Wednesday's Writing Update: August Goals / Smashwords July Sale / Untethered Realms Giveaway

Happy Wednesday! And although you don't know them, a very happy birthday to my dad and anniversary to my mom and dad!

July has been a busy month. I'm making slow progress with Remarked, which I hope to finish by the end of August, and I've been editing the short stories in the forthcoming People of Foxwick and Their Neighbors as well as re-editing/reformatting my A to Z Flashes of Foxwick. I'm also getting close to finishing my outline for Reforged.

Here are my goals for August:

• Edit one short story a week in People of Foxwick and Their Neighbors. I've been working on these stories, and I hope to finish my final edits by mid-September.
• Write/Edit Remarked. I've been writing by hand the first draft of Remarked, which I still hope to finish by mid-August. Then, I'll be typing up the draft and doing an edit on it, so I can send this novella to my alpha readers in September.
• Write in Reforged. I'd like to start writing Reforged, the second book in The Fate Challenges series.

And that's it. There's a lot to do, but I hope to continue making progress.

Also you will notice a slight change in my words written. Since I am writing by hand new drafts, I'm guessing on the word count. I'll update the official word count when I have the second draft typed up.

What are your August goals?

2014 Stats

32,843 + 1900 Words Written

1766 Pages Edited

*Stats taken from 1/1/2014-7/22/2014*

Smashwords is having its annual Summer/Winter sale. You can purchase Reborn, Gravity: The Complete Trilogy, and The Nightmare Collection for 50% off their retail prices with coupon code SSW50. The sale ends July 31st.

We authors of Untethered Realms are celebrating reaching 100 GFC followers on our blog by having a grand prize giveaway of several of our ebooks.

a Rafflecopter giveaway

Writing Update: June Goals / Reborn Blog Tour

 

Happy Wednesday!

Reborn is published. My blog tour posts are written for the most part, although I have two more interview question posts to answer. This week I'm trying to finish up my blog posts for June as well as edit the short stories for the upcoming UR anthology. Is it already too late to be looking forward to July after the release month pandemonium? *laughs*

Here are my June goals:

• Write Repledged. I hope to have Repledged  finished by the end of June, so I can send Repledged to alphas #1 and #2 by the end of June or early July.
• Write Remarked. If I finish Repledged early, then I'll be going back to Remarked, Book 1.5 of The Fate Challenges.
• Edit two short stories a week in People of Foxwick and Their Neighbors. If I can keep that up, then I can finish my final edit by the end of July and move forward to proofreading. I'll also be going back over A - Z Flashes of Foxwick these next few months, so I can reformat them and publish them with their new cover (back cover of People of Foxwick).
• Survive my blog tour. The tour runs through June 23rd and is on Mondays, Wednesdays, and Fridays. I love blog touring, but it's also stressful too, so I'll be a bit glad when it's done.

What are your June goals?

2014 Stats 
19,669 Words Written
1567 Pages Edited
*Stats taken from 1/1/2014-5/27/2014*

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Today for the Reborn Blog Tour, I will be at:

Untethered Realms' blog talking about improving your writing.
Catherine Stine's blog for an interview.

Karen Hooper's blog for an excerpt from chapter two.

Jess Haight's blog talking about how Reborn almost wasn't my first published novel.
Natalie Aguirre's blog for an interview.

Today's Reborn tidbit: Apenth (pronounced Ah-penth) is the number one god in Yssa's life. He brought her back to life, and he's the one who has a place in all the books at some point between The Fate Challenges and The God Challenges. A god of prophecy, wisdom, healing, and music, he seems like he can do it all, but he has his enemies too. 

 
 

    Goodreads Book Giveaway
 

   

       
   

   

     

          Reborn
     

     

          by Cherie Reich
     

     

         
            Giveaway ends June 23, 2014.
         

         
            See the giveaway details
            at Goodreads.
         

     

   

   

      Enter to win

The authors of Untethered Realms and I are giving away over $50 worth of books to one lucky winner. The giveaway is open internationally. a Rafflecopter giveaway

Writing Update: May Goals

 

Happy Wednesday!

I'm sure April has been a busy month for a lot of us. I've been proofreading Reborn and writing in a few stories. Writing multiple stories at once this month has reminded me that I work better if I focus on writing just one story. I can edit multiple stories much better than I can write them, so that has changed up my goals a bit.

Here are May's goals:

• Format and publish Reborn. The official release date for Reborn is May 23, exactly one month away. I hope to format and publish Reborn before then, so I can get purchase links to bloggers helping in my blog tour.
• Finish blog tour posts for Reborn. The blog tour runs from May 23 - June 23. I still have some interview questions to answer and guest posts to write before then.
• Continue writing in Repledged. You haven't really heard of this title yet, but let's just say I've decided to make things right for a character. You'll learn more in May's IWSG post. I hope to finish Repledged, a prequel novella from The Fate Challenges' world, in May.
• Write Remarked. A novella told from Liam's point of view, Remarked is #1.5 in The Fate Challenges. As soon as Repledged is with alpha #1, I'll be working on Remarked again.

Of course, my main goals revolve around Reborn, since it'll be coming out first. Then, the rest of the time will go back into writing.

This month I finally finished drawing my maps for The Fate Challenges too.

And I got my print proof from Createspace on Monday. Isn't it lovely?

What are your May goals?

2014 Stats 
19,198 Words Written
1058 Pages Edited
*Stats taken from 1/1/14-4/22/14 

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Although I'm not participating in A-Z on this blog, we authors at Untethered Realms are talking about fantastical creatures. Be sure to stop by! And I have a special guest post next Wednesday, April 30th from Nicole Zoltack. She'll be talking about her top ten villains!

Writing Update: April Goals

Happy Wednesday!

ARCs of Reborn are with reviewers, and I'm gearing up for a couple more proofreads of Reborn before it's published in May. I've also been working a little bit on Reforged, Book Two of The Fate Challenges, and Remarked, The Fate Challenges #1.5 novella.

Here are my April goals:

• Proofread Reborn. I should have my print proof in a few weeks, so I can start reading it. It's amazing how much more you catch when you read your work in a different format. While I'm waiting, I'm planning to format Reborn for my Kindle again and do another read-through on it (perhaps even a text-to-voice read). I hope to have all proofreads and changes finished by the end of April or early May, so I can publish Reborn with plenty of time to get purchase links and the like to the wonderful bloggers helping me with my blog tour (May 23 - June 23).
• Write Reforged. My goal is to finish the first draft by the end of June, so I can do a read-through of it in late June/early July and send the manuscript to alpha reader #1. So for this month, I hope to finish my editing/rewrite through Chapter 16 and write a few more chapters in it.
• Finish writing Remarked. I want to get this novella written and to my alpha reader #1 in early May.
• Start writing guest posts for Reborn Blog Tour. The tour runs from May 23 - June 23, and I have quite a few guest posts to write up as well as interview questions to answer, so I thought I would start writing them now, so I can send the tour info out to bloggers as soon as I have purchase links.

Can you believe it is less than two months now to the official release date of Reborn? It just makes my mind spin thinking about it all.

And those who are participating in A-Z Blogging Challenge in April, have fun and I wish you loads of luck! We authors at Untethered Realms will be participating. There will be some group posts, and I will talk about Karshiptas on April 12 and Mephinas on April 15, two interesting creatures from The Fate Challenges' world.

What are your April goals? Are you participating in the A-Z Challenge?

2014 Stats

10,958 Words Written

656 Pages Edited

*Stats taken from 1/1/2014-3/25/2014*

Writing Update: February Goals and My Writing Space

 

Happy Wednesday!

Since there are five Wednesdays this month, I have my goals post today. Otherwise, it'll be with Bookworm News posts.

Here are my February goals:

• Create a map of the Kingdom of Amora. I know how long it takes the characters to get from place to place. Now it's time to figure distances and draw the map for the trilogy.
• Finish outlining Redestined. I've finished through Chapter 27 in my outline for book three of The Fate Challenges, but I still have a few chapters left in Part II and all of Part III to outline. My guess is Redestined will have around forty-five or so chapters and will be the longest book of the trilogy.
• Continue working on Reforged. With NaNoWriMo 2013, I wrote up to Chapter 16 in Reforged. In January, I've been editing/rewriting the beginning. I'm hoping to be able to write new chapters by the end of February.
• Edit an old short story. Untethered Realms is putting together an anthology. I originally thought about writing a new story, but I found an old story of mine that'll work, I think. It's time to do an edit on it, so I can get it ready for the anthology.

I'll be taking a break from Reborn as soon as I finish this final edit, so my proofreader can have a go at it. If I get it back sooner than March 1st, then I'll start working on it again in February, but it can wait until March. I'd like a fairly clean copy to go to my reviewers in mid-March.

I've also made a decision about Neighbors of Foxwick. Originally, I planned to release this seven-story collection in February. With the stress of Reborn as well as having some health issues (I'm having some out-patient surgery on February 12th) and editing so much in December, I was finding it difficult to get into the right frame of mind to edit these stories. I had planned to tackle them again in February, so I could still release the collection in late February or sometime in March, but then I realized something. This Fall, I'm publishing People of Foxwick and Their Neighbors, a collection which will include Women of Foxwick, Men of Foxwick, and Neighbors of Foxwick, so instead of publishing a new collection and then combining all three, I can just combine all three and publish them, so there will be new stories for people. [By the way, here's the cover art for People of Foxwick. Isn't it lovely? The talented Laura Sava illustrated the cover art like she did with Reborn. The cover features Umbria a.k.a. Lady Death and her pet black unicorn. There is a back cover too, since the collection will be in print and ebook formats, but you'll have to wait to see it.]

Personally, I've found most people want the complete collection instead of individual ones, especially when it comes to shorter works. For example, I sell almost two times more Gravity: The Complete Trilogy than I do the individual ebooks put together. Last year, I had four months I didn't sell a single copy of Defying Gravity, nine for Fighting Gravity, and ten for Pull of Gravity, yet I sell copies every month of the complete collection. It's different for my horror works, since I had Once Upon a December Nightmare free for so long, but I'm curious to see if that changes, since it's $0.99 again (sequel is $2.99 and entire collection is $2.99). I know they say having more works out there leads to more discovery of your work, but to be honest, I sold more when I had one ebook out than I do now.

I'd like to eventually take down the individual ebooks and keep the collections only of my shorter works. I'll likely do that sometime this year with Gravity and do the same with my Foxwick Chronicles short stories. So if I'm going to take down the shorter collections this year, then why put a new one out when I'll likely take it down in six months? I can wait and release the entire People of Foxwick and Their Neighbors (an 80,000-word short story collection) and put it for a cheaper introductory price for a couple weeks and then raise it to its normal price. That way people who have purchased the shorter collections can get the entire collection for the same price I would've sold Neighbors of Foxwick.

That said, I plan to start working on People of Foxwick in May/June, since Reborn will be out of the way. I will likely write Loveless (Book One of Less Than Princess Perfect series) during this time, since it's part of the Foxwick world. Then, it'll be time to go back to Amora in August/September for Reigned (Prequel) and then Redestined (Book Three) after that.

Also, A-Z Blogging Challenge sign-ups are going on! Unfortunately, this year I won't be able to participate on this blog. With publishing my debut novel in May, I just have a bit too much to do in April, but I will be participating with the authors of Untethered Realms. We're going to be talking about creatures--and not the normal kind.

What are your goals for next month?

2014 Stats

4,095 Words Written

259 Pages Edited

*Stats taken from 1/1/2014 - 1/28/2014*

Also, I'm over at Nutshell's blog today where she featured me and my writing space, so pull up a chair and see where the magic happens.

Writing Update: January Goals/New Blogging Schedule/Blogging Vacation

 

Happy Wednesday!

Can you believe the year is almost over? I sure can't! Where did 2013 go?

This month I've been busy editing in Reborn. I swear I'm one of the slowest self-editors out there. I was hoping to take some time during my work vacation to relax, but I might have to work on some outlines and the like during my vacation. *sighs*

Here are my January goals:

• Final Edit of Reborn. I should get Reborn back from my beta readers after New Year's, so I'll be ready to do my final edit. Yes, this debut novel stuff is getting very real. Of course, it'll still have to go through the proofreader, several proofreads by me, formatting, and then publishing by May.
• Fix Part I of Reforged. I originally was going to work on Reigned, but I changed my mind. I'd rather work on book two of The Fate Challenges as I'm finishing up book one. Then, I can go back to Reigned and write Redestined after that, or vice versa.
• Finalize my outline for Redestined. Once I have the outlines the way I want them, then I can start exciting things like drawing the map of the Kingdom of Amora and writing books two and three of The Fate Challenges.
• Final edit and proofread Neighbors of Foxwick. In January, it'll be time to edit and proofread Neighbors of Foxwick, so I can start formatting and publishing this last short story collection in The Foxwick Chronicles. I do plan to combine Women of Foxwick, Men of Foxwick, and Neighbors of Foxwick in one collection (print/ebook) in Fall 2014, so if you'd rather wait for the entire collection, I'm cool with that. I just wanted to offer the other for those who have already picked up the first one or two in the series.

And those are my January goals. Since I'm gearing up to publish novels in 2014, I've decided I need to cut back a bit on blogging. If you pop over to Surrounded by Books Reviews, you'll see the sad news that I'm dropping that blog. I will still be doing reviews, but I will post them on my Bookworm News feature (besides Goodreads/Amazon). I am keeping the blog up, so people can find my old reviews there.

As for this blog, I'm dropping my schedule to posting one day a week: Wednesdays. Posting 4-5 times a month instead of 16+ will help me out a lot. I will have the occasional extra post, but I'll announce that before it happens. For a look at my 2014 blogging schedule, click here. With less posting spaces, I've also posted a page of Guest Post Guidelines. You can click here to view them. Of course, all of this is subject to change, but we'll see how it goes.

With the new year, I will soon be raising a few of my ebook prices in January, so if you've considered buying something, now is the time to do it. I'm taking Once Upon a December Nightmare off free. Gravity: The Complete Trilogy will go up from $2.99 to $3.99. Fighting Gravity will jump up to $1.99 and Pull of Gravity will be $2.99. That's all I plan to change right now, and theses changes won't happen until after the new year.

Also, today's my last post until IWSG and Indie Life's posts on January 8, 2014. Since I'm away from the day job and the good internet, it's just easier to not post during my vacation. I hope everyone has a fantastic holidays! See you in the new year!

2013 Stats

2276 Pages Edited

180,405 Words Written

*Stats taken from 1/1/2013 - 12/17/2013*

Wednesday's Writing Update: November Goals

 

Happy Wednesday!

This month has been a trying one since I fell on October 2nd. It rather ruined all my plans, but I am working on the edits of Reborn (will probably finish them in a couple weeks), have written the last short stories in Neighbors of Foxwick and sent them to my critique partners, and outlined Reigned (all forty chapters of it). I haven't gotten much done in Reforged except a little bit of editing/rewriting of the first few chapters, but I hope to catch up this weekend and be ready to start Part II on Monday.

I also have the final version of the map of Foxwick. I hand-drew it and used paint.net to add the words. I must admit I'm rather pleased with how it turned out, and once I have all the places for the Kingdom of Amora, I'll be ready to start drawing the map for The Fate Challenges.

I have my November goals ready and waiting. I'm a bit of a NaNoWriMo rebel this year. I do hope to write at least 50,000 words, but I plan to write it by using two novels.

• Write Reforged. It would be awesome if I could finish Reforged this month, but I would like to at least write 30,000 words in it or at least finish through Part II.
• Write Reigned. I'm not planning to finish this novel in November, but I am hoping to get 20,000-30,000 words done, or about the first third.
• Finish editing Reborn. If I can keep up my two chapters a day, then I'll have it finished by mid-November. I'd rather take a bit more time than trying to rush it, so it'll be less work on my beta readers.

And that's it. Just a lot of writing and editing.

Are you participating in NaNoWriMo? What are your November goals? And you can add me as a buddy on NaNoWriMo here.

2013 Stats
130,309 words written
2110 pages edited
*Stats taken from 1/1/2013 - 10/29/2013*

Don't forget! It's the last few days of The Nightmare Collection sale! Click here for a list of retailers.

Writing Update: October Goals

 

Happy Wednesday!

It's hard to believe there are only three more months left to this year! This month has been busy with helping out with a friend's collection as well as publishing Magna's Plea and writing stories in Neighbors of Foxwick. I even almost have my map done for the Kingdom of Foxwick and its neighbors!

Here are my October goals:

• Finish my edit of Reborn. Seriously, I keep saying I'll work on it, but I haven't gotten beyond the prologue. I must finish the edit soon, so I can give my beta readers a month or two to read it and make comments.
• Write Reforged. I would like to keep working on Reforged. Ideally, if I could finish this novel by the end of December, it would be great, although I'm tentatively shooting for November to finish it.
• Outline Reigned. I want to write this as my NaNoWriMo novel in November in conjunction with Reforged, so I thought I'd finally put the outline in my head down on paper/Word document, then I'll be more prepared to write it.
• Finish writing the last story in Neighbors of Foxwick. I have one scene in "Prince's Price" and seven scenes in "Love's Challenge" to write, and I'm really hoping to finish this before the end of September, but if not, then I'll be finishing it up in early October. If I can get this done, then I'll be on track to publish Neighbors of Foxwick by February 2014.

And that's all, folks! Not too bad, even though there is still a lot of writing and editing to be done.

What are your October goals?

2013 Stats

122,592 words

1909 pages edited

Stats taken from 1/1/2013 - 9/24/2013

Writing Update: September Goals / Promotion Help / Cover Reveals for two Unrealmers

 

Happy Wednesday!

I must admit I'm so looking forward to September. It'll mean we go back to the regular schedule at the day job, which means more sleep! Yay!

Here are my September goals:

• Write "Mourner's Lament" from Neighbors of Foxwick. As I mentioned last week, I'm changing up the release date for Neighbors of Foxwick from October 2013 to February 2014. This way I'll have more time to make it the best collection I can.
• Create a map of Foxwick. I found some map-making software. I'm trying out the trial version to see if I like it.
• Write Part I and half of Part II of Reforged. I hope to be finished with this novel by the end of December.
• Finish editing Reborn, Book One in The Fate Challenges. I need to send this novel to my beta readers sometime in September, so they can get it back to me by December 1.
• Final edit, proofread, format, and publish of my prequel short story in The Fate Challenges titled Magna's Plea. This fantasy short story is the same one I've been giving to newsletter subscribers. I'd like to make it free, so I can draw more interest in the forthcoming Fate Challenges. This short story will also include a sneak peek of Reborn.

And that's it for September. Doesn't sound too bad, does it? What are your September goals?

2013 Stats

117,238 words

1681 pages edited

Stats taken from 1/1/2013 - 8/28/2013

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Also, like I did for the release of Men of Foxwick, I'd like to do a promo post for the free release of Magna's Plea during the week of October 21st. You'll have your selection of a short, medium, or long post or create something yourself from the information I'll provide you before the cover reveal/promo. If you're interested, please sign up on the link list below. Thank you!!

***

 

It is with great pleasure and a thrill in our hearts that Gwen Gardner and I (Angela Brown *hugs*) reveal the covers for our follow up stories to our currently available novels: Givin' Up the Ghost (Gwen) and Neverlove (Angela)

*cue drumroll*
...
..
.

A GUILTY GHOST SURPRISED by Gwen Gardner (Add to Goodreads)

An Angel Among Us

Paranormal happenings at the Eady household are the norm. Recently, things have become downright peculiar. Childish giggles at odd hours of the night lead Indigo Eady to her little cousin, Bryan, a guileless cherub spirit, complete with Spider Man pajamas and a set of faux angel wings. The problem is that Bryan died nearly three years ago in a hit and run that killed him and his mum. The driver was never found.  Now the gang must solve the mystery of his death in order to send him back to heaven.  But where to start when the trail is three years cold?

Indigo Eady

Indigo Eady is not clumsy. At least, that’s what she keeps telling everyone. Can she help that the overactive spirit community of Sabrina Shores causes her psychic abilities to short-circuit? It’s unfortunate that her cute friend Badger is often on the receiving end of her mishaps. At times, she is positively hazardous to his health. Even so, sparks fly in more than one direction.

THEY ALL FALL DOWN by Angela Brown (Add to Goodreads)

Abby and Basil: New love reaches new heights as they finally give in to their lust and desire for each other.

Q: Consumed by the Devourer within and his base need to claim Abby as his own.

The crave: What it all boils down to. A crave for souls. A crave to keep love intact beyond betrayals. A crave for a second chance. A crave for power and The Fall of mankind.

“Love can conquer all” is put to the test and salvation may be impossible when it’s “ashes, ashes…they all fall down.”

About Gwen

Gwen Gardner is a native Californian living in sunny San Diego, where her love of reading and writing led to a BA in English literature. Life is now complete with her husband, two dogs and a daily call from her daughter.

Since ghosts feature prominently in her young adult Indigo Eady Paranormal “Cozy” Mystery series, she has a secret desire to meet one face to face - but will run screaming for the hills if she ever does. Gwen adores travel and experiencing the cultures and foods of different countries. She is always up for an adventure and anything involving chocolate - not necessarily in that order.
Haunt at the following: Blog | Twitter | Facebook

About Angela

Angela is a lover of Wild Cherry Pepsi and chocolate/chocolate covered delicious-ness. Steampunk, fantasy and paranormal to contemporary - mostly young adult - fill her growing library of books. Mother to a rambunctious darling girl aptly nicknamed Chipmunk, life stays busy. Her favorite quote keeps her moving: "You may never know what results come of your action, but if you do nothing there will be no result." ~ Mahatma Gandhi
Haunt at the following: Blog | Twitter | Facebook

Writing Update: Changing My Plans ... Again

 

Happy Wednesday!

This will probably come as no surprise, but I'm changing up my plans/goals again. *sighs*

The first couple weeks of August threw my goals out the window. I was supposed to finish up the last four short stories in Neighbors of Foxwick, but it didn't happen. In fact, I only finished my rewrite of "Dragon's Sacrifice" on Sunday, and I still have three more short stories left to write ("Mourner's Lament," "Prince's Price," and "Love's Challenge"). I had originally planned to publish Neighbors of Foxwick in October, but that's not happening. I don't want to rush the stories just to have them finished. Of course, if I push back Neighbors of Foxwick, then that means I can't publish People of Foxwick when I originally planned either.

So the new production schedule for 2014 is:

Neighbors of Foxwick - The Foxwick Chronicles Short Story Collection - February 2014

Reborn - Book One of The Fate Challenges - May 23, 2014

People of Foxwick - The Foxwick Chronicles Complete Short Story Collection - August 2014

The Loveless Princess - The Foxwick Chronicles Novel - November 2014

Of course, all these dates are subject to change, but by reexamining my schedule, it has made it easier on me to get everything I want accomplished. As for the rest of the month, I'm working on editing the first half of Reborn based on critique partners' suggestions and rewriting/writing the rest of Part I of Reforged.

So does that mean I won't have anything else published this year?

Not exactly.

I want to start getting word out about Reborn, even though it won't be out until next May. It's my debut novel, and I think it's pretty special, so I've decided to take a short story I wrote back in 2010 based in that world (just 700 years earlier) and publish it as a freebie (story has had extensive edits since then and is going through my critique partners again before a final edit/proofread from me). This story is called "Magna's Plea," and it's about 5,000 words in length. I will have a sneak peek of Reborn with the short story as well. Since Amazon can take awhile to price-match a title to free, I plan to publish "Magna's Plea" in September with an official release date in October. Next week, I'll have information on how you can help me spread word about "Magna's Plea."

Here is what "Magna's Plea" is about:

A princess will rise and challenge Fate.

While her father, brothers, and people fight against the Kingdom of Apentha, tenacious eighteen-year-old Princess Magna can only watch the destruction of Amora, her besieged city and kingdom. Her mother, Queen Vyvian, has refused to allow her heir to join the fray.

But Magna won't take no for an answer. She seeks out an end of the war from Prince Cyrun of Apentha, their prisoner. If she can't persuade him toward peace, then Amora may fall.

This short story prequel includes a sneak peek of Reborn, Book One of The Fate Challenges, forthcoming May 2014.

So what are you up to this Wednesday?

***

By the way, several of us spec fic authors with Untethered Realms took up the prompt "awesomesauce." Stop by the blog to see what it is.

Wednesday's Writing Update: August Goals

 

Happy Wednesday!

Since I'm taking a vacation from the day job next week, I've decided to take a blogging vacation too. My next post will be on August 5th.

July's been very busy and trying month. I've fallen so far behind in everything it's pathetic, and I just can't seem to catch up where I should be, so once again I'm rearranging my goals. It hasn't helped that I've been having some eye problems since April. I have dry eye--probably caused by my allergy medicine and spending 8+ hours a day on the computer doesn't help either. The eye doctor said the average person's tears break up around fifteen seconds; mine break up around three seconds. I'm taking OTC drops and flax seed oil pills, and while that does help, when I'm tired, my eyes refuse to work. It's slowed down my writing and reading a lot more than I want to admit. So I'm a big Camp NaNoWriMo fail for the first time since I started participating in NaNoWriMos. *sighs* I'm still hoping to get at least Part I in Reforged finished as well as four short stories in Neighbors of Foxwick this month.

Also yesterday was my dad's 59th birthday and my parents' 36th anniversary!

Here are my August goals:

• Edit Reborn. So far, I've gotten no editing time for Reborn, but I still have August to finish it up. I plan to send Reborn to beta readers by early September (after Labor Day).
• Write Part II of Reforged. Right now I have a bit of a rewrite on Part I that I hope to accomplish in July, but I'd like to have Parts I and II finished of Reforged by the end of August.
• Finish writing the short stories in Neighbors of Foxwick. I want to have this done by the end of July too, but if I have a short story or two left over, then I can finish them in early August and still be ready to publish the collection in October.

What are your August goals?

2013 Stats

111,310 words (21,191 words this month)

1581 pages edited

Stats taken from 1/1/2013 - 7/23/2013

***

Also, Smashwords is once again having its Summer/Winter Sale. Through the end of July, you can purchase the ebooks of Gravity: The Complete Trilogy and The Nightmare Collection for $1.50 using the coupon code: SSW50. By the way, I've been playing around with the ebook covers for these two books. What do you think?

***

I also have two unedited excerpts. The first is from "Siren's Call," a short story in the forthcoming Neighbors of Foxwick.

“Keep an eye out for rocks, so we don’t run aground.” She shifted the wheel toward the island.

“Aye, Capt’n!” Jamsey saluted.

Thunder grumbled like an ornery old man. Another wave swelled and lifted the ship high in the air. Tamarlyn held her breath as they crashed down.

“Hold on!” She cried out.

Water swept over the deck and knocked her feet out from under her. Pain raced along her arms as she held onto the wheel. The ship swirled widely toward starboard.

Strong arms righted her and steadied the wheel. “You should get below deck, Capt’n.”

Tamarlyn glanced back at the bulked-up Brutis. Her fingers tightened upon the wheel, and she ignored the heat radiating from him against her. “I’m not some fair maiden. Go tie yourself to the ship, so you don’t wash overboard.”

This second excerpt is from Reforged, and it introduces some new characters to book two, not that most of you have met the old characters from book one. *laughs*

“Come up for air, you two.” Ferris knocked against Sari and Karn.

Karn’s face changed from its yellowish-tan color to red as he accepted his drink.

“You’re just jealous.” Sari grabbed her drink and rolled her eyes.

“Oh, yes, I want to make out with Karn all the time.” Ferris made a smoochie face at Karn, which made the other boy even redder.

“You’re terrible, Ferris!” Bea slapped his arm.

“And you know you love it.” Ferris winked at her.

Bea giggled.