Storm Front Free for Five Days Only

Hi guys!

Things have been a little quiet on the blogosphere lately, and I can’t even blame writing a new book. I got to 26K words on The King’s Phoenix and decided I needed to take a break because of my day job, which is all kinds of crazy intense at the moment. I value my down time only a lot and instead of stressing myself out over writing deadlines, I am now trying my best to relax in my leisure time just so I can cope with the demands of my day-to-day life.

At this point I’m not sure if I’ll be continuing TKP for all of August and saving Aura for the real NaNoWriMo. The words are flowing just fine – the story’s not a problem. The problem is my extremely limited time and the fact that making my self-imposed writing deadline was stressing me out.

See, I used to read other writing blogs. And they are all about peddling as much new material as possible. Put out one book, get writing, put out another book, ad infinum. Fill every spare moment with writing. If you produce less than 10K words a day you’re a loser. If you can’t produce a brand new book every three months you’re not doing right. These advice givers also tend to have huge backlists, whereas I’m producing entirely new material. The fact that they were at some point traditionally published doesn’t hurt.

So I’ve stopped reading advice. My writing was becoming too much like work and at this point in time that’s not something I can handle. I’m taking my own time. The book will come when it comes.

Also! Storm Front is free on Amazon.com for five days. Go get it!  Especially because the new Tina Storm book is coming out later this year.

And We’re Done

I know it’s been a long time coming (because I started Storm Front #6 way back in November 2011) but finally I am able to say that Tina and Ten’s first full-length adventure is complete!

Fireworks
This is what I see in my head… image from dreamstime.com

It’s clocking in at 78.5 thousand words in the first draft. After editing there will be some added and some taken away. After beta-reading there will be some added and some taken away. And after professional editing there will be some added and some taken away. I was initially aiming for 80K, but it’s okay to fall short a little. It’s still the longest book I’ve completed. The Edge of Darkness clocked in at 52K (in one month), and Dadewalker and Darkwalker both clocked in at 70K (I won’t tell you how long I worked on those babies for, because it’s embarrassingly long).

I’ve also had awesome feedback from voters on the poll for naming Storm Front #6, and even though the poll is still running for a few more weeks I’m pretty sure I know what the new name will be. But I won’t tell you yet because it’s a secret. If you haven’t voted yet, please do! It’s so easy: look, I’ll even link you right here so you don’t have to go looking for a link.

There’s no rest for the wicked, though. I’m plunging straight on and continuing to write The King’s Phoenix as part of Camp NaNoWriMo.

Storm Front #6 Excerpt

“I’m a demon hunter,” I said, relishing the sound of the words tumbling from my mouth. “I’m born in to it, much liked you’re born into witchcraft. Wanna know why I was so bad at blood magic?” I raised my left hand and let the lightning spark between my fingers. “Because I have this. A lightning vanquish. I’ve already used it on a human. You wanna come at me, bro? Bring your blood. I’ll fry you to high heaven.”

Ladies and gentlefolk, Storm Front #6 is almost finished. Remember to vote here on the poll to help me select a name for the novel. We’ve got a clear winner so far: is it the title you think fits best?

I’ve also got a fabulous editor lined up for October, which should give me enough time to edit her up and get feedback from beta readers. It will be awesome working with an editor! The Edge of Darkness didn’t actually have one, you know. Some people are precious about their writing, but I actually love mine to be hacked to pieces. I couldn’t afford an editor when I lived in England because we could barely afford to feed ourselves. But now that I’m back in Australia with a job (which, incidentally, I LOVE), I can afford to invest a little more into my books.

Meme: Lucky Seven

I’ve been tagged for the Lucky 7 meme by twitter buddy Emilia Quill. Currently I am stressing to the eyeballs about finishing the WIP before Camp NaNoWriMo starts (Ha! Like that’s going to happen) and planning the next two standalone novels.

Here’s the seven lines from page 77 of my WIP, starting from line seven six. We’re crashing one of many dates that Tina goes on in the book:

“Do you want to get in?” Lachlan asked after we’d watched the dolphins peeking at us, swimming past and flashing their fins at us, somersaulting out of the water and splashing us, laughing at us and inviting us to join them in the water. They seemed to be saying, Come on in! The water’s fine.

“Should we?” I said. “I mean, they’re wild. Isn’t it illegal or something?”

He gave me a smile that bordered on condescending. “No one’s going to stop us.” He kicked a leg over one side of the boat. “Or are you too afraid?”

The seven I’m tagging:

Charlotte E English

Devil’s Advocate

Writing Through Rose Tinted Glasses

A Beautiful Ramble

That’s it, actually. I don’t follow many writers with a WIP: my circles are more reviewers or people already (traditionally) published who won’t share a WIP.

Storm Front #6 Needs A New Title

It’s getting to a point where Storm Front #6 really needs a new title. I’ve been calling it The Oncoming Storm as a work in progress title, but I was never really happy about it. Mostly because the storm is no longer oncoming: it’s here! In the book, I mean.

So it’s time Tina’s first full-length novel had a real name. I’ve been brainstorming a lot, and I’ve come up with four titles that I think each fit the feel of the novel. But I need some help! More importantly, I need YOUR help.

Here’s the blurb (also a work in progress, but it gives the basic overview of the novel):

Tina Storm, an Australian teenage demon hunter, has been charged by the Council of Elders to infiltrate a coven of witches and figure out who’s leading their blood magic rituals – spells designed to hurt others for personal gain.

Because of her recent vigilante adventures, Tina’s powerful and inherited lightning vanquish has been banned by the Council. She has to rely on her latent talents to convince the witches she’s one of them, and try to avoid raising the suspicion of the hot and mysterious male witch who’s taken a shine to her… and his gift for blood magic has sinister intentions.

And maybe a male witch is better for her than the Chinese shapeshifting demon who’s keen to get to know her better. At least the witch is human… and they’re not on two sides of an ancient war.

Help me! Based on the above blurb, which title do you like best?