The Pixelvania Publishing Proclamation o’ Progress is a semiannual post detailing what’s going on around here, and what might show up in the future.
Cute kitty photos at the end–including our 3 newcomers, Raider, Dolly, and Biscuit!
Recap
THE GUESTS OF CROOKED NECK – RELEASED EVERYWHERE
After my successful early-release Kickstarter for The Guests of Crooked Neck (the reasonably-sized sequel to science-fantasy epic Steel City, Veiled Kingdom), I released it everywhere in November.
Buy THE GUESTS OF CROOKED NECK direct from me
Or get it everywhere else (paperback on Amazon)
I am working on making the paperback available to buy directly from me, so stay tuned!
WIP WEDNESDAY POSTS
Some social media sites celebrate “WIP Wednesdays.” WIP stands for “Work In Progress.” Since I’ve been working on cover art, I’ve decided to join in this year, posting progress images from my Fashion Frenchies cover makeovers.
See all the WIP Wednesday Posts here.
FINAL FRIDAY 5 FAVORITES POSTS
Despite a hiccup in January, these fun posts keep coming!
Here’s everything I’ve recommended so far.
Currently in Production
FASHION FRENCHIES BOOK 2: The Pooch Salute!
(If you want to know when it’ll be released, sign up for my newsletter.)
My fellow writer and good friend (and dog enthusiast!) Sally Johnson was kind enough to typo patrol The Pooch Salute! for me. Soon I will be incorporating her corrections into the final manuscript and formatting it for paperback and ebook. But before I did that, I wanted to work on…
THE FASHION FRENCHIES COVER MAKEOVERS
Partially-finished cover for LOVE POTION COMMOTION!
After an excruciatingly slow start, I finally started making headway on the Fashion Frenchies cover makeovers! But the work has been worth it! They’re looking better than I thought they would!
Click the image to the left to see it at full-size! Each book cover will have the characters wearing different outfits, but here’s book 1 with the completed “paper dolls”.
Once I have the cover for book 2 completed, I can start the Kickstarter in earnest. 🙂 Look for this Kickstarter in the spring of 2025.
GIFTS OF THE GORGON
This story is longer than I expected–and I paused work writing on it to get the ball rolling on the Fashion Frenchies artwork. But I hope to restart it soon (though I’ll have to re-read it first, since I’ve been away from it for so long!)
THE CAPRAMANCER NEXT DOOR’S CHRISTMAS BOOK – STARTED
I’ve been dying to write a Capramancer Christmas book. So I wrote the prologue! Which was very exciting! But progress came to a screeching halt due to the Fashion Frenchies cover makeovers.
Plotting: Small Future Art Projects
Once the FASHION FRENCHIES work is off my plate, I think I’ll focus on the two Christmas books mentioned above. But there’s also a couple of smaller art projects nagging at me:
- The Girlfriend Who Wasn’t from Delaware: This book needs a cover makeover like whoa. I’ve collected ideas, but I think a few hours worth of work would net me a greatly improved cover. While I’m at it, I may just revamp the paperback.
- Hello, Wizard: needs a paperback version with a new cover. Again, while I’m at it, I’ll just revamp the whole thing. So it’d probably be a week or two of work, but worth it.
That ends my news, plotting, and scheming!
Presenting: New Kitties!
In December 2024, Mr. Pixelvania and I went nuts and added three new kitties to our home! Let me introduce you.
RAIDER
Raider (aged 3) is a chatty tuxedo lovebug who makes spectacular jumps to catch his toys. He will also grab your hand and make you pet him. He loves my current crop of piano students and will come out and socialize with them during their lessons. Unfortunately, Barnaby Jones believes he is the devil. 🙁
BISCUIT THE ATTACK KITTEN
We weren’t planning on getting Biscuit (AKA Cheddar Bay Biscuit), but the adoption lady opened his cage without us asking. This at-the-time 6-month-old kitten flung himself onto Mr. Pixelvania’s neck and began purring up a storm. Mr. Pixelvania could not resist. So now we have an attack kitten! He is a little much on our older fellas and sometimes has to go into time out. He is very sharp. But has mellowed over the last couple of months. Sometimes he stands around purring for no reason.
Dolly Purrton
Dolly Purrton (aged 3) is America’s sweetheart. She came with the name “Chleo” but I didn’t think that name fit this gracious, loving beauty, so Dolly she became.
She is every little girl’s dream cat: she adores being brushed, plays ferociously, and purrs constantly as long as you’re with her. The only thing she loves more than people is her GIANT fluffy bed!
And now, to our OG cats!
Barnaby Jones
This is Barnaby before we got the new cats. Unbothered. Flourishing in our green chair in the office. We thought he’d take to the new cats nicely, but he has, unfortunately, decided that Raider is Public Enemy No. 1 and that Dolly isn’t to be trusted. He’s fought with them several times, making the fur fly! (He’s okay with kitten Biscuit, though). When the new guys are closed away in their rooms, he’s the same sweet guy I cyberstalked years ago!
Pixel J. Cat
This old man just turned 18! He seems to be losing weight, but is otherwise the same cranky guy he’s always been. To our surprise, he was completely unbothered by the new grown cats, letting them pass by untouched. He only gets upset when kitten Biscuit jumps on him–and who can blame him? That kid is SHARP!
(Thoughts, prayers, and good vibes would be appreciated so we can get all 5 cats out and about at once!)
