Wow. Just. Wow.

September is going out with a bang. Thunder and Roses has been accepted for publication to Loose-Id. This was the monumental novel I wrote with Ditter Kellen during the first half of the year. I’m super excited as Loose-Id houses so many of my favorite authors (over half my blogroll links are to authors writing for them).

We’re tentatively scheduled for a January release, but we’ll see. 🙂 More information to come as it rolls in. Until then…I’d have to say my third quarter was THE most amazing of my career, so far.

If T&R manages to release before the year’s end, I’ll officially dub 2013 the year of Thunder and Roses. It represents not only the book, but the roller coaster insanity of this year as well. 

Unofficial (and lengthy) Blurb: 

Thunder and Roses
Note: This isn’t the actual coverart

She’s a leopard shifter living deep undercover until one mistake shatters her world. He is a hunter like no other, a wolf born to chase down those who break shifter law.

Tonya knows it’s time for a decade long conspiracy to come to a head, but no one can know who she really is. Her feral nature and instinctive mistrust have kept her alive for the past five years of deep cover. When her only choice is to run or face death, she runs. What she doesn’t count on is Dakota Thunder, a Council bounty hunter who never misses a target. Tonya is running out of time, and the only man she can trust is the last man who should ever believe her.

Dakota Thunder is no stranger to betrayal. From his childhood hell to the death of his sister, he knows exactly what his kind are capable of. No one escapes his justice. What should have been a routine bounty pick up drops Dakota in the middle of a deadly blood feud involving shifter trafficking, extortion, and murder revolving around one wise-cracking beautiful woman of leopard royalty. She gets under his skin, digging her claws into his heart and reminding him of things he’d rather not remember.

He’d planned for everything except Tonya and the evidence that could bring down one of the most powerful organizations in their world. Nothing could have prepared them for their explosive attraction or the depths at which a madman would fall in order to destroy everything they love.

With nowhere to turn, and the net growing tighter, they’ll have to trust in one another to survive.

Thank you to all the readers of this blog and my books. You guys make this possible. I can’t wait til you read this book. Hugs! 

Chocolate Kiss is now Deep Cravings

Deep Cravings (formerly Chocolate Kiss) has been accepted for publication to the Ellora’s Cave Twilight line. It’s quickie length (15k) so might have a release date around the corner. It was one of my last submissions in August (the 30th according to this post).

I made a new coming soon image!
Do you like it?

Unofficial blurb:

The Vamp-Life sucks if you’re the only female vampire in the world allergic to chocolate. When a wizard with a penchant for kitchen magic comes to town, however, things take a delicious and sinful turn. Especially when he puts himself on the menu.Chocolate goes well with…everything.

Rachel Karrin is at her wit’s end. The benefits to vampire life look pretty grim when your new powers come with limits on your favorite food. Chocolate. The rare allergy is unusual enough to gain the interest of the Kitchen Witch Society.

When the sexy brooding Ryan Shepard shows up, there’s more than chocolate on the menu. His temptation is far more than she can take in her world of blood and sex.

Off to Write

Image courtesy of SuperStickies, the StickyNote generator.

3rd Quarter Craziness

*Note: Updated to add the new Sales of Deep Cravings to Ellora’s Cave on 26 September and Thunder and Roses to Loose-Id on 30 September 2013! How awesome is that??

This week was a wild one. Publishing is an interesting business.  I spent all last weekend studying submission requirements. Not fun stuff. T&R went out to three new publishers so that’s off my plate. My website has a link to this awesome summer event: BTS Summer. Totally cool stuff!  I had a rough end of the week because of weather changes. It settles in my back while making me beg for mercy, and not in a sexy way.

I was away from my desktop for most of the week (where I have my wips ready to roll out) so I spent time hanging out on Facebook and just having fun between. Nothing like some recovery time to ask crazy questions with insane goals. On Thursday I sat at three hundred and something likes on my author page. I asked for some sharing and likes to see if I could get to 500. I expected two weeks and a gradual increase. So when my page hit 500 likes in less than 15 hours after my initial post I was in shock. Amazed! There are so many other emotions.

In thanks for this amazing feat, I’m working on a free read (Ravenous) for my Author page fans!

On Saturday my husband, SuperChef, and I finished up the final touches on the Better Than Sex Red Velvet Cupcakes (for my Christmas story, Hidden Confection). I love them. They are sooo good! So here we are, the end of the Round of Words in 80 Days third quarter. While there’s still a week remaining in this quarter, I’m coasting. Here it is, down and dirty:

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#ROW80 3rd Quarter Hotwash

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Prep for 3rd Quarter

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1. Figured out what I was going to work on
2. Web prep and documents ready
3. Cleared the plate of all other works in progress before the event began

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During the Event

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1. Planning for the edits with Thunder and Roses didn’t prepare me properly for the sheer wordage of the novel. Thunder and Roses moved into August with additional edits. September led into an R&R we had to refuse. Re-subbed to our top three publisher choices. *Thunder and Roses was accepted by Loose-Id on 30 September.
2. Submitted the stories below (check Books/Stories Submitted). Total came to eight, including the free read. This is by 22 September. There’s another week or so to go.
3. Checked in almost daily with the Camp crew and my writing group
4. In July I averaged about 1300-2000 words or so a day on the days I wasn’t working on edits or submissions. (YAY me! I usually average about 500 a day)
5. Middle of summer burn out with the kids contributed to some tough hurdles.
6. Four days of post-military medical evaluations and traveling wore me down in July.
7. Back to school was hectic, but my days are so much better.
8. On the days I was writing, the words were like magic.
9. On the days I wasn’t writing, I was still working on the book.
10. Tired. When I hit the last week of NaNo, I was tired. Beyond tired. The end of August was even worse. Mid-September I was ready for a break. Now I’m relaxing and writing at my own pace. No pressure or stress walking into October. Everything’s done that can possibly be done.
11. I had to change what I was going to work on throughout the quarter. It left half a dozen work in progress pieces to work through toward the end of the final quarter. 😀
12. Received Stay the Night‘s coverart. Love it!
13. Took four workshops: Savvy Summer Symposium, Biker 101 (the New Cowboy), Steampunk America, and Harlequin’s SYTYCW workshop.
14. Developed a recipe for my Christmas book. Better Than Sex Red Velvet Cupcakes. They really are DELICIOUS! So much fun!

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Books/Stories Submitted

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1. Thunder and Roses (novel) submitted July 2013 (resubmitted in September *and was accepted 30 September by Loose-Id)
2. Private Cowboy (short story) submitted (short story) July 2013
3. Chocolate Kiss (quickie: less than 15k but greater than 7k) submitted  August 2013 *and was accepted 26 September by Ellora’s Cave
4. The Collector (short story) submitted (and politely rejected) August 2013
5. The Eyes of Sol (NA Sci Fi pitch) completed August 2013
6.  Hidden Confection (quickie) submitted and accepted September 2013
7. Carter’s Legacy (chapter one submission for Harlequin’s SYTYCW contest) submitted September 2013
8. Ravenous (free read for my Facebook Author Page fans) Written, formatted, and posted for download September 2013 (links to come)

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Lessons Learned

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Strengths

1. Touching base with everyone made me write when I thought I couldn’t any more. I had a ton of speedwriting sessions throughout this quarter.
2. My word count went up. A LOT.
3. Finding creative solutions when I wouldn’t be at my desk during the quarter
4. When I actually sat down and read through it all, I was shocked by how much I’ve accomplished.

Weaknesses

1. Poor planning on the part of summer vacation.
2. Expecting to waltz through edits, submissions, and physically exhausting events. (HAH)
3. Went off track on one story so often I don’t recognize it anymore.
4. Balancing writing with other aspects of the job, my family, and the life. 🙂 Ongoing thing to fix.

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Future Planning

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1. Don’t expect huge word counts in the summer.
2. Give myself rest days after large mind and body drains like edits and evaluations.
3. Take the time to put myself back on track when I veer off in a story. It’ll save me headaches later and I might stay motivated enough to keep going.

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Goals for the Final Quarter

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1. NaNoWriMo workshop here on the blog.
2. Finish and Submit Feral Hunger
3. If I move on to the second round in SYTYCW, have the full of Carter’s Legacy ready to submit mid October.
4. Polish up (and update) another novella I wrote back in 2008. Submit it for publication as soon as it’s ready.
5. Edit, format, and publish Shift the Night for a Veteran’s Day release.
6. Pulp novel project for NaNoWriMo
7. Dragons Never Lie finished and submitted.
8. Silver Tongue Devils (maybe) written and submitted.
9. Begin writing Sabian
10. Start planning aspects of book 2 with Ditter Kellen in the Thunder and Roses Universe.
11. Clone myself in triplicate in order to get all this done. Geesh.

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Expected non-writing moments for the final quarter

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1. My oldest son’s birthday October 7th!
2. Halloween is a three-timer: My second oldest daughter’s birthday, the kickoff for NaNoWriMo and one of my favorite holidays. 😀
3. Thanksgiving and Christmas. Enough said.
4. NaNoWriMo insanity and rebellion (from my family mostly).
5. More classes on the horizon.
6. Book launch, formatting, etc.

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Book Release Schedule (as of 22 September)

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1. Stay the Night, Dark Talisman #2 – November 11th
2. Red Velvet Christmas: Hidden Confection – December 6th
3. *Deep Cravings – unknown
4. *Thunder and Roses – January 2014

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Well, that’s it how I did for the third quarter and what I have planned for next quarter. I hope you found it entertaining.

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Final 3rd Quarter #ROW80 update of current works in progress

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The word count app at Critique Circle is too buggy. Too many times it has lost the word count, changed the name of the work in progress, etc. So I’ve moved back to ol’ reliable with Writertopia.

500 Likes Free Read

Shift the Night

Dragons Never Lie

Feral Hunger

 

I’m part of a fantastic group called A Round of Words in 80 Days, and if you’d like to see how everyone else is doing, check out the list HERE.

Would you like to be a part of our writing challenge? Check out the rules HERE.

Keep Writing!

If I Were You…a mini rant

“If I were you…”

Man, I can’t stand those words. For a lot of reasons. I’ve been hanging out in writing forums, chats and groups again and I realized why I left most of them in the first place…

“If I were you…” “You are never supposed to…” “This isn’t the way you do it…” “That will never work…” These are words you’ll hardly ever hear me say (if you ignore the common sense ones, like “Hey Teenage Son, if I were you I wouldn’t use that wet towel to lift the hot pan from the oven.” “It’s fine mom. OWWWWWW.” “And that, my son, is a free physics lesson in conduction. You’re welcome”).

I spent most of my adult life in the military. There were rules and regulations laid out for almost everything you did (don’t believe me? I’ve read the regulation on how to fold and store your underclothes). My job allowed a bit more flexibility because the equipment I worked on was commercially proprietary, but they came with tons of manuals on their own. So as someone who toed the line in some pretty desperate situations, let me tell you this…

No lives are lost in the making of a book (unless we’re in a suspense thriller where the serial killer hacked into the author’s computer to perform copycat murders of his current work in progress…oh right, the rant). There is no RIGHT WAY to write. Your process is your own. If you manage to yank 500 words from the muck and force them into your story, you’ve moved forward. And while the negative train of self righteous indignation chugs its way around, please recognize a simple truth. You’re working. They’re squawking. Enough said.

Do you write longhand? Awesome.

Use a word processor? Cool.

PC, Mac, or Linux? I feel a well rounded household should have all three, but that’s just me.

Voice recognition software? Train the dragon. Always.

Do you write by tablet? Neat!

Crayon? Effective. Just look at my walls. LOL.

Write or Die (an online program designed to help keep you motivated)? Just don’t do kamikaze unless you’re…well…insane.

Some other thing I may have missed? Insert favorite way to write here.

If you answered YES to any of the above, you win. You are a writer. And you do it your way. Never lose sight of what writing blogs (like this one), forums, writing organizations, or writing events are supposed to bring to the table…open dialogue, creative expression, and encouragement.

I write to tell you guys what works for me and give you tools I’ve found valuable.

Writing is like breathing.

The inhalation is your creative process. The act of oxygen exchange in  your lungs is the translation of your process to paper. Editing is the exhalation of CO2. A book cannot live without this breath, but how you breathe is up to you. Do you take one long breath? Or many? Do you write it all and edit at the end? Or write in bits, edit, and then write some more?

Learn your craft. Know your characters. Write your story. There are no hard and fast rules. Sometimes I wish there were.

So while I get peeved when someone gets on a high horse about how wrong someone’s process is, I have a cautionary bit of advice as well before you take off streaking down the literary halls with a license to DO WHAT YOU WILL.

In the words of my first supervisor: You can do anything in the world you want. Anything. Just make sure you’re prepared for the consequences.

If you refuse to edit…don’t be upset when you receive critical reviews on your poor editing.

If you ignore submission guidelines…don’t be upset when your manuscript is passed over and returned without a single blip why.

Use common sense. Because our minds are ever evolving (the experiences you have today add to the ones from yesterday, and so on), our process can change. Get to know how you work, and take a good hard look. Figure out where you come up short and work to overcome that issue. Don’t snark back at the negativity train. It invites them to circle back and attack again. Just go about your business and keep writing. Because that’s what we do…

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#ROW80 update

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Goals this week:

1. Dragons Never Lie: 2 chapters done by next Wednesday – DONE! Finished up chapter 2 right before this post. Ugh. Draining. Humor is so much harder for me to write than the dark and dangerous stuff. 
2. Feral Hunger Edits and new content: I’m doing this one by page count. My goal is to get through chapter two by next Wednesday. With the kids back in school, it’s been much easier to concentrate. – Not finished. Still working on Chapter Two.
3. Voodoo Carnival: Keeping the same goal and continue at 500 words a day (equates to a scene every couple of days or a chapter every four or so). It’s working for me, and anything working is going to stay that way. LOL. Until it’s not. 😉 – Steady as she goes. My soundtrack is helping. 
   

Weekend Goals: 

1. Edits on Last Rites: Get halfway through the book this weekend.– I’m almost done with the first round of revisions. WOOHOO! 
2. Edits on To Chase a Werewolf: Chapter one this weekend. – My CP has it in hand. 
3. First Chapter’s Edits of Carter’s Legacy in preparation for Harlequin’s So You Think You Can Write contest. – Didn’t make this one.
4. Edits for a Critique Partner: I’m helping Cynnara with Teaching the Male. The coverart for this beauty is fantastic! I can’t wait until she can show you guys! – Edits are almost done for her 😀 

Workshops I’m attending this month: 

• Writing the New American Cowboy- Bikers 101: The Biker one has already started and I’m LOVING IT! – Caught up on all my lessons. Learning a lot and still LOVING it! 
• Steampunk American Style: – I’m having SO MUCH FUN with this one!  Money WELL spent! 

Cool things that happened since last Wednesday:

• Finalized my coverart for Shift the Night (my second self-pub book). Check out the post here.
• Red Velvet Christmas: Hidden Confection was accepted by my publisher for a holiday release. Check out the post here.
• My post at Romance Lives Forever ran headline in three online newsletters. The retweets were phenomenal. *Edited: I was sent two more online papers where my post headlined. Wow*
• I’m going to be a 4th Quarter Sponsor for #ROW80! I hope to do right by you guys and give back to the community that keeps me going. What kinds of articles do you guys want during the next quarter? Anything you want expanded on? Do motivational blog posts help? Love some feedback.

New Goals for this week: I’m sticking with mostly new content this week (the last week of this round!). 

1. Dragons Never Lie through Chapter Five
2. Feral Hunger through Chapter Four
3. Finish edits on Hidden Confection tomorrow. 

I’m part of a fantastic group called A Round of Words in 80 Days, and if you’d like to see how everyone else is doing, check out the list HERE.

Would you like to be a part of our writing challenge? Check out the rules HERE.

Keep Writing!

Release Days

Quick Updates for your pleasure. You guys are the absolute best!

November 11, 2013

Hidden Confection
6 December 2013
Coverart Pending

Crisis Averted

Crisis Averted. Work week triaged. LOL. Things since Wednesday have been a whirlwind of crazy. Between helping a friend brainstorm ways to write around a broken arm, both boys coming down with fevers and aches on the same day, and insanity exploding all over my house in the form of drama usually only found in a soap opera, I managed to squeeze in writing and edits. Barely. Add to that my CP’s craziness (check out Cynnara’s post here), and we’re wondering if there’s something in the air (or water, or with the moon, etc.).

When things go south, you’ve got to take a look at your writing and decide which is the most critical to accomplish. Pour your efforts into that one thing until you reach your goal. Then, if you’ve got time, move to the less important. This week I focused on Dragons Never Lie with Feral Hunger following close behind. Both of them need to be complete and off to my editors as soon as possible. Shift the Night will be the next novella on the list. It’s rare for me to contract a cover artist before the book is complete, but I fell in love with the design the moment I saw it.

We’re winding down to the last few weeks of the quarter. It seems August through December will be primarily focused on closing out two of my longest running open series. I have some fun stuff on the horizon, but eye on target gets me through the quarter. 🙂 One book. One page. One paragraph at a time. 😀

Here’s where I stand in my Round of Words in 80 Days goals:

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#ROW80 update

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Goals this week:

1. Dragons Never Lie: 2 chapters done by next Wednesday – A little behind on this one. I’m finishing up Chapter One tonight so I can be ready to roll. 
2. Feral Hunger Edits and new content: I’m doing this one by page count. My goal is to get through chapter two by next Wednesday. With the kids back in school, it’s been much easier to concentrate. – Chapter one finished up today. Tomorrow chapter two begins.
3. Voodoo Carnival: Keeping the same goal and continue at 500 words a day (equates to a scene every couple of days or a chapter every four or so). It’s working for me, and anything working is going to stay that way. LOL. Until it’s not. 😉 – Steady as she goes. My soundtrack is helping. 
   

Weekend Goals: 

1. Edits on Last Rites: Get halfway through the book this weekend.– Working through this one. 
2. Edits on To Chase a Werewolf: Chapter one this weekend. – My CP has it in hand. 
3. First Chapter’s Edits of Carter’s Legacy in preparation for Harlequin’s So You Think You Can Write contest. – Goal for Sunday evening. 
4. Edits for a Critique Partner: I’m helping Cynnara with Teaching the Male. The coverart for this beauty is fantastic! I can’t wait until she can show you guys!

Workshops I’m attending this month: 

• Writing the New American Cowboy- Bikers 101: The Biker one has already started and I’m LOVING IT! – I have some lessons to catch up on today/tonight. Next week will be hectic. 
• Steampunk American Style: Steampunk starts Monday. Looking forward to it. 

Cool things that happened since Wednesday:

• Finalized my coverart for Shift the Night (my second self-pub book). Check out the post here.
• Red Velvet Christmas: Hidden Confection was accepted by my publisher for a holiday release. Check out the post here.
• My post at Romance Lives Forever ran headline in three online newsletters. The retweets were phenomenal. *Edited: I was sent two more online papers where my post headlined. Wow*
• I’m going to be a 4th Quarter Sponsor for #ROW80! I hope to do right by you guys and give back to the community that keeps me going. What kinds of articles do you guys want during the next quarter? Anything you want expanded on? Do motivational blog posts help? Love some feedback.

I’m part of a fantastic group called A Round of Words in 80 Days, and if you’d like to see how everyone else is doing, check out the list HERE.

Would you like to be a part of our writing challenge? Check out the rules HERE.

Keep Writing!

Red Velvet Christmas: Hidden Confection Coming Soon

Red Velvet Christmas: Hidden Confection will be available at your favorite estore this holiday season.  Hidden Confection is a lighthearted short story filled with heat and some good ol’ fashioned mischief.

An unedited blurb for you all:

A showdown between chefs like you’ve never seen before…

One Christmas Eve, Mia Devyne of Devyne Pastries went underground and closed up shop for good under scandalous rumors of bewitching red velvet holiday cakes designed to skyrocket your sex drive. Her disappearance sparked a world-wide search for her sensual seductions cookbook.

Four years later, a rival pastry chef has arrived on the scene with his own version of the cakes, and Mia can’t stay away. For a Christmas present to herself, she wants to try just one bite of the Better Than Sex cupcake, and she’ll disappear back into the shadows. If she gets to kiss Liam again, well, that’s just an added bonus.

Liam Merriman has one goal…draw the sexy Mia out of hiding and back to the spotlight where she belongs. He knows why she disappeared all those years ago, and he plans on picking up where they left off. Naked. In his bed.

September has started off right. Let’s hope the good news continues. Have a fantastic Saturday!

Keep Writing!

Dawn Montgomery

New Cover and Back in the Saddle

Welcome back to the blog! I’m back to regular posting. When I get to the end of a project, I tend to disappear from the ‘net until it’s done. Four times now I’ve done it, so I think that qualifies as a habit. I don’t duck out on purpose. When I get to the end of a book I lose all track of time. I eat, breathe, and sleep about the book until it’s done. Then, once I have it turned in, all is right with the world again.

I didn’t return empty-handed, however. Today I’ve got a new cover. 😀

Coming in November: Shift the Night, Dark Talisman #2

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#ROW80 update

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Goals this week:

1. Dragons Never Lie: 2 chapters done by next Wednesday
2. Feral Hunger Edits and new content: I’m doing this one by page count. My goal is to get through chapter two by next Wednesday. With the kids back in school, it’s been much easier to concentrate.
3. Voodoo Carnival: Keeping the same goal and continue at 500 words a day (equates to a scene every couple of days or a chapter every four or so). It’s working for me, and anything working is going to stay that way. LOL. Until it’s not. 😉 
   

Weekend Goals: 

1. Edits on Last Rites: Get halfway through the book this weekend.
2. Edits on To Chase a Werewolf: Chapter one this weekend.
3. First Chapter’s Edits of Carter’s Legacy in preparation for Harlequin’s So You Think You Can Write contest.

Workshops I’m attending this month: 

• Writing the New American Cowboy- Bikers 101
• Steampunk American Style

The Biker one has already started and I’m LOVING IT!

I’m part of a fantastic group called A Round of Words in 80 Days, and if you’d like to see how everyone else is doing, check out the list HERE.

Would you like to be a part of our writing challenge? Check out the rules HERE.

Keep Writing!

August Ends and September Rolls In

We’re two days into September and I have to ask…where did the days go?

We’re less than two months away from two of my favorite things: Halloween and NaNoWriMo. Three months until Thanksgiving. Four until Christmas. In less than five months we’ll be saying goodbye to 2013 for good.

Gotta tell you…I’ll be glad to see this monster go. The first half of the year was a nightmare rollercoaster of extreme highs and lows. I’ve counted my blessings, so don’t think this is a down and depressed post!

Let me tell you the good stuff:

• My mother’s health was given the green light of awesome. After last year’s heart attacks and all the crazy that came with it and recovery, she’s living happy and healthy in the gorgeous state of Indiana.
• My brother (the one who broke his leg at the kneecap in Marine boot camp) was also given the green light and graduated smooth and easy. He’s now onto the next round of his training and loving his new life.
• My littlest guy was given an amazing opportunity to take accelerated courses in school. His enthusiasm is catching, and I might just end up going back to college once the dust settles around here.
• SuperChef and I have trudged through the muck and drama of our RL to come out of the tunnel a little rough for the wear, but together. We’ve been knocked around by a lot of stuff this year. I don’t know what I would have done without him. He’s told me the same thing a few times.
• My oldest son has done a complete 180 in school. Not only is he trekking in passing grades, he’s rocking A’s.
• We gained a new furkid in the family. Puck, just a mischievous as his namesake and built like a tank, has brought so much joy into our lives. He’s jut the best!
• Haunting Melody St. Claire released in May with a (personal) record-breaking launch. It hit #5,790 on in all Amazon Kindle books. 😀 I was pretty stoked by that. In 2012, FoxFire made it to #8,901 with Primal Hunger following close behind at #9,807.

Submissions to date for 2013:

Haunting Melody St. Claire (novella) submitted  and accepted in February (we’d had a revise and resubmit request in January for the book). Released May 31, 2013

Thunder and Roses (novel) submitted July 2013

Private Cowboy (short story) submitted (short story) July 2013

Chocolate Kiss (quickie: less than 15k but greater than 7k) submitted  August 2013

The Collector (short story) submitted (and politely rejected) August 2013

The Eyes of Sol (NA Sci Fi pitch) completed August 2013

 Today: Hidden Confection (quickie) submitted 

That’s a lot of stuff out at one time. Here’s hoping September is chalked full of good news.

 

Total Word Count year to date: just over 195k

 

Goals for the rest of the quarter: 

Feral Hunger completed

Voodoo Carnival Completed

Dragon 3 (still working on a title) submitted by the 18th.

Enter HQ’s so you think you can write contest

Finish up edits on:

• To Chase a Werewolf
• Last Rites

I’ll be back on track with my Round of Words in 80 Days posts starting Wednesday.

Keep Writing!

Dawn