Conduit Series: Illustration and an excerpt: Muta

Muta.

In his actual form.

Although he looks like a snake — a long gold body with dorsal blotches of dark brown that form inverted triangles, ending in a horny spined tail — Muta is actually an aspect of the divine who was trapped in the body of a snake. As a punishment, perhaps. At least according to family legend.

So kind of like me, but not really. I have opposable thumbs and a more well-rounded diet. But Muta has the wicked fangs and venom, among other otherworldly tricks.

It’s also possible he’s one of my ancestors. Again, depending on how much of the family mythos can be wholly believed.

– Awry (Conduit 1) Chapter Two

RELEASE DATE: JANUARY 25, 2024

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Conduit Series: Illustration and an excerpt: The Gage Estate

The Gage Estate. Illustration by Kateryna Vitkovska (@vitkovskaya_art)

Instead of unlatching the gate, I climb it. The fencing is about six feet high on this edge of the property. Grasslands allowed to go wild stretch from here up to the house, which is set back from the bluff. A long, sandy beach stretches out as far as the eye can see — with enhanced or normal sight — from either side of that jagged, rocky outcropping. A low-lying beach punctuated by massive rock formations jutting out of the surf runs to the right. To the far south, near the very edge of the property, dunes begin to rise.

Except ‘property’ really isn’t the right word to encompass the mass of land that the Conduit and the Gage family occupy along the coast of Oregon. It’s a territory, really. Hectares upon hectares of land and beach. Even the foreshore is protected from public access, with both legal and essence-enforced boundaries. There’s a no-fly zone above, and a no-boating zone set between us and international waters. No entry without permission.

I can’t currently see that much of the property, of course. Not even while balanced on top of the gate. I can, however, see the conical roof of the turret tower on the main house, offset to the left on the asymmetrical structure. None of the usually ever-present soft glow emanates from its windows.

– Awry (Conduit 1), Chapter Six, Zaya

RELEASE DATE: JANUARY 25, 2024

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Conduit Series: Illustration and an excerpt: Zaya

Zaya Gage. Awry. The Conduit. Illustration by Nicole Deal.

I’m staring. Going from coldly enraged to numb …

Because the gun I expected. It’s a lightweight, untraceable piece I slipped into the room myself ages ago.

But … Zaya Gage — a slightly older version of Zaya, and looking like death warmed over — is sitting on a motel bed in Outcast territory.

Alive.

And glaring fucking daggers at me.

Glaring at me as if she doesn’t know me at all.

As if she’s seriously considering shooting me.

The numbness holding me in place cracks, splintering like a skiff of ice over a dark well of vicious despair.

Her eyes, vibrant and utterly beguiling, are the wrong color.

Bright, soul-fucking-searing violet.

Not the warm, deep purplish-blue I gazed into summer after summer. Not the deadened, darkened purple that stared up into the storm-blackened sky, unseeing. The eyes that still haunt my nightmares, for almost thirteen years now.

My Zaya would be a month away from her thirtieth birthday. This woman, with her slight frame, her dusky pink lips, and her cheekbones and collarbone looking like carved white stone or the age-bleached fucking bones of some prehistoric creature, is too young.

– Awry (conduit 1), Chapter Four, Rath

RELEASE DATE: JANUARY 25, 2024

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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

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An open letter to my editor.

SFG –

To my ever patient, editor extraordinaire:

I’m peeking out from my writing cave to ready you for what is coming next.

I’m five chapters into my current WIP (Conduit Series) and I’ve already heavily leaned into the following trigger warnings: language and violence. And sex will most definitely be added to the mix, I just have to get through the bulk of the setup first.

And, ahem, speaking of ‘setup’, it’s the mixture of genre ‘tropes’ that might be slightly more disconcerting as you ready yourself for your first read. So far, I’ve got: road trip, kidnapping/rescue, attempted rape, gods/divinity/monsters (aka pretty much the same thing), shapeshifters, magical/mythical creatures, biker pack/gangs, magic/tech geniuses, food porn, milkshake porn, lost love, memory loss, coming of age/magical inheritance, reunification (gone wrong), mysterious past, traumatic pass, human/creature trafficking, found family, choice vs destiny, girl gang, fated mates, why choose, second chance lovers, enemies to lovers, etc, etc, and etc.

Apparently, I’m off the rails with this one.

You have been forewarned.

I’ll send chocolate.

With all my best intentions,

– MCD

How to subscribe to MCD’s blog

Here – updated April 27, 2023 with (fairly recent) pictures – is how to subscribe to my blog (so you can read along with the Conduit on #TeaserTuesday).

On a computer/desktop. Type your email into the box on the top right-hand corner of your screen. You can unsubscribe at any time. You’ll need to confirm your subscription. If you can’t find the email in your inbox, check your spam/junk/promotions folders. If you find the confirmation there, please drag it into your inbox to ensure that future emails arrive directly in your inbox. After you subscribe you will get an email each time I blog (not just the Conduit serialization posts).

On a mobile device. Scroll all the way down past the current blog posts. Type your email into the box situated between the ‘older posts’ button and the cover image for Archivist 0. You can unsubscribe at any time. You’ll need to confirm your subscription. If you can’t find the email in your inbox, check your spam/junk/promotions folders. If you find the confirmation there, please drag it into your inbox to ensure that future emails arrive directly in your inbox. After you subscribe you will get an email each time I blog (not just the Conduit serialization posts).