Dowser 6: Warner and Jade chat over dim sum

I stared at Warner, mouth agape. “You knocked on the door of the big bad of London because I was concerned?”

Warner shrugged. “It’s good to keep them a little shaken up.”

“How shaken?”

Warner grinned wickedly. “Well, he’s going to have to rebuild a tower that was probably seismically substandard anyway.”

“You … destroyed the big bad’s … castle?”

“Destroyed is such a harsh word.”

Chapter 1, Dowser 6 – [unedited] second draft

Release date TBA [Spring 2016]

Dowser Series: Audiobook Giveaway

GIVEAWAY CLOSED WINNER TBA 

This box of goodies from Tantor Media was waiting in my mailbox this afternoon:

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Yep! That is the Cupcakes, Trinkets, and Other Deadly Magic (Dowser 1) audiobook on … wait for it … ACTUAL CD. SIX CDs to be exact. Weird, huh?

Michael is currently scrambling around trying to figure out what we own that can play CDs. He’s currently attempting to boot up an old laptop. But not being able to play them myself isn’t going to stop me from giving one away!

Do you want to win a set of Dowser 1 audiobook CDs? I’ll even pull out the front sleeve and autograph it for you if you like. 😀

To enter all you need to do is comment below and let me know:

  1. If you could listen to ANY BOOK narrated by ANY PERSON, what book and narrator would that be?

Notes/Rules: OPEN INTERNATIONALLY. Each comment will be assigned an entry number. ONE winning entry will then be selected via random number generator. One entry per person. Please make sure to fill out a valid email address in the comment form. Email addresses are not collected for any purpose other than notifying the contest winner.

If you haven’t commented on the blog before, or you comment from a different IP address, the comments are moderated. So don’t worry if you don’t see your entry right away. I will approve it, then assign it an entry number.

Contest closes SUNDAY, FEBRUARY 7, 2016 at 8 p.m. PST.

<3 <3 <3

 

Tasting: Akesson’s 75% Criollo Cocoa

Yes, Dowser series research is just so damn hard. Sigh.

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Akesson’s award-winning Madagascar Ambolikapiky Plantation, 75% Criollo Cocoa. If you follow that link it’s the second bar down on the page.

This is a brand new bar for me. YAY! I purchased it during my New Year’s Eve rush through Xoxolat. Fearing they were going to close before I could get there, I called ahead of time to say I was only blocks away. Arriving 10 minutes before closing, I flew along the shelves snatching up old favourites as well as some new bars – astonishing an employee I’d never met, though the lovely owner didn’t batt an eyelash. I – of course and always – dented my visa hard and was out the door 8 minutes later.

Tasting notes

  • My thoughts: 1st taste – silky smooth, deep cocoa. Buttery. Lingering, pleasant aftertaste. 2nd taste – subtle tartness, very buttery, the cocoa coats the tongue and mouth.
  • According to the bar: expressive cocoa aroma with a subtle fruity-sweet tartness and pleasant flavour notes that evoke citrus and red berries.

Usually my sweet spot is 65% – 70% cocoa but there was no niggling bitterness or harshness to this 75%. I’m pretty sure this bar will be making an appearance in the Dowser Series.

Happy Release Day, Dowser 1: the Audiobook

Tantor Media has just released Cupcakes, Trinkets, and Other Deadly Magic (Dowser 1) in audiobook format. Whoot! Whoot!

You’ll find the Dowser 1 audiobook here on Audible, Amazon, B&N, iTunes, and Tantor Media.

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The Dowser Series is narrated by Caitlin Davies (House of Night, Talon Saga) and published by Tantor Media.

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Caitlin Davies narrates the Dowser Series

Bio: Caitlin is a voiceover artist and audiobook narrator. She is the voice of a number of popular audiobook series including the House of Night, Penryn & the End of Days, Dragon Blood, and The Talon Saga.  She was part of the multi-cast recording of The Unfinished Life of Addison Stone which received an AudioFile Earphones Award.

 

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Audiobook release schedule

January 26, 2016 – Dowser 1
February 23, 2016 – Dowser 2
March 22, 2016 – Dowser 3
April 26, 2016 – Dowser 4
May 24, 2016 – Dowser 5

Stay tuned for a giveaway via Tantor Media coming Feb 5 – 19, 2016.

Dowser 1: a sneak ‘listen’ of the audiobook

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Tantor Media has just released a preview of the Cupcakes, Trinkets, and Other Deadly Magic (Dowser 1) audiobook. Yay! So, so fun.

Pop over here to listen to the mp3 file. Caitlin Davies is effervescent narrating Jade.

The audiobook will be released on Jan 26, 2016. The preorders for all five Dowser books are up on Audible, Amazon, B&N, and Tantor Media.

 

Day. Made.

So this was waiting in my inbox for me this morning.

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How freaking cool is that?

Here is part of the scene from Shadows, Maps, and Other Ancient Magic (Dowser 4).

The single-storey buildings and homes of Hope Town were all painted in bright colors, dominated by seashell pink. Kandy cut up between buildings toward the red-and-white-striped lighthouse that towered easily five storeys higher than any other building in the village. I spotted a few people dressed in bright colors, most of them shopping or hanging around a local coffee hut, but no one gave us a second glance. Kandy had outfitted us perfectly for what was obviously a tourist destination. The sparse population of three hundred — according to Kandy’s brochures — appeared to be a mix of Caucasian and people of African ancestry, but the village didn’t feel desolate. More like everyone was elsewhere — perhaps the cluster of taller buildings on the edge of town that the golf cart was zooming toward. A hotel, maybe.

My stomach grumbled, but I ignored it.

The lighthouse was before us. A pink rope hung across the entrance, which I took to mean it was normally open to the public. Just beyond and down a slight hill, the ocean lapped against a grassy shore. Tiny seaside houses on that shore had boats tied to individual wharves. The low buildings surrounding the lighthouse were painted pink with white-trimmed windows and balconies, which was an odd contrast to the thick red-and-white stripes of the lighthouse tower. We’d left the pine forest behind us. A few palm trees were mixed with the low buildings, but nothing as dense as where we’d come through.

Population of 300!! [wiki link]

What are the freaking odds? Yes, I’m totally jazzed!!

Thanks for making my morning, Jade Mackey! Oh, and I <3 your first name!! 😉

There is always that moment …

Yes, that moment. The breath that can turn into hours or days or weeks if  I’m not careful. The pause before I seriously lay my pen to the page or my fingers to the keyboard.

The whispers that weave through my mind.

What if I can’t do it again? What if I mess it all up? What if I can’t get what is in my head onto the paper? What if I’m done? What if I’m tapped out? What if the first ten books were a fluke? What if … what if … what if …

I could drown in that moment. No, freeze is the better word. I could be frozen in that pause with all this burbling story trapped in my mind.

But I’m not.

Or so I remind myself every time the thought occurs to me.

‘That moment’ is exactly what Post-its were invented for.

I am the Dowser

This is the view out my office window this morning. This is my defence against the what ifs. The key to keep me moving through that moment … that pause …

So … yep. I’m writing.

I’m writing Dowser 6 to be specific.

#iamthedowser