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Hello. If you’re looking for the As I Write in-progress content, it is at . If you’ve signed up for the As I Write newsletter, it has been discontinued and you will not receive any new content that way, so please follow me at Wattpad for the latest new stories.

This is a repost from Facebook, as I realized some people aren’t on Facebook and this also connects to Good Reads, etc. Just a copy/paste from the Facebook message.

Hi everyone,How are you doing?

I know it’s been a tough year for us all. There’s a lot going on. I picked a bad couple of months to keep my head down and finalize some projects, because it feels like every day there’s a new story unfolding.

There are a few things I’d like to mention.

First and foremost:

Black lives do matter and right now, they really need to hear from you in particular. If you’re reading this, you’re included. Donate to anti-hate charities of your choice if you can. If you can’t amplify the ones you support and let others know how they can help. Reach out to black people in your community, your friends, coworkers, family, that one guy that walks by with his dog, all of them, let them know we hear it and we want to show support.

While everyone does matter, we need everyone to know black people matter, they are valued part of this whole human race. They need amplification right now.

To my black readers, in whatever ways I can support, I’m doing so.Second, and I place this second on purpose because it is less important than the first message but wanted to say it: It’s come to my attention that some readers are becoming angry at writers who aren’t saying anything about this at this time.

Just know many writers have tried to be generally nonpolitical with their writer blog/platforms. It’s hard to jar that notion out of years of habit. Some may not even live in the United States and aren’t sure if they should say anything, and some authors� social media are run by multiple people or through a publisher and they don’t have direct access.

Some don’t have a PR team and are just afraid to offend everyone by saying things incorrectly. Some might have been offline since COVID and trying not to let news distract them from writing. I do not blame anyone who maybe can’t say things. We don’t need any more hate and anger at this moment towards people we don’t know personally.

However, for writers who might be reading this, if you were wanting to say something but have had the same ‘nonpolitical� stance, while there’s no pressure, anti-hate, anti-racism messages should not be considered ‘political�, your black readers need to hear from you at this moment, if you can. It should be very clear in such times that you’re against racism. Welcome them, let them know you support them.

On a very smaller side note, while I was going to post a newsletter (minor updates! Don’t worry), I wanted to get this message out there ahead of it, as I dislike putting those things together and feeling like I’m pandering. No one wants that. Hope that makes sense, so I’m delaying the newsletter a few days just to make the above message clear.

Everyone please be safe, too. And don’t spread hate. Support.

Sooo…how you all doing?

Personally, I’ve been watching the news more than I’d like to admit to, and spending way too much time on household projects while at home. I’ll be the first to admit, I haven’t done much writing in the last few weeks. Pretty normal to expect when things are a bit…chaotic.

Like everyone else with a big heart, I’d like to help but I wasn’t quite sure how.

However, I remembered I did teach a Work at Home class at a university a few years ago. I’ve worked from home since probably 2000 and I’ve not really held a ‘normal� job since and have worked with big companies like Microsoft and other corporations. I still had the from when I taught the class. So I fixed it up. It’s short, but for those who might be out of work or struggling right now, I hope it can help (a little?) during this time. It’s mostly just a starting point.

There is no copyright claim on this . Feel free to share as much as you’d like. The websites recommended in the handout I personally have no connection to but I refer to them time and again when people ask about working from home. Most importantly, if you’re in need of work (or even extra cash) please use the resources available.

In addition, I thought I’d share a few resources I’ve been refreshing myself on that might help. I am not the people below, I don’t own any of the information, but they are great resources. Following any of them might help you learn a bit and doing the below might help you feel more in control of life while we’re going through this together.

Growing Food from Home Fast

Save Money by Using Coupons (And learn how to stock up inexpensively without having to horde at the last minute)

How to make face masks at home: and why

Also, please remember that your library has valuable resources. Not only do they have books, magazines and audiobooks, but your local library might also have video games, sewing machines and tools that you can also borrow. In addition, they often know of local resources (like food banks, 211 services information) for your particular area. Call them. They are bored.

First a few things to note:

I can’t read your fan fiction. It’s a complicated legal matter that basically boils down to if I don’t read it, I can’t accidentally ‘lift� your ideas (even subconsciously) and create problems. I’ve not read Academy fan fiction since the start. (Also if you email me your fan fiction, I have to delete your email/not look at your link. I’m sorry. Email me after I finish The Academy series.)

However, I find fan fiction to be an awesome way to get creative with someone’s else’s characters. I loved being absolutely free to do it my own way. No rules. I could do whatever I wanted. (Go figure, the person that wrote The Academy by breaking the rules of fiction at that time, enjoyed writing fan fiction that allowed me to break the rules…yeah.)

There’s nothing like taking well loved characters and imagining them in different ways. Insert yourself in the world. Hang out with who you feel are your best friends/book boyfriends. Take them into different books. Play out scenes. Kill the ones you don’t like. Have them reject the girl to marry you instead!

Hey everyone! It’s been a bit of a weird summer for me for different reasons. Adjusting to the headaches and trying to figure out how to work around them has been lots of trial and error. A few other things have been happening, including a new puppy (a Golden Retriever\Boston Terrier mix girl named Charlie), a pet to help ease a bit of anxiety (which was possibly triggering headaches) and basically forces me to get outside to walk and seek fresh air daily.

In any case, as will be obvious in the newsletter, there are many things happening!

BIG NEWS ONE: BRAND NEW BOOK/SERIES ANNOUNCEMENT

This is a bit of a surprise, but two years ago I wrote a book that I gave to various trade publishers at their request. It had been quite a while since I heard a response and instead of having it linger for longer, I asked for it to be returned to publish it myself.

So I found myself with this book that I wasn’t quite sure what to do with. It had been two years and I’d even forgotten parts of the book.

Then I was tinkering with Smoking Gun, a book I’ve had for a while, the second book I ever officially wrote (the first one hasn’t been published), and something connected in my brain to link them in a series.

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In a women’s revenge series called Charleston’s Leading Ladies, Evelyn, Celeste, and Rainee come together after several terrifying events lead them to seek help. Once they make their plan and work together, the boys are done for.

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The series starts with Evelyn, (the book I wrote two years ago) sharing her story about what happened and why she’s looking for revenge. The whole series is set in Charleston, in a similar universe as the Academy series. While these aren’t Academy books, you’ll still see some familiar characters within the pages.

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In the future, we’ll have a re-release of what was Smoking Gun, rewritten as Celeste for this series as book two. It’ll be similar in what happens, but enough might change to want to re-read the new version if you’ve read the previous one. If you’ve already purchased Smoking Gun, don’t worry, you’ll get the option to update your copy with the new version. If you’d like to get the old version for whatever reason, this will be made available.

Evelyn is coming out soon (July 23rd). Celeste should be out later this year. Rainee will probably be out mid next year, along with the concluding final book in the series showing up shortly after.

Question: weren’t you supposed to be working on Academy things?

Answer: All three books (Evelyn, Celeste, Rainee) were already finished. As mentioned, Evelyn was written two years ago, Celeste is basically a rewrite of another published book to match the series, Rainee is actually an old book that just never fit with anything else. Now it has a home. The only book left to write is the finale, which should be concluded by next summer (taking up the usual Scarab Beetle slot since it used to be my summer book to write).

Basically, these were done and just hanging around. I figured why let them sit here waiting for a time slot after Academy things when we can just push them now.

This is a little out of my usual posts. Please forgive.

Also, this message is more for other authors, but readers, you might notice changes to my book covers moving forward. This is the explanation but it probably doesn’t and shouldn’t matter to readers so don’t worry about skipping this.

First, I’d like to point out that I will always be grateful for readers who choose to buy my books. Your support helps me to write more. I’ve worked hard but I’ve also been lucky to catch the attention of thousands of readers over the years.

Enough so that a couple of years ago, my books started hitting USA Today bestsellers lists.

This used to be one of those few ‘measurable achievements� that writers get told to aim for when starting out. Measurable achievements were things like landing an agent, landing a publishing deal, USA Today bestseller lists, reaching NYT bestsellers lists, getting a movie deal, etc.

The problem with these achievements: 1) it shouldn’t be a measure of success because this depends on other people, and 2) some of these are lies.

In particular, bestseller lists. When I finally got to the point to when I was reaching the lists, I was fully aware of the fact that I didn’t have any part in the actual achievement of the lists other than very minor choices in how I chose to publish. Readers chose to buy the books, which is how we all assume it should be done. So it’s supposed to be run like ‘reader choice awards� in a way. They voted by buying the books. Whether they liked the book or not isn’t actually a thing in this, which is why it is kind of a silly thing to use as a popularity meter.

But it was what we had going for us for a while to kind of gauge where we were compared to other authors so it’s mildly interesting. But to me, I’ve always said it’s nice, but the credit goes to readers, not to me. As it should. I wrote the book, but this is like the coach getting credit for a runner racing a hundred meter dash. The reader dropped the dollars, not me. So that’s basically where the thanks and the accolades should go.

Maybe instead of saying “USA Today Bestselling Author� it should say “Voted by readers in USA TODAY �.� I don’t know. Taking the ‘achievement� never sat well with me for that reason. It wasn’t me. It was you.

However, there’s this thing that readers don’t want to hear about and shouldn’t matter to them, but I wanted this on record as to why I’m moving forward in the way I am. No confusion.

Also, I should note, I’m not pointing fingers at USA Today for this. They’ve provided some sort of metric to a list that they happen to host, but the intensity to which authors put weight behind that list for a while is not their fault. Or maybe only a partial fault. (Remember, USA Today and New York Times are owned by publishing companies, who also publish books. So…make that connection.)

We’ve done this to ourselves long enough, authors. We all know it’s a lie and it’s even worse now more than ever. Time to let it go.

Most people probably have heard of by now that there are authors who buy their way into lists like USA Today (used to be for NYT as well before they actually reformed their already curated lists, even if you can still buy your way in and it happens all the time, but that’s another story).

But the “get on the USA Today� list game has gone too far. And…I don’t even know why this is a thing. Someone is feeding the idea that to be a cool author, you have to have one. I used to believe it. I joined a group of authors to get a NYT lists in a bundle sale in order to get that achievement when it was possible to get in such a way.

I won’t go into details, there are plenty of posts around the web about all the shennanigans going on just to get onto this list. I’ve not participated in such tactics, even when I’ve joined bundles. I made sure to do the ethical things and only ever encouraged my readers and new readers to purchase without bribes or deceit. My goals were hopes that I’d get more readers, because I love my stories and I want to share them. That’s what most real authors want. To share the stories they love with other people.

But this isn’t the case any more. Now a first time author who wrote their first book ever can literally buy their way onto bestseller lists without much effort, not even to write the book. In many cases, books are bought by ghost writers, and these are turned into bundles where collections of authors can try to get enough sales for everyone to hit the lists.

(Small side note, if you’re an author who utilizes ghost writers, fine. Maybe you did once. Maybe you use them all the time. This isn’t a protest against this method of publication. It’s about when people pay for a book, pay for a USA Today list and some repeat this several times. It must be costing people a fortune and there’s no reason for it. My point is that the illusion of the bestseller list achievement is a terrible ‘get famous� goal that writers need to let go.)

And I’ve not had a problem with this at first, but…you know…that NYT thing…it never felt like an achievement to me. I always questioned myself putting it on books because my own works never earned it on their own (even if they can now if NYT hadn’t changed their rules about getting on the lists, where basically indie authors can’t reach it now).

And the USA Today ones? Sure it was interesting to hit it, but I also felt like…as said above, I didn’t do it. Readers did it.

And� it doesn’t do anything for you. Earned on your own or in a bundle, getting those lists doesn’t actually do a thing for you. It’s an interesting side note at parties when you tell people you’re a self pubbed author and they roll their eyes and you can tack on ‘made a best seller lists, what did you do, bub?�

That’s it. That’s pretty much the only thing it’s good for. Because the old believe that it’ll attract reader attention…nope. It doesn’t. The people who don’t know any better and assume it’s a big deal, that’s who it might impress. Because most people in this industry know the reality.

But also that feeling of being happy that my readers ‘selected me� to be on those lists, that feeling has faded so much over the years. Not that I’m sad readers liked my books, but the meaning behind being a USA Today bestseller has completely changed.

And why continue with this lie, a false sense of achievement, continually tainted and so unnecessary?

So I’m out.

In my own protest, I’m taking USA Today and NYT off my covers.

To maybe show new authors how the words “USA Today� pr “NYT bestselling authors� on a cover doesn’t matter for your success. It’s not a magic thing that makes your sales go up or agents come rushing to your door for a contract. This is especially true now when everyone and their brother can buy their way in.It is also not very good marketing any more. When some sales line is over used, it becomes ineffective. When literally hundreds of authors achieve this with bundles every week, they all use the words on their books, it becomes something invisible people no longer notice. And when bad books have those words, it is even worse because people learn to not trust it. To protest the asinine and pointlessness of a bestseller list if half of it was bought. It makes those who wrote a good book and readers who voted with their dollars feel like we’re the butt of a joke. We like jokes but not butts of jokes.And by the way, people could possibly be outselling other authors on bestseller lists but you’d never know because of the way the lists are run. It’s really a terrible metric system. Your feelings of success shouldn’t be based on a system controlled by other people, but by what your own two hands can do. You’ve written a wonderful book that you absolutely love, you’re sharing it with the world. Your success feeling should be when you hit publish, not in numbers of reviews, in bestseller lists or even awards. Don’t let other people control if you feel successful or not. Just having written makes you an author. And that’s the achievement.While I appreciate the inclusion of my books on their lists, if New York Times or USA Today want branding space on my book covers in the future, I’d want to feel like I’m supporting a publication whose system is worthwhile and fair that actually means something and has some value. I understand their goals for their lists is to help promote their own books, so in this sense, their curated lists are generally lies, so it’s really an unfair metric. The same goes for Amazon bestseller lists, as this works the same, weighted for their own publication and disallowing for some genres to be included in most cases.

So as for CL Stone, I’ll be taking USA Today and NYT bestseller letters off my books. You, readers, should be proud when your favorite books make it to USA Today. Because you were a part of that. Those accolades should be to thank you, not for an author to pat themselves on the back.

And do you really care? I don’t. When I see the letters now on books, I question everything about the author. Did they really earn it? And I shouldn’t! I should be happy they joined the team! I used to be. That’s pretty gone now.

Anyway, I didn’t want any rumors over why I’m taking it off the books. I may not take it off the older covers or the prints as that’s a lot of work to change but moving forward I’ll not be using it. When I do cover changes in the future I’ll change those older books to not post them. I’d rather not promote USA Today or New York Times or even Amazon on my books, and I’d like to no longer contribute to the lie of that bestseller list, or make it a sales line to encourage readers to buy my books.

Because I didn’t need those words on my books to actually garner enough sales to “make it�. And it continues to not make a difference, because it’s not on every book I’ve published since, and those books have never suffered issues with sales or if readers enjoyed them or not.

I just refuse to tout a false sense of ‘achievement� that just� doesn’t matter. I simply enjoy writing stories I absolutely love. That is the only thing that has mattered in the publication side for me. Did you enjoy the books? That’s the bonus, and I’m very happy if you’ve found something you’ve loved with my books. And not having those words on my books won’t change what’s between the covers.

First and most important: Academy book updates.

I am still working on/writing the next Academy book/still in progress. (DON’T WORRY, I’M WORKING ON IT. THANK YOU FOR BEING PATIENT WITH ME.) 

I wanted to get that out of the way before anyone asked about it.

Hey reader peeps!

This one has a few work details below, and it’s kind of boring, so to get the important stuff out of the way:

Currently working on Tempest AND (kinda sorta) the follow up book for Scarab Beetle (The last two in the series)
Doing good so far *two thumbs up*
I don’t have a release date (I calculate this when I’m actually done with  drafts and I’ve got schedules down for editors.)
Books that will release after Tempest is done: Meeting Sang � Nathan, Ghost Bird � Unsung Requiem

And a small update on the merch store, it’s getting an overhaul, so there is a close out sale going on. It should close sometime in August and then re-open in September. I’ll have more information on the re-open later. At first it might just have books as we’re reorganizing things but hang in there and we’ll get new items and old favorites out to you all soon.

That’s it I think? Probably the most asked questions there. IF you care to dive into details, read below. If not, look for updates via the newsletter.

Hey everyone!

It has been a while since I’ve been around fully. Once LCR was in the pipeline to be released, it seemed like a good time to take a month surrounding the release as a break. It was my last chance to visit family and take some serious time out before the rest of the year and all the things I wanted to work on and do. I was planning out my life, not just writing but also just general things. Goals to accomplish and any adventures to go on or projects that were just waiting to be completed.

I also got an interesting couple of questions in emails while on the road and wanted to talk about it. It kind of stuck with me. It was from an author still new to the scene and the whole letter was pretty personal but I wanted to reflect a bit on the very core of the thing.

Two parts in particular that was asked: How do you handle negativity that these days seems to come no matter what action you take? And also, how do you decide what you do as an author, say like deciding what to write and when and how much time to spend on it, etc?

For me, the answer I have for it is pretty simple. I don’t really have time for the negative side because I try to focus most of time time on being productive, happy and doing things that I enjoy doing. I decide to write what makes me happy because that’s where I feel most confident I’ll be satisfied with the results.

Seems easy, right? But it surprises me when some people struggle with this in some way.

Some of us have to do certain jobs because that’s how we survive in life. I bused tables in restaurants and did my share of housekeeping in hotels and all sorts of crazy jobs. Even in those jobs, I made the most of what I could, worked hard, got raises and promotions or moved on to better things when opportunities came up.

With writing, before the indie world, I was doing the same thing. I wrote books that I thought would ‘give me a better job�. I was ready to let go of books to editors and agents who would tell me what was best, what was popular, and write to order basically. That’s usually what happens there, you’re writing something that fits what other people want. And occasionally I still enjoy trying to do that because I find it a challenge and I like a good one.

But being indie opened a whole new world for me. Here was the chance, for once, to write what I loved. I had the opportunity to put it out into the world and if people did like it, they could buy the next one. You get the first one free, you get the previews to see if you want the next one. You can even just get it from Scribd, read them all (or listen to them all!) plus more. Libraries usually have them. Whatever you want to do.

And what a wonderful opportunity it has been! I mean over a dozen books in, I’m still trying to get the details right!