Day 9 of Camp NaNoWriMo

It's day nine of Camp NaNoWriMo and I've reached the climax of Glenbrook!  With only 16K more words to go, I think I'll be doing pretty good to reach my goal (and if not, I will get it there in the revision process).  Either way, I think I'm doing wonderfully in writing daily on it, way better than I was for a while.  Camp NaNoWriMo really does inspire you to write every single day :)

It looks like I'll be finishing Glenbrook this month, and if all goes well, I imagine I will be able to do a late October/early November release.  As long as revisions don't throw a curve ball my way and my alpha readers don't take too long to give me feedback.

Other than that, don't forget you can preorder Astral Bodies part 6 and 7 at select retailers.  Fenridge and Northcliffe are still FREE for a couple more days!  Get them now and then get Glenbrook later this year!

And for all the other writers out there, HAPPY CAMP NANOWRIMO!  Also, good luck! :)

Day 6

Today marks the almost first week completion of Camp NaNoWriMo, and I'm doing much better than earlier this year!  I'm not quite at what I need to be, but I'm only a little behind; according to my profile stats as long as I write 822 words each day for the next three weeks I'll stay on track.  That SOUNDS simple enough, but I know I'm going to be getting stuck somewhere along the way (did I mention this is the end of Glenbrook I'm writing?).  There's a lot to make sure I include.

Anyway, I thought I would post an excerpt.  This is part 1 of Chapter 4, and if you missed it the first three chapters are already on Wattpad!

**unedited first draft**I didn’t want to try and explain to Neeson why I was quitting my job without notice and taking a trip to the Yukon.  He probably wouldn’t have approved, which is why I decided to call him at the airport.  There was no way he was going to be able to stop me there, as I sat in the plane with Jared next to me.His phone rang a few times before the voice mail picked up, and I found myself breathe a sigh of relief.  It made me wonder how hard it would be to tell him I was going into Shadeland.When the tone beeped I said, “Hey Neeson, I’m going away for a while.  Tell Dad I’m fine, okay?  I’m just working on getting Luke back.”  I paused, glancing at Jared beside me.  There was a very thin aisle between us, and he seemed distracted by reading the safety pamphlet, but I wasn’t sure if he was listening.  “Love you.  Bye.” I hung up and turned the phone off, shoving it into my pocket.“You really like things short and sweet, huh?” Jared asked.I shrugged and stared forward at the television screen a few seats ahead, pretending it was fascinating.  “Easier that way.” Only when we were finally in the air, and the seatbelt light was off did I notice Jared had his gun on him.  The silver pistol caught my attention as he stretched, and it revealed itself beneath his black leather jacket.  I couldn’t help but gape a little.“How did you get that onto the plane?” I asked.  It seemed impossible, even with his fake ID’s.  They might work on senile old women, but airport security?He flashed me his fake SILC badge, a new one I hadn’t seen, and winked at me.  “They let you do just about anything if they’ve only heard of you in newspapers,” he said.  “That, and having confidence helps.”Sometimes I thought Jared was a little too confident, but I didn’t say that to him.  “Are you going to ignore me the entire time?” Keiji questioned.  I turned to face him, sitting quietly beside me.  “I paid for Business class for you two, and you aren’t even going to act like I’m here?”“Calm down,” Jared ordered.  “We woulda survived just fine back with the common class.  Besides, at least you don’t have to sit beside this thing.”  He sent a glare to Azazel who lay quietly in his cage next to Jared.  Honestly I wanted to keep Azazel close, because he hadn’t seemed too keen on the idea of a cage, but after witnessing Jared and Keiji’s behaviour, I thought it best they stay separated.  Still, I felt bad Azazel had to be locked up two-fold.Keiji rolled his eyes, and I wondered how he could afford Business class.  He dressed like a punk, with large black boots, metal band tee-shirts and mussed up hair to match.  Keiji didn’t look like someone that would be sitting beside me, sipping champagne and glaring at Jared like he was a bug.“Did your clan pay for this?” I asked.He sighed.  “I have an allotted amount of money,” he explained.  “They’re being lenient on me, since Kat disappeared.”I flinched.“Sorry,” he said, “since Kat passed away.  When I first left Japan it was to find him—we were still hoping he was alive.”  Keiji twisted the flute between his index finger and thumb, his eyes narrowing in thought.I looked to Jared to see his reaction, but he was pretending to be interested in something in another pamphlet.  The guilt still weighed him down, I knew that; it weighed me down too.  And it wasn’t just Kat’s death on my mind.  It was Melody and her grandfather, Utah, and Charlie, and Amber.  I rubbed at my temples, a headache forming.“‘Scuse me,” I mumbled as I stood.  I hurried into the bathroom while Keiji began to go over the finer things that came with his “executive” status, as he called it, with Jared.  If my head didn’t hurt so much I might have thought they might kill each other while I was away.The bathroom wasn’t as small as I thought it would be, but it wasn’t exactly comfortable.  The sweet smell of name brand soaps filled there air along with the sounds of the engines.  It was quieter there compared to sitting between Jared and Keiji, but it didn’t make my head feel better.In a haze I bent over the sink and turned the cold water on.  I splashed it onto my face, ignorant of how it soaked into the collar of my shirt and sweater, or how it got all over the counter.  I didn’t care.  My head pounded.I groaned quietly, grinding my teeth hard in hopes of not alerting anyone.  If Jared got wind of this I was certain he would somehow force the plane to land.  Liv? a voice asked.  Liv, I’m sorry.“Luke?” I whispered.  I could feel him in my mind, just like when I’d talked to him outside the police station.  He was putting his thoughts in my head, but I wasn’t sure how.  Wasn’t he in Shadeland?I’m in trouble, he said, bringing another onslaught of pain.  I fell to my knees, gripping the counter but failing to hold myself up.  There’s nobody else again.“Where are you?” I asked through another groan.Shadeland, he replied.  They need—help—it’s not—He cut out, along with the pain.  I blinked my eyes a few times, unsure if the pain was really gone or I was just dying.  I stood on shaky legs, feeling my hands sizzling with the residual connection to Luke, to Shadeland.  A fine pink mist drifted from me and dissipated into he air.  I watched it a few moments until it stopped and I knew it was safe to return outside.If only my hands would stop shaking.I didn’t understand much of Luke’s message, only that he was in trouble.  The more I thought about what he said, the more I couldn’t figure out.  If he was in trouble, why would they need help?  Who was “they” exactly?I shook my head and dried off with paper towels.  They were smooth against my skin where I imagined they would have felt scratchy.  I sighed, another reminder of my not-so-human half.“Mom,” I whispered, “what’s going on?”

Camp NaNoWriMo and Special Anniversary Giveaway!

(Happy Canada Day!)

And happy start to Camp NaNoWriMo!  This month I plan on getting Glenbrook done, or at least very close to done.  My goal is 25,000 words, which would bring me to my entire word goal for the book.

Liv has gone through a lot in this one, too, and has been visiting old friends and making new ones (or enemies).  I'll be keeping up with excerpts each week, along with word count updates on Facebook and Twitter.  I'll also be posting facts about what happens in Glenbrook every so often, so check out those :)  Here's one now...

Azazel's true form will be revealed!  

Oh, and remember how on Facebook I said be on the lookout for a special announcement?

WELL HERE IT IS

To celebrate my two year anniversary of publishing, I'm going to giveaway The Ethereal Crossings series for free until July 11!  The prices have just been changed at Smashwords, so it might take a day or two to reach other retailers.

Shadeland

Fenridge

Northcliffe

*Note about Amazon: I can't set books to free at Amazon, but if you download the free .mobi file at Smashwords, that can go on your kindle :)

I'm going to do a "Thank You!" post on the 11th, but I'll say it here too.  

THANKS FOR READING!

Are you ready for Camp NaNoWriMo?

Because I sure am!  Glenbrook is well on it's way to getting done, and even though I won't have it published by my anniversary (July 11), it'll at least be done for a release this year.  I can't believe June is already coming to a close...what the heck happened?  I'm never going to make my reading goal at this pace >_<

Astral Bodies 5 was released earlier this week and is already on all retailers.  The next two parts will each be $0.99, making the total for the book $3.99.  Upcoming dates are...

July 31 - Part 6

August 28 - Part 7 (the final part!)

I hope you guys are enjoying the story as much as I did rewriting it.  Astral Bodies actually started off as my attempt to write a mystery without a supernatural element, and after about 40K words I decided that I didn't like things without a supernatural element.  It was very boring.  So, I changed almost everything.  The only thing that stayed was the fact it opened in a hotel lol.

One last things; the giveaway for Igniting on Goodreads is ending in about a day, so enter while you can!

July Camp NaNoWriMo 2014

There's only two more weeks until Camp NaNoWriMo 2014, and I'm not sure what I should work on!  This is the problem you get when you have too much on the go.  I need to find a way to make my brain slow down and focus on one single project at a time...

I'll most likely work on Glenbrook, because it kind of stalled a bit while I focused on finishing up Astral Bodies (Part five is out soon by the way!).  I only need about 25K more words until I've reached my word count goal, so that'll be my NaNoWriMo goal! :D  I'm excited for you guys to find out more about Shadeland, and what happens between Liv and Jared.  You can actually start reading the first draft of it on Wattpad!


As for publishing updates, part four of Astral Bodies came out!  Find out what Tess saw that will define the future of the case, and learn what a family member has been hiding for her for some time now.
Part five of Astral Bodies will be out the end of June, and is going to be a free instalment :)

I can't believe how quickly this serial novel is coming out; I feel like I just started publishing it and it's almost time for the end!  I've really enjoyed putting it out in this format though, and I think I'll be doing it again, although I might try to shorten the timespan.  Maybe every two weeks or so?  I'll figure it out once I actually start book 2.

Of Noble Blood - prologue

On a whim I thought I would share the prologue for Of Noble Blood: The Second Fable, the sequel to Of Noble Chains.  I'm still working on getting a cover for it, and it's nowhere near done, but lately I've just felt like writing some harder fantasy :)

Prologue

“What do you mean she has everything to do with this?” Nari questioned, wondering how this Specter could have spotted her.  Even standing in the open Nari the Unseen was able to hide; yet this woman had found her within seconds of leaving Aeryn’s home.  It was more than a little unnerving, and the only thing keeping her from attacking was the fact that Zia’s name came up.

The woman’s raven hair shimmered, even in the darkness of the alley.  Sharp features did nothing to hide the brilliant mind that hid beneath.  The woman laughed.  “Do you, or do you not, want the Ark gone?”

“The city would fall without the Ark,” Nari answered.  As a member of the Light Guard she was supposed to support everything her government did, and never question it.  But recent events had her wondering about her leaders.

“Kehzia Noble has begun to shake the foundation,” the woman said, “and she will remain the key to bringing in a new era.  But it takes time.  For now, she needs a little help.”  Her eyes flicked away for a moment, not a movement of fear, but one of curiosity.  She met Nari’s gaze once more.  “She will need someone to…look after her.”

Nari’s jaw clenched.  It had been her job to watch Zia’s movements after Donataen had died, but she’d shirked her duties.  Now it was coming back to haunt her.  “What are you saying?” Nari whispered.

“That if someone doesn’t start keeping Kehzia safe, then she won’t be breathing much longer.” 

Sorry I've Been Gone!

I feel like I don't post anything at all lately!  I've been spending so much time on other aspects of my life that blogging just isn't on the top of the list anymore.

Recently I've also started giving more attention to my photography.  Two years ago when I first started publishing my books writing took over my life--everything was about it, how I could do better, sell more, get more reviews, etc. etc..  Photography just sort of go pushed away, and my poor little camera started to gather dust (literally).

One of my new years resolutions was to take more photos.  Normally I just post them on websites like Flickr or Deviant Art, but last week I decided that I wanted to start selling them.  So I made an account on Society6 after checking out all my options, and started posting!  I do mainly macro and nature photography, and if you like you can check it out here: www.society6.com/openfire !
I also realized that Society6 has AMAZING fan art of everything I love, and have been forcing myself not to buy everything (although I did buy this and cannot wait for it to arrive).

Now, back to writing.  Astral Bodies part 4 is available as a pre-order from Smashwords, Apple iBooks, and soon Barnes and Noble.  Don't forget to check out part 3, which is free!
If you're wondering, there will be seven parts to this serial novel, so here's the release dates for it...

Part 4 - May 29 ($0.99) [Read an excerpt on Wattpad]

Part 5 - June 26 (free)

Part 6 - July 31 ($0.99)

Part 7 - August 28 ($0.99)

The final two parts are going to be a bit longer than previous ones as well, and prices might change.

In other news, I've posted more excerpts of Glenbrook on Wattpad, and With Cross & Charm is also being completed there!  It's free now after all :)