Veiled Magic Reveal

For those who don't get my newsletter, here is the reveal of yet another cover. Introducing VEILED MAGIC!

VEILED MAGIC is a non-Baba Yaga book. I wrote VEILED MAGIC a number of years ago—in fact, it was the book that got me signed with my agent, Elaine Spencer, who really loved it. But for whatever reason, we couldn’t sell the book back then, so Berkley bought it now and will be putting it out in November to give my readers something to hold them over until the next Baba Yaga book is out in February.

Unfortunately for those of you without e-Readers, VEILED MAGIC will only be out in eBook form initially. (You will still be able to download it and read it on your computer.) But take heart; if it sells well enough, they'll put out a print version too. And if it really sells well, they'll continue the series. So be sure to spread the word when the book comes out!

VEILED MAGIC is a little different from the Baba Yaga books (for one thing, it is Urban Fantasy, rather than Paranormal Romance, so it has a slightly different tone) but I hope my readers will enjoy it too. We don’t have an official blurb yet, so here is the one I wrote up when I was pitching it to agents, way back when:

In a world not too different from ours, a Witch-cop just trying to do her job stumbles across a long lost relic and gets caught up in an ancient war between the paranormal races and a renegade arm of the Catholic Church. With the help of a half-dragon forger, a mischievous kobold, and a disgraced shape-changer, she must solve the puzzle of an explosive secret before it can be used to destroy the very fabric of the society in which she lives.

Neither of the books is up online yet, but I will definitely put up links on my blog when they are. In the meanwhile, here is a list of the release dates, for those who have been asking:

Veiled Magic November 2015 (eBook only)

Wickedly Ever After (the next Baba Yaga novella, which continues Barbara’s story) January 2016 (eBook only)

Wickedly Powerful (Baba Yaga #3) print and eBook February 2016

I just finished writing WICKEDLY POWERFUL and it is off to my editor! Now I am hard at work on the next book in the series, which will feature the first of the Riders, Mikhail Day.

So what do you think--will you read VEILED MAGIC even though it isn't a Baba Yaga book?

 

Big BIG News! (Yes THAT Big News!)

In case you wondered what Magic the Cat was looking so secretive about this morning...

I have a two book deal for my novel, THE BABA YAGA, and it's sequel, with Berkley Publishing!

Yes, there is some major happy dancing going on at my house.

As most of you know, I wrote my 1st book for Llewellyn in 2005 and it came out in 2007. Six other books on witchcraft followed, including THE WITCH'S BROOM, which will be out in about a year. During this time, I also wrote seven novels. I spent a couple of years polishing the first one, then two years submitting to agents. And being rejected, over and over again, until happily, I signed with the fabulous Elaine Spencer of The Knight Agency. That was three years, one month, and 4 days ago. Not that anyone's counting. (Ahem.) In those three years, we sent out four novels. And they were rejected, over and over again. Usually with absolutely great rejections that praised my writing. But still. Book four, which went out in mid-January, was a modern fairy tale/fantasy romance called THE BABA YAGA.

And thankfully, editor Leis Pedersen at Berkley loved it! (And the idea for the next book in the series.)

 

  

More happy dancing.

The reason I mentioned all of this, rather than just shouting

I FINALLY SOLD A NOVEL, WHOO HOO!!!!

(Although there is a little bit of that) is to say to those of you who are still out there trying to get published...

don't give up! Some day it will happen for you too! And we'll all join you in doing the happy dance too.

Did I mention YAY I FINALLY SOLD A NOVEL (well two)?!

I owe huge thanks to Elaine (YAY #AgentWin). But also to my many writer pals who have encouraged and mentored me along the way--they made the journey a lot more fun and contributed to my ending up here.

So, what do y'all think I should do to celebrate? I'm thinking some kind of giveaway, so everyone can celebrate with me. Because, you know
I FINALLY SOLD A NOVEL! WHOOOOO HOOOOOO!

   

 

Writing: What I'm Working On (Shhhhh...)

I haven't been talking much here (or anywhere) about my current Work in Progress (or WIP, as us professional author types call them). But don't let that fool you into thinking I'm not writing :-)

I have been busy catching up with the non-fiction (articles for next year's Llewellyn annuals, my regular column in Witches & Pagans Magazine, stuff like that), and trying to keep up with the garden, which sucks a lot of time in the summer. But I'm also about a third of the way through the next novel. It has already made one trip to my agent Elaine Spencer for comments and input, and been revised in response. I've finished a full outline and I'm at the point where I'm going to dive back in and finish this sucker.

So why haven't I been talking about it, you ask? Is it that bad?

On the contrary....it's that good. Seriously. I am LOVING this story. Elaine is LOVING this story. Lisa, my critique partner and Judy, my first reader/editor all LOVE this story. I am more excited about writing it than I am anything I've written in ages, even though it is in many ways a tougher manuscript to work on, and much slower going than usual. [That's not bad--each book is different. This one uses language and layering differently than any of the others, which is part of why the pages are going more slowly.]

One of the reasons I haven't mentioned the title or any specifics is because we haven't seen anything like this out there yet, and I don't want to give away the idea. (It's a tough world, publishing. Very competitive.) But more than that, I guess, I just don't want to jinx it. Not quite ready to share. But when I am, I promise you'll hear about it here first.

In the meanwhile, I'll just keep updating the word count and talking about the garden, jewelry, and putting up cute pictures of my cats. Thanks for your patience.

Done!

Two of my favorite words in the English language are "chocolate" and "wine."

But I'm also really fond of THE END.

There is nothing like the feeling you get, as an author, when you type those two words at the end of the first draft of a novel. After months of hard work (and much pounding of head on desk, and sometimes some cursing, and almost always at least one point at which you swear you're giving it all up and becoming a spot welder) you have finally crossed the finish line.

DONE.

Of course, if you're an author, you know you're not really done. There are still edits and revisions, and critique partners to read it and send you suggestions for more edits and revisions, and in my case an agent to sent it to. Who will also give me suggestions for edits and revisions.

So, not done.

But still...

I just finished the first draft of Seeds of Change, my sixth novel, (which makes it my twelfth finished book, if you count my nonfiction--and you'd better believe I do). That's something to celebrate. I was aiming at 90,000 words (as you will know if you have been watching the word count meter) and ended up with 90,553. Of course, after all those edits and revisions...who knows.

Still, for right now, it's DONE.

*does happy dance*

What I'm working on this week, Part Deux

Okay, then. The articles are finished and turned in. I've given my editor at Llewellyn my ideas for Book 4, and I'm waiting on her response to that. The next batch of query letters for Witch Ever Way You Can (novel #1) are out, and I am reviewing my final (well, final for this week) revisions.

But the big news is that I've started the next novel. I got the idea and wrote down three pages of notes on the 5th, then kicked it off with the first 11 pages (three short chapters) on the 7th. (Probably the most I've ever written in one day.)

I spent the 8th writing up a detailed outline (a first for me, since I don't usually use an outline for fiction...just sort of let it spill out any way it comes)--which rocked, by the way. The book is a humorous paranormal romance, and even the outline made people laugh out loud. That's got to be a good sign:)

Then I went to visit family for the weekend, so I only got some minor edits done on the first 11 pages (I tend to start the next day's writing by going over and editing the previous day's work), but managed another 6 pages tonight. Along with making 2 necklaces, since my jewelry making is still helping to support me, and I have a few shows coming up.

My goal is to whip this one out as fast as I can, so I'm aiming for an average of 4 pages a day. If I am trying to produce 280 pages (about), that means I could have the first draft finished in 70 days, or a little over 2 months. Pretty ambitious, considering I still have the regular job and the jewelry making (not to mention the garden, the yard and everything else to take care of...

But hey, you never know unless you try.

So I'm going for it, and I'll try to post regular updates about my progress. If anyone is curious about the book, I can give out a few details. Of course, I'll have to swear you to secrecy...

Happy writing!
Deborah