Cherie Priest's Blog: It's awards season, so here comes the shameless self-promotion, page 9

Here's recent progress on one of my projects that I'm not supposed to specify yet, but will probably be able to talk about sometime in the next few weeks, I hope, so my apologies for any and all cryptic nonsense posted here until it comes to light:

Project: The Agony House
Deadline: [Redacted]
New words written: 7655 (multi-day total)
Present total word count: 21,842



Things Accomplished in Fiction: Finished a draft of chapter four, yay! Also went back and finished chapter three, which I previously had thought was done. But it wasn't.

Things Accomplished in Real Life: [In general, since last week's post] Neighborhood jaunts with the dog; supervised playdates with the dog's friends; drove down to the Marvelous Mr. Tuck in Georgia, and got an old and faded tattoo turned into something entirely fabulous; spent several evenings sorting through soot and bird poop trying to figure out WHAT THE HELL was stuck in our fireplace making all that noise; eventually with help of husband and shop-vac retrieved the entirely unexpected culprit, then put him outside where he wandered off and lived happily ever after, I assume; did a late-night Skype interview with the Skiffy and Fanty podcast folks. It's been a busy week.

Publishing Other: I got an early copy of Chapelwood! It is shiny! Or rather it is pleasantly matte, but it is metaphorically shiny.




Further Publishing Other: YOU GUYS GUESS WHAT - Publishers Weekly liked Chapelwood! You can go read all about it right here! Whew! It's always a huge relief when the first big reviews out of the gate are good. SUCH A RELIEF. [:: collapses ::]

ONE MORE BIT of Publishing Other: Ten copies of Chapelwood are up for grabs over at Goodreads! All you have to do is click here to enter the drawing. (US only. My apologies.)

Number of fiction words so far this year: 77,845


And in closing: Here's Greyson and Luna.
It's dog-love, between two dogs.

Here's recent progress on one of my projects that I'm not supposed to specify yet, but will probably be able to talk about sometime in the next few weeks, I hope, so my apologies for any and all cryptic nonsense posted here until it comes to light:

Project: The Agony House
Deadline: [Redacted]
New words written: 4172 (multi-day total)
Present total word count: 14,187



Things Accomplished in Fiction: Finished a draft of chapter three, yay!

Things Accomplished in Real Life: [In general, since last week's post] Neighborhood jaunts with the dog; visit with dad/stepmom and THEIR two dogs, who are also came on the daily jaunts; took a stillhouse tour; ate out a lot; did a bunch of laundry; cleaned house twice; blurbed two books; got a new haircut/color ; went to the post office a couple of times; etc. etc. etc.

Other: So we had company in town for a few days, and I'd be lying if I said I got any work done - but that's okay. I played catch-up today, and am almost up to an average 1k/day. It's not great, but it's better than zilch, eh?

Writing Other: You guys! Romantic Times really, really, really liked Chapelwood! It's always a huge relief when the first big/proper/official review out of the gate is a good one. [:: whew ::]

Number of fiction words so far this year: 70,190


And now for a few dog shots. Because I know what you REALLY come here for.









And one last shot, with Bonus! Greyson. He's down front, so he doesn't LOOK like the little guy of the bunch...even though the other two are each twice his size.



Thanks for reading, everyone!

Here's recent progress on one of my projects that I'm not supposed to specify yet, but will probably be able to talk about sometime in the next few weeks, I hope, so my apologies for any and all cryptic nonsense posted here until it comes to light:

Project: The Agony House
Deadline: [Redacted]
New words written: 4386 (multi-day total)
Present total word count: 10,015



Things Accomplished in Fiction: Finished a draft of chapter two, yay!

Things Accomplished in Real Life: Neighborhood jaunts with the dog; two trips to the post office; picked up prescriptions at Walgreens; went grocery shopping; went Target shopping; went other shopping; worked on the yard; cleaned the house; did a bunch of laundry; and so forth and so on.

Other: I lost Monday to a puppy party. That's right, A PUPPY PARTY . Click that link and scroll down...I may have hypothetically posted one billion pics and short videos of Greyson and "Gus," the visiting 10-week-old shepherd mix who gobbled up my afternoon AND I WAS TOTALLY COOL WITH THAT.

Writing Other: I actually got the contract for this project (and signed it, and sent it right back to my agent) yesterday, so I'm hoping I can give you details soon. And yes, I wish I'd accomplished more progress since my last post; things happened, okay? Maybe the famous quote shouldn't be "Life finds a way" but "Life gets in the way," because I think that's more relevant to me, personally.

Number of fiction words so far this year: 66,018


And now for Gus's Glamour Shot.


Plus a Bonus! pic of Greyson showing Gus how to dog.
(Or how to sit for a treat, anyway...)

Here's recent progress on one of my projects that I'm not supposed to specify yet, but will probably be able to talk about sometime in the next few weeks, I hope, so my apologies for any and all cryptic nonsense posted here until it comes to light:

Project: The Agony House
Deadline: [Redacted]
New words written: 2185
Present total word count: 5629



Things Accomplished in Fiction: Finished a draft of chapter one, yay!

Things Accomplished in Real Life: Neighborhood jaunt with the dog; precious little else, to be honest.

Other: The project doesn't have an official title yet, and the working title isn't really doing it for me - though heaven knows if it'll stick or not. So for now, right here, the project's title is code-named The Agony House. Don't get too attached to it.

Other Other: Progress! Momentum! Two decent word-count days in a row! Huzzah!

Number of fiction words so far this year: 56,003

So besides the fact that I haven't been blogging...I went back to try and find the last time I posted word metrics and HOLY CRAP it was back in APRIL. This isn't to say I haven't done any writing since then - nay, I've done a short story, some work on an unannounced group project, and some editorial stuff here and there [copyedits, etc.] - but I'm not gonna lie and be all, "Oh I wrote a BILLION words while no one was looking." It was more like maybe ten thousand, in total. Since April. Which is awful.

In my vague and slight defense, a LOT has happened in the last few months. For example (and in only some half-hearted semblance of order) - the back half of my house flooded; we arranged for repairs including new gutters and a french drain and new floors in the den; I went to California for a Children's Institute event; I Am Princess X debuted, and there was publicity and work on the audiobook extras and whatnot; I hired some help and rebooted the back yard, removing a lot of dead and messed-up stuff and installing several trees/hardscaping bits/large plants; I fixed up the garage, which was falling apart inside; Phoenix Comic Con happened, and that was a week out of my life right there when all was said and done; I got a new tattoo, hooray; I went back and got an old tattoo refreshed (part one - part two, with the finished re-do still to come); a week-long visit from one of my besties; and so forth, and so on, and look...sometimes life gets in the way, you know?

That said, it's especially difficult to defend myself otherwise, because two of the projects that have occupied my time are still on the secret side. But again, the point is this: writing progress has fallen off a cliff this spring/summer, and I have to get my shit together ASAP.

I have three books to write in less than a year, plus a handful of other things on deck. No more procrastinating. No more excuses. No more pussyfooting around.

Here's recent progress on one of my projects that I'm not supposed to specify yet, but will probably be able to talk about sometime in the next few weeks, I hope, so my apologies for any and all cryptic nonsense posted here until it comes to light:

Project: [Redacted]
Deadline: [Redacted]
New words written: 3444
Present total word count: 3444 (2-day total, actually)



Things Accomplished in Fiction: Got most of the way through Chapter One.

Things Accomplished in Real Life: [Just today and yesterday] Neighborhood jaunt with the dog; grocery shopping; went to Walgreen's; a little bit of yardwork; went to Ace; got some lunch.

Other: The 70k mark on the word meter above is arbitrary. I'm not sure how long this one's going to be.

Number of fiction words so far this year: 53,818 [Including 5100 re: other secret project, from last month. I don't have a count for the misc. bits and pieces, so I'm just leaving off the rest. Que sera.]

Bonus: Behold Greyson - happy as a clam, and covered in his buddy "Luna"'s drool. It was truly an epic play-date.

I know, it's been another week with zero in the way of blogging updates from yours truly - and I confess, I haven't been much on Twitter or Facebook, either. Instead, I've been doing some reading, some work on the house, some spring cleaning (a little late in the year), and some work on that as-yet-unannounced new project. Among other things. Ahem.

So, you know. Just...real life stuff, I guess.

* * *

Greyson has a new friend named Luna - a mastiff/whatever mix who is just the light of his little life, I swear. She lives a few blocks away, but comes over for playdates pretty regularly. They are the very bestest of buddies.



As for the cat, she's done a shit-ton of napping. Some of it, on my laptop.



More napping occurred during the fireworks yesterday, because the cat is all but stone-deaf, and she couldn't care less about the noise.

The dog, on the other hand...was dubious. He spent most of the afternoon/evening under my feet while we watched the Drunk History marathon and caught up on Welcome to Night Vale. But whenever he started shaking or fussing, I'd just give him a bite of kettle corn - then and everything was fine again.



* * *

Anyway, in book-type news, don't worry! I'm not going to do another links round-up ... even though the I Am Princess X reviews are still coming in - thank heaven - and so far, so good. If you've been thinking about picking it up, or if you've read it and (a). want to say something or (b). have any questions, you can catch me on this coming Tuesday [July 7] in a very cool Twitter chat.



And by the way - I'm about halfway through Shadowshaper and it is BAD. ASS.
Two words. All caps.
BAD. ASS.

* * *

So...yes. It's been regular real-life stuff around here for the last little while, but that's going to get a mix-up come Monday - when my awesome old friend Spyder (her preferred internet reference) will be coming in for the week. There will be cocktails! There will be pedicures! And shopping! And maybe some movies and/or some binge-watched TV!

I'm very much looking forward to it - though it virtually guarantees another week of no blogging. However, there will undoubtedly be silly pictures on Twitter, and probably some tipsy live-tweeting of whatever we're binge-watching. I'm calling it "personal time."

I'll still be reachable by email (and phone, to the appropriate parties) but I don't honestly expect to get much work done. Try not to hold it against me, eh? I don't get weekends and vacations; I get deadlines.

But every now and again, real life calls for a break.

:)

Over the last few days, I've had a number of people ask if there's any I Am Princess X loot floating around out there. After all, in the books there are Etsy shops and Zazzle accounts for the webcomic merch; and in real life, all I've ever had was a roll of stickers. A roll of very cool stickers which is, quite sadly, long gone.

So I badgered my longsuffering editor, who has people On It right now, to see if we can't make more stickers and maybe even some schwag available to people. But at this moment, if you want an I Am Princess X sticker like oh, say, THIS ONE ...

Princess X was here! Start reading today: http://t.co/DsIdNsex56 #IAmPrincessX #Books #YA @cmpriest pic.twitter.com/xmpyPSqcFl

— this is teen (@this_is_teen) June 25, 2015

....Then you can go right here to download and print one of your own! Or, alternately, you can enter to win a sticker from Scholastic! So you've got a couple of options, there. For now, that's all I've got. My apologies! But I'll let you know if the situation changes.

Hey all! Still here, and still busy. Still no new writing done, but such is life. I'll get back on that particular pony later this week, or early next. There's still some paperwork and other assorted whatnot in the way. That's all.

But while I remain cryptic on business matters, I can be joyful with regards to recent releases! I Am Princess X is still being well received (thank God) and it is my solemn duty to round up a highlight reel of links. Ahem.
Teen Reads ... named it one of their Summer Buzz books, saying that, "Priest's story is a touching account of friendship situated in a world of fast-paced technology."

The Irresponsible Reader ... gives it 4-1/2 stars!

Mermaid Vision Books - "After years and years of reading YA, one tends to develop a wishlist of things one desperately wants to see in novels. At the top of my wishlist is a female friendship that is given the same weight and importance as romantic relationships. Platonic soulmates, if you will, and a story that challenges and inspires the girls involved. I Am Princess X is that book."

The Nashville Book Worm ... calls it, "[A] breath of fresh air to find a young adult novel that doesn’t include sparkly vampires or a love triangle with our heroine torn between two brooding guys."

Jack of All Books ... declares it, "A Nancy Drew-like Mystery with a Twist for Today’s Teens."

The National Book Examiner ... really dug it, adding that "The book is not only fascinating, it's fun to read with the alternating text and graphics."

BlogLovin ... gives it 4 stars! And says, "I Am Princess X took my completely by surprise, this fast pace fairy tale meets superhero book is a refreshingly different kind read!"

The Booklist Reader ... calls it out as a great example of a book about "sheroes." (Female superheroes)

Geeks of Doom ... chimes in, "This little book/comic mystery surprised me, delightfully so. I read it straight through, as eager to get through the comic mystery as May was. The comic inside the novel, with both carrying equally interesting connected stories, were so incredible. I shared May’s frustration when her Dad didn’t believe her, and her anxiety when faced with a real Princess X adventure."


SPEAKING OF. In a general sense. I've long-since given away all of my I Am Princess X stickers, but that doesn't mean that YOU can't have one. Click here to enter a big IAPX sticker giveaway!

And that's the last I'll say about it for now, I promise.

* * * * *

Since you survived that links roundup, your reward shall be ... a pair of dog pictures! The first one shows the face he makes when I meow at him. The second one is the smile he gives me when I stop.



* * * * *

In other news, I drove down to Georgia last week to meet the marvelous James R. Tuck ...who hooked me up with an early 40th birthday present to myself.



I've been dying for the new ink - ever since I stumbled across some gorgeous Victorian wallpaper that hasn't been manufactured in 100 years. Can't have it in my house, so I stuck it on my skin! I'm thrilled with the result - so thrilled, in fact, that I'm driving back down to see Tuck at Arsenal Ink again on Monday, to freshen up a faded old tattoo.

So...more pics to come, I expect!



* * * * *

I believe I subjected you to yardwork before-and-after shots in the last post. This post will do likewise, because I've spent the last week on a final push to reboot the back nine. (So to speak.) I ended up hiring a lovely landscaping lady for a couple of days, because I don't have a pickup truck (for one thing) and I needed help with the manual labor (for another). It's been hot as hell, and if I'd tried to do everything myself it would've taken a month. And a rental truck.

But in the end, we cleared out the one big bed and created a second one by the gate's entrance - adding three trees, two lilacs, a smattering of Red Rum day lilies, and a hydrangea. And lots of rocks, which were heavy as shit, I assure you.

So allow me to remind you of the original "before."



And now regale you with the after!



We removed the ratty beautyberry bush, a straggly old lilac, and an overeager quince (though we left the one near the fence on the far right, to shade Greyson's preferred dirt hole) ... and replaced them with a couple of Japanese maples (different varieties) and the lilies (folded into a patch of irises and tiger lilies). The large ceiling medallion is a reproduction; I hosed it down with Rustoleum before hanging it, and I'm keeping an eye on it. I hope it holds up, because I think it looks great there.

You can also see the two heirloom roses I'm protecting - a creamy peach tea rose (center) and a red variety that isn't blooming right now (on the trellis). All in all, this is now a MUCH easier bed to maintain - and that was the primary goal. The fact that it's way pretty is a hell of a bonus :)

Our other big goal was to do something about the entrance at the gate. This whole chunk of the yard is parched and crazy, because it gets full sun most of the day. But once we got around to fixing the cement landing, I decided it was time to do something nicer with the adjacent square footage.

Again, the original "before."



And now the after!



And I also added an awning to the entrance, to cut down on the afternoon glare and offer a little protection from the elements. Let me tell you how much fun it was, trying to wrestle that door open in a thunderstorm while managing a 90-pound dog. Or how much not-fun. You get the gist. We needed a little cover.



What we did here: Removed the epic blue salvia that was always such a mess - and replaced it with a pair of purple lilacs (between the roses, at the Francis statue; they're still fairly small, and not yet blooming); added a Butterfly magnolia tree (won't get too huge, which is important due to the fence and power lines to the garage); and added a large lavender hydrangea (since it can take some shade).

[Don't worry about the dirt covering the creeping Jenny. The groundcover will come back just fine - that stuff's indestructible. Likewise, be advised that this will all grow in a bit, over the next few months. The hydrangea will fluff out. The lilacs will mature. The magnolia will settle in. This will all look a little fuller, next year.]

Anyway, now it looks like civilized adults live here, and actually care about the place! [:: throws confetti ::] Except that we need to mow the lawn and trim it up and the hedges are getting crazy again and the front yard needs to be weeded like crazy and...and...and...

#sisypheanyardwork

* * * * *

Right! So! That's a preposterously long blog post, eh? Well, it was a week in coming, and you know how it goes - lots of short ones, or intermittent long ones. It's the nature of my internet availability, these days.

I am, however, a little more prolific over on my Twitter feed because it's quicker and easier and I can just bop in and out without parking myself for a couple of hours to organize my thoughts and present them here.

But I'll try to be better in the future. There's just a lot going on, personally and professionally, right now. That's all. So thanks for reading, and please stick with me. Awesome news, announcements, and tasty, tasty word metrics are on the horizon - I promise!

I'm not crossposting it here like usual, because it's chock full of good-sized pictures, and LiveJournal was doing stupid things to the formatting. So here's a link: Click to visit CheriePriest.com and learn about what I've been up to for the last week. Or rather, why I've spent so much time away from the internet...

:)

Just wanted to pop my head in to post this real quick, before I forget - while I was in Phoenix I signed approximately one crap-ton of books, notably for (a). the Poison Pen in Scottsdale and Mysterious Galaxy in San Diego. Through either one of those fine vendors, you can get your hot little hands on a signed copy of just about anything - including FRESH RELEASE I Am Princess X - so give them a call, or stop on by. They've got your hookup.

* * *

Guess what I got in the mail today!
Go on! Just guess!



That's right! It's Chapelwood ARCs!
The real deal is hitting the streets on September first, folks.
Save the date!

* * *

Greyson has many friends. Sometimes those friends come by in the afternoons, hoping to play a rousing game of "chase" in the yard. This makes his day.



* * *

And what makes the kitty's day, you might ask? Why, finding an aluminum hairpin just lying around, waiting to be batted about. That's what. Here's a link to some video goodness, because LJ won't host Vines for some reason.