Sorrrrry

I know I've been neglectful here when I've been meaning to post more consistently, but as I'm waiting for the paperback of Kings & Queens to go live--come on! come on!--after countless delays, I've been working hard on its sequel, Sapphire Reign. I can't wait to put it out. The editing is coming along nicely, but because it's insanely crazy, even twistier than K&Q, I need to have it checked for continuity to make sure I answered everything and didn't leave any danglers. I have the cover design that I'll share in a few. So Gorgeous. Kings & Queens features lips prominently, and this one, hands. [a little teaser]

The only problem with Sapphire Reign I foresee is marketing. I mean, I can't really blog tour in the same way. The YA book bloggers are the best!!!! No offense to the rest of you, but they're the most enthusiastic and fun. Yes, SR is a sequel to a YA book, and SR has YA POVs, but it also has several adult POVs too, so it's not actually YA. It opens up 10 years later from where Kings & Queens left off. Authors don't usually split genre but I'm a nonconformist. I write the stories that NEED to be written. And this book HAD to be written. Sometimes creativity doesn't yield so easily to the rules and rigidity of the industry. It's a good book, it's just so entirely different from anything that's out there. I know writers say that, but, no, mine really is. There's nothing like it. It's a weird, dark, and of course, twisted tale, and it's the kind of book that stores won't know where to shelve. Oh well. It needs to be free.

This was the main reason I decided to seek out a small publisher instead of continuing to shop Kings & Queens to agents. It gives me more control and I don't have to scrap an awesome book just because it's an odd, red-headed step child from a marketing and shelving standpoint. I suppose, once I get into my heavy marketing for Kings & Queens, that the people who love that book will be my market. If I keep writing great books, maybe I can develop a fan base of readers who will actually seek out my work. Hey, I can dream.

After reading Kings & Queens, some of my early readers would ask how my characters were doing. And, I secretly wondered about that too. Like, honestly. It's crazy to think of characters that way, but they just feel so real and alive to me. And apparently, to my readers too! So, I'm not the lone nut in this. And a couple dreams later, a story was born. I like that both K&Q and SR were inspired by dreams. I think that's really cool. And I guess the stickiness of my story and characters is the mark of good development, but Sapphire Reign has an arc all its own, and it's got new characters to fall in love with. They are stand-alone reads. One could read Sapphire Reign without having read Kings & Queens and still get it, but the entire mystery of K&Q will be lost ... which would be sad, since that's the best part, going along for the crazy, gut-wrenching ride to arrive at the answers of whodunit and why.

I'm really excited about Sapphire Reign. I can't wait to share it. I'm just not sure who will find it, but, hey, at least, its insanity and my inspiring, kid character, Crystal, will be out there for lucky readers to find, instead of stuck in a folder on a shelf ... or a computer that can get fried in an electrical storm--eh-em.

I'm believing I won't have similar setbacks and the process will flow more smoothly this time. Don't they say second time's a charm? Oh, wait. Or is it third? Forget it. Don't tell me. I don't wanna know. Positive thoughts. Positive thoughts. Positive thoughts.

~ Signing off and sending out cyber hugs