This week has been a lot of fun (notwithstanding some creeping crud’s mostly unsuccessful attempt to get hold of me the last few days). I don’t think there’s been another week when I’ve had so many different things going on to make me feel like a “real” author. The fact that they happened all at once made it a little stressful, but a lot of fun.

First, the galley proofs came back for my Shadowrun novel, Borrowed Time. Now instead of looking like a double-spaced standard MS Word manuscript, it looks like a book. Spent some time looking over that, made some suggestions, and now it’s in the hands of the Powers that Be. I think I’ll get one more chance to look it over–not sure. But I think it’s in about the best shape it can be in as far as I’m concerned.

Cover art should be coming soon–not sure when, but I think I might be getting the same artist as fellow SR freelancer Kevin Czarnecki, who wrote Crimson, the novel that comes before mine. That’s a good thing–the Crimson cover is gorgeous, and I can’t wait to see how the artist works his magic with Winterhawk. Holy cats…seeing Winterhawk on the cover of a real, honest-to-goodness Shadowrun novel…I’m still pinching myself about that.

News is good on my own series front, as well. The first one, Stone and a Hard Place, is back from editing, all the comments have been incorporated, and the layout is done. The second one, The Forgotten (newly revised and updated), is currently in the hands of the editor and expected back some time in early April.

The big news, though, is that I got the cover back for the first one. I used Streetlight Graphics based on a recommendation from someone whose cover I really liked and their online gallery, and it’s been a wonderful experience all around. They do good work, they do it fast, and they’re patient and responsive to tweaks.

I haven’t revealed the cover yet, because I’m trying to actually do some PR for the series launch and I want to do a cover reveal. But let me tell you–it looks sweet. I can’t wait to see what it looks like on an actual physical book.

The next couple of months are going to be pretty exciting for me, with the launch of both my Stone Chronicles series in March and Borrowed Time in April.