Oops, I'm late!!! Spring bargains and Sneak Peak at Fourth Earth for you!

May 04, 2021 6:50 pm

Crazy COVID Confessions

do you ever feel like you're chasing your tail? I have several canine friends that love to do it. Me on the other hand... Well, let's just say sometimes I find myself caught up in the craziness of life.

It seems the past year has been filled with craziness and uncertainty. And trying to raise kids and write have been challenging. In addition, as a self-published, indie author, I have promotions and marketing to do (thank goodness for my husband, who likes that stuff). But goals and best intent seem to take a backseat to the dynamics of this ever-changing time.

I've been squeezing in my work on Fourth Earth, but it hasn't gone as quickly or consistently as I had planned. I also had planned on this newsletter going out May 2nd. Well, life happened. I just didn't feel up to getting one more thing on my list done. But, I did spend quality time with my children and husband and maybe got some much needed rest.

Do you take time for you? How do you balance getting things done and letting go for self-care? Have you found this past year different?

As a way to make up for my blunder, here is a SNEAK PEAK couple paragraphs from Fourth Earth... (Note: this is still rough draft and may be changed or even deleted in the final work. Copyright Value Publishing LLC, 2021)

I was far too tired to vomit. Dizzy and disoriented, I lifted my arm. My magic triggered the clock-word mechanism in my thick bracelet and the curved, silver metal of my crossbow sprang into place, its steel cord drew taut. I pulled enough light from my depleted magic ocean to form a shaft of light as thick as my pinky in the groove and aimed; at nothing. My latest battlefield seemed to be a landscape of only gray blurs. A drop of blue transportation light blended into the gray mist swirling around my arm before I finally understood.

Fog. The heaviest I’d ever seen. It trembled with silence, and fear.

“Lumi?” I breathed.

The sad, continual cough of a cat hacking up a hairball drifted up from my feet. Where was everyone else? Of all the battles on Fourth Earth in the last—months? Weeks? Years? Time blurred as surely as this mist—none of those battles were quiet. Sand crunched beneath armored boots as two figures outlined by the heavy fog, hurried near me with urgent, unsure steps. Lumi sniffed the air and sneezed.

“Over here, General,” she growled quietly, then she shifted into snow leopard form.

The crunching boots corrected their direction until I made out the shrewd face of General Chattaway and the beautiful, but slightly scaled face of the siren, Coralis.

General Chattaway’s damp salt and pepper hair hung heavy in her face as she examined the nicked blade of her elemental sword. Only a faint shimmer of golden magic coated the sharpened steel.

“Enchantment’s nearly faded,” she whispered to me. “We aren’t ready for this, Arch Mage.” With grim acknowledgment she cast an experienced eye over our regiment moving like ghosts in the wet mist. “Suelta’s random jabs come too fast to get help from allied planets. Our soldiers are worn out and sick from transporting through this blasted, unnaturally thick atmosphere. Without more effective travel and local weapons and food we’re finished.” She turned to the siren. “Coralis, any ideas?”

What do you think??? By the way, Lumi is Grimmal's daughter and a fun new character I introduced in Third Earth, I hope you enjoy her as much as people have enjoyed Grimmal.

Anyway, back to Fourth Earth editing for me, here are some fun giveaways and promotions I'm involved with.

Giveaways and Sales!!

Here are some giveaways and sales that I have entered to promote my books. Just a word of caution... I have not read these and cannot vouch for content. While I try and swap with clean ya fantasy authors, there are all kinds of genres and heat levels that you'll have to decide for yourself.

C.L. Cannon does a wonderful job at putting together awesome books and giveaways. Enter for a chance to win some amazing prizes as well as find some free or discounted books.

Check these out!

Runs through June 9th

C.L. Cannon's Diverse Fantasy & Sci-Fi giveaway features books with diverse characters. Some, lesser-abled, some LGBTQ, some MC's of diverse races, some neuro-diverse.

Diverse stories here!

Runs through June 1st

C.L. Cannon has put together a wonderful grouping of indie YA Fantasy authors. Find your next up-and-coming author with amazing magic, worlds, characters and gripping stories!

New books and authors!

Alina Luxera wants to become a full-fledged witch, hoping her spells will one day be included in The Enclave of Magic’s Book of Shadows taught at all covens.

When the Sword of Varen is stolen, her world is exposed to humans and magical forces they were warded against since witches were last hunted centuries ago.

The peaceful safe-haven witches created among giants, trolls, and magical creatures is threatened.

Alongside her mimic dragon, Zuro, Alina joins her covenstead’s witches on a mission to restore their world and hopefully become a full-fledged witch.

Is she prepared to meet the forces that lurk behind the impending Prophecy?

The Sword of Varen is a fun YA fantasy adventure suitable for all ages. Fans of Sarah Noffke's Beaufont series should enjoy it.

.99c or Free on KU!

Something ancient, before the time of Wolf and Tiger, has awoken in the infinite abyss of space.

Five planets, and their entire species, are dead, nothing more than dust and ruin.

Some say that the mythical Space Krakens have returned, after countless millennia in hibernation.

The Winter Tiger has offered the Tiger’s expertise to deal with the threat, with only the Wolves unable to let go of the past. Star Wolf, the Wolf leader in waiting, cannot fathom how he is the only one who can see the Winter Tiger as false.

With peace in the galaxy twenty years in its infancy, after the brutal Apex Wars between Tiger and Lion, the majority of the council are only too eager to accept the Winter Tiger’s help.

And so, Star Wolf must follow, for his sanity, and perhaps the safety of the entire galaxy. The fate of every species touched by the Universal Beacon rests in one young Wolf’s paws.

Read now for an epic fantasy set in space much like Dune, where Games of Thrones meets Captain Bucky O’Hare. Each planet houses a single species, with royal heritage, religions and unique customs.

Dive into Star Wolf, book 1 of the Songs of Star & Winter series to be transported to a wild, savage and fast-paced space opera fantasy full of intrigue, mystery and betrayal.

.99c or Free on KU!

Alecia stumbles into a murder investigation during one of her deliveries and now she has to help the FBI solve the case.

Pre-order here!

Strange creatures near Will's house. A mysterious sword in Morgan's attic. An unlikely group of friends begins an epic adventure in a magical realm where an Iron Dragon plots to rule the world.

If you enjoy escaping to magical worlds, swashbuckling action, and homespun heroes, you're in for an exciting adventure with Book One of this epic tale.

Free download!