End of the Month Already

Well, I checked out my writing goals, or should I say goal, for this month. I wanted to try to finish up the outline for my science fiction romance. But, I didn't get it done.

I don't feel bad, though, because it was other writing obligations that got in the way. And did I accomplish a lot.

I got through the galley of Erin's Rebel and found quite a few boo-boos we missed during edits, so those are now being fixed. I also got a contract for Confederate Rose and filled out all the manuscript and author forms for that.

I also completed my anthology story and submitted that. I wrote a very short Civil War Christmas story that I submitted to TWRP as a free read and I finished revisions on my newest vampire story.

So, although I didn't complete my stated goal, I accomplished a great deal writing-wise. Maybe I'll get that outline done in October.

Brand New Cover

This one's for my new Civil War romance, Confederate Rose, an upcoming release from The Wild Rose Press.

Nicola Martinez did the cover. Isn't it beautiful!

A New Review for Eternity Waits!!

I just got a new review for my short vampire romance story, Eternity Waits, available now from The Wild Rose Press. This one's from Simply Romance Reviews.

I'll quote a few lines: "Susan Macatee takes the eternal search for love, mixes it with some vampires and war, and tosses in some reincarnation to top things off. This is a very short read but all in all enjoyable. I look forward to seeing more from Ms. Macatee."

To read the full review, click here.

Galley Corrections Are Turned In

Galley corrections are in for Erin's Rebel and are my eyes crossed!
Hopefully, I caught all those little boo-boos that got through editing.

To read the first chapter and part of the second of Erin's Rebel, my time travel romance, click here.

Next announcement for ER will be the release date.

Another Contract!!!

It's official. I've just been offered another contract, this time for Confederate Rose from The Wild Rose Press. This will be my third contract with them and I am so excited!


I'll even get to work with the same editor who I worked with on Erin's Rebel.

Here's the blurb for Confederate Rose and I'll post an unedited excerpt later.

Disguised as a man to serve with her husband as a soldier in the Confederate Army, Irish immigrant, Katie Rose O'Reilly, vows to remain in the ranks and seek revenge on Yankees after her husband is killed at Sharpsburg. As she's transporting mail from Richmond back to camp, a stranger startles her, causing her to fall and almost drown in a swollen stream.

Southerner, Alexander Hart, a Yankee spy, saves Katie from drowning, then nurses her through a resulting fever. He must keep his identity secret from the feisty and beautiful Rebel soldier even as he finds himself falling in love with her.

Katie falls in love with the caring gentleman stranger, only to later discover he's the enemy. Heartbroken, she turns him in to the Confederates, but then questions her goals and beliefs. Is is possible to put her quest for revenge aside to save the man she loves?

September Goals

Haven't posted my September goals yet, mainly because I can't figure out what I want to do.

Currently I'm waiting on the galley for Erin's Rebel. When that comes in, my main goal will of course be to get that done so I can get my release date.

I'm also waiting for word on two full-length manuscripts I've submitted to The Wild Rose Press.

Meanwhile, I'm waiting for critiques from my group on the last chapters of my anthology story and I'm purposely waiting before I start revisions to the first draft of my new vampire story.

A lot of waiting!

So, the only project I'm not stuck waiting on right now is the outline for my new science fiction romance. For now, my goal will be to complete the outline by the end of this month, if nothing more urgent comes in.

August Is Over Already?

I can't believe this month is over.

Time to see how I did with my August goals.

1) Finish revisions on outline of Sweet Redemption and write first draft.

Since SR is a short story of about 70 pages, I was able to get this one in. I just wrote the ending of the first draft on Wednesday. Now, I'll let the story sit for a little while.

2) Go over anthology story again.

I did a final revision and edit of my anthology story and now my critique partners are going over it.

3) Complete proofread of Cassidy's War.

This is my full-length young adult that was formerly published as Under the Guns. I finished the proofread and got a request for the full. Now, I'm waiting to hear back on it.

So, I think I deserve a few days of R and R. But I did do some updating on my website. If you'd like to see the results click the link: http://susanmacatee.com/News.html

Tuesday Ten at Slip Into Something Victorian

I posted the Tuesday Ten today on facts about Victorian clothing over at Slip Into Something Victorian.

http://somethingvictorianblog.blogspot.com/

Erin's Rebel Excerpt

Since I've turned in my final edits for Erin's Rebel, my Civil War time travel romance, in to my editor, thought I'd whet everyone's appetites with an excerpt.

Erin's Rebel

Time Travel Romance

The Wild Rose Press - American Rose

The sound of her name on his lips made her skin tingle. She tore the paper off the package. At the sight of the brooch, her breath caught.

"Do you like it?" he asked anxiously. "I had it made just for you."

Eyeing him, she had a hard time finding her voice. This was Erin O'Connell's brooch, the very one that had sent her back in time. It shone in her hands, new and unworn from time and wear.

What did this mean? She must be following Erin O'Connell's footsteps. As far as she knew her being here hadn't changed anything. Will was still destined to die this year.

"I didn't mean to upset you, Erin. If you don't want the brooch--"

"No." She clasped the pin against her chest as the meaning of his gift sank in. "It just means so much to me."

His look of concern softened into a lopsided grin. "I'm happy you feel that way."

"Thank you, Will." She slipped the brooch into the pocket of her wrapper, then stood on her toes, lifting her arms to circle his neck. She kissed his cheek, inhaling his musky scent.

His mouth was on hers, hot and urgent. The softness of his moustache and chin beard tickled her lips. She opened to him, her tongue slipping inside to taste him thoroughly. He groaned, pressing the length of his body against her.
___

Hope you all enjoyed. Keep you posted on further developments.

Things Are Finally Slowing Down

Wow! I finally have time to think of something beside my work. After juggling several clients for months in my home business, I actually have no work in at all.

I'm also in wait mode on several of my writing projects. Erin's Rebel is finished! Just waiting on the galleys. All I have left to do when they come in is proofread for mistakes.

And a few of my other projects I've been switching between are also in wait mode now.

I've decided to use all this free time to finally start writing the first draft of my new vampire story, Sweet Redemption. This one will be longer then Eternity Waits, but still a short story. Like Eternity Waits, it takes place during the Civil War. An ex-Catholic priest turned Union infantry captain is attacked by a vampire. He must save his soul from the vampire, as well as a beautiful Southern widow, who takes him in when he collapses across her back stoop. I'm having fun writing the new scenes. I'm trying to get myself out of edit mode though, to keep the words flowing. I've outlined the entire story scene by scene and am following it as I write the first draft.

If things go on as they are, I'll have no trouble completing the first draft by the end of the month.

August Goals

Finally figured out my August goals.

First and foremost, I have to complete final edits for Erin's Rebel, but I'm almost finished. So, here they are:

1) Finish revisions on the outline for my new vampire story, Sweet Redemption and write the first draft.
Since this is a short story I should have no trouble completing the first draft by month's end.

2) Go over my anthology story, Angel of My Dreams, again.
I already did one revision, so will mostly be doing final edits.


3) Complete proofread of Cassidy's War.
The editor is reading the first three chapters, and I'm almost finished proofreading the remainder of the manuscript.


So, I think I should be able to complete these goals by the end of the month, especially if my home typing business continues in a lull. Frees up that much more time for writing.

My Blurb Won Third Place

My blurb for Confederate Rose won third place in The Wild Rose Press blurb contest. Here's the link if you'd like to take a look.

http://americanroseblurb.blogspot.com

My Goals for July

I checked over the goals I'd set for July and have gotten them all done early.

1) Revise anthology story.
Done.

2) Proofread Confederate Rose.
Done.

3) Complete self-edits for Cassidy's War.
Done and I've sent the query and synopsis to The Wild Rose Press, gotten a request for the opening chapters and sent them out.

So, next up I'll be listing my goals for August.

Haven't Blogged In a While

I've been neglecting my blog. I've been so lost in edits on all my projects, I haven't had much time for anything else.

But I now have a break in Erin's Rebel edits. And I've completed self-editing both Confederate Rose and Cassidy's War. I think I need a break.

Since I've completed all my projects for the month of July, I think I'm going to start reviewing the outline for my new short vampire story, Sweet Redemption, next week. I'm beginning to like the idea of switching off between long and short projects.

My plan is to write the first draft of that story in August. So, why not get a jump start?

Extra Time On My Hands

Well, after months of nothing but work and balancing clients, my home business has finally eased up. I had nothing to do today, but work on my own writing projects.

So, what did I do? I watched a baseball game.

I did manage to get some proofreading done on Confederate Rose. Keep finding little things I want to change. But I'm getting to the point where I may be changing things back and forth.

Time to stop fiddling with it and get that query out. I hope to have that ready to go by the end of this month.

Blogging at Slip Into Something Victorian

I'm blogging today over at Slip Into Something Victorian about the anniversary of the battle of Gettysburg.


Join me there: http://slipintosomethingvictorian.com/

My July Goals

It's getting more complicated. I have so many projects in the works, I've decided to concentrate on a few this month.

1) Revise my anthology story. This is the one I've titled Angel of My Dreams. It's a Civil War ghost story.

I finished the first draft mid-June and decided to take a break away from it before I start revisions. It shouldn't be too hard because I used an outline and it's a short story. So, I'm going to get the revisions finished by the end of the month.

2) Proofread Confederate Rose.
I actually started on this, but ended up doing more editing. I really want to get this story done and send out a query. I already have a synopsis written, since I'd been entering it in contests that required one.

So, I want to get the proofreading and query written by month's end.

3) Complete edits for Cassidy's War.
This is my young adult out-of-print book formerly called Under the Guns. I decided to re-title it before approaching another publisher. I'm about halfway through edits and am really getting caught up in the story. I haven't read it in a long time.

I want to get the book completely self-edited by month's end.

So, there are my writing goals for July.

Goals for June

Since we're nearing the end of June, I thought I should review the goals I made at the beginning of the month.

My only goal was to complete the first draft of my Civil War anthology story, Angel of My Dreams. That's finished and waiting for revision.


Despite all my computer problems, I'm pleased that I've also kept up with the edits for Erin's Rebel. I have until July 14 to complete those. And I also finally started self-editing my young adult out-0f-print book, Under the Guns. I've retitled it Cassidy's War and am almost halfway through editing the manuscript.


I'm also getting ready to proofread Confederate Rose. My critique group still has few more chapters to go over, but I thought I could at least start on the proofreading.


I'll be back next with my goals for July.

Been Neglecting the Blog

I've been neglecting my blog lately, but I had a good reason. I spent last weekend camping on a Amish farm in Lancaster County in Pennsylvania Dutch Country.


I had nothing to do but socialize and read, just for enjoyment. No computer, TV, mail or my three sons and their endless laundry. Just me, my husband and two great books.

The one I finished while there was Nicole McCaffrey's The Model Man, from The Wild Rose Press. I don't usually read contemporary romance, but Nic is a friend of mine and who can resist a romance between a romance writer and a male cover model? Yum.


And Nic didn't disappoint.


The other book I started is science fiction by Elizabeth Moon. It's called Marque and Reprisal. I read and loved the first book in this series. There was no romance in the first one, but I loved Moon's lead character, Kylara Vatta. She's such a strong female and captain of her own ship.


I'm not quite halfway through this one, but enjoying it immensely.


Beside the books, I had such a relaxing three days in the heart of Amish farmland with Amish children and young people constantly going past our campsite, and nothing to do but relax.


Ahh!


Now, I just have to get myself back in gear.

What's In a Title?

I've just changed the title of my new Civil War novel again. This is the one about the woman Confederate soldier and the Yankee spy.


When I first started entering it in contests, I titled it Irish Rose, and won a contest under that title. But then I found out Nora Roberts had a book by that title and decided I needed to change it.


I settled on Katie Rose, because that's the main character's name and stuck with that, but now I'm at the point where the manuscript is nearly complete. My critique group is still reading chapters, but I want to start proofreading the opening chapters to get it ready for sale.

But, I went online and discovered a couple of young adult novels have the exact same title and a few romance novels have similar titles.


So, I've decided to make another change. I made a list of possible titles and sent them to my critique group. After all, they've read a great deal of the story and know what it's about.

And the vote was unanimous. My new title is Confederate Rose.


My next announcement for this story will be the completion, which hopefully will be soon.