Saturday, May 18, 2013

I need to stop making these books so long...

I have two things to say in this post.  THREE - I lied.

First thing - updates on upcoming publications.

New book (title pending) -
m/m - potential for dom/sub/switch scenarios - paranormal romance - off scene non-con and on scene r/p dub-con

Kinkier than The Cat& the Crow, tamer than Swordmaster Dasan 2  (haha, well.  Really that's a huge gap, isn't it?)

I want to start by saying that this is Steampunk inspired.  I will not say that in the description or in the book, or probably ever again after this.  It seems that Steampunk books have a very specific set of rules and guidelines, and I don't want any usual Steampunk fans to build a train to run me down with for forgetting one lol.  I like being alive, it agrees with me.
 
Since I have a following of fans that may or may not want to stab/lynch/drown/strangle me for not releasing the next book in a series fast enough, I have listened to you.  This book would already be published with a huge cliffhanger ending, so I'm writing the sequel right on to it.  I'm nice.  Sometimes.  The book will be separated into two parts instead, so you'll get two books in one with a very short intermission as a bonus.  Closure straight from me to you with hugs and kisses and sexy men hooray. 

Because of the MASSIVE shift in character from Tarro, I can't just toss my newest MC straight into a bed, so the first part of the book is mostly him getting to know and love his new man.  Romance, some erotica, lots of lead-ins for the second part.

The second part, my inner pervert came out to play.  My inner creep did too, thank you very much to the person who pissed me off.  Therapeutic and fictional evil...  So, the second part is an erotic romance with a paranormal plot.  Because...  Well, because. 



Swordmaster Dasan Series -
m/m - bondage - dom/dom struggle - non-con - dub-con - every time of con lol

These two.  Well.  I originally wrote the first one because I thought it would be nice to have a backstory for Loki, who even the MC in Playing with Tigers is overwhelmed by.  A friend was extremely happy with the results, so I threw it out there for free, thinking that I was being kind and giving away decent m/m erotica.  It seems that people enjoy the story but not my writing style.  My apologies, the first one was written in full, in two weeks.  I wasn't applying myself.  The second one took me a bit longer, and anyone who can stomach the first  one would probably enjoy the second.  It's available on smashwords, free, and will remain there until it has a decent cover. 

The third book was sent to proofreaders, and for the first time I got a red light on publication.  They accused me of rushing it and cramming too much into one book, so I concede and now I'm breaking it up into two more books.  I apologize for the wait.  But quality control said no, so the wait goes on for a bit longer.




Playing with Tigers -
f/m/m - erotica - you name it, it's in there or on it's way

I started writing the third book.  *smile*  I found the perfect plotline for it (finally) so all I have to do now is rewrite the first two.  AGAIN.

It was my first book, and after losing all of my backup files of the original aside from an 80 page draft, I had to rewrite it.  So when I finished, I was aggravated, felt nobody would probably really give a damn anyway and published it went.  That was a mistake.  I read it now and anyone who walks by and looks at my face when I do asks me if I'm sick.  It reads like someone has taken the e-reader and started to club the reader over the head with it.  Typos, spelling errors, redundancies...  I am sooo incredibly sorry!

And the sequel; I changed the story because the only in depth feedback that I had received on the first, was that it had too much sex.  Another mistake, toning it down, now I've been told that it's boring as hell.  I'll just spike it back up.   :)

So, I'm fixing them.  Yeah that's right, I've got most of the first one redone right here.  That way, I can stop trying to slam a closet door on that ugly skeleton.  And guess what?  I never made a damn thing off of it, so FREE it will become.  Both of them.  The third book, I don't know.  It'll take a lot to write it, I might sadly have to charge for that one.  Try to compensate for the coffee I drink when I write it, we'll see how Duncan does in sales when I toss him out there before I decide.



The Cat & the Crow potential sequel!

I am still thinking about this one.  Theoretically, since Ryosho is not stupid so much as nasty and shallow, she would be smart enough to play along until they had no reason to keep her in Greywood, right?  And they would want to relinquish her into the care of her closest family member.  Which would happen to be her son-in-law, who even made a huge production over how he reaaaaallly loves her.  So much that it hurts him, haha
Also, I did leave myself plenty of strings hanging.  Nerin knew quite a bit about him at the end of the book.  I never said how, even though I had a story for that.  And Tarro has a hell of a past.  Would be a shame if certain people showed up again.  Especially anyone who Tarro might actually want to see, who wouldn't do well with Nerin.  Would be a pity.  Why, he'd have to be clever all over again.  Hmm.
I'll think on it and get back to everyone.



Werewolves are in limbo.  They can stay there for now, there are enough shifter stories that I don't think anyone would care about mine, lol



Second thing -
The Cat & the Crow was stolen.  The reason that this really pisses me off is that it's the only book that I actually charge for, because I know it's my best so far.  Personally, I think Tarro was fucked enough.  This almost had me flip a table and stop publishing.  I don't make a ton of money, because I only charge what I think is fair, and someone thought that stealing my work and offering it for free on their site would be fine.  It's not.  My sales dropped by more than half on the exact day that this was done.  That situation is handled, but I'm sure it will happen again.  And I'll be pissed off again.

Oh.  *chuckle*  Everyone should be careful about bit-torrents.  I hear that it's super easy to take a virus and put it in a copy of an e-book.  Would be a shame if any thieves downloaded malicious software.

As always, anyone who cannot afford my book can contact me on goodreads.  I'll mail it to you in whatever format you want, free of fucking charge, as I say whenever I remember.  I like when people read my work, that's rather the point.  But I do not like when people steal it.  Especially when I offer most of it for free.  That's currently my best published piece.  I will share, if you ask.  If you take it, I will immortalize you in history as a laughably incompetent villain in a gay erotic story, and I will dedicate it you along with the best attorneys that money can buy. 


Third thing -
I think it's funny that every time I get down on my writing, when I'm wondering if anyone even gives a damn, I get an email telling me that I have a review.  And every time they make me smile, 1 or 5 stars, loved it or hated it.  I don't just take good feedback with a smile, I enjoy when people read my book and feel the need to comment about it. 

But the ones that like my book, those reviews can end a write-or-quit moment of doubt in an instant.  Most people who read never review the book after.  No way to know if you did good, not as a self-pub.  I really appreciate every word of feedback that I get, I wanted to say that.  :)

Thank you.  I really do mean that. 

;)  Back to work for me.

S. <3





Tuesday, May 7, 2013

Still alive. Mostly.

Despite the flu's best attempt, I'm recovering and back on track with my work.  I was too sick to eat, so I'm boney enough now that I look like some terrifying bobblehead-woman, and smoking has made my sick cough last longer than it should, but I'll manage.  Scheduling has made it very hard for me to work when I want/need to, but I have found a solution!  Laptop.  Problem solved. 

My next book, by which I mean my next new book, is coming along well.  It's getting out of hand in length, but I found a way to make it manageable, I think.  Haha, nothing like confidence, right?  The first part is already about 20 pages longer than the Cat & the Crow was, so for anyone who read that, we're already looking at double the length.  Closer to the size of Playing with Tigers.  I know a lot of readers prefer a longer book, but there's still the challenge of holding attention throughout each novel.  The longer it is, the more likely it is to drag in places.  I will not tolerate becoming a drag.  It's one of the things that will make me drop a book at any point in its story, because my ability to pay attention is incredibly fickle. 

I can't give an estimate regarding the completion of this book, because I still feel that it's missing something.  I can, however, give an educated guess about the other impending publications. 
Swordmaster Dasan 2 has been at Smashwords for a very long time, but has not been put up anywhere else.  It needs a better cover, to be honest.  A friend was working on that, but she also lives in Boston and recent events have stressed her out enough that I'm willing to wait a bit longer before I start to shove and harass her.  Once that's done, it'll be put up on Amazon and shipped to B&N as a free book. 

The third SMD book was completed and sent to proofreaders, but came back with many complaints, because they wanted me to break the content up over two books instead of one.  So I am.  They'll also probably remain free ebooks, because the entire series is a side note to Playing with Tigers.  Charging for additional content is low, even for a gutter crawler like myself.

Playing with Tigers 1&2 will be rewritten and republished over this summer, and the third book is in the planning stage.  That means that any requests for certain kinks to have a cameo appearance need to be made now, haha.  I humor almost everything, but I will not write scat or snuff, so don't ask.  Other than that, sure.  Just let me know what floats your boat, or trust me to get crazy on my own.  Please note that this is the only series I even take requests for, and only ones for specific fetishes or kinks.  To respond to one inquiry that was sent to me - No.  I will not alter my characters or the society that they're in.  The reason that I like the Sahrketh society is because it is competitive and therefore fair.  I made a race of people that compete for everything and apologize for nothing, not just a gender.  It's not intended as a 'look how evil women are' statement.  If you took it that way, then you need to ask yourself why, lol.

Werewolves are in limbo for the moment.  Sorry.  Well, sort of.  There have been a flood of shifter erotica stories lately and I don't like the idea of being overlooked as white noise.  They're on hold.  All of them. 

Duncan.  Ha.  Well, that's the new book, title pending.  I haven't had this much fun with a setting in a long damn time.  I only hope that readers will enjoy it too.  More on him some other time, it's complicated lol.

If anyone sees the door-to-door fanatics that just left my property, please apologize to them on my behalf.  I didn't mean to swear.  In retrospect I realize that I had meant to inflict bodily harm.  With my boney hands, or if they would wait a moment, with the bat that I keep for any sudden urge for baseball/fighting.  If one more asshole comes here portraying what happened in Boston as a crime that was planned and paid for by the gay community, then I'll let them meet their fucking God.  For realsies.  There's a church, and only one church that's started this bullshit, and I shudder to think what may happen if they actually convert anyone. 

That's all for me for today.  Still alive, incredibly bitchy, and working my ass off.  Cheers.  ;)

S.  <3