This is the update post, because…stuff and dates.

It’s Monday and my brain’s been on vacation for two days while I updated the site and created a new logo and basically gave my manuscript the finger because it’s being an ass. 

That sounds like bad news, but it’s not (I explain why later) =D. Well, it’s bad news for my beta, because I was supposed to send her stuff to read, but then I started editing and, yeah, SHE GOT NOTHING. I wrote a fuckton last week. But, it’s still frustrating to rewrite, so I took the weekend off.

You’ll have to let me know how you like the site. I’m guessing a whole lot less knowing it cost me a weekend of writing =D.

How many of you are flipping me off right now? >.>

This is all really good news. Here’s why:

  1. I was writing so much last week, I needed to take a break!
  2. I really worried the manuscript was shit but rereading it and editing again made me a lot more comfortable.

But, it’s Monday now and I have to suffer work.

I still don’t have a publication date, but, then again, I’ve only been back on  my feet (mentally) for about six weeks. Don’t panic. I’ll keep updating you guys when I feel like there’s news, and not ‘oh I wrote 1k words today’ news, but actual news. Today that news is: I’ve reached a halfway point on editing and rewriting in just six weeks. This is also my last rewrite/edit before I send it out the first half to beta one! I’m actually forcing myself not to edit yet again and to wait for her notes lol. Why the first half? Because just after I finished the second half (and before I went through plot hole revisions), I got the Stuff I’m Over Talking About But Is Good Reasons For Stuff.

So other things:

I want to write some more posts for y’all. If you have a topic you’d like me to cover, I’d love to hear from you. And don’t forget that my blog is open to anyone as long as the subject has to do with LGBTQ issues or anything to do with books/writing/publishing. I’ve had guest posters before and the posts have been a big hit. The only thing I’m going to say no about is specific book reviews. Feel free to contact me if you’d like to write something.

My final bit of news (and a surprise at the end of the post) is exciting. I’m having an audiobook made of Shattered Glass. The narrator is fantastic. It’s on a deadline to be finished before summer, but I’ve already listened to up to chapter 19. It’s so good. More news on that when it’s ready.

The last surprise is a small excerpt (very small) from NSI. It’s also subject to editing. (I even had to edit it for the fifth sixth time before I put it up here lol).

Not So Innocent excerpt

Riley went through a series of expressions. Wide eyes, then furrowed brows, then a tentative smile with a curious squint. “Nikolaj?”

Cai couldn’t stop chewing the inside of his mouth and he’d picked the skin around his nails bloody. He hoped his nervousness was mitigating enough that Riley could overlook the stalking. “You said if I needed to talk?”

“That’s why I gave you a phone number. I don’t remember giving out my address,” Riley gently chided with that same relaxed smile he always wore. He leaned against his door jamb and wiped blackened fingers on a dirty oil rag. The smell of diesel snuck outside and got carried off quickly by the wind.

“Later? Um. You can yell? I hope.” Deep breaths. “I was hoping later you could be angry. I…um…I really need to talk to someone who treats me like an adult.”

After a few seconds of silence, Riley moved aside in invitation. “I’m working on a car. It’ll have to be while I do that.”

“I like working on cars. It’s cathartic.”

“You know about cars?”

Why was everyone so surprised when he told them that? Did he look like someone who couldn’t know about cars? Briefly, he checked a small mirror on Riley’s unpainted walls. Lots of paint he’d missed in the shower. Scraggly random facial hair he’d forgotten to shave. That seemed like every mechanic he’d worked with. Maybe he should have worn one of Austin’s baseball caps? “I worked at…at Iss’s autobody last summer and a little during the winter break.”

The oil rag hit his chest. He grappled and caught it, blinking furiously.

“The stalking conversation is on hold, not dead. You understand?”

“Um…yes?” He bounced up on his toes and tried to hide his grin by staring at the floor.

“Cai?”

Riley’s living room disappeared, leaving him scrambling. Julian tapped his knee.“Cai! Earth to Cai!”

“Sorry. What?”

“I asked why you’re into this bloke? Seems a right cunt.”

Julian earned a slap from Rachel for that. “A cunt is not a bad word, you panty stain.”

“Twat? Don’t hit me again!” Julian dodged another blow. “Nob, okay? Why are you into this nob?”

“Nikolaj, it’s important you understand we can be friends. Nothing else.”

“And he’s gone again.”

“I’m here.” Cai traced the path of a falling drop of water. “I know him, inside and out. He wasn’t himself tonight. It’s hard to believe now, but once upon a time, he became my best friend. ”