I’m writing to you all from Australia, where I have come on my writing retreat, which used to be an annual thing until Covid. I have an unfortunately tight deadline, and I’m neck deep into Cast in Atonement, which is not yet done. I hope to be finished before I leave Brisbane. And when I say finished, I mean: finished first draft. After which I will revise for submission, and then submit. Shards of Glass is due out at the end of November, so I’m fielding a few questions about that — but my head is fully entangled in the Cast novel, so Shards feels like it was written years ago (it wasn’t). My toe has improved enough it doesn’t bother me much, but according to X‑rays taken a week before I left, … Continue reading
Category Archives: Essalieyan
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
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
Happy (very late) New Year! I survived Christmas stress. I’m pretty certain the immediate family survived my Christmas stress as well >.>. I admit that I was taken by surprise, because in general I would not be considered an optimistic person by nature, and as I mentioned elsewhere, I had not realized just how much I had been looking forward to a “normal” christmas, until Omicron hit and that went right out the window. But! After just over a week of writing holiday, I found my writing feet again, and have been getting myself back on track. First: Sea of Sorrows has finally made it to audible.com. I’ve updated the link on the bibliography page. This is the first time I’ve done things on my own, so I have no idea whether or … Continue reading
I apparently missed the November 2021 report, although I did post a couple of things during the absent State of the Author for November. This is kind of State of the Author for December, but with a couple of extras. First: The Queen of the Dead omnibus was published on the 7th of December. I missed the date, for which I apologize. As the title suggests, it’s the omnibus version of the three books about Emma Hall and the afterlife: Silence, Touch and Grave. I admit that while reading page proofs for the omnibus, I cried. I’ve been told it’s a bit heavy, emotionally speaking, but if you haven’t read it and are curious, it’s available now. *** I have audiobook news as well. Tantor Media picked up the first … Continue reading