*taps mic* Am I on?

Is it my blog day? I think it's my blog day. OMG, it's been so long. I'd like to say I've spent my lengthy absence in a frenzy of writing and publishing, but I would be lying. There has been some little writing. There has not been publishing. I am aiming to improve the former and change the latter. To that end, I'm finally going to release a paperback edition of my m/m fantasy novel Client Privileges. I'm also working on getting Rose & Thorn (m/m/f) re-released in both print and ebook formats. While I'm chipping away at those granite blocks, I've also submitted a contemporary paranormal story to a publisher. That one's not a romance, per se, although it does have m/m romantic elements to it. It's the first in a series--or will be once it's published. I'll let you know when there's anything to update on that. Here's hoping it will be good news.

New! .... well, kind of.

Sunday again? Man, they just keep coming, don't they?

Torquere released two previously published works of mine and I'm delighted about both of them! The first is a collection of my short stories.

Whether a fairy tale or a story grounded in reality, there is room for romance anywhere. From the secluded hospital bed to the back room of a tattoo shop, that spark can be found in the most unlikely places. This collection of stories will take you to four very different spots as the men within discover that love turns up in unusual ways. A tattoo artist, a hospital worker, a set of white wings, and ghosts in the attic all await the reader in this unique collection.

You can get the Tory Temple Collection RIGHT HERE. 

The second release was from the Kegs and Dorms anthology, so if cute college boys are your thing, then definitely check this one out.

Maxwell has been looking forward to college for the last two years. Finally at the university of his choice, school is everything he hoped it would be, especially the fraternity he's decided to rush for. It doesn't hurt that one of his fellow pledges, Devin Page, is really good looking and likely into guys, if his flirting is any indication. But what Max finds out pretty quickly is that things are not always as they seem, especially when it comes to cute guys. Devin has a very specific set of rules for what is supposed to happen at college. Max is hoping for more than just rules to define what they have together. Will the two of them be able to find a common subject to study, or will their budding friendship take the road to failure?

What it's All About is available RIGHT HERE. 

As for new stuff, stay tuned. A finished novel is being sent off to my editor today! This one is going to be pretty special, so I'll explain more next time. Have a good one, slashers!

A Year Ago

As I prepare for our annual trip to an internetless tropical destination, I realize just how slow I’ve been on the writing front. Sure, I’m finally posting regular chapters of CRANK again, but that doesn’t earn me a royalty check.

As we left for last year’s trip, I was hurrying to finish the last round of edits on Hounded By Love. That was my last release. My last release was almost a year ago. It’s sad. I know. The Job That Pays the Bills took a lot out of me over the summer, a time that has been historically my slow (aka writing) period. This current quarter has been crazy too. They’re all just excuses, but let’s face it, coming home mentally drained does not make for good evening writing hours.

I can’t say I’ve done nothing. I have a nearly completed manuscript for the sequel to Man Whore. But, I also have great concerns over that elephant in the room, so I’ve yet to do a final read-through to submit it. That’s a shame, really, because the Twins do want some attention. I hesitate to do so until I know there will be a place for them by the time I get to their book in the series.

But wait, it’s not all bad news!

I have a rough synopsis of the next story I want to write. I’ve written two chapters, and I’m excited about the characters. Finding quality time to write has been difficult, but I know I have a three hour layover on our way out, and the Job That Pays the Bills shouldn’t continue its craziness for more than a month or so after I return. This spring/summer I will get this manuscript done, and then I’ll finally work on something genderqueer.

So, dear Readers, it’s been quite the lull, but I’m not throwing in the towel. I am getting back to work. In the meantime, I have received news that Hounded By Love will be released in print soon. I don’t have the official date yet, but soon. Very soon. I’ll let you know when.

Have a great April, cari miei, and we'll chat again in May.
~Pia

I signed my last contract a little over a year ago. Once that was edited and released, I spent the interim slowly editing the second Personal Demons book, and making fairly sad excuses about why I didn’t have time to write. Some of it was true – The Job That Pays the Bills took up a lot of my time over the summer and fall – and some of it was just that – excuses.

I’m breaking the habit this week. Personal Demons will still need to wait, and not because of the elephant in the room. My reasons are my own, and I know that makes for a boring blog entry, but I will say I’ve been working on a couple of other things instead.

CRANK, my free online story is one of my priorities this month. I’ve returned to a regular schedule posting chapters, with the next one going up today. Meanwhile, on my blog, I’ve been sharing writing exercises. I take quotes from different places (lyrics, a quote book, an overheard conversation, or wherever I stumble across them) and then write flash fiction from them. They’re not complete stories, and they won’t be edited, but I promise to share a couple each week.

As for books-to-be, there are three different couples meandering around in my head. I’ve been exploring their connections, getting to know them. Soon, I’ll settle on one couple to star in a new manuscript. I’m currently leaning towards a friends-to-lovers romance, but I’m also itching to write some horror. We shall see. Hopefully by the time my next Slash & Burn visit rolls around I’ll be knee deep in a chosen manuscript.

Have a great February, dear Readers!

December. Already?

When I got an email reminder that it was my day to post, I first whispered a quick thank you to automatic reminders, and then I skimmed through my Slash & Burn posts for the year, looking for inspiration. At first, it was my intention to share my attempts at creating cover art for a freebie I wrote for the Goodreads.com M/M Romance group, but then I noticed the post I wrote back in July. It summarized what I’d accomplished in the first half of the year, and a couple of WiPs I’d hoped to finish before year end.

Oops. Those WiPs are still in the To Do pile.

Shortly after I wrote that post last summer, I broke my foot. It still aches if I do too much, but I’m finally, a little bit, getting back into running. Yes, they really do go hand in hand. I tried to force the writing, but even with nothing better to do with my foot propped up for weeks, I simply couldn’t focus. While I did manage to keep up with my obligations on the weekly installments for my freebie story, actual productiveness towards any publishing goals… well, let’s just leave it at nonexistent.

I’m ready to resume now. I have been for a while now, but with the increase in physical activity in November, I can keep my mind focused while sitting still too. After I post this, I’m dragging the Hubby out for a hike/walk despite the 37 degree morning. We’re getting ready to try snowshoeing as soon as the snow hits. I refuse to give in to the annual winter urge to hibernate. I’ve already had my writing break. Granted, it was unscheduled and certainly not anticipated, but I refuse to take another so soon. Hopefully, when I post here on the first Sunday of January, I’ll be sharing download links that make that freebie on Goodreads available to anyone and, with some luck and dedication, an announcement on one of those WiPs being in the hands of an acquisition team.

I promise to try my hardest, dear Readers. I can’t let winter win again this year.

Ciao,
Pia Veleno

PS Bound By Love is now available in audio format, and Fallen will be on the first day of the new year. Both are available to order through Silver Publishing by clicking HERE.

PSS Have a great holiday season, and may Santa bring you big, uh, packages to unwrap. ;-)

July: I Disbelieve

July? Really? I disbelieve.

Okay, so if it IS July, then that means the year is half over. I’m not a big fan of setting out year-long goals because 365 days is just too many chances to mess up. I’ve been known to set monthly goals and, on occasion, quarterly goals, but longer than that, and something pretty and sparkly comes up to distract me.

Still, despite my aversion to yearly goals, I couldn’t help but look back on the past six months to see how I’ve done. I’ll admit, I’m not impressed, but hopefully that’ll inspire me to get my butt in gear for the second half of the year. (Or, at least the third quarter.)

In the first half of the year, I started the sequel to Man Whore. I managed about 24k words before I set it aside in what I now admit might’ve been in a fit of petulance over a couple of reader reviews complaining about the character's sluttiness in Man Whore. I thought I’d left plenty of warning about his demeanor in the title, and the blurb…

No, I won’t go into that publicly. No further anyway.

I’ve recently reread that partial manuscript, so I expect I’ll be able to sink back into Adam and Morgan’s world soon. I hope to have the next story finished by the end of the year, and it will take Adam’s secret to the next level as he learns more about why the demons were after him in Man Whore.

What else? Well, I’ve seen two stories through edits and publication – one a short story, Bound By Love, and the other Man Whore. I’ve started the prequel to Bound, and I’m toying with the three follow up stories to cover the three years Bel owes to his demon father, but those are not officially on this year’s schedule. If I’m lucky, the first year of demon debt will be around Valentine’s Day, just as the first story was, but I make no promises.

Speaking of editing, I’ve learned the rumors about Loose Id “editing the crap” out of their stories is true. I think I’ve put as much time into editing Make You Sweat (formerly known as Summer Lust) as I did writing and revising it before the contract. (Okay, okay, slight exaggeration, but I definitely put a lot of time into this project.) The line editor has it now, so I expect an official release date soon and, more importantly, a release from deadlines for it, so I can obsess about something else.

Finally, new Works-in-Progress have been slow in this first half of the year. I wrote a cowboy novella, and still need to finish writing the final consummation scene. It’ll need some minor fleshing out later, but it will likely be one of my 2011 revision projects for the second half of the year. The other one to be revised is a story about a punk rocker and an introvert. I set that one aside to promote Man Whore’s release, and haven’t had the time to start the editing process since. Or, as is more likely, I haven’t made the time.

Lastly, in this quarter/year, I hope to finish a manuscript on a transgender character. I’ve found a few already written, but there aren’t nearly enough trans stories out there. Sure, plenty of memoirs and non-fiction type reads, but for romance, I’d like to see more. I have two trans stories started, and am undecided on which to write first. One is a pre-op FtM, and the other is an MtF on hormones, but not yet entertaining the thought of full reassignment. Both pose interesting character dynamics and a significant amount of research to distract me from actually writing down words. Still, I’m looking forward to learning more about both characters as I write them.

Will any of it get done in the second half of the year? Yes, some, but I won’t torture myself with promises. If I forced a schedule in the first six months, I wouldn’t have written a ghost story currently out for query in a Halloween anthology. It was a fun story to write, the ghost leading the way to new discoveries and changing little things until, by the end, I had to go back and rewrite the first three chapters to fit the ghost’s desired resolution. I’d like to see the Man Whore sequel done, and the Bound prequel, plus one of the revisions and one of the trans characters, but don’t quote me on that, because I’ll deny it come January first.

What have you accomplished so far this year? What would you like to do in the second half, dear Readers?

Ciao,
Pia Veleno