My summer living is better than this past spring when I had a lingering sickness for a solid month which continued as the doldrums until mid-May.
Needless to say, my writing schedule exploded and rained the fragments upon me.
publications to announce for Summer
Even with all of the problems, the ideas never stopped, just the time and energy for the writing of those ideas. Here’s what has developed —
Sailing with Mystery ~ a short story collection that follows artist Isabella Newcombe Tarrant on her ocean voyage from England. She sails on a passenger ship to join her husband Madoc in India.
Four of the five stories are currently available in e-book.
“Amber Dreams” ~ Blackmail threatens a young bride. Can Isabella recover a stolen diary before the bride loses all hope?
“Purple Poison” ~ Poison pen letters filled with vicious invective attack the passengers on the ship Nomadic. Will Isabella discover the culprit before tragedy occurs?
“Black Heart” ~ A trickster targets the passengers aboard ship. When one prank causes injury, can Isabella locate the trickster before the next mishap turns deadly?
“Silver Web” ~ Accusations fly when passengers discover a jewel thief at work. When the thief dies, proof of theft in his hand, will Isabella locate his accomplice and the missing jewelry before they reach the next port?
The fifth and final story for Summer is “Red Mask”.
Isabella receives a disturbing letter—only for it to be stolen before she deciphers it. The letter claims that a spy is aboard, but is that the only person hiding their true identity on the passenger ship?
. ~. ~ . ~ .
Sailing with Mystery, the collection, will publish very soon after the final short story. The ebook will be up very quickly, with the paperback and the audiobook in the following weeks.
After Summer Fun, Autumn Mystery
These short stories injected themselves, wholly unexpectedly, into my writing schedule. I thought I waved goodbye to Isabella when I published Portrait with Death. Imagine my surprise when she demanded this ocean voyage while my writing brain was telling me to write something else.
That something else is the next novella in the series Miss Beale Writes: a Touch of Mystery, a Touch of Gothic, a Touch of Romance.
The Bride in Ghostly White is a Victorian gothic, and I can’t wait to see this mystery develop.
The Bride will pair with The Dark Lord, which came out in Winter 2022.
Following in the Miss Beale Writes series are medieval / renaissance and cavalier / Georgian novella.
All of these stories will definitely keep me busy.
At The Write Focus, we are wincing whenever we step outdoors. After a wettish June with moderate temperatures, July brought the sudden onslaught of high temperatures and dry days. That means fine mornings in the shade until the sun and steam of summer drives us inside.
The best way to beat the summer’s heat is with distractions. The best distractions give us an incentive to achieve more and more. How do we achieve more and more? We set and pursue our writing goals: Write More, Learn More.
Write More this Summer
The Write Focus featured the June Writing Challenge. Host M.A. Lee set a goal of 1,000 words per day, starting on the 1st and continuing to the 30th.
In addition to the weekly check-in for the Challenge, each of June’s Wednesday episodes offered information about writing.
1st, the Stages of Writing, original idea to proof-plus & publish.
2nd, the age-old writer question of Plotter / Pantster / Puzzler and the 7 Steps of a Perfect Scene.
3rd, Writers and their Ideas
4th, Vaccine against the Writing Doldrums and commentary on an excerpt from Phyllis A. Whitney’s Guide to Fiction Writing.
The final Writing Challenge Check-in occurred at the first of the July 5 episode.
You can replay this challenge anytime, to receive ideas for your own craft and productivity.
Learn More this Summer
All through July and August is a series on Branding: the Way Writers Reach Readers. We talk brand creation for a book, a series, and a writer’s business.
Successful examples from previous bestselling series and authors focus on Ellis Peters’ Cadfael series, Tony Hillerman’s Leaphorn & Chee Navajo mysteries, and Elizabeth Peters’ Amelia Peabody series.
We capture browsing readers with 3 Glances and 6 Keys, all to develop the best cover, titles and taglines, and market copy (blurbs) for our books.
The series closes out with developing a short video script. The advertising world tells us that buyers need 7 sights of a product before they commit. Short videos are an active and interesting method to snag the readers’ attention for a couple of those “sights”.
Coming at Summer’s End
September starts a series on story structure: Plot ~ the foundation for every story.
Start with character, the writing gurus say [which we did, last January 🙂 and DiscoveringCharacters concluded in May]. The gurus are right about writing. Now we the best plot structure for our characters. To improve story craft and flow / pacing, we must focus on Discovering Plot.
Autumn’s Coming
Our next newsletter update will be in October.
Don’t sweat the Summer heat and humidity too much!
As always, thanks for listening to The Write Focus. We focus on productivity, process, craft, and tools. Our podcast is for newbies who want to become writing pros and veterans who are returning to writing after years away.
Listen on your favorite podcast site: from Apple to YouTube, Spotify and Podbean (my favs), Google Play, Amazon Music / Audible, Samsung and Player FM, Podcaster, the rivals iHeart and Tune-in, and too many to list.
Dragon – still imprisoned in the Wastes where they were banished after they lost the war against the Fae and Wizard and Mundane alliance following Dragon Dark. Rumors that they were once controlled by the Kyrgy. Massive wings, snake-like body, and a spiked tail. Only queens are fire-breathing; all others are only venomous, with large fangs to deliver poison. Long-lived but not very fertile. (Only queens nest.) Greatest dragon is Werthyrmir.
Fae – wielders of all the elements and exceptionally long-lived. They inhabit Faeron. In the past decade they have renewed alliance with the Wizard Enclave in order to defeat the threat of
Gobber – a stunted creature with round eyes, pointed teeth, and stubby claws. Always in a pack, rarely wear clothes over their thin fur.
Huldra – a mysterious creature, usually female, that lurks only and creates traps for the unwary. Rarely seen and only the Hinterlands of the Wilding and the Wastes. Traps and magical attacks are based upon the elemental power that the Huldra wields. A water Huldra uses ice; an air Huldra uses a sandstorm.
Kyrgy – Dark Fae who rule the Wilding. Krygy means “choosers of the Slain”. Marble-white skin, silver hair, slanted highbrows and sharply angled facial structure. Teeth are sharp points. Eyes are a full-black, with no white sclera. Long and slender limbs. Wielders of all four elemental powers. Supported by their riders, knights and dames who chose to serve them and have their lives extended.
Lindworm – a type of dragon, smaller than both the dragon and the wyvern. Vestigial wings near the head, snake-like in appearance. Only the females are fire-breathing; the males are poisonous with large fangs.
Ogre – Giant-sized and therefore larger than a troll, an ogre is solitary by nature although it will run with others in a pack. Bad-tempered, it usually prefers clubs and maces to other weapons. It dislikes arrows and hates spears. Most ogres have a hunched back and long arms. The skin is a mottled rock color.
Rhoghieri ~ wielders of elemental power. The wyre are their Rhos’ natural enemies. Rho can wield one of the pure elements: Earth, Air, Water, or Fire. They cannot wield the magic of wizardry or sorcery. Once allied to the wizards of the Enclave, they escaped the alliance—burdensome to them—about three generations ago.
Sprite – tiny winged creatures, with a spindly humanoid body and dragon-fly wings. Flashes brightly in various colors. Has a stinger; often called “jewel on a wing with a sting”. The apiary of sprites is ruled by a queen, her consorts, drones and workers.
Troll – a huge, lumbering creature, with mossy and warty growths, usually a shape of grey. Primarily cave-dwelling. Usually in a small group (three to five) or in a pack (10 or more) called a Trouble.
Wolfen / Wyre ~ shapeshifters, taking wolf-form. Ruled by a Prime, who can change and partial-change without limits. All others can shift only at a Moon-Turn (the 3 Lady Moons or the 3 Dragon Moons). Stronger shifters can partial shift. In order to shift out of Moon-Turn, sorcery must be employed. Wizardry does not affect the wyre, who usually ally with sorcerers. Elemental power can affect the wyre. Wyre hunt in packs and stay in lairs. The Prime is supported by a Second / Secondus, Tierce, Quartos, Quintos, Sextos, Septos, Octavos, Nunes, Decem. A full pack has 13 males and 13 females. When assigned to a sorcerer, a pack is usually 10 males with three females.
Wraith / Wight – a vaporous creature from Neotheora (the realm of the Dead Souls). When fed blood or other body substances, the wraith takes on a corporeal form. To say the name of a recent dead person is to give the Wraith a shape to mimic.
Wyvern – a type of winged dragon, smaller than a dragon. Venomous. Not able to breath fire. Four limbs plus the wings.
. ~ . ~ . ~ .
cover design for To Wield the Wind, bk 1 of Spells of Air, by Deranged Doctor Design
Characters in Spells of Air
Orielle – a wizard who has not passed her trials. She volunteered for the mission to enlist the Rhoghieri of Iscleft Haven for a new alliance against the sorcerers and wyre of Frost Clime. Named Aiwaz Solsken by the Kyrgy Knight Sir Sangrior. Assisted in her journey by Grim, a Rhoghieri mercenary from Iscleft Citadel, also on a journey to Iscleft Haven.
Brok – a sentry of Iscleft Haven, who has recently lost his wife Zairantze. Wielder of Earth. A childhood friend of Grim.
Fortis – a mentor of Iscleft Haven and childhood friend of Grim. Wielder of Fire.
Grim – a Rhoghieri of Iscleft Haven, wielder of Air, who has been a mercenary at Iscleft Citadel for the past few years.
Hackett – a mundane who came with Tobit to the Haven from Iscleft Citadel
Kristofen – a knight of Lady Bone’s
Lady Bone – the Kyrgy lady whose brother rules the Wilding
Lillias – a mentor of Iscleft Haven, wielder of Air
Lord Skull – the Krygy lord who rules the Wilding, brother to Lady Bone
Saircuista – a dame who rides with Lady Bone
Sangrior – a consort knight of Lady Bone
Skuld (see Lady Bone)
Surrect – a healer and mentor of Iscleft Haven, wielder of Water
Tobit – elder of Iscleft Haven, wielder of Earth
Trebetha – a wielder of Earth, voted in to replace Tobit.
Volk a consort knight of Lady Bone
Waren, married to Malva – a sentry of Iscleft Haven, friend to Brok and Grim
Zairantze – Brok’s late wife, a mundane missing from Iscleft Haven
Cover design for The Wyrded Forest, bk 1 in Spells of Earth, by Deranged Doctor Design
Characters in Spells of Earth
Desora / Adalse de Sora – a woman who has lost her wizardry following the backlash of a spell at Iscleft Citadel six years before. She wields Earth. Formerly of the Enclave Clan D’Aulnois.
Braxton – a captain who is seeking Desora. On leave from Iscleft Citadel, recently allied with Harte Regnant de Thettis, the Fae ruler of Bermarck, a sept of Faeron.
Granny Riding – wise woman in the village of Mulgrum
Griss – woodcutter’s helper
Guards from the Citadel – Klemt, Mannon and Challach.
Harte Regnant de Thettis – Maorn of the Bermarck sept of Faeron.
Lord Horst – ruler of the Wilding’s Northern Reaches. His riders include Morcain, Ehren, and others.
Merketh – a forester of Mulgrum turned into a wyre
Rangers detached from Maorn Harte – Alwin, Blaise, Dunstan, Ferrac, Gregoir, Imri, Ivhort, and Seire. Rangers are usually detachments of 10 in number; this detachment has lost Dunstan’s brother Waleran and Ivhort’s brother Vidorst.
Serron – Prime of the Wyre pack in the Wilding. Other wyre are Herlig ……
Skellig – elder of Mulgrum
Tammas – a friend of Teyja’s, son of the potters Estild and Ogrim.
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Writers Ink Books includes M.A. Lee, Remi Black, Edie Roones, and Emily Dunn.
