It hit me recently that if I released one manuscript a month, I’d still be sitting on unreleased material a year from now. Honestly, I could run a small publishing house with the backlog I’ve got…and I do. And while that’s exciting, it also means it’s time to get serious about the roadmap ahead. This post is as much for my own reference…no, it’s more for my own reference than an update for those who’ve been waiting. Color-coding is for my convenience. Buckle up for bullet-points. Here’s what’s in the pipeline:
- Grace’s third book is ready, but it’ll come after…
- Josephine’s first book, which is almost ready to release. Her second book is currently in drafting.
- Florence’s first book, half-drafted and waiting patiently.
- A book about Seraphina, set in the same world as This Thing of Ours, only it’s the 1920s and she’s with one of the other mob families.
- Two contemporary romances featuring figure skater/hockey player pairings. I started figure skating late last year partly as research…and party because research is an excuse…and still have a bump from a concussion a few months ago. Bruised brain is in vain if I let these books go. (Spinning around on the ice is hella fun.)
- The Fillmore Trilogy of Duologies (yes, trilogy of duologies). This is a contemporary romance series following three brothers in Monterey, California. I’ve got four of the six books already done. I started that series eight years ago and then the world collapsed. Over the past year, a couple of my betas from back then reached out wanting these books still. And they’re dear to my heart.
- A maybe/maybe-not re-release of the Sacred Blood Trilogy. That first cover? I literally bled for it. My own blood. That’s dedication. But…modern vampires? I admit writing it in frustration over the love-affair the world was having with a toxic vampire and toxic werewolf. I might revise it to set it in the year 2000, which would make it a period piece at this point (ouch…), but modern technology renders much of the plot impossibly, supernatural elements aside.
- A dystopian trilogy I started in 2015, abandoned because it felt too far-fetched… and then the world started catching up. May dust that one off, if I can keep from banging my head against a wall in frustration.
- A romantasy trilogy that is outlined to within an inch of its life.
- Others in various stages that I’m not as passionate about.
Cover Statuses
- This Thing of Ours: done…all of them through to the end of the series, aside from Seraphina, which is an in-universe book without being part of the series, per se. These are based on out-of-copyright old Hollywood photographs.
- Skating/Hockey Romances: almost done.
- Romantasy: done—I created them as a coping mechanism over the past few months. One of them is shown in my last post.
- Sacred: keep the originals to make my bleeding worth it. These covers were all made using photos I took, and then stylized in…I think Photoshop? I can’t remember anymore what I did, but I was hella proud at the time.
- Others? Fillmores, dystopian, romantasy? I’ll knock those out bit by bit with my iPad when I have downtime. I’m not sure if I’ll go with a style similar to the figure skater/hockey player and romantasy books. The methods used are similar, and it’s easy to tell that some Procreate brushes were used on all of them, though the end results are different. I like working on different styles, though. So we shall see.
The Schedule (A.K.A. My Sanity-Optional Roadmap)
Now through Mid-July (minus a road trip):
- Draft Josephine #2
- Revise Seraphina’s book
During the Road Trip:
- Final edits on Victoria & Caspian (figure skating/hockey #1)
Mid-July:
- Release Victoria & Caspian
Late July:
- Finish & release Josephine #1
August:
- Release Seraphina
- Revise Grace #3
- Draft Florence #1
- Finish Amy & Tyle (figure skating/hockey #2)
September:
- Release Amy & Tyler
- Release Grace #3
- Revise Byron’s arc (Fillmore #1 & #2)
October:
- Finish Byron’s arc
- Start Spencer’s arc revisions (Fillmore #3 & 4)
November:
- Finish Spencer’s arc
- Start Florence #1 revisions
December:
- Revise Josephine #2
2026: The Year of Releases and Revisions
January:
- Release Florence #1
- Continue Josephine #2 revisions
February:
- Release Byron #1
- Finish Josephine #2 revisions
- Start Florence #2 manuscript
March:
- Release Josephine #2
- Finish Florence #2 draft
- Begin Spencer #1 revisions
April:
- Release Byron #2
- Revise Florence #2
- Finalize Spencer #3
May:
- Release Spencer #3
- Revise Spencer #4
- Finish Florence #2
June:
- Release Florence #2
- Use remaining time for overflow
July:
- Overflow month
Even after all that, I’ll still have Spencer’s first book to polish, and Chaucer’s books to write (yes, they’re all named like they’re attending a literary salon). Not to mention the Sacred Blood trilogy revision, more This Thing of Ours content, and the dystopian and romantasy trilogies waiting in the wings.
Luckily, I don’t need eight hours of sleep (that one’s a link) like most people. I run fine on three to four, which is glorious. Think of it as waking up at midnight on January 1st and staying awake through March 1st. That’s a whole extra two months of productivity each year. I plan to use it.
Wrap-Up
If you’ve been waiting on a sequel, a new series, or something I’ve hinted at in the past…it’s coming. I’ve got the words. I’ve got the covers. I’ve even got a calendar. What I need now is to stay out of my own way—and maybe sleep just a little less.
Stay tuned. Releases are coming as fast as I can get to them, and no, I won’t resort to AI. So don’t even suggest that.
And yes, I really did bleed for that first Sacred Blood cover. Art is pain.