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 photo at the end.
Recap
CROOKED NECK’S EARLY-RELEASE KICKSTARTER
Earlier this year, I ran a successful early-release Kickstarter for The Guests of Crooked Neck, the reasonably-sized sequel to science-fantasy epic Steel City, Veiled Kingdom (SCVK). What was REALLY exciting this go-round is that I was able to offer paperbacks to backers, which seemed pretty popular!
Here’s some quick facts:
- Crooked Neck funded in under a week!
- By the end, it raised 127% of its goal, thanks to 25 wonderful backers.
- 22 ebook copies of Crooked Neck were emailed to backers (and some reward tiers got SCVK, too, for a nice discount).
- 7 paperback copies of Crooked Neck were shipped to backers!
If you missed the Kickstarter, good news! The Guests of Crooked Neck will be released to everybody in early November. Jump on my newsletter to get notified!
FINAL FRIDAY 5 FAVORITES POSTS
Earlier this year, I began posting my latest entertainment/household/food/whatever recommendations on the final Friday of each month. They’ve been pretty fun to do, so I think I’ll keep that up! Here’s what I’ve recommended so far.
Currently in Production
FASHION FRENCHIES BOOK 2
I finished writing and typing up the manuscript for family-friendly fantasy comedy Fashion Frenchies 2: Salute a Pooch! a few weeks ago. Also, SURPRISE! I renamed it. Now, instead of Salute a Pooch! it’s called The Pooch Salute!, which sounds punchier to my ear.
I’m currently hunting for a dog-loving Friendly Reader to check for typos so it can continue to the next stage of production.
(If you want to know when it’ll be released, sign up for my newsletter.)
FASHION FRENCHIES BOOK COVERS AND INTERIORS
In the meantime, I’m also working on revamping the cover for the ENTIRE Fashion Frenchies series. While I’m at it, I’ll also be turning the first book, one of the first I ever published, into a paperback. Anyway, here are some initial drawings:
Vivian Feng
Marty the French Bulldog
I have three books in mind for this series, and I really hope a fourth will present itself because it feels like this series should be a quartet. Possibly a Christmas story?
Speaking of Christmas…how do you feel about some sci-fi Christmas?
GIFTS OF THE GORGON
I’m in the middle of writing (what I hope will be) a short story set in the Worlds of Everlush universe, taking place soon after The Guests of Crooked Neck. In my head it’s a Christmas story, but, being set on a sci-fi world, it’s obviously NOT Christmas, but it’s a gift-giving holiday so niener. I’ve had the idea in my head for some time, and it’s turning out to be funnier than I expected, which I like!
Future Plans, Plotting, and Scheming
Once the FASHION FRENCHIES work is off my plate, I think I’ll start another project or two concurrently with GIFTS. Here are the top contenders:
- A Capramancer Christmas sequel (“Christmas with the Capramancer”? “The Capramancer Christmas Caper”? Anyway, I’m JAZZED about this idea LIKE WHOA. Lot of fun stuff could be had!)
- Fashion Frenchies 3: The Bald and the Beautiful. (It will be a comedic Halloween story where the Fengs foster a hairless or near-hairless cat. I’ve had the base idea for AGES. Kind of a horror-comedy, heavy HEAVY on the comedy!!, less horror, more spoopy.)
- For serious, actually step on the Nosferatu Novel train and ride it to the end. (This is intimidating because part one, unfinished–PART ONE!! UNFINISHED!!–is over 86,000 words. Part Two has 12,000 words completed and Part Three just under a thousand words. So I think it’s gonna be BEEG. It’s also been years since I’ve looked at it. Very intimidating but I gotta do it! And painting the covers will be a bear, too, I think.)
- To be honest, another project that’s been weighing on me is getting The Purrfect Christmas out into paperback. It could be out in paperback quite quickly, but I’ve been putting it off because I think it should have illustrations. Except I haven’t found the energy to make the illustrations. Help me out here–would you rather have it out in paperback this year sans illustrations, or wait for a full revamp (including a nice shiny new cover)?
- I still have 2 cat horror stories rolling around in my head
- And ancient novel, the Gardeners of Palomar, is still lurking…
That ends my news, plotting, and scheming!
The Aforepromised Kitties
Here is your reward of a CAT PHOTO
Intern Barnaby Jones lurking above his boss, Pixel J. Cat, lounging in a cardboard bowl-bed-box. They are surrounded by kitty treasures and toys.
Until next release, I wish you good health and happy reading! – Danielle