50th Novel Release Party

Today is the release day for Her Ladyship's Curse, the first book in my new Disenchanted & Co. steampunk urban fantasy series for Pocket Star. I never imagined I'd have the chance to publish fifty books, so reaching this point in my writing life is pretty magical for me.

My family and friends have always been there to help me along with way, as have my publishers and editors, but it's really all of you who are my steadfast, loyal readers who made this day possible. Every one of you have done something to bring me here; you've talked about my books, shared them with friends, blogged about them, recommended them to your readers and spread the word about my work in countless other ways. I would never have reached this landmark without your generosity, support and encouragement. Thank you so much.

To launch my new series and my 50th published book I've been working on a very special giveaway, all of which will be packed in my crazy quilted and beaded Splendor tote, handmade by Yours Truly and inspired by Kathy Uhrig. Kathy is the proprietor of Strange Notions on Etsy, and not only sells the most fabulous vintage goods but hand-selected most of the materials that went into this project. Each day I'll also be adding some new prizes to the tote, which will include signed books, shopping sprees, and some very special gifts inspired by Disenchanted & Co.

To start off the giveaway today I have a signed, bound print galley of His Lordship Possessed, Disenchanted & Co. Part 2, which will not be released until October. The Publishing Fairy has also added a special BookWish: $50.00 for the winner to spend on books at the online bookseller of their choice (we'll throw in whatever shipping is involved.)

If you'd like a chance to win my Splendor tote along with all the prizes I'll be heaping into it this week, all you have to do is help me spread the word about the release of Her Ladyship Curse. There is no one mandatory thing you have to do; I want you to feel free to be as creative as you like. You can put out the word online and link to this post on your web site, blog, Twitter account, Facebook or Tumblr page; or by posting about it on your favorite book discussion site. If you read the book this week and would like to write up a review of Her Ladyship's Curse, that will also qualify (and if you don't have a web site or blog, you can post it on B&N.com, Amazon.com or your favorite bookseller site, or any book review or discussion site.) If you're looking for additional content to post, over on the Toriana blog you can find excerpts, the official series trailer and my free e-book, My Lord Mayhem.

Tell me whatever you do to help spread the word about my 50th novel in comments to this post by midnight EST on Sunday, August 18th, 2013. On Monday, 8/19, my editor Adam Wilson (who very kindly agreed to man the magic hat this time around) will select one name at random from all the entries as the giveaway winner. My 50th novel giveaway is open to everyone on the planet, even if you've won something here at PBW in the past.

My Five Minutes

USA Today's Happily Ever After blog has a three-authors/three-things piece running today, and Her Ladyship's Curse and I are featured with trio of things about me that may (or may not) surprise you.

If I sound I bit terse in comparison to the other authors, it's because my publicist said "Be brief. Be very, very brief." and so I was.

Golden

At the first writer's conference I ever attended I went to a chat with a popular genre author who was there to meet the fans and promote their latest release. Toward the end of the session a fan asked how many books the author had published, and the author answered "I don't know." When some of the fans tried throwing out some numbers, the author added, "After so many books you lose track." As a rookie still waiting for her first novel to hit the shelves, I couldn't imagine how you could forget how many books you'd published, but after I left that chat I made a promise to myself never to become that writer.

Now I know a little better what causes writers to develop backlist amnesia, but it never happened to me. I can recite from memory the titles, premises and story synopses for every single one of the books I've written -- it's a great party trick, btw -- and I know what I personally put into them. I remember what inspired them, why I chose to pursue the ideas, the amount of work I put in outlining and refining them, the endless hours at the keyboard writing them, every editor I worked with to bring them through production, and all the good and bad associated with that process.

Every story also represents dozens of paths I took along the journey, and contains little reminders of the hopes and dreams, the disappointments and the discoveries, the failures and the triumphs. And while I'm sure I've forgotten a few things (please don't ever ask me to recite a complete character list for the StarDoc series off the top of my head) another thing I've made sure to remember about my books is it what an immense privilege it has been to be able publish them, and how grateful I am to my readers for all the support you've provided during that journey. Writers, if you're in this gig for the long haul, I hope you never forget those things, either (or how many books you've published.)

In less than two weeks my 50th novel, Her Ladyship's Curse, will be released. If Publishing were like marriage, this would (sort of) be our golden anniversay novel, so I intend to celebrate. I'm taking Her Ladyship on a virtual tour starting on Thursday of this week, but on August 12th I'll back here at PBW and the Disenchanted & Co. blog to party with my people.

I'm curious, too -- have any of you authors out there already published your 50th novel, and if so, did you do anything special to celebrate it? If you're still headed toward that landmark book, how do you think you'll mark the moment? Let us know in comments.

When I Can't Write

This past week bad weather has been keeping me offline, which has reduced my writing time on the computer to only an hour or two every day. When this happens (and every summer it generally does) I try to work on editing hard copies or tinker on story ideas, but I'm pretty dependent on the VRS for handling the bulk of my writing. Fortunately this year I have a lot of non-writing promo projects waiting in the wings, like the giveaway totes I'm making for Her Ladyship's Curse, my August release. Here's one I just finished:



Because I had extra time on my hands to work on the embellishment, I let myself go a little crazy with it (no pun intended):



I also experimented with a new technique to pad the inside of the tote, both to cushion and protect the beadwork and make the interior a little more unique. This also turned out nicely:



All the hours I spent sewing gave me time to think about writing, too, and that's an important part of my process. Writing a story is not just about getting it down on the page; at times I have to let things simmer and sort through what comes out of the mix. Having the down time gave me a chance to run through the story I'm working on and visualize things and do a bit of rearranging. I stopped sewing now and then to make a sketch and jot down some notes, but it was sitting and just thinking about the story that helped me the most. When I finally did get a chance to turn on the computer and write, I went to town and knocked out three times the amount of work I usually produce.

It can be frustrating, wanting to write but being unable to due to circumstances beyond your control. Next time, don't let it annoy you -- use the time to think about your story. You might find that when you do get back to the actual writing you have a lot more to put on the page.

Her Ladyship's Ten

Ten Reasons You Should Preorder Her Ladyship's Curse by Lynn Viehl

Awesome World-Building: I constructed this universe from the ground up, and it's one of, if not the finest, that I've ever built. At least that's what all my first readers keep telling me. They could be lying, of course, but some of them really aren't that nice.

Continuing Health Insurance Coverage: Profits from this series will go toward paying my health insurance premiums, which at this point are pretty much astronomical. Buy the book and you'll enable me to get regular checkups, physical therapy, my annual mammogram, and otherwise maintain my health so I can continue writing novels for you. Uninterrupted health care coverage will also keep me out of hot water with the IRS and the President of the United States, never a bad thing.

Fanger-Free: Some of you StarDoc fans bailed on me when I began writing the vampire books, probably because you think vampire fiction is repulsive. No problem; I feel the same way about inspirational chick-lit. I guarantee you there are absolutely no vampires whatsoever in this book, and furthermore I give you my solemn pledge to keep these novels 100% vampire-free for the duration of the series. You can trust me; I was a Girl Scout.

First in the Series: While we're on the subject of series, this is the first novel in my latest. You know what this means: you don't have to first read 683 other books in order to get all the references. I bet after reading this book you'll have so much time on your hands you can probably get all your housework and laundry done and still have a couple hours to catch up on the latest episodes of Scandal.

History Rewritten: How many times have you wondered what would have happened to America if the colonists had actually lost the War of Independence, and were obliged to remain part of the British Empire? I bet you were talking about it at dinner just last night. Well, now you can find out -- but only by reading this book.

Instant Guilt Relief: Some of you have been coming to PBW for the last nine years to be entertained, discover online freebies, enter giveaways for free books, find answers to your writing-related questions, gather links, steathily borrow from my content, etc. -- and yet to date you've never purchased a single novel I've written. This haunts you terribly, I know, and I don't want you to feel tormented any longer. Instantly rid yourself of the guilt by pre-ordering Her Ladyship's Curse.

Investment in Artist: Profits from this series will also go to paying for college tuition for my kid, who at presently has ambitions to be an animator. She's very talented (this is one of her pieces) and I think she deserves a shot; buy a book and you help me make this happen.

Low Price: The book costs $2.99 (or less if you have a discount card somewhere.) That's about the same price as the average grande drink at Starbucks. I'm worth as much to you as the price of a dinky cup of designer coffee, am I right? Okay, lie to me and say I am.

Perfect Wedding Gift for My Editor: Yes, he's getting married, any minute now, and he really doesn't need another toaster.

Support for PBW: Yes, I always tell you that buying my books is the only way to really support the blog. Naturally you could just send me a check for $2.99, but that would make me a little uncomfortable and definitely piss off my publisher. This way you get a book, I get financial support, and my publisher stays happy with both of us. Win/win/win.

Ready to pre-order the e-book? Here's where you can:

B&N.com for Nook

iTunes for your iPhone, iPad, iPod touch or other iOS device

Books-a-Million for Epub

Amazon for Kindle

Elsewhere with Her Ladyship

Stop by Disenchanted & Co. today, tell me the title of the last novel you've read, and you could win this giveaway:

Sold!

I know I've been very mysterious about the new series I sold over the summer, but I wanted to wait until NaNoWriMo kicked off to announce the sale (it's a personal homage thing, because this all started with the novel I wrote for NaNoWriMo back in 2009.)

Every story we write is important to us, but every now and then one comes along that you believe in and then fight for, even when everyone else tells you the smart thing it to give it up. When you sell a story like this it makes all the hard work and blind faith worthwhile, too. And this is that one for me. Not the book of my heart, but the book of my dreams.

Her Ladyship's Curse, the first novel in my Disenchanted & Company urban fantasy series, will be released in August next year by Pocket Star. For more details and a few chuckles, head over to SF Signal, which has the exclusive announcement here.