I’m getting close to writing the end of a book I should have finished already. I’m working on Chapter 27 of what probably is a 33-chapter novel.

I read too much. Watch too much TV. (The adaptation of Dan Simmons’ The Terror will be on TV real soon. I’m going to give up the end of The Alienist and the rest of The Good Doctor to watch it in “real time,” even though I’ve read it.)

Like everything I write, my most recent book is my best book. I’m thinking of trying this out in the Kindle Scout program. I’ve certainly read a lot of good books coming out of it. Got to finish it first, though.

In the meantime, go to Audible.com and listen to the sample from ILL MET BY MOONLIGHT. 

WHAT I READ THIS WEEK:  One Hundred Reasons by Kelly Collins, A Beautiful Poison by Lydia Kang, The Storied Life of A.J. Fikry by Gabrielle Zevin. Chanur’s Venture by C.J. Cherryh, Shadow Soldiers by Jim Heskett.

You can find my books here at https://amazon.com/author/gretchenrix

New blurb for THE GOODALL MUTINY.  

Wary of her youngish captain. Afraid of edges, of conflict, of having to take charge. Lieutenant Joan Chikage is soon thrust into the leadership role she has so far avoided. As the highest ranking officer left on the doomed lower decks of the deep space cargo ship Goodall, it’s up to Chikage to save her crew. Including the captain’s cat. Their portion of the ship has been jettisoned away from the rest.  And time is running out.

Murder, mutiny, action and adventure. First in a new space opera series.

WHAT I READ THIS WEEK:  Say Goodbye For Now by Catherine Ryan Hyde, Familiarity: A Winston & Ruby Collection by Kristine Kathryn Rusch, Watched Too Long by Ann Voss Peterson and J. A. Konrath. Whisper of the Moon Moth by Lindsay Jayne Ashford, The Cat, the Crow, and the Grimmoire by Marilyn Rucker Norrod.

http://barnesandnoble.com/c/gretchen-rix  http://www.audible.com/pd/Sci-Fi-Fantasy/The-Goodall-Mutiny-Audiobook/B01N4GFCQ6

http://amzn.com/B01CIQD61S https://www.smashwords.com/books/view/620213

What have you read this week?

Since my last posting (which wasn’t last week, alas) I’ve read THE PRIDE OF CHANUR by C.J. Cherryh, WHITE RUSSIAN by J. A. Konrath, DRAGON STORM by Lindsay Buroker, THE MAZE RUNNER by James Dashner, THE PERFECT MAN by Kristine Kathryn Rusch, HARVEST HOME by Thomas Tryon, and REVELATIONS by Lindsay Buroker.

I’ve also written up to Chapter 23 in my next novel.

Here’s a link to my e-books https://amazon.com/author/gretchenrix

TALKING TO THE DEAD GUYS is going to be on sale for 99 cents until March 1. Get it here http://amzn.com/B0094FBA8S 

I let the first week of January slide by me without writing. Which was a mistake. But as ever, procrastination let me come up with another idea for my book. Which I wouldn’t have thought of otherwise.

At the end of the second week, I was at Chapter 17. It will probably run 33 chapters, which means I’ve lots of chapters to go. Not looking good, unless I really get cooking. And stop reading so much. Look at that list below. With Sherry Thomas not writing oodles and oodles of books right now, I found Meredith Duran to take her place. Have gotten hooked on her romances now.

And now it’s February already. Good news is that I am at Chapter 19.5. But still reading too much (if there is such a thing.) 

Happy Groundhog day, ya’ll.

WHAT I READ SINCE LAST POST: Luck Be A Lady by Meredith Duran, Lady Be Good by Meredith Duran, Fool Me Twice by Meredith Duran, Endurance by Scott Kelly, Gwendy’s Button Box by Stephen King and Richard Chizmar. Him by Ernie Lee. The Duke of Shadows by Meredith Duran. The Case of the Purloined Pyramid by Sean McLachlan. California Bound by Frank Kelso and John O’Melveny Woods. A Second Helping by Beverly Jenkins. Norse Mythology by Neil Gaiman. The Language of Hoofbeats by Catherine Ryan Hyde. The Hound of the Baskervilles by Arthur Conan Doyle.

Catch up with the books I’ve already written at https://amazon.com/author/gretchenrix

I’ve got very ambitious writing goals (by my reckoning) for myself in 2018.

January, February, and March are set aside to write THE CIMARRON BRIDE.

April, May, and June are set aside to write BROWN.

July, August, and September I will write CHECKING OUT THE DEAD DUDE.

And October, November, and December will bring me THE COWBOY’S BABY TAKES A BRIDE.

That’s a historical romance, a quirky detective novel, a small-town murder mystery that will either end or continue my Boo-Done-It series, and a contemporary fairy tale-based romance that will end my Cowboy’s Baby series.

Four books. One year.

I expect I’ll fail. But I’ll probably get two of them whipped into shape.

Along with writing goals, let’s add “play more with the cats” to my list. And “listen to music.”

You can find my books at https://amazon.com/author/gretchenrix 

WHAT I READ SINCE LAST TIME:  Comeback by Dick Francis. Second Wind by Dick Francis. Wild Horses by Dick Francis. Littlest Death by Eric Witchey. That Scandalous Summer by Meredith Duran.

Last year at the San Antonio Book Festival, scores of visitors stopped by my table where  my sister and I were  selling my books to ask if I was the author of the giant crocodile (which wasn’t as extinct as expected) story. Alas, it wasn’t me, but I’d met Ernie Lee earlier, knew where he was sitting, and directed all of them past me to AQUASAURUS.

Wish I had written it. Ever since the movie Lake Placid (starring the wonderfully handsome Bill Pullman) I’d wanted to make up some sort of quirky, giant menace horror tale. So far, the closest I’ve gotten to that goal has been my walking, murdering, macadamia nut tree stories (ILL MET BY MOONLIGHT). 

Anyhow, Ernie and I met again this fall at the Texas Book Festival and he invited me to submit a story to his literary magazine The True-badour. I sent him one of the walking, murdering, macadamia nut tree stories. And he published it  in the Winter 2018 issue (available  right now) of his literary  magazine THE TRUE-BADOUR https://www.aim-hibooks.com/true-badour-issues   NO-MAN’S-LAND. Give it a look. And while you’re at it, subscribe to his newsletter where you’ll meet lots of new Texas writers.

(Ernie’s got another new book out, HIM, which I have bought but not yet read. I bet it’s as good as AQUASAURUS.)

WHAT I READ SINCE LAST TIME:  The Button Man by Mark Pryor.  Republic by Lindsay Buroker. Sea of Rust by C. Robert Cargill. Protectors by Kris Nelscott.

Disclaimer: The blue sky photo at the top is Austin, not San Antonio, and it’s the Food Festival, not the Book Festival. Looks nice though.

See my books at https://amazon.com/author/gretchenrix

I took fellow author and friend Tam Francis (left) with me to the Texas Book Festival this year, my usual companion Roxanne (sister) being at the World Fantasy Convention in San Antonio representing me and my books. Tam and I had a great time. As vendors. Selling our indie-published books.

We could have attended the author panels, as audience. God’s truth, though, on Saturday so many people went through our tent and stopped to talk with us that we had a hard time getting away for the port-a-potty. The port-a-potty that was positioned right behind our table (but a street-width away in a parking lot). We feared it would smell, especially by day two, but it did not.

No complaints at all about our tent. The first one on the tent path. The one with the great view of the Texas Capitol Building lawn. The one that was open to the elements. We were lucky. No real rain, only a few little sprinkles. No real cold, just enough for a sweater. No real heat. All the other vendor tents had covered sides. I think they sweltered a little bit in the afternoons. We had the breeze.

We also had the crowds. (So did they, but we got them first). Thousands of book-lovers paraded past us Saturday, and hundreds on Sunday. Some of them stopped. Less stopped to buy, but that’s how it goes at these things.

Our fellow authors want to know a few things about our experience. Like, was it worth it?

I did not make enough sales on my side to pay for the cost of the table. But Tam and I, as a team, just about did.

Having two writers at one table both hindered each of our sales and helped. Neither of us sold the number of books we would have sold if the other hadn’t been right there selling her books, too. But I sold some of Tam’s books, Tam sold some of my books, and she graciously allowed me the use of her credit card swipe thingie. And honestly, if we’d each had our own tables and only sold our own books BUT had been placed next to each other, we’d still have cannibalized each other’s sales.

Both the folk-tale/recipe author on my right and the Texas history author on Tam’s left outsold us by leaps and bounds. What’s that they always say: location, location, location. Ours, not theirs. They had a product that drew in the readers. We were sandwiched between them. By the time the crowd walked our way, their money had been spent.

But the crowd was friendly. We met some very interesting people (my vote goes to the snake-and-tornado-story man myself). We made a couple of new friends. And we learned more about hand-selling books. Tam is right. Giving out bookmarks helps.

But was it worth the $375.00 the table cost? Depends on your definition of success (and how much disposable income you’ve got). The competition was fierce. I mean, Tom Hanks, Lemony Snicket, Sherry Thomas, the Bush sisters, and tons and tons of literary authors (as opposed to genre writers like we are). The Texas Book Festival really is set up for them and not us.

So, not really. And yes.

By the way, Tam’s books are THE GIRL IN THE JITTERBUG DRESS, THE GIRL IN THE JITTERBUG DRESS HOPS THE ATLANTIC, GHOSTORIA, and THE FLAPPER AFFAIR.

Photo by Nita McBride.

WHAT I READ THIS WEEK:  Beneath the Sky by Dan Thompson. The Exotic Mermaid by Leonora Raye.

WHAT I READ THIS WEEK:  Sleeping Beauties by Stephen King and Owen King. The Illustrated Man by Ray Bradbury. Forged in Blood II by Lindsay Buroker

In preparation for the World Fantasy Convention next week in San Antonio, Texas, here are the covers for my fantasy books (includes space opera, comic horror, weird western, impossible quirky short stories, and romantic adventure bordering on the type of fantasy represented by the Tarzan series). Fantasy.

You can still get the paperback version of ILL MET BY MOONLIGHT at Bookpeople in Austin. Logos, Buffalo Clover and Printing Solutions, all stores around or near the courthouse square in Lockhart, have my books for sale. Or go to Nook http://barnesandnoble.com/c/gretchen-rix Smashwords http://smashwords.com/books/view/494824 Amazon https://amazon.com/author/gretchenrix or Audible https://www.audible.com/pd/Fiction/Ill-Met-by-Moonlight-Audiobook/B0744QRVDD

WHAT I READ THIS WEEK:  Forged in Blood I by Lindsay Buroker.

THE CIMARRON BRIDE advances slowly. Mostly because it’s that time of the year when lots of fun stuff happens. Halloween. The Texas Book Festival. Thanksgiving. Dickens on the Strand in Galveston. Movie events at Alamo Drafthouse. Cool, invigorating mornings that invite walks. The Fall TV season. I could go on and on and on and on.

So, I’m working on Chapter 11 now. In bits and pieces as I force myself to get off Facebook, abandon Twitter, forget about Mah Jong for the night, all sorts of other things to do other than write. Emails. Checking book sales. Sleep.

Here’s a snippet of what I’m writing:

Marcus Wilde in cahoots with Alain Valentin?

May Ling followed her bodyguards to the outside door to study the features of Valentin’s guest. The dust from the stampede still swirled. Shadows began to emerge, quickly coalescing into the form of a man. Her heart skipped erratically. If she hadn’t intimately known her lover’s size and shape and way of walking, she’d have mistaken Marcus Wilde for Junyur Wilde. But the age difference told.

Marcus Wilde had lived life. Junyur Wilde had just begun. Her lover  seemed almost a blank slate compared to this man. 

WHAT I’VE READ THIS WEEK: A couple of the books in Lindsay Buroker’s Emperor’s Edge series. I’m up to Forged in Blood 1 right now. About half-way done.