A Momentary Retrieval (Moments of the Adept Universe 0.7)

Moments of the Adept Universe 1 is now available on all retailers! YAY! The collection includes a short story set in the Archivist series and narrated by Dusk. Aka Archivist 1.5, which some of you missed reading in my Nov 2021 newsletter.

In her illustration (below and in the eBook), Memo captured Dusk in the process of unlocking a super cool brick wall puzzle box.

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

Dusk, holding Infinity and solving puzzles as she loves (lives?) to do. Illustration by Memo.

“We can talk about it, you know,” Brady said. “Whatever is bothering you. It’s not like … I’m not reporting on you. To the pack. Or the archive.”

I glanced at him.

He smiled tightly, mostly keeping his gaze on the wet stretch of road before us. The traffic was thickening as we neared the city center. Brady had been letting his beard grow in, so it didn’t just line his jaw. Perhaps in response to the encroaching winter? “I know that’s what you think. That the pack has me keeping tabs on you, because I escort you to and from work.”

Not answering, I leaned forward to input the address in the GPS, following the prompts slowly. I’d seen Ravine do the same in her tiny car, though with a slightly different system.

I settled back in my seat, casting my gaze out the side window again. We were driving through what looked like a residential area now, with wide lots and smaller houses, and still more and more greenery.

Brady glanced my way twice more.

“I’m just still figuring things out,” I said finally.

He bobbed his head. “Talking about things, asking questions, doesn’t make you weak, you know.”

“I’m not worried about looking weak.” The exact opposite, actually. Though Brady wasn’t referring to physical or magical strength.

“Bad word choice,” he said, smirking.

Yeah, I wasn’t hiding much from the wolves. At least not Brady and Kellan. And I had a feeling Ravine had figured me out almost right away as well.

Not to say that any of them actually knew the truth about me. They just understood that I wasn’t a regular witch.

“Some new playthings will please you,” Brady said.

“Artifacts and books aren’t playthings,” I retorted. But then I broke into a grin. “But maybe something hidden among the witch’s things will try to kill us. That’s always fun.”

The werewolf enforcer chuckled, a gleefully wicked sound.

At least we had that in common.

No lying necessary.

– Excerpt from A Momentary Retrieval (Archivist 1.5)

Archivist 1: update and excerpt

I just finished my first full pass on the story editor’s notes for Invoking Infinity (Archivist 1). Next, I’ll do another complete pass, smoothing the prose and making certain I haven’t inserted anything strange (i.e. continuity errors, etc) while working through the editor’s suggested changes/additions.

The book is now 104k. That’s long. I prefer to stay under 95k myself. But, the editor hasn’t recommended any cuts. Yet.

To celebrate getting through the last two weeks (which have been seriously, seriously rough for me headache-wise) I thought I’d share an excerpt from Chapter One and Dusk’s first day of work. I hope you enjoy it!

Leather-covered sketchbook (aka Infinity) created by Mille Cuirs. Ink: Caroube de Chypre by Jacques Herbin. Fountain pen: Parker Sonnet Ciselé Silver

I stepped through the door. Energy clung to me, trying to taste my magic, then slid off when it couldn’t gain purchase.

Like I’d said, it was difficult to ward against a dragon. We were magic, descended from demi-gods. Not that it couldn’t be done, but the witch who’d built the wards would have needed to have known that dragons existed in the first place. Outside of morality tales and mythology, of course.

The boundary wards yielded completely. My front foot landed on a worn rug set just inside the door to protect the oak hardwood. And the buzzing of all the magic objects on the shelves increased.

A wide grin swamped my face.

This already felt like home.

Literally. The library at my mother’s estate was filled with tiny touches of energy just like —

Something slammed into the side of my head, getting instantly tangled in my already wild hair and obscuring my eyesight. Tiny claws tried to hook into my skin, failing but then finding hold on my bottom lip. The creature latched onto my right upper canine and started nibbling and suckling.

Yes. On my tooth.

I laughed.

Still balancing the coffee and cinnamon buns in my left hand, I gently attempted to pull the creature off me. It clung with a tenacious strength that was usually only reserved for the starving.

And since going for my teeth was a bit of a clue as to what I was dealing with, this creature did have a rather specialized diet.

I managed to transfer its front claws from my lip to my forefinger, tugging it away from my teeth so I could peer at it. It assessed me with wide, dark-orbed eyes.

An imp of some sort. A wide classification for magical creatures — with or without wings — that ranged in size. Smaller than brownies but larger than pixies. This imp was the length of my forearm. Its eyes dominated its light-gray skinned face, except for the overly large mismatched teeth of its lipless mouth.

“That wasn’t nice,” I said teasingly, holding it loosely so I didn’t accidentally crush it. “You could have said hello.”

The imp narrowed its eyes at me, then it chittered discontentedly. It was unlikely it understood English, or spoke any language I could understand, but my tone should —

The imp sprung free from my grasp, attempting to launch off the coffees and Tupperware balanced in my other hand as it made its escape.

Four lattes in large paper cups and plastic lids didn’t make for a terribly stable surface.

Scrambling for footing, the imp leaped for the nearest shelf.

The lattes slammed into my chest and shoulder, lids flying off, and dumping hot coffee all over me.

Shrieking — even a dragon wasn’t completely impervious to heat — I lost hold of the cinnamon buns as well.

Hot liquid soaked into my hair and sweater, scalding the skin of my neck and collarbone, then dripping down my plaid skirt, all over my favorite brown boots, and the rug.

The imp watched me warily from the shelf at eye level to my left. It chittered quietly, disconcerted.

“Yeah, that also wasn’t nice,” I said sighing.

– from Invoking Infinity (Archivist 1), Chapter One, fourth draft

RELEASING MAY 25, 2021

PREORDER NOW AVAILABLE

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

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In other news, guess who didn’t actually hit publish on the paperback for Awakening Infinity (Archivist 0)? Ugh, me! I’m sorry. It should be available very soon.

Archivist Series: Dusk and Sisu

As I’ve mentioned before, I commissioned illustrations from Nicole Deal for each of the Archivist series novels. Of which I have three planned for 2021 release. I’m so, so pleased that I was able to convince Nicole to work with me because it has been a total blast so far.

I’ve had the first of the illustrations (as well as Nicole’s earlier sketches) open on my desktop while writing Archivist 1 and it’s been so inspiring to catch glimpses of Dusk and Sisu while shaping and refining the story/series!!

Dusk and Sisu from the Archivist Series by Meghan Ciana Doidge. Illustration by Nicole Deal.

You will find Nicole’s absolutely striking take on Dusk and Sisu tucked between Chapter 5 and Chapter 6 of Awakening Infinity (Archivist 0). It will be in full-colour in the eBook version (unless your eReader doesn’t do colour) and grayscale in the paperback.

Awakening Infinity (Archivist 0) is available for preorder on all retailers. The book releases on March 2, 2021. [SOON!!]

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Are you new to the Adept Universe? Click here for the reading order. Or click here for the Welcome! sequence.

Archivist 0: it’s vintage.

I dropped the prequel to the Archivist Series in the editor’s inbox yesterday for line and content edit, which means I’m not allowed to make any more major changes to the storyline. So there you go … my quiet ‘what happens in the moments before the series begins’ prequel novella that wasn’t supposed to be more than 30k is now a novel of 53k, and is on track for a January 2021 release.

I’ll be releasing the book – as a serialized freebie, as I did with Amplifier 0 – on my blog but I’ll also put up the preorder ahead of time for those of you who don’t want to read online. I’m actually hoping to drop the first section on January 1, 2021, but with the holidays coming up I need to check to see if I can get on Pauline’s schedule (aka the proofreader). I’ll keep you posted.

To celebrate getting the book into the editor I’m posting a sneak peek of the book cover over in the Facebook fan group. And I’ve added an excerpt below that totally highlights how Dusk’s mind works.

Scene set-up: Dusk is wearing a sweater with a patterned yoke as well.

The woman was wearing a pretty red sweater with a Fair Isle pattern on the yoke. Her light blond hair coiled into curls that barely brushed her shoulders. So unlike my own wild mane that I felt momentary … frumpy.

She caught me looking, glancing at my own outfit. “Oh, does your grandmother knit?” she asked in English.

In English!

Sigh.

“Um,” I responded slowly. My maternal grandmother, Ruth, had died before I was born, having ventured into sixteenth century China in pursuit of a bashe that — having gone insane and decided it was a dragon — was obsessed with reclaiming a pearl it claimed contained a prophecy. Since my grandmother had inadvertently released the gigantic snake from a misfiled artifact in her own archive, she’d been responsible for its release and therefore its recapture.

My grandmother’s ashes — authenticated, so my mother could claim her inheritance of the estate — were housed in an ornate urn on the mantel in the library. The pearl was safely housed in the treasure keeper’s personal collection where all the exceedingly dangerous artifacts were stored. Pulou, aka the treasure keeper, aka the guardian dragon who oversaw all the dragon archivists, had personally returned my grandmother’s remains. And the prophecy was a separate thing altogether.

That either the pearl or the prophecy even existed was knowledge that wasn’t mine to collect. Yet. But the family library yielded things to my touch it shouldn’t, including personal family journals. And my mother hadn’t caught me. Again, yet.

The woman was staring at me. Her eyes widening as my silence discomforted her.

I touched the neckline of my sweater. “It’s vintage.”

“Oh!” She smiled broadly. “Good find.”

– Awakening Infinity (Archivist 0), fourth draft

Coming January 2021

Archivist 0: the damn egg

The book cover is only a couple of tweaks away from being ready and I’m putting the finishing touches on the edit for Archivist 0 this week. But, before I spend the rest of the afternoon writing a ‘missing’ scene, I decided I was totally overdue to release an excerpt.

I mean, you know I’ll use any excuse to share.

I touched Sisu’s shoulder, worried about how long he’d been in the nexus without me, and possibly not knowing where I was, but his attention turned back to the golden egg as if it was somehow compelling him. And maybe it was. I couldn’t feel anything specific from the egg, but the press of the library’s energy was intense.

Jiaotu reached over his son’s head, plucking up the object of my brother’s obsession. He narrowed his bright blue eyes at the artifact, which was only slightly larger than a regular chicken egg, then he shrugged and handed it to Sisu.

An entire world of hurt and terror could be hidden in that shrug.

Sisu cupped the egg in both hands, grinning. Then he whispered, “Hello, there.”

And … that was way worse than a casual shrug.

Jiaotu was watching me with one eyebrow slightly raised as if he expected me to protest.

I could handle anything that came out of the damn egg. I held the guardian’s gaze, silently letting him know that.

– Awakening Infinity (Archivist 0), fourth draft.

To be released chapter by chapter in January 2021.

Archivist 0: wanton destruction

When Michael beta reads for me – usually after the third draft, before a book goes to the story editor – he mostly highlights typos and anything he feels is awkward. But he also tags favourite bits, usually with a laughing or crying emoji.

I thought you might find this excerpt as amusing as Michael apparently did.

“The fact that we can feel [her power] so acutely should remind us all that Dusk is seventy-five years away from her majority.” Jiaotu pronounced each word precisely. It was the most vivid display of emotion I’d ever heard or seen from him. And I’d placed Sisu into his arms only moments after his birth. The guardian’s only child. A child whose existence was already a rarity in a world more and more filled with environmentally destructive technology.

“So is Drake.” Suanmi tapped her long fingernails on the arm of her chair. They were filed into slightly rounded points, painted bright red. “Yet he is perfectly capable.”

“Of utterly wanton destruction,” Haoxin said gleefully. As if wanton destruction was a good thing.

– [title redacted] (Archivist 0), third draft

Archivist 0: I just recorded it all.

Dragons didn’t tremble. Dragons didn’t beg for forgiveness or break under pressure. Dragons walked through magical maelstroms, quashing demon uprisings and thwarting world invasions before stopping off for dim sum for breakfast. In Shanghai.

Well, guardian dragons did that sort of thing.

I just recorded it all.

– [title redacted] (Archivist 0), third draft