Doings at Drakenheath

The month of July is more than half over, and I realized I have not yet written up my Doings post! So here I am, dear Imps, and here are the Doings as they currently stand:

The most pressing doing is, of course, Five Enchanted Roses.

The book launches in just a little over a week, and this last week has been mostly spent in all the finalizing details involved in prepping for launch. Which involved a couple of last minute, unexpected tasks that had me and my lead editor scrambling for a few days there! But the issue was resolved and very handily as well, and I have to say . . . I think the end result is a collection of beautiful, varied, and tremendously fun stories. I am so proud of both my team at Rooglewood Press and the authors themselves, who worked very hard over the last several months to make this launch possible! Most of you probably aren't aware of how much work goes on behind the scenes after the contest is over. Because, for the winners, that's really just the first step in the process.

But it's an exciting process, and all five of these authors dove in with so much enthusiasm. I could not have asked for a better collection, not only of stories, but of people. I did not think I would be able to find five authors who would be as much fun to work with as my wonderful Glass Slippers authors were last year! These five, however, rose to the challenge.

And now I can hardly wait to see who I end up working with for Five Magic Spindles!

To celebrate the launch of Five Enchanted Roses on July 27, Rooglewood Press is hosting a Chat Party on Facebook. I know many of you don't have Facebook, but you are welcome to visit the page and read along even if you cannot comment! And you will still be eligible to participate in the giveaway . . . which is quite grand, as you can see from the picture here. Along with a print copy of the final book, the lucky winner will receive a red leather journal from Kaycee Browning, a gorgeous hair clip from Savannah Jezowski, a pressed-rose bookmark from Jenelle Schmidt, a pair of jaguar sunglasses from Dorian Tsukioka, and a gorgeous rose necklace.

So be watching for the giveaway rules! They're quite simple, really, and I'll be posting them here as well as on the event page by July 27. 

 All is still quiet on the Five Magic Spindles front at the moment. We've received the first submission forms, but no stories yet, so I'm guessing everyone is hard at work polishing up submissions. My assorted first-round judges are waiting eagerly, so don't be shy, brave writers! Your audience awaits your tales! Little rumors and story notions float back to me here and there, so I have a vague inkling of some of the submissions due to come in over the next few months. And I have to say, they sound SO exciting! So different from what we've received from previous collections, which is also very exciting. I want each collection to have its own distinct flavor, and I am very eager to put together another set of five stories that stands out from the crowd.

But we will see! It's still very early days for this contest. Hard to believe that a year from now, I will (Lord willing!) be in the midst of launching this whole new collection. Stories which, even now, are being written. An exciting thought . . .

Be certain to check out the contest and rules if you haven't already. It's a great opportunity for new writers who are looking for a first time publishing experience AND for more established writers looking for an exciting way to grow their reading audiences! Take a moment to explore the blogs of such contest winners as Emma Clifton, Stephanie Ricker, and Savannah Jezowksi, who have used their wins as a means to springboard spinoff works, giving readers more of what they loved in the anthologies. Some of the other winners, including Rachel Heffington, Jenelle Schmidt, and Dorian Tsukioka, already had budding indie careers and have used this opportunity to grow their markets. Definitely some smart authors, who might just give you that extra boost of inspiration as you follow their careers (and, of course, read their books)!

Okay, so . . . Poison Crown . . .

This is the big Doing still. The huge, enormous, completely life-swallowing Doing. The Doing that is always so close and yet so far away . . .

Poison Crown is . . . making progress. Faster progress now, as it is the primary task on my plate from now through the next few months. However, as I believe I already mentioned in an earlier post, Volume I will not be launching this autumn as originally intended. The current plan is to see both Volume I and Volume II launch in 2016, hopefully within three months of each other.

Anyway, I'll probably take time to blog more about this development later. But for now, rest assured--I am still working at it like mad! It's simply a much bigger and more difficult project than I could have anticipated, and some unforeseen setbacks happened which, well, set me back.

I truly am sorry, though! I hate missing deadlines. But this was a particularly aggressive deadline, more aggressive than I at first realized. More aggressive than I could have realized until I dove into the project. It is coming, however. And I fully intend to make certain it is worth the wait . . .

I've already got BOTH of the cover designs in, by the way! And they are FANTASTICALLY awesome. I kind of hate having to sit on them for the time being. Eventually . . . eventually I'll get to share . . . and I rather think you'll love them.

In the meanwhile, we all have the Goldstone Wood Fan Fiction Contest to look forward to!

Prize Journal Cover

 If you haven't had a chance to check out the rules yet, you absolutely should. It's going to be quite a fun contest, judging form the submissions already sent in. I did realize that I set a much tighter deadline for this one than I ordinarily do . . . I believe I usually give you two months, but this time really only gave you one. So let me know in the comments if you guys want a little more time! An extra two weeks or something. I am happy to extend that deadline for all of you. If not, that's fine as well. We'll continue as is. As I said, there are some great pieces already submitted.

And the prize this year is particularly fun! The three winners will all receive a beautiful, personalized, hardbound journal . . .

What do you think? Kind of pretty, right?


Another exciting project in the works right now is the audiobook version of Draven's Light! Having been SO impressed by EverRising Productions submission to the Goldstone Wood Music Contest, we went ahead and hired them to produce this audiobook. I received the first chapter from narrator Stephen Shutt earlier this week and have been listening to it as I have time over the last few days. Oh, my goodness! It's going to be so beautiful! I particularly love his voice for Etanun, who sounds very . . . powerful. Perfect, honestly.

I'm very excited to be pursing this project and look forward to launching it for all of you.

We are also on the cusp of the audiobook for Five Enchanted Roses. We sent the final document to our narrator, Becky Doughty, along with the pretty music clip. It's going to be gorgeous! I have a quilt in waiting to work on as I spend several hours proof-listening (as opposed to proof-reading) this book. I anticipate quite an enjoyable time.

My dear friend Esther came to visit me last week, which was fantastic! Esther is currently pursuing her doctorate in French literature, and has been spending this summer studying the Theory of the Sublime. Her conversation is much made up of Racine and Diderot, Rousseau and Sartre, all spoken of with such Enthusiasm (yet another theory she's studying, which is related to the Sublime), that one can hardly spend a day with her without finding oneself desperately eager to pick up and devour Phèdre or Huis Clos or Pensées philosophiques . . . a desire which is, sadly, much hampered by my inability to read French. (Those two years of college French are looooong gone . . .) But that's all right, because Esther can act out the best scenes from the best plays, and communicate her passion so effectively, one is left with at least a TASTE of what joy is to be found in the pursuit of higher education.

And she paid me the highest of compliments by saying I would have fit wonderfully into the literary scene of 16th-Century France! I don't remember the last time I've been so flattered . . .

Speaking of Sublime . . .

Sadly, her husband John (who is also pursuing his doctorate, though he is studying Physics . . . yes, they are one of THOSE couples!) was in Germany for a conference and unable to join us. Thus he missed out on Rohan's most recent culinary masterpiece--the Three-Days-To-Make-It-Lemon-Poppyseed-Raspberry-Curd-Butter-Cream Cake. A sad loss for any soul, and my spirit wept a little for John . . . as I gobbled up another slice . . .

Esther always makes a point to visit me once a year, a kindness this rather hermit-ish writer-type appreciates tremendously! We had a wonderful time, and I ended the visit feeling much refreshed and ready to tackle my work with more vim than I had been experiencing for weeks. (I also ordered English translations of several French literary works she recommended. So my reading is set for the next few months as well!) I look forward to more visits with her and her husband over the years . . . And one of these days, Rohan and I will make it out to Chicago to visit them in return.

Anyway, I think that's enough for the time being. I will speak more of other Doings as time permits, and will try to find time to write up a more detailed post on the progress of Poison Crown. In the meanwhile, I need to go MAKE more progress on Poison Crown . . .

How about you? Are you having a successful summer thus far? Working on any exciting projects, possibly of the "Sleeping Beauty" variety? Summer jobs? Summer camps? Summer travels? Do tell!