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!

Writing within the fog #writerslife

I hope you're all safe and well. 2020 has been a crazy ride so far, and it's not over yet. The image of the pier reaching toward the fog is how I feel. I don't know what lies ahead of us. Some days, I can't even tell where the water is and where the fog begins. It all blurs together. I'm just taking one day at a time.

Now that my homeschooling days are done for the summer, I had hoped to watch and read a lot more. I've not been doing either. My island is getting a lot of attention on Animal Crossing, though. Barovia will rise again!

My presence online has also stumbled and gotten lost in the mist. I need to find my way back and establish a regular schedule again. Slowly but surely I'll get there.

One thing that has picked up is my writing groove. I'm actually working on two projects, and they're coming along marvelously.

Project #1 - Heirs of Blood and Feathers. First book of a post-apocalyptic paranormal romance trilogy co-written with a good friend of mine, Pixie Stormcrow. I'll be publishing it under my pen name, Morena Silver. We're moving along so well, we might go with an August 1st release date! More news next month on it.

Project #2 - Ravage of Revenants (Book #1 in the Khthonia trilogy). I might keep that name for the second book in the series and name the first book <Something> of Specters. A Shudder of Specters? I'll figure it out. This is my LitRPG novel, and I'm nearing 65,000 words. I'm so excited I'm nearly at the end! This book has been so much fun to write. It appeals to both the gamer geek and the fantasy lover in me. It's a little grim dark and has a light touch of romance.

Please leave me a little message and let me know how you're doing. And be kind not only to others, but to yourself as well.

I have an interview at Yolanda Renee's blog

Good morning, everyone!

I'm so excited to start off the month with an interview. The fantastic Yolanda Renee asked me a bunch of questions about writing and life. Come find out what I'm currently working on!

Year of the Geek

Happy New Year! A little bit belated, but it was a busy start to the year. If that's a sign what 2020 is bringing me, I do hope it's a very productive kind of busy!

This year, I'm skipping the writing goals. I'm going to be kind to myself. I had a rough 2019. My productivity was near nil. Lots going on outside of my writing life distracted me, and my muse had dug in her heels with what I wanted to write. After a lot of inner reflection, I realized it was because of my frustrations with certain tropes and subgenres in romance that were holding me back. Yet I wanted to stick it out and push forward, but I couldn't. My muse was offended and refused to work.

So I'm stepping back from writing strictly romance. In fact, I'm going to not write to market anymore. I'm going to write the silly stories that I enjoy. Once I finally accepted this, much of my anxiety lifted and my muse started gleefully playing around with story ideas again.

I've started researching and creating ideas for a LitRPG novel. What's LitRPG? It's fiction based on a game becoming reality for the protagonist. The most popular example is Jumanji. People get sucked into a game world and must complete the objectives to be free. The game mechanics must be very clear and real life must mesh with fantasy life. My mojo is flowing again. And I'm having fun. I missed having fun when it comes to writing.

I'm also playing around with cozy mystery ideas. Something geeky. Yes, 2020 is going to be the year to celebrate the geek in me. I even got a tattoo on New Year's Eve to commemorate it!

( I do realize it's upside down!)

What will this year be for you?