Getting Reacquainted with Characters

So, this has been a big week for me.  I've finished the new Cressen Books website design and that's now live.  I published my latest book on Kindle, The Legend of Goat Head Lodge.  And I am now a Goodreads Author...go me! :)

With these pieces accomplished, what am I up to next?  Well, I'm trying to get reacquainted with my characters in Starward, Rosa and Daemos.  I've spent the last several months in the heads of Leyla and Lucien trying to finish up Goat Head that any writing I've done on Starward has been sporadic at best.  And when writing is sporadic, it's very hard to stay in the main characters' heads.

But, I'm slowly getting a good feel for Rosa and Daemos and am very excited to be working more consistently on their story again.  And actually, I should clarify that a little: I'm feeling pretty good about being in Rosa's head (or her being in my head as the case may be).  After all, this first book in the Galactic Dynasty series is mainly told from her perspective with only glimpses from Daemos from time to time.  And I don't want to explain that any further because it would ruin certain plot elements at this point.  *cackles evilly*

So, for a recap, I posted a week or so ago reporting that my progress in Starward is a little over half done with over 55,000 words.  I am now at 58,750 words and things are starting to develop more with Daemos (meaning I get to write more scenes with Daemos now and those scenes are quite, er, challenging).  Geez, it's very hard to talk about Daemos at all without giving certain things away, but I absolutely love the character and can't wait for readers to get to know Daemos. :) 

Anyway, I know that doesn't look like a whole lot of progress but it's more the quality of the scenes than the quantity of the words at this point.  Plus, I have to factor in all the other projects I've been working on this past week and suddenly 3,750 is pretty darn good.  *pats self on the back*

And yes, I know that there are a lot of authors out there now that are using word counters to keep up with their progress (or have been for a long time).  And I'd be happy to use one of those as well, if I knew how many words I was shooting for to begin with.  I think I'm an oddball because I tend to format my stories ahead of time and pay more attention to the number of pages (302 at this time) and chapters (16 at this time) than I do to the actual word count.  Oh, and I don't have an editor demanding that the book be so many words...I get to choose how long (or short) I want my novels to be.  Such a nice, liberating feeling!

Okay, enough rambling.  So, at 58,750 words, I'm going to guesstimate that I probably have another 40,000 words (or less) to write and Starward will be complete.  (I guess I might actually be aiming for a total of 100,000 words, give or take.)  And I will definitely keep everyone posted with regards to my progress, either through future posts or through an actual word counter or both.

And now, it's time for me to return to Rosa.  She's been pestering me for the last fifteen minutes wanting to know why I'm writing a blog post instead of dealing with her latest crisis!  I hope everyone has a wonderful weekend!

Happy Release Day!!



The Legend of Goat Head Lodge is now available on Kindle...WOOT!!  You can click the book cover on my side bar and it will take you directly to Amazon's site.  Or, if you would like to read the first chapter, please visit my publishing company's website: Cressen Books LLC - The Legend of Goat Head Lodge.  You'll find the synopsis, the first chapter, and a link to Amazon.  And feel free to browse the rest of the website for other books and chapter excerpts!  (Yes, the website is finished and live...just uploaded the new and improved this morning...double WOOT!)

Now I'm going to hop off of here and do a happy dance! 

Releasing Soon...Finally!!

In case you didn't know, the last few months have been a complete roller coaster for my motivation.  At times I've been excited and ready to tackle edits of The Legend of Goat Head Lodge (the 3rd book in The L & L Mysteries), and at times I've really dragged my feet.  Needless to say, what should have taken a month tops has stretched into almost 5 months.  *hides face in shame*

But, at long last, I have finally finished the edits and will be formatting the book to upload to Kindle today...YAY!!!  *throws confetti and opens a bottle of bubbly*  (Actually, I don't have bubbly but I do have chocolate donuts...hehe)  There is still some work to be done to get The Legend of Goat Head Lodge up on Kindle and ready for purchase.  But hopefully by Wednesday or Thursday of this week, readers can purchase and download it to their Kindles.

So, once that piece is done, I'll be shifting my focus to Cressen Books' website.  I'm redesigning the entire site and hope to have the new (and improved) site up by the end of this week or early next week.  I'm already loving how it looks so far and hope that others will find the site much more appealing to visit!

I am also shifting my focus to Starward, the first book in the Galactic Dynasty series I'm co-authoring with my Muse.  I'm about half-way through the initial draft and will be working hard to have that book ready for publication by this summer or early fall. *crosses fingers*

And, I will begin edits of the 4th book in The L & L Mysteries, Dangerous Moves!  I'm very excited about this book and the mystery that Leyla and Lucien get involved in.  It's a much more serious mystery and really helps to evolve (in a good and mature way) their partnership and friendship.  The book is actually in the final stages of edits, but I refuse to put a release date on it yet since I tried to do that with Goat Head and failed miserably...sigh.  But, the closer I get to the final polish of Dangerous Moves, the more information I will have and will let everyone know when the release date will be. :)

I believe that's it for now.  I need to get going so I can upload Goat Head to Kindle and then get to work on the website.  I hope everyone is having a pleasant week so far and maybe I'll have more updates to share real soon!

Long Time, No See

Wow, I hadn't realized just how long it's been since I last posted on this blog! **blushes in embarrassment**  Oh well, I'm back now and have some progress to share. :)

First of all, The Legend of Goat Head Lodge, book 3 in The L & L Mysteries, is nearly complete.  I have one final chapter to write and edit...whew, thank god!  I thought I would never get here.  I have no idea why this book in particular has been so difficult for me to edit since I really love the concept and know it will be a great addition to the series.  Anyway, the cover has already been designed.  So, once the edits are complete, I'll be putting it in book format and will then upload it to Kindle...yay!!  And, just because I can, here's the cover:



Isn't it pretty?  I love it!!

Okay, now on to the next bit of news.  I am co-authoring a mature YA sci-fi series with my Muse called Galactic Dynasty and the first book in the series is called Starward.  I think I may have mentioned this before but since it's been so long since the last post, I just wanted to refresh everyone's memory, including mine...lol.  Anyway, Starward is over 55,000 words long now and is about half complete.  I'm hoping we might be able to introduce this new series by late summer 2012, but we'll see.

I'm also in the process of giving Cressen Books LLC's website a makeover and hope to have that completed in the next few weeks.  Then we will be actively looking to take on a few new authors in order to expand our product selections.  I will say this much; we are not currently looking to take submissions of either poetry or non-fiction.  We would like to stay within the fiction genre for right now.  If you know of anyone that may be looking to publish a fiction book, please give them this web address - www.cressenbooks.com - and let them know to be on the lookout for more information in the upcoming weeks.

Alrighty then, I think that's all the updates for now!  Doesn't seem like a lot, but man it's been busy since Christmas. :)  And I'm excited to have finally found my focus again.  So, it's time for me to hop off of here and get back to work on Starward and The Legend of Goat Head Lodge.  I will try to put more effort into posting more frequently from now on and will keep everyone posted as the various books and websites in progress continue towards their completion!