A Few More Doings at Rooglewood

Life is as busy as usual around Rooglewood these days, and I thought I'd give you an update on some of the events and activities transpiring.

First is a big one! I have decided to start running a quarterly newsletter.

As you can see, it is called The Haven Chronicler, and it will pretty much take the place of these "Doings at Rooglewood" blog posts by gathering in one convenient place any and all Goldstone Wood and Rooglewood-related events of interest. I'll alert you to upcoming features, special deals, exciting events about to take place, book signings, cover reveals . . . and, of course, book releases! I'm planning on sending it out once every quarter--spring, summer, autumn, winter--with short extra editions on the days of project releases.

You can find the sign-up form in the top left-hand bar. It's quite simple, really. Just type in your email address and hit submit. You will then have a chance to reaffirm that you do, in fact, want to subscribe via an alert in your inbox. This is to prevent my newsletter from getting lost in your spam folders!

The Five Glass Slippers contest is still running strong. I receive new submissions every week, and I know I'm going to get utterly deluged in them come December! So much fun reading. Several of these stories have kept me up late into the night because I couldn't put them down, and others have distracted me during the day from my regular work because I'm so eager to see what will happen next.

I've made a slight change to my plans for the front cover, which might interest many of you:

 

Do you see the difference? That's right! I've arranged the text to allow plenty of space for all five author names on the front cover. So that means the winners will have their names on the cover (and spine too, actually) of this product, and not my name as editor. (For marketing purposes I'll still be listed as a contributor, just not on the cover.) Personally I find this very exciting!

 

I feel like a kid on Christmas morning every time I find a new manuscript in my inbox. What exciting surprises await within these pages?

 

As most of you know, the cover reveal for Goddess Tithe went off like a song a couple of weeks ago (thank you again to all of the bloggers who participated!). The blog button is still up for grabs, those of you who keep blogs! Here it is:

 

Please link it back to:
http://goddesstithenovel.blogspot.com/p/read-chapter-1.html

 

And, of course, I am still offering the review file to any who are interested in being reviewers for me. Click here to read the details! I'll probably cap it at 100 reviewers, so if you want to be part of this let me know sooner, not later. (And Meredith, I'm working with Laurie to get everything set for her to transcribe the Braille editions, so you should be able to get an e-file Braille version for review if you want it!)

There are so many fun features coming up for October. We  have got a cover reveal for Amber Stokes' upcoming novel, Forget Me Not on the 16th. I am featuring 2 (possibly 3) new YA and fantasy novelists whom I believe you will enjoy learning about, with possibilities to win their books! And there is a blog tour event for Laurisa White Reyes' new fantasy novel, The Last Enchanter, which you don't want to miss.

I am still working away at Book 7 in the Tales of Goldstone Wood. I have been hoping to finish it by the end of October, but there is still rather a monstrous amount of novel to go, and I have so many irons in the fire . . . so I'm not certain about that deadline just now. Prayers would be appreciated! I do hope and expect to officially announce the title--and hints as to the storyline--for that book in November. And I should be planning a cover reveal for January, Lord willing, so keep your eyes open for that!

I had a sudden epiphany about Book 8 last night. Book 8 has been sitting in rather a nebulous form in the back of my brain for years now. But as I'm coming closer to completing Book 7, Book 8 has been pushing itself closer to the forefront of my brain, demanding some consideration. And I was rather terrified to realize how little I actually knew about that story. Like most of my stories in early stages, it contained a number of seemingly disconnected threads and characters, but not that cohesive binding that would draw them all together.

But the binding came to me last night. I suddenly realized what needed to happen in order to make these storylines fit. At least, I think I realized. I won't know for sure until I sit down and start working on it. When I think about it, however, it is no longer like observing a cloud. It's like observing a distant mountain peak appearing through that cloud . . . and realizing I have to climb all the way up there . . .

But climbing a mountain is so much easier than climbing a cloud!

I have recently signed new mentoring students, and recently lost a few others (Oh, college! You thief in the night!). I miss those students, though I wish them well in their budding academic careers. And I have other students who are still with me. Hannah of The Writer's Window has now been working with me for a year, which is amazing! Her story, Moonscript, and her characters have become like dear friends to me by now.

By the way, I do have two mentoring slots available if any of you are interested in signing up! Email me to let me know (aestengl@gmail.com). Details about the service can be found here.

I think the time might be coming soon to do another set of interview features for all of my students and their works. Whet your appetites for all the good reading coming as soon as these stories are complete, polished, and have found their way to publishing homes!

In the meanwhile . . .

Have you seen Dame Imraldera's Library, which is hosted by imps Hannah and Beka? It's a gathering place for Goldstone Wood fan fiction and fan art, both from the contests and others submitted just for fun. Two recent tales have been added which were not featured in contests. "Clipped Wings," by Meredith Burton and "The Lady of Ice," by Charissa. If you're looking for some exciting storytelling and elegant writing, do have a look.

Oh, do any of you remember the read-along I hosted for Heartless last Christmas? Well . . . I might be doing one for Veiled Rose this year! I might. This is the plan, anyway. This is the plan if I can get Book 7 drafted in time. And possibly even if I can't. Don't share the banner or anything yet, but you can start dusting off your copies of Veiled Rose, because I do hope to settle in for a nice read with all of you come December 1!

Rather a perfect year for it, since we'll be doing this read-along right after Goddess Tithe's release . . . and Goddess Tithe is so tied up with the events of Veiled Rose. It will be fun to revisit the full-length novel in light of the shorter novella.

All right, I must go. Makoose has settled in upon my lap and is using his soft white paws to make my stomach nice and squishy. So I think that means I must write . . . .