Tag Archives: Author’s Notes

January ’18, Briefly

01 Thursday Feb 2018

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A Couple of Announcements

— I’ve recently finished a poem called ‘Ode to Coffee’ to give you an idea where my brain’s been recently —

— The publisher for my DaSunder Chronicles, Loose Id, has announced they are shutting their doors come May of this year. This means that at that point both Shatter by Glass and Murder in Color will have a short period where they will no longer be available. I have begun work to make sure to keep this time frame as short as possible and plan to have paperback versions also available upon republication —

— Paperbacks of Those Bloody Christmas Elves, Haunt of the Wilds and Song for the Wilds are now available. I’m in proofing stage for two more. This was one of those projects that kept seeming more and more impossible until I actually did it. And then, it was super easy, especially now that I have a template created for the formatting. –

–I’ve been in blog-prep mode lately. Scheduling out posts ahead of time so I can focus on my longer projects. Still knee-deep in this mode with about half a dozen shorts in some sort of progress from outline to editing —

Hope your resolutions are still going strong!

World shaper

21 Sunday Jan 2018

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These stairs we climb
their metal aging
beyond the clouds
we walk forlorn
In our own world
our trust is fading
yet hope still lives
we might return

One day we’ll find
the road leads nowhere
the steps below
overgrown and worn
Temptation calls
and if we answer
no hope’ll remain
of our return

Tear down the rose
the petals shower
on years gone past
to dull the thorns
We reach the edge
of the endless tower
so hope breathes for
our safe return

There worlds unfold
each one created
by whom came first
who’d then discerned
to shape the world
of their desires
If hope holds true
we won’t return

~ ~ ~

I originally wrote this from a picture prompt while using the song Fare Thee Well, Northumberland as the rhythm, so maybe this is more of a song than a poem.

November ’17, Briefly

01 Friday Dec 2017

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Holiday season is upon us! I’m already exhausted and I haven’t even started to wrap presents yet. Actually, I’ve only barely begun on decorations, if a table runner can be called a beginning.

November’s accomplishments and an announcement:

First half of November was spent conjointly finishing up a couple of things for Those Bloody Christmas Elves and working on Lost Isle. However, instead of this novel being set up for sale in December, I’ve set up Pup Games. The reason behind this is two-fold.

The first is because during the beginning of the month when I was working on finishing up the last few chapters in Lost Isle, I came to a difficult dilemma. I realized that in order to write the story I wanted to write I needed to toss the outlined ending I had in store and add another two plot-threads. This meant that instead of having a shorter 60k novel that I thought it would be, the novel is going to be closer to 100k. Which was something I wasn’t prepared for.

This change would also create a cliffhanger-type ending within the romantic arc rather than the HFN that was originally intended, which was the second problem because I don’t want to publish a cliffhanger without the second novel shortly following.

So I’ve made a swap in the schedule, exchanging Pup Games for Lost Isle. Pup Games is now set up for a December release since it’s a standalone with no cliffhanger ending. While Lost Isle will be released in the spring, closer to when it’s sequel will come out.

PUP GAMES
(A Houndmaster Novel)
December 21, 2017
Pre-order Now

There’s a time for games…

No crush compares to reality. That’s what La’vii learns when the pregnancy of one of his dogs puts him in close proximity to his unrequited puphood crush. Only, instead of being worse than La’vii’s dreams, reality is far more intriguing than he’d ever imagined.

Co’mil is strong and sure, a steady presence that is everything La’vii’s ever desired. And at this moment, with a litter born and wreaking havoc in his pack’s collective mind, he can use all the support he can get. But Co’mil’s friendly, though reserved, behavior is confusing, his interest evident, but his rejection firm, leaving La’vii conflicted and desperately wanting more.

As his puphood crush dissolves, La’vii finds himself caught in the throes of a far more real emotion that seems as if it’ll never be reciprocated. By the time he discovers what Co’mil truly needs, La’vii isn’t sure he’s the houndmaster for the job or whether the reward is even worth the challenge.

A houndmaster coming of age novel set in the same world as The Wilds Duology.

I hope you all are having a lovely holiday season :)

Publication Day! (Those Bloody Christmas Elves)

14 Tuesday Nov 2017

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I guess an early Merry Christmas is in store because it’s Publication Day for Those Bloody Christmas Elves! Available now for $2.99.

As always, here are a few tidbits about the writing of. This story is just shy of 40k so there isn’t quite as much about it as there are others, but here goes…

1.  Origins :)

Obviously this story came directly from wanting a holiday idea. It had to be contemporary, of course, but I wanted to do something different, something you didn’t see much of but that also included fantastical elements. Thus all the typical Christmas magic comes into play, but turned on its head so I could have an actual antagonist.

Please note: I am not against Christmas or lying to your kids about Santa. I do it myself :) I just thought it would be fun to mess with the idea.

2. Rebuilding

This story started out as 1st person to be written solely in Taylor’s POV. He’s pretty much against Christmas for some pretty understandable reasons, but that makes his beginning POV seem a little harsh despite all the good he’s attempting to do.

Because of that, and because I came up with a twist that required Greg’s POV, I did an overhaul of the beginning, altering the tense from 1st to 3rd and adding alternating chapters from Greg’s POV. This also allowed me to explain things smoother since Greg was the ignorant one who needed to ask the questions.

3. Search History

Yes, I now know how to make home-made smoke bombs and caltrops. This knowledge will likely never come in handy XD

4. Secret Scene!

So I had this scene I really wanted to write. A tiny one that would deal with an issue Greg has to handle on his own. Thing was, it didn’t truly fit into the narrative, wasn’t part of the romance and stood beyond the adventure aspect. So you got a secret scene at the end of this book because I wanted to write it anyway. :) Make sure you go past all the back matter to find it!

5. It’s Not Over Yet!

This is technically the first of three holiday stories. The plan is to write and publish the following two stories about Taylor and Greg in 2018 (Rise of the Snowmen) and 2019 (Christmas is Cancelled).

Because Santa isn’t happy…

October ’17, Briefly

01 Wednesday Nov 2017

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What have I been up to this past month, you ask?

Just getting into the holiday spirit!

~~~

Taylor Yeristan has been at war with Santa’s nefarious helpers for over a decade. To him, kindergartner Mandy Westmill is merely one more kidnapped child in need of his help, and her father, Greg, just one more distraught parent to comfort and cajole into heading off to the police, far from the real battle.

Only, Taylor doesn’t reckon with Greg’s unflinching determination or his refusal to leave Taylor’s side until Mandy is safe. Nor does Taylor anticipate the fierce desire Greg’s intensity sparks. For he’s been battling the lies of Christmas alone for so long that opening himself to a potential partner is a vastly seductive idea.

Yet, allowing Greg to help comes with a risk, for he has a stake in this war now, one that compromises him heavily. But it’ll be Taylor who pays the ultimate price for their desires.

~~~

Cover designed by Perie Wolford

~~~

Those Bloody Christmas Elves is coming November 14th.
You can Pre-Order it now.
If you’re on my ARC Team you shall be getting your link ~Nov. 7th.

~~~

Also, Happy Halloween!

My kids are stocked up on enough candy to put them into a coma. So many horrifying clowns out this year :) And a few Captain Americas, though there was a dearth of Iron Man’s. I don’t blame them–the Captain is my favorite too ;)

Lines to Read By (Sept)

08 Sunday Oct 2017

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This month I’m spending the first two weeks writing on that ‘somewhat secret’ project I mentioned last week. I’m not very good at keeping secrets though, so be prepared to get into the holiday spirit a little early next month :)

As for the teasers for today, these are a few I posted last month while writing Storm Dancer (Living Metal I). Now, be aware, I altered a few lines so they could be read and understood independently since I wasn’t posting character names. However, Storm Dancer was written in 3rd POV and was most definitely about two men named Oskar and Cristofer (despite me having a female pronoun in one of these teasers).

That’s one of the challenges when writing about two men in 3rd–you have to be a little more careful with your he/him/his pronouns so everyone knows which man is doing the touching and which is doing the groaning, etc, etc, etc… XD

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September ’17, Briefly

30 Saturday Sep 2017

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Back to school season! That means words can be completed without distraction! Massive editing can be taken on! Research doesn’t become a befuddled mess in my brain! Means I finished a bunch of work :)

1) Lost Isle (The Ocean’s Aviary I)

Received Cover files and Teasers! And oh, my gosh I’m so excited to share with you. It’s gorgeous and awesome and…and won’t be revealed until Oct. 22nd!

2) Pup Games (A Houndmaster Novel)

Finished! Sort of! The words are all there at least. It’s waiting on further editing phases, but I’m really happy with how it turned out–except that one scene that needs the prose massively cleaned up. I must have been having a ‘wat r wurds’ day when I wrote that. So plenty of work left to accomplish to keep me busy! La’vii is a sweetheart compared to some of my last few MCs.  Definitely a nice change of pace :) And Co’mil is… He’s the kind of man who pretends to be harder than he is because he’s been hurt too many times. But maybe I’ve said too much :O

This one isn’t a grand, journey-style adventure like The Wilds Duology, but I think it’s fun to add pieces to the world. Extra character introductions and wider possibilities. There’s another standalone Houndmaster Novel in the works as well that is also mostly set in Crafton–Doghouse Negotiations. Only about 15% of the way through this one, but it has more to do with the city and some of the darker things going on there.

3) Storm Dancer (Living Metal I)

This was that Steampunk story I told you about. You know, the one I claimed was just a novelette. Yeeaahh, it’s now the first in a novella series. I finished this as well. Coming mid-to-late 2018. It’s about a mechanic and his favorite, and famous, client.

4) Somewhat Secret Project

Mostly I did brainstorming/outlining for this one. Have a couple thousand words completed as well. No clues.

~

Hope you are all having a productive autumn as well :) Just in the past two days, around where I live has finally come out of a humidity spike and the heat has been lingering around 70F. It’s pumpkin spice time and colorful leaves…and boots!

PS: Full disclosure, I don’t actually drink pumpkin spice. I’m a Christmas peppermint kind of gal.

August ’17, Briefly

01 Friday Sep 2017

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Considering I knew August would be a low-output month, I’m pretty pleased with what I was still able to accomplish. Libraries with Mine-craft to eat into children’s brain cells are the best.

1) Worked on Steampunk Novelette

Still unnamed, but here’s crossing my fingers I can get it finished by the end of next month despite everything else I have to do.

2) Houndmaster WIPs

I have words completed in two more novels. Wrote about 12k total between them, some fleshing out of outlines. My hope is to spend a good chunk of 2018 finishing up this monster of a trilogy that terrifies me.

3) Pup Games (A Houndmaster Novel)

Another 20k done. Did edits on what I’d completed sometimes when the library was loud. Also created the base rules for a game in the story since I’d only had the bare bones before.

As a side note, the name on the room is literally “Quiet Study Room” and yet there are people who insist on having full-on phone conversations in there, loud enough I can hear the people on the other end. People who come in, claim a table and chat. People who bring in small children despite the library having a huge, and pretty good, kid’s section–I should know since mine were over there. One day there was even a woman in there tutoring an elementary-aged kid in math. I passed not one, not two, but THREE empty tables outside the quiet room in the main part of the library that day. I just don’t get it. Is there something difficult about the definition of quiet? This was torturous some days when I was desperately trying to get work done.

4) I also beta-read a novel for a close friend, set up some promo, a few read-through edits, worked on a relaunch idea, wrote a few poems, and (this last isn’t technically writing related, but still managed to eat into a lot of my time) prepared for back-to-school.

Lines to Read By (July)

13 Sunday Aug 2017

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Here are some of my favorite lines I posted in July. Most from Pup Games, though some are from tangents I’ve placed in an Unused File that probably won’t end up in the final version.

 

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July ’17, Briefly

01 Tuesday Aug 2017

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This past month I didn’t keep as good of records of my hours spent working unfortunately, partly due to the fact my computer decided to die on me. Hard drive seemed fine and backups had already been made so all my work was completely good. I’ve learned that lesson already. However, I was bumming computer time for a couple of weeks. I’m actually typing this up on a brand new computer that finally came in yesterday :)

1) Bridle the Unicorn Published

Still need to finish up my New Release Alert newsletter and send that out by the end of the week. Given how a few distributor platforms work and a couple other experiences with unavailable links at first publication, I decided giving a habitual week leeway after publication for the newsletter would be beneficial for certain publications in the future.

2) Outlined and Began a Novelette

This WIP I started because I didn’t have my main files with me at the time, but there’s always a notebook. It’s steampunky/metalpunky, with a sports feature.

3)  Worked on Pup Games (A Houndmaster Novel)

Yes, you read that right; Pup Games has officially become a novel :) Still due out early ’18.

Here’s another teaser from chapter one that introduces La’vii’s pack.

~ ~ ~

I crouched and wrapped an arm around Sed, her light brown coat long enough it’d been picking up debris all day from her time in and out of the soggy edges of the marsh. The rest of my pack–Ris, Mit and Aim–still sniffed around the bushes, searching for a recent trail. They sent flashes through our collective consciousness, reminding me the hares were more numerous further in, away from the salt and tang of the marsh.

“I know,” I said as I pressed my cheek against Sed’s dirty coat. “We have to check everywhere though, you know that.”

Then they sent me images of Co’mil from the night he’d bested El’mik. As if I needed their help to remind myself how he’d looked. Like a dog blessed by the ancestral bitch herself, his hair holding the tiniest hint of red as it curled in an unruly mop on his head, his eyes a piercing gray I wouldn’t have minded staring into as he’d thrown me to the sand.

~ ~ ~