General update, upcoming schedule clarifications, etc, etc, etc

Dear interwebs,

I, Zazzle the Beguiling Tyrant, managed to scratch my eye. It should be okay, but I’m stubborn and refuse to cooperate with humans. My sister managed to somehow locate some fleas, so we’re getting combed and sprayed and yuckies. We do not appreciate this.

The humans do not appreciate it, either.

We appreciate it less. Suck that, humans.

Anyway, you now get the human, I’m going to resume being hyperactive and refusing to let my kitty mommy do more than make sure my eye is clear of gunk while it heals.

~Zazzle

P.S.: Enjoy this picture of me glaring at the human for her failure to pet me, instead opting to take a picture. She also was baby talking to me while not petting me.

DOWN WITH THE HUMAN.

I’d say ignore the cat, but nobody would listen to me, so I’m going to get down to business. Since I was banned from facebook when I did my last post, I’m going to do a brief recap of the new publication order,

Convention appearances:

November 12, 2021 at Bally’s Las Vegas for the 20Booksto50k

Sometime in 2023 in Sydney Australia for BABE. (Yes, 2023, not 2022. My fingers and brain do not agree on how numbers work.)

I will not be attending DragonCon due to a mix of husband’s work and COVID; we simply can’t get there in a safe and timely fashion, and Georgia’s case count is generally unsafe, where Las Vegas happens several months later in an area with better rulings on COVID handling. (And if COVID is still a significant problem, I will be masked and bathing in hand sanitizer and social distancing like WTF.)

While Mr. Blain and I are fully vaccinated, my mix of health problems would make COVID bad, so I will be taking the appropriate precautions.

If you are attending Las Vegas for the signing, you can preorder your books here. Note: you absolutely can place a preorder for books if you’re not attending, but I will be handling such orders as follows:

1: Those who are attending will get top priority. Each book will be sold at $1.25 over all of my expenses to acquire and deliver the books. You can choose to pay more per book if you would like. Expenses will include shipping to get the books to me, shipping to get the books to you, the shipping supplies if required, and the cost of the book.

2: Those who are not attending will get contacted as I have time and energy. Complete costs for the books will be calculated before ordering and payment will be expected at time of ordering. It takes 4-6 weeks for orders to be received, plus any extra time if there is a misprint. In case of misprint, the purchaser will be given the option to accept the misprint with amusing commentary inside the book regarding the printing error. (Otherwise, the book will be reordered.)

3: There will be a second form for those who are attending the convention and would like to purchase swag, including autographed notebooks, bookmarks, and general surprise swag packs.

Anyone who purchases 5+ books will have the option to add a tote bag at cost of production for the bag. (I’m debating if I will do cheaper ones or more expensive totes, or giving an option.)

Preorder payments need to be done through paypal for tax purposes, and if you don’t preorder and come to the convention and buy things, you will need to either pay exact cash ( will have very limited change available, and everything will be rounded up to the next dollar) or through paypal, and you will need to pay Nevada taxes to a central payment point due to business licensing requirements for the convention. (You won’t have to worry about the tax portion if you pay before the convention; it’s included in the base price of the books.)

This list is the future publication schedule.

There has been a lot of sadness over the lack of preorders. The best I can do for preorder creation would be 6 weeks. I don’t want to hold books back, but I also don’t want to make everyone sad. I DO want to cut out the deadline stress. (I have a more informal deadline system in place with my editor, but it can be adjusted as needed, unlike vendor deadlines.)

February 2022 will see the release of Silent Stalker, the second Lowrance Vampires novel. May 2022 will see the release of the complete version of Doggone Mess, the Dirty Deeds book.

Dirty Deeds 2 will be releasing in mid 2022, and will contain a Magical Romantic Comedy (with a body count) short novel entitled 101 Ways to Die. Like Doggone Mess, it will be released later as a singular release, which will be entitled 101+ Ways to Die. The short novel will be complete, but in 101+ ways to do, the full book will be extended with a second adventure and the same main character(s).

Note: The Quinns are secondary characters in 101 Ways to Die.

Here’s the list of the books I will be working on, in order, starting in 2022. 2022 is the year of catching up on unfinished stuff. As is part of 2023.

• The Vampire of Montana (Agents of the Royal States)
• Runaway (Royal States)
• Serial Killer Princess 2 (Serial Killer Princess sequel)
• Leashed I Could Do (Sequel to Last but not Leashed)
• Karma #3/Old Secrets (Conclusion of Karma Trilogy, since it outgrew its britches.)
• The Edge of Midnight (Conclusion of the Wolf Hunt Trilogy.)
• Dual Nature (Pack Justice sequel)
• The Rider of the Sun Horse (Spinoff Rift King world book)
• The Tides of War
• Requiem for the Rift King
• Day of Reckoning (Seeking the Zodiacs Prequel) * Assholes allowing
• Seeking the Zodiacs #2 * Assholes allowing
• Booked for $Surprise!
• Third Fox Witch Novel. $Surprise Title~
• A Magical Romantic Comedy (with a body count) *

Note re: the Mag Rom Com listed at the end; that will indicate the end of the first wave of catchup books. I will likely work on more popular books afterwards to make up for the financial losses involved with working on less popular stuff for a year.

So, I’m adjusting my facebook usage. My RJ Blain profile will have general life updates, but I will no longer be scrolling or checking anyone’s profiles on this account. You’ll still see me updating what I use to, though in lower quantity.

There is a friends and family account that you may be able to find if you’re clever and know my real name or a variant of my real name. I will NOT be accepting ANY unsolicited friend requests on this profile. If I’m interested in being your friend on that profile, I will message you about it and chat with you before having you connect with me or me connect with you. You can follow the profile if you find it, though. There will be plenty of pictures and commentary, it just will be a happier space for me (and less distracting and anxiety-inducing.)

Hint: Blain is my real last name. Think green and pointy, and you might be able to find it.

So, that said, I’ll probably just friend whoever on my RJ Blain profile since I won’t be scrolling the feed, so I don’t have to worry about content. Pictures of my car, my pets, my general life will still go there. More pictures of my car, my pets, and my general life will be on the personal account.

In other news, I hand washed my husband’s truck today.

That is the difference between a single wipe of dirty truck. SOOOO dirty.

So, that’s that. I’m working on Booked for Kidnapping right now, and the rest of my year is a lot anxiety-inducing because of death, doom, and general destruction in my life.

I really do love my new car, though! She makes me so happy.

In a new thing I am doing, I’m trying to read more diverse books in terms of content. I’m doing some novel research, so I got two new books from the bookstore yesterday.

Book #1: Cattle Kingdom: the Hidden History of the Cowboy West by Christopher Knowlton.

Book #2: Murder at the Mission: A Frontier Killing, Its Legacy of Lies, and the Taking of the American West by Blaine Harden.

I may or may not review the books depending on how central they become in a future novel project that spurred my purchase. (read: I have two books on order that aren’t available at my local B&N, and I’m going to the local B&N tonight to pick up the other two.)

When it comes to non-fiction, I very much prefer print books despite their tendency to give me a headache.

And now… I must go camp Dead Blanchy in World of Warcraft because I’ve done enough work for a Sunday.