One of my favorite parts of fantasy is the strange and magical creatures that live in fantasy worlds. In my novel River in the Sand, the desert is inhabited by venomous, carnivorous lizards. Watch out!
Crazy Creatures
Poisoned Splinter Finalist for Book Award
I’m super excited this week because I just found out that Poisoned Splinter is a finalist in the FAPA President’s Book Awards 2025. I have to wait until the first week of August to get the final details, but it’s an honor to be part of this!
In this books, an evil sorcerer uses the life energy of innocent people to fuel his magic. Prince Samanath of Ischar and his new bride, Dia fight against his dark powers.
He casts an enchantment to destroy Samanath’s sanity and banishes them to the jungle. Dia fights to survive as her husband quickly becomes more dangerous than anything else in the wild jungle.
Check out this book! You can buy it directly from the author at a discount, https://buy.stripe.com/8wMdS815i3XZ3Uk4gg or you can get it from Amazon!
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I love new stories!
You like to read too, so I’m guessing you understand how much I love being totally involved in a story. A feeling so good, you have withdrawal at the end of it. The only cure is… more story. I have been craving writing some new stories. I’d really like a couple of excellent shorter stories to lead into my longer works. Sounds fun and easy, right? Short stories have to carry a lot of weight. There are a few important criteria:
- They must be good on their own!! Who would be drawn into a longer work, if the short story isn’t good?
- They must relate to a longer book, without SPOILERS!
- They need to fit a whole plot into a small space.
- They can’t steal the thunder from a potential sequel.
- They need to be able to be read by someone who’s never read anything of mine before, so they have to include all the worldbuilding and set up.
Do you have any areas of story you wanted to know more about? I’d love your input!
The #2 Way to Die on the Freeway
I couldn’t decide which title was best for this story…
Port-a-loo, coming right at you!
Watch out! Flying port-a-potty!
The Loo that Flew…
A port-a-potty accident!
Apparently, a couple of days ago one of our aunties was driving down I-15. She moved in behind a truck hauling a trailer full of port-a-potties. Suddenly, one of the straps broke, and the last potty in line flew! She braked and swerved but “It was HOT on me!” It went right into her car.
I’m happy to report that she wasn’t hurt, and I know you’re all dying to know if the potty was empty? (Yes, thank goodness!)
Though the trailer was fully loaded, only one potty made the plunge. We are so grateful she is OK! Who wants to go that way?? We’re all worried when we see a port-a-potty about someone having an accident. Well, she did. An automotive accident.
New Release 6-20-24
I am so excited to announce the release of River in the Sand, Seven Rivers Book Two.
A murdered king. A cursed princess…
Hiding in a remote corner of the desert, Kyjia guards a precious tablet of gold granting the right to rule the kingdom of Tyar. Her enemies will stop at nothing to possess it and claim the throne. When her father is murdered, she realizes they will come after her next.
On a quest to protect Kyjia, Allenthal travels deep into the desert. He comes to the aid of her father as he falls victim to a deadly ambush. Too late to save him, Allenthal accepts his dying request to help his family. But instead of gratitude, Kyjia believes Allenthal murdered her father, and he finds himself condemned to die for the very crime he tried to prevent.
Kyjia flees from her enemies, taking refuge in an enormous network of caverns. Day by day, their hunt grows closer. Finally, she is cornered and they cast a deadly curse on her, offering her the cure in exchange for revealing the location of the tablet. When Kyjia refuses, they leave her injured, blind and alone.
Re-release of War’s Ending
As an author, everyone always tells you that you must complete your work, send it out into the world, and move on. There are very good reasons for this! If you never do this one step, you can never go on and write more books. This advice is not wrong!
However, I broke the rule for a couple of reasons. My first book, War’s Ending came out in 2019. My first book! But the writing in it needed just a little touch up! I have always loved the story. I love the culture of horsemen who refuse to show their faces to outsiders, I love the tenacious heroine. Together the two of them attempt to stop a war.
I have had a sequel living in my files for at least four years, and I wanted the writing quality in the first book to match up to the new one. That makes sense, doesn’t it? Plus there were a couple of writing mistakes in the first book that were… (how can I say this nicely)? Embarrassing. So here is the brand new, Second Edition of War’s Ending! Learn more here…
Interconnected Stories…
I am just about to send Seven Rivers Book Two back to the editor. She made great suggestions to strengthen the story as well as position myself well for a third book. Cause hey, why shouldn’t we right another one? This could be a trilogy or even a series of seven. Doesn’t that make sense for the Seven Rivers? My goal is to write a collection of separate but interconnected stories, that way it can be a series, but still give readers satisfaction as they read each one. I don’t know about you, but unsatisfying endings make me angry!!!
I’m going to be wrapping up the launch sale on The Ring Keeper very soon, so if you need something to read this week, get it now. Here is a snippet from the beginning.
From The Ring Keeper -Chapter One
The Shekkar cut across the distance, heading straight for them them, gaining fast. Ana could hear the demons clearly now, and their horrible voices sounded triumphant. They were about to claim their prize. She stopped on the brink of the cliff, frozen, the yawning space open below her. Zarek had placed himself between Ana and the Shekkar, his sword in one hand and his dagger in the other. But there were too many enemies to fight, and they charged toward him, black claws outstretched. The foremost of the creatures struck at him. He blocked the blow with his sword, but poisonous claws seized the weapon, twisting it out of his grip. A flash of moonlight lit the sword blade as it spun away, landing behind the demon. Zarek sheathed his knife and darted straight toward Ana. As his shoulder slammed into her, his arm seized her waist, and his momentum propelled them out into the black abyss. Ana screamed as they fell.
What’s in a book cover?
If you ask anyone who’s talked to me in the last several months, they’ll tell you I love to talk about book covers! Probably waaaay too much. I can’t completely explain why I am so fascinated. I just love exploring the creation process, and figuring out how people feel when they look at an image. What subconscious messages are we receiving from a cover without even knowing it?
A book cover is one of its most important assets. It tells everyone what kind of book it is, and invites them to explore the story. I LOVE a really great book cover. Truly, I love a really, really bad one too, but for different reasons. I have a secret file of extremely bad ones, (but it wouldn’t be nice to post those). Here is a snapshot of the progression of the cover for Forgotten Rebellion.
I wanted to create a compelling image that would give browsers an idea that they’d be reading an adventure, and that Tahlea is very brave. If you haven’t seen the book trailer yet, check it out! And if you haven’t read the book. Now is a good time!
How do you feel about really large spiders?
One time when I was a kid, a spider fell out of the light fixture above me and landed right in my lap. It was so BIG it made a noticeable sound as it landed. I made a sound too. Please enjoy the mental picture of me screaming and dancing around like a crazy person. My brother sure did!
I’m sure that experience had nothing to do with adding spiders into The Ring Keeper! So please enjoy a snippet of the spider from The Ring Keeper Chapter 16…
Out of the corner of her eye, Allia spotted motion. Her head whipped around in time to see something scuttle out of sight between the boxes. Callonen had seen it too. “Let’s get out of here.” Allia dashed toward the door. But a dark brown spider blocked her path. It was at least as big as the one in the container, only this one roamed free. It raised its front legs, displaying black fangs, and skittered a few steps toward her.
Allia stood frozen, her teeth clenched, staring at the spider. Callonen stepped protectively in front of her. When the spider came nearer, he took a swing at it with the pry bar. It retreated out of reach.
They paused, watching it warily. It rushed at them. Callonen waited until it nearly reached his boots, then struck it squarely with the metal bar. It twitched and struggled, but he kept it pinned to the door until it finally stopped moving, and its knobby legs curled up under its body.
Allia clamped her jaws firmly shut to keep from screaming. Her eyes searched every corner of the room. Were there more? When Callonen offered his hand, she clutched it. They edged past the dead spider to run for the door.
If you haven’t had a chance to read The Ring Keeper yet, now is the time! Click here to buy from my Shopify Store!
New Cover for The Ring Keeper
I’m so excited to re-launch The Ring Keeper with a brand-new cover, new interior design, and a few edits to the text! If you haven’t read it yet, now’s the time! You can buy it from my store here, or from Amazon, or you can check out The Ring Keeper Landing Page. Enjoy!!