Tag Archives: Books

Publishing timeline, KU, and other updates

Things have been hectic for me lately. Both of my sons have had some rare/unusual health problems, and my oldest spent several days in the hospital a couple of weeks ago. It was a similar issue to what happened to him last September when a virus triggered rhabdomyolysis (mentioned in this post), but it hit him even harder this time even though it was only a cold. I detailed what has been going on to my Facebook fan group if you’re interested in finding out more. We have begun to recover from that (the adults in the family got sick right after the boys began getting better and it was brutal on us too), but at least I can start catching up on author-related matters again.

The health issues did set me back a few weeks on my writing/book release schedule. I’d hoped to have Cast by Flames out by the end of July, but it’s now looking like the last week or two of August. Sorry for the slight delay, but I’ll be working hard to get it done and out to you all. After that, I’ll begin work on the Galadon novel with the hope of releasing it before Christmas.

Kindle Unlimited News

I originally planned to pull the Dragon’s Breath Series from Kindle Unlimited early next month when the current 90-day term expires. Having said that, in recent weeks the ebooks have been getting borrowed and read at an increased rate that makes me hesitate to pull them. I’d hate to catch people in the middle of the series and cause them to be unable to borrow the rest, so I may leave the ebooks in the program for the rest of the year. The series would have gone back to KU around the time Cast by Flames released anyway.

Also, I am considering putting the Sensor Series in Kindle Unlimited for the very first time. Sales have slowed down for those books on the other retailers, so it would be a good chance to let readers try it in KU. This is also in anticipation of my returning to that universe next year (after I’m done with the Dragon’s Breath books, of course) when I begin work on a fresh spin-off series with Kerbasi and an all-new heroine.

For those of you who haven’t tried the Sensor Series and have no idea who Kerbasi is, let’s just say he’s the super powerful antihero who you fantasize about murdering in terrible ways only to find him growing on you later down the line. I continue to have readers email me about him getting his own books, and I’ve been brainstorming how to make them work best for a while now. I’ll post more on that early next week. For now, I’ll probably start moving the Sensor novels and novellas over to KU in late May or early June. I’ll let you all know for sure soon.

Really excited about the ideas percolating in my head and all the writing to come. Feel free to let me know your thoughts!

Note on the Dragon’s Breath Series and an excerpt

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As some of you know, I’m in the midst of writing Cast by Flames, the final book in the series with Bailey and Aidan (not including the spinoff). There is a lot to cover in this novel, but it’s coming along well so far, and I’m finding it easy to write. Well, except for one little twist.

Long ago when I released the first book, I let readers know this one would not contain spicy elements. Some may recall this, some may not, and people who started it later probably never knew about that promise. I wanted readers who prefer not to have naughty parts in stories be able to enjoy the series. Also, I’d rather that when my boys get older they can pick these books up and it not be awkward. I’ll just have to steer them clear of the others.

Having said that, it was tough to stay within my promise while writing Torn in Flames because obviously Bailey and Aidan had a lot of pent up passion when they reunited after five years. I had to walk a fine line to show that without it going too far. It wasn’t easy! Since beginning Cast by Flames, it has gotten even more difficult. As I was writing the final part of chapter five, I deviated into “forbidden” territory because I just had to get it out of my system.

Later, I mentioned it to the readers in my Facebook Fan Group and how I’d have to heavily edit the scene later. There was a large response of people who thought I should still share it somehow (ideas varied on this). I ended up revising the scene with a lot more of what I wished I could have written had I not been holding back (even with crossing the line a bit). Then I posted the 1700 word scene in the group. They loved it.

I know I have a lot of readers who are not in that group who may wish to see it as well. As a result, I’m posting it below. Keep in mind that this scene takes place in the midst of the next book, so there are some brief mentions of things going on in the story, but they are vague without context and shouldn’t feel like actual spoilers. No one who has read it so far has had an issue.

If you’re still with me and want to read it, continue below. Please do keep in mind this is just a draft and has not been edited except me running through a few passes to try catching any typos/issues. Hope you enjoy!

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KU & Audio News for Torn in Flames (and other stuff)

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Just a couple of quick book updates for you all, followed by tales of my naughty toddler.

First, I pulled Torn in Flames off of all the retailers except Amazon last night. When I checked this morning, it appeared to have cleared from everywhere, so I could go ahead and enroll it in Kindle Unlimited. Yay, I got it done earlier than expected! I didn’t visit every single Amazon country site, but it is definitely in KU for the United States and United Kingdom. My guess is it should be good everywhere else as well. If you’ve been waiting to borrow it, you should have no problem now.

For those waiting on audio, I checked my publisher’s website and found they had listed the expected release date for Torn in Flames as May 23rd, 2023. That has always been accurate in the past, so it should be reliable this time. I know it’s not as soon as you’d probably like, but it’s a quicker turn around than the last book in the Dragon’s Breath Series. As soon as the edits were finished with this book, I sent the manuscript to them right away. They received it ten days before the ebook released.

Still, it takes time to schedule the narrator, for her to do the recording, then handle edits and sound engineering. Plus, they have to do their version of the cover during that time. I’ll let you all know when the pre-order is available.

On a personal note, my youngest son (22 months old) is becoming quite the handful as those in my Facebook Fan group are aware since I relay stories to them occasionally. Last week, I was setting up my coffee maker. While I walked away to dump the coffee grounds in the trash can (located behind a locked gate in the laundry room to keep him from pillaging it), Dean managed to grab the pot and smashed it into the counter. Glass everywhere. Thankfully, no one was hurt, but it certainly wasn’t fun to clean up.

Of course, buying a new pot is nearly the same cost as a whole coffee maker. Mine had stopped letting me program it to brew in the morning, so I chose to get a new one. It arrived a few days later since Amazon’s shipping times seem to be slower these days. We also have a Keurig my husband loves to use, so I made do with that, but I prefer my coffee maker to those pods. The taste just isn’t the same no matter what brand I try.

Two days after breaking my coffee pot, Dean got a hold of his big brother’s glasses. I searched for over an hour for them and couldn’t find them anywhere. Checked again the next morning and then had no choice except to send Adam to school without them. He has an older pair with the same prescription, but they’re chewed up and scratched. Since one of his eyes has almost perfect vision, he can get by without them. It’s the other one that is nearly blind that made me frustrated that I couldn’t find them.

Thirty minutes after I dropped him off at school, I had an epiphany and decided to check the trash can (locked behind a child gate but visible from the hallway). My future baseball or basketball star had thrown his big brother’s glasses into the bin and they were buried at the bottom . I scrubbed them and my hands with anti-bacterial soap very thoroughly and then rushed them to my son at school.

No idea where my younger son got his excellent throwing arm, especially since he’s not even two years old yet. Back when I was in the U.S. Army, I hated when they made me go to the range to throw live grenades. I can aim for short distances, five feet is good, but grenades must be tossed much farther than that. All I had to do was get them over a tall reinforced wall to be safe, but every time I was terrified I’d drop it or not make it over the top. Since I survived these training exercises, you can assume I did get the grenades over the side, but they always sounded like they exploded rather close. Pretty sure it didn’t make it very far past the wall.

Thank God I never had to throw one in combat. As much as I hate to admit it, I throw like a girl in the most cliche sense. My oldest son appears to have inherited that same bad gene from me, but not the youngest one. He’s surprisingly good at a lot of things that can get him into trouble. Hopefully, I survive this toddler period with my sanity intact and most of my stuff!

Other Retailers, Kindle Unlimited, and the next book!

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I want to give everyone a quick reminder that if they prefer to purchase their ebooks from sources other than Amazon to please grab your copy of Torn in Flames very soon. On the evening of March 2nd (2023), I will be pulling it from B&N, Kobo, iTunes, and Google Play. It will no longer be available on those platforms, except when it releases in audio (TBA) and then you could get it in that format.

To be safe, I’ll wait twenty-four hours to be sure it has cleared from them before I enroll it in Kindle Unlimited. Amazon gets very testy if they find a book anywhere else once you’ve put it in KU, so I have to be careful. Those who have been waiting to borrow Torn in Flames should be able to do so on the morning of March 4th (or a little earlier than that if you’re in Australia or Europe due to your time zones).

From that point, the entire Dragon’s Breath Series will stay in Kindle Unlimited for about three months. At the beginning of June, I will take them back out of the program and give readers on the other retailers a couple of months to get caught up with the books if they haven’t done so already or missed their chance.

Then after book 7, Cast by Flames, is released, I’ll put the whole series back into KU. For those who are wondering, the expected release date for that installment is currently late July. I have already begun writing it and have scheduled the cover to be designed in mid-May. It will be the last novel focusing on Bailey and Aidan as the main characters. There will be a book eight titled “Galadon” that features him, contains stronger romantic elements, and covers the aftermath from book 7.

Feel free to ask questions below if you have any!

Maps for the Dragon’s Breath Series

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Based on an earlier post, enough readers showed interest in the series map for me to share it, along with a companion Oklahoma map. I downloaded plain ones through Shutterstock to use as a baseline and then modified them for the story. Admittedly, I am no artist, so it’s not professional, but it does the job.

The large map is only going to reveal the territories and features pertinent to Torn in Flames, though a few clans you’ll see along the coasts are in my notes but ended up not being mentioned in the book. Also, territories have shifted over time during the series due to various wars and battles. This map shows what the characters “know” to be true for this installment. Keep in mind some borders may change in the future. The book seven map will be expanded with those alterations, and I will share it when it gets close to Cast by Flames releasing later this summer.

For the Oklahoma map, it has details that include points of interest from past installments as well as the upcoming book. I know some people re-read the series and might find those helpful. I admit my lake drawing leaves something to be desired, but if you were to look at a real map of Oklahoma you would see that only a truly skilled artist could replicate their strange shapes. Some of them look like monsters from Stranger Things. Also, the dashed line across the state is purposely not labeled to avoid a spoiler, but you’ll get what it is once you’ve started reading Torn in Flames. It will be useful as a reference. Otherwise, I’ve tried to avoid including anything that would give away too much about the upcoming release.

I hope everyone finds the maps helpful. You are welcome to download or screenshot them to use for when you are reading. I may also create a page on this website at some point for the maps so they’ll be easier to find.