This Week on the Balcony: Writing Updates and Dental Woes

Hey, everyone!

First off, I wanted to let everyone know that Late Pledges for my Kickstarter will be shut off at the end of this week, so if you’re still interested in getting these special editions, you only have 1-2 more days left before everything will stop being available! I will probably send the survey out Saturday morning, which I have to do prior to fulfillment, and which also shuts off late pledges automatically.

I also got the Gothic proof for Malcroix Bones Academy yesterday, which is kind of funny. It was supposed to come weeks ago, before the Kickstarter even launched, but it turns out it got delivered to my neighbor by mistake, who just happened to be out of town for over a month (lol/sob). I wish I could have shown it to people while the Kickstarter was actually live, but I can now give you a glimpse of SOME elements of that version, at least.

That said, this is a pretty terrible video, frankly (I didn’t figure out how much it was in shadow until the very end, and then ran out of time to re-shoot it for today).

Note also: there will be some pretty huge differences in the final version, even apart from the bad video and even the stretch goals. To name a few: the artwork inside both proofs was preliminary at the time of the proofs, since a lot of it wasn’t complete, they can’t do the foiling for proofs so the silver foil isn’t on it, (not to mention the spot UV and other bling for the stretch goals), the cover should have been matte not glossy, there is more art and a bonus scene so it’ll be longer / thicker... and so on, but at least you can get a better idea than nothing at all!

I’m finally coming down from the Kickstarter highs and lows, but now I’m scrambling a bit, trying to get everything done that got set aside while that was happening.

Add to that, I still have a fair bit to do as I get ready to fulfill the Kickstarter rewards themselves, including everything from ordering prints for the Art Packs, finalizing, designing, and ordering elements of the swag pack that comes with the highest tier, finishing up the bonus novella, which ended up being longer and more emotionally complicated than I’d expected, and so on. It’s all getting done, but it was starting to make me stress about my upcoming writing deadlines, I admit.

Then yesterday I went to the dentist.

Actually, I went to see my niece, who is in her last little chunk of dental school. She’s now a licensed dentist, but her being in school means me having roughly 4-5 dentists look at me and my new x-rays (lol). Even her father weighed in over text - because it turns out I’ve got an issue my niece hadn’t come across until now.

And yeah, sigh... you really never want to be the new, shiny, interesting thing in the doctor’s OR dentist’s office, as a general rule. In this case, that was definitely true, as it turned out I have a problem I now have to deal with, thanks to something I did to traumatize my jaw at some point in the past (they weren’t sure which thing might’ve done it, see below).

Follow up means a lot of time visiting my niece over the next few months - which, yay! I adore my niece! But also boo, because it’s a ton of missed work and pain in the arse crap with my mouth and teeth. At bare minimum, weekly appointments in San Francisco for the next few months, which is a two hour drive for me each way and means basically killing a full work day, and that’s even if I DON’T do anything about the big problem they found yesterday.

To explain that, in short, one of my teeth is breaking down from within and will eventually need to be pulled before it either collapses or becomes infected, which will likely mean an implant, Also, it’s an awful place for an implant and the implant probably won’t take. But if I DON’T get an implant, then I’m likely to have problems with the tooth below it, which will push upward over time. So it’s a big PITA, basically. Not life-endangering or anything, certainly not at this stage, but I can’t let it go for too long, either. When it does finally fall apart, it’s liable to be extremely painful.

As for how it happened? That part is... unclear. The consensus was one of the following: braces harming the tooth and it only now showing up, wisdom teeth slamming up against the tooth (same with the delayed reaction), or possibly getting kicked in the face during martial arts training (I mentioned I was a competitive fighter at one point and all three dentists collectively went, “oooohhhhh”).

Luckily I have a lot of dentists in the family (my brother-in-law is a periodontist, so he may end up being the one stuck with dealing with my freaky tooth), but unluckily, it’s not coming at a great time for me.

As a result, I’m now looking at my deadlines for the next few months and panicking a little. I was already a little worried between some family things/trips coming up and delays caused in February due to the Kickstarter.

I’ll keep everyone informed as soon as possible in the event anything needs to be moved, but in the meantime I’m still going to try to hit all the deadlines I set. The immediate concern is the next Bones and Shadow book, which is due mid-April. That release date might end up having to be moved, which will suck for a number of reasons, one of them being that I will be traveling the last week of April and the first two weeks of May, (travel with family/friends specifically planned to take place after the new release), so I will likely have to push the release to June if I can’t make my original date. 😩

I’m much less worried about the Kickstarter deadlines (basically not worried at all about those, at least not yet). Delays on those are likely to happen on the printer side, not the me side. It’s really the writing deadlines that have me stressed out.

I completed the novella and the bonus scene for the special editions today, so now it’s just: 1) edit the novella/make it shiny, 2) I get one more piece of artwork from an artist, 3) make sure everything is lovely and the formatting is perfect, 4) send books to printer. Those three things, and the 2 books are completely finished.

I’m also waiting on some cover art for the Deluxe Retail versions, but that is less worrisome since it’s a much smaller number, so I will likely use a local printer for those. Either way, my side of things will be done very soon, at least enough to get the major printing in process.

I just wanted to warn everyone in advance that the BOOK RELEASE being moved is a possibility - I’m going to try VERY hard to get it done by April, however. Like, really really hard.

On the plus side, I’m diving into Bones and Blood Spells full time as of today in a friggin’ sprint to get it done inside the deadline. :)

The problem with books is, well, they’re moody jerks sometimes. Some come out like they’ve just been sitting there, waiting for me to take dictation. Those tend to be the “done more or less right on the first draft” variety of book, with relatively minor edits and rewrites and minimal teeth-pulling for the writing process itself (see what I did there? HAHAHAHA... tooth humor).

But other books aren’t like that. They’re emotionally and/or technically complicated and difficult and don’t want to be written simply or quickly, and/or require me to stop midway through and throw out 90% of what I’ve done and start over.

So... yeah. If this book ends up being one of the “I feel like being written RIGHT NOW” books, then I should hit my deadline. If it’s one of those moody jerks that decides I need to be led down numerous rabbit holes and back again a few dozen times before it can be finished, then I probably won’t hit my deadline. I likely won’t know for sure which kind of book it’s going to be for at least a few weeks, unfortunately.

I will try to keep everyone updated, either way!

And here are some pretty (and silly) photos, for those who like to look at such things:

For those who missed it, I also have a new release under my JC Andrijeski name! The next book in my enemies to lovers, space fantasy saga, Seer Wars, is now live and available to read on Kindle Unlimited!

River and Valek scarcely get a chance to talk, to reconnect after months of being apart, when an unwelcome visitor at the hotel sets events in motion that spiral out of control.

When her husband ends up unconscious and hurt again, River is furious, and ready for war. She tracks down the seers responsible without Valek, determined to end things for good, but before she can, someone else intervenes. An enemy breaches the Earth’s atmosphere, one beyond anything she or her soldiers have ever fought, even in decades of war on Old Earth.

Forced to flee Los Angeles, River and her new, found family attempt to escape the beings after them… preferably before the human world falls apart for real.

But this isn’t an enemy they can easily outrun, and they’ll need to survive on the planet for months before any hope of rescue can reach them.

CLICK HERE FOR YOUR COPY!

One more thing before I crawl back into the writing cave ~ sharing a FREE book from an author friend!

From the author ~

Perfect for fans of Throne of Glass, Fourth Wing, and slow-burn, enemies-to-lovers fantasy romance—this assassin-falls-for-her-target romantasy prequel delivers dragons, danger, and irresistible tension.

Before the mask, destinies are tested, and dragons rule the skies.

Re’Niah is lethal, efficient, and unstoppable—but when her latest mission plunges her into Korath’s web of manipulation, even her deadly skills may not be enough.

Trust is a weapon, and betrayal is closer than she thinks.

Across the border, Prince Taevion is trapped behind palace walls, desperate to prove himself and earn his father’s respect. When a daring switch with a commoner grants him the freedom to enter Nathair Caisteal, the legendary dragon-rider academy, Taevion steps into a world of deadly trials, whispered secrets, and dangerous ambition.

Dragons soar, secrets stir in shadowed corridors, and the fire of ambition burns hotter than ever.

Of Masks & Iron: A Prequel is a fast-paced romantasy novella filled with high-stakes adventure, political intrigue, assassin romance, royal deception, forbidden loyalties, and powerful dragons.

Discover the story that ignites an epic saga—where heroes rise, hearts burn bright, and legends take flight.

This complete standalone novella features a morally grey FMC fighting for her freedom, a Prince-and-the-Pauper twist, and a world rich with dragons, danger, and deadly secrets. Perfect for romantasy lovers searching for their next addictive, ship-worthy couple.

GRAB YOUR FREE BOOK!

Hope everyone has a lovely rest of your week! :)

Warmly, and with lots of appreciation for all of you!

JC / Jules