Yes, it’s the day after Thanksgiving here in the U.S., when retailers look to shoppers to begin the sprint to Christmas. All the best sales are offered to bring people into the stores and ring up sales they expect to carry them into the black, as the expression goes. It’s the beginning of the favorite time of year for stores nationwide because most of their profits come from this season in which gifts are bought for exchange.
Not me. I’m home sick, and it sucks.
On the other hand, I’ve been resting more than I ever would, which is always a good thing for someone who usually doesn’t sleep well and who hasn’t been sleeping much at night due to the congestion. Yes, it’s cold season. I think I’ve been sick more days in the last three months than I’ve been healthy.
Aside from resting, I’ve also been writing. I’m proud to say I have 57,000 words on the current WIP, which means I’m past the halfway point and on the backstretch of the project. My projected goal is 110K words, which would give me ample room to cut without going too low for what commercial publishers seek in fantasy (usually around 100K words).
Speaking of word count, I aimed for 100K on each of the LEGEND OF THE WHITE DRAGON books but the last part came up a little short (89K, I think). Don’t forget to check out the free e-serial, not into the second part, LEGACIES, at http://www.melanienilles.com/books.htm. I’m considering making all three books available for next Christmas as a massive print book, but first I need to edit them sufficiently, and I have other projects in line ahead of them, and I need to save the money to pay for artwork for said book. I’ll know more next summer, around the time I expect to start the last part of the e-serial online.
That leads me to remind you that STARFIRE ANGELS and A TURN OF CURSES are also available as free reads. While ATOC will continue to be available free from my site, STARFIRE ANGELS will not be free for much longer. Be sure to get your free PDF before time runs out! Both are available as paperbacks from amazon.com or in various ebook formats from amazon.com, barnesandnoble.com, or smashwords.com.
Now that the shameless plugs are done, I want to wish everyone a happy holiday season, whatever your faith may be, and good health and happiness!
