Doings at Drakenheath

A Doings post . . . again? Didn't I just post one of these? Lumé, does the time ever fly!

Anyway, let me put together a quick post of the doings just so you know I'm still here, still breathing, and still up to my eyeballs in projects.

First of all, the newest doing . . . 

Those of you who follow my newsletter may be interested to learn that I am making some changes to it. Good changes, I believe! I've realized that the newsletter has never quite taken on the interesting life that I wanted, tending to recount things already mentioned on this blog and ultimately serving as little more than a string of glorified advertisements. Just not that interesting either to me or to my readers.

With this concern in mind, I've been brainstorming with my team about what I can do to make this newsletter more about you and giving you quality content that you look forward to seeing in your inbox . . . and I think we have hit upon a really fantastic solution!

"The Haven Chronicler" will be starting an official quarterly schedule beginning this coming July, and it's no longer going to be advertisement- and specials-based. Oh, no! From now on it will boast a selection of (I hope) interesting, entertaining, and completely original articles, not to mention "flash giveaways" for lucky subscribers.

So if you're already a subscriber for "The Haven Chronicler," be watching for this fun new format coming in July! And if you aren't a subscriber, consider signing up today. It's very easy, no strings attached, and I intend for it to be well worth your while!

The last few weeks I have been working away on Five Enchanted Roses edits, which ended up taking quite a bit longer than I had anticipated. Part of this is due to the nature of these stories, which are all more complex than the Five Glass Slippers stories of last year. Several of the stories in this collection are historicals, which requires a lot more research and checking on research than the straight-up fantasy stories need. I found myself researching a variety of fascinating topics over the last few weeks, including but not limited to: the colonization of Bermuda, the treatment of burn victims in the mid-18th century, the history of the machete, the development of the townhouse, and ladies' hairstyles of the 17th century. Great stuff . . . but time-consuming.

Ultimately it will be worth it, however, knowing that the stories we release later this summer will be as good as we and these talented authors can make them. We are currently aiming at a mid-July release date (though we don't have an official date set yet), and I hope to see the book become available for pre-order sometime this month.

Most of you have probably already seen the wonderful title pages for these stories, but just in case you missed them . . .

I am so proud of how these turned out, I'm not going to lie! Each one is such a great fit for its individual story, and I can hardly wait to see how internal formatting develops based on these designs.

Now that I'm done with my part of Enchanted Roses (for the time being), I am moving back into work on Poison Crown . . .

I had hoped to have the revisions done on volume I by now . . . but, alas, this was not to be. So I am tackling those revisions as of this week, and so far they're going pretty well. I've gotten all the way up to the one scene that needs MASSIVE revision, and I'm a little intimidated. I didn't like this scene in the rough draft, liked it only a tiny bit better in the second draft. Now it's time to make it a truly GREAT scene in this draft. If I can . . .

But, seriously, I've got a good idea for what I want to change to make this scene work for me. Basically, I need to give it a major shakeup and approach it from a different angle. I'm going to tackle it today, so wish me well!

Due to some set-backs suffered by my poor cover designer, the cover for Poison Crown is not yet quite complete. Not to worry, however! It should still be finished in time for the cover reveal. Speaking of which . . .

I've decided to go a different direction for this book's cover reveal. Ever since Dragonwitch, I've been doing big blog-tour reveals, and the truth is . . . I'm a bit bored with those. They were fun for a while, but now everyone is doing them, so I'm no longer quite as keen as I was. So BIG THANKS to all of you who generously offered to participate. I really do appreciate your sweetness and enthusiasm! But we won't be doing the reveal via blogs after all.

Stay tuned to learn how/when this book cover will be revealed.

Though I am taking Poison Crown a different direction, we will still be going ahead with the cover reveal launch for Five Something Something. Which is coming up really soon now! Less than a month, would you believe it? I've got a nice list of folks already on board for this release, but I would really love to get it out even farther! So if you have a blog and would like to participate, do let me know.

Some of you have asked in comments what a cover reveal is, so let me offer a quick explanation: Basically, a week or so before the cover is officially revealed online, I send the cover image and write-up about the book (or, in this case, about the contest) to a selection of bloggers. All on the same day, they post the cover and write-up on their blogs, creating a lovely "blitz" of excitement for the particular book in question.

It's a fantastic way to get word out about this new writing contest, so do consider joining in if you are blogger! I would love to have you on board.
 
Another Drakenheath Doing pertains to my sweet Mutti-Bear, who is going in for surgery on Wednesday. Say a prayer for her if you think of it, dear Imps! She has a set of very bad teeth . . . well, I say "a set," but in reality, she's missing most of them. But those that remain are rotted and causing her quite a lot of pain, poor baby. So she's going in to get possibly all of them extracted. She might be able to keep her canines, but we're not sure. The vet says she'll be much happier even with no teeth, so I shouldn't worry. Though my wallet is worrying a little bit (yikes! Kitty oral surgery is expensive!). But Rohan, who loves this girl as much as I do, says we'll make it work and get her the care she needs.

Still, as a former feral, Mutti gets completely traumatized by vet visits, and surgery is always scary. So please say a prayer for her safety and quick recovery. In the meanwhile, she's on pain meds, which she gets to eat with her favorite chicken n' gravy baby food, so she's not complaining too much.

 Back to book news: the Draven's Light launch is coming up at the end of this month, and I do hope all of you are looking forward to it. I plan to host a Facebook chat party on May 25 in honor of this launch! More details to follow, so be certain to keep your eyes open. I've got several particularly fun surprises to share with all of you who attend, but which shall remain secret until then . . .

Oh, do you remember how I mentioned last time that I had a fun announcement concerning Five Glass Slippers? Well, I can officially share now: We have begun the process of getting that anthology translated into other languages. The Italian translation just launched on April 24, and it's so pretty! I can't read it, but it's very pretty. I had thought the translated editions would be in eBook form only, but it turns out that the Italian translation at least will be offered in print as well. Not for a few more weeks, but soon. In the meanwhile, if you have any Italian-speaking loved ones in your life, be certain to let them know about this great read. 

And last, but not least, let me give a nod to the Goldstone Wood Music Contest, which is in process as we speak!

You can learn more about this contest here if you have not seen anything about it already. I am excited to see how it turns out this year! Last year was very fun, but this year might bring some new twists and surprises. I've had several competitors write me with questions, revealing small hints about their possible submissions, which have me very intrigued. Prizes aside, it's going to be a tremendously fun concert, and I hope all of you will "attend" and possibly participate.

This is one of those Doings posts that feels like a bit of a slog to me. Pretty much the same doings as last month, still incomplete, still trucking along. But that's kind of how this business is much of the time. One has to keep chipping away at the mountain if one ever hopes to move it. Hopefully next month will see Poison Crown: The Smallman's Heir complete and sent off to my editors, and I'll be diving into volume II . . . but I suppose we'll not count those unhatched chickens just yet.

In the meanwhile, I've got fluffy kitties to keep me firmly planted in my writing chair, my lovely husband to cook me great meals (he put a roast on before going to work this morning . . . I keep getting distracted by good smells wafting up the stairs . . .), and all of you to make me smile!

Tell me what your doings are these days. Some of you must be finishing up classes pretty soon, and all of you are looking forward to summer, I'm sure! Any great events or projects on your horizons?