January 2018

And So It Begins

/ Snippet, Writing

I started working on Polaris Rising Book 2 today. I tend to title things after I’m done, or nearly done, so expect it to remain nameless for a while. Would you like a little peek at the opening scene?

I’m pretending you all said yes. :)

This is super early, first draft, subject to change, may get cut, etc, etc, etc, but here you go. As a reminder, book two focuses on a new couple, so Ada is not the heroine. For now I’m keeping quiet on who is. :)

Lady Taylor had bugs in her walls and not the kind with jointed legs and crunchy bodies. The tortured piano in the corner whined out something that vaguely resembled music as I fought the urge to pull out my com and track the signals to their sources. Three different broadcast frequencies meant at least three different agencies were interested in what happened at a Consortium ladies’ afternoon tea.

Or perhaps they were just interested in Lady Taylor. …

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You All Are Awesome!

/ Writing

Thank you so much to everyone who emailed about being a beta reader! I thought I might get ten responses or maybe twenty if I really aimed high.

Sixty-one of you replied in the day the post was up. That’s amazing! ?

I’m a data nerd, so I broke people down into two categories: those who followed the directions and those who didn’t. I’m happy to report that fifty-three of you fell into the first category. [Please don’t email me and ask which you were, or ask for a redo, or whatever. Next time, follow the directions. Attention to detail is a good beta quality. :)]

Because I had so many extra people, I upped the number of betas to five. I read every email and picked two people, which was super difficult because you all are incredible, so I let the random number gods decide the other three.

All five have been emailed, so if you haven’t received an email, you didn’t get selected. I’m sorry. This won’t be my last beta call ever, and you’re welcome to try again next time.

I’ve received confirmation emails from three of you, but if your initials are J.F. or A.L., you might want to check your email. :)

The Queen’s Gambit Call for Beta Readers

/ Writing

I’ve finished writing The Queen’s Gambit. Yay! I’ll still post a chapter a week (go ahead and cue the sad trombone sound), so I’ll have a brief slice of time where I could make edits.

This is where you come in.

Have you ever wanted to beta read for a Real Live Author™? Now’s your chance! I’m looking for two or three beta readers to read the rest of the novella and share their feedback with me. Let me know what you loved, what you hated, and what made you scratch your head.

What you get: the rest of the novella weeks early, my gratitude, and the envy of your peers. More importantly, if you turn out to be a sane, reliable human who provides good feedback, then the odds that I’ll ask you to beta again (say for Polaris Rising or PR Book 2) go way up. …

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Writing Advice No One Asked For

/ Writing Advice

Now that I’ve sold a book, literally no one is knocking down my door, asking me to impart my writing wisdom to the world, but I will anyway. Prepare yourselves, it’s incredibly profound:

If you want to be a writer, write.

See, I thought I was being very clever there, but a quick search proves that Epictetus is credited with basically the same quote and that dude was born in 55 AD. So, for nearly 2,000 years, the advice to writers hasn’t really changed.

I know you may be looking for the shocking #7 on the list of “13 Things Every Successful Writer Does,” but I promise you, the best thing you can do is write. (The second best thing you can do is read. Read in your genre and outside of it. Read everything.) …

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