Sale!!!

The holiday prep getting to you? Need a little something to relax that doesn't involve pot or alcohol?

I've some end of the year sales!

First of all, Blood Magick (Bloodlines #1) is free on ALL retail platforms. If it ain't free, you're looking at a pirate site.

Amazon, all countries
Apple
Barnes & Noble
Google Play
Kobo
Smashwords

Second, I'm participating in Smashword's End of the Year Sale! All novels and novellas are half-price. All short stories are free. If there's something you wanted to try, you can do it cheap!

Lastly, I've been updating links. If I get one wrong, PLEASE let me know. I admit despite my usual perfectionism, I'm a little frazzled between holiday prep, yet another funeral, and finish writing a bunch of stories.

I hope everyone is staying warm and safe, and that you have a great whichever- holiday(s)-you-celebrate!

Ghost Hunting in Millersburg

I planned to take this trip over two years ago, but the COVID-19 pandemic struck, and...

We finally drove over to Millersburg on Friday afternoon. I convinced DH he needed a break from dealing with his father's estate.

We stayed for the long weekend at the Hotel Millersburg, which is one of the oldest continuously operating hotels in the state. For those who want to check it out, it is ADA compliant, but don't expect 5-star luxury. It's a nice, clean place to sleep while you're running around town, taking notes and pictures.

It's located on Jackson Street, which is the main drag through town. I made a point of reserving a room on the Jackson Street side in order to watch the traffic.

In the Bloodlines and Millersburg Magick Mysteries series, I place Jo's coffee shop across the street from the county courthouse. I made a point of taking a picture from what would be her shop's front door. The retail spot is currently empty.

Even if I wanted to put a coffee shop there, I wouldn't. There's a (relatively) new coffee shop two blocks to the right of this picture called Broken Grounds. DH and I had breakfast there two of the three mornings. The only reason we didn't stop in the third morning is because they're closed on Mondays.

The Broken Grounds also has church services on Sundays at 8:30 a.m. and 10 a.m. The pastor's a bit of a character, but he reminds me of one of my uncles who is a retired Lutheran minister.

I also found my peeps at The Expansion Gaming Corner, which is caddy-corner from The Broken Grounds at West Jackson and Mad Anthony. The owner was awesome, knowledgeable, and didn't look at a gray-haired, female customer like she was crazy. I will definitely go back the next time I'm in town.

Saturday night, we had tickets to attend Paranormal Night at the Museum. It's sponsored by the Victorian House Ghost Guild and held at the Victorian House Museum. Everyone who attended had a blast. If you want tickets for the evening session, go to the Ghost Guild's Facebook page. Normal visitation and other special events can be found at the Holmes County Historical Society's website.

So, yes, the Millersburg, Killbuck, and Berlin in my stories are based on the real towns in Holmes County. This is what folks mean by writing what you know. But that doesn't mean you can't use a little imagination in the process.

Ghost Hunting

Tomorrow night, DH and I are going ghost hunting in Millersburg, Ohio. For those who've read Amish, Vamps & Thieves (Bloodlines #4), yes, this is the town where the book is set.

The sequel series, Millersburg Magick Mysteries, is also set there. At the end of 2019 when I first started to write the sequel series, I'd planned to take a long weekend doing some research. It had been nearly thirty since the last time I visited Millersburg. I know stuff changes over the decades. But 2020 and the COVID pandemic forced a change in plans.

I wrote the first three books. And frankly, they sucked. The pandemic had sucked the fun out of me and my writing. So I pulled the books from Amazon (the only retailer I'd uploaded them to at that point), and decide to start over again.

Every time I looked at them though in 2020 and 2021, I got that sick feeling in my stomach. Those were my plague books. And Cthulu, how I resented that plague.

This year, I don't what exactly changed other than things were opening up again, including night-time ghost tours of the Victorian House Museum in Milllersburg. So yeah, that's the plan for Saturday night. Our niece will keep Princess Bella company while we're gone. And I'm simply looking forward to a night out.

I don't expect things to go back to "normal" after the pandemic. But I do like the opportunity to do some onsite research.

Y'all have a great weekend!

Millersburg, Ohio - The True Story

Fifteen years ago, I had a meeting with an agent where I pitched Zombie Love. She immediately rejected the book because (a) she hated Los Angeles and (b) I'd never been there. She told me I could only write about what I knew and places I'd been.

Damn, I dodged a bullet there.

But at the time, I was pissed, and as a response, I wrote Amish, Vamps & Thieves.

I set the story in Millersburg, Ohio, which is the county seat of Holmes County. It's also the heart of the Ohio Amish community.

I grew up in a little town south of Millersburg. I went to college in another little town north of Millersburg. But I hadn't been there in thirty years. Things change, and I needed to learn about the 21st century version of the town I once knew.

I'd planned to visit when I started the Bloodlines spin-off series, Millerburg Magick Mysteries. But by the time I'd recovered from my cancer treatments and returned from a workshop in Las Vegas, the COVID-19 epidemic was blowing through the U.S.

So next month, DH and I are heading over to Millersburg to tour the town and do a little ghost hunting. I'll post pictures of the real life settings for the series. And hopefully, I'll have revisions for the first three books available soon.

Mail, Mail, Mail

I ran out of stamps last night while I finished stuffing and labeling envelopes for the Kickstarter Stretch Goal magnets. So on my tea run this morning, I bought more stamps, and...

I obviously miscounted because I have one lonely little envelope with no stamps. LOL I'll stop by the post office again this afternoon when I go in for a much-needed haircut. But you don't to hear about that.

In other mail news, a reader asked if Invasion! is part of the Justice series.

Technically, sort of, but it's more of a one-off. Invasion! is my version of Crisis on Infinite Earths or Secret Wars. Blame DH. He asked what would Chief Justice Anthea do if she ever met Sam Ridgeway from the Bloodlines series. But anyway, a vague idea took shape and I added Aisha Franklin from 888-555-HERO and Shan Wong from Seasons of Magick...

And I'm have a damn good time writing it! Plus, I have an excuse to introduce the Grey Ladies from an upcoming series.

So, yeah, this will be a fun book of the heart. It will address the prophecy Reverend Mother Alara mentioned way back in A Question of Balance if you REALLY want to know about that, and Aisha ends up coaching Anthea on how to control her lightning.

But if you need something that's stupid fun while trapped in a vehicle of some sort during the winter holidays, Invasion! is the book for you.

It'll be up for pre-order once I get the cover!

New Release! - The Yule Switch

That's right! A brand-new holiday short story drops today!

Lonely craftshop owner Finlay Brewster has already lost her family. Can she save a homeless woman from a motorcycle club leader on the Winter Solstice? Or will she lose her soul to her mysterious guests?

P.S. Deputy, now Sheriff Jimmy Birkheimer from the Bloodlines series and the Millersburg Magick Mysteries makes a special guest appearance!

Amazon, all countries
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Status Report - May 2021

Hey folks!

After putting out books every month since February 2020, I'm taking a little break for June and July this year. For those who haven't heard, DH and I will be first-time grandparents!

Adorable Spawn's due date is July 6, but babies like to come on their own time table. Not to mention Genius Kid and Significant Other live 1300 miles away, so we're keeping our options open.

That doesn't mean things won't be happening!

1) From now until the Fourth of July, Bloodlines: The First Boxed Set will be on sale for $0.99! The first three Bloodlines novels are sexy, hot hero fun when you're lounging by the pool or on the beach this summer.

[ETA] Oops! I forgot the buy links!

Amazon, all countries
Apple
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Google Play
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Smashwords

2) The rest of the Bloodlines series (Books 2-9) are on sale from $2.99 to $3.21.

3) If you're outside the U.S. or you use another retailer other than Amazon, Blood Magick is free. For those of you in the U.S., Amazon set it to free last week, then abruptly raised the price on Friday. I've complained a few times, and the answers from Amazon have ranged from "It's a problem with your browser" to "Tough shit, we can do what we want".

So I'm asking you to please contact Amazon's customer service and complain. They will listen to customers before they will listen to me, though I plan to constantly nag them from now to Labor Day.

3) The two-month break doesn't mean I won't be writing. I'm working on rewriting the Millersburg Magick Mysteries, which I hope to have out by August.

4) I'm also working on August's new release, A Hand of Father (Justice #7).

5) The Soccer Moms of Apocalypse series is shaping up. However, I want to have all the books written before I start releasing them. That may mean the first release Pestilence in Pumpkin won't be until November. I really love this series, and I want to make it as perfect as possible,

6) The late release for Soccer Moms is because I'm looking forward to the chaos of A Very Hero Wedding (888-555-HERO #8). Let's face it--weddings can be crazy enough. I know mine was. Add in crazier supervillains on top of crazy relatives, and...

Well, you get the drift.

Anyway, that's what's happening in my world. If you have any comments or questions, enter them in the comments section below, or send me a private message through the Contact Me tab.

Next week, I'll start posting snippets from A Hand of Father.

Release Day - Resurrected!

THIS IS THE END!

A necromancer awakes from his coma. A vampire owes a god of death a favor, and the deity demands his payment. A very dead ancient Egyptian prince finds himself back in the land of the living in another man’s body. And a single mother still blames her sister-in-law for the death of her husband.

Sam Ridgeway doesn’t know these four people are her personal Horsemen. The Harbingers of Armageddon. And they are more interested in their own agendas. Because if they can’t control Sam, they will have to kill her.

And if Sam dies, so does the world.

**Links will be updated as they go live.

Amazon
Apple
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Smashwords

Bloodlines Books Discounted!

As part of the Resurrected promotion, the first and second books of the Bloodlines series are available for $0.99. Yep, that's right. Both Blood Magick and Zombie Love are $0.99 each from now until Halloween (October 31th) at most major e-book retailers.

If you haven't checked out this series, now's the time to get started!

BLOOD MAGICK
Amazon, all countries
Apple
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Smashwords

ZOMBIE LOVE
Amazon, all countries
Apple
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Resurrected hits the virtual shelves on October 25th!

Editing! Oh, Yes, I'm Editing!

Sung to the tune of "I Feel Pretty" from West Side Story.

Another short post just to say, I'm neck-deep in editing Resurrected. So back to work!

(Now, where did I put those bite-sized Snickers...)

Wanting to Sleep

I'm so freaking exhausted, but I completed the first draft of Resurrected last night. However, I need to get the manuscript edited and to my formatter since the release date is only ten days away.

See y'all on the flip side!

Release Day!

Need something to do besides watching football on a Sunday? Ghouls in the Grocery Store is out! The penultimate chapter of the Bloodlines saga focuses on Tiffany Stephens and her daughter Ellie after the tragic events of Sacrificed.

GHOULS IN THE GROCERY STORE

After the murder of her husband by enemies of her uncle’s coven, Tiffany Stephens wants a normal life for her five-year-old daughter. But little Ellie’s blood hold the key to the vampires’ salvation or their destruction, and there are those who will stop at nothing to obtain the child.

Jake Wong will do anything to protect his best friend’s daughter, but can he convince Max’s widow second chances are the best thing for both of them as well as Ellie?

Amazon US
Amazon, all other countries
Apple
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Google Play
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Smashwords

Happy Labor Day!

I looked up from finishing the first round of edits on Ghouls in the Grocery Store to find out it was September already.

Unlike DH, I don't have today off. That's part of the joy and curse of being self-employed. I need to wrap up this project and do the same for Resurrected so I can take some time off in a few weeks to go to GK's graduation from boot camp and visit with a friend who recently moved to the same state where the base is located. No cook-outs today is a small price to pay.

I hope the rest of you enjoy your day off!

Wait! When was Monday?

Uh, yeah. Kind of forgot to post anything Monday morning.

I'm trying to get Ghouls in the Grocery Store wrapped up and to my formatter before this weekend. We're having a family get-together Saturday before Genius Kid heads out to boot camp.

I probably shouldn't call him Genius Kid anymore. He's a young man making his own decisions in life. I'm so used to being responsible for every little thing. Now, he's headed into the big wide world. All I can do is hope his dad and I gave him the skills he needs to survive the insanity of our planet.

Reality Bites Is Out!

What's this? A Thursday post?

Yes, Reality Bites is out! My first Bloodlines story in eighteen months, and Number 3 on the countdown to the end of the series!

REALITY BITES

Being a regular human in the supernatural world is never easy, something Mai Osaka learned before she could walk. So when her boyfriend’s fairy ex strolls into the casino where Mai is head of security, she knows there’s more to the Seelie’s story than she’s telling. But can Mai figure out the real plan and who’s behind it before the fae pull the biggest heist in the history of Las Vegas?

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And just a reminder--Ghouls in the Grocery Store and Resurrected are already on preorder!

Reality Bites Preorder!

Yes, Reality Bites is on preorder at all the major e-book retailers and will be available in less than two weeks!

REALITY BITES - Coming August 15!

Being a regular human in the supernatural world is never easy, something Mai Osaka learned before she could walk. So when her boyfriend’s fairy ex strolls into the casino where Mai is head of security, she knows there’s more to the Seelie’s story than she’s telling. But can Mai figure out the real plan and who’s behind it before the fae pull the biggest heist in the history of Las Vegas?

Amazon, all countries
Apple
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Google Play
Kobo
Smashwords



I find myself a little sad as we draw to the close of the Bloodlines saga. These books were the first decent things I wrote, and I'm going to miss the characters.

Status Report - June 2019

Another life roll happened, which means another delay. To give myself and my subcontractors plenty of time to get things done, I'm pushing the release of A Matter of Death back a month. Which means everything else will be pushed back as well.

Here's the revised release schedule for the remainder of 2019:

July 15 - A Matter of Death (Justice #3) novel

August 15 - Reality Bites (Bloodlines Shorts #3) novella

September 15 - Ghouls in the Grocery Store (Bloodlines Shorts #4) novella

October 30 - Resurrected (Bloodlines #9) novel

December 1 - A Very HERO Christmas (888-555-HERO #4) novella

I'll definitely announce here when preorders go up on the various retailer websites.

What about 2020?

I've made plans to attend a workshop in Las Vegas in February, which involves a lot of writing and reading starting in November. I'll continue to work on my own books in between assignments, so I'm not sure how the release schedule will work out yet.

To keep myself and my readers happy, I'll alternate putting out books-- a sword and sorcery, an urban fantasy, a superhero book, then repeat.

If anyone has questions or comments, feel free to leave them below!

Sacrificed Is ALIVE!

Sacrificed is officially out today!

Per usual, links will be updated as they go live.



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The Marathon Goes On...

I'm in Month Two of my eight book releases in eight months marathon.

The e-book of A Modicum of Truth is out. I'm in the process of reviewing the e-book version of Sacrificed. Last night, I uploaded the files for the paperback copy of A Modicum of Truth. I just need to review the proof copy when it arrives. And I'm trying to finish the first draft of Hero De Facto.

On that last one, I had to search for the original outline and comparing it to what chapters have been completed. I experimented a little on this one. When I got stuck in the middle, I started writing backwards.

Not literally. I wrote the last chapter, which is something I've done before so I know where the hell I need to go in the story. But then, I wrote the next-to-last chapter. Then the second to last chapter. Yadda, yadda, yadda, lobster bisque.

The plan is to release Sacrificed on March 14 and Hero De Facto on April 13. I'm hoping the stars stay aligned and the health remains good this year. And I hope I give my readers a whole lot of fun along the way.

RAVAGED Is Out!

RAVAGED IS OUT!

About midnight last night, I finished uploading Ravaged to Amazon, Smashwords, and for distribution to iTunes and Kobo. B&N will be a few more days since they want the number of pages for the paperback, and I don't have the formatted paperback back yet.

But I'm late and I wanted to get the e-book out ASAP.

I can't guarantee when Ravaged will go live on any particular site, but I'll be updating the links below as they go live.

Amazon
Apple
Barnes & Noble
Kobo
Smashwords

I hope you enjoy it!