Hi, everyone. Lately, I’ve received more than a few inquiries about the current state of my writing. I’ve been sharing other people’s new releases over the last few months, but except for some eight-sentence excerpts for Weekend Writing Warriors, not a whole lot of my stuff. So where is it? What have I been spending my time on?
Well, first of all, I have not retired. Far from it. I’m way too young for that. But I did take an extended leave at the end of 2014, and didn’t start writing new projects until January. Once I started, the first thing I had to do was a whole lot of research for a change to detective romance. It’s something I’m transitioning into over the next two years, but I wanted to get into it with a detective spanking romance in 2015. (Spanking romance has been my specialty for about five years.) So I did a lot of research, reading both fiction and non-fiction books, and got up to speed. I’ve always been an avid fan of 1950s noire detective mysteries, ala Mickey Spillane and Raymond Chandler, but I wanted to translate that into something more contemporary, but equally gritty. The product of my studies and creativity is the book Striker. I finished it in March, and it is set to release on the 23rd of May, via Stormy Night Publications. (Cover on the left.)
Once I’d completed the drafts of Striker, I delved into my back catalog, digging up a set of two books I’d wanted to revise and re-release as self-published work. They were originally the “Daughter of the Moon” books, published by Renaissance eBooks (one of the earliest ebook publishers of all). After the contract term was up, I got the rights back and held them for the time I’d have to do thorough revisions, updating, and professional editing. They also needed new covers badly. So, over the last month, I’ve been working on Sonata’s Moon, Book 1: Surface and Sonata’s Moon: Book 2: Sanctuary. They are a serial set, which means that you’ll want to read book one before book two or the story will seem incomplete. There were a lot of reasons why I broke the story into two, but the primary one was book length. It tops out at over 400 pages, which I felt was too long for a romance novel. Some people can get away with that (Diana Gabaldon comes to mind), but I didn’t think I could, not at the price point I thought was fair. So they’re divided. Hopefully, people who read the first one will be driven to read the second. I expect them to be released in June/July. They have to pass muster with the professional editor before I can have them professionally formatted for sale. I do not skimp on my self-published works. It takes an industry to build a good book.
Next on my agenda will be another mystery/detective romance, but one without spanking. It will still be erotic, because that’s the hallmark of all my books, no matter the genre. I don’t have a release date for that novel, but its working title is “Spike and the Socialites.”
While I’m working through the writing projects, I’m also branching out into teaching. Striker is my 31st book contract. Although I started off slowly in 1993 (I was also holding down a full-time job and had a set of twin daughters to look after), I ramped up to the point where I wrote eight books in 2014 alone. I know a lot about writing, including planning and production. So, I decided that in 2015, I was going to teach. My first class was with Savvy Authors in early April, and was the Writer’s Business Plan. The roster was full, and I think some people even got turned away. I believe I imparted the information I intended, and I got some good feedback and excellent reviews.
Also with Savvy Authors, I’ve become a mentor. The mentoring program consists of one-on-one intensive training for three months (May 4 through August 2), and covers nearly every aspect of fiction writing and production. It’s open to beginners through advanced authors. I believe I can make a difference.
So, that’s what’s up with me. Please leave comments on this post or send me email. I’d love to hear from you and find out what you are up to this year.
Thanks for your continued support,
Lesson 1 – Setting Goals
