editing

20 posts

The King’s Sword Audiobook, The Lord of Dreams goes wide, and other news…

Good afternoon! The audiobook of The King’s Sword is now on Amazon, Audible, and iTunes! It’s free for new subscribers to Audible, so if you’ve been considering subscribing, please use this as your first book! If you’re a current Audible subscriber, it should offer Whispersync (and the lower Whispersync price!). If it doesn’t now, it should in a day or two. The Lord of Dreams is now wide! It has been on Amazon for a while, but is now also available on other retailers. The cover image below is linked to the ebook on Gumroad. Here’s the link to the signed paperback on Gumroad. If you’re not comfortable […]

My Writing Process by Book and Series

I was recently asked to describe my writing process for novels and series. Hm. That’s a hard one. Every book has been different. Every series is different. This isn’t a post about how you should write your books and your series. This is about what I’ve done so far and how it has worked, as well as what I’m going to try to do next. The Short Version: Erdemen Honor evolved as a standalone, then a sequel, then a third book in the series. Each is a complete, self-contained story that builds on the previous books. A Long-Forgotten Song was a series from […]

What I’m Reading #4

Here’s a bit of what I’ve been reading recently: Cruxim – Karin Cox – I got this free on Amazon; I’m not sure if it’s permafree or just a temporary sale. I wasn’t sure what to expect – I don’t read a lot of paranormal fantasy, but I did like that the cover didn’t scream cheesy vampire romance. it’s a particularly lovely cover, I think, especially for having the overdone man-with-wings as the main figure. It’s ranked on Amazon as a gothic romance, and there was romance, but there was plenty of other action too. I thought of it more as […]

What I’m Reading #2

This is some of what I’ve been reading lately:    The Legend of Eli Monpress series – Rachel Aaron – I just finished Spirit’s End. If you’re looking for a break from grimdark, you should really check out this series. There’s plenty of death, destruction, and high stakes, but it’s told from a lighter perspective, with characters worth loving and rooting for. There is real loyalty and self-sacrifice, along with some really fantastic and inventive magic. As a random aside, I have no idea why the covers are so different. They’re obviously part of different editions, but I don’t know why. The second […]

Writers and Authors Beware!

If you’re considering self-publishing, you’ve probably been doing some research about how to avoid the various scams and predatory “services” and vanity presses out there fighting for your attention and money. It’s a rough world… there are a lot of people and businesses who are eager to take advantage of authors. Before you give any money to anyone for any service, please check out the following links as appropriate: Preditors and Editors Writer Beware, and here’s the page on vanity presses and scam warning signs, along with an extensive list of other places to check out any publishing house you […]

If I Had a Billion Dollars…

No, this isn’t going to be a blog post about all the wonderful things I would do with a billion dollars… travel the world, devote tons of money to various worthwhile charities (some personal favorites are Gospel for Asia and WorldVision, but there are others I would support too), pay off our mortgage (buy a new house) and grad school loans, and all the other standard things most people would do. This is a “what would I do differently in my writing life if money wasn’t an issue” blog post. All those things I listed above are great, but this […]

Writing Goals 2014

One of the things I’ve realized about my writing is that it’s easy for me to write and edit and write and edit and write and edit some more and then rethink everything and lose confidence and…. never actually finish a piece. There are a few reasons for that: lack of planning (I tend toward pantsing, as in writing by the seat of my pants, even though planning would probably work better for me), lack of focused time to really dive into my work and figure out where I am and what needs to be done, and most of all, […]

Anniversary Post! Book Stats – 2013

On the first anniversary of publishing my first book, The King’s Sword, I thought it would be appropriate to post some statistics. It’s a bit scary to share book stats like this, but here goes: Books Published: 2 – The King’s Sword and A Cold Wind Books in Progress: 4 – A Long-Forgotten Song (publication in March 2014 – preorder here!), the as-yet-untitled sequel to A Long-Forgotten Song (publication in April/May 2014), Book 3 in the Erdemen Honor series (also untitled, publication in March 2014?), and Book 4 in the Erdemen Honor series (publication TBD) Books Backburnered: 2 Short Stories […]

Writing a Book vs. a Writing Career

I just read this fantastic article by Kristine Kathryn Rusch on A Career vs. Publication. If you’re an author, a wanna be author, a just-for-fun writer, or have ever thought about writing, go read it. You might have noticed that the publishing world is changing pretty quickly these days. Among other upheavals, indie publishing has become not just an option, but a good option. As writing blogs, conventions, and advice proliferate, both online and in the real world, there is a lot of advice out there. Have you ever tried to parse through that advice to find what will work […]

Guest Post: How to Rewrite History: A Guide for Novelists and Dictators

This guest post is part of the 2013 Blogger Book Fair and was written by Sharon Bayliss. Her most recent publication is The Charge. How to Rewrite History: A Guide for Novelists and Dictators Manipulating historical events, either for an alternate history novel or to deceive the masses, takes a lot of research. Personally, my experience in re-writing history comes from writing my alternate history fantasy, The Charge (not from being a ruthless overlord). In The Charge, the state of Texas never joins the United States and instead becomes an independent nation. I’ve complied a set a tips for how to […]