Update

Hi, this is Lady Jenavi. I just realized it's been awhile since I made any entries to the blog, but that's mostly because there's not a lot to say. Susan had become discouraged after her manuscripts were turned down by the publishers she had approached. As I mentioned before, she has decided to turn her talents to other, smaller publishing concerns until she gets more experienced. I don't think it's necessary, but it is her decision.

She also has had other real-life concerns that have superceded the book; she suffers from fibromyalgia, she lost her job and started a new one. With regard to her fibro, it always worsens in the winter with the cold and wet weather. Here in this part of Canada, we have had a crazy winter! It's been alternately cold with lots of snow, then warmer and freezing rain...even a couple of thunderstorms! In winter!

Then she lost a much loved job due essentially to downsizing and consolidation of job duties. Unemployment in Windsor (the city we live in) is exceptionally high - 11%! - although Susan has the best of luck and wasn't without a job for long. She got hired on at the local community college, and has been busy with her new job duties and brushing up on old skills.

I was looking at the website and having some new ideas, which I will have to talk to her about. Then I'll post them here. But I too have been busy...this isn't the only website that I manage. And I'm still working on my own graphic design website, and taking some courses in HTML. Web publishing is getting more and more complicated all the time! *sigh* And what I learn I apply to all my websites, so that keeps me very busy! LOL I may have to redesign The Red Vixens website...we'll have to see what my analyses dictate.

Cheers! Lady Jenavi

Problems and Frustrations

Lady Jenavi here...I'm just gonna vent for a bit if Susan (and you the reader) doesn't mind! LOL

I'm working a lot on the website, and it's getting humongous! So far, everything looks good in IE, and some looks good in Netscape, Firefox & Opera. I really want to make it cross-browser friendly, so almost anyone can see the site as I (and Susan) intended. But Firefox and Netscape are providing some very frustrating roadblocks...despite my pages being W3C validated, and even Firefox's Tidy HTML validated, I still have pages that won't display properly! And debugging is slow and tedious...and not very fruitful thus far! This has been my first attempt at cross-browser compatibility, and it's a pain in the @ss!!! I myself like and use Firefox, so I'm very disgusted that there are inherent bugs in the browser that is hanging me up. This is the main reason the site doesn't have more pages up. I have hundreds!!! more pages to upload, but they all have problems in Firefox and Netscape. *sigh*

I know it's too soon for this to be a problem with fans, but I'm anticipating a big following when the saga hits the bookstores!

Disappointing Setback

I was very disappointed to hear that Susan has decided to hold off on getting The Scar of Negradon published until she has more publishing credibility. She has been published before, and for her Red Vixens saga stories too. She mentioned the Pearls of Set, her very first published story about Lilithe and the Vixens, and then her story Shadow in the Night published in Stories: One by Magellan Press. Unfortunately, both these earlier works are no longer in publication, but Susan has given me permission to write them out in their entirety as adjuncts to the site. Watch for them!

But also keep your eyes out for new shorter stories based on The Red Vixens...it's all part of the same Thornn universe! And it's a fascinating universe, let me tell you. Trust me, I've been laboriously going through all of Susan's work (both early and more recent), and trying to bring some order to it all. There's much there, and it is all very interesting and exciting! I myself can't wait to see the first book, the Scar of Negradon, in print. And yup, I've already read it, both the first draft and the subsequent revisions. But I'm excited to see others' reactions to it, and can't wait for the hoopla to start on Lilithe's rise to fame!

Of course, Susan is an accomplished writer and poet too. I'll be adding some of that to the site too, probably in a subsite. Look for her work, you won't be disappointed. We'll keep you posted on all her works here.

On Hold

I have decided to put a hold on my work on The Scar of Negradon and the entire Red Vixens saga for now. I feel it is more important to focus on building up my repository of published works to increase my saleability to publishers. An entire saga series is difficult for publishers to endorse without proper credibility; thus, I am working on some short stories, other novels, magazine articles and such. I'll keep everyone abreast of my publications as they occur.

An aside: I already have 2 published works to my name...several items in a small book called The Elation of Expression and a short story in Stories: One.

The first book was compiled by 5 high school students as part of a Summer Canada 1982 programme, and sponsored by the Windsor Roman Catholic School Board. It was published by The Herald Press in 1982 when I was 18. In it is my first published story about The Red Vixens, a short story entitled The Pearls of Set, as well as some poetry and poetic prose, and another short story entitled Masterpiece.

The second book was another compilation of short stories of diverse genres, and was published by Magellan Press in 2004. Rob Parnell of Magellan Press sponsored a writing contest in which I was one of the top 10 winners, which resulted in the second story about The Red Vixens to be published. It was entitled Shadow in the Night. You can view excerpts from both stories on my website www.theredvixens.com

New Domain Provider!

Well, we finally got the whole domain thing sorted out and have signed up with IX Web Hosting. They were ranked #1 by Web Host Reviews, and so far so good. Lady J's got a few of the pages up, but there are still plenty of broken links...bear with us and she'll get them up ASAP.

Problems with website

Lady Jenavi here, webmistress for Susan E's website http://www.theredvixens.com/. Unfortunately, 0catch, our domain host, has decided to go with huge popups for their free accounts. This is interfering with the navigational frame, and I'm at a loss on how to fix that. So I am moving the site soon. Please be patient (it's a lot of work!) since I am making some changes/upgrades to the site at the same time. I'll try to get the basic pages at least up ASAP.

Shadow in the Night published!

Rob Parnell of Magellan Press has enthusiastically supported my writing and encouraged the submission of my short story "Shadow in the Night" to one of his writing contests. "Shadow in the Night" is part of the story of the "Scar of Negradon".

The top 10 winners of "The Easy Way to Write" Short Story Competition for 2003/4 got their manuscripts published in the book "Stories: One", which is an anthology of diverse genres in short story format.

I am so pleased to say that part of The Red Vixen saga has already become an award-winning story and was published in "Stories: One"! And yes, this is old news, but my pride in my saga began here.

If you'd like to read an excerpt of this short story, please see my website The Red Vixens.com and check under Book News.