A daughter's journey

A bond between parent and child can be joyous, contentious, challenging, and rewarding all at once. Life with a teenage daughter is oftentimes all four of those things on crack. There is nothing easy about it. At the same time there is nothing you desire to succeed at more.

My daughter and I are close. However, it pales in comparison to the bond my daughter has with her father. In her eyes he is what has, is, and will forever define her world. He is to her the definition of strength, love, loyalty and safety.

When she talks about being old enough to find the love of her life, she describe her father. His strength of character, his loyalty to family and friends, his strength in trials and tribulation and above all the sense of safety and acceptance he always gives his children. (Even when he doesn't understand them at all.)

It doesn't help that my daughter and her father are so similar in personalities it's uber wonky.

It's in part because their relationship that Lilly's Journey came to be in my mind. I wanted to celebrate that connection.

The guidance Lilly's seeks from her father's lessons are invaluable to her along the wild journey she embarks on.

AMAZON: http://www.amazon.com/Lillys-Journey-R-Norris-ebook/dp/B00GD3260A/ref=sr_1_1?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1383757457&sr=1-1

B&N: http://www.barnesandnoble.com/w/lillys-journey-ar-norris/1117303832?ean=2940149012947

Truckin' Along

Engines are revved and I'm trying to keep up. Thought I'd pause to lay out my progress.

Duty and Devotion (D&D)
All the prep work is done with this one. It only has to release on the 15th. My blog tour kicks off this Friday at TK Toppins blog. Submissions to review sites are in...that'll take at least a month of waiting.

The Telomere Trilogy Book One: Revelations of Tomorrow
Just got word from my editor and she's begun reading through and marking it up. I should receive first round edits by end of week. It was a relief to find out it's the same editor as with my last book. I'm used to her editing style and she's refreshing and honest to work with...so yay!!! I probably won't see my cover art for a couple more months yet, it's still early. I'm curious because this trilogy has a very different feel than D&D.

The Telomere Trilogy Book Two: Echoes of Regret
I just finished my editing rounds with this one. I've tucked it away for a couple weeks before I start checking and cleaning up for DB house style.

Duty and Devotion Sequel: Lasting Bonds
First draft of this short story is completed. I fell in love with these sisters all over again and can't wait to release this for the holiday free reads. It's now put away for a week, to stew, before I pick it back up and tear through the revision and editing phase.

So, what should I work on now?

I've got a few things in the wings. I've got the third installment of the Telomere trilogy, Ending Eternity, to finish. I also still have my pet novella, Lilly's Journey, I want to finish drafting up.

Hmmm...what to do? What to do?

Writing Frenzy Just Kicked Off

I just completed and submitted the final manuscript of Telomere Trilogy Book 1: Revelations of Tomorrow to my publisher. You know, the ones with the house style edits complete. I'm so happy with the final product, though I know my editor will tear it to shreds here in a couple weeks.

But hey, I'll worry about those tears later. Right now it's celebration time!

I'm relishing in a job well done...and looking forward to the next project. I'd been in this editing nightmare with several novels in the editing phase at the same time...now the genie's (that's Her Highness the Muse) is out of the bottle and refuses to be put back in. So much so that I woke up at 3:15 Monday morning with my brain revved to get going.

I've got the Duty and Devotion's prequel. Or so I thought, until I had a dream and it actually flipped around to a sequel. I'd been working on that in between the Revelations of Tomorrow edits, so it's about halfway done. I've decided to title it Lasting Bonds. When you read it you'll understand why. I just couldn't get into the life before the war for these girls. They'd moved on. I'd moved on. No looking back to what they were, right?

In this dream I saw a couple loose ends wrapped up from the main story and felt compelled to write it out. So, we'll see how it turns out when the Free Read comes out. Let's just say both girls get something they wish for, for the holidays.

Oh! And I have my pet novella project, Lilly's Journey. I've been sneaking in time to work on it so that's going well. I don't know what I'm going to do with this manuscript when it's completed. I've fallen in love with the innocence of Lilly and her adventure, but I just don't know where it would fit in anything. I guess time will tell.

I know I'll have to reign my Muse in eventually, I mean Revelations of Tomorrow's editing rounds will start here shortly. But, I mine as well let her -- and me -- enjoy the freedom while it lasts.

So, what are all you up to right now?

Six Sentence Sunday

Lovin' this Six Sentence Sunday gig. It's super fun to read all the other snippets from participating authors. So, make sure you stop by the main site and check them out.

This week I thought I'd share a little from my currently halted SF-Mystery manuscript, Lilly's Journey. I started this one around the same time as Ending Eternity, to help break up the monotonous state of the series. It's also where I found out a trilogy will be about as long as I'll hang with the same characters. Though, I think I could do a series that swirls around a world, but just not a fixed set of characters.

So, here we go:

It should be raining, Lilly felt as she glanced up at the sky. The world should be raining to match her mood. Of course, as with everything else, the world defied her. Sun shone down from clear blue-green skies and basked them all with warmth that couldn’t reach past her skin to heat her aching heart.

Able Abe rested his big iron-like hand on her shoulder in a gentle manner. “It’s time, Lilly Girl," he mumbled.

I'll be finishing this up after I complete my current WIP and am looking forward to delving back into it.

Hope you enjoyed it!