Cover Reveal: Shudder of Specters

 

In every one of their games, the bard dies first.

But this time, she may be the only one who can save them all.

Nora Quinn wants to play a bard like no other seen before, and the newest tabletop role-playing game is her chance to show off her skills. Yet when Nora and her friends find themselves in the dark fantasy world of Khthonia, she struggles to be any type of bard at all. There, things aren't as straightforward as the games she's used to playing.

If she and her friends want to get back to the real world, she has to lift the curse plaguing Khthonia for over a century. The fate of the realm and their way home rests in Nora's hands, but will she survive when the bard is always the first to die?

This is LitRPG/GameLit for fans of Dungeons & Dragons and the FATE system which is designed around proactive players.

Isn't it gorgeous? I love this cover so very much. My terrific cover artist brought the image in my head to life. Thanks so much to the talented Pixie S. Crow. Check out her site here!

Shudder of Specters is finished and sits at nearly 85,000 words. I apologize that I don't have a release date yet, but I have started on the second book in this trilogy. I had dreamed of a Halloween release, but I think I may wait until the new year to release this series. Still making changes, making it the best story it can be, but I couldn't wait to share the cover with you!

#IWSG for February 2019

The Insecure Writer's Support Group (IWSG) is the brilliant idea of Alex J. Cavanaugh. The purpose of the group is to share doubts and insecurities and to encourage one another. Please visit the other participants and share your support. A kind word goes a long way.

This month's awesome co-hosts are: Raimey Gallant, Natalie Aguirre, CV Grehan, and Michelle Wallace!

This month's optional question: Besides writing, what other creative outlets do you have?

Currently the other main outlet I have is playing Dungeons & Dragons with my friends. I've been the acting Dungeon Master (DM) for a while now running The Rise of Tiamat campaign. We're nearly at the end! I've used a lot of different things to help me in my position as the DM. I've used puppets for council meetings and perler bead dragons when the heroes were conferring with the metallic dragons. I write little notes and tie them with ribbons. Yesterday I wrote a speech one of the non-player characters would share with one of the heroes. It was 2,000 words!

This month's insecurities: Perhaps prepping all that gaming stuff might be why I haven't done much writing otherwise. But I'm having great fun with it. I figure as long as I'm writing something, it's okay. Just keep the mojo flowing. And even as I say it, I feel guilty. I can't erase that feeling completely.

I've been doing better exercising and eating. I'm almost done a new cover for The 13th Floor Complete Collection. I've been doing a lot of things other than writing my WIP. I tell myself it's okay, but part of me doesn't believe it yet. I need to do it all! I don't, really. But you know how over-ambitious muses can be...

Word Witch Wednesday - want vs. need

I still haven't gotten my writing groove back. I've been good with not sitting in front of the computer so much. I get up, move around, and do other things around the house. While my back has appreciated it, my muse is pouting.

I think she's spoiled.

So I'm trying to think of getting her what she needs in other ways.

I've been painting the interior of the house since the beginning of the summer. I finished the kitchen walls and the cupboards. I've started on the hall and did one of the walls in the living room. Scraping off old wallpaper is rough on the back, so I've just been taking it easy when it comes to that.

While I enjoy painting, it isn't totally fulfilling for my muse. She needs words.

Recently, I've taken up the mantle of Dungeon Master with my gaming group. We've started The Rise of Tiamat. This is proving to be the creative outlet I need in many ways. I've made puppets for the first council session since I had to play ten characters for it, and I've created personal quests with each of the player characters' backgrounds. I beefed up the very basic story in the book and created loot cards for randomly picking treasure when it's found. My muse is squealing with delight!

I don't do any of this sitting at the computer. That has helped a lot. But it has made my productivity with novel writing slow down greatly. This frustrates me as a writer even if my muse is happy just to lose herself in the D&D world.

Being a writer is my job. I must find the balance between my other creative outlets, my health, and doing work. I want to push myself to be the author I dream of being.

I've read a ton of articles. Every one of them repeats: set boundaries, create a schedule, turn off social media, etc. I'm sure many of you have heard the same things. None of that helps me when my body makes every day different.

I ran across one quote that struck a cord. 

I've said it before, I am my own worst boss. I push myself hard. I've gotten a little better, a little kinder. But my inner boss demands more than is reasonable. I want to be a highly productive writer, but I need to loosen the fierce grip I have on that dream. I need to take care of myself and my family, and while that includes nurturing my dream, I need to be kinder yet. That doesn't mean to give up. It just means finding other ways as I did with my creative outlets.

I'm working on it. It's no easy thing for me. Perhaps one day, what I want and what I need will merge together as one.

How do you balance what you want and what you need?

Word Witch Wednesday - catching up on things

Coming back from vacation, it's a scary thing to turn on the computer and see how much you have to catch up on. I've gotten to a point where I just make a new to-do list rather than let the previous one smother me. At least my July list is very small.

My family vacation was wonderful. I highly recommend to families to try a family camp at least once. This year, there were a ton of kids, and never did I see one not having fun. I got a lot of reading done and took a few naps. Lovely.

With how busy I've been this year, it was nice to sit back and relax. It gave me time to reflect on what I've been up to lately.

1) I haven't written anymore on Of Death and Sorrow (the third book in the Of Blood and Sorrow series). I have 25k words down, but I paused it at the end of the school year. The story has become very large in my head, and I don't think it will be done this year. I'm still trying to be okay with that.

2) Once school starts up, I'll revise, edit, and publish Of Gods and Sorrow (book #2). It's been sitting long enough for me to come to it with a clear mind. Plus, getting that novel out this year will help ease my stress about not having the final one done.

3) I've worked with editors on two short stories for a collection called Futuristic Canada. I'm excited because these stories are unlike anything else I've written. The anthology will be out very soon!

4) I've experimented with a pen name. I wrote a novel and published it. I've marketed it to a very specific audience and done very little promo. It's already done so much better than anything I've ever published. Later this year, after I release the second book for the pen name, I'll be sharing my experience with you. Apparently I have learned something about marketing. Except it works for my pen name and not for me, which is at once exciting and frustrating.

5) I'm building a new story in my head for a big project the authors of Untethered Realms are creating together. I've done a lot of fun research into mythologies I've never read about before. It's so much fun.

6) As many of you know, I'm a geek and I love to play Dungeons & Dragons. I play weekly with a great group of guys. We are in the middle of a long campaign; the first one of this length that I've played in. So, of course, my character is demanding I write a book about her. I can't help it! I'm a writer. These things happen. I may end up writing a series of short stories for her and putting together a collection or sending them out to fantasy venues.

What have you been up to lately? I want to know!

Double the tours, double the geeky fun!

Today is the first day of the Loose Corset Goddess Fish virtual tour!

I'm excited to visit new hosts and meet their readers.

I'd love for you to come along.

There will be a giveaway!

Please join me at my first stop today,

Romance Novel Giveaways.

I'll be sharing 7 fun facts about Loose Corset!

My Geeky Dice & Debauchery tour continues today too.

I'll be talking about Dungeons & Dragons at the marvelous and geeky Graeme Ing's site.

And yes, all my giveaways are international!
Click on the host sites to find out what you can win.

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P.S. This is my 1,000th post for this blog!