Category: Reading & Writing

Weekly writing check-in: the one with the BookBub

So my BookBub for the first season of Coffee and Ghosts went out on Monday.

Yeah. Deep breath. I get it now. I totally get it. So worth it. I was in the black by Wednesday from sell-through from the rest of the series. It can be hard and uncomfortable casting a wider net for readership. But it has been an amazing week. I’m so excited I’ve found readers who seem equally excited about Coffee and Ghosts.

The book peaked at #5 in the Amazon free store, made the top free list on Apple (when I thought to check, it was at #14, and that was the following day), as well as on Kobo. It’s the little series that could.

If I have one regret, it’s that Darcy isn’t here to see this. She loved this series so, so much. She would’ve been thrilled that it landed a BookBub.

In other news, I’ve been finishing up a Coffee and Ghosts short story as an exclusive bonus for everyone on my mailing list. I’ll be sending it out soon. It is … very silly. After all, the tagline is:

There’s no business like ghost business.

Want a copy? Just sign up for my mail list, and it will land in your inbox in the next week or so.

 

Free Fiction Friday: keeping it short

Head on over to Instafreebie for some fabulous free short fiction in the fantasy and science fiction genres. While you’re there, you can pick up my (one and only) science fiction/post-apocalyptic story, In a Manner of Speaking (which you can also listen to–for free–on Escape Pod).

Happy reading!

Weekly writing check-in: stepping outside your comfort zone

I have a guest blog post over at Nunum this week:

Use Flash Fiction to Step Outside your Comfort Zone (and step up your craft in the process)

In other news, I started writing the new series this week (and by “started” I mean I’m not sure I’ve even hit 1,000 words yet).

My current mood is neatly summed up by the picture to the left. I always feel this way when I start a story, whether it’s a five-hundred-word flash fiction piece or a 50,000-word novel.

But if it feels new and untested, if I’m–you know–stepping outside my comfort zone, maybe that’s a good thing.

At least, I hope it is.

Weekly writing check-in: quickly, quickly in Italian

Just a quick check-in this week.

A while back, a young woman contacted me, asking if she could translate one of my stories (Just a Matter of Time) into Italian as her final dissertation translation project. I said yes. I mean, of course I did. I was thrilled.

That was back in August. This morning I heard from her. She sent a followup email with the story, in Italian, attached. She completed her project, it was a success, and she graduated from her program.

I’m so happy for her, and I’m still all kinds of thrilled that she picked one of my stories to translate.

Now if I could only read Italian.

April (snow) showers, 99-cent sci-fi and fantasy, and some free fairy tales

So this is what it looks like right now (more or less).

I’m not sure what April (snow) showers bring. Chihuahuas, maybe.

 

 

 

 

 

So, with that, I think it’s entirely appropriate to curl up and read until spring starts in earnest. Author Patty Jansen is hosting another of her fabulous promotions this weekend. All the books are organized by category so you can jump to your favorite sub-genre.

99-cent promotion

Or if you’re in the mood for fairy tales, you can download some for free during the entire month of April.

The free and fabulous fairy-tale promotion.

Happy reading, everyone!

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Weekly writing check-in: Cure your binge-watching

So the news this week is The Binge-Watching Cure is out in the world.

You know you want to read more. You remember once losing yourself in books. You recall how exciting the adventures were, how late you stayed up following your favorite characters, and how you cried, gasped, or bit your nails.

But how to start reading again when binge-watching TV is so easy and — let’s be honest — fun?

You start slowly, of course. Baby steps. First, with a story that’s only twitter-sized in length. Then the next, a mere 75 words. Then a few hundred words, followed by progressively longer tales until you’re reading novels without even knowing it.

That’s The Binge-Watching Cure, a collection of stories encompassing a range of genres, including mystery, romance, horror, science fiction, literary, crime and more — a little of everything for everybody.

Fun concept, right? Because you can always read just one more.

My story is The Saint of Bright Red Things. It’s my very first historical story of any length, and I’m pretty excited that it’s included in this anthology.

In Nazi-occupied France, Marigold Jenkins, the daughter of ex-patriot Americans, must keep her identities—all three of them—a secret. She navigates the streets of Paris armed with a bright red handbag, scarlet lipstick, and a compact tailor-made for her role as a courier in the resistance.

But when a train accident leaves her concussed and stranded in a provincial hospital, Mari must navigate a new reality, one that leaves her at the mercy of a German officer. She must decide whether she can trust this man—and what she must sacrifice in order to do so.

In other news, I worked a bit on the fairy tale series, and by “worked a bit” I mean I mostly pondered, did some reading and some listening to fairy tales and not a lot of actual writing. It will come.

I also spent a fair amount of time with Photoshop (yet again) this week. And that’s about it.

Weekly writing check-in: Straying from the Path Now Available

Straying from the Path is live, both the e-book and paperback! Links to the book below. If you’re outside the US, you can jump to your country via the all vendors/territories link.

There are some lovely early reviews over on Amazon, too.

To celebrate, I made a thing! A video thing!

In other news this week, I signed a contract for The Potato Bug War. This very short WWII story will appear in the summer issue of Pulp Literature. I also sent out a few submissions this week, did some (okay, a lot of) Photoshop work.

Also, I’m a little tired. So, I’ll leave you with the video.

Amazon  Nook  Kobo  iTunes  Google Play  Print  All vendors/territories

Weekly writing check-in: cover reveal!

So, amazingly, my interior and cover files went through the CreateSpace checks like a champ, and I only had to order a single proof before approving the book.

So that means it’s time for the cover reveal!

I’m pleased with the way the cover turned out.

This week I’ve been working mostly in Photoshop and on launch activities (speaking of which, you can totally enter the Goodreads Giveaway–see link below). I had a brainstorm for giving Coffee & Ghosts a refresh, and I think it’s turning out. I only meant to work on it yesterday morning. But then I glanced at the clock and realized it was close to 8:30 in the evening*.

But earlier in the week I did do some work on the fairy tale series. One rejection, but I haven’t turned that around yet.

I anticipate next week will be lots of launch activities and some more Photoshop, but I hope to get some fairy tale work in as well.

*In all fairness, I did do other things, like take my daughter to dance practice and her job, but really, I was on a Photoshop tear.

 

Goodreads Giveaway link

Win a Kindle copy of the book!

Weekly writing check-in: Keeping Time in the New Year

I’m going to switch things up a bit for the New Year. When I started my weekly check-in, I was spending the year doing a write one/sub one with short stories. That was a great year. It got me back into writing on a regular basis and reminded me why I love writing to begin with.

But I’m not writing as many short stories as I did that first year. Or rather, I tend to binge-write them. Also, this year, I hope to focus on longer, series work. (Now that I’ve stated that, just watch. I’ll end up on some sort of short story tear.)

So I’m going to change my check-in a bit, just covering what I did the previous week. I’ll still log submissions made, stories sold and published, but the format will be more free form.

Without further ado, I give you my week:

This week

Writing: ~3,500 words, plus outlining and structure work. I can see the end from here, but I’m not quite in the home stretch. Almost though. And I may be closer than I suspect.

Published: Keeping Time is in audio over at The Centropic Oracle. They’ve done a fabulous job with the production, and the narrator is marvelous. She brings so much to my little story. If you have seven minutes to spare, go give it a listen.