RS: I Haz Planz For 2016

Posted on January 7, 2016 by Raven ShadowHawk

Right! Looking at what Ileandra has lined up, I have to admit I’m not nearly as organised as her. I know what I think I want to do, but my plans are more liable to change than hers.

Let’s have a lookie see:

  • Complete the Slippers & Chains series in full which includes:
    • Editing and releasing ‘Slippers & Chains: Picking Out Curtains’
    • Drafting and releasing ‘Slippers & Chains: Number Four’ (I suppose I’ll also have to name it
  • Release the first ten Smexxy Snippets
  • Plan some type of series/serial that I’ll enjoy writing for the foreseeable future

The main difference between myself and Ileandra, is that her writing lends itself to longer works. Mine doesn’t. My audience/readership (at the moment) seems to lean towards shorter pieces of writing with a cap of about 40k words.

I’m fine with that. It allows me to put out titles faster than Ileandra can, but I’m kinda yearning for something a bit fuller. I may have to look into that collaborative piece I’ve been thinking of for so long. 😉

But, to be honest . . . that’s it. Smexxy Snippets will keep me busy for some time and ‘Slippers & Chains’ will do the same. There’s only one more story to write, but two to release, so that’s more than enough.

Bring it on, 2016. I’m ready for ya, beee-yatch!

Raven's Signature In Black

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IY: Mah Plans for 2016

Posted on January 6, 2016 by Ileandra Young

Given the marathon that was last year, part of me wants to take it easy.

. . . I’m not going to. Not exactly.

I am going to be stricter about adding things to this list (hopefully) but I do know what I want to do this year. So here we go:

  • checking off feedbackRelease ‘On A Knife Point’ in paperback and digital forms and thus complete the ‘Saar’s Legacy’ trilogy
  • Complete the release of ‘Dead And Alive, Season One’
  • Complete draft of ‘Dead And Alive, Season Two’
  • Submit ‘Clash of the Animal Kings’ to agents/small presses/open submission calls
  • Outline plans for my traditional fantasy serial (I suppose it’s Wheel of Time-esque), especially to figure out how many novels it will take to tell the tale and how I would release them if I chose to start writing in 2017.
  • Outline plans for a new series, following/featuring characters from ‘Dead And Alive’

I’m trying to remind myself of the difference between a serial and a series here. I know I’ve been getting this wrong, but, strictly speaking, ‘Dead And Alive’ is a serial and things like the stories that follow (or Saar’s Legacy) is a series. I must remember that.

^_^ I’ve been chewing on that last goal a lot and I already know that Michael Garran, as a character has a lot of potential. After all, DSB played him for years and years on the RPG site The Ice Wolf Tavern. His emotional state following the events of Date Night, coupled with what he learns about vampires, makes him a brilliant character to follow. My (half-baked) plan is to create a series about this man and his escapades with the paranormal as well as following how he recovers from the physical, emotion and spiritual loss suffered throughout ‘Dead And Alive, Season One’ (and possibly Season Two).

I’ve no idea how far he’ll take me, but when I look at characters like Anita Blake and Vicki Nelson, I know Michael has more than enough flesh on him to pull out at least four full length novels. Then of course Kailah has her own stories to tell as does Diavian.

‘Dead And Alive’ was always intended to be a taster for something bigger. But the fact that I can get so much out of these characters is incredibly encouraging.

Regards ‘Clash of the Animal Kings’ . . . I’m trying to be realistic. I have grand plans for my indie career but I know I need more of a foothold. I need more exposure and  I need to be prepared to consider that the weight of a larger publisher at my back might help with that. I fully intend to independently publish as much as possible (I LOVE the control and the freedom) but I need something to tempt an agent or lure in a larger publisher. I’ve decided that ‘Clash of the Animal Kings’ (or whatever I eventually name it) will be the novel I do that with.

So . . . that’s 2016.

*gulp* Bring it on.

new ileandra signature,

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RS: 2015 Round Up (Woo, Yeah!)

Posted on January 5, 2016 by Raven ShadowHawk

Given that Ileandra has done such a damn good job, I think it’s still more startling that I can say the same. If you’re not sure of why, then I think you need to remember this.

December Round Up

checking off feedback~Ensure my first Smexxy Snippet releases as planned on December 22 2015
Sorted. Get it here (UK), here (Smashwords) or here (USA), peeps!

~List four more Smexxy Snippets for January, February, March and April
Done as far as Amazon will allow. Just realised I haven’t done Smashwords yet, but meh! I’m sure I’ll get to it. 😉

~Decide if I want them across both Amazon and Smashwords
Make the appropriate formatting decisions based on that decision
Yup. Why on earth wouldn’t I? Smexxy Snippets will be available across as many platforms as I can manage. ^_^

~Send last newsletter of the year
Done. Sorry for those of you who missed it. Remember, if you’d like to get those letters (especially following DSB’s announcements) make sure to sign up for it here. You’ll get some tasty free gifts too, so it’s totally worth it!

Full Year Round Up

So much. So, so much! I’m pleasantly stunned. Let’s have a lookie see at what I’ve done, compared to what I planned for:

January to June

  • Meeting Each Other series complete in full and on sale in digital and paperback forms
  • Slippers & Chains: Second Base edited to beta standard and sent out
  • Slippers & Chains: Sugar Dust complete and re-released in digital form
  • All newsletters issued and ‘Raven’s Diary: The New Pet’ sent out in full

July To December

  • ‘Slippers & Chains: Second Base’ edited, formatted and published in digital and physical forms
  • New ‘Smexxy Snippet’ series well underway:
    • ‘In The Stationery Cupboard’ released
    • ‘A Domme At Club’ listed as a completed pre-order
    • Ten covers designed and created
  • ‘Slippers & Chains: Picking Out Curtains,’ drafted in full (46.5k words)
  • Read from the ‘Meeting Each Other’ and ‘Slippers & Chains’ series at Fox Spirit events (two this year, I think)

Thoughts . . .

If I had a year off I bet you wouldn’t blame me, right?

All of that is significantly more than I was planning and I’ve enjoyed every second of it.

I’m thrilled with what I’ve achieved and thinking perhaps I really do deserve some sort of treat. Maybe a hat from this fine lady. I know exactly which one I want too. ^_^

Raven's Signature In Black

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IY: 2015 Round Up

Posted on January 4, 2016 by Ileandra Young

Soooooooooo we made it to 2016! How amazing. I’ll admit, this time last year, filled with ambitious plans and determination I wasn’t sure how I’d do. Now I know that all I need do is trust myself.

First, let’s clear up the last few bits from last month.

Actions Over Tail End Of The Year

little green tic~List ‘Dead And Alive: Episode Four’ as a pre-order (and episode five if dates allow)
Sorrrrrrted. Episode Four is here and Episode Five is set up and will become live as a pre-order on Jan 15th.

~Complete deep edits on one chapter of ‘On A Knife Point’
Hehee, done. Even sorting that one chapter was tough, but I took the opening of it to PWG on Saturday and have learned a great deal about what it needs. I should be able to move forward more steadily now. It’s good to have a spring board.

December Round Up

~Complete half the deep edits on ‘On A Knife Point’ (45,000 words ish)
. . . no. But that wasn’t going to happen, was it? Come on now. 😉

~List the remaining ‘Dead And Alive’ episodes as pre-orders as far as Amazon and Smashwords will allow
Done. Smashwords allows me to put up pre-orders a year ahead (!!!) but Amazon only allows three months. So, if you want to see all the listings, you can find them on Smashwords here.

~Proof the physical copy of ‘Walking The Razor’s Edge’ and release
Sorted. Thought I wasn’t going to make it, but I did. You can find the paperback here and here.

~Proof the digital copy of ‘Walking The Razor’s Edge’ and release
Also done! eBooks only available from Amazon (for now) and can be found here.

Full Year Round Up

Given how small (!) my list was this time last year, I just want to write out everything I’ve achieved. Not to brag, so much as to remind myself:.

January to June:

  • Edited ‘Silk Over Razor Blades’ following feedback from Angry Robot
  • Drafted a novella (‘Dead or Alive’) that hit 36k words
  • Released ‘Silk Over Razor Blades’ as both an eBook and paperback
  • Drafted a novel (‘On A Knife Point’) that hit 89k
  • Sent all parts of ‘The Chapters of D’nai T’keyah’ to newsletter subscribers

July to December:

  • Released three parts of ‘Dead And Alive’ across Amazon and Smashwords. This includes:
    • designing and creating the bloody cover art for all six parts (!)
    • formatting the files for two different platforms
  • Drafted a novel during NaNoWriMo (Clash of the Animal Kings: Mach II) which hit 62k words
  • Started drafting Season Two of ‘Dead And Alive’ (currently 14.8k words)
  • Switched to quarterly newsletters and been (largely) on time with sending them out
  • Read samples of ‘Silk Over Razor Blades’ and ‘Walking The Razor’s Edge’ at Fox Spirit events before a modest crowd (three this year, I think)
  • Edited and released ‘Walking The Razor’s Edge’ as a paperback and ebook
  • Filmed, edited and released 13 videos as part of a diary for my editing on ‘Walking The Razor’s Edge’ (I almost forgot this one!)

Thoughts…

Holy crap. I can’t—I just—next time I feel like I’ve had a bad day, I’m going to come back to this list and remind myself of what I can do in a year.
One year.
12 months.
Some people don’t achieve this in a lifetime.

I’m a tiny bit teary right now. These goal posts were always intended to keep fresh in my mind what I’ve done and what I want to do next. Over the last 12 months, the focus has moved, instead, to what I want to do and left very little, if any room for what I’d already achieved.

I think the only resolution I need to make this year is to remember what I have done. To recognise that I’ve worked my arse off and that I’m not lazy or slow or incapable. That, in fact, I’m pretty damn productive and driven. That, as much as (or more than?) raw talent, is a good part of any author’s success . . . I hope!

new ileandra signature,

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DSB: 2015 Round Up

Posted on January 3, 2016 by Da Shared Brain

Aaaaaah. A year gone by, and now is the time I look back at what I wrote last year and think about how well things have gone.

First of all: wow! Just wow. It’s been such a busy year with tonnes going on and I can hardly believe I’m still standing after all the crazy things I decided to do. Ileandra and Raven will go through the specifics in more detail during their posts, but the list of Our Books has exploded over the last six months. So many new titles, so many new projects, lots of exciting series starting up.

happy dance gif from The Office

I have a lot to be pleased about and just seeing those titles gives me faith that if we just keep going, we’ll see more good things in future.

The Blog

This blog has been a wonderful outlet for me. Through Ileandra and Raven I’ve been able to talk about all sorts of fascinating subjects and meet dozens upon dozens of super cool people. I’ll not likely forget the good times I’ve had here.

But . . . the blog still isn’t doing what I need it to do. I’m not reaching readers and while engagement has lifted slightly in the last few months, I’m not as dedicated or happy with my output across these pages.

In light of that, I’ve decided to close the blog.

gasping/shocked/surprised face OpenClipArtThis isn’t a decision I’ve made lightly. I’ve been chewing on it since November, when scheduling changed to give Ileandra and Raven alternative Mondays.
I hoped that reducing the work load would help to rekindle the joy I once had in crafting the perfect post and putting it out in the world. Alas, it hasn’t. What it has done, which I count as an positive, is show just what I can achieve if I turn more of my time to writing fiction. So that’s what I’m going to do.

The blog won’t stop dead: Ileandra needs to finish talking about fantasy creatures and Raven would pitch a fit if I cut her off because she could wrap up her chatter about BDSM. But the plan is to end with a bang on the 1,000th post. That should take us all the way to March, possibly April (May?), at which point, the landing page for the blog will state that the blog has closed. But it will continue to be monitored.

I have no intention of dumping the blog. This site, the posts, the pictures, they’re all a monument to my work and six (possibly seven) very important years in my life. I want to be able to come back here and enjoy the nostalgia involved with reading old posts, so the domain will continue working, as will all the links. But there will be no fresh content after that 1,000th post.

But before all that happens . . .

Websites

smut with brains logoLast year I talked about putting more free content on the two static websites for Ileandra and Raven. This kinda got sidetracked in the huge drive to produce the stories I had burning inside and I’m a little sad about that. But that drive not only produced a lot of titles, but a bunch of shorts, ideas and snippets that would make fabulous free content.

One of the things I’ll be doing this year is actually pushing on with that and ensuring the static websites are a bit more lively and interactive. And of course, fan-friendly.

Other Projects

joined up writing podcast bannerAt this time Caladria is on hold, but the Joined Up Writing Podcast is still going strong. We have reduced our schedule to long episodes every fortnight and shorter TMTs every Monday (though the holiday season knocked this a little out of whack). I’m looking forward to diving back into that and speaking to lots more interesting creatives as the months go by. If you’d like to appear on the show, or know of someone who would, the best thing to do is email (team @ joinedupwriting.co.uk) us with the details.

Newsletters

These have now switched to quarterly updates, with bonuses every now and then when a new release is due out. You can join Raven’s list here and Ileandra’s list here. Given that the blog will no longer be active come May, this will become the best way to stay up to date with news and releases. There will be content on the websites, but the newsletters will also have cover reveals giveaways and free stuff that the websites don’t.

So . . .yeah!

2015 was an incredible year; I learned a lot, about publishing, writing and myself. I’ll always look back on it fondly despite the occasional set back and disappointment. All those things have helped build who I am right now. In the coming months I’ll be taking what I’ve learned and moving forward, pushing on to create new, exciting things that you and I can enjoy together.

To say I’m excited is a wild understatement.

DSB Sig

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