Reynard The Fox

This was so not implicated in the terms of the deal I struck with a desperate fool in the tavern. It was an easy job. No murder, no casualties, no harm to another being. It’s incredibly rare for such conditions to fall into my lap. I just had to be able to disarm a couple of traps, pick a few locks, and skip my merry way to the locked closet at the back of this antiquity shop.  The owner had…

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Stopped Trial

“And you poisoned the Prince?” I shrug. The man in question is sitting right next to the judge reading out the list of crimes I’ve committed since crossing the border into the Empire. Only partially. If the prince had been more interested in his drink rather than my bodice, this night would have gone quite differently.  There’s no point in speaking for myself. These people have already decided…

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Lore Edits Week Seven

Still here. Still editing. Another three chapters done. It’s a hard week. I barely carved out the time to stare at these pages in between work and family obligations. There’s some good stuff here, things that made me smile amidst everything else. Ashby and Lucy star in their own revised reproduction of Hamlet. It’s epic. In a way that I don’t even remember writing it. There’s details in here…

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Lore Edits: Week 6

A month and a half in! We are still doing this thing. Editing has become a weekly companion, a promise to look forward to rather than dread. These are my characters, this is my story, now I just have to organize my thoughts enough to figure out how it really needs to be told. This week we covered chapters 16-18. For those who have been following this story since the beginning, this is the…

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Lore Edits Week 5

We’ve done it again, readers. Chapters 13-15 have come out of their nifty hiding spot in my desk and then shuddered beneath the harsh weight of a colored pen. Here’s the thought dump: This section deals with Ashby returning to work, specifically for Ivan (big problem since Ivan is supposed to be a villain rather than antagonist and is opposing Ashby’s big brother). There’s a lot of cute…

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Forever Home

Sixteen other agents have tried and failed to sell the house at 104 Fern Street. Sixteen less ambitious agents have walked in and then immediately fled the location. All sixteen have a different horror story to tell.  It’s not real, though.  Stepping out of my car, I let it chirp loudly as I lock the doors. I have potential clients coming in half an hour. There isn’t really anything I can do…

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Lore Edits Wk. 4

It’s that time of week again, readers! Edits happened. More or less without my consent, the week passed and edits happened. Chapters ten through twelve are complete. Here’s the thoughts off the top of my head: Ashby, Ashby, Ashby. The dramatics just don’t stop with him. We covered the end of the carnival, a nearly deadly stab wound, and then family members moving in to interrupt his attempt…

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Phoenix Fantasies

Episode two Cassias I’ve known magic existed for as long as I’ve been chained to the enchantress who broke my heart. There are people in this world who can force the weather to submit to their will or bring an enemy to their knees with a simple flick of the wrist. Magic is a willful energy that corrupts and rusts and decays just like every other element in this world.  It rotted Alyssiana Laur…

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Lore Edits Week 3

Oh my goodness, we are really doing this thing, readers! I truly appreciate everyone leaving likes and comments on here and on my Instagram. I’ve been an avid writer for over a decade, but I have tried and failed numerous times to tackle editing without making any real progress. The magic of writing for me happens when I am physically writing…not so much staring at the words I pulled out of a…

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Phoenix Fantasies

Episode One Ali The last time Damien Vilen saw me I was blonde. I was tall. I was grace and submission in a physical form.  He made a mistake when he trusted me. Years passed. I played the coy girl grateful for his every simple comment or sprinkle of attention. Head bowed, shoulders straight, I listened to commands and never made a misstep. He forgot that I was a viper when he pulled me from…

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Lore Edits: Week Two

Readers! It’s Wednesday again and I’ve hurried to finish flipping through the next three chapters of Lore. Here’s what we learned: There is absolutely no plot. This isn’t a travesty. The entire work was really just fanfiction for my original novel idea. It’s a bunch of cute scenes stuffed together that, when read week by week as I released this episodic piece on kindle vella, flows really well…

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Happy Anniversary

Today, five years ago, I married the love of my life. I thought it would be fun to share my vows with my audience here. . . . We may have known each other for seven years, but we started dating only about a year and a half ago as a steady couple. During this time, we took a women’s literature class. I got to fall in love with you over words in black and white, words that expressed…

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Lore Edits: Week One

Exciting news over here, readers! I’ve officially started the arduous process of editing Lore. Week one covered the first three chapters as well as a brainstorming sesh to figure out what is really the most important elements to keep in this final version. Here’s what we got from week one: Ummmm, we still absolutely love Ashby and Lucy and their spontaneous meeting that starts with stealing a…

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Looking Forward

What are you most excited about for the future? I have a lot of trouble looking towards the future on a general basis. I have a lot of trouble staying still in the current moment. It’s easier to fall prey to the demons of the past and feed the anxiety prickling under my skin every moment of every day. It’s nearly impossible to depend on a dream of the future with the current political climate.…

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The Prince’s Pirate

I used to think that the worst way to start the day was by waking up before the sun had been given a full chance to reach its place in the sky. Typically made all the more miserable if breakfast wasn’t waiting at the foot of the bed. This, though, is definitely my least favorite way to wake up.  I slowly open my eyes to stare at the person holding a dagger to my throat. “Couldn’t have waited a…

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June 15th

Happy Thursday, readers! I have been almost too excited to write this blog since finishing The Invisible Life of Addie LaRue by V. E. Schwab last week. My wife read it and told me it was her new favorite book over a year ago and that I needed to absorb the incredible message as well. That being said, I do everything in my power to avoid reading things that’ll be emotionally triggering and cause…

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The Deal of the Decade

I’m living on borrowed time.  I make no attempt to ignore that fact as I check my phone for the fourth time since being sat down at this table. My date is late. Forty-seven minutes late. I should leave. There’s only so many bread baskets I can eat before the pitying looks from the server become ones of annoyance.  I shouldn’t have come. I told Beatrice the truth. There’s no future for the two…

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