2017 Writing Schedule Quarterly Update

It's been a busy writing year thus far in the DA Bale Publishing universe - and it's time for a quarterly update to key you in on where things are headed for 2017.

First item on the agenda, I've got some good news to share with you in relation to my publishing schedule.

The first book in my upcoming space opera series (think that old TV show I still miss, FIREFLY) has cleared the first draft hurdle and I've started working on the storyline for book two in that series, the working title being THE OUTLIERS' WAY, though I'm considering something more along the lines of Outliers' Pact or Outliers' Accord for the final title.  Who knows?  I may use all three in the end.  My plan is to get two books in publishable shape before releasing book one.  That way I can put up a pre-order for book two and release it within thirty days.  Be looking for the book one cover reveal coming later this spring and release dates announced for sometime this summer.

For those of you who are dying to read the next chapter in the Vicki saga, I'm nearing the halfway point of the fourth book in the Bartender Babe Chronicles DIE BEFORE YOU WAKE.  Last night I cleared twenty-thousand words toward my fifty-thousand word first draft goal.  If you've followed Vicki's antics up through book three, you know some major changes are getting ready to take place in her life.  I can't wait to bring them to you!  Seems lately I wake up and go to sleep (and sometimes dream) with Vicki's voice in my head.  My bedside notebook is getting pretty full about now, which is a really good sign to me.  I've no problem coming up with more crap to hit the fan in Vicki's world this time around.  By the end of this month, I should have a release day locked down and a cover ready to reveal.  Stay tuned!

Now for those of you who want the dark stuff, I've started on a new series that will take some time to dig down deep and fully plumb.  Originally I'd planned to approach it in a different way, sort of a dark romance perhaps (this from a non-romance reader who got tired of the strong-arm tactics of my fellow writers).  However, after allowing myself to ruminate on it for several weeks now, I've decided to give it a dark mystery bent since mysteries and thrillers are a better fit for me.  Sorry, gang, but my brain just isn't wired to be all gooey and mushy - bleh!  Tentative working title is UNAPPROACHABLE, but don't look for any form of release announcements on it until sometime in 2018.  This one is gonna be a slow burn to get all of the strings laid out to eventually weave together.

So for this fall, I'm allowing myself a chance to see which final book for 2017 I'll be in the mood to work on.  Will it be AIM BEFORE YOU SHOOT, the fifth book in the Bartender Babe Chronicles?  Or will it be the third as yet unnamed book in the Outliers' series?

I guess we'll all have to wait for that one.

Next item on the agenda, don't forget to check out some of the silly discussions we get into on the Coffee and Catastrophe podcasts.  For all of the other writers in the audience who seek to improve their writing, fellow author William Brian Johnson and I have spent the better part of this year thus far in our Nuts & Bolts series, discussing various mechanics of novel writing.  If you'd like to catch up on some of it, just click on the "Podcast" tab above and take your pick to listen in right here on the blog.

Last item on the agenda, be sure and sign up for my new newsletter.  On the far right of the blog here, you'll see a sign up box.  Don't worry.  I won't continually hound you about all things through the newsletter - that's what my blog, Twitter, and Facebook accounts are for!  However, my newsletter will now be the first place to go to get specific news on releases and special sales of my books.  You won't want to miss the pre-order pricing you'll only hear about there and notices when prices are about to change.  Since I'm now also direct-selling through Kobo Books, I get to take advantage of their promotions from time-to-time, so you'll want to have the newsletter to stay abreast of those deals.

In the meantime, watch for the cover reveal and release announcement of DIE BEFORE YOU WAKE coming soon.

Interviewing Bestselling Author Elle Casey - Part One

Have I got a real treat for you today, dear readers!  I stumbled upon Elle Casey during one of her freebie promotion days for her sci-fi space opera adventure series DRIFTERS' ALLIANCE (read my review HERE).  It was such an enjoyable read, I quickly downloaded books two and three in the series and devoured them.  Her characters are rich.  They're flawed.  They have pasts, presents, and are dreaming of futures yet to be realized - and I can hardly wait to jump back on board the spaceship DS Anarchy for additional adventures with Captain Cass and Company.

While I was in full geek-out mode, I took a chance and contacted Elle through her website (www.ellecasey.com) to see if she'd be willing to let me interview her for the blog - and she graciously agreed, answering not just some but all of my questions.  Thus, please join me today for part one of this interview and get to know bestselling author, Elle Casey.

DAB:  Welcome, Elle!  You’ve been an attorney, a teacher, and now a bestselling author.  Tell us a little of what the progression was like through your various careers, and how it prepared you for the life you’re living as an author today.

EC:    I’m the kind of person who gets interested in a particular topic or subject and then I research the heck out of it. And if it interests me beyond that, sometimes I turn it into a career. I've done that several times, in fact. (stock broker, insurance sales, restaurateur, medical devices, etc.) But I'm also the kind of person who, once I have mastered something, I get bored with it. That goes for jobs and it also goes for places where I live. So I guess you could say I've been a bit nomadic in both my work and private lives. Most of my life, the people who love me would make offhand comments about me being flaky (“She can’t settle down, she’s always starting something new.”) But as it turns out, this kind of life can turn a person into a great storyteller. I've met many kinds of people, I've worked in a lot of different environments, and I've lived in a lot of places. You will see bits of that in all of the books I write.

DAB:  Well here's one reader that hopes you won't give up this particular writing career anytime soon.  You’re an American living in France.  How did you arrive at the decision to make the move, and did moving to France influence your decision to pursue a novel writing career?

EC:    My husband and I decided to take a one year timeout with the kids so that we could all learn about another culture and take a break from the rat race. But once we were here, we didn't want to leave. So that put me in the position of having to figure out a way to make a living here. At first, I was working as a teacher, but as everybody knows, teacher salaries aren't so great. Self-publishing came along at just the right moment.

DAB:  I come from a family full of teachers, so I can definitely appreciate that aspect.  Was it exciting, frightening, nerve-wracking, or simply business-as-usual to move from the corporate/business environment to self-publishing?

EC:    It was just plain exciting! I did it while I was also working as a teacher, so I had nothing to lose and everything to gain by trying.

DAB:  So I guess we could say teaching was your transition career between being an attorney and an author.  So at this point, which of your novels is your favorite?

EC:    They all take a piece of me to put together and they all pull from my life or my history in one way or another. My favorite might be Apocalypsis because I dreamed of a post-apocalyptic world often as a teen, wondering what I’d do to survive. I also love War of the Fae because the characters are so crazy and I adore supernatural stuff. There will always be a part of me that believes vampires, witches, elves, and fairies exist here with us. No one will ever be able to convince me they don’t.

DAB:  Maybe they're all part of that world in a galaxy far, far away. Speaking of other galaxies, I’ve read your DRIFTERS’ ALLIANCE series and loved the three books thus far.  Where did the germ that sprang into the idea for this series come from?

EC:    I’m a big fan of the television series Firefly. My husband and I were always looking for something similar on TV, but there's not much out there. So, I decided to write my own story. I would love to see it on television one day.

DAB:  Me too!  Total Firefly geek. Personally, I'd love to see your DA novels become the next space opera TV series.  Now who would play the ginger twins???

But sci-fi aside, you write in a broad category of other genres such as romance, mystery, etc.  Have you experienced unexpected challenges to writing under and juggling so many hats?

EC:    I write in several genres including action-adventure, contemporary urban fantasy, romance, romantic thriller, paranormal, paranormal romance, science fiction, and post-apocalyptic dystopian fiction. I really believe there are no genre or subject matter limits to what indie authors can publish. Indies can write in any genre, and that work will be accepted by readers around the world. In fact, I believe that indie writing lends itself to a much broader spectrum of fiction than what has been accepted by the traditional publishing world.  Right now indie authors are setting the trends, and traditional publishers are playing catch-up.  But there’s a valid reason for it. It’s all about the cost of doing business. Traditional publishing companies like to make sure that their marketing money is being spent as efficiently as possible, therefore they limit their authors to a specific genre so that every dollar they spend can be focused on a single group of readers that’s very easy to find and identify and “speak" to. If an author were to write in several genres, that marketing money could be wasted, in that they’d be talking to the wrong people sometimes and they’d have to build up and attract a new audience for each genre. I’m sure they see it as re-inventing the wheel over and over. It’s true to say that reader-fans don’t always cross over and read other genres written by their favorite authors. Many of my readers have told me that they will read all the romance novels I write, but they won't touch the other genres that I write in; and, on the other hand, I have readers who will only read my fantasy or paranormal work and nothing else.  From a marketing dollar perspective, it's very expensive to have to build new audiences for each genre, but indie authors don't really worry about this kind of thing, in general. Indie authors write what excites them, write what they're interested in reading, or write what they think their readers are looking for. Indie authors are not limited by a company head above them telling them what they can and cannot do. Personally, I like to read in all these genres, and I also get bored writing in the same genre all the time.

DAB:  I second that.  It's nice as an indie to be able to write what we enjoy without all of those restrictions. You've mentioned many different genres in which you write, so that's got to translate to quite a few books.  How many total books written/published are you up to now?

EC:    I currently have 44 published works (this includes full-length novels, serials and short stories).

DAB:  In three/four years as an author?  That's incredible!  Have you found certain genres perform better than others?  If so, what’s your take on the reasons for this genre performance?

EC:    The romance genre performs better than any of the others because the market is so big and readers of romance tend to be very voracious. They read more books in a the year than any other genre reader, I’m convinced of that. A close second would be mystery/thriller readers, but that genre is more popular in the UK than the US. Lately, science fiction has started to jump, and I'm really excited about that. It's one of my favorite genres to watch on television and in the movies. My Drifters’ Alliance science fiction space opera has been really well-received.

DAB:  Uh, big fan here if I've yet to make that clear.  What project(s) are you currently pounding out that we might see later in 2016/2017 (please say DA4)?

EC:    Yes! DA 4, 5, and 6 actually—they’re coming next year. I have more War of the Fae coming this year. I also have a 4th book in the Bourbon Street Boys series in process right now. You can check my website for my full publishing schedule: http://www.ellecasey.com/publishing-schedule/.

DAB:  Okay, here's something I ask every interviewee who visits the blog, and I get some very interesting answers sometimes.  Are you a plotter or a pantser (i.e. to outline or not to outline, that is the question)?

EC:    I don’t use outlines to write; I’m a total Pantser. I’m never in control of my stories. Never ever. I just take dictation of what I see and hear them doing/saying in my head. My stories go wherever the characters take them. When I try to outline it ends up being a waste of time.

DAB:  I'm so glad to hear you say that!  I'm a Pantser as well, but most Plotters shake their finger at me and tell me they get a much higher output when they outline.  However, your reported word count output per day is astounding.  Tell us what word count you’ve been running lately, and advice you would give other authors on how to increase their daily volume.

EC:    It totally depends on how close the deadline is. If I set a short deadline, I can do as much as 10k a day for several days in a row. I can do more than that but it’s mentally exhausting and then I need a break. 5k a day is very reasonable for me. I would say that practice makes perfect. Getting into the swing of writing is like anything else; you have to do a lot of it before it starts feeling natural. I’ve also started doing dictation using a dictaphone and uploading to Dragon. That makes it much easier to hit my targets.

DAB:  Hmm, I might have to try that too.  To get all of this writing done, do you keep a regular writing schedule or do you write all hours of the day and night as the muse nags?

EC:    I have a schedule but it’s flexible. I write at all hours of the day and night depending on what else is going on in my life.

DAB:  Do you ever write to music or do you prefer silence?

EC:    I need either silence or white noise. Anything that can distract me, will! So anything with lyrics is out, anything I can hum to, etc.

DAB:  Uh-oh!  The writer's death knell.  That reminds me - I've read references on your site about what you call ‘squirrels’.  Care to explain this term to our audience and how to deal with these pesky critters that plague us as writers?

EC:    Squirrels are, quite simply, distractions. The reference comes from that movie Up where there's a talking dog who’s having a conversation with somebody and then stops and whips his head to the side and says, “Squirrel!” Most dogs are distracted by those little critters. And writers are distracted by Facebook, Twitter, email, laundry, spouses, kids, etc etc. The list of writing squirrels is endless and ignoring them is a daily battle.

DAB:  Which is why my desk is covered in notepads.  Squirrels are an insanity-inducing challenge some days.  Speaking of which, did your husband and children ever question your sanity when you told them you were going to quit your day job and write novels?

EC:    Never, because I think it had been pretty well established already that I wasn't sane in the first place. Haha. Ask anyone who loves me. . . they’ll tell you I’m a little crazy. My husband’s favorite line is: “Life with you is never boring.”

DAB:  Well, hey - if life got boring, what would you write about?  So that brings us to another big question.  You could've gone the traditional route and spent time writing and sending out queries to agents and publishers instead of taking such a big risk and publishing on your own.  What advice would you give someone considering traditional publishing versus self-publishing?

EC:    My advice to other people considering self-publishing is to absolutely jump in there and do it. Nobody's going to come knocking on your door asking you to write a book for them, but there are plenty of people out there who want to read what you have to write, I promise. And they’ll pay you for it! Also I wouldn't bother with the traditional publishing process because it takes so long, and the market is flooded with people doing that. Besides, you really don't need a gatekeeper between yourself and your readers. Let the readers decide if you're a good writer. Let the readers give you the very valuable feedback you will need in order to improve your skills; and then, after you've had some success as a writer to the real people who matter—  that is the readers —  go ahead and send a query letter out if you still feel the need. At least following this path you will have the confidence you need to push through the closed doors you’re apt to find. The most pleasing aspect of self-publishing for me has absolutely been the reader response to my work. I suspect that had I sent out query letters to agents, I would have run into a lot of closed doors. I never had to deal with that as an indie writer. I love being able to speak directly with my readers about my work and to share in their enthusiasm over it.

As I mentioned before, Elle was so gracious to answer every question I posed to her, I decided to break the interview up into two parts.  Stay tuned next week for some additional insight into the world of Elle Casey, self-publishing, and what it takes to become a bestselling author.

In the meantime, happy reading!

Love Space Opera? Try DRIFTERS' ALLIANCE

Have I got an intriguing series for you!

If you're into the whole sci-fi space opera genre (think Firefly, Star Trek, etc.) then you need to pick up Elle Casey's DRIFTERS' ALLIANCE series.  Thus far it's only three books, but more are on the way - and I can hardly wait.

Now onto the show.

Book Blurb:

One hand of cards and it's all over but the crying...

Cass Kennedy finally gets what she's been dreaming of for the past ten years: a drifter ship to call her own. All the sim time and battle training is going to pay off in spades as she sets her course for the future. She'll be living on her own terms, not those of her father.

But drifting through deep space with a crew of nutty strangers on the DS Anarchy carries a lot more surprises than she bargained for. Nobody told her that her ship is falling apart, that dead chickens are something you really want to hang on to, and that the OSG has big plans for the universe that don't necessarily jibe with her plans for herself.

Jump onboard with Cass and her crew as she charts a course toward an alliance that will either make her or break her as Captain of the DS Anarchy.

My Review:

Through a game of chance, Cass Kennedy has done the impossible - become captain of her very own drifter ship at the ripe age of nineteen.  Now she can explore the far reaches of dark space with her crew and escape farther from the clutches of the OSG - and her father, a major general of the Omega Systems Group elite command.

But the title of captain comes with its own set of challenges - and mutiny doesn't just happen on the Bounty.  Throw in a questionable stowaway, and Cass' maiden voyage at the helm of the DS Anarchy might just be her last.

Especially if she can't avoid the OSG's warships and those hunting her down for escaping their elite clutches three years ago.  Her only hope?  Become a member of a freedom alliance of other drifter ships.

DRIFTERS' ALLIANCE has a great cast of characters in the vein of that short-lived TV show Firefly.  Cass is no wilting flower and has a closet full of skeletons that threaten to expose her and the crew to the mighty and merciless hand of the OSG's ruling order.  But all crew members, both old and new, hide behind secrets of their own.  Each is drawn as unique, three-dimensional individuals which makes them feel like they could leap from the pages into the real world.

The action takes time to ramp up, but the characters drive the plot forward in the interim, which keeps the pace from bogging down and avoids devolving into a bunch of telling.  The reader is simply dropped into the characters' lives where they are without resorting to a bunch of world-building info dumps.  Instead the world-building is nicely interwoven into the storyline as it plays out.

Editing is smooth and clean, with only one tiny error I noticed in the entire story.  DRIFTERS' ALLIANCE is a quick and entertaining read, with each of the three episodes thus far at just around two hundred pages - and yes, I've already read all three books and am anxiously awaiting the next release.  Five stars from me.

Content Warning:  Strong language is sprinkled throughout, but it fits with the characters and the nature of the story.  Some mild sexual jokes but nothing you wouldn't hear in school or the office.  The following books in the series have some violence and blood with danger to the characters, but again not terribly graphic.

Books one through three can be purchased by clicking here on AMAZON, B&N, and anywhere else books are sold.

Author Bio:

ELLE CASEY, a former attorney and teacher, is a NEW YORK TIMES and USA TODAY bestselling American author who lives in France with her husband, three kids, and a number of furry friends. She has written books in several genres and publishes an average of one full-length novel per month.

www.ElleCasey.com

www.Facebook.com/ellecaseytheauthor

www.Twitter.com/ellecasey

Want to get an email when my next book is released? Sign up here: www.ElleCasey.com/news

Like Space Opera? Read STARRIE

For those of you who enjoy science fiction and space opera genres, I've got a great little book for you.  It's full of action, intrigue, and some far-out experiences in a galaxy far, far away.

No, it's not STAR WARS, it's Heidi Ruby Miller's novel STARRIE.  Check out my review from Amazon below.

Book Blurb:
SPACE OPERA WITH AN ENSEMBLE CAST!

In this caste-ruled society, where multiple partners are the norm, celebrity, beauty, and power mean everything. Love and jealousy are considered emotional fallacies, nothing more than fleeting moods and sentiments biased by hormones. But sometimes people just fall in love...and that can be deadly.

Ben Anlow and his team embark on a revenge mission to bring down serial murderer and rapist, Liu Stavros, at his fortress in the inhospitable mountains of Tampa Three. But contractor Naela Starrie already has her own kind of vengeance planned for Stavros. Even as a battle-hardened soldier, Ben's not prepared for the darkness he sees in the female assassin, nor the way she challenges his prejudices about her people when she makes a sacrifice to save to his life.

My Review:
STARRIE is Firefly meets Battlestar Galactica - and it's a non-stop ride through terraformed planets.

Having previously read the first novel in the AMBASSADORA universe, I was well aware of Ms. Miller's excellent writing style and pleased to have the chance to read this side story set within as well. It's always nice to read a novel that is well plotted, uses point-of-view properly, and is free of irritating errors that slow so many stories down. So since there is no need for me to breakdown those elements here, let's move onto the storyline.

The world-building in STARRIE is excellent, and if you're like me and have had at least some exposure to the space opera genre in books, movies, or television, you'll easily find yourself enmeshed in the fictional universe created here. I cracked up with the 'docking' euphemism (think about it) and several other word usages that took on whole new meaning here. Even with such a far-out-there imaginative world, the story never bogs down with heavy-handed telling and achingly long descriptions (thank you!), while the action continues to keep things moving forward at a well-paced clip. There are familiar tie-ins with some of the elements from MARKED BY LIGHT that were nice to see and get a better feel for in this outing. And, of course, there's the Anlow brothers.

We open with Ben Anlow and his team on a mission to take out a sick and twisted member of the Embassy, the ruling order, on the frozen planet of Tampa Three's highest peak, Durstal Ki. But someone else got to Stavros just before them, a contractor assassin on the Embassy's payroll. Through a series of dire circumstances, Ben is separated from his team and must depend upon Naela Starrie, the assassin in question, to get him off of Tampa Three or at least keep him alive and safe from the hunters until contact can be made to the outside world. Naela knows who is hunting them, and her crazed cousin won't stop until he has what he's always wanted - her.

After a genetically altered puma attack on Tampa Three marred the team's own attack plan atop Durstal Ki, Char must race to get her prime back to civilization before the blood loss and poison have their final effect. But that means leaving the team's leader behind in the hands of a deadly assassin - and also explaining to Embassy officials why their mission failed.

Like I said, excellent pacing, nearly non-stop action, and great world-building (not to mention an error-free experience) make STARRIE a fabulous read for those who enjoy science fiction, particularly the aforementioned shows. I guess that means I'm exposing my nerdy/geeky side.  I did get a little dizzy and had trouble following all of the media drones toward the end and how the characters' recorders worked, but that was only a minor annoyance.  Content warnings: graphic and bloody violence (dismemberment), mild sexual situations, and strong language usage throughout, so definitely an 18+ read. For the wild adventure, five stars from me.

Pick up a copy if science fiction and space opera are up your alley by clicking here on AMAZON.  Oh, and you can also enter for a chance to win a paperback copy over on Goodreads if you sign up soon by clicking HERE.

Author Bio:

Heidi Ruby Miller uses research for her stories as an excuse to roam the globe. With degrees in Anthropology, Geography, Foreign Languages, and Writing, she knew early that penning fast-paced, exotic adventures would be her life. She's put her experiences and studies to paper in her far-future AMBASADORA series and into her two new thriller series.

In between trips, Heidi teaches creative writing at Seton Hill University, where she graduated from their renowned Writing Popular Fiction Graduate Program the same month she appeared on Who Wants To Be A Millionaire. AMBASADORA was her thesis novel there, and the multi-award winning writing guide MANY GENRES, ONE CRAFT, which she co-edited with Michael A. Arnzen, is based on the Seton Hill program and was named #5 in The Writer magazine's Ten Most Terrific Writing Books of 2011.

She has had various fiction and non-fiction publications, as well as various jobs, including contract archaeologist, foreign currency exchanger at Walt Disney World, foreign language teacher, and educational marketing director for Frank Lloyd Wright's House on Kentuck Knob. In 2012, Heidi created the Dog Star Books science fiction imprint for Raw Dog Screaming Press and was the managing editor for the line for three years. Recently, she was the Director of Professional Writing Relations for the Pennsylvania Literary Festival, an event she co-founded in 2014.

Her formal memberships include The Authors Guild, International Thriller Writers, Pennwriters, and Science Fiction Poetry Association. Heidi is fond of high-heeled shoes, action movies, chocolate, and tea of any sort. She lives near Pittsburgh with her award-winning writer husband, Jason Jack Miller, and a sweet little kitty. Visit her at www.heidirubymiller.com.