works in progress and other mysterious beasts

January has been good to me, my friends. Or maybe I've been good to it. I'm not sure which. What I do know is I'm producing more words more quickly than I ever have before (except maybe back in the late '90s when I tried my hand at Hanson fanfic... But let's leave that in the past). 

I'm taking full advantage of this whole working-part-time thing. Monday through Friday, I use my writing time to the best of my ability and I'm hitting my daily and weekly word count goals. Well, killing them is more like it. And I'm liking the feeling. 

My current project is one that has a long history. A long history. I wrote the first draft of this story back when I was in the ninth grade (when I was about 15). Loathe as I am to admit it, that's more than half my life ago. I teach kids in the ninth grade now. But I digress.

The original MS was pretty good--for a 15-year-old. And since I started on this journey with Awaking back in 2011, I've had it in my mind to revise the story--one day. Well, that day is here.

Now, I know it will disappoint the friends who read the original draft of The Crystal Society back in the mid-1990s, but the WIP I'm working on now resembles the original in only the tiniest of ways: it's still about witches and the main character is still named Kristyl.

So, enough beating around the bush, right? What is this new project?

Well, the new series is called Clearwater Witches, and the first book follows Kristyl Barnette as she moves to the small Michigan town of Clearwater and learns a bit about her family and its history--and about herself. I'm super-excited about this book and the rest of the series: it's the kind of story I like reading, so it's really fun to write.

As much as I love The Naturals trilogy, I feel like I've grown so much since beginning that project. I'm bringing that to this new project. And it feels good.

Concurrently with the Clearwater Witches, I'm working on the Shifted serial. I love Peter and Leigh, and I'm excited for some surprises they have in store. I'm also working on transcribing a draft I wrote serveral years ago. This other project, When I Need You is more in the vein of Sarah Dessen, and it's one I'm very excited to share with you. It's one that's very special and very personal to me. And it's got a FABULOUS cover!

So, long story short, I've got a lot of fabulousness on the way. No longer will it be a year or more between releases. I'm actually planning to launch book one of Clearwater Witches in March of this year. March! That's so close, guys!

I'll keep you updated on the latest developments, don't you worry!

something old, something new

Full disclosure: I am writing this when I should be working on my WIP. What else is new, right?

Well, there are a couple exciting developments in the life and times of yours truly. First, last week I was able to put down more than 18,000 words in my current project. That's nearly a third of a book right there! That's super exciting to me. Next, the second episode of SHIFTED is out--or will be in less than 24 hours. I'm excited to be putting out a new episode every other week until June. I think you guys will like where this serial is going. And then another development: I've got a third (THIRD!) project on deck. I wrote a book back in maybe '09. It may even have been '08--but I guess that doesn't matter. The problem? I wrote it out long hand on a giant sketch pad. I then worked on transcribing it. 55K+ later, it's still not done. I stopped working at transcribing it because I figured any time I had to dedicate to writing should be spent, well, writing. So, this story was put on the back burner.

Well, now that I've got dedicated time to write every day, the idea of taking some time in the evenings or on the weekends to work on finishing the transcription progress and then working on edits doesn't seem too big a deal. I've even got a cover lined up!

I'm really excited about this story. It's much different than my usual stuff. It's still YA, but much less paranormal. A bit more romance.

All in all, this year is shaping up to be pretty fabulous. If you want to keep up with the latest developments and releases, you can either check back here frequently or sign up for the newsletter: http://eepurl.com/DARP5.

As I finish this post, I've got a cat on my legs and one on my hip. I hope your day/evening is as awesome as mine!

january, of all things

Well, first of all, I'm watching The X-Files. For this, I blame my friend Mary: I went to her house a couple weeks ago and watched the first X-Files movie (Fight the Future). After watching that, I've had a craving for the rantings of Fox Mulder. 

But that's not what's important at the present moment. What's really on my mind is January. I try not to be all crazy with the new-year-new-you mentality, but I'll admit I've been looking forward to January more than usual this year. Since going part time at my day job in late November, I have been testing the waters, so to speak, when it comes to using my new "free" time for writing. Come next week, when school starts up again, I'm going to be hitting the ground running (I hope!). My goal is to have the draft for the first book in my new series to be completed by the first week of February. I've already got episode 2 of SHIFTED set to go live on the 14th, and I'm working on getting episode 3 ready for the 28th. 

In February, I hope to finish all (or most of) the remaining 12 episodes of SHIFTED so it can have smooth release dates every two weeks between 1/14 and 6/3. 

Come March, I hope to be working on edits for book 1 of the new series and the draft of book 2. I would like to have the first book of the new series (more details to come in a different post) in late March or early April. And if the fates are smiling (or if I just keep writing and not making excuses), book 2 should be ready to fly come June. 

As excited as I am for all of this, I can't help feeling the slightest bit... well... terrified. Since 2011, I've only managed to put out one novel per year, with 2013 being a banner year with one novel (Becoming) and one novelette (SHIFTED, Episode 1). In 2014, I'd like to put out eleven 10,000-15,000 word episodes of SHIFTED and three or four full-length (60,000-ish word) novels. 

To be clear, this is kind of insane. At least it's kind of insane for me. The idea of writing all this down and posting it online for anyone to see gives me pause. My old concerns rise up within me: What if I say I'm going to do this but I don't accomish it? In other words, what if I FAIL? 

If I don't do it? Whatev. 

For real. The world won't end. Just allowing myself that grace gives me the confidence to move forward with my grand plans. If I don't succeed, I'll survive. If I don't try, I won't accomplish anything. 

So, in short, in 2014, I'm planning to kick ass and take names. I'll venture into uncharted territory. I'll write. I'll write a lot. And I won't make excuses. 

Here's to 2014. More than that, here's to January.