The first installment in The Lost Song Trilogy is going into edits very soon. The book should be out early in 2012 by MuseItUp Publishing. We’ll give you a teaser with the book cover as soon as I have it in my hot little hands.
This will be book 4 in the Bowdancer Saga for all of you who have read the first three books from Breathless Press.
Stay tuned.
I just got word today from Muse It Up Publishing that they will be picking up The Lost Song trilogy, books 5, 6, and 7 in the sequence of The Bowdancer Saga. I’m waiting now for the paperwork.
This is exciting news because Muse It Up has been so very good to give this series a careful reading and to offer it a new home. What this means is that Muse It Up will be able to offer The Lost Song trilogy as both an ebook and a printed version. In addition, they are very eager to offer more of Jan-nell the bowdancer’s adventures. This couldn’t have come a better time.
We are preparing a huge book launch event here in Grand Forks November 5, 2010 when Warrior Women, book three of the saga, is released by Breathless Press. We will be scheduling a number of events that day to celebrate. We are excited about having Chris O’Brien and his band Enchanted Ape and Matthew Probst and his band Gypsy Lumberjacks on the stage at the Crosstown Lounge that evening at 10 pm. Chris and Matt wrote the music for the first two Bowdancer book trailers and are busy writing the soundtrack for Warrior Women. They will be rolling up their sleeves for The Lost Song trilogy as well. (In addition Chris has expressed interest in writing music for the Ruins trilogy and for Sugar Magnolia which will be out next year from Muse It Up.)
Chris and I will be appearing on local radio and doing a couple of public readings with music.
The second book in The Bowdancer Saga was released Aug 6, and I’ve been doing a virtual blog tour with some of my fellow authors at Breathless Press. It’s Breathless Press’ First Birthday this month. We’ve arranged a blog round robin and a couple of mass blogs and a chat.
Please note that I will be hosting authors at a new adult blog because of the explicit nature of some of the excerpts from these other authors. It is called Desire and Craving and can be found here: http://desireandcraving.blogspot.com
Below is a schedule of the stops:
Aug 1-5 Gina Gordon at Tara Nichols’ blog (http://tarasnichols.blogspot.com)
Aug 5 Abby Wood at her blog (http://authorabbywood.com)
Aug 6-9 Honoria at Tara Nichols’ blog (http://tarasnichols.blogspot.com)
Aug 6 Janie Franz at Dark Cravings (http://darkcravings.blogspot.com) Janie’s release day, Honoria’s release day
Aug 6 Janie Franz at Book Cover Lovers (http://bookcoverlovers.blogspot.com) Janie’s release day, Honoria’s release day
Aug 6 Honoria at Writing on the River’s Edge (Janie’s Blog) Janie’s release day, Honoria’s release day
Aug 8 Moved to Desire and Craving (Janie’s new blog) (http://desireandcraving.blogspot.com)
Aug 9 Janie Franz at Berengaria Brown’s blog (http://berengariasblog.blogspot.com)
Aug 9 Berengaria Brown at Fiona Vance’s blog (http://www.fionavance.com)
Aug 10 Janie Franz at Abby’s blog (http://authorabbywood.com)
Aug 11-16 Janie Franz at Tara Nichols’ blog (http://tarasnichols.blogspot.com)
Aug 11 Sheila at Selene’s blog (http://selenenoreen.com)
Aug 12 Abby as Debra at her Debra blog (www.debrakayn.com)
Aug 12 Janie Franz at Ambrielle’s blog (www.ambriellekirk.com)
Aug 12 Mary Corrales at Desire and Craving (Janie’s new blog) (http://desireandcraving.blogspot.com)
Aug 13 Janie Franz at Debra’s blog (www.debrakayn.com)
Aug 15 BP CHAT at Romance Books R Us (Marianne’s site)3pm-9pm ET, Must join to participate http://groups.yahoo.com/group/romancebooksrus
Aug 16 BP Blog Party at BP Blog (http://breathlesspress.com/breathlessblog)
Aug 17 Janie Franz at Gina Gordon’s Blog (www.ginagordon.net)
Aug 18 Tentative Janie Franz at Selene Noreen (http://selenenoreen.com)
Aug 18 Shiela Stewart at Desire and Craving (Janie’s new blog) (http://desireandcraving.blogspot.com)
Aug 22 Ambrielle Kirk at Desire and Craving (Janie’s new blog) (http://desireandcraving.blogspot.com)
Aug 23 Shiela at Gina Gordon’s blog (www.ginagordon.net)
Aug 27 Berengaria at Desire and Craving (Janie’s new blog) (http://desireandcraving.blogspot.com)
Aug 27 Berengaria at Ambrielle’s blog (www.ambriellekirk.com) Berengaria’s release day
Aug 28 BP Blog Party at Romance Books R Us (Marianne’s site) Must join to participate
http://groups.yahoo.com/group/romancebooksrus
Aug 31 Ambrielle Kirk at Book Book Cover Lovers (http://bookcoverlovers.blogspot.com)
Aug 31 Ambrielle Kirk at Dark Cravings (http://darkcravings.blogspot.com)
Sometimes the Universe steps in. After much discussion with my publisher and the acquisition editor, I am rethinking what to do with The Lost Song Trilogy. Though a simple story, the books have broader themes that may be more suitable for a different publisher. In fact, it was suggested I look for a Chic Lit publisher.
Though flattered, I wondered about that distinction. Yet, I have never thought I was a regular romance writer. A crossroads like this always makes you doubt your ability and whether you have something to say. But when I was faced with cutting the trilogy by half, I examined what I was trying to do and realized that I would sacrifice much in order to be published. Then, it became clear there was something else at work here that was bigger than me.
I looked again at Kim Clune’s insightful review of The Bowdancer, and was once more humbled by her words. (If you wish to read it, here’s the link: http://thepaganandthepenbookreviews.blogspot.com/2010/04/bowdancer-by-janie-franz.html ) Kim understood the nuances of the story and why I have been so enamored by who Jan-nell is. The Lost Song continues the story begun in The Bowdancer, the tale of a village healer who keeps looking for belonging and family, and her further experiences in The Wayfarer’s Road and Warrior Women–all by the same publisher.
But The Lost Song explores more than exotic landscapes and sexual delights that this particular publisher is producing. And there is an eager market out there for it. And for awhile I thought I was producing that kind of material, but I wasn’t. As Jan-nell searches for belonging, she is continuing a spiritual awakening that her training as a bowdancer had only begun and that is tied to a sexual awakening. Her encounters with foreign cultures and beliefs show her deeper connections to strangers that she felt to kin in her village. There is strong feminism within the saga that includes men who are equals. There is a respect for other cultures and an awareness that teachers come in all forms–even in the minds of the young. In addition, there is also an dark look into cruelty that is shaped by belief.
So, I’m shopping for a new home for the trilogy. I have it under consideration with another publisher now, but I may still need to look further. And I may need to do a lot of work on it. Though I don’t know what the outcome will be, I stand by my story.
But for some reason, this shaking up of my world made me realize that this was a strong message from the Universe to move forward. The Bowdancer Saga has been a very unusual journey for me. When the first book was published, I asked, “Why this one? Why not something else I had in a drawer?” And the answer that came not only from other writer friends but also from somewhere deep inside my spirit was that this was the correct one to begin my life as a published novelist. As the series developed, I found themes that I never thougth of in the original story but tied to it strongly.
And the writing of the next two books and then the trilogy began to influence other books that I wrote and now have pending with other publishers. Currently, I have four other pieces in the hands of two publishers, plus what is happening with The Lost Song.
I have to thank many writer friends who showed me that they could offer many books under different publishing houses because they had different things to say in different forms. It is just good business to put your work in the hands of experienced folks who know what to do with a particular genre or type of book.
Currently, we are finishing up the final work on The Wayfarer’s Road, the second book in The Bowdancer Saga. It will be out August 6. I’m very excited to have that work read by all of you. I think you’ll like seeing what happened to Jan-nell after she left her village. And I know you’ll enjoy Khrin the wandering bard.
I’ll keep you posted on what happens to The Lost Song and the other work I have pending.
Here is the new cover for Warrior Women which will be released November 5.
Book Trailers:
Eric Macho got busy, and I have been working with Bryan Grob on the book trailers for The Bowdancer and The Wayfarer’s Road. It must have been the universe saying to wait because I took some photos of a magical place in Ohio while I was traveling and they became the backdrops for the trailers. As you remember, Chris O’Brien from Enchanted Ape and Matthew Probst from Gypsy Lumberjacks, two Minneapolis bands, wrote the wonderful soundtrack called “Meadowsweet.” That music was written in response to the books. Chris and Matt will be working on the music for Warrior Women next.
You can view both book trailers here:
http://www.youtube.com/user/bryangrob
(One of the trailers is up there twice.)
I submitted The Lost Song Trilogy to my publisher on Thursday FINALLY! We’ll see what they think.
Last night I sent in my first round of edits for The Wayfarer’s Road. The publication date has been set for August 6.
And the edits for Warrior Women are in the works. The publication date for that one is November 5, but may be fast-tracked if there is an opening.
Of course, I’m mourning the end of The Lost Song—not because it’s sad but because I’m having to say farewell to those characters while I move on to another series. I find that I just get really weepy after I finish one of these books. Though there will probably be at least two more books coming in the series later on, I really needed to end the story here for now because I need to change the voice I use for the next series. It will be a modern woman timewarped into a future agrarian society. Her speech and attitudes are so different from these folks, though some she meets may have the same speech patterns as those in The Bowdancer Saga.
I will be posting progress on that series at my other blog and will refer folks there from here. Also, I’ll be doing some interviews later of some authors whose work I’m fond of so you will get posts about that too.
I finished the draft for The Lost Song, but it is so big, my publisher and I decided to divide it into three books. I will be working on how to do that over the next 2-3 weeks and will let you know what those books will be called. I’m thinking we may call this trilogy The Lost Song Cycle, but I sort of wanted to wait on using “Cycle” for the actual Song Cycle that Ron Franz (and possibly Chris O’Brien from Enchanted Ape) will be writing over the next year or so. I’ll keep you posted.
Note: I haven’t heard about release dates yet for The Wayfarer’s Road or for Warrior Women. As soon as I find that out, I’ll let you know.
I just got word this week that Book 3: Warrior Women has been approved and has been moved ahead to the editors. I am working with Justyn Perry on the new cover. I can’t wait to see what he’ll come up with.
I was very humbled by a recent reveiw of The Bowdancer, the first book in The Bowdancer Saga by Kim Clune at The Pagan and the Pen Book Reviews. Here’s the link below.
http://thepaganandthepenbookreviews.blogspot.com/2010/04/bowdancer-by-janie-franz.html
This most insightful reviewer understood the nuances of the story and why I have been so enamored by Jan-nell’s story.
Not only was my book given a great review. It was a The Pagan and the Pen Book Reviews Top Pick. I’m awestruck!
For those of you who have had trouble with PayPal lately, you can now order with The Bowdancer and other Breathless Press titles directly from the site using another payment method.
Recently, Breathless Press added credit card payments to its online store at www.breathlesspress.com This allows readers who don’t use PayPal to get books from their favorite Breathless Press authors without ever leaving the site!
So, if you haven’t gotten your copy of The Bowdaner, the novella that launched The Bowdancer Saga, you can do it now before the second book is released.
I promise that Jan-nell has a lot of romantic adventures ahead of her. She will meet exotic people and learn new customs and songs and develop some new paranormal abilities she didn’t know she had. She also is thrown in with some nasty villains and finds out how badly people can treat others. Of course, Jan-nell learns more about her body and pleasure. There is lots more ahead of her.
