What's in a name - Take two...

The name of book two is now officially changed to Defending Walls. There. Are you happy, Oh Editor Mine?

So now we have: Icy Pavements, Defending Walls, Basilisk Stare and Shivered Glass.

Yeesh.

A good deal

Just found out that Legends has agreed to publish the remaining books in the series. I'm just as pleased and as proud as I can be.

The books (all 4) will be known as the "Herrick series" and, I believe will be released one per year in this order (subject to change): Icy Pavements, Song at Morning, Basilisk Stare, Shivered Glass.

And in between, I work on Damon and Pythias and any other ideas that crop up.

The wait is over!

My book has finally made it from the publisher to the reality of Amazon and other dealers (or will in the next several days). I have an ISBN and everything. (9781849238380)

Now... time to take a deep breath, and relax... because next week I must begin concentrating on promotional things.

And for your perusal, the back cover synopsis:

Peter Scudamore, a former captain in the Royalist Army, has unwittingly become a tool in a game much larger than it seems.

When Peter assists the English Queen in her escape to Paris , he finds himself caught up in the machinations of the infamous Corvay, a man determined to be the final word in espionage - and becomes friends with the enigmatic Guyon de Chesnay, a scholar and tutor of debate at the Sorbonne. Guyon's service, too, is eventually bought by Corvay, but at a price he is unwilling to disclose, and which is directly linked to the Archbishop de Retz of Paris .

As the two men fight to survive the intrigues of Court and Church, and those of a man who wants to gain power in his own right, they grow closer to each other in ways that neither one would ever have expected.

And more delays...

It's starting to be amusing in a way that is completely NOT. *L* Galleys are returned but still no word as to an actual release date.

On another note, I have too much to fit into Book 3 - Yipes. Looks like that may have to be split, but then how do I reconcile the conflict that I've already set up? Decisions, decisions.

Ah, well, at least I'm getting things done, which is more than I can say for the publisher. *G*

Galleys

Galleys were received, checked and sent back to the publisher. Hopefully, this is a good sign that they are actually going to stick to the June 1st release date. *crosses fingers*

Book 2 - complete. *pats it*

Book 3 - well on it's way. Now... how much do I know about Church law? Not enough.. time for more study.

Damon & Pythias - on hold for Book 3, at the moment.

And now my editor is wanting an outline, or at least prodding strongly for me to set up plotlines for a second Herrick trilogy set about 20 years after the end of Book three.

I really need to quit my day job. Really.

Note to self: Win the lottery so that day job may be quit.

Understanding comes too late

One of the marvellous things about being busy with editing spaces in your galley proof is just how time-consumed you actually are.

One of the not-so-marvellous things is realising that yes, you did in fact agree to write all those things, and yes, actually, a deadline is looming.

How sad, when a deadline feels like a declaration of undying love.....

Lots of writing

Inspite of delays on the publication of Book one, Book 2, "Song at Morning" is now complete. I've also gotten quite a bit done on Book 3, "Shivered Glass". That's it for that series, unless I decide to look back at them from sometime in the future or write something with the younger characters.

I've also got about 30,000 words done on another novel, "Damon and Pythias". The plot is the same as the legend but with a lot of their history and some humor.

So, I'm very busy. Too busy, I hope, to get too frustrated with how long the publisher is taking. *L*

Good luck with this, huh?

New Date

Well, I have yet another new date for the release of "Icy Pavements" - June 1st. It's a bit discouraging to have to wait longer, but I keep hoping its for the best. You always like to think it's so that something can be better, more perfect, before the release, but the waiting is a killer. *G*

New release date

Well, if all goes well, Icy Pavements should hit Amazon and the rest on February 22. I'm going to keep my fingers crossed that this is going to actually be it.

My patience is frozen...

...along with the rest of me. *G*

No, really, I don't mind so much that the book is delayed. I'd actually rather they delay it and make sure it's *right* than have them rush.

My impatience is only because of promises of news and contact that just aren't happening.

Ah, well, if things ran smoothly, I'd probably be worried about *that*.

Patience is my by-word

Still no news from the publisher, so I must assume we are among those who are out in the cold until mid-January or later.

I would be nice if they sent out something that actually said what was going on, but I have heard nothing. I'll give them another week, now that the holidays are over, but then I will have to write to them, I suppose.

Delays, delays, delays

Well, I just got a letter from the publishing house. Somehow they have managed to overextend themselves for their 'before Christmas' publications.

What does this mean? This means that I may be one (perhaps among many) who will not see their book until after January, when their new on-line automated system is operational.

This, however is not certain, and may depend on whether the cover art I submitted was done to their specs. I'm sure it was, but since I have not yet received confirmation I can't be certain. According to their letter (which is rather uninformative), I probably know know for certain until next week.

Don't you just love when people aren't as organized as you are? *L*

Ah, well, I did tell people the book would be available for Christmas, but now??? I guess they can always purchase copies to give away for Valentine's day.

--LW

ISBN numbers and distribution

As of today, I finally got notice that the distribution permits had gone out for “Icy Pavements” (Barnes & Noble, Waterstones, Amazon, etc.). There’s only one problem. They have not yet assigned it an ISBN for distribution.

Oh, well.

Here’s hoping that, as in show business, a rough dress rehearsal equates to a brilliant opening night.