Andi Marquette

Land of Entrapment has left the building.

HI, PEEPS!

Well, I made a boo-boo and didn’t make this announcement last month like I should have. It’s an issue of me screwing up release dates versus publication dates and DUHHHHH. So I didn’t get to issue you fair warning on this.

ANYWAY! This is one of the things I’ve been up to.

My first mystery, Land of Entrapment, is no longer available for sale.

You heard that right. Land of Entrapment is no more, at least not as a new book. It has retired gracefully, as all authors hope their work does.

There may be a few new copies still floating around out there, but soon, you will only be able to purchase it used, at least for now.

OMG ANDI NOOOOOOO WHAT DOES THIS MEAN HOW CAN I GO ON I’M LOST WITHOUT THAT BOOK AND MY ENTIRE WORLD IS CRUMBLING BEFORE MY EYES SOMEBODY GET ME A BAG I’M HYPERVENTILATING NO WAIT MAYBE SCOTCH OMG…

It’s okay. You’ll be okay. How do I know this? Because this is part of my secret news (that is no longer secret, obviously):

I’m rebooting it!

That means I’m re-writing it and will be re-issuing it in the coming months. I’m tentatively hoping to do that in the summer of 2016. It could happen earlier, but I have other things I’m working on that I will tell you about in the coming days, so the summer of 2016 is more realistic.

So keep an eye out for Land of Entrapment 2.0.

Also, as a heads up, you should REALLY go get your copies of State of Denial before November. Seriously. Stock up. I’m not kidding.

Just sayin’.

In the meantime, I would like to extend a huge thank you to the crew at Regal Crest Enterprises, who published Land of Entrapment back in 2008. It’s my first published novel, and I am so grateful that RCE took a chance on an unknown and consequently untested author. I feel like I’ve got some experience under my belt now, and that I’m not untested.

And readers, I couldn’t have done this without you. I was frankly a little worried about how Land of Entrapment would be received, that it wouldn’t resonate with anybody, and that the posse I enjoyed spending so much time with would languish. Readers, you totally allayed my fears, and LoE (its nickname) found a place among you.

I hope you’ll give the reboot a chance, too. Regardless, thank you so much for all of your support over the years. It’s meant the world to me.

So hang in there, dear readers! LoE will return, rested and dusted off.

Happy Wednesday!

Thanks for the memories! Catch you on the flipside!

Land of Entrapment is dead! Long live Land of Entrapment!

May 27, 2015May 27, 2015 by Andi Marquette Categories: AnnouncementsTags: Land of Entrapment, mysteries, State of Denial 6 Comments

I’m up to stuff…

Hi, peeps!

So I’ve got some stuff going on with regard to books n’ things, and I’m not going to announce anything just yet, but I did want everybody to know that I am, indeed, UP TO THINGS! ALL THE THINGS!

In the meantime, I’m writing a longish short story for consideration in a Halloween anthology and I’m working on a holiday novella (you’ve got to get that stuff in before mid-summer to make the fall/winter publication schedules). I’m also working on a crime novella for another project and my colleague in crime R.G. Emanuelle and I are doing another F/F food anthology with Ylva.

We’d LUUUUUUUV for you to consider submitting a story to us.

HINT HINT HINTY HINT HINT.

DETAILS! HERE! CLICK!

Our last food-themed anthology is currently a Lambda finalist and a Goldie finalist. That would be All You Can Eat, and yes, we are looking to include recipes in this latest volume, “Order Up,” as well.

And yes, I have a romance novel I’m tinkering with. It’s nearly done, but it needs some overhauling, so we’ll see what happens there. Regarding the rest of the things, well, stay tuned…

muah ha ha

Happy Tuesday!

May 19, 2015 by Andi Marquette Categories: Random WTF stuffTags: updates 4 Comments

Why you need to care about craft

Hi, peeps!

Hope the weekend treated you well. Writer and editor Nann Dunne posted this link on a Yahoo discussion list a couple days ago and I’m sharing it here because Larry Brooks knows whereof he speaks.

In this particular blog, Larry points out 7 things that will make you a better novelist (and, by extension, writer).

Guess what?

It involves WORK.

So let’s have a think about this.

Continue reading →

May 11, 2015May 19, 2015 by Andi Marquette Categories: The Writing Crazy, Things that might make you think, Writing, Writing Process, Writing tipsTags: writing, writing craft 2 Comments

Happy holidays…wait, what? Get your short stories ready!

Hi, peeps!

Hope everything and everybody are treating you well. April has been a whirlwind of crazy bizzy, but it’s all good.

Anyway, I bring up the holidays, friends, because there are usually many opportunities to submit short stories to holiday anthologies at many different publishers. Now, I’m not going to delve into whether or not said anthologies make money, but they remain pretty dang popular every year. And some publishers turn them into really cool fundraising opportunities for good causes, like Ylva did last year with their anthology, Unwrap These Presents. ALL profits go to organizations that help homeless LGBTQ youth. (full disclosure — I have a story published in this anthology)

At any rate, so what, Andi? It’s NOT EVEN FREAKING MAY AND HERE YOU ARE TALKING ABOUT DECEMBER HOLIDAY CRAZY.

Indeed. But I do this because if you want to get your stories in said anthologies, you need to start writing NOW. That’s one of the issues with holiday anthologies. You have to start thinking about it at least 6-7 months in advance and get that story hammered out and submitted. I personally enjoy writing for holiday anthologies because of a bit of personal baggage.

That is, I am so not a fan of the November-December holidays. Christmas is a particular drag for me, but I realized some years back that I get to decide my holiday fate, so I make it a point not to get involved in the absolute nuttiness and rampant commercialism of the season. My friends and family all agreed that instead of doing that, we’d engage in good works and fun and relaxed party things and we all discovered that we are way happier and less stressed at that time of year than in the past.

So I’ve decided that part of my holiday therapy, if you will, is to make it a regular thing to write a story or novella or something comparable that deals with some aspect of the November-December holidays and either get it published or post it somewhere. I particularly like romance/romantic comedies that time of year, so that’s probably going to be a recurring theme.

Having said that, I actually just started writing a holiday novella a couple of nights ago. The idea hit me the day I started writing it. I went home after work and BOOM. Writing crazy. Most likely it’ll be done toward the end of May and then all my critique peeps will rip it apart and I’ll rewrite is 32 times and then see what kind of publishing venue is out there for it. If nobody wants it, I may make it available on Kindle. We’ll see…

So for now, friends, start thinking about holiday anthologies as possible venues for your work. Ylva loves holiday anthologies, and they’re doing one this year, too. F/F romance and/or erotica.

CHECK IT. Deadline is July 15. Get crackin’.

Or perhaps you feel more comfie writing creepy Halloween stories this time of year. GREAT. Ylva loves Halloween anthologies, too.

CLICK. Deadline is May 31. Get creepin’.

Or, if you totally don’t want to do holidays in that vein at all, consider submitting to me and my co-editor R.G. Emanuelle for a second round of F/F FOOD and ROMANCE/EROTICA. FOR REALS! We’d love to consider your work.

CLICK RIGHT HERE BECAUSE OMG YOU SO WANT TO CONTRIBUTE TO OUR FORTHCOMING ORDER UP ANTHOLOGY OMG I KNOW YOU DO.

Anyway, if you know of any other holiday anthologies, please feel free to share in the comments. Other readers will totally appreciate that. And for now, start thinking about getting stories ready. After all, you don’t need snow to feel festive.

Happy writing, happy Thursday!

April 30, 2015April 30, 2015 by Andi Marquette Categories: Calls for submissions, Inspiration, Things you might like, WritingTags: calls for submissions, holiday anthologies 1 Comment

10 things not to say (or do) to your editor

Hi, kids! Hope this past week has treated you well. The usual crazy going on here, but let’s take a moment and chat about something else writing-related.

EDITING.

OMG your blood is pumping, your juices are flowing and you’re just salivating at the mention of the word EDITING. It’s okay. I totally understand.

Anyway, yes, I am a writer but I started professionally editing way back in the early 1990s, during the Dark Ages when starving peasants tilled the soil outside the castle and if you wanted to talk to somebody you had to walk to the other side of the village before dark, because that was when the wolves came out to gnaw on hapless villagers who didn’t fall under the purview of the manor lord’s protection. If not wolves, then witches, werewolves, and vampires.

Shit was scary back in the day.

But now, thanks to technology, we know all that scary shit isn’t on the edge of the village. IT’S ON THE INTERWEBZ. Whew.

Anyway, I worked in publishing for about 15 years, either managing in-house or freelance editing out-of-house. I’m still an editor, and I still keep up with the publishing industry, but I’m a writer, too. Which means I have been on both sides of the fence and I have a certain amount of empathy for both perspectives.

I know what it feels like to be working with an editor who you think is missing the point of your vision, who is crushing your writing dreams by saying a scene doesn’t work, who just might be a cross between a werewolf and a vampire and is merely toying with your emotions before stomping on your ego. I get that. But I also know what it’s like to help a writer realize her vision in clearer, stronger prose so that she goes on to write better prose later and she remains a colleague and works with you many times after that because she trusts you.

That is the essence of an editor-writer relationship. Trust. It’s important to trust that an editor has the professional background and training to work with a writer on craft as well as narrative. On the other side of that, it’s important that an editor trust that a writer is open to edits, is open to realizing that sometimes, a writer is much too close to a project to see clearly, and that a writer wants to improve her craft.

That’s the ideal. So with that in mind, what should you NOT say to an editor with whom you are working?

Let’s go see…

Continue reading →

April 12, 2015April 13, 2015 by Andi Marquette Categories: Editing, Things that might make you think, Writing, Writing tipsTags: editing 11 Comments

“It was a dark and stormy night”: on openers

Howdy, peeps!

So a couple of folks expressed interest in how to write an effective opener for a novel.

To which I say, “good luck.”

Heh.

And then I supply links LIKE THIS, which have the alleged “100 best first lines from novels”, posted by the American Book Review site. I must say, Iain M. Banks’ line from The Crow Road is a grabber: “It was the day my grandmother exploded.”

Hit that link at Amazon and you’ll be able to read the first few pages to determine what that’s about.

At any rate, what makes a great opening line? Well, I’d say that’s a topic up for debate, depending on a reader’s taste. But overall, let’s try to dissect what makes a great first line in terms of writing craft. Here are five things to think about.

Continue reading →

March 23, 2015March 23, 2015 by Andi Marquette Categories: Inspiration, The Writing Crazy, Things that might make you think, Writing, Writing Process, Writing tipsTags: opening lines, writing craft, writing tips 4 Comments

Some publishing tips

HI, peeps!

Behold! The Ides of March!

I threw my Facebook page open to the winds and asked people what topics they would like me to blog on. It seems the top answers are “publishing” and “how-to.”

I’ve already blogged on those topics (I’ll post the links here so you can go see), but I can do a relatively quick overview here.

So. Let us begin!

Continue reading →

March 15, 2015April 28, 2015 by Andi Marquette Categories: Indie publishing, Publishing, Publishing bizness, WritingTags: indie publishing, publishing, traditional publishing, writing 2 Comments

Yet another episode of “Ask Andi Random Questions”

Greetings, peeps!

I know. I’ve been out of the loop for a bit. Traveling and the like.

I did get some STELLAR news a couple days ago, however. The anthology that I co-edited with fellow author/editor R.G. Emanuelle made the finalists’ list for a Lambda award. That would be All You Can Eat: A Buffet of Lesbian Romance and Erotica. Hit that link to find out more. Many thanks to all who contributed (list at the link), our designer, Sue Niewiarowski, and to Ylva Publishing. We are honored to be a part of this. See you in June!

All right! Now let’s talk about Q&A. Every once in a while, I ask people to ask me whatever questions they want and then I post those along with the answers here on my blog. For those of you who asked more than one question, I took one from each. So let’s get to it!

Continue reading →

March 6, 2015March 6, 2015 by Andi Marquette Categories: Questions Answered, Random WTF stuffTags: Q&A 1 Comment

Excerpt from my story “Red”

Hi, kids! I’m slowly emerging from my hiatus. Heh. In the meantime, here’s an excerpt from my story “Red,” which appears in the Bold Strokes Books anthology Myth and Magic: Queer Fairy Tales, ed. by Radclyffe and Stacia Seaman.

It was JUST published in December 2014, and in case you couldn’t tell from the title, it’s a bunch of stories that re-tell fairy tales queerly. That is, LGBTQ-ly! WOOO! The list of authors: Andrew J. Peters, Clifford Henderson, Allison Wonderland, J. Leigh Bailey, Andi Marquette, Rob Rosen, Veronica Wilde, Juliann Rich, Sasha Payne, Stacia Seaman, E.J. Gahagan, Alex Stitt, Barbara Davies, Rhidian Brenig-Jones, Victoria Oldham, and Jane Fletcher and Joey Bass.

Anyhoo, below, find the intro to my story from this collection.

Continue reading →

February 21, 2015February 20, 2015 by Andi Marquette Categories: Excerpts, Paranormal, WritingTags: Myth and Magic anthology, Red