Monday, April 21, 2014

Deadline set

My spring break has been busy and filled with work, but today being my only day off I finally managed to sit down and make an ideal deadline window for myself. I don't want to fall behind with finishing edits and releasing Thicker Than Blood. That being said, I have a picture to go along with this as proof for you guys to see how I'm planning everything out.

I realized yesterday when my boyfriend mentioned upcoming dates that April is quickly coming to an end. So I decided to take a look at what months I have left to work on edits and when I could ideally release TTB. I've been saying for a long time now that I want to release it late this year, so even if I could not release it until September, October, or November at the latest I would still reach my goal. Hopefully by having this deadline out in front of me will help me work harder and stay on task. At the very least I gain three months to work on edits and have two/three backup months just in case. Who knows, if I really need it I can wait until December to release the book. 
Now you know what my personal deadline is, and hopefully I can estimate a more specific one as we approach closer to those ending months. Either way, looks like this book will be releasing fall/early winter. Again, a huge thank you to everyone who has been patiently waiting.

On a different note, I wanted to share a collage I made this morning. 
Using the ebooks of CWP and SandE, I took screencaps of the title pages. Then with my own private "print ready" digital copy of TTB I also managed to get a snap of that as well. Nothing too major that separates the title pages, but I thought it was interesting to see them all together in one place. I'm going to have a lot more like this to share when we get closer to the release of book 3. 

Editing Progress
With being busy over spring break, alas I did not have spare time to work on edits. I hope to get back in the grove this week and then get myself on schedule. Chapters 19-27 are awaiting edits and printing, but I plan to have all of the chapters printed out by the end of this month. 

Coming Up
I thought I previously posted about the masquerade and the inspiration behind it on here, but going back through my posts I realized I did not. I plan to have that post up later this week with pictures that helped inspire the scene and talk about its parallels to previous books in the series. 
Hope everyone is enjoying this spring weather, and I'll be back soon with more. Remember if you want to tweet about Thicker Than Blood on twitter use the hashtag #ThickerThanBlood
Lindsey R. Sablowski

Wednesday, April 9, 2014

Who will be the fifth Dark magician?

In the summary of Thicker Than Blood I revealed to you that the 5th Dark magician will be unveiled in book three. While originally the 5th magician was not likely to make his/her appearance until the fourth book, I was excited when I realized they could be introduced sooner. Now while I can't tell you who it is -because that's for you to find out- I hope this post while intrigue you more in what we will soon find out.
We've had Celestria, the girl who loved and lost, Leal, the vengeful magician, and Alaire, the fallen hero. The fourth Dark magician was revealed and introduced in Shadows and Embers, and now in Alaire's story we will finally find out who is the last one. 
Ready for a teaser (no spoilers!)?

I managed to survive longer than anyone could have expected. Every day was a struggle, and the more I wondered the more I felt like an animal. There were hunters at the ready, waiting for my appearance. One day it was only a matter of time before they caught me. In the end it all came down to finding the other Dark magicians in hope they would offer me a haven. This world was not ready for people like us, and thus I became more of an outsider than I ever was.

While there are only five Dark magicians over the years I've spent a great amount of time incorporating them all into the storyline and figuring out how they survive. The fifth magician originally was meant to be someone else, who was vaguely mentioned in Cursed With Power, but ideas change and so do characters. I am very pleased with who the fifth Dark magician ended up being. 
Whether you've read the books or not you know of at least three Dark magicians. Who do you think the fifth will be? Could it be someone from the previous books or an entirely new character? Share your thoughts in the comments or as always tweet about it on Twitter, using the hashtag #ThickerThanBlood

Editing Progress
April is here and editing must continue. I have not planned out how much editing I want done with a calendar (as I did with writing) simply because it changes depending on how much time I have. Regardless, I have up to chapter 16 printed out with several of those chapters editing and some in the process of being completed. Right now I'm focusing on making sure everything is polished, writing down questions and additional scenes which may be needed. Once it's all polished I will go back and add in what's needed, revise and polish again, and then read through it and see if I am pleased. 
Createspace has been great through this process, and I already have the book briefly set up on their website so when I am ready the hassle is out of the way. I am excited to be self-publishing again, and I can't wait to finish with edits, plan a release date, and then be able to reveal the official book cover (and book jacket!). Needless to say it's going to be an exciting an overwhelming experience, but first editing needs to be finished. Fortunately spring break is right around the corner, so I can sit down with a pen and paper and spend more hours on my work.
Thanks as always to everyone for their patience with the release of this book, and I'll keep you updated. Remember to continue checking back in on the blog for more posts about the book and characters. I have gathered together a lot of great ideas for new posts to share on the blog, so you can expect a variety of posts upcoming.


Lindsey R. Sablowski