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Hi everyone,

I hope you're having a great week. This week, I'm doing much better and I'm already a few chapters into the edits for Amy's Rebellion, so yay for that. I got some awesome feedback from my editors and love how the story is taking shape. If you want to join the ARC or beta team, just send me a quick email letting me know and I'll add you to that section of the email list. I'm sending out the email for betas tomorrow.

My emotion witch short story is getting towards the close and then it will be time for editing and beta reading, so if that seems like something you'd like, you'll be able to opt in for that beta read soon.

And the giveaway is officially CLOSED. Congrats to Val and Jackie. I'll probably be doing another giveaway closer to the release of Amy's Rebellion, so keep an eye out for that!

And today I have page 2 of chapter one. If you want to read the whole chapter, I'll have a google docs link at the end of the excerpt. Enjoy!

Amy's Rebellion Second page (Post Developmental editor)

The whistled “cu” of the cuckoo clock made Amy turn to the light lavender walls. “It’s 5:00 PM already? Maybe if I hurry, I can catch the tail end of the craft’s market.” Amy shoved the finished jewelry into the safety deposit box along with a wad of hundreds from the register before setting the alarm and walking to her car.

Once Amy had parked, she slammed her door shut, paid for parking, and walked past “The Magic cookie”  on Atlantic Avenue and passed art gallery with a plethora of colorful Corgi sculptures as she made a beeline for the trail of white tents. Amy turned down the closed down road and skimmed huge lines of art booths that dotted the bustling streets packed to the brim with people..

It almost made her feel like she was back in the magic world...almost.

People creating cartoon portraits of passersby lined either side of the closed street, and one woman bent over a stack of tarot cards. A massive crystal quartz sphere decorated the center of her table.

A booth with vanilla bath bombs and lavender bath salts caught her eye reminding her of the plant mages that had lived to the east of the enchantress clan, and she approached the stall, inhaling the heady aromas of vanilla,  and lavender with a hint of lemon. Amy held out a twenty. "I'll take the lemongrass and verbena bath bomb please." The woman smiled and leaned into Amy’s ear. "Your bracelet really worked. My crush finally asked me on a date." She held out her silver and rose quartz bracelet and let out an ear-piercing squeal.

Amy resisted the urge to cover her ears. "I'm glad to hear that. Thank you again for the bath bombs, Clair."

She waved. "No problem. Good to see you again, Amy." As Amy walked away, she caught sight of golden eyes, golden hair, and warm beige skin in her peripheral vision, but when she turned back to look at him, he was gone. 

Maybe I’m imagining it, but he looks familiar. Maybe another enchantment mage in hiding? Amy’s attention shifted as a tent gleaming with sterling silver dragons caught her eye. She sprinted to the tent teeming with gemstones nesting in the claws of sterling silver dragons. Of course, it was Alex’s booth. They always had the best craftsmanship she’d ever seen.

Amy ran her fingers along a rough Labradorite encased in a silver wire cage that resembled a flame. The cage hung from the claws of a dragon.

She sucked in a breath as she picked up the necklace and nearly choked on the oppressively humid air. It made her long for the chill of gemstone forest, and the crisp air of the cliffs in the magic realm, but her home was only a smoldering pile of ash because of Opal.

“This one is beautiful, Alex. You’ve really outdone yourself this week.”

Alex smiled and leaned against the table. “Thanks. They are rather...enchanting,” he said with a wink.

Amy wrinkled her nose and nudged his shoulder. “Be careful saying things like that in the open, joke or not.” Amy was tired of running. If Opal wants me to move again, one of us will be dead and it won’t be me. Her tyrannical reign has ruined enough of my life.

He held up his hands. “Sorry. Sorry. It was in poor taste, but if you’re looking for some more jewelry, you should look at the new booth over there.”

Amy followed where his finger pointed. Past the rows of dragon themed necklaces and cheap glass imitations of gems was a booth with pewter and sterling necklaces. A yellow orange amber glittered in the sunlight radiating ice blue magic. Amy shuffled over to the booth and picked up the pendant to check the tag, but there was no price listed, but the chips and scratches on its surface showed its age. “Excuse me. How much is this?” Amy held up the pendant.

The old man running the booth smiled. "Do one of the necklaces catch your eye?" His golden brown and weather-beaten face cracked in a smile.

She pointed at the pendant. "Yes, I'd like to buy that one."

He smiled. "You have good taste dear. I haven't been able to find anyone else with a similar love for ancient pendants all day. People here are only interested in flashy things, but this one had an inner beauty to it. Handle it with care. It has a bit of a temper."

She cocked her head to one side and said just low enough for him to hear. "De donde eres Enchantario?" But he just gave her a blank look. Her face fell into a frown. I guess my gut instinct was wrong?

After a long pause he whispered "Soy de Avia."

Interesting, he was from Avia. That meant he was a weather mage, Then, what is he doing with what looks like an ancient enchantress weapon? She thought.

"If you don't mind me asking, what's your name?"

He smiled. "Let's just say that I'm a distant relative of yours and leave it at that." He handed her the necklace.

“What is this necklace? Was it one of Merlin’s necklaces?”

He gripped his stomach and chuckled. “Don’t let Freya hear you say that. Can you not tell its hers by how the amber glitters?”

Amy shook her head. “We never learned about her in school. Is she a famous enchantress?”

The man laughed. “Not quite. Take care of the necklace.”

“What about paying you for it?”

He smirked. The wrinkles on his face smoothed, making his face look much younger. “Consider it a gift from a particularly generous family member.”

“Okay. Well thank you.” She clutched the pendant to her chest as she walked away. When she looked back to wave goodbye to the man, he was gone and the booth had gone with him. 

END OF EXCERPT

I hope you enjoyed the excerpt. Here's the link for the whole chapter if you want to read the rest. Keep an eye out for more as I go through the Campnanowrimo challenge.

That's all I've got for this week.

Now, I have a question for you. 

What kind of artwork would you like to see for "Amy's Rebellion?"

I definitely think I want to have a map of the magic world commissioned, but I want to know what character art you'd like to see. These will be given away with any signed print book purchases. What are some characters or couples that you'd like artwork of? I'm partial to having artwork of gemstone forest commissioned.

And if you want to see even more content from me, you can check out my Patreon as well.

That's all I've got for you today. Have a great day and stay safe.

Sincerely,

Julia

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