Tag: book

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meet Thána Augusta Celene Alizon

Thána is our main character and narrator. Her story opens shortly after her thirty-second birthday in El Paso, Texas where she is working as a midlevel manager at a manufacturing facility. She grew up in foster care after she was found sitting on a bench outside a police station in Rochester, NY with no memory of who she was and a backpack containing a note that gave her name as Thána Augusta Celene Alizon Archer and her age as ten.

With no idea who she was or where she came from Thána had to build her life on nothing while cycling through several foster homes. In high school she developed a love of language, and in particular Old English, which she continued to pursue in college, although she recognized the limited career potential there, she majored in business.

From college she joined the corporate world, working her way up in a company that built electronics, eventually getting transferred to a plant in El Paso which is where we meet her.

She’s a pretty practical person, not given to fantasy or fairy tales. She believes in what she can see. Uncomfortable in large groups, Thána is a bit of a homebody, if you can call the tiny apartment she is occupying a home.

That is until a strange man appears telling her that she is in danger and after several unsuccessful attacks, she’s starting to believe him when she is transferred to a San Francisco plant.

Adventure she could never imagine awaits her in San Francisco.

Thanátou: The Blood Witch Saga Book 1 is available now!

Smashwords (ebook)

Googlebooks (ebook)

Amazon (ebook and paperback)

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meet Cambious

Our second character introduction is for Cambious, our transgender incubus. The guardian of the portal between our world and another, Cambious was born Cambia and transitioned with a magically enhanced surgery.

He is large and very dark-skinned. Thána describes his physical appearance this way:

Through the door, I could see…well, I didn’t know what I was seeing. It couldn’t be real though, that much I was sure of. Because seven-foot-tall men with horns and black skin, dressed in leather and boots just were not a thing that was real. And, let me be clear: when I say black skin, I mean the kind of black that devours light, and when I say horns, I mean horns, thick, black horns rising up from his ample head of black hair somewhere above where I expected his ears were and curling back around and down around toward his face.

Despite his fearsome appearance, Cambious is a gentle sort of soul who loves baroque music and gardening. He and his family are sworn to protect the gate as repayment for a favor done by Thána’s grandfather. When the Brotherhood of God come calling, seeking Thána’s life, Cambious helps her flee through the gate and sets out with her to find her mother.

Cambious uses a complex glamor to get by in a world that isn’t always open to those of his kind, enabling him to seek out partners for his needs. He also has connections among the sort of non-human underground that includes incubi, succubi, dragons, phoenixes, and more.

Thanátou: The Blood Witch Saga Book 1 is out now!

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meet Merry

For our first introduction to the characters in Thanátou, I’d like to introduce you to Merry Ander-Wheather, the first family our main character meets as her journey begins.

Merry is a kitchen-witch, and a bit eccentric, especially for Thána who has lived a pretty mundane life up until the point where our story begins. We never learn specifically how old she is, but she is easily in her late seventies when she enters our story.

Merry wears her long grey hair in a variety of braids that she pins up in various messy ways and she uses magic to alter the color from time to time, preferring bright blues and greens, but tossing in other colors as it suits her.

Merry is a mother and grandmother, though it’s unclear how many children she had or how many grandkids there are, but she is a devoted family lover and she is happiest when her house is full and she can whip up tasty treats for everyone to enjoy.

Thanátou

Merry is eager to help Thána regain her memory and teach her how to be a witch, possibly too eager. She means well though, and becomes one of the first people Thána comes to trust.

I look forward to sharing this book with you, Readers! I am actively recruiting reviewers, so let me know if you’re interested.

I’m off to the day job and more coffee. I hope this Tuesday treats you with kindness!

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a tease

As we draw closer to release date, I’ll be doing a cover reveal over on my Facebook/Twitter/Instagram. I’ve got that scheduled for Monday morning at 9am. I’m also planning on introducing you lovely Readers to some of the characters you’ll be meeting in Thanátou.

Meanwhile, I thought I’d give you a tease from the first chapter:

My earliest memories are of blood, the hot, sticky taste of it on my tongue, the strange, copper scent of it suffocating me. I had no context for these things. I knew that I was small, and I knew that the stain of it was on my soul, but like so much of my life before I was ten, I could only guess.

That was where my life began, on my tenth birthday.

Thanátou, Chapter 1

Thus begins the story of Thána Augusta Celene Alizon Archer, a mid-level manager at a manufacturing company who doesn’t believe in magic or witches or ghosts, until one day a strange man with a strange box and a stranger story about a family she has never known arrives and turns her life upside down. Not to mention the men trying to kill her, or the incubus in her closet.

Thanátou: The Blood Witch Saga Book 1 is coming soon! Keep an eye out for that cover reveal on Monday and get ready to READ.

Today, I drop myself back into the world of Book 2, where we meet new characters and face new dangers.

But first, coffee and some mindless game playing to get my brain functional.

Photo by Ed Leszczynskl on Unsplash

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thanátou is coming

I woke up this morning to the cover design for Thanátou, The Blood Witch Saga Book 1, which means we’re one step closer to release!

I really cannot wait for y’all to get your hands on this book!

I’m waiting for release dates so I can start sharing character introductions and plan a cover reveal.

I am also working at lining up folks who want to provide early reviews, so reach out if you’d like to participate.

The back cover blurb:

blurb

This book includes a bisexual, 32-year-old main character, a pansexual transgender incubus, found family, a desperate rescue attempt, magic, danger and more adventure than our main character can handle.

I’m hard at work finishing up book 2 polishing edits to submit, and hope to have that turned in shortly after Thanátou is released.

Stay tuned for more info, Readers, and have a wonderful Wednesday!

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sorry to disappear

It’s been a weird month filled with Covid, migraines, and a decided lack of writing. At least, any writing outside of the day job. Even after being mostly recovered from Covid, my days consisted of said day job and then vegetating on the couch because the fatigue hung on forever.

I’m only just getting to the point of having enough oomph at the end of the day to do stuff like cook actual meals and the like.

This largely means not having enough brain power to do much writing or editing since coming back from LA. However, this week I got Thanátou: The Blood Witch Saga Book 1 back from the editor, so this weekend I’ve been immersed back into the world of Thána and friends working through those edits and putting together a glossary of non-English words.

I haven’t yet seen any cover design options, but I look forward to seeing what Next Chapter comes up with. I have book 2 almost ready to submit as well.

I will likely do a number of character introduction posts as I did with the Shades and Shadows series as we get closer to release. I really do love these characters so much.

And I’m posting this at just after 3am because now that I’m past Covid fatigue, I find myself back in the world of insomnia. I dozed in and out for a few hours, but at 2am I decided to just get up and get back to editing.

It’s going to be a short work week, as I am taking my mother up to Oregon as the family finally comes together to put my stepfather’s ashes to rest in the private family cemetery up there. (Yes, four years later…no, I’m not sure why it took so long) But we also get to do a little photography wandering while we’re up there, so that should be good.

Okay, back to edits. Happy Sunday, Readers. I hope it’s a good one for you.

Photo by Magda Smolen on Unsplash

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the blood witch cometh

This morning, I signed the contract for the first book in the Blood Witch saga with my publisher. This means that Thána and friends will be coming your way before the year is out. As always, I’ll be looking for advance readers who would like to read and review the book.

I spent a good chunk of the weekend going over and polishing up book 2 and will be doing the same with book 3 soon. And then, I get to return to book 4.

I hope, as we grow closer to a release to tease with some character introductions, as I’ve done in the past. In the first book that will be Thána and her transgender incubus friend Cambious as the two primary characters. I may do a few shorts on some of the intriguing side characters as well.

Also on my immediate horizon is Star Wars Celebration in Anaheim. I’m absolutely terrified, but also excited. I scored a photo/auto op with Ewan MacGregor! But terrified. Thankfully, they seem to have a good ADA set up with quiet rooms and the like and I should be able to get both me and the nibling ADA access, giving my brother carer access, so that should make things easier.

On that note, my coffee is almost gone, my cats are yelling at me for treats, and the day job awaits, so I’m off into the Tuesday. I hope it is good for you, Readers!

Photo by MaddiesCreation on Unsplash

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daughters of morru

While digging through the depths of unfinished WIPs in my cloud drive, I came across the YA novel I had started a few years back and always meant to get back to, The Daughters of Morru. I had been looking for content I could use to tempt more patrons over on Patreon.

The Daughters of Morru is a fantasy story staring Alliafred Donovon, a middle daughter of a noble family in the country Kannith-Lee, who has dreams of escaping her soft prison in favor of the hard life of a warrior dedicated to the goddess Morru.

The first chapter is available over on my Patreon page for all to see! I will be posting chapters every Sunday for all patrons at the $5/month level and up. For just $1/month, you’ll gain access to my daily poem a full week before the rest of the world sees it.

Don’t want to commit to a donation each month? Hit me up over on Ko-Fi, where you can do one-time donations as well as monthly donations. You’ll get the daily poems for just a one-time donation, and I’m cooking up a story to serialize over there too.

I sometimes share my photography on both sites as well. Come over and join me!

Photo by Tim Rebkavets on Unsplash

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dream a little dream

Have you ever woken up with your heart racing, sweat on your forehead, and anxiety riding you out of some nightmare that you can’t recall anything about? That was how today started. For the life of me, I have no idea what I was dreaming, but I woke up feeling like something or someone was trying to kill me.

I’ve always been a vivid dreamer, even as a kid, so when I get nightmares, they’re usually just as vivid and they stick with me for days. Just not today.

When I was around 8 through my mid-teens, I had a recurring nightmare about a vampire and my neighbor’s basement. To this day I can remember it vividly. Later my nightmares turned to more mundane fare, with stuff like missed deadlines and having my money stolen and friends betraying me.

Some of that feeds on my imposter syndrome and my weird social hang ups. The rest I chalk up to stress usually. Not sure what was driving whatever dream I had to wake up like that, as most of my stress from the move has died down and I’m pretty happy at the moment.

The subconscious is such a weird and wonderful place, and I rely on it as an author to bring my ideas to life, at least within my head. Without that, I’m not sure I would have all of these delicious stories and characters to write about.

Well, Readers, it’s Saturday and I promised myself some writing time before I get busy with the chores list, so I should finish up this coffee and get to it. Have a great weekend!

Photo by Raul Guilherme on Unsplash

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#amwriting

Sunday, Sunday…this week Sunday means writing, cleaning, and packing/moving boxes to clean. Oh, and refreshing my hair color. I’m trying a slightly darker green this time. Sunday is also the day I watch paranormal type shows. I’m currently binging on Ghost Hunters Classic on Discovery.

I’m working on the zero draft of a book I didn’t know I was writing, a fourth book in the Blood Witch Saga. I didn’t know there was a fourth until I wrote the epilogue of book 3.

Still working on finding a new house to move to. I’ve seen a couple that I really loved, but the last one went to a veteran and his family, and the landlady in the other is taking her sweet time to decide.

I hate this part, the search and what feels like begging for a home.

I have tomorrow off for MLK Jr. day, so I’ll get a little extra writing time this week, which is always nice. I have a vague idea where this story is going, a few plot points along the way and I know (mostly) how it ends. This is the part of writing that I love the most, feeling my way through the plot, building new worlds, creating new characters.

I should get up and get busy with stuff that doesn’t include the computer. There are boxes to move and floors to be cleaned, etc.

Hope your day is awesome, Readers!