Back to Graves

 Hey, I'm back, and it's not a cat post. 

Gratutitous Black cat photo...

Fall is always crazy busy for me. I don't mind. It's neither too hot nor too cold to get everything done. I'm not going to bore you with the list, but I will tell you that pear loaves are in the freezer, got my flu shot, got my winter tires on, and my house is clean from top to bottom. I don't even have kids, and I can barely keep up. 

I also have a novel coming out named ELAINA'S FATE. I'm on it, for real. Emma designed a wicked cool cover for me, David helped me write the story. Spoiler Alert: You can thank him for the longer and improved battle scene. Heather has worked her usual magic, polishing my words into grammatic prose so well that I can barely tell where she's been. It's still mine...only better. 

I have been slowly crawling toward graveyard shift, and I'm letting it happen. It's natural for me and someday, when I'm a retired crone, I will live like this permanently. I like the day, but my body prefers night time, like a vampire. 

Something happens to my body when Fall arrives. I was practically born an insomniac, but I thought I'd learned how to control it. Sometimes...not all the time. I no longer stay awake for days. Right now, I'm finding that I'm always tired. I wake up in the ungodly hours and can't get back to sleep. I need long daytime naps, and they are blissfully deep snorefests where I wake up refreshed at dinner time. I'm letting it happen. 

If you're wondering what I mean by 'Born an insomniac' , It's like this. I was born in winter and my beloved father worked eleven at night until seven in the morning for the railroad system. (This was when he still went to school at NAIT. Apparently, my father didn't rest much in the early years of his marriage.) I couldn't sleep or be comforted until my father came home from work. He would rock me to sleep, and my mother would serve him bacon with scrambled eggs and a beer after I finally went down for the day.

Also odd fact. I had no idea my father went to the Northern Alberta Institute of Technology to be an electrician until he passed. He became an Instrument Mechanic shortly after we moved to an obscure hamlet named Rainbow Lake and they needed other skills than an electrician. . He challenged the exam to be certified and spent the rest of his life as an Instrument Mechanic That trade was new and he never once spent a day in NAIT'S classroom to become one.  

But I digress, back to graves. Why fight it? I used to work graveyards when I was single and I decades later worked them well for a certain toy company that still exists in Canada. While I'm not working for them this year, the department store I spend 75 to 80 percent of my time working at agrees that coming in after they close is a great idea. The staff already knows me from other late night work I do. No collectors to deal with, I won't be in the way of customers while I do what I need to do. The staff like me, and I like them. I feel energetic just

 thinking about it. This is gonna be great! 

The other stores I do? I can always nap until they open at seven, eight, nine o 'clock, and be there extra early before they are busy. 

Or I can spend my off hours getting ELAINA'S FATE  ready to publish. I win. Or at least I hope so. My goal is to get ELAINA'S FATE out in time for Christmas. I hope so anyway. It's been too long, and I'm sorry. It just wasn't ready, I wasn't ready. Sorry for so much delay.

So please wish me luck.

Apologies to my Readers

Cover by: Anima Black

Dear Readers. I should be promoting this novella, but I'm sort of avoiding you. The reason is...I feel kind of bad.

Yes, 'Her True Name:Volume One' is available for purchase, but...There is an issue concerning formatting.

It started with a conversation between Sage and the Energy in the prologue. The original version has the Energy speaking  in a stunning Papyrus font, and that's what created the problem.

You see, Createspace doesn't accept any font other than Times New Roman. So it just ignored the font, and replaced it with Times New Roman. I've been trying to fix it since.

Yes, I am aware that I can 'embed' the font, but no, I'm not smart enough to do it. It may as well be math, because that's what it looks like to me..

You know what irritates me? In highschool I had a 92% average in computers. I had a decent grade in typing too. Flash forward a decade or so without using either, and here we are. Everything I learned in highschool computer class is utterly obsolete. I type with two fingers, and I require hands-on help to do the simplest task on my computer. I even needed help to start this blog years ago. Did you know I can't even take a screen shot? I have to pay Heather Savage to do my formatting, because I can't do that either.

I'm digressing. Anyway, my point is, I've made several attempts to fix the problem, but I think I'm making it worse. My novella looks like it was written by a hack. Okay, maybe not that bad, but that's what it feels like. If you'd read any of my stuff, you know I can write! Right?

My big fear is that readers will check out the first chapter of an otherwise decently written novella and say, "Oh for God's sake! This woman can't write! Look at the errors!" Ugh...I'm so sorry.

But I've learned many valuable lessons from my first messy stab at self-publishing. Painful ones that will stick with me a loooong time, so please bear with me. I've still got more books in me--Like Volume Two of this series, and 'Elaina's Fate', which bring me pleasure to compose. I'm hoping to get 'Chasing Monsters' out next, time and finances willing.

If you hang with me, I promise to give you villains to hate, characters to love, and adventures in mythology and reincarnation.

And someday, I will laaaaaugh at this. Thanks for reading <3

Dare to Publish TWICE!

Cover art by: Anima Black

Hey! Hope you all had a Happy Canada Day!

So...I did this thing since the last time I posted. I published 'Her True Name: Volume One'. Sorry I didn't tell everyone sooner, but I've been waiting for something ELSE to go wrong. (Thank you Heather Savage and Kathy Steinemann for your endless patience.) It didn't, so here we are...HER TRUE NAME: VOLUME ONE Finally!!

As you will notice, it's e-book only in the U.S. That's because it's only twenty-five thousand words. Hardly worth printing. Also, it's a series, and since I don't really know how many installments there will be, I can't expect readers to buy them all at an escalated print-out price. After all, it starts in ancient Egypt and ends this century.

The bad news, is that it's ONLY available through Amazon. The good news is that's because  I signed up for Kindle Unlimited. Think of it as Netflix for books. You pay one price, and you can read as many books as you like for the month! That means my other novels and any others signed up for KU. I also signed up to Amazon's terms because they'll take care of a lot of marketing and promotions for me. You know...The stuff I HATE doing? We'll see how this goes. Right now, I'm just really relieved things are going well. Oh, and if you don't want to sign up for Kindle Unlimited, my novella is still available to all. You might wish to wait until Amazon puts it on special.

CORRECTIONAL NOTE: Yes, this book is available in Canada through amazon.ca. Sorry, I should have mentioned that. I think it's international as well.

Would you like an excerpt? I hope you like it.

     Salvia swallowed her trepidation and forced herself to calm. She was never good at hiding her emotions, but she would have to learn if he was to come to her home every day. She picked at the folds of her garment, trying to present herself as tidy as possible. She wore white. Her jewelry marked her importance as lady of the house, with her hair up, bejeweled in gold scarabs. He would respect her importance.

     “Mistress?”

     Salvia stood straighter. “Yes?”

     Her servant lowered her eyes as she entered the room. “The scholar has arrived.”

     Salvia nodded. “Bring him to me.” Her stomach dropped the moment her maid turned her back. Why did her knees shake? What was wrong with her?

     Too quickly the servant returned with Theophrastus, and Salvia found herself gifted with amazement.

     His clothing was washed and white, no longer dusted with memories of his long journey and in good repair. His hands were clean and his head shaved. His demeanor suggested supplication she hadn’t expected.

     She caught her breath at the sight of him, remembering his naked torso glistening in the moonlight, how his song touched her now racing heart. It was unlike her to feel this way. It excited and mortified her.

     “Mistress Salvia,” He was smiling at her. She didn’t trust it. “I am pleased to be in your presence, and I look forward to teaching your children.” Awkward silence ensued, even after the servant excused herself from the room.  He sighed and tried again to elicit conversation. “You were only a child when I left for the city. Did you know it was I who delivered you? I was a few years younger than your age at the time.”

     “I am aware of that.” Salvia couldn’t bring herself to let her guard down. He was only being contrite because her husband hired him. His pleasantries were meaningless.

     Theophrastus dropped his gaze to the ground. “I must apologize,” he said, and Salvia felt her anger lifting. He was full of surprises today. “I should not have placed judgement on you. Femi told me of your generosity and kindness. As an educated man, I should know better than to form opinions based on appearances. I ask for forgiveness.” 

     The gods must be playing with her. Where did this sudden change of heart come from? Worse still she knew she would relent.

I'd also like to tell you Volume Two will take place in Uppsala, Sweden, in the time of the Funnel-beakers. I hope to have that one out next year, barring any other 'glitches'. Enjoy!