The Place Between Novels

It's so strange to finish writing a book. I just sent off Rear Entrance Video to my editor at Riptide, Sarah Frantz. When I'm writing a book, I live, breathe, eat and sleep that book. It's in my thoughts from morning 'til night, even when I'm not actively writing. So when it's sent off I feel kind of . . . purposeless. Lost. Empty.

There's this sense of exhaustion and closure, too, that makes me feel like "Welp, that's done, I've written a book, it's all over, back to my normal life now." Except this IS my life, and even when a book is finished, my work as an author is never finished. Well until I die, I guess, or make EL James-money and retire early to swim in gold coins like Scrooge McDuck.

One project's done, time to start the next one, basically. Cut and run. Always on the move. Never look back. Etc.

So here's what's on my docket for winter 2012/2013:

Changeling, sequel to The Druid Stone (starring Michael!) with Violetta Vane. 19,000/90,000 words.
The Flesh Cartel Season 3 with Rachel Haimowitz. 0/80,000 words.
Rear Entrance Video #2 allllll by my~self. 0/65,000 words.

And you know . . . editing. And promotion. (BECAUSE HEY YOU GUYS, MARK OF THE GLADIATOR IS OUT THIS MONTH OMFG!) . . . etc.

Although I'm super psyched to do these sequels, and I feel privileged to even be writing a series of books in the first place when a year ago I'd never finished ANYTHING, I simultaneously kind of feel stalled on them all because it's not the same newness as beginning a completely fresh project. I'm not getting that same disconnect I'm used to where I completely switch gears from one book to the next. It's odd.

Here are a couple of things I *want* to write:

• Post-apocalyptic, nuclear holocaust Fallout/Mad Max: The Road Warrior -type story with a broody loner vigilante/wanderer who begrudgingly takes another man into his protection and, well, y'know.
• Historical starring 1950s actor/musician heartthrobs. You know, Marlon Brando, James Dean, all those glorious brooding maybe-bisexual hotties . . . um, fictionalized of course!
• Tax cowboy: this started as a joke, but I kinda wanna do it anyway. A guy calls the IRS in Austin and falls in love with tax cowboy's sexy voice. (Um that's basically the whole plot.)
• Established relationship short porn-y story involving a change room in a clothing store.
• WHATEVER I can get Aleksandr Voinov to co-write with me already.
• Some M/F!!??!?!?!?!!?

So anyway, that's what my next year's shaping up to look like! Of course, in between there I'll probably have a hundred other ideas that randomly catch my fancy, but aaaaanyway. I guess this is the part where you tell me what you most want me to write?

AND DON'T FORGET: two weeks. Mark of the Gladiator. It's out. You can win a Nook.