For those who celebrate, I hope you have a Merry Christmas! Please take care if you’re traveling. I also want to remind everyone that the Sensor series holiday short story I mentioned in my last post is up over at Nocturnal Book Reviews. This is an all-new story you haven’t read before featuring Kerbasi, Kariann and a new character . Check it out and leave a comment on the post for your chance to win a blue Kindle Fire HD 8, tote bag, and other goodies. You’ve got until December 30th to enter.
I know many of you are waiting anxiously with news on Darkness Wanes. It’s progressing, though not as fast as I’d like. I’m working on revisions for the early chapters now and once I have them finished I’ll move back to writing the remaining chapters of the book. The holidays have slowed me down a bit, as well as the medical issue mentioned in my last post. No definitive news on that yet, but a new doctor I’m seeing is recommending some testing I haven’t had done. She thinks I might have endometriosis and recommended laparoscopic surgery to check. It could be what is causing my problem, but it’s a rather invasive procedure for something I might not have. For now, I’m looking at alternatives and waiting until after the holidays before deciding what step to take next.
Now for some good news! A while back, Kara-Karina over at Nocturnal Book Reviews asked me to write a short Christmas story for the Sensor Series. She asked that it especially feature Kerbasi. This was tricky because I knew it would have to be set after Darkness Wanes on the series timeline. With the delays on the book, I didn’t want to reveal any major spoilers. I eventually settled on telling the story from an all-new character’s point of view (a human woman). It involves her meeting Kerbasi during a blizzard in Fairbanks on Christmas Eve. They don’t hit it off too well at first, but their situation sort of forces them together. You’ll have to read it to find out what else happens.
This story doesn’t conflict with Darkness Wanes in any way. The only spoilers you might see are the fact Kerbasi is still around and the world is still dealing with supernaturals being out in the open. Nothing earth-shattering. I meant for it to only be about 2500 words, but it grew to about 5000 words after revisions/edits. The title of the story is “An Unexpected Gift” and will go live on Nocturnal Book Reviews early morning on Christmas Eve. Those who stop by and comment will be entered into a drawing with the chance to win a Kindle Fire HD 8 and some other book promo items. I hope this helps make up for the book delays and that you enjoy the story. I will post a reminder here and on other social media so you don’t forget to check it out. A winner for the drawing will not be selected until December 30th. If you can’t get to it right away, you still have a few days after Christmas to make it.
I’m also participating in a Facebook holiday event with 20 other urban fantasy authors. A lot of amazing prizes are being given away each day. Some of you have already joined in, but for anyone else who is interested this is the link: https://www.facebook.com/events/1479007045739422/
My date for giving out prizes is December 19th, along with Donna Augustine and Hailey Edwards. I’ll be running several giveaways and leave them up most of the day so that regardless of your timezone you should have a chance to enter. The banners with the list of prizes are below. Special thanks to Sarah L. for getting her husband to design them for me (and on short notice!). They turned out great.
Other authors have already started their giveaways and more will continue all the way to the 20th. You should definitely join in the fun!
I’ll continue to keep you all updated about Darkness Wanes. In the meantime, I hope everyone’s holidays are going well!
This is one of those posts I put off writing because I know it’s going to upset people. Those of you who have followed me for a while know I don’t get into my personal life much on my blog because I generally feel that should be kept separate from my professional one. Every once in a while, though, it affects my writing. I feel it’s only fair you all get some explanation as to the reason why you might have to wait longer on a book. Now is one of those times.
My husband and I have been married for over eight years. We have yet to conceive despite doing nothing to prevent it. I wasn’t terribly worried about it in the early years of our marriage because it gave us time with each other to build our lives. Once I started writing, I wanted to focus on that for a while and get a few books out before adding a baby to my daily routine. Still, I didn’t do anything to keep from getting pregnant either. This past summer I turned thirty-five. My husband and I both agreed we couldn’t ignore the issue any longer and that we were more than ready for children. Clearly, we needed to take further steps to make that happen.
A couple of months ago we went to see a specialist. Neither of us have anything in our history that stands out as an obvious cause for infertility. Other than my chronic migraines and my husband having COPD (which he has under control through meds) we don’t have any major health problems. I’m not going to get into the fine details since not everyone wants to read that, but suffice it to say we are healthy enough that conception shouldn’t be a problem. Since that first doctor visit we have been undergoing a number of tests which have all come back normal. I am told that fifteen percent of cases have no identifiable reason for why there is a problem. We appear to be falling under that category.
We have reached the point now where they are referring me to another specialist to start treatments that should “help” things along. I am both excited and nervous about this. The success rate isn’t very high, but when it does happen it could result in multiple births. It’s a risky move. Yet I’m running out of time and don’t have a lot of other options. If this is the only choice I have, then that’s what I’m going to do.
Through all of this, there’s been a part of me that feels like a failure. It should be such a simple thing to get pregnant. Millions of women do it every year with no problem at all, but I’ve never managed to do it once. A lot of stupid things go through your mind when you face this sort of dilemma. Am I just not good enough to be a parent? Did I do something in my past and now karma is coming back to bite me? Is it simply my fate to never experience giving birth to my own child? Yes, there are other options if things don’t work out, but I really want a chance for my husband and I to have a child together.
For the past couple of months these thoughts have been going through my mind. With every visit to various doctors I’ve grown more frustrated. None of them are very reassuring and their answers to my questions are often vague or unhelpful. It’s been rather depressing and has affected other parts of my life. While I’ve managed to finish writing most of Darkness Wanes, it’s not finished. I hate to even admit that out loud. The final chapters are completely plotted out in detail (that was easy because I’ve known how I wanted to the series to end for a long time), but getting those last chapters written has been difficult. I’m pecking away at it now and finding my “zone” again. It’s just been a matter of finding a way to push my personal problems aside. Once they’re done, I’ll go through revisions next and get chapters out to beta readers. For those of you who have beta read before, expect an email from me soon asking if you’re up for it again.
I can’t give a definite date for when Darkness Wanes will be published. There are no more doctor’s appointments for the next few weeks as I wait for a referral to go through so at least I won’t have that to distract me. I’m going to use this time to buckle down and get the novel done. My hope is to get it finished by early December, but we’ll have to see how it goes. I don’t want to make any more promises I may not be able to keep.
I know this is going to upset some people. You’ve been waiting for this book for a long time now and I hate that I let my personal problems get in the way. I have some of the most awesome readers an author can ask for and you all deserve better than that. Please just be patient with me as I work to get it done. That’s all I can ask.
If it helps, here’s the cover for Darkness Wanes. Usually I do a big reveal post, but I’m just going to let you all see it now.
Today marks the beginning of a 13-day urban fantasy Halloween giveaway with many authors you may recognize participating (see banner below). Some of you have probably already heard about it on Facebook, but I wanted to spread the word here in case you missed it.
Each day authors will be giving away prizes including signed paperbacks, ebooks, tote bags, Amazon gift cards, and some other great items. October 25th is my day and I’ve got several awesome prizes lined up including books and pewter dragon statues. There is also a grand prize where participants could win one of three Kindle Fires, but you’ve got to comment on special daily posts to enter.
For those interested, here’s the link to join the event: https://www.facebook.com/events/106856986337823/
I hope to see you all there!
For today (October 13th) only, Stalked by Flames is a Kindle Daily Deal on Amazon U.S. You can pick up your copy for just $1.99. It has been whispersynced so that if you get the ebook you can also choose to get the audio version for only $2.99 (combined price for both formats is $4.98). This is a great deal and one that won’t come up again for a long time.
This is the purchase link. Hope everyone has a great Tuesday!