From 2021 to 2022

Hey, I'm only a week late with my "year in review" post! 2021 was a busy year writing-wise and 2022 looks like it's going to be the same. Let's recap what happened and what's coming up!

2021:

The big event of this year was re-releasing the Disintegration series. New edits, new formatting, new (awesome!) cover art...and then I had to market the damn things. Overall, I'm happy with how everything went, and I'm beyond thrilled that these books I've loved so much for so many years are back out in the world and resonating with new readers.

I also released a short story, Sweet Escape, which is now on Kindle Unlimited after retiring from the role of being my newsletter freebie. Feedback on that one has also been good, and I'm happy with that, too. (How could you *not* be happy when chocolate cake is involved?)

As far as writing and planning ahead goes, I signed a bunch of contracts for some upcoming releases, which I'll elaborate on in my next section, appropriately titled...

2022:

The first round of edits plus the mock-up of the cover are done for A Flame Among the Stars, my upcoming lesbian fantasy romance. Longtime artist buddy Boobulon is doing character artwork for the main cast, which I also can't wait to share! No official release date yet, but we'll still label it as "coming soon!"

I also successfully accomplished many parts of another big item on my to-do list - rebooting the Searching the Skies series. To quickly recap, Book #1 was my first published book ever, Book #2 came out about a year and a half later, but while Book #3 was planned, it never happened for various reasons. At the beginning of 2021, I fiiiiinally wrote Book #3, which didn't take long at all, since it had been bouncing around in my head for many years. I also realized it didn't have a satisfactory ending to the series as a whole, so my planned trilogy is now five books long. (Hey, it worked for Kevin Smith.) I signed contracts for Books 1-3, and I'm nearing the end of writing Book #4 now.

I have another short story that's just about ready to go, but I'm trying to space out my publications. This one just needs one more quick edit, formatting, and a finalized cover. For that last point, I'm still working on my basic graphic design skills, but I was able to create a pretty cool text effect for the title. Somewhere in the back of my head, I do want to write more short stories, yet, as we all know, these things take time.

Lastly...I have to figure out what I want to do with The Edge of the Sphere, the last of my books where the rights reverted back to me after the publisher shut down. I'm kind of torn here - I do still like a lot of the story, though I definitely don't consider it my best work. It needs some editing, though not a ton. (I think I even started working on that a while back, but I don't even know off the top of my head.) It needs a new cover, and I'd have to decide if I want to tackle it myself or outsource it. If/when I get around to re-releasing it, I'd probably do a paperback version, so I might want to turn this one over to the pros again. My biggest issue, though, is marketing and promotion. Do I really want to spend a lot of time on a book I like very much, but may not love? Do I just want to sort of passively put it out there and let my other books sell it for me? I don't know. When I have the schedule for everything else more formalized, maybe I'll think about putting it back out there during a quieter period.

Whew! That's quite the list! Somewhere in here, I need to catch up with my reading and my Netflix, both of which have been seriously neglected over the past year. But first, back to writing the final chapter of Chasing the Skies! (Yes, it has a title already, yay me!)

The Fall of the Midnight Scorpions - Release Day!

 

It's here! The Fall of the Midnight Scorpions is now officially available on both Kindle Unlimited and in paperback. And! AND! To celebrate Release Day, Disintegration, Book 1 of the series, will be available for FREE on November 1st and 2nd, so if you need to catch up, now is the perfect time! Don't forget - if you haven't grabbed your free copy of Disintegration: The Prequels to round out the series, you can pick your favorite format here.

Blurb:

A year has passed since Ro Bernard escaped from the Midnight Scorpions, a clandestine group of mercenaries that exists in the outside world as little more than myths and rumors. Though haunted by the reprehensible acts she committed and witnessed as a member of the organization, her primary focus is keeping a roof over her head and food on her plate. A chance encounter leads her to Karin Cassels, whose son died in the Scorpions’ underground laboratory. While sharing details about her son’s research, Ro reveals the most disturbing information she has on the group. Their leader, scientist Dane Zedek, has been integrating cybernetic parts with human soldiers in the hopes of building a lethal army to help him achieve greater political power.

The women hatch a plan to take down the Midnight Scorpions with two ultimate goals: kill Zedek, and rescue Callum, Ro’s lover who was the first of the scientist’s experimental hybrids. For additional assistance, Dr. Cassels directs Ro to Reggie Quinn, a drifter who is no stranger to odd jobs and risky situations. Reggie negotiates a deal with Ro and agrees to join the cause in exchange for a percentage of whatever they loot from the Scorpions’ base.

They embark on an adventure throughout three warring countries to assemble their team and gather the necessary materials for their schemes. Along the way, Ro tries to fight her growing attraction to Reggie, especially as reminders of her unhappy past keep resurfacing. Love and redemption wait for her at the end of her mission to defeat the Midnight Scorpions…assuming she makes it out alive.

Excerpt:

Reggie collected their new belongings, and she opened her knapsack for him to deposit the ammo inside as they walked out the door. Once they left the shop, she took her handgun from him and slipped it into the back of the waistband of her pants. “Well, that was fun,” she said.

“I don’t know, Rosie. I think you could have batted your eyelashes a bit more.”

She’d given up on trying to fend off the nickname. “Don’t get too excited there, buddy. I don’t mix business and pleasure. It never ends well.”

They turned a corner, traveling back to Ted’s neighborhood on foot. “Sounds like you’re speaking from experience,” he said. “What, were there all sorts of illicit love affairs and secret trysts going on in the deepest recesses of the Scorpions’ lair?”

“Something along those lines.”

A wicked gleam lit up his eyes. “Ah, so you’ve been holding out on me. Way to leave out the best bits of the stories.”

“If you haven’t noticed yet, most of the stories don’t have a happy ending.”

“True.”

Ro bit her bottom lip as they walked along the paved path. She had yet to reveal her second main objective for when they made their way into the underground facility and disposed of Zedek. The gun at her back reminded her how much Reggie had been willing to risk for her. She owed him full honesty.

“Fine, you got me,” she said. “I may have neglected to mention one of my priorities for this mission, aside from killing Zedek, looting the place, and turning it into a pile of rubble.”

He stopped walking. “Dare I ask when you were going to bother filling me in?”

“I don’t know. Eventually?” She halted her pace and turned around to face him, sighing. “You’re right, I’m sorry. I should have been completely forthcoming from the get-go.”

“Apology accepted.” He continued down the road again, tugging on her wrist so she would do the same. “But start talking.”

Ro pondered how many details to disclose and the best way to convey them. “I have a friend down there and I don’t know if he’s alive or dead. I didn’t have time to find out for sure before I escaped and, obviously, I couldn’t take him with me.”

“So we add springing your friend to our list. I don’t see what the big deal is.”

She didn’t say anything.

“Oh,” Reggie said after a few beats of silence. “Let me guess. I stumbled across one of those love affairs I was joking about.”

“It wasn’t supposed to be that way. He was a project, an assignment, a responsibility.” The words tasted bitter as they rolled off her tongue. “And he deserved better than what he got.”

“From the Midnight Scorpions or from you yourself?”

“Both.”

The street shifted from asphalt to dirt beneath their feet. “If you loved him, I don’t think he got such a raw deal from you,” Reggie said quietly.

Her teeth gritted together. “Zedek and the lab rats were responsible for fucking up his brain and his body. His emotions, his soul, those were all on me.”

“It couldn’t have been so bad.”

“It was.” Nauseating guilt churned in her stomach, but she’d come too far to leave her confessions unfinished. “As soon as we started caring about each other, I should have walked away and put an end to it. Not only would it have been the professional thing to do, I knew nothing warm and bright and good could ever come from Zedek’s dark pit in the ground. I was right.”

He glanced up toward the sky. “When things look bleak, people want to cling to whatever glimmers of hope they can find.”

“Are you referring to him or me?”

“Both,” he said, repeating her prior answer.

They trudged along the dusty paths. The settlement of gray and brown hovels appeared in the distance, swathed in the illusion of murky shadows despite the mid-day sun. Before they reached Ted’s house, Reggie grabbed her shoulder and spun her around to face him. “Look, Rosie, I’m not going to tell you not to beat yourself up over whatever happened with this guy,” he said. “You and I both have our skeletons and scars, and sleep comes easier some nights more than others. I’m not going to delve into your innermost feelings or offer useless platitudes, and you’d probably tell me to go fuck myself if I tried.”

Ro shrugged, though the motion didn’t dislodge his grip. “Very likely.”

“For what it’s worth, I don’t think you’re a horrible person, and I doubt anything you could tell me would change my mind.” His fingers remained on her arm, though his grasp loosened. “I don’t go following just anybody into hideouts filled with hordes of deadly mercenaries, you know.”

She stared up into his gold-flecked eyes. “You’ve heard enough evidence of how everything I touch turns to shit. Let’s follow through with the plans Ted helped us solidify and get the job done. Assuming we come out alive on the other end, we can then worry about whether your assessment was right or wrong.”

“Fine.”

They arrived at Ted’s door. “One more thing,” Reggie said as she reached for the knob.

“What?”

“Your friend, boyfriend, lover, whatever.” Sympathy softened the strong lines of his cheekbones and jaw. “We’ll find him and get him out, no matter what.”

Disintegration - Release Week

 

The official release day for Disintegration was on August 30th, and it was a great week! Pre-orders went out, some ARC reviews went up beforehand, pages have been read on Kindle Unlimited, and I even sold a couple of paperbacks. Phew! I'm also in the midst of some promo events, so let's have a link dump.

 

As a reminder, newsletter subscribers get a free PDF of Disintegration: The Prequels (check out that new AMAZING cover art!), as well as being the first to hear about news and sales and whatnot. If you haven't already signed up, there's a form in the corner, or you can use this link.

In addition to having some reviews on Amazon, there are more ratings and reviews on the Goodreads page. I guess now is a good time to not-so-gracefully include a reminder to support indie authors by reviewing their books, as we're all on an endless mission to defeat the Dreaded Algorithm (for Amazon, Twitter, etc.).

Also this week, I was interviewed by Aubry Andrews, which was a ton of fun! If you're not already following Aubry on Twitter, DO IT NOW. In addition to posting submitted confessions every Friday, she's a big supporter of her fellow erotica authors, and is just plain fun. You won't regret it.

I'm still working on some other promotions, along with trying to find some time to work on my new project, and I'll have some relevant tropes for you in the coming weeks. Busy, busy, busy!

Disintegration Updates

In addition to writing my blog posts on tropes, I have been plugging away at other things, namely the Disintegration series re-release. For the most part, everything's been going smoothly, and I think I'm on track to release at the end of the summer as planned. As always, some things come with a learning curve, so I figured I might as well organize all my progress updates in one place and talk about my experiences, as I try to document in this "writing about writing" blog. Let's organize this into categories!

Covers: First and foremost, I cannot possibly say enough good things about Emily of Emily's_World_Of_Design. She has been absolutely fantastic to work with and I 100% recommend her to anyone who's looking for a cover designer. As of right this second, the covers for Disintegration and Disintegration: The Prequels are complete, and The Fall of the Midnight Scorpions is in progress. I'm planning on doing an official reveal for Disintegration in about another month, but in the meantime, here's a tiny sneak peek to hold us over. (I say "us" because this cover is amazing and I'm so impatient, but I want to wait for a few more things to be finalized before the reveal.)

Keep an eye out for that little scorpion to be showing up on all sorts of things in the weeks to come, and don't forget—newsletter subscribers will see the full cover first!

Editing: Everything's fine here. Since the kids are finally back in school full-time, I started getting back to my usual work schedule a couple of weeks ago, so that's slowed me down a bit on the editing front, but it'll get done. Again, Disintegration and Disintegration: The Prequels are completely done, and The Fall of the Midnight Scorpions is in progress. The "that" and "just" count for TFotMS did, as predicted, nearly make me sob, but I went through and slashed a lot of them. ("Still" wasn't awful. "Really" snuck in more than I'd remembered.) Like I said in a previous post, there wasn't a ton of work to do here (as compared to the Skies series, for example), but I still need to devote time to actually doing it.

Formatting: Aaaaaand here it is, why the statement "everything's been going smoothly" has the "for the most part" qualifier in front of it. By this point, I'm pretty confident in my abilities to format an e-book. I went back and forth for the longest time over whether to outsource the paperback formatting or do it myself. I finally decided to give it a go on my own, and then if it turned out I was in over my head, I'd pay someone else to deal with it.

I used a combination of Amazon's official guide plus a couple of other articles/blog posts that explained some steps a little more in-depth. While I know there are various programs out there for book formatting, I stuck with MS Word because that's what I already own and that's what I'm familiar with. As I followed (or thought I followed) the step-by-step instructions, it turned into one of those things where everything was going fine...until it wasn't. For the curious, where I got tripped up was the page numbers and the headers/footers. There's a difference between "acceptable" and "professional" and I was aiming for the latter, so I turned to Google for help. It took a little time, but I eventually wrapped my head around how to accomplish exactly what I wanted, and I think/hope it worked out. I'm crossing my fingers that I got all the margins and stuff right the first time out and it won't be rejected, and I'm definitely planning on ordering a proof to double check everything. If, after all that, something's still not right with the paperback, I'll turn it over to someone who actually knows what they're doing.

The e-book and paperback for Disintegration are mostly formatted; I have a placeholder in for the TFotMS cover and blurb, and I figure I should probably write a dedication for this one. Disintegration: The Prequels is only getting an e-book, but I haven't formatted it yet. I'm hoping once I get to formatting the paperback for The Fall of the Midnight Scorpions, I'll feel pretty comfortable. Maybe.

So that's where everything stands. I was originally planning for a September 1st release date for Disintegration (and make the prequel set the newsletter freebie starting then; I'll also make it accessible for free to current subscribers). However! I was recently reminded that the Alanis Morissette concert tickets I got last year were rescheduled for that day, and it looks like the show is going ahead, so even though I think everything will be all set up for the book release, it still feels like a LOT for one day, y'know? Since everything's going well, I'm now aiming for August 30th. I haven't decided when I'll make the preorder available, as I've heard conflicting advice about that, but there's going to be a lot of fun stuff going on leading up to the release, so stay tuned!

Multitasking

I'm pleased to say I've reached the home stretch of Surrendering the Skies. I have one more chapter to go, plus an epilogue. And honestly, I'm not crazy about where my word count is right now, so I might wind up going back and adding in a few more things, but we'll see where I wind up. Still, exciting!

As I started inching closer to the end, I also started thinking about what else I want to accomplish this year writing-wise. Regular readers will remember I have more older books that came back to me following a publisher shutting its doors, and I have to figure out what to do with them. It finally hit me that if I want to re-release any of them on my own, these things take time, and I should probably start making some sort of plan. (I know, it's obvious. Big derp on my part.) As I've been saying this past year or so, now that my kids are a little bit older, some of the brain fog is clearing, and I've been feeling more like my writerly self. So, let's attempt some multitasking!

I revisited my beloved Disintegration series to check out where it is now and how much work it would need. You know what? My love is not misplaced; those books are still fucking awesome, if I do say so myself. Really, some of my best writing is in there. They will need some editing, and I will probably sob to myself as I slash all the "thats" and "justs" and a whole bunch of adverbs, but otherwise, I don't think it'll be too painful.

Next, I realized if I want to do right by these books I love so much, I should invest in some kick-ass cover art. I've got tax return money coming. I've got stimulus money. LET'S STIMULATE THE ECONOMY AND SUPPORT ARTISTS! I put a call out on Twitter, reached out to some artists, and found someone I think will be a great match. Since I wasn't crazy about the original covers back in the day, I'm super excited about this part.

After/during cover art will come editing, which, again, I don't think will be too strenuous. And then after that...formatting. I've done e-books before, so I'm not too concerned there. It falls under the category of "time-consuming, but not terribly difficult." But I haven't done a paperback on my own yet, so I need to start doing research on that. I know there are ways to outsource this work, but since I'm spending money on the covers, I'll most likely handle the formatting myself.

So far, my plan is to finish up Surrendering the Skies, shop that series around, and then get to work on editing. As of right this second, I'm planning a release date for the first Disintegration book for September 1st of this year. It might be a wild ride, but I think it's doable. I'm also going to release the set of prequel short stories at the same time, but—BUT!—newsletter subscribers will get those for free, so make sure you're all signed up for that.

I'm voluntarily putting a lot on my plate, but as of right now, it's making me happy and motivated and all of that good stuff. Fingers crossed these plans work out (says the pantser)!

Sunday Snog (giveaway and fundraiser!)

I'll write an actual post sometime soon about video games and romances and such (hint: I just finished crying my way through Mass Effect 3), but in the meantime, I'm participating in the 100th Sunday Snog! If you want to read about a ton of great kisses and enter a bunch of giveaways, be sure to click through and follow all the links. In addition, donations will be made to Medecins Sans Frontieres/Doctors Without Borders, which is a fantastic charity that does amazing, amazing work.

One of my favorite kisses that I've written is Callum and Meyta's first kiss from the (free) Disintegration prequels, so I'll pull that up for today's event. Don't forget to enter the giveaway at the end to win your choice of ebook from the library!

A cool breeze drifted through the desolate landscape, and Meyta shivered. “Maybe you’re right,” she said. “Maybe I should take a trip to Coral City, or some of the other areas of the country, and see what they’re like for myself.”
 
She sensed movement behind her. A pair of hands appeared on her shoulders, their warmth seeping through the thin material of her blouse. “You know, there’s a lot to be said for what’s right here,” Callum murmured near her ear.
 
Her body tensed as he stepped closer, and then relaxed when she leaned back into the comfort of his arms. “At first, I thought you were lucky,” she said. “I almost started to envy you for your exciting life, and all your travels, and the important jobs you do with the military.”
 
“Almost?”
 
“But then I realized how foolish that was. Every day, you run the risk of being taken out by a Charytaran missile, or ambushed by an army of Palavian drones. I don’t know how you do it.”
 
His hold on her tightened. “Someone has to.”
 
She tilted her head back. His breath danced across her neck, and the scent of his skin wafted towards her nose. A combination of the dust on his uniform and the effects of the day’s exertion mingled in the cool air, yet it was not an unpleasant aroma. She breathed deeply, keeping her gaze focused on the illuminated desert. “There’s so much danger out there,” she whispered. “Do you ever get scared?”
 
“On occasion. Just don’t tell my teammates.”
 
Meyta smiled. “Your secret’s safe with me.”
 
“I can think of better secrets to share.”
 
Callum squeezed her shoulders and turned her around. With one hand, he brushed an errant lock of thick, dark hair away from her face. She closed her eyes as his fingers grazed her cheek, and leaned towards him.
 
His lips, soft and moist, met hers in a tender kiss. Gentleness gave way to a stronger fervor as his tongue slipped into her mouth. Another tremor rippled over her, yet the cause of her quivering muscles had nothing to do with the outdoor climate.  Callum’s hands dipped down to her waist, pulling her closer into an ardent embrace. She locked her arms around the back of his neck, and pressed herself against his broad chest.
 
In the infinite expanse of cold, unfeeling sand and the ever-present threat of brutal warfare, Meyta no longer felt small and alone. Reminders of Callum’s impending departure prickled at the back of her mind. She pushed aside any negative thoughts, and succumbed to his smoldering kiss.


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Hump Day Hook!

It's that time again! Today we'll revisit the first of the Disintegration prequels, available for free at Smashwords. Don't forget to visit all the other authors after getting hooked here!

She tilted her head back. His breath danced across her neck, and the scent of his skin wafted towards her nose. A combination of the dust on his uniform and the effects of the day’s exertion mingled in the cool air, yet it was not an unpleasant aroma. She breathed deeply, keeping her gaze focused on the illuminated desert. “There’s so much danger out there,” she whispered. “Do you ever get scared?”
 
“On occasion. Just don’t tell my teammates.”
 
Meyta smiled. “Your secret’s safe with me.”
 
“I can think of better secrets to share.”
 
Callum squeezed her shoulders and turned her around. With one hand, he brushed an errant lock of thick, dark hair away from her face. She closed her eyes as his fingers grazed her cheek, and leaned towards him.

Hump Day Hook!

(If you're looking for the Caliente Blog Hop and its associated giveaways, scroll down or click here!)

It's Wednesday, and we all know what that means! This week's hook comes from the third of the Disintegration prequels (which *cough cough* are FREE at Smashwords). After your attention span has recovered from this hook, don't forget to check out the other participating authors!


Ro stared at the ceiling, gasping for air. The wooden floorboards were rough and rigid beneath her, but the discomfort barely registered. “I have a feeling my back’s going to be killing me tomorrow,” Devan said from beside her. 

“My knees will probably hate me, too.” She blew an errant lock of hair out of her face. “Doesn’t matter. It was worth it.” 

“Agreed.” He turned towards her and ran a finger along the curve of her exposed breast. “When you’re on top of me like that, with that look on your face....” 

“Mmm....” 

Devan sat up. “Let’s do it,” he said. “Let’s finally get out of here.”