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A prince and two traitors…

I feel like it’s taking a crazy long time to get this writing project done. But, I confess, I’ve had a few health concerns that, while they didn’t STOP me from writing, have certainly limited my time, energy and brain power. The last few weeks have been much better and I’m stepping on the gas pedal now! It feels really good.

From Guardians of the Horsemen Book 2 Chapter 6

The deck remained silent until Tel heard hushed voices. Two men talking in whispers. Tel remained motionless, listening.

“They’ll send the message to the king soon,” a man said in hushed tones.

“Yes. They might have sent it already,” the other replied. “The king will go. He cares deeply about Lord Olthorin. Enough to name him his heir. Even though he had to do it. His spineless weakling of a son won’t be ruling anything.”

Hot fury rushed through Tel’s body as they referred to him that way. He wanted to confront them, to scream at them that they were wrong. But how could he? It was true. He was weak.

One of the men spoke again in a low voice. “The letter will tell the king to sail north to Talla and travel up the river to the fortress of Skarthal in Karanis and he will find Lord Olthorin there. Something will happen to the king along the way.”

Tel suddenly felt like he was choking. These people already had Olthorin, and they were planning to use him as bait to lure the king into a trap and kill him. And the queen was behind all of it. His father trusted her. He loved her. And she was only using him to gain power.

He had to tell his father the truth. Tel would find a way to make him listen. He had to.

“Who is that?” the man’s voice said.

Tel’s insides clenched. Had they spotted him? Swift footsteps approached. The tall man with the scar and one of his friends looked down at Tel in disbelief.

“Good evening,” Tel said, forcing his voice into a calm tone, and punctuating his words with a cough.

“You heard us,” the man said through gritted teeth.

“Heard what?” Tel kept his tone innocent, his expression confused.

“You heard what we said,” the tall man fixed him with a piercing stare.

“What do you mean—?” Tel began to protest.

The man crouched down to clamp a hand over Tel’s mouth, stifling any outcry, while his friend dragged Tel to his feet and shoved him against the rail. He drew a long knife and raised it. Adrenaline coursing through his body, Tel gathered all his meagre strength and twisted to one side, causing the blow aimed at his heart to fall behind his shoulder. Hot pain burned through his body as the blade struck him.

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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:

  1. They must be good on their own!! Who would be drawn into a longer work, if the short story isn’t good?
  2. They must relate to a longer book, without SPOILERS!
  3. They need to fit a whole plot into a small space.
  4. They can’t steal the thunder from a potential sequel.
  5. 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!

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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.

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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…

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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.

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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!

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How do you feel about really large spiders?

A really, really big spider!

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!

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He never took his eyes off the leader of the bandits…

Here is another piece of a scene from the middle of the book. If you haven’t guessed yet, the second book takes place in the desert. The more I work on this story, the more I enjoy it. Can’t wait to share the whole thing!

Excerpt from Seven Rivers Book Two

Kylith stared directly at the leader of the bandits. “If I fight you, man to man, will that pay your toll? Just you and I in a fair fight. No one interferes. If I win, the rest of you will allow us to pass. If you win, you can do as you like with us.”

For a moment silence fell. The bandit leader laughed. He pulled down the cloth covering his face. The moonlight revealed a brutal scar running across his cheek and nose. “Do you know who I am?”

Kylith took a step forward, holding his blade ready. “No idea.”

The bandit laughed. “I thought not. No one who knew who I am would dare to challenge me. I am Hakkir. Do you still want to fight me?”

Kylith didn’t move a muscle. “I’ve never heard of you.”

The bandit drew his own blade and advanced. His men stepped back to allow them to fight. Allenthal did the same. Hopefully Kylith knew what he was doing. For a moment all was still except for the hiss of the night wind against the sand.

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“This time you’re not getting away…”

Forgotten Rebellion Chapter 18

Princess Tahlea is injured and trying to escape the outlaws roaming the woods searching for her.

***

The man raised his weapon, smiling coldly as he approached her. “Found you. This time you’re not getting away.”

She didn’t allow any trace of fear to show as she faced the man. Her voice sounded even and sure. “If you come any closer, I’ll shoot you.”

The man stared at her and glanced down at the bow in her hands. His eyes flew to the bandage on her arm. He smirked. “I doubt it. If you could pull that bow, you’d already have done it.” Making his decision, he charged toward her. She lifted the bow and began to draw. A cry of pain escaped her lips. She released the bow string, only half-drawn, and the arrow flew harmlessly into the dirt between them.

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A quick scene from my new book…

I’m guessing you’re as excited as I am, so here is a quick scene from the sequel to Forgotten Rebellion! Let me know what you think!

***

“Where have you hidden the tablet?”

Kyjia’s eyes darted between the two men and her fingers tightened into fists. She didn’t answer.

“Our people need you,” Zhandar pleaded. “They need your leadership and guidance. That tablet is a symbol of our connection with deity. We need it, and we need you with us. Please, Kyjia. You must see that it’s the right thing to do!” He took another step toward her.

She remained against the wall, refusing to come any nearer. “My family is sworn to protect the tablet. I cannot give its power into your hands. I won’t.”

“You will,” Jaro hissed. “You must. Don’t try to fight against us. I promise you’ll regret it.”

She darted toward the opening, moving suddenly to bolt between the men guarding the exit. But there were too many of them and they closed in. She jerked to a stop as one seized her cloak. Hands tightened around her arms, holding her immobile. She drove her elbow into the man’s gut and her boot down onto his foot, twisting out of his grip. She ran, but three more of them blocked the door.