A couple weeks ago, I finished my contracted book. It’s a great book, coming out next year, titled (for the moment) The Duke’s Cunning Plan by Jade Lee. It was a ton of fun to do, but before I dive into the next one, I decided to do something weird. I’m now writing a book just for me. I’m making it as fun and quirky as I want. No thought of contracts or market or even genre. Whatever comes out, that’s what I’m writing. Now you have to understand, I’ve been a professional writer for two decades. The idea of creating something with no eye toward selling it? Something just for me? Well, that’s…like going to your job on your vacation. Except writing isn’t just a job for me, and somewhere along the road, the magic got buried under the technique and business of writing. But there is good and bad with this process. The great thing about writing just for fun is… A. No deadline. If I don’t feel like writing today, I can sleep in and read Pride and Prejudice. (Actually, I’m listening to it in audio which is making it much more fun) B. We’ve entered conference…
Fresh Pick for Monday, May 5th, 2014 is THE COLLECTOR OF DYING BREATHS by M. J. Rose #SuspenseMonday Atria Books April 2014 On Sale: April 8, 2014 385 pages ISBN: 1451621531 EAN: 9781451621532 Kindle: B00DPM9088 Hardcover / e-Book Add to Wish List Suspense, Thriller, Mystery Buy A Copy Amazon.com Kindle BN.com Powell’s Books Indiebound The Collector of Dying Breaths by M. J. Rose Florence, Italy—1533: An orphan named René le Florentin is plucked from poverty to become Catherine de Medici’s perfumer. Traveling with the young duchessina from Italy to France, René brings with him a cache of secret documents from the monastery where he was trained: recipes for exotic fragrances and potent medicines—and a formula for an alchemic process said to have the potential to reanimate the dead. In France, René becomes not only the greatest perfumer in the country, but also the most dangerous, creating deadly poisons for his Queen to use against her rivals. But while mixing herbs and essences under the light of flickering candles, René doesn’t begin to imagine the tragic and personal consequences for which his lethal potions will be responsible. Paris, France—The Present: A renowned mythologist, Jac L’Etoile—trying to recover from personal heartache by…