Mirth, part one: Chapter One, Part One

This #TeaserTuesday excerpt is from my current WIP, the second draft of the Mirth duology, part 1. In early December 2023, I came up with an idea for what I thought would be a fun Why Choose palate cleanser set in the Conduit World – yes, apparently all the series set in the Conduit World are going to be Why Choose.

I had every intent of dashing off a fun, quick standalone book.

Well, ahem, the ‘standalone’ is now a duology. And the first book is now 100K (and counting).

So yeah, palate cleanser it may be, this is not, apparently, a short story. I haven’t set a release date yet, because I’m thinking about releasing both books back-to-back (maybe thirty days apart?). I need to get book 2 written and confirm the editor’s schedule for two books in a row before I get the preorder for Mirth 1 up. And yes, duologies traditionally end on a cliffhanger.

The Mirth duology series is set in a secondary world that shares many common traits with our own. The divergences in language, governing bodies and countries, technology, and geography are all intentional choices by the author.

[overall] Content warnings: language, death of a family member/grief, and sexual situations.

Anything in [brackets] is still being developed/decided/not quite the right word, etc.

MIRTH

“A chosen mate matching event,” I echo stupidity, swaying slightly on my bare feet. “For me.”

“You’re welcome to add names to the invitation list,” my father says, getting as pissy as he will allow himself to be even when dealing with his least favorite child.

I remember to shut my mouth at least. Gaping like a fish in his presence hasn’t been tolerated since I was two. I don’t, however, manage to uncurl my hands from the fists clenched at my sides. My perfectly French-manicured nails dig into my perfectly soft and creamy skin. I’m moments away from drawing my own blood.

Not because I’m a shifter. I might be one of the most privileged people on the planet but even I’m not lucky enough to be able to manifest claws to rend my way through the centuries of royal history suffocatingly stuffed alongside me in my father’s study.

“Add names …” I finally say through clenched teeth, scanning the leather-bound tomes and dark wood shelves spanning easily twelve feet up to the ludicrously landscape-painted ceiling. I could take two steps to the fucking window and see one of the most breathtaking mountain views in the entire world. That landscape has weathered the centuries without a constant need for weekly dusting and a special fucking varnish that only a fabricator mage is skilled enough to apply.

I’m struggling to hold onto the moment.

To hold the energy, the practically useless essence, within me. If I self-destruct here maybe I will finally do something significant with all the untapped power that resides under my skin. Maybe I’ll wipe this castle off the side of the mountain and significantly improve the vista.

Of course, that would also slaughter dozens of innocent people, and not doing so is the primary reason I hold my essence so tightly. So tightly, I barely have access to my lesser abilities. Barely have any significance in the —

My nails bite into my skin.

A chosen mate matching event.

It’s not … it’s only been five months, seventeen days, and … I glance at the ostentatious grandfather clock to my left. It towers next to the heavy dark wood door. Five months, seventeen days, and eight hours, since … since …

My father clears his throat, almost gently.

My father is not gentle. Fair-minded? Yes. Forthright? Yes. Focused, precise, and epically-powerful? Yes. Gentle? No.

I want him to yell.

I want him to break, as I’m breaking. As I’ve been breaking for almost six months.

He summoned me. I’ve been holed up in my apartments in London barely surfacing most days. But he summoned and I’m here. And I thought …

My brother’s ashes sit in a pristinely white marble urn on the mantel over the unlit fireplace just offset from my father’s huge burnished gold oak antique desk. But that’s not the prestigious placement it seems to be.

Armin wouldn’t have wanted to be trapped inside a —  

I stuff my hands in the pockets of the sweatpants that I snuck out of Armin’s rooms. Not that either of us has lived at my father’s seat of power in years. The school’s logo is emblazoned across the ass. From the depths of the pockets, I grasp my abandoned earbuds in my palms. And, for a moment, I consider pulling them out, shoving them in my ears, and blasting all the thoughts out of the forefront of my mind.

Which is my go-to response to practically anything requiring any engagement from me these days. That and audiobooks. There is nothing like an unhinged thriller to remind me how ridiculously cloistered and — 

“Mirth …” my father sighs.

I flinch at being so named, only just checking stumbling back from it.

He pinches his lips so tightly that they go white against his tanned skin. Under that tan, he’s just as naturally pale as I am. He’s just been skiing. And apparently, it’s been sunny enough to lightly streak his hair as well. Normally it’s as dark as my own. And why wouldn’t he ski? He resides in a castle in the middle of the fucking Alps and owns everything as far as an essence-enhanced eye can see.

His Royal Highness, Chancellor Bastian Wilhelm, hereditary emperor of the United European Nation, leader of the World Council. One of the most powerful awry in the world.

It’s not as if his eldest son, his fucking beloved heir with whom he shared the same epically powerful abilities, is dead.

 I grab onto the anger that flashes through me, warming me finally from within, at his lack of obvious grief. Such bright and utterly vicious ire is a completely uncharacteristic emotion for me. And with it, the bottomless well of useless essence I usually keep smothered deeply within my core, within my soul, sleepily uncurls. I struggle to get it under control so I can function, and speak, through the onslaught.

But then — finally — I’m unhinging my jaw and spitting vitriol in his direction. “Add names? To the list of assholes that you want to line up? To fuck and breed me?”

The cut crystal tumbler in my father’s hand cracks but doesn’t shatter. And not because his grip tightened. I’ve managed to get his own power to slip its own leash.

But I don’t feel any relief. I, in fact, feel even more helpless, even more out of control, now that I’ve triggered him so easily.

Standing to my father’s right, as she always is when he calls me in for one of his delightful chats, Eleanor plucks the glass from his hand before it spills a drop. Anne, on his left, instantly replaces it with her barely sipped-from, amber-liquid-filled, tumbler.

Apparently, it’s more important to make sure that nary a single drop of mage-brewed whisky hits the thousand-fucking-year-old oak desk than it is to —

“It’s time,” my father says, deliberately setting down his replacement drink instead of throwing it back.

Maybe he has the urge to drink and drink and lose himself just for a little while? Lose himself for just long enough to forget why I’ve been called home? To forget why he’s suddenly demanding that I find a match?

My brother — my father’s true heir, true in all the ways that truly mattered in this world — is dead.

All that power. All that … love and comfort, just snuffed out, stripped away by a fucking avalanche. An [epic], even unprecedented, event, yes. But what telekinetic dies while skiing, so remotely or not?

“Six months is all I get?” I say, the circumstances of my beloved brother’s death pinging around in my head along with all the unanswered questions. No, not unanswered. All the unsatisfactorily resolved questions.

The bright anger drains from me, leaving my voice sounding weak, pathetic, even to my own ears. If I could just hold on to that anger, if I could just focus it, I might be able to use it to drag myself from this abyss of grief. “Not even six months.”

My father scrubs his hand across his face in an uncharacteristic display of vivid emotion, then compounding that oddly human-like behavior he reaches up for Anne’s hand. The light blond, dark amber-eyed, tanned shifter instantly closes the slight space, slipping her bejeweled fingers into his open palm. They just hold each other lightly. Eleanor, a pale-skinned combat-grade mage with her long medium brown hair uncharacteristically loose around her shoulders, settles her hand on his shoulder.

Their combined gazes settle on me. Three against one. Pure pity etched across Anne’s face. Eleanor’s strain shows in the deepening lines across her brow and on the edges of her remarkable sky-blue eyes.

My father … my father looks … I haven’t actually shared the same space with him for over a month. We’ve barely exchanged a half dozen words since Armin’s death. He hasn’t shaved. He’s lost weight, enough for it to show in his face. The gray is deepening at his temples. But power, so much power, undeniable and everlasting, radiates from him, from his eyes. As it always does.

The violet eyes that also match my own.

Anchored on either side by his chosen mates or not, I’m looking at His Royal Highness, Chancellor Bastian Wilhelm, emperor of the European Nation and head of the World Council.

I can count the number of times he’s just been Bast in my presence on a single hand and not use my thumb — a nickname I heard murmured by Anne in an intimate moment many, many years ago.

And then I put it all together.

The abrupt, but formal, summons from my loft in London where I’ve been holed up to my father’s literal seat to power.

The informal gathering in his study.

They’d all been drinking even before I’d been escorted by a castle guard from my rooms.

The chosen mate matching event.

Only six months …

I sway, lightheaded as the realization sweeps through me viscerally. I step sideways, then practically drop into the chair that had been offered — and refused — when I entered. I always need to be on my feet for these conversations, for any conversation with my father in which I’m the sole focus. An exceedingly rare event. Even more so after my awry nature truly exerted itself at age fifteen and it became clear it wasn’t … manageable. Armin usually mitigated as much as he could between my father and me.

I’m never able to actually run, flee, of course, but I’m always primed to do so.

Even that possibility is about to be stripped from me.

And it’s not that I’m not ready.

It’s that I’m incapable.

“You’re true blooded,” my father says. “You will need multiple mates to hold the intersection point. We can find ways around the other duties if you cannot manage them as well.”

Duties. All the things that he trained Armin to do, to eventually take over. Over a decade of training just to stand at our father’s side. All the things I don’t have the intelligence, or the fortitude, or the power to —

My father clears his throat. “When the time comes.”

When the time comes.

To hold the intersection point.

– Mirth, part one (Conduit World), chapter one, part one


FYI. Awry (Conduit 1) is the first book set in the Conduit World. It is now available in eBook, paperback, and audiobook. [In case you haven’t had a chance to pick it up yet 😉 ].

Last chance to grab the tenth-anniversary copies of Dowser 1.

Just a quick note for anyone who missed the Kickstarter (Jan 2023), I’ve made the last remaining* tenth-anniversary editions of Cupcakes, Trinkets, and Other Deadly Magic (Dowser 1) available for purchase.

Only 12 paperbacks (some slight foil damage on all) and 13 hardcovers (8 have some minor damage to the cover) are available. Please see the listings for more info and pictures.

Click here for the Tenth Anniversary Dowser 1 Hardcover – $75+ $25 CDN/USA tracked shipping = $100.

Click here for the Tenth Anniversary Dowser 1 Paperback – $45 + $25 CDN/USA tracked shipping = $70.

Prices in Canadian funds (as always). I hope to ship the second week in March along with the annotated copies (my highlighters ran out, so I only have four of the ten of those done right now).

*I still haven’t heard from all backers so I’m holding back a few copies in case they finally contact me.

Quick writing update, thank yous, and other things of minor interest.

I usually write a ‘day after a new release’ post and then a ‘week after a release’ post, but alas I have done neither after the release of Awry (Conduit 1). And not because the release wasn’t a success – it really was! Thank you all so, so much. At one point, likely for a very brief moment, Awry was nestled lovingly between Yarros (Fourth Wing) and Mass (Crescent City, A Court of Thorns and Roses, etc) on the sci-fi/fantasy bestseller list on Apple Books.

Let me find the screenshot I shared on my socials.

So thank you, thank you for following me into a new universe and a slightly new format (present tense) and a slightly different tenor (the present tense comes with a certain natural intensity) and slightly new structure (an ongoing story where the overall plot is continued through several books).

[side note] And yes, the Conduit Series is a slooooow burn why choose urban fantasy romance. This means that Zaya will eventually have multiple partners/fated mates. There are REASONS (plot and story) for this choice. Yes, actual overall universe reasons. Some of you might have already figured it out. 😊

Since the release, I’m getting the sense that it is slightly disconcerting to some of my lovely readers that I appear to not be actively writing Conduit 2 (or Archivist 3, for that matter).

Yes, I’m currently deep into writing a why choose duology set in the same universe as the Conduit (not a slow burn! 😜), which I’m referring to as Mirth or Mirth 1 in my updates on Facebook and Instagram.

If you’ve been reading me since Cupcakes, Trinkets, and Other Deadly Magic (Dowser 1) (or even before) then you’ve been on this journey with me before – aka the expansion of a universe.

Opening up a new universe takes time. I’m sorry, it just does. Plus, the books that make up that universe aren’t wholly independent of each other.

For example, (as some of you have already picked up) Reconstructionist 1 was supposed to fall after Dowser 4. Yes, I already knew the entire story arc (at least in brief) of the Reconstructionist trilogy BEFORE writing Dowser 4 (in which, spoiler alert, Kett is already stalking Wisteria). And AT THE SAME TIME, I already knew the entire arc of the second Dower trilogy (Dowser 4, 5, and 6).

That’s a minimum of six books in my head at once. At least six. With each of them informing the other in some way, then – in that particular case – calling back (and forward) to the Oracle.

So … the universe of the Conduit and Mirth (so far) is the same. A slow build of slightly (in this case) entwined stories.

I’m almost finished writing the first Mirth book. And I know exactly what occurs in the second book (it’s two parts of an overarching story).

I also know all the major plot points of the next three (or four?) Conduit books. And this morning, I sharpened the structure of each of those books in a major way. A breakthrough, if you will.

[side note: I also know the plot of Archivist 3, including two major reveals that bookend that story. I also know the plot of the next three ebooks in the Misfit series and the plot of Jasmine’s first book].

BUT IT TAKES TIME TO WRITE A BOOK. Before my drug-resistant chronic daily migraine (of almost four and half years now), I might have been able to write four (average length) books a year. Now I just do my best.

[FYI I deleted a large section of this post because it went places I didn’t want to go].

I just really want to thank you for embarking on this new journey with me and to assure my lovely readers I’m working, slowly and steadily on all the books. And I promise to release them as quickly as I am able (though I might hold back Mirth 1 until I can make sure Mirth 2 is available very quickly after).

I’m dedicated to writing all through 2024 and taking better care of myself, which means there won’t be as many extras and freebies, and I will be less personally present on social media, etc, but hopefully, there will be more books!

As always, ‘shares’ and reviews are welcomed and appreciated.


[Final side note 😂] if you’ve been waiting to use a credit or your subscription to grab Awry in audio, it’s slowly appearing on all the retailers (not just direct from me) including Audible and Spotify, etc. I’ll update the links on the main page when I get a chance.

😘

Conduit 1 L.E. preorder closing

Hello, my lovely readers! Just a quick note that I will be closing the preorders for the limited edition eBook and the ‘preorder priced’ audiobook for Awry (Conduit 1) at the end of day tomorrow (Saturday, Jan 20 PST) because I’ll be delivering (via BookFunnel) the eBook and audiobook to everyone who has ordered by end of day on Sunday, Jan 21. I will also email you with instructions, etc.

The limited edition ebook contains art and extras. The audiobook is $2 less to preorder (and even more $$ if purchased through another retailer).

The preorder for the regular ebook will, of course, still be available through all retailers. And audiobook will be available directly from me (at $12CDN) and through all retailers after release day as well.

Oh, and please, please double-check your email receipts before preordering if you have any inkling that you might have already preordered. I keep coming on doubles, etc, and each refund actually costs me $$.

Thank you for all your support with this new series/new universe!! I can’t wait for you to read it!!

PREORDER LINKS

eBOOK

– PREORDER LIMITED-EDITION DIRECT FROM MCD –

– AMAZON – APPLE BOOKS – BARNES & NOBLE – GOOGLE PLAY – KOBO – SMASHWORDS –

AUDIOBOOK

– PREORDER DIRECT FROM MCD –

PAPERBACK

Available on release day from Amazon (etc).

Quick Awry (Conduit 1) limited edition update:

Paperback: there have now been two significant delays at the printer level (and yes, I’m peeved about it as well). Combined with the holidays, the worst-case scenario is the paperbacks WON’T ship before release day. Best case and no delays with shipping? Still, a (slim) chance that some of you WILL have the paperbacks in hand on or around release day. I will definitely keep you posted. In case you missed in on my socials I embedded a quick video of me ‘unboxing’ the proof below.

The limited-edition eBook will still released three days ahead of the official release [January 21 at midnight PST][you know this is going to release early because … well, I’m me 😂]. Regular eBook releases via all the other retailers on January 25, 2024.

The Conduit 1 audiobook goes into production this week. Erin (aka Felicia) just let me know that she is starting recording tomorrow! Whoot! So that means (as long as I don’t slow anything down too badly in January when I’m doing my listening proof) the audiobook will be released around the end of January as well – this is just for the ‘direct sales audiobook’. It will take an extra three or so weeks to show up on other retailers (because that’s how long it usually takes to upload on Audible, etc).

If you missed out on the limited-edition paperback, the regular paperback will be available to order from Amazon (etc) starting January 25 as well.

And now I have some postcards and stickers to get designed/ordered!

Fun! Fun!

Audiobooks: Dowser 8.5

Yes! You asked and the narrators, the producer/engineer, Julie, and I have been sneakily working in the background to bring Graveyard, Visions, and Other Things that Byte (Dowser 8.5) to audio!

The audiobook was meant to be a holiday treat but it is ready a couple of weeks early, and you know how terrible I am at keeping secrets. 😂 It will be available on all retailers in approximately three to four weeks but you can grab it directly from me now (and at the best price, as always).

Graveyards, Visions, and Other Things that Byte (Dowser 8.5), narrated by Tia Rider (Mory), Jennifer Grace (Rochelle), and Erin Moon (Jasmine). $10CDN

BUY DOWSER 8.5 AUDIOBOOK DIRECT FROM MCD

And yes, there is definitely some match-matching going on between narrators and characters! Tia Rider (Amplifier Series) will be voicing Mory’s books, including Misplaced Souls (Misfits 1) later in 2024 (as well as any future Mory books). Jennifer Grace already narrated the Oracle trilogy! And Erin Moon (Dowser Series) will be tackling Jasmine whenever I manage to get to writing her series!

Fun! Fun!

All audiobooks available directly from MCD:

Dowser Series

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)

Oracle Series

I See Me (Oracle 1)

I See You (Oracle 2)

I See Us (Oracle 3)

Reconstructionist Series

Catching Echoes (Reconstructionist 1)

Tangled Echoes (Reconstructionist 2)

Unleashing Echoes (Reconstructionist 3)

Amplifier Series

The Amplifier Protocol (Amplifier 0)

Demons & DNA (Amplifier 1)

Bonds and Broken Dreams (Amplifier 2)

Mystics and Mental Blocks (Amplifier 3)

Idols and Enemies (Amplifier 4)

Instincts and Impostors (Amplifier 5)

Recon Misson: Bee (Amplifier 5.5)

Endings and Empathy (Amplifier 6)

Archivist Series

Awakening Infinity (Archivist 0)

Invoking Infinity (Archivist 1)

Compelling Infinity (Archivist 2)

Coming soon

Conduit 1 – early 2024


Click here for the reading order of the Adept Universe, including downloads, etc.

Conduit Series: the first of many, many polls to come 😜

Okay! I need to put together some sort of ‘marketing’ schedule leading up to the official* release of Awry (Conduit 1) on January 25, 2024. And yes, now you know that everything I’ve done marketing-wise (except the cover reveal) has been completely winged. 😂

Anyway! I’ve commissioned a ton of art but a few pieces must remain secret until the limited-editions have been delivered. I mean, ideally, they would remain secret until everyone has read the first book, but we all know that’s not going to happen. I have seven illustrations that I think can be revealed, one a week leading up to the release, and I thought it would be fun for you (me?) to ask you to help me determine the order of those reveals.

So without further ado here is the poll.

Which order would you like to see the following illustrations revealed (on Tuesdays)?

View Results

Art will be posted (possibly with some teasers/extras) on Tuesdays in the order determined by the poll, starting next week! Fun! Fun!

*official release: the limited-edition version of Awry (Conduit 1) will be released earlier, depending on shipping times for the paperbacks, of course.

Conduit 1: cover reveal, synopsis, and preorder links

Cover design by G&S Cover Design Studio

On my way to investigate my aunt’s untimely death, I chance upon a teenager with purple eyes. Her destiny is so vibrant, so intertwined with the essence that fuels all our lives, that I cannot stand to see her caged and crushed.

What I don’t know is that rescuing the teen isn’t chance or happenstance at all. It isn’t just another random bit of destiny I can fix. It’s a snag in the weave of the universe that unravels … everything.

I am exactly who I am meant to be. I belong to no one but the universe. My destiny was spun and measured before I was born. I never really had a choice. But the path that brought me to becoming the Conduit at least a century before my time has been manipulated. And along the way, I’ve somehow lost far more than I ever knew I had.

Friends.

Lovers.

Soul-bound mates.

More than just my life has been twisted, all our fates ripped away.

And I remember none of it.

Awry is the first book in the Conduit Series, which is a secondary-world urban fantasy romance. Content warnings and tropes/themes can be found at the beginning of the book or on the author’s website.

RELEASE DATE: JANUARY 25, 2024

PREORDER NOW

eBOOK

– PREORDER LIMITED-EDITION DIRECT FROM MCD –

– AMAZON – APPLE BOOKS – BARNES & NOBLE – GOOGLE PLAY – KOBO –

PAPERBACK

– PREORDER LIMITED-EDITION DIRECT FROM MCD –

AUDIOBOOK

– PREORDER DIRECT FROM MCD –

MCD officially licensed merch: Vampire Unicorns

Vampire Unicorns and I inked a licensing agreement a couple of months ago, and phase one of their freaking adorable designs is now live (and I desperately want one of each)!

CLICK HERE TO SKIP AHEAD (AND SEE THE DESIGNS)

Screenshot of the Dowser Series inspired designs from Vampire Unicorns. How freaking adorable is that cupcake tumbler!!!?

What does ‘officially licensed’ mean? It means that Vampire Unicorns can legally sell merchandise using my IP (intellectual property), specifically the Dowser Series, as inspiration. 20% of their net proceeds are then paid to me (or the author/creator in question). I’ve requested that my 20% is donated to a charity, specifically (for now) the Covenant House, which I already support monthly.

I don’t have any involvement with Vampire Unicorns designs (like I do when I commission artists myself), but I do approve the designs ahead of time just to make sure that there aren’t any conflicts, say with my own merchandize or if my IP is being used in a way that I don’t think suits the series or reflects me. I’m also not involved in the sales or shipping or returns. Please direct those sorts of questions to Vampire Unicorns.

Screenshot of the Dowser Series inspired designs from Vampire Unicorns. I love, love all the T-shirt designs, but the ‘What’s Your Signature Magic’ design is freaking brilliant.

If you are looking to pad your holiday wish list, I’m pretty sure you’ll find something among these pretties. Oh! If you grabbed one of the Spill the Tea 2023 Boxes, I purchased the spell pens from Vampire Unicorns.

Which is your favourite design?

Reminders, a quick update, and other things MCD always forgets to mention multiple times.

Okay! Things you all might want to know/participate in and might miss because I’m terrible at repeating myself and the various social algos and email providers love to control what actually shows up in our feeds and inboxes.

The reminders:

The preorder for the limited-edition PAPERBACKS for [title to be revealed] (Conduit 1) will close on December 2. The final files/final number needs to be to the printers on Dec 4, so that I can get my hands on the paperbacks in time to get them shipped to you!!

Click here for more info about all the limited-editions.

Another Stuff Your Earbuds Day is coming! Yes, on November 30 more than 100+ romance (etc) audiobooks will be available to download for free! But! You need to be signed up for my mailing list/newsletter to get the reminder/link dropped in your inbox on the day (and even then that isn’t a guarantee the email will actually be delivered). I’ll mention it on social media, etc, as well. But not here on my blog.

Following my blog is not the same as subscribing to my newsletter. Different formats, different content.

Here is the direct link to either subscribe or check to see if you are subscribed to my newsletter.

Audiobooks! Dowser 7, 8, and 9 have been uploaded to all the retailers (if you are waiting to buy them via Audible, etc).

Here is a direct link to all the audiobooks that you can buy directly through me (only a couple are missing now … 😉)

The mini update:

Dowser 1 Kickstarter paperbacks/hardcovers: only 17 parcels remain undelivered, and most of those are international (Europe, Australia, etc). The remaining Canadian and USA packages are marked ‘out for delivery’ and have been that way for over two weeks, or they are ‘being held at the post office’, etc. I’m hoping those have actually been delivered. If you are missing your hardcover or paperback, feel free to drop me an email to check on its status (just in case those are actually missing).

With the caveat that thirteen (now eleven) backers never got me their mailing addresses, so obviously I didn’t ship those boxes (yet).

Dowser 1 Kickstarter damaged and/or extra copies: I have a (very) few damaged/extra copies remaining. I will bundle them together into doubles (first), figure out shipping, and post buy links in a Kickstarter update (since the books are technically supposed to be exclusive to the Kickstarter). I hope to send that update tomorrow (but I might try for this afternoon). If they aren’t all purchased fairly quickly, I will make them available to the rest of my readership. I’m offering doubles first because, in all honesty, fewer packages are less work for me. The shipping will also be more expensive because I’m shipping from Canada Post here on my tiny island, not traveling to Vancouver to ship. If the doubles don’t sell (or I have more) I will offer singles. I will TRY to get the packages in the mail in time for them to get to you before the holidays, but I’m still insanely swamped and still can only do my best.

Conduit 1 (in brief):

  • The proofread has been completed (it’s currently sitting in my inbox from Pauline).
  • The book cover design has been finalized (yay!) and the cover designer is working on all the final files, etc. The cover reveal is currently scheduled for Nov 29.
  • Lillie is putting together the bible (for the back of the limited edition).
  • Nicole, Jade, and Kateryna are working on various illustrations. I will get as many of them into the limited-edition versions as possible.
  • Amanda (Eternal Geekery) has designed the chapter heading and one of the maps. She is working on the second map and the page break designs. Then she will design some of the sticker (t-shirt?) designs, etc. Again, as much of this as possible will be in the limited-editions.
  • The narrators (and schedule) have been confirmed for the audiobook – yay! And yes, dual POV means two narrators!! Actually, the book/series has four POVs but the male narrator will voice Rath, Rought, and Reck.
  • Preorders for the regular editions should start going up on all retailers next week.

I’m slightly scared to list all the things I MUST accomplish this week (and next week) so I’m just going to put my head down and try to get it all done. But, before that, because I forced a lot of you to read a bunch of updates and reminders that you already knew about here is a short excerpt for your patience!

[It is exceedingly difficult to find nonspoiler excerpts for this book. But I thought a ‘sweet’ moment, which are few and far between in the Conduit Series (for the Conduit?), might be a good way to start the week – MCD].

His eyes are both green and blue at once.

Tattoos twine around his forearms, decorating the backs of his hands and up his fingers. More black ink teases the edge of his collar, as if trying to creep up his neck.

He doesn’t pause at the base of the front patio steps.

He climbs. One step. Two steps. And now we’re the same height. Then he takes that third step and he’s slightly taller than me. Then one more, still a step lower but towering over me now.

Still holding my gaze, his hand lifts, reaching for me, for my face …

I’m not wearing my sunglasses. I’m the Conduit, standing on a claimed intersection point. I must be radiating power, my eyes glowing purple. Yet he doesn’t hesitate for a moment.

I tip my chin up. 

Am I going to let him kiss me? A total stranger?

His hair is long enough that it curls at the ends. It’s tousled as if he’s been running his fingers through it, not crisp and perfect as if he’s styled it that way.

“Rought!” Presh cries from somewhere near his elbow. “You said you’d behave!”

Rought’s grin widens, but he keeps leaning over me despite his sister’s admonishment. His hand is poised to cup my face, though he doesn’t touch me. He leans close enough that he brushes his cheek along mine, inhaling deeply as he does so.

Scenting me.

Scent-marking me?

Presh shoves at his shoulder. He doesn’t move an inch, but he chuckles — deep and husky — as he shifts back enough to meet my gaze again.

I realize I was wrong about his eyes. Both are an even mixture of green and blue, yes. But both are now also thickly rimmed in burnished gold.

“Zaya Gage,” he says, pure joy laced through his words. As if it delights him to say my name.

I don’t scare him in the least. My violet eyes don’t bother him at all.

“Rought Guerra,” I say, my tone smooth … too smooth? Am I … flirting? “Your reputation precedes you.”

He laughs.

My chest warms, as if he’s the fucking sun and I’m a beleaguered flower.

– Conduit 1, Chapter Ten

HAPPY MONDAY!