Ashley Gardner blog has moved

I'm now posting all my Ashley Gardner news on the blog attached to my revamped website, so please travel there to read all the news about the Capt Lacey series and new books coming up:

http://gardnermysteries.com/

Blog posts are listed in the top left column; click on the post's title to read, then use the "previous" and "next" within the post to scroll through the blog.

You can subscribe to my updates there as well, to be alerted when something new is happening.

Thank you!

Disappearance in Drury Lane is OUT!

A Disappearance in Drury Lane is out! Today! Now! I am bouncing off the ceiling.
It can be ordered from:

Kindle: http://www.amazon.com/Disappearance-Captain-Regency-Mysteries-ebook/dp/B00ELUVAJ0/

Nook: http://www.barnesandnoble.com/w/a-disappearance-in-drury-lane-ashley-gardner/1116959753?ean=2940148602835

Kobo: http://store.kobobooks.com/en-US/ebook/a-disappearance-in-drury-lane

Smashwords: http://www.smashwords.com/books/view/359519

OmniLit: https://www.allromanceebooks.com/product-adisappearanceindrurylane-1301344-237.html

The PRINT edition files have been submitted, and should be available for purchase by next week. Likewise the Apple edition is wending its way to iTunes via Smashwords.

Thank you so much for your patience and support on this book's release. It was a journey!I hope you enjoy it.

Murder in Grosvenor Square is next!

See more about the series at http://www.gardnermysteries.com

Captain Lacey Boxed Set 1 limited time sale!

Because I can, I have put the e-version of the first boxed set of the Captain Lacey Regency Mysteries on sale for 99 cents for a limited time. If you or a book lover you know have been meaning to try this series, you can now for a great price! Hope you enjoy it. And Disappearance in Drury Lane will be up September 20!

Nook: http://www.barnesandnoble.com/w/captain-lacey-regency-mysteries-book-bundle-1-ashley-gardner/1108485755?ean=2940013690271&isbn=2940013690271

Kindle: http://www.amazon.com/Captain-Lacey-Regency-Mysteries-ebook/dp/B006YZ0OOM

A Disappearance in Drury Lane Available for Pre-Order

Great news! A Disappearance in Drury Lane has been made available for pre-order at Amazon: http://www.amazon.com/Disappearance-Captain-Regency-Mysteries-ebook/dp/B00ELUVAJ0/

It will be available from Nook, Kobo, Smashwords, Apple, and of course, as a PRINT book as well. If I can do pre-orders for those, I will, but if not, it will still be available from those vendors the same day it goes live at Kindle.

I'm very thrilled I am finally able to bring this book to you.

Drury Lane Release Date

On Friday, I typed THE END on A Disappearance in Drury Lane. And there was much rejoicing. The release date for this book will be September 20, 2013.

Excerpts will be posted soon. I will be busily revising / rewriting then sending the ms to an editor in order to meet that publication date. More news on that as it happens.

In other news, A Regimental Murder, is available in print in a new trade paperback. I gave it "expanded distribution" which means that (eventually), booksellers will be able to special order it, and it will be available online at Amazon, B&N, Book Depository, and other places. 

For now, the print version is available on Amazon:

http://www.amazon.com/Regimental-Murder-Captain-Regency-Mysteries/dp/1490557946/ 

The rest of the books not already in print will soon follow! Drury Lane will also be out in print at the same time as or shortly after the ebook.

Sign up for my newsletter to get an email blast when Drury Lane is released, plus check back here for more important updates!

Drury Lane Updates

I am now about 3000-5000 words shy of finishing the next Captain Lacey book (that's about 2-3 chapters depending on how much I have left to tell--I don't adhere to a rigid word count). I will have this done by the end of the week and be able to project a pub date.

Be sure to subscribe to my book info email blasts to be notified as soon as Disappearance in Drury Lane is available.

In other news, the print edition of Regimental Murder should go live very soon (I submitted it; just waiting for the vendors to get around to putting up the order buttons). Plus I'm still looking into getting these books into audio. I will, one way or another.

Take care.

More Updates; Audiobook opinions

I'm about 20K words away from finishing the draft of Drury Lane. (For me, about 80 pages.) Then will come rewrites / revisions (which take nowhere near as long as writing the first draft), then editing by an outside editor, then proofing. I will do my best to get the print version out alongside the e- version or very soon thereafter. As soon as I type "The End" I will post a pub date! (I already know it, but again, the whole jinx thing is keeping me from saying it yet.)

I'm also interested in getting Captain Lacey out in audio. I think this series would lend itself well to being read aloud.

That said, I've heard from audiobook companies that cozy mysteries sell poorly in audio. Mystery fans, are you audiobook fans? I've listened to mytery audiobooks (the Cadfael series; Dick Francis; Mary Higgins Clark), and while I'm not a huge audiobook fan (I like to read fast), I enjoyed them.

Opinions? Would you like Captain Lacey in audio? Is it worth it for me to pursue it?

New Covers for Capt. Lacey print books

I've had a few complaints from readers about the women on the covers of the Captain Lacey books. To some, a woman on the cover signals "romance," and definitely not mystery. Why this should be, I'm not sure--to me a romance cover has a shirtless male who obviously works out two hours a day and swallows a case of protein powders while he's at it. If he has a shirt, it's falling off; and if a female is with him, she's pushing it off, or he's pushing her clothes off, or both, or they're sprawled sensuously in bed. A simple lady standing alone does not shout "romance" to me. Can women not appear on a book cover without it being a romance novel? This puzzles me (and the feminist in me).

However, I do listen to feedback, and the new print covers will be lady-less (with the exception of Hanover Square and Death in Norfolk, which are already in print--print covers take many weeks to change [designer has to redo it first of all] and racks up additional charges for re-uploading and re-printing). The ladies will remain on the e-book covers, but all the to-come print covers will be of scenes only.

The Glass House's new cover is above as an example of how the covers will look sans females.

FYI: The background on the cover of The Glass House is a photograph taken by me in London, in St. James's. Other tourists in London take photos of the stone-still guards or Nelson's column--I take pictures of doors.

Captain Lacey books in print

Because the old mass market paperbacks of the Lacey series are now very hard to find (and going for ridiculous prices on used book sites--$25; $45 and more), we are working to get the entire series republished in print (POD).

The books will be available in what's called "Expanded Distribution" which means that, while bookstores won't necessarily keep them in stock, they can special order for you (they'll be available via Ingrams). Therefore, if you don't want to order via Amazon, you will be able to find these books via Barnes & Noble and independent booksellers.

I encourage you to utilize mystery booksellers, such as Poisoned Pen (http://poisonedpen.com/) and the like, to shop for mysteries. I truly want to see these bookstores stay in business! It's wonderful to enter a bookstore where the staff knows so much about the genre and can find and recommend books at the drop of a hat. Many mystery bookstores do mail order (and online ordering), if you don't have an indie mystery bookseller near you.

I have already put the print copies of Hanover Square Affair; The Necklace Affair and other Stories; and A Death in Norfolk into expanded distribution. (It might take a few weeks before they appear as available.)

In the next weeks to months, A Regimental Murder; The Glass House; Sudbury School Murders; Body in Berkeley Square; and A Covent Garden Mystery will follow. All need to be formatted, checked, and then printed--it takes a couple weeks for them to appear for sale on Amazon after they're uploaded, and then another month or so to be available in larger distribution. I'll update the website with links as they appear.

Disappearance in Drury Lane will appear in print (and orderable by bookstores) very soon after the e-version goes online.

We're working hard to get this series up to date and available for everyone, e-book lovers and print-book lovers alike. Thanks for your patience.

(And I'm writing on Drury Lane every day, don't worry).

Image of Royal Crescent, Bath, from
http://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Royal_Crescent_in_Bath,_England_-_July_2006.jpg

What Captain Lacey has been up to...

I've been doing many things on this side of the laptop since last I posted. New website, as I noted. I am trying to figure out a way to get this blog on the website itself so my updates are all in one place. I'll keep everyone posted on that.

I am progressing nicely on Drury Lane. Lacey is going places he's never been and adjusting to a new stage in his life. I am happy with the book so far. I have a pub date in mind, which isn't long from now, but I don't want to invoke the jinx on this book, so I'm not saying until the book is with an editor. I want to, but I won't.

After Drury Lane will come Murder in Grosvenor Square. I still want to take Lacey and Grenville to Egypt, since Grenville is so fond of the place, but I need to fit the book where it will naturally fall timewise in the tales, as well as logically with the development of Lacey's life. I don't want them to run off to Egypt just to go. It all has to make sense.

I had originally planned to write ten Lacey novels; however, now I see no reason to stop the series until it is ready to end. I think all series should end (gracefully), but only when it's time. I keep thinking of adventures for Lacey, so I will continue to write them.

For now, Drury Lane is coming along, and I'll announce a pub date as soon as I dare.

New Ashley Gardner Web Site

Looks like my new Ashley Gardner site is live!

http://gardnermysteries.com/

It will likely take a while to remove the old site from caches, so please reload the page or retype the address if you see the old, dark blue site. The new site has graphics that resemble the new book covers.

Drury Lane is progressing!

Ashley Gardner website might go down temporarily...

today or so, while we move everything over to the new website. Hope it won't disappear at all, but in case it does--I'M STILL HERE AND NOT GOING ANYWHERE. Will post when new website is live.

Ashley Gardner

Drury Lane and Regency England

Now have one hundred plus pages on Drury Lane! I'm absolutely thrilled to be making progres--it's taken me so dang long to be able to sit down and write this book.

While I'm posting, I'd like to pass on an excellent reference to all things Regency (and late eighteenth century, England and a more global context): the Jane Austen's World blog.

http://janeaustensworld.wordpress.com/

Well worth browsing through for both lovers of Jane Austen's novels and a look into the world of the time.

Drury Lane update

I'm very pleased with the progress I'm making on Disappearance in Drury Lane. Have about 75 pages, introduced some new players / new problems, with regular characters in full attendance. I don't want to give anything away, but we are back in London, exploring its streets and squares, from elegant Mayfair to the back streets of the East End. One of Marianne's old friends has gone missing, but what should be a simple  case of course proves to be anything but.

In other news, I have a website designer and builder busily overhauling the entire gardnermysteries.com website, and hope to hear from her soon. The preliminary designs look great. I've gotten notifications from some readers about the problems with my current website, which are noted and being addressed. The website will be on a new platform with a new look, updated for the wider laptop monitors (web address will not change).

I will keep writing along on Drury Lane, and have a pub date for you soon. (Every time I project one, life happens, so I'm trying to fool life by saying nothing until I have the full draft finished.)

I'm excited today because one of my Jennifer Ashley romances hit #16 on the New York Times list and #44 on the USA Today. Excellent news! My way of celebrating is to write more, so I'm continuing deep into Captain Lacey's world.

I'll update here again when I have more news.

March 2013

It seems as though the universe is conspiring to keep me from writing anything. I am working on Disappearance in Drury Lane, a few chapters in, and deep into another historical romance which is past due at my publisher.

I had another publisher pull a series off sale overnight at the end of January, and I spent all of February scrambling to get those books re-released (as my inbox was flooded with email from angry readers). Happily that is now resolved, and I no longer have to spend large chunks of every day revising and proofreading an entire series.

Plus I have new, contracted books that are busily coming back to me for rewrites, editing checks,  proofreading, and other things.

However, I do write every single day, 365 days a year (even on Christmas and my birthday). I'm not an author who sits back eating bon-bons waiting for inspiration to strike. I write. Even when I'm revising, editing, proofreading, having cover conferences, working on back cover copy, and making my publisher happy doing blog tours, going to appearances and book signings, I'm typing 500 to 3000 words a day depending on how much of other stuff I have to do.

A little bit at a time, and it all gets done.

I have released the second boxed set of the Captain Lacey Mysteries, which includes Sudbury School, The Necklace Affair (novella), Body in Berkeley Square, and Covent Garden Mystery. When I get a couple more books done, I will bundle those with Death in Norfolk. (Nook link: http://www.barnesandnoble.com/w/captain-lacey-regency-mysteries-volume-2-ashley-gardner/1114812036?ean=2940016382487; Kindle link: http://www.amazon.com/Captain-Regency-Mysteries-Volume-ebook/dp/B00BR70E2E/ref=sr_1_3?ie=UTF8&qid=1363910615&sr=8-3&keywords=captain+lacey+regency+mysteries)

I am also now actively talking with a website designer so hope to have a new look for the Gardner Mysteries website soon.

It's all coming. The rise of self-publishing has given me the opportunity to revive and write more in the Lacey series (a good thing), but it has also descended my life into chaos ("May you live in interesting times").

New Year, More Capt Lacey

From the flood of email in my inbox, many people are waiting anxiously for the release of A Disappearance in Drury Lane.

I know I planned to write and publish this book in 2012, but it unfortunately got shoved to the back burner along with pretty much everything else when Berkley upped my writing schedule for my romance series, asking for a couple of new novellas and another novel to be (quickly) written in 2012. I have signed another contract with Berkley, so the workload will continue.

That said, I am working on Drury Lane right now. I made the mistake last year of projecting too many pub dates, which got me into trouble when things got backed up. So, I'm currently writing the book, I will alert everyone when it is finished and to the copyeditor, by which time I'll be able to announce a definite publication date.

I am also planning an overhaul, with new graphics and design, of the gardnermysteries website (I am hiring someone to do this so it doesn't take writing time). At some point I'll have a lovely new site for Captain Lacey.

Also  I am working on putting out the second boxed set (Sudbury School through Covent Garden along with Necklace Affair). Book 7 (Death in Norfolk) through 9 or 10 will be in a third boxed set after they are all out.

Let me assure everyone that I have not given up on the Captain Lacey series. I have plenty of plans for its future. I do have to work around four other series--a lot for one person to do! but I have not abandoned it.

I am very happy that for the next couple of months I'll be revisiting Captain Lacey, Lady B., Marianne, Grenville, and Mr. Denis, report what they're up to, and pen another dark and gritty mystery.

I will keep you all updated with my progress. Thank you for your patience!

Ashley Gardner
http://www.gardnermysteries.com

Nightwalker out, Capt Lacey to come

Nightwalker, the fourth book in my Stormwalker saga (written as Allyson James) has at last been released! This means that I can now turn to Captain Lacey (and I am raring to go).

Mystery fans might enjoy Nightwalker, which is an action-adventure / mystery with a paranormal touch set in the Southwestern United States, in and around the Navajo Nation.

Blurb for this installment:

Stormwalker Janet Begay, proprietor of the Crossroads Hotel, a place where the paranormal stop for a safe night’s rest, discovers the hard way that a slayer is targeting Ansel, a Nightwalker who’s become a more-or-less permanent resident.

When Janet and her boyfriend Mick intervene to save Ansel’s un-life, they find that the attack is the beginning of an oncoming storm. Janet has her hands full already with the upcoming marriage of her father, her crazy half-sister, the return of a woman who claims to be Coyote’s wife, a couple dragons on her back, and her worry about Mick, who’s behaving strangely again.

But it seems that everyone is after Ansel, who fears he killed the woman he loves in a Nightwalker frenzy. Janet must choose between protecting Ansel, or facing the most powerful magical beings in the world, who are willing to destroy Janet, Mick, her hotel, and everyone she cares about to get to Ansel and his secrets.

This book will be available in all e-formats and in print. I will post links as they become available.

Kindle:
http://www.amazon.com/Nightwalker-Stormwalker-ebook/dp/B009FFGEO2/ref=sr_1_4?ie=UTF8&qid=1348408441&sr=8-4&keywords=allyson+james+nightwalker

Smashwords (all formats): https://www.smashwords.com/books/view/238710

On to Disappearance in Drury Lane!

High Time for a Captain Lacey update

I know you all are waiting patiently for Disappearance in Drury Lane. It will happen (just as Death in Norfolk happened). I was very certain early this year that I could write and publish like the wind, but then reality set in. The fingers can only type so fast, and the brain cells can only function so long. I am under contract to get certain books done and to Berkley, and I am trying to continue another series of my heart as well as this one.

That said, here's where things stand:

My "urban" fantasy (set in the rural southwest), Nightwalker, is almost done (I'm revising the draft)--hope to have that out soon.

For my Jennifer Ashley side, I just pubbed a short novel (part of the Shifters Unbound series)--now I owe Berkley two more novellas and a novel, one a month until November. One novella is nearly done--will turn it in next week.

After Nightwalker is published, I'll be able to focus more on Captain Lacey again (around the Berkley books, of course). My goal is to have Disappearance out in October (on the anniversary of Death in Norfolk), but failing that, by the end of the year at least

Disappearance book will be available both in e-book and print.

Captain Lacey and the series is *very* important to me, so rest assured, I have not, and never have, abandoned it. I have lots of ideas for more books, and will have a Captain Lacey blitz soon (sales on older titles, e-book boxed set of the second three books + novella, and other things).

While I have contracts to fill for my JA persona, Captain Lacey is always in my thoughts. Besides, my mother loves this series, and trust me, she badgers me every day to get the next one out ASAP!

The other day I posted an update on my Allyson James blog, which is also relevant here. You see, I'm trying to get two books out--one in the Stormwalker series ( urban fantasy/mystery ), and Captain Lacey. Around that I have to write books for Berkley. But Disappearance in Drury Lane is coming. Here's the post:

****

Where is Nightwalker? Good question! I'm still writing it. 

Many of you have been emailing  me asking when it will be out, and I apologize for confusing you with dates. I had wanted to have it finished and out by April at the latest, but life happened. I spent a month in Feb-March very ill. I was able to get Justin [Tales of the Shareem] finished and released, but that was about it, and then I collapsed.

Being sick put me behind not only on Nightwalker (and my next Captain Lacey mystery) but also very behind on my deadlines with Berkley. I've turned in one of those deadline books, but I must now work on the second before I'm caught up there.

However, throughout all this, I've been steadily writing Nightwalker. I work on it every morning for at least an hour. Today I reached page 115 (about 31,000 words). The book is projected to be about 75-80K, which is give or take another about 200 pages. I type fast, so it won't take that much time (weeks, not years!).

After that, the book will be revised and edited, then proofread. Add another 2-3 weeks for that.

I'm not going to project a specific release date. I've learned my lesson. :-) Once the ms. is finished, I can better project a date, knowing how long it will take for the edit/proof/publishing process.

But the book will be done, it will be out, and the next in the series planned. I also have a Stormwalker novella planned--though that may turn into the next novel...I'll see how it goes.

Because I'm currently writing five series (Shifters, Mackenzies, Stormwalker, Captain Lacey, Shareem), juggling all this has proved to be a trick!

I can say, in my defense, that books are coming out from me steadily, and will continue to emerge throughout the year. Books in 2012 that have been and will be released (in this order) are

Wild Cat (Shifters Unbound) (Jan)

Justin (Shareem) (Feb)

The Pirate Next Door (re-release) (March)

The Duke's Perfect Wife (Mackenzies) (April)

Nightwalker (Stormwalker)

A Disappearance in Drury Lane (Capt Lacey)

Hard Mated (Shifters Unbound short novel/novella)

Mate Claimed (Shifters Unbound)

and more after that taking us to 2013
The Seduction of Elliot McBride (Mackenzies, Jan 2013)

Re-releases from my Jennifer Ashley side, including the Immortals series will be threaded in here.

I offer no excuse (except the illness--that's a good excuse), and I do apologize for projecting dates I had no right to project. I got excited.:-)

End of Allyson James post

Once I finish Nightwalker and the Berkley book (Seduction of Elliot McBride), Disappearance in Drury Lane is next on my plate. I hope to release 1-2 Lacey books per year--this year will see at least one!

Ashley Gardner

Update on Captain Lacey

Disappearance in Drury Lane is still in the works. I'm behind where I want to be, due to two things: 1) Spending most of this month sick as a dog (I hear many others having the same trouble); 2) Having a book overdue to my publisher (said illness slowing that down as well).

Once I get the book turned in to my editor, I'm going to take a short break and try to get over this lingering cold. I'll indulge in my dollhouses (http://www.jennsminis.wordpress.com), catch up on my reading, maybe take a stroll up to the mountains or over to the coast. I've been working nonstop, seven days a week, since July, and I think I need a few days off.

Once I feel better, the next two things on my plate are Nightwalker (in my Stormwalker series), and A Disappearance in Drury Lane. I'm writing books for three pseudonyms, switching off every three: Ashley Gardner, Jennifer Ashley, Allyson James, Ashley Gardner... etc. This, of course, must be fit around my Berkley deadlines. It's tricky, but it's working thus far.

I apologize for being a bit behind, but a few months behind is better than a six-year gap between books! Captain Lacey and I disliked that immensely.

The plan is to put out 1-2 Lacey books a year, until we all think the series is done. I prefer full-length books to novellas, as I can put a lot of meat into them, but those, naturally, take a little longer.

I will update my status as I go, so you'll know when to start expecting Disappearance.

On a better note, the paperback edition of A Death in Norfolk now has wider distribution. You can order it from Barnes & Noble and through Indiebound and other booksellers.

Thanks to all who have found the Lacey series and for hanging in there with me

(Photo, by the way, from a dollhouse at the Mini Time Machine Dollhouse Miniatures museum in Tucson. A marvelous museum, worth the trip.)

Ashley Gardner
http://www.gardnermysteries.com