Monthly Archives: April 2017

Sunday Snippet April 30, 2017

Taking a break from The Academy of the Accord, since I’ve been posting from its books for over a year now. (I’ll come back to them when they’re ready to release.  Current goal is 2020.)

So, anyhow, I thought I’d post from Song and Sword, the first novel I published, since I’m working on a sequel and need the motivation.

Following directly from last week. (Some of you may have seen some of this before.)

A look of pain flashed across his face. “I give you my word, my lady, had I been there, I would have stepped in, would have protected you.” 

The gentleness and honesty in his voice deflected her anger and she stared at him, puzzled.  “But you said you saw it.  Are you a Seer, then?”

“A Seer? No, not I.  I am just a simple Bard.”  He smiled. “Your unicorn showed me.”

“My… my unicorn?”

He nodded. “What is his name?”

“Justice,” she replied, only half paying attention to the question as she followed his gaze to the clearing where Justice and another unicorn grazed.  “But, they’re just animals…”

“They are more than just animals, my lady.  They choose their riders, and they can communicate with us.  I promised Justice that I would teach you when you are strong enough.”

 

Song and Sword cover

Blurb:
Pashevel: a simple Elven Bard — and the Crown Prince

Marlia: a Paladin of Arithen, the Elven God of Justice – seeking vengeance for the destruction of her village

Dakkas: heir to the Drow throne — if his father and elder half-brother don’t kill him first

Kashrya: raised among a tribe of nomadic Humans, she is unaware of her true heritage — or of the prophecy that made her mother an outcast

Their goal: build a bridge between the Elves and their outcast brethren, the Drow, reuniting them and undoing the damage caused in a time so far gone that history has become legend and legend has become myth.

But first, they have a problem to solve:  how do you stop a war that hasn’t started?

Available for Kindle at Amazon

and at Smashwords for everything else

 

Find more great reading
at the Sunday Snippet group.

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Rainbow Snippet for 4-29-2017

rainbow logo 1

Rainbow Snippets is a group for LGBTQ+ authors, bloggers, and readers to gather once a week and share six sentences from a work of fiction–a WIP or a finished work or even a 6-sentence book recommendation (no spoilers please!).   Check out all the other awesome snippets by clicking on the picture above.

I’m still posting from Onyx Sun, a science fiction novel that is currently in revision. The revisions are turning out to be more complex than originally expected so the release date is, um, to be determined. (I’ve given up trying to predict one, but I have at least one more round of revisions after the current one, and my goal for Camp NaNoWriMo this month is to finish this round.)

Skipping a couple paragraphs from last week.  Taliya has asked that Luzita be delivered to her ship as she has a couple things she needs to take care of before the offices close.  I’m picking up with Luzita’s first meeting with Ayess.

(This part is still in revision so squint because I haven’t gotten to it yet.)

Taliya shook head and took her seat, turning it to face the Araxian.  “When I first met Luzita she was a spoiled little rich girl, a snob, and a bigot.  But something happened and I thought she had changed.  She began working with me on social equality issues – we spent a lot of time together and became friends.  She…”  Taliya stopped and shook her head.  “Maybe she didn’t really change after all.”

“Or maybe she is just frightened,” Ayess said.  “Go and talk to her, and then get some sleep.”

Taliya smiled and rose.  “Thank you.  And, please, don’t worry.  I will not turn you out because of her or allow her to cause trouble.”

“I trust you, Taliya. And I will not leave unless you tell me to.”

“And I will never tell you to.”

 

 

 

 

 

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Crunch Time

There are only three days left in Camp NaNoWriMo (counting today) and I work all of them. The good news is that I only need 29 more pages to hit goal. (I did over 60 pages yesterday and last night.  I would have done more but…)

Anyhow, I’m going to try to get as close to goal before work as I can, because by tonight I’ll be too tired and tomorrow the blog hops start. It’s early yet – maybe I can even hit it!

I also need to take Book 11 of The Academy of the Accord out of the flex binder and put it into its storage one, and move Book 12 into the flex one.  Yes, I finished the first round edits on it at work Tuesday night.  I can’t believe I only have one more book to go (even though it’s going to be a nightmare to do).

Well, maybe only one more book. I still might do a book 5.5 to deal with the overlapping stuff from books 5, 6, and 7.  (I both do and don’t want to do that.  Having thirteen books is going to mess up my planned release schedule of one book a month for a year.  And if I do a Book 5.5, eventually it will have to become Book 6 and I’ll have to renumber everything… But on the other hand, if I do put in that other book I can expand some other stuff that will be important in later books, as well as clean up the current “mess in the middle” of the series.)

But I’m not going to worry about that. Right now I’m just focused on the last 29 pages of this round of revisions of Onyx Sun.

And getting through the work week.

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Wednesday Words #122 (4/26/2017)

Welcome to Wednesday Words!  Every Wednesday I will post some sort of prompt for a flash fiction piece.  The prompt will go live just after midnight Eastern time.

The prompt might be a picture, or it might be a list of things to include in a story, or maybe a phrase or a question or something from a “news of the weird” type thing, or a… who knows?

After that, it’s up to you.  But if you do use the prompt to write a bit of flash fiction (say, 500 words or so) I’d love to see what you came up with, so comment below with a link to where it is on your blog (or on WattPad or wherever).

(And a pingback to the post here where you found the prompt would be appreciated but isn’t necessary.)

Oh, and this isn’t a contest or anything.  It’s just a (hopefully) fun thing for all concerned.

And, hey, if it inspires more than 500 or so words, run with it!

This week’s prompt:

a ceramic turtle
a gnome in the back yard
a black feather

And, as always, I’d love to see what you come up with!

 

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Camp Update 4-24-17

(Yeah, I know.  Catchy title, huh?)

Less than a week left in Camp and I still have 110 pages to go. According to the stats page I have to do 16 pages a day to finish on time, and at my current rate I’ll finish on May 31st. (Hey, at least I’m into May now instead of the end of June.)

All my blog hops are caught up, though, so I should be able to get some pages done before I go to work today.

(Except Pentatonix just released a new video…)

And except there’s stuff I need to do to apply for a new job, too, so… Of course, I’m not going to be mailing the packet of papers today – or tomorrow – so I can work on that when I get home tonight and work on revisions now while I have better lighting to read my handwriting with.

(I’m not sure if that’s a compromise or a procrastination because I dread paperwork.)

I have two more days off this month to attack the revisions, but on one of them I’ll be going to my mother’s to dig up some pink wisteria to bring to my house. (I can’t wait to get the stuff to put up the fence around the yard so I can plant stuff! Fortunately, that’s not happening until next month.)

In more productive news, if all goes well I should finish the first round paper edits of Book 11 of The Academy of the Accord either tonight or tomorrow night.  I’m not looking forward to Book 12, though because it’s going to be a nightmare. I have two different beginnings for it, and two different versions of a scene in one of them, and later on I have at least three or four versions of a different scenario. I’m thinking it’s going to take most of May to figure out.

It may also take most of May to figure out what I did with the three ring binder that holds the concordance that I started. (It wasn’t where I thought it ought to be, so if anyone has any ideas as to where it might have gone, feel free to let me know.)

 

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Sunday Snippet April 23, 2017

Taking a break from The Academy of the Accord, since I’ve been posting from its books for over a year now. (I’ll come back to them when they’re ready to release.  Current goal is 2020.)

So, anyhow, I thought I’d post from Song and Sword, the first novel I published, since I’m working on a sequel and need the motivation.

Following directly from last week. (Some of you may have seen some of this before.)

Involuntarily she jerked away from his touch and clutched at the blanket as it slipped from her torso.  “My clothes!  What have you done?”

“I treated your wounds as best I could,” he said quietly.  “Unfortunately your blouse did not survive.”  His lips twitched with humor as he nodded toward the pile of blood-soaked white silk that lay next to her.

She stared at it for a long moment, trying to regain control of herself.  “I’m sorry,” she said as she calmed. “I – I …”

“I know,” he said softly.   The gentleness and understanding in his voice soothed her.  “I saw what happened,” he went on, “and I expected you to be afraid.  But I give you my word, I did nothing untoward.”  

“You saw what happened?  You just watched?   Why didn’t you help me?”

 

Song and Sword cover

Blurb:
Pashevel: a simple Elven Bard — and the Crown Prince

Marlia: a Paladin of Arithen, the Elven God of Justice – seeking vengeance for the destruction of her village

Dakkas: heir to the Drow throne — if his father and elder half-brother don’t kill him first

Kashrya: raised among a tribe of nomadic Humans, she is unaware of her true heritage — or of the prophecy that made her mother an outcast

Their goal: build a bridge between the Elves and their outcast brethren, the Drow, reuniting them and undoing the damage caused in a time so far gone that history has become legend and legend has become myth.

But first, they have a problem to solve:  how do you stop a war that hasn’t started?

Available for Kindle at Amazon

and at Smashwords for everything else

 

Find more great reading
at the Sunday Snippet group.

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Rainbow Snippet for 4-22-2017

rainbow logo 1

Rainbow Snippets is a group for LGBTQ+ authors, bloggers, and readers to gather once a week and share six sentences from a work of fiction–a WIP or a finished work or even a 6-sentence book recommendation (no spoilers please!).   Check out all the other awesome snippets by clicking on the picture above.

I’m still posting from Onyx Sun, a science fiction novel that is currently in revision. The revisions are turning out to be more complex than originally expected so the release date is, um, to be determined. (I’ve given up trying to predict one, but I have at least one more round of revisions after the current one, and my goal for Camp NaNoWriMo this month is to finish this round.)

Picking up from last week.

(This part is still in revision so squint because I haven’t gotten to it yet.)

 

Taliya boarded the ship and a chill gripped her when she was immediately assaulted by feelings of upset and outrage.  Between the feelings from the ship and the tightness of Ayess’s voice when he had called her she had the feeling that something had gone very wrong.

She found Ayess in the cockpit and touched his shoulder lightly.

“Ayess?  What’s wrong?”

He shrugged slightly. “I can’t put it into words.”  He sighed and shook his head.  “I can, but they are not pleasant words.”  He met Taliya’s gaze. “Perhaps she will be different with you.”

Taliya frowned and glanced at the corridor.  “No matter what, Ayess, I promise you, you have a place on this ship.”

“But she is your friend.  Your lover.”

 

 

 

 

 

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Time Sinks

You know what they are. They’re those black holes that you fall into and before you know it you’ve lost hours of your day.

A few of mine:

Pinterest. I’m pretty good at avoiding this one, but when I fall… I look at someone’s board, then go the board of someone that they pinned an image from, and from there I find other boards and other people and… Yeah. Half a day and forty boards later I come up for air, bleary eyed, wondering what year it is.

Jigzone.  I’ll admit it. (I may have already admitted it here.)  I am a jigsaw junkie. I have been known to skip meals while engrossed in a jigsaw puzzle. I have been known to ignore chocolate cake with peanut butter icing while engrossed in a jigsaw puzzle. I have foregone sleep while engrossed in a jigsaw puzzle.  I’m only semi successful at avoiding jigzone.

YouTube. *sigh* Let’s not go there.  No, I mean, really, let’s not go there. I’m currently addicted to all things Pentatonix.  And to Superfruit videos. And the comments on them. And the Moody Blues. And then I look up old songs that I used to like or wonder if they’re on YouTube.  And then I start looking at horse videos and videos of Boxers (dogs, not fighters).  I’m um… really not good at avoiding YouTube. I tell myself that I’ll use it as a reward, that I’ll watch one (just one!) video and then get back to work. And, yeah, one video becomes two hours and…

Yeah. FaceBook pales in comparison to those.

Then there are online games. I’m pretty good at avoiding them, mostly because I haven’t even thought about them recently. (Until now.  Thank you, me. Now I have to go find Alchemy and BookWorm and Hangaroo, and…)

No. Just no.  I am not going to go there, I’m just not.

 

 

 

 

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Wednesday Words #121 (4/19/2017)

Welcome to Wednesday Words!  Every Wednesday I will post some sort of prompt for a flash fiction piece.  The prompt will go live just after midnight Eastern time.

The prompt might be a picture, or it might be a list of things to include in a story, or maybe a phrase or a question or something from a “news of the weird” type thing, or a… who knows?

After that, it’s up to you.  But if you do use the prompt to write a bit of flash fiction (say, 500 words or so) I’d love to see what you came up with, so comment below with a link to where it is on your blog (or on WattPad or wherever).

(And a pingback to the post here where you found the prompt would be appreciated but isn’t necessary.)

Oh, and this isn’t a contest or anything.  It’s just a (hopefully) fun thing for all concerned.

And, hey, if it inspires more than 500 or so words, run with it!

This week’s prompt:

Answer the question:
Why was there a box of books in the hallway?

And, as always, I’d love to see what you come up with!

 

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Wrong Progress

I really need to hang a calendar near my desk so I can see the weeks.  I keep thinking we’re closer to the end of this month than we actually are, but I have two more “weekends” this month.

(Considering how far behind I am on Camp, it’s probably a good thing that there is more month left than I think there is.)

I was on a roll with the revisions for Onyx Sun (my Camp project) the other day and then had to go to the (increasingly) evil day job. I’m trying to do at least one page every day on work days and am going to have to hit it really hard on my weekends.  The Camp stats page tells me I still have 139 pages to go, need to do 10 pages a day to finish on time, and “At This Rate You Will Finish On June 26, 2017.”

I don’t think I’m going to do any revision work today though. I had one of those nights where I was awake every hour and a half to two hours all night long and I’m pretty sure that editing in this sort of sleep deprived fog would be somewhat disastrous.

On a brighter note, thanks largely to the aforementioned evil day job, the first round paper edits of Book 10 of the Academy of the Accord series is done as of last night.

I was hoping to start on Book 11, but didn’t manage to do it; there were just too many interruptions throughout the shift.  Hopefully I can start work on it at work tonight if I can get enough caffeine into my system.

(A friend of mine said I should have made finishing the first round paper edits of The Academy of the Accord my Camp project. I’m beginning to think she was right.)

So, all in all, I’m making progress.  I’m just not making progress on the right project.

 

 

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