Weekly Update - 11/30/15

This week I spent two days in the kitchen with my daughter, baking pies and a turkey, whipping cream, and mashing potatoes. Time well spent, we had a lot of fun and also washed a mountain of dishes.


We published Natalie Peck's Sirens in her Heart on November 27th. Sirens isn't the first book Natalie's had published, but it is the first she wrote, and the only one of her works that her author mother got to read before her passing. The book was published on Natalie's mother's birthday. Sirens is available here, or at the usual retail outlets.


The office renovations continue: I sewed the panels for my screen, and also the curtain that will hang above it to block the rest of my closet from view of my office. The curtain still needs to be hung up. I promise there will be before and after photos when we're finished.


My daughter's birthday present this year is fabric to sew her own set of Jedi robes. I got it for her early, since her birthday is rather close to the movie's release date, and she wouldn't have time to finish it beforehand. We've been doing a lot of sewing. I use a rolling computer desk for my sewing table, and both of our machines will fit on the table back-to-back so we can both sew at the same time. I told her the other sewing that's been sitting around forever has to be done before the Jedi robes, because otherwise it will never get done. I've hemmed ten "wedding" tablecloths (don't ask, not an imminent event, but needed to be done), discovered that my sewing machine is violently allergic to the magenta thread that matches the curtain, sewed the aforementioned screen panels and curtain, and discovered that a long-awaited blouse that's been cut out for two years was cut wrong...I had two left halves of the back, and no right half...and I cut it out two years ago from old fabric that was lying around, so I can't just re-cut another back panel. I nearly cried. I really wanted that blouse. My daughter's been working on a Christmas present for my Dad and doing an excellent job of it. All that's left is to finish the Christmas present, assemble two nightgowns that have been cut out for a couple of years, and then we can start on the Jedi robes.


I've also done a bunch of editing:

• Misty was sent from one of my editors back to the author for more work. It's just finishing the first round of editing and we expect to publish by April's end. It's the second book in Marie Evergreen's Travelers series. The first book, Quinn, is available here, or at all the usual retail outlets.
• I did initial rewrites on Encounter at Kiral - it's the second book in Scott Ashby's Cavaliers series. It should be out in October. The first book, Assignment to Earth, is available here or at your favorite retail outlet.
• C R Simper's Rift Watcher has been sent to the final copyeditor. It's the first in the Rift Watcher series, and should be out by the end of December.
• I started edits on The Blogger, a novella that should be out in June. I'm not mentioning the author's name here yet, because I haven't asked him if he wants to use his own or a pen name.
• We're also deep in edits on Bolts from the Blue (A M Jenner), An Independent Love Affair (Natalie Peck), and an as-yet unnamed thriller by A M Jenner.
• Also, A M Jenner is in the midst of two more novels; Corpse on the Porch, which is this year's NaNoWriMo winner and Pushing up Roses.

No, I haven't done much sleeping.

Exciting things happening!

Scott Ashby's book Crown of Tears was published October 31st. It's another great fantasy. What's it about? Only the magical coronation band can name the true heir - and next ruler - of Notia. However, the band has been stolen. King Kaddick is dying, and his three daughters, Calla Lily, Gladiola, and Marigold, must find the coronation band before it's too late.


Natalie Peck wrote her first romance novel over a quarter century ago. It was the only one of Natalie's novels her author/mother got to read before her death, and although she rarely read fiction, she told Natalie it was an excellent book. Last year, Natalie was cleaning out her storage room, rediscovered the original manuscript, dusted it off, updated the technology, and submitted it.
The Electric Scroll editors agreed with Natalie's mother - it's an excellent book. Sirens in her Heart will be published on November 27th, Natalie's mother's birthday.


We're pleased to welcome C R Simper as an Electric Scroll author. She has two short steampunk stories published in anthologies, and her first novel, Rift Watcher, will be coming out in December.

An Interesting Email

I recently received an email from Jaqi Wade, author of Jenny's Daughter. It was both heartwarming and tickled my fancy at the same time, and I have asked (and received) her permission to share it with you.

I've Read It

 

Finally - for the first time since I sent the manuscript to you! During the editing I only read the edited parts. Because so many friends and family have told me how much they've enjoyed my story, I had to find out what they were talking about.

Last Sunday before his sermon the minister put the front cover picture on the screen and walked to where I was sitting, asked me to stand, and praised the book. Several had already read it as have several at the Mesa Sr Center on Macdonald where I volunteer. I'm even getting FB notes from family and friends and even some guys have complimented me.

I decided to read my story. I'm so impressed with your editing and how you let the story unfold! I've sort of played with the sequel "J's D - Leftovers" and now have a better idea of what to write for the years since 2000. IF I ever finish it, I'll need your editing skills.  Gratefully, Jenny's Daughter, Jaqi

This is why I became more than an author. This is why I expanded and became a publisher as well. So that I could help others to achieve their dream. So readers could have wonderful stories that were beyond my scope as a story-teller. To put good works in the world by serving authors and readers at the same time.
Get Jaqi's incredible story here.

Call for Beta Readers

I've got two novels in need of beta-reading.

Bolts from the Blue is a contemporary romantic suspense by A M Jenner, set in Arizona and Washington D. C. It involves a woman who can see emails as they float through the air, and what happens to her because of her ability.

Sirens in her Heart is a contemporary romance by Natalie Peck. It's set in an unnamed large city in the United States and centers around a once-bitten twice-shy ambulance attendant. It's only nearly contemporary, as it is placed when female ambulance attendants were still fairly new, unusual, and, some think, not to be trusted.

I'm looking for people who enjoy reading, are good at picking mistakes out of movies and books, and have time to get the editing done and the manuscript back on time. Beta readers are allowed three weeks to read, mark-up, and return the manuscript. Must have Microsoft Word. No, OpenOffice won't cut it, the programs aren't good as passing tracked changes back and forth between them. All readers will receive an ebook copy on publication, and a mention (if they want it) in the acknowledgments.

Anyone interested in either novel please email secretary@electric-scroll.com. I will take the first three readers for each book, and place other interested people on a list for the next time I'm looking for beta readers.

Inherit My Heart

Whew! Three books published within five days of each other. I don't know that I'd want to do this again, but it's nice to know I can if I need to.

Inherit my Heart is about a woman, Katrina Lee McSwayne. She's successfully escaped from her abusive husband, Charleston. Everything is going great in her life. She has a good job, rents a nice old house, and has a great friend at work.

Then lawyer Gavin Browning starts calling her, and when she hangs up on him, he comes to her door. He's asking questions about Charleston, and he won't leave without the answers. Everything starts falling apart in the wake of Gavin's arrival in her life. She gets run over, then shot at. Even hiding in a motel isn't any use. And Gavin is still after his answers. Katrina's stuck between a rock and a hard place. How can she give him answers she doesn't have?

And then, if things weren't bad enough, Charleston shows up. Did he follow Gavin, or are they in collusion? You'll have to read the book to find out!

Fabric of the World

On April 25th, Scott Ashby's Fabric of the World was finally republished. I know there's been a lot of people waiting very patiently for the editing to be completed and the book to be available once more.

Although the story is largely the same, the presentation is much improved. What changes were made? For one thing, the first five chapters were removed completely. Most of the writing was tightened up and made a little less formal. And this time, I think we got it right, because Scott says his characters now trust him enough that they've started talking to him about the next part of the story. Yes, there will be at least one other story set in this world.

Also those chapters that were removed are awesome short stories on their own, and the possibility exists that other short stories may be written and the lot of them released together.

For those who haven't met Quibell yet, I'll tell you a bit about him. His unwed mother was thrown out of her wealthy household because of her pregnancy. When Quibell showed all the signs of being mageborn, she was Burned at the stake for the crime of sleeping with a mageborn man. Quibell was then raised in an orphanage.

On his seventeenth naming-day, the day he officially became an adult, Quibell left the orphanage for the last time. He'd arranged an apprenticeship, and was on his way to learn to become a Healer. His life would have been unremarkable had he not passed through the square where there was yet another public Burning, so like his mother's. Overcome by his emotions, Quibell lashes out with his untaught power, and the executioner ended up in the flames with his victims.

The murder of a Mage is a capital crime. Having used magic to do so made it worse. Quibell runs for his life, fleeing the city of Turpan forever. By the end of the day, he's fallen in with a tribe of nomads, though he's not sure whether he's a prisoner or an honored guest.

He has an important choice to make, though. He can stay with the nomads, marry the chieftain's daughter, and become a nomad prince...or he can try to find a way to return to Turpan, overthrow the evil Mages that run the city, and free his people. Either way, the choice he makes has the possibility to change the world.

Jenny's Daughter

On April 23, Jenny's Daughter, by Jaqi Wade was published.

I feel privileged to have been one of the editors during its publication. As an editor, not only was I looking for spelling and grammar problems, but I had quite a bit to do with shaping the manuscript. Some bits were moved around to put them in a little better order, to make the book easier to read. Some bits of the original manuscript were cut, because the memories meandered into essays on social or political subjects, and the book was meant to be a memoir. Mostly, the editing was simply polishing the uncut gem that had been presented, and making it sparkle in its present form.

Jaqi Wade grew up in California, the daughter of a farm laborer and a nurse. She lived through the Great Depression, and was fortunate enough that although they moved often as her father sought work, they were never starving or homeless. She lived through the fear that stalked all Californians during WWII; that there would be mainland strikes similar to Pearl Harbor.

Later in her life, she and her husband joined a missionary group headed for Brazil. They packed up their three children and very few of their possessions and moved to South America. She coped with her new language and culture. As her husband was the mission's pilot, she often had to function as though she were a single parent, raising her children, working, and adjusting to her new home on her own.

Meanwhile, the United States was consumed with the social turmoil of the late sixties and early seventies. She read about the events as they were presented by international news sources, but never really experienced the changes with the rest of the citizens. By the time she returned home, the language, culture, and technology were utterly foreign to her, and she found that the reverse culture shock of her return was harder to deal with than her initial move to Brazil, not least because she was completely unprepared for it.

Come read the remarkable story of a woman who's lived life on two continents. Meet Jaqi Wade, Jenny's daughter.

Exciting! And a little Crazy!

Publishing is a strange world to live in. It's a world of hurry up and wait.
You send the manuscript back and forth between the editors and the author. When it's your turn with it, you work like mad, then wait several months until it's your turn again. There are sometimes delays because, well, life happens. And sometimes there are serendipitous moments when you realize you can bring a project in ahead of schedule.

Take April for example. We're publishing three books at or near the end of April.

Inherit My Heart, by A M Jenner, is a romantic suspense about a woman who's running from an abusive relationship, and what happens when a lawyer inadvertently leads her husband to her.

Inherit My Heart was originally intended to be (re)published in February, but some family funerals and unexpected travel delayed its release.

Jenny's Daughter, by Jaqi Wade, is a nonfiction memoir of a fascinating life. Jaqi grew up in depression-era California. At the age of 40 she and her husband packed up their children and went to live as missionaries in Brazil. The culture shock of moving there was nothing compared to the shock of moving back "home" again twenty years later.

Jenny's Daughter is being published right on time.

Fabric of the World, by Scott Ashby, is a fantasy novel about a young man who accidentally kills the Archmage on his seventeenth naming-day, the day he becomes a legal adult. By the end of the day he's been forced to abandon his plans for his life and flee the city...and he's been kidnapped by a band of nomads, to boot. As he tries to find a place in the world, he has two choices: stay with the nomads, marry the chieftain's daughter, and become fabulously wealthy as his adopted heir; or return to Turpan and fight the rest of the corrupt mages who rule the city to bring freedom and justice to all the city's inhabitants.

Fabric of the World was scheduled to be (re)released in June, but the work went faster than expected in every phase of development, and it's ready now.

All three books have been sent to the printer, and we're waiting for the proof copies to arrive. In the meanwhile, we're putting information about them on the website as it becomes available, and working hard to prepare the ebook versions.

Meet Jeffrey Von Glahn

Join us at The Electric Scroll's Author Chat on May 2, when our guest will be Jeffrey Von Glahn, Ph.D. author of Jessica: The Autobiography of an Infant  and Jessica, his client.

In her therapy as an adult, Jessica remembered in vivid detail many experiences from the earliest weeks of her infancy. She had always feared that the unthinkable had happened when she had been "made up." She had no sense of herself as a needing, wanting person. Every day she expected to be dragged into court and found guilty of impersonating a real human being. In her therapy, she discovered that the difficulties she experienced in being born and the inattentive, hurried behavior of her mother in the ensuing weeks made her feel that the needing, wanting part of her was "dangerous" and that she "had to stay away from it."

Both Jeffrey and Jessica are eager to share their experience: He as author (and therapist) and she as an articulate spokesperson for the emotional care of infants.

Jeffrey invites questions ahead of time: jeffreyvonglahn@gmail.com.

Welcome Marie Evergreen!

The Electric Scroll is proud to introduce Marie Evergreen as our newest published author. This week she's unveiling her inaugural book, Quinn, the first book of The Travelers. If you like books full of travel, international intrigue, history, and time travel, you'll love Quinn.


Find out more about Quinn here.


Find out more about Marie Evergreen here.