From One Moment to the Next (Moments of the Adept Universe 0.4)

Excerpt. From One Moment to the Next is the third Kandy prequel story available in Moments of the Adept Universe 1, including an illustration by Memo that captures the (bleached-blond) werewolf in a moment of surprise.

Click here for the full reading order of the Adept Universe, including a downloadable PDF.

From One Moment to the Next

Moments of the Adept Universe 0.4

(Aka Kandy 0.75)

May 2011.

An apartment in Malibu.

I let myself into the swanky apartment. It was unlocked, but I knew I was in the right place because I could smell Desmond and Hudson all around the exterior door, even despite the salty, warm breeze coming off the ocean. Plus the address matched the scrawled note I’d found taped to the inside of my apartment door that morning. Other than that address, though, the only other info I’d gathered was the meeting time and the smell of Desmond on the paper.

But I knew why the soon-to-be alpha wanted to see me. The coming request had been building since I’d joined Desmond’s cousin’s pack three years ago.

And I would say yes.

Just not to the second question that Desmond also planned to ask.

I tugged the door shut behind me, toeing off my sneakers. Padding barefoot across the cool marble-tiled floors, I easily followed the scent of the two men I was apparently meeting. Clandestinely.

Shades of white-on-white ran throughout the apartment. Though perhaps it was pedestrian of me to call it something as simple as an apartment. A condo? A townhouse? An upscale townhouse, situated on the corner of a whitewashed complex perched over a sandy beach at the edge of the sea in sunny California.

I missed the snow.

I shoved that idiotic thought away, scanning the ridiculously luxurious living room as it spread out before me. I had shucked off the chains that came with that snow years ago. I wasn’t going back.

An open kitchen, looking as though it had never been used, sat to my far left. Even the abstract paintings on the walls were monotone and completely impersonal. Though knowing that Desmond’s family was as ridiculously wealthy as my own, I didn’t doubt that any one of those paintings could have covered my rent for over a year.

But I had left that money, that unwanted inheritance, behind with the snow. Along with the heartache.

I wouldn’t have been surprised to find that I was leaving dirty footprints behind me, grubby, unruly wolf that I was. I huffed, pleased with that image of myself. As always.

A breeze carrying the scent of two powerful and slightly sweaty males drew me toward the patio. Crashing surf rolled steadily in across the sandy beach just beyond. I was pleased that I’d decided to wear a bikini, just throwing on a rather revealing, bright-green cover-up for the drive to the coast. Even though that green actually contrasted terribly with my currently overly bleached hair.

On the patio, his golden-brown hair a little longer than usual, Desmond leaned back against the glassed railing. He was dressed in washed-out jeans and a light-blue T-shirt that was rapidly failing to contain biceps the thickness of my thighs. His feet were also bare. His casually crossed arms only emphasized the should-be-impossible breadth of his shoulders. He pinned his golden-brown gaze on me and offered me a lazy but toothy grin.

Hudson stepped up to the right, following Desmond’s gaze and hitting me with a megawatt smile.

My heart pinged painfully, as it often did when I laid eyes on the dark-haired werewolf. Though his lean form was taller and broader through the shoulders than Justin had been when he died, Hudson reminded me of …

Well, everything I had tried to leave behind. Unsuccessfully. When it came to the emotions attached to that past, at least.

I bared my teeth at both of them. “This isn’t a threesome, is it? Because it sure isn’t balanced in my favor.”

– Excerpt From One Moment to the Next (Moments of the Adept Universe 0.4)

New to the Adept Universe? The first book is Cupcakes, Trinkets, and Other Deadly Magic (Dowser 1). Or click here for the main READING ORDER.

Need to get caught up? Or want to reread in order? Click here for the FULL READING ORDER OF THE ADEPT UNIVERSE.

At Just the Right Moment (Moments of the Adept 0.3)

Excerpt. At Just the Right Moment is the twins’ prequel novelette, narrated by Gabby (click here for bio and illustrations). It is available in Moments of the Adept Universe 1, including this heartrendingly perfect illustration by Memo (another of my favs of the entire collection) (am I allow to say that about all the illustrations?).

Click here for the full reading order of the Adept Universe, including a downloadable PDF.

At Just the Right Moment

Moments of the Adept Universe 0.3

(Gabby 0.5)

February 2011.

Somewhere in Southern California.

My hand shook as I pressed a series of numbers on the pay phone keypad, reciting the sequence quietly as the others gathered around me did the same. My fingers felt weak, to the point of being useless. The handset was heavy, and painful where I pressed it against my ear. After the tenth number, we waited, pressed together, holding our collective breath.

Peggy, Matty, Sophia, and me.

We had gambled everything.

We’d been ready for a week, which was the best we could prepare without more notice. And in the end, only four of us went through the hole it had taken Sophia and me three months to create in the wards. A crack partially hidden behind a bushy lemon tree, and which had barely been big enough for Matty to pass through. He’d grown fast in the last months, taller and broader.

Which was part of the reason we were running without a full plan.

All I could hear over the telephone was an empty fuzziness, like a vastness stretching out from my ear into nothing. My heart was beating too fast. We’d only been gone for maybe ten minutes. But that was ten more minutes than we’d ever been off the property, let alone gathered around a pay phone at a gas station.

Peggy wrapped her fingers around mine, taking some of the weight of the handset. Then something clicked in my ear, and a man’s voice came over the telephone.

“Henry Calhoun,” he said cheerfully. His accent, we’d agreed, was Southern. “At your service.”

I’d prepared a speech. The other three had helped me with it. Sophia, being the oldest, was the best with magic — witch magic, specifically — and she’d told us we wouldn’t have much time to get out all the information that the cowboy sorcerer would need to find us.

They’d picked me to talk. Peggy could get overwhelmed with too many new people around. She could read minds, even of people without magic. Matty was always worried about sounding stupid, and Sophia was on watch.

Because we knew they would come for us.

They were probably already on their way.

All the prepared words emptied out of my head. I felt sick. Weak with fear. I was shaking with it.

But I wouldn’t cry.

I wouldn’t break.

“Hello?” the man — Henry — asked again. His tone was sharper. Less cheery.

“They’re going to kill Matty,” I said. The words were rushed, and my voice was a little thin, but clear. “They call it relocating, but we know … we know what they mean. And then they’ll move us. And you won’t be able to find us again.”

“What’s your name, little one?” Henry asked, all traces of cheer gone from his voice now. He sounded hard and a little fierce.

That should have scared me, that tone. But I knew — because Peggy knew — that Henry Calhoun would never hurt us.

He had come to inspect the orphanage that wasn’t really an orphanage three days ago. We’d thought he’d been there to rescue us. And Peggy said he was. But he was just looking for something really, really hard. Something called cause.

“Gabby, sir,” I said, feeling stronger. “They named me Gabrielle. I’m here with Matty, Sophia, and my sister Peggy. The others were … locked up. Or too scared to come with us.”

“Where are you right now?”

“The gas station two blocks down and three blocks over from the house. It was the first pay phone we found.”

I could hear other noises over the line, like Henry was moving. A door opening, then closing. Murmured voices.

“Someone is coming,” Peggy whispered.

“Humans,” Matty said, his voice a low growl. His shoulders were broad enough to block my view entirely. “Not Dave. Or Charlotte.”

“Gabby?” Henry asked over the phone. “That’s not … they’ll be able to track you.”

“We know,” I said.

“I’m coming to you right now,” he said. “But I’m two hours away.”

Pain crunched through my chest, then another wave of weakness ran through me. I tried to hide it from the others. “Two hours …” I whispered.

“They can’t get away from me now, Gabby,” Henry said. “But I need you to keep moving. And every time you find another phone, you call me again to check in. Do you … do you have money?”

“Twenty-seven dollars.” It had taken us three years to put it together. Usually the eldest of us held it, which in our case now was Sophia. Others had held it before her, and before they got relocated — killed, we now knew — they passed it down to the next eldest.

“Okay, okay,” Henry said, sounding like he was talking to himself, and maybe like he’d stepped outdoors.

It was my first time using a phone, so I wasn’t totally sure what I was hearing.

“Stick together as much as possible,” Henry said. “But don’t fight when they come for you, Gabby. Tell the others, don’t fight. If you fight, they will hurt you.”

“But Henry …” My voice broke, and I pressed my hand against Matty’s back. He completely blocked my sight of the rest of the gas station, standing guard. I dropped my hand. I had touched him without permission, and we didn’t do that to each other. “We have to fight now. They’re going to kill Matty. He’s getting too strong for them. He hurt one of the regular clients. They don’t like that …”

I glanced over at Sophia. Her face was hard. Her densely curly dark hair was pulled back with an elastic band. Sophia was a witch. She could generate electrical impulses. At fourteen, she was very careful to not reveal how strong that power had become.

“Unless they pay for it,” I whispered.

– Excerpt from At Just the Right Moment (Moments of the Adept Universe 0.3)

New to the Adept Universe? The first book is Cupcakes, Trinkets, and Other Deadly Magic (Dowser 1). Or click here for the main READING ORDER.

Need to get caught up? Or want to reread in order? Click here for the FULL READING ORDER OF THE ADEPT UNIVERSE.

In Less Than A Moment (Moments of the Adept Universe 0.2)

Excerpt. In Less than a Moment is the second Kandy prequel novelette available in Moments of the Adept Universe 1, including this ridiculously perfect illustration by Memo (one of my favs of the entire collection).

Click here for Kandy’s bio and illustrations.

Click here for the full reading order of the Adept Universe, including a downloadable PDF.

In Less Than A Moment

Moments of the Adept Universe 0.2

(Kandy 0.5)

March 2008.

A back alley in Boston.

Justin was dead.

I had dragged him behind an industrial garbage bin … or maybe it was for recycling. At least … I thought it had been me who had dragged him … blood streaking away from us into the middle of the alley …

Justin’s blood. From the three gunshot wounds.

They’d shot him in the back.

I thought they’d shot him.

Though it wasn’t yet clear to me who they were.

He’d gone down without a sound.

We’d been chatting and laughing … and …

Now Justin was dead.

Vaguely aware that I was panicking, I rolled him over, tearing his T-shirt so I could get a better look at his back. I accidentally scored his pale skin with wolf claws that I hadn’t consciously manifested.

Blood was just pouring out of him, pooling underneath him. I was crouching in it, kneeling in it. His warm lifeblood.

I’d thought … if I could remove the bullets … but the wounds were already blackening at the edges, a poison there spreading as dark veins of death.

Justin was dead.

Three bullets to the heart would do that.

Even to a werewolf.

If those bullets were silver.

And wielded by a sorcerer.

Sorcerer …

Even as I gently settled Justin onto his back, I whirled around, placing myself between him and the Adepts who were coming for us, hunting us.

No.

They’d already found us. Meaning we had no idea we hadn’t been the only ones doing the hunting.

Wait… had we been hunting?

No …

I touched my temple, then looked at my fingers. More than just Justin’s blood coated them. I’d been shot too. Now that I realized it, I could feel the gouge. It burned and wasn’t healing. More silver.

Had … had Justin shoved me out of the way?

Yes.

I’d darted back for him, dragged him to shelter.

But he was already dead.

The alley had been empty.

Seemed empty.

But it wasn’t.

I could smell the magic now … spells that they’d ignited at the same time as their shooter tried to take us out from behind. That power felt oppressive, like tight boundary spells often did. They’d sealed us in the alley.

So they could murder us.

The sorcerer I’d been expecting stepped around the garbage container, his gun trained low, pointing toward my heart. Black gun. Dark suit. White dress shirt, no tie. Clothing layered in protection spells. I knew. I’d been trained. Was in training.

The sorcerer’s brown eyes flicked to take in Justin sprawled behind me. Dead, I reminded myself. And for the briefest moment, the tip of his gun wavered, lowered.

As if he wasn’t going to shoot me.

The beast that lived deep within my soul tore through my human skin, shredding my clothing and sneakers. Bones shifting, pain streaking through me, I transformed far more quickly than I ever had before. Massive clawed feet scoring the pavement, teeth so large and jagged that I couldn’t effectively close my maw, I rose.

The sorcerer stumbled back, having to look up at me as I now towered over him. Belatedly, he remembered to try to pull the trigger. I crushed the gun in one clawed hand first. Then, clamping my other hand on his shoulder, I tore the offending limb completely off his body.

He screamed.

The protection spells on his suit weren’t rated for a werewolf in warrior form. At least not against my beast.

I snapped his neck.

So he was dead.

Like Justin was dead.

– Excerpt from In Less Than a Moment (Moments of the Adept 0.2)

In But a Moment (Moments of the Adept Universe 0.1)

Excerpt below. In But a Moment, a prequel novelette set in the Adept Universe, was originally sent to my newsletter in an unedited state in early 2021. Now edited, it is the first of the stories collected into Moments of the Adept Universe 1 along with an insanely gorgeous, perfectly evocative illustration by Memo.

Click here for Kandy’s bio and illustrations.

Click here for the full reading order of the Adept Universe, including a downloadable PDF.

In But A Moment

Moments of the Adept Universe 0.1

(Kandy 0.25)

January 2007.

At Rothhouse Estate in Manchester, New Hampshire.

Beer in hand, I grabbed the arm of the beat-up recliner and dragged it closer to the sliding doors on the far side of the living room, angling it so I had a view of the back patio — and more specifically, the full moon. Curling my legs under me, I lounged back, taking in the cool, dark night along with a sip of the beer. It was still too warm. And bitter. Which was fine, because the bottle was really only cover. If I didn’t have it in hand, I’d be asked incessantly if I needed a drink by the other werewolves slowly filtering into the lakeside cabin from our evening hunt. Some of them still wearing their fur, incapable of changing back to human form with the moon so high in the sky.

I’d arrived early, hanging out in the woods that occupied the bulk of the acreage surrounding the estate of the current alpha of the East Coast pack just long enough to witness the deer slaughter, but feeling no need to participate myself. Not that I was antiviolence when it was called for — which honestly was almost perpetually in a pack as large as ours. But I wasn’t big on tearing the throat out of an innocent creature that never had a chance against me. In wolf or human form.

I wiggled my bare toes under the overly plush arm of the recliner, catching the sound of another car winding along the long drive to the little-used lake house. Little-used by everyone except the younger set of the pack, at least. Yeah, we were supposed to be sleeping off the hunt in fluffy, adorable piles of teeth and claws and ridiculously loud snoring, but our alpha would turn a blind eye to us breaking that tradition as long as we didn’t seriously maim or kill anyone.

And even then, as long as the injured soul wasn’t a pack member, our alpha would probably just clean up our mess and give us a tap on the nose. Arthur was like that. Except he’d then assign some sort of horribly boring duty for a month or two, like rebuilding the estate fence or volunteering at a local charity. Being around mundanes — people without magic — for longer than a few hours was a surefire way to make a werewolf beg for forgiveness.

I, fortunately, was currently slightly out of reach of the pack’s smothering tendencies, thanks to suffering through my first year of college on the path to a physiotherapist specialty. I didn’t have the attention span to become a full medical doctor, but werewolves were impervious to most magic and healed quickly, making a physio degree both pragmatic and a somewhat interesting way to waste my time.

Limiting the messes we got into — and therefore the need for the intervention of any sort of medical professional — was why the entire pack was forced up to New Hampshire for the first full moon of the year. Every damn year. A smaller number of unlucky pack wolves were forced to attend every full moon run. And an even smaller, more dangerous subset of wolves were forbidden from living more than an hour from Rothhouse Estate and Arthur’s calming influence.

I’d been able to control my changes from a precociously young age, though. I’d been transforming multiple times a day since my early teens without exhausting myself. Only the alpha’s eldest progeny, Justin and Audrey, could boast the same.

Not that I boasted about it. Because who really cared? My position in the pack was already firmly set. It had been since before I’d been born. Sure, if I’d been a weak-ass whelp, it would have confused and possibly upset the pack elders. But I wasn’t.

In fact, I was so powerful, so … not intelligent, exactly, but perceptive, that I was a threat. Or I would be, if I were interested in climbing the ranks any higher than I was already positioned.

I wasn’t, though.

I was just seriously bored.

All. Of. The. Time.

College helped a bit. Screwing around with Justin occasionally filled the darkest hours of the night — both in and out of clothing. I’d gotten happily lost among the California pack for a couple of months last fall.

I took another swig of beer, instantly regretting it. “Who bought this garbage?” I howled, not speaking to anyone in particular.

All movement in the tiny house … paused. For just a moment.

“Sorry, Kandy!” Allie squeaked from the region of the kitchen. “It gets better chilled. Promise.”

– excerpt from In But A Moment (Moments of the Adept Universe 0.1)

The full reading order of the Adept Universe, as of June 2023

If you are new to the Adept Universe, you might want to start by reading the novels, then the shorts and novellas. Click here for just the main novels (with the book covers and extra info about characters, etc).

If reading from the beginning is too overwhelming, possible entry points into the Adept Universe are set in bold and marked with an asterisk.

Or DOWNLOAD THE ADEPT UNIVERSE READING ORDER PDF.

THE READING ORDER OF THE ADEPT UNIVERSE

(as of June 2023)

Novelette: In But A Moment (Moments of the Adept Universe 0.1) (Kandy 0.25)

Novelette: In Less Than a Moment (Moments of the Adept Universe 0.2) (Kandy 0.5)

Novelette: At Just the Right Moment (Moments of the Adept Universe 0.3) (Gabby 0.5)

Short: From One Moment to the Next (Moments of the Adept Universe 0.4) (Kandy 0.75)

Cupcakes, Trinkets, and Other Deadly Magic (Dowser 1)*

Short: Anchored in the Moment (Moments of the Adept Universe 0.5) (Audrey 0.5)

Short: A Difficult Funeral (Dowser 1.5)

Trinkets, Treasures, and Other Bloody Magic (Dowser 2)

Treasures, Demons, and Other Black Magic (Dowser 3)

I See Me (Oracle 1)*

Shadows, Maps, and Other Ancient Magic (Dowser 4)

Maps, Artifacts, and Other Arcane Magic (Dowser 5)

I See You (Oracle 2)

Artifacts, Dragons, and Other Lethal Magic (Dowser 6)

I See Us (Oracle 3)

Novelette: The Graveyard Kiss (Reconstructionist 0.5)

Catching Echoes (Reconstructionist 1)*

Short: Dawn Bytes (Reconstructionist 1.5)

Tangled Echoes (Reconstructionist 2)

Short: An Uncut Key (Reconstructionist 2.5)

Unleashing Echoes (Reconstructionist 3)

Champagne, Misfits, and Other Shady Magic (Dowser 7)

Misfits, Gemstones, and Other Shattered Magic (Dowser 8)

Novelettes (collection): Graveyards, Visions, and Other Things that Byte (Dowser 8.5)

Gemstones, Elves, and Other Insidious Magic (Dowser 9)

The Amplifier Protocol (Amplifier 0)*

Novelette: Close to Home (Amplifier 0.5)

Demons and DNA (Amplifier 1)

Bonds and Broken Dreams (Amplifier 2)

Mystics and Mental Blocks (Amplifier 3)

Idols and Enemies (Amplifier 4)

Short: The Music Box (Amplifier 4.5)

Instincts and Impostors (Amplifier 5)

Endings and Empathy (Amplifier 6)

Misplaced Souls (Misfits 1)

Novelette: A Momentary Misunderstanding (Moments of the Adept Universe 0.6) (Burgundy 0.5)

Awakening Infinity (Archivist 0)*

Invoking Infinity (Archivist 1)

Short: A Momentary Retrieval (Moments of the Adept Universe 0.7) (Archivist 1.5)

Compelling Infinity (Archivist 2)

Revealing Infinity (Archivist 3)(Coming Soon)

Novelette: Soulmates, Doorways, and Other Unruly Magic (Dowser 9.5)*

Notes:

The Moments of the Adept Universe shorts 1 through 7 can be found collected in Moments of the Adept Universe 1.
The Dowser Series is written in trilogies: Dowser 1-3, Dowser 4-6, and Dowser 7-9, so please expect the overall story arcs to take the full three books to resolve.
A Difficult Funeral (Dowser 1.5) is a free ‘flash fiction’ found on MCD’s blog under Extras and Freebies.
The Reconstructionist Series is a complete trilogy.
The Reconstructionist shorts are bundled together in the Reconstructionist Short Story Bundle.
The Amplifier series is an ongoing series.
Close to Home is bundled with Amplifier 0.
The Music Box is bundled with Amplifier 4.
The Misfits of the Adept Universe series contains standalone novels that tie back to the main universe and are therefore best read in order. It is an ongoing series.
The Archivist Series is an ongoing series.
Dowser 9.5 is technically set outside/beyond the current timeline.

Moments of the Adept Universe 1: cover reveal, etc.

If you’re subscribed to my newsletter you may have read six of the seven stories contained in this collection of shorts and novelettes. I gave them away through 2021 in an unedited/unproofed form, but have now bundled them together, added another novelette (Burgundy 0.5), and asked Memo to illustrate a scene (or moment, wink wink) from each. I’ll be sharing those illustrations and a little snippet of each story in the week leading up to publication.

I hope to write more novellas through 2022 to expand the ever-growing Adept Universe! I have ideas!

A collection of stories featuring characters from the Adept Universe by Meghan Ciana Doidge in a pivotal moment of their life, or possibly a playful interlude.

The collection contains the following shorts/novelettes:

In But a Moment – aka Kandy 0.25
In Less Than a Moment – aka Kandy 0.5
At Just the Right Moment – aka Gabby 0.5
From One Moment to the Next – aka Kandy 0.75
Anchored in the Moment – aka Audrey 0.5
Momentary Misunderstanding – aka Burgundy 0.5
A Momentary Retrieval (Archivist 1.5) – Dusk

Content warnings: language, sexual situations, violence, and childhood abuse.

Release Date: January 27, 2022

PREORDER

– AMAZON – APPLE BOOKS – BARNES and NOBLE – KOBO – SMASHWORDS –

(MCD: Jan 19: Apologies, I’m not sure why B&N still doesn’t have the preorder uploaded, hopefully soon!)

New to the Adept Universe? The first book is Cupcakes, Trinkets, and Other Deadly Magic (Dowser 1). Or click here for the main READING ORDER.

Need to get caught up? Or want to reread in order? Click here for the FULL READING ORDER OF THE ADEPT UNIVERSE.

The length/price of a novel … a rant by MCD

So here is a great example of something I should keep my mouth shut about, but I’m going to waste my time responding to. Ironically, I was just talking about the grief I get for the perceived length of my books, and the pressure that negative (and erroneous) feedback puts on my ability to write those books.

So instead of writing new words, I’m going to respond to the latest accusation that I write NOVELLAS and charge FULL PRICE for them. Also the exact definition of a cliffhanger.

As you can see above, this reader is incredibly disgusted by my cliffhanging, novella-length books, which I have the audacity to charge full price for.

So let’s address these accusations.

First, a NOVELLA is 17,500 to 40,000 words in length. (here is the wiki link if you don’t believe me). The average length for an urban fantasy novel is 70,000 – 95,000 (Ilona Andrews often blogs about needing to REDUCE their word count for traditional publishing).

Here are the WORD COUNTS for my FULL-LENGTH books (yes, I’m seriously wasting my time now)(in reading order):

• Cupcakes, Trinkets, and Other Deadly Magic (Dowser 1) – 68,000

• Trinkets, Treasures, and Other Bloody Magic (Dowser 2) – 82,061

• Treasures, Demons, and Other Black Magic (Dowser 3) – 85,621

• I See Me (Oracle 1) – 72,483

• Shadows, Maps, and Other Ancient Magic (Dowser 4) – 68,538

• Maps, Artifacts, and Other Arcane Magic (Dowser 5) – 73,782

• I See You (Oracle 2) – 77,029

• Artifacts, Dragons, and Other Lethal Magic (Dowser 6) – 90,548

• I See Us (Oracle 3) – 84,862

• Catching Echoes (Reconstructionist 1) – 69,739

• Tangled Echoes (Reconstructionist 2) – 75,994

• Unleashing Echoes (Reconstructionist 3) – 77,016

• Champagne, Misfits, and Other Shady Magic (Dowser 7) – 74,500

• Misfits, Gemstones, and Other Shattered Magic (Dowser 8) – 73,550

• Gemstones, Elves, and Other Insidious Magic (Dowser 9) – 91,443

• Demons and DNA (Amplifier 1) – 76,984

• Bonds and Broken Dreams (Amplifier 2) – 92,296

• Mystics and Mental Blocks (Amplifier 3) – 83,640

• Idols and Enemies (Amplifier 4) – 103,026 (also includes The Music Box – an extra 4500 words at no extra cost to the reader).

• Misplaced Souls (Misfits 1) – 91,661

• Invoking Infinity (Archivist 1) – 106,557

• Compelling Infinity (Archivist 2) – 88,680

As you can see NOT ONE of the books I charge so-called full price for is a novella. Nowhere near, in fact. The first book in a trilogy is often a little trimmer (Dowser 1, Dowser 4, Oracle 1, Reconstructionist 1, and Dowser 7) because it is the ‘first act’ aka the set-up. And is often balanced by a much longer third book (Dowser 3, 6, and 9, etc)

PRICING

Dowser 1 is FREE. Dowser 2 and 3, Oracle 1 are $3.99. All my other full-length books are $4.99.

The average price for an urban fantasy novel? (eBook, USD): $3.99-$16.99, but most indies charge $4.99-$6.99.

And, highly ironically, the two books I call novellas, The Amplifier Protocol (Amplifier 0) and Awakening Infinity (Archivist 0) are actually short novel-length but I charge $3.99 for them. I also gave away Amplifier 0 and Archivist 0 for free on my blog (serialized). And, at one time or another, the Dowser box set (three books), Oracle 1, and Reconstructionist 1 have all been available for free.

And, even more ironically, my cost to produce a novel (not including an audiobook which adds $3500-$4000) has tripled in the last two to three years and I HAVEN’T RAISED MY PRICES. It costs me (depending on what cover artist I use or extras I include, like the illustrations in the Archivist series): $5k- $7k to produce the eBook and paperback. Minimum. To be completely transparent, I earn approx $3.70 on a $4.99 book. So … just to put it all together, I have to sell 1350 – 1890 eBooks just to break even.

CLIFFHANGERS (Wiki link)

None of my books end in an actual cliffhanger – as in the story abruptly stopping with no resolution, aka with the main character literally hanging off a cliff by their fingernails. Teasing where the story goes next IS NOT A CLIFFHANGER. Even in DOWSER 8, the main storyline is resolved. It just isn’t resolved to some readers’ satisfaction. The second book in a trilogy (so Dowser 2, Dowser 5, Dowser 8, Oracle 2, Reconstructionist 2) traditionally ends on a low note – that is the PROPER structure for a trilogy!! And even then, in my books, the main storyline is ALWAYS resolved. Hence no actual cliffhangers.

It is highly ironic, that the hate mail I got after Dowser 8 directly contributed to me not writing any more Dowser books, and no longer writing trilogies even though I love the structure. Nasty notes/reviews/etc took Jade away from me, and I will be forever bitter about it. Which is probably why I just wasted my time writing this blog post.

So … I hope whoever decided to write the nasty review accusing me of charging novel prices for novellas and ending all my books with cliffhangers is happy she got my attention. That she got me angry. And that instead of writing new words, and therefore releasing another novel sooner than later, that I wasted my time writing this blog post. I hope she also enjoyed getting (at minimum) Dowser 1 for free.

I hope she enjoys the fact that she has most likely galvanized me to raise my prices (since my own costs have more than tripled).

But one question? If you are so DISGUSTED by paying for my so-called ‘cliffhanger’ ‘novellas’, why keep reading them?

Yes, I know, I shouldn’t read reviews, but when I’ve just released a book I often pop over to see how it is being received. This was staring me in the face when I did so this morning.

End Rant.

Lunch.

And then, I will attempt to get some new words written.

Now Available: Archivist Giclee Illustrations

Three limited-edition Archivist series giclee illustrations, plus three bookplates

As promised, I’ve made 25 sets of the limited-edition Archivist giclee illustrations (autographed by the artist, Nicole Deal) available in my store. $25 CDN+ oversized lettermail. Click the previous link for more info and/or to purchase.

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.

Fun! Fun!

The day after a new release, part 27

So … I just released my twenty-seventh full-length book (so not counting novellas or shorts)! Insanity. Michael and I crunched the numbers over coffee/hot chocolate this morning and Compelling Infinity (Archivist 2) came in just 19 units shy of breaking my release day record! Not bad for the third book in a relatively new series!

I’m so, so chuffed that you have embraced Dusk’s series! Thank you to everyone who preordered, bought on the day, and/or ordered the book from your library. And an extra thank you to everyone for sharing the series/books with their friends and family!! Oh, and reviews at your retailer/site of choice are welcomed and appreciated!

MCD’s 2022 book forecast … in notebooks.

Moving forward into 2022 I have five books/series in the works (though two are long-term side series), but if the headache holds I’ll be lucky to get three written. I promise to do my best!

Ideally (if I can manage to write steadily six days a week) here are my upcoming releases:

Moments of the Adept Universe 1 – Jan/Feb 2022
Amplifier 4.5/5 – May 2022
Amplifier 6 – Sept 2022
Archivist 3 – November 2022
Misfits 2 (aka Kandy’s book) – December 2022

I’ll also be looking into getting the Archivist series done in audio, leading up to the release of book three (hopefully in the latter half of the year).

I also have a fun Moment of the Adept Universe story idea (maybe a novella?) that I hope to release as a ‘treat’ in May/June. Again headache dependant.

The side projects are a new multiverse urban fantasy and the space opera I keep toying around with.

Memo is still doing sketches for the Adept Universe bible, so I will keep releasing those throughout the year as well.

As soon as I get my hands on the bloody envelopes I ordered over a month ago, I’ll add the Archivist giclee illustrations to the store, and then the oracle card sets that everyone keeps asking for … just as soon as I can get it all organized (but my main focus MUST be new words).

Thank you for all your support through 2021 – it was a really tough year! – and I hope we continue to have fun together through 2022!

Archivist 2: release day giveaway

GIVEAWAY CLOSED! Lucky #70 has been emailed.

Happy Release Day, Compelling Infinity (Archivist 2)!!!! I hope you all enjoy the next chapter in Dusk and Sisu’s adventures!

As is my tradition, I’ve put together a fun giveaway to help celebrate the release of Compelling Infinity (Archivist 2). If you follow me on Instagram or TikTok you will likely notice another super cool giveaway going on (starting Jan 5) as well.

Caveat: I won’t be able to ship this giveaway until I get my hands on the actual paperbacks for Compelling Infinity. Printing and shipping have been a huge issue for the latter half of 2021 and I suspect that early 2022 will be more of the same. So please ignore the terribly photoshopped book cover!!

Archivist Release day swag box: three autographed paperbacks, three giclee illustrations, a handknit gnome, and three bookplates.

Are you interested in winning this Archivist Release Day Swag Box? Aka three autographed Archivist paperbacks, three limited-edition, autographed giclee illustrations by Nicole Deal, a gnome knit by MCD, and three bookplates?

Yes?!

To enter please comment below with your favourite character or scene or line (and WHY it is your fav) from any of the Archivist books.

Yes, that means you need to have read at least one of the Archivist books to enter. But since I gave the first one away for free (on numerous occasions) that should be an easy requirement to fulfill. And that should also mean that a true fan – aka readers who would actually want the prints, etc – will win the giveaway pack.

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.

Giveaway closes SUNDAY, JAN 9, 2022 at 8pm PST.

Are you new to the Archivist Series? The first book is the prequel, Awakening Infinity (Archivist 0).

Are you new to the Adept Universe? Book one is Cupcakes, Trinkets, and Other Deadly Magic (Dowser 1). Click here for the full reading order.