Edits R Us

I'm working on edits on the series that will release next year. So far, so good. I haven't hit any big snags yet, but I'm on book 2 of 3, so I'm not saying I'm out of the woods yet.

I'm also doing a few others things in my spare time -- looking at maybe redoing my blog; maybe revamping my web site. Maybe ... maybe some writing! What a concept!

There are so many demands on our time. I'm trying something new -- I'm focusing on only 3 things per day in my free time. One is writing (or editing, if needed). One is promotion. Those are the two constants. And one is ... something else. I'm not sure what it will be tonight, but once I do the other 2, I'll look at that third one.

So far, so good.

Writing ups and downs and ups

I wrote a series last year that was accepted for publication this year for release next year.

What this means is I'm editing books that I've essentially forgotten about for promotion next year when I will have forgotten about them again since I'll be knee deep in new writing by then.

Such is the writer's life. The 'up' of this is that I've rediscovered these characters and I like them. The 'down' of this is that I have to change a few plot elements to suit my publisher. The 'up' of this is that I'm discovering interesting sub-plots to weave in to help me change those elements.

I've discovered that anything I dread (like changing plot elements) is not as bad as I usually fear. I just have to take the plunge and once in, the water's fine.

Of course, check back with me in a month -- I may have changed my mind!

Back home & ready to go!

I had a great time at the Malice Domestic conference in D.C. last weekend. It's funny -- I often come home from romance conferences drained, but this one totally energized me. There were so many fans there who love to read new authors, it really gave me encouragement.

I'm at that stage of my career that encouragement is as valued as a great review (although I love great reviews -- don't get me wrong). It's so easy to get sidetracked by the negative things that happen. When good things happen, they're just so unexpected and GREAT. I pitched 'Pornography' and it was very well received.  8)

So I'm back into my mysteries, working on edits to 3 of them (a series for next year), then I hope to tackle 3 more before the end of the year. Along the way I hope to self-publish my time travel series, find an agent, and maybe finish book 1 of my Big Book of Global Destruction.

A busy year ahead!

The conference season is upon us

Whenever I say "conference season" I automatically think of the first book in my Fatal Writers' Conference series. So here's the obligatory link to it  8)

I saw a brief tweet from someone who said, "RT and RWA [two major conferences] also force me to balance the green-eyed monster with politeness."

How right she is! When you go to a conference and see other people who started at the same time you did, and how successful they are, it's hard not to be jealous. I'm not talking about the Big Names: most of them are coasting on their success now, relying on their name to sell a book.

Nope, it's the other folks who make me stop and think. I always have to back up and remember: I'm doing this because I want to do it. No one is forcing me to write a book. No one is forcing me to submit it for publication. I'm doing this because [drum roll] I ENJOY DOING IT.

Once I remind myself of that, life settles back down again.

Man. You'd think I'd learn, wouldn't you?

And speaking of conferences: I'm off to Malice Domestic tomorrow in Washington D.C. I'm looking forward to it -- my first mystery conference of the year! I'll try to post an update on Saturday, if I get the chance.

Look at this -- a new book!

I'm trying out a new thing here -- I got pinged by Amazon to set up this "Associates" program whereby if you buy the book from Amazon by clicking my link here, I get a cut of the profits. So why not? I'll give it a try.

My 15th book in 3 years. Wow. That sounds impressive, even to me... until you think that my goal was to be "The Nora Roberts of E-publishing". That means I'm just about on track. Nora puts out about 5 print books a year, so yeah, I guess I'm just about on par with her (in terms of quantity. I won't comment on quality and I'm pretty damn sure I'm not on a par with her in terms of money earned).

Oh well.

I've bee so swamped at my Real Job that I haven't had time to really think about this release, but I don't feel any pressure to get out there an promote (promote Porno -- say that fast a few times!) I'll be talking about this book most of the summer because it really is one of my favorites. Of course, I say that about a lot of my books, but this one is unique.

So welcome, 15th book! So glad you could join us.