I’ve been gone for a while with my nose stuck to the grindstone. You’ll be pleased to know that it type “THE END” on The Upright Son a week ago and entrusted it to the mercies of beta readers. Once I get it back (hopefully by the end of the week) I will have three rounds of rewrites and edits before I can submit it to Dragonblade.
Meanwhile, I’ve been toiling away on all the tasks large and small, such as this blog, that I let go by the wayside in the drive to finish up. Monday has been slipping by. Indeed, I believe this week will be gone before I grab it by the horns and wrestle it to the ground. Too much to do about too many things in too many directions. Some involve a plethora of (minor) medical procedures/appointments/tests for the household. Some involve writing and its related activities.
In other news:
You’ll be seeing Desperate Daughters, the Bluestocking Belles’ 2022 collection, all over social media. With nine super creative authors you can imagine. The biggest and best is probably the spread in Elizabeth Ellen Carter’s Love’s Great Adventure Magazine. It includes story tidbits, excerpts, a tour of York where Desperate Daughters takes place, a bit about horse racing which factors in the stories and one about fashion which also factors in. It really is a treasure.
https://eecarter.com/loves-great-adventure-magazine-march-2022/
If you go to the top page of this website you may have noticed that The Upright Son made an appearance on the very top. I’m also working on blurbs, tag lines, and memes to promote it. The current version of the blurb can be found here. I say “current” because I’m still tweaking. Those things are a bear to write. Because I needed a month long extension on this book, the launch date, alas, has been moved to late June.
Caroline Warfield’s Fellow Travelers is still a good way to keep up with me. We are now hosting guest authors every Friday. There are wonderful books and locations to explore—and sometimes prizes too.
I also took a moment last week to put out a newsletter. Did you get it? If not you missed things! You can always sign up (check out the menu on the left).
What about writing you ask? I’m doing some advance planning for more books for Dragonblade. Those of you who read The Defiant Daughter and wondered what would become of Maddy’s stepsons, their books are tentatively entitled The Duke in All But Name and The Duke in Name Only. I’m mulling through whether these are Ashmead Heirs bonus books, or a whole new series. I’ve also committed to a contribution to Dragonblade’s Lyon’s Den collection, tentatively entitled The Caged Lyon. I may set that one in Southeast Asia.
I’m also sketching out the a novella for a Dragonblade collection based on Shakespearean themed stories. I’m thinking Henry VI Part III. Seriously. I can have fun with that. On the distant horizon is the next Bluestocking Belles story. Meanwhile I’m collecting three of my wounded warrior stories from previous Belles’ collections into a single volume I’m calling Wounded Warriors. Watch for that one in November.
Did I mention days are slipping by and Life is going to intrude this week? But first… Wait! There’s a half finished mug of coffee on my desk from this morning. I’d better get busy before it is wine o’clock.