My dizzies are mostly gone now and I’m writing full time again. To get myself back into June’s mindset, and get the next book in the series finished, I’ve been rereading How to Sex Your Snake. I had planned on reading some for you but I suck at it, so I’m going to defer to Rosie Zwaduk, the audiobook’s narrator and share the first two chapters.
If you’re a baseball fan, and the cubs/marlins game on May is on TV where you are, check out the game. A friend and I will be sitting a few rows up behind home plate. Look for my turquoise hair!
I’m still fighting the dizzies. Good news is that I found a fun series to pull me out of a little depression thanks to all the spinning. This week, I’m chatting with Amorette Anderson about her charming series, The Hillcrest Witch Mysteries.
Amorette’s Newsletter ~~~ What do I write? Thanks for asking. Get the free prequelto my June Nash Misadventure series and find out why a monkey was wearing June’s bra
Or dive right in and get the full length first novel in the series, How to Sex Your Snake
This week on Books Cubed, I’m reading chs 2 & 3 from a work in progress, tentatively titled, Four Bullets & a Ghost. If you missed chapter 1 check it out here. Let me know what you think, drop some words in the comments below.
Links:
Rather listen to the podcast version of the show? You’ll find it here.
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What else do I write? Thanks for asking. Get the free prequel to my June Nash Misadventure series and find out why a monkey was wearing June’s bra.
Today, I’m chatting with paranormal romance author TK Lawyer about her Angel series. Have a listen and check out her books. Don’t forget to subscribe and leave a comment. Especially if you’re a fan of romance with angels.
Are you a member of Goodreads? If not, you should be. I’m giving away some signed copies of my latest book, How to Sex Your Snake this summer and that’s where you’ll find them. The first contest goes live at 12:01 am on June 6 and runs till June 13. (I believe it ends at midnight)
The rooftop patio is clothing optional. And no, you really don’t want to partake.
Last week, I was reading a blog post from one of my favorite tv writers, Ken Levine, and he talked about a director friend who wanted to make his next movie in Hawaii. Didn’t care what the movie was. He just wanted a few months in paradise. I totally get that. Why immerse yourself in something that doesn’t tickle your fancy?
That’s why I decided to set my next book, a sequel to How to Sex Your Snake, in one of my favorite places on Earth. The spot where I hung my hat from ’12 – ’14.
You can’t go home again…
Screw that. Sure you can.
For two years, the tiny island of Key West was home and I spent my days pedaling from sandy shore to quaint cafe to rowdy bar. Mornings strolling the stretch of surf on Smathers Beach, afternoons parked at a corner table in Sippin Cafe hammering out How to Sex Your Snake, evenings meeting up with my husband and/or friends for half priced happy hour munchies and booze.
What better place for June’s next MisAdventure?
While I know the island fairly well, there are always things I will need to double check for accuracy. Rather than spend all my time surfing the internet, I thought it would be a lot more fun to get my research the old fashioned way. In person.
Two weeks ago, I was down, taking some preliminary notes and photographing spots where all sorts of delightfully horrible things would happen to poor June. As I continue to work my outline, more questions will spring up and I will probably head back down in about six weeks seeking answers. And a bit of rum. And maybe a morning of drag queen bingo.
As I continue to research and write the new book, I’ll post updates each Sunday, just like I did for How to Sex Your Snake. This time, though, since my setting is Key West, I’ll include favorite memories from my time on the island. Think rum, rebellion, ribs, sexy men pushing beds down the street, and eager tourists getting their drink on and letting their hair down. Fill out that little form in the upper right corner to follow along.
They make an excellent Club Sandwhich
Onto this weeks update:
How to Square Your Grouper – A June Nash Misventure, Book 2
Premise: Following an embarrassing blunder, June heads down to Key West to hide out and accidentally becomes a drug runner.
Genre – Adventure
New this week – 0
Total Count – 12, 304
Release date: Summer 2017
Goals for the week: Continue my research and outline. Right now it’s all about the planning. The tighter my outline, the faster I’ll write the actual book.
This weeks trip down memory lane:See that photo at the top? That’s the Bull and Whistle Bar. It’s a three story establishment and a hopping spot for drunken sing alongs on the first floor, aka The Bull. Get there early. Most nights you’ll find a singer/s covering hits from the good old days along with original offerings. The bartenders are friendly, the featured performers get the crowds roaring along and you’re bound to make a friend or two. When your voice gives up, climb the stairs to the second floor , aka The Whistle, for a game of pool and a quiet drink while you watch the madness of Duval Street from a safe spot on the balcony. And when you’ve gotten your second wind, head to the stairs one more time and climb all the way up to the Garden of Eden, a clothing optional rooftop oasis. And while that may sound titillating, beware. For every beautifully firm co-ed grooving topless on the dance floor there are two pasty old naked guys sitting on towels at the bar. Unless that’s your thing. Then by all means, indulge.
And what about me? Did I ever find myself grooving in the garden? Sort of. We got a lot of company while we lived in Key West and visitors always wanted the full experience. And while my dancing never involved nakiditity I was known to sneak a peak or two at those who did.
Well if you read the title, you already know. The kindle version of my first novel, How to Sex Your Snake, is now available to preorder on Amazon for just $2.99. Yay! It will be automatically delivered to your mailbox on February 14, 2017. (I’ll add buy buttons for ibook, Nook, Kobo, paperback and audio as they become available) If you haven’t already, you can read the first chapter here.
Valentine’s Day has special meaning to me. It’s not just that candy and flowers holiday. It’s also my dad’s birthday. This year, he would have been 88. After he retired, he had a nice little second career as a writer, so going live on his birthday is my way of feeling just a bit closer to him this year.
I’m hard at work on the sequel to How to Sex Your Snake. If you’d like to know when it’s ready, you can join the Book Announcement List:
Thanks for sticking with me as this first book took shape. I’ve had many goals since I started. Most I didn’t keep. But – I’ve learned so much and now I feel like I know what I need to do to get this next one finished in a reasonable amount of time. Right now, I’m shooting for sometime around my birthday in late April. For now, grab a copy of How to Sex Your Snake. I can’t wait to hear what everyone thinks. Stay warm and Write On,
The clutch is finally hatching! These silly babies are like a month over due. Have I mentioned the babies before now? I don’t recall and I don’t feel like looking back over previous posts. I think these are green rat snakes but I could be wrong. I’m just an innocent bystander, they’re my husband’s hobby. Though, for a year, I was mom in charge while he was stationed in Turkey. At that point in time, he had a collection that, including babies, topped out at about 100. It would take me an entire Saturday to feed everyone. Then I had to play with new babies to get them used to humans. And by playing I mean holding the little rascals, letting them crawl all over my hands. If I had a nickel for every time one of them bit the skin between my thumb and index finger….
I hope everyone had a lovely Hanukkah and Christmas. I took too many days off work and played with company. Any weird gifts? The strangest thing we got was…well, I don’t think there was anything strange this year. We discovered a nifty video game called Never Alone. It’s a gorgeous 2 player with fascinating stories and history of Alaskan natives. Check out their website and read up on how the game came to be. A great lesson on not letting someone tell you something can’t be done.
I suppose I should do a quick word count. (as I’ve mentioned before, this is more for me to keep track of my progress as I can’t imagine anyone being all that interested!)
I think I mentioned that I didn’t like the ending to the A story and cut about 7 thousand words giving myself a mini heart attack. (that’s 23 pages at 300 words per page) Well, I finished 3 new chapters, ended up ahead in the count and love the new direction. I was so happy with it, I almost stood up in Mcd’s to read what I’d wrote. At least, I would have cut into the crazy old man collection that was bashing the President. (by 10 at night, the place is pretty empty. Just the crazy old man club and me. We always nod to each other but keep our distance)
How to Sex Your Snake
Genre – Mystery
New this week – 2,436 words
Total Count – 46,962 words
Release date: Early 2016
Chapters 1-17 are done. (I rewrote 15-17) Ch 18 needs some work but is completely outlined. Ch 19 is done. Ch 20 might be done. Ch 21 needs a bit of work. Chs 22-24 are just in outline stages still. My editor has me giving her daily updates with the goal of sending her the manuscript on Jan 2. We’ll see. It will be a push because I have commitments on new year’s eve and day. No, not the drinking kind!
Stay safe if you’re doing the drinking kind of things. Use Uber (or the like) or stay home and as always
Write one,
Melissa
Ps.
Did you get something weird for Christmas or Hanukkah?
Got woken up a bit after 5 Sunday morning and had to drive to the next town over to pick up the kid from his night shift job. We’ve always told him, if he’s too tired to drive, call and we’ll pick him up. So we did. (living in the boonies sucks sometimes) The rest of the day was spent being exhausted while some pretty intense storms kept the house dark and dreary. Tried waking up with a movie, Star Wars, but we kept konking out and then rewinding to the last point we remembered. I’m not sure we ever saw the whole film. After napping off and on all day, we were surprised to actually sleep through the night. I’m working from the living room today. It’s a bit cold at my desk, and this table has a nice view of the golf course.
Last week, or so, I finally got around to having an expert look at a very small scene that I knew was full of all sorts of errors. I figured it would be an easy fix, once I found out what would really happen in that situation. Boy was I wrong. The changes rippled all through the entire friggin’ book. So, since then, I’d been rewriting and making notes of what still needed to be fixed. (I’m pretty mad at myself because I know better than this. Always check with your expert first.)
Hurrying through mosquito loop.
Then two days ago, I needed to clear my head so I took the dogs for a walk. We didn’t get far before I realized I could easily fix everything with the next scene and nothing after that would have to change. Now, I’m going through and doing some restorations. I’m anxious to finish this and get back to work on the edits of the last couple of chapters.
Once all that’s done, the manuscript still needs to go back to the editor for a last look and then onto the folks checking for formatting and missed errors. (I keep finding extra spaces at the end of sentences. This is so much easier to see on a printed sheet) Because of this, I’ve updated the approximate release date.
Onto the word count.
How to Sex Your Snake
Genre – Mystery
New since Thursday – 3389 words
Total Count – 37859 words
Release date: Pre-orders mid October
Goals for next week: keeping up with the edits and then actually writing a post next Sunday. That’s a huge goal. I’ve been terribly lax about keeping track of my week’s work.
Things will be much easier now that the golf season is winding down. I have my last day in the bar cart soon, probably this Saturday. For the rest of September, I’ll still follow Mark over to the bar on his nights and write at a back table. The course closes at the end of the month so it won’t be long until I’ll be able to get into a writing routine for winter.
Screw that. Sure you can.
Well if you read the title, you already know. The kindle version of my first novel, 
Melissa Banczak 