Skylar

Okay, Midsummer Magick is in a publisher's queue waiting for feedback. One thing is certain, since the BTGN nonsense whixhg arrived with Balance, I'll be wa-ay more careful with any contract offered. There WILL be publisher marketing efforts mentioned and contracted.

Speaking of Balance, I'm letting it stew for a while just to let it breathe. (motherducking BTGN j@cka$$es...) When I put my hands to it again in 2026, it will have returned to its original form: an adult paranormal romance serial also That way, both Connor's story and Jago's can arrive as they were first envisioned,

[Did I mention this: Now it's only me with my creative mind--nothing at all an allegation or any hint of fact--I continue to swear that BTGN is running a money laundering scheme. Nothing else explains their odd push or flawed product, and habit of "nickeling-and-diming" the author to fix their flawed product. But that's just me.]

If the publisher passes--which is an author's life, since we don't know what publishers have already contracted before we knock on their door--I'll move on to the next in line. Why? MM is only category-sized. Again, why? I get tired of a book when it is complete, and if I get bored, then the reader will. I don't want to bore the reader. I like to keep the narrative sharp and moving.

And protagonist-focused as well.

Speaking of Balance, I'm letting it stew for a while just to let it breathe. (motherducking BTGN j@cka$$es...) When I put my hands to it again in 2026, it will have returned to its original form: as adult paranormal romance serials. That way, both Connor's story and Jago's can arrive as they were first envisioned,

One thing is for certain for 2026, an agent I'm interested in will reopen for submissions. The problem with that is that MM is only about category size. /shrug. I write honestly, so if the story is finished, then the story is finished. Adding a s*x scene only to get to a word count seems cheap. Adding a scene would only open the narrative to another character arc, which I'd have to work on and then close, and that isn't what I want to do.

Still on the topic of the Skylar universe, I've put my hands on a more modern Skylar setting for a MAJORLY REVISED version of Portland Bois with Marked, now called "Connor." That'll be a category-sized serial as well, with three books needed before the BBEG is caught.

So...I have sword/sorcery romance for the Balance series, including Balance, Vengeance (Connor's book), and Jago before the BBEG is dealt with. THEN I have Contemporary Romance with Skylar's Portland Bois cluster. I'm considering taking the final cluster to Futuristic Romance. (Skylar in space? It could work...)

Anyway, right now we're waiting...and writing, when I'm not sleeping. Did I mention that I broke my ankle? So, these days it's RICE for me. Rest, Ice, Compression, and Elevation.)

Well, that's all for now.
Nap time; st00pid medicine....

I think I'm gonna call it Midsummer Magick.
mmmm... *rubbing my chin*

Oh, and my darling is thinking of taking Skylar and forming an RPG world. I'll just let him have that since I have no clue... Sounds fun though!

Okay, I took some time off to decompress and ended up hurting my leg badly. So...that was a thing, and recovery was a journey. It still doesn't like to be stuck in a seated position for very long, so writing didn't happen very fast.

I'm closing in on the finish of Summer Heat--the publisher(s) wanted an extra 15k words then...the injury thing...and the back to the office thing...and brushing up on my Spanish and Italian thing... and helping my beloved do his thing with RPG games, and I hope to find time to write.

So, I'm closing in on the finish line. ... I might change the title. Something witchy due to one of the primary characters being Wiccan.

That's where I am now, and coming up on my birthday, so... yay me? I've got publishers waiting for my projects--Yes, I'm going to change Balance drastically. It's NOT a Young Adult series. Was never supposed to be. (Just, uggh!) Age them up. by God!--and my job in the finance industry is undergoing some stress due to the economic conditions. [Personally, they should. Consumers, be sure to FIRE EVERY COMPANY THAT USES OFF-SHORE AGENTS!! Americans deserve jobs that support American consumers!! (I'm looking at you, Wells.)]

Anyway, I'm at 45k for Summer Heat today--it was always designed to be a short-sized novel--and that means about 5k more. That's a love scene and The Dark Night of the Soul scene.

*** I got this...

I got a call from a (nameless) publisher who was *horrified* when I told her how Balance and I were treated by Books to Go Now. She's still interested in Balance, but since it's been "published," I told her I'd do some tweaking and get back to her so it would be "new".

I never wanted Balance to be a Young Adult book anyway. It was written as "Basic Training Age," which allows me to fold in some adult topics and actions.

So, I'm finishing Summer Heat/Summer Sizzle (I haven't decided on the title) and will get to tweaking Balance. The gaslighting grifters from Books to go Now can go straight to **ll.

Fkkers.
/just saying.

Meh. I must lengthen Summer Heat to 50K words. So... back to the keyboard for another 15K.

Okay, so Summer Heat is done. As expected, it's novella, with 35k words and a setup for the next novel to complete the story. (Think Jayne Castle's After Glow and After Dark, albeit with a lesser number of words.)

Once upon a time, I thought to take this to Books to go NOW--but we know how that ended up. Worse, that ugliness shattered my long-standing relationship with my cover artist, Romance Novel Covers NOW, so that sucks.

Sure, I can find another cover artist, but the marketing of a self-pub novel is a task I prefer to avoid. (That's the publisher's job. Neither AQP nor Loose ID asked me to do that. BTGN wanted to take 40% of the proceeds and expected me to do all the--wait... No. Moving on...)

So, I'll check in with a few publishers and see the response. If they offer a contract, I'll go that way due to their marketing. If not... we'll see.)

I'm also going to send it to a recommended agent. we'll see what happens there as well.

Worst case? I'll crash and burn.
Wouldn't be the first time.

Okay, so I've completed the "dark moment" for Summer Heat (my contemporary erorom).

So, I'm moving to make a satisfactory conclusion. This will be HFN ending. Why? Structurally, it presents naturally as a novella. Also, I've always been in awe of Steinbeck's Of Mice and Men.

Maybe I wrote it that way with that in mind.
OM&M is a powerful novella... not that I think I'm anywhere close to that.

Anyway, just thoughts...
I hope everybody's July 4th was FABULOUS!! 😃

Things are blowing up **hard** with my former publisher. I discovered Balance was STILL listed AVAILABLE on Smashwords via THEIR (wordpress) website's BUY link.


I decided to edit this because I do not have a vengeful personality. I was deeply disappointed by my publishing experience with BOOKS TO GO NOW but have since moved on.

I wish them well.
I wish them elsewhere, too, and I'm sure they feel the same way about me.

LESSON LEARNED: Do some actual research before targeting a publisher. What I wanted from a publisher was *their marketing staff.* They had different expectations for our partnership.

Fledgling authors take note: DO. YOUR. RESEARCH. BEFORE TARGETING!!!

Boo that my cover artist is collateral damage though. *sigh*
...I'm not a fan of gaslighting, though. /js

Remember, Overture is still running while I correct Balance. I call it a "bait book" or an introduction to the world of Skylar

So, I'll be revising and expanding Balance/Skylar. I truly didn't want it to be YA. /shrug. Now that I own the rights again, I can write whatever I want.

As for the modified/revised contemporary erotic--I'm thinking Summer Sizzle for the title--I'm at a "consensual non-consent scene." That takes a delicate hand.

How to keep "Seth" as a powerful DOM yet not let him slide into an indifferent monster.... oi!

My publisher and I parted ways. I was not happy with the product, for obvious reasons, and they were not happy with the sales because I didn't market a flawed product.

So... back to the drawing board. /shrug
I learned a lot from the experience, so I'll take that as a victory.

Okay, here's what we got going.
a) Erotic m/f revisioning has passed act 1-- we're at 21k words. The antagonist is taking action against the two.
b) Erotic m/m revisioning is locked and loaded -- I've gotten to chapter three. The serial killer is on the page.
c) The first artist I contacted about turning the Skylar books never responded--family. beh.--so I've reached out to the partner of a childhood friend, author Staci Layne Wilson, to see if he might be interested in taking that idea forward. (Because I can't draw. Not gonna lie.)