Ghost Hunting

Tomorrow night, DH and I are going ghost hunting in Millersburg, Ohio. For those who've read Amish, Vamps & Thieves (Bloodlines #4), yes, this is the town where the book is set.

The sequel series, Millersburg Magick Mysteries, is also set there. At the end of 2019 when I first started to write the sequel series, I'd planned to take a long weekend doing some research. It had been nearly thirty since the last time I visited Millersburg. I know stuff changes over the decades. But 2020 and the COVID pandemic forced a change in plans.

I wrote the first three books. And frankly, they sucked. The pandemic had sucked the fun out of me and my writing. So I pulled the books from Amazon (the only retailer I'd uploaded them to at that point), and decide to start over again.

Every time I looked at them though in 2020 and 2021, I got that sick feeling in my stomach. Those were my plague books. And Cthulu, how I resented that plague.

This year, I don't what exactly changed other than things were opening up again, including night-time ghost tours of the Victorian House Museum in Milllersburg. So yeah, that's the plan for Saturday night. Our niece will keep Princess Bella company while we're gone. And I'm simply looking forward to a night out.

I don't expect things to go back to "normal" after the pandemic. But I do like the opportunity to do some onsite research.

Y'all have a great weekend!

Millersburg, Ohio - The True Story

Fifteen years ago, I had a meeting with an agent where I pitched Zombie Love. She immediately rejected the book because (a) she hated Los Angeles and (b) I'd never been there. She told me I could only write about what I knew and places I'd been.

Damn, I dodged a bullet there.

But at the time, I was pissed, and as a response, I wrote Amish, Vamps & Thieves.

I set the story in Millersburg, Ohio, which is the county seat of Holmes County. It's also the heart of the Ohio Amish community.

I grew up in a little town south of Millersburg. I went to college in another little town north of Millersburg. But I hadn't been there in thirty years. Things change, and I needed to learn about the 21st century version of the town I once knew.

I'd planned to visit when I started the Bloodlines spin-off series, Millerburg Magick Mysteries. But by the time I'd recovered from my cancer treatments and returned from a workshop in Las Vegas, the COVID-19 epidemic was blowing through the U.S.

So next month, DH and I are heading over to Millersburg to tour the town and do a little ghost hunting. I'll post pictures of the real life settings for the series. And hopefully, I'll have revisions for the first three books available soon.

Back in the Saddle!

Things on the home front finally settled down last weekend. Our impromptu houseguest moved out ten days ago, and as of Monday, September 20, I'm back to working full-time.

Hallelujah!

Or it was. On Friday, we found out my father-in-law needed to go in Monday to have a pacemaker surgically implanted. Then Genius Kid came down with some bug Saturday night that required a trip to our doctor.

On the plus side, I got a lot done last week. I've prepped Amish, Vamp & Thieves for my formatter, entered the data for the paperback's ISBN, finished the front matter and delivered everything to her. Bless her, she had everything back to me on Sunday for review.

Next up is getting Blood Sacrifice ready for paper printing.

A Question of Balance is done, and is in what I call it's resting phase. That means I write something else before I start editing. Sort of like a palate cleansing. While I hope to have it ready around Sword and Sorceress 30's release date, I won't make any promise because I'll jinx the process. *smile*

So what am I doing to cleanse my palate? Zombie Goddess hit 27K last week. I'll work on it for the rest of September and October, keeping my fingers crossed that I get it done before NaNoWriMo starts. For this year's NaNo, I want to get the bulk of Ravaged, Bloodlines #7, done.

The Nnnnnnnnnnnn series is currently on hold. My co-writer Xxxxx Yyyyyy bowed out for personal reasons, but she released her rights to the story and characters and gave me her blessing for finishing the project. If I can get the other three books mentioned above written, edited and published by the end of the year, I'm hoping to pick it up again in January.

It'll be a busy last three months of the year, but it really feels good to be working again. Now, if I can only keep everyone healthy and out of my hair...

There's Good News and Bad News, Or Status Report - April 2015

Let's start with the bad news first.

Jjjjjjjjjjjjj, the first book in the Nnnnnnnnnnnn series that I'm co-writing with Xxxxx Yyyyyy, won't be out by May 1. The original cover artist we wanted is booked through July already. We got off on the wrong track, but it was early enough (i.e. February) that I though we'd recover.

Then my Murphy-curse turned on Xxxxx. She's moving this week. Trust me, there's a long, involved story that's not mine to tell. Anyway, the poor gal's a little upset about missing a deadline, so please think good thoughts for her!

Will it be out this summer? Hell, yes! We're looking for a new cover artist. (P.S. If you are, or you know someone who is, a comic book artist, we'd love to see your portfolio!) The formatter and proofreader are lined up. And we have a detailed outline, so it's just a matter of finishing the last ten (or so?) chapters.

The good news is the new covers and print versions for the Bloodlines series are moving ahead. Not as fast as I would like, which is my fault, not that of the two lovely ladies doing all the work. But the latest cover has even DH *squee*ing in fanboy delight!

Okay, so I *squee*d, too!

Serious *FacePalm* Here (And a Special Deal)

I'm totally embarrassed. I'm not sure how this happened, but the file for Amish, Vamps & Thieves replaced the file for Zombie Confidential.

So basically, for the last how-knows-how-long, folks downloading ZC from Smashwords, Sony, Barnes & Noble, Apple, Kobo and Diesel were getting a free copy of AVT instead.

Here's the problem: I've uploaded the correct copy of ZC to Smashwords (and definitely double-checked EVERYTHING this time!). Smashwords will be distributing the corrected book file over the next couple of weeks.

If you download ZC again, it'll replace the copy that's really AVT. I don't want to punish my readers for something that was my screw-up.

On top of everything, I FINALLY received the Amish bonnet I ordered nearly a year ago. So I'll be uploading AVT with the new cover within the next couple of weeks.

So here's the special deal!
If you downloaded Zombie Confidential between June 19th and September 30th, 2012, forward me a copy of your receipt from one of the following retailers:

Smashwords
Sony
Barnes & Noble
Apple
Kobo
Diesel

 I'll e-mail you FREE copies of Zombie Confidential and Amish, Vamps & Thieves with the new cover in EPUB format with unique file names so they won't conflict with your other downloads.

Forward your receipt to suzan at suzanharden dot com.

Again, I'm terriby sorry for the mix-up, and many, MANY thanks to Mel for letting me know about the problem!

AMISH, VAMPS & THIEVES Is Live!!

Amish, Vamps & Thieves, the fourth book in the Bloodlines series, is now available at Amazon, Barnes & Noble and Smashwords. I had a lot of fun with this story since it's set practically in my back yard.

Blurb

Anne Levy was forced to leave her tight-knit community many years ago, when she was attacked by rogue vampires and turned. When her brother calls her home to investigate the bizarre mutilations taking place in the area, she is confronted with the difference between her pacifist Amish upbringing and her current life as an enforcer for the Augustine Vampire Coven.

She’s also confronted with Colin Fitzgerald—a hot local lawyer trying to find the killer despite her objections—who makes her desire a life she couldn’t possibly have. Not with him. Not without robbing him of the normal life she still yearns for.

But as the killer moves from animal mutilations to human, it becomes clear this is an entity unknown to humans or the paranormal community at large, and even Anne isn’t sure how to find or destroy it. She and Colin must catch the killer before it takes any more victims while keeping their feelings for each other at bay. But is the monster really after the local farmers or someone else entirely? And even if they can save the day and each other, how is Anne supposed to save Colin from herself?

Novel, approximately 76,000 words or 253 printed pages

Songs I've Been Listening To A Lot Lately...

This isn't on my Indie Publish playlist, but it IS on the playlist for my forthcoming urban fantasy novel, Amish, Vamps & Thieves. It cracks me up every time I watch/listen to it! *grin*