Tag: book

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meet Stâlian Susanna Batorry

Thána and her friends find themselves in a world of many dangers, including the church militant. Like the rest of the world, the church, and its military, are led by women. Stâlian Susanna Batorry is the sharp weapon of this military, called The Mother’s Weapon.

When we first meet her, she has come to Gavelscore to hunt, judge, and execute witches.

As a child, she witnessed her sister’s death, by means of a witch’s curse (supposedly) and thereafter dedicated her life to eradicating witchcraft. She joined the church and quickly worked her way up to a leadership position to become the head witch hunter.

Dedicated and loyal, Batorry is a True Believer and that could spell trouble for our heroes.

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Hêalic: The Blood Witch Saga Book 3

Yesterday I turned in my final edits on book three of the Blood Witch Saga. I think it’s my favorite of the series. What’s not to love about a gender-bent Victorian society, a Jack-The-Ripper style serial killer and magic?

Thána, Xen, and Daria find themselves in a world where witches are killed by hanging, and both a virulent plague and a serial killer eerily similar to Jack The Ripper are hunting the populace.

They have no idea how to get back to Meerat, let alone Spítia. Complicating matters, Thána is suffering withdrawal from the xýpna powder and her powers are depleted, leaving her vulnerable. And if that’s not enough, Katyk has come through the first portal with them, but not the second, and Thána feels like she’s being hunted.

After the serial killer takes an interest in Thána, every move she makes might be her last. Can she find their way back to the portal before she ends up dead?

Hêalic: The Blood Witch Saga Book 3

I’ll be introducing you to some of the new characters this coming week, though mostly background players. Cover reveal will happen on my Instagram and Facebook on Wednesday.

I was playing with https://creator.nightcafe.studio/ this morning and the image above is the result. Thána, Daria and Xen…or some version thereof.

I also got some writing done on book 4 this weekend. It’s a bit choppy, but it’s coming along.

We’re back to Monday and the day job awaits. Tis the season of kindness, Readers. By kind to yourself too.

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life in my world

Hey, Readers! Happy Saturday! I hope life is treating you well. I feel like a chew toy, but I guess that’s what happens when you bring a new puppy into your life. She’s been here a week and I’m a mess of scratches and bruises from playing with her.

Meet Athena

This is Athena! She’s a Pyrenees and Australian shepherd mix and just about 4 months old. She’s a bit timid but is starting to come out of her shell. So far she’s afraid of the stairs and walking on a leash, desperately wants the cats to be her friends (they are not so interested), and is learning sit and stay.

She’s had her first vet visit (she was terrified, but did very well) and went to my mother’s house to meet the family and their pets.

Needless to say, I’m completely in love with her!

Just got her settled down after morning playtime, so it’s editing/writing time. I’m deep into edits on Hêalic (The Blood Witch Saga Book 3) and have found what was missing in the plot for book 4 (as yet unnamed).

That’s all for now, Readers! Go out and initiate some kindness today!

Photo by Greg Rosenke on Unsplash

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Mörderin: The Blood Witch Saga Book 2

Seeking to reunite her family, Thána and her mother Alaina head back to the world where Daria lives with her husband and son.

The once vibrant city where people traveled freely through a collection of portals has been reduced to rubble, and Daria is now a prisoner of the invading army. With her magic still in nascent stages, Thána agrees to a daring and dangerous rescue mission with Daria’s husband and friends, once again putting her life on the line for a family she barely knows.

To make it work she has to push her magical skills to their very limit and rely on those she’s only just met, not to mention breaking into a prison camp and getting out again in one piece. How hard could it be?

Mörderin: The Blood Witch Saga Book 2

I’m excited to share this with you, Readers! Now available in ebook and paperback on Amazon.com and in ebook from Google Books. I’ll be sure to update y’all when other marketplaces come online.

I also currently have two hardcover and six paperback copies of Thanátou available for purchase. Hit me up if you want a signed copy!

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meet Xen

In Mörderin we meet a number of new races, including the Pixin who are agender. Xen is a Pixin who is friends with Thána’s sister Daria. Pixin are long-lived and they reproduce through a process they call the joining.

Pixin are good with languages, but not at magic. They each choose several areas to study over the course of their long childhood. Xen chose Pixila, which is a form of martial arts, cooking, painting, and sculpture.

While the Pixin have called Vaneesh home for a number of generations, they originally came through a portal from their homeworld when a volcanic eruption caused widespread destruction. They prefer tropical climates such as the one on their homeworld and the place where they go to reproduce is in such a climate in Vaneesh.

We meet Xen shortly after arriving in Vaneesh, and they are intriguing to Thána from the start. Xen’s eyes are black and so is their hair, which they wear shaved on the sides, but longer on top. Xen is also the mastermind of the plan to rescue Daria.

Xen is not expressive, but is a deep well of emotion nonetheless. They are drawn to Thána first by her relation to Daria, then by her willingness to go into danger for her sister. When that danger threatens to get them all killed, it is Xen who finds a way to break them out.

The only question is, will it be enough?

Mörderin: The Blood Witch Saga Book 2 is coming soon, Readers!

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meet Daria Alizon Delnar

Today, I want to introduce you to Daria, Thána’s younger sister.

Despite the fact that they were not raised together, Daria has always lived in Thána’s shadow in one way or another. When they were young, Daria’s life revolved around keeping Thána out of the hands of the Brotherhood. Later, it was about keeping their secret safe.

Daria is a talented potion maker and garden witch, with a gift of prophecy that is equal parts helpful and frustrating. In Vaneesh, where she and her mother settle after secreting Thána away, Daria comes into her own, growing into her gifts and experimenting with new magic whenever she has time.

Daria married a native Vaneesh man named Habros Delnar and has one son, a sensitive young man named Kota. When we meet Daria, she’s been taken by an invading army, forcing Thána once more into the role of family savior.

It’s been nearly twenty-three years since the girls were together and circumstances with push them to overcome the distance to survive.

Mörderin: The Blood Witch Saga Book 2 is coming your way, Readers!

Photo by Artem Maltsev on Unsplash

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meet Alaina Alizon

I woke up to find my edits for book 2, so it’s time to start introducing you to a few new characters!

We’ll start with Thána’s mother, Alaina. We first meet Alaina in book 1, but we don’t really get to know her. In Mörderin we get more time with her.

Alaina and her husband moved from Spítia to an ancestral home in California before Thána was born, certain that her child would be born a blood witch. The activity of the Brotherhood convinced her they’d be safer there, and for a while they were.

When the Brotherhood finds them and kills her husband, her magic can no longer hide them, Alaina flees with her two daughters, trying to stay one step ahead of the men sent to kill Thána. When that gets too hard, she tries something desperate.

Using complicated magic, Alaina blocks Thána’s magic and her memory before leaving the ten-year-old where she would be found and cared for before fleeing once more with her younger daughter, Daria, leaving a trail of Thána’s blood for the Brotherhood to follow.

Still, Alaina doesn’t stay in one place long and eventually goes back to Spítia before finding a portal to someplace new where the Brotherhood has never been seen. Alaina and Daria settle into a quiet life in Vaneesh. As much as she misses her daughter, she knows Thána is safer where she is.

One day, Alaina decides it is time to find Thána, and despite Daria warning her of some dire visions of a disaster to come if Alaina leaves, she does exactly that. Stepping through the portal, Alaina envisions traveling back to California and from there to embark on a search for her eldest child.

That didn’t happen, however, as the Brotherhood picked up her trail as soon as she was on the soil of her homeworld, capturing her and imprisoning her at the Mano Kourt, where they tried to get her to tell them where Thána was hidden.

Alaina held her silence though, determined to protect Thána even if it cost her her life. When Thána and Cambious show up to rescue her, Alaina doesn’t believe it at first. She’s frail from starvation and torture, but still alive as they make their escape.

Reunited with her daughter, Alaina slips easily back into mothering mode and joyously introduces Thána to their extended family, something Thána has never really known. All that’s left then is to go to Vaneesh and introduce the two sisters, which is where we pick up the story in book two of The Blood Witch Saga.

I can’t wait to share this book with you, Readers. Now I’m off to the day job.

Photo by Jennifer Marquez on Unsplash

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Mörderin: The Blood Witch Saga Book 2

This morning I signed the contract for the second book in the Blood Witch series, Mörderin. This story takes Thána on a new journey to find her long-lost sister. It introduces new races and characters, and presents Thána with new challenges and a rescue that may be more dangerous than the infiltration of the Kourt.

It also introduces Xen, who is both agender and asexual, a Pixin who is friends with Thána’s sister Daria, and accompanies Thána to try to save Daria. They will become a trusted companion who will help Thána survive in a world torn by war.

Here’s the blurb:

Seeking to reunite her family, Thána and her mother Alaina head back to the world where Daria lives with her husband and son. However, the once vibrant city where people traveled freely through a collection of portals has been reduced to rubble and Daria is now a prisoner of the invading army.

With her magic still in nascent stages, Thána agrees to a daring and dangerous rescue mission with Daria’s husband and friends, once again putting her life on the line for a family she barely knows.

To make it work she has to perfect magic beyond her skill set and rely on those she’s only just met, not to mention breaking into a prison camp and getting out again in one piece.

How hard could it be?

And, on that note, I should get the day job started. Happy Wednesday, Readers! May it be filled with joy and kindness!

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pamper me

I was supposed to be in Austin this weekend, but the cost of airfare priced me out, so I had to stay home. To comfort myself, I booked a facial for yesterday afternoon. I haven’t done one in quite a while, and my skin was feeling dry and lifeless, so off I went.

I didn’t go for anything fancy, just your basic facial which consisted of cleansing, a hydrating face mask, etc. It was 60 minutes of laying on a massage table having someone who wasn’t me pampering me. It was lovely.

Usually, when I want pampering, I get a massage, so this was something a bit different. I could still use a massage though! My last facial was a few years ago in Denver at the Sirens conference.

I always forget how good my skin feels after a facial. This morning my face is soft and it feels amazing.

It doesn’t completely make up for missing out on Austin, but it did make me feel better.

In writing news, I’m editing book 3 of The Blood Witch Saga, book 2 is with the publisher, and book 4 is underway. I also have a ghost story brewing in the back of my mind. I’ll toy with that later.

For now, I need to finish up this cup of coffee, have some breakfast and get myself busy. Happy Sunday, Readers. Go pamper yourself a little.

Photo by Adrian Motroc on Unsplash

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book euphoria and book drop

There really isn’t anything quite like a new book release for the endorphins, other than that first review. On the flip side, there isn’t anything quite like the drop after the release is done and you need to move on to the next.

It’s been a ride getting Thanátou out into the world. I love the characters so much and I’m thrilled that they now live somewhere other than my head.

But then comes book two. Mörderin was close to ready to go when I got my final edits for Thanátou and has been submitted to my publisher. The third book, Hêalic, is ready for editing. Book four, title undecided, is in its infancy and I really need to refocus efforts on that this weekend.

The problem? Well, my head is still really wrapped up in book one and promo work. Writing and editing a book is only one step in the process. The real work, at least for me, is what comes after. I’m not great at self-promotion and have to overcome some crippling imposter syndrome to thrust myself and my book into the public eye.

Not helping matters in the slightest is the need to continue working the day job, which is calling my name right now with a need to get busy. I guess it’s time to finish this cup of coffee and get on with it. With any luck, I’ll be able to shake off the book drop feeling and get some writing and/or editing done this weekend.

Happy Friday, Readers!

Photo by Jaredd Craig on Unsplash