ellenmillion

Write a book.
Edit a book.
Revise a book.
Edit the revised book.
Pay someone to edit the revised book.
Have someone ELSE edit the book.
Edit the book one last time oneself.
Publish the book.
Find typos.
Edit the typos.
Republish the book.
(two years later)
Republish the book in a printed collector's edition.
Open the printed collector's edition to immediately find a typo on page 12.

TRUE STORY.

Ever been in an argument you'd like to turn into a bear to get out of?

Anna fears her life is going nowhere fast. The neighbor is a jerk, the apartment is a wreck, the landlord won't fix things, all the food in the fridge is gone...and now her boyfriend Logan is a bear! Abruptly a Bear is a getting-back-to-good, happy-ever-after, hilarious romp of a novella. Now available in ebook and Kindle Unlimited!

https://books2read.com/abruptlyabear

Each installment in the Suddenly Shifters series is a satisfying standalone with humor and heart, all of them weaving together in an intriguing mystery in a little town where people are suddenly able to shift.

Interested in weekly wrap-ups about everything I'm working on?

Follow me at Patreon for Wednesday WIP posts: https://www.patreon.com/ellenmillion

Photography, artwork, and writing updates, in your inbox or at the Patreon site, every Wednesday. No pledge required!

In June:

I wrote about 6k on All Manner of Hats, 1000 words on Wolf's Instinct edits, 5k on The Dragon Prince's Secret, 2k on Green Valley Christmoose Diasaster, and 1k on the flamingo book I'm not writing. 15k is actually a lot more than I expected to get, or thought I had written. They're all over the place, but they are words!

I did finish an edit pass of Wolf's Instinct and All Manner of Hats and they are out to editors.

I published Her Finister and Breakup.

Smut Report reviewed Prompted 2.

I had a BookBub featured deal for The Royal Dragons of Alaska box set 1 and hit 157 in the Amazon store!

I drew 30 tiny unicorn artcards for Junicorn.

Goals for July:

Publish The Neighbors Might Talk, All Manner of Hats, Hare Today (in Furever Tails). 20k on Firebird of Glass. Fulfilment of Junicorn orders. Serial of Abruptly a Bear at Patreon and Vella.

Breakup is a very short story that is now available free at all major retailers: https://books2read.com/breakup

This was originally included in Shape Shifters Vol 1 (now out of print), and is one of my favorite stories (and now one of my favorite covers, as well!). It is haunting and bittersweet, and I wrote it after trying to describe the sound of river ice breaking up in the spring.

(It won third place in a writing contest, but I always feel awkward saying that because I suspect it was one of those contests with three entries and is therefore pretty meaningless...)

The first box set of Royal Dragons of Alaska is on sale for a very limited time! Grab two thrilling full-length books for just ninety-nine pennies! https://books2read.com/royaldragons1-2

An accountant has been framed for a murder and flees to Alaska, where she meets a gorgeous park ranger...who isn’t a park ranger at all. Reluctant royalty! Relentless enemies! Dragons, dogs, camping, and magic!

A librarian battling chronic health problems and a geeky dragon prince are a perfect pair in this steamy, stand-alone romantic fantasy adventure. Set in an alternate Alaska ruled by a secret dragon monarchy, the two have to unravel a mystery of the magical Compact and protect it from someone willing to steal it at any cost.

Readers say: “I love that these are imperfect people finding their perfect loves.” “This is a great story with well-developed characters and interesting plot.” “You NEED to read this one for its heart, adventure and excellent story line!” “Tania could easily have been a lady in distress, but she isn't ever.”

Looking back at April:

This was the best writing month I’ve had since January of 2020. I wrote 38,075 words, most of it Wolf’s Instinct, a little on Hare Today, and absolutely none on the Flamingo novel that I am definitely not writing and have certainly not shared excerpts of.*

I released two things: Balance and Prompted 2. I had zero expectations for either (the former being a reprint of a short story, the latter being a collection of flash fiction that was free for readers for some time prior to launch) and was satisfied by their reception.

I did a little desultory sketching.

I took some photos.

Looking forward to May:

I plan to write 30k. I would like to write more.

I would like to finish Wolf’s Instinct and Hare Today. (AND NOT FLAMINGO)

I plan to publish Fire Control (revised and expanded!) and Project: Hug (for your pocket! And also with new outcomes!).

I would like to do a little artwork! I’m not going to bite off MerMay, though I am looking forward to doing Junicorn.


*This is a lie. I wrote close to 2k on it.

She's got one life to live

Anita takes a chance at a job she's not sure she can handle and she's tickled pink when the gorgeous billionaire picks her little bakery to cater his big charity event. But what was supposed to be the opportunity of a lifetime turns into the storm of a century.

He's got one leg to stand on

Frank Wilson has built his reputation and his world-spanning lawn ornament business on one tenant: honesty. There's nothing fake about Frank Wilson -- not his fabulous fortune or his amazing physique.

...or his inner flamingo.

Trapped together with his fated mate in his big empty office building with a thousand gourmet cupcakes and no power, Frank is sure that -- finally -- nothing will stand between him and everything that he'd ever wanted, in the arms of a curvy woman wearing an apron. The only problem is, she's not interested in settling down to join his flock.


And to win her heart, he's going to have to put his foot down.



Larry has the perfect life. He travels from casino to resort using his keen lizard shifter skills to win at cards, with no care in the world...until he meets a virgin seal shifter named Shea at the bar of a little place called Shifting Sands Resort...

Shea has clearly lived a sheltered, coddled life of luxury, always protected from life's rougher elements and things like card sharks and cheats.

Now Larry has a week to clean up his act, woo his mate, and concoct a life that won't scare away a sweet innocent thing like her.

But Shea isn't as pure and virtuous as she appears. As a mantis shifter, she knows it is her destiny to find her mate...and eat him.

Can a lucky lizard and a vicious man-eater find happiness on the golden beaches of Shifting Sands?


Both of these fabulous titles are coming...never*! Happy April Fools' Day!



*Maybe.

I have a new book out today, and I'm so excited for it! <3

You can find it on Amazon (and in Kindle Unlimited) here: http://books2read.com/dragonprincesbride
(This should take you to the the correct country site)

It's... a little different than the first two books in the series, which were rags to riches stories. This one is almost a riches to rags - Tray and Leinani have to make do a lot in this story. It plays on some of my favorite tropes: stuck together, an engagement to the wrong person, some A-level pining, but most of all, good people making each other better and really genuinely caring for each other. There is actual story (around the sweet, frequently hilarious angst), with plot and intrigue and there are even a few action scenes, plus my second favorite marriage proposal ever. They are beautifully honest with each other, largely because they have to be, and I got to do some of the juicy magical world-building that I love so much.

And the set up for the next book is maybe a tiny bit of a bombshell. (I can't WAIT to write it.)

February in review:

February pretends to be a month, even though it’s short, and I did pretty well, considering. I wrote about 19k on The Dragon Prince’s Bride (finishing it!), then revised it and sent it off for first readers. I revised Fire Control to the tune of about 3k new words (also finished!), wrote eight pieces of flash fiction for Prompted 2 (4500 words in total, it is also done!), and instead of doing the next project that I probably ought to be working on, I dove directly into the next Suddenly Shifters novella, Abruptly a Bear and wrote 3750 on it, for a total word count of just over 30k.

March goals:

I want to continue my slow-and-steady rate of 1000 words/day, because it does (eventually) get the work done. After I’ve finished Abruptly a Bear, I plan to revise and expand a few novellas (Throw Me a Bone and All Manner of Hats in particular), revise The Dragon Prince’s Bride, and maybe start in on Firebird of Glass (this is going to be a helluva book). I also have a few releases penciled into my calendar: specifically Prompted 2 and Better Half... if I ever get my laptop back (day 8). I expect that The Dragon Prince’s Bride will release in late April (I’m braced for big edits).

I am pulling Shape Shifters down in order to put some of the individual stories up in Kindle Unlimited. I love this collection madly, but Amazon refuses to admit that someone may actually search for it and want to find it, and only some of the stories can be offered in KU. So I’ll be doing a polish run and re-release of several of the individual stories, in a new series of shorts and novellas I’m tentatively calling Birch Bits. After I’ve got enough out, I’ll collect them thematically.

I also plan to go for walks, woo the birbs (they will eat from my hand and stand on my head now), belly dance, do the Sketch Fest Blowout, set up Shifting Sands tees, and of course, homeschool. Many things are laptop dependent.