Sarah Ettritch

Science Fiction, Fantasy, and Mystery Writer

The Daros Chronicles – On Its Way

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The Daros Chronicles is on its way! I’m just finishing my review of the ebook version of Pawns and Puzzles (Daros Chronicles Volume One). If it doesn’t show up in bookstores this coming week, it will be there the week after.

Fate or Folly (Daros Chronicles Volume Two) is with my editor. Barring any unforeseen problems, it should be available in August (September at the latest).

Those dates are for the ebook versions. The print versions always follow a few weeks (or a couple of months) later.

Fate or Folly concludes the story.

The individual installments are still available, but I’ll take them down at the end of July. If you started the Daros Chronicles and put it aside, intending to come back and finish it later, make sure you pick up the remaining installments before then.

My last post was about release dates. Daros Volumes One and Two are on track. But I shouldn’t tweak my nose at the Universe by announcing release dates too soon. Pretty much within a week after posting, an opportunity came my way related to my other life, that of a software developer. I was asked whether I’d be interested in teaching a programming course at an online school. I said yes.

First, it’s income. Second, I enjoy programming. I’ve picked up several new skills since leaving my last job, because I’m constantly tinkering with programming languages and frameworks. Lastly, I’ve taken courses at this online school. Out of the hundreds (perhaps thousands) of programming courses they offer, I’ve only ever come across two taught by female instructors.

When I was doing my Computer Science degree in the 1980s, men vastly outnumbered women. There were a handful of women in the first-year classes. By the final year, I was the only woman in some classes. Most of the other women had dropped out or changed their field of study.

Unfortunately, things haven’t changed much in the almost 30 (eek!) years since I graduated with my degree. In fact, a few years ago, I read that the enrollment of women in computer programs had gone down!

This is a shame, because it’s a great area to work in. It pays well, it’s in demand and will continue to be in demand, and there’s very little sexism. I can count on one hand the number of times I felt I was being spoken to or treated differently because I was a woman. Yes, it happened, but not more than 3-4 times.

If a woman came to me and said, “I don’t know what to do with my life. I’m open to anything,” I’d tell her to try computer programming. I’d say that whether she was 20 or 60 years old. These days, you can get a decent job without getting a degree, because there’s a shortage of programmers.

So part of the reason I agreed to do the course was because the school needs more female instructors. The people there are quite excited that I’ll be teaching a course. They know they need more women teaching tech.

The first course I’ll teach (I may do more) has a release date in August, because we want to time its release with the release of Android O. Because of that, I’m on a really tight timeline to create the course material. I’ve had to put everything else aside except editing and publishing the Daros Chronicles.

I’ve changed the editing date I’d arranged with my editor for the standalone sci-fi novel. Instead of September, it will go to my editor at the end of November, meaning it will only be released in January/February 2018. I’ve also had to put the Deiform Fellowship Five aside. I was hoping to finish the first draft by the end of the year, but that’s not going to happen.

If I do teach more courses, I won’t be on as tight a schedule, so I’ll be able to get back to writing/editing sometime in August. I figured putting everything except the Daros Chronicles aside for 2-3 months wouldn’t be the end of the world, but it does delay the release dates for everything but the Daros Chronicles.

Later.

Tentative Release Dates for 2017

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I have a firmer idea of when I’ll release my next three books. Here goes:

Daros Chronicles (Volume One)

The text is ready, but the cover designer I’ll work with is busy, so we’ll work on the cover at the end of this month or early next month. I expect to release the book around the end of June/early July.

Daros Chronicles (Volume Two)

This will go to my editor at the end of June. Given the cover design situation, I might see if the cover designer will do both covers at the same time, rather than just doing the cover for Volume One and scheduling the second cover for later. Barring any unforeseen problems, I expect to release this one sometime in August.

Their Last Hope (standalone science fiction novel)

This will go to my editor in mid-September. I’ll get a cover done earlier than that, so I expect to release the book around the end of October/early November.

That Will Probably Be It

I was considering writing a short holiday story, like I did last year with The Perfect Christmas Gift, but as you can see, I’ll be publishing one book after the other until October/November, which won’t leave me enough time to write a story. But you never know. If I finish the first draft of Deiform Five early, I might be able to squeeze one in.

It’s pelting it down with rain here, but the grass is green, and I have a cat curled up on my lap as I type this, so life is good (plus, I’m one of those crazy people who likes rain—especially when I’m inside!).

Enjoy your weekend!  🙂

Writing Plans Gone Awry

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I think I’ll stop saying I’m going to focus on shorter work. After declaring this year would be the year, I’ve done nothing but work on novels. Part of the problem is time. When 2017 rolled around, I was still writing the second volume of the Daros Chronicles and preparing a standalone science fiction novel to go to a developmental editor.

If that wasn’t enough, I also published The Voice in My Head in February, and I’m in the midst of publishing the first seven installments of the Daros Chronicles as one volume. Then there’s the Deiform Fellowship Five. I’m writing that now.

In hindsight, I have to wonder how I thought I’d also have the time to write shorter work. Perhaps once I’ve cleared my publishing backlog, it’ll happen, but I think the process that works best for me is to write what’s grabbing me. If it ain’t a short story, it ain’t a short story.

If all goes to plan, I’ll release three novels this year (though Daros Volume One will consist of previously released material). I know some authors can write a novel every month or two, but as I’ve said previously, I’m not one of them. A short story and three novels will be a pretty good year for me, and I’ll also finish the first draft of Deiform Five before the end of the year.

It won’t help that we’re having work done in our backyard while the weather is nice. My writing space overlooks the yard, and in about two weeks, workmen will be just below the window, demolishing our rotting deck and working on the back wall of our foundation. Then they’ll build us a new deck. The guy leading the team likes to get an early start, so he’ll be on-site at 7:00 a.m. My best writing time is in the morning. If it’s too noisy, I’ll try writing somewhere else, but our laptop doesn’t have Word. I’ll see how it goes.

Raccoon
Once the deck is rebuilt, we won’t have any more raccoon visitors. The bottom of the deck will be fully enclosed.

I’m hoping it won’t be so noisy that I won’t be able to edit Daros Two and continue working on publishing Daros One. Those activities use a different part of my brain and don’t require as much concentration as writing a first draft.

So yeah, short stories won’t be happening anytime soon. I can’t force them, but they’ll occasionally happen naturally, as The Perfect Christmas Gift and The Voice in My Head did last year.

Talking about the Daros Chronicles, I had to decide whether to chunk the first volume up into traditional chapters, or keep it as seven installments, meaning it would go out like the Rymellan Series did. No chapters, but stories. I’ve decided to go with the latter.

I want Daros Two to go out the same way. I’ve split it into seven stories, to match the first. Here are the (tentative) titles I’ve assigned to each story:

  1. Caged and Free
  2. Friends Reunited
  3. Uneasy Alliances
  4. Snakes and Sycophants
  5. The Road to Darroth
  6. Some Live, Some Die
  7. Unforeseen Choices

I’ve titled Volume One Pawns and Puzzles, and Volume Two Fate or Folly.

I’m not sure when Volume One will go out, since it will depend on when I can get a cover done, which I haven’t scheduled yet. I want to finish typesetting the print version before I do that.

I’ll be removing the individual installments from sale, so if you started reading the Chronicles and then put it aside, intending to go back to it later, you’ll want to pick up the remaining installments soon. I’ll take them down about a week before I upload Volume One.

I’m focusing on Daros One and Two, and then I’ll go back to the sci-fi project (I have some revising to do, but not tons). Barring any curve balls from life, all three books should be available by the end of the year.

Have a great weekend!  🙂

Smashwords, Pen Names, Dumb Characters

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One of those mixed bag posts today. First off…

Read an EBook Week banner

It’s Read an eBook Week at Smashwords, which means deep discounts on books. The following discounts are available on my books:

Threaded Through Time (Book One): 50% off
The first three books in the Deiform Fellowship Series: 75% off
The first two books in the Rymellan Series: 75% off.

To get the discount, click on the book you’re interested in from my profile page and use the coupon code on the book page at checkout.

Pen Names

I’d mentioned in an earlier post that I planned to release my upcoming standalone science fiction novel, which is now with the editor, under a pen name, because it has a straight main character. I’ve changed my mind. I’ve given it more thought and concluded that it wouldn’t make sense.

Here’s the thing. If I was going to release any work under a pen name,  I should have done so already. With the benefit of 20/20 hindsight, I can see that my work tends to fall into two buckets: serious, and not so serious. A difference in tone is more important, in my opinion, than the sexual orientation of the main character.

You may disagree with me, but I consider the Rymellan Series, The Salbine Sisters, The Deiform Fellowship Series, and the Daros Chronicles to be serious in tone. I see The Missing Comatose Woman, Threaded Through Time, The Perfect Christmas Gift, and The Voice in My Head as not so serious. I should have written one of those buckets using a pen name, but oh well.

Yes, the upcoming science fiction novel (tentatively titled Their Last Hope) has a straight main character, but she’s a strong female character, and the story is quintessential me. It also has a lesbian POV character who’s key to the story, but as I said earlier, it’s not her story. Still, readers who’ve enjoyed books in my serious bucket should like Their Last Hope, and vice versa. So, no pen name. But hey, I reserve the right to change my mind again. 😉

Dumb Characters

Maybe I’m watching too much Netflix lately, but one thing that’s getting on my nerves is characters who do obviously dumb stuff that results in conflict or drama. I don’t mind this in humorous shows/stories. But in dramas, it grates. I know why the writers are doing it: to create problems for the characters. But when they do it by making the character(s) stupid, it doesn’t work. Rather than getting caught up in the drama and feeling sympathetic about their plight, I’m sitting there thinking, “It serves them right for doing something so obviously stupid.” Not what the writers were going for.

I think it’s lazy, a case of the writers not digging deeper and coming up with something better that doesn’t make the characters look like idiots.

Just saying.

Have a great weekend!  🙂

The Voice in My Head (lesbian sci-fi romance) is Available

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The Voice in My Head, a lesbian sci-fi romance, is now available at all the usual online bookstores. Here are the details:

The Voice in My Head

The Voice in My Head

Author:
Genres: Lesbian Fiction, Romance, Science Fiction
When Izzy’s virtual assistant implant experiences a catastrophic failure, she receives a new implant with a unique personality and falls in love with the voice in her head.
Buy from Amazon Kindle
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Buy from Barnes and Noble Nook
Buy from Smashwords
About the Book

When Izzy’s virtual assistant implant experiences a catastrophic failure, she receives a new implant with a unique personality. Chloe, as Izzy dubs her, is wonderfully supportive and helpful. Despite knowing that Chloe isn’t a real person, Izzy falls in love with the voice in her head. Can a relationship with an AI be as meaningful as one with a person? Is Izzy destined for heartbreak?

The Voice in My Head is a lesbian sci-fi romance. It’s approximately 14,000 words long.

In the announcement I sent to my mailing list, I revealed what I’m working on and what’s coming up. Here’s a brief recap:

  • I’ve finished the first draft of Daros Chronicles Volume 2 and am now revising it
  • The standalone science fiction novel I’ve mentioned will go to my editor next week
  • I’ll start the Deiform Fellowship Five and a standalone science fiction thriller next week

Beta Readers

I also mentioned that I’m looking for beta readers. If you’ve read and enjoyed at least one of my books and you’re interested in reading for me, drop me a line using the form on the contact page.

Have a great weekend! 🙂

Coming Up for Air

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I haven’t posted in a while, so I thought I’d stop writing fiction for a minute and say, “Boo.” In addition to writing, I’ve also been watching the news with my mouth hanging open. We were on the verge of cutting our cable. We’d bought an indoor antenna, hooked it up, and could get several local channels decently (in HD). But no 24-hour news stations. They’re all pay-to-watch.

We couldn’t bring ourselves to cut the cable, not now. There’s just too much going on. But we downgraded to the cheapest package, and we’re paying a few extra bucks a month for the news stations (unfortunately we can’t just select the channels we want).

Which leads to…kittens!

Cute kittens

Because no matter how crazy the world is, kittens make us feel better!

Anyway, I’ve almost finished the first draft of Daros Volume 2. I have four scenes to go, so I’ll comfortably make my end of February deadline. It’s longer than I expected, but I’ll have some major revising to do, so it could end up shorter (or longer still).

I’ll also finish the audio edit of the standalone science fiction novel today. It will go to the editor in three weeks.

Also, I’d mentioned that I’d submitted The Voice in My Head, a lesbian sci-fi romance, to a mainstream anthology. It wasn’t accepted, which didn’t surprise me because I knew it was a long shot. But in the absence of any other prospects, I figured there was nothing to lose.

The editor said they’ll be doing genre-specific anthologies in the future, including an LGBT one. But they’ve already announced the next one—horror—and it could be months, even years, before they get to LGBT, and there would be no guarantee that my story would be accepted.

Since it’s a novelette (almost 14,000 words), it’s too long for most anthologies. I’ve kept my eye out for lesbian fiction submission calls and have seen a few new ones, but either the story isn’t a match for the theme, or it’s too long. For example, here’s one from Sapphire Books asking for stories about long distance relationships (see the Anthology Call section). My story doesn’t fit the theme, but even if it did, it would be too long. Most anthology calls want stories between 1,500 – 8,000 words.

So what to do? Wait and keep checking submission calls, or go ahead and publish it? I’ve decided to do the latter. I want to get the story off my mental queue (and it’s a good story!). I’m currently formatting it for publication, and I expect to release it by the end of the month.

That’s it. Just wanted to poke my head up for air.

Have a good weekend!  🙂

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