Today was mostly a recovery day after the insanity that was yesterday.
Yesterday, I did my day job, had a meeting in the afternoon, was accosted by salesguys, and finally watched a presentation on climate change and fake news by one of the most eminent climate scientists in Germany, Mojib Lativ. That was utterly fascinating.
Writer Brain then proceeded to make my life hell with worst-case scenarios about the sales thing, keeping me awake for a large part of the night. I made phone calls this morning and got it sorted.
Tiny bit of editing done for the spicy shifters. I’m still really liking the story, but next is a bed scene, and right now I just can’t… Maybe I’ll just leave the reminder there for now.
But! I can share the three covers for the Vampire series that I’m currently (not) writing. They are so awesome, they motivate me.
Cover designer hasn’t finished the cover yet, which is fine. But it also means no cover reveal. I do hope I can get all of it done tomorrow, but it will be a close thing.
You see, my sister comes over for the weekend, arriving around noon tomorrow, and while she knows I might have to take time out of the visit for my book, she also has PLANS.
I’m writing a little for Penumbra. Still need a good title for that little prequel (and all the others that might follow).
“Winston. We have at least one Shade in this town, and we really must stop it. We need better leads. I’m sure it has already killed, and I know it’ll kill again.”
“Well, why don’t you go and explain all this to the good detective? I’m sure he’ll hurry up just for you.” Yes, Winston was good at sarcasm. He had plenty of time to perfect it.
“You know we can’t do that.” Melody whirled and stalked away, unable to face that man any longer. Unfortunately, she needed him. Nobody was better than Winston at digging up lost information.
Not a lot of writing - I do need to think about the next chapter of the Penumbra Prequel. There is a side character I need to develop more. (And knowing me, that side char might well become a main char in a sequel.)
On the other hand, I did edit (clean up) about half of the Wolf story. Added footnotes for the German sentences and marked them as German (I hope that will help with the audiobook).
Nothing new from the cover designer yet. I hope I can do a cover reveal tomorrow or Wednesday. Still planning to release on Thursday, but Friday would also be just fine.
So no snippet today, sorry. But help me find a good place to share my Penumbra work… would appreciate pointers.
I ended up writing about 500 words for a prequel for a new vampire series Writer Brain keeps pushing at me. I hope I can keep it to a short novella. Title is “Penumbra”. Yes, it makes sense.
I read a comfort book or two, played Spider Solitaire, cooked food (need to improve my sauce-fu) and kind of lost myself.
Let me share the beginning of “Penumbra”. (My character kept surprising me, such fun!):
It was raining.
Of course, it was raining. This was bloody New York, after all, and at this time of the year, it was just as likely to snow as it was to rain.
Leander flipped up the collar of his coat for a little more protection before stepping out from under the eaves and onto the sidewalk. He walked fast, with the stride of a man who knew exactly where he was going and why.
In truth, he was just trying to put distance between himself and the body. Discovering it had been a little shock, but he’d grabbed what he had been sent to find and hurried to get away, leaving no trace of his presence.
Leander kept walking, keeping his stride, slipping out of the neighborhood, making sure to shake any tail, ignoring the rain. Something had not been right, something was bothering him, and it wasn’t the body.
It certainly wasn’t the first one he had seen, and more than likely also wasn’t the last. At least this time, there hadn’t been much blood. It was always easier without the blood. Something about that always made his stomach queasy. Not that he would admit that to anyone. He was a damn P.I., and he was good at what he did. Nobody needed to know about his reaction to blood.
Didn’t write today, but I survived the office day, an unexpected change of plans, had a loooong and very good phone call with an old friend and former colleague and found an awesome new review for West Flows on Amazon DE.
In addition, I got a preview of the cover for A Wolf’s Christmas and it’s already looking amazing. It needs a tweak or two, and then it’ll be brilliant. I’ll probably show it off in a couple of days.
I have most of the Christmas presents sorted. Yes, there will be two ugly Christmas Sweaters. I just had to… chocolate, maple syrup, and possibly a book (still have to figure out which one).
Even so, let me hear your brilliant ideas about more presents!
(Oh, and I just got my nephew to send me pics of Frankfurt Airport so I can get the Christmas deco right. That will make the editing so much more fun!)
Day 15 of NaNoWriMo, and I wrote 2k words. That actually feels good, and they flowed well.
I’m at a very tense moment in the story - Fred believes that Mark is most likely dead. (I will relieve that tension soon enough, and then they’ll move into rescue and finally showdown mode.)
I’m also almost ready to commission the cover. Looked up the designer, and she’s still there and taking orders. Unfortunately, I need to write a description for the book to go on the back cover. At least I know what I want on the front.
And don’t laugh, but I also need to decide how Fred and Mark actually look. I have a sense of them, but no visual. Fred has German ancestors, so brunette and “normal”, but I might give Mark some PoC ancestors for a change. I don’t think he’s Black, I never got that vibe, but at least something. I’ll tell the designer, and she’ll do something great with it.
Have some Fred. (Alex is in Wolf shape.)
These goons had killed Mark. I had to face that brutal fact, because Luka had admitted that those were their orders.
The rage I felt at that thought was frightening. Right now, I was ready to tear out their throats with my bare hands. If they had killed Mark, they did not deserve to live. And I would find Frank next and do the same to him.
I heard a car pull into the yard and hissed. I also heard Alex’s nails click on the floor as he jumped to his feet.
“Sit,” Luka whispered, and I hid a laugh.
Alex would definitely not listen to his former friend.
Car doors slammed, shoes crunched on wet gravel.
Someone laughed, and the fury inside me burned even stronger.
Day 13 of NaNoWriMo (yes, I’m posting this a tad late, because that day was… intense) and I wrote 1800 words. After writing a 1k blog post and setting up my newsletter. Yeah, that was… intense.
But I finally got mean and hurt Mark, and yes, that scene will probably need some more work to have more impact. I just didn’t feel especially cruel…
Have some… Mark snark.
“This is the end of the road for you,” [spoiler] said, wild satisfaction in his voice. Yes, that man was on a power trip.
I didn’t bother answering him. As long as I wasn’t dead, I’d keep fighting. Right now, that meant staying conscious.
Luka returned with two men in his wake. Yes, those were the owners of the body and beer odors. Another classic mistake of a wannabe drug lord, hiring stupid people. I was beginning to hope for an escape, if I could get my body to cooperate.
Day 12 of NaNoWriMo, and I failed. Wrote 60 words. You can read them all below.
Not sure what happened, to be honest. Just couldn’t wrap my mind around hurting Mark, although that usually isn’t a problem. I hope I feel sufficiently brutal tomorrow. (But tomorrow is also Newsletter Day, and I’ll see how much writing I have in me.)
Have Mark. Watch him make a colossal mistake:
I quietly opened the back door and slipped out, pulling it close behind me. The big flashlight I was carrying would work as a club in an emergency.
For a moment, I wondered if I should wake Fred, call her in for backup. I shook my head at myself, she was probably fast asleep and this was most likely nothing.
Day 11 of NaNoWriMo, and I’m back on track. Wrote 2k words today.
Yes, it was hard. I’m tired - didn’t get much sleep last night, I blame Jocelyn Drake - and yesterday was a hard day, which means today should have been a recovery day. And I did take it easy for most of the day.
And then I dove into the Wolves tonight and ran with another bit for Alex (who had a really good day, after all), and ended it with Mark noticing something suspicious…
Take a look:
I did another round downstairs, just to stay awake and alert. This time, I moved the curtain of the backdoor just a little and peered outside. Something moved at the end of the garden.
For a few breaths, I stood and watched, holding completely still. The human eye, just like a wolf’s, is better at discerning movement than shapes.
Well. Maybe it had just been a bird or something. Or a rabbit. My mouth watered at the thought of a rabbit, and I knew my Wolf was riled up a little by tonight’s events.
Just as I was turning away, I caught movement again.
While I was out with my sister, enjoying an awesome day in the snow, my cover designer finalized the design, and now I’m sharing the cover with you.
I love Fred and Mark. Love how sweet they look, love the background and the fact that she incorporated one of my very own images in it (of the tower with the city gate in it).
Thank you! I love what my designer does for my Wolf covers, and it was wonderful to see they are still active after I took a 2-year break from the Wolves.
They do hit the genre - Wolf Shifters, yes, but no erotica, no spice, and no alpha. And yes, the tale has Romance, but it also has adventure and danger.
Sorry about the transfer of images from Lemmy to Mastodon, that's a bit of a pain. I do like the forum idea for more letters and a chance of discussions.
Add comment