the Author
August
2
25 Comments

State of the Author, August 2023 edition

Posted in Cast, Elantra, Essalieyan, Jody Lee, life.

As those of you who follow my Patreon know, at the begin­ning of July, I had a drive-by argu­ment with a chair in the living room, and lost. I managed to break not one, but two, toes. I have been off work at the book­store, but in theory will return on the 10th of August, the day on which I can take off the boot on my foot. Previous toe breakage did not require a boot. But I could stand on the foot in both prior cases. By the end of the day of the 2‑toe breakage, I was reduced to crawling because I couldn’t actu­ally put any weight on the foot at all. Which meant, when we went to the hospital, I went in bare feet; I couldn’t put even a sandal on. … Continue reading →

July
11
16 Comments

Full Cover & another Indigo promotion

Posted in covers, Mira, Kathleen Oudit, promotions, Elantra.

I have the full cover for the new novel, Shards of Glass. I assume most people see the front cover at various retailers, so, as usual, post the cover when I have the full version. The cover design was done by Kath­leen Oudit, who I adore. I’ve stopped calling this the Magic School book because it turned left almost imme­di­ately. I don’t usually have to start the CAST novels multiple times; I sit down, I start. Maybe I’ll start a second time if the first attempt doesn’t hit the right tone, but the CAST novels have a tone. This book had to be started many times, and the even­tual begin­ning of the book was not the one I’d envi­sioned on any of the prior attempts. It’s not neces­sary … Continue reading →

June
26
22 Comments

For Canadians: Indigo is having a summer pre-order sale

Posted in life, promotions.

First, the good news: Indigo books, our major book­store chain, is having a summer preorder sale. Shards of Glass is included in that most-antic­i­­pated books sale. I wanted to mention it here — the sale goes to July 2nd. *** I have had a trying month. I am still working on glasses, which has been iter­a­tive and ongoing since December. I am working on copy-edits for the West novel, and have just received page proofs for the above mentioned Shards of Glass. And I managed, while running to inter­cept the phone, to break not one, but two, toes — and at the joint below the knuckle in both cases =/. I’ve broken toes before, but never this close to foot and oddly enough, it kind of hurts. I have a boot, which, unlike a cast, … Continue reading →

April
23
18 Comments

State of the Author: April 2023

Posted in writing.

I’m sorry I appear to have missed March >.<. March was revi­sion of Hunter’s Redoubt, which went into April; the rest of April is revi­sion of Shards of Glass, and taxes. I’m still revising Shards of Glass. I don’t have the cover yet, but the (front) cover is now up on various retailer sites. I’ll post the whole cover as usual (front and back) when I do have it. I am collating infor­ma­tion for taxes, which are currently in the virtual shoebox of email, Devon­Think and a couple of other elec­tronic repos­i­to­ries. While revising. So: there’s a bit of gloom, and given April, there’s also been rain. What we haven’t really had is the annual April snow­storm (yes, I’m knocking wood). Hunter’s Redoubt is with the copy-editor now, so I expect I will soon be … Continue reading →

February
1
39 Comments

State of the Author: February 2023 edition

Posted in Cast, Elantra, Essalieyan, writing, Mira.

Very early February, granted. I have finished Shards of Glass and have submitted it to my editor at Mira, which means it’s not tech­ni­cally finished until revi­sions have been requested and completed. This gives me a needed mental break from a book that was almost two weeks late, so I can return to it with a less panicked and more objec­tive frame of mind. When I say “more objec­tive” this is on the scale of writer neurosis, so keep that in mind :). While I wait on edito­rial input for two books, I have started the ramp up to writing two books; I have more of a head start on the West novel, but will take at least a week to reread all of Sun Sword and make notes. I tend, in real life, to forget … Continue reading →