2016 Releases

Last year didn't exactly go as planned for releases.

That's why this year, I'm airing on the side of conservative.

JCA  Novels:
There will be at least one full-length novel release this year. This will be a J. Carter & Associates novel. As for which one it will be, I'm not sure.

It could be Clear Line of Sight, which is focused on Marc Pearson and photographer Serena Bradley. I've been working on this story for a long time - it was originally a NaNoWriMo novel back in 2009, but Kat and Aidan kept interjecting themselves into the story. I pushed it to the back burner in order to concentrate more on Kat and Aidan.

Mock-up cover art.

The other strong possibility is Double Agent. I've been wanting to introduce Miranda Brennan, Kat's twin, for a long time. In fact, I pretty much know everything about her character and have since early on, similar to Elektra DeFlair.

Miranda is a fascinating character. She was the firstborn daughter, but given up in favor of Kat by their mother. She was adopted by a family that already had several kids. But they were different than the Winters family who later took in Kat. I won't say exactly how, but I will say Miranda has a lot more in common with Aidan than she does with Kat. Speculate about that as you will.

I made a decision to focus on Aidan's background before we delved into the relationship between the sisters, which is why Breaking Point preceded Double Agent. Miranda and Katherine's struggles continue throughout the series as evident by Blown Away.

The J. Carter & Associates series has always been about family at it's core. It is about relationships and the ties that bind people together - blood ties and otherwise. Aidan is running from his family. Kat is ignorant about her family. Lisa is bent on protecting her family. Jackson is discovering a family after having lost his own. The people who work there are a messed up and mixed up family, but they are a family. Marc is the big brother that Kat always wanted. He's the brother that Aidan never had. Jackson is the father Aidan always wanted. Kat had a family. She had parents and a sister who loved her once. But she also has her JCA family. Her real family.

Early on in the planning process, I tried to figure out how to keep Lisa in the series. Originally, she lived on and Kat became close to her. But the more I learned about Katherine, the less I could see her forgiving Lisa for giving her up. In time, yes. But they would never have been close because Kat had been betrayed before by Scott. To pretend that Lisa, Jackson, and Kat could be a perfect, happy family would have been disingenuous to the characters.

JCA Novellas:

Last year, I planned to release a 3-in-1 novella collection (in print for the first time!) and the third J. Carter & Associates novella. However, I've run into complications with the plot and I'm holding off work on Dead on Arrival at this time. Realistically, I can see it being released after Double Agent since the plots echo each other. It also might feature a character death or two.

Blood Ties Series:

I encountered lots of problems with Kindle Worlds this past year. Lots of problems. While these problems on the surface appear corrected, I am still hesitant to finish the series. I lost a lot of steam while handling various publishing issues. That being said, I dearly love this series and I do plan to continue it. It will not be as fast in releases as the Duality Trilogy was.

Mock-up cover art.

However, Stronger than Blood (the second book) is in progress and I hope to have a release date and cover copy to share soon. I have about six or more books planned. I think about a third of NaNo writing was related to this series.

Ideally, I would like to publish two more novellas from this series this year - one in the spring and another again in the fall. They have each run longer than the Duality ones in word count, far exceeding the planned length of approximately 15,000 words.

Releases In Review:

At least one full length novel from the J. Carter & Associates series will be released this year. Depending on the novel, I will publish the next novella, Dead on Arrival, either late this year or early next year.

The Blood Ties series hit a speed bump but is on track for one to two releases this year (Spring/Fall).

Other Plans:

I'm revamping the website and it will be moved to a paid address once I complete the updates. That's right, no more adding the ".webs.com"! I don't have a timeline for this yet.

I encountered some formatting issues with Steal You Away, at least on Smashwords. I'm in the process of updating and reformatting the entire file. Once it is uploaded, I will also update Amazon, Nook, and the print version as/if needed.

The new formatting is gorgeous, but time consuming since I had to completely strip the file of all formatting - including every chapter header, every italic, etc. My brain can only take so much at a time.

Happy New Year!

Edits and Upcoming Releases

Camp NaNo began on Wednesday. I set a moderate goal for 25,000 words after crashing and burning back in April. So far (as of this post, at least) I'm on track to finish.

While I'm jumping headlong into a sequel, I'm knee-deep in edits for Blood Ties #1. The Blood Ties series will likely be at least four 15,000 or so word novellas - maybe longer. They will be Kindle Worlds exclusives like the Duality Trilogy I wrote last year.

I'm hoping to release the first two in fairly quick succession. The fun part is that much of what I'm cutting from the first one fits better in the second. The difficult part is finding the balance between past and present scenes as well as the family parts and Liz's current relationship. 

While I work on that series, I'm also busy plotting the next three novels in the J. Carter & Associates series. 

The order is not yet set in stone, but here's the working theory:

#4 Clear Line of Sight
#5 Double Agent
#6 Life Support

Clear Line of Sight is Marc's chance to shine. When he saves Serena Bradley from a shooter, he uncovers a plot to kill the photographer. Now they have to go underground while Kat and Aidan try to figure out why she's a target. Kat and Aidan are meant to take the backseat after the events of Breaking Point to give them a chance to heal and decide what to do with the bombshells dropped on them.

In Double Agent, Kat finally comes face-to-face with her twin sister. But Miranda Brennan has an ulterior motive...she wants Kat's life. It's one seriously twisted sibling rivalry that I've been planning since Sole Survivor. 

Aidan is lying in a coma in Life Support after a car accident. His wife and infant daughter are missing from the crash site. Then Katherine wakes up in another state in the arms of another man. (Hooked yet?)

With any luck, there will be a new JCA book this spring (2016) with one a year after that. I have a working title and plot for the next novella (a possible fall 2015 release), but the early scenes aren't coming together as well as I had hoped. The working title is Dead on Arrival and it picks up where Blown Away left off.

However, I am working on the cover art for a three-in-one eBook and print edition of the three novellas. It will be the first time the novellas will be available in paper! Yay!

Now, it's back to work I go!