Ask A Wench: What are you working on?

Pat here:

It’s a hot and humid summer and the wenches are feeling a little lazy (or wiped out after RWA!). So lazy that we couldn’t even find an easy reader question to answer, so this month, we’re making up our own. Wenches, tell us—what are you currently working on?

Mary Jo:
I'm currently rushing toward the end (I hope!) of NO LONGER A GENTLEMAN, #4 in my Lost Lords series of Regency historicals for Kensington.  For readers who worried that this would just be a trilogy, never fear.  Three books always strikes me as way too skimpy.  I figure the Lost Lords can go eight or nine books, easy.  <G>  NLAG is scheduled for May 2012.  The hero this time is Wyndham, who has been lost in France and presumed dead for ten years. 
 
Then I'll write my third YA historical fantasy for St. Martin's Press.  It's tentatively scheduled for Summer 2012, with the title of DARK DESTINY. 
 
Somewhere in there I need to write a novelette.  A fun little story which will inevitably take longer than I expected it to.  <g>  And in my spare time <pause for maniacal laughter>, I'm preparing backlist books for direct e-publishing.  Veils of Silk, third book in my Silk trilogy, will go up in the next few weeks.  Then--it's time to start working on the Fallen Angels!
 
 
Such is the writer's life--one story after another!

 

From Susan King:

I'm currently working on another medieval fiction project while writing a novella for a romance anthology, and when I find a few minutes here and there away from the usual stuff, I'm exploring an exciting new direction in my writing just for fun. I'm also overseeing the e-publication of my earlier historical romances (The Black Thorne's Rose and The Raven's Wish are currently available as ebooks, with more to come this year) and my Sarah Gabriel historical romances as well as my mainstream fiction historicals are available in ebook too. And I'm looking forward to December 2011 and the trade paperback edition of Queen Hereafter -- with that gorgeous cover!

 

From Anne:

I've recently finished BRIDE BY MISTAKE, the 5th book in my "Devilriders" series, with Luke Ripton as the hero. That comes out in January 2012. Currently I'm working on a short story (10-15K) words for an upcoming anthology, and after that I'll be writing the final book in the "Devilriders" series with Marcus, the Earl of Alverleigh's story. I hadn't originally planned to write his story — in the original contract Marcus  was supposed to be a minor character and something of a shadowy villain in the background, but he's quietly been edging forward, declaring himself to be no villain, but a hero in waiting — that's the trouble with being a "fly-into-the-mist kind of writer -- characters don't always do what you tell them to. Anyway, I've had so much mail asking for his story, my editor has agreed to let me write it.
After that I have an exciting new series planned, but I'm not saying anything about it yet. I get a bit superstitious about revealing too much too soon.


From Jo Beverly:
I'm mostly working on A Scandalous Countess, a Georgian novel which is due in shortly. Very shortly. In time sequence it follows from An Unlikely Countess, but the connections are slight, especially in the early parts. Georgia, the young Countess of Maybury, is a sister of Peregrine Perriam, who delighted readers in Unlikely Countess. Everyone wants his story, but it's not coming to me yet. 

My books generally take about a year to gestate, no matter what I do, so it's a good thing that I threw down the beginning of Scandalous Countess nearly a year ago as the first book of a two-book contract. The proposal was due last October -- that was some chapters and a bit of an outline. The book is due in August, for publication in February. Usually a manuscript is due in closer to a year before publication, but my schedule's been tight for a while.

Of course between sending in the proposal and now we've moved from Yorkshire to Devon, bought a house, spent a month in Spain, supervised the renovations of said house, and are now preparing to move in. The thing about a writing schedule is that life happens, and I'm not a writer who can work in short periods of time grabbed in the midst of other things. This is why I'm currently only writing one book a year. Perhaps when we're settled I can create a bit more.

While writing A Scandalous Countess, I've also dealt with the later stages of An Unlikely Countess--a edits and page proofs, along with any promotional actitivities. In writing, I've been throwing down bits of other work, including the next countess book -- two candidates there; a long short story—two candidates there; and a short novella which is only a twinkle in my eye. I do like to have a number of things going at once, but that's based on having time to wander off and play with them, and I haven't had as much playtime as usual this year.

We fiction writers are insane. After all, we believe in imaginary people, and even talk to them. Often they talk back. However, another part of our mental instability, especially for historical authors, is not knowing where the present is. Right now, part of my creative mind is in the future, in those books I'm going to write. Another part is in the book I'm writing now, which is set in the past. And I'm actively involved in the welfare of stories I wrote in the past, between 1 and 25 years ago. Now? Who knows where now is, but now is all we ever have, so we should enjoy it. Cheers!


From Nicola Cornick:

I’ve just finished DESIRED, book 5 in the SCANDALOUS WOMEN OF THE TON series, which is out in December 2011, and have started the sixth and final book in the series, currently entitled FORBIDDEN. It’s set in London and Dorset in 1817 and has as its heroine a character who has featured in three of the previous books in the series – I’m giving away no more than that! FORBIDDEN is scheduled for June 2012 from HQN Books.

I’m also writing a short story – which I’m enjoying very much – and planning a brand new series. More news on that in a few months time! Oh, and I also need to find the time to write a very special commission for Harlequin Historicals as part of their link up with the National Trust. The book is going to be set in Bath, featuring the wonderful Bath Assembly Rooms, and it will also have a paranormal strand to it. I’m very excited about the project as not only will this be the first time I’ve written a historical with a paranormal element to it, I also get to go behind the scenes at the Assembly Rooms and the fabulous Bath Museum of Costume. What could be finer?

From Joanna Bourne:
I'm at an interesting place in book production -- between reviewing the copyedits of Black Hawk and seeing the galleys.

If I were engaged in bungee jumping I'd be halfway between jumping off the cliff and coming to the fully extended 'bounce'. That is to say, it's too late to change my mind about anything major.

I've been taking this last couple  days off, letting go of Black Hawk and letting the next story move into my head. This looks remarkably like wasting time to the uninitiated observer.

I have a very old Out of Print Regency that I am going to release to e-publication. That's Her Ladyship's Companion. It should be available in a few months.

From Cara/Andrea:

I've been on a pretty nose-to-the-grindstone schedule this year . . . though a more accurate adjective might be "insane." Last month I did the final proofing of typeset pages for Too Wicked To Wed, the first book in my new historical romance trilogy (The Lords of Midnight) which comes out in November 2011. Once those were out the door, I finished up  the manuscript for the second book in the series, Too Tempting To Resist (scheduled for May 20120 and whipped that off to my editor as well. Then I had revisions to tackle for my second mystery, The Cocoa Conspiracy, which hits the shelves in December 2011. Those will be finished this week, and then it's back to the current WIP (mystery #3, as yet untitled, though my working name for it vacillates between A Recipe For Betrayal and A Recipe for Chaos ) which is due September 1. I've an anthology short story due October 1, but it's short and I've already started m noodling some ideas. Then I think I will take a nap.

Pat again, panting and out of breath after reading all that hectic activity! The other wenches put me to shame. I fear I’m the dilettante wench, the one who dabbles hither and yon, dives in and splashes about in the water for a while, then wanders to the next pretty flower.  Right now I’m finishing the first draft of the second book in an urban fantasy series that won’t even start for another year. I’m doing promotion for THE DEVILISH MONTAGUE, another of my Rebellious Sons stories, which is out right now. I’m organizing promotion for my January 2012 release, THE LURE OF SONG AND MAGIC, a contemporary romance with paranormal elements. (What does one call a siren voice? Not magic. Not psychic. Just woo-woo, I guess.) This is the book about the descendants of the Malcolms and Ives. I’m working on a short story and a novella  for various collections. I’m slowly editing and digitalizing my backlist. And then there are all these pretty flowers in my Idea Box just waiting to grow into full bouquets. Or weeds. One never knows!

Since there was no real “winner” in the AAW column this month, I’ll send a copy of THE DEVILISH MONTAGUE to a commenter. I suggest asking questions that the wenches might answer in another AAW column, since if we pick your question, it generates a whole lot more booty!

Comments

[Nina Paules]

Hi WordWenches! You ladies are a busy bunch. Recently I came across a quote that said: I was a writer before I was published. Now, I'm a promoter. Which leads me this AAW question: How has your book promotion campaigns changed with the advent "e"? Are the 2-million-and-growing ebooks flooding today’s market making it more difficult to get readers’ attention?

Nina

[donna ann]

thanks for the update, looks like plenty of goodies in the works! :) since you let us know what all you're working on, the question to follow is: which part of the writing cycle (from idea blooming/proposal to putting the book on "paper" to edits/proof to release day) is your least & most favorite part & why? Have a great wknd

[Cara Elliott/Andrea Penrose]

Nina, an excellent question! I, for one, feel a little daunted by all the promo work that is required of authors theses days, and I am probably not being as active as I should be (Sigh. I would rather use the time to write BOOKS!) However the e-book opportunities are very exciting, as well as daunting, for those of us with backlists and finished manuscripts that didn't quite fit a a publisher's line. How to wave a hand and attract attention for those books is a challenge, but an interesting one. Ask us the same question in six months!

[Cara Elliott/Andrea Penrose]

Donna, I love the magic of the first idea for a story. I madly scribble some notes and get very excited. The actual writing requires more critical thrashing around, as I am a set of the pants plotter, but I really enjoy that process despite the maddening moments. Once the story is done, the actual copyedits and reading-rereading typeset galleys is probably my least favorite aspect. I'm ready to move on to the next idea!

[Patricia Rice]

Excellent questions. I'll have Sherrie add them to our AAW list! You can see we're already pondering answers. "G"

[Kat]

I read somewhere that Jane Austen had told her family where all her major characters ended up after she had written the ending of her books… I wonder when you’re done with a book or series of books are you done with those characters or do you too know how their lives played out?

[Liz]

My question would
'Which was the most difficult of your books to write, because of emotional investment, time demands, editor problems, etc.?'

[LouisaCornell]

Any aspiring writer who reads what you ladies have been up to and doesn't run screaming into the night is probably not going to be daunted by anything !! Exhausted me just to read it!

And Jo, I finished An Unlikely Countess a few days ago and I absolutely adored it! I couldn't put it down because I so wanted these characters to have the HEA they deserved. Thank you for a wonderful, wonderful read!

For those of you who write different series and even in different genres how do you keep everything organized?

Do any of you suffer from what I call "next book interference?" I am currently revising my third book after having written the first few chapters of the fourth. Sometimes the fourth book insists on filling my head making it dashed hard to work on revising the third! Does that ever happen to you and HOW do you deal with it short of a brief stay in a the local asylum??

[Marie]

I am wondering how each of you deal with working on more than one project at a time and is it hard to write in all different time periods?

[Jo Beverley]

Jo here, celebrating having a decent internet connection for the moment. My proper internet won't be connected in the new house until Monday so I'm using my broadband dongle, which is pretty good value at 10 pounds for a month.

Too many questions to answer, but Marie, I like to write on multiple projects because there's usually one that fits with my creativity, whether it's that early, exciting surge or the later thoughtful rewriting, or anywhere in between.

Louisa, delighted that you enjoyed Unlikely Countess. Thank you.

As for your question, if I can, I work on the book that's raring to go, because that's where the energy's flowing.

[Jane]

I think the Wenches should publish a book containing a short story by each of you! We'd all want a copy of that!

[Cara Elliott/Andrea Penrose]

Louisa, this year I've several times had to go back to copyedit or revise a previous ms. while working on the new story. It's hard! But I try to think of it as dealing with your "friends." Sometimes, you'd rather be with X, when Y suddenly stops by for a glass of tea. Now, you like them both, so you grit your teeth and make the best of it. In the end, you're happy Y showed up, so it all works out!

[Cara Elliott/Andrea Penrose]

Marie, I rarely work on two projects at the same time. My brain just isn't wired that way. I set up a pretty strict calendar for my WIPs, and really try to stick to it. That said, I will occasionally get a flash of inspiration and scribble some notes down, but then try to tuck them away from when I start that particular story in earnest.

[LilMissMolly]

I love your blog and enjoy reading everyone's perspective on things.

My question is, how did you all come together and form The Word Wenches?

[Mariee]

My question: From all the books you've written, which one is your favorite and why?

[Maureen]

You are all so busy and it looks like the Wenches are going to have a lot of great books coming out soon. I saw that there are several wenches working on e-publishing their older titles. I'm wondering if all the Wench's titles will eventually be available as e-books or if this is something where you pick and choose.

[Maggie Robinson/Margaret Rowe]

I loved the updates. How delightfully exhausted you all must be!

My question is somewhat related to Mariee's, but I feel like picking a favorite book is like picking a favorite child--one just shouldn't do it. However, who is the hero you'd most like to bring to real life and run off with, maybe not forever, but for one wicked night? ;)

[Lyn S]

Yay, lots of new books. I only hope that Cara/Andrea made a typo and we don't need to wait till 20120 for the second Lords of Midnight book. But I would be willing to time travel to read it.

[Dee Feagin]

Of course I am excited about seeing more of your books (all of you) in print soon, including those HTF ones, but I wonder about how many times you begin a story, work on it for some time and then give it up? How hard is it to stop working on a project that you began but won't be able to finish..for whatever reason? Are those efforts ever revived?

[Suzy]

Joanne, I'm really looking forward to your re-issue of Her Ladyship's Companion. Thank you.

[Patricia Rice]

LOL, Lyn! I'm pretty sure the book is out in 2012 but being willing to time travel for it is loyalty worth more than gold. "G"

Fantastic questions everyone! The wenches are greedily scarfing them down and plotting blogs already.

[Helen]

You Ladies certainly sound very busy which is great for us readers whoo hoo more fantastic books for us to read.

Have Fun
Helen

[Jeanne Miro]

My question for the Wenches is: Have you ever visited a location and immediately known that you had to base at least one scene for a book in that location?

Thanks also for the information of what your working on! My list of books to look out for has just been lengthened.

[Cathy Gilleylen Schultz]

I would appreciate it if author's listed all their characters on their website with a bit of biography so that when I read the next book in a series (often a year later) I can be brought up to speed beforehand and not left having to dig through my memory since remembering names is not my forte, which leads me to my question: If you did list your characters and put the dates they "lived" in your books by their name, would you be adverse to other writers mentioning your character in their books? For instance, someone could be gossiped about while at a ball that took place in another author's book. I read so many different authors that I would love to have all of them connected in this way--not just with the time period. Your book could be listed on their website as mentioning your character as a courtesy (and promotion of course!)

[Patricia Rice]

What a fascinating suggestion, Cathy! I'm not certain I could go back and resurrect names and dates for the older books, but for a series I'm working on... Very interesting,thank you!