The Worlds of Terri Pray

The highs and lows of chasing a writing dream. From fantasy to erotica and beyond as seen through the eyes of Terri Pray.

Name:
Location: Minnesota, United States

I'm a wife, mother, author, chat site owner and rpger. That's only scratching the surface though, I doubt any person can be described in a few short sentances. I write for Final Sword Productions, Loose-ID, Magic Carpet Books, Chippewa Publishing and Under the Moon, an imprint of Final Sword.

Friday, May 26, 2006

Changes

Every publishing house goes through them and eXtasy is no different there. Regardless of my personal feelings of the situation which I will not make public because no matter what they are they will hurt someone, I do wish the company all the best.

I’ve not pulled the books that are currently on sale there, nor two of the books I had in the cue. I have, however, for reasons of my own, pulled several others that I no longer believe fit eXtasy’s lines. Including a historical sweet romance that I now realize would not sell well at eXtasy due to the lack of erotic content. Some of the stories were old ones that I also wish to re-work into longer pieces and my writing has changed dramatically in the 18 months since these pieces were written.

As most will now also know Stefani has left/been fired from eXtasy books. Now as an author I have no say in the hiring and firing of editors with eXtasy books. I will however state that my working relationship with Stefani has always been a damn good one and it is a shame things came to pass as they did.

Rumors abound as to the events that happened at the Romance Times convention, but on that I will say that I wasn’t there so will never know the full story behind the situation. Only those involved will ever know the full truth of the events that occurred during the convention.

At this time Eternal Priestess is still due to go on sale soon and Play for Me remains with eXtasy as part of the Tarot line when it eventually comes out. Eternal Slave, Ettore’s Women, A Small Lesson, Green Dreams, Ruby Kisses and A Touch of Magic all remain on sale at eXtasy Books.

Morgan Hawke has also made it clear that as Stefani was her editor of choice she will also no longer be submitting work to eXtasy Books and will follow where Stefani eventually goes. Several other authors have pulled all of their books from the company and there have been many who have made it clear they will not be buying books from eXtasy again. As Stefani was the editor I worked with on all my books except for A Touch of Magic. As a Touch of Magic was part of the Sins and Virtues line that was edited by Tina and I can say that in dealing with both women as an editor for my stories those transactions have been smooth and with open lines of communication at all times.

For the next few weeks my time for writing and promoting may well be very limited as my parents are here from England and I am trying to enjoy that time with them. The upset with eXtasy and the continuing fall out is something I hope I can close the door on during this vacation as this is the first time I will have been able to spend time with them in five years.

So with that I must be off and finish the packing as we head out first thing in the morning.

Terri Pray

Wednesday, May 24, 2006

Almost ready for the move

My parents arrived safe and sound on Monday and we’re in the midst of packing ready for the move. This weekend we’re heading to Wisconsin and hopefully will be meeting up with Barbara K. from Loose-ID.

Today the proof copy of Astaria arrived and damn did it feel good to hold that hard cover in my hand. It also means I’ll be able to take the proofs with me to Origins in order to show to interested people and perhaps take a few pre-orders for the book. Once we’re settled in Iowa we should then also be able to put the information up on Amazon.com and take pre-orders that way. At least that is the plan.

I’ve been trying to get a little writing done over the past few days but with all the stress it’s been nearly impossible. Little more than a thousand words a day and that’s if I’m lucky. Still there have been some really good days where I’ve managed closer to three thousand. A lot depends on mood and how things are going in that day.

The family is in bed and I think I might be able to get a little writing done before I get some sleep myself, though I’m not counting on it.

Well back to work, and with luck I will be able to get another 500 words done before I head to bed.

Sunday, May 21, 2006

Playing Catch Up

Well I’ve not updated my blog in some time and for that I do apologize. Things just caught up with me one after another. Even now we’re preparing for a move to Iowa at the end of the month. And on top of that my parents are visiting here at the same time as the move. Talk about insanity.

However I’m really looking forward to seeing them again, even if I’m a little nervous, and it will mean a week or more taken off writing. I’m hoping I will be able to do a little each day and I have this insane idea of trying to write a novel to submit for the Blaze or Spice line HQ does. Nuts, right?

Well I have two hard covers coming out this year from www.underthemoon.org plus I’m now the submissions editor for the quarterly anthologies that the company will be producing. Though some have advised me not to make that public both myself and Scott, the company owner, believe in honesty. So here it is, public and not hidden. More than a few people already knew and I disliked the idea of people finding out the wrong way.

The first anthology should be out in print in December 2006, the second in March 2007. Needless to say I’m very excited about the project and it does feel very strange now being on the other side of the table. One thing I should mention about the company. It’s a small press print house, all releases will be in print. Now should they then be released in ebook form after the print release is something we are still discussing but right now it isn’t part of our plans.

We’ve got three full books signed up with Under the Moon, plus the first two anthologies and though the company plans to keep things small to begin with what happens in the future is anyone’s guess.

Astaria is due out in August in hardcover from Under the Moon. Eternal Priestess due soon from eXtasy Books, which is the follow on from Eternal Slave. Scars is also due to be released in August from Loose ID. I’ve got several other books due out in the coming months but will fill in release dates when I have them.

Well time for bed and I’m exhausted to be honest. Sometime tomorrow my parents arrive and though they aren’t staying physically with us until we move to Iowa we’re still trying to get things cleaned up. Well with two small children and three adults in one household it tends to become a little chaotic at times. Heck, most of the time.

One thing I will be doing soon is posting a snippet from Astaria to the blog!

And I’ll try and do almost daily entries during my parents visit. This is the first time that they will have met Jack, our son, and only the second time they’ve met Sarah, our daughter. So it’s going to be very interesting indeed.