Adventures in Writing

This is probably mostly just for me. I'm posting in case anyone's interested (and also because making things public keeps me from sneakily changing my goals when I decide that it would be easier to not meet them!), but I'm not sure anyone but me really cares about any of this.

But I love To Do lists. I'm actually pretty good at getting stuff done, and I get a lot of satisfaction from crossing things off. I'm very goal oriented! (I want to WIN, even if it's not clear exactly whom I'm playing against).

AND, I'm starting to feel a bit overwhelmed by everything that's going on, writing-wise, this spring. Lots of stuff coming out, and that's great, but of course what I really want to be doing is writing new stuff, and I want to be sure I don't forget to do something because I'm all caught up in the writing.

I got my Boxer Falls episode AND my short story (turned into a 15K word monster) for the Goodreads story exchange thing done this week, and I wrote a guest blog (although I haven't been able to get in touch with the person I'm supposed to be guesting FOR, which is a bit unsettling...) So that's good. What's next?

T AS K S   A N D   G O A L S   F O R   S P R I N G / S U M M E R   2 0 1 2

Rest of March
respond to editing/publisher requests as needed (four books currently in editing process)
basic promo stuff for Of Dark and Light on March 26

figure out titles, outline of next stories, cover art request sheet for the story I'm currently calling The Odds
start writing part 2 of The Odds series

April
respond to editing/publishing requests as needed
basic promo stuff for Shining Armor on April 2

finish first draft of The Odds part 2 (this might be a bit ambitious... but I can try!)

May
respond to editing/publishing requests as needed
basic promo stuff for The Shift on May 22
guest blog on May 23? but it's the same non-responding blogger from the March blog, so I'm not sure if it's going to happen...

wrap up The Odds part 2 if necessary (ambition is good, but I have a full-time job and a life, as well!)
review The Odds part 1, make changes and send for editing
start on The Odds part 3

June
respond to editing/publishing requests as needed (hopefully Room to Grow will be through the process by then, so that leaves only Beneath the Surface and Shadow Valley for editing, for fall release)
no promo stuff!

finish The Odds part 3

July
release The Odds part 1? I don't know. This is my first time self-pubbing something significant, so I can't really say how long everything will take. But there IS a gap in my schedule in July...

write something else - go to the ideas file, browse, and pick! Fun!

August
review The Odds parts 2 and 3, make changes, and send for editing... this may depend on whether The Odds part 1 has done okay, sales wise.  Huh. I was originally thinking that I wanted to self-publish a series because it would be nice to have complete control over the characters and the world, without 'rights of first refusal' and all that. But it IS a bit nerve-wracking to be committing all this time to something that's essentially a gamble.  But, damn, the book is actually CALLED The Odds. It's like my brain WANTS me to gamble with it. But I'd better not get carried away. No more plans! I made it to July... August is a mystery.

Well, not really. But Dreamspinner IS having a pretty good sale... 20% off novels this week, novellas next week, short stories the next week, anthologies the next week, and paperbacks the week after that. (Note that the 20% off novels seems to include pre-sale copies of upcoming books, like, maybe, I don't know... Of Dark and Bright, the next book in the Dark Horse series, due out on the 26th of March).

I can't help but notice that I have things for sale in EVERY ONE of those categories, which would mean that you could buy one of my stories EVERY WEEK for the next five weeks, at a significant discount. Just, you know, in case you were wondering. Here's a link. (Oh, does that take you to the Kate Sherwood DSP page instead of the main one? Curious. These crazy new-fangled computers - who can figure them out?)

I'm 'guest blogging' today over at Karenna Colcroft's lovely (and sexy!) blog. I don't think it's live until mid-morning (Eastern North American time), but I'm sure you'll all want to have the window open, your fingers hovering anxiously above the refresh key...

Anyway, if you want even MORE of my musings on writing m/m and m/f, come over to http://karennacolcroft.com/?p=1981 .

Okay, technically, the madness began at some not-entirely-clear time in the last couple weeks when Loose Id released the print version of Trifecta. But I didn't have a clear release date for that, so... no madness.

No, the REAL madness starts today, with More Than Chemistry coming out from Dreamspinner.

Then I have a guest blog on March 9th. I'm going to add my voice to the m/m vs m/f discussion.

Then another guest blog on March 21.

Then I have a guest writing spot on the Boxer Falls on-line m/m soap on March 23.

Of Dark and Bright is out from Dreamspinner on March 26 - lots of yummy catching up with Dan and Evan and Jeff!

Then my first m/f story, Shining Armor comes from Liquid Silver Books on April 2 - very exciting! I wonder how many m/m readers can be lured into reading just a little bit of het?

A bit of a breather, finally, before The Shift comes from Samhain on May 22. I love this one - my first supernatural elements, plus lots of family bonding and hot man-on-man... well, not THAT much man-on-man action, really.  But enough to get the idea across!

A guest blog the next day on May 23.

And then a long break until August 7, when Room to Grow comes out from Samhain.

Also sometime in August, Beneath the Surface is scheduled to come out from Dreamspinner.

And I want to self-publish my current work-in-progress, probably sometime... I don't know. Maybe in June or July?  Seems like there's a bit of a gap there.

I signed up to write a short story for the Goodreads anthology, too, even though I wasn't going to. Last year, I thought the story kind of got lost in the shuffle, but I decided to give it one more try.

So, yeah. A lot to stay on top of, but a lot to be excited about,  too!  And I'm LOVING my WIP, so it's not like I don't have actual writing to keep me distracted...

Anyway, I feel like it's been a while since I had anything come out, but now it's going to be crazy for a while. I'm looking forward to it!

If anyone's looking for a print copy of Trifecta, it's available now from Amazon and elsewhere. Only $9.99, from the look of things, and that cover is GORGEOUS... might be nice to have a print copy of it to admire!

Can I just take a moment to say how much I LOVE writing stories? I mean, I bitch about it sometimes (not to you guys, I don't think), and I whine and moan and look for excuses to get out of sitting down and getting to work, but when I'm actually working on a story, and it's flowing...

Damn.

I was brushing my teeth this morning, thinking about a scene in my current story, and I was thinking it through, and then I was working out the dialogue, and then I was trying to SAY the dialogue around my toothbrush, and then I was dancing around the bathroom in celebration because the dialogue was gonna work so damn well, and... well, yeah, okay, writing makes me act like an idiot, and may be hazardous to my dental health, but... it's really, really fun.

I need to remember that the next time I have trouble making myself sit down and get to work. I get to live a hundred lives through my characters, and I am lucky as HELL that I'm able to do that. Imagination is incredible, and getting paid for writing it all down is a wonderful bonus.

Yay, writing!

I've already gushed about how much I love getting cover art, right? I just... that's when it all seems real, as if we're publishing a real book, not just a bunch of words on my computer. 

So, as part of my feast-or-famine publishing schedule (I swear, I wrote these books in a spaced-out, disciplined manner! But they're all with different publishers, all of whom seem to think that late spring/early summer 2012 is a good time to release Kate Sherwood books), here is Kanaxa's beautiful cover for The Shift, coming May 22 from Samhain.



I think it's VERY pretty!

So, for those of you who didn't take advantage of my accidental early-posting last month (there were three Amazon downloads before I got it straightened out - you people know who you are!)... Into the Light is out.

It's Chris's story, or at least part of it. It's the first thing I've written in first person, and I don't think I'll do it again, at least no time soon, but it was fun to try. Just like Chris, I was feeling experimental!

I wrote it with the intention of submitting it to Dreamspinner, but when I was done, I just... I don't know. I like it. I do. It's easy-going and relaxed and fun to read, and it was great to check in on the characters again. But it's REALLY low on conflict. Chris just refused to get bothered by anything, and I didn't want to go too far over the top just trying to frazzle him, so... low conflict. If you don't already like the characters, you might find it kinda dull, but I think that if you like the characters, you'll enjoy it. I hope!

Available at ARe already, and hopefully up at Amazon by tomorrow.

This one's by April Martinez, who also did my lovely cover for Trifecta. Now, Trifecta was a m/m/m story, and this is my first m/f, so there's not a lot in common between the stories... except for Ms. Martinez's wonderful work!



Have I mentioned yet how cool it is to have a WOMAN on my cover?!?  Weird, but cool!

I could be wrong, but I don't think I've ever been nominated for any of these 'year end' things before. And, while it IS (sort of) an honour just to be nominated, it's also kind of nerve-wracking! What if nobody votes for my poor babies? They'll be standing up there on the stage, exposed and ridiculed, bravely trying not to cry... or something. Anyway, I feel bad mentioning it because I know everyone has LOTS of great books to vote for, but if you've got a gap in a category and feel like you might want to vote for a Kate Sherwood book, that'd be lovely!

Of course, I can't quite remember what categories I'm nominated in, and once you've clicked on the quiz once, it won't let you back in...

Shying Away was in there for best sex scene, maybe?  And best first time.  Maybe something about best tearjerker (theme), as well.  And Dark Horse was in for favourite series, and Sometimes You Just Know was up for favourite freebie.

Anyway, if you want to vote, for my poor babies or for someone else's, the link is here. If nothing else, you can hopefully find some good reading suggestions!