Updates and Truthsong Cover Reveal!

This has been a busy year so far for me! I finished the first draft of DALI, my new adult sci fi, and got some wonderful advice and feedback from my excellent CP's and my developmental editor, the incomparable Jami Nord at Chimera Edits. I'm really stoked about it and have a self-imposed deadline to have it ready to query in September. 

In between edits for DALI, I've been doing final edits for TRUTHSONG, which has a release date of July 24th. I'm excited to have this one almost in the bag. I have notes for the final book in Telyn's adventures, LORD OF THE WOOD, and I have no idea yet when that will be finished. I'm kind of obsessed with Dali at the moment, and I always work better when I'm obsessed.

But without further ado, here is the beautiful cover for TRUTHSONG, once again rendered by Caroline Andrus, cover artist extraordinaire:

Lost in first draft land!

Whoa, it's been way too long since I updated the blog!

I've been obsessed by a new project-- I'm working on an adult space opera/sci-fi novel with a main character who blindsided me and just started talking. I'm up to 63K with my list of scenes to write getting shorter by the day. I can't wait to get this one out of my head so I can start to edit.

Truthsong will be out in July or August of this year from Fire and Ice YA, and I can't wait to work with my new editor, who is a writer and mentor I admire. You know who you are.

Nectar and Ambrosia has seen some interest and I rewrote the first few chapters in keeping with suggestions from an editor of a small press. We will see if anything comes from that, but the nagging voice I had started the novel in the wrong place has been silenced by that rewrite. Even if they pass, I think it was a good change.

The day the music died

I know I'm not a kid anymore, but last week's loss of David Bowie hit me harder than I thought it ever would. I have already lost some of the musicians I grew up with, like Freddie Mercury and Michael Jackson, but David Bowie spoke to me on so many levels it was a more personal loss.

I first fell in love with Bowie at a very young age when I saw the album cover of my aunt's copy of Ziggy Stardust and the Spiders from Mars. I'd never seen anyone who looked like that. He was beautiful and strange and something about his voice captivated me right away. I am pretty sure I saw the original airing of Bing Crosby's Christmas Special and falling in love with Bing and Bowie's duet of The Little Drummer Boy (yes, I am dating myself). And there was a weird time when my Mom's Barbara Streisand album had a cover of her singing Is There Life on Mars. It just goes to show the power of the songwriter that even her foray into Bowie's territory was kind of cool in a very, very odd way.

I wasn't really into that kind of music yet when I fell in love with the alien on the album cover, so years passed before I rediscovered David Bowie and A Space Oddity in my teens. "The Man Who Fell to Earth" was a bizarre sci-fi movie he starred in and I had the paperback novel with the stills from the film in the middle. Thanks to MTV,  Ashes to Ashes was a visual trip into my old friend's newer music. Suddenly, everybody knew who he was. Fashion, China Girl, Let's Dance, Modern Love, Blue Jean- his renaissance was a thing of beauty that only continued to grow. "Merry Christmas, Mr. Lawrence" was a beautiful film in which he played a British prisoner of war. "The Hunger" saw him portray an aging vampire. There were other films, but these were my favorites. And then came "Labyrinth".

I sneaked out of work early to see "Labyrinth" at the theater for a second and third time without anybody knowing. Ye gods, the man was beautiful as the Goblin King.

If you haven't seen Bowie's final masterpiece, the video for Lazarus, seek it out. It made me cry. The dying man in the bed, the artist/writer scribbling desperately to outrace mortality and continue to create...he was truly saying goodbye, although none of us knew this until after the fact, when it hit home with all too painful truth.

He was an artist who wed music to science fiction, a consummate performer who reinvented himself over and over. I'm thankful for the body of work he leaves behind.

I'm Eleven Again! (NO SPOILERS)

This is me right now.

Star Wars was a turning point in my life. 

I was eleven that summer, and the world of science fiction had already begun to tempt me to fully join the Nerd Side. I'd read Heinlein's Tunnel in The Sky, loved Lost in Space. My main genre was still fantasy.

Then, I met Luke Skywalker, Princess Leia, and Han Solo. It was love at first sight. I can still study the Brothers Hildebrandt poster for hours, the warm, sunset colors illuminating the abs Mark Hamill wished he had. I had a yellow t-shirt with the same iron-on transfer. I wore it until I outgrew it.

I decided I was Luke Skywalker's sister, Diana Skywalker, Jedi Knight in training. (Remember, we didn't know Leia was related yet.) My long suffering friends in the neighborhood, already used to my dead-serious games of make believe based on stuff they had never read, were dragged into my new obsession. My friend Stephanie was Biggs Darklighter's sister, of course, and we trained together in the field at the end of the street, whacking at each other with unstrung plastic archery equipment for light sabers. She was very good natured about the whole thing, but I knew she really wasn't into it.

I saw Star Wars eleven times that summer. All but maybe three or four times, I was alone.

It was then I discovered that sci-fi and fantasy fandom is sometimes a lonely thing. People don't understand you or your obsessions. When I did find somebody who knew what I was talking about, there was this great rush of joy and we could play with my Star Wars action figures and look at my bundles of trading cards. But nobody was really as 'into it' as I was. 

That continued through most of my life. I'd occasionally find friends who were as obsessed as I was about my various fandoms, joined a D&D group, and did other social things with like minded people. But I was always happiest alone, writing my stories that we didn't call fanfic yet, dreaming about traveling other worlds, and re-reading my favorite books. Before the advent of the internet which made it possible for us to find Our People easily, many of us were clandestine, solitary individuals waiting for a sign that it was safe to reveal our secret obsessions.

I found friends who were like me. At last, My People! I married one of them twenty one years ago and we have been happily geeking out for that entire period.

And then, we had children. Muahahahahaha. And we warped them in our image. My daughter and I have conversations in fandomspeak that even my husband doesn't understand. 

Seeing Star Wars: The Force Awakens with my family today was a joyful event. The moment that crawl and the brass fanfare came on my face started to hurt from smiling. Best of all was being able to share the 'in jokes' that JJ Abrams and crew inserted into the film. And my son, during an intensely emotional scene, putting his arm around me and saying, "It's OK, Mom." He understands my attachment to these characters, and that I have known them almost literally my entire life. 

It was everything I hoped it would be. Well done, JJ. Thank you.

And I'm eleven again, even though I will turn fifty on Monday. But this time I get to share my obsession with my family and My People, all over the world.  

  

A study of the habits of subphylum scriba esset

Hypothesis: The height of the pile of laundry is directly proportionate to how the writer is feeling about their craft today. The higher the pile, the higher the confidence and creative flow. The writer is receiving the necessary solitude to achieve writing sublimation. Writer is happy.

Observation: Today is a laundry day. Pile has gone from a scale model of Mt. Everest to a more negligible hill. A teenaged boy is on fall break accompanied by second teenaged boy. Writer seems... cranky.

Hypothesis: The amount of questionable carbohydrates consumed is also directly proportionate to said writer's confidence. The higher the amount consumed, the lower the productivity. Caffeination is critical to productivity in obverse amounts.

Observation: Two convenience store doughnuts have been entirely consumed without discernible gagging. Meanwhile, only one caffeine infusion has been observed with no other source in sight.

Hypothesis: The closer the writer gets to their "Sunday evening" (working weekend option makes Friday Sunday. I--err, I mean some writers-- live their lives backwards from everybody else. Monday is Friday and Friday is Sunday.) Uh, sorry. What was I saying? Sheesh. Never mind.

Observation: Day job dread begins to intrude on concentration and enthusiasm.

Hypothesis: Joy and despair can exist simultaneously within a writer's heart when hearing of multiple critique partners' successes, agent offers and sales on works with which they have been involved.

Observation: Smiles and does happy dance for friends. Sniffles. Pokes inbox with a stick to see if anything falls out.

Conclusion: While scriba esset appears to be a rather fragile subphylum of scriba prospere, their resilience is the stuff of legend. After they are done lying face-down on the bed surrounded by chocolate wrappers, kleenex and occasionally pizza boxes, they can invariably be found pecking away obsessively at the keyboard, scribbling with deranged intensity in spiral notebooks, and composing the latest in a very long list of submissions and queries. The continuation of the species scriba is assured as they continue to nurture and support their own.

Christmas Pets and Kisses Release!

I just finished reading Dante's Gift, Aubrey Wynne's contribution to this anthology. It was a lovely little short romance. Amazing! (Had to include the little blurb for Rolf's Quest as well, because I'm waiting for that one with great anticipation!)

Romance with a touch of magic… 

any time, any place, any century

NEW YORK TIMES, USA TODAY and NATIONAL BESTSELLING Authors Present:

SIXTEEN ALL-NEW, NEVER-BEFORE-PUBLISHED SWEET (PG-rated) CHRISTMAS ROMANCES 
Ring in the Christmas cheer with sixteen all-new sweet and heart-warming romances from New York Times, USA Today bestselling, and award-winning authors. Don’t miss out on this romantic collection of Christmas tails…uh, tales as adorable pets with fins, paws, feathers, and hooves bring holiday magic with the gift of true love.

Christmas Pets and Kisses

Contemporary/Historical Romance

Available Nov 6, 2015

Dante’s Gift by Aubrey Wynne

Seventy years ago, a collie mix brings two hearts together in war torn Italy. Will their story help their grandson find his own Christmas love?

Coming in early 2016 

Rolf’s Quest

Time is running out for the royal wizard of Henry II. Rolf’s quest: find genuine love and lift the enchantment that has imprisoned his ancestor, Merlin, for centuries. Now he must win Melissa’s heart without the use of magic. She desires him, but will she defy her family and refuse her betrothed? Or will Rolf be doomed to a life of bitterness like his ancestors before him? Coming soon…

Coming out of the writing cave for a breath!

Hey there! I do exist, I am not just a figment of my own imagination. I think.

September was a busy month both personally and professionally. This weekend I am taking a much needed break to attend the Weston Irish Festival and indulge my deep and abiding love for Celtic music and hard cider. I think I deserve a pint or two after doing two more edits of Truthsong!  I'm also hoping to catch a nap.

Telyn's second adventure is shaping up very nicely with the help of my incredible Alpha, Janean, who whipped my first draft of Truthsong into shape. I have discovered with her help that people shake, nod, and otherwise make head motions far too often in my manuscript.

I cut these actions ruthlessly and came up with some other "show not tell" body language in some cases. Until someone brings things like this to your attention, it's funny how you miss them. Find and replace is an underused tool in my arsenal. I used many things I learned from Carly in conjunction with Janean's input, and the manuscript is now in the hands of some trusted Betas.  I know they will help me work some more editing magic on  the story and plot.

I've started brainstorming Lord of the Wood, which will be the final book in Telyn and Mithrais' story. But it won't be the last we see of them, I promise...ideas are popping up like crazy.

I also need to outline another book in my adult series, the Amaranthine Inheritance chronicles, in the near future. I  started to work again on my fantasy romance, tentatively called In Fire and Blood (that's from a poem by Pablo Neruda. Seriously. Hottest poet EVER.)

Until next time! Really trying to keep up with my blog.