon or Goodreads! Reviews are one of the best things you can do for writers, aside from buying their stories and books. ;)

You can also find a snippet on one of my older blog posts, HERE.

That's all I got for today. I hope you all like the new cover. I know I do!

NEXT UP: Chains of Nect: Obsidian's Obsession - Prologue

Chains of Nect - Blurb and Cover Reveal

It's time for an update! Aren't you all so lucky. Don't care about what's going on with me and my progress? Feel free to skip the post. But I can't promise you won't miss something super crazy awesome if you do.

The Plan is unfolding nicely, so far at least. I've been posting parts of "Dude in Distress" to Wattpad twice per week now. The last section is due to be posted on July 10. So, if you're curious if the unicorns manage to save Dom from Big Bad Girl, please pop over to Wattpad to read the story.

Chains of Nect will roll out on Wattpad starting July 17, and there will be a new scene posted every Friday. I already have two scenes good to go, and this month I'll be participating in Camp NaNoWriMo which should net me several more scenes--it's nice to be ahead of the game, just in case something happens! (Like last week when I got sick and my writing schedule went to hell.)

Interested in reading the prologue of Chains of Nect 8 days before it releases on Wattpad? Then you should sign up for my newsletter (form is to the left) because the first issue will go out on July 9 and include a sneak peak of the prologue. The main goal of the newsletter is to announce my upcoming publications, but I'll also have some bonuses in them now and then. If you're worried about your inbox filling up, I'll send no more than one per month, sometimes less frequently.

Oh, but you want to know what Chains of Nect is about? Of course, of course. Here's the blurb:

Obsidian successfully plays the game expected of her, passes the tests, and is accepted as a Guardian. Though she jumps through the hoops, she doesn't want to follow the precepts at all, to guard the portals but never open them. She believes its a waste to not explore the worlds within, like her ancestors had. How can they protect themselves if something comes through the portals if they don't know what's in them?

Obsidian's appointed mentor, Damian, is a straight-laced young Guardian, who can't contain the young dedicant. He's always believed the laws are in place to protect all of Nect, but Obsidian starts to make him question his own principles. She doesn't allow him any time to examine the possibilities, though, and he has to decide between reporting her or standing by her side to protect her from whatever horrors she stirs up.

Will the Guardians end Obsidian's life, or will something from another world get to her first?

Not enough for you? Fine you've talked me into it. Here's the cover!

I've also been playing the Short Story Submissions Game. The intention of this game is to gather as many rejections as I can. Yes, I know, the point should be to get as many acceptances as I can, but if I aim for that, I'll just depress myself. Here are my tallies for 2015 through June:

Submissions - 28
Rejections - 25
Acceptances - 1

I may not hit 100 rejections this year, however I hope to hit at least 50! And yes, you noticed, there's one acceptance. I had that story listed at the top of The Plan. "Bloodstains" will appear in a limited time fall anthology through Dingbat Publishing (anthology title and publication date still to be determined). That should be a fun set of stories.

I'm also still running Writing Quest every month--feel free to join us if you have some writing goals.

I think that's all as far as writing goes. Probably leaving the state of my house out of this post is the best idea (scary pretty much sums it up). I get writing done and everything else gets neglected. Go figure. Though the evil kitchen is due to be remodeled this month, barring more delays.

I feel like I'm forgetting to cover something, though. What do you think? Is there something else I should have touched on?

NEXT UP: Crazy Necro Antics - Wedding Bells Part 2