Rage against the machines

I've mentioned before that I have done some experimenting with the different AI language models. Chat GPT and Google Bard (now Gemini) were actually quite helpful in rewriting my book descriptions for the Tudor Court series. It's not something I talk about to openly, because the writing community on social media is heavily weighted against the use of AI. 

The reasons are that it takes work from human creatives - the people who edit, provide book descriptions, design covers, etc. And don't even get them started on AI voice for audio books.

Now, I'm a creator. So I do understand where the fear is coming from, but also, these are tools, and they are only as good as the users. Would you expect a chainsaw to know how to cut down a tree if no one was holding it?

I don't mean to sound glib, but I have learned through experimentation that your results with these programs are only as good as the prompts they are given. It's not creativity in the same way as doing something from scratch, but find me a writer who likes to write a book description - a writer who can boil a 400 page book down to three paragraphs that will sell the book - and you're talking about one or two writers out of a vast number.

Where I draw the line is with actual writing. I would never let AI write a book for me - or even a portion of one - because writing is what I enjoy and what I'm good at.

One of the reasons that many of us became indie authors in the first place is that we didn't want to deal with gatekeepers, so I don't think it's right to gatekeep each other's choices when it comes to something as personal as our own business model. As they told us in school, keep your eyes on your own paper and don't worry about what someone else is doing.

And as an example of what is possible with an AI art model, this is a cover that I did for Princess of Spain, which is the newest giveaway story for readers who sign up to my newsletter. You can get it here. The prompt I gave it was this: Please create a photo realistic illustration of a middle-aged white woman in dark-colored 16th century garb standing in a chapel. The room is shadowy, there are stained glass windows. The mood is contemplative.

The collage shows some of the results it gave me before I got more specific. Most of those, while pretty, are completely unusable, but the final - or at least the place where I decided to stop - is more than good enough. It's a 10,000 word short story; I would never hire a cover designer to put a cover on a short story. I'm not going to pay $100 plus (and sometimes considerably plus) for something that I'm giving away for free. Being in indie author also means managing your finances responsibly and knowing where and when you can spend money on things.

Let me know your thoughts. We can agree to disagree, but any outright trolling on the subject will be deleted and the commenter will be blocked. We can all play nice.

Coming Closer - Cover Reveal and Blurb!

This post is pre-scheduled because I am hopefully at the eye doctor today having the shield taken off my eye (assuming I haven't taken it off myself in the a.m. out of impatience) and finding out that that I can see more than 3 inches in front of my face.

Here's the finished cover and probably final blurb for Coming Apart, the second book in my Ava & Claire series. It's available for pre-order now, and I'm about 50% done with the edits. Then I'll let it rest for a week or two, so I can start drafting book 3 and then go back and look at it with fresh eyes to catch the last repetitive words and pesky typos.

I love this cover possibly even more than the first one. It's another family photo - my great-aunt Margaret again, slightly younger, but in a dress that absolutely fits the arc of Ava's story as a seamstress in Philadelphia during the 1930s.

What do you think of the blurb? It's really difficult to boil down two entire stories into a few paragraphs, but I've done my best. 

Alternate Endings: The Inspiration Behind Princess of Spain

So my submission for the Alternate Endings anthology is called Princess of Spain, and in my mind, it rights a certain number of historical wrongs.

What if Arthur Tudor hadn't died? What if he'd stayed married to Catherine of Aragon, consummated that marriage, had children? What if - because he was a different man than his brother - the war in Scotland had ended differently, and he stayed on good footing with his sister Margaret's husband, instead of leaving her a widow? What if there hadn't been a war with France? What if Thomas Wolsey's role had remained as priest and advisor, instead of being promoted to chancellor and cardinal and all-around-fixer?

What if Henry Tudor stayed in the place that history had intended for him - as Arthur's younger brother, bound for the church. Archbishop of Canterbury or York, maybe someday a cardinal's hat. A good place for an ambitious man, but not as good as the role history gave him when Arthur died of what was probably the sweating sickness.

When Henry became king, he married his brother's widow (touting that unconsummated marriage), warred with Scotland (his brother-in-law, the Scottish king, killed in the process), warred with France (expensive and not tremendously successful, though battles were won), but failed to have a living son with his queen, leading to five more wives, the break with Rome, the dissolution of the monasteries, and the execution of many people (good and bad).

I wanted to explore what might have happened if Arthur, the brother who had been brought up to be a monarch, actually had the chance to live out the history intended for him. It also gave me the chance to rehabilitate a few people (in addition to Catherine) whose lives might have been very different if there had been a King Arthur.

And okay, I also wanted Henry to get a little of what he deserved, but what lover of Tudor history doesn't want to see Henry get what he deserved, really?

Alternate Endings is available here - not only will you get Princess of Spain, but seven other stories, including another one set during the Tudor era. 

What if?

And now for something a little different.

A few months ago, I was asked to participate in a historical-themed anthology - the topic/era was my choice, but it had to be a historical "what if?"

"What if?" Isn't that every historical writer's dream? We look long and hard for all the right facts for our writing, but every so often, our minds ask... "what would have happened if this hadn't?"

Alternate Endings is coming November 1, when eight authors from the Historical Writers Forum answer their favorite nagging questions, from "what if Caesar had never conquered Gaul," to "what if Arthur Tudor hadn't died and Henry was just his younger and overambitious brother" (mine, no surprises there) to "what if Abigail Adams had convinced her husband and the other founding fathers to give women the vote?"

I'll share the order link as soon as I have one. I've read most of the stories by now, and it's a really fabulous collection!

One more week!!

It's almost here!

You know how you look forward to something and it's forever in the distance and then, all of a sudden, it's RIGHT HERE and you feel barely prepared? 

That's me right now. I've been working on Coming Apart for so long, and then planning the launch, organizing podcast interviews (more about that soon!), getting advance reviews in order so that potential readers who don't know me will have some idea about the book, releasing the paperback a bit early (surprise!) so I could order author copies from Amazon, and, now, scheduling an in-person launch event. (More on that also later, when I've got it together).

So that's really all I have to say today. A podcast episode will be dropping tomorrow, so I'll post a link to it then - it was a really good discussion on a podcast for writers who've taken up the craft (or taken it up as a profession) after the age of 50. 

Which is me. Somehow. (When did that happen again?)

And it's done!

So am I, by the way, but I'll recover.

One of the most difficult things about publishing - not writing, but publishing - is having to learn to do things in Word that I never had to learn in 30 years of working as a legal secretary.

I probably should have learned how to use styles and to turn page numbering off and on at will, several times in a document, but I didn't. And now I regret that.

The hardest part about getting the omnibus files ready for upload was actually reformatting the song lyrics and letters so that they would appear properly in the ebook format. Not that they weren't properly formatted before, but I wanted them to look better and I finally found a tutorial that gave me what I wanted. 

So, of course, at 3:00 a.m. last Thursday, I got out of bed and came downstairs and reformatted all those block quotes, because the idea of them being wrong would not allow me to sleep.

All this to say, the omnibus is done. The Tudor Court - The Complete First Trilogy (plus a bonus Tom and Bess short story) is now available for a brief pre-order, delivered straight to your device on Friday, July 15. For the seriously discounted price of $7.99.

Thoughts on publishing

Publishing is subjective.

Maybe you've heard that, maybe you haven't. If you're not a writer who's attempted traditional publishing, you may not comprehend those words the same way.

I was cleaning out my email the other day and ventured into a folder called Query 2015. If it was a physical folder, it would be very dusty. I might have even recycled it by now. I don't think I've opened it since late 2015, when I got an agent for Songbird (which at that time was called The King's Creatures).

I sent out well over 100 queries. I'd say 75% of those queries never even got responses. Another 15% said no. The remaining agents requested samples - anything from 5 to 50 pages. 

If those pages grabbed them, they would have requested more. Only one did, and I'll talk about that later.

But the rejections for Songbird were so inconsistent it was hard to figure out my next steps. 

"Good plot, Couldn't get into the characters."

"Strong characterization, but lacking in plot."

"The Tudors as an era are played out and tired. Can this story be set in another period?"

"The Tudor field is overcrowded. Can you write this in another era?"

"I can't see the settings or costumes. Would be willing to read if you rewrite it in more of a Philippa Gregory style."

"Too much description for my taste."

Is it any wonder that I put it away until fall 2018, because I just couldn't think about it anymore without my head exploding?

Chapter One

 

One week out!

Because I love free samples (the "look inside the book" feature is the best thing Amazon's ever done), below is Chapter One of Lady, in Waiting.

I hope you enjoy the beginning of Margaery's story, and if you're so inclined, you can check out the rest here.

###

If my father hadn’t lost his head, my life would be very different. In point of fact, he did not lose his head; it was severed from his body with three strokes of an ax.

I should know. I was there.

One day I was a happy child, the center of a loving family, and the next my father was dragged from the house, accused of treason, and executed. My family left England, and I grew to womanhood far from home.

With such uncertain beginnings, a young woman might find herself capable of anything. She might wish to escape her situation so badly that she proposes marriage to a man she’s just met, thinking it will give her some measure of control over her life.

#

Less than a week after our wedding, my husband left for England. My grandmother and I followed on the next ship.

We had been out of England eighteen years, during which time Winterset had become Robin Lewis’s home. It was one of the reasons I married him. When he first appeared at our isolated home in Normandy, I resented his presence, but I quickly realized he was a solution, not another problem: he was more acceptable than the men put forward by my mother and her husband, and if I married him, my grandmother could return to her beloved estate.

Tall and bony, with red hair gone thin in the back and a decided way about him, Robin was not my dream husband, but then I’d never dreamed of marriage. I knew only the sort of man I did not want, and if Mama had her way, those men would soon be lining up in the lane, eager to claim my inheritance.

Family money aside, most men wouldn’t consider me a prize. While I was young, and looked well enough, I had been raised away from society and my manners showed it. I read books that young ladies did not read. My opinions were strong, and I had been known to raise my voice in company and interrupt my betters.

Such behavior was not cherished by my mother, and my stepfather found me troublesome in the extreme. He tried various methods to break my will, and I ran away to my grandparents after one incident, having forced a stable lad to swap clothes so I could travel unnoticed.

After close questioning, my grandfather declined to return me to their care. With my grandfather, I could live as I pleased—within reason. After his death, Grand-mère deflected my mother’s marital plans until I made one of my own. Then she fell in with my scheme, deeming it no worse than theirs, and possibly—when she realized we would return to England—far better.

Robin was the one who balked. He claimed to be too old and set in his ways, and that I would not be happy. I bribed him with Winterset, and a promise not to disturb the peaceful life he’d built there. I was an heiress, I blithely assured him, and could make a new marriage when he died of old age.

But I didn’t want that. I didn’t know Robin well—he did not allow himself to be easily known—but I liked him. In time, I thought we could learn to care for each other.

#

What a long, strange trip it's been

 

This thought occurs with increasing frequency. I just passed the third anniversary - December 6 - of pitching the manuscript for Songbird for the first time on Twitter. It was a pitch event called PitMad, where you tweet a pitch to your book, and the only people who are supposed to like it are agents and publishers. 

I got three likes on Songbird's pitch. Two were agents, one of whom hasn't gotten back to me yet, so I assume she changed her mind. The second agent wanted the book drastically rewritten in a very different voice and I turned her down. The third like was from my former publisher, and if you've been following along for some time now, you know that went pretty well.

But now I'm on my own, and looking back at these three years, I see how much I've accomplished. Not discounting the help of the publisher, I still produced Songbird and A Wider World, both the writing and the editing, and participated in the process of publishing. Not liking Songbird's first cover, I commissioned and paid for the new cover (and then the cover for A Wider World), because I felt they suited the books better. This was good, because when I left my publisher, I owned the rights to my covers and only had to have their logo removed. 

I wrote, and edited, and prepared Lady, in Waiting (book 3) for publication, which, now that I'm independent, will be coming out in February, rather than April, 2022. I've also completed a very workable draft of my 1930s novel, My Sister's Child. This will be completed and ready to release in October, 2022. 

It really boggles my mind that I worked on Songbird for such a long time (it existed pre-internet) and yet once I started showing my work to the wider world - no surprise where that title came from! - it turns out I can produce much faster in a way that does not, at least in my view, take away from the quality of the work. One of the first things I posted on this blog when I began to talk about publishing was the statement "get out of your own way." 

I keep learning, over and over again, just how much I was in my way, and how even now, there are still ways for me to step aside and let me get more done.

I did a thing!

I've been obsessing lately with tweaking my book covers, gathering a few more reviews for the back cover, rewriting the blurbs (again) and almost anything except actually getting the damn books online so they can be purchased.

I have a love/hate relationship with technology. But it's not actually hate, it's just a bone-deep distrust and discomfort. It's never as bad as I think it's going to be.

And on Thanksgiving, when we were at home (Mario's mom is in a nursing home and not allowed visitors, so we decided to keep it small), I sat down at the computer and decided, "This is it. I'm not getting up again until I figure this out."

Of course, once I did that, it wasn't that bad. My books are "wide," which means they're sold everywhere, not just on Amazon, so they have to be uploaded in more than one place to reach all those sites. I uploaded individually to Amazon (not as complicated as I feared, other than figuring out pricing in all their territories), then to Kobo (big in Canada, and has an enormous reach in other countries), and Draft2Digital, which both formatted my ebooks (free) and then, as an aggregator, will put them up for sale in whatever places are not reached by Amazon and Kobo and will skim a percentage off whatever royalties I make for the privilege. (It's worth it - those royalties will be the smallest, and it's a matter of time vs. money; I was willing to upload and do tech three times, but more than that starts eating into writing and other admin time).

So, the big news. The books are up for pre-order and will be fully available again on December 3, 2021. And I am excited. I was excited to be a published author after decades of thinking about it, and so having my books disappear, no matter that it was for a short time and at my request, was unnerving. 

Lady, in Waiting just needs final corrections (I formatted her and did a read-through on my Kindle, which always finds things that I can't see on a computer screen) and then it will go on pre-order sometime in January, for publication on Valentine's Day, 2022. An appropriate day for my dysfunctional married couple.

My second act

So I signed a contract the other day - a contract to terminate a contract.

As of October 28, 2021, the rights to Songbird and A Wider World belong to me.

Three years ago, when I signed with my small publisher, I was a different writer. I wasn't fully educated in the ways of self-publishing, and while I didn't want to go the traditional route of agent/publisher, I did have a need for outside validation. I guess it came from writing only for myself for so long - I needed someone to tell me it was good, and worth releasing into the world.

That has changed. My validation these days comes from within, and from the readers I am lucky to have found. What else has changed is my willingness to do all the work to publish my books myself, and control the way they are published, distributed, and marketed. It came on gradually - first, when I suggested changing the cover for Songbird (because most people saw it and thought 'historical romance,' when I think of it as ' historical with some romance,' the way most lives have some romance). I found a new cover designer, and commissioned the new cover. I also found the voice artist for the audiobook.

When it came time for A Wider World, I already knew where I would be interfering - cover and audio again, and this time I wrote my own book blurb (the description on the back or in the Amazon listing). 

I submitted Lady, in Waiting, the third book in my Tudor Court series, and it was through the editing process in August, 2021, but wouldn't be published until April, 2022, because that's just how publishing works. There are other authors; there are scheduling concerns outside my control; there's a pandemic, which could throw that existing schedule off course at any time.

After much thought, I reached out to the publishers and asked if they would consider rights reversion. I have nothing against my publisher - they were very collaborative and overall it's been a very good experience - but my personality is much more inclined to be a one-woman band. 

My chief reason, as I explained it to them, is that I'm 57. I got a late start as an author, and if I want to make any kind of second act career out of writing, I need to be able to do it on my own schedule, and not hold a book for 8 months because that's when it fits on someone else's schedule. 

They agreed, and within a week everything was signed and my books are slowly being taken down from all the various platforms. Ebooks came down first, which means that's where I'll start in the self-publishing process. My goal is to have them re-published by December 1, so as to catch a few holiday buyers, and to release my new book in February. It's a book about marriage - how could I not schedule it to appear near Valentine's Day?

For those who are interested in the process of self-publishing, and how I'm going about it, I'll post the various steps as I go. If you're not interested in that, I'll still be talking about sewing and craft shows and writing generally, in between.

 

It's a process

There is a strange intimacy with preparing an audiobook. Not only my own words, but the reader’s voice, in my ears, saying words I’ve worked so hard to make right. It’s disorienting, in a way—the feeling those words no longer belong to me.

Which is only right. They don’t. Once a book is published—I won’t say finished; books are never finished—it no longer belongs to its author, but to the people who read it, and who bring their own thoughts and opinions and life experience to bear upon it.

Despite how much effort I’m putting into making this audiobook as good as it can be, I’m not a big fan of the form. I like to physically read a book, and let my mind supply the voices and the pictures. Having someone read it to me takes away a bit of that, and if I’m honest, I also find it hard to keep my attention focused. I’ll hear a good line and start to think about it, and realize suddenly that I’ve missed half a chapter and have to go back and re-listen, ignoring this time the line that distracted me in the first place.

But A Wider World’s audio is coming along so well. He’s finished 66 of 70 chapters, and I’m up to chapter 64 on the edits. I can actually see it being completed by the end of July, which means it will be in the hands of my publisher for final mastering, and will be up for sale sometime (hopefully) in the fall.

 

A Wider World Teaser

I'm currently working on my third book, but book 2 is bubbling away in the background, working its way toward publication.

There's no cover image yet, but one of my ways of brainstorming while writing (but not actually writing) is to make collages of the research images I've found. This is what I put together for the second book.

Robin Lewis was a character from Songbird, who we first see as an obnoxious 12-year-old chorister who clashes with Bess, the main character. Their lives touch at several points, and Robin never quite explains his actions. 

(Hint: he does, in A Wider World). This is the blurb - the back cover / Amazon copy - at least so far. Everything gets tweaked, multiple times, but I'm happy with it at the moment.

Can memories save a life? 

After five years of exile, Robin Lewis stands accused of heresy by the dying Queen Mary. When an escort arrives to bring him to the Tower of London, Robin spins a tale for his captor, hoping it will last long enough for him to be saved by the accession of Mary's heir, the young Queen Elizabeth.

As he revisits his life under three Tudor monarchs, Robin wonders how he will be judged, not just by the queen, but by the God he stopped serving long ago.

Publishing News!

Readers of Songbird, rejoice, for there will - officially - be another book.

I recently signed a new contract with my publisher for my second Tudor novel, which will follow the side character of Robin Lewis through his eventful life through the reigns of Henry VIII, Edward VI, and Mary I.

The book has already been submitted and first round edits complete. This is a big deal, because even though I tend to submit a very clean manuscript (possibly because it's been gone over 842 times), it doesn't stop me from thinking, "What if they hate it? What if they want me to change everything?" (Side note: I wouldn't. There are changes, and then there are changes. Most of what was requested in edits was a cleanup of my excessive love of commas -- yet not my even more excessive love of em-dashes. Go figure).

A Wider World won't be out until April, 2021, but I've started working on a third book, featuring a character who appears at the end of the second book, and I'm working on a novella that will be a freebie for members of my readers club. Not a member? Join here.

Writing - What's Next?

I'm trying to work on something besides the next Tudor novel (which I will talk about soon, I promise - I have a post mostly written, but I want to keep up on current events too). My publishing contract only covers historical fiction, so if I write something other than a historical novel, I can self-publish. My publisher only has so many spots and as it is, it doesn't look like they'll be able to release my next book until late 2021 (and that's not including any potential virus-related delays).

I'd like to publish something before then. Many writers these days do rapid-release, putting a book out into the world every few months. I can't do that. I don't want to do that. I don't write that quickly, and when I do, it needs more editing, which slows the whole process down again. But I also don't want to wait 2 years between books, so I'm considering what to do next, to keep me occupied, published, and - hopefully - bringing in a tiny bit of income.

Here's the thing. I've been working mostly from home for the last year or so. I do the occasional temp job (but not now). I do craft shows in spring and fall, and the holiday season (spring/summer at least has been canceled). I have both a handmade and vintage shop on Etsy, which are so quiet you can hear the tumbleweeds blowing. And I do online transcription with Rev. Also completely quiet.

This is totally understandable. The offices who would normally hire me are doing work-from-home with their existing employees. Most people, if they're shopping, are looking for essentials for hunkering down at home. And again, with the transcription, most meetings and events that would need transcribing...aren't happening.

So if I self-publish on Amazon, I'd get 70% of the royalties, instead of what I get through my publisher. This is not a dig at them; they have a business to run, and since I work directly with them, instead of through an agent, my royalties are considerably higher than they would be. But.

My current idea is a book of fairy tales. My dad used to tell me stories all the time when I was a kid, and I assumed he was reading them to me. He wasn't. He wasn't a comfortable reader, so he'd open the book on his lap and just wing it, mixing Sleeping Beauty with Snow White. Dwarves showed up in the oddest places. I wish I remembered them more clearly, but I remember bits and pieces, and I'm trying to get them into some kind of coherent form.

I'd like to see what I'm capable of doing on my own, and right now, on my own is pretty much where it's at. Thankfully I do have tech support upstairs, hiding out at his computer, but I'm curious to see what I can do.

Thank you

I'm a little late for Thanksgiving, but that doesn't stop me from still being grateful.

It's been quite a month, folks. I can say that, now, on December 1st. Songbird came out on November 3, and while I don't know how many copies I've sold thus far - I'll get numbers from my publisher soon - I already have THIRTEEN five-star reviews on Amazon, and more than a few of them are from people I don't know.

So there's that.

That's not nothing.

There's also the fact that I've got a book event set up at a local library in December, and another one at Shakespeare & Company's Philadelphia store in January, both of which I find mildly terrifying and which I will manage to do anyway, because I can.

The draft of the next book is progressing nicely, though because it goes beyond the death of Henry VIII into the reigns of Edward and Mary, I'm having to do a lot of reading. Right now I'm knee-deep in a biography of Thomas Cromwell, which would be fascinating if I wasn't doing what Mario calls "readsearch" which is exhaustive and exhausting because I'm taking notes while reading, and it slows down my enjoyment of the words.

I'd already found Cromwell interesting from reading Hillary Mantel's fabulous Wolf Hall - oh, how I'm waiting for the third installment in March! - but the reality isn't much different from fiction in his case. The man did a lot in a relatively short life (died in his mid-50s) and my main character in the next book spends a significant chunk of time with him, so I need to know a lot so I can only put in the important bits. It's surprising how much you have to know to understand how little you need to include to give the flavor of a time period, or a person. The first draft is definitely an info dump, at least for me.

I hope you all had a wonderful holiday, that your families - if you were with them - weren't too annoying, that your turkey was moist, your cranberries were in whatever format you prefer, and there was adequate pie. If your Thanksgiving was solo (I did holidays alone for years and loved it), I hope the wine was good and the Netflix entertaining.

What a rush

So I did it. I survived reading my book live on Facebook. It still feels a little surreal - first the fact that on Saturday afternoon, while I was pacing the living room and muttering under my breath, the UPS guy bangs on the front door and throws a big box on the front step.

I run out, ready to yell at him because he's always delivering my neighbor's packages (she's also named Karen, and I guess it's just easier to deliver all mail to one address), but the box was from Ingram Spark, and contained 24 copies of my book.

Twenty-four. That needed to be spelled out.

Twenty-four books with my name on them. With my picture inside. With words from my mind written down on paper, words that make sense and tell a story and expose large pieces of my heart and mind that I've kept hidden for years.

If you want to read my book, you can find it here: books2read.com/tudorsongbird, which will get you to any online retailer that carries it. Songbird is available in ebook and paperback as of now, with an audio book to follow shortly. More about that later.

I know from Facebook and Twitter and other messages that I've received that some of you have already downloaded Songbird and have started reading. This is simultaneously thrilling, gratifying and terrifying.

For everyone who has already purchased, or who intends to, thank you. Your support really does mean the world, and if you watch the video to the end (yikes), I say that it takes a village these days to make a book. Thanks for being a part of mine.

Facebook Live

So here it is. I'll be doing a live reading of Chapter One of Songbird on Facebook this Saturday evening, at 7:00 p.m. eastern.

The e-book will drop at midnight, and pre-orders for the paperback are open now, as well, which means it should arrive pretty quickly thereafter. Since I'm with a small press, they do print-on-demand through a company called Ingram Spark, which means no one - publisher, bookstore or writer - gets stuck with a pile of books they possibly can't sell. (Not that I want that to happen, but none of us have money to burn, so I love this option). POD books happen just about as quickly as regular books, and if you're an Amazon Prime member, as most of us seem to be (free shipping or Prime Video, they get us coming and going), you'll get free shipping as well.

Tune in if you can. Or if you can't, check out the video on my Facebook page later. It'll stay there, for posterity, or until I can't take it anymore.

Spam?

Well, this makes it feel more real.

Amazon is spamming me to buy my own book.

Hopefully I'm not the only one.

Upwards of 20 pre-orders so far. Hoping for more - Amazon promotes books more heavily if they have pre-orders.

But then again, 20+ already. I'm not complaining. I'm actually a little verklempt, if you want to know the truth.

Pre-orders are up!

I have the enormous (really, enormous) pleasure to announce that pre-orders are up on Amazon for the e-book version of Songbird. The paperback pre-order should be up shortly (I've seen the finalized paperback format, so it's probably just a matter of Amazon getting all their ducks in a row).

But it exists. In my head. On paper. Online. On Amazon.

Yikes.

Join me in a happy dance, will you?