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Hi everyone,

Thank you to everyone who helped with the release of "Gabriel is Cursed." It's great to see it out in the world. It is officially ready to read, so if you want to check it out, you can click the banner at the top of this email ^^.

In case you didn't get a chance to enter my other giveaway, I'm going to keep the giveaway link here. It will stay open until New Year's Eve if you'd like to enter. I also have the usual free books and book promotions at the bottom of this email if you'd like to check them out.

Release week went well, so thank you to everyone who participated and made this possible. The live stream launch was a ton of fun, and I got to giveaway the finished character art. If you didn't win the art, don't worry I'll be giving them away with signed copies too once I have that all up and running.

Also, since the character art poster went unclaimed during the YouTube livestream (the winners of the giveaway wanted the cards instead), I will be giving out the lovely poster pictured below next week. I absolutely love how this turned out, and will be ordering more from this artist again sometime. I'll have more details on how you can enter to win this is next week's email, so stay tuned!

The artist's social media accounts are:

Insta : @chasbi_yumeina

Twitter : @mein132

in case you'd like to reach out to them for a commission of you're own. They're super friendly and their prices are very reasonable.

On the writing front, I'm currently writing through the journey portion of "Belladonna was Betrayed," and I'm in Act 3 of the short story turned novelette about the Japanese Lunar Goddess and the Earth Goddess falling for one another.

I'm on chapter 5 of the first edit of "Amy's Rebellion." I know I said I'd wait until the 2nd readthrough, but I though it might be fun to do a short teaser of a scene I'm enjoying even in the zero draft stage. It's the first time Opal shows up in full villain mode.

Opal as the villain-

Amy didn't know what she expected, but one thing she hadn't expected was to still be alive. When she opened her eyes, the world around her was still dark. Had they blindfolded me? Her wrist felt bare, and when she reached out for her magic, it seized up like someone had stomped on it. The voice of her familiar was muffled and panic seized her.

Amy’s magic pressed against her skin like a soda that had been shaken but remained unopened. Metal pressed against her torso and bound her hands together. The bareness of her wrist and the lack of the weight on her hip told her they most likely stripped her of the gemstone pouch too.

As she wriggled her wrists, cold metal chains bit into her skin. It didn't hurt, but it felt uncomfortable like being shoved into jeans that were two sizes two small.

A familiar laugh echoed through the room and sent a chill down her spine. "I'm glad Dusk brought you in alive. I want to see your face when I kill your sister." Amy bit her lip hard enough to draw blood, and sweat dripped down the back of her neck. Silver hair shone in the fluorescent lights and intense gray eyes bore into her gold ones. It was Opal.

Her lips curled up into a snarl. "You should have killed me when you had the chance. If you've laid a finger on my sister, I'll make you pay." Amy spat in her face and Opal’s smile drooped.

Opal reared back her hand and pain seared Amy’s face. Stars danced in her vision. She moved to cup her cheek, but the chains jingles and metal dug into her skin, and she winced. She glanced down to see a trail of blood. The lead chains had small spikes that dug into her skin. "I guess I hit a sore spot. Are you mad that I dared spit on our great and powerful Council leader?"

Her face flushed, and she grabbed Amy’s chin and squeezed. "Because of you, someone I cared for is dead. You put our entire nation in jeopardy because of your reckless behavior. If you hadn't fought in that battle...Joan might still be alive." Tears filled her eyes and she wiped one away with the back of her hand.

Amy’s voice lowered. "I was twelve and didn't know better. You were our leader. Instead of choosing what was best for your people, you chose what you thought was best for yourself."

She sucked in a breath. "You're wrong. I did everything for our clan, even contracting myself to this monster," She said holding up the sword which glowed red and silver.

Amy rolled her eyes. "Boo hoo. You got the most powerful sword in the land. I don't see how I'm meant to feel sorry for you. You killed my sister, but you don't see me going on a revenge driven rampage."

She unsheathed the sword and swung it at Amy’s leg. Pain seared through her, and Amy looked down to see blood drip from the wound. Opal slashed at her hand next with a smile. "You talk too much, maybe I should aim for your tongue next."

The sword glowed and Amy bit her lip. Instead of aiming for her tongue, she grabbed a cloth from her gem bag and wiped the sword clean before sheathing it once more. "Clarent makes an excellent point. I still have something I need from you before I can...dispose of you. I need to know why you were able to kill that soldier. What you did wasn't just enchantress magic. The impact shouldn't have killed him. What are you?"

Amy raised an eyebrow. "I don't know, but if you figure it out tell me."

Then a thought crossed her mind, and she looked down to see that the necklace from before, the ice necklace was gone. Opal’s lip curved up in a smile as she pulled the pendant from the pocket of her black pants. "Were you looking for this? Dusk told me you used it to stop him the first time. It used ice magic. Now tell me what you are or I'll kill Garnet."

Amy’s face went paper white, but she forced a laugh hoping to fool her with bravado. "You act as if you weren't planning on doing it anyway. If you want me to tell you anything you need to free my sister first."

Opal’s hand clenched around the pendant, and Amy gulped. The sound of Opal’s laugh grated on Amy’s nerves. "That's cute. You think you have a chance in bargaining with me. I'm curious about your lineage, but not that curious. Even if you're dead, I'm sure I could torture the answers out of your sister or half sister rather. When compared to you, she was rather...ordinary. Although she put up a decent fight when I went to capture her. We had to rough her up a bit."

Amy’s nose wrinkled, and her gaze snapped up to meet Opal’s. "If she dies, I will hunt you until the ends of the Earth. I don't care if you have the strongest weapon we ever created. I will kill you."

Opal clucked her tongue. "We both know if you were able to do that you would have done it a long time ago. Instead you ran and hid like the coward you are."

Amy scanned the room for anything she could use to escape. Her gemstone pouch and familiar bracelet laid on the opposite side of the room. The fluorescent light glinted off of the amethyst bracelet, but it was out of reach. If I can escape from these chains, maybe. The thought died when Opal’s gaze followed hers. Opal waltzed over to the bag and the bracelet and scooped them up off of the floor. "Don't get any ideas. I'll ensure that these are locked away safe and sound when I leave, and I'll make sure Dusk knows to search you again for any potential...weapons."

She stroked Amy’s cheek, and Amy bit Opal's hand. The scent of copper filled her mouth, and she spit it on the floor before meeting her eyes and smiling. Opal yanked a fistful of Amy’s hair, making her wince. Her normally grey eyes were threaded through with silver and gold. "Try that again if you want to see what Clarent's wrath looks like."

Her gaze froze Amy like a deer in headlights. "That's what I thought." She said and released Amy’s hair. Tears welled in her eyes when a hair pin stabbed her scalp.

Opal smirked at Amy before sweeping her hair back and turning on her heel so she could stride out of the room with joined Twin Swords at her hip and Amy’s gemstones in her hand.

Now, I have a question for you. 

How am I doing so far?

What would you like to see more of or less of in this newsletter? Send me an email to let me know.

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

Sincerely,

Julia

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