I’m SO excited to share with you the cover for my second novel, Elude.
Escaping is hard. Surviving is harder.
Aster has lived a life of servitude for ten years, but now she is determined to be free. Countless Reapers stand between her and the gate to New Bethel, and more await just past the walls. She’s spent her life being invisible, but in a world full of assassins, becoming close to any of them only makes you a target for the rest. Every step she takes puts her in more danger, closer to Reapers with unknown intentions. Unexpected friendships develop, but can she really trust any Reaper when they’ve all been trained to deceive? Aster and Chase know what awaits them outside the city, but can they get past it?
In Aster’s journey for freedom, she learns there are some things in life you can’t ever truly escape from, and that some steps can’t ever be taken back.
My apologies again for being somewhat absent as of late. I’ve been super busy, yet somehow found myself feeling like a chicken with its head cut off. I’ll be even busier starting tomorrow (or, er, today?), but the head will be (somehow) reattached. It’s kind of like I’ve been running around aimlessly, trying to get things done while I was waiting for other things to get done, and not actually being productive in the slightest. Now I have a set direction and can get on with it, which seems to pretty much be the only way I can function. Straight lines. I need straight lines to be efficient. Finally got my straight line(s) back.
It’s time to start the big busyness part of time before the release of book two in the Reave Series. (busybusybusy)
Here is what the schedule looks like as of now:
This morning (before bed), I’ll be getting the last copy of book two back.
TONIGHT (after waking up), I WILL HAVE THE COVER/BLURB REVEAL FOR BOOK TWO. Stay tuned for that, folks. I’m kind of in love with this cover. (‘Kind of’ was an under-exaggeration.)
After that, I will start going through the book, which won’t take me long in that form. I’ll make a few last-minute changes (very carefully) wherever necessary, then go through it one more time before starting to format.
Formatting will take up a decent chunk of time, but hopefully that goes as smoothly as the first did.
Then it’s back cover done.
Then it’s checking to ensure it all looks right (formatting-wise).
Then it’s ordering the proof.
Then it’s waiting for the proof to arrive.
Then it’s going through the proof to make sure there are no issues with it.
Then it’s waiting to release (which I don’t suspect I’ll be waiting long for).
I’m going to be trying very hard to get it out on the date I’ve been intending since the initial push-back. Unless there’s some unplanned setback (which is possible), I should be able to make it. I’ll give that date with the big reveal tonight. Please, someone, cross your fingers for me.
(Also, a little end-note: I absolutely HATE writing blurbs. If I hadn’t gotten help on this one, I don’t think I would’ve been even remotely happy with it. I can’t do shoutouts with links to several of the people who helped me, but I can give one to Bitter Ben.)
(Another end-note: Wording in the blurb is subject to change before release, but only minutely.)
It’s pretty rare for me to post on here about things that aren’t book or work related, past that streak of Friday Music posts. (If I’m ever on here more often, I’ll get back to those.) I’ll make comments here and there amid work-related posts about going to see a movie or something. You RARELY get something the likes of Merlin on here.
You’re getting something like that today.
Husband and I were watching some unknown thing the other day, but I’ll say it was probably Wild Things with Dominic Monaghan (which I sort of fell in love with about a month or so ago, on accident). While we usually fast-forward through commercials, we accidentally caught one for this new show called Almost Royal.
If anyone has seen the preview for that show, you very well might understand why I had, “Me and Georgie are friends with benefits,” stuck in my head for DAYS. I’ll say this is the first time – to my recollection – that I’ve actually LOOKED UP when a show was going to start. (They usually slip by me because I’m too busy to remember what shows I even want to watch.)
Next week. I can live with that.
So there I was yesterday, wanting to watch that preview again because it’s just so . . . RIDICULOUS. My phone was being uncooperative (or I was being lazy, I can’t remember which), so Husband looked it up On Demand. And waddya know? There was a FULL EPISODE on there.
We turn it on. Within about . . . three minutes, I was in tears. I kept thinking, ‘I’m going to stop laughing here in a bit. Really. Something not-funny is going to happen, and I’ll stop laughing.’ I did not stop laughing. I had tears in my eyes the entire time. I am not kidding. Every time something a little less-funny happened, I was still laughing from the last funny thing until the next really-funny thing happened.
At the end of that show, my husband said, “I’ve never heard you laugh that much.”
I laugh pretty easily. I’m far too easily amused. I small-laugh A LOT, but I’m lucky to get a couple BIG LAUGHS in every day. For one, my BIG LAUGH is a horrible sound to hear, and I’d rather not torture anyone with it. For another, while I get amused by the smallest things (even the lamest of jokes will get to me), I rarely find things hilarious. Almost Royal is hilarious.
I’m honestly not too big a fan of the comedy genre, in movies or television. There are a few exceptions, obviously, but with most comedies, the filthy and legitimately-funny ratio isn’t balanced enough for me. (Don’t ask me how I write books, please. I often wonder why I get put-off by some things and not others, or different deliveries of the same things.) It was pretty recent that I started opening myself up a little more to them, rather than bundling them all together and just assuming I wouldn’t enjoy them. I watched Community. I really like Modern Family. I REALLY fell in love with Enlisted, which might only be funny if you’ve known people in the military. If you’ve seen Enlisted, look at Randy. He’s my favorite character. That’s my preferred type of humor (apart from the witty sort) – silly and more than a bit ridiculous. LIGHTHEARTED.
No matter how much I’ve opened myself up to the genre, how many ‘comedy shows’ I’ve watched . . . I have not laughed like I did yesterday. I haven’t laughed to the point of tears for an entire episode of anything ever.
You remember Jackass? I’m not talking about the newest Jackass, when it got too over-the-top (now I’m thinking about the movie Over the Top). I’m talking about OLD Jackass (now I’m hearing, “You old jackass,” in my head, which would probably only be funny if you could hear the accents I hear on a daily basis), where people just did ridiculous things and it was funny.
The first time I saw Jackass, I was in eighth grade, at my best friend’s house. It was on. I had no idea what it was. But I heard, “TODAY, WE SHALL JOUST!” and I was hooked. (At least until it got too over-the-top and overdone for me.) I laughed to the point of tears more times than I know due to that show (rhyming). [‘People riding shopping carts into bushes? This is amazing!’ I’m telling you, I’m too easily amused.]
In one episode, I would take Almost Royal over ANY of those funny shows. As much as I love Enlisted (I really do), I would take Almost Royal over it. One episode.
Who am I kidding? I was hooked with the preview.
That’s the awesome thing about it. I honestly can’t remember the last time I was REALLY looking forward to something like I was with this, then wasn’t disappointed with the final product. I always get disappointed when I hype things up in my head. I was not disappointed with this.
The point of this entry is: Watch the show. At least watch the preview that started it for me. (I’ll include it below.) You might not like it. If you do like it, I sincerely doubt you’ll think it’s as funny as I do. But still . . . just check it out. It seriously deserves to be checked out. I do not know how they can keep straight faces for that. I don’t know.
If I get just one more person to become a fan of this show, I’ll feel that I’ve done my part.
That’s all, apart from saying that I’ll be having the cover reveal for my next book this week (if everything goes according to plan). Stay tuned! 🙂
So, I’ve been completely absent for nearly a month now. I need to apologize for that.
(I’m sorry!)
It wasn’t planned. I wish I could blame Mercury being in retrograde again, but it is right now and honestly when it started is around the time I started getting everything straightened out. That would’ve made sense (or as much sense as Mercury in retrograde actually makes) as to what was going on with me several weeks ago. I don’t have the excuse.
Do you ever have one of those days where you’re just . . . bleh about everything? Of course you do. We all do.
I had a little more than a week of that. I don’t know what was up with it, but I seriously couldn’t force myself to do much of anything. I worked a little here and there, and just wasn’t feeling it no matter what I tried to work on. Wrote up a few blog posts during that time. Didn’t post them. Then I gave up and just played Skyrim until I felt a little more like myself. I take that back. I played Skyrim until I reached the point of, “I need to work regardless of how I feel. I’ve got too much s*** to do.” Then I worked until I felt more like myself.
I do have my theories to explain the weirdness. I think I was (and still am) overwhelmed. I was bogged down by not just trying to get this second book ready, but trying to get OTHER books ready (so I can eventually focus more attention on new things), also trying to work on new things, all the while trying to figure out how in the world to balance social stuff (at least the internet-sort). I’m used to working a lot (all the time) and prefer it that way, but I think I just hit some weird sort of breaking point that stole absolutely every bit of my motivation/drive. I did NOT like it. I’m used to being stoked to get out of bed every day so I can get to work.
There were also a few road blocks to getting book 2 ready, which left me kind of fumbling around not knowing what to do or what to say to anyone. So I stayed off everything until I would have something a bit more definitive to say.
Let’s see . . .
I have to delay book 2 a bit. Not long, but I was hoping to have it out within the next few days (with my projection). Not going to hit that projection. I don’t have a more set day yet, but I should be able to give everyone an update within a week or so. (*fingers crossed*)
I should have an update about the cover within the week as well. All I can say there is that it’s in the works.
I did (most of) another run-through of the trilogy. I’m currently part of the way through the last book, RIGHT AT the part where the time line flub starts. I wanted to be able to tell everyone I’d finally gotten that fixed, but I can’t because I haven’t.
I did some writing here and there on a few different things. The standalone short story that goes along with the Reave series, and also the ‘spin-off’ (of sorts). I actually got quite a lot done on the former of those.
Book 3 of the Reave Series is already in the hands of a beta-reader and has been for a couple weeks now. I’m really happy to report that people are liking the second book more than the first (LIKE ME!). I’m even happier to say that, last time I checked, my beta-reader was liking the third book even more than the second. (YAAAAAY! That’s SUCH a relief.)
Said beta-reader gave me cupcakes in exchange for B3, so I wasn’t joking before about taking bribes in all forms of cake. Not really. I was going to give her that one anyway, but I do love all forms of cake. By the way, THEY WERE THE MOST DELICIOUS CUPCAKES EVER. Not joking there, or exaggerating.
I passed on an opportunity to go back to Florida with my sister. I’ve been upset about that. I wanted to go, but there’s just TOO MUCH going on right now and I couldn’t justify being gone for ten days. Sad face.
I’ve been going back and forth about whether to release the third book in the Reave Series after the second, or to release the first in the trilogy. I haven’t decided yet. I’ve been wobbling about that for a few months now, but I’m leaning more toward first in the trilogy. That will all depend on a few variables, and I’ll keep you all updated either way.
Let’s see . . .
I went through books 3 & 4 in the RS as well during all this time. I didn’t print them out due to how few changes I made on book 2 the last run-through. Couldn’t justify ‘wasting’ money on the ink . . .
It gave me migraines. I hate going through books on screens, for so many reasons. I probably won’t do that again, ink costs or not. I really don’t know how people can use e-readers. >.< Well, I do know, but I just can’t do the ‘screen’ thing. I digress . . .
I think that’s really about it.
I just need to get my What’s in the works? page updated now to reflect all this and whatnot.
I’ll try to be on here a little more often. There will be a few days (hopefully soon) that I won’t be able to, due to busyness with B2, but I will definitely say something on here before that. I hope nobody else was bitten by the zero-motivation bug. That was seriously one of the worst things ever for me. I hope it never finds me again.
C. Miller 