The Relaunch of Keir #scifi #romance

In just two days, my debut SciFi romance novel Keir will re-release. Woo hoo! Hades, it's been a long haul to get my first book baby back out into the world. Keir was originally published on the 7th May 2012 by Lyrical Press Inc (you'll notice how I'm doing the re-release on what would have been its third book birthday. So a rebirth in many ways). It came down from retailers in January 2014 after Lyrical Press was acquired by Kensington. After much thought, I decided to decline the new contract, and my rights were returned to me. The last print copy sold in August 2014.

So you might be wondering why it's taken so long to re-release a book that has already been published once and that I've had back for nearly 18 months. Well, part of the reversion rights state that I'm not allowed to use the edits provided by the publisher ie I had to go back to the original draft and start again. That was pretty time consuming. Not only did my poor debut book need a lot of editing first time around (this was my first novel after all, even though I've been writing pretty much all my life. That, in itself, is a rarity from what I've heard) but I've also grown a lot as a writer in the five years since I wrote it.

It had also been edited down from 110K to fit the 100K maximum that Lyrical allowed. That's a lot of words I could potentially add back in now that I no longer had a word count limit. There were things I was compelled to change/include/remove that I wasn't 100% happy about but believed they were the right thing to do at the time. And now, I also had the opportunity to change things I'd become unhappy with a couple of years down the line FYI, most authors would probably tweak a book forever if they could).

So my first task was completely overhauling the original draft myself before putting it through my oh so wonderful editor Danielle Fine (in fact, it was thanks to Lyrical and Keir that Dani and I met, and she's stuck with me ever since even after going freelance). It was hard revising that original draft! Since it wasn't all that long ago that it had extensive edits (okay, three and a half years but anyone who has done extensive edits on a manuscript with a publisher after spending a couple of years revising said manuscript will know how this feels - it seemed far too soon to be doing it all AGAIN), I can honestly say I didn't enjoy the process and it dragged out a long time.

Plus last year turned out incredibly hectic for me. Having lost one publisher in a sell out, and a second closing its doors leaving two of my unpublished books homeless, 2014 started badly and I didn't expect to ever release another book. I even considered quitting - letting the one contracted book run to the end of its term, then pull it and the two self pubbed stories I had. It was a serious low point.

Then a complete turnaround! I found a home for three of my novellas with Breathless/Lycaon Press AND wrote two short stories specifically for their submission calls. This meant five sets of edits, five releases and, because BP arrange blog tours but I still planned my own too, TEN blog tours! Plus two self published shorts with the same run of edits and releases. 2014 felt like the never-ending year of edits and tours - exciting but also completely exhausting.

Around all this, I tried to keep working on Keir, but constantly finding excuses not to - both real and made up. However, I did have an incentive. While I was crawling my way through the edits, Dani and I finalized the artwork. And it was glorious! Not only did I now have Quin on the cover-- something I didn't get with my Lyrical cover--but a tattoo I designed specifically for Keir himself made up part of it - a symbol that will be used throughout the series. Getting the book done to fit the cover became an imperative, and I took full advantage of the opportunity to reclaim the story as wholly mine, with no publisher to satisfy (though Dani will never let me put out less than my best, for which I'm grateful).

But even once I'd done my revisions, the edits with Dani had to fit into her schedule too. I must admit to much Muppet flailing as the provisional re-release date drew closer with edits still in progress (entirely my fault. I had plenty of time to get it done and procrastinated a lot instead).

But now my first book baby will be reborn on the day it would have been three years old. Ironic that its time line is now somewhat confused considering it's a time travel romance with a discussion about paradox. I'm hoping the changes I've made have improved the story. For those who've read it, I've added a little more of the Emissary, and more of Quin's background. You'll also be getting more of Keir himself.  - in total, another 11K. Consider it the extended edition. There's also a sneak peek at book two in the back.

And what's next? Well, sadly Breathless Press closed its doors last Friday. With Keir back out, I now need to focus on putting four of my five titles from them back out too. I hope to bring you book two - Keir's Fall - before the end of this year, and a side story set directly after book one at the start of next year. For now, I leave you with my new cover and blurb for the relaunch of Keir.

A Science Fiction Romance Novel
Goodreads | Available from...
Amazon | All Romance eBooks
Kobo | iTunes | Scribd | B&N
 Google Play | Smashwords

Blurb:

A demon waiting to die...
An outcast reviled for his discolored skin and rumors of black magic, Keirlan de Corizi sees no hope for redemption. Imprisoned beneath the palace that was once his home, the legendary 'Blue Demon of Adalucien' waits for death to finally free him of his curse. But salvation comes in an unexpected guise.

A woman determined to save him.
Able to cross space and time with a wave of her hand, Tarquin Secker has spent eternity on a hopeless quest. Drawn by a compulsion she can't explain, she risks her apparent immortality to save Keir, and offers him sanctuary on her home-world, Lyagnius. But Quin has secrets of her own.

When Keir mistakenly unleashes the dormant alien powers within him and earns exile from Lyagnius, Quin chooses to stand by him. Can he master his newfound abilities in time to save Quin from the darkness that seeks to possess her?

Book One of the Redemption series and part of the Travellers Universe. Previously released by Lyrical Press Inc. 7th May 2012

Tour Dates and Places

4th May SFR Station - spotlight
7th May Literary Lagniappe - Two Hero Inspirations (+giveaway)

7th May The Multi-verses of Liza O - No, It's Not Twilight
7th May Romance Authors At Large - Top Five Movie Inspirations
8th May Cover Reveals - excerpt
11th May Mark of the Stars - excerpt
12th May SFR Brigade - How Alien are your Characters?
12th May Spacefreighters Lounge - The Cover Art That Could Have Been
15th May Everyday Fangirl - My Four Rs of Writing

27th May The Perils of Pauline - Why I Wrote Keir
3rd June Katherine McIntyre - interview

Events

Tethered is currently up for Best Novella in the InD'tale RONE Awards! Do I need to tell you I'd love to have your vote? Go HERE if you'd like to show your support.

My newsletter will be going out on the 7th at the release of Keir, and there's a special treat - the cover reveal for Keir's Fall, book two in the Redemption series. OooooOooooOOoo!

Ping Pong

Donna, feel better soon!

Greta, the subject of genre is definitely a heated one for authors. I tend to write first, then look to see where my book might fit best. But I only need to look at how readers label my book somewhere like Goodreads to know that, aside from the actual submitting and marketing aspect, whatever I label my book as my readers may have very different ideas. As long as I do my best trying to summarize it so as not to mislead readers, that's really all I can do.

Laurie, it's very interesting to see your thoughts on serialization. As a reader, I'm not keen. As an author, it's something I would consider and bearing in mind the Bad and the Ugly, lol.