Goals Revisited

I got to looking at my goals post from way back when, and y'know, I'm really not so horribly off track.

Goal 1 - Finishing Night of Fire and Ash. Check.

Goal 2 - Write JJD4 - temporarily on hold

Goal 3 - Speak at RT.  Done!  Love love loved it.

Goal 4 - Choose/write a new project - well, I kinda DID that already, with The Musicbox Girl, so that one's done, just out of order.

Goal 5 - Publish JJD4 - Still a goal, just pushed back a bit further than originally thought.

So really, what does the rest of my 2013 look like?

Peacemaker - My edits on Peacemaker are due July 1st, assuming of course that I get my edit letter in good time. (I feel pretty safe making that assumption)

JJD4 -  Come July 1, provided that Peacemaker is turned in on time, JJD4 becomes my priority.  Planning on having it done by November 1.  Four months should be sufficient enough time.  After that, I want to spend November/December getting it edited and the cover design and formatting done in preparation for hitting the button to make it live.

And holy cow,that brings me into 2014 already.

At some point in January (don't know the precise date yet), Peacemaker will hit.  Kinda want to spend the month of January dealing with that, but I also want to spend it plotting out the second Arcane West novel.  My current plan with that series is a trilogy, but who knows?  Never say never or something.

Spring of 2014 could conceivably be spent writing AW2, and pimping JJD4 with a spring release.  Then, JJD5 will need to start being a thing, and... I'm exhausted just thinking about it.

And just like this year, my best laid plans could come to a screeching halt due to unexpected (but hopefully still good) events.

It feels good, though, to have a plan.  It may not even be a great plan, but at least it's a plan.

Post RT Stupor

To begin, let me say that not only was this my first RTConvention, but it was also my first convention at all.  I mean sure, I attend the local anime con once a year (Naka-Kon) but in all honesty, I’m a day-passer, and I mostly go to cruise the vendor room.  So this was my very first all out, balls-to-the-wall convention.

And it was AWESOME!  I would gladly go again, if my finances could afford it.  (That was the advantage of it being here in KC this year, I could attend and not worry about travel/lodging costs.)

First, everyone there was so freakin’ NICE!  Authors, readers, aspiring writers, publishing folk, I didn't meet a single person who wasn't completely welcoming and helpful.  Especially after they found out it was my first con, ‘cause I think I looked a bit lost at times, and someone always came along to adopt me.  (Con lesson learned:  If you stand in one place long enough, someone cooler than you will come along and tell you what to do with your life)

Second, the panels there were very interesting!  I attended quite a few on self-publishing, given my plans for the JJD series, and I learned a whole lot.  I’m not sure all the advice applies to me and my specific situation, but it still gave me some very interesting things to mull over.  As one presenter said, there are many roads to Oz, and Oz means different things for different people.  I attended a few craft panels too, usually because someone I knew was either attending or presenting, and I always felt like I learned something. 

The panel I was actually on was great!  First off, I was up there with Jackie Kessler, Caitlin Kittredge, Margaret Stohl and Jeaniene Frost, and the amazing Nicole Peeler was moderating.  Seriously, if you haven’t read any of these fabulous ladies, you and I can no longer be friends.  Run out and rectify that situation immediately.  We had a huge crowd, they were involved, they asked awesome questions, and I didn't make an ass of myself.  Always a plus.  In reality, I would happily do panels again, it was HUGELY fun.

When there wasn't an actual event going on (or I just needed time to decompress for a bit), I spent hours just sitting and talking to people.  It really is true that almost everyone will pass through the hotel bar at some point or another.  I met a good chunk of the League of Reluctant Adults in person for the first time, and hung out with John Scalzi who is just sweet and charming and super-duper nice.  I also made some really great new friends (and found new books that I’ll just HAVE to read), just by striking up conversations with total strangers.  Anyone who knows me in real life knows that that in and of itself was an accomplishment.  Also, no one seemed to care if I wandered around a bit starstruck.  I fully admit, I fangirled all over some folk. (I told Diana Rowland I loved her.  Seriously.) 

There were multi-published, NYT bestselling authors there, standing next to debut authors with one book out, standing next to self-publishers, standing next to aspiring writers, standing next to readers who just want to love the books.  Do you know how cool it was to just walk past groups of people sitting in the lobby and overhear in-depth discussions of plot devices, or current books, or character tropes, or…?  It was writing/reading paradise. 

So what did it all mean?

No idea.  Other folk have sounded off on things about the con, and since they’ve been to more than one, I’ll leave it to them to make the really deep judgments on it.  However, I know that I had a really great time, made a ton of new friends, and learned so much my brain is still buzzing with it.  It was totally worth the money I spent to attend, and I’m really envious of everyone who is already planning to attend next year in New Orleans.

I have enacted what I call the “lottery ticket caveat”.  If I win the lottery between now and next year’s RT, I will definitely be there.  Other than that, it’s pretty iffy, and I will watch Twitter with great longing while it’s going on.

Sound the Trumpets!

After much waiting and teasing and hinting and wailing of gnashing of teeth and sacrificing of chickens...


I am thrilled to announce that my fantabulous agent has sold Peacemaker to InterMix, for publication in e-book format in January 2014!!!

The book will come out in e-book first, and then if sales warrant, actual print copies later.  I have to say, this whole digital thing is moving so fast!  We're already less than a year from publication, and they've had cover meetings, and worked on the cover copy and... It's amazing!

I truly love the world I've built in Peacemaker, and I hope the readers will love it too.  I'm super excited to let you all explore it with me.

Peacemaker

An Arcane West Novel

Caleb Marcus is a Peacemaker, a roving lawman tasked with maintaining the peace and bringing control to magic users on the frontier. A Peacemaker isn’t supposed to take a life—but sometimes, it’s kill or be killed…

After a war injury left him half-scoured of his power, Caleb and his jackalope familiar have been shipped out West, keeping them out of sight and out of the way of more useful agents. And while life in the wild isn’t exactly Caleb’s cup of tea, he can’t deny that being amongst folk who aren’t as powerful as he is, even in his poor shape, is a bit of a relief.

But Hope isn’t like the other small towns he’s visited. The children are being mysteriously robbed of their magical capabilities. There’s something strange and dark about the local land baron who runs the school. Cheyenne tribes are raiding the outlying homesteads with increasing frequency and strange earthquakes keep shaking the very ground Hope stands on.

Something’s gone very wrong in the Wild West, and it’s up to Caleb to figure out what’s awry before he ends up at the end of the noose—or something far worse…

 

Where's Waldo: RT Version

It's here, it's finally here!

RT 2013 has arrived, folks, and I will be attending my very first ever writer/reader convention!

So, of course, the question on everybody's mind (not least of all mine) is "Where can I find the amazing, stupendous, breathtaking author, K.A. Stewart?" Well, I dunno, but if you see her, point her my way.

For the most part, I'll be attending the con like any of you. I'll be going to panels, I'll maybe poke my head into a few parties, stuff like that. I had some spiffy bookmarks made up just for the occasion, and if you happen to bump into me, you can probably get one.

However, if you are really set on seeing me specifically, like, all professional and stuff, here are a few places you can find me:

Thursday
10:00 a.m. - Room Empire A, Mezzanine Level
URBAN FANTASY - A Man in a Woman's World
This will be me and a veritable plethora of other amazing authors talking about what it's like to write male characters, as a woman. (I think it's too late to point out to them how very hard I fail at being a girl in the first place)

Saturday
11:00 a.m. - 2:00 p.m. Exhibit Hall
A GIANT BOOK FAIR What it says on the tin. This a HUGE thing, folks, with hundreds of authors signing books. Even if you couldn't afford to attend the entire con, this event is open to the public for $5 admission. You can bring books from home to be signed, or purchase some on site. (Please see the website for the rules on bringing your own)  ((Fair warning, I may or may not be dressed as Batman.  Just sayin'.))

 6:30 p.m. -7:45 p.m.
FAN-Tastic Day Party Chicago/New York/San Francisco Room
My official time to be at this event is 6:30-7:00, so if you wanna just come and hang out, I should be around!


There are many other events going on for RT, and as of now, I have very few concrete plans.  I am at the mercy of my hubby's work schedule, though, in that I may have to go retrieve my child on some evenings, and do kid-friendly type things outside the con itself.  Mostly, I'm looking forward to meeting some new folk, to catching up with old friends, and just spending a few days with people who love books as much as I do.


Oh, and also... If you can find me, and if you're really super nice... I might just tell you my secret news I've been teasing about. ;)

((Don't worry, non-con-going people, I'll be announcing it here on the blog soon too, so stay tuned!))

Naughty Secrets!

I find it hard to put posts up here when I don't have news, and I find it even harder to put posts up here when I have news but I'm not allowed to TELL anyone yet!!!  Argh!!!

Suffice to say, I have news, but I can't tell you.  Neener.  Hopefully, in the next few weeks, I'll get the okay to explain.  Most likely mid-to-late April.

In the meantime, I keep chipping away at The Musicbox Girl.  It's actually going really well!  This week alone, I've written almost 5,000 words, and that's just on my one-hour lunch breaks at the Real Job(tm).   Part of that comes from having a really solid outline.  I got lucky with this one.  (Now I just have to hope that it's actually as awesome on paper as I'm thinking it is.)  I'm almost to the halfway point, both storywise and word-count-wise.  It's always so nice when those two things match up.  Nothing worse than getting to your halfway point in the story, and realizing that you're only like 10K words into the book.  Oops. 

My goal is still to have this done before the RT Convention at the beginning of May.  I wanna go into the con with nothing to do for a few days but hang out with some other writer friends that I've never actually met in real life, and just be writerly and social. 

After RT, my plan, once again, is to go back to JJD4, though I know of a few things that are going to delay me, probably through the last part of June. (further explanation forthcoming once I get permission.  See above.)  I know now that I can't get JJD4 published this year, not if I want it to be the best that it can be, but I am hoping early in 2014. 

It's driving me nuts that I'm going to go all of 2013 without having a book out.  I feel like I'm going to turn invisible and just fade away from people's memories, and then no one will care what book I have out next, or IF there's a book out next.  I know it's not entirely true, but it's making me antsy.

I kinda feel like the end of the Breakfast Club, "Don't you forget about me...!"

Yeah, I'm that old.

((The title is totally a WoW reference, btw, and nothing to do with anything actually naughty.  Though, I'm interested to see what kind of spambots hit me up for this one))

Do you hear the sound of screeching brakes?

Just when I think I know what the heck I'm doing, it all goes wonky on me.

Here I was, just working on JJD4, minding my own business... Got some words in, got a great idea for a new first chapter...  Starting to really get back into the swing of Jesse's brain again.

And then I get the little "bing!" on my phone that says I have email.

Well who could that be, says I?

It's my lovely agent!  She's lovely!  This is why I call her my lovely agent!

The email was in regards to The Musicbox Girl.  ((Previously, on "This is my life", I sent the first three chapters of The Musicbox Girl to my lovely agent who is lovely, because she liked the idea so much.  /end flashback))  Judging by the amount of all capital letters and imperative commands to finish this right now!, I think she likes it.

So once again, JJD4 is on hold.

While I am thrilled that my lovely agent who is lovely is so excited about my new project, I also feel a bit guilty for continually pushing Jesse to the wayside.  Poor guy.  He's gonna develop a complex.

Needless to say, this is going to toss any semblance of personal deadlines I had RIGHT out the window.

Ah well.  We improvise.

Because I like to tease you...

Several things going on right now.

First off, I got the chapters of The Musicbox Girl delivered to my amazing agent last week.  She hasn't had time to read them over yet, but I hope when she does that they're all she imagined them to be. (Prior to this, she'd only seen my notes on the idea, which are admittedly rambling and disjointed.  Seriously, someday, I'll post some of my notes files on novels for you guys to see, and you will marvel at how I ever managed to make it into something coherent.)

Second off, I was supposed to switch to working on JJD4 this week, but so far I've only managed to finalize what I think the title is going to be.  Letting it percolate in my brain a bit, and when I'm sure, I may go ahead and commission the cover art, so that I could debut that at the RT Convention in May.  Thinking, maybe having some bookmarks or something to give away with the new cover on it.  (would probably do some kind of giveaway here too, for those of you who can't come to RT obviously)  If any of y'all have any ideas in that area about swag you'd like to have, let me know!  I'm new to this end of the authoring.

Third off, there's been some other movement on other things this past week.  Can't tell you anything, because officially, nothing has happened yet.  But I've made some crucial decisions, and I'm really feeling pretty good about them.  Can't wait until I can fill you all in on the details.

Back to JJD4:  I had said previously that I had about 7K words done on it, but as I started reading back through things, I realized that what I have as the current chapter 1 just isn't going to work.  My first chapters are always flashbacks of some kind, and while the one I was writing is good, and pertinent, it's just not going to work out.  I think I'll finish it anyway, and probably post it as a freebie closer to time to release JJD4.  Just something to whet the appetite.

So, that knocks me back down to about 5K words.  Not a big blow, but less than I'd had.  Real life keeps interfering with my writing time, so this week has largely been a bust.  I'll have to make it up as I go.  Still want this done by May 1 (new revised deadline), before RT.  That's the point where I'll have to start figuring out paying for editing, etc.

I will say, the self-publishing concept still really intimidates me, but I think it's going to be like so many other things in life.  Once I get through it, it's going to be way better than I'd feared, and I'll never understand why I was so anxious about it in the first place.