I’m back from the IowaSummer Writing Festival. I had an incredible time. It was just what I needed.
Of course, after that five-hour drive, I think I need a nap.
This week, I’ll review the extended sample for Season 3 of Coffee and Ghosts, which means in a few weeks, the entire audio will be ready for review.
Now, I’m off to do some laundry and maybe a little writing as well.
I did a lot of listening this week and made it through the audio for Coffee and Ghosts 2: The Ghost That Got Away.
The narrator, Amy McFadden, has done a fantastic job. I can’t wait for it to make its way through the audio distribution system. This could take a while when you consider that Coffee and Ghosts 1: Must Love Ghosts still isn’t up at Audible.
Otherwise, I’m finishing up a time travel class (writing, not a how-to) and getting ready for my writing retreat at the Iowa Summer Writing Workshop.
On Friday, a nice surprise landed in my inbox. The audio for Coffee and Ghosts 2: The Ghost That Got Away is ready for review.
I’m really looking forward to getting the entire series out in audio.
Season 1 is making its way through the distribution system (sometimes quickly, sometimes slowly), but listeners are already discovering it in various library systems. I have to say: I love this pay-per-checkout model.
That’s about it. I’m gearing up for a week of listening (and maybe some writing as well).
Sending you over to the Women on Writing blog if you want to read a bit about coffee, ghosts, submitting stories, and a host of other writerly things.
So, I discovered that the US Amazon store was selling the print version of The Complete Coffee and Ghosts for $6.88.
Usually, it’s $24.99.
I know. Totally insane. The price stayed like that for a few days, so this morning I took a chance and alerted my newsletter subscribers to the deal.
You know what happens next, right?
Amazon jacked the price back up to $24.99. Because, of course, they did.
No doubt people clicking through from the email triggered some algorithm or other. Even I missed picking up a couple of copies. I was going to grab some for a giveaway or little free libraries.
But all is not lost. The Kindle version is still on sale for $6.88. It’s not the fire sale of earlier, but it’s not bad.
In less frustrating news, I submitted a story this week, played around with some time travel ideas (story ideas, not actual time travel), and of course, saw The Way Home published over at Long and Short Reviews.
So, minus the Amazon debacle, not a bad week.
Introducing … Milo!
Yes, we’ve added another four-legged member to our family (this makes three dogs and one cat if anyone is counting).
Milo is an American Bulldog, and he’s the sweetest dog you’d ever want to meet. American Bulldogs are often called a large-breed lapdog. Um. Yeah. He’s totally that. And everyone is (more or less) getting along as well.
In writing news, I not only completed the “book map” for my trip through expanding The Trouble with Doppelgangers into a novel, but I started work on it as well.
I also played around with some cover concepts for the first book and the series.
In audio news, I approved the audio for the first season of Coffee and Ghosts. Now the fine people at Findaway Voices will do all their technical checks and get it into the distribution system.
This week, I was not too optimistic. I completed the edit of The Trouble with Necromancers and the audio review for Coffee and Ghosts 1: Must Love Ghosts! I even managed a note or two for the second book in the series.
As far as progress goes for the week, I am pleased.
I can’t wait to share the audio of Coffee and Ghosts. The narrator is one of my all time favorites. I knew she’d do a fantastic job, but I’m completely blown away by her performance. She’s captured Katy’s voice completely, and even the minor characters shine.
That’s it for this week. (Except for prom–but that’s a whole different story. I may need to go back to writing YA one of these years. So. Much. Material.)
I was too optimistic, but I came close. I have fewer than fifty pages left in this edit. I’m confident I can finish it off this week (well, 99.99% confident).
One additional thing I did this week was work on the notes for book two. I have seven pages of longhand notes along with an updated calendar (pro-tip: always write with a calendar), and a whole slew of new ideas.
Plus (and I’m so excited), the audio is in for Coffee and Ghosts 1: Must Love Ghosts! The narrator is fabulous and I can’t wait to share the end result.
So, this week, I’ll be pulling on the headphones and listening to nearly seven hours of Coffee and Ghosts. The last time I reviewed the text (for world building), I ended up with the overwhelming urge to drink cup after cup of coffee. I think I better stock up on a fresh supply along with some half and half.
As predicted I’m inching my way through the edits, and as predicted, we got a lot of snow. But it’s April and I’m pretty much over winter, so I didn’t take any pictures.
I’m up to page 50, but surprisingly, this isn’t a slog. Not only that, but I’ve (easily) cut five pages. I’m really enjoying going through the manuscript at this pace. That being said, I really hope this is the last major edit I need to do.
In exciting news this week, I listened to and approved the extended sample for the audiobook version of Coffee and Ghosts. The narrator is amazing, and I am So. Excited. Must Love Ghosts (Season One) is up first. I’m really looking forward to listening to the rest of the episodes.
I was offline for a bit. And now? Here I am! Back again.
I’m working my way through the paper edits of The Trouble with Necromancers. I’ve forgotten how much I like editing on paper. It’s so tactile.
In Coffee and Ghosts news, I have all the large print editions available. You can find them most easily on Amazon and Barnes and Noble. Not only that, The Complete Coffee and Ghosts is now live on all vendors (and in print).
You may have noticed that I didn’t do a launch for this box set. My goal is to (hopefully, eventually) snag a BookBub featured deal on the set. But for now, it’s selling quite well on Barnes and Noble.
Also? I took the plunge (again) and signed up for the Iowa Summer Writing Festival. So. Very. Excited.
Writing Wrongs 