the Author

Category Archives: Cast

February
1
37 Comments

State of the Author: February 2023 edition

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

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 →

November
29
47 Comments

CAST IN ETERNITY: Publication Day

Posted in Cast, Elantra, Mira, Publication.

November 29th is publi­ca­tion day for Cast in Eter­nity! …A day I had marked in my calendar as: “Optometrist appoint­ment: 12:30” T_T. It’s been that kind of month. Phys­ical books have made it to the store at which I work, and ebooks — I think — went out at one minute after midnight. So, fingers crossed, any preorders have been met, and anyone who prefers phys­ical books should be able to find it in stores. (As usual, the phys­ical books have a much wider avail­ability range, because the books have to get from a ware­house to all the corners of North America — or beyond! — before the 29th.) Links for ebooks, audio­books, etc. can be found on the book’s page (linked above). While I don’t link libraries, if budgets are tight, libraries should have the books … Continue reading →

October
9
40 Comments

Cast in Eternity preview and sundry

Posted in writing, chapters, Cast.

It’s October 2022, and at the end of November, 2022, Cast in Eter­nity will be published. It was a book written entirely during Covid lock­down. I wonder if, a decade from now, I’ll remember that as clearly. I’m mostly hoping I won’t. I try to post the first chapter of an upcoming book a month before release day. So: this is the post for that. The first chapter of Cast in Eter­nity is here, but you can also find it on the bibli­og­raphy page for the CAST novels. *** I am contin­uing to write, both Sagara and West words. The Sagara words are for the as yet unti­tled Magic School book — but I am sad to say that my Magic School book is … not quite what I thought it … Continue reading →

April
29
42 Comments

State of the Author, April 2022 edition: I have news

Posted in Cast, Elantra, Audio books.

I have spent the last day doing my taxes (in Canada, the dead­line is the end of April. Except appar­ently when that falls on a weekend, in which case it’s the first Monday after the 30th). But, I have bits and pieces of news. My new editor is Leah Mol, new to the Mira team. Like me, she’s a Toron­tonian, so I got to meet her in person. I am feeling vastly more comfort­able now. First: I have been invited to be a Guest of Honor at the UK’s East­ercon in 2024, which will take place in Telford, between the 29th of March and the 1st of April. Second: The audio­book for Riven Shield is now avail­able.  It’s narrated by Eva Wilhelm, as all the West novels are, and (some) of … Continue reading →

March
3
29 Comments

State of the Author, March 2022 — Cast in Eternity delayed

Posted in Cast, Elantra, grovelling apology.

Well, I had hoped to have good news — and may have good news in the not too distant future — but. I mentioned that a miscom­mu­ni­ca­tion meant that my dead­line had been short­ened, and spent all of February pushing to write more words than I normally write. Towards the end of February, my brain … ran out of good words, and so I had garbage words and had to go back and uproot and revise while looking at looming dead­line approaching like – as I mentioned – a train, while I was on the tracks. It’s why I can’t gener­ally write faster. I can do it for desperate, emer­gen­cies, but I can’t continue at that pace because I run out of good words, and I have to then take time away from writing for that well to refill — so on … Continue reading →