Unlike 101 Ways to Die, which is coming out in the Dirty Deeds 2 anthology next week, Doggone Mess was only the first completed arc of a much longer story. Think of it as a book one in what will become a longer-than-normal Magical Romantic Comedy (with a body count.)
At current estimate, I will be adding an entire novel worth of new material. (I was not going to charge $6.99 for what was released in Dirty Deeds 1. I’m mad, but I’m not that mad.)
When I say “it’s being expanded”, I really do mean it.
If you decide to skip because you read the first arc, you won’t find out why Hoofin’ It is recommended reading material.
As always, it’s none of my business which books you decide to read or not, but please underline that the book releasing in May will be vastly different from what you read in Dirty Deeds 1. If you compare to Playing with Fire, think about it as the part of that book until the first boom happened.
There are many other booms left to come. You got a complete story in the first Dirty Deeds 1. (Some of you just didn’t like having to wait for the book two of the set is all.)
In this case, it’s more like books two and three in the set all coming out with an adjusted variant of what you’d read in Dirty Deeds 1, because yes, I will be making changes as necessary as the rest of the plot unfolds.
Goodness, y’all. It was right in the author’s note in Dirty Deeds 1 this book would be heavily expanded. There’s a reason it’s taken so long to get the release date hammered out. I have a lot of work to do on it.
It’s not like Whatever for Hire or Serial Killer Princess, which were released as solo books after some minor editing when rights reverted from their anthology runs. I have a lot of writing work to do, and that takes time. As I mentioned in a prior post, I was also waiting for the events in Plaidypus to happen so I could do something involving open plot threads in Hoofin’ It.
If you think about how Plaidypus relates to Hoofin’ It, you’ll be on the right track for Doggone Mess.
But seriously, if I weren’t going to be making substantial additions that required a certain event to happen, I would have just slapped it into the series with a $3.99 price tag and called it a day.
The original Doggone Mess is almost 40,000 words, and that’s just the opening storyline. You got the start of their happily ever after.
They still have a ways to go until they ride off in the sunset.
But ultimately, it’s up to you if you believe me or not, but I don’t typically charge $6.99 for 40,000 words. (Spoiler alert: The 6.99 books are typically a minimum of 70,000 words.)
I price my books based on their length. (And the only reason Doggone Mess is only going to be $6.99 is because I was being nice. If I were ACTUALLY pricing by length, it would end up $7.99 or $8.99 because it’s going to be a Very Long Book.
It is not currently a very long book.
Also, its length is why there isn’t any new books other than Moon Tamed, Doggone Mess, and Vampire of Montana confirmed as coming up. Doggone Mess is basically the length of two books on its own, and books take time to write no matter what anyone else says.
Thank you for your understanding.
~R.J.
Looking forward to it. I haven’t been able to find doggone mess anywhere. I really wanna read it. Lol
Yeah, you can’t find it because it was in a limited edition collection. Like 101 Ways to Die in DD2, once it’s gone it’s gone, and it’ll get added to the main series after I have full rights back. I am debating if 101 Ways to Die will get its own entry as a short novella in the series or if it will go into an anthology. Right now, I’m leaning towards anthology.While it plugs into a very specific place into the series, it doesn’t truly plug into the main series arc beyond having some fun revisits with old friends.
I Like the idea of a longer book from a shorter book….And I am lucky in that I don’t really care how much…as long as you do not go above $9.99. 🙂
Amazon basically bars us from being able to do so unless with a major traditional publishing house.
You go girl! Do what you have to. Love everything that you have written so far. I also hooked my sister, one son and a niece so far with your books and characters. So keep on doing what you do and being who YOU are.
I’m going to go back and start at the beginning, I want to look for the lies. And I just want to make sure I get the reading order right. If I start with Playing with Fire, go through the rest of the magical comedies then Client from Hell to Plaidypus? Will that be the best order?
The published order is the best order to read in. You can plug Client in wherever you want after Catnapped. It doesn’t matter if you read Client before or after Plaidypus.
Thanks!!!
You deserve to be paid for your hard work. If that means you charge more for a longer book, I’m okay with it as long as I have time to budget for it.
Yay!! I’ve been waiting for the “rest of the story”. Wasn’t that a tag line for some show? I can’t remember which one…
Do you know if it will be out on paper? I’m a bit of a book dragon and raising 2 more. My son loves the stories and he wants that one?
Eventually, yes. My plates have been overflowing because of the kickstarter, and I have a bunch that I need to finalize, then I’ll see where I’m at on other print editions.