Guess who's writing her weekly newsletter literally an hour before it's supposed to go out to her readers?

Yep. C.L. Carhart, indie author & procrastinator extraordinaire. -facepalm-

I've decided it's time for some public accountability for me. And maybe a couple sunrise pix and another snippet from Gift of Darkness along the way. Read on to find out how I hope to get myself on the proverbial "horse" and stay there!

Procrastination Is My Bane

So a bit of background into one of my biggest faults (among many). I've struggled against—and far more often, succumbed to—the alluring call of procrastination for as long as I can remember. Need to clean the house? Wait until an hour before I'm having company. Need to write a 10-page research paper for grad school? Ahhhh, don't do that until 2 a.m. on the due date. 🙃

The problem I come across whenever I try to correct this fault is that I still get things done on time. Despite procrastinating & then throwing something sloppy together at the last second, I've only rarely caught flack because of it.

Remember how I planned to publish the HNWA Giant Box Set on March 10th (which was my 2 year author anniversary)? Well, remember how I suddenly discovered it's actually complicated to put together an online bookshop, so I had to delay the release until March 20th?

And now I'm staring down the publication date for Gift of Darkness (May 10th, and no, that's not going to change), with 10 chapters left to write. 😰

Yikes. I obviously need help.

So it's time for YOU, my readers, to hold me accountable.

C.L. Carhart's Quarterly Goals

I got this idea from indie author & YouTuber, Jenna Moreci—though I've also run across it in Traction, a business book I recently read. In order to hold myself accountable and lasso procrastination before it takes charge of me, I'm going to focus on achieving 15 quarterly goals every 3 months.

Each goal will fit into the category of writing, business/marketing, or personal. The hope is to reach every single one of them every 3 months. But since we all know life sometimes gets in the way, if I complete more than half each time (8 out of 15), then I've conquered the quarter. 💪

And don't worry, not all of my goals will be simple. Can't go easy on myself.

So what's on the docket for C.L. Carhart to accomplish in the second quarter of 2023, or by the end of June? Glad you asked!

• write, edit, and publish Gift of Darkness
• write, edit, and publish a secret Elemental Bloodlines novella
• write, edit, and publish a Gift of Darkness bonus novella
• expand the Winter Flame novella to 10 chapters
• write 10 chapters of Elemental Bloodlines Book 4
• set up paperbacks for sale on my online bookshop
• set up email flows in my bookshop's newsletter
• update links in my backlist books
• publish the Veiled Magic novella on the retailers
• apply for BookBub Featured Deals
• complete business-related online course
• plan & take a vacation
• visit 5 waterfalls (already got 1 done!)
• walk the neighborhood 3x per week
• plant & tend herbs & veggies

What do you think? Will I be able to accomplish at least 8 of the goals listed above? Which ones are you most excited about? Let me know in a reply! 💖

Gift of Darkness Snippet

In today's snippet, we catch up with Amira as she's working the bar at Kramhof. Her adopted sister and beloved, Doro, just told her if they can't find an everyday Teuton priest willing to do the blood-transfer ritual on their behalf, then they ought to ask a Black Priest instead. Amira's not so sure about that idea.

“I think we’re going to have to take a trip to the Black Castle.”

Horror surged into me and I shushed my fiancée, scanning the faces of those gathered at the bar. Were any of them Teutons? Had any heard her?

One of the regulars flagged Rolf for a refill, while most of the others seemed engrossed in conversation or in the TV screens behind me. Some sort of soccer match was in process; I had not bothered to notice which teams played. I breathed out a sigh as I shut off the tap, shooting Doro a look before averting my attention to the young couple whose mugs I held. They came every Friday evening for dinner and drinks, and they lived on the other side of Wildertal near the chapel. A farmer and a ski instructor.

“I’m serious!” Doro called after me as I moved away from the bar.

“Later!” I tossed over my shoulder, hoping she would take the hint and head home. Rolf, Jasmin, and I were closing tonight. If Doro stayed that long, I might have to carry her to the car. Only one gin and tonic, and she had already proposed something that could bring trouble down on us, if the wrong person overheard.

Though I had no Teuton blood myself, I had lived among them since the Kimmig family adopted me at age six. And I knew going to the Black Castle was not an appropriate topic for public discussion. Maybe Doro brought that up to distract me from my question about semen. We had to get some somewhere, if I was to live out my dream of raising magical children together with her. It would be awkward to ask any of the local guys for something like that.

I felt myself blushing as I returned to the bar, my gaze passing over Rolf on the way. He had been single for a few months now, having decided to take a break from dating after his most recent girlfriend dumped him. Would he be willing to let me mother one of his children, once Doro and I found a priest to blend her blood with mine? Or would that ruin our casual friendship?

My fiancée had corralled Jasmin into a conversation, probably to gripe about her uncle’s potential homophobia. I loaded several empty glasses into the dishwasher, one ear tuned to what Doro and my coworker were saying. “Part of me thinks there’s something else going on, since nobody wants to take a chance on you two. Didn’t you ask any of the priests in Innsbruck?”

Jasmin sounded sympathetic, and my fiancée harrumphed. “I asked one guy when I was at school there, and he squealed on me to his grandfather, one of the priests on Innsbruck’s council. After that, none of the priests in the city would look my way. Either they can’t stand the thought of two witches building a life free from priestly oversight, or—”

“Maybe it’s something to do with your birth mom.” I came to Jasmin’s side as she broached an unexpected issue, her dark braid sliding over her left shoulder when she bent down to retrieve a cleaning rag.

Doro ogled my coworker, her lips parted in astonishment. “What?” She ran a hand through her short black hair, brushing it away from her face.

“Just thinking out loud,” Jasmin said as she mixed a cocktail, meeting my gaze before shifting her focus back to Doro. “But if nobody in Austria’s willing to do the blood-transfer for you two, maybe you should try Germany.”

I served several of the guests at the bar before wandering back to where my fiancée lingered at the corner, her chin propped up on one hand while she eyed the soccer match with disinterest. “She might have a point. You could always ask around on the forum, see if any priests in Germany would help us,” I suggested, drifting to the cash register to print bills for two of my tables.

“A Black Priest shouldn’t care about my birth mom or our preferences,” Doro murmured as I came around the bar, trailing my path to a table near the exit. “We just have to figure out what to offer as a fair trade.”

My sister departed before I could respond, and I spent the rest of the shift wondering how far along the dark path she dared to go. Sure, the blood-transfer depended upon a demon’s whims, which was why the ritual tended to be deadly for one of the two persons involved. But I could never seize the magic I had desired for most of my life in any other way. It was a chance I was willing to take, since Doro considered it an honor to offer her blood to me.

But now my fiancée spoke as if she would bargain with a Black Priest this very night, in an effort to grant me the gifts I longed to claim. While I knew as much about Teuton history, culture, and magic as any of the elemental witches in town, Black Priests were a taboo subject. All I knew about them was what Der Weg Teutonisch—the ancient Teutonic encyclopedia—revealed.

Males who had committed an unpardonable sin, exiled from the community using the filial curse. Sinister specters who inhabited the Black Castle, a stone fortress in the mountains along the Austrian-German border. Servants of Wuotan himself. Mages who fashioned dark spells shunned by the righteous.

Did Doro really believe we should ask someone like that to perform the blood-transfer upon us? What would a Black Priest demand in return? Would we have to relinquish our souls to a demon in the process?

The dinner customers trickled out as evening progressed, the storm outside still showering Wildertal with late spring rain. Just after the kitchen closed at eight p.m., I cornered Rolf at the same place Doro had dropped her bomb about the Black Castle. Glancing at the patrons lining the bar to ensure none of them paid attention to us, I gestured him to my level as he wiped a mug.

“How much do you know about Black Priests?” I asked in a low voice, hoping none of the people nearby were enhancing their senses with Teutonic magic. This was not the time to be overheard and misjudged.

Rolf’s eyebrows crimped in evident surprise, and he edged closer to me so our elbows nearly touched. “Cursed Teuton priests who lurk in the Black Castle?”

“I know that. But like, how dangerous are they? Is it true that they sacrifice people to Wuotan?” Just talking about such entities prompted shivers to run along my entire body. Thank goodness Rolf’s elemental energy radiated warmth.

“Outsiders.” My stomach plunged into my toes at Rolf’s clarification. He set one mug down and started on another, his hazel eyes passing over each person in the room as he went on. “I’ve heard they sacrifice outsiders to Wuotan, because the demon lord doesn’t accept Teuton blood as an offering. But they’re dangerous to Teutons, too, because if they get angry, they’ll kill anyone and anything in a five hundred meter radius.”

“A five hundred meter radius?” I squeaked, my jaw practically hitting the bar. “Even animals?”

“Even insects, they say. That’s why you don’t typically see Black Priests out in public. They keep to themselves to avoid causing mass destruction.”

My heart thudded against my chest as Rolf stacked the mugs he had cleaned onto a shelf beneath the bar, his body language as casual as always. Of course it did not disturb him to chat about Black Priests. The love of his life had not proposed a visit to their ominous lair.

“Did I hear you gossiping about Black Priests with an outsider?” Maja appeared abruptly behind us, her nose wrinkled in disdain as she scowled at her younger brother. “You should know better than that!”

“It’s not against the law to talk about them,” Rolf countered, gesturing for me to serve a pair of regulars at the far end of the bar. Ready to defend us both, as usual. I rolled my eyes internally while I poured another pair of beers, the siblings’ disagreement rumbling in the corner.

Maja had not been arrogant when I first started working at Kramhof five years ago. Then, she had treated everyone with respect, customers and coworkers alike. But everything changed after she met a handsome businessman at last year’s Taubenball, a dating event for Teutons only. Now she sneered at every outsider in town, proclaiming she could hardly wait until she could move in with her boyfriend and leave this “backwards village” behind.

Her boyfriend studied for the Teuton priesthood, and he lived in Augsburg. I found it hard to believe that he would confine himself to Teuton circles only, as a businessman, but Maja’s haughtiness stemmed from somewhere. Doro believed her boyfriend was using dark sorcery to alter her personality bit by bit.

As much as I longed to wield magic myself, I could never trust my heart to anyone but Doro. Teuton males—especially priests—dabbled too freely in the dark for my tastes.

Rolf and Maja seemed to have come to an agreement by the time I finished pouring drinks for each customer who needed another. She disappeared into the kitchen without a backward look when I approached, and Rolf shook his head. “You and Doro might want to watch yourselves,” he advised quietly.

“Why does she think Doro has anything to do with you and me talking about Black Priests?” I raised an eyebrow at Rolf and brushed a stray hair behind my left ear. Its dark brown tresses were up in a braid, my standard style for work, but locks always seemed to peel free before the end of the shift.

“Apparently she heard your sister say something about going to the Black Castle.” Rolf frowned toward the kitchen doorway. “If she spreads that around, Doro might have trouble finding work.”

✨ Learn More ✨

Sunrise At Bald Rock

As promised, here are a couple pictures I took on Easter Sunday when my husband & I went to watch the sunrise at Bald Rock, South Carolina.

The primary view from Bald Rock faces south rather than east, so you have to do some shuffling to get a good shot of the sunrise. But it was definitely worth the trip, despite the early spring chill! (I bundled up in my winter coat & hat.)

Fantasy & Sci-fi Romance Books

Need some new fantasy or sci-fi romance books to keep your e-reader filled with riveting stories? Make sure to check out this week's book fair! It's stuffed with over a hundred compelling tales of magic, mystery, and sizzling love, and each story is free if you sign up to the author's newsletter. Don't forget to browse the entire fair so you can uncover diamonds in the rough. 💎

✨ Show Me The Books! ✨

Other Books You Might Like

Got 2 books for you to check out this week, and the best part is, both are FREE! If you haven't read anything by Celia Roman or Rebecca Hefner yet, now's the time to do it. Grab your next favorite read today!

When people touch me, I foresee their deaths.

While traveling cross-country searching for the blood and pain I'd foreseen in a vision, I landed in rural Ohio courtesy of a kindly soul. Lou was a good woman, a solid, faithful, salt of the Earth type.

And on Friday, she was going to die.

I'd long ago learned that nothing I did would deter fate's course. But I couldn't leave Ohio without trying to save Lou.

Fate, though, had more in store for her than a simple death by hit-and-run. Far more. And her fate brought me face to face with a terror from my own past, a terror I had to stop before it used Lou to unleash the wild magic and create something much worse than the death I had foreseen.

✨ FREE On BookFunnel ✨

One woman bred to save the world…

Dr. Elaine "Lainey" Randolph was born with one sole purpose: to prevent the past. With her brilliant mind and unwavering spirit, she works tirelessly to solve the equations that will finally unlock the mystery of time travel. Then, she will leave the post-apocalyptic future her grandfather created and travel back in time to prevent his calamitous actions.

When handsome military captain Hunter Rhodes appears at Lainey's remote scientific hub, he offers her protection. But there are strings attached to the mysterious soldier's proffer, and Lainey finds herself wary of the man who stokes unwelcome longing and desire in her unemotional heart. For Lainey is a scientist, obdurate and dispassionate toward the notion of romantic love.

As Lainey's band of ragtag scientists and loyal soldiers endeavor to escape the dystopian future, the evil New Establishment threatens to destroy them all. In their unpredictable timeline, the nefarious regime has become all-powerful and will stop at nothing to ensure complete world domination…

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Guess who needs to dive back into Gift of Darkness? This girl!

Doro and Amira might have taken on a bit more than they can chew—elemental fight with an undead Black Priest included. 😱 Will you join them on their riveting journey to love, magic, and acceptance?

Reserve your copy at the first link below, and have a wonderfully weird week!

Talk to you soon,

C.L. Carhart

Pre-order Gift of Darkness: https://bf.clcarhart.com/mj224e5krw

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https://bf.clcarhart.com/giveaway_promo/5wjgbpi5rs