Bogged Down by Illness

Hello Everyone,

Well, it seems that my days of being well again were only in the single digits. Now I have bronchitis. This wasn't exactly unexpected. I have chronic bronchitis, but it does slow me down. I'm doing my best to finish the Christmas story, but I'm going at a pretty slow pace. I'm mostly dealing with a lot of fatigue. I'm counting my blessings it wasn't pneumonia. The way the doctor mentioned that made me slightly nervous. He kept saying things like, "I don't think we need a chest x-ray..." Chest x-ray? Eek!  Anyway, I'm going to try to take it as easy as I can with two children who are also still sick. (If getting over sickness makes you stronger, we're all going to be Spartans by the end of this ordeal. My entire household has been sick for over a month now.)

I'm working on the final draft of Spine Chillers: The Firefly. We should be able to publish it next week. I'm hoping that it will come out on Monday, but That depends on a few things. This weekend is going to be a busy one. I've had a great deal on my mind lately and it's sometimes hard to keep everything together. Also, I want to make sure its perfect or as perfect as it will be before I publish. As I mentioned, the bronchitis is slowing me down. I'll do my best.

I have the first sketch of the picture for the cover of the Christmas Spine Chiller. It looks awesome! I hope you enjoy it. We're planning a giveaway event to celebrate Christmas, so I'll keep you posted on that a little closer to time.  I'm hoping to get that story finished and ready to be published by sometime within the first two weeks of December, but I have a lot of work to do. While I have energy I've been devoting a lot of time to working on the story.

Something to show you how dedicated I am to these books and those who read them, I've been working on my stories instead of getting prepped to play in an awesome Dungeons and Dragons game. I've been looking forward to that game for months. I was going to send out a detailed character history, etc., and do everything to get ready and psyched up for the game, but I've barely done anything on it at all. Luckily, I'm reworking an old character history, so hopefully it won't take long when I finally get to work on it. Again, the problem is being ill makes me have to choose how I use my time. I get through with certain things and then I just feel like collapsing and resting for hours...so I do. If I don't force myself to rest I won't get better. The doctor said that rest right now is key.

Well, speaking of rest it's getting late. I have a little more work to do before I can relax, take my medicine, and curl up in bed. I'll keep you posted on the stories, and when I start feeling better maybe I'll tell you a little bit about my character for the game. Take care! Stay warm and try to stay healthy!

Hehe...I couldn't resist. Here's a picture of my character. Brynja is her name and yes, she might be a bard but she's also a viking! Her personality is a little like "Godbrand" from the Castlevania anime. I didn't draw this, but it seemed perfect for her given that it was clearly inspired by the video game Skyrim. Anyway, that's a sneak peek of what I'm planning for the game when I'm done with the awesomely fun horror stories I write. And no worries, even while I'm gaming I won't quit writing other stories. It's what keeps my imagination strong, and my characters need a voice. Anyway, I hope you enjoy the Spine Chillers series!

Future Plans

Hey Everyone,

Halloween is over. I'll miss it, but there are some things to look forward to coming up. We had a very fun party. Joel and I went as "Team Rocket" from Pokemon. I love Team Rocket. We might have to wear those costumes again in the future. It was pretty funny. We were still a little under the weather during our party, but I was glad we at least got to do it. I'm pretty sure that everyone had fun.

On the day of Halloween our girls dressed as a bee and a ladybug. They were adorable. We dressed as Team Rocket again and we all went trick-or-treating together. They did better this year than last year. The process still scares them a little but my oldest did say "Trick or Treat" when people opened the door and my youngest eventually got a little less frightened. We didn't get to many houses, but in the end the consensus was we all had fun. Overall it was a very good month and a very good Halloween. Now the depressing process of taking down the decorations must begin.

For those who haven't gotten a copy of Spine Chillers: Empty Eyes, now is still a good time. It would be a nice way to relive a little Halloween scare while it's still fresh in your mind. After all, what's more fun than a school Halloween carnival going terribly wrong?  If you like stories about dangerous bullies, revenge of the nerds, possession, demons, other dimensions, and the fear of what you are capable of, you might be interested in this book.

There are a few things to look forward to in November. The next book of the series, Spine Chillers: The Firefly is coming out around Thanksgiving. I'm currently working on a few content edits before I send it out to fix any grammatical errors. I'll be continuing the writing process for the last book of the Spine Chillers series coming out in December.

I've also made a decision that hopefully you'll like. I think I'm going to continue the adventures of the children in the stories in a new series that will take place when they are in high school. That's right, I'm going to make a young adult series with the same characters that were in the original stories. This will be another work in progress. I'll need to start making some new notes and new scenarios.

I will probably take a brief break from writing after the last book of the Spine Chillers series, but it won't be for long. Basically, I'll be working on getting it into local libraries and school libraries and maybe even making an appearance or two for a books signing. Wish me luck. I think kids will really enjoy this series and benefit from reading it if I can just get the word out.  Also, during my break, I'll finish the first book of the Fay Bitten series for a slight change of pace. If it is well received I might publish it at a later date, but we'll have to see.

Anyway, those are my future plans. I hope that you enjoy the stories! Please let me know that you're interested by picking up a copy of what is out, preferably The Beast of Black Pond or Empty Eyes, and giving me a review. I really would love to hear some feedback. Thank you!

Keep reading and writing.

Updates

Hey Everyone,

I wanted to let you know that things in this household are slowly getting back to normal. My youngest daughter has two ear infections and I have one in my left ear that is the worst I've ever had, but we seem to be finished with the flu. Thank goodness. It was hard enough dealing with being sick myself, but seeing my other daughter with such a high fever was really rough. Being that sick makes you realize how powerless you are against things that you can't control. We did the best we could with the medicines we had and we seem to have made it out okay, at least for now. 

Please, get your flu shot! We would've gotten it sooner, but all of us were sick with various colds for two weeks previous to catching the flu and couldn't get the shot. The flu circulated earlier than usual this year too. Usually it's worse in November, but it's making its rounds early. Just a warning, please don't let your children go through what mine had to recently.

That aside, the new book should be out today or tomorrow. I'm really excited about it. Spine Chillers: Empty Eyes is one of the best ones I've written, possibly because the creatures in it terrify me. While I was writing it I felt paranoid and kept looking out my widow, which is usually a good sign. What would I have done if I saw two creepy, black eyed children looking in? My guess is probably screamed like a little girl, shut every curtain in the house, and hid in my room until I had to leave to pick up the girls from school. I probably would call my husband and the police, but as with any horror novel by the time help arrived they would be gone. I don't like to go to my door if I don't know the person knocking anyway, but two creepy children with black eyes, well that's right out.

In terms of writing goals, I have a few more content edits to make on Spine Chillers: The Firefly. I'm looking for that to come out about the twentieth of November, so I have a little time. There aren't many things I would like to change, but there are a few little things one of my test readers pointed out. Once I'm done with the content edits, I'll send it to be edited for grammatical mistakes. Once I'm done with that I'll be concentrating on the story that will come out around Christmas. I'm nearly finished with the opening chapter.  

Meanwhile, when I'm not neck deep in writing work or wallowing in illness and self-pity, I'm working on decorating the house for my yearly Halloween party. By some miracle despite our various illnesses it looks like we should all be better by Saturday, so I'm assuming we'll have our party. Therefore, I'm going to clean every inch of my house until there is no possibility of infection and finish the decorating. For those of you who don't know, decorating for this party is a month long event but it's worth it. I can't wait for everyone to see our costumes. Joel and I have a matching couples' costume that is going to be hilarious and fun. I'll post a picture when we're done. 

I guess that's all for now. I'll keep giving you updates on the next book.  I think as soon as Spine Chillers: Empty Eyes comes out I'll write the blog about the inspiration for the creature from The Beast of Black Pond. Beware, when I write that blog there will be spoilers for those who haven't read it, but I'll make that clear in the title.

I'll do the cover reveal for the new book as soon as publishing begins. It will be very soon. In the meantime, here are the banners for the previous books to tease you.

Spine Chillers: Empty Eyes is coming soon!

I just wanted to let everyone know that I've decided to publish Spine Chillers: Empty Eyes this week. I intend for it to be ready at the latest on Friday. I'm really excited about this one because it takes place around Halloween, and I'm hoping that my readers will be able to enjoy it around the same time of year. As you'll be able to tell from the cover, the villains of this story are the black-eyed children.

For those who don't know about them, the black-eyed children are pale, disturbing entities usually wearing hoodies disguised as lost children. They have entirely black eyes like that of a shark that look like empty holes in the right light. Their very presence puts people on edge. They ask a potential victim to invite them inside. If the unsuspecting soul does no one knows exactly what will happen. The black-eyed children scare me, so naturally I wanted to write a book about them.

Even though this story and The Beast of Black Pond are coming out around the same time, I hope that you'll consider reading both of them. Halloween is a key setting in both and even though my favorite story (being the first one I wrote) was The Beast of Black Pond, I think this one is a close second. Ian is a very fun character to write because he's a Dungeons and Dragons nerd and that makes him feel close to my heart. Also, I feel like it's one of the better stories in the series and I hope you'll enjoy it. If you do, please write a review. Any review I can get will be helpful to other readers and helpful to me.

I hope that you enjoy Spine Chillers: Empty Eyes, the fourth book in this series. There are two more books I'm planning to publish, Spine Chillers: The Firefly, and a special book around Christmas. The Christmas book is the final one that I plan for this series, but if I get enough sales and enough interest there could be more in the future. If you enjoy these books please let me know. I would love to write more of them.

Primal Fears

Since I discussed a few fun facts about Spine Chillers: The Beast of Black Pond on my last blog, I thought it might be fun to discuss some of the themes from the series and particularly this story. All of the villains in my stories are based off of primal fears, especially childhood fears. Most of these are things we grow out of when we're older, but some are still part of who we are. And to make this more personal, I'll use myself as the example.

I still have a bad phobia of spiders. I have vague memories of being a child and playing with one (before I knew better) that got in my bed. Most people realize when they lift their front legs up and swipe at your finger that means they're going to bite you, but this is a very vague memory so I have to assume I was very little. Anyway, it bit me and even if I don't have a clear memory of that experience I hate spiders now because I'm afraid of them. As I've gotten older, I've slowly gotten better about the fear and can confront them with a shoe or can of raid, but if one is on the ceiling I tend to stare at it. Honestly, I don't really like to kill them, so I'm hoping one day I get over it enough to take them outside rather than destroy the ones in my house. I can appreciate their beauty from a distance in their own environment.

Another example is the fear of dark water and drowning. I have this phobia too. There is one memory in particular that sticks out in my mind. I was playing in the ocean with my alligator float and somehow, after a wave knocked me off, I got my feet and arms tangled up in the rope used to hold on to the float. I was stuck upside down. I remember thinking I was really going to drown and the burning feeling of being unable to breathe when my granddad saved me. There have also been too many times when something unknown has brushed up against me in the dark water of the ocean, so long story short I don't like going deep enough to swim in the ocean anymore.

Finally, the last fear I can think of that I have is heights. I think this might be from back when I was in high school and was stuck upside down one one of those loop rides at the fair with only a lap strap and foot bar to hold me in. I was like that for probably ten minutes and I felt like at any moment that restraint could snap and that would be the end of me.  Dangling like that also gives you a good look at just how flimsy those rides are and that doesn't help things. I don't particularly like roller coasters now and have occasional dreams of falling down the stairs of Longstreet Theater. (For those who don't live in SC Longstreet Theater has a huge, long flight of marble steps all the way down to the street. There would probably be broken bones if you were to roll down all of them.)

Those are my main primal fears, spiders, dark water, and heights. Most of these stem from lack of control over one's environment, and know one feels a lack of control more keenly than a child. In my stories, there are basic primal fears and most of the creatures that attack the children embody one of these archetypal fears. For instance, the wolf spirit is supposed to evoke a fear of large animals. Also, the fact the battle takes place in the main characters head means it also is the embodiment of nightmares and fears that are hidden. 

In Spine Chillers: The Beast of Black Pond, the obvious fear is of drowning and death, however there is a little more there. There is also the fear of the unknown. The pond is called Black Pond because the water is so murky and the shadows cast on it are so dark the water itself looks black. The creature within the pond has the impassive, cold nature of water but it also has the wrath of churned water in a storm. The scary thing about the creature is it can travel anywhere where water resides. Duane isn't even safe in his home. The opening scene when he has his "scare" in the pool is foreshadowing for what is to come. 

Other fears that are touched on in other novels are fear of the self (as in, fear of what you are capable of), fear of failure, fear of the unknown, fear of the dark, fear of loss, fear of strangers, etc. Look for these primal fears and tell me what you think the three books published so far embody. And since I've shared my fears with you, feel free to share yours here. It might be good inspiration and you might just find your fear in a future book...

The Beast of Black Pond is available for purchase! Here are some things about it...

Well, Spine Chillers: The Beast of Black Pond is out in e-book form and hard copy on amazon. I'm so exited! I thought you might want to know a few things about this book and the series in general, so I thought I'd write a blog about it. I hope you enjoy it.

First of all, I'd like to tell you a little about this book that you might not know. It was the first book of this series that I wrote. It's gone through quite a few revisions before it became what it is today. When the book started out, the actual "beast" that haunted black pond was a creature known as a "grim." (You might have heard of a "grim" from the Harry Potter series. It actually is based on the legend of "black dog" ghosts or "hellhounds.") 

Anyway, the original "beast" in the pond was a spectral dog that dragged unsuspecting victims in to drown them. While I liked the image, it didn't seem to fit. So I used the idea in another story that I began to work on in tandem called Spine Chillers: Big Bad Wolf. 

A little off topic, those who have read the story Spine Chillers: Big Bad Wolf know that the actual creature chasing Jane isn't a black dog or wolf but a wendigo. A wendigo is a spirit of someone who was a cannibal when they were alive. It's an Algonquin legend. I did a great deal of research on the subject and tried to stick as close to the legend as possible. The only way I deviated that I know of it is that it originally came to Jane in the form of a spectral wolf. The reason it took the form of a wolf in my book was because it possessed a wolf to continue to hunt humans in an inconspicuous way. The imagery of a terrifying wolf spirit was taken from the original story of The Beast of Black Pond, but I think it works better in Big Bad Wolf.

Anyway, the real villain of Spine Chillers: The Beast of Black Pond is something much more terrifying because the legend is still alive today. I didn't realize this until I did the research and started noticing imagery of this creature on signs, subdivision names, etc. In a few days I'll talk a bit about it. (I don't want to give away any spoilers here, so I won't tell what it is just yet. I'll be sure to tell you that the blog post is a spoiler in the title.) 

Another bit of trivia, Duane is my favorite investigator of the series. This is why it is his idea to create the club to fight monsters. He was an NPC in one of the games I ran for my friends called Little Fears. He was the "rich boy" but his parents were negligent. They aren't maliciously negligent, but his father is a surgeon and his mother is a nurse, so they tend to work long shifts and are tired when they get home. Because they don't approve of Duane's dream to write horror novels or horror comics, he tends to be the black sheep in his family. (Because his father is a surgeon, in the incident on the boat his father was able to bandage Duane's leg and stop the bleeding. He sent Duane to the hospital because he didn't have the supplies to treat the wound properly on the boat.)

The working title of this series was originally based on Duane's club called "Junior Investigator's Club." I chose Spine Chillers because after composing a list of potential titles it seemed the best. I didn't realize at the time that the name was taken. I even did a search for the name and nothing came up. Ironically, I did a search after publishing the first book and found out later this series name has been used before. I chalk it up to fate. If I had seen that there was another series with the same name, I wouldn't have named it the same thing. Funny how that happened. I think I give the theme of the "spine chiller" a darker style anyway.

I guess for now I've talked enough, but I'll be continuing to blog about this until the next book Spine Chillers: Empty Eyes comes out on October 28th. We're almost to Halloween. Spine Chillers: The Beast of Black Pond and Spine Chillers: Empty Eyes take place around this special occasion, so please pick up a copy soon to live out the story at the perfect time!

Blog Tour! 08/20/2018

Blog Tour! 8/20/20 Comments Today is officially the first day of the blog tour for Spine Chillers: The Scarecrow!  Please follow the dates below. Today is Monday, August 20th. There will be an interview about this book at  PUYB Virtual Book Club. Thank you for your support! Spine Chillers: The Scarecrow is available for pre-order now and will be  released on August 31st. BLOG TOUR SCHEDULE Monday, August 20 Book Feature & Tour Kick Off at PUYB Virtual Book Club Interview at Pump Up Your Book Tuesday, August 21 Interview at The Writer’s Life Wednesday, August 22 Guest Blogging at Sheila’s Guests and Reviews Thursday, August 23 Book Teaser Feature at PUYB Book Teasers Friday, August 24 First Chapter Reveal at The Dark Phantom Reviews ********** Monday, August 27 Guest Blogging at Blogging Authors Tuesday, August 28 Book Feature at I’m Shelf-ish Wednesday, August 29 Book Feature at Book Cover Junkie Thursday, August 30 Interview at Readeropolis Friday, August 31 Book Feature at Nuttin’ But Books ********* Monday, September 3 Book Feature at Stacking My Bookshelves Tuesday, September 4 Interview at Blogger News Net Wednesday, September 5 Book Feature at Write and Take Flight Thursday, September 6 Interview at T’s Stuff Friday, September 7 Book Feature at As the Page Turns ********** Monday, September 10 First Chapter Reveal at Confessions of an Eccentric Bookaholic Tuesday, September 11 Book Feature at A Title Wave Wednesday, September 12 Interview at Literarily Speaking Thursday, September 13 Book Feature at My Bookish Pleasures ********** Monday, September 17 Book Review at Books for Books Tuesday, September 18 Book Feature at Rising Indies United Wednesday, September 19 Book Review at Sefina Hawke’s Books Thursday, September 20 Interview at SheWrites

Samrae Duke is my new artist!

Hey Everybody,

Sorry it's been so long. I just wanted to go ahead and give you an update on the progress of the Spine Chillers series and to tell you some changes that have occurred recently.

First of all, I have a new artist for the series. Samrae Duke. Madalyn McLeod couldn't finish the series because she's become very busy lately, understandably so. Samrae has worked with Madalyn before and I'm pleased to say that her style is similar, very detail oriented, and is just as beautiful. Even though I'm sad that Madalyn couldn't complete the series, she helped me find a great replacement artist and I'm very grateful for that. If you'd like to see more of Samrae's art, please follow this link.

Samrae Duke's Art

I know you'll love her work, especially if you are a fan of fantasy art. Please visit her page!

In other news, the Spine Chillers series is coming along nicely and I'll be kicking off a blog tour for it very soon. I'll keep you posted on where the interviews and blogs are going to be posted. In preparation for the tour I've updated my website with a few more blog entries and a new banner. It's a simple website, but I think that it looks a lot better now that it's been tidied up.

The fist book Spine Chillers: The Scarecrow is coming out on August 31st. If you love horror and are nostalgic about middle grade horror, please pick up a copy. I strive not to disappoint. The second book will be coming out in the middle of September. After that, I plan on two books in October, Spine Chillers: The Beast of Black Pond comes out in early October and Spine Chillers: Empty Eyes in the middle of October. I've finished the last book (for the time being) The Firefly. This story is about the legend of the Adze. It should be coming out in November.

I have plenty of ideas for others in this series, but for now I'm focusing on the first five. If all goes well with the blog tour and I have decent sales, I might produce one for December about the Krampus. Wish me luck. I would love to write that story.

Anyway, I'm looking forward to the blog tour. Thank you so much for all of your support. Keep reading!

Who has two thumbs and is a Hufflepuff? I'm a Hufflepuff!

Hello all,

Long story short, last night I decided to get on my.pottermore.com to figure out what house I was in and to basically just do something a little different and fun. The results were both expected and surprising. I guess we'll start with the house.

I knew it was going to happen, but deep down I was hoping I was going to be sorted into Gryffindor or Ravenclaw. Yeah, I'm a Hufflepuff. The hat probably wouldn't have to even get on my head to shout that out. (Sort of like when it got close to Malfoy's head and just shouted "Slytherin" without even a second thought.) When the questions first started I could already tell by my answers that I was going to be placed in Hufflepuff. 

I guess there are worse houses to be sorted into though. I mean, Cedric Diggory was awesome. Tonks was one of my favorite characters, so I guess overall I' m good with this. There's just this stigma about this that being a Hufflepuff makes you seem like some sort of outcast, (I'll link the video at the end...) but the main thing about the house is loyalty to friends, family, and using your magic to protect others. So, overall, I guess I'm happy with the my house. The more surprising result in terms of houses was that my husband, Joel, was also a Hufflepuff. That's not to say he doesn't value the things associated with being a Hufflepuff, but neither of us saw it coming.

Once that that was out of the way I was all like, "Hey, now I get to see what my patronus is! Sweet!" I was nervous, but I was sure it was going to be some sort of cool animal like a wolf, stag, or cat, or something awesome. Well, my patronus is apparently a dolphin. Yay. Flipper is my patronus. I...don't...even...

Okay, so now to find out what type of wand I have. I was hoping it would be phoenix feather because that's just awesome, but I think you know what it was...hazel wood, unicorn hair core, 11' "surprisingly swishy flexibility." Yeah, unicorn hair core. Well, that's okay too. Apparently the dragon heart-string ones are a bit temperamental. 

Thing thing about this wand is that it can be very powerful for the user, but is temperamental if someone other than the user tries to cast anything with it (especially if its master experienced a recent emotional trauma or was in bad mood). It's "A sensitive wand, hazel often reflects it's owner's emotional state, and works best for a master who understands and can manage their own feelings." Also, it gets so attached to its owner that it "dies" when they do.

And there you have it. I'm a Hufflepuff! (Apparently through and through...)

Blog Tour and Spine Chillers

Hey Everyone,

I just wanted to update you on the progress of the spine chillers series. I've been looking into blog tours and I think I've picked one for August and September. I'm waiting for them to get back to me with the details.

The first book of the series, Scarecrow, will be ready for purchase in the beginning of September. The second book, Big Bad Wolf, will appear at the end of September. I'll keep you posted on the exact date they will be available and the date that the blog tour will begin closer to time.

The first book cover is nearly complete and it's beautiful. I'll be revealing during the tour. I hope you like it as much as I do. Madalyn Mcleod has done a wonderful job with the artwork and her attention to detail is very appreciated.

I've nearly completed the fifth book of the Spine Chillers series, Firefly, but to be honest, I'm having a little trouble figuring out the final few chapters. I have no doubt it will come to me, probably very soon, but in the meantime I'm working on a new mid-grade dark fantasy story. I think it has a great deal of potential.

Basically, the new story follows a girl who gets lost in the forest near her home and wanders into the land of fairy tales, but the fairy tales have become twisted and happy endings are very few. She finds out quickly that finding a way home is the least of her worries as she faces fairy tale monsters, and everyone in the world is drawn to her presence like moths to a flame.

I actually am very close to finishing the dark fairy tale story, so I might do some work on that in the future. I have some ideas for at least three books, possibly even more since there are many, many fairy tales to explore. When I finish the first one, I think I'll send it to my contact at Penguin/Random House. Wish me luck.

Anyway, that's what I've been working on recently. I'll keep you updated as I get more information, and about everything else that I've been up to lately.

Get Motivated!

Hey Everybody,

I just wanted to write this because I know it's been a little while. Currently, I'm trying to get motivated in general. I don't know what's wrong with me, but I've felt like being lazy for about a week now. I can't afford to be lazy with two children, but it is what it is. All I want to do is nap, play video games, play my table-top RPGs, and watch anime. Ugh. I think I really really need a vacation. I hate feeling lazy when I should be working...

The weather in SC is on its way to being a slow broil, so going outside during the summer is a battle of how much water can you drink to make up for the sweat. Needless to say, the air is a winter breeze inside of the house. For some reason I can never balance my internal temperature during this time so I end up curled up in a blanket in the house losing the sleep war, or I step outside and feel uncomfortably warm like I'm cooking a little on the inside. Don't get me wrong, I do love SC but I'm not a fan of the heat. You can only take so many clothes off in public. At least in the winter you can bundle up with as many as you can.

I've watched some very good anime lately. "Darling in the Franxx" is surprisingly good and for once I like all of the characters. (Of course, when one of them inevitably dies I'll be devastated, but I intend to find out what happens.) It's ongoing, so I'm still in the process of watching it. It's a story about mecha fighters in a post-apocalyptic setting that are teenagers. Male and female pairs have to work in sync to operate the mechs and they are fighting in a war against bio-mechanical monsters. The sexual tension is pretty thick and there are some moments where you're just thinking "Oh, Japan..." with the "Oh, You..." meme face, but it's still really, really good. It does inspire me to write something like this in the future, but that is a ways away.

"Magus Bride" was fantastic. It's a fantasy that takes place in the modern day and focuses mostly on fey magic. The story is good, the characters are awesome, and the animation is beautiful. It might be one of my new favorites, though "Darling in the Franxx" is catching up. The main character of "Magus Bride" is a rare person that can see into the supernatural world and has the ability to wield powerful fairy magic, but the problem is the more magic she uses, the less time she has to live. It doesn't have much action, but the stories are all very interesting and dramatic.

In terms of video games I'm still playing World of Warcraft. I really should pick up VR Skyrim again, but I don't have my VR legs yet and I'm worried that I'll be sick. I won't give up on it, but I am giving it a break. In terms of table-top RPGs

I'm about to run a "How to Train Your Dragon" RPG using the PDQ system (it's a system with an easy, flexible dice mechanic, so it lends itself well to player-driven stories).  I'm playing in a friends PDQ game about a society where monsters and normal people are trying to coexist. I'm playing as a fairy member of the constabulary who is trying to help withhold the accords between the humans and monsters and investigate supernatural crime. It's a fun game and I'm really, really enjoying it.

And, that's about it (for now) in terms of the things I've been up to other than writing. I haven't written in a week and I plan to get back to it this week once I feel inspired. I'm still halfway done with my fifth story in the "Spine Chillers" series and the cover art for the first book is coming along nicely. I'll keep you posted. I also intend to read "A Wrinkle in Time" soon and I'll let you know what I think about that.

Well, I'm off to lunch. Take care. Keep reading and writing.

Seeing some Results

Hey Everyone,

I just wanted to let you know that the "Fireflies in Autumn" story is coming along nicely. (As I said, working title, I need something a little scarier...) Anyway, I'm working on that and also talking with my artist about the cover of the "Scarecrow" story. It's looking very good already and we're only in the thumbnail stage. I'm really excited about seeing the finished product.

I thought I would also mention that I'm planning to release the first book, "Scarecrow" around the beginning of September, and the second book, "Bad Wolf" around the end of September. Sometime in the first week or two of October I'll publish "The Beast of Black Pond," then, around Halloween, I'll publish "Empty Eyes." Finally, the fifth book will be available in the beginning of November, the one currently called "Fireflies in Autumn." After that, I'll be taking a break from releasing books in the "Spine Chillers" series to see if I can establish a large enough fan base to justify more.  I'll need your help for that.

If anyone has children, or knows any children, in middle school or late elementary school that like reading and horror, please let them know about this series as soon as it is released. I'm planning to do some consignment in local stores, but word of mouth helps more than you know. Also, I'll be blogging more often and trying my best to get the word out.

For those of you who check my website, I'm aware it needs to be updated. I'm planning on adding a link to Blood God and doing another banner on the top with all three books. Also, I'll update all the relevant information about the completed Young Adult fantasy series, Blood Rain, Blood Moon, and Blood God, and my upcoming novels. Just bear with me, a lot has happened so recently and Blood God might've slipped under the radar which was not my intention. It is the final book of the Blood Rain series, and I think it measures up to the others, but it came out during an inopportune time.

Anyway, that's my news for now. I'll probably have more to say later in the week. Take care. Keep reading and writing. I'll keep you posted. 

Spine Chillers

Hey Everyone.

Just wanted to let you know that I'm making good progress on the fifth book of my young reader horror series. This one is loosely titled "Fireflies in Autumn." (It will more than likely be titled differently in the near future, but that's the working title right now.) I'm nearly halfway done and that will be the last one for a little while until I see if I have enough interest in this project.

Also, I've come up with a title for the series. The final title will be "Spine Chillers." At first, I was going to have the title be the name of the club the children form, but I think this one gives a better feeling for what the stories are like. (I know that seems a little like "Goosebumps," but I think my title is still original enough. "Spine Chillers" seems a little darker and some of my stories are pretty dark.)

Currently, the four finished stories have been sent off to my test readers. I want to make sure they aren't too dark for their target audience but scary enough to be worthy of the title.. It's a tough balance, but I think they achieve it. I'll find out when my readers get back to me.

Madayln McLeod is about to start work on the covers for the stories. As I said, I can't wait to see what she comes up with!

I'll keep you posted and will let  you know when the first book of the "Spine Chillers" series will come out. I'm looking to publish the first story around the end of September but I don't have a final date yet. These are fairly episodic, so they can be read in any order, but the first one I'm publishing will probably be "The Scarecrow." Looking forward to it.

In the meantime, I've been keeping busy with writing, watching my children, and the occasional video game and role-playing game. I'm about to run a PDQ game of "How to Train Your Dragon" for my friends. It should be pretty fun. I plan to start reading another book soon as well. I actually am planning to read "A Wrinkle in Time." I never read it as a child, and I've been told by my friends that I really missed out. So, many thanks to my friend Lizz for giving it to me on my birthday, I'll be picking it up soon.

Virtual reality Skyrim has also arrived. I've been dreaming about this sort of thing since I as a kid, but at the same time I have to get used to it. I have to admit, I get more motion sick now than I did as a child, and also I have to get used to the controls. I get the feeling it will be super addictive after that, though. Either way, I won't be neglecting my children or my writing work for that, but it'll be another fun activity to occasionally do in the evenings.

Well, I'd better go. There's a lot to do today and more words to write. Take care! Keep reading! 

Taking a Break...

Hey Everybody,

I just wanted to let you know that I have finished "Empty Eyes," the fourth story in the mid-grade horror series. I feel pretty good about it. Right now, I'm waiting on my primary test reader to check it before I start any editing, but while I wait I'm taking a break. I've found that after completing a project it's generally a good idea to take a week or two off to kind of re-calibrate your brain for writing.

In other writing news, I actually did come up with a better idea for the fifth book of the series while I was writing the fourth. I have a rough idea of where I'm going with that and will probably write up a detailed outline of it next week. I think this idea is much better than the one I had before, mostly because the one I had before was about something seasonal, specifically associated with the Christmas season. That being the case, if I manage to get enough fans with the first five books, I might be able to release that around Christmastime.

So, here's what I've been up to...video games. I've been playing Fire Emblem Fates Conquest for the Nintendo 3DS, and I've been playing on World of Warcraft again. (No worries, I won't let it eat my soul.) It's probably been over ten years now since I've played WOW. It's kind of hard to believe. A few of my friends started playing again and talking about it and eventually I couldn't resist, especially after I finished my book.

I basically play during odd times when I'm not taking care of the house or the children (basically the times when I would normally write). I think it'll be a nice break for another week or so and then I'll be back to writing in no time. For some reason, video games sometimes exercise my imagination in the same sort of way that playing table-top RPGs do. I find myself spacing out thinking about what the characters might be thinking or feeling especially in terms of other character interactions. (Hence, on of the reasons I love Fire Emblem games.)

Anyway, if I'm quiet for another week you'll know what I'm doing, but I'll try not to be too quiet. Things always are going on and I'll keep you posted on them. In the meantime, keep reading and writing.

New Artist for mid-grade Horror Series

Hey Everybody,

First of all, I'd like to say that I got a test print of Blood God and it met my approval, so if you want a print version and haven't gotten one yet, go ahead and order it. I really enjoyed the series and I'm glad that Mercy has finally seen her journey to an end. I hope you enjoy the book and enjoyed the entire series.

Now that the Blood Rain trilogy is officially complete I've started work on my mid-grade horror series again. I'm about ten pages away from being finished with the fourth book and I've come up with a new idea for the fifth which I think will be much better. The outline for the new fifth book is almost done as well.

I've officially decided that the name "Junior Investigator's Club" sounds condescending, so I'm working on a new title. It might be "Spectral Stories" or "Spectral Investigator's Club" or something along those lines. Nothing is cut in stone yet, though, so I still am going to play with some other options. In the meantime when I say "mid-grade horror series" you'll know what I'm talking about. If you have any ideas for a good name for the series, please leave a comment below.

My most exciting news is that I've entered into a contract with an artist for the cover art of the first five books of the series. I appreciate all of the work that J. M. Lee did for me for the Blood Rain series, but he's working hard on his own novels right now and I know his time has become very limited. Also, as my friend, I don't want to take advantage of his kindness to me, so I've been seeking a new illustrator for the covers of my mid-grade horror series and I'm pleased to say that I've found her.

Her name is Madalyn McLeod. Her artwork is fantastic. If you're interested in seeing her awesome art, please click the link below.

Madalyn McLeod's Art 

I think her ability to capture the feel of dark fairy tales will lend itself well to the series and I'm looking very forward to working with her. I met her at Soda City Comic Con and I was immediately interested in her depiction of Little Red Riding Hood and the Big Bad Wolf. If any of you have read the first three scary stories of my series, you'll understand why that caught my eye. (Not only because it was gorgeous, but it was just about perfect for one of the stories.) Anyway, check out her art. You won't regret it.

I guess that's about it for now. I'll keep you posted on my progress and I'll let you know when I plan to start with the publication process, etc. Right now, the plan is to start publishing the series late/early September. The first book will be "Scarecrow" and the next will probably be "The Beast of Black Pond." I'm really looking forward to it.

Keep reading and writing! I know that I'll be doing the same.

- Nancy