Hi all - sorry for the long delay between updates. I keep putting off posting until I have news about the latest book, and then not having anything significant to report. Firsts is still a week or two before a full draft is done, and then it will be in editing. This (New Adult) is a slower genre for me, in part because in my usual SFF books I have a lot more 'event' chapters, where there's a lot of action scenes. Action is significantly easier for me to write than day to day conversations that show small emotional shifts.
While both Touchstone and Firsts are intended to have more of a 'slice of life' structure than the traditional rising action, denouement, etc, it's a very different feel when the slices don't involve monsters.
While I'm enjoying the story (and looking forward to working on the sequel), I have no intention of switching genres permanently, since SFF has some core components that I really love. And, in fact, Firsts is an SF novel (though in a very low-key way). After it's out for a couple of weeks, I'll put up a post to see if that element stood out for anyone.
Anyway, not too much longer now. I won't promise this month, since editing sometimes brings up unexpected issues, but 'soon'.
Looking forward to it! :) Going to go reread The Starfighter Invitation meanwhile! :)
ReplyDeleteWe (me and my son) are waiting too for new book! Greetings from Poland.
ReplyDeleteExcited for the new book, whenever it is ready! Touchstone really helped me through the pandemic (I'm a doctor in the US, it's been yikes) I read it for the first time a couple of weeks into lockdown, then again in the summer, and a third time after a health setback. Then tore through Medair and Darest. Just starting Starfighter Invitation which is more of a reach for me, since I lean more towards romance/mystery/YA/fantasy most of the time. Thank you for the terrific distraction from our own troubled world!
ReplyDeleteI'm glad they're helping, Edilee! Comfort reads are so critical, even in good times, let alone during pandemics.
DeleteYay a post! I'd be happy if your posts were even just
ReplyDeleteThings I have on my desk:
Coffee
Post it notes
Used tissues
Half used roll of scotch tape
Though I've got to be honest, the used tissue would stress me out. My favorite writer of ever MUST stay safe! It's imperative.
Glad you're still writing. I've wondered a lot how the pandemic would affect your motivation to write. Tickled beyond the telling of it for any new stories to reread a hundred times <3
Stay safe!
Man, the things on my desk would be a long list.
DeletePandemic world has impacted my writing in that I no longer have a daily one hour commute, which is when I did most of my writing. So now I write in a space where I have ssssooooo many distractions.
But, really, the change of genre is the main thing that impacted writing speed. I have two nuanced encounters in the current chapter, and then the last chapter should be nice and speedy! But nuanced encounters are so hardddddd.
Sqweeee! Nuanced encounters! So nuanced, so encounters!
DeleteI wish you a vast supply of hyperfocus!
PS, Imoenne has decided in the game of what-tattoo-would-you-get that she would have "Live well" written in elvish.
That's kind of awesome, Soede.
DeleteCan't wait for it Andrea :D You know I'm here for it whenever it lands in my hands/on my Kindle!
ReplyDeleteThrilled to hear another book is soon on the way. I was browsing Amazon, hoping you had a book I'd missed. I've been reading Touchstone as a comfort read during the pandemic, then added in Eferum and Medair. I'm not sure why Touchstone is such a good comfort read, but it is. I find myself circling back to it when stressed. Anyway, glad to find this post linked from your Amazon page. New story fix on the horizon.
ReplyDeleteI've often wondered what it is that works so well for people in Touchstone. I think it's in part that, despite people-eating monsters, a plethora of medical tests, etc, Cass meets a lot of genuinely kind and supportive people, and most of the people in control of her are trying to maintain a balance of humanity and common sense. There's a lot of warmth around Cass.
DeleteWhile that’s definitely true, I think what most draws me to the story is that it’s about someone who is intensely lonely and becomes not. The loneliness and longing, particularly in Lab Rat One, is so incredibly palpable and cathartic that it makes her transition to finding a home all the more satisfying.
DeleteAlso, Kaoren Ruuel.
I'll have to say for me, it's probably all of the above and more. You got to love a heroine who's honest about having a crush on someone and yet doing their best to not be a burden to the other person.
DeleteI also love that Cass keeps going no matter how lonely, terrified, or threatened. And when she's offered a new home, she's generous enough to accept it and all the people in it.
Besides... she can conjure anime-inspired dragons and resurrect dead girls.
Expecto patronum!
.... I have a bit of concern that the BBC is going to ask for back royalties, though.