Done With Revisions: PIRATE VISHNU Comes Out September 3, 2013

Gigi's post-chemo hair, March 2013. 

Revisions inevitably take longer than anticipated. For me, it tends to take me about twice as long as I estimate. Since I've learned a thing or two over the last few years, I doubled the time I thought I needed to finish revising Pirate Vishnu: A Jaya Jones Treasure Hunt Mystery. 

It worked! I made my deadline!

I sent off the manuscript to my copy editor over the weekend. Advance Reader Copies will be out in May, and the novel will be published September 3, 2013.

Now it's time to relax and have some fun! Well, perhaps I'd better clean my house, too... After ignoring housework while finishing these revisions, the house is a bit of a disaster area, especially my study. But even though I neglected housework while finishing the book, I remembered to take photos of my hair growing out. Here's the latest one.

Later this week I'm heading to Colorado Springs for Left Coast Crime. I'll be on two panels at the mystery convention. If you'll be there, please find me and say hello!

Literary Inspirations for Traditional Mysteries
Friday, March 22 at 9 a.m.
With panelists: Sara J. Henry, Charlotte Hinger, Christopher Lord, Susan Shea, and Mary Vensel White

Occupations to Die For
Saturday, March 23 at 11 a.m.
With panelists: Ellen Byerrum, Naoimi Hirahara, Tammy Kaehler, and Patricia Wood

Here's a tiny teaser of the new book I just turned in. More details will follow in April, along with the book cover.

Pirate Vishnu: A Jaya Jones Treasure Hunt Mystery

A century-old treasure map of San Francisco.

A sacred treasure from India.

Two murders, a century apart. 

Historian Jaya Jones has her work cut out for her. 

New Glasses to Celebrate a First Royalty Check!

With my first royalty check from Henery Press, I bought myself cool new glasses!

Since I'm going to have short hair for a little while as it grows out, I wanted to get more dramatic glasses. My prescription hasn't changed in years, so I didn't really need new glasses. But I liked the idea of doing something fun with a royalty check. I hadn't stopped to do that after Artifact came out, so it was fun to slow down and think of getting something to celebrate Other People's Baggage.

I fell in love with these glasses at the beginning of February. I meant to post photos sooner, but somehow it's already the end of the month... Actually, I know exactly how it happened. Revisions. But they're almost done!

Now back to my hole where I'm revising furiously... 

Two Progress Reports: Book Revisions and Post-Chemo Hair

My Pirate Vishnu book revisions and my post-chemo hair growth have something in common: they're both going strong, but also taking longer than I'd hoped!

My subconscious solved one of the biggest remaining problems in the book, so I can tell I'm almost there, but I've gotta put in the time to get there. To that end, I'm keeping this short so I can head back to the cafe to keep writing.

I've never had hair this short, so I'm glad I decided take regular photos of my hair as it grows out. The curls are getting long enough that hair gel tames them a bit, so I no longer have to rely on hats!

A Balancing Act

The verdict is in on my new book proposal.

The good news: my agent loves the story and characters! But (you knew there had to be a "but," didn't you?) she has some substantial edits, too. They're good ideas, but the challenge is that I'm currently deep in revisions for the next Jaya Jones treasure hunt mystery, Pirate Vishnu.

How to stay focused? A mini writing retreat with the Pens and friends.

To stay on track for Pirate Vishnu to be published a year after Artifact, I need to remain focused. The sequel is in pretty good shape right now, but that's not good enough. I can feel it coming together, and that's an exciting feeling! Unfortunately, the silly book doesn't seem to want to write itself. I have to put in the time to make it come together. And at this stage in the process, I can't work simultaneously on another project.

After receiving my agent's revision notes last week, at first I was tempted to dive right in. But common sense caught up with me. I don't want to write books that aren't as good as I can make them. There's a temptation to give in to a sense of urgency, but I have to remind myself to fight against it. I'm in this for the long haul, so I don't want to drive myself crazy and burn out. 

Therefore the new mystery series idea is on hold until later this spring. I'm striking a balance: I'm going to write the best books I can, but also keep a rigorous writing schedule so I'll be able to write all the books I want to write!

In the meantime, I'll have some new short story news to share very soon, and if 2012 is any indication of how quickly time goes by these days, Pirate Vishnu will be out in no time. 

—Gigi

Fingers Crossed for My New Mystery Series Proposal

Tree in a front yard in Portland, Oregon.

Today is a satisfying day. I turned in a new book proposal to my agent!

I'm still writing the Jaya Jones Treasure Hunt mystery series (I'm deep in revisions for the next book), but I also have an idea for a new mystery series I'm trying out.

I've been spending a lot of time in the Portland area since my parents moved to Oregon, and between the friendly vibe of the city and the gorgeous walks in the woods, I thought it would be a fun place to set a mystery.

For NaNoWriMo, I wrote a draft of a paranormal mystery featuring Dorian the gargoyle. I love NaNoWriMo, because you can write ridiculous things without feeling silly about them--and the best part is that some of those ideas turn out to be fantastic. Dorian came to life more than I'd imagined, and I found myself coming up with ideas for a whole series.

Starting with that NaNoWriMo rough draft, I created a book proposal to show my agent. Fingers crossed that she likes it and thinks she can sell it! Once I know more, I'll share further details.

Walking in the woods in Portland. 

Dorian the gargoyles loves a good classic mystery.

Post-Chemo Hair: Cute Hats to the Rescue!

I've been documenting my hair growing out after completing chemotherapy (a few of the earlier pics are here and here). Having short hair has been a trip. Here's what it has looked like lately. In December my curly hair went through a mad scientist phase, shown below. Cute hats to the rescue!

Celebrating the New Year with a Giveaway

My Christmas gift bounty of books has brought me many hours of enjoyment already, but as for the task of finding space on my bookshelves... Well, it firmed up my resolve. I'm now an ebook reader convert. I'd already been reading ebooks for the past year while traveling, and I found it was much nicer than I expected. I guess that shouldn't be surprising, since the words are the same regardless of the medium. But since I'm such a visual person, I expected to miss reading physical books more. I'm still going to buy print books, but my default is now ebooks. The upside? It's even easier to buy more books!!!

For those of you who still appreciate print books, you can enter to win a signed Advanced Reader Copy of Artifact -- courtesy of my new year's cleaning of my study, during which I found a few remaining ARCs! These are uncorrected proofs from last spring before the book was released, so you'll need to put up with a few typos on Jaya's adventure.

Goodreads Book Giveaway

Artifact

by Gigi Pandian

Giveaway ends January 17, 2013.
See the giveaway details at Goodreads.

Enter to win

Happy New Year!

Gigi