Futuristic fantasy
I hope there are still readers who want futuristic fantasy—because Unbound is out! From the Bronze Age-inspired Flame Seeker, I flash-forward to the far future. This time, I mix together djinn and spaceships and planetary politics with romance.
A reader sent me a pic of copies of Unbound on the bookshelf of her local Borders, so I actually have visual confirmation. It’s really published! =) Now, I’m biting my nails while waiting to see if readers like it.
Return to sanity
Real life got a bit crazy there for a while because my dad was hospitalized. Luckily, surgery fixed the worst of it and he’s since gotten a clean bill of health—which is the best birthday present I could wish for. But during that time, my muse went on strike and the writing biz ground to a halt. I feel so guilty for reading manga in the meantime, while the creative side of my brain was offline. I splurged on a lot of manga. I tell myself at least I’m studying the storytelling and plot and character development and world building, so it’s not completely unrelated to writing.
However, I did manage to get page proofs done—the final stage before publication—so now the first chapter of Unbound is now up! And not a moment too soon, I guess, since it’s just three more months to its release. It’s hard to believe 2010 is half over! Anyway, I hope readers like the chapter.
I’m crossing my fingers that my muse will start cooperating, now that I don’t have to worry about my dad. On the other hand, Skip Beat! is really addicting. I keep re-reading favorite story arcs. Oh, no! Now if only I could figure out how to apply that to my stories…!
Step by step
Phew! Copy edits for Unbound are finally done. It was a lot cleaner than I expected. Of course, I ended up working on them right through the Easter holidays. Argh, no Easter choco. But that’s something else altogether. What’s important is that Unbound is another step closer to publication. Time to party!
More cover art
In the middle of revisions for Unbound, I received cover art from my kind editor. Take a gander at this. Yum, yum, YUM! Talk about eye candy!
Happy 2010
The other day I found out that Flame Seeker is a Top Pick at Night Owl Reviews. Before that, there was a review at Dear Author that called Flame Seeker “over is a really well drawn high fantasy romance.” What a great start to the new year! Here’s hoping 2010 is a wonderful year for all of us!
Running way behind
Just a quick note to say I’m still alive. Flame Seeker will be out next week and I finally—finally!—have chapter one up. It’s from the page proofs, so that’s not quite the final version. But if you’re willing to overlook some errors, you can read it here.
Thanks to Kellie, for lighting a fire under me! Otherwise, I probably would have put it off again.
Coming up for air
Wow! August already? July went by so fast I lost track of time. I’m about halfway done with Unbound—that’s the current title of my next book—and my muse is demanding fresh fuel to keep the writing flames stoked.
So lately I’ve been reading manga. The medium is different enough from novels that I hope it will stimulate my muse. What sort of titles? My tastes run the gamut from high school stories like Hana-Kimi (I now have the complete series plus the art book) and Boku ni Natta Watashi, to medical drama like Team Medical Dragon, to sports like Ice Revolution, and paranormal like Bound Beauty and 07 Ghost.
Manga isn’t exactly a new interest since my copies of Crying Freeman, Bishoujo Senshi Sailor Moon, Nausicaa, Rayearth, Fushigi Yuugi are more than ten years’ old. However, it’s been a while since I’ve added to my collection. I’m looking forward to more!
Now back to Unbound…
Full speed ahead
Copy edits are done and turned in. I’m back to working on my next book. And the best news: the proposal was accepted! Full speed ahead! So I’m now immersing myself in angst and FTL drives and alien races.
Currently the working title for this manuscript is Djinn, but that’s almost guaranteed to change. Yup, I’m mixing magic and spacecraft.
Shifting gears
Time to shift gears on the writing. I’ve been making some headway with my djinn hero, but have to set him aside for the moment. Copy edits for Flame Seeker arrived and I’m fumbling my way through the electronic process. This is the first time I’m not seeing copy edits on paper. It sure is different; the text looks more like a book and less like a manuscript.
Grins all around
My editor read the sexier revised Flame Seeker and approved! That’s such a relief. Yay, me! I think Alithia, Taith and Phelan’s story now lives up to that gorgeous cover. 
Now I can concentrate on Djinn. The proposal’s gone out. Here’s hoping it’s good. In the meantime, I’m trying to put my own spin on FTL drives and interstellar communications. Ta!
