Musings & more….
And … I bet you saw this coming!!! … here is the quiz for the Amplifier Series! Ten random questions in total. If you haven’t read the Amplifier Series yet, the prequel is The Amplifier Protocol (technically it comes BEFORE Dowser 1 in the timeline) and the first book is Demons and DNA, which comes AFTER Dowser 9 in the reading order.
Adept Universe Quizzes (so far).
I know some of you just wish I would write faster instead of sharing work-in-progress snippets. But I have to celebrate the little things that hit me in the moment! Like a sort of reverse fuel, you know?
Sometimes … it’s not just the sad stuff that makes me blubber while writing …
I slid off the couch, kneeling before the dream walker and taking her hands. “You are not evil. You are not inherently dark. You aren’t even half and half. You are whole and amazing. You are everything that has happened to you, yes, but you are also everything you are going to do in this world, including being a family with me and Aiden. And Christopher and Paisley.”
“And Samantha,” she added.
I pretended to internally debate it. “Yes, all right. And Samantha.”
– Instincts and Imposters (Amplifier 5), chapter five, first draft
Updated April 17, 2022: I have been informed *by Michael* that I made the Reconstructionist quiz WAY TOO HARD. So I have swapped out two questions and rephrased one other in an attempt to make it more accessible. Link below.
I’m really trying to find the line that is interesting but not too hard, yet I’m still worried I’m making these Adept Universe quizzes too easy! Nonetheless, here is the quiz for the Reconstructionist Series! Ten random questions in total. If you haven’t read the Reconstructionist Series yet, the first book is Catching Echoes and it comes after Oracle 3 (or Dowser 6) in the reading order.
Adept Universe Quizzes (so far).
Lani grunted noncommittedly. “Mercury herself is something pretty to look at though. Miles and miles of creamy skin and those white blue wolf eyes.” She flashed me a grin. “I might grab some tea first.”
I shook my head at her, but she sauntered off toward the treats with her hands still stuffed in her back pockets. Far more confident among unknown magic users than I was, even though I was the biggest predator in the room. In the entire area, perhaps.
The silver-haired witch — Pearl Godfrey — was watching me. Her indigo gaze was piercing, but neutral. I couldn’t feel even a hint of power from her. Yet.
It was possible I was wrong about being the biggest, baddest Adept in the library.
– Instincts and Imposters (Amplifier 5), first draft
So … who do you think would win in a one-on-one fight? Pearl or Emma?
Are you new to the Amplifier series? The prequel is The Amplifier Protocol (Amplifier 0). Are you new to the Adept Universe? The first book (in the full reading order) is Cupcakes, Trinkets, and Other Deadly Magic (Dowser 1) and it’s currently free!
… page one rewrite. After talking my issue(s!!) (see my last blog post) with writing the next Amplifier book over with Michael ad nauseam, I finally came to the conclusion earlier this morning that I was forcing Amplifier 5 to be something it was never meant to be – a full-length novel. I was trying to combine the next two Amplifier stories (aka not necessarily novels) into one book, gearing up for capping the series at book 6 (technically a seven-book arc, plus shorts, counting the prequel).
And now that I’ve come to that conclusion the only thing I can do about it is … a page one rewrite.
*cue silent weeping*
It’s been a long, long time since I’ve gone so far off track (with an outlined book!!) that I needed to scrap everything and reimagine the story I wanted to tell. I actually can’t remember the last time I had to start with a blank page, and in this case, a new blank notebook.
Thank goodness I have a habit of overbuying notebooks! LOL
Here we go!
To clarify, Amplifier 5 will (likely) will now consist of an Emma novella and a Zans novella. And the projected release date will definitely shift further into 2022. Though, thankfully, I have a draft of the Zans story already done.
Here we go (for the fourth time)!
What I should be doing: writing Amplifier 5. You know, the book I’ve been working on since 2020.
What I’m actually doing: writing a prequel short for a new (urban fantasy, portal fantasy?) universe.
I really don’t know what is wrong with me. Aka why can’t I focus on what I’m supposed to be writing? Other than being in constant pain, of course.
Michael says I should be happy that I feel like writing anything at all while recovering from major surgery. Unfortunately for me, logic rarely counters fretful anxiety aka the shoulds that I allow to build up in my beleaguered brain. But … I must admit, there is always truth in the ‘focus on new words’ idea … writing is a balm for just about anything, so … maybe I should listen to Michael (this one time only). LOL
Have no idea what I’m talking about? I shared the ‘first words’ I wrote for Waypoint 42 in the Muse is Not Monogamous in April 2021. Also, there is a huge hint about this upcoming project in Burgundy’s Moments of the Adept Universe 1 novelette. Did you catch it?
Okay! Next up in the Adept Universe quizzes: the Oracle Series! I tried to cobble together a mix of questions, some obscure and hopefully some tricky. Ten in total. If you haven’t read the Oracle Series yet, book one is I See Me and it comes after Dowser 3 in the reading order.
Did you miss the Dowser Series Trivia Quiz? Well then, click the link to take it!
In case you haven’t seen my posts on my various social media platforms, I had a hysterectomy (everything but ovaries) almost two weeks ago. I’ve been taking my pain meds diligently and reading a book a day but getting seriously restless. This afternoon, I’m doing some slow walking on my treadmill desk, which in turn spawned some slow, slow writing on a short, short Kandy story that I was hoping to include in Moments of the Adept Universe 1 but didn’t quite make it.
Needless to say, my publishing schedule is now even more delayed than usual. As are my newsletters, etc. But I’ll get back to work on Amplifier 5 as soon as I’m up for it.
Here is a tiny Kandy snippet to tide you over (hopefully).
I stood on the land of the pack of my birth and felt nothing.
The gate had been open, but the long drive was filled with vehicles so I’d parked my Jeep on the street and walked. Walked until the behemoth of a house loomed over me. The white siding and columned front porch showed signs of age for the first time in my recollection. The dusty pink roses woven through the trellis that stretched up to Justin’s bedroom window on the top corner didn’t quite hide the broken cross brace midway up. And I could see that the untreated splintered wood had grayed with age.
Five years and five months of age to be exact.
I’d broken that trellis the last time I’d sneaked out of Justin’s bedroom. Though he’d asked me to spend the night, and nothing happened clandestinely in a house occupied by adult werewolves, no matter how stupidly large that house was, so sneaking around was just a game.
Just a game.
Fooling around with Justin and Dedra at the same time.
Pretending I wasn’t committed to anything or anyone, least of all some imposed sense of place, or status within the pack. The pack I’d been born into, bred into really. Bred to be the best of the best.
At the time I’d thought that walking away was one of the hardest things I’d ever done, ever have to do.
I’d been wrong.
And not for the last time.
Because it was possible — no matter that I was happy as I could be in Vancouver and within the loose structure of my pack of choice — I wasn’t going to be able to bring myself to walk through the front doors, let alone jog up the few steps leading to them.
My mother was dead.
– A Moment of Reflection (Moments of the Adept Universe 0.8), first draft
Okay (if you saw me freaking out about this over on Facebook) the quiz app/software had an update available this morning, and miraculously the quiz that I spent far too much time putting together a few weeks ago now works!! YAY!
Click here to take the quiz (and warning, it is fairly difficult!)
I’ll do more quizzes for the other series if you all like this one.
😊
Pearl Godfrey crossed to greet us, raising her hand to meet Aiden’s handshake without a moment of hesitation. He flashed her a charming grin that just slid right off the elder witch.
Now that was impressive.
But then I pretty much melted whenever Aiden even glanced my way, even after all these months of the minutiae of spending every waking moment together. And the sleeping moments as well.
Pearl kept hold of Aiden’s hand, her head tilted thoughtfully. “Pearl Godfrey. You must be Aiden Myers.”
“Aiden Azar,” he replied smoothly.
That gave me pause. Though I hoped my surprise hadn’t shown on my face. I hadn’t known that Aiden had decided to resume using his father’s name. But then, it wasn’t at all surprising that he’d want to distance himself from his mother, and the Myers coven.
Pearl smiled at him knowingly. “Dramatic reveals usually come after dessert, sorcerer.”
Aiden chuckled. “My apologies. I figured my presence was enough of a disturbance that I should just dive in.”
– Instincts and Imposters (Amplifier 5), chapter three, first draft