by Charlene Teglia | Oct 17, 2010 | Uncategorized
There are new covers in the works for some of my early titles; Yule Be Mine, Catalyst, The Gripping Beast. Don’t know exactly when these will be releasing, but some older works will be getting a new look and I think they’re about due for that.
Other stuff coming soon: I’ll be putting single ebook downloads of my Mammoth anthology contributions up on Kindle with expanded content. The anthologies have very limited word count, so it seems like a good opportunity to make them available for people as individual tales and also offer something extra. Not having done the process before I can’t say how long it’ll take, but I expect to have these up shortly.
Spent yesterday out enjoying glorious fall in the Pacific coast wilderness. You can
see the pictures here.
by Charlene Teglia | Oct 15, 2010 | Uncategorized
I keep answering emails on the same questions so here in one place, Your Questions Answered.
Q1: Will there be more books in the Shadow Guardians series?
A: Yes. Kiss of the Demon is contracted with Samhain. There are 5 planned altogether. Stay tuned for details on more once Kiss has a date.
Q2: Does Red Queen have a release date?
A: No, but I do have a new Samhain editor (my previous two left the company) and I will post a date once I have one. Which I expect will be shortly after I turn in the book.
Q3: Didn’t you say you weren’t going to finish those books?
A: Yes, but Crissy (owner of Samhain) gave me the thumb’s up to write them however it fit the story and not worry about whether or not they were “erotic”, and after taking time off to find some new words, I’m all over that.
Q4: Are you going to write Harold and Dane’s stories EVER? (From Sirens series. To recap: we left Harold holding the bag in the Viking age and Dane sailing off into the sunset in the present in The Gripping Beast)
A. Maybe. I have these outlined and many words written and that has been the case for years. They have not been at the top of the To Do list, despite the way Gripping Beast has soldandsoldandsold since it originally released. (As of last night it was still in the top 100 for Time Travel Romance on Amazon) This is because I’ve had other works contracted and other pressing deadlines, not because I do not want to finish these projects. Only so many hours in the day and only so many brain cells to go around.
Q5: After Red Queen, will there be more Neuri?
A: I have a short in the series planned, and ideas for another novel. On the novel, I will see what happens after Red Queen and the short release.
Q6: Will there be a sequel to Wicked Hot?
A: Wicked Fire was supposed to follow this, but then St. Martin’s wanted werewolves and a new series, which led to the Neuri and then the Shadow Guardians. I wrote an outline and first chapter, and it’s been in the files ever since. If I can get Wicked Hot out as an ebook, I would love to finish Wicked Fire and get it out there in eformat as well. Currently having the first book only in print and putting the sequel out only in ebook is problematic for readers.
Q7: Will your Djinn series be released in any format?
A. As you know, Bob, Carina Press and I did not come to agreement over the contract and the Djinn trilogy (Wishmasters) got put on ice. Since I have Djinn and Sin practically in the can, this has bothered me, but I had to figure out if I wanted to go forward as planned with a 3-novella trilogy, turn the whole project into 3 novels, or 1 novel. Because with the story I have planned, I could do any of the above. The short answer: Yes. The long answer: after I clear my desk of 3 other projects, I will make a structural decision on this, and Wishmasters will be a go.
Q8: What about Jane’s Addiction?
A: I’ve sat on Jane for years, practically ever since Love and Rockets released, first because of contractual issues and later because I did not want a sequel with a different epublisher. Happily, the state of Kindle gives me a neat solution for this problem. I do intend to put Jane’s Addiction out on Kindle, but as you can see from the above list of questions, my To Do list is long.
There, I think that covers the most frequent questions. Feel free to ask anything else I didn’t address.
by Charlene Teglia | Oct 13, 2010 | Uncategorized
In the wake of recent bullying-related teen suicides in the news, it seems like a good time to talk about homeschooling. There are many good reasons to homeschool and that’s one. It upset me more than I can say to read about how many parents who ultimately lost their child had tried and failed to put a stop to the bullying at school. As the number of ASD students rises, I think this is going to become a bigger problem before it’s solved.
I don’t think there’s a lot of general awareness about homeschool options; when we first talked about doing it, I thought it would be too hard, too time consuming, too many legal issues to cope with. I was wrong. So I present for you, homeschooling for dummies. Because if I can do it, trust me, you can.
It’s not just victims of bullying who might need a change. Kids who benefit from school at home range from special needs students whose needs are not easily accommodated in the classroom, to advanced students who need to work ahead but are at risk of bullying or social problems if they are placed ahead of their age group, and students with special interests who need a flexible schedule.
How do you get started?
First, find out what your state laws say. Go here to check your state’s requirements. Don’t be intimidated if you hear that your state is unfriendly to homeschoolers. Washington is not known as “homeschool friendly”, and yet when I spoke with the local district office and the local elementary school, everybody was friendly and helpful.
Second, find out if your state offers a free public online school option. Many states do, through either Connections Academy or K12. It may be a simple matter of transferring your child from their current public school to the virtual option in your district.
If not, both K12 or Connections can be used as a private virtual school. Calvert is another private virtual option through 8th grade. Since it’s virtual, it’s far more affordable than your typical private school tuition.
I’d recommend either the virtual public or private option first, because this is for dummies. You don’t have to invent your own curriculum. You get curriculum and lesson plans provided and depending on what option you choose, your child may also have a teacher and online classes to participate in with other students.
With the basic curriculum covered, you can do extra studies and
activities based on your kids’ interests. Search for homeschool groups
in your area to find out what resources are out there for field trips, group
activities and private lessons; homeschooling doesn’t have to mean your child never attends a
class outside the home.
What about social skills? Studies actually show that homeschooled students have equal or better social skills compared to their public school counterparts. This is definitely true in our experience. Socialization doesn’t just happen at school. It happens at the grocery store, the library, the museum, the park, church, martial arts class, you name it. If social skills are a particular concern, I can’t say enough good things about My Turn Your Turn, songs for building social skills aimed at preschool to elementary aged children.
Homeschooling can be surprisingly affordable and painless and even fun. If you can read and follow a lesson plan, even a dummy can do it.
by Charlene Teglia | Oct 10, 2010 | Uncategorized
Have I mentioned how much I’ve enjoyed my break from deadlines? I’ve rediscovered my joy in creativity and stories. I’ve rested, read, relaxed, spent time on hobbies. I’ve slept, and have realized that wherever writing time comes from in the future, it can’t come at the expense of sleeping anymore. There’s a reason sleep deprivation is considered torture.
One thing the break has proven to me is that I still really love writing and stories and it’s still really the only thing I want to do. Although I did give serious consideration to alternative career paths.
I think a periodic sabbatical is going to become part of my life. Vacations are important, having recreation and rest built into regular life is important, but a sabbatical allows enough space to truly gain perspective and insight. I’m glad I took one, for longer than it takes to catch up on sleep.
The Artist’s Way is now done and one things it’s helped me do is restructure my life to include hobbies and recreation while I get back to the business of writing. Because there is room for a lot more than work in life, and there has to be if work is to continue for a lifetime.
by Charlene Teglia | Oct 9, 2010 | Uncategorized
I kind of felt bad about the earlier post because it’s short and it’s not the kind of topic you can say much about short. So, a second Saturday post to say: the publishing industry is changing. Other industries have changed, too, and the world didn’t end. Also, HP still exists and I’m pretty sure Publishing isn’t going anywhere, either.
Really the big thing I’m waiting for is for people to stop acting like ebooks are The! End! of! Everything! and see them as maybe opportunity, and as really, just one more format/vehicle for books. Because really, people reading is good. I don’t care what format you read my books in. If print runs are declining and print book stores are reducing their stock, this is maybe the time to embrace ebooks and accept that if 50% of the book’s sales are electronic, well, maybe getting royalties on those on cover price and not net would be a good place to begin, no?
To sum up: books aren’t dead. Publishing isn’t dead. People still want to read, they just maybe want to read on their iPhones and iPads more. Ebooks can’t be ignored anymore by writers or publishers so it’s time to really pay attention to the wording of contracts, and really, when hasn’t it been time to pay attention to that?
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