Love the New One

I've been so busy with editing and all the other work involved with the three books I have coming out before June that I haven't had a moment to work on any new writing. I still have a few rounds of edits to do on First Dragon for Crescent Moon Press and the final changes on The Heir of Futhark to contend with but this weekend I finally got back to the 'next' book.

The next book I'm working on is the second book in The Morbunda Saga tentatively called Born to War. I reread what I had already written and managed about 2.5K of new material this weekend. Not much, but my writing brain feels a little rusty. I haven't gone this long without working on a new book since I started writing. It is so fun to dive back in and get this story moving again.

Writing time is precious, and it's so easy to get distracted by time sinks like Pinterest and other social networking including blogging. I try to blog three times per week but that can be time consuming. It's a test of my time management skills to limit my time on blogs. I apologize if I visit fewer than I've been doing over the last three months but I have a plan.

I had forgotten the fun of writing that first draft. Even though I really like this part, it is the most challenging for me. I have a goal of having it done by the end of April. Can I do it? I'm not sure with all the blog hops and challenges I've signed up for in March and April. But that's what goals are for.

So how many blogfests are you signed up for this spring? Are you working on something new or editing a completed work? Did you get snowed in this weekend? Ready for spring instead of this endless cold and wind?

Goal Setting

As a health teacher, I do a lot with students about setting goals. I know this audience doesn't need to read any of my lectures on the importance of working toward something. Many of my fellow bloggers have already publicly shared their goals for 2013. Putting it out there is a great motivator to help one strive to meet those goals. My turn.

First my excuse for not doing this right at the start of the year. I was too busy with a deadline. That's my story and I'm sticking to it. I really did have an artwork questionnaire and other work hanging over my head for one of my contracted books. The fact that my children were home from college and I wanted to spend every possible minute with them is only incidental to the lag time in my goal setting.

Goal #1  Finish my last read through on The Heir of Futhark and send it to my editor. Get the artwork ready. Make changes suggested by my editor. Publish this last book in The Futhark Chronicles on Kindle and Smashwords. My self-imposed deadline is February 28th.

Goal #2 Complete editor suggested changes for my newest futuristic romance novel, The Marine's Queen. New Concepts Publishing has set a tentative publication date as March 29th.

Goal #3 Complete editor suggested changes for First Dragon, the first book in The Morbunda Saga. Crescent Moon Press has contracted this, my second epic fantasy series. I've  very excited about it though I don't know the publication date yet.

Goal #4 Set up blog tours and do mega promotion for all three books above. My biggest challenge.

Goal #5 Use my new camera to take more pictures I can use on my blog.

Goal #6 Complete two more futuristic romances for New Concepts Publishing.

Goal #7 Complete the second book in The Morbunda Sage. It's about half finished now though untitled.

Goal #8 Do some traveling. With my son doing an internship in Colorado Springs from May to November, I'm heading west. Then my daughter is at Boston University. Seeing her every two or three months isn't often enough for me so I'll be heading north on occasion. I have a sister in Washington State. I've always wanted to see those mountains. I have a sister in Mississippi, a very warm place to visit in the winter. I have a sister in New York State, pretty much on my way to Boston.

In case these goals seems ambitious, remember this is the year of retirement for me. I'm going to try and be a full time writer starting in June. I hope it works.

Did you all set your goals? Any place you're intending to visit this year? Is your family spread out like mine?

Promote Me by Me

I guess my greatest weakness as an author is in the promotion of my work. I really have a difficult time pushing my work, spreading the news and talking about my books. Some writers manage to promote their work in non-offensive but effective ways on their blogs, on facebook and other social media venues.

The Heir of Futhark, book #4 and the final novel in The Futhark Chronicles, is still in the major edits stage, but I have plans to do a better job with this release. I've been watching and learning. I hope.

The first three books in the series.

Timing can be important for books this time of year. My former publisher, the one I reclaimed my rights from for this series, had scheduled each book to be released January first for four years in a row. Is that a good time? Are people pretty busy on that first day of the year. Hangovers? Bowl games? Parties? Resting before returning to work the next day?

How about right after Christmas? All those new eReaders, tablets and other personal electronic devices are yearning for something to download. Why not one of my books? So is the Christmas season a good time to have a book released?

Or are people too busy from Thanksgiving until after the new year? Are potential readers spending their money on gifts for others and not buying books? Or can some good promotion convince them to spend a little on themselves?

Do you think a particular time of year is a good time to have a book released? What do you think of a holiday release? A New Year's Day release?

Oh yeah, I meant to say in this post, buy my books. See, I'm getting better at it.

The Next Big Thing

Thanks to David Powers King who passed on The Next Big Thing to me. I've put it off for a few weeks because of the super duper blog fests I've been enjoying as a participant and a visitor lately. Time to catch up with this before next week's Monstrous Monday Blogfest sponsered by Tim Brannan at The Other Side.

Now to anwer the questions about The Next Big Thing

1. What is the title of the book I'm working on?
The Heir of Futhark, Book #4  and the final installment of The Futhark Chronicles.

2. Where did the idea come from?
This ending for this series has been in the plan since I wrote the first book four years ago.

3. What genre does it fall under?
This is classic epic fiction where the hero and heroine must save mankind from an evil entity with magical abilities.

4. Which actors would you choose to play your main characters in a movie adaptation?
I want Henry Cavill as Cage Stone. I'm sure it will be a bigger role for him than Superman. And Amanda Righetti from The Mentalist will be a perfect Sabelline Shelton. She's tall and built like an athlete.

5. What is a one sentence synopsis of your book?
Cage and Sabelline search desperately for a means to defeat the god-like being they're released into the world before all mankind falls under its evil spell.

6. Will it be self-published or represented by an agent?
This is the series I reclaimed from a publisher who decided to take their business in the direction of celebrity books after they published the first two books in the series. I'll be self-publishing it.

7. How long did it take you to write the first draft?
About seven months, which is about normal for me.

8. What other books within the same genre would you compare it to?
I would compare it to Brandon Sanderson's Mistborn in that the fantasy world isn't huge and sprawling though there is more magic in his story.

9. Who or what inspired you to write this book?
I've always loved fantasy. Like most fantasy lovers, at some point I read Tolkien and the rest is history.

10. What else about the book might pique the reader's interest?
If you read the first books in the Futhark saga, all the mysteries and questions will be answered in this final book. By the last page, you'll understand the history of Futhark and the direction the world is going. There's action, love and death. There's sadness and triumph though the final victory comes with great cost. I hope you all want to know how it turns out.

Thanks, David, for passing this on to me. Talking about it helps get me motivated to get those edits done.  Part of this if for me to pass this on.

Let me introduce by friends to a writer who is a newly published author. Gerry Trust has been a friend of mine for many years and I'm so happy for her success and never say quit attitude.

Stop over and see what David is up to. He's a very busy blogger and has something new up almost every day. I'm glad I found him through some blog hop or other.  Check out Gerry Trust and wish her luck.

Busy Week Ahead

Time is flying by. I have some fun bloggy plans for this week.

Tomorrow Hildie McQueen and I will be guesting on each others blogs. Join me on hers to read my take on how to name characters in fantasy. I'll be using examples for my epic fantasy series, The Futhark Chronicles. Do you know the origin of the word, Futhark?

 You can check out her blog now to hear about her experience on the recent Moonlight and Magnolias Conference in Georgia.

Hildie will be sharing even more about her recent conference experiences on my blog on Monday. I'm very envious of my writer friends who are busy with fall conferences. Next year.

On Wednesday of this week, I'll be joining around 90 other bloggers in the Did I Notice Your Book blogfest, another great idea for Alex Cavanaugh. You can still sign up and join us. Even if you don't join us, hop around and read about some books and authors you may not have heard of but that maybe you should check out.

So lots to do besides working on my current WIP, The Heir of Futhark, fourth and final book in my series. Work, work, work, but the fun kind. Hope to see you around this week.

Are you joining Wednesday's blogfest? Have you heard of Hilde McQueen?