The Amplifier Protocol: a brief explanation

The first chapter of the Amplifier Protocol (Amplifier 0) releases today on my blog at 8:01am. I’ll be posting a new chapter at 8am PST every Tuesday and Thursday from January 8 to March 14, 2019. At which point, the entire novella (40k) will remain on the blog for one week, then be taken down and put up for sale on all retailers.

When I came up with the idea for the Amplifier Series, I knew that the main character had a deep background that would need to be explored as I was developing the core, present day story. And if I was going to do the work busting it all out anyway I decided I would write a prequel and share it with my readers for free – as a thank you for reading this far along in the Adept Universe with me, but also as an introduction to a new character.

Things you might like to know:

The prequel is set in March 2011 seven years before the main series – over two years before Dowser 1 in the Adept Universe timeline. The first book of the series is set in September 2018, after Dowser 9. I’m anticipating publishing book one in April 2019, and there will be a short story available for those who preorder.

The series and the prequel are definitely PG-13. Warning for fairly mild profanity (in my opinion, though Michael says sometimes I swear like construction worker) and violence in the novella.

The Amplifier Series is completely standalone for the first three stories – Amplifier 0, Amplifier 0.5, and Amplifier 1. Some crossover might happen in Amplifier 2, but only for readers who know the Adept Universe characters (as in they will be reintroduced from the Amplifier’s POV)

Each chapter/part will be paired with an oracle card meme. The oracle cards were designed by Elizabeth Mackey and will be further explained in the next books/stories.

Please feel free to comment and discuss the chapters/parts in the blog comment section. Please feel free to share the blog posts and/or the memes. I’m hoping that gathering to read the novella and discussing the story as it releases will be part of the fun!

The blog posts are shared on my Twitter and Facebook feeds but you might wish to also follow the blog itself so you don’t miss a post.

Okay, without further ado, here is The Amplifier Protocol (Amplifier 0) Chapter One, Part One.

I hope you enjoy the read!

Are you new to the Adept Universe? The Amplifier Protocol can be read separately, but the first book in the universe, Cupcakes, Trinkets, and Other Deadly Magic (Dowser 1), is currently free as well! Click here for the reading order of the Adept Universe.

Amplifier 0: cover reveal

Book cover from the crazy talented Gene Mollica Studios. Model: Devon Ericksen.

Chapter One, Part One releases on January 8, 2019

They called me an amplifier. And they had bred me, raised me, and trained me to be a killer with preternatural precision. I was capable of taking, holding, and transferring power that wasn’t my own with a simple touch. Skin-to-skin contact. Along with four others of my generation, I could infiltrate any magical organization, extracting whoever or whatever I’d been ordered to extricate. Then I could destroy all evidence of our passing presence.

They had made me. They directed me. Controlled me.

Then they tried to kill me.

***

This short novel (40k) will be shared with readers through the blog every Tuesday and Thursday starting Tuesday, January 8, 2019. Subscribe to the blog so you don’t miss a single post!! The book will then be released on all retailers.

Amplifier 0: synopsis

They had made me. They directed me. Controlled me.

Then they tried to kill me.

– The Amplifier Protocol (Amplifier 0)

Coming January 8, 2019

Amplifier 0: A murder of sorcerers.

A cluster of sorcerers had fortified the doors to the stairwell, and likely the entire staircase leading down to the fourth level. Evidentially I hadn’t fooled anyone as to my objective.

A murder of sorcerers. Not a cluster. Bee’s presence brushed through my mind. She laughed, quietly deadly.

“Helpful,” I muttered, risking a glance down the long, straight hall. Looking for possible egresses, or anything I could use for shelter. There were none, which I’d already known But double checking never hurt.

A red laser sight bloomed on the wall above my head. I was crouched — the gun-toting extraction team were aiming for where my head should be. I retreated a couple steps, running the floor plan in my head. I could backtrack. But, since they knew where I was going, eliminating the other four while they were trapped in their rooms was most likely being discussed.

A botched attempt on my life was one thing. Perhaps the heart attack Macy had planned to induce was supposed to look like a complication from my wounds. But murdering the others without a traceable kill order was going to be difficult to justify.

Still, time was of the essence.

– The Amplifier Protocol, Amplifier 0, second draft

Things writers do in the middle of a 1st draft

Writing the first draft of a book often feels like having a tug-a-war with your own brain, just to force words to appear on the page. Factor in coaxing and cajoling the muse to stick with you through the first 60k or 70k or 80k, and it is as if you’re at war with certain aspects of yourself.

Identifying and then avoiding personal delay tactics is one of the most important things a writer can do in order to increase productivity and focus. For example, I have a terrible habit of brainstorming/musing about numerous projects at once. I’m currently writing Amplifier 1, and this morning alone I have jotted down notes for Amplifier 2, Mistfits 1 (Mory), The Adept Chronicles 1 (Benjamin), and Jasmine 1.

And the result of that ‘personal delay tactic’ running amok is that, after 13 days of straight of hitting my word count (3k+) before 2pm or 3pm every day, I haven’t even started writing. And it’s currently 12:53pm.

And I’m now blogging.

But! Writing a first draft also means allowing for a certain amount of thoughtful reflection in nonwriting periods (while doing: pilates, showering, blow drying my hair, baking, etc). So while these reflective moments can derail me from my current work in progress (like this morning). They can also yield interesting ideas.

Such as realizing that the character of Zack Belanger, ex-armed forces/mechanic, in the Amplifier Series would be so more interesting if he was a she – Lani Zachary!

First drafts: the evolution of a secondary character.

So there you go – a tiny bit of insight into how a writer’s mind (occasionally) works.

Back to writing.

Brainstorming book titles

It’s Thanksgiving Monday. Michael is stripping the turkey so we can make stock. And, while I have his captive attention, I’m brainstorming book titles for the Amplifier Series* – I’m exceeding lucky to be married to a songwriter who excels in condensing complex ideas down into evocative but short phrases.

We’ve been having trouble with the titles for the new series for some reason. We’ve easily had four or five short brainstorming sessions, usually while making hot chocolate for coffee break. And I had previously titled five possible books during an earlier brainstorming session for the series as a whole (see picture below). Those titles reflected the romance side of the Amplifier series but didn’t bring any magic into the equation.

By the end of the day we hope to have a solid framework in place (a running motif, is you will). So I better crack open the thesaurus, an idiom dictionary, and get to work!

First page in my Amplifier notebook, and soon-to-be-crossed-out possible book titles.

*FYI. The Amplifier Series is set in the Adept Universe but features all new characters, including the Amplifier Emma and her dark sorcerer Aiden. The prequel, first short story, and the first book are due out in early 2019.

Writer meltdown #3476

I just wrote a very long, very angsty blog post.

Got a bit weepy.

Deleted the post.

Short version: First drafts are hard. And I have a terrible habit of piling every single, nagging concern/fear/issue I have with my writing/career/future into a difficult-to-drag-around massive-bundle-of-angst. As we all do, I suspect.

Michael talked me down.

Again.

Back to writing.

I’m working on the first draft of the Amplifier Series prequel novella. Dowser 9 is due back from the story editor (aka SFG) next Thursday.

I’m not really a bad ass. I’m just writing one.

I took a moment this morning to review what I’d written of the Amplifier prequel so far before diving back in, coming up with one overwhelming conclusion:

Emma (aka the Amplifier, aka Socks, aka AMP5) is a real bad ass. It isn’t something that she grows into (a la the Dowser) or something she’s never known was possible (a la the Oracle) or something she’s suppressed (a la the Reconstructionist). It’s the only way she knows how to be, the way she understands her role in the world she has been bred into – a fundamental aspect to her nature.

So it’s a good thing that Emma (eventually) has a thing for gingersnaps and Downton Abbey, and that she falls in love at first sight in book one. Otherwise we wouldn’t have anything in common.

The birth of a bad ass in midnight blue ink.

So yeah, I’m writing.

Just in case you thought I had any sort of other bad-assed craziness going down over here in my tiny office perched on the edge of a tiny island. 😉

Writing is like vomiting

Interior kitchen. White glossy cabinets. Concrete counters. Approx. 10:30am. A Milk Cafe is running, whirling and heating skim milk destined to be a hot chocolate.

Me (measuring out chocolate): I’m just so scattered brained today. Which, for some reason, is always the case the day after a really successful writing session. I mean, obviously, I’ll write today but it’s going to take some effort to focus.

Michael (slathering cashew butter and jam on a toasted English muffin): Writing is like vomiting. You just get it all out, purge the idea onto the page. And after you vomit you need to eat, fuel up again.

Right.

I don’t usually feel the need to eat after I vomit … but I conceded the point because I understood the metaphor Michael was going for. Ha.

So … I am a little scattered today. I got the first draft of the first chapter of the Amplifier Series prequel written yesterday. It came out at 5,700+ words, which is closer to the length of the chapter of a novel, not the novella I thought I was writing. So that is interesting and pretty much ruins the ‘marketing direction’ I’d been planning for the series, because the ‘hero’ (and yes, that does need to be in quotes) doesn’t show up until book one and the main series takes place seven years after the prequel.

The muse apparently thinks I’m getting to comfortable with this writing gig. Thankfully between the story editor, Michael, and me we can usually work around (work through? work with?) the desires of the muse. So I’ll just need to figure out a smooth transition between the prequel and book one. A character changes a lot in seven years!