DoW and Chosen of Azara Progress Updates, What's Next, and Smashwords Library Distribution

I finished the (very) rough draft of Daughter of the Wildings Book 2 today (three weeks ahead of schedule), and now it's in the revision queue. It was a tough one to write, but there were some very interesting developments, and the plot has thickened for the beginning of Book 3. Silas finally settled down and decided to cooperate. I think he was mad that I wouldn't write the sex scene that he wanted. You may (or may not) have noticed that I'll write an occasional sex scene when it's appropriate to the plot and character development, and nothing too explicit. But what Silas was asking for did not fall into these guidelines.

Silas: Oh, come on, it'll be fun.
Me: No. What do you think this is, 50 Shades of Wizard Bounty Hunters?
Silas: *sulk*

But we eventually came to an understanding, and finished off this adventure on a successful note.

(In contrast, Roric, from The Lost Book of Anggird, gives me The Look and says, "I beg your pardon, you want me to do what?" when it's time for one of those scenes. *Sigh* characters, can't live with them, can't knock them over the head and bury them in the back yard. Or... I'm the author, maybe I can *evil laugh*)

Anyway. The major revision of Chosen of Azara is coming right along, and I'll also be done with that ahead of schedule. I'm hoping for a May release but not making any promises yet.

The rest of March is going to be kind of disrupted, with doctor and dentist appointments and jury duty during the last week (unless I get postponed or excused). Instead of jumping right into DoW 3, I'm going to work on some short stories, shooting for one per week. I'll post them here as I write them, and then, a while after that, bundle them into another collection.

In other news, Urdaisunia is now available in the Kobo and iTunes stores. Still waiting on the Sony ebook store, but it should go live there eventually.

Finally, did you know Smashwords distributes to libraries? From the Smashwords FAQ:

Does Smashwords distribute to libraries?
Yes!  We have two methods of distributing to libraries:  1.  Via library aggregators.  Library aggregators, such as Baker & Taylor's Axis360 service, allow libraries to purchase books.  Smashwords is working with multiple library aggregators, and is in the process of signing up additional aggregators.  2.  On August 7, 2012, Smashwords announced Library Direct.  This distribution option allows libraries and library networks to acquire and host Smashwords ebooks on their own servers.  This option is only available to libraries who place large "opening collection" orders, typically in the range of $20,000-$50,000, and the libraries must have the ability to host and manage the books, and apply industry-standard DRM to manage one-checkout-at-a-time borrows. 

At a time when a lot of the major publishers are price-gouging or outright refusing to sell ebooks to libraries, Smashwords offers a large selection of titles at reasonable prices (most Smashwords authors set their library prices at or below retail price, and some even donate their books). If you work or volunteer at a library, you might look into if your acquisitions department is aware of this option.