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Recommended Reads: RADIANCE by Grace Draven

RadianceRADIANCE by Grace Draven is another book I devoured due to how much I loved it. My lack of spare time was inconsequential.

The love story here? Oh my, the love story. It’s perfect and refreshing and funny and so so romantic and sexy and these two characters are just plain magic together. They’re so fleshed out I’m convinced they’re real, living in some other realm.

Yes, there’s a larger plot than the romance, in a expertly built fantasy world, and it’s strange, because there’s a decent amount of tension, not really a lot, not enough to explain why I was madly turning pages and couldn’t put this book down. I can’t explain why it’s so good it’s just SO GOOD because of the love story. THE LOVE STORY!! Did I mention the love story?

Fans of my books will love this one.

RADIANCE by Grace Draven
Amazon | Goodreads | Grace Draven’s website

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THE CATALYST – First Draft Complete

I wrote the final words to THE CATALYST’s first draft moments ago. This is mostly due to me writing over 1,900 words in one night which is crazy. I think I went through a time warp or something.

Revisions start immediately, from page one to the end, and will be completed by mid-September. That’s almost two months I have to really make this book shine! Then it goes to the editor so she can rip it to shreds. And set it on fire. Then throw it into a black hole. And when it comes out of that black hole I’ll be like, “What is this, a book? Oh, I’ve read this before but it was kind of crappy. Now it’s pretty darn good. Who wrote this? OMG I DID.”

Progress of THE CATALYST
First Draft: Complete! (102,494 words)
My revisions: Just started (0% complete)
Professional editing: Not started
Proofreading: Not started
Formatting: Not started
Final proofread: Not started
Cover art: Not started

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THE CATALYST Update – July 24

I’ve just started the second to last chapter in THE CATALYST. This will probably be the last update before the final draft is complete. A lot of scenes need to be fleshed out, especially the ones in the last few chapters. In order to overcome my fear of writing the end I stopped taking the time to write my best and just started pounding it out. The progress has been great: 12,383 words since my last update. In those 12,383 I wrote a scene that’s going to make all of Christian’s fans weep. Sad tears? Happy tears? Hmm. And I’m pleased to report I did not weep while writing it.

…What? STOP LOOKING AT ME I JUST HAVE SOMETHING IN MY EYE *runs*

Progress of THE CATALYST
First Draft: In progress, about 98% complete (99,068 words and counting)
My revisions: Not started
Professional editing: Not started
Proofreading: Not started
Formatting: Not started
Final proofread: Not started
Cover art: Not started

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THE ALIGNMENT Moves to the Next Round in SPFBO!

The Alignment - 3DSix out of thirty books are moving on to the next round in The BiblioSanctum’s assigned group of Self-Published Fantasy Blog-off (SPFBO) contestants, and THE ALIGNMENT is one of them!

Talk about a great surprise and an honor mixed with a heap of unworthiness. There are so many awesome looking books in that group of thirty. I’m in serious disbelief THE ALIGNMENT was chosen to be in the top six.

Check out The BiblioSanctum’s mini-reviews of the twenty-four. And please send THE ALIGNMENT some luck, it’s going to need it!

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Penned Con Pre-Order and Giveaway

If you’re coming to Penned Con 2016 this September and would like to pre-order my books so you’re sure to have a copy in case I sell out, please fill out this form and I’ll invoice you via PayPal. All books to be picked up by you at Penned Con in St. Louis (September 23-24).

I have six tickets to Penned Con 2016 that are free to the first six people who click. To try for a free ticket, click here then select “2 Day Ticket: gives you access to full day book signings, panels, workshops and keynote speakers ($35.00).” If you’re one of the first six, you’ll see “CAMDEN discount applied.”

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Recommended Reads: VENGEANCE ROAD by Erin Bowman

vengeance_roadVengeance Road isn’t just one of my favorite books of this year, it’s one of my favorite books of all time. I read it in three days and I have no idea how–I don’t have enough spare time in two weeks to read a full book. But I guess it helped that this one was simply glued to my face. I couldn’t get it off.

Incredibly immersive and real and the dialect was dead on–the Western flavor was heavy but somehow also very readable. Maybe it helps being American and from Missouri. I know it’s not the West, but we do have cowboys here if you know where to look. :)

I loved every character, even when they broke my heart. I was rooting for them even when they were being stupid. And this book has one of my biggest pet peeves with books, especially YA books, yet I forgive it.

I only have two regrets. One, that I read it so rabidly and at times in such short bursts (elevator rides, waiting in short lines, etc.) that I didn’t fully enjoy it. And two, that it was YA, because I so wanted to see some more smoochin’.

Many thanks to the author for making this book actually about vengeance instead of about learning not to be vengeful. Sometimes we just want to see the heroine blow a bad guy’s head off. That’s not a spoiler because it happens in the first chapter. :)

This book is gritty, so beware. But it’s not at all graphic. If you can take the violence and death in my books, you’ll love this one.

Right now it’s only $2.99 on Kindle!

VENGEANCE ROAD by Erin Bowman
Amazon | Goodreads | Erin Bowman’s website

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THE CATALYST Update – June 26

I wrote about 900 words last night and I hope to do the same again tonight, so I’ll keep this month’s update brief. I’m pretty close to the climax right now, and I’ve run into this weird limbo state where the words are hard to wrench out. It’s not writer’s block. It’s apprehension. I know what’s going to happen to these people, and… no! Just NO! *cries*

Progress of THE CATALYST
First Draft: In progress, about 72% complete (86,685 words and counting)
My revisions: Not started
Professional editing: Not started
Proofreading: Not started
Formatting: Not started
Final proofread: Not started
Cover art: Not started

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Recommended Reads: A GOOD HOME by Karin Lowachee

lightspeed_73_june_2016One of my favorite authors, Karin Lowachee, has a short story out in this month’s Lightspeed Magazine called A GOOD HOME that is an absolute must read.

I just one-clicked the issue on Amazon after reading the story. It’s worth the $3.99 just for her story alone. I can’t wait to finish the rest of the issue.

Read A GOOD HOME here, and when you’re finished, one-click the heck out of it.

Here’s more about the issue. Enjoy!

Lightspeed Magazine, June 2016 (Issue 73)

This month, we’ve made another special double issue for you: People of Colo(u)r Destroy Science Fiction! We’ve brought together a team of terrific creators and editors of color, led by Guest Editors Nalo Hopkinson and Kristine Ong Muslim. We’ll have ten pieces of original science fiction by exciting SF authors: Karin Lowachee (“A Good Home”), Steven Barnes (“Fifty Shades of Grays”), Isha Karki (“Firebird”), Lisa Allen-Agostini (“Depot 256”), Brian K. Hudson (“Digital Medicine”), Sofia Samatar (“The Red Thread”), Nick T. Chan (“Salto Mortal”), Dayo Ntwari (“Omoshango”), Terence Taylor (“Wilson’s Singularity”), and Gabriela Santiago (“As Long As It Takes to Make the World”). We also have a special flash fiction section curated by the talented Berit Ellingsen. We have flash from S.B. Divya (“Binaries”), Fabio Fernandes (“Other Metamorphoses”), Teresa Naval (“An Offertory to Our Drowned Gods”), Nin Harris (“Morning Cravings”), Jennifer Marie Brissett (“Breathe Deep, Breathe Free”), T.S. Bazelli (“The Peacemaker”), Caroline M. Yoachim (“Chocolate Milkshake Number 314”), Naru Dames Sundar (“A Handful Of Dal”), Kevin Jared Hosein (“Hiranyagarbha”), and JY Yang (“Four And Twenty Blackbirds”). Our nonfiction editor, Grace Dillon, has brought us some incredible essays and articles, and we have our usual assortment of author and artist spotlights. For our ebook readers—and for those who seek out the print edition of our special issue—we also include have our usual novella reprint and a novel excerpt. But as a special treat, Sunil Patel has collected the more than two dozen essays on life as a PoC reader and creator of science fiction that originally ran in our People of Colo(u)r Kickstarter campaign. All that, and of course we also have our usual assortment of author spotlights, along with an extra special book column.

More on lightspeedmagazine.com

A GOOD HOME by Karin Lowachee
Amazon | Karin Lowachee’s website

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Recommended Reads: MERCENARY INSTINCT by Ruby Lionsdrake

mercenary_instinctSharp-witted pickpocket heroine. Grumpy ship captain who paints his throwing knives black so they’re invisible at night. Plus, spaceships.

Mercenary Instinct has everything you need in an SFR (sci-fi romance), and right now it’s only $.99 on Kindle.

I read this several weeks ago and the characters are still so vibrant in my mind. The proportions of world-building, romantic tension, action and adventure are just right. I think I need to grab the next in the series…

MERCENARY INSTINCT by Ruby Lionsdrake
Amazon | Goodreads | Ruby Lionsdrake’s website

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THE CATALYST Update – May 30

I’m still averaging about 10,000 words per month for this book. Pitiful! But at least it’s getting done.

The good news: I think it only needs about 30,000 more. And then a heck of a lot of editing and rewriting which usually adds more as I fill out the scenes. That should put it right at the same word count as books 1 and 2.

TB’s character arc is almost complete. He just won’t stop. Keeps coming back, bringing more trouble. Just doesn’t want to quit. At times I’m like, “Stop! I’m done with you!” But I have a real soft spot for him. It’s going to be very hard to say goodbye to him when this series is finished.

In other news, THE ALIGNMENT’s cover is getting some love over at The BiblioSanctum:

This cover asks you step into a fictional land, to leave the world behind and live somewhere fantastic and unknowable, to use your imagination to be the master of the stars for just a little while.

Many thanks to The BiblioSanctum. I wish I could take credit for that cover, but my only contribution to the design was something along the lines of, “stars and mountains and stuff?” :)

Anyway, check out the rest of that blog. Their reviews are great, and I’ve found many books to add to my TBR thanks to them.

Progress of THE CATALYST
First Draft: In progress, about 64% complete (77,102 words and counting)
My revisions: Not started
Professional editing: Not started
Proofreading: Not started
Formatting: Not started
Final proofread: Not started
Cover art: Not started