My very talented cover artist Meg Bawden has a huge July sale! She offers her premade covers and custom covers for 25% off! Don’t miss the chance and grab yourself a cover!
More at her web page Bawd Designs
Category: Random
General Update: Waiting, waiting and no idea what to write
I think it’s time for a general update. So, what’s new?
I finished edits on my DRitC story Alex’s Surprise (Unexpected #1) and it will release within the next ten days. I should get the exact date today or tomorrow. I’m giddy like hell!
The follow up, Saving Alex (Unexpected #2) is with my editor and since it’s the first time working with Harper Jewel, I’m really curious what she’ll say. I’ve set tentatively release date on July 1st, but that depends on the edits. I’ve already signed up with Amazon, ARe and Smashwords, and I’m itching to put up Saving Alex for preorder. It’s an amazing feeling to do all that stuff by myself.
My next project is a story for MLR, which is due in August and editing my novel, Small Steps, so I can submit it. I’m also ready to write Gerome’s story (which would be Unexpected #3) and then there’s the second book to Small Steps which I really want to write…
You see, so many stories, yet I can’t settle on one. A few days ago, I started a workshop (by Rhonda Helms) about deep POV. Now I’m hesitant to write something new since I want to use as much as possible from the workshop, but then, not writing feels so odd, I can’t do that. 🙂
I’m totally behind with my reviews, so I’ll try to catch up there and then I’ll edit Small Steps, in the hope of submitting it in the next few weeks. Wish me luck!
Oh, the picture is the book mark my cover designer made for me. Isn’t it awesome?
Seven facts about my writing
Since I got tagged on facebook to reveal 7 facts about my writing, I thought I’d share with you here as well. Let’s start:
1. I was a complete non-plotter until I took a workshop about plotting. Since then I’m plotting and have increased my word count to 2.5k a day. I usually was happy if I managed 1k, so that’s a huge improvement.
2. Thanks to plotting, I recently finished my first novel. I wrote 65k in 6 weeks, which still amazes me. And it’s pretty coherent, with only very small tweaks necessary. I love it.
3. When I’m writing, I’m in a very strange headspace. It takes me a couple of sentences to get in there, and then the words flow.
4. If I’m in the right headspace, I get out about 1.5k in an hour.
5. Sometimes when I reread my own stuff, I’m wondering where this came from. It’s like another person wrote it. (I mean this in a good way.)
6. I’m writing on my couch, wrapped in a blanket, rock music playing in the background, although I don’t actually listen to the music.
7. I usually have to title for my stories until the very end. Sometimes I find it while writing, but it also happened that I finished a story and the title was still ‘novella’.
Writing Goals for 2015
I’m doing the House of Manlove Blog Hop about my writing goals for the new year.
Here they are:
I plan on finishing the sequel to Never Wrong early 2015. I’m already at about 13k, so it should be submitted by April.
Then I plan on finishing and polishing my novel What It Takes. It’ll be most likely August until it’s ready to be sent off.
And the third writing goal is to write the next book in the Love in Germany series. I’m hoping to be able to publish it before Christmas 2015.
As you see, I’ll be quite busy next year.
Thank you all for making my year 2014 so freaking great! I wish you an awesome 2015!
With all my love
Chris
Check out the goals of the other participants:
Linguistically Challenged
A writer friend, Helena Stone, had an idea about a blog after she saw that there were writers like her who are writing in a second or third language – English.
She asked around, and it seems we are quite a few! We agreed on answering some questions, and the first two posts on Helena’s blog are live now. Check them out, it’s quite funny to read.
I’m quite happy to see I’m not the only one who struggles with grammar sometimes. And I don’t feel strange anymore because I think in two languages and have to “switch” in my head.
I’ll keep you updated on new posts, and I hope you enjoyed reading about us linguistically challenged writers as much as I did. My turn to answer these questions will be soon, too!
Chris (who’s way too tired today to write anything else, no matter which language.)
A little update from Never Wrong: The line edits are done, and it will no go into proofreading. I don’t have a release date yet, but I hope I can show off the cover soon!
Awesome Metal fans in Germany
Last weekend 75,000 Metal fans visited Wacken to celebrate the Wacken: Open: Air 2014.
Now, when you think of Metal fans, you think of everything, but not blood cancer. But then, when you think about one of the biggest Metal Open Airs, you wouldn’t think of a small town in Germany. But the citizens of Wacken are helping to organize this event, and it’s one of the most beautiful, and most peaceful around the world.
This year there was an unusual action during Wacken 2014:
A huge typing campaign in the fight against blood cancer. The daughter of one of the initiators is sick, and she needs a donor in order to survive. Maybe one of the thousands that were willing to get registered is a fitting blood match, and she has a chance. I hope so.
I just find it awesome to use such a festival to reach so many people and find some potential donors, even if it was held because of personal reasons. The database of potential donors has now thousands of new blood examples. If only one person can be saved now, great. Even more? Better.
I wish the girl all the best. May they find a fitting donor.
And if you think about visiting Wacken 2015, it’s already sold out. 🙂
Chris
Chris McHart 