November felt like I was drowning in travel plans – first we had a couple trips for regattas, then a trip to CA to see family with a quick visit to Ted’s parents on the way way, another visit to his parents for Thanksgiving, and then I had to reserve hotels and such for a vacation in Florida in January. It will be a road trip so there are a lot of hotels needed plus a car and cat sitter.
But! December gave me plenty of time at home and my beta readers were speedy, so now the The Heart of Percival is just about ready to go to my editor (maybe a few more tweaks…) She was able to make space in her calendar earlier than we’d planned, so I will be sending it off at the end of December. I wasn’t planning on starting the still-nameless Percival Book 3 until Book 2 was out in the world, but between the time until I send the THoP manuscript out and the time the editor needs to work through it, I’ve got almost a month. Which is why I got the first thousand words of Book 3 written yesterday.
I’ve also been playing with ideas for what to do PP (Post-Percival) because I think I am going to stick to my original intention to make it a trilogy rather than a longer series. Not saying I won’t ever come back to Percival, but if I do it will be a different story or another different main character. (There might also be a short story or two.)
One more thing: My short time-travel story, The SubTime Station, has now been published in The Sands of Time, a collection presenting SF stories from fans of Jodi Taylor’s Chronicles of St Mary’s series. So far it just seems to be available on Amazon (US | UK | Australia | Canada ). All profits go to charity.
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Working on the next thing
While Together in Percival is off with its beta readers, I’m trying to get some work done on the next thing. I think of it as the Rowhouse Book, but the currently planned real title is “Other Duties As Required,” though that’s subject to change. It’s being a…
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A Plan – and some book recommendations
I think I have a Plan. It could even be called a Cunning Plan, as it dovetails the publication of Percival 3 (or as I like to call it, George III, the Mad One) nicely with some upcoming travel plans. However, it has one risk factor: it depends…
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What do authors do after a book release?
Other than drinking champagne, of course. A Heart in Percival was released on March 20 on Amazon, but I’m still working on getting it published on Ingram, so that indie bookstores and libraries who don’t like to buy on Amazon can get it there. (I’m currently waiting for…
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Shortly before release day
I am officially past the point when I can change or edit my book before Amazon publication now – or at least, I am for the paperback and will be for the e-book at midnight. The Library of Congress Control number came through just a couple days ago,…
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State of the Author, early March 2026
Almost everything is done for Book 2 (The Heart of Percival, but my working file is still called “George II”. ) All the text has been edited, beta-read, re-edited, professionally edited – twice – and rechecked one final time, and it’s all been uploaded to Amazon. I would…
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Free: First Chapter of The Heart of Percival
Or scroll down if you prefer to read inline Chapter One: Adjustments It was a really good party. This was the first one I’d thrown in years, so that was a relief. It was good enough that most people stayed until after midnight. (And when you’re past forty,…
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About Release Dates
One of the big differences between traditional and self-publishing is around release dates. When you’re working with a big publisher, they choose the release date and it depends on a lot of things including marketing and their other planned releases. As a result, there’s typically a long wait…
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Quick update (Status of the Author, Feb 2026)
I’m still well on track for releasing The Heart of Percival by the middle of March (though Amazon shows a later date – that’s for safety since they let you pull dates in but not push them out. I’ve incorporated all of the editor’s feedback, and now I’m…
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Books about stuff
Book 3, as yet untitled, is cruising along – well over 11,000 words! We’re heading out next week for a road trip, no idea how much I’ll get done on travel but I am taking my laptop. Meanwhile, the books I’ve been reading are making unexpected links in…
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Status of the Author, December 2025
November felt like I was drowning in travel plans – first we had a couple trips for regattas, then a trip to CA to see family with a quick visit to Ted’s parents on the way way, another visit to his parents for Thanksgiving, and then I had…