Raventower & Merriweather 2: War and Wattpad

Yes!  Finally!  The second Raventower & Merriweather book is out! 

Here is a link to both of them in Smashwords

And here is a link to the new book at Amazon

War has come to the city of Kamere. The Atrian ships are blockading the coast and occasionally landing troops in attempts to either take the city or to capture some of Sedina's coastline.

The villages inland are in chaos, food supplies are already growing scarce, and several areas of the city are in ruins. However, the Sedina forces -- Army, Navy, and Air Patrol -- are keeping the mass of Atrians out.

Atrian assassins are still trying to kill Lord Raventower. More worrisome than that, however, is the Atrian's dangerous interest in the object lying on the ocean floor near Raventower itself.

Clockwork giant spiders, glowing women -- family dinner gatherings with the Merriweathers -- Micalus Raventower is not certain even the redoubtable Captain Merriweather and his clockwork creations can keep him safe from all the trouble he's attracting.

These are run Steampunk/Clockwork/Fantasy books. I hope you enjoy them!

And in other news, I have started posting a novel on Wattpad:

Circe's sacred forest is a place where wounded and hunted animals can find sanctuary.  She and her long-time companions -- a one-eyed wolf, a cat with a limp, and a tailless mouse -- have lived quietly until a wounded young man wanders into her woods, followed by those who are hunting him.  When the All-Mother lets Circe know that she must help Tiernan, the best she can do is to send her friends to protect him, though they cannot go in their animal forms.

You can find the story here.  Four chapters are up now and more will be added soon.  

Two new books and Why just Smashwords?

This week I've released two new novels:

Paid in Gold an Blood (fantasy)

Katashan left behind his past; all the good and the bad, including his belief that the gods would help him in a time of need. Moving to a new land, he has every intention of starting a new life. What he finds, though, is the body of a woman sacrificed at the foot of a statue to a benevolent goddess. Katashan is soon caught up in a mix of magical and political troubles -- and drawing far too much attention from the gods he no longer serves.

Vita's Vengeance (Science Fiction)

Alsandor Vita has returned home with bad news for those who hoped outsiders would help against a treacherous enemy poised to invade their world. Despite the situation, Alsandor hadn't expected dramatic changes in his own future, but unusual circumstances soon give him a chance to fight the war in ways he never expected, leading Alsandor into a perilous world of secret identities and dangerous allies.

The war will affect the lives of others as well, from generals to presidents and from farm boys to pirates -- all caught in a tangle of deceptions, desperation and lies.

Both of these can be found on Smashwords, which offers versions for Kindle, Nook, Sony and other ebook readers, as well as PDF.

http://www.smashwords.com/profile/view/zetteG

At the moment, they are only available on Smashwords.

Why haven't I gone ahead and posted on the Kindle and Nook sites?

Amazon has done a couple things lately that have directly affected me. First, for no reason at all, they decided to remove the Forward Motion Storefront, which had over 150 entries by people at FM. The reason? The note said that someone associated with us had done something that was against their rules, so we lost the store.

Right. Not that I had done anything, and the store was in my name. But Someone they didn't name did something they won't tell me.

Next, I happened to notice that some of my books were suddenly going from live to draft and with no reason at all. And no notice. I have no idea how long this has been going on.

I just found this all so annoying and unprofessional on their part that I have been trying to decide if I even want to go back there. That along with their high-handed decision to remove reviews by anyone who writes in that genre, plus removing tags so people can't use those to find books . . . Yeah, it's still the big name, but that doesn't make them good.

On the reviews part, someone told me she liked Amazon better than Smashwords because she could answer reviews on Amazon. I actually think this is a bad thing, and I'm just as glad you can't write notes on reviews at Smashwords. I also like that you can only review things you've bought at Smashwords, so you can't get people who (for good or bad) write reviews on stuff that they haven't read.

The Nook site is a slightly different situation. They are, as many people know, going through changes. There was some concern off the start, but they've changed a few thing for the better. I have nothing really against the Nook site, but I don't make enough sales there to worry too much over it. I let Smashwords handle my Nook uploads, even though Smashwords then takes a small cut.

Amazon kept claiming they were going to let Smashwords do the same there has, of course, not come through.

Is Smaswords perfect? Of course not. I've gone crazy trying to figure out why some books go through the process without a problem and others don't. I've reworked and reworked some, and still not gotten it right. That's part of the annoying world of Indie Publishing -- having to figure out everything on your own.

At the moment, my choice of distributors is based on a growing distrust of Amazon, a wait-and-see feeling towards Barnes and Noble, and the feeling that at least Smashwords only concern is ebooks and making money for the authors (and them). At Smashwords, we aren't a dangling addition to the 'real' store. I like the feel of it much better than trying to deal with the megalomaniac take over the world feel from Amazon. I'll probably get over that feeling later, but right now for my personal books, I'm sticking to the place where I feel writers at least are important to the business.

New Publication: Muse

Muse is not entirely new; the book was originally published by Holly Lisle many years ago. With the manuscript back in my hands, I did a much-needed edit and updating. I choose Muse as an 'easy' next publication and one I wanted to get back into print. This proved to be a really fun book to work on again. I hope you enjoy it!

For a limited time, you can get the book for $1.99 from Smashwords (available in all major ebook versions there, including Kindle, Nook, Sony and PDF).

Use this code: ZH59P

Muse by Lazette Gifford

Welcome to Muse....

Stranded when his car breaks down, Killian Dain Fox overhears a cop and a gas station clerk discussing murder and the exchange of money. Although he tries to believe he misheard the conversation, by the time KD meets a few more of the locals, he's convinced the entire small town is inhabited by a gang of murderers.

Between the massive storms that threaten to flood the town, a would-be killer on the loose, and his growing attraction to the town's pretty mayor, Killian Dain Fox is on a roller-coaster of a ride. And when someone tries to kill him, he just hopes he can get out alive.

(Book contains mild sex scene.)

Here's part of Chapter One:

There were not supposed to be any hills in Nebraska, which is why he came this way.

Killian stomped on the gas pedal and listened as the engine revved like a grand prix racer . . . and the car continued to slow with the top of the hill a good ten yards away. Momentum alone kept them moving upward while gravity dragged at the back bumper. He didn't think old Rosie the Rambler could take this one.

And to make certain Killian knew all the world and God stood against him tonight, lightning flashed almost directly overhead. A heartbeat later, the first splotches of rain hit the dusty windshield as the car crept forward, so slow the speedometer didn't move. Thunder rolled through the air and a wind gust sent dirt and twigs rushing ahead of the car with a not so subtle reminder that everything moved faster than him tonight.

Row after row of corn stretched out on both sides of the road, the stalks waving back and forth like demented stick men drawings. A deer darted out of the cornfield to the right pausing to watch the car before he made a leisurely jaunt up the incline. The animal stopped at the crest of the hill to look back, probably laughing before leaping once more into the frantic cornfield.

By some miracle, Rosie reached the crest. Killian pulled over to the side and had a short-lived celebration. Very short-lived; in the next flash of lightning saw see an even higher hill ahead. He would never reach the top of that one, even with a good rollercoaster run down the far side of this one.

"Damn!"

Rain fell harder as he shoved the car door open and stepped out. He welcomed the cold winds after the stifling heat and humidity of the long day, sweltering day. However, having grown up on the high plains of Colorado, he knew how dangerous storms like this could be.

Maybe lightning would strike him and he wouldn't have to go the rest of the way to Chicago and work for KKGO -- The television station on the Go! -- as their third shift news commentator. Maybe fate, God and Rosie the Rambler all conspired to keep him away from a job he hadn't wanted in the first place.

Lightning branched through the sky from east to west in a continuous line across the horizon. His breath caught at the sight, awed by the power of Mother Nature as the storm briefly illuminated the shadowed land between one hill and the next.

Gas station sign.

"Holy shit, Batman! We're saved!"

The glowing neon sign sat just a little off the road at the bottom of this hill. Rain already nearly obscured the location, but he marked the spot and jumped into Rosie, pulling the door closed against the wind and the sudden deluge of rain.

Killian stomped down on the gas pedal. The car inched forward, the tires slipping on the wet weeds at the side of the road. Stupid mistake to pull over, especially since he hadn't seen another car in half an hour or more. The last had been a black Corvette heading like a bat out of hell in the opposite direction. Probably an omen and he'd been too stupid to read the signs.

Rosie unexpectedly broke free of the entangling weeds, hit the pavement with a painful jolt, and started down the hill. And damn they were moving fast! Killian turned on the windshield wipers, for what little good they did in this deluge, and hit the horn in case the deer had wandered out somewhere ahead of him, thinking himself safe from a car it could out walk.

He began to brake near the bottom of the hill, desperately trying to find the turnoff through the deluge. Even if he didn't find the road, he wouldn't have far to walk. Then he saw the sign -- Welcome to something -- and turned the car sharply to the left and onto the side road. He could see the gas station on the right where a glowing red Quickshop sign illuminated a doorway that looked like the gates to heaven on a night like this.

Rosie coasted to the edge of the sloped driveway. Killian pulled off to the side, miring the car in mud and weeds once more, knowing the car would never take even such a small incline. She'd gotten him this far and he could walk the last half block to the entrance.

The rain hadn't let up. Killian pulled his hooded jacket out of the debris of food wrappers and discarded maps. Then, looking at the upward curve of the driveway, and considering the rain and wind, he wrestled his cane out as well. No use taking any chances.

The cane proved a wise decision. The asphalt from the street to the gas pumps looked like the cratered field in a war zone; potholes nearly put him down three times.

When he reached the pumps he could see two people inside and one of them was even a cop! He spotted the police car parked at the side of the building beside what might be a Gremlin. He didn't think any of those were still on the road. The sight made him feel a little better about his old Rambler.

If not the actual gates of heaven, he had at least reached help. The sanctuary included a coffee dispenser on the wall opposite the door. The thought of even bad hot coffee appealed to him after this drenching rain. Killian hurried the last few steps and pushed open the door to a flood of air-conditioned and coffee-scented air.

The tall, lanky clerk at the register glanced in his direction before turning back to the shorter, dark-haired cop who leaned against the counter.

"No, I can't, Tom," the clerk said with a remorseful shake of his head. "I did that with Angela. This has to be unique for George. Strange. Different."

"That's your problem, Don," the cop answered. "Maybe you should try for something less exotic this time."

Killian went past the two, grateful for the chance to reach the coffee before he had to deal with the car problem. The cop didn't look likely to go charging off at any moment, at least.

"Oh yeah. That's easy for you to say," the clerk answered, sounding desperate. "You don't have another five people to kill."

Killian, a plastic cup in hand, glanced at the clerk, thinking he must have misheard. He purposely turned away and poured the coffee, putting the lid over the top of the cup before he started back to the register.

The cop shook his head. "You're running out of time, Don."

"I know I'm running out of time! I've managed three unique murders already. They really can't expect more from me!"

"You took the money. You could try giving it back."

"You know I can't. And what would I do if I could? I'd have to change my name and start over, if I could even get a contract again. No. I have to come up with a good way to kill him!"

Killian took a step backwards, but the clerk looked up, suddenly startled as though he hadn't seen Killian walk in. "Oh! Sorry, I thought you were a snit when you came in!"

The cop slowly turned. Killian looked to the door, but he didn't think he could get past both of them.

"You didn't drive up. Let me guess." The cop shook his head as he waved towards the storm. "Car problems? Always happens on nights like this, doesn't it?"

Words froze at Killian's lips. He forced sounds out, trying to remain calm and ignore the wild speculation rushing through his head. At least he had the cane for whatever protection it might be. "Ah. Yeah. Car problems. I coasted as far as the drive."

New Release: Devlin's Team, File 1: Dancer

A low tech world, a simple assignment -- what can go wrong?

Devlin is a top agent for the Inner Worlds Council Security force -- a spy in common terms -- and she's not very happy with an assignment to the backwater world of Forest. Settled by the Work for Man fanatics, the government has restricted not only the use of tech equipment but also regulate nearly every aspect of life for the small population. The settlement is boring and the people don't like outsiders.

There is one anomaly, though: The brutal show known as bear dancing pits a human against a native life form. Devlin's work is to learn about the show and report what she can about the bears themselves because there is suddenly outside interest.

The people involved in the bear dance are secretive. She's gathered all the information she thinks she can, and she's ready to move on. However, when a top-ranking scientist arrives on world, Devlin thinks she might be able to pick up a little bit more information.

And that's something the locals fear.

Kindle

Nook

Smashwords

***

This is my 17th novel release in my 50 years of writing project.

The Long View Project

A moment of revelation in chat the other day has created a wonderful, long term (the next five years) project for me.

I started my first original science fiction trilogy (Sooma), when I was 13. I had been writing other original material with my friend, Linda, but this was the first set of stories totally my own and not fanfiction. No, you will never see the books. But oh, how I remember the giddy feeling of creating everything out of my head. I haven't stopped writing since.

That was 45 years ago.

Yes, you can do the math. Shocks me, too. But we are really the age in our heads, not our bodies, you know. I'm still in my 20's or 30's. I haven't lost that 'oh this is fun!' feeling. I don't intend to, or the feeling that things will get better.

But that's not the point.

I have been writing for 45 years. In five years I'll have been writing for 50 years. For about 30 of those years I still believed the teacher who told me I would never publish unless I had a college education, so I wrote for myself and my friends. Things changed finally with the help of my husband and Holly Lisle, and I began selling quite well for awhile, at least to small press and electronic markets.

Then I spent time concentrating on going 'big' only to finally realize I was not writing for the big market. I wasn't interested in most of the books on the shelves so how was I going to fit into there? I kept getting 'well-written, interesting story, not what we're publishing now' rejections.

Time to go Indie. And for the last two years, I've been having a great time. Right now I have 16 novels published -- 7 through ACOA (Indie), 8 through Double Dragon and 1 through Writer's Exchange. If I add in the nonfiction there are at least two more, but for the moment I'm going to concentrate on fiction. That's 16 novels.

Okay, so here we are. 45 years. 16 novels published (actually a couple more, but they're either no longer available or going to be republished soon). I have written somewhere around 100 novels in at least first draft form and many of them well past that but not in the final, ready-to-publish draft. I've had a problem there, it seems. It's not the 'oh shiny!' and leap to a new project problem. It's pretty much the opposite 'I'm not ready to let it go' problem.

Time to push myself a bit harder. Time to focus on final edits and publishing.

I plan to have 50 novels in print by the end of 2018, which will mark my 50th year of writing.

Yes, that's going to be a lot of work. This means finishing the editing on about 8 books a year.

I have a preliminary list of 29 books (bringing the total up to 45) of possibles:

A Plague of Rats (Fantasy)

Badlands (Science Fiction)

Circe's Gifts (Fantasy)

Devlin 1 (Science Fiction)

Devlin 2 (Science Fiction)

Devlin 3 (Science Fiction)

Devlin 4 (Science Fiction)

Glory (Urban Fantasy)

In the Service of the Queen (Fantasy)

Journey to Winter (Fantasy)

Living in Caine's Hold (Science Fiction)

Mirrors (Urban Fantasy)

Mirrors 2 (Urban Fantasy)

Muse (Mystery)

News from the Front (Science Fiction)

Paid in Gold and Blood (Fantasy)

Rat Pirates (Science Fiction)

Resurrection 1: Chance and Change (Science Fiction)*

Ruins (Mystery)

Serendipity Blues (Mystery)

Singer & St. Jude: Lost Cause (Science Fiction)

Summerfield: Autumn Winds (Urban Fantasy)

Summerfield: Winter Warning (Urban Fantasy)*

Vita's Vengeance (Science Fiction)

Waiting for the Last Dance (YA Mystery)

Water/Stone/Light 1 (Fantasy)

Water/Stone/Light 2 (Fantasy)*

Written in the Sand (Fantasy)

Xenation: Draw the Line (Science Fiction)

This is not a set-in-stone list. For instance, the three marked with asterisks have not been written yet, though I plan to have them done this year. (Camp NaNo and November NaNo!) Of all the rest, only two of them (Serendipity Blues, Water/Stone/Light 1) are in first draft format. The rest have all gone through at least one, and sometimes several, rewrites. Yes, really -- I have that 'letting go' problem.

Can I do this? I don't know. I'm not going to rush anything out and edits take more time than writing the original work for me. Devlin 1 is almost ready to go, though. I just got some final information I've been looking for to complete the edits on Waiting for the Last Dance as well. Muse and Ruins were both previously published at Holly's store and I just want to clean them up. The Singer & St. Jude novel is still available from Double Dragon, but we agreed I would take that one back and I plan to do a rewrite and fit it into the IWC (my science fiction universe) time line a bit better. As you can tell from the number, there are other books in this series, but I am not sure I'll get to any of them in the next five years. We'll see.

Yes, this is a crazy project. But I've done well with crazy projects in the past. I'm the person who finishes every story and does so within a year. I write over a million words a year and have for a decade now I think. Time to turn that attention from new to final edits, though.

Time to get serious about publishing the way I am serious about writing. This is the nudge -- okay, shove -- that I think I need.

Will I make it? We have until December 31, 2018 to find out!