Storm of Masks Cover Revamp & New Edition

I've been neglecting this blog again. I know, who's surprised?

It's hard motivating myself to work, so when I do I tend to spend my words on my manuscripts instead of the blog these days. I did post about this on Twitter & Instagram, though! I figured I should share it here while I was at it, since work is flying by.

I'm publishing a new edition of Storm of Masks really soon, with several additional scenes, a new chapter, and a newly added epilogue & prologue. The new edition will also contain my novella Dreamseeker as a free bonus!

So, why a new edition? Basically, I originally envisioned Storm of Masks as a standalone novel, but the characters weren't done with me - or each other - and the idea for the sequel kept spinning out of control in my head until I couldn't ignore it. Now that Storm of Masks is the first book in a duology, I thought it needed a few minor tweaks and prods in a right direction.

Since I'm a total cheater, I decided that while I'm at it I may as well add some new material and explore things I didn't have time to in the original edition. Those new elements will also come into play in book 2, Riot of Souls.

Jen herself and a few minor characters get a more of the spotlight in the edition, which I feel like they definitely deserve, and there's a bit more spook factor, which I feel like we all definitely deserve.

And, just because I'm me, I shoved a few more pop culture references and a tad more gay stuff in there. :) And, you know, way more ghosts...

I also felt that, since I know the world in and out now, and in a more concrete way than I did the first time around, I could tighten some of the world building and fantastical aspects and harness them better.

I think the finished product is something pretty special, and I'm really excited to share it.

I've had a tough go of things lately, and my mental health really took a hit for a while - to the point where I almost, almost, seriously considered quitting writing & publishing altogether. It turns out I had to walk away from my work for a while and allow myself to just exist so I could work through some leftover stress I'd been putting off dealing with. After a few days away from the keyboard, my brain fog started to clear. I'm in a better place now and the writing bug has taken back its home in my brain, so for the foreseeable future I might manage not to be a total mess for once? Yes, this is as shocking a development for me as it is for y'all.

Anyway, while I leave you to drool over this cover, which really suits the book better than the original, I'm gonna hop back on putting the final touches on the book!

Final release date to come!

Ghost Squad, Roll Out (I Think My House is Haunted)

Pretty sure my house is haunted. It definitely wasn't, when we moved in, and I've only really been experiencing this stuff in the last month or so, but I keep seeing things moving out of the corner of my eyes, hearing stranger noises, and feeling, well, not alone - when I'm the only one in the house.

So. I'm fairly sure that one of us must have manifested something or unknowingly allowed it entrance, and honestly? I'm more annoyed than anything else.

Nothing bad or malevolent has happened, and I'm really not too afraid of spirits. I'm more like Brenda, in Scary Movie, beating the shit out of whichever ghostie decides to crawl out of the TV, and I think that's fair, because it's pretty fucking rude to move into someone's place without permission, incorporeal or no.

Since the undead bitch hasn't tried to shove my gay ass down the stairs or jump out at me from behind any corners (which would honestly just earn it an earful it would never forget) I'm honestly just gonna let it be.

So that's where we're at; the house is clearly haunted, nobody believes me that said house is haunted, and, why should they? since I honestly don't care much myself.

The thing is, I'm just looking at silver linings, since the last time we lived in a haunted house it was one of the historical buildings uptown and that presence was actively fucking with us and scaring us, and, at the time, that was really stressful, because we were younger. It never really got violent or anything, but it was harsh and it made it really uncomfortable to live there.

This haunting is small beans compared to that haunting. I can't believe this has become my life.

I like you a lot, so I do what you want~

I've been listening to a lot of Lana Del Rey lately. I mean, I always listen to a lot of Lana Del Rey, but I've largely been ignoring the existence of Music To Watch Boys To so now I'm making up for it by watching it on repeat. To be clear, I think Lana Del Rey has really racist tendencies towards First Nations people and Mexicans, and needs a damn wake up call, but problematic tendencies aside, her music is fucking incredible.

Aside from that I've been working a bunch - but not as much as I could have, because it was Christmas, and then New Years, and a lot of crazy stuff happened, and it didn't leave much time for writing. . .

Mostly, I've been taking selfies. Wouldn't you, though, if you had these eyebrows?

Okay, I swear I'm not actually this vain (or am I?) but I'm trying to write more blog posts this year, and catalogue more memories, and photos count as memories. I'm actually kind of obsessed with taking photos of things, be they meals, people, objects, rooms, views, myself - whatever - that are in my life, because I have this fear that I'll get old and not remember anything about my life/youth and be sad and lonely, but that won't happen if I have photos of it all.

Except, it might still, because I could forget about the photos, too. Who knows? What I do know is that alzheimer's runs in my family, and my Grandmother can't remember what she said five minutes ago or what she had for breakfast, and it worries me. So.

More blog posts. And more selfies.

In other news, I'm getting ready to revise Things We Saw at Midnight and release the second edition. It's going to have a tighter copy-editing, obviously, but I'll also probably change/tighten a few scenes and maybe even add others in? I'm not sure how much I want to change, but not many people have read it, so I don't feel too bad toying around with it. Plus, the idea of an ever-changing book that each reader has different memories of does sound very Midnight City.

On the topic of books, I have a new rule where I'm only allowed to work on one at a time, until it's published - so no drafting one while editing two or editing more than one at a time. Which means that as is, I'm only focused on editing Sosas and putting that out. After that, it's Mirror, I Am, - which I'm co-writing with Winter Rose - and then Shadows, and it's sequels.

I really want to release at least four or five books this year, so I have to get on the fast track and really dedicate myself - but I am dealing with school on top of that.

Right now, though, the stress isn't bad. Kuma (in case you don't know, Kuma is my illustrious and creative bestie, and I'll be mentioning her a lot, so, you know, remember who she is!) is staying with me right now, and we're getting groceries later today before spending hours playing video games, watching movies, and drawing. My brother and his girlfriend are coming over sometime, too, but that won't be until this evening.

The key to not feeling guilty about this day of fun? I already got my work for the day done. I'll probably get another patch of editing in later, but for now I'm happy with my work today.

In working on my newest projects I've been rereading Rachel Aaron's 2K to 10K again and again. It's the best writing advice book I've ever read, but it focuses on thought-training and productivity strategy. It's really helpful, and has revolutionized the way I write and edit. This is how I've drafted manuscripts in eleven and fourteen days - drafting your entire novel in such a short time feels like fucking flying. Once you read this book, you won't go back. I'm not even getting paid to plug it - that's just how much I like it.

Which means I'll probably like her fiction books, too - right? I have another 100 book reading challenge this year, and this time I really want to finish it. I did in 2014, but in 2015 I only got 70 something. So, yeah, I'll be checking out some Rachel Aaron novels.

But the focus is mainly on writing this year. Winter came to my house on boxing day and stayed for two days, and we spent half that time brainstorming and outlining Mirror, I am, building up our mythology and characters. I have a Pinterest Board for my half of the book, and you should definitely check that out! In case you didn't know, I fucking love Pinterest, and I have boards for a lot of my projects, so you should follow me there!

But yeah, Mirror, I am is gonna be fun. Tansy and Arie each have very unique, distinct voices, yet their stories are both about loss and searching for answers and finding your power. There's a lot of magic in this book, but the focus is on the people using it and the hearts beating in their chests. It's very human. I'm excited to share it.

But I can't. Yet. So, here, have a quote instead:

So, yeah. There's a new tab for it at the top of the blog, and the page has Goodreads links so you can add it to your shelves and follow Winter!

And I'll leave you with this: