Sign up to hear about new releases and other exciting news from Annie Bellet.

Posts Tagged ‘annie bellet’

Schedule Shift

Well, I *was* going to take more of a break from Twenty-Sided Sorceress and work on a couple Pyrrh novels, but I’ve fallen behind due to a few factors (one of which is this year I’m putting health first instead of work first, sorry).  That and, as I sit here finishing up a new Gryphonpike novella which should be live by July or so, Harper won’t stop crawling into my head and telling me all about what happens in her book.  I have enough notes about her book now to practically be an outline in and of themselves, ha.

So… I’m pushing Pyrrh off until end of year/X-mas time and going to work on Harper’s book and probably Dungeon Crawl next. Again, no promises on release dates, but I’m loosely aiming for September for at least Tribes (Harper’s novel).

I’m also working on a secret Urban Fantasy collaborative project that I hope I can announce by this fall. It fell into my lap and I think it’s awesome and couldn’t resist saying yes.

So yeah. Once again, plate is full but hey, 20sided sooner than later is good, right? 🙂

Thanks for your patience and all the kind words I’ve been sent about my health. I am super focused on getting as healthy as someone with chronic illness can get so I have more energy and more time to devote to writing kickass books as well as living my life more fully.

More news soon, I hope!

What’s Next?

Book 7 of The Twenty-Sided Sorceress is out in the world, and now I get to think about what is next.  First, to answer to main question I’ve been getting: Magic to the Bone ties up the Samir storyline more or less, but it is hardly the end of stories for Jade Crow and her friends.

So… what’s next? ALL the things. Here’s a list, by no means set in stone, of what I’m going to be working on over the next year.

tribes_promo

The next 20sided book will be a side novel and I think from the cover there you can guess whose story it is. It’ll follow Harper as she deals with the events of the previous books and has her own adventures in the world of gaming conventions and tournaments.  I’m loosely aiming for this book to come out late summer or early fall of this year.

Book 8 is coming, as well, but likely not until the winter of 2016. It’s set chronologically after book 7, of course, but will have its own stand-alone story with Jade and company.  Here’s the cover for that one (it’s one of my favorites and should be a blast to write, since this plot is going to be balls-to-the-wall gamer fun):

dungeon_promo

Notice how those things are loosely set to come out later this year? That’s because, for the sake of sanity, the quality of my work, and my health, I’m doing a couple things differently going forward. First is… I am not going to set deadlines or release dates until a work is pretty much done and ready. My doctors (and my husband) have demanded I reduce stress, so… deadlines are out the window.  Another thing I’m going to do is take a break from writing 20sided books for a few months. I have other series I started, other ideas I’m dying to work on, and I want to make sure I’m writing books because I’m ready to write them and not just because people want them now now now.

Here are the non-20sided things I’m going to work on this year. I’m pretty excited about them and hope my readers will be also (and if you are on my mailing list, you might get to read some of this stuff for free, just saying…)

GPC N2 - Brood Mother

First up is Brood Mother, the 5th Gryphonpike Chronicles novella.  I feel pretty confident saying it’ll be out in June or July because it’s half done already. It’s another fairly stand-alone adventure with Killer and her group. If you like D&D-inspired epic fantasy, then give that series a shot. First novella is free.

The big project this year will be getting going again on the Pyrrh Considerable Crimes Division series. The first book, Avarice, has a beautiful new cover. My plan is to work on books 2 and 3 (they are outlined but not begun quite yet) and release once I have both done so I can make sure to release in a reasonable time frame. Each of those books will stand more or less on its own also, as they are mysteries at their core. Think Law&Order but with sword fights.  Below are the covers for the three books in the series I’m planning on working on this year (book 1 is, obviously, already done and out if you want to read it).

New Pyrrh covers together

So… there’s my plan for the next year or so. I also have book 2 of the Cymru that Was duology about 70% finished, but I am not sure if I’ll get to it, so I’m making no promises on that one. I might finish it right after Brood Mother, though, since it would be good to finally finish that. That might not happen until 2017, however.  I can’t answer how many 20sided books there will be right now, because I don’t know. What I do know is that the next few will be stand-alone stories without a huge over-arching plot. I definitely know the very end of Jade’s story, but there might be more stories I want to tell before that.  I have at least two side character novels planned as well, plus I might spin off Alek’s sister and her crew into a whole different series (she’s so different from Jade, she’d let me write some really cool stuff that just wouldn’t fit with Jade’s story). I’m going to follow my muse on this and write until I don’t have ideas that I feel are worth sharing. When Jade is ready for the end, I’ll know, and wrap it up.

Thank you to all of you who have stuck with me through this crazy journey. The last couple years have been a lot of fun and I hope to keep the crazy roller-coaster flying along. The support and awesomeness of all my readers are what make this even possible. You peeps kick so much ass. Thank you.

Norwescon 39 Schedule

I’ll be at Norwescon, a science fiction and fantasy convention in Seattle, WA on March 24th through 27th!

Here’s my panel schedule. Also note I’m doing a book signing there on Saturday the 26th, from 3pm to 4pm.

Thu 5:00pm – 6:00pm – Cascade 9
EP13 – Rejection Dejection

Thu 6:00pm – 7:00pm – Evergreen 1&2
WRI17 – Patterns of Success, Patterns of Failure

Fri 12:00pm – 1:00pm – Evergreen 3&4
WRI15 – Writing a Series

Fri 6:00pm – 7:00pm – Cascade 9
EP12 – Writing Is a Long Con

Sat 11:00am – 12:00pm – Cascade 9
EP01 – How to Be an Author on the Internet

Sat 12:00pm – 1:00pm – Cascade 5&6
GAM07 – Video Games 101

Sat 3:00pm – 4:00pm – Grand 2
MISC29 – Autograph Session 2

Sun 3pm – 4pm – Cascade 12
Level Up Your Self-Publishing Skills

When I’m not on panels I’ll probably haunt the game room a little and the bar a lot. Hope to see people there if you are in the Seattle area. It’s a fun convention. 🙂

On Awards This Year

Hey peeps,

I’ve had a few people ask me, so I guess I should say publicly what I’ve been saying to people when they ask.

I don’t wish to have my work considered for awards this year. I’d like to just have 2016 to get stuff done, worry about my readers and my career, and (hopefully!) not be involved in any award business. I’m not attending Worldcon 2016 either (I’ll be there for 2017 though, yay excuse to go to Finland!).

So please… if you read and enjoyed something of mine that was published this year (and there were a few things I think are some of my best work),  thank you. But don’t vote for my stories.   I’ve got cool work coming out next year, and maybe by 2017 I’ll have healed the stress of this last award season, but for now… please, I want a year of not having to even worry about it, slim as my chances might be.

My advice for award reading in general is this:

Read widely (there’s tons of good fiction for free on sites like Clarksworld, Strange Horizons, Lightspeed, Nightmare, etc as well as lots of inexpensive anthologies and ebooks out there). BUT! Don’t feel like you haven’t read “enough” to vote. Even if you only read one story/novel/novella/whatever and it really touched you, made you want to re-read it, etc… then nominate that story or novella or book or film etc. Your opinion matters. You don’t have to know everything about every work published in 2015, or about every category. It’s okay to leave things blank.  Just… read what you can. Vote for what you love.

Thank you!

Orycon Schedule & Book Signing

Okay. Now that book six it out, I can blog about something else. Yay! 🙂

Just a quick note about book 7: it will be out hopefully by end of March, 2016. I’m already working on it and barring more health issues (which at the moment I seem to have a handle on), it will NOT take as long as book six. Thank you all again for your patience!

Other news!

I’m signing books at Powell’s Books Cedar Hills location in Beaverton, OR at 4pm (until about 5:30-6pm) on November 22nd!  I have ten shiny copies of Thicker Than Blood that will be for sale that day. So if you want it, or want the full signed set… show up on time! Or just come say hi, or just come to Powell’s because that bookstore is amazing.  I’ll be giving out free dice!

I’ll also be doing panels at Orycon, the Oregon Science Fiction convention in Portland, OR this coming weekend, Nov. 20th-22nd.

Here is my panel schedule:

Fri Nov 20 3:00:pm
Fri Nov 20 4:00:pm

I Quit My Job to Be a Writer! WHAT HAVE I DONE?

What the full-time writing life is like, how to stay focused when you’re all by yourself, the realities of making a living via the written word, and techniques for forcing yourself to get dressed and leave the house.
————————————–
Fri Nov 20 4:00:pm
Fri Nov 20 5:00:pm

I’ll Be Watching You…

From vampire assassins to wizard private eyes to undead thugs, crime has been mixing it up with fantasy for years. What is it about crime, noir, and the paranormal that’s so appealing? Also – what are some really good titles?
—————————————-
Fri Nov 20 5:00:pm
Fri Nov 20 6:00:pm

How to Jumpstart Your Novel’s Sales

Your self-published book’s sales have plunged. How can you revive them? Will a new cover make a difference? What about targeted advertising? Publishing tie-in short fiction? Appearing in multi-author bundle? Or should you learn to stop worrying and get writing the next book in the series, or even start a new series?
—————————————–
Sat Nov 21 12:00:pm
Sat Nov 21 1:00:pm

Revision: Path to Better Writing or Way to Never Finish?

Endless revisions can kill good writing, but everyone says polish your work. Besides, the first draft is usually bad, right? How to navigate through the apparent contradictions without going crazy.
——————————————–

Sat Nov 21 3:00:pm
Sat Nov 21 4:00:pm

Hybrid Vigor: Choosing Both Traditional and Self-Publishing

Don’t believe the True Believers on both sides of this non-existent divide: you can be both a traditional AND a self-published writer. Learn how to let the project choose the path.
——————————————–
Sat Nov 21 4:00:pm
Sat Nov 21 5:00:pm

How to Write a Series

Where to start, and how long of a series you can (or should?) write. How to make it interesting, different, and hopefully successful, and stay in love with it.
———————————————

Sat Nov 21 5:00:pm
Sat Nov 21 6:00:pm

The Magic Goes to Eleven

Defining Magical Systems. Magic is not to be trifled with as far as a reader’s concerned. Discuss how to give your characters powers–but not too much power–and how to keep internal consistency.

——————————————–

 

Hope to see some people there!