Happy Fall (I’m Not Dead)

Masquerade — a million paper faces on parade!

Well, it’s been many months since I’ve updated. Life has been a bit topsy-turvy, but the good thing to know is that Freewoman, Jacob, and The Janet Project are all near completion. Huzzah!

Halloween is coming, and we’ve still yet to decide on our costumes/plans, but the beautiful Autumn air and promise of pumpkins have my spirits uplifted. Let’s get down to the nitty gritty of it all, shall we?

Freewoman has about one more chapter to go (sorry for making you wait almost ten years!) and then goes through the rigorous red-pen-editing process. After that it’s time to focus on my sexy magical spy, Jacob Orange, and the conclusion of his first adventure. There will be more.

I was blessed enough to get to see the limited run of Masquerade, an immersive play that takes the beloved Phantom of the Opera right into your inner thighs. It was gobsmackingly amazing. It felt like every song was there just for me and Sanjiv. I’m obssessed.

I’m going to give you a little treat; a tidbit from Freewoman!

“Thank you,” he whispered. “I love you.”

“Don’t thank me for this,” Lenna replied. Her voice was stronger than it should have been. Where were her trembles and warbles? Where was the kicking in her stomach? I’ll cry later, she told herself. “I love you too. Bastard.”

Raif beamed, a little color peeking out of his clouded face. “And promise me one more thing?”

The knife was about an inch from the knot of hair Lenna had balled into her fist. She halted. “Name it.”

All the happiness melted away from Raif’s eyes as he fixed the steeliest of gazes on Lenna. “No more ghran.”

Uh-oh!

36 Hours of Puking & 217 Nopon

Well, it’s been awhile since I’ve written here, not since the release of the great cover art for Freewoman.
Freewoman TeaserIsn’t it lovely? We can thank the truly wonderful Marissa Morris for her creativity and consistency across all three novels. Speaking of Freewoman, I’m chopping away and editing it together bit by bit. Winter is coming.

I’ve been away from the blog because I’ve been away from my computer, mostly. I got seriously ill a few weeks ago and didn’t eat for two weeks or sleep for a week, and I vomited (sorry, I know that’s yucky) for almost 36 hours straight. Not fun at all. The upside of that was that it gave me time to play Xenoblade Chronicles 3, which is a Very Very Good Game indeed. And of course, it features nopon:

Nopon!!I just can’t get enough of these cute little buggers.

In further news (and it will be updated on my media page), Librarian is book of the month for August at PrideParade.net, down in DC! Yay! I’m glad to represent the LGBTQA+ community in my capacity as a novelist.

Never let anypon tell you can’t reach your dreams, team! Pon! Pon!

Of Ponies and Books

JP’s pony is well on its way to completion; he’s even got his soul patch going on! We just have to do the eyes and Cutie Mark. (The pony’s name is Critical Roller, by the by.) If any Bronies out there want a custom poneh, let me know! We paint them for free. It’s very cathartic, seeing how the end of MLP: Friendship is Magic wrecked me like Geena Davis in A League of Their Own.

As an aside, on Monday we’re stopping by the local Keyport library to talk about my books. Exciting! It’ll be nice to see my work stocked in my go-to book purveyor.

It’s also freezing today, which makes it the perfect time to make Ina Garten’s lentil sausage soup, although it serves about 300 people and we’re only two (the cats don’t eat lentils).

Just a small update. xoxo

An October Update

Howdy. Is everyone ready for Halloween? I’ve been obsessed with Dissidia: Final Fantasy Opera Omnia (see the pic of me as Aerith!) for the month, so things have slowed down a little.

We had a blast at our Halloween party:

I am Deadpool!
Deadpool!!

I was Deadpool, and we had friends from all over come to join in the festivities. (I didn’t kill anyone with my katanas, much to my husband’s chagrin.)

Work continues on The Janet Project, and I’m looking for an agent. I’m also pleased to say that our local Keyport library will be hosting my first two novels, Librarian and Apprentice, so if you’re local… well, check it out! Literally. Ha ha. That pun works on so many levels.

xoxo

Happy Matawan Day!

5 October marks Matawan Day, a time to celebrate Jaws and all things seashore-y. Crowds will come out for beers at Maloney’s and other local goods, but those especially keen on finding great stuff should visit The Geekery, where they sell awesome merch and comics.

Tomorrow also there will be signed copies of my first book, Librarian, so be sure to stop by and pick one up. 😉 Thanks Justin and Doug for supporting local artists!

Kittens, Life, and Love

I am terribly sorry that I haven’t blogged lately; between dealing with buying a house, getting married (!), losing two cats and gaining two more… it’s been intense! Tack on a brother who physically assaults you at the workplace and you can imagine the fun. Oh well. That’s Big Brother Fence for you (he’ll appreciate the shout out and has been waiting for this validation, so I give it thus). You know, I always wanted to be mocked and poked and threatened to be thrown in the dumpster.

I am pleased to say we’re nice and settled and I’m starting to focus on writing again! The third and final (or is it?) chapter of Lenna’s arc should be completed within the next few months, along with an Audible audiobook edition of Apprentice, narrated by the wonderful Anisha Dadia! Huzzah!

If you haven’t noticed, my short story, “The Eighth Bible of New Egypt,” was picked up by Spark: A Creative Anthology. It’s one of many entries I intend to explore with that character, so def check it out. Besides my work, there are great authors and poets in the anthology so it’s a gem.

Find it here:

Spark: A Creative Anthology, Vol. VIII
Spark: A Creative Anthology, Vol. VIII

Also, we’re doing a limited sale on my remaining signed hardcovers of Librarian and Apprentice… only 100 each from the first press, so take a look at our Facebook page for details!

The Status Update Weeks in the Making

I’ve been pretty much MIA as far as the blog is concerned, I know. All of a sudden I found myself insanely busy wrapping up the tweaks on Apprentice, but now I’m happy to say that, after I actually read the damn thing on my Kindle from start to finish, I found myself pleased enough to have turned it over to my copyeditor at 110k words! Yikes! 14000 more words than Librarian!

Kindle Mock-Up

There will be some fun reveals in the near future (cover art within the next week hopefully, website revamp, and perhaps some special treats for fans of Librarian…).

IN ANY CASE, to the some announcements/updates:

  • Beta-readers! That’s right; it’s that time again. We’re looking for beta-readers of the digital version of Apprentice. It’s free, but we’d love feedback in return. Contact Brian with your choice of format (.epub, .mobi, .pdf are all options).
  • Editorial Assistants! Woah, we’re getting fancy. Moon Rabbit Publishing, LLC, is looking to contract a few associate editors to preview the book and offer substantive critique — imagine writing a small book report, but getting paid for it! Details here.
  • ARCs (Advance Reader Copies)! Authors, reviewers, and bloggers — we will be reaching out to you in the next week or so, but if you don’t hear from us and are interested in a galley for review (or a review swap), please contact Brian. We want your words on that cover!
  • Release Date! The best news of all: the tentative release date for Apprentice is scheduled for the best day of all… Brian’s birthday! That’s right, we’re looking to go gold on Monday, 25th August 2014! In the upcoming weeks, look for special promotions for people who preorder signed copies. 🙂

Well, that was a mouthful! But yay! Progress! Now, time to go kill my D&D players…