Tag: reading

Alien Gothic: The First 1000 Words


It’s Teaser Tuesday, and we’re officially 12 days away from the release of my YA sci-fi mystery (with lots of angst and romance), Alien Gothic! In anticipation, below are the first 1,000 (okay, it’s more like 1,200) words of Chapter 1:

 I hate…

Well, to be honest, I hate a lot of things. I hate morning people. And mornings. And people. Although I have nothing against sports, really, I detest anything school spirit-related. I enjoy my science classes, but I’m not big on science fiction.

So, I consider it very unfortunate that, at 7:15 a.m.—a time when I’d rather walk barefoot on glass than interact with anyone—an alien is blocking the entrance to Pearl Falls High.

Not a real alien, of course. Andy the Alien, our school mascot. “Andy” is neon green, with wobbly antennae and large, teardrop-shaped black eyes. He or she saunters back and forth in front of the doors, shuffling a small stack of papers between gloved hands. Flyers, probably for something school spirit-related. Which means Andy is going to stop me and try to give me said flyer. Nope. No thank you.

Sure enough, as I dive for the door, a gangly green arm shoots in front of me, waving one of the flyers in my face. “We’re having a spirit booth this year at the Pearl Falls UFO Convention,” a muffled, male voice says, “the country’s fifth largest UFO con—”

“I know what it is.” The convention is the only reason anyone would ever bother visiting Pearl Falls, attracting so-called UFO enthusiasts (a.k.a. weirdos and conspiracy theorists) from all over the country. Sidestepping the arm, I force a smile. “And no, thanks.”

“Well, feel free to stop by the booth and…hey, wait a minute.” I’ve already yanked open the door, but for some reason, his words make me pause. “You’re Celeste, right? I heard about your grandpa. I’m really sorry.”

Jesus Christ. Does the whole town know Pappy died over the summer? Actually, given who my grandfather is—was—they probably do. “F*ck off,” I snap, going inside.

“Sor-ry,” he calls after me. “I was just trying to be nice!”

His apology is lost in a cacophony of slamming lockers, squealing sneakers, and people shouting to each other across the hall. I guess I thought the first day of senior year would feel different, somehow. But, except for getting accosted by an overeager space alien, everything feels pretty much the same old so far.

“Hey, Loony Lowe!” someone yells at me. The same old nickname. I ignore him, much more interested in the piece of paper taped to the front of my locker. It reads, in a bold, curvy font:

Show your school spirit at

PUFO CON,

the country’s fifth largest UFO convention!

Wear school colors, and stop by booth #67 to win prizes!

Beneath the text is a black-and-white photograph of a blurry, saucer-shaped object hovering over some mountains. Not just any photograph. The photograph.

The Lowe UFO.

“You working the convention this year, Loony?”

While I was reading, a small herd of sheep have flocked over to me, all pointing fingers and poorly suppressed giggles. “Working it?” a different sheep pipes up. “Her family practically runs it.”

I scowl. “Which one of you morons did this?” Smiles falter, and there are a lot of shaking heads and murmurs of “not me” as the herd disbands. When I tear the flyer down, it nearly rips in two. Crushing it up, I chuck it to the floor. It lands with a faint, unsatisfying whuff.

My backpack, on the other hand, makes a much more pleasing clang as I toss it to the bottom of the locker.

“Pardon me—”

“What?” Slamming the locker shut again, I whirl around. There’s a boy I don’t recognize beside me, his mouth hanging open. He is tall and lanky, his chin-length hair so blonde it almost shines silver. Light blue eyes blink at me.

“You, uh…dropped this.” When he holds up one of his pale, slender hands, it’s clutching the wrinkled flyer. A heavy-looking, metallic blue ring glints from his middle finger.

“Oh.” Unsure of what to do, I accept it from him. “Thanks, but I don’t actually need it. It’s trash.”

“I’m sorry,” he says quickly. “I can recycle it for you, if you’d like.” Speaking of weirdos. This kid is attractive, in a rather pretty way. But he gives awkward a run for its money. Not to mention the navy slacks and white collared shirt. He’s dressed like a teacher.

“I got it,” I insist. “I shouldn’t have just thrown it on the floor, anyway. I was mad. Someone put it on my locker as a joke.”

“I see.” He nods, but his brow is wrinkled as if he doesn’t quite understand. Great. Now the weird new kid thinks I’m weird.

“Oh, Mich-ael!” a girl calls over. This voice, I’d recognize anywhere. Mallory Isaac—the Queen Sheep—clops over to us, her second-in-command, Ava Coolidge, in tow.

“One thing you’ll have to learn at Pearl Falls High, Michael,” Mallory continues, flashing her pearly whites, “is about the hierarchy. People like me, Ava—and you, of course—are at the top. The rest—” she makes sure to catch my gaze for this last bit— “are the bottom-dwellers.”

Guess I have a pretty good idea who taped that PUFO Con flyer to my locker. “One thing you’ll have to learn about this school, Michael.” Despite my flaming cheeks, the words somehow come out clipped and cool. “Some people, like us, are normal humans. While others are vapid bimbos.” I mirror Mallory’s bright smile.

Queenie stiffens, but her grin never falters. “Ava?” she says pointedly to her friend. “Don’t you have anything you want to say?”

Uncertainty flickers in Ava’s hazel eyes. Stepping toward me, she flips some of her honey blonde hair over her shoulder. “Michael is my guy. And you know what happens to people who try to take my things, leech.”

“I’m not your guy.” The new kid’s quick, curt reply takes me by surprise. From the stricken look on Ava’s face, it’s shocked her, too. Shaking his head, Michael walks away.

Ava, chin trembling, watches him go. For the briefest of moments—and I’m talking one billionth of one second brief—I almost feel bad for her. But hell hasn’t frozen over yet.

“Ugh. You chased him off.” A beat later, and the cheerleader is back to her normal self, glowering at me. “It’s like you’re hot guy repellant.”

I can’t help it. I burst out laughing. “I didn’t chase him off. He left because he doesn’t like you.”

Both sheep gasp. “Take that back!” Ava cries. “Leech.”

“No way, you…stupid b*tch.”

“I said…” She takes another measured step toward me. Then another. And another. “Take. That. Back.” On the last word, she thrusts out a manicured hand, jabbing me in the shoulder. Her fingernails scrape over the thin material of my black dress.

“Don’t touch me.” To go with the dress, I’m wearing a pair of fingerless gloves, but underneath the black lace…God, I hate it when this happens. I don’t know how to describe it, except that it feels something like thousands of fire ants scuttling beneath my skin. Whatever you do, I remind myself, do not lose control.

“Girl fight!” There’s a shout. The sheep are back, forming a semicircle around us. Ava shoves me again, so hard this time I go stumbling into the locker behind me.

“Take it back,” she says, “and I won’t have to.”

“Oh, that is it.” Anger flares up inside me. The invisible fire ants swarm. I lunge for Ava, but she’s already grabbing a fistful of my hair. She pulls. Crying out, I clap a hand over hers, trying to unclasp her fingers. I’m touching her, but barely.

I hear the rattle of metal, a jarring sound in the abruptly silent corridor, before I realize what’s happened.

*****

Click on the book cover to preorder!

Description:

Celeste Lowe is no stranger to the strange. Living in tiny Pearl Falls, Oregon—infamous for PUFO Con, its annual UFO and sci-fi convention—it’s hard not to be. Plus, Celeste is rather strange herself: She can move objects without touching them. Mostly, she avoids using her unusual ability altogether, not even to retaliate against her arch nemesis, Ava Coolidge. Then comes the day she’s forced to defend not only herself, but Ava’s older brother, Dave, against two unlikely attackers.

As the son of the most powerful family in town, Dave represents everything Celeste hates. Or thought she hated. But the golden boy of Pearl Falls is nothing like she expects. When one of their attackers turns up dead, Dave’s determined to protect Celeste and her secret, lest anyone assume the worst. What’s more, the mysterious markings on the body mirror those seen in another unsolved murder: Dave’s own mother’s.

With Celeste, Dave, and their friends forming an unlikely alliance to solve these cold cases, she’s finding it harder and harder to keep her secret. And just as she’s opening her heart for the first time, she learns that Dave has a secret of his own.

Content Warning: Alien Gothic contains some descriptions of dead bodies. A side character has been accused of SA at his college, but, although he does verbally harass the main character, there is no on-the-page SA. One of the alien civilizations in the book was nearly wiped out in a genocide, but again, this is all background information.

by Categories: Alien Gothic, excerpt, fiction, high school, romance, science fiction, young adultTags: , , , , , , , , , , Leave a comment

Interview with Author Kelly Creagh


Today, I am SO excited to bring you my interview with Kelly Creagh, author of the Nevermore trilogy and, most recently, Phantom Heart. Her young adult novels offer unique worlds (for example, the world in Nevermore is inspired by the work of Edgar Allan Poe), compelling female leads, and a seamless blend romance and horror. I just finished Phantom Heart over the weekend and still have to write the review, but it was definitely a five-star read for me! At its core, PH is a Phantom of the Opera retelling and a perfect escape for spooky season. (Because we all know now that it’s September, it’s basically Halloween.) But in addition to the gorgeous gothic romance you might expect from a Phantom retelling, it also deals quite eloquently with themes of family, redemption, and loss.

Keep reading for our interview and more insights into Phantom Heart!

*****

Phantom Heart Summary:

Seventeen-year-old Stephanie Armand doesn’t believe in ghosts or spirits. Despite her six-year-old sister insisting a masked figure is hiding in her closet, and the rumors at school, Stephanie isn’t convinced her father’s latest renovation project–a crumbling Victorian mansion–houses the soul of a monster. So when the very charming (and paranormal-obsessed) Lucas Cheney takes an interest in both Stephanie and her notorious home, Moldavia, the supernatural and romantic activity escalates to an all-time high. But then there’s Erik– the dashing British boy, seemingly from another era, who’s taken up residence in Stephanie’s nightly dreams. A boy who may have something to do with the man in the mask, and the strange occurrences taking place at Moldavia.

*****

SL Stacy: Coffee or tea?

Kelly Creagh: Coffee. Mochas are my favorite.

SL: Favorite place to write?

KC: Lately, it’s been on the back porch. The hummingbirds stop by to say hello and soon the autumn colors will be keeping me company as well.

SL: Are you a plotter or pantser?

KC: I used to be a straight pantser. But in recent years, I’ve done a deeper study on structure, and I now consider myself a combo author. I don’t plot out everything because every project I’ve written has taught me there will always be things (often amazing things!) that my brain just can’t access until I’m knee-deep in the drafting process.

For instance, in Nevermore, the character of Pinfeathers, who became my favorite character of the series, just showed up out of the blue near the end of my first draft. I remember having a bit of an argument with him, trying to tell him he couldn’t come in that late in the book. He of course wouldn’t budge and was TOTALLY fun to write so I just went with it. I’m so glad I did. Also, during my second draft, I realized that Pinfeathers had shown up much earlier in the novel. I just had no clue at the time that was him. So, my subconscious does things like this, which is why I’ve learned to let it. Because if I’d straight out plotted the novel, I might not have ever met Pinfeathers.

SL: I loved Pinfeathers, so I am also glad he popped in! How long have you been writing?

KC: I’ve been writing since grade school. I even still have my first book titled The Garden that Grew Pink Lettuce. I wrote through middle school, high school, and college, too. Becoming an author has been a lifelong pursuit and dream.

SL: What fictional world would you love to visit (can be one of yours or someone else’s)?

KC: The North Pole from my YA Christmas novel, Nickolas Claus.

SL: Tell me more about the inspiration(s) behind Phantom Heart.

KC: The Phantom of the Opera is my favorite classic novel. I fell in love with the book while in middle school and I became captivated with the story and the characters—particularly the Phantom.

For years, The Phantom of the Opera was that story that I loved but was too trepidatious to touch. I’d always longed to retell it, but I wanted to produce a story that captured everything I loved about the original while also doing its own thing. Additionally, I wanted to write a retelling that included some of the characters and elements that are often left out of retellings. Lastly, I wanted my Phantom to have a voice in the book. I wanted readers to be privy to his thoughts and his plight—to experience his side of the story along with him. This meant I needed to look at doing the book from multiple points of view, in first-person. The whole project seemed like a tall order. But tall orders are always the best kind, right?

So, as an experiment, I just gave the project a try and I wrote the first chapter of Phantom Heart. While that chapter has largely remained the same, the rest of the novel changed massively as I worked over the years. Phantom Heart required tons of revision and many, many drafts.

Overall, I think my process greatly benefited from my middle school and high school obsession with the story, and I think Phantom Heart was influenced by the many iterations I encountered. For instance, my phantom has many masks. I remember going on a field trip to a local theatre when I was around 12 or 13 to see Arthur Kipot’s production of Phantom. The theatre was in the round and I remember vividly the moment a set-piece was lowered from the ceiling. The set-piece was a type of display wall that contained many masks, all of them painted differently—some beautiful, some grotesque. I truly think that moment is responsible for my choice to have my phantom character, Zedok, possess many unique masks. I went a step further with this idea, though, by also giving each of those masks their own persona.

Other versions get nods, too, since I named my Raoul-inspired character, Lucas Cheney, partly after Lon Chaney who notoriously played the Phantom in the silent-film version. 

SL: What research went into writing Phantom Heart? Or, what is your research process like in general?

KC: My research list for Phantom Heart included Victorian architecture, spiritualism, occult practices in the Victorian-era, mummies and mummy unwrapping parties, Egyptian mythology, swing dance and Lindy Hop, classical music, popular music of the 1940s and 50s, ghost hunting, and parapsychology. Quite an eclectic mix!

Regarding my process, I usually research as I go. I love speaking directly with experts and doing field research. For Phantom Heart, I relied a lot on my experience of having lived in the preservation district of Old Louisville for many years. During that time, I had the opportunity to tour many Victorian-era homes. I also spent some time researching the books of my friend and fellow author, David Domine, who has written extensively on the history, ghosts, and architecture of Old Louisville.

SL: I loved that eclectic mix of things! I believe Phantom Heart is a stand-alone, but do you have any other retellings up your sleeve?

KC: I do! I’m currently working on a retelling of another gothic classic.

SL: That is exciting news! I will be waiting (im)patiently for that, lol. Regarding Nevermore, I read a lot of YA, and I have to say, a fantasy world inspired by Edgar Allan Poe is just a really unique spin. How did you come up with that?

KC: I spent a LOT of time in Poe’s works. I read and re-read his stories, poems, and novel. I really immersed myself in his works and listened to them on audio many times. I read his biographies and researched his life. I went to his house and gravesites in Baltimore. I went to the Edgar Allan Poe Museum in Virginia, too. I picked the brains of experts. I pretty much saturated myself in all things Poe. As a result, I began to connect the dots with common themes, visuals, and elements in his work. And Poe wrote a lot about dreams. Really, the world of Nevermore arose organically as I drafted, and I just went with it. I allowed myself a lot of creative freedom, and my imagination ran wild, my subconscious rewarding my efforts by producing the Woodlands of Weir, the Nocs, and Reynolds. 

As a side note, I have a Victorian-era character in Phantom Heart. I think my ability to capture the feel of that era with his voice can also be owed to the hours (and hours!) of time I spent with Poe’s words and in his worlds.

Poe also gets a more direct nod in Phantom Heart given that I named the Victorian mansion my main character Stephanie moves into after Poe’s childhood home, Moldavia.

SL: Now, to switch gears a bit. What advice would you give a new writer just starting out?

KC: Perseverance. Everyone advises burgeoning writers to persevere, but I really want to underscore this.

When I was writing Nevermore, I had a professional reader/author who disliked the whole book and all the characters. This person advised me to ditch what I had and go another route. I kept going with my vision and sought feedback from alternate sources. Later, Nevermore was rejected by one editor for “not having enough Poe.” It was rejected by other editors, too. But I kept going—I committed to the project and the dream of a career as an author.

Phantom Heart also received multiple rejections from agents and editors. The book was almost a drawer novel. It was on submission for a long time. Weirdly enough, it sold on December 21st, the same day my phantom character is stuck in.

Nevermore took three years to write. Phantom Heart was a five-year journey.

If you’re a beginning writer, or even a seasoned one, it’s easy to look at the books on the shelves and think that you might never see yours there. It’s easy to give up, and often we’re even encouraged to abandon projects we love in favor of something more “marketable.” While it’s always a good idea to stay tuned to the market since publishing is a business, it’s also healthy to recognize that the market is always changing. The tastes of editors and agents are varied as well.

Commit to your project. Writing is rewriting. Seek useful feedback from trustworthy sources. If you can, abstain from watching TV while you’re drafting. I find this helps me to hear my own voice and thoughts so much more clearly. Hone your craft. Never stop learning. Never stop writing. Be loyal to yourself and your writing. If your book doesn’t sell, write another.

Repeat.

SL: That is all great advice (and I, for one, am glad you kept true to your vision for Nevermore!). What’s the hardest part of writing a book?

KC: That first draft. For me, that’s the heavy lifting part of the process. On the flipside, I LOVE revision. For me, revision is the most creative part of the process. By the time I’m revising, I know the characters fairly well, and I have a more solid plan for what I’m trying to say. The world I’m writing is more established, and so revision feels more like playtime for me.

SL: Which of your books would you love to see turned into a movie? Who would play the main characters?

KC: I think Nevermore would be quite a fun book-to-screen adaptation. In particular, I’d love to see the Nocs brought to life. That said, Phantom Heart would also be an interesting movie or series. Both books have a lot of emphasis on character and striking visuals.

I’m not sure who I would have play the parts. But wouldn’t it be awesome for new actors to get their starts with roles in Phantom Heart and Nevermore?

*****

Author Bio:

Kelly Creagh is the author of the paranormal romance trilogy Nevermore. She lives in beautiful Louisville, Kentucky, with her three small and spunky dogs. She holds a Master of Fine Arts in Writing from Spalding University. The Phantom of the Opera is her all-time favorite piece of classic literature, and when visiting the Paris Opera House once, Kelly celebrated her love for Leroux’s novel by enjoying a performance from the Phantom’s requested seat, Box 5—also known as the Phantom’s box. When not writing, Kelly enjoys baking, playing video games, and teaching and performing the art of bellydance.

Website: www.kellycreagh.com

Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/AuthorKellyCreagh/

Twitter: https://twitter.com/Kelly_Creagh

Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/kelly_creagh/

by Categories: author interview, books, fantasy, fiction, Nevermore trilogy, paranormal, romanceTags: , , , , , , , , , Leave a comment

What’s Next?


Indeed, what is next? Lol.

Well, before I get into the true purpose of this post (to discuss current projects), I want to mention that I have a very exciting interview coming up with one of my absolute favorite authors! That will go up early next week, so stay tuned.

Retribution, the fourth and final (ish?) installment in my Greek mythology-inspired Reborn series, came out on June 26th. So, it’s been out in the world for nearly three months! This leads me to my first announcement: The individual books in the series will be leaving Kindle Unlimited on September 23rd. After that, I will be releasing the entire series to the other major e-book platforms (Nook, Smashwords, Google, Apple, Kobo, and a few others). But, if you are a Kindle Unlimited subscriber, don’t fret. The Reborn complete series box set will remain available on KU!

Now, I say final-ish above because, although Retribution wrapped up the stories of my main characters in the series (Siobhan, Carly), I do have ideas for other novels set in the same world. I do entertain these ideas and work on them from time to time, but it’s going to take awhile for them to reach any sort of publish-able state, lol.

I also have a stand-alone, Halloween-inspired novella about Hades and Persephone that I keep putting on the backburner. Every. Damn. Year. And it takes place on Halloween, so it’s not like I can release it at any other point during the year, lol. But, I have literally penciled in a release date next year into my calendar, so my goal is to actually finish it for 2022.

My other ideas include an Anna-focused book. Because, let’s face it, I think she needs some healing/closure after the events in Retribution. And then a new trilogy focused on completely different characters and Greek deities, that would mostly take place on Olympus (and have major gothic romance/Wuthering Heights vibes).

For now, though, I am working on something completely different. After being entrenched in my little Olympian urban fantasy world since the plague began, I needed a change of pace. So, I am once again re-working my teen alien YA book that I have been going back to fiddle with for… years, at this point. Last year, I got to it a stage where I was fairly happy with it, but I later realized some things about it just weren’t working. I am cutting it waaaay down (the last draft was nearly 90K, and I’m hoping to whittle it down to somewhere in the 55-65K range), and rewriting it from one of the character’s points-of-view (it was originally written in third person).

Anyway, I’m only mentioning it because I’m really excited now about how it’s turning out. Sometimes (well, always…) these things just take time. I am obsessed with the story/characters because they let me play with one of my ongoing obsessions, UFOs and aliens, haha. Think Roswell (the 90s TV show/book series; I haven’t seen the remake), Animorphs, or, for a more recent comp that doesn’t age me quite as much, Obsidian by Jennifer L. Armentrout. I am probably going to try querying it again first, but if that doesn’t work out, I’m planning to self-publish it.

Writing fiction is so weird sometimes. It’s basically spending most of your free time working on something that no one asked for and no one needs. But you’re getting it anyway! Lol.

I’m going to wrap up this post with a big thank you to all of you who have ever bought and read one of my books, but especially to those who have done so recently! The Reborn box set has been doing particularly well in recent weeks, including on KU. Thanks you!! And if you find yourself with a free moment, please consider leaving a review on Amazon or Goodreads! I’m sure it’s super annoying authors are always asking for that, lol. But it is one of the most helpful things you can do to help an author out! Plus, it lets you inform other potential readers what they’re in for if they decide to buy the book.

Like I said, stay tuned for that author interview next week. In the meantime, happy reading!

by Categories: announcements, Reborn, updates, WIP WednesdayTags: , , , , , , , , , Leave a comment

Promotions Week of July 19th


I’m a day late in writing this, but that’s okay, because you still have plenty of time to download two of my books for *free* this week!

Through the end of the day (that means 11:59 pm PDT) Friday, you can purchase the two Reborn series novellas, Revenge and Rectify, for free on Amazon! If you want to read them in order with the rest of the series, Revenge is book 2.5, and Rectify is book 3.5. But I wrote them in such a way so they also stand on their own.

Revenge is a short ghost story that focuses on one of the other Greek houses in the Reborn world, Alpha Rho. One of the Alpha Rho’s sorority sisters has died, and her spirit needs the sorority’s help to move on to the afterlife. It ties up some loose ends from the Alpha Rho subplot in Reborn, but it’s really a story about friendship and sisterhood. (And did I mention ghosts?)

Rectify is told from the point-of-view of Apate, the Greek goddess of trickery. She’s been stirring up a lot of trouble lately, but in Rectify she’s looking to right past wrongs. Her POV is a ton of fun to write from, because she says, and does, what she wants, and sometimes breaks the fourth wall. The novella also centers around her budding romance with Jimmy, a bartender and musician (and her arch nemesis’s ex).

The summaries for each novella are below. And if you do read one or both of them, I’d appreciate you leaving your thoughts on Amazon and/or Goodreads! Word of mouth is still the best way authors grow their readership.

Revenge

A stand-alone ghost story set in the Reborn world…

Genie Cho was ambitious, a dedicated student, and–as president of her sorority, Alpha Rho–a promising leader. Until she made some new, otherworldly–and dangerous–friends. They opened her up to a world of magic, a world where everyone had special powers. They promised her eternal life. But something went wrong, and Genie wound up dead.

Her untimely death has shaken all of her sorority sisters, but hits Rebecca Grey especially hard. Ever since her roommate’s passing, Rebecca’s sleepless nights have been filled with nightmares. Rebecca even thinks she hears Genie’s voice sometimes, calling out for help. Although some of her sisters remain skeptical, Rebecca is convinced that Genie’s ghost is still out there somewhere and needs their help to move on.

Join Rebecca and the Alpha Rhos on their journey to lay Genie’s spirit to rest, a quest that takes them beyond the safety and comfort of their sorority house to the gates of the Underworld.

Rectify

A sexy, stand-alone novella set in the Reborn world…

Love ’em and leave ’em. That’s always been Apate’s motto. The Olympian goddess of trickery doesn’t have time for entanglements, romantic or otherwise. And she sure as hell doesn’t have time for regret.

But when Thurston University student Siobhan Elliot goes missing and the human cops start sniffing around, Apate’s dubious past catches up with her. Now it’s only a matter of time until Jimmy, her latest conquest—who also happens to be Siobhan’s ex—finds out it’s her fault. To cover her tracks, Apate pays a visit to the Elliots, using her powers of illusion to pose as their daughter and convince them everything’s fine. Lying is easy. Confronting the consequences of her actions, however, will prove to be much harder than Apate expected.

To find her redemption, Apate knows it’s time to come clean. But the truth could cost her the only love she’s ever known.

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Promotions Week of July 12th


To celebrate the release of Retribution, the fourth and final installment of the Reborn series, I have several promotions running over on Amazon for the earlier books in the series.

Reborn, the first book, is still free for a few more hours! Grab yours before it goes back to its original price tonight at 11:59 pm PST. The second and third books, Relapse and Reclaim, are both currently $0.99. Their price goes up to $1.99 in one day and reverts back to the original price on Sunday.

And if you do purchase one (or more 😉 ) of my books, remember to leave a brief, honest review of your thoughts on Amazon and/or Goodreads!

In other news, today I went live on Facebook for the first time! Overall, it was a little awkward but not too shabby? After the updates, I read a short excerpt from Chapter 4 of Retribution! Haha, so I can’t get the video to embed properly, but you can watch it here! (I am admittedly too tired to fiddle with trying to embed it, lol.)

by Categories: announcements, Giveaways, Promotions, Reborn, Reclaim, Relapse, updatesTags: , , , , , , , , , , , Leave a comment

Promotion: Reborn is FREE Through July 12th


Happy Friday Eve!

I am running a promotion for Reborn, the first book in my romantic urban fantasy series. Reborn is FREE for Kindle through the end of the day (11:59 pm PDT) July 12th! This way, you can dip your toes, so to speak, into the series if you’re new to it! Grab your free copy here.

Reborn is a modern, darker spin on the Eros and Psyche story from Greek Mythology. I call it an urban fantasy with strong romantic elements because it doesn’t fit the typical romance formula (not that there’s anything wrong with that!).

I just released the fourth and final book, Retribution, and the complete series is also available to KU subscribers.

***

Summary: An old flame. A magical sorority. An uncontrollable power…

Siobhan Elliot’s World Myths and Legends class was supposed to be an easy way to get elective credit. Instead, she gets an unexpected—and unwanted—blast from the past in the form of the course’s handsome teaching assistant, Jasper Hart. He puts the cliché tall, dark and handsome to shame, but that’s the least of Siobhan’s worries. Because she’s met him before.

And he’s definitely not human.

Back then, their brief encounter left her with a unique but uncontrollable power, forever altering her young adult life. Now, the only person who can tell her the truth about who—and what—she really is doesn’t seem to remember her.

Even so, Jasper’s return opens a whole new world to Siobhan, one straight from the pages of her World Myths and Legends textbook. Her already bizarre life is about to be turned upside down, and nothing—not even her sorority, Gamma Lambda Phi—is left untouched. A world where Greek mythology meets Greek life, legendary lovers reunite, and nothing is what it seems.

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Retribution is Here!


Happy Wednesday!

If you’re in one of the areas in the US experiencing record heat waves, I hope you’re able to stay cool. And while you’re indoors basking in the AC, why not curl up with a book?

Retribution, the fourth and final(?) installment of the Reborn series, is out in the world! You can purchase it alone for Kindle or as part of the complete series box set. All of my books are also available for KU subscribers. While you’re at it, add it to your summer TBR pile on Goodreads.

If funds are tight, I will be giving out a few review copies of the series box set (.mobi or pdf), so fill out this Google form if you’re interested! All I ask is that you leave an honest review on Goodreads and Amazon when you’re done reading. (And it goes without saying I won’t share your email with anyone, or use it for any other purpose!)

Summary:

Siobhan has returned from a seven-month stint in Pandora to a world that’s falling apart. Literally.

She doesn’t care, though, about the holes in the walls between the worlds. Or that, according to a prophecy, she’s the only one who can stop Eric and his halfling army from taking over Olympus. All Siobhan wants now is to get back to some semblance of normalcy in life, and in her relationship with Jasper.

Meanwhile, combat training is Carly’s new normal. But while Gamma Lambda Phi prepares for certain war, she grapples with missing memories and a forgotten power. And just when a possibility for new love presents itself, an old flame is rekindled.

Electra is the new general of Eric’s army, but it’s a tenuous command. She is caught between love and fear, sanity and madness, a desire for absolution and a thirst for vengeance…

In the game of the gods, anything goes, and nothing is what it seems. And in this conclusion to the Reborn saga, these three women will learn just how far they’re willing to go to win.

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Retribution: The First 300 Words


With only ten days to go until Retribution releases July 1, I thought I’d share the first part of Chapter 1.

There are three main threads in the novel. Most of it is told from, of course, Siobhan’s perspective. The second chunk is from Carly’s. The third is a surprise, but it’s someone readers are familiar with (and will probably figure out fairly quickly). Your first clue is that Chapter 1 is called “Eric”. Your second clue is this playlist.

By the way, the Reborn series box set is on sale for Kindle through Wednesday morning. And you can pre-order Retribution here.

~

Every night, in my dreams, I return to the lake.

I kneel on the pebbled shore, swirling a finger through sepia-toned waters. Deep down, I know the color is wrong. But I also know I’m dreaming.

Think I’m dreaming.

Small waves lap the beach, rhythmic, endless, leaving behind dark, damp stones and traces of brown sludge. If I listen closely, I can hear the waves whispering. If I listen closer still, I can make out the words.

Feel me. See me. Know me.

I spring to my feet, shivering. But the whispers are a chorus now, pounding like blood in my temples.

Feel me.

See me.

Know me.

Hitching a breath, I dip my toes in the water. It is ice, but it is also a balm, the lake’s song diminishing to a murmur once again. I tiptoe forward until the water is ankle-deep. A little further still, and it doesn’t feel so bad anymore, the waves skimming my legs like indolent fingers.

Calves, knees, torso, shoulders—soon everything save for my head is submerged. I pause, treading water, and scan the lake. It is silent now. And I am alone.

There’s a pressure at my back, warm and slippery, like an eel slithering around my waist. It hooks my hip, shocking the breath out of me. A final squeeze, and I’m tugged entirely into the water.

Down here, the world is black ice. Everything is numbing, burning, crushing pain. I fight and thrash, but nothing I do makes any difference. Whatever has ahold of me isn’t letting go, dragging me down, down, down into more dark silence.

***

He is down here, in these muddy waters. I can’t see him, but his presence swells with every yard I fall. He sleeps. Dreams. Waits.

He waits for me.

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Rectify is Live!


Rectify, a new novella in the Reborn series, is now live!

Find it on Amazon, Barnes & Noble, Smashwords, and more!

Add it on Goodreads.

Synopsis:

Love ’em and leave ’em. That’s always been Apate’s motto. The Olympian goddess of trickery doesn’t have time for entanglements, romantic or otherwise. And she sure as hell doesn’t have time for regret.

But when Thurston University student Siobhan Elliot goes missing and the human cops start sniffing around, Apate’s dubious past catches up with her. Now it’s only a matter of time until Jimmy, her latest conquest—who also happens to be Siobhan’s ex—finds out it’s her fault. To cover her tracks, Apate pays a visit to the Elliots, using her powers of illusion to pose as their daughter and convince them everything’s fine. Lying is easy. Confronting the consequences of her actions, however, will prove to be much harder than Apate expected.

To find her redemption, Apate knows it’s time to come clean. But the truth could cost her the only love she’s ever known.

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New Year’s Resolutions N’at


It’s that time again (or, as January is almost over, passed that time) to set goals for the new year, including writing goals! So read on for my official, writing-related new year’s resolutions n’at. (And if you don’t know what n’at means, you may need this.)

Last year, I accomplished several major writing and publishing goals. Accomplishments included self-publishing Reclaim, the third book in my Reborn series, as well as a companion novella, Revenge. I attended my first writing-related conference and joined two professional organizations for a little networking and friendship with other writers. I also submitted a standalone young adult novel I’d written to a writing contest (Pitch Wars). That was a major fail, haha, but I’m glad I did it. I don’t know if I’ll try it again this year, but definitely in the future. (If you’d like to find out more about Pitch Wars, visit their site.) I managed to accomplish another goal in 2017, but I’m keeping that under wraps for now…it remains to be seen whether it will be a success or a failure. 😉

Although I didn’t do as good of a job updating this blog last year, I did a lot of writing, even if I wasn’t always writing about writing. Teehee. In addition to the Pitch Wars manuscript, I wrote (most) of a Reborn-world novel for NaNoWriMo. “Reborn-world” because it’s based in the same mythology, but mostly focuses on two characters not in the other books. It’s, quite frankly, not anywhere close to being done. When I took a break from it over the holidays I realized it had some problems I needed to work through. I still think there’s an interesting story there, but I’ve put it on the back-burner for now.

(As an aside, this is also why I shouldn’t gleefully announce projects way in advance, lol. I thought for sure I’d want to do something with it. I still probably will, but it’s not top priority at this time. It was still important writing as far as back story goes, though. As authors, we write down a lot that doesn’t actually end up making it into a book. But we have to know it happened. If that makes any sense…)

In addition to writing projects, which I PROMISE I’ll get to in a second, I have several marketing-related goals I want to meet. This is always hard for me, as it is for any self-published author (and probably any author, really…) because, although I know how important marketing and promotions are, it takes time away from actual writing. Which is what I want to be doing. However, I’m hoping that if I write down these resolutions here, for all to see, I’ll be more likely to do them. At least that’s the idea. 😉

  • Web site: I really need to upgrade this site. Like yesterday. There’s no reason I can’t buy my own domain and transfer everything over…I think GoDaddy let’s you do this. But it’s slightly extra work and I don’t wanna. But I need to.
  • Newsletter: I want to start an author newsletter to give more targeted updates to readers. I’ve been doing some research into this, subscribing to newsletters from authors I enjoy to see what they do. It seems like MailChimp is the way to go for this? (If you have any thoughts, feel free to leave them in the comments–about any of this, of course, but especially newsletters!)
  • Author Signing/Book Festival: The idea of going to one of these things feels really overwhelming to me, like even just thinking about it. I attended a panel of local authors talking about these last weekend and…even though I expected there to be a lot of prep for these events, there were tons of details I hadn’t even thought of. Yikes. So my goal is to just do one of these in 2018. Just one, and go from there.

Writing Resolutions

And now for the moment you all, or at least some of you, have been waiting for. I did start writing a thing this January. It doesn’t have a title yet…except for Reborn Book 4. 😉 It will likely be the last book in this series with Siobhan, Carly, Jasper et al. as the main characters. But I felt, in addition to tying up loose ends from the previous books, they still had stories waiting to be told. (I do have ideas for other books set in this world…”spin off” books, if you will, for characters that have been more secondary or minor until now.)

I’ve just started writing so am still getting a feel for this book. I think I’m somewhere in between a plotter and a pantser, lol. Although I have the main plot and some of the major turning points in mind, sometimes I just start writing without a clear outline, to see what my imagination cooks up. Then I stop and go back and sort of reassess things, making a clearer outline then. Even when I do outline, things often don’t go as planned, but that’s part of the fun. I don’t want to force the story to go a certain way if that’s not where the characters are taking me.

So I can’t tell you a lot about this book yet, but I can tell you some of the loose ends it will address. This is probably an incomplete list since I’m not looking at my notes, going off the top of my head here (and, if you haven’t read the Reborn series yet, spoilers abound):

  • Sibohan’s origin. Siobhan is unique among the halflings, those who are part human, part Olympian. She seems to have a special set of powers no one else has. In this book, you’ll find out why.
  • Siobhan and Jasper. They’re together at the end of Relapse, but it’s an imperfect union. Jasper loves someone who finds it hard, with good reason, to truly love him back. Siobhan feels more of an addiction to Jasper than actual love, but I think Jasper is on the road to redemption and she will discover there are honest feelings there. In any case, these two need a more satisfying resolution.
  • Eric and Anna. Eric has been the “big bad” up to this point, building his halfling army to overthrow Zeus back on Olympus. He suffered a bad defeat at the end of Reclaim, but he’s making his comeback in this book, his army larger and more formidable than ever. But Eric has secrets still waiting to be uncovered. If you remember from Relapse, Siobhan and Victoria almost happen upon one of them in his penthouse when they’re rescuing Vanessa… Anna had some problems at the end of book 2, to say the least, although she’s since been on the road to recovery. She undergoes quite a transformation in the meantime…it’s been fun to play around with her character more.
  • Prophecies. There have been two main prophecies floating around in the series that are pretty important, and now you’ll get to find out why. Vanessa says one of them in Relapse, and Moira, an Olympian seer, gives Carly the other in Reclaim.

Speaking of Carly…she will have a major part to play in this upcoming book as well, and I’m hoping to resolve some of the loose ends involving her. However, I don’t have this part completely ironed out yet so I won’t say anything more. A lot about everything I’ve said could still change because I’ve just started writing it…these were just some of the specific plot threads I’ve left dangling that I want to make sure to tie up…if not into a neat, tidy bow, at least into some sort of complicated knot that’s really hard to get out…

As far as a timeline for all of this goes, I don’t have much sense of a release date. I am sorry for that, but I’m also not going to set one for a while, at least until I have a better sense of how this is all going to come together. Although I am a writer, and I love that part of myself, I’ve been learning not to try to solely define myself by that. I have other goals, other obligations, not related to writing at all, that are important to me, too. Between all of those things, and writing, it’s just hard for me to get a sense of how to time releases. The book is done when it’s done, haha. I want to make it something readers will devour and enjoy, not something that was rushed. If I had to guess, maaaaaaybe I could get this book out end of 2018 or spring of 2019, but we shall see. This is not a hard deadline (clearly).

I know waiting is hard, but I hope you’ll bear with me. The wait will be worth it. In the meantime, if you’ve read any of the Reborn series and enjoyed it, take a moment to spread the word! Tell even just one friend about it, or post a rating and/or short review to Goodreads, Amazon, etc.

Happy 2018, and most importantly, happy reading!

 

 

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