On Monday my kids start school. I’ve already had two orientations (on Tuesday for my second grader and on Wednesday for my third and fifth graders.) On Friday it’s the high school orientation, with a special meeting with just the seniors. Yes, I have a senior. I don’t feel old enough to have a daughter who will be 18 in a few months. :/
I’m VERY excited about the start of school because I get my regular schedule back. Having the kids around is one thing, but summer is also full of playtime, sports practice, summer day camp, shopping, and (of course) boredom. They want mommy time, but mommy has deadlines! So balancing it all is a chore because no two days are the same. Worse, because it’s summer, the kids stay up later so I can’t get back to the computer until later. When school starts I know that I have my 9-3 writing time and my 9 pm – midnight writing time. While I am not an organized person in most of my life, I need a set writing schedule. When I see something on my calendar for, say, 1:30 in the afternoon, it’s much harder to focus because I know I have this obligation. During the school year, I rarely schedule anything during my writing time.
The other night we had a scare–my boys came back from football practice and my youngest ran around the side of the house to tell me he was home, and came across a rattlesnake. Dan decapitated it and it continued to slither around, which is downright creepy.
I know there are snake lovers out there, but I’m not one of them. I can handle small snakes (King snakes, garter snakes) if they don’t surprise me, but rattlers terrify me. And terrified my son. He turned and ran and was crying so hard he couldn’t talk–it took several minutes for my husband to get out of him that he saw a rattle snake that hissed at him. When Dan found the snake, it was coiled. Snakes don’t generally attack unless they’re cornered, and this one was definitely cornered.
Here’s the video my daughter took of the snake 30 minutes after it’s demise:
We didn’t take a vacation this year. Next year, because RWA is in Anaheim, I’m planning on taking the family to Disneyland before the conference. Then maybe they can stop by the literacy signing so they can see what mom does when she leaves for a couple weeks every summer. 🙂
I also have two exciting projects. I’m dipping my toe into digital self-publishing. This won’t replace my traditionally published books–but hopefully help me find new readers and also give my current fans some fun, inexpensive stories to read!
The first is an amazing paranormal/urban fantasy anthology called ENTANGLED. All the proceeds are benefiting the Breast Cancer Research Foundation. The stories have been donated, as well as the cover art, the formatting, and the press. I wrote a Seven Deadly Sins novella, which will hopefully tide my paranormal fans over until I know what’s going on with the third book in the series, Mortal Sin. It’s a meaty story, nearly 30,000 words. And the cover is absolutely gorgeous. ENTANGLED will be available wherever digital books are sold on September 12.
Demon hunters Moira O’Donnell and Rafe Cooper are dragged into the dangerous world of nocturnal predators to find “Ghostly Justice” for a virgin sacrificed to an ancient blood demon in Allison Brennan’s all-new Seven Deadly Sins novella.
The other project is four short stories in a single-author anthology. Two of the stories were previously published in anthologies, but many of my fans haven’t read them. And two are completely new and original, including a novella I’d originally “almost” sold to Arabella Magazine as a serialized story before the mag went under. I just got the cover that I hired Hot Damn Designs to design and am SO thrilled with it. I don’t know when it’ll be out–but I hope later this fall.
Now, I’m in the middle of writing SILENCED (Lucy Kincaid #4.) I put it aside this week to read the page proofs of IF I SHOULD DIE (Lucy Kincaid #3) and can’t wait to get back to it. I’ll admit, it’s a little scary having a new publisher and a new editor after 17 books with the same people. Scary and exciting and nerve-wracking!
This year is full of beginnings and endings. And now that the end of summer is here, I’m eager to dive into all my projects with 110%.
I’ve been reading some YA mysteries. I read ALL UNQUIET THINGS by Anna Jabaz coming back from Thrillerfest, and now I’m in the middle of THE CHRISTOPHER KILLERS by Alane Ferguson. You can draw your own conclusions 🙂
What are you reading right now? Let me know and I’ll several people will be getting some free books! That’s right, my daughter Kelly and I are purging our bookshelves. We’re putting together 3-4 boxes of books–whatever can fit into the flat rate postal box. A mix of YA, thrillers, mysteries and romance. If you win, you can read the books or pass them onto a friend! I’d much rather give my books to the loyal readers of MSW than strangers in the library 🙂 And every box will also have one of my backlist titles as I go through my shelves and re-organize.
And finally, for those of you who have been frustrated by our Murder She Writes site going up and down for no apparent reason … our wonderful hosting company is moving our site to a new server this weekend, so we hope that the problems will be over next week.
Have a great end of summer!
Congrats on your self-publishing! I think a lot of authors on going that way. I feel for your son, I hate snakes any way they come. I have never seen a rattles snake and don’t want to, now copperheads I have seen when I was growing up. I don’t like any of them.
Thanks QL! I’m just doing a few projects, it’s not going to replace my traditional books. I still sell FAR more books in print than I do digitally, and many of my readers don’t like digital-only releases. But for some things, I think it’s the way to go.
I still feel bad for the poor snakey!!! I’m a snake lover!!! 🙁
I can’t wait for more Lucy books!!!!!!
I’m not reading anything, really. I still haven’t been able to focus, blah. I seriously read less than ten books this year, it’s been a challenge (and TWO have been yours!!!!). I’m going to try and start another book soon, probably either Tess Gerritsen’s THE SILENT GIRL or Karen Hawkin’s SCANDAL IN SCOTLAND, or my Twitter friend and self-published author (seriously, she’s absolutely awesome!) Denise M. Swank’s TWENTY EIGHT AND A HALF WISHES.
🙂
When I first started seriously writing, I went from reading 3-4 books a week to less than 2 a month. I now *try* to read a book a week, but it can be a challenge. Fortunately, I read fast so it’s just a matter of finding 3-4 hours to sit uninterrupted. 🙂
After being told snakes didn’t live up here, some kids playing around the lake at the community picnic found one. Just a very small garter snake, but I suppose I’ll have to look around while hiking. But most of the time, it’s probably too cold up here for most snakes and other reptiles. After Florida, a tiny garter snake is nothing.
Congrats on all the new projects! I’m looking forward to some great new reads.
Terry
Terry’s Place
The cold keeps away snakes. 🙂 Makes me want to move to Seattle!
Lawyer Guy is the snake hater in the family. I don’t mind handling them so long as they aren’t venomous. We get rattlers, copperheads, and water moccasins (cottonmouths). ICK! Good on Dan for the decapitation. LG would have wasted a clip of 40 caliber bullets trying to kill the damn thing.
Enjoy back to school time! Spring, summer, and the following fall will be crazy with a graduating senior!
Love the covers! And I’ve made notes to order, though you’ll remind us, hopefully! I’m currently reading Kristina Douglas’s THE FALLEN: RAZIEL. Not sure how I feel about it at the moment….
Our snake was hiding by the propane take when we found him. Bullets wouldn’t have helped — but before we found him, Dan got out the shot gun 🙂
My nephew offered a home to the snake that took up residence in my basement/ laundry room. Too bad he lives so far away. Turned out to be two HUGE black snakes. I personally don’t care that they weren’t poisonous. The friend who captured them released them in the wild, assuring me they would never find their way back across the bridge.
Recommending The Guernsey Literary and Potato Peel Pie Society.
LOL, two snakes? Babies anywhere?
Dan inspected the entire yard because my kids (and me) were convinced there was a snake family. But there were no more snakes. Whew.
Don’t like snakes either. My daughter in Houston keeps finding Mocassins in her pool’s water filter trap. Scary.
Just read Jim Butcher’s latest, “Ghost” and loved it as usual. Also recommend “A Discovery of Witches” and “The Witch’s Daughter”, both by authors I hadn’t read before. Time, to read, write and do the full time job, we won’t even talk about the Evil Day Job.
I agree– we need to find more time to read! … we don’t have a pool. I’m less inclined to get one now.
i hate snakes. they give me the creeps. congrats on all of the new and wonderful things happening in your life right now, i hope they just keep getting better and better for you.
Thank you Tammy. I’m taking a few risks, but I’ve taken risks before, so I’m hoping it’ll be a positive thing!
I hate snakes they scare me to death. I’ve not read anything in a little while because I’ve been sick and just didn’t feel like reading.
I’m sorry Sherry! Get better. I have a hard time reading when I’m sick, especially with a head cold. NOT fun.
Oh, hate snakes!!
I am excited about school starting for the same reason. Can’t wait to get back to normal productivity! And an end to the “I’m bored” discussion 🙂
Exactly, Laura! And telling them to clean their room doesn’t always cut it. They’ve probably played more video games than is healthy, however …
I just started reading A Midnight Dance by Lila DiPasqua and am loving it!
Ugh. Snakes. We live on a farm surrounded by woods and see them all the time. I hate anything that slithers. Can’t wait for more Lucy.
Right now I’m reading Agatha Christie’s “Murder is Easy.”
I’m not a snake or bug lover. I live on the top (third) floor of my building and I still manage to get bugs. my cats actually race on to the balcony and manage to catch high flying cicadas. They bring them in and play with them until they die, torturing me with the cicada noises they make. I have to dispose of the corpses.
I recently finished Stork Raving Mad, a Meg Langslow mystery, by Donna Andrews. I passed it on to my sister who basically reads what I give her. I just picked up #12 in the series, The Real Macaw and am on page 15. I’m looking forward to Cold Vengence, a Pendergast novel, by Lincoln and Childs next.
Wow! Congrats on all fronts! Book releases, senior, school registration – phew! Your schedule is making me tired. 🙂
My kids start school Monday too and they’ve delayed getting the 8th graders their schedules – which is driving me and my 8th-grader nuts.
I’ve just started awesome agent, Don Maass’ new book “Writing the Break-Out Novel.” I’m only on page 27, so I don’t really have an opinion on it yet.
I’m looking forward to my “school” schedule too! 🙂
Congrats. I am really looking forward to Entangled. Sounds great and a great cause.
I am just finishing Static by Tawny Stokes and going to start Midnight Awakening by Lara Adrian next.
Love snakes – mostly because they eat rodents!
Can’t wait for Murder in the River City – I love a good short story.
Congrats on trying self publishing. The cover for Murder in the River city is awesome! Beautiful work. It stands out. I am reading a Anthology book called So i Married a Demon slayer by Kathy Love, Angie Fox and Lexie George. I got it for the Lexi George novella. She is a brand new author and her stuff is hilarious.
We don’t get rattle snakes around here in MI but my husband is from KY and they have all kinds of nasty snakes there. I won’t hardly venture out in the yard when i am down there. We lived there the first 5 years we were married and found a black widow spider in our stuff when we moved to MI. I’m glad your son wasn’t bitten. Scary stuff. I’d cry and scream too!
Lisa B
Allison, you are one busy lady. I’m reading Bob Mayer’s Area 51 books. They are awesome special forces – ness. Also Vanished in the Night by Eileen Carr and ordered Michelle Diener’s In a Treacherous Court at BN while I was there.
Ewww, snakes. My dad hated them with a passion. Only thing I ever saw him scared of.
I love Eileen’s cover … Michelle was one of my former critique partners! She’s amazing 🙂
Summer really does seem to be flying by. Soon it’ll be Fall and then after Halloween, it’s all about the holidays! Wishing you lots of luck in self-publishing. I noticed a lot of authors are dipping into it as well and it’ll be interesting to see what changes and what stays the same.
I’m reading a lot of things but not as much as in the previous months as summer days and nights can get distracting. I’m currently reading Haunting Desire by Erin Quinn. I’m liking it so far, it’s a paranormal Scottish read.
I hate snakes. Good goin’, Dan! Currently, I’m reading an ARC of A Trick of the Light by Louise Penny.
I have to read Entangled. Wow!
I just finished Still Missing and What Alice Forgot. Just started Outlaw by Angus Donald. Have to mix it up a bit. =) I didn’t watch the video of the dying snake…
tiredwkids at live dot com
I just finished reading The Narrows by Michael Connelly. I love his book, yet somehow missed reading this one until now. This one’s going to stay with me for a while. On audio, I’m listening to A Darkness of Witches. It moves slower than what I usually read, but that works on audio.
BTW: I really enjoyed All Unquiet Things. Although the drug plot didn’t feel very realistic. WHen you’re finished reading it, I’d love to hear what you think. Maybe in a post about YA mysteries. I’m always on the look out for good ones.
I finished ALL UNQUIET THINGS awhile back. It’s a debut — I really liked it. There were some issues near the end that I had with the plot, but overall I thought it was a good first book. The drug plot … well, I don’t know. I know a bit too much about high schoolers. I recently made a contact with the sergeant overseeing the schools, and even *I* was surprised by some of the things going on now, and it’s very hard to surprise me on anything related to crime. I also went to a small, very wealthy private school (I was on scholarship!) and I can see some of the traits, particularly being bored with nothing to do leading to trouble with money is not a problem.
I meant, a Discovery of Witches. There’s some weird mental block going on in my head where I change titles to suit my mood. For the past week, I’ve been hung up on beginning a title with “A Darkness of.”
I just finished reading Stacey Jay’s Dead on the Delta and now I’m reading Devon Monk’s Dead Iron, both fantastic stories.
I am so glad I live in an area where our snakes are almost always not poisonous! I found a pile, maybe a nest, of slithering snakes on my parents’ property once and completely freaked out.
As far as reading goes: The Sugar Queen by Sarah Addison Allen.
I happen to like snakes, a lot. I used to breed boa constrictors (I know, huh?), but a rattle snake in my yard? For the safety of my fur kids and grandbaby, Mr. Rattlesnake would have to meet all of the other dead rattle snakes in the sky.
Good luck with your new projects Allison!!
It’s Georgette Heyer month so I’m re-visiting some of the many wonderful books on offer.
that snake thing is totally gross. i’ve got one more week left before back to back trips and then the start of school. looking forward to the trip that includes final summer vacay in San Fran.
Congratulations on self publishing. I am reading Josephine Cox books. Lovely summer which I enjoyed. Best wishes.
I really wanted to read the whole thing, but you lost me at the snake! So I skipped to the bottom haha
I’m currently reading Born to Be Wild by Catherine Coulter. I loved Beyond Eden by her (and all the FBI ones) so I’m excited for this one. I just completed a re-read of Nora Robert’s Blood Brothers trilogy.
I got side-tracked yesterday and didn’t get back to the blog (ended up after soccer practice playing three games of CLUE with the kids.) Thanks for stopping by!
KILL KILL KILL . is what i say to snakes.
they will continue to bite even after you cut the head off.
I hope you have much success, Allison!!
I am actually reading reading two books at the moment, which I don’t do often! The Truth About Mr. Darcy by Susan Adriani and Eternal Flame by Cynthia Eden– both very, VERY different, but both completely great 🙂
You are brave, giving away your books! I couldn’t do it! 😉
I’m not reading right now, I’ve been plagued with migraines this week and last; pretty sure it’s because of the constant humidity here.
Snakes, ugh!
Congrats on the self-publishing. Good luck.
My current read is Elizabeth Hoyt’s The Leopard Prince.
I can relate to your son… Last week, I had a snake in my bedroom. I started cleaning up the cats toys, and thought it was the cats string so i picked it up and well it slithered out of my hand, and i realized what i picked up… a black baby snake… I screamed so loud and ran out of the house in my pj’s. My roommate that lives above me came down to see what i was screaming about, and i told him there was a snake in my bedroom. So he went in and killed it. I am curious how it got into the house. My cat is not an outdoor kitty. We are still checking the house to see if there are any holes that it may have slithered inside.
Anyway enough about snakes… I am reading Kate Carlisle’s book, “If Books Could Kill”