Publication Date for Wintermoon Ice

Wintermoon Ice

Wintermoon Ice, the first volume of Sons of the Mariner, will be coming on September 7th!

Also, as you can see above on the tab heading, I have added a new page on my blog for Sons of the Mariner.  It is the second set of books I have written about  the Gyre Cosmos.

I’m really a little bit surprised to suddenly be the published author of two series. It seems, sometimes, like I’ve just started writing.

Here is the tagline for Wintermoon Ice:

An unexpected inheritance throws Tessa into the arms of a volatile alien-hunting mariner and challenges everything she understands about time and space.

Strangely enough, I thought I was writing another Fantasy book, but my publisher informs me that because this one has Aliens and Time Travel it is actually Science Fiction! Plus a dash of romance of course…

 

Steady Progress

The progress bar for Summermoon Fire continues to inch over, and I finished chapter fourteen last night.  Unfortunately I didn’t get quite to the end of the allotted amount of story, so I might have to add a chapter to the end.  I’m aiming for 90-95k words.  My present publisher, Mushroom Ebooks, is evaluating the first book in this series, Wintermoon Ice, right now, but I don’t know if they will pick it up or not.

So the end is in sight, and I am really not sure where I am going after that.  Part of me says I have finished (or mostly finished) six books in the last four years, and maybe I should be taking a break?  I’d like to go back to school for awhile, and study a foreign language, or possibly update my job skills.  I have a minor in computer science, from the days when you input programs by punch cards.  I’d have to do practically a whole new degree to get up to speed on that, but it would be challenging.

OR…

I could start a new book, perhaps in a different genre.  I’m not tired of fantasy, exactly, but sometimes I think it’s too easy to get caught in the same old storyline ruts.  I’m wondering about doing a sweeping historical fiction, a la Leon Uris, about some heretofore unvisited portion of human events.  Doing the research would be a lot of fun.

OR…

I also like the idea of writing geographical fiction, where the setting becomes the main character and people come and go across the landscape.  I don’t know if anyone has ever done such a book, and if they haven’t, I can guess why.  Most people would probably want to read a satisfying story arc about other people, not a mountain or river.  But still, I find the idea appealing, maybe because I have a degree in geography.

I’d have to publish either of the other two books under a different name, so as not to confuse the people who associate Suzanne Francis (which isn’t my real name, BTW) with fantasy.

Decisions, decisions…

 

Finished!

Almost exactly three months to the day I started writing, the first draft of Wintermoon Ice is done! Yaya!  I had actually planned to make it a little longer, but I when I finished a certain paragraph, all of a sudden it felt complete. I kept trying to add things after that point, and it just didn’t work.

Now I have to put it away for a couple of weeks, until I can look at it with a little bit of objectivity.  In the meantime, school holidays approach, meaning the house will be noisy and crowded.  Probably not the best time to start the sequel, Summermoon Fire.  But maybe I can write a short story or two…

:: :: :: :: :: :: :: ::

 

Half Past

Just went past the halfway point for Wintermoon Ice, and I’m feeling pretty good. Even though I got hardly anything done yesterday, what with life and all intervening! 🙂 I had to get the car repaired and then inspected, meet with my son’s teacher, answer about twenty phone calls, talk to my parents via Skype, and then have a meeting with our Japanese homestay’s coordinator. Not to mention, cleaning, cooking, helping with homework etc etc.

The snow is pouring down outside, the fire is lit, and I am trying to finish all the laundry. But it looks like a good day for writing a book called Wintermoon Ice! I’ve made a vow not to go anywhere and let the answering machine get all the calls today. Who knows? It might work out.

:: :: :: :: :: :: :: ::

 

Dawnmaid Complete!

Progress continues on Dawnmaid.  After two more quick exchanges the editing is finished, and will probably appear on the virtual shelves next week sometime.

It is school holidays here in New Zealand.  Winter term break, so two weeks of playing in the snow, and  playing video games inside by the fire.  I expect my progress with Wintermoon Ice will slow as a result.

What I am listening to:  Niafunke/Ali Farka Touré

What I am reading: The Illustrated Encyclopedia of Ship and Boats/ Graham Blackburn

:: :: :: :: :: :: :: ::