A New Direction
Sorry about the late Substack this week. At least I didn’t forget to write it. I could talk about all the myriad reasons why I was late, but they’d just sound like excuses. Partly though, it’s because I’ve made the decision to start a newsletter. If you already receive this Substack, it’s not going anywhere, and the information will mostly be the same. However, I may stop doing the email notification for the Substack. I may also include some behind the scenes writing and audiobook stuff in the newsletter, which you can sign up for here
Why the shift to a newsletter? Well, initially I didn’t want to do a newsletter because it was intimidating and seemed like a lot of work to get going. Which it is. I like the blog feeling of Substack. It takes me back to simpler times before social media really got rolling. But as a writer, I’m learning that I really ought to get a newsletter to help build my readership, so that’s the plan!
So what else has been going on here? Well, this week was APAC and the Audies. APAC is the big audiobook conference in NYC and the Audies is basically like the Oscars. I have never been. The one and only year I was nominated (for The Jasmine Throne and Beatrix Greene) was the covid year. Some day I’ll have to go, but it wasn’t going to be this year because honestly, March in NYC isn’t my idea of fun. And I have other audiobook events coming up soon where I can hang out with my fellow narrators.
Last week was Human Voices week, and I had a creepily timed email from a fan. I won’t go into the details but suffice it to say he was disappointed that I was no longer narrating a particular series that I had stepped down from. He didn’t like the new narrator (even though at this point she’s done more books in the series than me) and said that he planned on cloning my voice using AI. I still don’t know what to make of this one. Obviously, nobody has permission to clone my voice. The fact someone thought they could, and I would be okay with it is beyond me. I’m mostly hoping this person discovers just how expensive it would be to clone my voice and have an AI that does those particular character voices and those four (or more) different accents.
I am edging closer to being done with the first draft of The Glass Coffin Society. I am 67K in. I’m kinda excited actually, because for a while I’ve been dealing with a lot of scenes where I’ve just been trying to get words down, and I know I’ll have to re-work them later. But I’m at a point which requires a lot more thought and planning, and I’m loving it. If there was any question about whether I’m a Planner or a Pantser, this cleared it up for me.
Interestingly, I also came up with an idea for a new book. I don’t really know if it’s a novel or just a novella. But it’s a fun idea about a teenage girl who realises her town has been sacrificing girls every generation since the town’s founding, and she’s next in line. I don’t want to say more, but one thing came up when I was writing this, that made me fall in love with the idea. I’ve tried to write down everything I know about the story so far, but I do fear losing that feeling while I continue work on Glass Coffin. How do other authors deal with having to put ideas on the back burner?
A far as new audiobook releases, the final book in the Nightfire Quartet by Nisha J. Tuli just came out. That one was a lot of fun, and I’ll certainly miss these characters. There is an Amazon boycott going on at the moment, but you can currently get The Order of Grimm discounted at both Smashwords (until March 8th) and Kobo (until March 16th). In addition, The Order of Grimm is now available on Kobo Plus.
Until next time!