Dowser 8: the trick was …

Even beyond elves running amok, the tenor of Vancouver was changing. And it always got worse before it got better, didn’t it? The trick was getting through the worst of it without losing anyone in the process.

Or murdering anyone, I supposed.

And I had yet to pull off that feat.

– Dowser 8, Chapter 3, fourth draft

And, because you might ask, I haven’t set a release date yet. 🙂 Late-spring/early-summer, best guess.

***

Are you new to the Adept Universe? Book one is Cupcakes, Trinkets, and Other Deadly Magic (Dowser 1).

Click here for the reading order of the Adept Universe.

Story editing and an excerpt

I finally got Dowser 8 off to the editor (aka SFG aka Scott Fitzgerald Gray) for story editing this morning. Though I nearly lost my mind trying to output the manuscript from Scrivener (the software I use to write) into a WORD document because the compile function had been updated/upgraded. Anyway, an hour and half later, I dropped the book in Scott’s inbox. YAY!

And, because some of you might ask, I haven’t set a release date yet. There are three stages of editing – story, line/content, then proofread. And those tasks depend on other people’s schedules as well as at least two, if not three, more drafts of the novel, plus a polish, that depend on me. Late spring/early summer is my best guess right now.

To celebrate I thought I’d share an excerpt with you.

“Treasure Keeper.” I struggled to keep my tone smooth. “Thank you for coming. I do have some questions. Would you like to step inside the bakery?”

He tilted his head, making a show of thinking about it. “Are there cupcakes?”

“Probably not. Nothing fresh, at least. But I believe we were just about to order sushi.”

Pulou grimaced. “Raw fish.”

“We could order some tempura.” Yes, I was cajoling one of the nine most powerful beings in the world with deep fried prawns and veggies. I had a feeling it was that, or give into the need to beat him around the head until he apologized — for locking me up and not telling me about the elves. “And there might be some leftover petit fours.”

“That will have to do then. Not created by your hand, alchemist, but I shall have to endure, I suppose.” He offered me a smile.

I returned the smile, with less teeth. I wasn’t fooled by his attempt to charm me. Seriously. A girl knew when her former mentor would like nothing better than to kick her ass and retrieve the instruments of assassination.

– Dowser 8, Chapter 8, third draft [selectively edited for extreme spoilers][unproofed]

Dowser 8: the bachelor party, part two

Below is the excerpt I promised yesterday. I just added another 2100 words to Mory’s story (which opens Dowser 8.5) bringing it to 12k with at least six more scenes left. So it will definitely be a novella once it’s finished, not even including the addition of Rochelle and Jasmine’s stories. Fun!

Now I’m going to make Michael his birthday lunch (grilled cheese – medium cheddar cheese from a local dairy on garlic cheddar bread from a local baker), then settle in with my knitting for a Thor movie marathon with the birthday boy. Later there will be cheesecake and individual pizzas.

Warner leaned forward. “And if I’m about to leave the country, I’d like a moment alone with you. Upstairs, perhaps?”

Placing a hand on his chest, I pushed him slightly away. He allowed it with a grin that told me he was content to be compliant. For the moment, at least. “Leaving the country? With Kett?”

He shrugged. “We’re bringing Drake. And your father and Qiuniu are joining us at some point. So what could possibly happen?”

My mind momentarily boggled at all the craziness that could possibly occur under those exact circumstances.

– Dowser 8, chapter two, second draft

Click here for the reading order of the Adept Universe.

Dowser 8: hunting with misfits

Okay, this tiny snippet made me laugh out loud yesterday. I thought you might find it fun as well.

Feeling the teenagers behind me becoming restless, I wrapped my hand around the hilt of my knife. Someone was going to have to teach Peggy and Maia to be patient hunters.

Unfortunately, I was concerned that person was supposed to me and I was honestly getting bored myself.

– Dowser 8, chapter one, second draft

Click here for the reading order of the Adept Universe.

Dowser 8: Valentine’s Day mini excerpt

I couldn’t let Valentine’s Day pass without sharing a glimpse of my (current) favourite couple, Jade and Warner.

Dowser 8: the ‘girls’ go hunting

Jasmine glanced between us. “You two are a little crazy, you know.”

Kandy shrugged. “You’ll get it, baby girl. When you’re all grown up and never meet your match.”

Jasmine twisted her lips wryly, tugging her phone of out her jacket pocket. “I’ve already met him.”

Kandy laughed huskily, shaking her head. “The nearly immortal are more vulnerable than us three, darling. They’ve forgotten they can die. And it’s the possibility of death than keeps us sharp.” Kandy tapped on her temple.

Jasmine raised one eyebrow at the green-haired werewolf, texting without looking at her screen. “Thanks for the life lesson, wolf.”

Kandy snapped her teeth. “You can owe it to me, vampire.”

I laughed. “Shall we continue?”

– Dowser 8, first draft [unedited and unproofed]

Click here for the reading order of the Adept Universe.

Dowser 8 to be released late-spring 2018.

Dowser 7: chapter one, part two

Click here to read chapter one, part one first.

Continued …

“Nine minutes,” Kandy said.

I jutted my chin out. “This isn’t the right spot.”

The werewolf bared her teeth. “It’s exactly the right spot, dowser.”

Belligerently, I took two wide steps to my left. I might have been only half-witch, but I could still feel the slumbering current of magic that I was about to try to tap into underneath my feet.

Kandy narrowed her eyes at my position adjustment, but she didn’t comment.

“We could have at least set up distraction spells.” I gestured around the empty park. “People jog at night around here. Chalking runes on the seawall is going to look weird, even in Vancouver.”

“You know that any other spells might interfere with the casting of the grid.” Kandy’s tone was unusually cajoling. She was babying me in response to the baby I was being.

I exhaled harshly. No matter my previous bravado and declaration of might, in truth, I was worried that I was going to ruin the intricate spell that my grandmother and Kandy had spent six months planning and constructing. Twelve witches — most of whom had flown into the city for the occasion — were currently set up all around the borders of Vancouver, waiting for the stroke of midnight. Because together, we were going to attempt to raise a magically triggered boundary around the city.

In its primary phase, the grid would help the witches track magic users within a wide area — from the north edge of the Lions Gate Bridge to the property that Rochelle, the oracle, owned in Southlands; from the western edge of the University of BC to three eastern points along Boundary Road, the border between Vancouver and Burnaby. And if that initial grid held and functioned properly, the witches had plans to expand the coverage to include all of Greater Vancouver — aka all of the territory held and regulated by the Godfrey coven.

“Eight minutes.”

“Screw you, werewolf.”

“Any time, any place, dowser.”

I laughed. Kandy flashed her teeth at me.

“Fine. I’ll give it a go.” I glanced down at the runes carefully printed on the paper Kandy had given me, wishing I had more light and that the paper wasn’t so crumpled. “Why is it all wrinkled? It looks like someone balled it up and threw it away.”

Kandy shrugged.

All right, then.

I hunched down to chalk the first rune, copying it as precisely as I could from the paper onto the concrete. It looked a little like a —

Kandy cleared her throat expectantly.

I cursed under my breath. “What? Do you have a freaking checklist?”

“Hand them over, Jade.”

“You know it doesn’t matter if I’m wearing them, right? They are me.”

“Illuminating.”

“You know what I mean. What if I told you that you were going to have to take off the cuffs?”

“I refer you to the T-shirt,” Kandy said, her tone deceptively mild. She was pointing at her chest, where the words I do bite were emblazoned in thick black lettering on orange cotton. The aforementioned cuffs — gold, rune carved, and three inches across — adorned her wrists, creating a perpetual aesthetic conflict with her sporty outfits.

CHAMPAGNE, MISFITS, AND OTHER SHADY MAGIC (DOWSER 7)

COMING JANUARY 18, 2018

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New to the Adept Universe? Find the reading order here.

Dowser 7: chapter one, part one

The green-haired werewolf handed me a broken stick of bright-pink chalk, fishing a crumpled wad of paper out of her backpack and halfheartedly smoothing it out on her blue-Lycra-clad thigh. The fake leather backpack was dyed bright purple and adorned with puffy leather spikes, mimicking some sort of dinosaur. It clashed spectacularly with the lithe werewolf’s deep-green-dyed hair and orange T-shirt.

I had needled Kandy about the backpack when she’d shown up wearing it, just before she dragged me from the comfort of my apartment fifteen minutes before midnight, forcing me to jog to one of the many parks along Kitsilano Beach. But needing to deflect the tension I was feeling over the spell I had been asked to cast, I couldn’t resist teasing her again.

“So … did you lose a bet? Or what?”

Once again, Kandy refused to engage on the backpack topic. Instead, she offered me a deeply disapproving glower and the still-wrinkled piece of paper. Of course, I might have been reading the judgement into the look.

I glanced at the carefully printed design, noting the handwriting of both my grandmother, Pearl, and my mother, Scarlett. Apparently, I was now expected to chalk the ornate circle they had scribed on paper onto the seawall. At exactly midnight. With only a smoke-shrouded sliver of a moon overhead for light.

“Runes?” I moaned dejectedly. “I thought it was just supposed to be a simple circle. And, like, just standing here.”

Kandy shrugged her backpack-laden shoulder. “The witches decided you might need some help. You know, focusing.”

I eyed her snottily. “I’m one of the most powerful Adepts in North America. A renowned dowser and skilled alchemist. I can tear down wards with my bare hands!”

“And you bake the tastiest cupcakes,” Kandy said mildly. Then she glanced at her phone. “You’ve got ten minutes.”

Still grumbling under my breath about my magical prowess, I surveyed the well-worn concrete path under my feet. Then I glanced to either side of the seawall running along the edge of Kits Beach Park. The Maritime Museum was just a short distance away, but this part of the seaside park was pretty much just a wide stretch of trimmed, mostly brown grass. So other than a large-leafed chestnut tree to our left, we were standing out in the open.

The eclectic mix of homes across the swath of grass behind Kandy were mostly dark, though I could see that someone was watching TV in the uppermost window of a Spanish-villa-inspired converted triplex on the eastern corner.

Those houses along Ogden Avenue rarely came on the market, as teardowns or otherwise. Hence the mixture of architecture. Practically every decade since Vancouver had been established was represented in this one residential block, from the fairly modern sandstone-clad mansion on the western corner, to the untouched Cape Cod. Across from where I was supposed to be chalking a rune-marked witches’ circle, a recently painted Craftsman stood, which I vaguely remembered was one of Godfrey Properties’ long-term rentals.

So yeah, I was dithering. Over architecture.

CHAMPAGNE, MISFITS, AND OTHER SHADY MAGIC (DOWSER 7)

COMING JANUARY 18, 2018

PREORDER NOW

AMAZON – iBOOKS – KOBO – BARNES & NOBLE – SMASHWORDS

New to the Adept Universe? Find the reading order here.

Click here to read chapter one, part two.

Dowser 7, chapter 1: taste of peppermint

Walking the seawall, rather than cutting through the streets of Kits Point, we rounded a wide corner as the sandy stretch of Kits Beach came into view. The ocean was to our right, with a stretch of sparsely spaced evergreen trees interspersed with picnic tables to our left.

The taste of peppermint tickled my senses. My step hitched.

“What?” Kandy whispered, immediately alert.

I glanced around. The moon was still a tiny sliver overhead. The buildings ahead of us were dark. I could see a pair of joggers in the distance, lights clipped to their wrists.

But no magic.

No vampires.

Specifically, no Kett.

“Kett,” I murmured. “I thought I tasted Kett’s magic.”

Kandy grumbled under her breath. The werewolf was seriously peeved at the executioner and elder of the Conclave, who hadn’t been in Vancouver for longer than a day or two since the previous October. And who had barely communicated with either of us since late April.

“He’s coming for the engagement party, isn’t he?” I asked, slightly annoyed at the needy note that twisted its way into my question.

“He RSVPed,” Kandy said with a shrug.

COMING JANUARY 18, 2018

PREORDER NOW

AMAZON – iBOOKS – KOBO – BARNES & NOBLE – SMASHWORDS

WONDERING WHAT KETT HAS BEEN UP TO SINCE DOWSER 6? You find out in the Reconstructionist Series, starting with Catching Echoes. If you haven’t had a chance to read Wisteria and Kett’s trilogy yet, you still have 21 days to catch up!