Nominations Open

I don’t know how successful I’ve been following the injunction I’m posting today… My manuscript is about one-third the way through the nominations process with Kindle Scout. So far my campaign really only gets visibility when I spam my Facebook friends–and not as much as I’d hoped, at that. Honestly, in all likelihood, it was always going to be a hard sell to try to get an F/F sci-fi romance any kind of mainstream acceptance. But… nothing ventured, nothing gained. And if Kindle Press passes on the book, everyone who nominated it will get the notification of what the purchase link is when it goes on sale under my more accustomed KKP imprint.

🙂

Aside from all those underlying nerves, I missed posting last week because I was traveling for my day job–to Boston, MA, Nashua, NH, and Newport News, VA. (For anyone interested in my day job, one of the projects I manage was recently covered in Popular Science. A project that’s not ours, but in a closely related field–and sure fodder for future sci-fi plot bunnies–was written up in New Atlas last month. I find it fascinating to work in a place that develops software that could easily extend into one of my stories.)

Traveling didn’t leave a lot of time for thinking seriously about my own writing. Every day away was much longer than usual, but the various flights were an excellent opportunity to finish Annie Bellet’s Twenty-Sided Sorceress series. It was excellent; well-written UF/PNR that was fast-paced, engaging, and a slightly different take on what makes a person a good person. The only downside was that most of the books ended on cliff-hangers that made it impossible not to buy the next book right away. Luckily for me (and for my phone, which was at risk of being thrown across the room!), the series is available in its entirety, so I was able to satisfy my need to know without stewing for too long.

Also in the past week, the first in The Hotel Paranormal series came out. For those of you who don’t remember, it’s a series by a wide range of authors that all send their characters to The Hotel at some point in their stories. The first one up: Death Chaser, by Xandra James. I read that one while I was underway as well, and enjoyed it almost as much as Bellet’s series. It reminded me a bit of “Dead Like Me” with an additional supernatural twist.

I’m going to have to watch that I don’t spend so much time keeping up with what my fellow contributors are writing that I neglect my own word count… The third in my Red Slaves series currently stands at 29,749 words, well past the halfway point in its first-draft life, but not nearly done enough for me to start on MY installment in The Hotel Paranormal. I need to start making tracks.

Luckily, tomorrow is an American holiday, and I extended my holiday weekend by another day, so even though we’re getting back into the swing of long walks with the dogs and gardening duties we’ve neglected for a while, I should have some time to get back into the writing flow this week. I’m crossing my fingers that I’ll finish the trilogy’s story before the end of the month.

While I get back to work, I encourage you to check out how my ROW80 compadres are managing their goals. I’ll be back again next week to report on my progress.