BLUE DIAMOND DELIVERY cover reveal, plus other writing news!

It's ready! The magnificent Chris Sobolowski has done it again, making the new Webrid novel into a work of bold sci-fi retro-kitch.

I love it. What do you think? Blue Diamond Delivery is scheduled for release on June 25, 2013.

Meanwhile, I've got lots of other irons in the literary fire:

1. My historical romance novelette, A Kiss at Vespers, is in first edits. It will be released by MuseItUp this summer.

2. My latest middle grade historical novel is making the rounds of agents, and has attracted several nibbles so far.

3. I've had a request for full from a publisher for my children's sci-fi chapter book.

4. The London Hurdy Gurdy, sequel to Trouble at the Scriptorium, has an expected release of early summer from Royal Fireworks Press.

5. Some of you may remember me beating my chest and rending my garments back in February, trying to figure out which longer work to commit to next. Well, I committed! I'm now 22 chapters into the first draft of option (3) on that list, a YA science fiction novel.

What's your latest writing news?

Of Publishings and Editings

Greetings, all. Just a round-up for the week. Several things to report:

1. The zombie anthology So Long, and Thanks for All the Brains, containing my story "Stir-Fried Cerebrum," has been released. You can purchase it here.

2. My fractured fairy tale, "An Exceptional Clothier," has been accepted for publication in Enchanted Times, to appear sometime in 2012.

3. I've received first edits for my middle-grade paranormal mystery novel, Ebenezer's Locker. Nice to have that process up and running.

4. I'm three-quarters finished with the first draft of the sequel to my middle-grade medieval mystery novel Trouble at the Scriptorium. This new novel, featuring several of the same characters, is called The London Hurdy-Gurdy.


5. My story "Cheering Up a Friend" is published on Knowonder! You can view it here.

6. My story "Sisters' Sight" is published in the pagan anthology Etched Offerings, from Misanthrope Press. You can puchase it as print or e-book here.


I hope you're all having a productive December. I'll be taking next week off from blogging, so I wish you all a wonderful holiday!

More and Better: Thoughts on Sequels

"The sequel is never as good as the original."

That maxim makes me shudder, now that I'm at the point of planning and writing sequels to two of my novels. Will the readers love them like they loved the first ones? Heck, will the publishers even want them? Which characters do I continue? How many successful elements of the first story should I re-use in the second to keep it consistent but not repetitive?

The good new is that sequels in literature don't have the same poor-cousin reputation as sequels in Hollywood. Publishers have been smart enough to market books as series rather than sequels. "Series" is a term with considerably more cache, since it implies a set of equals rather than an original followed by hangers-on and imitations.

There's also the honorable history of the sequel/series, dating back to ancient literature. If you liked Oedipus Rex, you'll love Oedipus at Colonus. Enjoyed Horace's Odes? Well, rush right out and buy a rolled papyrus copy of Horace's Epodes.

Oh, and then there's The Iliad, followed by The Odyssey. Wait, you're one of those nay-saying types who think they were written by two different people? Ah, the ghost-written sequel. Definitely a topic for another day.

What has been your experience reading (or writing) sequels?