It’s so exciting! And terrifying. And amazing! I think I’ll go hide…
The really amazing part is that I’m still completing projects. There’s not much in my life you can label consistent, but writing is one. Each book gets better. The process, the end result, the promoting, the everything-about-it. That’s the pat on the back I give myself.
But what about the book?? you ask.
What early readers are saying:
“The intelligent prose and age bracket sets this squarely in the new adult fantasy genre with some of my favorite elements of both YA and traditional fantasy. Unlike many YA fantasies, Maslyn fortunately lacks Mary Sue characterization. She genuinely struggles and makes some questionable decisions, which made her more real and caused me to want her to succeed all the more. I cant wait to see what happens next and how she deals with it.”
Bethany, Goodreads Review
“Such a good slow burn of mystery, thrill and emotions. This world is so intriguing with hidden layers.”
DoublediptheGuac, Goodreads Review
“This was my first time reading anything by this author and believe me I was not disappointed!”
I was all set to start releasing my new Dark Fantasy series, CLAIMING KRINKAE, when I changed my mind to wait to finish writing book 2 for a rapid release. Then, I started writing books 3 and 4 and waited some more. And then, I went back and rewrote the front 30% of book 1. You’ve seen it. Claimed by Shadows had a cover reveal over a year ago…
Apparently, my process is to start something, get about 3/4 through a first draft, go away to another project, and repeat. I do, eventually, come back around to finishing, but sometimes a year or more goes by. I keep trying to rectify this by adding clear deadlines to my calendar, with realistic word count goals that will get me there. It has helped, but I’m still all around the multiverse with my focus.
Once a draft is finally completed, it gets put aside to marinate while I complete the other drafts I started. When those are finished (sometimes closER to finished, but not quite), I go back to edits on project 1, and around and around and around. This might not be so bad if I didn’t have nine projects working. Yes, nine. Five Krinkae novels, two Magic Fade books, the final book in Rishi’s Wish, and an unnamed novel I swear will be a standalone (no, I will not promise this as fact). And that’s not all of them. There are more stories traipsing for attention in my head, many with significant word counts started. These nine are just the ones I’m ‘focusing’ on. Yeah, focus is a word I need redefined. I know.
So, while 2022 had zero published books come from my little slice of reality, it looks like five will release this year.
Part of this focus problem was my indecision to publish my YA Fantasy traditionally. Deciding not to do that has brought that project back to the top of the pile. I’m super close to a published draft I’ve finally decided to title MAGIC FADE. Keep a lookout for that four-book series to start releasing this spring… (you can sign up to be an advanced reader and get it next month here).
I know we all want that final book of Rishi’s Wish to come out. Don’t worry, Dee will get her ending. I bit off more than I could chew with my Dark Fantasy Saga. It all started because I just wanted to see if I could write a romance novel. It is the largest money generator in the publishing world, and indie authors do super well publishing in that market. Of course, I’d want a piece of that. But I can’t do something simple. My idea of merging Warcraft with Prythian turned into a multiple-character saga whose surface story spans a hundred years. I won’t even mention all the side stories spawning organically from this adventure… Let’s just say the undertaking is a lot more than I planned for. Five books to start off the main attraction, with at least three to take it to the end. And because the characters’ stories are so closely tied, I had to ensure their overlapping paths were cohesive and correct. Hence, writing four books at once.
Through all this chaotic excitement of jumping universes, plotting has become a friend of mine. Do I still struggle with vomiting thousands of words I have to edit extensively because I just let my unconscious brain take over? Yes. Would plotting have sped up the writing process on all of these projects? Also, yes. Like so many things, the practice is in the doing. In my life, that’s how it works. And I think it is working. It’s been a few years, more than I wanted, to get all these ideas to pages and in your hands, but things happen in their time. I hope you’re half as excited about all these new books as I am!
Happy Reading!
CMM
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I get that there are a lot of books out there. I’m currently looking at three lifetimes to finish my current book reading list, and there are still many years in my life left to add more. That doesn’t mean I should stop adding books. And like I’m not stopping, I feel you should keep looking to add to your library, as well. Especially if said books are very budget-friendly.
For example, Killing Game has just become permanently free on Amazon and is available for $0 across most platforms (including Nook). We Are Forever, the next book in the series, is only 99c, and about to be available on all platforms as well. Books 3 and 4 are locked into Amazon until April, but they are free to read on KU, or just $1.99 and $2.99 to buy. If you are one of the 30% not jacked into Amazon’s market, they’ll become available for you this summer.
Want a creepier, more suspenseful read? Ten-Zero-Nine tells of Dee’s origins for just $1.99 on all platforms.
So, why wait? Adding books to our libraries only shows how prolific and better than everyone we are.
TEN-ZERO-NINE is the psychological thriller sequel to my Rishi’s Wish series. A short, fast-paced read that will leave you biting your nails and afraid to turn the lights off. Get it here:
All Steve wanted was to find the balls to tell the girl of his dreams how he felt.
And he finally had. Today was that day. A day engineered with no distractions. A day for just the two of them. No roommates. No cowardice. No second-guessing that the friendship they’d built over the last year wasn’t more. Today was the day his hellish existence would move into the light.
Snatched away by four simple words, Steve’s day turns dark. From one second to the next, taking his future in his hands turns to a speeding train bearing down on him.
Each day more torturous than the last, he’s forced to watch his love slumber through a dangerous experimental procedure. A procedure that has never worked. A procedure that turns her from his friend into subject 10-0-9.
When she wakes, when she finally comes to, the first to survive, Steve wants to take it all back. The nightmare he’d been living was nothing compared to this.
Author C.M. Martens 