E.M. Johnson

Cabin Fever MiniCon was a lot of fun! Even though we didn't sell very many books, our craft area was very popular, and we met some readers who'd already picked up The Dark, which is always a treat. We had a great time talking to people new and known. Thanks to everyone who came out despite the snowstorm!

Our next event is RodCon, at the Rod Library in Cedar Falls, IA! This convention is on April 13th, from 10 a.m. to 4 p.m.

Also new on the calendar is DemiCon - which is not entirely new, per se, but the fact that we will not have a vendor table is! E.M. will be joining two panels of science fiction writers, one for readings from their works and the other for a discussion of current dystopian/apocalyptic literature! DemiCon 30 will be May 3rd through the 5th.

I just sent out a new newsletter with some information about Josh and a bonus scene with Josh and Cypha has been posted on the website!

This scene with Josh and Cypha fits between The Haven and The Hunt and will not be included in either, although what happens is important to the overall story (it just doesn't need to be in print!). To read this scene (and others when they're released), please visit the brand-new Bonus Content page on Division53.com!

Warning: This has spoilers for The Haven, so do not read this if you haven't read The Haven yet!

Last week, I signed and sent the contract to CMP and Soulfire, underneath its new owner, Suzanne Fhyrie Parrott of First Steps Publishing. She's excited about the series and looking to update some things. The third book in the series is an important step for an author, so expect some rebranding and heavy marketing to come. I have a grammar editor taking a look at this book (he didn't find any errors in the first 1/3 of the book), but once he's finished, the final version will go to Suz to start the process! Release date may be late this year. (I'll update with a more concise date after things get going. When I know, you'll know!)

Editing has resumed on The Shield! My second alpha reader has just finished the book. There are still some major things to fix, but she gave the thumbs-up to the overall book and hates that she's not holding the fifth in her hands right now.

And, I'm 106 pages into The Streets!

I've been quiet, I know, but it's because I've been BUSY. Between family, work, sewing, commissions, video games (HAHAHA I wish), and writing, it's a wonder I get to sleep!

More is coming though, and I'm excited to share it! ;)

I don't usually let my geek flag fly. I dunno why, I'm just pretty quiet about the things I'm a fan of. I love them hard, but you have to see me in person to really realize how much I enjoy them. However, I am breaking that silence with Alita: Battle Angel.

I have loved this story since I found it in high school. I found a random image from the second half of the original series, and then found out who it was, and picked up the manga. I fell in love. The main character is a small, underestimated warrior with immense power and skill, who frequently takes out people so much larger than she is. She's got a sharp tongue, good instincts, and never gives up. It's a story about what makes you human, paired with incredible action and incredible characters.

James Cameron's ambition and Robert Rodriguez's flair for brutality combined with an excellent story by Yukito Kishiro seemed like something that would never happen. I was shocked when I first heard that James Cameron was considering making a movie out of Alita. I never thought it would happen. For years, every time I heard it mentioned again I would go and peruse the news, and settle back into disbelief. Japan couldn't even get an anime of this story to go past two episodes. How the hell would Hollywood pick it up - much less, do it right?

Then they announced a cast. Rosa Salazar looked just like Alita. I recognized EVERYONE when they announced them. They had the characters so right. Then they announced that Robert Rodriguez (Sin City, Planet Terror, From Dusk Til Dawn) was directing it. And I was actually ecstatic. I was afraid that Alita would be Avatar-ed. Something ethereal and sacred. That was not the treatment she needed. She needed the gritty, bloody mess that was Robert Rodriguez's forte. He was perfect. James Cameron was bringing the vision and technology, and Robert Rodriguez was bringing the dark heart. I had hope.

However, I was still anxious and unsure and was afraid it wouldn't really be her. It wouldn't be Gunnm if they just grabbed the characters and the names and ran amok. Early showings were well received. Critics were confused by the anime-esque premise (duh) or claimed that there was no chemistry between Alita and Hugo (PERFECT, THAT'S THE POINT. THEY DON'T HAVE ANY.). However, they said it was the best Anime adaptation that Hollywood has done, and that gave me hope - that it would be well-received. It didn't give me hope that it was the Alita I love. I have seen enough book-to-movie adaptations to even wish for it to be the same Alita.

I saw it last Saturday, for my birthday. I still can't believe that I actually saw it. Even after it was over I still didn't believe it. When the movie finished my head wasn't even touching the back of my recliner.

It was amazing. It was wonderful. They stayed so true to the story, to the characters, to the rules, to the whole world. It wasn't just the names, or the cameos, or the idea - they had the whole story. Even better, because they aren't going to be able to reach Last Order plot-wise, they included things from it! Gelda was there. Ido was Ido. Vector was perfect. Chiren was great. Grewishka was right. Jashugan. Ed. I even liked Hugo! And, of course, Nova. They are making Nova do more than before, but oh, is he so diabolically true to himself.

And at the center of it all, that WAS Alita. There was no damsel in distress in this movie. There was the feisty, multi-dimensional warrior I love. She was naive, searching, hopeful, confident, vicious, and fiercely protective. She was everything Alita is. Rosa Salazar was perfect. Her world was perfect, her relationships, and her drive. Her memory returned faster, which is fine - because we got Michelle Rodriguez as Gelda out of it. We got hints of Mars. I only wish we could get Sechs of the Space Angels arc on this screen. Alas, that will not happen. (Or should I hope for that too?)

More than once I caught myself wondering if I was watching the anime or a movie. It was so true. As a movie, it ran. It flowed, things that moved from their original timeline made sense, and it was every bit as dark and fierce as it needed to be.

I need to go see it again. Even with the superhero movies I love, I don't do that. I just wait for DVD. No, I need to see this again. I need another viewing to take it all in.

YOU need to go see it. There is more to this story than they told in this movie, and we need to make sure they tell it. The anime only made it this far. The anime never even made it to Motorball. Motorball is great - it's a blast, and it pushes Alita so far - but Motorball is not the climax. She has more fights to fight, more adversaries to overcome, more bad guys to defeat, and more friends to find, love, and save. She has so much more growth in front of her.

We need Figure. We need Lou. We need Barjack. Kaos, Den. We need to see everything that happens with Nova and Zapan (oh, he was excellent), Ido, Koyomi, Vector - and, of course, Alita.

And obviously, Nova needs to die. A few times. ;)

I'm so terrible at journaling. I'm sorry! However, I feel like this definitely warrants a post, so I'll whip something together.

I finished the first draft of The Shield (book 4) last night! This book was a little different from the others in that my alpha reader read it before I was done and helped me figure out the ending. It was a really complicated ending, and needed finesse and loads of planning. He has since finished reading the ending and given me two thumbs-up. So, I'm calling the first draft complete!

What's next? Well, nothing for The Shield, unfortunately. It gets to stew for a little bit. I need to go back to The Hunt (book 3), reread it, make edits and revisions based on my beta readers' commentary, blow the changes past them, and then send it back to two of the beta readers (one of them it will be their second read, the other it will be their first - I've added a new beta reader!).

After they have The Hunt, then I'll work on fixing up The Shield based on my alpha reader's edits, and then throw it to all of my beta readers, probably before those two readers are even finished with The Hunt. The Hunt will be released early next year! I wanted to do it late this year, but I got a real people job, and time and funds just weren't there. However, it's budgeted (in both regards) for next year! After they're done I'll have to format it - put in chapters and breaks, etc. Organize the madness.

The Shield ends on a real cliffhanger (sorry, not sorry - this was intended from the get-go), so I REALLY wanted to keep plowing forward with the story and start on The Streets (book 5), but I put on the brakes and circled back around to The Hunt out of responsibility. You're welcome. I have a whole half of the cast to get you guys familiar with!

All right, here’s part two of how to make a book! This is entirely about how plans are completely pointless sometimes, and what I do to actually get the words on the page – and then make the words make sense after they’ve been thrown up.

 Most of my ‘drama’ was created by sitting there going, “Hmmm… this character/these characters are really happy. What can I do to make them miserable? Good. How are they gonna react? Is that too much? Yes? No? Hey, Shawn, what do you think of this?” Sometimes he offers even worse things, sometimes he says it’s too much. It varies. :)

 A lot of times I just put the characters in situations and see what they do. Sometimes Shawn and Megg, who know everyone as well as I do anymore, go, “This character wouldn’t do that,” and I go, “You’re right. REDO.”

 I have gotten and taken (and passed on as well) a lot of advice for plot development, conflicts, battles, and relationship development from my readers. This is because I ask for feedback all the time. I’ve personally had one romantic relationship in my entire life, never been abused (just harassed), and participated in zero weapon fights (as long as you don’t count LARP, which I do not). However, I’ve read a lot, watched a lot, heard a lot, and have a very active imagination – and I’m very open to suggestions. Not all of them work for what I’ve built, but if I hear a good idea that I just can’t use right now, I write them down to consider later. My books are not built around a vague main character that could be anyone – or that the reader can sit themselves inside of like a ride, so I can’t just bend the characters to places they wouldn’t normally go. Even when put in extraordinary circumstances, like they usually are, they have to stay true to themselves. My editors and early readers keep the train on the tracks.

 My preferred location to write: on the couch or at my desk, in the dark with the screen brightness on my laptop turned down, usually wearing a hoodie with the hood up so you can barely see my face. Sometimes I wear fingerless gloves, but my current computer is a gaming computer that gives off heat, so that hasn’t been necessary for a while. I do most of my writing from 10pm-2am, because by then I’ve done enough chores and the girls are in bed. This is a lot harder to do now that I work at 8am, but I’m bad and recently started drinking coffee (yeah, I’ve been a writer for 17 years and just this year started drinking coffee).

 I also do a lot of editing on my phone anymore, because I’m away from my computer so much. I read things in Word on my phone, and then copy out lines that I need to fix and paste them into OneNote with my notes about what’s wrong with it. This is synced so I can just grab it on my laptop without having to hook my phone up to it, and then make the edits when I’m at my laptop.

 I used to write in notebooks when I’m on the go. I’ve filled several of those half-sized notebooks (they fit in purses better than full-sized ones and are easier to hide). I still carry one, but I type so much faster than I handwrite, and I know that I’ll just have to retype it later, so I usually don’t bother anymore. It’s also easier to get a good, natural flow for things when you’re typing it. It’s not as fast as my thoughts, but it’s a lot closer.

 I also have terrible handwriting – mostly a result of my brain moving faster than my hands can move. Related, I have mild carpal tunnel. It was only ever really bad when I was pregnant with my first kid, but if I strain my wrists too much I’ve gotta wear braces for a bit. This is a terrible thing to have for someone who writes, draws, sews, and just in general makes so many things with her hands. It doesn’t stop me though, just makes me whine while I keep doing everything anyway.

 I reread stuff I’ve written CONSTANTLY (except The Dark. I don’t read it anymore because the amount of changes I want to make to it are just too numerous – it mentally exhausts me), and I’m almost always making tweaks, edits, and updates, but lately I’ve been reading The Haven and The Hunt to see how the characters were interacting in them, now that I know how they’re going to develop ten years down the line (The Shield/The Streets). Sometimes it surprises me, the subtle things that were in there that I don’t remember consciously choosing to put down. I’m pretty sure I’m just ghost-writing for a bunch of fictional people. I only think I have control over this.

 One example is the sexuality of one of my characters. When I first wrote the stuff, I was a Catholic grade school kid. You know, uniform and everything. Obviously, everyone was just straight then, even if it wasn’t implicitly stated. Then I got older, and the characters stayed the age they were – and when I was finally older than they were, it kind of shocked me. I wrote these people in their early twenties when I was thirteen. I’d been through college, and was in the adult workforce now – and the group of people I called friends was more diverse than the group of people in my head that had been my companions for over a decade.

 The Haven was already done, but The Hunt and the rest of the series was still fluid, so I decided that I needed to change some stuff up. There was no reason that many of the couples I had yet to establish needed to be the way they were. Two of my early readers pointed out that one of the established couples made no sense, so I completely deleted any reference to their relationship (which I agree was contrived, and not organic), and ended up putting one of those people with someone else – that they were a far better match with. The other half of that split couple, if I ever think she can heal enough to trust someone else, will probably be with a woman – certainly not a man. She’ll never trust men enough to do that.

Also, I had been kicking around the sexuality of one of the main characters of The Haven for a bit, not really able to decide what I wanted him to be. Realizing I had a lack of diversity, I figured, why not make him gay? It actually added a lot of character and color to his story, and explained a lot of things I had made part of his character already.

 There’s another pair in The Hunt that was always ‘a thing’ but never to the extent I have now declared them to be. Because I gave the trio in this book so much attention, I had to really dive into their characters in a way that I never had before. Ignoring this was not possible anymore, so as I wrote I was entertained by both the conflict and the unexpected harmony they had. They pretty much hijacked my attention the whole book – especially because at the end of it even I wasn’t sure how to make it turn out.

 Also in that book, one of the characters is bisexual. He didn’t start that way. He started off as just a player who flirted with a lot of girls, but then I made him flirt with a guy to pass the time and was shocked to see the outcome. I say this like I was reading someone else’s book… but that’s exactly how it went. I just sat back and said, “Uh, are we doing this, guys? I guess we are… Well, here goes then!” After I finished writing I went back and searched throughout the book to see if I had to fix anything regarding the bi character that I didn’t realize was bi, and to my surprise, all references he had previously made to his sexuality were very ambiguous. He’d always said that he wanted to settle down eventually, but not yet, and had never once declared a gender for the person he was looking for. The only time someone declared what he was, it was someone that was not him, so I just adjusted that line, and voila, he’s bi, like he apparently wanted. Seriously, I don’t really control this, I’m just herding cats.

 By the way, my previous publisher questioned the intimacy of Malk and Traphian’s relationship in The Haven and wanted to make them a little more manly. I resisted this, because doing so would detract from what I wanted of them in that book. I also resisted this because it humored me that Malkarai and Traphian were apparently threatening to masculinity, and I am all for threatening the shit out of that, ha. If anyone had any doubts about how tough Traphian is, they’re seriously insecure.

 When I first wrote Division 53 in the early 00s (I called it The Dark Series then) the plot was not overarching and unifying throughout the series. It was just a literal series of books with the same setting, and was set up kind of as a set of a trilogy (Dark, Manhunt, Reign of the A*******, with a bonus prequel, Prodigy), a pair (Streets, System), and a single book (Ripper). I’ve since put in a pervasive plot, recurring villains, developed way more of the characters into main instead of supporting characters, split Manhunt into The Haven and The Hunt (+ a lot of things that didn’t exist before), deleted Reign entirely, added two books (The Shield, The Conspiracy), removed the prequel, and made the stories more mature in many ways. 90% of the fights in the series have been written, brand new, in the last two years.

I recently had a friend tell me I should write about my book-writing process - a meta-book. I laughed and said that it wouldn't be useful to anyone because everyone writes differently, but they clarified and said I should write about the random things that happen that I don't expect (like characters doing whatever the hell they want to and I just go along for the ride). I agreed that could be interesting, because it's not about me. It's non-fiction involving fictional characters. Definitely entertaining.

However, it got me thinking that I did indeed have a process that's emerged the past few years, and so I sat down and wrote it out. I'm going to work on the funny, not-to-plan stuff that pops up and put those in a separate post to follow later, but in the mean time, here is my book writing/publishing process!

(I did not expect it to be so many steps!)

1 – Brainstorm rough list of events. Organize into something vaguely chronological, if possible.

2 – Create Word file, format in the proper font and paragraph settings, and then just blitz write!

3 – Read writing dump. Edit, organize, add.

4 – Repeat 2-3 a few times.

5 – Organize and create proper timeline document based on what’s been written, complete with dates.

6 – Review plot, add in ‘Needed’ events to timeline. Reorganize if necessary.

7 – Write ‘Needed’ scenes.

8 – Read, edit, reorganize, clarify, add.

9 – Give to early reader #1 (99% of the time this is Shawn) to read, critique, and propose changes.

10 – Make changes, apply edits, reorganize, clarify, add.

11 – Review changes with early reader #1.

12 – Repeat 10-11 if necessary.

13 – When early reader #1 approves, send manuscript to early readers #2-4(?).

14 – Start over with Step 1 on a different book while the early readers #2-4(?) do their stuff. Usually takes months.

15 – Review early reader feedback. Ask questions to clarify.

16 – Make changes, apply edits, reorganize, clarify, add.

17 – Review changes with early readers #2-4(?).

18 – Repeat 16 and 17 as needed until everyone gives thumbs up.

19 – Do ‘find and replace’ checks to get rid of my terrible writing habits and weird dialect traces. I have a list that I’ve compiled over the years of things that I am apparently incapable of un-teaching myself.

20 – Do Grammarly line-by-line edit. (This is probably where some people would get a professional editor to step in. My publisher doesn’t think I need it. I’m a grammar nazi and mentally diagram sentences – thanks, Mrs. Kessler!) I could probably be a professional editor if I wanted to take the time to read other people’s work.

21 – Put in chapter breaks.

22 – One last read.

23 – Send to publisher and cross fingers that they like it! (Since I already have a publisher and an established contract for the D53 series, this is not as stressful as it should be. Also, the people I work with there are pretty great.)

Addendum, publishing:

24 – If the publisher likes it and wants to print it, then they perform their own edit.

25 – Complete all the necessary surveys, forms, and contracts.

25a -Marketing Survey – this includes summaries of varying lengths for print, web, and the covers of the book; the genres I want the book to sit under; and a lot of other important things that I need to make sure that the book is where it needs to be and gets to the readers that will enjoy it.

25b -Cover Art Questionnaire – This is where symbols, over-arching themes, visual elements of the book are important. If the blue curtains mean something deep, then maybe they should be on the cover. My blue curtains are just blue curtains and are not important (so I delete any description of them from the manuscript and stop wasting ink).

25c -Contract – This outlines a LOT of important stuff, like how much I make from the books, how much I pay for physical copies, rights for not only this book, but future ones. READ IT. And then sign it and send it so the book can get published already.

26 – Review changes to the manuscript and approve or discuss/contest. This was painful for The Dark, but I learned a lot and it was super painless for The Haven. Repeat until no changes are made.

27 – Perform back and forth with the cover artist. Having ideas of what is important in the book is great and gives them something to start with, but unless you also have a graphic design degree, let the artist do their thing and wow you. There’s a reason they’re professionals. I CAN draw, but I have always known that I am no designer, so I trust the cover artists and just provide feedback until I love the finished work.

28 – Publisher creates a print proof. This is literally the file they print the book from, cover and all, so I review it carefully. Read the book again.

29 – Propose changes if necessary. This will cost money if I want to fix it later.

30 – Send approval when everything looks good.

31 – Wait. Breathe. Maybe do something non-writing related. :o

32 – When the publisher has a print date, it’s time to spam marketing and announce the hell out of it.

-When the cover art is final, share it.

-When I have the print date, share it.

-When the listing on the publisher site and whatever book selling sites I prefer have the book up, share it.

-If I have any events coming up where I’ll be present in an author capacity, share them.

-If I have any fun things to add about the books, my writing, my characters, anything, share it.

-Throughout steps 1-30, share whatever might be interesting to readers, so they know more is coming.

33 – Try not to spoil shit by revealing stuff that happens later, because this process takes a year+. I try my damnedest. x_x It’s so hard. I love what I’m writing and want to share it immediately.

So things with my publisher have been rightfully interesting due to illness on their end, so I wasn't sure if the listing that Amazon had for The Haven was valid yet. My husband ordered a copy, and lo and behold, it's legit. So, I'm published again!(?) I don't know what the real publish date is for this book. The ebook is not yet available. BUT YOU CAN GET THE PAPERBACK! (Also, it's on sale for 25% off, so go snag it now.) It’s legit, I promise. I held the second copy (that I’m aware of) in my hands today. The first has been sitting at UPS, addressed to my friend Megg, since Tuesday. :)

I’ll update when the ebook is available! (or if I ever find out the ‘real’ pub date)

It started off great, with DemiCon. Sales were all right, but I made a lot of new friends, contacts, and joined some groups. It was successful more for networking than anything, and I’m very glad we went.

Before DemiCon was over, I got bad news from my husband. We’re not sure how, but Harvey (our rabbit) slipped out of his cage (again) and was found in the backyard (again). Unfortunately, unlike the last time, he was hurt pretty bad. We aren’t sure what happened or how he got from the garage to the fenced-in backyard, but one of his back legs was broken and a lot of ribs on one side were broken. It was late, so we weren’t able to get him to the vet until the next day. Before we could take him, he’d passed away. So even though DemiCon was great, the weekend ended on a very somber note. He wasn’t the cuddliest of pets, but he loved us. He purred when we were around (rabbits purring means they really like you), and even though he didn’t like to be held, he’d always come up to you and play with you if you sat on his level. The girls adored him, and my husband and I really miss him too.

After DemiCon, I spent the week recovering and then went home to Dubuque with my girls for Mother’s Day weekend. We intended to camp with Grandma, Grandpa, and their uncle Jeff and aunt Caitlin, but it was cold and rainy all weekend, so it just turned into a sleepover at Grandma and Grandpa’s house with some park visits. It would’ve been fun, but some demon kept hopping between my children, possessing them in turn. I got to write for a whole half an hour the whole weekend.

I also found out that my publisher is switching ownership. The current owner sold the company because he was given some terrible health news. So, even though The Haven is set and ready for printing, communication has been sparing. I have several things I need to know or keep track of, so I feel bad bugging them for information, even though it’s necessary. The Haven (paperback only) is currently on Amazon and available for purchase (and on sale at $18!) but I haven’t actually seen a physical copy yet, and don’t know the actual print date yet. So, go ahead and order it! But I don’t know when you’ll actually get it. I know and understand what’s going on with the publisher, but have no idea what’s going on with Amazon and the printer. So much for this book being less stressful!

Two weeks ago, I finished The Hunt (which was already cut up by one early reader) and sent it to my second wave of early readers. One’s finished and commenting up the manuscript now. One hasn’t started yet, and the other hasn’t replied back to me yet. I would feel comfortable going forward with just the two that HAVE read it, but I’d obviously feel better if I could get all four.

I also started The Shield last week, and currently have 70 pages. I’m trying to write as much as humanly possible before I lose my free time, which I can explain in the next paragraph.

This week I had an interview for a Technical Writing job, and (I’m not sure how) I impressed them so much the job was offered to me within an hour and a half of the interview. I accepted it, but now I’m freaking out a bit because I have to find childcare for both kids on short notice, fix my incredibly jacked-up sleep schedule, start interacting with normal adults on a daily basis again (it should not be surprising, but I’m quite antisocial and introverted like a lot of writers), and will have a whole lot less time to work on my books. Well, as long as I pass the background check, anyway. It will also be fantastic to have my two degrees bringing in money again in more ways than just the pittance that selling books gives me. Authors are intellectually and creatively rich people, not financially.

The having less time to work on my books is probably the toughest on me right now. I have consistently been putting in 50 hours a week on things related to writing – either writing, reading, editing, updating the website, blogging, or dealing with the publisher. I’ve dealt with this before – The Dark was picked up by Christopher Matthews Publishing when I was employed full-time at IBM. I work well under pressure and tight schedules, but I’m very much aware that the sheer volume of time that I have now is going to go *poof!*

So, in the past few weeks and in the upcoming month there's a lot going on!

Publishing:

I sent The Haven in to my publisher last month and they sent me a contract for it! Everyone's signed it and I'm currently working on the marketing and cover questionnaires while the publisher does their own editing of the manuscript.

I did honestly consider self-publishing because of discussions I had with other authors at conventions over the past few years, but ultimately, self-publishing means I have to find and commission my own cover artist, perform my own layout editing for both print and ebook, still have to do my own marketing after all of that, and would mean I'd be cutting ties with a community of other writers. Plus there is a stigma about self-published authors in the writing community still. It's annoying and unjustified, but it's there. Maybe it's something I'll pursue on another book, but I think that Division 53 is going to stay with Soul Fire Press.

I'm feeling a lot better about the process in general because they agreed to update the proof of The Dark, so all of the errors will be GONE. I'm so happy I could cry. The super loud perfectionist in me is just thrilled. I have other issues with The Dark still, but that's because I've matured as a writer and has nothing to do with editing. However, if I spent all my time fixing old stuff I'd never get anything new written, so ONWARD.

I'm going to fill out the marketing and cover questionnaires for The Hunt as soon as I finish the ones for The Haven, just because it's a lot of work and even if the forms change or whatever, most of the information will already be ready and won't be slapped together at the last moment. The Hunt is in beta stage right now. My first early reader already did an alpha test of it and so I'm rewriting 1/4 of the book. It will be done this year. Hopefully it'll be published this year too, but we'll see how it goes. I wrote 18,000 words in it last week before I switched gears and reread The Dark so we could update the proof, so I don't think finishing it will take very long.

New Books:

Last night/early this morning we (me and two of my awesome early readers) named the brand new fourth book! After the The Hunt, the next book will be called The Shield. There was a whole list of candidates that we sorted through, debated, picked apart and ranked, and ultimately decided on The Shield. It fits on several levels and fits in nicely with the other books in the series, so I'm happy to welcome it. ^_^

For anyone who has read these books BEFORE The Dark was published, I highly encourage reading everything that comes after it, regardless of how familiar The Dark may have felt. I have changed some huge things in the series - people who got married before aren't now, children that existed before don't, massive story points have been changed, people who were neglected before have been fleshed out and given deeper personalities, the whole D53 system has been developed further than ever before, and I have real villains with recurring roles/motivations throughout. I also feel like I have grown exponentially as a writer. The Dark is too long, drug on in places, and the people - although better than they used to be - just aren't as mature as they could be. I'm not looking back though. Even The Haven is better by a long shot, and I intend to make all the others continue to improve!

Public Appearances:

Early next month (May 4-6) I'll be at DemiCon in Des Moines, IA to sell The Dark and hopefully advertise pre-orders for The Haven. This audience for this convention is definitely well-matched to D53, so I'm hoping it goes really well. I'll also post some art there, and my con buddy and early reader, Megg, will be there in the dealers' room with me, dressed as her favorite character, Hitara (The Streets/System). I'll be dressed as Teffifa again for a good portion of it. We'll see how long I can handle her work attire without overheating. That leather is WARM.

On June 24, from 1-4:30 p.m. I'll be attending a Local Authors' night in my hometown, Dubuque. It's being headlined by my teacher, Heather Gudenkauf, and is taking place at the city library, which I've always loved. I'm really looking forward to this as well.

Otherwise the only other con I have on my radar for this year is LitCon in Cedar Falls, IA, in the fall. DBQCon is cancelled this year. Next year I hope to hit a great deal more and have three books to put on my table, not just two!

If there are any other conventions or literary nights that you know that you think I should check out, comment or message me so I can put it on my list!