How to subscribe to MCD’s blog

Here – updated April 27, 2023 with (fairly recent) pictures – is how to subscribe to my blog (so you can read along with the Conduit on #TeaserTuesday).

On a computer/desktop. Type your email into the box on the top right-hand corner of your screen. You can unsubscribe at any time. You’ll need to confirm your subscription. If you can’t find the email in your inbox, check your spam/junk/promotions folders. If you find the confirmation there, please drag it into your inbox to ensure that future emails arrive directly in your inbox. After you subscribe you will get an email each time I blog (not just the Conduit serialization posts).

On a mobile device. Scroll all the way down past the current blog posts. Type your email into the box situated between the ‘older posts’ button and the cover image for Archivist 0. You can unsubscribe at any time. You’ll need to confirm your subscription. If you can’t find the email in your inbox, check your spam/junk/promotions folders. If you find the confirmation there, please drag it into your inbox to ensure that future emails arrive directly in your inbox. After you subscribe you will get an email each time I blog (not just the Conduit serialization posts).

There you go! I hope you enjoy the read-along.

Introducing the Amplifier Series

ONGOING. The Amplifier Series begins with the prequel, The Amplifier Protocol (Amplifier 0).

They called me an amplifier. And they had bred me, raised me, and trained me to be a killer with preternatural precision. I was capable of taking, holding, and transferring power that wasn’t my own with a simple touch. Skin-to-skin contact. Along with four others of my generation, I could infiltrate any magical organization, extracting whoever or whatever I’d been ordered to extricate. Then I could destroy all evidence of our passing presence.

They had made me. They directed me. Controlled me.

Then they tried to kill me.

Thus begins the Amplifier Series. But, at the beginning of book one, Demons and DNA, Emma (aka Amp5, aka Socks) encounters an obstacle she cannot vanquish with a simple touch (although she seriously tries): love. Aiden, a dark sorcerer, stumbles upon Emma at the absolutely lowest point in his life, drained of his magic and missing all memory of the previous three days. Together the amplifier and her sorcerer confront their entwined pasts, choosing to stop running and put down roots in a small town despite the darkness that keeps knocking – literally – on the front door.

The Amplifier Series features kick-ass magic and even cooler characters, including Paisley the demon-hybrid dog.

FREEBIES & EXTRAS, PART 4

Close to Home (Amplifier 0.5)

Close to Home (Amplifier 0.5) is set seven years after the events of The Amplifier Protocol (Amplifier 0).

I hope you enjoy a glimpse into how life has evolved (is still evolving?) for Emma, Christopher, and Paisley!

This novelette is also bundled with The Amplifier Protocol (Amplifier 0).

Reading order, including short stories:

  • The Amplifier Protocol (Amplifier 0)
  • Close to Home (Amplifier 0.5)
  • Demons and DNA (Amplifier 1)
  • Bonds and Broken Dreams (Amplifier 2)
  • Mystics and Mental Blocks (Amplifier 3)
  • Amplifier 4 – coming Summer 2020

FYI – to avoid spoilers – The Amplifier Series is set in the same universe as the Dowser, the Oracle, and the Reconstructionist series. CLICK HERE FOR THE FULL READING ORDER.
 
The Amplifier Series is available in eBook, paperback, and audiobook.

Introducing the Reconstructionist Series

The Reconstructionist trilogy begins with Catching Echoes (Reconstructionist 1). *Reminder* the full reading order can be found at the beginning of each of the books or by clicking here.

Wisteria Fairchild is a witch with an exceedingly specific talent. Given enough residual magic, she can reconstruct magical events, creating a visual representation that she can then store and playback at will – at a tribunal, or during the course of an investigation. Wisteria works as a specialist for the witches’ Convocation.
 
In book one, Wisteria is partnered – exceedingly unwillingly – with an ancient vampire, Kettil the executioner of the Conclave. Together they investigate a series of teenage suicides. Or, at least, deaths that appear to be suicides on the surface. As the case stirs up echoes of Wisteria’s own abusive childhood, the vampire appears to have ulterior motives … for everything he does and says.
 
*Spoiler alert* he does. But then, any reader who has read the Dowser series wouldn’t expect anything less from Kett.
 
Book two and three dig deeper into Wisteria’s past as she investigates a series of witch kidnappings, navigates a burgeoning relationship with Kett, and comes to terms with her future.

“We’re following a centuries-old vampire with extensive, unknown powers into a funeral home. What could possibly go wrong?”

“Well, we could lose our accreditation. Then we’d have to resort to running an organic grocery or holistic clinic.”

“You’ve thought this through.”

“Extensively.” Jasmine tugged the door open further, then stepped inside the dark, wide corridor beyond.

Catching Echoes (Reconstructionist 1)

FREEBIES & EXTRAS, PART 3

The Graveyard Kiss (R 0.5)

Tis better to have loved and lost than never to have loved at all — But really? Is it? Luci, a true believer in Victorian love poetry, is about to find out whether her teenaged heart and soul is up to surviving a boyfriend who prefers elegies … and the ancient evil he might have dug up on the Internet.
——————
This 7,000 word young adult, urban fantasy, short story from author Meghan Ciana Doidge is a prequel to the novel, Catching Echoes (Reconstructionist 1). 

Reading order, including short stories:

  • The Graveyard Kiss (Reconstructionist 0.5)
  • Catching Echoes (Reconstructionist 1)
  • Dawn Bytes (Reconstructionist 1.5)
  • Tangled Echoes (Reconstructionist 2)
  • An Uncut Key Reconstructionist 2.5)
  • Unleashing Echoes (Reconstructionist 3)

The short stories can be found in the Reconstructionist Series: Short Story Bundle.

FYI – to avoid spoilers – The Reconstructionist Series is set in the same universe as the Dowser, the Oracle, and the Amplifier series. CLICK HERE FOR THE FULL READING ORDER.

Wisteria also makes an appearance in Dowser 3, 4, and 7. Jasmine, introduced in the Reconstructionist trilogy, also appears in Dowser 7, 8, and 9. Jasmine also narrates Dawn Bytes (Reconstructionist 1.5) and a novelette in Graveyards, Visions, and Other Things that Byte (Dowser 8.5).

The Reconstructionist Trilogy is available in eBook and paperback.

Introducing the Oracle Series

The Oracle Series begins with I See Me (Oracle 1).

A short introduction to the Oracle Series.

Narrated by Rochelle Saintpaul. Oracle. Rochelle has grown up in the foster system believing that she is mentally ill. But, despite suffering debilitating hallucinations, she begins to build a life for herself, meeting a man who is much more than he seems to be along the way. With Beau at her side, and hunted by a sorcerer whose intentions are unclear, Rochelle begins to understand that magic actually exists. And that she is an oracle, imbued with the gift of seeing the future. But even when you can see the future, thwarting destiny isn’t an easy feat.

“A gift to the author’s fans and a compelling introduction to her supernatural universe for new readers.” – Kirkus Reviews

The Oracle Series was inspired by a simple idea – a meeting between two independent people, who discover that they are stronger together. That scene idea became Chapter Five of I See Me (Oracle 1)

EXCERPT

“What are you?” a deep male voice asked tentatively. “A witch?”

I started. As far as I’d known, I was the only customer in the roadside diner. I looked up from contemplating the full mug of very hot coffee before me — then kept looking up at least six-feet-three-inches of lanky frame and broad shoulders. 

His skin was the color of brown-sugar caramels. I stiffened my spine and squared my own shoulders in an attempt to fill more of the booth I was occupying. My immediate impulse — as when approached by any stranger after one of my ‘incidents’ — was to burrow farther into the powder-blue vinyl seat. I wasn’t a hundred percent clearheaded yet.

“Did you just ask me if I was a witch?” I sneered at his square chin and chiseled jaw rather than look him in the eye.

Even through the haze that the hallucinations and pills always left behind, he was crazy-beautiful. I’d never seen anyone who looked like him — not even online, say in a romance novel meme or a movie. 

Instead of crossing my arms protectively across my chest, I deliberately wrapped my hands around the coffee that I had no intention of drinking, but I figured would keep the waitress mollified while I decided whether to order a salad or veggie soup. My shrink had spoken a lot about confidence being rooted in body language … or some other garbage I usually only half listened to. But in this case, after midnight in an empty diner on the edge of I-5 and with no one actually knowing where I was or when to expect me back, I wasn’t interested in looking like some victim.

The guy shifted his feet. His hands were stuffed into the pockets of his worn jeans. His navy hoodie was soaking wet. He carried a large, overstuffed backpack slung over one shoulder like it weighed nothing.

The sky had opened up as I was walking to the diner. I’d sourced its location and hours of operation with the ever-helpful TripAdvisor app, after discovering its existence via Google. Despite knowing it was going to rain, I’d left the Brave in the rest stop parking lot. I’d straightened it so it was parked within the lines before I locked up. I didn’t want to draw attention. But I was too far gone in the grip of the clozapine to actually drive. Though I was wishing that I’d thought to buy a bike and strap it to the back of the motorhome. 

Anyway, I’d walked the entire one-point-two miles to the diner, the last quarter of that distance in the rain. TripAdvisor had asserted that the place was open nightly until 2:00 a.m., and the chalkboard sign in the window confirmed it.

By the raindrops that still glistened on his cheekbones, the guy had gotten caught in the downpour for longer than I had. I felt a terribly weird impulse to pull my sleeves down over my hands and dry the rain from his face. I gripped my mug harder, as if to stop my hands from reaching for him without my permission.

“I … I …” He stumbled over the words. “I thought with the tattoos … and I scented …”

“Are you crazy?” I resisted the urge to tug the sleeves of my hoodie down over my arms for a completely different reason now. “Because I have enough crazy already going on in my head. I don’t need yours.”

He hunched his shoulders as if the rain was still pouring down on him. I felt bad for snapping at him. For dumping my issues at his feet and expecting him to just deal or walk away.

Yeah, I expected him to just walk away now. 

He didn’t.

“No,” he said. “I’m not crazy.”

I risked a glance at his eyes. They were a startling blue-green — a deep aquamarine. I’d expected them to be brown by his skin tone. He was mixed race then, and more the gorgeous for it. Not that I could say the same … for some reason, whatever-kind-of-Asian-I-was mixed with whatever-kind-of-Caucasian-I-was didn’t come with the prettiest-bits-of-both-races results.

I returned my gaze to my coffee.

Silence stretched between us, but again he didn’t leave. I could actually hear water dripping off him. He was probably creating a pool at his feet. The waitress would come back from the kitchen and have a mess to mop up.

“Can I buy you a piece of pie?” he asked.

“Can you afford it?”

“Just.”

I nodded. I still needed to eat, after all. “I like apple.”

“With ice cream?”

“No.”

He stepped to the long counter that divided the seating area from the kitchen, leaned past the powder-blue vinyl-topped stools bolted there, and called into the back through the half-open swing doors. “Um, hello?”

The waitress had served me coffee with minimal chatter immediately after I sat down. I appreciated the brief interaction, even though I’d come to the diner seeking human contact. She’d returned to texting and chatting quietly to whoever was in the kitchen. She was about the same age as me. I guess the graveyard shift fell to the youngest employee. 

“Two pieces of apple pie, please,” he called. “One with ice cream.”

I heard her sigh. Then she poked her head out through the swing doors and saw him. She missed her apron pocket and dropped her phone on the floor instead. Yeah, even soaking wet and — judging by his worn clothing — downtrodden, he was that beautiful.

“Pie?” he asked again.

The waitress glanced toward me, still dumbstruck, and then nodded. I could feel her disbelief from where I sat, but she didn’t hold my interest for more than a second.

I studied him while his back was turned. He was wearing black-and-white Converse runners that looked vaguely new. His hair was clipped short against his head. I wondered if it would be curly if it was longer. It was even darker than mine, and I dyed mine as black as I could get it. His accent was southern-U.S. of some kind, but I didn’t know the distinct differences. He was in his early twenties at the most.

He turned back to the booth so quickly that he caught me looking at him.

I didn’t look away this time. I’d said the thing about being crazy and he hadn’t laughed like I was joking. He also hadn’t walked away.

He smiled at me. Not at the waitress, who was scrambling on the floor for her phone now. It was an easygoing, playful smile. My stomach … squirmed … or flipped … curled. I’d never felt anything like it.

“Sit then,” I said, more gruffly than I’d intended. But then I was covering for whatever was going on with my silly stomach.

He slid into the booth across from me, filling the other side as much as two smaller people would have.

I slid my coffee mug across the width of the gray-speckled table. He pulled his hands out of his hoodie pockets, swallowed the mug with them, and lifted the still-warm coffee to his mouth.

He looked like he could crush the ceramic mug without even trying. But then maybe he’d be sorry about breaking it afterward.

He scared me stupid — stupid enough to offer him a seat and accept the pie.

“You’ve been walking … in the rain,” I said, aware I sounded like an idiot stating the utterly banal.

He nodded. “Couple of hours. Since the last Greyhound stop.”

I figured the bus ran anywhere and everywhere, as long as you were willing to wait for the next one. The only reason to get off and keep walking was because you’d run out of money. But I didn’t mention it. That was his business, not mine.

He started to pass the coffee back across the table, but I shook my head. “I don’t drink it.”

He smiled. His teeth were startling white against his mocha skin. “Just needed a reason to sit, huh?”

I shrugged. No need to explain I was cold. Cold in a way that made it seem I’d never be warm. Cold in my core, and afraid that if I stayed alone, I’d sleep. Sleeping directly after an episode was one thing. But waking and then sleeping again meant the hallucinations would haunt my dreams in a more visceral way.

The waitress dropped off two pieces of pie and two forks. She put the one with the ice cream in front of me, then lingered to fill my coffee mug, which was now in front of him. She deliberately placed her hand next to his as she leaned on the table. Her nails were lacquered carnation pink. 

He didn’t take his eyes off me, nor did he lose the easy grin.

I didn’t look away from him either.

“Thank you,” he murmured.

“Yeah, okay,” the waitress said, her tone tinged with disappointment. She wandered back to set the coffee pot in the machine.

He reached over and switched the plates.

“Warm,” he said, pleased.

He took a bite, making sure to spear both ice cream and pie on his fork. Then he said, “I’m Beau.”

“Rochelle.” 

I took a bite of the pie. It was warm. It was also too sweet and the crust was tough, but I could taste the apple. Apples always made me feel better somehow. More grounded.

“Is that French?” he asked.

“No,” I answered. “Well, I’m not anyway.”

“My sister’s name is French,” he said as he took another bite. He was going to finish his entire piece in three huge mouthfuls. “Claudette. But she’s not, you know, like me.”

I had no idea what he meant. Maybe that his sister wasn’t mixed race?

“Isn’t your name French? Beau?” I realized what I was saying before I said it, but continued despite my embarrassment. “As in, good looking?”

He looked up at me without answering. I felt like I was missing something in his ‘not like me’ comment. I had no idea what it could be, though — or why it would hang between us so tangibly.

His gaze fell to my piece of pie, or maybe to my hands. I didn’t fiddle with my fork. He unnerved me, but it wasn’t at all unpleasant.

“No,” he said, with a definite shake of his head.

I’d forgotten what we were talking about.

Then he reached across the table and — barely touching me — turned my left hand over until the back rested on the table. With a touch so light that I felt only the shiver of its passing, he brushed his fingers across the black butterfly I had tattooed on the inside of my wrist.

“Rochelle,” he murmured. “Who are you?”

Expanding the world of her Dowser series, Doidge (Catching Echoes, 2016, etc.) merges romance, carnality, and supernatural fantasy to lush effect.” – Kirkus Reviews

The Oracle Series is available in eBooks, paperback, and audiobook.

I See Me (Oracle 1)
I See You (Oracle 2)
I See Us (Oracle 3)

FYI – to avoid spoilers – The Oracle Series is set in the same universe as the Dowser, the Reconstructionist, and the Amplifier series.
CLICK HERE FOR THE FULL READING ORDER.
 
Rochelle also appears in Dowser 6, 7, and 9 and narrates the second novelette in Graveyards, Visions, and Other Things that Byte (Dowser 8.5).

The next post in the welcome sequence is: INTRODUCING THE RECONSTRUCTIONIST SERIES

Introducing the Dowser Series

The Dowser Series begins with Cupcakes, Trinkets, and Other Deadly Magic (Dowser 1), which is currently free on all retailers! *Reminder* the full reading order can be found at the beginning of each of the books or here.

A short introduction to the Dowser Series.

Narrated by Jade Godfrey. Half-witch/half-? Raised by her grandmother, Pearl, a powerful witch, the dowser grew up believing that her magic was rare but not particularly valuable – she can taste magic, even minuscule amounts. Using this ‘tiny’ talent she bakes cupcakes for a living and makes trinkets out of items she collects that contain residual magic, such as coins, broken pieces of pottery, and sea glass.

But Jade soon discovers that her magic is more robust than her upbringing led her to believe, and that a crazy amount of responsibility comes with wielding that sort of power. She finds herself gathering a band of magical misfits – Adepts who wouldn’t normally even associate with each other if they could help it – including two unlikely best friends, Kettil the executioner of the vampire Conclave, and Kandy, an enforcer for the North West Coast American pack.

“If you are looking for a series that will draw you in, make you laugh, cry, and stay up all night saying “just one more page” this is it. – Amazon review

The Dowser series is divided into three trilogies, totaling nine books plus three short stories. The first book of each trilogy (D1, D4, and D7) begins a new adventure for Jade, Kandy, and Kett, as well as a multitude of other magic wielders and magical beings. Books 1, 2, and 3 are collected into a boxset. And Graveyards, Visions, and Other Things that Byte (Dowser 8.5) contains three novelettes from Mory’s, Rochelle’s and Jasmine’s POVs.

The Dowser series is available in eBook and paperback. And the first six books are available as audiobooks as well.

READING ORDER

Cupcakes, Trinkets, and Other Deadly Magic (Dowser 1)
Trinkets, Treasures, and Other Bloody Magic (Dowser 2)
Treasures, Demons, and Other Black Magic (Dowser 3)
Shadows, Maps, and Other Ancient Magic (Dowser 4)
Maps, Artifacts, and Other Arcane Magic (Dowser 5)
Artifacts, Dragons, and Other Lethal Magic (Dowser 6)
Champagne, Misfits, and Other Shady Magic (Dowser 7)
Misfits, Gemstones, and Other Shattered Magic (Dowser 8)
Graveyards, Visions, and Other Things that Byte (Dowser 8.5)
Gemstones, Elves, and Other Insidious Magic (Dowser 9)

FYI – to avoid spoilers – The Dowser Series is set in the same universe as the Oracle, the Reconstructionist, and the Amplifier series. CLICK HERE FOR THE FULL READING ORDER.

FREEBIES & EXTRAS, PART 2

A Difficult Funeral (Dowser 1.5)

This 1300 word flash fiction is set three weeks after the events in my urban fantasy novel, Cupcakes, Trinkets, and Other Deadly Magic (Dowser 1). As such, it contains SPOILERS for that story. Please read at your own risk … wow, that sounds ominous. 

Also, this hasn’t been professionally edited or proofed, but I hope you enjoy getting a glimpse of Jade in between novels none the less.

The next post in the welcome sequence is: INTRODUCING THE ORACLE SERIES

Welcome to the Adept Universe

The first book in each series, plus nine Dowser recipe cards. So pretty in paperback!!

The Adept Universe currently consists of five series, each with a different first person narrator. Book one of each series stands alone as an entry point to the universe, and the series themselves can be read separately. But, if you are a purist, you’ll want to start with Cupcakes, Trinkets, and Other Deadly Magic (Dowser 1), which is currently free! Click here for the full reading order, which can also be can be found at the beginning of each of the books.

THE DOWSER SERIES

Nine books (COMPLETE), plus three novelettes (collected in Dowser 8.5). 

Narrated by Jade Godfrey. An effervescent baker of cupcakes, maker of trinkets, and creator of chaos. Jade excels at collecting powerful friends and vanquishing even more powerful enemies while trying to generally be on the side of the ‘light’.

Jade also appears in Oracle 1 and 3, Reconstructionist 1, and Misfits 1.

Fun facts: Jade will do anything for chocolate, but it better be the good stuff. She is a magical magpie and identifies other Adepts by the taste of their magic. The dowser has an obsession for certain shoes, getting her nails done, befriending wild things, and sleeping with her jade knife.

Fav quote (from Cupcakes, Trinkets, and Other Deadly Magic): “The customer looked familiar, like maybe he’d been in the bakery a few times before. The vampire, however, was new.”

THE ORACLE SERIES

Trilogy (COMPLETE).

Narrated by Rochelle Saintpaul. Haunted by hallucinations, the oracle believes she is mentally ill. Despite aging out of the foster care system, she is determined to build a life on her own terms, meeting and falling in love with a man who is much more than he seems. With Beau at her side, and hunted by a sorcerer whose intentions are unclear, Rochelle begins to understand that magic actually exists and that she is an oracle, imbued with the gift of seeing the future.

Rochelle also appears in Dowser 6, 7, 8, and 9. She also narrates one of the novellas in Dowser 8.5.

Fun facts: Rochelle has a thing for apples, drives a 1975 Brave Winnebago, and makes a living selling charcoal drawings of her visions. Also, there might be more to her tattoos than simply black ink.

Fav quote (from I See Me): I sat on the bed to draw. Right now, that was all I could do. But later, I was going to thwart destiny.

THE RECONSTRUCTIONIST SERIES

Trilogy, plus three short stories (COMPLETE).

Narrated by Wisteria Fairchild. What could go wrong when a no-nonsense witch with family issues is forced to work alongside a powerful and obnoxious ancient vampire to solve a murder? Unfortunately for her, Wisteria Fairchild is about to find out. And end up facing a foe she never expected.

Wisteria also appears in Dowser 4 and 7. Jasmine, who will be getting her own series in 2021, also narrated the second short story and a novelette in Dowser 8.5.

Fun facts: Wisteria would drink coffee via IV if it was at all practical. She considers fine dining a requirement, not simply sustenance. And would do anything for the only two people she loves in the entire world, including sacrificing herself.

Fav quote (from Catching Echoes): “We’re following a centuries-old vampire with extensive, unknown powers into a funeral home. What could possibly go wrong?”

THE AMPLIFIER SERIES

Currently four books, plus one novelette (ONGOING).

Narrated by Emma Johnson aka Fox in Socks aka Amp5. Emma is … complicated. Born in a test tube, raised and trained to be a sociopathic killer, she breaks free from those who her bred her and runs all the way to a small town on the edge of the West Coast of Canada to build a life for herself, only to fall hard and fast for a dark sorcerer who’s dragging his own past behind him.

Fun facts: Emma is a huge Downton Abbey fan. Huge. She adores afternoon tea, usually accompanied by ginger snaps. One of her best friends is a demon dog hybrid, Paisley. And she has never, ever faced an adversary who could counter her ‘touch.’ Not yet, anyway. 😉

Fav quote (from Demons and DNA): “Are you here to kill me?” I asked in a whisper. “Or am I supposed to kill you?”

MISFITS OF THE ADEPT UNIVERSE

Book 1 to be released Spring 2020. (ONGOING) First person POV changes from book to book, the first novel is told from Mory’s perspective. The necromancer comes home from attending the Academy to find that more than just her friends are waiting for her.

Mory also appears in Dowser 3, 4, 7, 8, and 9. She also narrates one of the novelettes in Graveyards, Visions, and Other Things that Byte (Dowser 8.5).

CLICK HERE FOR THE FULL READING ORDER, including a list of main characters and a link to each book.

The next post in the welcome sequence is: INTRODUCING THE DOWSER SERIES

Welcome to Made By Meghan

Welcome to Meghan Ciana Doidge’s blog!

Because readers often arrive at Made By Meghan after reading different books/series, I’ve decided to write a series of ‘Welcome’ posts and bundle them together under one tab/heading. These posts are pretty much copies of the posts that a reader would also receive if they subscribed to my mailing list. The posts tell you a bit more about me – Meghan – and about my books, specifically the titles within the Adept Universe.

Before I go into too much detail about ALL the books, I wanted to mention that I make my eBooks free for libraries, though Overdrive does charge libraries a minimum fee. You might need to request the titles you want, but that’s another way to read all of my books! I most definitely remember what it’s like to be on a book budget. Literacy is important to me. And access to entertainment and literature shouldn’t be dependent on a certain income level, not when libraries completely rock while performing a valuable service.

Sunshine & Lollipops,

Meghan 

_______________________

MCD BIO & OTHER LINKS

Meghan Ciana Doidge can be found at her gorgeous 100-year-old reclaimed fir walking desk clacking away on a well-worn keyboard just about every day of the week. Occasionally, she takes Sundays off to knit or bake. Swathed in cashmere, fuelled by single-origin chocolate, and boxed in by Persian cats, she writes tales of true love conquering all, even death. Though sometimes the love is elusive, the vampires and werewolves come out to play in the daylight, and bloody mayhem ensues.

WARNING: author has been known to manipulate characters with chocolate, sex, and fantastical plotting. Readers beware.

OTHER PLACES TO FIND MCD

FREEBIES & EXTRAS, PART 1

DIRECT DOWNLOAD THE COOKBOOK PDF

Contains 24 cupcakes, 3 cookies, and a brownie recipe.

Recently added:
Chewy Gingersnaps from Demons and DNA (Amplifier 1).

Contains SPOILERS so please be cautious when reading ahead.

My current desk view – writing, treats, and a bit of inspiration (my WIP, Misfits 1, features an undead turtle named Ed). Unfortunately, that was the last of the Nanaimo Bar. Sigh.

WHAT IS YOUR FAVOURITE THING TO INDULGE IN WHILE READING?

Comment below and let me know so I can live vicariously through you. Otherwise, I’m going to be forced to bake and that cuts into my writing time. LOL

Click here for the next welcome post: WELCOME TO THE ADEPT UNIVERSE

Apologies in advance and a snippet

I’m about to post SEVEN administrative posts on the blog, namely a welcome sequence. Hopefully you find it somewhat interesting, but I apologize in advance for spamming your inbox and I offer this snippet of Misfits 1 and a cool shot of a headstone that features heavily in the book in recompense.

“Where did you park?”

“On West Forty-First.”

“But you came in on Fraser.”

He went quiet for a moment, then asked in a deceptively casual tone, “How did you know?”

I laughed. “That’s for me to know, sorcerer.”

“And for me to find out?”

I grinned, feeling myself starting to flush again. What the hell was going on with my hormones? “I’m cultivating an air of mystery.”

He cocked an eyebrow at me. “With the undead turtle, the knitting, and the … “ He peered down at the colorful fringe of my poncho. “… beads clicking and clacking while you walk?”

“Yes,” I said haughtily. “You have absolutely no idea where to even start figuring me out.”

He laughed. A little uproariously for my taste. He sobered quickly though, murmuring absentmindedly, “mysterious through and through.”

I didn’t press my point.

Mysteries didn’t explain themselves after all.

– Misplaced Souls (Misfits 1), third draft

8 seconds of the stash.

I’m testing out shooting tiny clips of video on my new phone because I’m thinking about vlogging a bit as the year progresses … live chats, chocolate tastings, reading excerpts from my books, etc.

Here’s my first 8 second test – a beauty shot of my chocolate stash drawer:

 

Preemptive answers:

  1. Yes. I tidied the drawer. And I removed Michael’s portion of the stash, which currently consists of coffee beans and a mason jar full of Dulcey by Valrhona.
  2. No, this does not include baking chocolate. That’s a different drawer.
  3. Yes, this is a lot of chocolate. I was gifted a number of these bars at Christmas. [YAY!] And I stopped by Xoxolat in Vancouver to replenish the stash for the new year and writing Dowser 6.
  4. The mason jar holds a portion of my Manjari by Valrhona, which I consume in my daily hot chocolate. Yes, that means that the bag of Manjari is currently too large to fit in the drawer.
  5. Yes, the Amedei bars are already half (or more) eaten. I’ve also cracked the Saint Domingue by Cacao Barry and the Araguani by Valrhona. Everything else is blog fodder. 🙂
  6. It took me five passes to capture this eight seconds. Leo jumped in the drawer twice while I was filming.

What’s in your stash? What are you saving to savour?

Happy (Belated) New Year!

I’ve been off in Vancouver being far too indulgent for the last couple of days. I also got to meet a sweet six-day-old boy, who I’m hoping will call me Aunty Megs one day (though technically we are ‘friend’ related, not blood). I showered him with knitted goods and held him for a micro second as he appropriately screamed at me. He’s lovely.

I’m back a work today and will be going into lockdown on Dowser 6 on Monday, January 4th. I won’t be allowed out of the writing shed except to eat and sleep until the first draft is complete.

Self-imposed deadlines are never a bad thing. 🙂

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Thank you for all the support – shares, mentions, likes, RTS, and reviews – throughout 2015. And I <3 our conversations.

I’m looking forward to spending 2016 with you all.