New Release: One Shot at the Sphinx

Welcome to release day for my new Narvan novella prequel: One Shot at the Sphinx.

Yes, we got through six books in the series and now we're going back to the beginning. Why? Why not?  Ideas don't always come in chronological order.

Having gathered quite the series worth of notes by the time I wrapped up Tears of the Tyrant, I decided there was a story to tell: How Chesser Ta'set convinced Anastassia to come to the Narvan to start the chain of events that becomes the entire series.

These events are alluded to in Trust and Minor Years but now you can get a firsthand accounting in the midst of the action in one easy-to-get-into novella that will neatly deliver you right onto the doorstep of Book 1.

If you like action and intrigue with a side of romance and questionable motivations, One Shot at the Sphinx is now available for your eyeball consumption!

There are even multiple pricing options. Including free. Because you'll want to read this one...and I want you to be able to do so.

The enemy of her enemy might be just the tool Anastassia Kazan needs to remove the Jalvian invaders from the Verian space station she calls home.

Working out a treaty between the Jalvians and the Verian people was the highlight of Anastassia Kazan’s military career. Just when station life seems to be settling into a tolerable accord, a spy from the Jalvian’s enemy shows up to take advantage of her hard work and threatens the precarious peace with his very presence. It’s only fair, as a spy for the Verian army, that she uses him in return.

Chesser Ta’set’s mission to intercept the Jalvian’s next moves is imperative. Without them his people will soon lose the war with Jal and his entire star system will be in chaos. Meeting a human spy with the telepathic skill necessary to slip into his target’s thoughts presents an avenue that will greatly multiply the odds of his success.

All he needs to do is convince her to blow her cover and risk her life for a stranger from a world she doesn’t know.

Print copies are currently only on Amazon for $7.99

Ebook copies are on Amazon for .99

Ebook copies are also on Smashwords for FREE

I will have print copies with me at Alma Con (March 23-24) and thereon after at in person signings. They are currently on the way to me so unless a delivery miracle happens, I will not have any print copies available this weekend.

Not Feeling The Love

It's been a rough start to the year. We had to stay goodbye to our 16.5 year old terrier a couple weeks ago due to health reasons. This was in the wake of the unexpected death of our 11 year old terrier in November. I also lost two of my fluffy chicken friends to a nasty illness in January. Crossing my fingers that the rest of the flock is ok. So far, everyone looks good.

Say hello to my new shadow, 9 year old Skittles. He's currently curled up in my blanket next to me on the chair. He prefers to be attached if I'm stationary anywhere. Good thing he's small because my chair isn't that big.

After three weeks of distribution snags, Frayed is finally available at all your favorite online retailers. It's been a journey, guys, I won't lie. The writing, the finishing, and then the distribution hiccups that were out of my control. But here we finally are. Whew! Signed copies are available from the tab at the top or you can find  me at the Mid-Michigan Women's Expo in Lansing (Feb 9-11).

God doesn’t make mistakes. That choice to give man free will, though, that has caused nothing but problems. Problems that need fixing.

When an angel shows up to hand Samuel Mason a task he never asked for, his first reaction is to refuse. Killing the little boy next door is unthinkable. But there’s a contract with Sam’s name already on it and the angel won’t take no for an answer.

Fulfilling his task will ruin Sam’s life, his family, and devastate the boy’s mother. How long can a good kid hold out before he becomes the very thing society expects him to be?

Frayed

Davis, Jean

Buy Now

January was a month for getting behind the scenes things gone. I updated awards, back cover blurbs, and 'also by' pages on all of my books, printed new booth banners, updated my book racks, and made new bookmarks and new business cards. All of these things had to be done because... I have several new books since they were last done. #writerproblems 

If you're not familiar with 

the Insecure Writers Support 

Group, check it out here 

and find links to all the other 

participating writers.

Which brings us to this month's Insecure Writer's Support Group portion of the post. This month's question is: What turns you off when visiting a writer's website or blog?

My number one turn off is: I can't find what I'm there for. 

Have clear tabs for things. Make it easy for your visitors to find what they want. Links to your books, about you, photos, your signing schedule, blurbs, your contact information and your blog or posts. Or any combination thereof. Put all of that in an easy to find spot at the top of the page. Please. Do not make me jump through hoops, because I don't do much jumping anymore. I'm busy. If you make it hard, I will just go away.

Book Release and NaNoWriMo

 

It's release day for Tears of the Tyrant! 

The Narvan continues with book five:

Rumors of Tyrant Ta’set’s killing sprees have spread throughout the known universe. Or are they truths?

Vayen’s hold on his deadly Arpex abilities is slipping. If he loses control, he’ll be executed and his mission of unification and peace will die with him. Desperate to help Vayen maintain his precarious balance, Anastassia is willing to offer him a week with another woman as a diversion from his dark urges. Can she live with her decision if he wants more?

In the public spotlight by association, Daniel unwittingly ignites a political uprising when, in the spirit of love and unity, he adopts the Jalvian practice of taking a second wife. While he works with Neko to guide the debate within the Narvan, he must also work alongside his volatile, tyrannical father as they race the rumors to seek out amiable worlds for their advisory union. Daniel struggles to take on the brunt of his parent’s mission while facing his own darkness.

Spending a guilt-free week with Vayen is a dream come true for Buria. She’s had her eye on him for years. Securing a place within his inner circle could mean a serious job upgrade and notoriety. Managing Vayen’s addictions and temper will require every skill beaten into her as a slave if she is to stand a chance at coming out on top.

Is the Ta’set family, the Narvan, and the newly-formed advisory union prepared for a future where Vayen takes the one life that will send him over the edge?

Would you like to check out the first chapter for free? Download from BookFunnel.

Available in e-book and paperback today!  Amazon / B&N / Kobo

If you're not familiar with 

the Insecure Writers Support 

Group, check it out here 

and find links to all the other 

participating writers.

We've reached November, which means we're going to talk about National Novel Writing Month. This month's Insecure Writer's Support Group question asks: Have you ever participated? The short answer: Yes.

 

Want to know all about it? Let's dive in!

For year 18 of my NaNoWriMo adventures, I'll be sinking my writerly teeth into four projects as muses and time allow. I've managed to meet or exceed my goal of 50,000 words in 30 days 15 out of the 17 previous years so I'm feeling pretty good about keeping my words hopping. 

This year I'll be working on:

 A new chicken picture book - Laya's Vacation

A Narvan novella - Anastassia and Chesser's Story (title TBA)

A YA fairytale along the same vein as Spindelkin - Godmother

A sci-fi standalone - I9

We'll see how much of any or all of these I can accomplish. I know I have 3 days that nearly nothing will get done due to Grand Rapids Comic Con. I also have a 3 day work trip to St. Louis to contend with but I'm hoping to be able to write in the car (not while I'm driving, of course) and at night. Fingers cross that there are no other unexpected major interruptions.

My NaNo secrets for success

1. The point is to write 50,000 new words in 30 days. That can be done a lot of different ways. Do what speaks to you. The pure experience would be to work on a totally new novel. You could also veer into the rebel camp and write a collection of short stories, an epic poem, multiple projects, non fiction articles, etc.

2. Don't sleep. Ok, maybe this one is just me. But I don't sleep well in general so I get up several times a night, and during November, that means I might write a couple hundred or thousand words at 2am before heading back to bed and then doing it again at 7am. Maybe grabbing another writing session after work and again just before bed. Write when you can.

3. This is writing month. That means my brain is in writing mode. I typically don't read books or watch Netflix or play on my phone during November. If I'm not working, eating, or sleeping, I'm writing. And when I'm doing those other three things, I'm thinking about what I will be writing the next time I sit down at the laptop.

4. Have fun with it. Join your local NaNo group. Attend write-ins online or in person for group support and motivation. Find a writing buddy and get competitive. Urge each other on and duel with word counts. Do word wars. You don't have to write alone. Unless you prefer to, then hey, write alone.

5. Get the words on the page and don't be afraid to suck. Rough drafts are not meant to be perfect. That could mean experimenting with a scene or chapter or a bunch of chapters that might not make it into the final novel. Sometimes you need to tinker around to see what POV works best or explore a subplot. Those words all count for NaNo purposes. If you get stuck, skip to the next scene, throw words at the page and see what sticks to get you going again. Get all stream of consciousness if you have to. Just keep moving forward. Or jump around if that's your thing. Keep writing.

My NaNo history

2006 - Sahmara was my first NaNoWriMo novel. It took 10 years between it's word birth and actual publication. Noveling isn't a race. Sometimes books need time to come together.

2007 - A YA Fantasy that has yet to come together though I've toyed around with it a couple of times. I'm not giving up on it yet.

2008 - Not Another Bard's Tale - This was my favorite NaNo book to write as far as it being fun.

2009 - A Broken Race - My first book to be published in 2015

2010 - Destiny Pills & Space Wizards - My first rebel year when I wrote short stories instead of a novel.

2011 - Chain Of Grey - Narvan books are an easy (comparatively)  because those characters just flow onto the page.

2012 - A failed attempt at a Broken Race prequel that ended up providing additional content in the second edition of ABR. While I did make it to 50K, the story didn't work.

2013 - A sci-fi novel that I'd like to revisit at some point to see if I can pull it out of it's tailspin because I really like this one.

2014 - 20K of a sci-fi novel that I don't even remember writing because it was while we were building our house. Someday I'll have to read it and see if it's worth pursuing. 

2015 - Interface, oh you poor YA sci-fi novel. I've said I would finish you so many times. Yet, you're not finished. One of these days, I'll follow through.

2016 - The Last God - After several years of novels not going anywhere, I got back in the groove. Yay.

2017 - Bound In Blue

2018 - Seeker

2019 - Spindelkin

2020 - The Minor Years

2021 - Frayed - While I didn't get to 50k on this project for NaNo because: life, I did recently finish writing it and it will be released in 2024

2022 - Everyone Dies, part of Tears of the Tyrant and Kay-Kay - a very productive year

For those keeping track, that means all my novels but Trust and Dreams of Stars and Lies started as NaNo novels. NaNo isn't for everyone, but it works for me. If you're participating, feel free to shoot me a buddy request on the NaNo site. Hello, I'm Gypsywitch and I'm a nano addict.  

August IWSG and A Narvan Cover Reveal

August was insane. Yes, okay, fine. All my months are insane, but this one was more so than most others.

 

Kay-Kay and I started out in my home town at an art fair which was easy and busy all day.

Then Kay-Kay and I traveled back and forth to South Haven for a weekend for another art fair where we met lots more readers. 

Then things got crazy. Laya and I traveled to Michigan's Upper Peninsula for yet another art fair. We camped and did some exploring and in the process, ended up in a lot of people's vacation photos. As it turns out you apparently don't see a lot of people taking their chickens on touristy walks. I may have also composed another children's chicken book while I was there. The words are not yet on paper but reference photos were taken. 

After a long weekend up in the UP, Laya and I headed down to Indiana for our last renaissance faire of the year where we had a great time and met lots of new and returning readers. 

Then, finally, Kay-Kay and I traveled to Newaygo for the annual logging festival. You can't beat chainsaws and chickens. But not close together. That would be bad. 

Now that insane August has passed, we move into a more sedate pace for the rest of the year. This is very good as I need to wrap up the blurb, proofing, and formatting on Tears of the Tyrant, a Narvan companion novel (book 4.5 for those keeping track). 

Did I mention a cover reveal? Oh, I did. Bloggers get the first look at the newest Narvan novel cover right now!

Where will I be in September? You can find me and Author Vera West in at the Kalamazoo Expo Center Craft Show on Sept 30. That's right. Just ONE event. Whew!

If you're not familiar with 

the Insecure Writers Support 

Group, check it out here 

and find links to all the other 

participating writers.

That brings us to this month's Insecure Writer's Support Group portion of the post! Happy 12th birthday to IWSG! 

I discovered IWSG from my local author pal, Diane Burton. She even gifted me with a IWSG mug. Woohoo! From the looks of it, I first joined in the monthly posts early in 2016. Holy cow, has it really been that long? 

Thank you IWSG for the kick in the butt to at least post monthly on my blog. Since starting this blog in January of 2010 and being fairly active for years after that, I'd been struggling with the motivation and inspiration to keep up with posting with everything else I always have going on. No seriously, it's always insanely busy here. I know no other way.

I've meet some new blog friends, learned things from members' blog posts and have enjoyed being part of the author community. Thank you all for for being you!  

August IWSG and more chickens!

I'm a day late and several dollars short, but things have been hectic both on an off the writer front. Work has been crazy, sending me out of town twice last month for a couple days at a time and book signings fill my weekends. Lots of deep breaths have been taken.

New chicks were also purchased and Henifer is 
doing her usual good momma chicken duty. Yay for cute little chicks!

Edits for Tears of the Tyrant from both editors showed up in my inbox this week. I've been busy reading those over, finding what comments they had a in common and where things differ. One has read the whole series, one only the first couple books. I do like my companion novels to be able to stand alone (ish) so having insight from someone who is out of the loop on a large part of the story is helpful in knowing what hints and gaps I need to touch on.

We did our annual panel at Kogan con last month. This year
we discussed the differences in worldbuilding between gaming,
graphic novels, and novels.

While I'm busy pondering how to fix things the editors have pointed out, I'm also busy reading. Because Jacqueline Carey's Cassiel's Servant fell into my hands on release day when I went to the book signing. I know. Weird, right? LOL. I'd met Jaqueline Carey at a signing she did for one of the earlier series books in 2009, wherein she patiently offered advice to those of us aspiring writers who lingered afterward. Inspired by her advice, my first short story was published in 2010 and then I was off and running. In as much as we author types are off or running. Writing a lot and waiting for responses is more like it, but I digress. 

Authors have author heroes too. 

Have I made progress on Frayed since last month? Other than a few edits on the later chapters, no. Will I by next month? With edits on Tears of the Tyrant on my schedule, probably not. I'll get there eventually though.

In talking to my daughter about her writing/graphic novel journey, we ended up in a discussion about ideas that pop up when your supposed to be focusing on a current project. I mentioned writing the idea down, maybe doing a synopsis or outline. That lead to me trying to remember where I'd saved (and what I'd called) the two stories I'd done exactly that with that I plan/hope to write this November for NaNoWriMo. And then I had to read what I'd written for both. And get excited about them. And force myself to put them away again for a few months. Is revisiting the synopsis for your project distraction, also a distraction? Yes. Yes, it is.

While we're on distractions, where can you find me this month?

If you're not familiar with 

the Insecure Writers Support 

Group, check it out here 

and find links to all the other 

participating writers.

August 5 - Art in the Park - Holland, MI

August 12 & 13 - South Haven Blueberry Festival - South Haven, MI

August 18-20 - Wild Blueberry Festival - Paradise, MI

August 25 & 26 - Michiana Renaissance Festival - South Bend, IN

I don't have anything exciting to share on the question of the month this time around. I've shared that answer before in a couple different posts so I'll keep this month's post short. Do go check out what everyone else has to say though by clicking that link right over there --->

New Release: Seeker - The Narvan Book 4

Guess what Narvan fans? Seeker is finally available! If you subscribe to my newsletter, you got an early start before the release date. *hint*

Book 4 closes out Vayen's story and I'm excited to share it with all of you. Without a doubt, he's been my favorite character to write. I'd say I'll miss him, except I'm toying with another companion novel that takes place after Seeker. It's not in his POV though, so I can say that his leading time in the series is over. Will any of you ever see that book? That's up for debate. I'm a third of the way in. See my next blog post as to what that means for a story.

Enough about that dangled tidbit, let's get to Seeker:

Political upheaval threatens to erupt into a war that will tear the Narvan apart. The alteration undergone by Vayen and his hunters may have saved everyone from the Arpex but it also created the possibility of bullet-proof soldiers. Vayen’s fellow advisors will do anything to get that prize for themselves.

Not only is Vayen’s daughter not speaking to him, he’s been stuck at home for weeks recovering from surgery and being smothered by Anastassia’s efforts to keep him safe and healthy. Attempting to advise three worlds from his home office has him on his last nerve.

Vayen slips out to search for a new bodyguard.  A few strong drinks later, he ends up on a distant colony,  busting up a slave operation. The adrenaline rush and possibility of having done something good to get back into his daughter’s favor offers a momentary release. He even has a host of well-trained bodyguard slaves to pick from. He’s also gained a new enemy, discovered his bond to Anastassia isn’t what it used to be, and reawakened his old drug addiction.

In spite of doing everything he can to be good, the public has labeled Vayen a mutant and a tyrant. To bring peace to the Narvan and beyond, he’ll need to become exactly what they say he is. 

Where can you get a copy? 

Find me at any of the events I do throughout Michigan and Indiana.

Click on the "Buy signed copies" tab above to get your own copy shipped from me to you (within the US)

Click the link to the left to go to Amazon.

Find it on any of your favorite online bookstores.

 

May The Fourth Be With You

It's been a busy month....and May just started! 

I kicked off the month with my first time at the 3-day the Whitestown Viking Festival in Indiana. Though it was super windy and we got rained out on Saturday, vendors and event goers had a great time. Lots of music, reenactments, horn-blowing, and beer and mead. 

Then it's back to work, and planning book releases before heading off on Friday to the Royal Stagg Renaissance Faire for the weekend for more book signing fun. 

Book releases? Yes! Spindelkin is available now, but officially launches on May 14 and Seeker: Book 4 of The Narvan launches on May 21. Links are in the side bar to the left. You can also by signed copies directly from me (shipped within the US) by using the tab above. More on both of those books closer to release days.

May 14, I'll be doing a release day signing for Spindelkin in Holland, MI at the Bluestocking Bookshop.

May 27 - 29, you can find plain old author me at the Newaygo Memorial Day Craft Show with fellow author Vera West and I should have both new books with me. 

Then can I take a break to catch my breath? Ummm sorta. I'm working on Frayed to get it ready for Kindle Vella, and I'm playing around with another Narvan companion novel. And modifying my tent cover for ren faire events...and adding beading a skirt for one of my ren faire dresses. And I have three weekend events next month.

Will I spontaneously combust one of these days? Probably.

If you're not familiar with 

the Insecure Writers Support 

Group, check it out here 

and find links to all the other 

participating writers.

And now on to the Insecure Writer's Support Group question of the month: It's the best of times; it's the worst of times. What are your writer highs (the good times)? And what are your writer lows (the crappy times)?

Writer Highs: 

When readers tag me in posts or send messages/emails saying they liked one of my books. For those of you not behind the pen, you have no idea how uplifting these little notes are. They can offset a bad review, the weariness of round twelve of edits, or the days when words just refuse to form sentences on the page. 

Meeting new-to-me readers and returning ones at events. Sitting in my writing cave is calm and peaceful but also very disconnected. It's energizing to chat with the people who I write for (other than me).

Getting to be the face of who authors are for kids (or anyone, really), who is excited to meet an author in person for the first time. We love to talk to you about books, what you're reading, what you like, what we like, and what we write and answer your questions.

Writer Lows: 

Not having days off because you have a day job and spend your weekends out promoting books. It's fun, but it's also tiring. 

Starting a new project, knowing all the work that lays ahead.

Selling so many copies of your books but hardly anyone leaves Amazon reviews no matter how nicely you ask.

It was all calm until April hit

While the weather is warming up outside, my task list is heating up as well. And just in time for my event schedule to kick in full swing! Yay?

With the snow melting away, that means lots of yardwork to do. Thousands of sticks to pick up, leaves to rake, the garden the plant, flowerbeds to clean out, and a new chicken run to put up. Just a few things.

And then there are writing projects:

Seeker: Book 4 of The Narvan is off to proofreaders.

Spindelkin is in final line edits.

Frayed is hanging out, waiting for an editing pass before getting started on Kindle Vella. It may be venturing out to my local critique group for a while while I juggle everything else.

A possible second Narvan Novel announced itself in my brain today - taking place four years after Seeker. OMG, stop the muse train. I need a moment to breathe.

I also need to write blurbs for both Seeker and Spindelkin and get the cover art finalized.

And I'd love a little quiet. The chicks I posted photos of last month are all growing fast and as soon as the nights are reliably above freezing, will be moving out to the coop. They are currently peeping away at each other signaling that its time to get on the roost for the night. They do this for about forty-five minute straight. It sounds cute. And it is for the first couple nights...

While I do all that, I've been busy finalizing my 2022 event schedule. With the possible addition of two more single day events, I'm done. Stick a fork in me. Maybe that will hold me down. 

Can I effectively juggle my book inventory during all this? Tune in to find out.

Coming up soon:

April 8 - 10 Grand Rapids Spring Fling Comic Con

April 22 - 23 Penguicon (virtual attendance)

April 24 Tulip City Comic Con

April 29 - May 1 Viking Festival

May 7 & 8 Royal Stagg Ren Faire

May 27 - 29 Newaygo Memorial Day Art Fair

If you're not familiar with 

the Insecure Writers Support 

Group, check it out here 

and find links to all the other 

participating writers.

Which brings us to the Monthly Insecure Writer's Support Group portion of the post. This month's question deals with audio books. I haven't yet ventured into those. I've had plenty of readers ask for them, but that just hasn't been on my priority list yet. 

So I'm going to jump to another topic instead. Too many projects. How do you manage them? 

I try to prioritize what needs to happen when so that I have a new book in the spring, and one in the fall. That's my goal. However, this year, things seem to have gone hilly nilly right out of the gate. Seeker was supposed to be my spring launch, but there were a lot more edits than anticipated, which added significantly to the word count (not complaining, I love how it turned out), which made line edits take much longer than planned. Then we add me picking up twice as many ren faires as I've done in the past, which lit a fire under my behind to get my YA fantasy Spindelkin ready for print so I could launch that early summer instead of fall. That derailed my plan to spend a month getting Frayed up on Kindle Vella. And then this new Narvan novel shows up, pounding on my door with a vengeance. Deep cleansing breath.

Writing is a juggling act. I'm going to attempt to stick with softly inflated beach balls rather than chain saws. Wish me luck.

Marching into Spring

There may still be snow on the ground but at least the sun is shining now and then. Soon enough yard work will be back on the weekend agenda. Until then, I'm busy working on Seeker : Book 4 of The Narvan. The fine tuning edits are going slowly but I'm nearing halfway done. The final book in the main series is shaping up to be a long one, but hopefully also fulfilling for all the characters and wrapping up the series plot. 

Spindelkin is leaving Kindle Vella as I type this. The YA Fantasy novel is next up for going to print once I get Seeker out to proofreaders. 

Frayed, a YA urban fantasy (work in progress) will be hitting Kindle Vella as soon as I have time to get the first chapters edited and uploaded. Here's the cover so far. I'll be playing with it for months, I'm sure. I'm still playing with the cover for Spindelkin, for goodness sake. Nothing is set in stone until it goes to print. 

Upcoming book signing events:

Hall of Heroes Con in Elkhart IN - March 5-6

Grand Rapids Women's Expo in Grand Rapids, MI - March 18-20

Grand Rapids Spring fling Comic Con in Grand Rapids, MI - April 8-10

Tulip City Comic con in Holland, MI - April 24

Whitestown Viking Festival in Whitestown, IN - April 29 - May 1

And speaking of the Viking Festival, I finally finished sewing my new garb.  I had to relearn how to weave. It's been a long time since the fiber arts weeks of art class in high school. All the trim is tablet woven, which, in theory was going to give me some time to kick back and watch Netflix while I worked on it, but it turns out you have to have to actually pay attention to what you're doing. (My first strip has a about five different patterns in it because I kept losing count.)Well, crap. I ended up switching to an easier pattern for the rest of it and still had to keep flipping a paper to remind myself whether I was going forward or backward. Short term memory and I are not great friends. 

Lots of layers for all weather. 

Squeezing out the last wavering inches of tablet weaving.
Its is professional? No. Will it suffice? Yep.

If you're not familiar with 

the Insecure Writers Support 

Group, check it out here 

and find links to all the other 

participating writers.

Which brings us to this month's Insecure Writer's Support Group question: 

Have you ever been conflicted about writing a story or adding a scene to your story?

The short answer: Yes, but I almost always write them anyway. It's just whether I let anyone else ever see them. 

But seriously, I'm just gonna go ahead and overthink that question. Long answer: Sure. But for multiple reasons. 

A. The story or scene is too close to home. I'm pretty sure I touched on this one in a previous IWSG post. Writing is a good place to work though difficult emotions or situations, like therapy, able to distance ourselves a little and see it through a character instead of ourselves. But sometimes those things are too private or sensitive to share or might offend family members if they see through the thin veil of fiction.

B. I'm just not ready to tell that story. I don't have enough experience or knowledge of a topic or lifestyle to accurately covey what I want to show. Or it's not a genre I'm comfortable writing yet. There are a few stories lurking on my hard drive that are waiting for me to do research/gain life experience.

C. The scene might not fit in the book as a whole, but I'm jonesing to write it anyway. I almost always give into to this urge and see where it goes. It's about 70/30 in favor of ending up in the book, often with major edits to make it mesh, but these are usually great emotional moments or add depth of character.

And if you've made it this far though this month's blog post. You deserve chicks. Meet the newest additions to my flock. 

Olive Egger

Midnight Mystic Maran

Blue-laced Golden Wyandotte

Congratulations, you made it to the end. :) What are you up to this month?

Spring Book Events and IWSG

It's winter here in West Michigan. Lots of snow, temps in the teens during the day, and snow plows galore. This is grey and white, our official winter color pallet.

Winter means we're not spending much time outside. I'm not a snow loving person other than to sit inside and look out at it. Ah yes, pretty. Now, back under my blanket with a warm computer on my lap. During nature's break from yard work, I'm busy booking events, sewing, and working on edits for Seeker. 

You can find me in Michigan and Indiana this Spring:

Feb 5 Byron Rec Comic con

Feb 11-13 Lansing Women's Expo

March 5-6 Hall of Heroes Con 

March 18-20 Grand Rapids Women's Expo

April 8-10 Grand Rapids Comic Con Spring Fling

April 24 Tulip City Comic Con

April 29 - May 1 Whitestown Viking Festival

What have I been sewing? Well, I'm doing five Ren Faire events this year and all are multi-day, so I decided to make a new set of clothes with options. Also, the first event is a Viking Festival, which I simply don't have anything to wear for (dramatic sigh) so a new outfit was in order. Being in April means it could be cold. Could be warm. One never knows. An outfit with options was needed. Layers!

This is layer one. It's super soft and comfy. I do have one ren faire dress that's form fitting and let me tell you, it takes two people to get into and laced up. I'm often without a maid at these things so I'm favoring comfort and ease these days. I'll leave the sexy wench and corset garb to the younger people. Ideally, I need to get a long leather belt for the waist but that's later add-on right now.

This is layer two. Or layer one if its a nice day. Its lighter weight. There are two more layers that I've yet to sew. Or cut the patterns for, actually. Lots of projects going on here. Then I'm going to attempt some weaving for more traditional trim, which I haven't done since high school. As you may gather, that was a while ago.

You may remember from last month that I was attempting to finish a cross stich project from fifteen years ago. Well, I did it! I don't recommend letting your project sit around for fifteen years as the colors fade, you discover that you weren't paying very close attention to the pattern fifteen years ago, and the cloth isn't actually as cream-colored (it was dirty and a bit stained on the edges) as you thought it was. But it's done and I'm happy with how it turned out (mostly that its done). 

And this brings us to February's Insecure Writer's Support Group part of my month's post. Do I intend to write more than a monthly post? Sure. Do I actually do it?  Uhhh,.. Is it next month already? 

This month's question is: Is there someone who supported or influenced you that perhaps isn't around anymore? 

If you're not familiar with 

the Insecure Writers Support 

Group, check it out here 

and find links to all the other 

participating writers.

This is kind of a sore spot for me. Support wasn't something I had much of early on. I had a few teachers in elementary school that encouraged me to write. One high school creative writing teacher did her fair share of encouraging too. She passed away years ago. However, when it came to friends and family, there were a lot of crickets. 

When my first short stories were published twelve years ago, I had a family member buy a copy. I thought I was onto something, but even when my first couple books were published, its was crickets in the support gang. I wasn't until I'd been published for ten years (no, seriously) that family and friends really started catching on and actively supporting, encouraging, and buying. 

So for those of you who feel lonely out there in the book-filled world, your time will also come. As with all aspects of writing, patience is key. And hey, support is what this group is all about, right? 

NaNoWriMo, Planning Ahead, and IWSG

And November crawls to a close. For the second time ever, I stalled out before 50K. I'm okay with this. I've won far more than my fair share of NaNos. Too much stress this year, overtime, overbooked, and very little sleep. I've been perpetually exhausted for months. So at 35K, I found peace with just letting go. I'll get back to the story at some point. It was going well and I was enjoying it. Frayed, being urban fiction, is something totally different than what I've written before and I'd like to see how this emotionally charged story wraps up.

On deck for December: wrapping up Spindelkin on Kindle Vella. The story is done, it just needs a bit of editing and then getting the second half of the novel posted. Click the cover off to the left if you'd like to give this YA dark fairy tale a try. The first three chapters are free. Also on the agenda: sleep, quiet time, recharging the internal battery, and copious amounts of ice cream and hot chocolate.

January will be devoted to making a few minor tweaks to my current novels, taking inventory for events for the new year, and finalizing my book signing schedule. At them moment, it's looking like 28 weekends. Cutting that to 26 is ideal, but we'll see. I'll be focusing on Renaissance Fairs, Comic Cons, and larger art festivals in 2022. 

February is my scheduled month to dive into the last edits of Seeker: Book 4 of the Narvan. I hope to have it completed by April/May. 

Beyond that, I intend to get Spindelkin out in print by fall or it may wait until spring 2023. No crazy five book publishing plan for 2022.  Is any of that subject to change? Sure, my motivation goes in spurts and sometimes I just have to roll with it, but at the moment, my motivation is declaring a well-deserved vacation.

Books make great gifts! You can purchase signed copies of all of my books and have them shipped directly from me to you by clicking on the "Buy Signed Copies" tab at the top. 

If you're not familiar with 

the Insecure Writers Support 

Group, check it out here 

and find links to all the other 

participating writers.

And now to this month's Insecure Writer's Support Group question: In your writing, what stresses you most and what delights you?

Not a whole lot stresses me with writing. There's plenty of that outside of my fingers on keyboard. Usually writing is my happy place. But in the spirit of answering the question, I'll go with getting through the middle. Stories always start out with a sort of manic energy, when you're full of ideas and excitement about seeing this new word baby flow on to the page. But that wears off. It can be easy to wander off to other new projects or begin to doubt that you're on to something worthwhile for all the time you're spending on it. If there's anything I've learned in all the novels I've written, or started writing, the middle is where I trail off. If I can get past that 50 to 60% point, we're golden. 

Delights me? Seeing a story come together, when the dots connect, the plot threads tighten, the characters come alive. There's some of that in the first draft to be sure, but a lot of the most gratifying moments happen in edits, once the whole story is in my head and I can see how to pull it together tighter, and add those emotional or detailed scenes that I breezed over in the first draft. There's a lot of delight in writing. Thankfully. That's why we keep doing it, isn't it? Or maybe we're just mad. :)

Book Release, IWSG, and NaNo!

First, the exciting news... The Minor Years is now available in paperback from your favorite online retailers. 

On idyllic Veria Minor, Anastassia struggles to fit into a life she never wanted. She’s lost everything she’s worked so hard for.

According to her cover story, she’s now an acolyte Seeker, a mother, and wife of Isnar Ka’turoc. In reality, the Council’s torture has left her with only a whisper of her telepathy, she doesn’t know the first thing about raising a kid, and the man she’s stuck with is the same one who ruined her life. If she wants to stay among the living, she must learn to forgive and adapt.

When the Narvan unexpectedly falls into Jey and Merkief’s hands, the one thing on both of their minds is revenge. Kess killed Anastassia and Vayen, but he now has the High Council’s protection. To make things worse, he’s been awarded the advisory position for the Narvan’s neighboring system, including control over the wealthy planet of Merchess, which had provided much of the Narvan’s funding.

Strapped for credits, at each other’s throats, and attempting to meet the High Council’s demands, Jey and Merkief wage a covert battle with Kess. If the violence explodes, everyone will suffer.

Available at all your favorite online retailers or visit me at Grand Rapids Comic Con Nov 12-14 or at the Bluestocking Bookshop in Holland on Nov 27.

Amazon: https://www.amazon.com/Minor-Years-Jean-Davis/dp/B09JV9SMMR

B&N: https://www.barnesandnoble.com/.../the-minor.../1140385885

Direct from me: https://link.waveapps.com/h6pd82-z9s9y9

Ebook links are coming soon.

If you're not familiar with 

the Insecure Writers Support 

Group, check it out here 

and find links to all the other 

participating writers.

Next up is this month's Insecure Writer's Support Group question: What is harder to do, coming up
with the book title or writing the blurb?

While titles take their sweet time coming to me, I'm going to have to go with writing the blurb. Having to stare at the entire novel and figure out what bits create the most enticing blurb without giving too much away but also providing enough detail is challenging. The two things (now that I've done a bunch of them) are:

1. Focus on what happens in the first few chapters rather than the whole book. The stakes obviously have to draw from the main plot, but the characters and what they generally face are often laid out at the beginning.

2. Write a synopsis. Somewhere about book seven or eight, those vile things started coming to me before I even write the book. I credit that to the agony of having to write seven or eight of them from the whole novel after the fact. My brain apparently said, ok, enough of that! Let's just start there and then write the book. So while I still claim to mostly be a pantser, I guess this edges me toward planster territory. Staring at one to three pages of the synopsis is much easier to digest for blurb purposes than trying to analyze the whole novel.

And that brings us to National Novel Writing Month.

I'm launching into an Urban Fantasy this year for something different. That's been on my list of Speculative Fiction subgenres to try for a while now. After spending so much time on YA books Spindelkin and The Traveling Circus and The Skeleton Key last year, I'm having to make a conscious effort to drag myself back into writing for the adult market.

Don't get me started on the title. I don't have one. Currently, the project is known as "Witty Title". I usually find the actual title as I write. Since I'm only on chapter two, it will likely be a while before that happens. So far things are moving along smoothly thanks to my handy synopsis.

If you're participating in NaNoWriMo and want to be buddies, I'm Gypsywitch on the NaNo site.

And now I better get back to writing because sadly, this blog post doesn't apply toward my daily word count.