I have a pile of news. My next story, Skybound, has a blurb and an excerpt up on its Riptide page. And it's up on its Goodreads page here. After going through something like 7 betas/author-peers, 2 edits, 3 proofers, and working through 15 versions of that text, I'm exhausted and happy as if I'd built a house with my own hands. And people thought writing short stories was easy!
Also, there seems a sudden increased interest in Scorpion, which I always thought was a bit of a commercial failure. Sales numbers of that are pretty sad, so I was quite pleasantly surprised when there was a noticeable uptick in sales and reviews in the last quarter. And people seem to like it. Since it's the little book that I wrote despite a great load of shit going down, I'm pleased as pie.
As of last month, Risky Maneuvers, written with Barbara Sheridan and published by Loose Id has reverted to us. That's why the page on my website is down. Barbara and I feel that we want to re-imagine the story, possibly as a series, and re-do the whole thing.
That's the thing about growing as an author--I'm continuously dissatisfied with my backlist. To quote one of my own stories, the weakest shall be slain. So I've cast a long, flinty-eyed look at some old releases and revoked publication on Blood Run Cold and Test of Faith, both of which would need serious reworking, and I'm not sure I can recast my part of the vision. Things are even more complex when you've lost touch with the co-writer.
Generally, I'm committed to work at the top of my game every single time, and there comes a time when my backlist does not reflect that. I know that that might seem a little bit weird, but I'm from print. I'm actually glad that at my first four print books are now out of print (and will not see a life e-publishing). I'm a much better writer now, and I don't want to have flawed work out there. So, being able to pull work that no longer reflects me has replaced the "went out of print" as a saving grace. I most definitely do not want to charge for that work. I don't want money for a flawed job. So, those books will vanish from my website.
Also, there seems a sudden increased interest in Scorpion, which I always thought was a bit of a commercial failure. Sales numbers of that are pretty sad, so I was quite pleasantly surprised when there was a noticeable uptick in sales and reviews in the last quarter. And people seem to like it. Since it's the little book that I wrote despite a great load of shit going down, I'm pleased as pie.
As of last month, Risky Maneuvers, written with Barbara Sheridan and published by Loose Id has reverted to us. That's why the page on my website is down. Barbara and I feel that we want to re-imagine the story, possibly as a series, and re-do the whole thing.
That's the thing about growing as an author--I'm continuously dissatisfied with my backlist. To quote one of my own stories, the weakest shall be slain. So I've cast a long, flinty-eyed look at some old releases and revoked publication on Blood Run Cold and Test of Faith, both of which would need serious reworking, and I'm not sure I can recast my part of the vision. Things are even more complex when you've lost touch with the co-writer.
Generally, I'm committed to work at the top of my game every single time, and there comes a time when my backlist does not reflect that. I know that that might seem a little bit weird, but I'm from print. I'm actually glad that at my first four print books are now out of print (and will not see a life e-publishing). I'm a much better writer now, and I don't want to have flawed work out there. So, being able to pull work that no longer reflects me has replaced the "went out of print" as a saving grace. I most definitely do not want to charge for that work. I don't want money for a flawed job. So, those books will vanish from my website.
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