The Inevitability of Change 2019

2019 is proving to be a challenging year full of chaos and change. Change is not something we can always control. Sometimes it can lead to better things, and at others, not so much.

Two major items hit in the last month related to the author side of my life.

ConDFW

The first change, which was back in February (though I didn't realize it until this week), was that one of my favorite conventions put on their last round this year. After 17 years ConDFW will be no more. I had no idea this was their last year, and I wasn't able to attend this year and be part of the final event due to health reasons.

They went out with a bang! Which was wonderful. But I regret not having been there.

This convention meant a lot to me. Back in the day, it was the first literary fantasy/science fiction convention I ever attended. It was the year I realized I had no choice but to get out there and network if I wanted any chance at a writing career. (I tend to be something of a wallflower and quite shy.) It was at that first convention that I first met Selina Rosen, Melanie Fletcher, and Jeff Turner. Meetings that had significant impacts on my life as they led me to Yard Dog Press and Zumaya Publications and my first publishing contracts.

I wish Dan Robb and all the other wonderful people who've worked so hard to put such a fun convention together many thanks for all the years of hard work. Kudos guys!

Start writing or type / to choose a block

Mundania Press

The second change to hit this month was the closing of Mundania Press and their subsidiaries.

For the last couple of years or more, changes by Amazon to make the most of their self-publishing services, weird algorithms, the economy, and a ton of other factors have dried up revenue streams and forced many to go out of business.

Mundania having to close has orphaned two of my novels - "Cross-eyed Dragon Troubles" and "Inner Demons." While all rights have reverted to me, it also means I need to find new homes for these two books.

I'm looking into several solutions to see which way (or ways) I want to use to bring them back in print. So do not despair! But it was definitely a shock to hear of the closing.

My fellow authors and the writing and publishing community are awesome, and several people have reached out to me with suggestions and even possible new homes for the two orphaned novels. It will mean a ton of work, research, and patience, but it's time to look forward rather than back.

I will keep you all updated on what direction I end up taking. It could even end up being one of the best things that could have happened, even if it doesn't feel like it at the moment. Wish me luck!

Chaos, News, and Oct 14th Impending Release!

Greetings all!

First, apologies for the lack of consistency on my posts of late. Between 2015 and 2016 life has been an ever filling bucket of chaos! Whee!

Most of it stems from the dreaded, but horribly necessary - Day JOB! I have to eat, pay bills, all those pesky things one does to survive while working above and beyond to push a writing career. Not for the faint of heart on a normal basis. And with all that's been happening at work in the last couple of years...

People leaving the department like every three months or so in 2015. Owner ship changes. Duty changes. And in 2016 the added fun of an accelerated system conversion at the same time as declaring bankruptcy and coming out the other side. Then add in the layoff and people who survived it leaving at the worst possible time...and you can see how full the bucket is.

I've got my fingers crossed that 2017 will finally have things slow down. I want to be able to WRITE! Got a science fiction manuscript screaming for me to edit it so I can shop it around and a new urban fantasy manuscript with several thousand words already down and tabulated research on the side. Neither of which has seen anything from me in at least six months. :(

The peeps from the writers group I belong to are not sure I still exist! (Been with them for a long time and I've always been anal about getting my crits for any submissions in! Now they never hear from me except to catch a glimpse and a word or two from me at cons. (I'm still alive! I promise! I will do my part soooooooonnnnnn!)

The blog schedule has not gone unscathed, and has gotten worse the last few months Apologies! At least I've still managed to show up at the cons. (Though on the last two I missed a couple of my panels - *gack* - Even after looking at my schedule repeatedly! Mind exhaustion anyone?)

We're hitting 3rd quarter close and audit - so it's not looking good for October. But I'll keep struggling to get back on track. 

And so as part of this long apology for sporadic posting schedules and more I will also be a good author and announce the impending release of my novelette "Charity and Sacrifice."

Release date is October 14th! Less than a week away! And in case you missed the post a few weeks ago - it's already available for pre-order! Kindle,  Kobo, and iBook.

The novelette is 10K words and will only be available in ebook. For a short excerpt check the book page here.  It is a historical/alternate history work set in London, England in the late 1800's. :)

If you wouldn't mind, please help spread the word! And wish me LUCK! (I need it!) :P

The Curse of the Cover

Being a writer tends to involve a lot of time spent waiting. Waiting to get distant enough from a project to edit the manuscript, waiting to hear back on submissions, waiting to get a manuscript back from a beta reader or editor, waiting to actually move up the cue to get the book published. It's all part of the process, and you grin and bear it as much as possible. But no one ever told me I would have to deal with curses too!

My first book, In the Service of Samurai, actually went pretty smoothly from acceptance, editing, and print. No real problems. But, Vassal of El, on the other hand, was plagued after it went to print with odd category placements! On Fictionwise it got dumped into Dark Fantasy, something which it is definitely not. But on Amazon, by some fluke of nature, it got slated as a Scientific Experiment Text! Who knows what it got dumped under elsewhere. And let me tell you, after you get stuck in the wrong category, it is hard, very hard to get you put into the right spot! (The publisher and myself going at it, it still took more than a year to fix Amazon! Eek!)

I sold two other manuscripts, one to another publisher, and a new one to my main publisher. The new publisher got me edited right away, and it was awesome. But they got cursed with some truly terrible personal catastrophes (on multiple members of the staff!), which trickled down, so that book was delayed along with many others for over a year. I have my fingers crossed that Cross-eyed Dragon Troubles will see print sometime around Christmas, but who knows! (I don't think of this one as cursed per say, but then, I'll have to wait and see till it is released!)

I had much higher hopes for Willing Sacrifice. But little did I know! Back in 2006 the specs for the cover were sent off to an artist, and there was a proof by January 2007. I liked the proof a lot, and so did the publisher, and after compiling some minor changes to bring out a couple of aspects, the publisher contacted the artist and waited for the changes. And waited, and waited, and waited. Despite repeated attempts to get a hold of the artist, there was no response. Suddenly the release date is looming and the book has no cover! (Hadn't had an edit yet either, so all I could think was doom and gloom!) Publisher found another artist. The edit got done. I did the final manuscript pass through. We did miss the original publishing date, but the artist did get a first cover pass out. The cover was totally different from the first one, but was pretty good. Did need some changes, (I'm sorry, Dal doesn't have a goatee!) and the comet needed to be placed on the front rather than the spine (some weird placement issue thing), but once fixed I was sure it would kick!

I wait and wait and finally bug the publisher. Well, the proof got looked at by the partner, who is also the cover layout person, and she didn't like it. Decided she would take the project on herself. But she's swamped. So now I wait, and wait, and wait. Maybe 2007 just isn't my year to publish books...

Want to take bets on whether a fourth artist will have to take a crack at it?

The Curse of the Cover is here! :P