The Princess and the Pirate

Okay. This is a little naughty, and has nothing to do with ParentKillers. Consider it a little geste as I'm so far behind schedule...

Happy New Year!

Last year was a story you read. This year is a story you write.

My goals for this year: release two books, and work on those kilos!

Honey, I'm baaaaaaaack!

Well, somewhat.

I recently had Covid paying a visit (no fun, that), but made some progress on the long term health. It's not all bad, but it ain't all good either.

At least I have found some momentum back to write again. The last few days saw two chapters being rewritten ten to twenty times... not very productive wordcount wise, but at least I'm writing and editing again!

 

Scaring Paper

Some write. Some smithe words. Me, I just scribble down random letters and hope they don't scare the paper.

(I did a little editing again -- not too much -- just to see how things go...)

 

Health is a Fickly Thing

Struggling with some health issues that made me pause my writing. To quote Arny: I'll be back!

 

Insanity, I say!

I guess it is...

Should I plan a fourth book, with the first one not even finished then? Frankly, I do not know. Then again, I retitled the second book, and now I have a spare cover and leftover bits...

The good news first. Kind's Kiss has received a proper ending. I just couldn't stand the cliffhanger myself, so by adding and moving stuff it now can stand on its own.

The attentive reader may have noticed a change in the titles reserved for the 2nd and 3rd book... When bringing the first book to a conclusion I simply ended up with too much material. Part of that moved into book 2, and part of book moved into book 3, and... now I'm in trouble 😁

The bad news then. Well, if you hated the first book, you're going to dislike the thought of me planning yet another entry. In fact, I hate myself for even considering it...

My four (current) working titles:

1. Kind's Kiss - processing the editor's comments
2. Broken - under revision
3. Daughter of the Beast - partially written
4. Wolf's Bane - some bits done, but do I love that cover!

All covers are preliminary, and all titles just as much. But perhaps I might share the new cover for book 2...

    

 

Reality

Being mostly a retrofitting pantser, I sometimes wonder if those characters already exist somewhere out there in the universe, and that the random firing of my synapses register their actions, with me just being a passive observer.

To take that analogy one step further, if I don't like what they do, or their actions do not match my narrative, I tune to a different station / reality, and continue from there.

If I'm actually rewriting their history... damn, must they hate me by now!

    

Sweet Home Chicago

Oh, why does it sometimes feel so good to embarrass your overly confident MC? I had one more thing, a minor plothole that bothered me, something nobody yet picked up but it just wasn't right. And I found a way to address it! Ah, the evil things a wannabe writer has to do... It's a good thing there's no webcam, otherwise you'd see me dancing like crazy around the kitchen table 😁

Regardless, may I introduce you to my two new, best friends:

    

Mirriam-Webster's College Dictionary, 11th edition, and the Chicago Manual of Style, 17th edition.

After browsing these two bricks, I suddenly feel bad for editors...

Oh, and I'd love to see a 'two volume' version of the Mirriam-Webster, IN A LARGER FONT. The people who can afford this book typically have poor eyesight, so why make those letters that small and the paper that thin?!?

 

All My Stories Are No Longer Belong to You

... because I took down the Wattpad version as well. 

Going... going... gone!

As promised I will be taking down the online (draft) versions of Kind's Kiss. For now, only the copy on Wattpad remains...

That's good news if you hated the story 😁

I'm Still Alive!

More proof of (my) existence...

(And yeah, to those who zoom in, I know the date is wrong!)

   

 

More Alone Than Others

A bonus chapter from book 1, as we're approaching Christmas.

Originally, this was titled 'More Alone Than Others' and it was written for a Christmas writing competition, but somehow it ended up being Gwen's story.

Some minor spoilers - do not read if you're looking experience book 1 to the fullest!

Update: removed. I warned ya...

   

The Naked Truth

I'm so far beyond schedule that it ain't funny anymore...

Status update:

- currently spending the big bucks on an editor (nothing but the best for the reader)

- reshuffling some chapters

- reconsidering the titles and covers for books 2 and 3 (may have to add some stuff)

As compensation I'll give you the naked truth, above as well as below... I have a little snack for you, but first a warning:

This is a bit of a spoiler for the romanticists amongst us, so you might want to skip it!

Still wanna' read? Here's your bonus chapter.

Book 1 / Part 1 / Chapters 1 to 22 are now online!

The first large arc, chapters one to twenty-two, can now be read on the platforms I mentioned earlier. (Scroll down a bit and you'll see the links.)

About Neovel and Royal Road

I've added Royal Road again. Note that the version on Neovel has retained most of the formatting, so that one might offer you the best reading experience.

This is where to find Kind's Kiss, for now...

- Neovel

- Wattpad

- Royal Road

Update. Removed from all sites.

Going... going... gone!

Preparing for things to come? I removed several books and chapters, leaving only a few up... But why?

I'll tell you later. Until then I'm updating the chapters of Kind's Kiss on Neovel and Wattpad with newer versions... 

- Neovel

- Wattpad

Update. Removed from all sites.

Regress / Progress

Thinks are not going as smoothly as I would like. Real Life Interference (TM) has distracted me somewhat lately...

Once those affairs are out of the way I can fully re-focus on Kind's Kiss and the editor's feedback.

Dear Beta Readers - hang in tight! I promised you that hard-copy, and I'll keep my promise! (No matter how long it will take 😅)

Bronco

I took the liberty to work on chapter one of the third book, which features 'the Bronco'.

Here's McKinnon's Bronco, before and after... (Yeah, I know these are different years / models, but it's the thought that counts.)

   

   

There's something to be said for those old Broncos... I'll buy me one the day I get rich. Then, after operating and maintaining it for a year or two, I'll be poor again 😄

Not done!

I got some early feedback from the editor and beta readers, and it showed me I'm not done yet. Which doesn't surprise me, sadly enough.

So, I'm returning to book one to clean up some dialogue, and apply the lessons learned to Kind's Kiss. It's also going to be my last edit until the editor has seen all of it. And told me my writing ***** 😅 

That probably means I have to work on Daughter of the Beast as well. Darn. Just when I thought I was making progress...

Done!

Book 2, Daughter of the Beast is complete (again?) though not 'dusted and done', I'll have to give it one more edit, I guess...

(Yeah, I know. I claimed to have completed it before, and I did, but then I decided to make some changes, so it wasn't complete. Hmpf. But now it is, precluding any edits or further rewrites, obviously 😅)

I've incorporated the feedback from my Alpha readers, and moved some scenes around. Some ended up in book 3, including the 'scythe' scene.

I'm posting the draft version on Neovel and Wattpad. It's around 100k, pretty much the same size as book 1, Kind's Kiss.

Will be continued!