Archivist 1: update and excerpt

I just finished my first full pass on the story editor’s notes for Invoking Infinity (Archivist 1). Next, I’ll do another complete pass, smoothing the prose and making certain I haven’t inserted anything strange (i.e. continuity errors, etc) while working through the editor’s suggested changes/additions.

The book is now 104k. That’s long. I prefer to stay under 95k myself. But, the editor hasn’t recommended any cuts. Yet.

To celebrate getting through the last two weeks (which have been seriously, seriously rough for me headache-wise) I thought I’d share an excerpt from Chapter One and Dusk’s first day of work. I hope you enjoy it!

I stepped through the door. Energy clung to me, trying to taste my magic, then slid off when it couldn’t gain purchase.

Like I’d said, it was difficult to ward against a dragon. We were magic, descended from demi-gods. Not that it couldn’t be done, but the witch who’d built the wards would have needed to have known that dragons existed in the first place. Outside of morality tales and mythology, of course.

The boundary wards yielded completely. My front foot landed on a worn rug set just inside the door to protect the oak hardwood. And the buzzing of all the magic objects on the shelves increased.

A wide grin swamped my face.

This already felt like home.

Literally. The library at my mother’s estate was filled with tiny touches of energy just like —

Something slammed into the side of my head, getting instantly tangled in my already wild hair and obscuring my eyesight. Tiny claws tried to hook into my skin, failing but then finding hold on my bottom lip. The creature latched onto my right upper canine and started nibbling and suckling.

Yes. On my tooth.

I laughed.

Still balancing the coffee and cinnamon buns in my left hand, I gently attempted to pull the creature off me. It clung with a tenacious strength that was usually only reserved for the starving.

And since going for my teeth was a bit of a clue as to what I was dealing with, this creature did have a rather specialized diet.

I managed to transfer its front claws from my lip to my forefinger, tugging it away from my teeth so I could peer at it. It assessed me with wide, dark-orbed eyes.

An imp of some sort. A wide classification for magical creatures — with or without wings — that ranged in size. Smaller than brownies but larger than pixies. This imp was the length of my forearm. Its eyes dominated its light-gray skinned face, except for the overly large mismatched teeth of its lipless mouth.

“That wasn’t nice,” I said teasingly, holding it loosely so I didn’t accidentally crush it. “You could have said hello.”

The imp narrowed its eyes at me, then it chittered discontentedly. It was unlikely it understood English, or spoke any language I could understand, but my tone should — 

The imp sprung free from my grasp, attempting to launch off the coffees and Tupperware balanced in my other hand as it made its escape.

Four lattes in large paper cups and plastic lids didn’t make for a terribly stable surface.

Scrambling for footing, the imp leaped for the nearest shelf.

The lattes slammed into my chest and shoulder, lids flying off, and dumping hot coffee all over me.

Shrieking — even a dragon wasn’t completely impervious to heat — I lost hold of the cinnamon buns as well.

Hot liquid soaked into my hair and sweater, scalding the skin of my neck and collarbone, then dripping down my plaid skirt, all over my favorite brown boots, and the rug.

The imp watched me warily from the shelf at eye level to my left. It chittered quietly, disconcerted.

“Yeah, that also wasn’t nice,” I said sighing.

– from Invoking Infinity (Archivist 1), Chapter One, fourth draft

RELEASING MAY 25, 2021

PREORDER NOW AVAILABLE

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In other news, guess who didn’t actually hit publish on the paperback for Awakening Infinity (Archivist 0)? Ugh, me! I’m sorry. It should be available very soon.