Setting My Sights On 2017

Well, 2016 was a busy year, as you saw from my last post.

Time to charge headfirst into 2017! (Kind of like my toddler does to the door when we put her in a time out... but maybe with a little more focus and intent - lol.)

As I mentioned in my previous post, I won't be publishing as much in 2017. This is mainly because a lot of the stuff that came out in 2016 only needed a bit of polish before it was released to the world. ;)

But that doesn't mean I won't be writing! I'm scared my to do list might be too ambitious with a THREEnager in the house, but we'll see how it goes. I reserve the right to change my trajectory at a moment's notice. That's the great thing about indie publishing -- if real life slaps you silly, you can shift deadlines around. I'll of course keep everyone posted if plans change. The best way to keep track of my upcoming publications, as always, is my newsletter (there's a form to sign up to the left).

Anyway, first I'll list my intended publications, and then I'll list my writing goals for the year! Here we go!

2017 Publications

❦ January 2017 - Mind Behind the Mind (Trinity Torn, 1) - I'll be releasing it to several retailers other than Amazon.

❦ January 2017 - Patreon page! I intend to offer flash stories and poems. If you become a supporter you can even feed me story prompts!

❦ March/April 2017 - Edge of Sorrow (Fortunes of Fate, 6) - Remember Jasp from Reversed? Yeah, that rotten mage Darney asked for help. Well, it's time to get into Jasp's head! This will immediately be available at several retailers, and not just Amazon.

❦ August/September 2017 - Hell On Wheels (Devil Made Me, 2) - So, last time we dealt with Moira's first experiences in Hell. I wonder how things with her and Jared are going... Can't be good, right? Not with her stubborn streak. You'll find out in this sequel to Hell Hath No Fury!

❦ November/December 2017 - GSD (Getting Stuff Done) vs. Everything - This is humorous non-fiction, but if you like any of my humorous fantasy, you may like these essays. I'm hoping to have this published by the end of the year, but it's a side project, and it will be the first thing removed from my to do list if I get behind on my fiction. I'll remain optimistic for now, though, that it'll get completed.

2017 Writing Goals

❦ Complete the first draft of Thorns Entwine the Blade (Trinity Torn, 2).

❦ Find beta readers for Thorns Entwine the Blade.

❦ First draft and revisions of Edge of Sorrow (Fortunes of Fate, 6). And publish it!

❦ First draft and revisions of Hell On Wheels (Devil Made Me, 2). And publish it!

❦ Revisions of Dead As Dreams (Shepherd of Dreams, 1). And get it ready for publication for January/February 2018! This is what I decided to work on instead of attempting revisions of Thorns Entwine the Blade this year. My heart is telling me it needs to be released to the world. Though, if I get enough people demanding the next Trinity Torn novel, I'll be willing to switch my focus back to Thorns.

❦ Start the Patreon page!

❦ Start offering clean and simple ebook formatting services via Haunted Unicorn Publishing. Also consider offering developmental edits, depending on the toddler.

❦ Finish first draft and revisions of GSD vs. Everything. And publish it!

❦ Continue writing 3 blog posts per month and sending out a newsletter every month at most and every other month at the least.

❦ Read more. Always need to read more. I just restarted the Dresden Files series. So many books, so little time.

Well, those are all the main things at least! Personal goals this year mostly focus on my mind and body health. Writing is not a very active career - lol.

What are your plans for 2017? Resolutions or goals? Are they quantifiable or more general? Good luck with whatever you decide to aim for! And if you have any writing goals, remember you can always join us at Writing Quest to share them and be cheered on.

OK, 2017 -- here I come!

Goodbye 2015, and Hello 2016!

Wow. What a year 2015 has been. I laid out a plan for myself back in April, and I think things are coming along rather nicely. Of course, I'm not even halfway through the Baker's Dozen Experiment, and completing that will be my main goal for 2016.

So far, I've published 3 items, a total of 5 short stories in those publications. I've also posted 21 chapters of Chains of Nect to Wattpad and my blog. Here's hoping I can keep the momentum going through the next year.

Of course, I had to sit down and reassess some things. The Baker's Dozen Experiment will continue, however, I've decided to pause my progress and posts on Chains of Nect. I have other projects that I feel need to be moved to the forefront, especially since my reception on Wattpad hasn't been strong. This doesn't mean I'm not willing to change my mind, if enough people request for me to continue Chains of Nect. Feel free to post here or use my contact form to request I continue it sooner rather than later. If enough people ask for it, I'll definitely shift things around!

I will have one final chapter of Chains of Nect that will be posted to Wattpad on January 1, and subsequently posted to my blog on January 6.

Aside from that change, here are some highlights of my goals for 2016:

❧ Publish 9 more short stories for the Baker's Dozen Experiment
❧ Publish my novel Mind Behind the Mind to finish off the Baker's Dozen Experiment
❧ Complete a revision of Dead As Dreams
❧ Write a Fractured Fairies Christmas story for next December
❧ Start writing Thorns Entwine the Blade, the sequel to Mind Behind the Mind
❧ Draft 2-3 other short stories
❧ Find some beta readers for the Mind sequels (if you're interested please contact me for more info - you do not need to be a writer to be a beta reader!)
❧ Blog once per week - stay tuned for The Adventures of Karriya the Wizard!
❧ Continue critiquing, participate more in Broad Universe and on Kboards
❧ Read, read, and read - I'd be happy to take any recommendations

So, here's hoping 2016 is as productive as 2015. May the toddler be an angel, the eldest child not whine, and the kittens become fat, lazy non-tree climbing cats. Oh, and the house self-clean itself. Too much to ask for? Nah, I don't think so (as I listen to the toddler freaking out at her older sister).

Also, if you're a writer who would like some camaraderie while working toward monthly goals, please join us in the Writing Quest group on Facebook. I'm now running it as a group instead of separate monthly events, and anyone is welcome to join!

I hope everyone has a happy start to 2016. What are your hopes and dreams for the year to come?

Chains of Nect: Obsidian's Obsession - Prologue

If you enjoy the Prologue of Chains of Nect: Obsidian's Obsession below, you can find a new chapter posted every Friday on Wattpad. Happy reading!

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Chains of Nect: Obsidian's Obsession

Prologue: Resolution

Obsidian traced the symbols with her fingers. Dirt embedded in the creases crumbled down, but the stone held strong. Magic. Everyone knew the portals of Nect never aged, never degraded.

But they could be hidden. Just like the gate she reached up to now. Vines entwined around it and dirt caked the etched stone, so it looked part of the wooded hillside, no matter the season. Which was why no one knew this gate was here.

Not until she tripped over it.

Sid retraced the symbols, wondering what they meant. Only the Guardians knew the runic language, though. The word at the pinnacle of the portal gave a hint to what lay on the other side, she knew that much. But no one had opened one for centuries to even see. The Guardians kept the secret of how to do that as well. They kept that secret and refused to use it.

This particular gate stood about the height of an adult female, but Sid was only twelve, so she had to stretch still to feel the etchings. She imagined the beauty under all of the dirt and grime. Oh, how the stone would shine if cleaned up. How the portal would beckon.

It already beckoned to her. Touching it felt right, like she was part of it.

Sid's grandfather had claimed his father had come from a portal, that her blood wasn't wholly Nectinian. But those were silly stories meant to entertain. Weren't they?

The surge of contentment from the stone on her fingertips made her wonder. No, those tales had to be just that, tales. No one had passed through a gate in ages, let alone someone coming from another world here to Nect.

Perhaps the portal just called to her to be opened. It had laid here hidden for so long that it craved to be used, to be entered and have the world on the other side rediscovered.

This is why the Guardians refused to let commoners near the portals. Strange magic held them together, and that magic could turn a person mad. Some people claimed the Guardians didn't even know the extent of the magic, which is why they never stated exactly what kind of danger just touching a portal could cause.

Obsidian didn't care about the possible dangers. She knew she was meant to find this gate.

And she'd keep it to herself.

Her arm grew tired and she pulled it back, then sat down cross-legged in front of the hidden stone arch, staring at the runic word. Yes, all hers.

If she told anyone about it, the Guardians would descend on her family's property and claim this section as their own. There'd be a permanent guard on the portal, and her mother, father, and brothers would be scrutinized, watched, until they were pretty much bullied to leave their ancestral home behind.

Sid had seen it happen to a friend in two sanctions over. At least those Guardians were far enough away so as not to catch wind of her portal. As long as she kept quiet. No one could know, not even her mother. And she'd make sure to steer her two younger brothers away from playing near it. Their land was large and half wild, so it wouldn't be a big problem.

No saying what would happen to her if the Guardians found out. The whispers of what happened to people who actually discovered a portal tended toward the gruesome.

She shuddered.

Sid pushed herself up from the ground, intent on feeling the word again, but something in the ground scratched her palm, drawing blood. Too many rocks around.

"Ouch." She brought her hand to her mouth, sucking on the wound, which made it sting even more. Stupid.

She shook her hand, trying to brush the pain off. It wasn't that deep, but the shallow cuts always seemed to hurt the most.

The setting sun shone threw the trees and a glint from the ground caught her eye. Perhaps it wasn't a rock that had scratched her. She crouched to get a closer look. Metal. It had to be. She tried to dig around the object with her fingers, but she needed something stronger to loosen the dirt.

Sid hunted on the hill for a strong fallen branch and lucked out after a short search.

Then she dug. The branch scratched her hands up even more with her frantic motions, but she didn't care. She had to unearth this thing--it had to be connected to the portal. Perhaps even a hint at how to open in.

Once the dirt was loose enough, she bent over and yanked out the item, falling back onto her butt with the force of her pull.

A metal box about the size of a cat. And one that was rusted nearly beyond recognition. She hoped whatever was in it was still intact. Sid turned it around in her hands, looking for the latch, and heard the contents bang. Ah, there it was, as hidden as the gate itself. A push lock. She needed both thumbs since there were two mechanisms, each on opposite sides, and she ground them into the push locks until her fingers throbbed. Open, come on, just open.

And when she thought the box would refuse to obey, she heard the tell-tale clicks. Yes.

The lid slipped off, revealing an inside in much better condition than the outside. As if the same magic holding the portals together made sure the black metal lining remained pristine. Or the book that she revealed had its own kind of magic.

Sid plucked it out of the box and turned it around in her hands. The cover was made of leather which smelled as new as the day the book was bound, and on the front were the same runic letters as on the gate. She paged through it--all the same, written in a language she didn't know.

A language only the Guardians knew.

Well, then, she'd just have to become a Guardian.

Sid placed the book back into the box and locked it. She removed her jacket and wrapped the box in it, so as to hide her discovery when she returned home. Finding a hiding place for it in the house would be necessary. Or the barn--that would be even better.

The sun had nearly dipped below the horizon. She imagined her mother's voice calling to her just out of reach. "Sidi! Dinner is ready. Sidi!" Time to get home before her parents began to worry.

Obsidian clutched the wrapped book to her chest and ran, thinking of all the steps she needed to take to become a Guardian in the next six years.

Then she could finally read the word etched into the portal. And the book in her arms.

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Blurb:

Obsidian successfully plays the game expected of her, passes the tests, and is accepted as a Guardian. Though she jumps through the hoops, she doesn't want to follow the precepts at all, to guard the portals but never open them. She believes its a waste to not explore the worlds within, like her ancestors had. How can they protect themselves if something comes through the portals if they don't know what's in them?

Obsidian's appointed mentor, Damian, is a straight-laced young Guardian, who can't contain the young dedicant. He's always believed the laws are in place to protect all of Nect, but Obsidian starts to make him question his own principles. She doesn't allow him any time to examine the possibilities, though, and he has to decide between reporting her or standing by her side to protect her from whatever horrors she stirs up.

Will the Guardians end Obsidian's life, or will something from another world get to her first?

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Chapter 1

NEXT UP (July 29): Magic Is Reality, Reality Is Magic: Lughnasadh