First off, Parasexual 4 is out! Just in case you missed it…
eBook here. Paperback here. Lapis nude here.
Secondly, all of the freebies have new cover art, as well as Exploration! Check it out below! (Some lead to nude versions and some lead to the books themselves, depending on whether or not the nude version is now available through my site.)
These are turning out really well! Next up is My Undead Lover, and the Desire series after that. I’m basically trying to get my backlog updated and out of the way.
Okay, now comes the part where I announce a few things that have changed and that are going to happen.
I was struck very powerfully by this idea last week, and I’ve since decided to run with it, and am thinking about implementing it inasmuch as I can from now on.
I’ve decided to try working only on a single thing at a time, until it is done. To go, and go hard, on whatever it is, until completion. Basically, what I used to do. I really have a love-hate relationship with those notions and realizations you sometimes get that are very powerful but also super fucking obvious. It really goes to show that there genuinely is a difference between knowing something and understanding something. And the fact that some lessons you honestly have to relearn.
Right now, the thing I’m going hard on is Parasexual 5. It is the only thing I am writing, the only thing I am creatively working on at the moment. As a result of this, I’m about one third of the way finished with the novel.
So that’s good.
Also, before I move on, a side note about Parasexual. An important one. In planning Parasexual 5, I found myself in a very awkward position. As I reached the end of the layout of Parasexual 5, I realized that this is where the series needed to end. Narratively speaking, there should not be a Parasexual 6. It would feel wrong. However, it also would feel wrong to just completely end it at Parasexual 5. So what to do? I’ve decided to write a novella that, at present, is called Parasexual - Epilogue. And it will be exactly that, an epilogue to the story. I will write it immediately after finishing Parasexual 5.
Now comes another big piece of news, and I think this one is really cool! Hopefully you will, too.
While pondering whether or not I should bundle Parasexual 1, 2, &, 3 into a collection, (which I have in fact decided to do, and will do so from now on moving forward with my titles), someone over on my Goodreads page made a really good point. In short, I’ve been looking at my bonus short stories as DLC, but I’ve been going about it all wrong. Following the DLC metaphor, what I’ve basically been doing is making them exclusive to the Game of the Year Edition. Essentially, if you want the DLC, you have to rebuy the whole game series, which is fucked up. So what I need to do is to create a more cost-friendly means of getting the DLC to people who want it, but don’t want to buy the complete collections.
I have decided to bundle them. I’ll release them in packs that contain bonus content from individual series. For example: Bonus Pack #1 will contain all bonus content related to Hellcats, Wanderlust, Exploration, and My Undead Lover. They’ll cost 2.99$, and unfortunately I won’t be able to enroll them in the Kindle Unlimited, but I will run them at discounts from time to time. But the REALLY cool thing about this is that I will be providing brand new, original content to be bundled with these.
I’ve often been struck by the urge to somehow revisit characters in series that I’ve already wrapped up. Normally, the only way I can do this nowadays is with crossovers. However, this would be a really cool way to sort of check in on the characters a little further down the line and see what they’re up to. Now, I don’t know if I’ll be able to touch on every single series, given that I need to be able to generate at least a decent idea for a short, but I’ll try. (Hellcats, for example, comes to mind as one I don’t really have any idea for. It already has SO much bonus content! But that could change.)
One side effect of this is that the bonus shorts that are presently website exclusives will be taken down and will become Kindle exclusive. Based on my traffic, I think the people who are gonna read them already have a long time ago. So be aware of that.
And now we come to the part where I talk about the bad change I need to make.
The more time goes on, the more it’s really looking like allocating any serious amount of time to Crystal Candy is a bad idea for…basically everyone. Me and the readers. We all suffer. On the one hand, I had a really great time writing A Warm Place, and I do really like what came out, for the most part. But consider this for a moment. So far, since April of this year, altogether I’ve written approximately 330,000 words for Crystal Candy, including all four series I’ve worked on, (A Warm Place, Planet of the Bugs, Refuge, Maidens & Mayhem). Assuming a Misty Vixen novel is 60,000 words on average, that’s about 5 novels I could’ve written. I could be up to Haven 5 or Demoness 7 by now. I try not to get too into the numbers and the fiances of it all, but it is my job, my livelihood, and how I basically stay alive and sane. And based on the sales, 330,000 words as Crystal Candy is worth approximately 1/3 the amount of money of 330,000 words as Misty Vixen.
If I was truly smart, I’d drop everything and write Haven 3 right now. Parasexual 4 is doing okay, but Haven 1 and 2 have sold better than anything I’ve ever written, like by a lot. In fact, I just ran some numbers, and Haven 1+2, this month, have earned more than DOUBLE of what Parasexual 1, 2, 3, & 4 have earned. But I don’t want to leave the Parasexual fans hanging like I’ve had to leave Demoness fans hanging. Or, fuck, Women of the Wild fans.
So here’s what’s going to happen: I’m taking down Refuge and Maidens & Mayhem, and basically putting Crystal Candy on ice. I’ll leave up A Warm Place, because like I said, I like it, and it’s finished, and I’ll suspend the Crystal Candy Patreon, because it wouldn’t really be right to keep it going if I’m not producing anything, and then I’ll just shift focus entirely back to Misty Vixen for awhile. I honestly hate to do this, because I’ve gotten some real love from fans of Crystal Candy, but I fucked up. I should have just stayed the course.
We’ll see how it all shakes out. For now, I’m just putting my head down and finishing out Parasexual and, with it, the Paranormal Universe.
I hope some of this news made people happy, and I’m sorry if it pissed people off. I get it. It sucks. Unfortunately, time is everything. Everything costs time, and the thing I’ve been learning my whole career is: How you spend your time matters. Right now, spending it like this makes the most sense.
This is what my schedule is looking like now.
Finish Parasexual 5
Write Parasexual - Epilogue
Assemble and publish Bonus Collection #1
Write Haven 3
I’m not sure what’s going to happen after that. I might write another few Haven books to build some momentum, but I know that whenever I can take a break from Haven, Demoness V is next, since I’m still very interested in that one. It’s a lot different than Demoness IV and, in some ways, from the others. But yeah, my main focus for 2020 will likely be writing as much Haven as I can, since a lot of people seem to like that, and maybe getting in a novel that I need to write here or there, like Sex & Survival 4, and also getting bonus packs out in between main releases.
So, thank you for helping me however it is you may have helped me, I seriously appreciate it. I hope you continue to enjoy what I have to offer. Wish me luck.