NaNo wraps up on Monday but my story is done... for now. After writing group on Wednesday, I realized that the book needs to conclude there or I'd end up adding another 80K just to get out what needed to be said. Also, I hate endings. I guess that's good because this book will end with a 'to be continued...'

I have a lot of things to be thankful for this year, and it's been a hell of a year. I got engaged, we got married in the middle of the pandemic, I started writing full time, we moved him to my apartment, got a dog, we had an offer accepted on a house and will hopefully be moving at Christmas...

And December 1, The Peace of Kallie (book 5 in the Warrior Series) will be released! That's my second to last book planned for publication in 2020, with the remaining four books in that series to be released early 2021. I also have Soul Collapsed to pull down and start editing (another 2021 release), and a new series that I need to start messing with and figure out how I'm going to write. Then, of course, the continuation of the Soul spin-off. It's gonna be fun.

Instagram Giveaway:

I'm hosting a giveaway for the first three books in my Warrior series. By being on this mailing list, you guys are already entered into the contest. You can get a bonus entry by going to Instagram and following the rules listed.

Podcast:

Confessions of a Writing Addict - This week I am brutally honest about plummeting word counts, how it feels to not want to write, and my mantra for keeping my writing streak. I share an exciting scene in Soul Collapsed and what it's like to post that live to Wattpad.

This podcast is a rough draft, like my NaNo novel, so I'm going to play around with the format and see what you guys like best. Give it a listen, a subscribe on whatever platform you're listening on, and leave a rating! You can also reply to this email with your thoughts, suggestions, or writing confessions for a chance to be featured!

New Chapters:

Soul Collapsed - You can read new chapters of Soul Collapsed now available on Wattpad! These are 100% free rough draft looks - a great example of things you can read ALL THE TIME if you join me on Patreon!

Kiya and Isobel have such good chemistry that it makes for really seamless conversations like this. You know when you can just tell that something is off because you've known the person forever? For those not familiar with the Soul Series, these cuffs block powers, and while Kiya doesn't have them, it's possible it can reduce the effect of Ryder's power on her.

“God, I’m going to need, like, ten of these just to keep from snapping at him,” I grumbled, digging through one of the chests in House’s storage room. “Bangle bracelets went out of style ages ago. What am I supposed to do?”

“We could get my mom to melt them into a suit of armor,” Isobel said, fighting to keep a straight face. “Or a helmet with a full face shield so you don’t have to look at him.”

I couldn’t help but burst out laughing as she finally lost it. We sat back, trying to catch our breaths as our laughter echoed around the room. I finally relaxed long enough to return to my searching.

“Are you sure these even worked?” Iz asked, joining me again. “You still sounded pretty pissed yesterday.”

I nodded. “For a brief moment, yeah. I saw him get dropped off in the parking lot and was fine, but by the time he was up the steps, I wanted to puke.”

“So weird,” she said, keeping her head turned to the chest in front of us.

“What is it?” I asked. She continued to dig. “Iz, come on.”

“Nothing,” she said, a little too quickly. “It’s just a little hard seeing you be into someone else.”

I laughed. “Into him? Iz, I literally fantasize about ripping his throat out whenever he’s near. I’m pretty sure that’s not me being into someone else…”

Sketching:

I'm not an artist, but that's not going to stop me from doodling. I found a beautiful drawing on Pinterest that I wanted to turn into a sketch of Kiya because I'm loving her right now. It was also a really good activity for me to not have to think or focus. Maybe one day I'll actually sit down and try to actually learn drawing.

Made With Patrons:

Thanks to my awesome tribe over on Patreon for making these things possible:

• Medium: The Power of a Series
• Reading List 1 | Reading List 2
• Passion Planner: Get 10% off all Passion Planner items using code LAURAW10. They also have free downloads if you can't afford one right now.

You can help support my writing and get access to all of my material before it's published. Your patronage helps me keep things going on all fronts, but especially giving you great stories to read. Head over to Patreon and join a tier for less than the price of one coffee a month! I'll send you free books as a thank you!

Outro:

I discovered that my backups to Dropbox were corrupted due to the continual crashing of my computer during the uploads. So... I'm slightly panicking. I went to open the Warrior file to create some freebies for you guys and discovered that at least 20 chapters were missing from the series. It's possible to get them all back - it's just going to be a workaround. I'll have to re-type from the files that I've put on Amazon. I can do that with all of my books, thank the writing gods, but it's annoying. I'll take annoying over not having the material at all.

Thanksgiving has passed, it's officially Black Friday. Shoot me a quick email (just hit reply) and tell me something that you're thankful for, a great dish you ate yesterday, or your plan to buy something today.

Free Books:

I'm offering a great deal for you guys. If you leave an honest review on Amazon for The Stolen Lives, I'll send you book 2 of the Warrior Series (The Innocent Named Warrior) FOR FREE. And if you leave an honest review on Amazon for that book, I'll send you book 3, The Troubled Stranger, FOR FREE AS WELL. I'm even doing it for book 4, The Fall of a King. Hell, if you want book 5, I'll keep it going.

All you have to do is leave a review and send a screenshot of that review to me at author.laurawinter@gmail.com and I'll share the files with you!