The Telomere Trilogy has a Home

I heard earlier this week that my series is being picked up by my publisher, Desert Breeze! I sent them the first manuscript in the series along with the series synopsis and they wanted it.

The Telomere Trilogy Book One: Revelations of Tomorrow will be released October 2011 with the next two books coming out in 2012. I'm so excited I had to dance a little bit...and might have squealed. (Most likely.) Here's a little bit about it:

"After a load capsule careens into Captain Noah Bonney's interstellar vessel, she must face her inner demons and the sins of her people if she's to open her heart to the love of both her daughter and her lover.

The crew of Daring Star salvages the load capsule and find the beaten body of Jetta McCree. Jetta's discovered her employer developed a biochemical droplet and contracted with terrorists to manufacture on a large scale. Noah fights off corporate security forces, her ex-husband's pirate fleets, and carnivorous beasts to keep the young woman safe and get her to the safety of the Imperial Home Port.

But the adventure brings to surface demons Noah's been suppressing and secrets from her people's history she's tried to forget. Now, she must face them if she's to reconcile with her daughter and keep the love of her life from leaving. With over four hundred years under her belt and nothing but eternity ahead of her, she's built a thick shell…one she's not sure she can break. "

I'll keep you posted on the progress of all this as it goes along.

Good writing all!

I Did It!

OMG (yes...you can add the valley girl accent 'cuss I'm geeking out THAT much).

I just got an offer on Duty and Devotion from a great epublisher. I don't want to give details until it's official and the contract is all signed, but I just wanted you all to know.

I'd banned myself from the Internet this evening to focus on Revelation of Tomorrow revisions. Yes, on my old laptop, which was making some weird noise...sounded just like a cough. (It was totally weirding me out ya'll.)

In walks my Hubby like a knight and shining armor, carrying my fixed laptop. Not only fixed but he surprised me with an operating system upgrade to the new Windows 7. I had to explore and check it all out....soak it all in.

I open up my email and there is the new message glaring on the screen. I was so happy I almost didn't open it tonight. As a writer you get a little jaded, hoping for the best but expecting the worst. It makes the process easier. I didn't want to ruin my good mood with a rejection.

But, I was happy enough to throw caution to the wind. There it was, an extended offer.

*WARNING: Cliche about to be written. Avert eyes if allergic.*

I had to read it a second time before I really believed it. Then a third before the delayed excitement smacked me in the face and tickled my eyeballs.

I'm a published novelist (or will be next summer)! I'll post details as soon as the contract process is completed.

Good writing all!

Sorcerer's Carnival Finds a Home

I just heard that Pill Hill Press accepted Sorcerer's Carnival for their Bloody Carnival Anthology!
There's such a sense of accomplishment when a story finds just the right home. Pill Hill Press is one of my favorite places to work with. It's hard not to be happy with a writer/editor relationship when the editors are so efficient and nice.

Sorcerer's Carnival holds a little special place for me because the idea actually sparked from my eldest son, Parkour Boy.

"Mom, what if your characters get stuck an a hell carnival some wacko sorcerer created?"

And off my creative little muse went...along with creepy big nightmares. (I'm the perfect horror audience member as I'll scream full volume at anything.)

The end result was Sorcerer's Carnival. Sorcerer Barabin, trapped for centuries, is working to gain the power to free himself from his dimensional prison...and he's only got two more souls to go. A fun evening at the carnival turns dark and dangerous for Lilia and James when they find out they're Barabin's final selections.

The submission period is open until filled, so I'll let you know when they set a publication date. I'll also keep you posted on the progress of the anthology as I get news.

Good writing all!

Back with the Living

Oh my goodness, the last week was crazy! And not the fun writing kind of crazy (well, a little of that).

Life doesn't pause or stop for the Muse, let me tell ya. Wait, why would I need to tell you? You're all writers too...you know.

So, getting back on track, I'm just going to give a few updates on my writing progress/author quest. (I keep telling myself I'm Brain, but I'm starting to realize I might be closer to Pinky.)

• My new little novel is coming along great. Most of my free time here in Sickville has been outlining, researching, and plotting this new space epic. This'll be my first novel since Galileo War and I'm very excited.
• I've been collecting a lot of science stuff for my Science Update posts. I'll be restarting that this Saturday.
• I've got my revised Galileo War on Authonomy under its new title Duty and Devotion to get a big picture idea of what readers think. I plan on keeping it up at least through the end of March, maybe April if I keep getting productive feedback/comments.
• You might remember the flash I wrote several weeks ago and posted about. On a whim I submitted it to a small magazine, Foliate Oak. Yesterday I got word they accepted The Patient for their next issue. This is very exciting as I wasn't to sure about it. It's not my normal genre/type and glad it worked out.
• On a last note, I also have a couple book reviews outlined. Those should be coming out, one this week and one next.

Okay, I think that's all the catch up stuff.

Good writing all!

Meadow Guide to be Published

I've just received an email from Bewildering Stories that they've accepted Meadow Guide for publication, though it will most likely have a different title. I'm so excited as the magazine is one of my top wish list places to have a story.

Meadow Guide was one of my stories that started life as a dream and follows Georgia through a surreal walk. The original version of it appeared in the Editor Unleashed/Smashwords writing contest last year. Its reception was not well received and barely got 3 stars from reviewers.

It was very disappointing to me and I took my baby down and tucked it in a corner for months. After working on other things, getting many other rejections, and overall thickening my skin to the industry I took it back out.

With fresher and more experienced eyes I read through the story and realized it needed work. Lots of work. I rolled up my sleeves and got to revising. I was really proud of the finished product.

The Editor and Coordinating Editor were awesome to work with and made great editing/revision suggestions that completely sent the piece to another level than even my own revisions could take it.

I'm so proud of Meadow Guide and of being accepted to the magazine. I'll let you know when it's up, which will be in summer sometime, and will keep you posted on the new title for the piece (as soon as I can come up with it).

Good writing all!

Flash Fiction Accepted

My flash fiction, Night Visitor, has been accepted into Pill Hill Press' Daily Flash anthology. They're estimating a publication date of December 2010.

I'm so excited. The story was conceived in my nightmares. Literally, a weeks worth of the same nightmare, sometimes twice a night. Trust me after a couple days my husband and kids had had enough my blood curdling screams at 2 and 3 in the morning.

The dream frightened me so much, that for months I was afraid it'd come back. Then it took another couple months to build up the courage to write it down. Oddly - or not so much really - it was the writing of the story that helped me overcome my fear.

I'll keep you updated on the progress of this publication.

Good writing all!

Second Story Finds A Home

Yay! One of my babies found a home today.

Judgment is not very big, complete at a little over 2200 words. The story is a work of speculative fiction following Nita's journey into the afterworld. This is another story that started out as a dream. Though the dream was triggered by research, so I'm not sure it fully counts as a purely dreamed concept. It did, however, trigger a whole life evaluation.

The story will be in Pill Hill Press' upcoming anthology The Four Horseman: An Anthology of Conquest, War, Famine, and Death. I just double-checked their website and the release date is June 2010.

I first came across Pill Hill Press through one of my online writer's resources, Editors Unleashed. I clicked on one of the forum links to the small press and after reading the open submission knew I had to get something into one of their anthologies.

This book is going to be great and has the added bonus of being illustrated. I can't wait to see what the artist envisions for Judgment. As an amateur (very, very amateur) artist my brain has thought of a dozen ideas. But, they have a professional, so I know he'll pick a perfect image for it.

Here's a link to the full list of contributors: The Four Horseman - Final Selection

I'll keep you all posted on the progress of this and let you know when the book comes out.

Good writing all!