Crone Lit: For the Modern Senior Woman

You read it here first! I am establishing a new sub-genre of women’s fiction and romance fiction: Crone Lit, coming to a book seller near you!

I happen to be one of the very few women, I discovered, who thinks crone is a perfectly good word that women ought to reclaim. I know I was influenced by the book, Crones Don’t Whine (Bolen, http://amzn.to/15dUsFd ). Until then, I never gave the word much thought. I loved the notion of being a “juicy woman”. Oh, and perhaps being a woman “of a certain age” I have come to a different perception, too. I don't know about you, but I'd rather be a "crone" than a "senior"!

I am convinced it was male underhanded dirty politics which led to the pejoration of the word. When you check it out, ignore the etymology from Old Northern French meaning “cantankerous woman”, and go to how the word plays out.

Here’s what Wikipedia had to say about “crone”:

The crone is a stock character in folklore and fairy tale, an old woman. In some stories, she is disagreeable, malicious, or sinister in manner, often with magical or supernatural associations that can make her either helpful or obstructing. The Crone is also an archetypal figure, a Wise Woman. She is marginalized by her exclusion from the reproductive cycle,^[1] and her proximity to death places her in contact with occult wisdom. As a character type, the crone shares characteristics with the hag.

The word "crone" is a less common synonym for "old woman," and is more likely to appear in reference to traditional narratives than in contemporary everyday usage.^[2] The word became further specialized as the third aspect of the Triple Goddess popularized by Robert Graves and subsequently in some forms of neopaganism, particularly Wicca in which she symbolizes the Dark Goddess, the dark of the moon, the end of a cycle. In New Age and Feminist spiritual circles, a "Croning" is a ritual rite of passage into an era of wisdom, freedom, and personal power.

What’s not to like about that?

Focus on these key terms: wise woman, wisdom, freedom, personal power. Okay, so hag is there, but really, that and the etymology are the pejoration pieces.

Focus on the fact that traditionally a crone could be either sinister OR sympathetic and supportive. Just like REAL people, right? So let’s write Crone Lit that shows real women “of a certain age” drawing upon those years of experience.

I have a play in progress with a crew of crones (that’s what I’m calling a group: crew), and I have outlined a novel. I think women want to read about women like themselves; older, wiser, without “work” having been done who face the realities of aging and loving. Don’t you?

References:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Crone

Crones Don’t Whine: Concentrated Wisdom for Juicy Women, Jean Shinoda Bolen  http://amzn.to/15dUsFd

Words You May Misuse

Authors are word guys. Word Nerds, if you will. We respect words almost to reverence. We look to jump into a pile of words and roll around in them and toss them about.

Well, or something like that.

It drives me berserk to hear words used incorrectly. “irregardless”, “nuculer”, and  “Febuary” are just plain wrong. They are not words. And no, you can cast them as neologisms (for which I have a particular fondness). No, “chinique” (chic and unique) and “fantabulous” (fantastic and fabulous) are creations for fun. They are not for everyday speech.

By the same token, I take exception when people misuse “affect/effect”, “your/you’re”, “eager/anxious”, and others of that ilk. That is just plain laziness not to learn the accurate use of these common words. Lil Bro told me, after one of Big Mama’s spells, that her heartbeat was “erotic”. Well.

Am I smug? Of course. Arrogant even about my level of word usage and vocabulary store.

So imagine my distress when someone posted words on FB these words that many people use incorrectly--and I was among them. Well, not for all the words on the list or even most of them. But that there were any on the list bothered me immensely.

I mean the enormity* of it struck me full-face. (Uh oh. Misuse!)

It was enough to make one nauseous*. (Oops! There’s another one.)

Anyway, here are some links for you to explore and see if any of these words are your nemesis (“undoing, ruination”) [but NOT, as you might think, bête noire (“a person or thing one especially dislikes”)].

Did I make a plausible argument (“convincing, believable”; NOT “possible”, as you may think) for attention to word accuracy? What words others use incorrectly drive you nuts or what words do you struggle with? Let’s make our own list!

Sites for word use/misuse:

http://hellogiggles.com/10-words-that-youve-probably-been-misusing

http://wsuonline.weber.edu/wrh/words.htm

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wikipedia:List_of_commonly_misused_English_words

https://www.kibin.com/blog/incorrect-word-usage-choice/

http://www.cracked.com/article_15664_9-words-that-dont-mean-what-you-think.html

http://grammar.yourdictionary.com/style-and-usage/mispron.html

Tweet Away

No, not the birdie tweets. You know about Twitter. Everyone does at this point, but even some of my critique group members still haven’t gotten on the Twitter Train. 

To me it’s as much a word puzzle as a Social Media connector. And I do love word puzzles. To draw traffic to my foodie blog (www.sharonarthurmoore.blogspot.com) I sometimes tweet recipes like this:

Black Bottom Cupcakes-pt 1  Mix 1.5c flr/1c sug/.3c cocoa/1t bs/.5t salt/.3c oil/1T vinegar/1T van. Beat. Put n muf pan ~18 1/3 full batter

BlackBottomCupcakes-pt 2 Mix 1c cr ch/1 egg/.3c sug/1/8t salt+1c choc chps. Top batter c 1 heaping t cr ch mix. Bake 350° 30m +/-

Gelato 2c mlk/1c cr+4egylk/.5c sug Beat egz/sug til froth Wrm mlk/cr 2 foamy Slo por egz n2 mlk Ck 2 thck Sieve Chil ovnit N2 ice cr mach ~4

Lmn Sqrz 350° 1cfl/.3c confsug/5T btr n2 meal Prss n2 grsd8”pan Bk 20 m. 1c sug/2Tfl/3Tlmnzst/.5t bp/.25t slt/2 eg/8T lmnjus. Por on crust. Bk 20 m

Or I might post referrals to other sites:

-To celebrate National Peanut Butter Day make these “Classic Peanut Butter Cookies” at http://bit.ly/eVE36D

-How dunking veggies sabotages your diet. Read more on "Six Diet Mistakes That Make You Fat" at http://t.co/YM8dO2K8

Some of my critique group members are retreating with me the next couple of days, and one of the areas we are dealing with, other than manuscript critiques, is Twitter--what it is, how to get set up, what you tweet, and so on.

Here’s what I am presenting to my group:

Twitter and How to Tweet

1) What is Twitter? Twitter is a condensed form of social media interaction consisting of messages to followers in 140 characters or less. The best way to explain this is through the Twitter in Plain English video.

2) Why Use Twitter? Twitter is a communication tool that allows participants to provide information in 140 characters or less. It is a way to announce information, share content, drive traffic to your blog, and build relationships by re-tweeting info others share.

3) How can I set up a Twitter account? You can sign up for Twitter for free at http://twitter.com/ When you sign up you will get a page on Twitter with your username at the end of it. My pages are http://twitter.com/good2tweat and http://twitter.com/romancerighter.  When you tell people to follow you (like friending on FB), you list yourself as @good2tweat or @romancerighter.

4) What is a Hashtag and how can I use it? A Hashtag (#) is a marker, or a tag used to keep Twitter messages together. The use of a Hashtag in your Twitter message makes it easier for people in that discussion to keep track of everyone's messages. When I did my Month of Soups series on “Parsley, Sage, and Rosemary Time”, I used #soup. Everyone who followed #soup got the messages, not just my official followers. People just search for the Hashtags they are interested in. You can also create (and register) as new Hashtag.

5) Shortening the URL Twitter only allows 140 characters and the URL from a source you are using plus your message may be too long. It needs to be shortened. I use https://bitly.com/

I paste the URL in and it shortens it for me to share on Twitter. I also use it sometime for FB.

There are tons of articles about tweeting/Twitter. Google for yourself.

Top 5 To Try

• How to Reply to a Tweet on Twitter
• How to Set Up Tweet Later Auto Welcome for your Twitter Account
• How to Protect Your Tweets
• How to Decide if You Should Join Twitter
• How to Send a Tweet on Twitter

PSWA

I heard about the Public Safety Writers Association conference in Las Vegas through other Oak Tree Press authors. Lots of them were going to the conference, and I thought it would be a good opportunity to network with them and meet my Editor, Billie Johnson, and Sunny Frazier, the Acquisitions Editor who signed me.

Only 4 ½ hours drive from our summer place. Take in a show. Yeah. That was the plan. Attend. Talk and stalk. You know--normal conference behavior.

OMG!

Who knew I would learn so much? Well, I guess my fellow authors did, but at this stage of my life, after dozens and dozens of conferences, I didn’t expect much.

The PSWA may be the best-kept secret in the writing of mysteries. I had never heard of it. Shame on me. The better known organizations/conferences like Boucheron, Sisters in Crime, Mystery Writers of America, Left Coast Crime, and so on attract large crowds of various flavors of mystery and thriller writers.

Not so PSWA. This small, intimate conference was packed with information and expertise. Almost all the presenters have backgrounds in law enforcement and public safety fields. Oh, and they write books, too!

Seriously. I sat next to Pete Klismet one day. He had been on a panel and had moderated another one. He was with the FBI for 25 years and was in the first group of psychological profilers trained. Yeah, he writes books, too.

Guy Painter, who was on a Homeland Security panel, does airport security, so I hit him up for help with my paranormal book’s airport security bid problem. He gave me his personal e-mail for future questions.

Sue Vondrak is an Illinois CSI who had me clinging on with fingernails during her fabulous DNA presentation. She also helped with the accuracy of a plot point for an upcoming culinary mystery book. Oh, did I mention she writes books, too?

Joe Haggerty presented jaw-dropping information about prostitution and the prosecution thereof based on his years dealing with the streets in D.C. He was more than generous on more than one occasion to help me with my Streetwalker series questions. He has a great book about a pimp.

Oh, and there were so many more. Thanks to all the unnamed from whom I learned as well!

Additionally, PSWA hosts a listserv so if you have a question like “Where could an ordinary person buy a body bag?” or “What is an undetectable poison during a normal tox screen?”, pose it and people will jump in to help. Wow! Just, wow!

The goal of all these sessions and informal conversations was to help me and other authors portray public safety workers and procedures accurately. Membership is the best $55 you’ll spend if you are writing mysteries or thrillers. Check it out at http://policewriter.com/wordpress/

Worried

It’s that time of book again--I am awaiting edits for my first culinary mystery in the “Dinner is Served” series, Mission Impastable. This is my first go-round with Oak Tree Press’s editing process, so I don’t know quite what to expect.

Sure, I have some idea about sentence-level stuff because of my recent editing experience with Streetwalker (under Angelica French, Sizzler Editions, July, 2013).

I am certain that I didn’t magically construct better sentences in Mission Impastable. I’m sure my editor, Billie Johnson, will find that I overused “as”, “was”, “had”, and my other bête noirs! She’ll make me change my passive stance to active, drop dialogue tags, keep a consistent point of view, and lots more.

But--here’s the fear--will she call me on the “fatal flaw”?

Do you know on page 5 whodunnit? Do the clues logically lead to the conclusion? Are the red herrings smelly enough without taking over the story? And do the characters come across as real, genuine, gee-I’d-like-to-know-them people?

And how about that backstory intrusion?

What will I have to correct of a substantive nature? Am I up to the challenge? Will the fraud that is me be revealed to the world? I tremble more every day that passes.

Getting Down to Business--Part IV

Today is the final installment of my blog series on how I developed a business plan for being a professional writer. I’ve taken you from figuring out what a business plan is to what components I’ve included in mine.

I stress again: This is MY business plan. Yours could look very different. This final section contains the beginning plans for Target Audiences, Marketing/Promotion, Web Presence, Long-term Goals, and a Summary. These sections are the least developed as I feel my way to their realization, but I think I have a good start.

I hope my thinking-in-writing is helpful as you plan your own business plan. It is truly a wonderful experience to go through for establishing clarity and focus for this career you have chosen.

7. Target Audiences

Here’s my attempt to identify readers and where to find them for each of my completed and future series and stand-alone books. One way is to go on blog tours like the A-Z April Blog Challenge I did. I found new blogs to contact and new readers found me. I continue to find audience-contact ideas, so this is a really fluid section right now.

“Dinner is Served” Culinary Mysteries (Sharon Arthur Moore):

In Book One, Alli and Gina’s personal chef business has a rocky launch when their first customer ends up dead of food poisoning and they are the first suspects. Alli, a free-spirit looking for stability, takes on the job of solving the crime, clearing their names, and learning the true meaning of family along the way. Mission Impastable is the first book in a culinary mystery series set in Glendale, AZ. Each book in the series (Mission Impastable, Prime Rib and Punishment, Peas Porridge Pot, Cooks in the Can, and The Taming of the Stew) includes recipes, most of which relate to the title of the book.

Rating: PG13
Number of books planned: Currently five, series left open for more.
Target Audience: Women who enjoy mysteries and cooking/recipes, some male cross over possible.
Best way to reach: Mommy bloggers; FB cooking groups; GoodReads mystery groups; GoodReads cooking groups; Twitter account for Sharon Arthur Moore; FB general posting in groups I belong to; guest blogs; invited interviews; AZ gift shops and cooking stores; B&B’s in Glendale, AZ; Chamber of Commerce Gift shop for Glendale.

“Sex Sells” Erotic Romance series (Angelica French):

In Book One, Streetwalker, we meet Carrie a tough yet vulnerable abuse survivor who is a natural business woman. With support and encouragement from Harlan, her partner in the upscale brothel they run, she learns her own worth and what love is all about. Sex for Sale and Sex Sells, succeeding books, show Carrie and Harlan’s relationship, foibles, and coming to realizations of what they truly want in life.

Rating: Adult Only--highly graphic
Number of books planned: Three
Target Audience: Readers of erotic romance and erotica

Best way to reach: Mommy bloggers; GoodReads erotic romance groups; Twitter account for Angelica French; FB general posting in groups I belong to; guest blogs; invited interviews

“Quick and Dedd” Paranormal Series (River Glynn):

The Quick and the Dedd is a paranormal romantic suspense, introduces Isabella and Riley, her dead former employee, back from the grave to help save her company and find his killer.

Rating: Adult--middling sexual encounters with various partners

Number of books planned: At least two

Target Audience: Readers of ghost stories, paranormal romance, and erotic romance

Best way to reach: ghost buster groups on FB and blogs; GoodReads paranormal groups; romance readers groups; Twitter account for River Glynn; Chamber of Commerce gift shop for Phoenix, AZ; B&B’s in Phoenix

Land’s End (Sharon Arthur Moore):

Land’s End is a linked, stand-alone short story anthology by Sharon Arthur Moore. Set on the Rhode Island coast, the 22 stories tell the tales of the renters of a beach condo and the things broken, left behind, or missing after their stay.

Rating: General audiences (with one erotic tale)

Number of books planned: One

Target Audience: beach lovers, New England lovers, short story readers

Best way to reach: Mommy bloggers; FB groups; GoodReads anthology groups; Twitter account for Sharon Arthur Moore; FB general posting in groups I belong to; guest blogs; invited interviews; realtors, B&B’s, and gift shops in Narragansett, RI.

Lucinda (Angelica French):

Lucinda is an historical romance set in two time periods in Southeastern Ohio. The chapters alternate between the time periods with present-day Lucy trying to solve the murder of her missing Great-Aunt Lucinda from the early 20^th century.

Rating: General audience with mild sex scenes and domestic violence

Number of books planned: One

Target Audience: readers of romance, readers of historical fiction, readers who like Ohio and Southeastern Ohio, graduates of Ohio University

Best way to reach: Mommy bloggers; FB groups; GoodReads romance groups; GoodReads historical fiction groups; Twitter account for Angelica French; FB general posting in groups I belong to; guest blogs; invited interviews; realtors, B&B’s, and gift shops in Athens, OH; Alumni Association magazine for OU.

8. Marketing and Promotion Plan

There is a completed year-long, month-by-month Marketing and Promotion Plan for each book completed. Those plans appear behind the business plan pages. The plans are only Sharon Arthur Moore’s and Angelica French’s part of marketing. I am unsure, at this point, what each publisher will contribute to the overall plan.

Promotion for all books:
Subscribe to a Hoot Suite for automatic postings to FB and Twitter. Spend ten hours per week on all marketing and promotions excluding interviews and presentations. Consider a brief newsletter for each genre (culinary mystery, romance, paranormal; others as released); postings on blogs; website lists of books and upcoming releases. Consider approaching a group of authors in a genre and produce a joint blog and newsletter. Contact HARO (Help a Reporter Out--www.helpareporter.com Basic free or $19/49/149 per month) to get coverage. Submit to short story contests for visibility. Enter contests like the Northern Arizona University 10-minute playwriting contest and The Arizona Republic “unknown culinary talent”. Contact www.blogtalkradio.com/itmatters to request an interview. Find other blog radio stations to contact as well. One in Brooklyn addresses foodie issues.

Promotion and Branding of Sharon Arthur Moore/Angelica French/River Glynn:
Sharon Arthur Moore/Angelica French/River Glynn will attend the Southern California Writers Conference in San Diego in February, 2014. She will participate in book signing, as well as attend workshops and panels covering publishing craft and business sessions. Angelica French will participate in the 2014 Chocolate Affaire weekend events including book signing. Angelica French and Sharon Arthur Moore will participate in the Tucson Festival of Books in March, 2014. When travel to family or conferences permits, she will contact local media to offer an interview. She will explore other options and list them as found.

9. Web Presence

I feel pretty good about my presence on the Internet. I have been working on it for several years. My two Klout Scores show that activity. One is in the 40’s, which is above average; another is in the 60’s. I’m on Facebook, YouTube for book trailers and a cooking channel, Twitter accounts, web page, and three blogs.

Writer’s Ink maintains a nascent website titled Sharon Arthur Moore: www.sharonamoore.com The website is hosted through iPage. The site will have links to each series with blurbs, future release dates, and buy links to each available book. The site also will have resource pages for authors, a review page listing glowing reviews of all books, frequently asked questions, about the author page, and links to three blogs. Each author will have a domain name for each genre, all linked to the others, to focus on each genre.

Three blogs (www.sharonarthurmoore.blogspot.com; www.angelicafrench.blogspot.com; and www.samwriteaway.blogspot.com ) include posts that are personal, stories about family life, recipes, historical information, book reviews, and writing and publishing industry posts.  Occasional promotion of other authors through interviews will be done on a limited basis.

Two Twitter accounts (@good2tweat and @RomanceRighter) currently post information, retweet others’ information, and work on relationships with potential readers and reviewers of the works of Sharon Arthur Moore and Angelica French. River Glynn will establish a Twitter account (@RiverGlynn) preparatory to the release of The Quick and the Dedd.

On Facebook, Sharon Moore has a base page with three business pages attached: Sharon Arthur Moore Fan Page, Angelica French, and River Glynn-Author. Regular posts and shared posts help build the followers of each.

Writer’s Ink plans to build simple websites for all three authors starting with Sharon Arthur Moore for the “Dinner is Served” series, Angelica French for the “Sex Sells” series, and finally River Glynn for paranormals/sci fi/fantasy of various ilk. Each website will be completed by the release dates for the first books in the series. All websites will have .com domains and will be linked to and from www.sharonamoore.com. Author websites will have book covers, prequels where appropriate, photos of characters, deleted scenes, “extras” not in books, maps, and anything else Writer’s Ink deems necessary.

Build my cooking channel catalog to include several new cooking vids each year. Currently, only “Hermosillo Salsa” is posted.

I have two book trailers posted (Mission Impastable and The Quick and the Dedd) with a third in development (Streetwalker). I plan to make trailers for each title published.

10. Long Term Goals

I intend to be around for a long time. I always take the long view. I have dozens of books started/outlined/germinating! I intend to continue to write in multiple genres even though that makes branding more challenging. I must follow where the story ideas lead.

Writer’s Ink plans to release four books a year through 2016, then reevaluate the production schedule.

Writer’s Ink plans to wrap up the “Sex Sells” series with the release of the third  book in late 2014 or early 2015.

Writer’s Ink plans to release one “Dinner is Served” culinary mystery per year until the series’ character arcs are complete (at least five books).

When “Dinner is Served” has run its course, begin a different culinary mystery series (“For Everything a Season”) set in an herb shop in a small town in Northern Arizona with first titles like Mint to Be, Thyme for Murder, Arsenic and Old Mace, Sage Advice, Broken Out in Chives, Cumin to Me, etc.

Writer’s Ink plans to make a decision about completing sequels to “The Quick and the Dedd” series beyond book two.

Writer’s Ink plans to prepare several workshops to offer on varying topics. The workshops will generate income and/or promote the author’s brand.

Writer’s Ink will produce four YouTube videos yearly for the cooking channel with links from web pages.

Writer’s Ink will produce a book trailer for each title released and post on YouTube and provide links from web pages.

Writer’s Ink will consider the options available for creating a newsletter, either singly or with same-genre authors. The newsletter would be a marketing tool that also included content of interest to readers.

Writer’s Ink plans to work through the backlog tickler files to replace the two series that are ending. A possible new series might replace the two that are ending. It is unclear at this time what genre the series will be in. Sales of existing series, as well as the author’s preference will be factored into the decision.

Writer’s Ink will produce audiobooks and podcasts to accompany each author name. Attempt to sell foreign rights will begin once sales reach 10,000 copies.

11. Summary

No need to summarize the summary!

Writer’s Ink will see continued growth through 2013 and will submit three new books to publishers by the end of the year with two free prequels of 40-80 pages each to promote the releases of Streetwalker and Mission Impastable.  Expenses will increase with the addition of a developmental editor to the cost of preparing a book for submission to the editor or for indie release. However, it is important to Writer’s Ink that the books it releases are considered high quality in every way from the cover, to the story, to formatting, to lack of typos.

Writer’s Ink will push to promote and brand Sharon Arthur Moore, Angelica French, and River Glynn. Name recognition equals sales or futures sales.

Getting Down to Business--Part III

Still with me? I know this is a long series and long posts within the series, but the whole process deserves the time it takes for you to do it right. If you’re just finding this post, go back to Part I and get the background on the series.

Today I am sharing my Financial Plan and Production Schedule/Writing Plans. This is where I hold myself accountable for money and time in this business. I’ll let the sections speak for themselves.

I have to admit to blue-skying this section. I don’t know how much money it will take to launch these two books I’ve contracted, let alone what income to expect or outgo will occur. So, this is a first stab. But in December, when I review my plan and re-write for 2014, I will be much better prepared to fill this part in.

5. Financial Plan

In the absence of immediate income, I am allocating $2000 from personal funds as seed money for editing, website production, conference attendance, memberships, promotions, etc.

{NEED TO COMPLETE AS DATA BECOME AVALIABLE}

Look at sales totals per book, per month, per year, digital and print, in this section

Identify sales totals in percentages of total income, digital and print.

Observations of 2013 sales:

{To be completed in January, 2014}

Income:

Total books sold:

Total: $income by book and by total

Expenses:
Total: $expenses by book and by total

         Editing for Mission Impastable ($274)

Postcards with recipes for Mission Impastable (~$200)

         Book Launch for Mission Impastable (~$100)

         Postcards with top ten good sex tips for Streetwalker (~$200)

         Book Launch for Streetwalker (~$150)

Expected profit of each title and for total

Other Business expenses:
Arizona LLC fee ($45); conventions; memberships (~$300); classes; website upgrades/maintenance (~$180); business cards; business supplies; new sites for different titles/series ($100)

Now THIS was fun! I love beginnings, and to imagine dozens of beginnings was a joy. I write first drafts pretty quickly, so even though this is an aggressive writing schedule, I don’t think it is overly so. I guess we’ll see when it’s review time in late December.

6. Production Schedule and Writing Plans

This business plan, lists every book already written that has potential commercial value as well as those planned for writing, and the schedule needed to produce them. [This plan is not yet completed.]

Production Schedule 2013

Querying for Land’s End, Lucinda; if accepted, adjust production schedule to include them

Streetwalker

Send to Sizzler Editions editor: Jan. 3

First round edits, return on Jan. 16, 2013

Received second round edits on May 21, 2013

Developmental edits, return on May 22, 2013

Release: June/July?

Mission Impastable

Send to Oak Tree Press Editor: March 25

First round edits, return on xxx

Developmental edits, return on xxx

Release: August

“Scarlett in the Hood” (20K words)

First draft: March 1 - April 15

Edit/revision: April 15 - April 30

Send to Sizzler Editions editor: May 1

First round edits, return on xxx

Developmental edits, return on xxx

Release: xxx

Prequels for Streetwalker and Mission Impastable (10,000 words each-40 pages)

First Draft: May 1 - May 31

Edit/revision: June 1- June 5

Post on website, blogs

Release: June 30

The Quick and the Dedd

Edit/revision: June 1-August1
Send to Developmental editor: August 1-August 31
Send to editor: September 1

First round edits, return on xxx

Developmental edits, return on xxx

Release: xxx, 2014

Prime Rib and Punishment: (book 2 in “Dinner is Served” series):

First draft: June 1-August1
Edit/revision: August 1-August 31
Send to Developmental editor: September 1

Send to editor: October 15
Return from editor: xxx

First round edits, return on xxx

Developmental edits, return on xxx
Release: Month, 2014

Hot Dishes (play)

First Draft: June 1-June 30

Edits/revision: July 1-30

Query community theater groups

Sex for Sale (book 2 in “Sex Sells” series):

First draft: July 1-September 1
Edit/revision: September 1-September 31
Send to Developmental editor: October 1

Send to editor: November 15
Return from editor: xxx

First round edits, return on xxx

Developmental edits, return on xxx
Release: Month, 2014

Walk-in to My Life (paranormal) 2013-2014

First Draft: October 1-October 31; December 1-December 31

Edit/Revision: January 1-January 31

Send to Developmental editor: February 1

Begin queries: March 15

Return from editor:  xxx

First round edits, return on xxx

Developmental edits, return on xxx

Release: xxx

November--National Novel Writing Month

Work on a new book--untitled, topic unknown--likely related to one of two series

so it will be ready for a 2014 release

Production Schedule 2014

Peas Porridge Pot--book 3 in the “Dinner is Served” series

Sex Sells--book 3 and final book in “Sex Sells” series

Death Goes On--book 2 in “Quick and Dedd” series, paranormal romance

Light My Fire--possible series; paranormal; djinn

Intermediate grades series: Ghost Club Stories

Voynich Document/aliens/ancient peoples--sci fi/fantasy

Senior Years’ Spring Break-play

Production Schedule 2015

Cooks in the Can--book 4 in “Dinner is Served” series

Healing Woman--historical fiction

Back to the Future--paranormal, time travel

It’s a Dog’s Life--chick lit

The Dycoven Witches series--paranormal, witchcraft

Intermediate grades series: Ghost Club Stories

Production Schedule 2016
The Taming of the Stew--book 5 in “Dinner is Served” series

The Red Brick Road--intermediate grades fantasy (OZ connection)

Time Keeps on Slippin’ into the Future--women’s fiction

Torn Between Two Lovers--romance

Against All Odds--romance

Scientist erasing memories--sci fi

Books to schedule:

Mummified Babies

End of world/Dystopia series

A Perfect Life--women’s fiction

Love between the Pages--chick lit

Teach Me, Professor--erotic romance/women’s fiction

Long Ago and Far Away--paranormal, women’s fiction