I'm Getting Published

Hey, all,

As I’m writing this, in about seven hours, there will be a press release or a blog entry or something on the internet by a publishing company I can’t officially name until after the fact. The press release will be official. It’ll probably have letterhead and an important name signed at the bottom, and for most of the world, it’s probably just another press release with more authors they won’t read.

But for me, it’s going to contain something I’ve been dreaming about since I was thirteen years old. Later today, somebody is going to announce to the world that my dreams have come true. That all of those stars I’ve looked at in the sky and have wished on, all those coins in the fountains I felt silly tossing in but did it anyway, all of those blown-out birthday candles, that wish is coming true.

I can’t quite catalogue how I feel because I feel a lot of things. I’m nervous. I’m exuberant. I’m three seconds from dancing on the ceiling, or I would be if I didn’t have neighbors I didn’t want to piss off. I’m frightened, I’m excited, I’m happy, I’m worried, I’m exhausted, I’m stressed, I’m jubilant, I’m thrilled to have everybody along on this journey with me. The people that I’ve vented to, the ones that have congratulated me, the ones that have said from day one that they wanted to buy something with my name on it.

Because now they can, and people have already pre-ordered my book without knowing anything about it beyond a title, and that sort of faith in me is humbling and it’s awe-inspiring.

I’m supposed to be editing right now. Well, no, that’s not quite right. I’m supposed to be sleeping right now because today is a Thursday, and even on the announcement of your dreams day, you still need to do things like put in your eight hours at the office. So I should be sleeping, and barring that, editing, because I’m behind on my edits and that’s nobody fault but my own. But I’m not editing because I’m writing this.

And I don’t know exactly what I have to say except that if you’re reading this, and you have a dream, or something you really want, I hope you’re going for it. I hope you’re in the position to be able to do that, and I hope even more that it comes true for you. As for me, that moment’s here, it’s time to take that step, and I’m scared and I’m over the moon, and I’m so, so immensely and immeasurably grateful for those people that are taking that step with me, and to anybody who’s encouraged me in any part of this dream, whether it’s reviewing a story I wrote, tweeting at me, asking me questions about my writing, sending me positive messages, cheering for me. For all of that, I am sincerely grateful and I wish nothing but truly wonderful things for everybody involved.

Here’s to taking the next step.

Love,
Frea

PS - I won’t be on this blog very much, and haven’t been at all, lately. But you can find me other places. I’m on hiatus on Tumblr right now, but I’m active on my Twitter. I have a new website that’s not quite up and running yet, and a Facebook page here, and I’ll be hunkered down for the rest of the month with my head in my book. So I’ll be around.

Another One Bites the Dust

Hey all!

Happy April, 11 days in. Have you seen Captain America 2 yet? I’ve seen it twice and will probably go as many times I can before it’s out of theaters because Natasha. And Sam. And I guess Steve, too. But mostly Natasha and Maria, let’s be real here.

I’m pleased to announce that I’ve knocked another work off the ye olde in progress works list (found here). That’s right, That Which is Greater: Winter Break is complete, leaving us with two stories left to be told in that universe. I’ve updated the FAQ accordingly. You can also download the ebook right here in all of the usual formats.

And here’s a list of current works in progress and where I stand on all of them:

• That Which is Greater Winter Break: Finished as of yesterday
• Badass Altitude III: on hold until I get more of an idea about what kind of villain is holding their missing team member and how often I want Natasha to cockblock Oliver and Felicity
• Curtain Call: still on hiatus. I will tell you when I'm working on it again.
• Mrs. Cupid 03: I have about 800 words written. Will update when I'm actively working on this chapter. I don't really have a plot for this one, so it's slow-going.
• That Which is Greater Carina Story: I cut off a major piece of this plot, so I went from about 20% done to 60% done. Will update when I'm working on it.
• Guide Us Home: Slowly working on hating Matthew less so I can finish this, but prognosis does not look good.
• Publishing an actual novel or two: your guess is as good as mine.

So yeah, there you have it. More news when I get it, enjoy the ebook, and I’ll see you soon!

Frea

Greater Winter Break Update

Hey all!

Just wanted to let you know that I’m updating That Which is Greater: Winter Break tomorrow. Please bear in mind that Winter Break is a transitional story. It’s setting up for my final Greater story, which I haven’t named yet. So I’ll hint at things in this story that may not come to fruition until the next, bigger story.

When I’ll be writing that, I don’t know. Also, still in limbo with regards to publishing things, so will let you know when there’s forward movement on that front as well.

I’ve posted two excerpts from the chapter on my Tumblr, but people may not realize what they were, so I’m including them here:

“What’s the matter, huh?” he asked, eyeing the woods once more. Where were Sarah and Casey? What was going on? “Does anything hurt?”

Violet hiccupped and let out a wail, sobbing out a name that he finally figured out was “Patrick!” Then she curled in, making herself as small as possible.

And here:

“Open? Sarah?” Chuck nearly started laughing, except it was kind of true. Sure, he didn’t know what she was thinking half the time and it drove him crazy, especially on those nights where they shared his bed with CIA and NSA surveillance. But with Vi, there had never been any real need to guess where she stood. She’d always been kind of an open book. And he knew better than to tell her that. “Yeah, I guess so. Vi took to her right away, and you know how she is.”

“Tenacious,” Sophie said. Sadness flickered across her face for an instant. “To the point of bull-headed. I’m sorry. She gets that from me.”

“Hey, I have my moments.” Sarah had called him names when he refused to budge on missions after all. “So what’s happening with the ‘somebody,’ then? Is he going to know about Vi eventually?”

“Eventually,” Sophie said. “If he, you know, sticks around.”

“That might change things for you,” Chuck said.

These were posted as part of “Sunday Six,” an initiative to keep myself honest. I post at least six sentences from a WIP every Sunday. I’ve done it for three weeks now. My first post was from Arrow, but these last two have been from Winter Break 08, which is titled Skirmish. You should see it on ff-net and AO3 tomorrow. If I get Chapter 9 finished today, I’ll likely post that on Thursday.

Thanks for the patience!

Stay sexy!
Frea

Workin' at the Car Wash

Hey all!

Sorry for the fact that for a few days, the Downloads page has been nothing but a rickroll. It couldn't be helped. I was using a service to host all of the ebooks that kind of, as my friend Aardie put it, went into a death-spiral. I've gone and put all of the ebooks on Dropbox now, and that site seems pretty steady. They're all shared, with the exception of a few books that I need to update and will do so in the upcoming week.

Speaking of ebooks, there's a new listing on the page. I posted Pink Drinks and Pick-Up Lines yesterday (AO3, ff-net, Tumblr) and it's kind of long enough to merit its own ebook on my site, so you can get that here. As soon as Steampunk.Chuckster finishes the next spurt of her awesome Con Game series, I'll update that download for everybody as well.

Updates: Still stuck on Greater Winter Break. Am trying to have a chapter ready for Thursday. Keep an eye on my Twitter. I'll post more there.

Publishing Stuff: Nothing new to tell! Will update when I can.

Recent Fic:

Mrs. Cupid - The one where Felicity saves Oliver's life, which is good because her actions might keep them together til death do them part. (Arrow)
Manacled - Because tandem fighting transcends fandom. (Arrow)
Felicity and the Cute Coffee Guy - The Arrow coffee shop AU you needed.
Helpless or Something Close - Felicity's father may be the one thing able to tear her apart. (Arrow)
Tequila Makes Her…You Get the Picture - Drunk Felicity is allergic to clothes. This might be the closest to panicking we ever see Oliver Queen come. (Arrow)
Hold My Hand Because Here We Go - The Winter Olympics AU we all figured I was going to write. (Arrow)
All Our Dreams Are Turned To Plastic Limbs and Disembodied Heads - Oliver discovers Felicity has a very disturbing collection. Hilarity ensues. (Arrow)
Felicity and the Robo-Rabbits - Remember these? (Arrow/Fates)
Birds of Paradise - Felicity gets seasick. This is a problem because this is a pirates AU. (Arrow)
Uncanny - They have the same glasses and heh, she looks like Felicity plus, like, a decade. That's kind of neat. She's Future Felicity, but in the FBI. Future FBI Felicity, even cooler. ...until Felicity gets a look the woman's namebadge and a cold dart of fear hits her: Dunham was the last name of the father that abandoned her. (Arrow/Fringe)

And that's all I have, guys. Stay sexy!

Frea

Temporary Site Maintenance

Hey all,

I've been using SugarSync to host all of the ebook files I've created, but unfortunately, they switched away from free accounts and I'm not willing to pay for an account that I don't really use all that much. While I work on an alternative, I'm going to deactivate my downloads page. I hope it have it back within a week.

Also, I'm having some technical difficulties with That Which is Greater: Winter Break. I'll let you know when Chapter 8 will be out.

Stay sexy!
Frea

BIG NEWS

Hello, all!

How’s it going? February treating everybody well? So far in St. Louis, we’ve been snowed in so many times this year that I’m side-eyeing 2014 pretty hard. Other people have it worse, of course, so I can’t complain too much.

Just wanted to update you on a few things. If you only check this blog and don’t follow me on Tumblr or Twitter, you may have missed this, but…I’m going to be published. A [MUMBLE MUMBLE] publishing agency has offered me a two-book deal based on a manuscript I submitted 15 months ago.

Here’s what I can tell you:

• I kind of have an agent. She seems awesome, despite my doing everything I possibly can to scare her away.
• Agent and Editor have the same first name, which is hilarious to me.
• I am freaking out on so many levels. There were actual tears. There is always the constant threat of tears. I have been dreaming of this since 1996. I feel like I am allowed to break down in disbelieving tears every ten minutes, okay?

Here’s what I can’t tell you:

• Who’s publishing the book.
• What the book’s about.
• When the book is coming out.
• My official author name, though I totally will. Even if it’s just me going, ‘HEY SO AND SO SEEMS PRETTY COOL AND WRITES A LOT LIKE ME NUDGE NUDGE NUDGE.’
• The book’s title.

Yeah, I’m not going to write as Frea O’Scanlin. Frea’s open-source. She’s fanfic and silliness and goofing around on Tumblr. My other identity will have to be somewhat-socially acceptable, so I’ll probably talk about my dogs or something a lot. Or official authorly things. Things official, published authors talk about, like literature and all of that stuff.

Let’s be real: it’s going to break down into two hundred pictures of my dog sneering at the snow. And otters and wombats.

In other news, I’m working on completing the Greater universe. We’re four chapters into That Which is Greater: Winter Break. Some of you will recognize the latest chapter, as it’s the giant snowball fight I posted a couple of years back, edited for clarity. When that story’s done, I’ll release the ebook, happily.

What’s new with everybody else?

Stay sexy!
Frea

New Ebook

Hey, awesome readers!

Just a quick note to let you know I posted a new Avengers AU story: Second Skin, including a nice banner on the side of the blog (it was created by the wonderful SlytherinGurrl). And because it's longer than 10k, I made it into an ebook that you can download here.

In a couple of days, you should see a bunch of little fic from me. I'll link it all here or on my Tumblr. Greater update: still working on Chapter 5 of That Which is Greater: Winter Break, but hoping to have a break on that soon. Unfortunately, I know a lot of people with birthdays this month, so Greater's taking a backseat. Sort of.

;)

Stay sexy!
Frea

Happy 2014!

Greetings, Earthlings Readers of this Blog!

I think I've given up on regularly updating over here (and I've been kind of spotty on my LJ). Most of my organization and time seems to be devoted to Tumblr. If you ever want to get a bird's eye view of what I'm doing over there, my archive page there is a pretty great way to see what kind of inanity I've been getting into lately.

But in the meantime, I've also been kind of busy, writing-wise. As I mentioned a couple of days ago, I've devoted some serious time and effort into working on That Which is Greater again. I feel a little more comfortable to tell you it's for the Winter Break story, one of the three I promised to finish. I'm working on the fifth chapter (Max has the first four chapters to beta) and at this time, I'm uncertain as to how many chapters there will be. At least six, it looks like. Also, administratively, I've renamed the Winter Break story on AO3 to Snowball Fight for reasons I'm sure you can figure out. When I've completed the story, I'll let you know a posting date.