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  • Writer's pictureKim Beall

New Year, New Story, New Plan

So I took a break, after finishing the final draft of Moonlight and Moss (working title - but probably actual title, too!) to clear my mind before diving into Query Hell once again.

During the month of November, I participated in NaNoWriMo and wrote a little (for me) vignette about what Christmas is like in Woodley, USA. I really like how it came out! It's been fascinating to find out why it snows every Christmas in Woodley, in a part of the country that ordinary doesn't get snow at all. And, I found out what happens if you don't have a wish to whisper into Santa's ear at midnight on Christmas Eve.

Christmas at Vale House

I'm so pleased with it I'm going to polish it up and self-publish it as a gift to my readers. Someday I'll also include it in the boxed set once the third Woodley novel comes out. The title is A Midnight Clear. Chronologically, it falls between Moonlight and Moss and the third volume which does not, yet, have a working title. Now that I've got all the Beta-reader input back on Moonlight and Moss, I'm going to comb through it one last time to make sure it's as perfect as possible before I begin submitting it for publication. I have received some great coaching on querying from people in the industry (particularly from Meg LaTorre at iWriterly, who gives a great online class on query-writing) and maybe I'll have better luck this time finding good representation for traditional publishing.


That was my New Year Resolution for 2019: to find a new traditional publisher.

And here I must apologize to you, dear readers. Since I am, in fact, looking for a new publisher for "Moonlight and Moss," this means it will take longer to hit the shelves than I anticipated, had I stayed with my current publisher. I feel terrible about this, because I know so many of you are clamoring for the next story. Believe me, I can't wait for you to see it, either! But I really do feel these stories at least deserve a publisher which has distribution and marketing capabilities, and I must do right by them and find one.


To make it up to you for this delay, I'm going make the story I wrote about Luke, the proprietor of Motherboard Pizza, available for free. I can do this for the e-book version, anyway, though Amazon does require I put a minimum price of $2.99 on paperback copies. It includes a map of Woodley and the floor plan of the ground floor of Vale House, if that sweetens the bitter pill at all!


Also, I intend, in the interim, to give you some sneak-peeks at sample chapters of Moonlight and Moss, here on my blog. Stay tuned...


I know that's not what you're asking for, though, and I do promise to get "Moonlight and Moss" out there as soon as humanly possible. Without taking shortcuts on quality or on carefully reviewing publishers' qualifications, of course!

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