A Grimoire

At the Con!

Posted on August 19, 2018 by L. Jacob

I’m reporting to you live from the Worldcon76 in San Jose CA!

So far, we’re doing fairly well with the books and selling. But mostly I came out here to get my name out. Hopefully to sell more books, too! I’ve sold a few bundles of books, which are con-only available, and given away freebies like hotcakes. I’ve met so many interesting people here, went to a couple of panels, and everything’s been interesting and eye-opening. I might do more cons, but the price is not necessarily right to do so. The niche market that I write for (LBGTQ positive and fantasy) are not a big deal in our local area. I have to go where the LBGTQ community is. So maybe some of those cons.

I’ll be heading back home on Monday, and hopefully things will go well on the way home (I’m taking the red-eye).

I’ve sent Blood From a Stone to the editor and as soon as WorldC0n is finished he’s going to take a look at it, However, Maxwell Thomas might write the book under Zarra Knightley….we’re still under discussion on that. It’s not a romance. It’s more of a murder mystery with transvestites and a queer in the closet. But we’ll see on that one, too.

My new Dark Mystic Quill podcast is up, and is an interview with Wayne Barber of WNRI radio. My more recent interview should be available in a couple of months, where I spend the whole hour talking to Wayne about books and the author process.

Wish us luck on day four of five!.

Posted in Dark Mystic Quill, WorldCon, Writing | Comments Off

Heading to WorldCon!

Posted on August 12, 2018 by L. Jacob

“War Mage,” the short story, is headed off to the editor, but we’re really concentrating on WorldCon at the moment.

I just finished editing Blood From a Stone, my NaNoWriMo from a couple of years back. It’s a murder mystery, with a gay protagonist, who wants to keep himself firmly in the closet. But by the end of the story, he at least thinks about coming out. This is a one-off, non-magical story–just a straight up murder mystery. With a transvestite, too.

So next week I might not blog, or I might just blog a little bit to let you know how things are going in California. I’ve got a little bit of packing to do, and then I’ll be ready.

So come to San Jose to WorldCon and visit me. I’ll probably be at the table because I have crowd anxiety.

Posted in War Mage, WorldCon | Comments Off

A Poem a month

Posted on August 7, 2018 by L. Jacob

Every month, there is a local poetry group that you can go an listen to poetry or prose at the Shastea Lounge in Pawtuxet Village. I’ve decided to try a poem a month (at least) to have something ready. I wanted to try different forms other than my usual free-style. I found a website called poets.org that has different forms. The first form I did is Abecedean. You use the first letter of the alphabet to start each line of the poem. Here’s my attempt:

My Lust for Gold

Abecederian

All the

Boys had me

Charge them

Dollars and cents and

Experience

For sex–

Good sex cost a

High amount.

I never had

Jerks that good, even for

Kicks that were

Limited when I was young.

Men even older

Never insisted

On money but

Preferred

Quality over quantity.

Reaching for

Substance,

Truth and

Unabashed

Vanity

What did I

Xpect for

Your lust?

Zilch.

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War Mage – outta my life!

Posted on August 5, 2018 by L. Jacob

So, the good news, is I decided to make War Mage a short story instead. It will be a 99 center, selling at the venues for a buck a book. I can’t think about it anymore. It’s taking up so much room in my head, so much time and effort, that I finally had to just write down the main plot and get it over with.

What’s next on my bucket list is finishing “Devour”, a multi-part story on the Maxwell Thomas website. I’m also picking at a Grimaulkin anthology, backstories of different characters and scenes that Mike wasn’t privy to, such as Aunt Jane’s death or how Ritter became a knight. I’m stopping myself from doing Grimaulkin: TNG because I personally hate when an author goes that way with his characters.. Grimaulkin can’t last forever (unlike Harry Dresden that just went on and on and on…).

I’m waiting until after WorldCon to start on Air. I’ll be at WorldCon in two weeks! It seems so close now. I’ll be on WNRI.com on Tuesday at 9 a.m. with Wayne Barber on the Authors’ Hour. I’ll be talking about poetry, podcasting, and Grimaulkin Redeemed, how it feels to write the last book in a series.

I’ll probably do a quick hello from Worldcon.

Posted in Grimaulkin, Promotion, War Mage, WorldCon | Comments Off

On my mind

Posted on July 29, 2018 by L. Jacob

War Mage….

How tough it is to write. But I have to; there’s a fan base that’s looking for it. Or there may be after the Cons I’m going to.

I’ve written eight parts of the “Devour” story on Maxwell Thomas’ website, but I’m putting up one part a week. Right now there’s two parts, so things are going to get interesting.

Writing War Mage is like work. There’s so many things I want to put in there, and so many things I want to make sure I don’t put in there. Like too many vampires. I have to put in the Black Lions, and the dragons, and the werewolves, and, of course, the soldiers, what they’ve gone through. Someone I know suggested I go down to the VA and try to talk to vets there and get information. I don’t know how to go about that, but it’s an idea to try.

My poetry has stalled. I went to a poetry/prose reading and it turned into a revival. Now me, not being Christian, felt a little out of place. After what they did, I’m going to read “Trigger”, a poem about school shootings at the next poetry get-together. The other thing I want to do is try hymns to the muses, or the gods that I believe in and work with. I don’t know how that will go over, but that’s what I’m itching to do. Maybe the muses will give me something before the next reading.

Episode 21 is up and ready of the Dark Mystic Quill. It’s about Success and what it means. It’s available on Apple podcasts.

Posted in Dark Mystic Quill, Poetry, War Mage | Comments Off

The book tour

Posted on July 22, 2018 by L. Jacob

Today I’m going to an LBGTQ store located in my area to try and pitch my books to put them on their shelf. Mister Sister is located on Wickenden Street in Providence. Even if they don’t put my books up, I still would advertise them.

We’re getting ready for WorldCon in San Jose. We have no idea what table we’re at (I am suspecting it’s a first-come, first-served kind of thing), but as soon as I find out, I’ll tweet it. My twitter is @warwriter or @MaxwellTAuthor .

I’ll be on the radio at WNRI.com (again!) on August 7 at 9 a.m., talking about Grimaulkin Redeemed. And this time I promise I’ll talk about the book, not about me.

I’m still writing War Mage. Hopefully this time it’s the charm and this will be the last draft for this book. I have to fish or cut bait on this one; ten drafts is enough.

Posted in Grimaulkin, Promotion, War Mage, WorldCon | Comments Off

How big are those bathrooms, anyway?

Posted on July 15, 2018 by L. Jacob

WorldCon 76 is just about a month away, and we plan to have a large presence there. There will be not only my books–Grimaulkin Redeemed is now available and it’s a really nice contrast to the dark colors of the first two, a great eye-catcher. There will also be books by J Dark in her Glass Bottles series, Building Baby Brother by Steven Radecki, and Children of the Wrong Time by Flavia Ada. And dragons. And card readings.

I had an event yesterday and sold one book, which I was happy about. These small fairs, though, are a real crapshoot. Most of the people who come to them are older folk looking for stuff for them or their grandchildren. I happened to get lucky and get a 15 year old who was so excited to read his first “New Adult” book that he kept saying, “I can’t wait to read this!” He probably started reading it in the car.

After the event, I decided to sit down and start War Mage again. I’m following my own advice and making up stuff based on research. The history is all wrong, there is no Firebase Jackson, there is no Colonel Parlance, but there is a 10th Mountain Division. I just put them there because from what I’ve read, those guys kick ass. I have the sinking feeling, though, I’m not going to get 50K words out of it. We’ll see what happens.

A new podcast is up at Dark Mystic Quill. It’s about magic and writing. Together.

Fire is on hold until after WorldCon while the publisher gets things ready for that. All I care about is fitting in the bathroom on the plane. If I don’t, you’ll see me on youtube and CNN as the idiot lady who got stuck in a JetBlue bathroom. I’ll be famous! And sell lots of books!

Posted in Brothers of the Zodiac - Fire, Dark Mystic Quill, Grimaulkin, Life Sucks, War Mage, WorldCon | Comments Off

Out in the World (Or: The Baby)

Posted on July 9, 2018 by L. Jacob

First draft.

For five years I have worked,
Slaved, bled, and cried;
Now, I send my baby,
Out into the world.

The world will see what beautiful prose
I have wrought. And Spielburg himself will call
To direct the motion picture,
And Brad Pitt will be the leading man.

I have visions of best selling books.
I am number one on Amazon.
Everywhere.
I need to pick out a dress for the interviews.

Until…
I get my first one-star review.

The world has rejected
My baby, my most precious one,
That I paid to edit, and design, and lay out,
Shelling out half my paycheck.

No, this cannot be true!
It must be some mistake,
As I tell the reviewer.
And then I start a war.

My name is dragged through the mud
Of Twitter, and Facebook,
And so much social media
I am a failure.

Or maybe, only this book
Was not what I had dreamed.
It’s time to practice
Having another baby.

Posted in Poetry | Comments Off

Anything but War Mage

Posted on July 8, 2018 by L. Jacob

Finished Fire, and sent it off to the publisher. It’s a first draft, and I did a cursory glance over it.

I don’t want to work on Air just yet. I feel like I need a break from the erotica. Or more akin to male-male romance stories with spice.

What do I work on now?

War Mage is a monkey on my back. I promised to deliver that over two years ago, and I just can’t do it. I was talking to someone at a poetry open-mic and I told her I wrote m/m erotica. She said she did too, and wanted me to read her stuff. She told me the backdrop, and she said she can’t seem to complete it because it takes place in the Civil War and “I want to get the history right.”

I told her, “It’s an alternate universe. Make it up.”

That’s when a light went on. I can be close to history but not exact. I can make up the villages, the outposts, the FOB’s, the men and their units…I don’t have to be on target. As long as I make it believable, people will come along for the ride and suspend belief long enough to follow. I will, of course, get some people who say, “The 1st Indiana was in Kabul, not in Aslamabad”, but I’m not writing this for military fanatics. If I get the weaponry and typical standard operating procedure right (thank God for Sebastian Junger), I should do fine.

Now comes time to write it. For the tenth time.

Posted in Brothers of the Zodiac - Fire, War Mage | Comments Off

Grimaulkin Redeemed soon!

Posted on July 1, 2018 by L. Jacob

Hey there,

Grimaulkin Redeemed, the last (maybe) of the Grimaulkin series, is coming out very soon. VERY soon. We’re waiting on finalization of some things, but it’s coming out soon. In conjunction with that, Grimaulkin is on sale for .99 for the Kindle edition for a couple of weeks only. After you’ve read that, Grimaulkin Tempted will be on sale for .99 for the Kindle version as well. Then you’ll be all caught up and ready for Grimaulkin Redeemed!

And if you feel like listening to Grimaulkin, it’s on audiobook right now! Really worth that single Audible credit.

I’ve put a request for Water to be reviewed by Boy Meets Boy, so hopefully that will come out soon.

Fire is slated to be out in October. I’m working on “Leo” right now and even though my friend thinks it’s a stupid idea (She’s a Leo), I’m having a blast with it. Once I finish “Leo”, I’ll send everything out to the publisher and we’ll go from there.

I’m trying to think of what series I should do next. The planets? Greek gods? Rickk Riordan and his fanbase has done that to death. Norse gods? Neil Gaiman and Marvel have a lock on that. Celtic gods? Iron Druid series. I’m open to any ideas. More of the zodiac signs, as “Fixed, Mutable, Cardinal?” Planetary aspects such as “Neptune in Fall” or “Pluto Rising”? Full novels?

Decisions, decisions.

Posted in Brothers of the Zodiac - Fire, Grimaulkin | Comments Off