Originally published at Joely Sue Burkhart. Please leave any comments there.

Since last Friday, I’ve had very little brain power.  The doctors said my O2 levels were decreased but good - otherwise they would have definitely hospitalized me this week.  I don’t know if it was simply the fever burning out my brain cells or if my body instinctively knew ( Read more... )

Originally published at Joely Sue Burkhart. Please leave any comments there.

I responded a bit on Twitter but I thought I’d post here too.  Christine was intrigued by the title of the short story I’m working on, “Ritual Ink.”  The idea came from an interesting/weird place…

The monsters love Wizards of Waverly Place on the Disney channel, and I have ( Read more... )

Originally published at Joely Sue Burkhart. Please leave any comments there.

Not a stellar month but not bad either.  I even managed D&E every day this week so far, even though I’m only getting 5-6 hours of sleep a night.

• Finished the first draft of The Bloodgate Warrior.
• Firmed up the plot of Phantom.
• Started Phantom, got about 3K so far this week.  ( Read more... )

Originally published at Joely Sue Burkhart. Please leave any comments there.

As promised, here’s a little more detail about the plotting wall I did for Phantom.  I made it D&E this morning, despite not getting to sleep until after 11 PM again.  Sigh.  Please don’t ask how many cups of coffee I drank today!  Only 700+ words but openings are hard, and ( Read more... )

Originally published at Joely Sue Burkhart. Please leave any comments there.

Since I had the day off from the Evil Day Job yesterday, I set a goal of finishing the plot for Phantom.  I’ve been struggling with it, so I decided to try a new approach.  My friend Jenna Reynolds had recommended Blake Snyder’s Save the Cat months if not years ago, and I ( Read more... )

Originally published at Joely Sue Burkhart. Please leave any comments there.

For my early formative years of writing (early 2000s), there were only a handful of authors I read heavily:  Robert Jordan, Laurell K. Hamilton, Amanda Quick, Julie Garwood, Johanna Lindsay, and George RR Martin.  Since the Shanhasson trilogy was my first project, you’ll ( Read more... )

Originally published at Joely Sue Burkhart. Please leave any comments there.

First, in case you missed it, I’ve added pages for both Golden and Return to Shanhasson with links to excerpts.  I also have some good news:  Vicki is officially going to Samhain!  I don’t have a release date for Yours to Take yet but the contract is signed and I’ve got a ( Read more... )

Originally published at Joely Sue Burkhart. Please leave any comments there.

Okay, months late!  But I’m relieved to announce that I finally finished the first draft of The Bloodgate Warrior today!  Just under 39K.

I knew I was getting close.  I didn’t expect more than a couple of thousand words to get there, but I kept getting hung up.  Weeks ago, ( Read more... )

Originally published at Joely Sue Burkhart. Please leave any comments there.

It’s been awhile since I’ve posted good news.  I just didn’t feel like it while my poor laptop was in the shop and I’ve been so behind on everything.  However….

• I got my laptop back on Friday!  I kissed it and petted it and named it George…  Okay, not really, but I did hug ( Read more... )

Originally published at Joely Sue Burkhart. Please leave any comments there.

If you go back over the years and look at my history, I never tend to do well over the summer.  The kids are up late, which means I can’t concentrate at night.  We’re up later, because the kids are up later, so I can’t get up early.  If I can’t get up early, I obviously can ( Read more... )