On Writing

Today, I wanted to update my book release schedule for the rest of 2016 and into early 2017:

Bitter Bite — Elemental Assassin #14 — out now.

Bright Blaze of Magic — Black Blade #3 — out now. As of right now, this is the final book in the trilogy/series.

Unwanted — Elemental Assassin #14.5 — July 18. This is an e-novella from Finnegan Lane’s point of view that takes place after the events of Bitter Bite. If you’ve read that book, then you know that Finn really needed his own story after everything that happened. And a hug. 🙂

Unwanted is about 20,000 words — around 75 pages — and will be priced at $1.99. It will be available as an e-novella only. There will not be any print or audiobook versions at this time.

Unraveled — Elemental Assassin #15 — Aug. 30. This will be a full-length book.

Nice Guys Bite — Elemental Assassin #15.5 — Dec. 12. This is an e-novella from Silvio Sanchez’s point of view that takes place after the events of Unraveled.

It’s about 20,000 words — around 75 pages — and will be priced at $1.99. It will be available as an e-novella only. There will not be any print or audiobook versions at this time.

Snared — Elemental Assassin #16 — Jan. 31, 2017. This will be a full-length book.

So there is lots of good stuff ahead for the rest of 2016.

As far as my young adult books go, I’m mulling over some ideas for a new series, including one for an epic fantasy young adult series. At some point, I will also probably be doing some Mythos Academy spinoff books (featuring Rory, Gwen’s cousin from Midnight Frost and Killer Frost), but we’ll see what happens.

Unfortunately, I don’t have any plans to write any more Bigtime books or e-novellas at this time. As you guys can see, my writing schedule is already full going into 2017. I’d love to write more of those stories, but I self-publish that series, which is very time-consuming. It’s just hard to fit it in with the rest of my writing commitments. But I do hope to go back to the series someday.

I hope that everyone enjoys the books and e-novellas as they are released. Happy reading!

Note: This post will also appear tomorrow at Magical Musings.

Hey, everyone! I am continuing our April posts about some of our favorite books and series. Here are my picks in no particular order:

Sugar Daddy by Lisa Kleypas: I know that many folks love Kleypas’s historical romances, but to me, her contemporaries  really shine, especially Sugar Daddy, the first book in her Travis contemporary romance series.

This book focuses on Liberty Jones, who is growing up in a trailer park in Texas. Really, it’s more of a coming-of-age story than a romance, since Liberty deals with everything from losing her first love, to her mother dying, to raising her little sister by herself, to growing up and becoming a successful businesswoman. The thing that I love about Liberty is that no matter what happens, she never gives up, and she always finds a way to take care of herself and her family.

The Dortmunder series by Donald E. Westlake and the Parker series by Richard Stark (aka Donald Westlake): These series are both about thieves, and they are like the two sides of the same coin, since they are both written by Westlake.

The Dortmunder series are comic crime capers, about a group of quirky, lovable (if sometimes inept) thieves who continually have the worst luck imaginable, but always manage to scrape by. Contrast that to the Parker series, which is about a loner, tough-as-nails thief named Parker, who usually shoots first and ask questions later. If you like crime fiction, check out Westlake’s books.

Captain America: Winter Solider by Ed Brubaker, et. al.: Back in 2014, the Marvel movie Captain America: The Winter Soldier came out. I loved the movie so much that I got the comics collection that the movie was inspired by and read it.

And it was fantastic.

The basic story arc is that a deadly assassin called the Winter Soldier is on the loose, and it’s up to Captain America aka Steve Rogers to stop him. But surprise, surprise, the Winter Soldier turns out to be Steve’s old friend Bucky Barnes, who has been brainwashed into becoming the ultimate assassin. So it’s up to Steve to try to figure out if he can save his best friend — or if he’ll have to stop the Winter Soldier once and for all. This story has all the things that I love — action, adventure, superheroes, and a truly epic friendship between Steve and Bucky.

The James Bond series by Ian Fleming: Just about everyone knows James Bond from the movies — a suave, supercool superspy who saves the world on a regular basis. But I discovered the James Bond books back when I was in high school. The books differ quite a bit from the movies, but I love the mixture of action, adventure, and spy shenanigans, in both the books and the movies.

Where the Red Fern Grows by Wilson Rawls: If you’ve read my Elemental Assassin urban fantasy series, you know that Gin Blanco, my heroine, has a blood-spattered copy of this book hanging up on the wall of the Pork Pit, her barbecue restaurant. Why? Because it belonged to her murdered mentor, and because the book is about love and loss.

In fact, this is the first book that I remember just absolutely breaking my heart. It’s about a young boy named Billy who gets two dogs, Old Dan and Little Ann, and all the adventures that they have together. If you don’t know what happens at the end of the book, I won’t spoil it for you, but just be sure that you have some tissues handy. Because you will cry. A lot.

So those are some of my favorite books and series. What about you guys? What are some of your favorite books?