Announcement & More Reader Questions

So I had the root canal. My mouth is too small inside and now my jaw hurts like hell. They had to inject some of the Novocain into connective tissue (yeah, that feels JUST as good as it sounds like it does), and man, my cheek hurts. The root canal itself went smoothly and I’m praying no problems other than the usual aches my jaw/gums go through after major work. Hold good thoughts for me!

The 9th was hard for me, and tomorrow will be too, because a year ago during this time period we lost our Luna and Keeter kitties. I am mourning their loss, even though we firmly believe both are with us today in new bodies. The trauma of the loss, the loss of 33 combined years of feline love, was horrendous and my heart is still sad from it.

More reader questions today! But first, an announcement:

I had dropped back to one Otherworld book and one Indigo Court book a year. But with my new assistant, Justine (who is wonderful), and with streamlining a few other things, I asked my publisher if I could go back to 2 OW books and 1 IC book per year—and they were happy to say yes. I don’t have the new release dates, but in 2010 you should also get Harvest Hunting later in the year, along with Bone Magic, Night Myst, and the Inked anthology. ~smiles~

BUT—it means I won’t be on Twitter and FB and MS, not even as much as I’ve dropped back to now. I’ll be blogging, but mainly dropping into Twitter to say hi a couple times a day if that, and of course, Samwise is doing my MySpace for me and Justine, my FB. Keep track on MySpace and my website for updates! And I’ll still be hanging out in my forums.

Reader Questions now:

Question: Will you ever publish the 7 fiction novels in your closet?

Answer: First, a note—novels ARE fiction, so fictional novels is a redundant term. If you are an aspiring writer submitting a novel to an agent or publisher, don’t use both words. Just use ‘novel.’ That’s just a minor tip for the writers reading my blogs. Now, to the question: no. The thing is this: most first books, most 2nd books, a lot of books thereafter simply are not good enough to publish. None of them were. Period. They weren’t up to anywhere near the quality of what I write now—and I have no desire to have lower quality work out there. I plunder them for an occasional character or turn of the phrase, but nope. And I have instructions that they’re never to reach a publisher’s hands after my death. I want them cremated. Like I’ll be when the time comes (knock wood not for many, many years).

Question: Have you ever tried iced cappuccino with a shot of mint and whipped topping?

Answer: No—I can’t have whipped topping, and I now prefer my drinks less sweet so I make my triple shot rice-milk iced lattes at home, and when I go out, I have the same, only soy milk (most places don’t serve rice milk, sadly).

Question: How does or doesn't being a witch affect your writing career? and: How do you dance/deal with that mutable line between real and fantasy magic?

Answer: Hmm…in off-track ways. One, my world view is colored by my spirituality, of course (and no, I’m not Wiccan—I’m a shamanic witch and Pagan; there is a difference). Therefore, most of what I write will be colored by my beliefs. But I don’t write ‘pagan’ fiction, I write urban fantasy. And yes, some ‘real’ magic is mixed up with the fantasy magic, but for the most part, I try to avoid anything that’s too closely aligned to my personal spirituality. I wrote metaphysical nonfiction, if I wanted to write more about that, I wouldn’t cloak it with fiction. (Just my personal choice).

Okay, I’m off to work because three books a year do NOT write themselves! Cheers and keep the questions coming. J

Yasmine