Hi there,
It's been a while since I posted an update, and one is way overdue. The fan fiction stuff first, since this is the author blog for my fan fiction work. In case you missed it, I recently posted chapter 65 of Errors and Omissions and earlier today I posted chapter 66. You'll find both on the
Errors and Omissions blog.
Also, John has been posting new chapters of Culture Aftershock. I last let you know here about his post of Chapter 32. Well, earlier today he posted Chapter 37, so if you haven't been reading all along, you have a few chapters to catch up on. There's some great stuff in there too, and you'll even see Jasper and Edward. You'll find all the chapters of Culture Shock on ffn here:
http://www.fanfiction.net/s/6737197/1/Culture-Aftershock
And please remember, your feedback feeds our creativity. We don't write for comments, and we don't always have enough time to respond, but we definitely read all of them and we sure do like hearing what you thought of the stories as they progress.
And speaking of progress, John is way ahead of me on that front, with several chapters of CA "in the can". However, that's a good thing as a lot of these chapters need to be posted before his storyline catches up with mine. That will give me time to get a little ahead with Errors. Fortunately, I am back in the groove, and with luck I can just keep on writing in between the stuff I have to do for my originals to bring Errors to an end as soon as possible.
So, what's going on with my original works? Well, you may have noticed that the release of my first YA novel has been significantly delayed. My post-beta edits took a lot longer than I anticipated and then my proofreader encountered some real life delays, so at this point I hope to publish by the end of the month, but it may not happen until October. However, I should be in a position to post the first chapter as a teaser in a few days. Look for that on my OF blog:
www.lizwinters.com
I'm also working on a follow up to
Handle With Care. The sequel will start eight months after the end of the original and Dean and Gabe will be faced with a situation involving someone from one of their past that will either bring them closer together or tear them apart. I would love to be able to release this story in time for the Christmas season, close to the anniversary of the release of the first story.
One other thing I want to mention. The problems faced by homeless LGBTQ youth are real and horrifying, and in part to raise awareness but also to raise funds, I'm donating 50% of the proceeds from the sale of both of my OF stories in August and September to Lost N Found Youth, an Atlanta charitable organization that helps get LGBTQ homeless youths off the streets. Not only that, I will also donate $0.50 for every copy of my friend, Alp Mortal's story,
Squat, sold in August and September, up to a limit of 100 copies. That money comes directly out of my pocket, regardless of how many of my own stories I sell, but I love the sweet modern-day fairy tale featuring two homeless young men so much I don't mind putting my own money behind it for a good cause.
Squat is only $0.99, so please give it a shot and help us raise money for a good cause. You can read more of the details behind the fundraiser in this post on my OF blog:
http://www.lizwinters.com/1/post/2013/08/sharing-good-fortune-with-those-in-need.html
I have a pretty humble goal of raising at least $50, the minimum I need to get matching funds from my employer. Unfortunately, August sales have been a bit slow, so I don't know if I'll be able to make the goal. In truth, I was hoping sales of my new YA book would drive up the total, but now that publication has been delayed, I can't count on that. So I would humbly ask you to let your m/m reader friends know about the fundraiser and to check out
Handle With Care, Lakeside Reunion, and
Squat. Please notice that the retail price for both of my stories is now $2.99 at all retail outlets, but for the budget conscious there are Smashwords coupon codes posted on my website that reduce the price of
Handle With Care by 50% and the price of
Lakeside Reunion by 66%. Smashwords has all major e-book formats available and it's the only place where you can get the stories at the reduced prices. And yes, half of my proceeds from the Smashwords sales, even at the lower prices, will also be donated to Lost N Found Youth.
Thank you so much for reading my fan fictions and for helping to spread the word about my original works and the Lost N Found Youth fundraiser. You're all the best!
Love, Liz