Stop the Madness! No, Don’t!

posted in: Various Musings | 7

Sometimes I bite off more than I can chew.  I’ve done that this year—big time.  It’s all good, but I’m feeling a little stressed and wonder if I should spend more time marketing myself and less time writing.  The problem is I only want to write.  Yes, I also want to interact with readers, but I absolutely hate the marketing aspect of writing.

Ah, well.  For now, I’m not going to worry about that.  I’m going to write.  And here’s what’s on the horizon…

  • Substitute Boyfriend.  This story will be in the anthology Hot Summer Nights, coming out August 3.  I’m still waiting for beta notes from one more reader, and then after polishing it up, I have to ship it off to the powers that be.  I’m proud to be in this anthology with these other awesome writers:  Abbie St.  Claire, Avery Claire, Courtney Cross, Geri Foster, JW Phillips, Kelly Collins, Kimmie Easley, Lacey Davis, and Rachael Orman.  I’ve truly enjoyed working with these ladies, and I can’t wait for you to read this collection of HOT stories. 

Substitute Boyfriend is the story of Elizabeth Slade, a college English teacher who moonlights as an indie erotica author.  She struggles with writing sex scenes until she finds hot guy Ridley who helps her act them out as her pretend boyfriend.  When she catches him getting cozy with another woman, she turns to her best friend Roman who becomes a substitute for Ridley, and then she finds herself having to choose between the two.

  • Punctured, Bruised, and Barely Tattooed is a story that you’ll be able to read in the Inked anthology.  I and four great writer friends (JM Walker, Stacy Gail, K. Pinson, and Scarlett Metal) are all penning stories that center around all things tattooed.  I’m almost halfway through writing this story, and I’m the one who set the deadline of first drafts due July 10.  Let’s see if I can write 30,000 words in four days.  That would be a personal best.  Hell, at this rate, I’ll be very happy if I can get ‘er done in the next seven days.  That would still be close to target, close enough for everything else to fall neatly into place.

Punctured is Kory’s story.  She’s lusted after hot tattoo artist Stone for a while now, and—on a dare—she asks him out on a date.  He’s hiding a secret, but so is she.  Could her secret ruin their relationship before it starts?  Before I began writing this story, I thought it was going to be lighthearted and fun, but HOLY SHIT.  It’s dark.  It’s sweet, sure, but I didn’t know I was going to be wading in dark territory until I got there.

Here’s what’s coming up, and damn…I’d love to be able to do all of this before 2014 is over, but we shall see.  Please cross your fingers for me.

  • Secret Project #1—a short story for a collection for a book signing event.  This one has to be done soon.  You will see this at some point.  It will probably involve characters from Bullet, but I haven’t decided yet.
  • Secret Project #2—a Christmas anthology I’ve been invited to be a part of.  I have no f*cking idea what I’m writing for this yet, but it has to come after, because it’s due early October.
  • Seal All Exits—I’ve got to get this written before someone pulls an Annie Wilkes on me.  It’s Heather and Keifer’s story (Tangled Web #3), and it too is darker than I’d at first anticipated.  I’ve already bought a blog tour package for this baby, so I just need to get my ass in gear and finish writing it!
  • Boiling Point—This is going to be Feverish 1.5, a novella that will launch the Feverish series.  It will focus on Clay and Emily when Last Five Seconds goes on tour.
  • Slash and Burn—This is Nick’s story, Bullet #5, and the plot is entirely hammered out in my head.  I cannot wait to start writing this one.
  • Savage—This is a zombie story.  Yes, a zombie story, but also a story of nostalgia, of regrets, of longing and fear.  This one’s been brewing for a while and I’m still working out all the details, but I think it’s gonna be good.  Yes, there will also be sex, but not sex with zombies.  *Whew*
  • Another story for Pink Shades of Words, volume 2.  I have to get that done late this year too for publication in early 2015.

Yeah…that’s what I want to finish this year.  I’ve already got some things slated for early 2015—Nicki Sosebee #10, Lies, and that too is mostly plotted in my head.  Also another anthology and my story will revolve around a firefighter.  Man, is it getting hot in here?

Okay, so after writing this, I’m thinking I just wasted so much time writing about my plans when I could have been writing a story.  Just kidding.  If you see a little less of me on social networks, that’s why.  I’m feeling the pressure and I have a lot on my plate.  I’ve been known in the past to write about a book a month, so if I can manage that, I might be able to meet all these deadlines.  Please cross your fingers for me.  😉

7 Responses

  1. Lynea

    Woohoo…. Looking forward to Boiling Point…and…. Slash and Burn…. !!!

      • Lynea

        Relax and take your time, I have plenty of books on my TRL to hold me over while waiting for them to be release…!! Happy Writing… Happy Reading…! Hugs..!!

        • Jade

          😀 I wish! I have to get them out of my head!!! Then I can relax!

Leave a Reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *

This site uses Akismet to reduce spam. Learn how your comment data is processed.