News! News! News!

Dear Readers,

I've gotten a lot of inquiries about what's been up since my last book, The Unforgiven, a dark urban fantasy release in August 2011. Well, here's the scoop:

Some readers keep track of publishers, others don't. (I certainly didn't know one publisher from another before I started writing). Some of you may be aware of the slow decline and ultimate demise of my former publisher, Dorchester.  The three year tragic saga began in mid-2009 and continued until late 2012. During this time Dorchester authors' royalties became sporadic, then totally non-existent, even though Dorchester continued to sell our books. Print publishers routinely hold backlist royalties against book returns, which means authors receive big chunks of their royalties over several years after initial sales. So the money Dorchester's authors were out included royalties they earned during Dorchester's years as a major mass market publisher.

Author's rights to their own backlist novels as well as future as-yet-unpublished contracted titles were mired in dispute. Communication between authors and publisher became difficult, to say the least, especially after there was no editorial staff left and the company had abruptly vacated their Manhattan offices in favor of a PO Box mailing address. And yet, with no formal bankruptcy declared, there was no court to dispose of assets and return book rights to the Dorchester authors in a timely and fair manner.

In 2010, I turned in The Unforgiven, and was working on The Unholy, book 2 of the Watchers series, which was under contract. A year later, it had been eons since I'd seen a royalty check or even regular sales statement. Like many Dorchester authors, my books were available and selling. The publisher was keeping our current and past royalties, while turning a largely deaf ear to correspondence and phone calls seeking reversion of rights due to non-payment.

Not knowing if I would ever be able to regain rights to the Watchers series, I put it aside. By this point, since my writing income was nil, and I had three teenagers contemplating college, I returned to working my non-writing job full time. For the next couple, Dorchester authors waited and hoped for the resolution, one way or another, that would come when our zombie publisher was finally irrevocably dead. I developed several outlines for new writing projects, between my day job and some health challenges (luckily, nothing life-threatening), and the aforementioned college searching, I found it difficult to pursue my writing.

Late in 2012: a breakthrough! Former Dorchester authors with disputed rights were offered a choice: allow Amazon Publishing to buy out their Dorchester contracts, or regain sole rights to their Dorchester-contracted titles. Finally, resolution! We were all thrilled with the news.   Some authors  accepted Amazon's offer, others decided to regain their rights and re-release through other channels.

I allowed Amazon to acquire seven of my backlist titles: the four Druids of Avalon world novels, the two Immortals world novels, and my single title contemp, A Little Light Magic.  I regained rights to The Unforgiven, and to my two Dorchester novellas, Blood Debt (Immortals) and Christmas Unplugged (from the 2009 Santa Honey Anthology).

My seven Amazon-acquired backlist novels been available on Kindle since mid November 2012 under Amazon Publishing's Montlake Romance imprint. They titles are being republished in print as well. So far A Little Light Magic and Silver Silence are available in trade paperback. The others will follow later this year as Amazon's trade paperback release schedule unfolds.

With my nest half-empty, and my health issues largely resolved, I've been able to devote some significant time to writing. Not full-time yet, but that's the goal. 

Watch for: 

My new genre love, paranormal Victorian Steampunk!! 

Kindle reissue of Blood Debt, my stand-alone Immortals world vampire novella

Complete rewrite and expansion of my small press sci-fi novella, Dream Guardian  (I'm really enjoying this project - it could turn into a series!)

Re-edit of my  small press paranormal superhero novella, Heroes Incorporated

Re-edit of my former Dorchester contemporary holiday novella, Christmas Unplugged

Romantic fairy tale adaptations - available as 99 cent singles or in combination, this project includes: 

          Re-edits of two small press stories: Jackie and the Beanstalk (in which Jack is    female, the Giant is a rich CEO, and the beanstalk is a skyscraper); and Grandma's House (Little Red Riding Hood with hot Scottish werewolves)

          At least two brand new fairy tale adaptations. Perhaps a Beauty and the Beast tale?

A Druids of Avalon companion book!  Featuring before- and between-the-books short stories, legends and mythology, historical notes, Druids of Avalon family trees (eventually ending in King Arthur), maps, trivia, character interviews, Druid and Celtic lore, and other fun stuff! Basically everything you need to get the most out of my Druids of Avalon pre-Arthurian historical fantasy series.

The Watchers (Fallen Angels) series: re-publication of The Unforgiven and first publication of The Unholy. And the series continues…

As always, all the best to you and yours!

Joy