Amplifier 5.5: got something better to do?

Wow! Two updates from me in two days! I’m feeling rather productive!

I just sent Recon Mission: Bee (Amplifier 5.5) aka Zans’ novella off to the sensitivity reader, Natasha Lane. And I’ll forward her notes along with the manuscript to SFG (the editor) once she turns around on her read. Yay!

I’ve also started a search for a Black female narrator for the audiobook. Tia Rider will continue to narrate the main Amplifier series books – double yay!

And! Gene Mollica Studios has all the particulars for the book cover, so hopefully, I’ll start to see art soon as well. I’m excited!!

This is all a long-winded way of saying, I’m most definitely avoiding doing my taxes. Ugh. And now, I really don’t have any excuses. Sigh. Though I am going to play around with one of my Space Opera ideas, and brainstorm/outline Amplifier 6 over the next couple of weeks as well.

Oh! [I announced this on social media already] The sticker sets have all been mailed (as of late last night). Still waiting for the next round to be delivered to me, then I’ll relist.

How about a Zans snippet to celebrate? [I absolutely adore all the Fish/Zans interaction in the novella!]

Fish stood, crossing past me and into the tiny bathroom. He flicked on the light.

“I checked in there,” I said pissily.

He ignored me.

Like always.

I considered pulling out my phone and playing a game.

Fish stepped out of the bathroom, glowering. “Clean.”

“We grab our stuff from the motel and leave,” I said.

“We reach out to my contact,” Fish said, his tone dark. “And when we confirm he sold us out, we hunt him down.”

I sighed, heavily.

“Got something better to do?” Fish asked caustically.

I smirked. “Well, Emma might want some help with the wedding.”

He stomped away.

– Recon Mission: Bee (Amplifier 5.5), third draft

Are you new to the Amplifier Series? Start with Demons and DNA (Amplifier 1) then maybe jump back and read the prequel, The Amplifier Protocol.

Are you new to the Adept Universe? The first book in the recommended reading order is Cupcakes, Trinkets, and Other Bloody Magic (Dowser 1).

Amplifier 5: my magic beckoned

I’m pleased to announce that I just dropped Instincts and Imposters (Amplifier 5) into the editor’s inbox for story editing (the first stage of editing, also called developmental editing). To celebrate I thought I’d share a tiny snippet that Michael highlighted with a laughing face when he beta read the book last week.

Aiden flashed me a knowing grin. He couldn’t read my mind, of course, but apparently my magic beckoned whenever I was thinking of him in a certain way.

So … pretty much whenever I laid eyes on him.

– Instincts and Imposters (Amplifier 5), third draft

Are you new to the Amplifier Series? Start with Demons and DNA (Amplifier 1) then maybe jump back and read the prequel, The Amplifier Protocol.

Are you new to the Adept Universe? The first book in the recommended reading order is Cupcakes, Trinkets, and Other Bloody Magic (Dowser 1).

Amplifier 5.5: you get that a lot

I’m working through the second draft of Zans’s novella, Amplifier 5.5, and I wrote the first draft long enough ago that this little bit of perfect dialogue (if I say so myself) caught me unawares and had me laughing out loud. So I thought I’d share. Amplifier 5.5 will be bundled with Amplifier 5. I’m hoping for an August release date but it’s way too soon to firm anything up yet.

She pursed her lips, glancing slightly away. “How much do you have on you?”

I shrugged, tapping the wad of cash against my thigh. “I have no idea.”

“You shouldn’t flash that kind of money around so casually.”

“There is nothing casual about me.”

She sniffed again. “And if I have nothing to tell?”

“Then it’s a bad investment. Not my first.”

“Three hundred.”

“So you do remember us?”

“You do stand out. Half the regulars wanted to fuck you.”

“And the other half?”

“Left early.”

I laughed, surprising myself with a genuine response.

She frowned, playfully. “You get that a lot, I suppose.”

“Yeah.”

— untitled Zans novella (Amplifier 5.5), second draft

Amplifier 5: otherwise occupied

Let’s just say that there are no half-measures for Emma, not even when she decides to be sassy.

“It won’t come to that,” Aiden said mildly. “Ember already has the paperwork drawn up. This isn’t even a formality. You’ll now have the coven more involved in your lives than some of you would wish, but they aren’t going to reject what Opal wants.”

Christopher smirked at me. “Has he been repeating himself since he arrived?”

I grinned. “Not the entire time. His mouth was otherwise occupied earlier.”

– Instincts and Imposters (Amplifier 5), second draft

Are you new to the Amplifier Series? Start with Demons and DNA (Amplifier 1) then maybe jump back and read the prequel, The Amplifier Protocol.

Are you new to the Adept Universe? The first book in the recommended reading order is Cupcakes, Trinkets, and Other Bloody Magic (Dowser 1).

Amplifier 5: whole and amazing …

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

Amplifier 5: the biggest, baddest?

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!

MCD health update and a Kandy snippet.

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

Amplifier Series: dramatic reveals and dessert

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

Amplifier Series: pit bulls and dinners with witches

Here is a great example of how I completely fail at marketing. I should be sharing pretty memes and quotes or reviews from either of my two newest releases, Compelling Infinity (Archivist 2) or Moments of the Adept Universe 1, but instead, I’m sharing half-baked new words because they amused me (and my attention span is just that insanely short). 😆

“Witches,” Aiden sneered. “Nosy and self-righteous. I believe I shall come to dinner with you.” He returned his attention to his book, ignoring the pointed look I gave him.

Paisley pressed her shoulder to my knee.

“Sorry,” I said. “The sorcerer I’ll be able to pass off as an overprotective, controlling asshole, but the witches aren’t going to believe that my pit bull needs to come to a buffet.”

Aiden snorted, amused.

Paisley narrowed her eyes — at the offending sorcerer, not me.

– Instincts and Imposters (Amplifier 5), first draft

Archivist Series: Ravine Byrne

Guess who just realized that she’d never shared Nicole Deal‘s amazing illustration of Ravine on her blog and therefore couldn’t link to it under Extras and Freebies? Me. That’s who. *shakes head at self* Thankfully the illustration also appears in the book!

Ravine from the Archivist Series. Illustration by Nicole Deal.

Ravine’s bright-blue gaze was riveted to me. Then she smirked. “I can be powerful too, Dusk.” She tightened her grip on the crown.

I caught Prince’s frown from the corner of my eye.

The metal mage raised the crown, deliberately holding it over her head.

“No!” Prince shouted. “You aren’t powerful enough.”

He lunged for her, though I was already certain he couldn’t actually take the crown from Ravine without permission. That was why he’d released her from his beguilement. Magic had rules, in all dimensions.

Ravine placed the crown on her head.

– Excerpt from Compelling Infinity (Archivist 2)

Are you new to the Archivist Series? The first book is Awakening Infinity (Archivist 0). Are you new to the Adept Universe? Book one is Cupcakes, Trinkets, and Other Deadly Magic (Dowser 1) or click here for the full reading order.