I’m not the greatest at multi-tasking. Especially when there is a hard deadline in the mix and consequences if I don’t hit it. I pretty much have not left the computer chair since Sunday when the proof for Trials came back. Except to sleep and eat. Hours, sitting motionless as I read through the final copy and made last minute adjustments. (I did, however, spend my downtime reading all of the Murderbot Diaries. In retrospect, not my best idea. Hours at work reading, followed by hours at night reading something else is a little much.)

This isn’t the closest I’ve cut it to getting the manuscript uploaded in time to Amazon, but it’s in the top five. Usually, I like to have everything done a week or more in advance. I got this done Wednesday at 7 p.m. and then spent most of today taking care of the other distributers and the print version of the book. (Which, to my surprise, will be available relatively close to the release date. I thought I’d screwed everything up by forgetting to account for the definitions section in my final page count to the designer, but it somehow worked out.)

Because I know people will ask, the audio book is also coming. I just sent them a copy of the manuscript so they can get started. No ETA on when that will be available.

It’s funny. Almost as soon as I put Trials to bed, Aileen and company got extremely loud in my head. I think I’ll be shifting to bring their adventure to life next. Just as soon as I finish all my Christmas preparations.

The post Finish line appeared first on T.A. White.

Every time I sit down in front of the computer, it’s like I’ve forgotten how to write. The words desert me and my screen remains blank. The beginning of any book is always hard. It usually takes me a couple of days of circling the first scene to get it going. Although most times, I at least have some idea of what the first scene will entail. A place to start thinking about. Not this time though. That’s probably why I’m having trouble.

Writer’s block for me is usually a sign I haven’t done my due diligence in the planning stage. At heart I’m a pantser but doing a preliminary plot outline definitely makes things way easier. I also think it makes the story stronger in the end. More cohesive. At least in my case. Dragon Ridden was a pants moment. Pathfinder, at least the first two thirds, was planned. Most of the books since then with the exception of The Storm’s Whisper have had some outline attached to them. Let’s not talk about whether I actually follow the entire outline or go off into the weeds, necessitating an entirely new outline on the back half of every book.

Usually, I wait until I have a first chapter or at least a first scene to work from before I start a new series. It’s kind of how I know something is ready to go down on paper. The reason Dragon Ridden is my first book and not Pathfinder, despite the latter being in my brain longer, is because I couldn’t figure out where to begin when I sat down to write Pathfinder. Although Dragon Ridden was entirely thrown together with no planning whatsoever, I didn’t feel like I was ready to write Pathfinder back then. I’m kind of getting the same feeling with the book I’ve chosen this time as well. The idea is really cool, the world relatively well fleshed out, but it’s missing that one piece that would allow me to get going.

I think part of the problem is that I’m also rushing. I struck a deal with myself last week. I’d take the remaining time until Firebird 5’s edits returned to work on something new. I figured since I had to reread Aileen’s books anyway I could get a little writing done between reading sessions. Then when I transitioned to Aileen, I could use one day a week or part of the weekend to write in the new series. That’s actually how I wrote the first half of Rules of Redemption too.

Except that’s not going to work if I don’t actually do some writing. It figures that I’d pick the one series that doesn’t have a clear starting point. Not either of the two others that already had a planned beginning. I always make things as hard as possible on myself.

In other news, the cover for Trials of Conviction is in the process of being finalized. I’m hoping to have that book up for preorder by the end of this week. Everything is in place. I just need the cover now.

I’m eyeing December 26 for the release date. Usually I try not to publish around Christmas because of the holidays. Sales can sometimes be kind of sluggish around then. People tend to spend a lot of time with their families. Not everyone has time to read books. The Firebird series has a pretty devoted following though. Those who don’t pick it up the day of will still read it in the new year. From that perspective it doesn’t hurt me to publish around Christmas. And this way, those who do have time will get to read it a little earlier.

The post Listless appeared first on T.A. White.

I’ve completed the final readthrough for Nightfall’s Prophet. The manuscript has been formatted and a copy uploaded to Amazon. It’s also available for those in the ARC group.

Before anyone asks, yes, there will be an audio version. And a print one. Both are in production. No ETA on when they will be ready. The print shouldn’t take too long but the audio is dependent on the narrator’s and publisher’s schedules. They didn’t get a copy of the manuscript until today so please understand that it might take a little while.

Those who were on Facebook yesterday saw the announcement that I will be attending Dragon Con this year. I’ll be sharing a booth with several other authors and signing copies of my books for those interested. Since this will be my first time attending a conference, I have no idea what to expect or how many books I should bring. Or even what books people will be interested in if they come. We’ve put together an online form so I can gauge interest. Just an FYI, this isn’t a preorder form. There’s still a lot to be figured out with this conference and more updates will come out in the future. To be honest, I’m a little antsy that I’ve agreed to this madness and half expect to wake up from this dream at any moment.

https://forms.gle/K3ex4ULvt948jkzv5

Also , I will be participating in a takeover party on Kim McDougall’s page on May 16, 5-7 pm EST, to celebrate my release along with her launch of Devils Don’t Lie. There will be 6 other awesome Urban Fantasy authors participating. It’ll be happening on the Valkyrie Bestiary Discussion group. If interested, be sure to join before the fun begins.

I think that is most of the news I wanted to share for the moment. Of course as soon as I post this blog, I’ll probably remember one more thing. Anyway, now that I’ve officially put my 20th book to bed, it’s time to charge full throttle into my next book.

The post Update/News appeared first on T.A. White.

Here are the tasks I’ve started–and abandoned–in the past few hours.

Grocery Shopping. Cleaning. Organizing the mess of my jewelry drawer. Brainstorming Firebird 5. Answering emails. Reading a book. I’m pretty sure I also abandoned making tea. I boiled the water but never steeped the leaves.

I don’t know if it’s my usual post book humdrums or the overcast weather, but there’s a whole lot of nothing happening over here. Maybe I need another nap. Those are always nice, and since I do a lot of brainstorming in that odd zone between waking and sleeping, I can even tell myself I’m working.

Tomorrow will be better. Hopefully.

The post The Blahs appeared first on T.A. White.

My background is such that I’m familiar with both web design and graphic design, but it takes me so long to produce a product that doesn’t actually reflect what I see in my head. It’s taken me a while, but I’ve learned that it’s sometimes best to go to the experts in things like this. I do it with other pieces of my business so why not here.

With that in mind, I started looking around for web designers and found Rocket Expansion. I loved a couple of the websites they created for other authors. Being me, I had to sit with the notion for a few months before committing.

From there, it was one meeting where I outlined my brand and what I wanted in a website and they took it and ran with it. I couldn’t be happier with what Sonja and the team at Rocket Expansion created. It’s everything I envisioned in a website. It’s very me. The best part is that it came together in weeks and all they required of me were a few pieces of written sections. They did everything else.

If you visit, you’ll notice a few new things. First is that it is mobile friendly. Something that I’ve been wanting for years but that is firmly out of my skill set. The next is a section called Extras. Here you’ll find the free short stories and deleted scenes that were on the old site. There is also an extra section titled glossary that contains the definitions for all those words I made up in the different worlds. I also plan to add a map section but that is a task for future me.

For those who come to the site to know what I’m writing next, you’ll find the answer in two places. On the page under explore and the about page under the FAQ’s.

The blog will now be run through the site so if you’re subscribed to the old blog you’ll now have to visit the site to find new entries. There’s also an extended About the Author page that contains answers to your frequent questions.

I hope you enjoy the site as much as I do.

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