Hello? Is this thing on?

She’s alive! Aliiiiiiiive!

Ok, I’m pretty sure I’ve used that joke before.

But no, really, I am alive. Haven’t updated this blog in forever, which is my bad. But been working through some mental stuff, and it’s kinda stifled my writing drive, even up to and including blogging. I even forgot my day over at the League a couple of times, ‘cause the mojo just wasn’t working. More on that further down. (I still refuse to learn the difference between further and farther, much to The Editor’s frustration)

I’ve been telling myself, “I’ll blog when I have news to report”. Only, there hasn’t been any news to report. And it finally occurred to me (this morning, actually) that this blog was never about only reporting news when I had some to report. From the beginning, it was supposed to be about my process, and about the trials and tribulations of just being a writer. So I guess part of being a writer is that sometimes, there’s nothing to write about.

You all know that A WOLF AT THE DOOR is coming out on August 7th. I should have copy edits to do on that one within a couple of weeks, and hopefully a cover reveal in that time frame too. I’ve seen the rough draft of the cover, and there are no words for how in love with it I am. Theoretically, after that, we’ll have the usual spiffiness of ARCs to give away, signings to schedule (Got one scheduled here locally, so anyone in my neck of the woods, I expect to see you! More details to come later), guest blogs & interviews to write. (Hopefully. Haven’t been asked yet)

Speaking of, if anyone wants me to do a spot on their blog or what-have-you around the time of my release date, go ahead and get in touch with me now. I feel better having those kinds of things done early, so I don’t risk leaving anyone hanging.

And speaking of getting in touch with me, it’s been pointed out that not everyone in the world knows how to find me on the interwebz. So here’s a few ways for you to reach out and touch me. (Note: Actually reaching out to physically touch me will probably result in serious bodily harm to your person. I hit my husband with a car twice, and I LIKE him.)

Email address: kari(dot)stewart21(at)gmail(dot)com
Facebook: JJD Series
Personal Gibberish
Twitter: tasmin21

A few notes about email: I love getting fan mail. I do not love getting crazy mail. One will get a nice reply, the other will get you blocked and/or reported to the FBI, depending on the depth of the crazy.

A few notes about Twitter: I don’t auto-follow folk, but I really like to reply to @ messages, so go ahead and chat me up! If I’m at work, it may take me a while to respond, but I’ll get to you when I get home (and back into the realm of viable cell signals)

And finally…the topic you’ve all been waiting for… No news is still no news. We haven’t had the talk yet about the future of the JJD series. The limbo I feel myself in has resulted in a rather crippling form of indecision. Part of me says “Go ahead and start on book 4, so you have it partly done already!” Part of me says “Start on something new, just in case!” And as a result, I waffle back and forth and can’t seem to write anything at all.

Luckily, my lovely agent has ridden to my rescue in recent days. She asked to read the first two chapters of several different projects I have in the wings. Two of those were Nano projects that I’ve talked about before (A Night of Fire and Ash and Peacemaker). One is a project I’ve been kicking around for years called Tactile. The Agent says she really likes all three, but asked me to go ahead and finish/polish Peacemaker so she can read it in its entirety. That’s what I’m working on right now, and honestly, it’s a relief to be writing SOMEthing, even if it’s just in an editing capacity. I truly am a happier person when I’m putting words on paper, for some bizarre reason.

And that's where things stand right now. I hope to have the new, shinier version of Peacemaker back to The Agent within a couple of weeks, allowing time in the middle for copy edits on Wolf. And after that, I may go ahead and finish/polish A Night of Fire and Ash, too. Just because I can, and there's no reason that I shouldn't be writing SOMEthing.

That's all she wrote!

Ok, no, not really. Ya’ll should know better than that. But I am officially declaring that I turned in Book 2 last night. As of now it looks like the title will be A SHOT IN THE DARK. (Will let you know release date as soon as I know) It’s shorter than I like (though not nearly as short as I’d feared) and I’m hoping we can cure that minor malady in editing. The Editor is awesome, I trust that she can see things I haven’t.

And quite frankly, I had hit the point where I was doing more harm than good with all my fidgeting. Keep that in mind, folks. There comes a point when you really have worked on something TOO hard, and you just need to step away.

My rest-of-the-year schedule looks like this:

September: Outline Book 3, submit that to The Editor for review.
October: Outline Nano project, tentative title “The Pugilist and the Alchemist”
November: Nano
December: Start Book 3

The Nano stuff is, obviously, optional, and there will be edits for Book 2 in there somewhere, and those take priority. Once I get Book 3 done (please please please let it be ahead of deadline this time instead of two-and-a-half weeks late), I intend to go back and revisit Muse. I’m very anxious to implement a lot of the stuff The Agent and I talked about. (spoiler: There may be cannibals)

(Also, realized yesterday that my ultimate fangirl moment would be my favoritest ever comic book artist doing a graphic novel of Muse. Seriously, I’d faint dead away in the most girly way possible. No, I won’t tell you who it is, ‘cause then they might find out, and I’d feel like a total loser.)

There’s been a lot going on in my brain lately, and stuff I keep meaning to blog about, but I’m afraid if I try to cram it all into one post, it’s gonna turn into a TLDR.

I went to a great book signing and met up with some awesome internet friends (if we’ve met in real life, does that now make them real life friends?). Sadly, there were very few pictures taken, ‘cause there was so much gabbing going on! Can’t imagine how that happened.

More reviews for A DEVIL IN THE DETAILS are coming in, and for the most part, folks seem to like it! You have no idea how much this still boggles my mind. They like my little story? Really? Sweet!

And I shall leave you with this article, which oddly, did NOTHING to alleviate my zombie-phobia, since it is all contingent on there actually BEING zombies in the first place:

Why the zombie apocalypse won't work.

Things on future blog posts agenda:

Questions people frequently ask me about getting published, and my responses.
Cons I should attend, sound off on your favorites.
Cats on books!

Adventures at Comic-Con

Ok, yes, I know I didn't actually get to go to Comic-Con.

Or....did I?

Check out the blog of one of my wonderful writing friends, who took it upon himself to escort "me" around the con all day on Saturday. It looks like I had a great time! (and the Elvis Trooper may have to be my new avatar)

Notes From the Lair

In other news, Book 2 is nearing completion. I had a slight hiccup when my word count came in at 71K words (which is 9K shorter than it needs to be. That's roughly 36 pages short). I hemmed,I hawed, I sent frantic emails to The Editor. And then my lovely betas Chie and Theo came through for me, and I got an inkling. A hint. An inspiration!

Translation: I know how to fix this monster. And even better, I have part of the new stuff already written, because it was something I cut out of the OLD version when I started over back in January. Bonus!

Hoping to get this finished within the next two weeks, 'cause it's getting to be that time, folks! The Editor emailed me today to say she needs back cover copy-type writings, and if I have any ideas about the cover, I should speak up now or forever hold my peace. Truthfully, I'm so happy with the cover for the first one, I can't imagine what there could be for me to say. Now, book 3? Yeah, that one I need to talk to someone,'cause some stuff changes there. What stuff? I could tell you, but then I'd have to kill you.

It should also be noted that I still do NOT have a title. At least, not one I'm happy with. And it's this second title that's so important, 'cause it'll set the pattern (if there is one) for the rest of the titles in the series! Think think think...

Maybe I should get some honey. Works for Pooh. (Note: Mead is made of honey. I'm just sayin'.)

So! I'll shout out to the world at large. Any title ideas, folks? I think I'm avoiding a "devil" theme in the titles, 'cause they're being used by another great author. But any other thoughts?

Also spoke to The Agent last week (see, this is what happens when I don't blog for a while. I have SO much to update you on!) about Muse. We talked for an hour and a half! I'll just say that my work on Muse is not done by a long shot, but I think The Agent hit the nail on a head on quite a few points, and that when I DO get time to rework it, it's going to be even more amazing than it already is. I'm so hopeful on this one, guys.

Off to have a weekend! There will be....weekendish stuff! (I have no idea. It's been so long...)

Copyedits, oh my!

So, I spent three days (well, ok, two and a half) working on my first ever copy edits! For those who aren't familiar with the process, that's when a nice person with a red pen (or in this case, with "track changes" on) makes notes about things like punctuation, capitalization, and other slightly questionable details. Then I as the author go through and either agree with them (leave them alone), disagree with them (change them back), and otherwise add anything that might be missing.

This is my LAST chance to make big changes. (big changes being anything more than a typo fix) Or, rather, it WAS my last chance. 'Cause I turned those bad boys in this morning!

I also got the chance to do my dedication (that I've been planning almost since the beginning) and my acknowledgments. My greatest fear right now is that I've forgotten someone in the acknowledgments, and that's just gonna kill me.

Things I learned while doing copyedits:
The word "Realtor" is actually a trademarked term, and should be changed to "real estate agent" when possible.
I use a ton of commas where semi-colons would do.
The word "T-shirt" should be capitalized like that.
Proper grammar sounds SO freakin' wrong, in a lot of cases.
Per The Editor, in first-person PoVs, voice trumps proper grammar. (I was so relieved to hear that)
Contrary to the little doubting voice that creeps in now and then, this story isn't half bad!

Had a great chat with The Agent tonight too, he was just calling to check in since we hadn't talked in a while.

My goal is to have the first draft of Book 2 done by the end of March. Hopefully, this will give my beta-slaves plenty of time to check it out and get it back to me before I have to have it in to The Editor.

I'm excited!

Back to the Drawing Board

Or the writing board? What IS the writing equivalent of that?

So, all my doubts and reservations about book 2 were actually very valid, since The Editor brought up the exact same issues upon seeing a synopsis. So, I went back to the drawing board! (or whatever)

And over the course of a weekend, I hashed out a mostly-new plot for Book 2. Of course, this means I'll be scrapping most of what I had done (well, I can salvage some of it, pared down) but when I really step back and look, I'm much happier with the New Two (as I'm now calling it).

It flows better, it sits in the back of my head better... I knew, when I was struggling so much with version 1, that it was my subconsciousness's way of saying "THIS SUCKS, STUPID!" My subconscious has now been appeased, and is actually gloating rather smugly at me.

Granted, this puts me on a much shorter time frame to produce the New Two. I can do it, don't get me wrong, but it means I'll have less time for screwing around, and less time to work on "me" stuff (ie: things I'm not getting paid for). And that's ok too. Discipline is a good thing, when applied correctly.

(not to be confused with "Apply Directly to the Forehead!")

In other news, Gretchen McNeil (blog in the links to the left) is starting up a new blog series about writing (imagine that!). Definitely go over and check out what she's got to say.

Also, if there's anything anyone wants to see me babble about, feel free to make requests. I do not, however, sing the Bee Gees, clog dance, or juggle small mammals. Much to their relief.

We're still here....sorta...

So, living in a house of plague for about three weeks is interesting... Funny how being sick just saps the urge to blog right outta you. Or me. As the case may be.

So, lessee, what have I forgotten to update you on?

Last week, The Editor and The Agent and I discussed different titles for my series. We threw out all kinds of ideas, back and forth. Some I didn't like, some the marketing department didn't like... It was interesting! Ultimately, we came full circle back to the original title we'd thought of. I had to laugh.

With all the sickness going on around the house, I haven't been writing like I ought to. I'm really close to being done with chapter 10, which will mark the midpoint, storyline wise. And I should be coming in right at the halfway point of my assumed first draft word count, too. (as we all know, my first drafts are almost exactly 75% of my desired finished word count) Which means I'm on target!

And now for some fluff... Here are the pictures of kiddo's braided hair from Renn Fest, in the various stages as we finally took it down. I apologize that some of the pictures are fuzzy.

Braids:




Coming undone:


Lookit all these curls!:


See, NOW she looks like a child of mine. Instead of stick straight hair like her daddy. ;)

Hopefully, I'll be more diligent about blogging from now on. (I know, I say that every time, but I DO mean it!)

JimStalk '09

So tomorrow night, my author crush Jim Butcher is doing a reading (c'mon, we all know he doesn't really read, he just sits and chats which is AWESOME) and signing, and not only am I going (like we're surprised) but I'm dragging kiddo, and Gita, and Bryn and Kasey with me! It's JimStalk '09, courtesy of AW's Purgatory!

Woo!

Seriously, I'm excited to get to see some of my fellow Purgatorians in the flesh. Maybe with them behind me (poking me with sharp sticks) I'll get up the nerve to introduce myself. (or maybe not)

I intend to post pictures of those who will allow it, and there will be much frivolity and stuffs.

Still waiting on my editor letter (nervously, I might add). I think part of my stalling on Son of DD is the fact that I want to see what changes are required in the first book before I get too deep into the second.

My teaser from Tuesday makes me want to go back to Project NaNo and polish it up all nice and pretty. Ah well, all in due time. From the responses I got, I think it would be a popular premise at the very least.

And if I get off my butt and write my own bio, The Intrepid Auggy will soon have my website up and functional. (or at least presentable, since technically it's already functional) Just one more thing on my long list of things to do.

Brain...turning...to...tapioca...

I think I have found the point where my brain is literally TOO full of stuff. I am thinking of SO many different things today.

I tried to work on Project 3 last night, only to realize that I didn't have any pretty colored pens, and apparently I canNOT edit without colorful pens. (Who knew?) So that had to wait until this morning, when I not only found colorful pens, but ones that the ink sparkles! (Lily of the Purgatorians already won the prize for first Twilight joke there) On my lunch break, I got through about 7 chapters, just re-reading it. And I still love it. That makes me happy.

HOWEVER, my main focus is Project 2 (I think I'll abbreviate it DD now that I have a title) and Son of DD. To that end, I talked briefly with my editor yesterday, and she'll have notes for me in a couple of weeks. I'm so looking forward to seeing what she wants me to do! It sounds like the changes will be mostly cosmetic (no rodeo clowns or space ninjas).

And I spent 45 minutes on the phone with The Agent today, hashing out things on the Son of DD. I told him the outline and chapters that I sent him were rough (as in, bare bones type of stuff). He brought up good points, I have ideas percolating... We'll see where it takes me.

It feels good to be creating again. There's a high in watching something unfold in my head that wasn't there before.

Oh, and Apple Chai Infusions from Starbucks may be the best things ever. Just sayin'...