I think the one question that has surprised me the most since the release of Dawnbreaker is whether there will be more books in the series. I wrote Dawnbreaker in such a way that I wanted to give readers some closure after the first three books, but I never meant to phrase it in such a way that people thought the series was over. I’ve got several more books planned for the series. In fact, I’m contracts for at least a total of six, and I’m hoping to squeeze out a few more before it’s over.
As it stands at the moment, Pray for Dawn (book 4) is scheduled for release in late June, while Wait for Dusk (book 5) is scheduled for release in late July of 2010. My publisher and I decided to do a quick back-to-back release of the next two books as a treat to readers. Both books are currently up for pre-order on Amazon.com if you are interested. In the meantime, I will be spending this winter and early spring writing book 6 in the Dark Days series. After that book is handed in, I will begin sketching out what I hope will be more books for the series.
Turning to look at the convention schedule, I will be attending the Romantic Times convention in Columbus, Ohio at the end of April. It’s always a fun time filled with some amazing authors, including the amazing Rachel Vincent, Vicki Pettersson, Melissa Marr, Jeaniene Frost, Jim Butcher, and Charlaine Harris. You don’t want to miss out on this one!
In addition, I am planning to attend the Romance Writers of America convention in Nashville, Tennessee in late July. This is another chance to meet some amazing authors and get some books signed.
As for the rest of 2010, I hope to sneak in a quick vacation to Disney World and spend the rest of my time writing some great books!
Tuesday, December 22, 2009
Monday, December 21, 2009
Last of the Holiday Videos
I had an excellent, non-writing weekend as I fulfilled a couple of my personal holiday traditions. Friday was a night out in downtown Cincinnati, Ohio, where a friend and I went to a fantastic Brazilian steakhouse and then attended the Nutcracker ballet. I've been going to see the Nutcracker ballet for several years now. I've got the music memorized and it seems like the holiday season doesn't actually start for me until I've seen this performance. My fingers are crossed that I'll be able to sneak in one more ballet performance in this season. After the ballet, we concluded the night with a horse-drawn carriage ride around the city to see some of the Christmas lights.
Meanwhile, last night was a visit to the Cincinnati Zoo for their annual Festival of Lights celebration. The Festival of Lights is a chance to see the zoo decked out in millions of Christmas lights. Despite the cold, we had a great time walking around the zoo and seeing the animals and the lights. I have included a very short clip of some of the light display as we rode the train around the lake in the center of the zoo.
Finally, one other tradition that I actually completed near the end of November was a visit to Krohn Conservatory. The flower hothouse has an amazing holiday display every year. However, my visit this year was two-fold, since I also include the Conservatory in Pray for Dawn. For a look at one of the places that appears in the upcoming book, Pray for Dawn, check out this video.
In the meantime, it's back to work today. I've got to start making plans for book 6 so I can send some thoughts off to my editor by the beginning of the new year.
Meanwhile, last night was a visit to the Cincinnati Zoo for their annual Festival of Lights celebration. The Festival of Lights is a chance to see the zoo decked out in millions of Christmas lights. Despite the cold, we had a great time walking around the zoo and seeing the animals and the lights. I have included a very short clip of some of the light display as we rode the train around the lake in the center of the zoo.
Finally, one other tradition that I actually completed near the end of November was a visit to Krohn Conservatory. The flower hothouse has an amazing holiday display every year. However, my visit this year was two-fold, since I also include the Conservatory in Pray for Dawn. For a look at one of the places that appears in the upcoming book, Pray for Dawn, check out this video.
In the meantime, it's back to work today. I've got to start making plans for book 6 so I can send some thoughts off to my editor by the beginning of the new year.
Wednesday, December 16, 2009
More Video Goodness
Everyone likes videos, right? I've been playing around on the computer for the past few hours and I've got a new video for you to watch. The first one is actually from the Q&A session I did at my October 2009 book signing promoting the release of Dawnbreaker. I talk about the writing process, the series, and a few little tidbits about Pray for Dawn and Wait for Dusk.
The second video is not me. You've had enough of me already after the first video. This one I found on a friend's post on Facebook and I HAD to share. It's the Muppets singing my absolutely favorite holiday season song. Enjoy!
Keep your fingers crossed. I'm working on one last video that has stuff in it regard a scene from Pray for Dawn.
The second video is not me. You've had enough of me already after the first video. This one I found on a friend's post on Facebook and I HAD to share. It's the Muppets singing my absolutely favorite holiday season song. Enjoy!
Keep your fingers crossed. I'm working on one last video that has stuff in it regard a scene from Pray for Dawn.
Monday, December 14, 2009
Completed Revisions for Book 5
It was a somewhat long Sunday (and certainly wasn't helped by the poor performance of the Cincinnati Bengals), but I finally managed to complete my revisions of Wait for Dusk. They were emailed to my editor before 11 pm last night and I was glad to see the book out of my hands again. This one was a rough one to write as I was balancing something that was new for me to write and was faced with an ending that I love as a writer but hate as a lover of my characters. My fingers are crossed that my editor likes the book as well and I don't have to go in for another pass at revisions. That would result in a delay of the book, which no on wants.
In a quick recap:
5 new chapters were added
More than 15,000 new words were added
Countless thousand more words were deleted
Scores of adverbs were obliterated
Dozens of dialogue modifiers were destroyed
There were no new deaths in the revision that weren't already in the original
There was one death in the original that I was unable to reverse in the revision
I have to admit that both Pray for Dawn and Wait for Dusk have a new layer of darkness to them that has left me shaking my head. There are deaths in both books that I wasn't originally planning on. While I have to admit now that I think that they work quite well for the stories, I'm sorry to see these characters go. As a result, I have made it my duty that Book 6 will end on some kind of happy note. I have no idea how I am going to do this, but there will be happiness in Book 6! That's not to say that there won't be the usual dose of Mira's violence, sarcasm, and general chaos. I can't write a Dark Days book without those elements. However, I want to find a way to end Book 6 on a lighter note, because there are many dark days ahead for my beloved characters.
In the meantime, I am now playing catch-up with everything that has been neglected. I have only one package le
ft sitting on my counter, waiting to be mailed. If you are expecting something in the mail from me, it should be arriving any day now. I am mostly caught up on my email and I even managed to complete the last of my holiday shopping (I think). Something last minute will probably crop up, but I think I'm done. Now, I'm down to cleaning the house and turning my thoughts to plotting out Book 6. I hope to start writing on the new book at the beginning of the New Year, if not sooner.
I do have my holiday decorations up, but then I had them up extremely early this year due to my move in November. It was just easier to put the tree up and the decorations out when everything was already spread around the house. I dread trying to find a place for it all later wh
en I have to take it down again. Here is picture of my tree. It is artificial, but I hope to have a real one next year -- though I might regret it with two relatively young cats. Also, for the curious, yes, that is Tinkerbell as my tree topper. Her wings change colors. I am currently looking for a Jack Skellington tree topper so I rotate from year to year. The lights on the tree are red and white. So if I'm feeling somewhat evil, I can turn on only the red lights and have a bloody vampire Christmas tree.
Before I leave you, I have a special gift. Many of my readers are big Simon's Cat fans. They are great little videos and I am happy to report that he was kind enough to supply viewers with a new one just for the holidays!
Enjoy and have a great night!
In a quick recap:
5 new chapters were added
More than 15,000 new words were added
Countless thousand more words were deleted
Scores of adverbs were obliterated
Dozens of dialogue modifiers were destroyed
There were no new deaths in the revision that weren't already in the original
There was one death in the original that I was unable to reverse in the revision
I have to admit that both Pray for Dawn and Wait for Dusk have a new layer of darkness to them that has left me shaking my head. There are deaths in both books that I wasn't originally planning on. While I have to admit now that I think that they work quite well for the stories, I'm sorry to see these characters go. As a result, I have made it my duty that Book 6 will end on some kind of happy note. I have no idea how I am going to do this, but there will be happiness in Book 6! That's not to say that there won't be the usual dose of Mira's violence, sarcasm, and general chaos. I can't write a Dark Days book without those elements. However, I want to find a way to end Book 6 on a lighter note, because there are many dark days ahead for my beloved characters.
In the meantime, I am now playing catch-up with everything that has been neglected. I have only one package le
ft sitting on my counter, waiting to be mailed. If you are expecting something in the mail from me, it should be arriving any day now. I am mostly caught up on my email and I even managed to complete the last of my holiday shopping (I think). Something last minute will probably crop up, but I think I'm done. Now, I'm down to cleaning the house and turning my thoughts to plotting out Book 6. I hope to start writing on the new book at the beginning of the New Year, if not sooner.I do have my holiday decorations up, but then I had them up extremely early this year due to my move in November. It was just easier to put the tree up and the decorations out when everything was already spread around the house. I dread trying to find a place for it all later wh
en I have to take it down again. Here is picture of my tree. It is artificial, but I hope to have a real one next year -- though I might regret it with two relatively young cats. Also, for the curious, yes, that is Tinkerbell as my tree topper. Her wings change colors. I am currently looking for a Jack Skellington tree topper so I rotate from year to year. The lights on the tree are red and white. So if I'm feeling somewhat evil, I can turn on only the red lights and have a bloody vampire Christmas tree.Before I leave you, I have a special gift. Many of my readers are big Simon's Cat fans. They are great little videos and I am happy to report that he was kind enough to supply viewers with a new one just for the holidays!
Enjoy and have a great night!
Thursday, December 10, 2009
Buried Alive in Revision
I'm just checking in quickly to report that, yes, I am still alive. I am finishing up the last 9 chapters of WAIT FOR DUSK at the moment. The book is due back to my editor on Monday and I am determined to have it waiting in her inbox when she gets in the office. Looking ahead, I've got one completely new chapter to write, several chapters to tweak, and the ending to rearrange. Can I do it in just under four days? Yes, I know I can.
Unfortunately, that means that I'm not going to be doing anything else until then. I am behind on my emails. My house looks like a bomb exploded in the center of it, I'm afraid to go in my kitchen, and I keep forgetting to do that whole shower thing. Yes, the farthest I have been from my computer since Sunday has been out to my mailbox. This is the glamorous life of the professional writer.
As soon as the book is done, I'm heading out to buy cat food, people food, and mail an enormous stack of books to some contest winners. Sorry about the delay. I swear they will all be in the post by this weekend at the latest.
In addition, I've got a video to edit. I recently visited a location that appears in PRAY FOR DAWN (due out this summer) and I shot some video of the place. As soon as the edits are done, I'll be working on this and posting it to the site.
Unfortunately, that means that I'm not going to be doing anything else until then. I am behind on my emails. My house looks like a bomb exploded in the center of it, I'm afraid to go in my kitchen, and I keep forgetting to do that whole shower thing. Yes, the farthest I have been from my computer since Sunday has been out to my mailbox. This is the glamorous life of the professional writer.
As soon as the book is done, I'm heading out to buy cat food, people food, and mail an enormous stack of books to some contest winners. Sorry about the delay. I swear they will all be in the post by this weekend at the latest.
In addition, I've got a video to edit. I recently visited a location that appears in PRAY FOR DAWN (due out this summer) and I shot some video of the place. As soon as the edits are done, I'll be working on this and posting it to the site.
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