Jenyfer Matthews

Well, here I am again, talking about releases.

I meant to talk about my Wild Rose book, which released in print at the first of the month. But lo and behold, I have other books to talk about — five to be precise. Five? Yes, not only do I have new releases, but I have old books in print and old books up for awards. To find out more about the books, see excerpts, and find purchase links, go to my web site .

I was going to talk about all those books, but I thought, hey, this is my chance to savor them. I mean, these are all books which are ‘old’ to me — I wrote the most recent release last year and the others before that. In fact, Brilliant Disguise, a book that just came out in print, is the first book I ever drafted. The version in print now isn’t the one I drafted, of course — it’s been vastly improved (I think).

This is why it’s tough to do double-releases for ebooks. Many publishers release a book first in e-format then a few months later (or longer than that) it comes out in print. Look at this timeline: I draft a book and submit it to my editor. A month or so goes by. She buys it (we hope). It gets put on an editing schedule. A few months later, I get edits back from her. We do the edits, and a few months later, it goes to production. Then it gets assigned a time slot for release.

It could be six months to a year from the time of submission to the time of release (sometimes less, sometimes more). In that timeframe, I’ve drafted another book, done promo for other books, and had other books bought and edited. I’ve almost forgotten about that book that’s releasing RIGHT NOW. So I have to drop what’s current now, revisit that book, and promo it. Then imagine that I have to do it all again in a month or two or three because the publisher decided to put the book into print.

It can get downright confusing! That’s why, right now, I should be doing promo for five books — one that just released, two that released earlier in the year and are now in print, and two that released MONTHS ago but which are now up for awards. But for this moment, I’m just going to relax and not worry about the promo. After all, these are ebooks and they’ll be around for a long, long time. I can always do some promo for them.

But those edits I need to do for a book next year … yep, I need to do those. And that galley proof needs to be verified. And Chapter 3 in my latest WIP has to get done. So that’s all from me for now. If Jen will have me, I’ll drop by next year and let you know how it’s going. Until then, have a good holiday and squeeze in some time to kick back and relax in among the holiday fun. I’ll be snuggled up near the fire, laptop on and my fingers flying ….

Candy, Corpses, and Classified Ads

Twenty years ago, JT McCord jilted Molly Lawford. She survived and moved on to marry twice, but her first husband died and her second husband ran off with a hairdresser. Molly gave up on romance and settled down in Tangle Butte, Minnesota, as a small town reporter.
Now JT McCord is back in town as the Chief of Police. His first official act is to investigate how Molly’s thought-to-be-vanished husband turned up buried next to the septic tank in Molly’s back yard, dug up by a neighbor’s marauding pig.

While helping JT unravel the facts, Molly’s resolve about keeping him at bay unravels, too. If she can survive a couple of attempts on her life (and maybe arm wrestle a couple of town hussies for JT’s affection) she might find the love of her life—all because of a pig and some plumbing.

I’m here today to talk about my latest Cerridwen release, Endurance, which was released yesterday, Thanksgiving Day in America.

I’m thankful that it released. My History Patrol series has had a problematic life. The first book, Forgiveness, released last year, and was one of my first books ever released. It’s done very well on the contest circuit despite the fact it’s only available in download and has never been in print. I’ve been pleased.

Anyway, long story short: I lost my editor at CP before the book released. The second book, Endurance, had already been bought, so I was assigned a new editor. We whipped that book into shape and she bought the third book.

Yep. That editor left. I was assigned a new editor to get Endurance, book 2, out the door and to work on Temperance, Book 3.

Edits for Temperance, Book 3 (due out next year), are … a struggle. In the first round I saw more edits than I’ve ever seen — more than on all my 8 books that I have out combined. Usually it takes me a day at the most to do edits. This took me several days — almost 10 days, to be precise. I’m not saying the edits weren’t valid. I think many of them were. But some … I’m not so sure if they were really essential.

So I’ve finished the first round of edits and just got the next round. I haven’t even opened the file yet. I’m not even going to look at the next round until sometime in December. I want to savor the release of Endurance and gird my loins for more angst.

I think this is probably a very good lesson for me. Most of my releases at my other publishers have been relatively easy. I’ve had a few covers I’ve whined about, or maybe I misunderstood my editor on some points. But I’ve never had so many detail-oriented edits as I have for the History Patrol books.

Of course, these are complicated books. “Time travel meets reincarnation” is how I phrase it. For Endurance, my off-handed summary is: ‘Endurance, a first-person paranormal time travel reincarnation romance (try saying that fast a few times). It’s first-person male POV, about a man who’s been stranded in time by an immortality virus and has a career as a paid assassin. The woman he’s assigned to kill is the love of his life, reincarnated in this place and time. Nico almost makes a huge mistake and targets Lucinda, but luckily there’s someone there who knows the truth — a telepathic dog named Cerberus, who intervenes.’

Complicated? Yes. But very, very interesting. I hope it and the other books in the series are worth the work. Only time will tell (time travel, get it?)

Endurance
by
J.L. Wilson

Imagine being torn away from all you know and love. And now imagine being torn away from your place in time.

That’s what happened to Nico Haidess who is trapped, not just in time, but in a reincarnation gone wrong.

He’s a Guide with the History Patrol, sent back from 2190 and now stranded in 21st century America. He’s been reunited with the love of his life, Lucinda Delacroix who has been reincarnated in this place and time. There’s only one problem: he doesn’t recognize her as his lost love and she doesn’t recognize him.

To Lucinda, Nico is just a handsome stranger, a man who seems oddly familiar. And to Nico—a paid assassin—Lucinda is just an assignment, a suspected traitor. He must kill her on Easter morning and make it look like an accident.

Luckily one other creature can help. Cerberus is a telepathic dog on special assignment with the History Patrol, sent to bring these two lovers together. Cerberus has a vested interest in the fate of Nico Haidess and he’ll do whatever it takes to see Nico and Lucinda reunited—even if it means dying and defying God to accomplish his purpose.

But the clock is ticking for all of them and time is starting to run out.