Tag: Serial stories

Weekly writing check-in: the one with more keeping time

cofee and ghosts headerThis week my story Keeping Time found a new home over at Luna Station Quarterly. This is a reprint sale, but it’s especially nice since the original journal is no longer online. So, come December, Keeping Time will again be available online.

Some rejections, some submissions, and some work on a series bible for the Coffee & Ghosts series. I have a hint of an idea for an upcoming season two, and maybe a hint of one for a holiday novella. We’ll see how that goes.

Otherwise, it was a week of wrestling with tech issues, from formatting to trying to get four Girl Scouts registered to do some online first aid training. Now, you’d think that last wouldn’t be so hard. Well? You’d be wrong. I think we’ve got it now, and by this time next week, we’ll all be certified. But keep your fingers crossed, just in case.

I’ve also been playing around with Canva (lots of fun) as illustrated above.

Writing Work:

  • Final review: Print and e-book layout on Coffee & Ghosts
  • Revision and formatting work
  • Ghost series bible and brainstorming

Submissions:

  • The Perfect Canvas
  • Incriminating Evidence
  • Gretel and Hansel

Rejections:

  • Gretel and Hansel
  • Incriminating Evidence

Acceptances:

  • Keeping Time

Publications:

  • None

Weekly writing check-in: the one with selfies at the end of the world

So … the world ended this week, and we have the selfies to prove it. Or something like that. My short story “In a Manner of Speaking” is included in the anthology from Mad Scientist Journal.

I’m still working on the very last adjustments to Coffee & Ghosts. It would go a bit quicker if this wasn’t happening:

zon

CreateSpace is all: That’s a nice file you have there. Too bad you can’t see it.

I suspect things will be up within a few hours. I did just manage to download all the new books and files to my Kindle. I can always go read. Or write. I could always go write something.

Writing Work:

  • Final print and e-book layout on Coffee & Ghosts (almost there)
  • Revision work
  • Proofing work

Submissions:

  • None

Rejections:

  • Incriminating Evidence

Acceptances:

  • None

Publications:

SelfiesAntho

Selfies from the End of the World is out in the world this week. You can see more about it in my post here.

No one understands an apocalypse like the people who have experienced it. Mad Scientist Journal has brought together twenty-three tales of people who have seen the world end.

These accounts range from irreverent to surreal to heartbreaking. Zombies share space with global wars, super-viruses, canned peaches, and the death of the sun.

Available in print and e-book: Kindle, Nook, Print, Kobo, iTunes

Weekly writing check-in: the one with behind-the-scenes

Coffee and GhostsAnother week where I do a lot, then when I sit down to post my check-in, none of it seems all that interesting.

For instance, I completed the print and e-book layout for the Coffee & Ghosts series bundle, barring a few tweaks. But I can’t really show you that. I mean, we could sit here and watch the tracking number for the proof delivery.

But that isn’t very exciting.

Well, I guess I can show you the cover.

I also did a fair amount of revision work this week as well. That isn’t so remarkable. What is remarkable is I did half of that work at a coffee shop.

I never thought those studies–about how the noise level in coffee shops can boost creativity–would apply to me, since I’m such an introvert.

I. Was. Wrong. I am seriously pleased with the progress I’ve made, in the evenings no less, while my daughter is at her dance lessons.

I wouldn’t proofread in a coffee shop, but it’s great for coming up with creative solutions to story issues.

Lesson in all this? Even if you think you know yourself and your process, it doesn’t hurt to try something new.

Writing Work:

  • Photoshop tutorials
  • Print and e-book layout on Coffee & Ghosts
  • Revision work

Submissions:

  • None

Rejections:

  • Knight in the Royal Arms

Acceptances:

  • None

Publications:

  • None

Weekly writing check-in: the one with cake and ghosts

Whew. The first week of September is always so busy for us. Two birthdays. Back to school. Apartment move in. A video shoot. And somehow, in all of this, I still managed to publish the last episode of the  Coffee & Ghosts serial. Read more about that here.

I also managed to send out a brand new story into the world, along with another to a reprint market.

But now? Now it’s time to go bake a red velvet birthday cake.

Writing Work:

  • Photoshop tutorials
  • Revision work
  • Ghost series bundle formatting (e-book and print)

Submissions:

  • The God of Bright Red Things
  • Incriminating Evidence (reprint market)

Rejections:

  • None

Acceptances:

  • None

Publications:

Must Love GhostsThe final episode in the Coffee & Ghosts series, Must Love Ghosts is out this week.

Read more about it in my post from earlier today.

 

New release: Must Love Ghosts!

And … it’s here! The fifth and final episode in the Coffee & Ghosts series.

Must Love Ghosts

Katy Lindstrom knows not all problems–supernatural or otherwise–can be solved with a good cup of coffee. But it never hurts.

When the Ghost B Gone web show arrives in town, prepared to live-stream a ghost eviction on Halloween, Katy and Malcolm are on hand–just in case.

But the quirky, seemingly harmless show and its crew are a cover for something darker, something with a vendetta against Katy, something that demands a sacrifice.

This time, Katy must uncover an ancient secret. This time, coffee alone won’t work. She will need to rely on unexpected and unpredictable allies.

This time, she will need to trust what’s in her heart.

Just 99 cents or read for free with Kindle Unlimited!

 

New release: Gone Ghost!

And … it’s here! The fourth episode in the Coffee & Ghosts series is live.

Gone Ghost

 

Katy Lindstrom is pretty handy at capturing ghosts with nothing more than coffee and some Tupperware. She’s an expert at catch and release as well. She’s never once returned a ghost to a client.

Until now.

After rival ghost hunters roll through town, exorcising haunted objects, and roll out again with some of those very objects, suspicion falls on Katy. Clients stop calling. The police chief thinks she’s guilty. And a dear friend’s Purple Heart—and its ghost—goes missing.

Katy and Malcolm devise a plan to retrieve the Purple Heart—and clear Katy’s name. A plan that defies the police chief’s orders, and one that includes a whirlwind tour of Malcolm’s alma mater and haunted frat house.

But the big city offers more than bright lights and adventure. Something has lured Katy here, something dark and sinister with an agenda of its own.

This time, Katy has stepped into a trap. This time, everything she thought she knew—about ghosts, Malcolm, and herself—will change forever.

Just 99 cents or read for free with Kindle Unlimited!

 

New release: The Ghost Whisperer!

And … it’s here! The third episode in the Coffee & Ghosts series is live.

Ghost Whisperer

When it comes to the supernatural, Katy Lindstrom–ghost hunter and expert coffee brewer–always knows what to do. Give her five minutes and some excellent Kona blend, and she’ll trap your ghost.

Katy is completely unequipped when a mysterious and beguiling ghost whisperer floats into town. The so-called Mistress Armand charms away Katy’s clients and accuses her of ghost cruelty. At the town-wide séance, nearly everyone falls under the ghost whisperer’s spell–including Katy’s business partner, Malcolm.

But Mistress Armand isn’t the benevolent, new-age medium she pretends to be. She craves something dark and shameful from the citizens of Springside Township. This time, Katy is going in blind. This time, coffee won’t work. And this time, she may need to give up something shameful of her own.

Just 99 cents or read for free with Kindle Unlimited!

 

New release and a free read!

And … it’s here! The second episode in the Coffee & Ghosts series is live. Even better, the first episode is free.

Ghost in the Coffee Machine

Ghost in the Coffee Machine_series cover

Katy and her grandmother have always used coffee to catch ghosts. It pays the bills and keeps them in high-end beans. But after Katy’s grandmother dies, it’s as if she’s taken all the ghosts with her.

Until Katy discovers there’s a rival ghost hunter in town, one who uses tea–of all things–and one who has stolen all her clients. But when an epic infestation threatens, Katy can’t help but get involved. It will take all her wits–and some excellent Kona blend–to fight the ghost in the coffee machine.

Read for free!

Giving up the Ghosts

Giving up the Ghosts

Katy Lindstrom has used coffee to catch ghosts since she was five years old–a handy skill in a town with an overabundance of spirits. Now Katy wants to make her newly-minted ghost-hunting business thrive. Never mind that her partner, Malcolm Armand, is her former rival, not to mention a bit … distracting.

When a routine ghost eradication ends in disaster, clues point to someone close to Malcolm. But something sinister lurks in Springside Township, something Katy’s never encountered in all her years of ghost hunting, and something that has her doubting all her skills.

It will take more than high-end beans and the perfect cup of coffee this time around. It will take trust and teamwork and possibly a sacrifice Katy’s not ready to make.

Read for free with Kindle Unlimited–or 99 cents!