February 2012

Writing. Editing. Writing. Except for a brief break to attend Boskone, this month is dedicated to finishing Allegiance.

January 2012

So, how to summarize 2011?

Lots of exhausting, frustrating, tedious moments, interspersed with lots of extra shiny moments.

2011 was the year I learned how to make e-books. When the original publisher declared my collection, A Handful of Pearls & Other Stories, out of print, I decided to release a second edition on my own. I designed a new cover, proofed the stories yet again, and read up on e-book formats and online vendors. The new edition came out in May, and while it's no best seller, it is selling steadily. Even more gratifying, it's been nominated for the Best Indie Fantasy/Paranormal, 2011 RT Reviewer's Choice Awards.

Speaking of the RT Reviewer's Choice Awards, 2011 was also the year I won my first award. Passion Play won for Best Epic Fantasy, which led to me flying out to LA, accepting the award, and making a (very short) speech. I can't even begin to say how exciting that was.

2011 was also, alas, the year I didn't get as much writing done as I hoped. I did lots of writing-related work—copyedits and galleys for Fox & Phoenix, galleys for Queen's Hunt, and notes for two new novels—but no new stories or books completed. Part of this came right back to lack of time. I started a new job in July. After four months of an exhausting commute, we sold our house and moved across the state. Toward the end of the year, I finally settled into a regular writing routine.

So this new year...

2011 will see the publication of the paperback version of Passion Play and the hardcover for Queen's Hunt. Two books in one year! Okay, one is a reprint, but wow, this feels good. This is also the year I will finish and turn in Allegiance, the last book in Ilse and Raul's trilogy. After so many false starts, I have gained traction in writing the story, and am four chapters away from finishing the draft. While I'm waiting for feedback from my editor on that, I have a new short story idea I want to write. It's set in the Seventy Kingdoms, but with a completely new set of characters.

Oh, and at some point, I need to work on copyedits for Allegiance, start revisions for The Edge of the Empire (aka, my pirate novel), and maybe move again.

Lots to do. Let's see how much I get done.

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