What I should be doing: writing Amplifier 5. You know, the book I’ve been working on since 2020.
What I’m actually doing: writing a prequel short for a new (urban fantasy, portal fantasy?) universe.
I really don’t know what is wrong with me. Aka why can’t I focus on what I’m supposed to be writing? Other than being in constant pain, of course.
Michael says I should be happy that I feel like writing anything at all while recovering from major surgery. Unfortunately for me, logic rarely counters fretful anxiety aka the shoulds that I allow to build up in my beleaguered brain. But … I must admit, there is always truth in the ‘focus on new words’ idea … writing is a balm for just about anything, so … maybe I should listen to Michael (this one time only). LOL
Yes, it takes multiple notebooks when brainstorming/worldbuilding a new series/universe.
Have no idea what I’m talking about? I shared the ‘first words’ I wrote for Waypoint 42 in the Muse is Not Monogamous in April 2021. Also, there is a huge hint about this upcoming project in Burgundy’s Moments of the Adept Universe 1 novelette. Did you catch it?
Okay! Next up in the Adept Universe quizzes: the Oracle Series! I tried to cobble together a mix of questions, some obscure and hopefully some tricky. Ten in total. If you haven’t read the Oracle Series yet, book one is I See Me and it comes after Dowser 3 in the reading order.
Oracle Series book covers by Elizabeth Mackey Graphic Design
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
Okay (if you saw me freaking out about this over on Facebook) the quiz app/software had an update available this morning, and miraculously the quiz that I spent far too much time putting together a few weeks ago now works!! YAY!
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
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
Note: April 28, 3pm PST: I have added EIGHT final (for the nearish future) sets of Oracle cards to my ‘store’ but please see all my caveats in the note below.
Full set of Amplifier Series Oracle cards – 23 cards printed on thick card stock, glossy on both sides. Plus three autographed MCD bookplates.
[You are all insane – in the best way – I can see orders coming in even as I write this blog post to announce that the cards are available 😂 ].
As promised, I’ve made another 50 sets [as of Feb 23] of Christopher’s Oracle Cards from the Amplifier Seriesavailable in my store. $32 CDN + oversized letter mail. Click the previous link for more info and/or to purchase.
The cards first appear in Close To Home (Amplifier 1.5) which is bundled with the Amplifier Protocol (Amplifier 0).
Note: same caveats as always: please remember I’m not a store. I’ve simplified the shipping, etc, as much as possible. For example: set shipping rates, no tracking, no extra sets, no special orders. Please remember I’m trying to write as much as possible and these are just meant to be fun extras. The prices are set in Canadian currency (which means some of you are getting a great deal!) so a different charge might show up on your credit card statement. Also, I believe there is a 5.5%+ $0.30 charge for certain payment methods.
Happy Friday! In lieu of doing some sort of ‘marketing’ post because I’m really not in the mood to figure anything out, I thought I’d finally post an autographed Archivist 2 paperback giveaway! And! When I got the limited-edition Archivist giclee prints printed, the printers randomly printed extras of Ravine’s illustration, so that is up for grabs as well. Whoot!
An autographed paperback of Compelling Infinity (Archivist 2), a giclee print of an illustration of Ravine, and an MCD bookplate.
Are you interested in winning an autographed paperback of Compelling Infinity (Archivist 2), a giclee print of Ravine’s illustration by Nicole Deal, and an MCD bookplate?
Yes?
To enter please comment below with your favourite character or scene or quote (and WHY it is your fav) from any of the Archivist Series books.
Yes, that means you need to have read at least one of the Archivist series books to enter. But since I gave the first one away for free (on numerous occasions) and all the books are available through your local online library that should be an easy requirement to fulfill. And that should also mean that a true fan – aka readers who would actually want the limited edition print, etc – will win the giveaway. Yay!
Notes/Rules: OPEN INTERNATIONALLY. One entry per person. One winner will be selected by random number generator. Only entries that follow the stated requirements will be valid. Email addresses are not collected for any purpose other than to contact the winner. No purchase necessary – all my books are available for free via your local library. The comments are moderated. I will approve your entry just as soon as I have a moment to do so.
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.
Lillie of Lillie’s Literary Services maintains an ever-evolving bible for my Adept Universe books, from which I occasionally pull info and flesh out the bios that I’ve already shared (paired with Memo’s character sketches). As part of the bible, Lillie maintains (continually tweaking) the timeline of the Adept Universe. She just finished adding in all the new shorts from Moments of the Adept Universe 1, and I thought you all might think it fun to see all the story beats arrayed in proper order before I start messing with it all again.
Note: I have/know actual dates of birth, etc, but only events in canon are noted below.
The novels of the Adept Universe by Meghan Ciana Doidge
IF YOU HAVE NOT READ EVERY STORY IN THE ADEPT UNIVERSE THIS POST IS RIFE WITH SPOILERS. DO NOT PROCEED!! OR SKIP THE BOOKS YOU HAVEN’T READ!!
Timeline of theAdept Universe
(including all books/stories published as of Jan 27, 2022)
*Book titles in bold. Purchase links/more information can be found under Novels (and Reading Order). Character bios and sketches can be found under Extras and Freebies (scroll to the bottom).
1988
Kandy is born (August 8)
1989
Wisteria is born (September 9)
Emma is born (October)
1990
Jade is born (late February)
1995
Rochelle is born (January 27)
1996
Dusk is born
1998
Mory is born (February)
2000
Sienna moves in with Jade and Pearl
Drake is born (January 25)
2004
Wisteria leaves the coven (autumn equinox)
2007
IN BUT A MOMENT (January)
Kandy has sex with Dedra
2008
IN LESS THAN A MOMENT (March)
Justin is murdered and Kandy injured
Kandy leaves the pack
2011
JUST THE RIGHT MOMENT (February)
Gabby and crew escape Charlotte
Henry helps find their families/new families
THE AMPLIFIER PROTOCOL (spring)
Emma and team fight a greater demon (March)
(67 days later)
The Five escape
FROM ONE MOMENT TO THE NEXT (May)
Desmond talks to Kandy and Hudson about his Portland plan
Kandy refuses Hudson
2013
CUPCAKES, TRINKETS, AND OTHER DEADLY MAGIC (mid-April, 4 days)
Jade sees the vampire outside her store
They go dancing and meet the werewolves
Hudson is killed
Zombie werewolf
Rusty is killed
Sienna goes into the portal
Kandy moves in next door
ANCHORED IN THE MOMENT (June)
Audrey joins Desmond’s pack
TRINKETS, TREASURES AND OTHER BLOODY MAGIC (end of July, 5 days)
They meet the skin walkers
She takes Mory to Rusty’s ghost
They travel to Portland
Jade battles Sienna after music festival
Mory and Jeremy are kidnapped
Jade meets the dragons
TREASURES, DEMONS, AND OTHER BLACK MAGIC (November 8-11)
Jade goes to Blackwell’s castle
Jade fights Sienna, Kett dies temporarily
Desmond kills Sienna
2014
I SEE ME (January-late)
Rochelle turns 19
She meets Beau
She is introduced to Jade and the pack
Rochelle makes a deal with Blackwell
SHADOWS, MAPS, AND OTHER ANCIENT MAGIC (Sept 19-)
They celebrate Kandy’s birthday
Warner shows up
They retrieve the ribbon bracelet (one of the instruments of assassination)
Jade leaves Kandy with her pack
2015
MAPS, ARTIFACTS, AND OTHER ARCANE MAGIC (Jan)
Shailaja attacks the bakery
Jade hires a brownie
They travel to Peru
Warner vanishes
Yazi takes Shailaja
Warner returns
Jade takes the centipedes (aka the second instrument of assassination) to the nexus
Jade sees the oracle drawings that Chi Wen has collected from Rochelle.
I SEE YOU (mid July)
Rochelle, Beau, and Kandy go to Mississippi
Rochelle texts Blackwell for help
Kandy bites Calhoun
Cy and Ettie are killed
2016
ARTIFACTS, DRAGONS, AND OTHER LETHAL MAGIC (Jan-Feb)
Warner gives Jade the betrothal rings (01/21)
Shailaja hurts Pulou and Yazi, then escapes with Chi Wen (01/22)
Jade and crew visits Rochelle
Warner and Jade are engaged (01/25)
Jade kills Shailaja
I SEE US (June, 5 days)
Ember arrives at the farm
Win arrives
Rochelle binds the demon to her
Rochelle defeats her grandmother
Rochelle and Beau are engaged
Tess and Gary adopt them
THE GRAVEYARD KISS (Oct)
Luci stakes Colby
CATCHING ECHOES (early Oct)
Wisteria reconstructs Colby’s death
She agrees to work with Kett
Jade magics her bracelet
Jasmine arrives
They fight zombies
Ben is fully turned
2 weeks later
Kett gives Wisteria the contract about becoming a vampire
DAWN BYTES (Dec)
Jasmine tells Kett the bunny story in NY
2017
TANGLED ECHOES (Jan 11-13)
Declan calls Wisteria
They confront the elders of their family
They rescue Jasmine
Wisteria binds them to the land
Jasper walks
(weeks later…)
AN UNCUT KEY
Copper tries to give Declan a house
UNLEASHING ECHOES (May, 4 weeks)
Jasper takes back the land
Wisteria and Jasmine investigate a kidnapping in Chicago
Copper arrives while they investigate in LA
In NY, Yale admits to working with Jasper
Copper and Declan break up
The three confront and kill Jasper
Dying, Jasmine signs the contract with Kett
Wisteria becomes coven leader
Three weeks later
They find out Jasmine has survived
Rochelle is pregnant, off page (June)
CHAMPAGNE, MISFITS, AND OTHER SHADY MAGIC (Sept 19-21)
Jade anchors the grid
The charges against Jade are dropped
Jade meets most of the Talbot family
Jade and Warner’s engagement party
Burgundy re-anchors the grid
Jade kills the elf and finds the prison
Emma’s job goes wrong in SF (Oct)
Emma and Christopher move to Lake Cowichan (Nov)
MISFITS, GEMSTONES, AND OTHER SHATTERED MAGIC (Dec 16-17)
Grand opening of Cake in a Cap Too (Dec 16)
Jade sees Mira
Bachelorette party (Dec 17)
Mira is killed
The warriors fall
GRAVEYARDS, VISIONS, AND OTHER THINGS THAT BYTE (Dec 18-21)
Rochelle asks Mory to find her mom (Dec 18)
Mory finds Jane and she releases the visions (Dec 19)
Rochelle summons her demon (Dec 20)
Fight at Pearl’s house
Jasmine sacrifices the elf
They plan (Dec 21)
GEMSTONES, ELVES, AND OTHER INSIDIOUS MAGIC (Dec 21-Feb)
Jade removes the gemstone (Dec 21)
Jade wakes up in Yazi’s room in the nexus (Dec 29)
They fight the elves (Dec 30)
2018
Pearl tells Jade what day it is (Jan 30)
Alivia visits the bakery (Jan 31)
Jade and Warner marry (Feb?)
Mory leaves for the Academy
CLOSE TO HOME (Feb-April)
Emma and Christopher find Hannah (Feb)
Emma pays a visit to Tyler (April)
DEMONS AND DNA (mid Sept, 8 days)
Aiden shows up at the diner
They fight the demons
Daniel returns
Emma meets with “Magenta”
They fight Silver
Aiden leaves
2019
BONDS AND BROKEN DREAMS (Feb, 4 days)
Isa and Ruwa come to town
Aiden returns
They all meet at the diner
Opal finds them at the farm
Emma, Opal, and Jenni are kidnapped
Ruwa is killed
Amplifier Protocol happens
Lani is amplified
Aiden is rescued
Emma asks Aiden to stay
3 days later…
MYSTICS AND MENTAL BLOCKS(Feb, 4+ days)
Ember and Capri arrive
Zans arrives
Chenda follows Zans
Christopher betrays them all
Emma sends Opal away
Emma fights Chenda
3 days later
Emma wakes up
The guardianship papers are signed
IDOLS AND ENEMIES (May)
The Azars arrive
The Myers arrive
Opal and friends open the box
Aiden proposes to Emma
They fight the Hallowed
THE MUSIC BOX (May)
The kids meet Mory
MISPLACED SOULS (Oct-Nov)
Mory returns to Vancouver (Oct 28)
She discovers the blank spots in the cemetery
Liam hires her
Mory and Ben defeat the succubus (Oct 31)
3 days later
Mory wakes up
3 more days later
Mory meets with Liam
2020
A MOMENTARY MISUNDERSTANDING (early Sept)
Burgandy and Kandy encounter Athelians
Jade and Warner arrive
Burgandy heals Feo
2021
AWAKENING INFINTY (Oct)
Dusk connects Infinity to the internet
She is promoted by the guardians (2 weeks in the nexus)
One week later
Dusk and Sisu move to Dublin (Oct. 21)
INVOKING INFINITY (early Nov, 6 days)
Dusk starts her new job
The imp is murdered
Dusk meets Kellan
Rook is possessed by the book
Dusk discovers the missing artifact
They fight the celestial wolves
The children are taken
Kellan kills Ayre
Dusk negotiates with Morgan
A MOMENTARY RETRIEVAL (November)
Dusk and Brady retrieve Corrie Byrne’s belongings
COMPELLING INFINTY (Dec 20-24)
Gala, Dusk meets Prince
Drake arrives for training
Ravine makes a copy of the crown piece
Winter Solstice party, giant octopus
Dusk frees the brownie
Dusk goes to Evenfall and kills Prince
Kellan and Sisu go after her, the wyvern hatches
Dusk seals the door
Dusk and Sisu’s party
Two books to follow in the Amplifier Series (will take place in the summer of 2019). Multiple books to follow in the Misfits series (including Kandy’s POV set in Dec 2019). Mulitple books to follow in the Archivist Series (2021 onwards) – MCD
