April 16, 2025
Let’s just dive in.
Shortened work day for me today, as I’ve got a meeting in the city. It’ll be a fabulous meeting of the minds, I’m sure, but I’d still rather be at my desk, editing away. Lots to do… and yes, still waiting on that pile of manuscripts.
Worked on a couple different first drafts last night, one that shouldn’t be a first draft. It even has a title! For you who are keeping score, it’ll be Tales from the Sheep Farm 7, and hopefully a good entry point to the series. It’ll also feature a female protagonist again, and it’s someone you’ve already met (again).
Today’s the last day for the $1.99 sale of Populated at Kobo. Grab that before it’s gone!
Safe House remains $1.99 across all platforms except my store, where it’s cheaper. The link at the start of the line here will take you to the UBL; look for the Payhip logo, a blue background with a white heart with some designs on it.
The Collected Demo Tapes is still available only at my store! Grab your copy and experience all the stories, in order, uninterrupted.
Love in Bloom, by Lucy Eden
(This is an affiliate link, so your purchase will earn me a few pennies, all of which go to operating expenses around here.)
That’s it!
If you’re having a good time with the book of the day or the rest of these posts, buy my books, support my editing endeavors, or simply donate to my Ko-fi. Be sure to check out the guides at my shop, too. One’s the Beta Readers Guide, for authors and readers, and the other is the Writer’s Guide to Library Events. Pay what you will for those; even free is fine!
Now, excuse me while I go enjoy today’s meeting of the minds. It’s good to step away from one’s desk every now and then. Just wish it didn’t have to happen in the middle of a great edit!
April 15, 2025
Who expected to wake up to a stealth book publication? Not me!
But things came together yesterday — at last! — and I couldn’t see a reason to not put the Complete Demo Tapes out into the world, making it my 14th book publication. This completes the Trevolution series, although plenty of you actually have asked me what happens next in Trevor’s world. Sorry, gang. Time to close that chapter and move ahead. I will always love the covers Lakota Phillips made me for the Demo Tapes books, and watching her soar in her own painting career has been amazing, so I turned to the wonderful Rachel Bowdler for her help.
As a result, The Complete Demo Tapes will only be available at my online store. If I sell out the rest of the Trevolution print copies (right now, there’s one six-book set, one four-book set, and random numbers of Demo Tapes 1, Demo Tapes 2, and Trevor’s Song left) and y’all ask, I’ll put it into print and sell it in person.
Wasn’t a stealth book publication enough?
Populated is still on sale at Kobo! Tomorrow’s the last day, so get on that, if you haven’t already.
Safe House is also still on sale. All month long, as part of this promotion. (That’s two individual links, so click ’em both!)
Nothing new here. Waiting on seven different manuscripts. I take first in, first served but always save space if a client has a hard deadline.
The Scarlet Alchemist, by Kylie Lee Baker
(This is an affiliate link, so if you use it, I’ll get a few pennies.)
Reminder that if you’re having fun here, fill my ko-fi, hire me as your editor, buy and read (and, if you like, review) my books. I even gave you a stealth book publication to entice you! (No, that’s not why I did it; I did it to close out the project.)
April 14, 2025
Cover for Populated, written by Susan Helene Gottfried
This is why, as an editor, I don’t work on books that glorify abuse.
It’s a dream I’m living. Good times.
In situations like this, you learn to look for silver linings. An online friend taking a selfie with the copy of Maybe the Bird Will Rise, which they were about to go buy while at Blythe Books. A Sunday spent on my new back deck, sitting on my new porch furniture, debating opening the louvers on my new louvered roof.
Purring cats.
Reaching the end of one of my manuscripts in progress (the standalone!) and putting it aside to sit some more as I work on something else.
But also!
Populated is still on sale at Kobo for another two days. Grab it while it’s cheap!
Safe House is still on sale across all retailers. Grab that one while it’s cheap, too.
Not much new to say here… The number of manuscripts I’m waiting on hasn’t changed.
If you need me, I’m here. Come prepared to do the hard work. Or come already having done the hard work!
The Three Little Tardigrades, by Sandra Fay
That’s all I’ve got. Hope your weekend was better than mine, Chag Passover Sameach to those who aren’t sickened by matzah, and check back tomorrow for another book of the day.
Remember, if you’re jamming this series I’m doing, filling my ko-fi jar is always a great way to say thanks, if you don’t simply pick up one of my books. Anything you contribute to the jar goes to operational costs around here.
April 9, 2025
The week leading up to your birthday’s supposed to be nice and fun and full of expectation, right?
Yeah. This year seems to have yeeted that memo. Yesterday and this morning have been full of mounting frustrations.
Anyway… Time to brush it off and get busy.
Not much to say. I had a meeting last night, so only got a short bit of work done. Still, even a few paragraphs are… a few paragraphs. I’m in tonight, so I should get more done.
Populated is still on sale at Kobo for $1.99 until the 17th.
Safe House is still on sale across all retailers for $1.99 until the end of the month.
Well, it’s actually cheaper at my store.
Lots to do! Clients are starting to realize I won’t be around much in the back half of May. We’re gonna have logjams in about ten minutes.
I also have to finish up my short story for the Books Books Books event anthology. Books cubed, as I often call it, is held every September in Lancaster. This will be my third year there, so be sure to come out and say hi and pick up autographed books — my own, or belonging to any of the other authors there. This show is HUGE. Over 120 of us, so I’m thrilled to have been included in the first-ever anthology. It’ll be given to VIP ticket holders, and proceeds from the event will be directed to the Making Headway Foundation, in honor of Josh Cappello, who is related to one of the event’s anchor authors.
Want to avoid some of your own mounting frustrations? I’ve got a new guide up at my ko-fi! This one was written in conjunction with the program director at my local library, and it’s all about working with your local library. Like with my beta reader’s guide, it’s pay what you will, and zero shame in not paying anything. It’s about making us all better, savvier writers and beta readers and members of our library communities, not making me rich. But, of course, if you don’t want either guide but do want to support a small business, I take donations, too.
April 8, 2025
It’s Tuesday. My editor self actually really likes Tuesdays because Mondays are always so hard to focus. But Tuesdays? Tuesday are the day when it clicks and it’s a day of plugging along, getting pages done and all the editing stuff. (Reminder: editing isn’t only looking for typos!)
Despite how tired I still was from the weekend — and sore. What’s that about? — I had a fantastic writing session last night, working on the standalone.
Populated is still on sale at Kobo!
Safe House is still on sale all month, at all retailers.
Plugging along here too! Now up to seven manuscripts that I’m waiting on. Seven!
Echoes and Embers, by Pedro Iniguez
I’m still having fun with this daily check-in and Book of the Day. If you are too, why not say thanks? Pick up a copy of one of my books. Check them out from your local library, even! (Ebooks only) Or buy me a figurative bottle of fountain pen ink via my Ko-fi.
In the meantime, keep on plugging along!
April 7, 2025
I’m back from my very long drive to see the youngest. She’s great, and I was privileged to be granted a tour of an otherwise not-open-to-the-public facility. It gave me a lot of food for thought, especially as (spoiler alert!) I’m working on a book set in a sanctuary. No idea when I’ll even do more than gather ideas and play with the character and actually write the story, so don’t be all frothy at the mouth in anticipation.
Anyway, I’m tired today, as one is when they’ve spent a few days in the middle of tornado watches and floods and deluges of rain (and you forgot your raincoat), and drove 10 hours each way. Even Sheetz surprisingly didn’t make it easy, holding me up for an unwanted and unappreciated 20-minute break while the very slow and understaffed folk made me a smoothie. And then they gave me the wrong size, but at least it was a large instead of a small. Of course, being too large, it made me sick by the time I got home.
Just more to add to the files for research and future books, I suppose… I mean, “You gave me more food than I asked for” is hardly something to burn Sheetz down for, right?
Writing: I got next to nothing done over the four-day weekend, and I’m 100% fine with that. I was there to soak up what I could learn, to enjoy the road trip and explore the small town she’s living in, to be with my kid — and my cousin, who came down to join us. I don’t spend nearly enough time with my cousins.
Safe House is still on sale for $1.99
Populated is on sale at Kobo through the 17th.
Grab the sales while you can!
Editing: Much to do today, although I’m still waiting on those five manuscripts! Actually, looking over my queue, it’s now up to six. And a dear friend reached out to ask if I’d do my How to Work with a Freelance Editor workshop for her group. Yay!
Book of the Day: These are chosen randomly, so I don’t have anything related to the road trip, but here you go:
Felicia Grossman, Marry Me by Midnight
Reminder that if you’re enjoying these updates, buy one of my books, borrow it via Hoopla or Libby (or the other library apps)–although Hoopla STILL refuses to restore Saving Sima, Broken but Undaunted, and Permission to Enter, and they won’t list Legacy at all.
And, of course, buy me a virtual bottle of fountain pen ink via my Ko-fi. Book royalties and my ko-fi go to support operational costs here at West of Mars (including book production expenses), not my addiction to road trips, even when I come home with new, rich material.
Mule races, anyone? I went to mule races! You KNOW that’s gotta appear in a book at some point!
April 3, 2025
Yes! Populated is being featured at Kobo for the next two weeks. Go grab a copy while the price is low. (This is ebook form only, of course. I WISH I could sell print copies this cheaply!)
I’m headed out to see my youngest, so it’s a long day behind the wheel for me. And last I checked, it was looking like a rainy spring weekend.
Ask me if I care. I don’t. I’m gonna see my kid and spend time with her at this temporary stop on her path. Plus animals!
As always, I have a house sitter, so give up THOSE thoughts. Besides, I don’t have anything of value. I just spent it all on my renovation!
Writing: Still working on the standalone! Yinz and y’all are going to love it. I love Priscilla and Errick and what’s this? I’m giving up details?
Editing: On hold, of course, until Monday, when I’m back from my road trip adventures. Whee!
Book of the Day: Love is a War Song, by Danica Nava
That’s all I got, since I’m not here and scheduled this out. As always, if you appreciate me and the Book of the Day, feel free to buy me a Ko-fi.
And if you’re new around here, join my mailing list! Do it for the freebies.
February 5, 2024
We’re leading with Maybe the Bird Will Rise today because Mack and Tess ended a week bookended with books. (Oh, my. If I wrote that into my fiction, I’d edit it on out. This, however, is not fiction, and so I will not.)
Last Sunday, authors Joyce Tremel/Joyce St. Anthony and Amanda Flower did a joint conversation and book signing, hosted by Pittsburgh-based Riverstone books. Best of all, they came to the McCandless store, which is closer for me than their city-based store. Although give me a reason to go to the city and I’ll usually grab it.
It was great fun, and I encourage you all to pick up Joyce and Amanda’s books. I had every opportunity to and… honestly? After ten years of having a rigid book budget of $0.00, I don’t want an overflowing bookshelf. (I actually have recently culled my shelves and have more than a few boxes to haul off to resell.)
And then I got word of a new bookstore opening in town. Reading Ready Pittsburgh, it’s called, and I am 100% behind this. Not only should we support an effort to get families and kids reading from the get-go, but those kids deserve to see themselves on the page, too. As do we adults!
On the editing front, since I was just doing a re-read this week, I knocked that out and surprised myself by getting it back to its author on Friday. But it was good, and interesting, the change from first person to third changed the book’s genre! How was that for a fascinating discovery?
This week, I’m tackling a debut romance from a new client. So yes! If you want to work with me, I may take you on! (I do not take on everyone, because you deserve the best client for you.)
And then I ended the week with another book event… my own! With seven others, but still. We did a panel discussion that was comfortable, relaxed, fun, and had total strangers riffing on each other in a good-natured way, and then we retreated to our tables and sold books. Not quite all the books, but enough to make me happy! One reader told me the plot of Populated was more interesting to her than the plot of the Bird, and that’s super! (also, not unexpected… it’s the art thief that gets everyone.)
So this is your reminder that you CAN read Populated first. Or you can even read only the odd-numbered books and only the even-numbered books in the Tales from the Sheep Farm series. And, of course, the ebook version of Populated is still on sale for $2.99 at your favorite retailers, including my own shop, if you too need a copy because what’s this about an art thief?
And, of course, Maybe the Bird Will Rise is 99c, and so is the preorder of Safe House and gosh darn it, but I forgot to plug Safe House’s presale yesterday… This is why I have a lot of signs on my table.
Grab a book — Hell, grab all the books — while the sale is on. And remember to leave reviews (I encourage you to leave HONEST reviews. A one-star review never killed an author and I won’t see it anyway.)!
If you’re an author who needs me, reach on out. I’m here, and the queue is starting to get a little thin.
July 1, 2017
It’s that time again! The Smashwords Summer Sale!
I know I’ll be perusing the offerings and loading up my ereader with books I’ll stress about not reading in a timely fashion — why don’t you join me? We’ve got all month for this ebook goodness, so c’mon! Let’s get some deals!
If you haven’t caught up on the Trevolution, all my books are FREE this month. Go pick ’em up.
Of course, you know by now I’m a HUGE champion of the value of reviews, so be sure to say thanks for the freebie by leaving a review. At Smashwords, at GoodReads, at that big behemoth of a bookseller that sells more than just books these days and now runs the national economy. You know who I mean; the point is that it doesn’t matter — leave a review!
Yes, even a negative review helps, so be kind if you need to, and be as constructive as possible. Some of us only read 1- and 2-star reviews!
That, of course, extends to my own books. But really. You’re not going to find 1- or 2-star reads on my page. Nope.
October 5, 2015
Some Monday Things to start your week off…
It’s Rocktober at The Rock of Pages, so head on over and check out the fun. Today kicks off our first author guest blog, with my buddy Jessica Topper stopping in to talk about how she named Digger and Riff.
Sharon Cathcart and I are both offering our Rock Fiction on sale this month. I’ve set The Demo Tapes: Year 1 to free (everywhere but Amazon, of course, since they don’t like to make my books free) and Trevor’s Song to 99c. Grab ’em both at your favorite retailers (Sharon’s sale is a Smashwords-only sale, but if you’re not buying your books at Smashwords, you should be. Best royalties for authors in the business).
If you’ve been following me at the West of Mars Fans Facebook page, you know I’ve been writing again. My first goal was 100 words, which it had been since the end of the Pennwriters conference last May. That lasted… a day, I think, when my first day’s word count was something like 2200. Then the goal became 1000 words a day, and I settled in around 1500 words. There were two days between the start of my drafting blitz in September and last night when I didn’t make the wordcount. My fiction writing has to happen once my editing is done, which generally means after school and into the evening. So the first day I missed the word count, I was busy with the kids from after school until late. I think I wrote 700 words that day.
The other day I missed was just last week. An honest mistake that, I was told, wasn’t a problem until someone else made it a problem, sent me into a PTSD flashback and a migraine that levelled me for the day and into the next. I got a painful 330 words down. I also had a pretty fascinating bit of self-reflection.
In terms of editing, since that’s what you really all come here to hear about, November dates (and beyond) are still open. Grab ’em while the grabbing’s good. And yes, if you have a friend who’d like to break into editing, rather than shorting your regular editor’s income, send your friend to me. I’m always looking to expand the West of Mars subcontractor list and help more authors enjoy the .001% accuracy percentage we’ve established. And yes, I did the math. Me. I did math. We pay baseball players millions for a 33% return. Why are you dumping your editor over .001?
