So...we're two weeks into the new year and I'm already re-thinking my publishing schedule. Work on Christmas Angel is going great, but events outside my control mean I'm still writing more slowly than I'd like. So I've identified two stories that might have to be dropped from this year's schedule. I'm still planning on writing them, of course, but probably in 2024, rather than 2023.
I'm still hoping I can write/publish everything as planned, of course, but for my own peace of mind (and the sake of the stories--rushed isn't a good look) I'm looking at options.
I've identified two stories that could (or possibly should) be rescheduled for later. One is the next installment in my Children of Night spin-off series, Beyond the CofN.
Those of you who've read my Halloween-set story Going Back to Find You will be familiar with Jason and Liz. In Light Up the Night (which takes place the following Christmas) the two of them (along with Marc, Conrad and various other vampires) left town to deal with a werewolf problem. Oops...I guess that probably should have had a spoiler alert, huh?
I don't like to leave stories hanging for too long. Mainly because the longer you do, the harder it becomes to pick the threads back up. Chasing Daylight is the story of what happened when the vampires and werewolves confronted each other. I don't write a lot of shifters, and I'd've been happy to leave this story to Kinsey Holley. But I've created some problems for Jason and Liz that I'd like to resolve. And I've had Marc wandering through the last few chapters of Light Up the Night dropping hints of what went on and somebody has to write that story. Right now, it looks like that somebody is me. I would love to include it in the Shifter Fever anthology that releases this April--especially since I have another Children of Night story scheduled to release in September as part of the Rejected by the Immortal anthology. But I could re-schedule it for a December release, if necessary.
The other story I might re-schedule is called Witch Would You Rather? This is an Atlas Beach/Games We Play story. It's an F/F romcom between two Online Influencers. One of the heroines runs a successful ASMR channel on Youtube. The other...she's giving me a bit of a hard time. She's wanted to be known for a bunch of different things. It hasn't been easy pinning her down. The story is scheduled to be included in the Living Out Loud anthology which is setting up to be such a great anthology. It's a charity anthology that benefits The Trevor Project. And I desperately want to be a part of it. And I'm really excited about this story. Unfortunately, it would be due at the very same time as another Atlas Beach-set story I'm working on--for another charity anthology that I'm also very excited about--and that other story is one that I'm further along with in terms of plotting--thanks to heroine number two and her incredible career indecisiveness.
For the sake of the stories, for the sake of my peace of mind, for the sake of a healthy work-life-family balance, and with an eye towards the many, many, many hours that would be needed to complete all the necessary and required promo--hours that probably, in all reality, I don't actually have--I should probably drop all three stories from this year's schedule. I really don't want to do that. But I might have to.
That, however, is a decision for another day. In the meantime, I'd love to know what you think. Which of these stories are you most excited for? Here's a link to the poll. Please let me know!
https://forms.wix.com/r/7011191113025323677
