A FREE story for you! 📖

Hi, !

I have some exciting Jayne Thorne news! Joss Walker and I have officially finished the short story, The Eighth Road, and you get to read it for free!

Before Jayne Thorne unlocked her magic, her sister sought to destroy it…

Haunted by memories of her mother’s dangerous exploits, Sofia Thorne is determined to keep magic away from her sister, Jayne, forever.

In a desperate attempt to permanently sever magic from their lives, Sofia travels with Jayne to Miami to track down a dangerous witch who might have a solution. But when they find themselves caught in the crossfire between two powerful magicians, Sofia must face her greatest fear.

Can she protect Jayne from the dark magical energies that killed their parents? Or are the sisters destined to fall victim to the same twisted power?

THE EIGHTH ROAD is an exciting prequel to book one of the Jayne Thorne, CIA Librarian urban fantasy series, TOMB OF THE QUEEN.

Read it here!

Please note this is an Advanced Reader Copy and there may be errors. If you find any, please let me know!

When you've finished, we'd greatly appreciate a review on Amazon. The short story doesn't launch until Oct 31, so we'll be sure to send you a link to remind you!

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I've just got a whole new shipment of Bloodcaster books for my Book Shop! If you're interested in ordering a signed copy - and getting free character art! - then check out my Book Shop here 😊

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Timecaster Chronicles | Nightcaster Chronicles | Bloodcaster Chronicles

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This segment is for those of you who are writing and looking to improve! Please keep in mind I am not an expert by any means, but I do have a lot of experience that I would love to share with you! 🙂

This week's tip is on: Writing short stories!

In honor of the Jayne short story, I wanted to share my process for writing short stories. They used to intimidate me because I tend to be long-winded with my story-telling and thought short stories were just too...well, short. But the process is similar to plotting out a novel: you need a main character. You need that character to have a goal. You need some kind of barrier to prevent them from achieving that goal. You need to raise the stakes (like I said in a previous email, whatever their greatest fear is, make that happen. Force them to face it and figure a way out). And, of course, you need a resolution. The subplots will just be much smaller in this case - or completely nonexistent. I've had so much practice writing that I can usually just sit down and write a short story, one chapter at a time, and have the story resolve itself. But when I first started writing shorter stories, I had to practice a lot. Sometimes I'd find myself at like 40,000 words and nowhere near close to an end, so I'd have to scrap a ton of material or start over. Don't be afraid to practice! Everything needs a first draft, and even if it's utter garbage and you end up tossing it, it will still help you become a better writer! And that is invaluable.

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