Cats!!!!

Yes, four exclamation marks, due to my four kitties. And this is another one of those posts chock full of cat pictures, with little substance. Sometimes we need more images than words, though, right?

Next month I'll have my mid-year update, and I'm looking forward to telling all of you about the writing progress I've made. Until then... Kitties!!!!

Leave No Dragon Stone Unturned - Excerpt

Finally, another new release! Leave No Dragon Stone Unturned (Magic Morsel, 1) was originally on Kindle Vella (a platform that's been buried six feet under) in episodic form. Now I've rewritten it into a novel!

The ebook is currently only available on Amazon, including Kindle Unlimited. It will be sold at other online retailers later this year. And the paperback version is at Amazon now, plus will be available on the Barnes & Noble website in a couple days.

I love all the crazy characters in this book, and I'm itching to dive into the next title in the series. Hopefully you enjoy reading it as much as I loved writing it! Here's an excerpt from the novel, dropping you right into the middle of Lila Mandrake's world.

❦

My apartment door opened, and Tyler slipped out. “Children, keep it down.”

“Marcus is holding my Aura Sniffer hostage.” I crossed my arms under my chest, realizing Ty’s insult fit the bill too well.

Tyler humphed. “Is this official M.E.A. business?”

“Yes.” Marcus peered over his shoulder. “I need to talk to your client, Ash.”

“Uh, that’s not going to happen. He passed out after we hauled him onto Lila’s couch. Kai’s keeping an eye on him for now. Once he’s able to speak, we’ll let you know.”

Though Ty had been at odds with me earlier, his current calm and nonchalant attitude reassured me. Then again, he scorned Marcus -- if faced with a different M.E.A. agent, his approach would have been more cautious.

My ex glared at me. “Then I guess we wait.” He tilted his head, pressed his palm to his temple, and staggered. “Woah. What the heck? What did you do to me?”

I skittered back. “Nothing. Honest!” Sure, I wanted to take credit for whatever was happening to him. I’d dreamed of payback so many times. Gammy’s voice in my head had always stopped me, though.

“Did he drink the ginger ale?” Tyler dodged Marcus, who wobbled and grasped at the air.

“Yeah.” Uh-oh.

Ty cringed. “Magic and mischief, help me. I’ve been experimenting with it.”

Marcus pressed his back to the wall and slid down it. “The room’s spinning.” His words slurred.

“You what?” Tyler loved concocting new potions and improving our drinks. Only a liquor license was required to sell any brews that qualified as alcohol, unlike our emergency potion stash. “And you left it behind the bar?” I always cautioned him about testing his experiments on our customers, though it occasionally fell on deaf ears.

“I told Kai not to use it, and Marcus is the only one who ever drinks the stuff. Didn’t expect him to show up tonight.”

That made both of us. “Well he did, and he drank it. What’s it doing to him, and how are you going to fix this?”

He sighed and extended his hand. “Even?”

Through the years, whenever we’d gotten into a tiff, we squared the odds and then shook on it. Hey, it had worked since grade school.

“I guess.” I accepted the handshake. Now he could no longer hassle me about taking on Ash as a client, but I also wasn’t allowed to give him a hard time about the potion.

“So I manipulated the molecules to equal about six shots of alcohol, while keeping the taste the same.” He rubbed his chin. “Quite a delayed reaction, and the impact of the booze hit him all at once.”

“You mean, he’s drunk?”

Ty nodded. “I call it Insta-Ale.”

I burst into laughter.

“Just had the idea to whip up a countermeasure in case he came calling again. You know, to avoid the situation of you making another mistake.”

The uncontrollable cackling prevented me from responding, only a few wheezes escaping. Maybe I actually owed Ty. Nope, we weren’t even. Best present ever.

Eventually I got a hold of myself. Kind of. “So now we have two drunk guys on our hands?” I giggled. “Once Marcus sobers up he’s going to be furious.”

Tyler glanced at Marcus. “Yeah.”

“What--?” My ex sucked in an unsteady, deep breath. “What iz diz? Tounge’z numb.”

“And that’s not a side effect I expected.” Ty shook his head. “Guess it needs more tweaking.”

I knelt next to Marcus, unable to stop another wave of laughter. “You’re drunk, you idiot. So much for you not drinking while on the job. You better stay here and sober up before you contact your boss, huh?”

He snaked an arm around my neck. “We could zpend da time togeder.” That oh so familiar lust filled his eyes.

I squeaked, snatched the Sniffer from his hand, then wiggled out of his embrace. “Pass.” Hastily backing away to the opposite wall, I wrestled with dialing down my hormones.

“You’re not going to leave him here with me, are you?” Ty planted his hands on his hips and frowned at Marcus. “He’ll be livid if you skip out while he’s in this state.”

I shrugged. “Need to take my opportunities when I can. I’ll deal with the repercussions later. Get him onto a couch in one of the meeting rooms, and make sure he doesn’t have any other adverse side effects.”

Not wanting to start another argument, I hustled down the stairs. I had an elf to track, in between snickering over my drunken ex.

❦

A half-elf walks into a bar...

Sounds like the start of a bad joke, right? Lila, owner of the Magic Morsel, agrees. As a tech mage who manages the only neutral ground in the Triopolis area, she’s skilled at brokering deals between humans, fae, elves, and a range of other magically inclined people.

Mourning the passing of her grandmother, she’s determined to maintain Gammy’s track record of no major incidents. Then Ash walks into the bar, a half-elf carrying a mysterious item that calls to her.

Agreeing to his request for her services, the deal slides sideways, and she feels obligated to hunt down the stolen object. Her decision leads her to the edge of the Ruins, a forbidden, fallen city shrouded in a cloud of wild magic.

Unfortunately, Lila risks losing her mind among the crumbling buildings and chaotic lightning.

Pull a stool up to the bar in the spellbinding world of Morthmagica, where you’ll discover magic, quirky characters, snarky humor, and slow burn romance. What’s your potion of choice?

1001 Reasons Not To Clean - #76 through #80

Welcome to 1001 Reasons Not to Clean! The main goal of this series is to see if I can actually reach 1001 reasons, 5 reasons at a time (the final post, if I get there, will be 6 reasons). I'm sure I can. It's not just my crazy brain being unrealistic, right? Links to previous posts are below. And feel free to share your excuses, and they might get added to my list (with credit, of course)!

#1 through #5 ~ #6 through #10 ~ #11 through #15 ~ #16 through #20 ~ #21 through #25 ~ #26 through #30 ~ #31 through #35 ~ #36 through #40 ~ #41 through #45 ~ #46 through #50 ~ #51 through #55 ~ #56 through #60 ~ #61 through #65 ~ #66 through #70 ~ #71 through #75

❦

76. Since you dive into alluring projects without doing complete research (you do some, like if plants are toxic to cats, yes), your poor Echeveria succulents haven't gotten enough sun, even though they're in a northern window (stupid Wisconsin). They've etiolated, so the stems have stretched out, instead of the plants staying as cute rosettes. After buying grow lights, you decide you want to rectify the situation even more and get to the beheading. This of course requires repotting everything. Still way more fun than cleaning.

77. After beheading the pretty plants, you decide to save all the leaves and try to propagate them. More succulents? Sure! If you can convince any to sprout - that black thumb of yours chuckles at the prospect. Weeks later, you actually notice a teeny tiny baby on one of the leaves. You're way too fascinated over the itty bitty thing to bother with cleaning.

78. Feeling as though you've got this succulent caring down, you spend hours online browsing all the pretty colored ones, creating a massive list of what you want to buy. Room for them all and money, be damned. These are the only plants you can keep alive with your horrible luck (even cacti die on you), and you intend to exploit that. Window shopping > cleaning.

79. Happy with your succulents' progress, you find two of your plants uprooted one day. You know the culprit. So instead of cleaning, you need to keep a sharp eye on the Devourer of Plants and Souls (aka Rikku, the blond (cream) tabby cat), so you can protect your poor, gnawed on plants.

80. Cat or no, you still want to expand your succulent collection, so you look for pretty pots online. You do need homes for that long list of plants you want to buy. Rabbit holes are so easy to fall down - much easier than cleaning.