www.emerysanborne.com

I've gone and committed WordPress. A leaner, cleaner, more adult-looking site, complete with blog. Which is dead easy to update, so I no longer have an excuse not to blog. All things current can be found there.

Now off to recharge my brain.

First off: Amazon Rank.

I always have trouble getting around to posting on this issues. Most of the time I have little to add to the conversation that hasn't been said better elsewhere, and I'm a slacker at posting so it's always well after the conversation has been going for a time. Late to the game, redundant or not, this is something that we all need to lend our voice to.

More recent posts that have caught my eye:

pepperlandgirl4 has some very insightful information on Amazon's Print-on-Demand (POD) policy.

sadbhyl/grey_gerou posted on the issue in our Monday blog spot at Dual Voices.

More and more it's striking me as a conflagration of fail on Amazon's part. One part pandering to closed minded asshats (the books most affected) and a bottom line issue (how Kindle versions and Booksurge PODs remained ranked).

It's going to be a tough retraining process, but regardless of the outcome, I am going to take my business elsewhere. Amazon is one stop shopping with pretty much the best prices you'll find anywhere--elsewhere is generally more costly and also inconvenient. But cheap and convenient shouldn't be the be all end all. It's how box stores and supercenters and one-stop-shopping has all but ruined us. Fortunately the internet gives us options, not to mention one hell of a voice. And there's the real world too. On the weekend or your lunch break, hit one of those independent, small shops that are endangered. Interact with a person and not an IP address a change. Most times you can still use your credit card.

So there's my two cents. Nothing in depth but a commitment to change my buying habits.

So after much discussion and debate, sadbhyl (aka grey_gerou) and I have decided to write under one name for our joint efforts. Being as avoidance prone as I am to promo, this is a pretty big undertaking for both of us, but the timing is right with selling a new series to a new publisher and the possible rebranding of our Arcana Ancien series (book two drops the 26th, so stay tuned).

What's one more identity to add into the mix, right?

More to follow in the near future as that whole promo thing would indicate. :)

Now if I could just get out of my solo writing rut.

One of the most difficult things to do as a writer is to shelve a story, be it temporarily or for good. It is even more difficult when that story is part of a series and you’ve tried not once, not twice, but four different times to get the second book of said series off the ground. Between all four versions I probably am just shy of two books worth of words. But there comes a time when you have to say enough and really move onto something new. What really sucks is that the characters are still very much in my head with bits of stories here and there. However, that little something to commit them to paper isn’t there anymore. The passion, the drive… To a certain extent, you can force it, break through the block and forge ahead. And I’ve tried, four big times and several smaller ones to do that. But enough is enough. Maybe for now, maybe forever. It all depends on if the characters get pissed off or not.

So where does that leave me? Well, my poor detective and designer have been languishing on the backburner, but I don’t think it’s the time to bring them to the fore again. I think my languishing threesome short is going to languish a little bit longer. I might put that on the shelf with the Morton’s Pointe crew. Move on and maybe cannibalize what I have for something in the future.

Part of this came about from the sheer high of writing my firemen short. Just over twenty thousand words in under a month. I don’t usually write that fast, but I can. And I loved every minute of it. It’s good when writing isn’t work. When it’s good, it’s very, very good. Believe it or not, when it’s bad it’s really hard to remember the love and the joy. I write because I love to write and can’t not. But god, it is downright brutal and demoralizing some days.

I liked having a new world and new characters to play with. I think that’s the route I need to go at this point. And maybe I should try a different genre. I’m not a romance reader. I love developing characters and relationships, and love writing sex. No fading to black, no euphemisms. Down, dirty, and hot, even if it still lives in the land of vanilla. So I do like some aspects of romance, but not all. I can go for a happily for now, but not happily ever after. Stuff happens and things change. Nothing lasts forever. When I do read, I like suspense, I like horror, and I like mystery. I like a side of dark. And I don’t mind a bleak, open, or unresolved ending, so long as it fits the story. Maybe it’s time to write what I would read if I walked into a bookstore or library and picked up book off the shelf. And I’ve still got my co-writing with grey_gerou/sadbhyl to satisfy my need for hot stories with believable characters.

It’s time to try something new. Maybe write a dystopian or (post-)apocalyptic that I love to read so much. Or maybe I’ll wake up tomorrow and the characters I shelve won’t shut up. I wouldn’t mind that. I like it when they won’t leave me alone.

Me da woman. Ooh-rah. As one of my firemen Bobby would say.

My short story that I finished well ahead of deadline and just finished revising, has been officially submitted. I can work with real deadlines if I plan right. This is a good thing to know.

Now to get the rest of my stories moving along.

Modus Vivendi--PRINT

That's right, folks. At long, long last my baby is in print. The book I wrote is a real, live book that you can turn the pages and put on the shelf. Yes, ebooks are also real, live books, too. But having that first book in print so you can go "Here! I wrote this!" is about the damn coolest thing ever. It's pretty and even better than I remembered. Yes, I reread my own stories. Why write something I wouldn't want to reread? :)

In other news, the sequel from hell seems like it might actually be clicking this time. Apparently version four is the lucky version. *crosses fingers*

So, I finished the short story I've been working on. Something like 21,500 in 25 days. Damn good for me, Miss Procrastination. Though now I have to go back and make it all make sense. I had a subplot for conflict that would be brilliant if this were full length but if I cut that and flesh out some of the sex scenes, I'll still be on track. No real conflict, just two guys, meeting and coming together. But what's wrong with that. Part of me wants to take it full length and the other feels accomplished. The end needs work, but they suddenly started getting emo and I had to wrap it up before they went too far. So that'll need work. Good thing revisions are my strong suit. sadbhyl/grey_gerou is going to be happy because now I'm free to write with her again. But I really need to try sticking to this 1000 words/day thing. Along with the writing and not thinking so much. Might get that damned sequel written at last.

Speaking of the sequel from hell, the first book just arrived on my doorstep in print form. Yes, folks, I can finally put Modus Vivendi on the shelf because it is a real, physical book. Not that e-books aren't real books. But there's something about print, the tangibility that just brings. it. all. home. You know? I don't care if the rest of my books are only e-books (the royalties sure are better, even if it isn't about the money), but my first book is in print. I wrote a real book. How freakin' cool is that?

Today at Liquid Silver Books saw the release of sadbhyl grey_gerou and my book: Echo of Distant Thunder. This is the first book in our Arcana Ancien series following the adventures of our menage of Diana Glendower, Graeme Shepherd, and Peter Oberon in a world of magic and mayhem.

Graeme Shepherd and Diana Glendower lead a quiet life as university professors and lovers in Philadelphia until Peter Oberon arrives, upsetting their peace. An old friend and lover of Graeme’s, Oberon brings a message from the Acolytes of Taranis, an ancient mystical order with a grudge against both men. Graeme has their vessel and they want it back. Unfortunately, Graeme has no idea what it could possibly be.

Graeme isn’t the only one with old lovers appearing in their lives, testing the strength of Graeme and Diana’s relationship. Both of them have secrets they never revealed to each other. And Oberon can always be found on the fringes, pushing at them with questionable motives and an undeniable attraction for both of them.

But nothing is what it seems. As magic, mystery, and past secrets come to light, the trio travel from the cradle of liberty to the roots of civilization in order to appease the Acolytes before the Order’s next sacrifice can hit too close to home.

And in other news, we finished up book three in the series. Well, I say finished, my other half isn't so sure. Yes, it'll need some revision, but the bones are there and so's the ending. We finished a book. The second book we've finished in two weeks. I'm happy for us.

I also started a novella today. Yeah, like I need another WIP at this point with the goal of doing 1000 words per day until it's done. I did 1152 today, so I think I'm off to a good start.

Not too shabby for a Monday.

Nearly two months to the day sadbhyl (aka grey_gerou) and I finished a book. It's a touch on the short side but we wrote a book in two months. Jointly, that an impressive feat for both of us. Individually, good god it would be wonderful to write that fast. It all comes down to the right story at the right time with characters that WON"T LET GO. And it's most likely the first in a series. Savvy kept insisting this was going to be a stand alone (along with the short that set things up), and I kept going for series. She got bunnied for the next book. So...it's looking like series. I've been called wench a lot, which is very promising.

More details to follow, but for now, it's male/male, complex, and hella hot.

Now if only our other stuff, both together and separately, would click like this.

Look what's up for pre-order at Amazon: Modus Vivendi.

It's the little things in life.