Progress Report + Cover Art

I always feel so guilty for neglecting my blog. My problem is that, whenever I find a topic I think I could write a bit about and post, I always talk myself out of it. I know I’ve pretty much been AWOL since Yule, so I’m really going to try to devote a bit more time to getting my thoughts down into blog entries. Thanks for bearing with me!

There is definitely a lot to report! Let’s start back in December for a quickie…

I made it through 22 of my 25 advent pieces (not including my short story “A Walk on Queer Street”), so I suppose it would be more appropriate to call it a 22 Days of Yule challenge than a 25 Days of Christmas challenge. XD In the end, I’m still very proud of myself for having made it that far. I’ve never tried to write every single day like that, and it was definitely a challenge to keep the stories small. It was also fun to research a bunch of solstice celebrations around the world in order to find inspiration for original pieces. I think five of those 22 ended up being original characters that aren’t in any planned stories. Not bad for me!

The year wrapped up pretty smoothly, and I was thrilled to receive a Kindle 3 reader and some Amazon gift cards from my family, so I’ve been reading every single day, which is lovely. The Kindle just offers me versatility, especially when I’m on breaks at my massage therapy day-job. I have many books to choose from now. ^_^

January: A few big things went on this last month. Let’s use numbers, just to keep things organized.

1. Editing Catalyst: Saundra, Roger, and I went through the edits from our proofreader and editor and finally made changes. There have been several rewrites that I think have made the book so much stronger! Editing is really more Saundra and Roger’s forte, but I definitely did my best to do my part and help whenever possible. Our revised copies are now back to our proofreader and editor for final read-throughs. Catalyst will be released in e-book formats in just eleven days (February 14th, 2011)! I’ll definitely make a post on release day, too.
2. Anthology Submissions: The submissions for the Wild Passions and Daughters of Artemis anthologies have been reviewed and selected. We’re going to have some amazing stories to offer in those anthologies, and editing will commence pretty soon to get everything ready for those June and July releases. Anthropomorphic M/M and Alpha Female F/F stories! Definitely stay tuned for more news on those!
3. Writing Other Side of Night – Bastian & Riley: Saundra and I began writing our Other Side of Night series. The story of Bastian and Riley was supposed to be a novella, but after we began writing, we found that it will likely be a full-length novel by the time we’re finished with it. XD We are nearly 3/4 done with the first draft at this point, and though we’ve taken a break the last week or so, we’ll be diving back into that tomorrow.
4. Taxes: Part of the reason we took a break from Bastian and Riley’s story was to get our taxes all filed, both Saundra and Roger’s down in Florida, and mine here in Arizona. Can I just say that having to pay taxes on my tips really sucks? Luckily, I’ll still be getting back a pretty good return. I didn’t make it over the poverty line, so I get back all my federal taxes that were withheld. Yay for affordable housing allowing me to have a place of my own. No way could I support myself in Flagstaff otherwise.
5. 1-Year Anniversaries: January marked both the 1-year anniversary for Storm Moon Press and my 1-year anniversary for working at Massage Envy in Flagstaff. Gotta admit, I’m way more excited about the former than the latter. When I move in June, I’ll be all too happy to say goodbye to Massage Envy. (Not because it’s a bad place to work, but just because I’ve been working hard for very little pay for a year with no raises or bonuses, unlike other M.E. locations, so I’ll be happy to have a break and find a better job in Florida.)

February is going to be a busy one, but, then again, when am I not busy? XD I’ve prepared my review requests for Catalyst, so when we make any final changes from our proofreader and editor’s comments on the final read, I can start the process of getting reviews for the book. Having a heavily BDSM themed book means cutting some reviewers from the list, but it also means we get to send to BDSM specific reviewers, which will be a bit thrilling. I really hope everyone enjoys the book as much as Saundra and I enjoyed writing it. It’s our best yet, in my mind, and I hope readers agree!

To leave this entry with a bang, let’s touch on cover art! The amazing Nathie will be working with us all year at Storm Moon Press. Since she’s taking a lengthy holiday over the summer, she’s working to complete our 2011 releases’ cover art before the end of April. Two covers have been completed so far: Other Side of Night: Bastian & Riley and Wild Passions Anthology. I hope you enjoy the eye candy as much as I do! Thanks for reading the progress report today!

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Best wishes to everyone this February! ~Kris