Tag: coming soon

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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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where shadows fall

The final book in the Shades and Shadows trilogy has been a slow go for me, not because I was bored of the story or anything like that.  In fact, I still love this story a great deal.  However, in the process of re-writing the first two books several times there were a number of significant changes in the plot that needed to be carried over into the final book.

Making sure I got all of that right took some time, and then I had three possible endings in mind, so I had to make some decisions. This weekend, I wrote the ending, and the “zero draft” as it were, is finished.

That’s not to say that Where Shadows Fall is ready for the editor.  I have a lot of work to do on it before that time. I have at least two pages that contain notes such as “Insert description here” and “needs better dialog” and other such creative bits, and the word count is far below what it needs to be as a result.

Still, it’s a big thing to finish a trilogy.  With any luck I’ll be able to tell you how to get Where Shadows Fall this summer!

But for now, I’m off to the day job and a second cup of coffee.  Happy Monday, Readers!

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where shadows lie

Saturdays are my writing days.  I spend my mornings visiting in the worlds I have created and drawing out the stories of those who live there.  I have, in recent weeks spent much of my writing time creating a new world, but this morning I am once again submerged into the world that is Shades and Shadows.

My goal is to wrap up this story in this last book, so writing includes a fair amount of revisiting to make sure I pick up all the loose threads of story.  And there are a lot of threads.

As I rework a scene I wrote months ago that involves a rather large scale bombing I can’t help but revisit in my mind all of the terrible acts we can do to one another, the destructive power that is a human being filled with hatred.

It can be easy to lose ourselves in despair as we continue to see this destruction unfold in our real lives.  It can be easy to forget the force for good that is a human being filled with love.

When despair threatens to overwhelm, I have found the best remedy is to counter it with small acts of kindness.  Humanity is found in the smallest acts.

Happy Saturday, Readers!

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haunting history

Anyone who knows me knows that I love old cemeteries.  LOVE them.  I have ever since I can remember.  My first real memory of a cemetery was when I was around 5 or 6, I think.  It might be the summer before I turned 6 (my birthday is in September), or the next summer.

My family did a lot of camping in the summer.  On this particular occasion, we were trying out a new campground.  Across the street from the entrance to this campground there was an old, civil war era graveyard.

I was drawn to it. At one point while I was playing with a bunch of other kids on the playground, which had a clear view of the cemetery.  Eventually, I wandered away and across the VERY busy highway to look at the graves.

It wasn’t a very big plot. I’m guessing, based on 40 year old memories, that it held maybe 100 graves, probably less.  But I had to read each and every one.  Gravestones were more descriptive back during the Civil War (and before) than they are today.  You can learn a lot about an area by reading it’s older gravestones.

My mother came and found me. I don’t know how long I’d been gone, but she found me standing amidst a small cluster of graves.  There wasn’t a person buried in that group that had reached puberty.  They were babies and children.  It had stopped me in my frantic scouring for knowledge.

I remember telling her that they were all babies and I didn’t understand that.  The dates on the graves told the story though.  They had all died during a flu epidemic.  I remember that I spent a long time during the rest of that camping trip thinking about that.

When I went to England, I knew I had to spend some time in some graveyards that dated far further back in time than the Civil War.  At High Gate cemetery in London (where I took the picture above), I was enticed by the long stories etched into ancient stone; the stories of lives lived long, long ago, the stories of a place as much as a person.  It was an incredible day and I look forward to going back someday to spend more time.

You’ll see that love pop up in my writing.  In Through Shade and Shadow  (which is currently on special for $.99 for Kindle, today through 12/4) you’ll find it in the Shade traditions, the reverence they afford their dead, and the fact that the gravestones themselves hide the books that keep their history.  And of course, it’s obvious in Forever, where graveyards actually save Amara’s life on more than one occasion.  I don’t know yet if we’ll see my cemetery love manifest in the new book I’m working on, but it wouldn’t surprise me!

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giving thanks

I realized this morning that it’s been a while since I posted here.  The reasons are many: the continued issue with the pinched nerve, getting back to work full time, taking on an editing job, plus working on a new anthology, plus two novels currently in progress…all of which means I haven’t really had much free time to do promo work or write up blog posts!

When you’re surrounded by what feels like insurmountable debt, it’s hard to find your way to being thankful about much.  It is insane that a grown woman with a good job and decent insurance should be this deep in medical debt, but it is what it is.  You either suck it up and get the work done, or you continue to suffer. (I have a fundraiser set up to help me cope with the unexpected medical bills, if you’re interested: You Caring Fundraiser)

But, even with all of the doctor visits and the pain and the physical therapy, and the bills and prescriptions that come with that, I am blessed.  I’m living a dream I have had since I was pretty young, I’m a published author!  And I get to make a living working with words.

Not everyone gets to live their dream.  You can’t help but be thankful when you see a lifetime of learning and crafting become an actual reality.  My first book, Forever, took me years to bring to fruition and I learned a lot along the way.

Currently I am working on two different novels, the ending of the Shades and Shadows series and a new one that jumped up out of the abyss that is my mind a few weeks ago and took up residence in the front part of my Brain where it will not leave me alone.

And do you remember the anthology we published a few months ago? Once Upon a Broken Dream was the first in a series of anthologies from Creativia Publishing.  Each anthology begins with a prompt and writers are invited to submit stories using that prompt.  Well, the next one should be ready in December, so keep your eyes open.

So yeah, I’m pretty blessed and living a life that’s pretty amazing.  Even if I’m struggling in some areas.  I hope you can say the same.

Oh, yeah, and if you want autographed copies of my books this holiday season, hit up my facebook page or email me at natalie@nataliejcase.com.

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early morning coffee

Lately, the pain from this pinched nerve gets me up and out of bed around 3am every morning.  Today it’s the tightness in my shoulder muscles and my forearm muscles.  Some mornings it’s the searing, stabbing pain in my neck and shoulder joint.

Don’t get me wrong, it’s much better than it was a week ago.

I’ll wake up, possibly needing to go to the bathroom around 1 or 2 am.  I’ll shift around, take the middle of the night pain pills, then toss and turn and doze a bit until I give up because I just can’t get comfortable.  That’s almost always right around 3am.

I get up, get the cats their morning treats and start a pot of coffee.  Then I sit and play silly Facebook games with my left hand working the mouse while I let gravity help loosen up my right arm.  Usually by the end of the first pot of coffee, I’m mostly functional, though typing isn’t usually on the agenda this early.

Because I’m on limited duty for work, and am largely working from home, this means I have a little time to kill before I start my work day.  Yesterday that meant working on my short story for the second anthology, and that’s probably what I’ll do today too.  Either that or I work on the third book in the Shades and Shadows series.

Speaking of which, have you gone to get your copy of In Gathering Shade yet?  The kindle version is available now.  Paperbacks coming soon!

You can also get Through Shade and Shadow and In Gathering Shade together as a bundle on Kindle.

books Wallpaper

Once you’ve read them, I’d really appreciate a review.  It only takes a minute.  You don’t have to say much.  I really hate how much we rely on them to get our books into recommendations, but we do.

I’m putting together a giveaway package that I’ll probably award in December.  It will include autographed copies of both books in the series, as well as some fun things you’re going to love, so stay tuned!

On that note, my coffee cup needs refilling and my arm needs a rest.  Happy Tuesday, Readers!

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introducing Zero, and a cover reveal

I meant to introduce you all to Zero last week, but I completely spaced it. I’ll blame it on the combination of pain and pain meds. So today, I want to do that, but yesterday my publisher emailed me with the cover for In Gathering Shade, and as an added bonus, he included the re-designed cover for Through Shade and Shadow.

Through Shade and ShadowIt’s gorgeous, don’t you think?  I’m in love with it!

Okay, let’s talk about Zero. I started writing Zero’s character originally thinking she was the start of something new.  Then I discovered that she was a part of Shades and Shadows.

We first meet her as a prisoner of sorts, the subject of some mysterious experimentation.  Zero is sixteen, the daughter of a Chinese Sage who was seduced and eventually controlled by an American Shadow with questionable ambitions.

Zero is something of an escape artist, an adept thief, and particularly good with glamors. She doesn’t trust easily, so when she throws in with Raven and Evan she’s also got one foot out the door, and her eye on all the exits.

Even she doesn’t fully know what the experiments did to her, but she knows she doesn’t want to wait to find out.  She has seen first hand what the man behind her captivity could do to the minds of others and she’s scared that he might have done the same to her.

Zero is both Sage and Shadow, and no one knows the full extent of what she can do.  In many ways, Zero is a broken glass held together with duct tape.

I know, I know…what you really want is to see the cover for In Gathering Shade, right?

With no further ado…This cover is beautiful!  I can’t stop staring at the two of them together!

in-gathering-shade

 

I should have release dates and such for you soon!  Now though, I need to get more coffee and get my work day started.

I’d love to hear what you think.  Drop me a note in the comments!

 

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introducing Evan Chayton

Evan Chayton is a Shifter, though he keeps that fact very well guarded.  As he first appears in the beginning of In Gathering Shade, only a small group of people know his secret.  He is also a military man who is assigned to Adam Darvin’s secretive organization.

Raven chooses him to be her handler when Adam sends her on a mission because she trusts that his secret will ensure his loyalty.  After her previous handler turned out to be working for the 8th Battalion, Raven is wary and wants to know she can trust whoever is watching her back.

Evan is a by the book guy, he believes in discipline and protocol, and he doesn’t like showing weakness in any way, but he finds himself vulnerable and exposed when the psychic link between him and his brother forces him to experience his brother’s torture.

Evan grew up in a tight knit family presided over by his mother, who was a force to be reckoned with from as far back as he could remember.  His father was something of a home-body, preferring to spend time keeping their home clean and welcoming, while also supporting the work his wife devoted herself too.

There were aunts and uncles and cousins too, at least while Evan was young.  He started his change early, Shifting for the first time at only nine years old.  They had an older sister, but after an argument with their mother, she had flown away and Evan hadn’t seen her in better than ten years.

Evan and his brother could pass for one another, but they were very different outside the similarity in their faces.  While Sawyer was a risk taker and a thrill chaser, Evan preferred quiet and solid footing.  It was no wonder that when they reached the end of the change and were each fully in control of their Shifting, that Sawyer ended up a spy of sorts while Evan opted for the military.

We meet Evan near the beginning of In Gathering Shade, and he will also play an important role in the next book in the series.

 

I just returned my manuscript for In Gathering Shade to the publisher.  There will be a cover reveal soon, followed by the actual release!

 

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every little step counts

I know I’ve been absent of late.  And I haven’t introduced any characters in a couple weeks.  Somewhere along the line, I got a pinched nerve in my neck, and it’s really stifled my ability to be on a computer.  In fact today is the first time that I have typed more than a few words before I decided the pain was too much.

I plan on introducing another new character later today and I just got the manuscript back from the publisher for final edits.  It won’t be long now!

Are you excited?  I know I am!

I also have  a whole new world brewing. If been contemplating that story for a couple of years now and it’s finally starting to come together.

I need to pour another cup of coffee and check on the crock pot which is currently cooking tonight’s dinner.  Expect another post later today to introduce you  to Evan Chayton.

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introducing Mila and Maddie Hines

Like Raven, we first meet Mila and Maddie in Through Shade and Shadow, though they are largely relegated to the background.  When we first meet them, Alaric and his friends, following a vision, help them escape from the 8th Battalion along with Sahara.

Mila is nineteen. Maddie has just turned sixteen.  Through that first encounter we learn that Shifters go through a change with puberty, and before the start of puberty they can not shift into animal form.  During this period, the Shifter is not fully in control of their shifting, and strong emotion or pain can cause unexpected shifts.

It is this problematic effect that leads to the girls getting caught by the 8th Battalion.  We don’t know a lot about what they went through while they were prisoners, but we can be fairly certain that pain was involved.

In In Gathering Shade, the girls get a chance to come out of the background a little bit.  Unlike Sahara, who’s cat is a lioness, Mila and Maddie are black jaguars.  While living in the camp where Alaric brought them after their rescue, the girls help out by hunting large game to feed the growing population of their hideaway.

Mila is a leader, and she struggles under the rules of the camp and the impression that Sahara speaks for the sisters simply because she’s older.  Maddie is the more sensitive of the two, seeing herself as a freak who just wants to be normal.  This feeling is not surprising, considering that she is both a Shifter and a teenage girl.

Both girls were fairly sheltered growing up, and their understanding of the world is somewhat skewed by that, but they will have to find their feet fast if they are going to survive the war that is coming.