Chapter One, Part One March 2011. I exited the building onto the roof thirteen minutes after I’d entered via the ground floor. In that time, I had disabled all magical and mundane security, eliminated any resistance, and retrieved the package on the fifteenth floor. Now I was arriving at the extraction point, two minutes ahead […]
Tag: Amplifier Series
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 […]
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 […]
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 […]
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 […]
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 […]
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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 […]
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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. […]
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 […]
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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 […]