Writing often involves escaping to other worlds, and living there for an hour or two, before we pull ourselves back. They are not always better worlds -- in fact, many of my fellow writing friends and I relish creating places full of danger, disaster and treachery. And then we throw our poor Main Characters, often wounded in body and soul, into the morass, guiding them more often toward trouble then away from it.

And this is what we do for fun.

It used to be that I would read Homer and the Greek Myths and wonder why the ancient gods bothered with the lives of boring, mortals since it seemed they were always stepping in and stirring things up. Now, however, I have a far better understanding. It's so much fun to play Goddess to my own worlds, and it would certainly be boring if I didn't bring trouble to those poor characters.

Time also passes differently for writers. We live a week in our imaginary world, words flowing from fingers to screen or paper, and then look around only to find barely an hour has passed in the real world. Or we may, as I recently did, linger for hours on several successive days, enmeshed in the minute details as an injured pilot tries to bring his small craft down to safety on an unknown world.

But at some point we all have to come back to here and now, at least for a little while. So I have slipped away from my time-traveling teens, my reality-hopping heroes, and the injured pilot who did *not* land well (oh yes, always more trouble) to tell you about my latest publications.

So far it's been a busy year.

As I mentioned in my last newsletter, months ago, I sold an eight book fantasy series to Double Dragon Ebooks in February. Quest for the Dark Staff follows two heroes as they try to retrieve pieces of an evil staff that warps the worlds wherever they appear. Even though I had written the series already, it was about twenty years old and needed to be reworked. The publisher knew this, so that wasn't a problem. However, it did turn into something of a shock for me I started working on Book 1 and realized that 'rework' was actually a euphemism for 'rewrite from scratch.'

Which is what I've been doing this year. I have turned in three of the books, and the first is already published. I am doing the last edits on book four this month. I've also already completed the first draft of book five.

And I will write the first draft of the sixth book in November during the annual madness known as NaNoWriMo -- National Novel Writing Month. (http://www.nanowrimo.org/ ) During the month of November, a number of dedicated (euphemism for 'crazed') writers will do their best to turn out a novel of at least 50k words. Book 6 of the Dark Staff series is perfect for me since I already have it plotted. I'm also not worried since my slowest writing month this year was January at 50,472 words, and that was before I sold the series.

I have also turned in Living in Caine's Hold to Embiid books, and hope that this is the final rewrite I will have to do on that novel. I also sold a young adult mystery novel to Writers Exchange Ebooks in February. The final draft and copyedits have been done, as well as the cover art (I got to do the cover for this one!). I'm not certain when it will be out.

The novel work has slowed down my usual writing/sales of short stories, but I still have a few new ones out there:

(Links to all of the novels and stories listed below can be found at my web site: http://Lazette.net)

*Aubreyan (The Dark Staff Series, Book 1)
Published by Double Dragon eBooks and available from Fictionwise

Having the attention of the gods is not always a blessing...

The long, magical wars ended when the elves left the lands of men, conjuring an impenetrable barrier to keep the humans out of their new realm. They left man only with the sorcery he could create, taking all the creatures of magic to Ishan with them... except for one...

This is the first of an eight book series.

*Beyond the Skyline (Yard Dog Press)

This is a collection of first reactions to the tragedy of September 11th, and includes not only my short piece, but also Elizabeth Moon, Vera Nazarian, Linda Dunn... and many others in all walks of life. Money from sales will be given to specific families who lost loved ones in the attack.

I also have new stories up at various ezines

*Dangerous Patterns (Dark Moon Rising)

The crew of a space ship must find the reason behind a dangerous computer glitch that that could lead t.


*Would That It Were (Fables)

A trader faces an ice-skating camel and a fortuneteller's dire warning -- to beware of small furry creatures.

*Seri Ember (Fiction Inferno)

A genderless clone, searching for a long lost friend, witnesses a brutal murder, and may be the next victim.

From the Editor: This is one of the profoundly touching works of science fiction that I've seen since LeGuin's Left Hand of Darkness.

*Intrusion (Jintsu)

A lone archaeologist on an alien world finds that she may need the help of a scout ship when the local fauna unexpectedly turn dangerous.

*Broken Wings (Alternate Realities)

Stephen loved storms, and the freedom they gave him to leave the world behind...


My Other Projects

Yes, there are times when I'm not writing stories... although looking at all my side projects, I can see that almost all of them are all still writing-related.

*Sff.Net's E-Stand (Create and maintain)

If you are looking for things to read on-line, this is a good place to come and browse. Both ebook and ezine publications are listed, not only alphabetically, but also by genre. http://www.sff.net/estand

*Holly Lisle's Vision: A Resource for Writers (Managing Editor, Create and Maintain)

We shall soon be publishing our 11th issue of Vision. Each issue is filled with articles on many aspects of writing, as well as interviews with authors. If you are interested in writing, take a look. http://lazette.net/vision

*Forward Motion (Assistant Site Host)

This is an incredible site for writers. We have classes, critique groups, discussion boards, chat, and nearly 1000 members, all of them working to help each other achieve publication. The site has several published authors associated with it, in several genres. http://hollylisle.com

*The Good Read (Create and maintain)

This is my latest Internet project. Having spent too much time looking through reviews of books by people who obviously didn't like what they read, I decided it was time to start a site offering reviews by people who enjoyed the material they read, in hopes that others will find reviewers with similar tastes. Still in the very early stages, it's already garnered some good reactions. http://www.sscdc.net/goodread

*Zette's Henry Doorly Zoo site (Create and maintain)

Digital photography is my only true non-writing obsession. This site (which has drawn attention from zoo employees) features hundreds of pictures, mostly divided by species. Eventually, I hope to add information on individual animals, but for now you can go and enjoy the pictures. Be sure to click on any picture you like to see the larger version. http://www.sscdc.net/hdz

And that's it for this newsletter! If I survive the madness of November, I might even get another newsletter out this year!

Thanks everyone!

Zette