Random Tidbits on What's Happening In My Life

I just returned from my first convention of the 2013 season, Inconjunction in Indianapolis, IN. I met many wonderful people there, including several of my fellow authors, a fast food employee with a strange and amusing resemblance to Zarder Jena, and a young man whose honesty should make his parents very proud. Thank you everyone for welcoming me into your midst! I hope to attend again in the future.

"Sirens Have A Bad Rap" has a new title, which I will reveal when it's closer to publication and I'm 100% certain the new title is the permanent one. The title switch is a reflection on the point-of-view switch; I felt that first person from the point of view of a confused, overwhelmed and sarcastic succubus was just plain funnier than third person.  I am aiming for a late summer/early fall release date still; further details to come when I'm certain there's no other family emergency to come out of nowhere, like it did at the start of the summer.

On that note, R.I.P., Barry Miller, beloved grandfather and staunch supporter of my writing from the beginning. This next book will be dedicated to you.

Big news for the holidays!

I have many exciting things to share with everyone. So many, in fact, that I spent far too much time trying to figure out what to share first.

So I'll start by mentioning that the Zarder series has brand-new covers just in time for the holiday season! I've been busy showing them off to anyone I can, as I'm quite pleased with how they turned out.

For those of you who will be in the Marietta, GA area on December 8, I will be signing books at the  210 Cobb Parkway Walmart from 12 p.m. to 2 p.m. Part of the proceeds will be going to help needy families during the holiday season, so be sure to stop by and see me if you can! For those of you with e-readers, I will be e-mailing Smashwords coupons for eBooks to everyone who donates and leaves their e-mail with me.

I'm still working on "Sirens Have a Bad Rap", though it may be having a title change soon to better reflect the crew of paranormal characters within it.

In the meantime, I have written a piece of flash fiction for Winter Escapes, a promotion that I and other YA authors have put together for the holiday season. Winter Escapes can be found at yafantasybooks.com , and will last from December 7-14th. We will be giving away multiple prizes over the course of the event, so be sure to visit and see what I and the other authors have written for you!

My flash fiction piece is scheduled to post on December 12, and is set at some point between The Zarder and The Speed of Wind, when Rulsaesan's daughter Amsaena discovered snow and romance.

I wish you all a happy holiday season!

National Novel Writing Month Approaches - Will You Participate?

November is National Novel Writing Month, a month-long project designed to get people to write a 50,000 word novel in a month. Some good friends used it as a excuse to make me work harder on my writing projects, such as the Zarder series. If you've even thought about writing a book, go to nanowrimo.org to sign up. If you reach the 50,000 word goal, you get bragging rights among your non-writing friends. As further proof that you made it, CreateSpace is giving 5 free paperback copies of a finished book to NaNoWriMo winners (though I must advise you to not try to publish the book as soon as December 1st hits; you won't believe how many embarassing typos and plot holes my editor found when she was going through my projects)!

Since "Sea Foam" is still in the research phase, I've decided to dedicate this National Novel Writing Month to a team of paranormal women trying to solve a murder in a small Ohio town. Here is the working cover:

I hope some of you participate in National Novel Writing Month! It is a rewarding and fun experience.

"The Blood of Senbralni" is here!

I am now, officially, the author of a trilogy. This seems like a fantasy author rite of passage, so I am quite pleased with this achievement. Now, I simply have to keep writing...

Keep an eye out on Goodreads; I plan on giving away one copy of each book over the next two weeks. For those of you attending Dragon*Con, keep an eye out for the woman in the Child of Earth costume. I'd love to meet you there!

"The Blood of Senbralni" is available on amazon.com, with more outlets coming soon.

Random Tidbits From the Bloodline of Senbralni

As a world-builder, I find myself with a gigantic folder filled with information that just won't fit into one of my novels. For instance, there is absolutely no reason for a reader to know the name of every single Leyrkan and Leyrque the Sandleyr has ever seen. There isn't even a reason to know the names of all the Sir Not Appearing In This Films of the Sandleyr. I can tell you exactly where the villages are that the Fire Queen and other Onizards have completely missed. This is useless, however, unless I write another story involving one of those villages (they're fishermen, so sailing across the sea and getting freaked out by the Sandleyr isn't out of the question).

Since the next book is titled "The Blood of Senbralni", I felt like bringing out one of those tidbits from my folder of random information: the bloodline of Senbralni.

Senbralni is a character who has only appeared in the prologues, but he is a legend among the Onizards for bringing love, light, and the Sandleyr to the world. He is also the ancestor of almost every ruler of the Night Kingdom. There has been so much time since Senbralni's reign that rumors and legends about this bloodline are as common as rumors and legends about Senbralni himself. 

So what is truth, and what is legend? Well, it's more fun to leave some things a mystery, but I do have a list of the Leyrkans and Leyrques of the Night Kingdom, a list that I save for future stories. Here are a few stories from that list:

Maraeni (f)

Maraeni was Senbralni’s youngest daughter, and it is said she had the strongest heart of all of his children. Since she had become a joinmate shortly before her father died, she chose to be the Lady of the Night Kingdom instead of the Leyrque. Her devotion to her love meant that, while she was not particularly memorable as a Child of Light, she was the ancestor of all future descendants of Senbralni.

Delraeni Fire-tamer(f), great-great-great-granddaughter of Senbralni

Delraeni was jokingly called Fire-tamer after winning the heart of the Rantrefi, the son of the Day Kingdom’s Leyrkan. Rantrefi had been sent to the Night Kingdom as an ambassador after a scandalous rumor involving an unclaimed egg. Delraeni proved Rantrefi’s innocence, but when he had a choice to return to the Day Kingdom, he confessed the Night had a better view. Ever since, the occasional descendant of Senbralni has sought a mate from the children of the Day Kingdom's rulers.

Bralkanni the Pure (m), great-great-great-great-great-great-grandson of Senbralni

Bralkanni had a fear throughout his lifetime that the people of the Night Kingdom would end up worshiping the Bloodline of Senbralni more than the Great Lord of the Sky. This fear kept him from acting on his feelings for the woman that he loved. He was adamant that his people pay proper respect to the Great Lord of the Sky, even to the point of ignoring his proper title. It is said that when he sensed the love his niece, Ranmani, was trying to hide from the Onizard man she loved, he repented from his views on the Bloodline's celibacy and insisted on performing the joinmating ceremony. He was much loved in his later years, and he never wavered from his love for the Great Lord of the Sky (I have to wonder what he'd think of the events described in The Zarder and The Speed of Wind). 

There are many more examples, but I don't want to post them and spoil the story for you. Besides, even though there is a lot of world-building going on in the background, I may not know all of the story yet. There is a very early, very terrible draft of The Zarder in which Lady Delsenni is Lord Delsenni, Leyrkan Mekanni's dear and platonic friend. Enjoy these tidbits while I write the rest!

Project Update: The Blood of Senbralni

The cover is ready for The Blood of Senbralni. There are a few more things to do as far as editing is concerned, but I'm pleased to announce that it will be released August 26, 2012. For those of you keeping track, that is exactly one year after the release of The Zarder. It is also over a week after the Hunger Games DVD is released, so you have plenty of time to get your Katniss fix before moving on to the third chapter in the story of the Onizards.

I hope you enjoy this journey with my characters as much as I did.

I'm FREE! I'm FREE!

The giveaway for "The Speed of Wind" on Goodreads had over 300 entries. This is an impressive amount of interested people. Rather than disappoint them all, I have made the Kindle version of "The Speed of Wind" free today (June 7) and tomorrow (June 8).

Check it out here!

Thank you all for participating, and welcome to the Sandleyr!