The Sun Found Seattle!

This weekend was glorious! Blue skies, warm temperatures, and the trees started budding overnight. It made me feel sorta like this.

Despite the arrival of spring (Finally! Did I mention we got snow on April 1st?), what did I do all weekend? Pretty much spent the whole thing locked away in the writing cave, as I closed in on the end of my first draft of my second novel, Inner Eye.

My husband has taken to calling me his vampire. And when he did manage to drag me out of the house (baited only by a promise to visit B&N), I realized that's not too far off base. I'm so pale I glow. =P

The good news - 1st draft is DONE!
The bad news - I'm 45K words over budget, so the work is just beginning.

Over the past few weeks, in preparation for the 're-write' phase forthcoming, I have read several great books on the craft. I plan to do a blog post on each of them. And to tie myself down to a new reviewing schedule that I think is much more doable. I also plan to get some more free reads posted, and to start to chronicle my journey through my WIP. Perhaps my experience of what works/what doesn't will be useful to someone.

I'll let this post stand for now as a placeholder: changes are coming. In fact, now that I have a drafted story to work with, the pressure is off of writing for a bit and I'll be putting some effort into a total website/blog re-design and possible move to Wordpress.

Hope the sun is shining down on you too!

Familiar Fate

I've finally finished the novella I've been working on the past month-plus. Something so short shouldn't have taken me so long, but more than half the time has been spent revising and cutting it down. To be quite honest, it only took 4 days to draft.

But I'm happy to tell you I finally shaved it down to BELOW word count (it comes in at 14.5/15K), sweat bullets over the blurb, and after a lot of pussy-footing around, nailed myself down to a title.

Introducing my first completed piece of the Zyne Legacy universe . . .

Familiar Fate

Scarlett Edgewood is a fiercely independent Zyne Ward witch, and her shields extend far beyond her metaphysical gifts. After the unexplained death of her parents, she built a fortress around her heart and dedicated her life to completing their work. On her quest for an ancient Divan, a book of legendary power, she traces the origins of a stolen amulet into the thick of the Mayan jungle. She's close. But the forces of destiny have other plans. On the precipice of achieving everything she's always worked for, Scarlett discovers something she never thought she’d desire – a savior, a warrior, and a lover who penetrates all her carefully constructed defenses.

Rook's mission is simple: find the amulet, retrieve the book, return to Khaos. But the half-breed Wielder demon's first assignment to the mortal plane proves more difficult than anticipated. After centuries serving the Legion Army and denying his weaker half, he's not prepared for the powerful emotions associated with assuming human form. With only four days to complete his task or perish, Rook falters when he encounters the Zyne witch who holds the amulet. Scarlett’s beauty and strength disarm him, arousing conflicting desires. Chief among them is a longing so deep he might be willing to sacrifice his mission, his rank, or even his life to quench it.