In fact, I’ve done more writing within the last month than in the past six. I’m not really sure where it’s all coming from. It’s often quite literally a sucker punch. I’m up late, in bed, eyes half closed, pen to notebook to furiously get down the thoughts before they fade into my dreams. It feels as though all these pieces I sent into the creative atmosphere are finally returning and making some kind of sense. Which is exciting! And exhausting. Ha ha.

How am I supposed to keep so many story maps straight in my head? How am I not supposed to implode from the sheer euphoria of it all?

Either way, there’s lots happenings, and I’m grateful for it.

At the moment, the thing taking up most of my time is my new secret project. I’m in detailed planning mode. Much of it is plotted out (which is strange for me, since I’m a total pantser), and I have a very clear direction about tone and POV. I’m also scouting cover artists. I think by late summer, this bad boy will be ready.  Let’s aim for August, shall we?

I’ve also been knee deep in editing and cover design for Tales From the Hollow Tree Volume 2! YES! VOLUME 2 IS COMING! Are you as thrilled as I am? Expect a really great collection of stories and a kick-butt theme. I’ve also already started my exclusive for it and I’ll tell you now, it’s a total sci-fi retelling of an old myth. SPOILERS.

I hope you’ll keep checking in as I mark off more items on this ever-growing check-list. It’s going to be a productive summer.

In the meantime, head on over to Hollow Tree for this week’s free read. It’s a Snow White retelling called “Red as Blood“.

Happy Friday!

I’ve mentioned before how critical playlists are to my writing. They often help me set the right mood and get me into those dark places I need to go for the black moment and the breaking of people’s hearts. In fact, most of Cinematic Royalty was written with a playlist which kept me deep in the time period and helped me keep the right tone.

Today’s particular song is instrumental. One reason it worked so perfectly is because it had a rain track toward the middle of the song. Since one of the main characters in the book is a Water Element, and there’s a critical scene that takes place in the rain, this track just seemed to fit what I was trying to convey in words. I particularly love that it has strange electronic/techno type synths over a classical piano, which is both beautiful and haunting. Til this day it makes my heart beat a little faster. I can still hear my characters talking, the full moon hanging above on that dark night, the rain falling on the cobblestones of the Temple courtyard as everything between them changes – forever.

Enjoy!

P.S. Don’t forget to stop by Tales From the Hollow Tree and check out my new freebie, Breath of Life. One of my favorites that I’ve done thus far.

*evil glare* I wish my fantasy series came out that easily. Granted, I’m closing out a huge three book arc and setting up a very fragile relationship. These things don’t just happen. They take time. Which is ok by me because I’m discovering some very interesting things in the process (my heroine, way more awesome than I gave her credit for).

But still,  it was nice to have such a distinct voice speak to me tonight. It was like that when I wrote Fairest. Absolutely specific character, specific voice. No pulling of teeth needed. That’s always nice. Makes my job easier.

It’s so much easier to see what they mean by ‘voice’ when that happens. Granted, it has a lot to do with the way YOU tell the story. How no one will ever tell it quite like YOU. But it also has to do with how your characters help you tell a story. If every character you create sounds the same, then it’s a bit of a wash, isn’t it? But when they start to really take life aside from you? That’s always exhilarating (and I still cannot spell that word, thank you spell check!).

Anyway, dropping in to ask whether you’d all be interested in a Facebook page for my Guardian Circle series. A place to discuss characters, events, spoilers, dream casting, and other fun fandom stuff. I LOVE FANDOMS! I’d be a total geek about all this, but I promise to behave. Or… to try and behave. Leave comments regarding what you’d like to see, ok? We’ll make this happen.

Because I’ve got those nervous, exciting, butterfly in the stomach inducing first feelings that an author gets when they start a new project full of endless promise.

So yea. Totally giddy. Doing the dance. Making eyes. Whispering promises. The secret project is a GO.

Life is GOOD.