Necromancers, Editors, and CHANGE OF MOMENTUM

Originally, CHANGE OF MOMENTUM was going to release in late 2018 or early 2019.

That deadline flew by when I realized I was at 90,000 words and nowhere near the end of the story. I sat down with my editor and we realized the problem was the couple. Rowena Lee and Hollis Silar have a lifetime worth of antagonism and history. This isn’t a book about enemies-to-lovers where they said a few mean things once and snarkily flirted. This is a couple that genuinely and passionately hated each other at one point. They had good reasons to do the things they did and neither is feeling apologetic.

To move a couple like that to the point where they can be friends and fall in love takes a few more words than other stories. And, the Fleet of Malik series is space opera, there is room here for big books.

I took the time to tell the story I felt needed to be told. And then I edited it. And edited it again. And got notes from agents and editors and edited again.

By the time I sent the book back to my editor at Inkprint Press I’d run into a new problem: the editor for my series was seriously ill.

Not quite “in the hospital dying” but still gravely ill and deeply depressed.

Again, we talked. I’d just signed with a new literary agent, the book was long enough for larger presses, I had more options available. Although SFR is still considered a niche genre by some, it is a respectable enough segment of Romance publishing that there were larger houses who would take the title. I had the option of asking for my rights back for book one.

I could push the book through on the 2019 release schedule, or I could wait for my editor and best friend to get better.

Normal business logic would say that the best thing for me to do was to pull CHANGE OF MOMENTUM from the Inkprint line up and send it to another publisher. Although the chances of a larger publisher putting it in print any faster than Inkprint were minuscule and finding another SFR editor who had openings for when I wanted the book ready would be difficult. It wasn’t like Avon and Harlequin were pounding on my door begging to read the book.

But, it would have gotten things moving again.

You might have noticed already, but I don’t always follow Best Practices as described by a lot of the industry. I don’t stick only with one kind of publishing. I don’t stick loyally to only one genre. I don’t market, blog, or Instagram as much as any Best Practices list recommends.

The only Best Practice I’ve ever managed to adopt with the rule that the author has to do what works for them. If you want a career in writing, you have to make it a career you can enjoy and commit to. My career is going to look different from someone else’s because I am different than that person, and what I need out of a career is different from what they need.

To that end… I summoned a necromancer.

Just kidding!

I wrote my editor, told her I’d stick with her to the bitter end and hire a necromancer if she actually died, and we agreed she would make the book a priority once her health and schedule allowed.

Which means CHANGE OF MOMENTUM is not getting a line edit until October 2019.

The actual release date revolves around a couple of factors:
1 – how much of a pre-order window do we want?
2- how many ARCs do we want to send out?
3 – is the holiday romance novella coming out in November of 2019 or 2020?

One way or the other, pre-orders will be available by November when I head to Atomacon. CHANGE OF MOMENTUM will come out some time in 2020. FOR EVERY ACTION will be available in 2021.

In the meantime, if you’re missing books from me, you can catch up with the Urban Fantasy LADY OF THE LAKE on Patreon for $1/month, read the short stories published in the Inkprint Inklets collection, or read a snippet of the new holiday romance novella for free on Patreon.