Panthers and Precincts ~ Deadra Krieger

Hi :)

It's time again for my Succulent Saturday Stories and I have my good friend and editor here today under her other hat: author! Great start to a series that will warm your hearts. And by the way, I'm not letting her around my dog or cat. The stories they would tell. She makes me go outside and pee or poop. She kicks me off the couch when I'm stealing her food. She spanks me when I eat the kids food. I mean, come on, we all know the kid isn't going to eat his broccoli. She made me get away from the stove when she was cooking. Was even rude about it! I never! Yeah, we'll hide the pets when she's here...

I give you, Deadra :D

A Little Magic in Us All

During edits, I brought up the fact that Magic is based on a cat I had the pleasure of living with (because let's face it, you never truly own a cat) a few years ago. The cat, large and black, sported the name Xerxes and could talk. "Yeah, no, Mom, down, uh-oh, rain, tuna, turkey, bath, now, pill (treat), and Frrrost (the name of my other cat who was his best friend)" are the words I heard him say most frequently. I'm not sure why Xerxes could talk so well, much less in context. Perhaps it was due to my son going through in-home speech therapy and Xerxes listening to them? Maybe it was because as a Siamese and Egyptian Mau mix, he was one of the more vocal breeds?

It could be that, like my character Zeara, I'm an animal empath.

There, I said it. I let the cat out of the bag, so to speak. How does one know they are an animal empath? Well, I didn't. Not at first. I spent the first seven years of my life believing everyone could understand the animals in the same way I can. I learned their language the same as any toddler learns their natural language. I had great teachers. My mother's cat, Theodin who was old and wise at the age of 12. My father's German Shephard mix, Necron, who was enthusiastic and talked all the time. And then there was Pepi—a border collie who watched over me from the moment I was born and who taught me many things. The woods are full of coyotes who will kill and eat you. The road is made of things that will smash you to pieces and kill you. The abandoned chicken house is full of snakes that will bite you and make you sick. Pepi drove me crazy as a child. He wouldn't let me go anywhere or do anything. I distinctly remember wailing in my backyard at the age of four because, once again, Pepi drug me away from the edge of the woods by the seat of my pants.

Now you are probably asking how I am able to understand animals. It's not Doctor Doolittle where the animal opens their mouth and speaks human. I've always explained it like this: if you are fluent in a secondary language, do you mentally translate it to your native tongue when you read or listen to someone speaking the second language? That's what I do. Every ear perk, every chatter or growl, every tail lift or lower has meaning in the language of animals. I can tell from looking at a cat's pupils if it is excited and ready to play, or frightened. I can tell from a dog's bark if it is bluffing about the bite, or if it honestly means to follow through. Then there are the pictures and emotions. I could go on and on about it, but if you truly wish to learn what it's like to live through the eyes of an animal empath, then I can only suggest reading the Faxfire Series. Otherwise, I'd end up high jacking poor Leona's blog, and as much as I love her company, I don't want to be rude.

As is, thank you for having me, Leona. And remember, be aware of what you say or do around your animals. You have no idea the things they blab about when someone like me visits.

 

 

 

 

 

 

Gorgeous cover! BP covers really do stand out, don't they? Now, if you're wanting to get social with her, or buy her books, you can STALK her here:

 

 

Social links:

 

Website: dfkrieger.com

Official Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/pages/D-F-Krieger/177107165643929

Faxfire Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/FaxfireSeries

 

Buy Links:

Breathless Press: http://www.breathlesspress.com/index.php?main_page=product_free_shipping_info&cPath=13&products_id=531&zenid=0b5bb1524c39b159e630dcc39d90789b

ARe:

https://www.allromanceebooks.com/product-panthersandprecinctsfaxfireseriesbook1-1405502-143.html



The Cover Story, Nemesis

Today's guest is someone fun!! And this story, rocks!! As do CJ Redwine and Sharon Gerlach. In other words, a great story about a great story! :D Come say high!

 

Finding Nemesis

No, this isn’t the story of a lost little clownfish, though I love that movie.

A little over four years ago, I went to a photo shoot some friends of mine were doing. It was all pin-up girls and biker-gangster-ish guys—lots of tattoos—with some great shots of girls on cars and guys on or next to motorcycles, and everyone had a gun in their hands. I’d already started writing Nemesis—on November 15^th, in fact—and was just barely into the story. I remember the date because it was that same night I’d realized that NaNoWriMo had already begun and I’d wanted to participate that year, 2008, so I started a bit late. I went a little over the deadline, writing a 91,000-word book in two and a half months. That literary baby became gi-normous through several edits, and she cost me a lot in sacrifice—blood, sleep, and tears, among other things. Nemesis grew to 116,000 words, namely because CJ Redwine, in the midst of her synopsis workshop in 2010, pointed out to me that I had a HUGE plot hole in the story. I was able to shed over 10,000 words after a thorough edit via Sharon Gerlach.

I remember standing in the alley, the car parked at an angle, and my friend Aleks (aka the Dirty Russian) climbing up a ladder to take the shot of his future wife Rita lying across the top of an old car. I stood off to Aleks’ right, near the bottom of that cover photo, and remember thinking, “Oh my God, that shot is going to be spectacular.” And then I thought, “I wonder if I could use it for something,” not realizing at the time that it would end up as a book cover, and especially not realizing it would be the cover for Nemesis.

When the time came, nearly a year and a half later, to design the cover for Nemesis, I emailed Aleks with a photo that I really liked but couldn’t find the original copyright owner, and asked him if he could do something similar. We got to talking and I finally asked him what he did with the photo of Rita on the car. He replied that he hadn’t done anything with it other than a calendar and some prints, and asked if I wanted to use that. After discussing price, and having Brandon do some Photoshop work on the image, the photo was mine.

(and isn't it lovely!! ~LB)

 

What I love more than anything is that not only were these friends of mine and I attended the photo shoot, which made it so very personal already, but that Rita didn’t have any tattoos showing on her upper body at the time of the shoot, and Brandon not only added the tattoos, but the one on her arm in the image you see on the cover is the exact tattoo on her arm now.

Rita came by last week to pick up three copies of Nemesis, and it was the first time she’d seen the book cover in person. When I told her people raved about the cover, she actually got embarrassed. Shh, don’t tell anyone. It’d mess with her tough girl image. We hugged, said goodbye, and she drove off on her motorcycle with a copy for herself, her husband, and Brandon the Photoshop genius. And I went to work with a smile because, finally, they had their copies that I’d been trying to get to them forever.

 

Prince Charming was a putz.

Prince Charming number two was even worse. 

After the last prince ran off without any notice, breaking her heart and their engagement along the way, Nemesis Mussolini swore off men and passed the time kicking ass and slinging drinks, something her mafia father would never approve of. But, when her boss Clancy ups his flirtations, it's difficult to remember she's not interested, especially when he gets that delicious evil glint in his eye that has her melting. Just when Nemy starts to think all men might not be bad, she hears whispers about Clancy's less than legal past, and wants to run like hell from the idea that he could be just like her father.

Great . . . Prince Charming number three may possibly be on FBI's Most Wanted.

While Nemy and Clancy tumble down the romance road, hitting potholes every step of the way, Nemy discovers how much of her heart already belongs to Clancy, and how much of a Don's daughter she really is. But she must learn to trust again. Can Nemy surrender in time to get her happily ever after, or is she hell-bent on letting her past keep her from the one man who could be her true Prince Charming?

 

NL “Jinxie” Gervasio is a creator and destroyer of worlds. She is both editor and author, and discovered she’s quite good at the romance thing—writing it, that is—along with vampires, werewolves, zombies, angels and demons. Jinxie is the CEO and Founder of Just Ink Press, her second publishing company, and she also owns and operates Forever Nocturne e-zine, a bi-annual literary magazine. Jinxie reviews books in her spare time, of which she rarely has any.

Jinxie was born on Friday the 13th. Her dad wanted to call her Jinx. Her mom said no. It took 34 years for her to discover the nickname, and she's grown quite attached to it. She lives in Tempe, Arizona with Umi (her mother), whom she cares for. She enjoys riding her beach cruiser "The Betty" around downtown Tempe, loves a good pub crawl, and has had the pleasure and the heartache of experiencing a love far greater than she could have ever imagined.

She welcomes you to her worlds.

Jinxie is the author of the Kick-Ass Girls Club series book NEMESIS and the Prophecy series books THE DRACOVE and GODS & VAMPYRES.

Twitter │ Facebook │ Just Ink Press │ Forever Nocturne │ Zombie Survival Crew

blogging

So, in my blogging, I've tried to walk this line where I kept most of this about writing, or relate it to writing. Most of the time, this hasn't really been hard since writing is a passion for me. Sometimes though, it was a mood killer.

I tried to make the blog more and more about writing, trying to keep less of the personal end of things out etc. It wasn't working for me. I wrote this blog to help myself, and others, who are struggling as moms, wifes, and day jobbers, to also get time for themselves and their passions. Recently, someone (The great Kristen Lamb) pointed out that unless your trying to platform yourself as a writer who writes for writers, you'll be targeting the wrong people. And there goes the lightbulb.

I'm still going to write about writing. I mean, it's what's important, but I'm going to find me a hook...was thinking of doing a crochet/craft type hook (yes pun intended :D) but not sure I could write about it in a way that reflects how I write my stories. So while I search for that ever elusive hook, I'll keep on as I started--writing for those people out there struggling to find time for their passions. Writing is only the tip of the iceberg.

I think I've mentioned before, but years ago, as in 12 :) I was a realtor. Yep that was what I was doing when I married my husband. And now, my husband's aunt has offered me a job as her assistant. I may end up licensing all over again. Wouldn't that be an interesting circle. What's really funny is that I quit my Real estate job to work at doctor's office with this same aunt.

Life is funny sometimes... And, she initially hired me (yesterday) to mostly do work from home and part time it for her and by end of day I'd been told I may end up working for more peeps as an assistant. I may end up in the office more than one day a week. This fall promises to be busy. Unless I get rich overnight for some reason (like a hundred thousand people by my books in the next week:) and move away from the wapato school district, there is no way in hell that I'm putting my kids back in school. Even if we move away I might not. It was way too stressful (see earlier reasons why me finding a job is hard) and my Down Syndrome child is getting benefits from having the boys home and learning in front of him. My husband works 10+ hour shifts, one of them on Saturday, so I'd be able to work 2 days withought any problem with sitting and the schooling. More than that, there will be some serious thinking and planning on my part. My mother inlaw has college degree so could over see their daily work if I went in one more day and I could play catch up/check their work that night. My kids know, if they don't do the minimum work I want them to do, then they have school Saturday and Sunday. State wants minimum hours and I want minimum work/results. If they don't meet those criteria they know the consenquences.

How ironic is it that I find a job that will allow for me to work from home and work around the schedule and has potential for real money right after posting about how hard that would be and how unlikely I would be to find someone who would understand about my family's health issues (including my own) and where I can do most of the work from home? LOLOL Wish me luck at organizing everything. Thankfully, I just finished a rewrite, and have a cursory editing session after CP checks for grammar errors before sending it off to the editor who requested it. (keep your fingers crossed their as well!) That means I'm on a bit of inbetween time and can spend the next week on a major learning/refresher curve for Real Estate without losing any real momentum on my writing.

I've also sent out my fantasy story to two online publishing houses so I'm on a 3-4 month wait on that as well. Perfect time for me to start a new job and learn to work it into my writing routine.

Here I go. Embarking on THE DAY JOB again. :D Move 'em out!

Focus

I feel so much more focused today. Which is funny, because it's probably the day I'll spend the least amount of time writing this week :) I have to garden and make my boys some clothes. And do dishes. Suck. Anyway, we've all heard the I hate house work suck, so put the sound track here***and on with the show.

I'm going back to school. I'm registered, financial aid is ready, and I'm "this" close :P Can't wait! So now, I'm frantically trying to figure out what I need to get done before school starts, what needs to be done during school, working out schedule around the kid's school (Which will be easy. Nate has Mon-Tues off and one class is in the evening, and one class individual studies.) and all the rest that goes along with that.

I'm also trying to figure out how to get the canning done this year. Last year's supplier of good produce at good prices isn't doing so well this year, and I don't have as much money, food wise, this year :( Really kind of frustrated about the canning stuff. ARGH

ANYWAY, try to get off the lack of money subject and all related concepts, I'm writing for my website now. Almost done with first installment. Nearly at 49k with the paranormal rewrite :D my goal is minimum of 50k and I'm going to smoke that. Maybe not today cuz my writing time is almost up, but tomorrow then :) Look for Winds of Fire, a Military-offshoot Romantic Thriller coming in August through kindle and smashwords. It's starting to trickle back from Beta's now :) I'm also writing a novel, by Oct 1 (maybe since I still don't have the approval for synopsis yet) and continuing to write for Splintered Lands site.

So, I know that sounds like a lot of stuff, so how can I focus? Well, I have a direction, I have due dates, and I'm not feeling like my life is such a waste. I need to make money, so hopefully people will buy my Etsy stuff (speaking of which, have you seen the leather braided keychains I made? More to come!), and that need has weighed on me greatly. But now, I don't feel the same pressure about it. The need is as great or greater than it's been before (it's why I put a donate button on my site. Although how I'll feel if anyone actually does it, IDK) but I feel like there's hope. And hope is important. It's how I find my focus. If I have hope, than I can accomplish a lot of things. So here's to hope and focus. Getting it done!

I did a little pimping of my books on twitter last night. I have a book out, Rebellion on Piza 7 for those who are newcomers :D It's available through Barnes and Nobles and Amazon. It was released a couple of years ago, but I ahve a rather fond attachment to it. Go buy it on Amazon. The kindle is only 1.29 :D When I get a beautiful cover I shall up the price! (I kept copyright of the book but not rights to the cover!) I'm an artist, I should be able to do something...

Anyhoot, I'm looking at actual self-publishing for my sci-fi fantasy books and maybe a short romance line. I write so much and that's partly because I READ so much. I LOVE TO READ. I READ EVERYTHING. You will find two common elements in my books-relationships (not just romantic ones) and adventure/mystery. Adventure and mystery aren't typically classified together, but the adventures I mean are the unknown, the wild, the ones that you learn something while doing. It's like it's own mystery. So if a book has done those things real well, I'll read it regardless of its genre. I have a vampire horror story I just found that started as a writing exercise from one of the blogs I followed. I have a sequel to write. I have another sci=fi to write. AND I ALREADY KNOW THE NEXT GAL NOIR STORY.

I have a fantasy to edit, a Blaze type book to edit, a paranormal to rewrite, a thriller to edit (gal friday noir) and my devil story to edit. All of those idets are going to lead to publishing!! I have to decide which one(s) are going more tradition, indie or self publishing. So many questions and information to process.

And the opinions for/against each one!! I'd like to see some discussion for and against self-publishing, indie pubs and more "traditional" pubs. What's your take on the whole thing?

New website is up!

So I posted on my new website :D Yes, yes I did! A comedy erotica. It's on it's own page with a don't read if you're under 18 disclaimer. I've already gotten some good feedback on the story. It is funny! www.leonajbushman.com

I'll be doing more shorts and a even a serial for my fantasy friends :D I'll take requests even :D Can't promise I'll be able to fill all the many and varied requests I get, but I'll try :D

I've had a couple orders on my etsy which I'm very glad I started :D It's inspired my husband and family to do things as well. My son, who already had started making pictures to buy as soon as I mentioned the idea to my husband, went into a frenzy of picture making. We've also done a class project with the laminator after my husband was inspired to make pics with clip art for the baby's drawers to help everyone keep it straight and teach him what things are.

I've also found some good feedback and help with it that reminded me at a time I sorely needed it that I have friends. Good friends! They may be from the bowels of cyberspace, but they've proven truer and more real to me than some closer at hand. (I have a couple close by as well so don't think I'm dissing on you!)

I have finished putting the paper edits on the paranormal I need to turn into a novella/novel along with the notes of where to add scenes into the computer. That sentence needs editing, but for the life of me I can't think of how else to say it. Anyways, I've also edited severely for like the hundreth time chapter one of Gal Friday Noir as well as a rewrite, and started the tense fixing of the rest of the novel. Found some good tricks as well :D Should be ready by the time an agent actually asks for a full anyway LOL

I love being so productive. Tomorrow I'll go through the paranormal on paper again and start writing scenes by hand. I shall have to be careful of my writing as I could barely read the chicken scratch I used last time!! I have become so adept at cyber writing that my handwriting skills have suffered. No more! I tell you. NO more! I shall have lovely handwriting skills. *stops for the laughter to die down* I can dream, ya' know.

I've already got the traitor mapped out etc because I was going to use it in a sequel anyway. See, when I wrote this short, i'd intended it to be a series of shorts over this one story. The things the editor has asked me to put in are things I'd plan on addressing in future works. So it's only a matter of getting them written and inserted at the proper place. A huge chunk will go in middle and at the end. But I'm flirting with the idea of having a few chapters from the POV of "the bad guys" which is why I'm doing another paper edit so soon. I think it'll help me find the appropriate places for chapter breaks and inserts.

Anyway, my child is actually asleep at 10:46 pm with no movie or coercing. Score 1 for MOM :D and DAD LOL so I think I'm going to hit the hay a little early tonight!! I hope everyone's day goes well and you all are productive where you want to be.

PS don't forget about my website :D love to see you there!

Hello there :D

It's good to be back on. Now, even with the advent of blogger being gone for most of yesterday, I told my husband that people still managed to get to my blog. He said they were people from the CIA LOL that even with blogger down, they could get to me :P

I think he's been reading my MS again LOL

My CP really likes my MS in the fppt (first person present tense) so I did a little digging. And all recent books that I've bought have been in first person (past tense verbs)and really, that's where I kept trying to go. I spent a lot of editing time making it fppt and now will be going back the other way. I thought I had lots of time, but I've already received a negative on it! So, might not have as much time to fix a problem I didn't know I had until now. UGH but, at least now I know. FPPT is apparently not a well liked form of POV writing.

My story is so good that it'll still be good as I rock the changes. Sound a bit conceited? Well it's the truth. I've had books I've liked before, and felt I could make them workable, sellable, what-have-you, but this one has been special. Maybe we'll see how special.

All the time, I'm learning new things. it all affects my writing on one level or another. But how many times do we over correct? I'm hoping I'm not making that mistake with this book. We shall see.

I'm nearly finished with changes in first chapter. I'll post here for today's excerpts:

Gal Friday Noir:


My hair is stuck to the side of my face, the drying sweat making me uncomfortable. I'm already pissed off because I don't know what's happening with my kids. Pissed and uncomfortable are not good bedfellows. Not that these assholes care. I need a shower, for starters. Maybe a nice, rare steak ready for when I get out of this hell hole and back to my kids. At least they let me have my smokes.

I looked at man in the suit gazing down at me. I felt his distaste as a palpable thing. I'm dressed in what I call my 'day clothes' since they nabbed me in broad daylight with no warning. Believe me, that wasn't easy. Acid-wash jeans, old t-shirt and Nikes made up my public persona, my mom face. But that wasn't the person they were looking for.

No. They wanted the person in the file they were holding. I lean back on the old wooden chair and put my feet up on the matching desk. I'd a moment's unease as I wondered if the brown stain was coffee-or blood. These men were an unknown to me.

The blue suit, as I thought of the slightly shorter, more dour of the partners, held my file. I identified it from my stint in the military hospital after some freak biological substance leaked in my neighborhood. I recognized the special symbol on it.


So what do you think? It's the newly revised first person. It's also the beginning of my book. You like it? Feedback please :D

Yo Yo

So much of life is ups and downs for me right now. I've almost forgotten what it feels like to be on cruise control :D

Writing has been on back burner for two days. I had a really bad headache yesterday. After five minutes on the computer, I'd feel sick, so I did a bit of hit and run on twitter yesterday and concentrated on my art side of things. Printing out pics when I could stand the computer, and cutting, taping and laminating the stuff together when I couldn't. I did get a few things done...until I ran out of tape. What happened when I ran out of double sided tape?

Well, I had to stop and did some clean up. I love how my art and writing work together for me. Being out of tape is like being out of words. I might have these wonderful characters and ideas, but if the words are lost, they're going to sit there in a jumble until I can organize them and tape them all together to form a cohesive thought.

Sometimes, having that day off can rejuvinate my writing. And it will. I'm feeling it now. I'm going to write the first installment of the serial for splintered lands so we can get that up and running. I'm also going to watch some Doctor Who or Supernatural depending on what mood I'm in when I sit down to do some paper edits.

Then I'm going to REWRITE the MS I just finished. I learned something new about frist person and the difference between it and first person present tense (didn't know there was a difference. UGH) So, wish me luck in my endeavors. One day I will pay it forward as it has been for me.

As writers, we all pay it forward. There is so much free advice out there--some of it's even good :P --and we all give freely. We want each other to succeed, even as we want success for ourselves. Of course, like any group of people there are bad seeds out there; you just hope you don't fall under the shade of anything that grows from that seed and that you stay under the boughs that grew from the seeds of knowledge of the rest who want your success!

I wish you and yours peace and prosperity as we move forward. Especially to my friend who's grandpa has cancer. Love Ya little sis of my heart...

Friday Excerpts--Gal Friday Noir

Well, technically it's Saturday, but I didn't have access to my stories or the internet at the same time yesterday! :D

Exerpt from Gal Friday Noir: Mayhem in Mexico (newly finished at 82k!!) ahem, excuse me while I squee. Okay, I'm back :)

Main character knows her kids have been kidnapped but hasn't seen them yet. (This is a zombie thriller, although you don't get to see them here.) As you'll see, this doesn't make momma happy!


I stare at Gene, sure that my anger is visible on my face. My teeth hurt because I'm clenching them so tight. But just in case he needs a little motivation, I let out the full force of my Immune powers. My anger flows out so strongly, that even Joseph steps away from me.

The two guards that came out of the same office as Andrea at the time I unleashed my anger both duck and stay down as if they had incoming. Andrea and Gene on the metal landing above us step away from the railing in shock, their backs hitting the other side with a twang. Gene quickly recovers and steps up to his previous position.

"Of course you'll see your kids immediately." He nods at the men who'd stepped out a minute ago and they two time it to a door hidden in the shadows under the stairs where they stand. I pay close attention to the knock, memorizing the pattern and the words spoken.

Two men come out, each dragging a screaming kid. I smile with great pride. Both my boys are putting up a fight. "Don, Kyle," I call out joyously and run towards them. The boys stop for a moment upon hearing my voice then both stomp on the feet of their captors and rush out of their grips into my arms.

"Are you guys alright," I ask searching their faces and bodies for sign of mistreatment. They look fine. Lucky Andrea.

"We're bored. And they're awful, mom. Can we go home now?" I grin at Kyle.

"Sure baby, in a minute," I point to the men who'd brought them out of the room. "Are they your kidnappers?"

Kyle looks at them and says, "No, they're alright. They think we're here being punished while you're doing your work." He changes to a loud whisper. "They're nice but a little slow."

I bark out a short laugh of surprise. "If it wasn't them, then who was it?"

"The guys who knocked to get us right now. Those guys are assholes."

"Assholes, assholes, balls, balls," starts Don in a sing song voice when I don't immediately take Kyle to task for cussing.

"Don, hush." I turn to the men who brought out my kids. "Where's their sitter?"
They look at each other blankly, but I see the smirk on one of the men who'd come down the metal staircase. "Where is she," I repeat.

"She's at the main house getting special treatment," one of them say snidely.
"You better hope special doesn't mean what I think you mean by it, Ace. You're already dead. If she's been hurt, I'll make you suffer first."

He starts to laugh but something about the way I'm looking at him makes him stop. I see him reassess me. Up to this point, he's been working on the assumption I'm a chump writer. I'm thinking he's not so sure of me anymore. He will be when I'm through with him. He'll have a whole new respect for mothers and writers. Too bad he won't live long enough to appreciate it.

Friday Excerpts

I'm thinking of doing this regularly. You have to be careful in this day and age of ebooks, but since I usually put up raw, unedited relatively small amounts, I'm in the clear. I think. LOL One of the reasons I put up the raw version is so that it never completely matches the finished versions which I send to agents/publishing houses. And always a random selection LOL It would take some serious work to find and piece together the excerpts that I've put out from my wide and various writing projects!

Intro: This is an excerpt from my newest project, the dark paranormal female noir. Backstory: She kills zombies. Only these zombies don't look like zombies yet. They have the virus and killing instincts, but are smarter, faster, and sexier than the average human until the final stages. I know, new twist, not tradition lore, yada yada, but I love my new book. Here's a taste for my female PI zombie killer.


Gal Friday Noir Series Excerpt


"I'm never submissive. Think you can handle a woman like me?" She thought he was going to fall to his knees. She had issued a direct challenge. She could see the lust in his eyes and the evil pull to his mouth as he imagined breaking her to his will. Side effect of the virus? Maybe. But she figured him for evil before the taint of zombie started in him.

"I know exactly how to handle a woman like you," he replied in a voice that shook.
Good. She had him now. Too arrogant to think a woman might have the same powers he did. "Why don't you follow me outside, honey. We can do some," she stopped, leaned over to his ear and whispered. "Talking."

He grabbed her hand and started pulling her to the front exit. She pulled him back in such a way that he whipped backed to her eye-to-eye. He was nearly panting from his lust.

"Not that way, honey. Out back." She tugged at his hand and turned away. When he didn't take a step to follow, she turned back. "I have something special to show you." Like a Saturday Night Special. Okay, so it was a Magnum 357. Why quibble? For him, she may use her knife. More personal that way. This one was a jackass with or without the zombie virus.

He leered at her and followed her back like, well, she laughed to herself, like the lamb to the slaughter. Only in his case, it was more like putting down a rabid dog before he hurt anyone else.

She swayed her hips as she walked and kept a low hum going. Hearing her voice would keep him in a semi-hypnotic state and easy to coerce. She had one last test to perform. One that she detested. She had to kiss him. Damn the accident. She was given psychic powers. Knew a certain amount without ever touching anyone.

But the deeper probe into the brain? She inwardly cringed. She couldn't kill him until she was one hundred percent sure he was a zombie, and not simply immune like herself. That meant kissing her target. Her working theory was the mark let their guard down the smallest amount, but it was enough for her to get in and see the mind.

She quickly dropped the one step to the back alleyway. She turned and slowly backed her way towards the dumpster. His eyes glittered and reflected a hardness that he had hidden from her earlier. Oh yeah, she was going to enjoy killing this one. How many others had he hurt or killed? Now for the final test.


Like her sass? I love her. She's my favorite character so far. It was Damian, the half-demon with a soul. Of course, she's all new and shiny and I just finished a long session of edits with Damian. Hmmm, now that I think about it, their both my favorites! One male, one female!

All comments, critiques welcome. I love input. Iiiiiiinnnnnppuuuuuuuuttt. Sorry. Eighties moment there. :D Have a good day!

Sunday

Sundays have traditionally been days of rest. Slow days. Easy days. Right? Not in my household. For the year we went without TV it was major clean up day, including laundry. Before TV, and perhaps today, it was football!!

Then again, football was before I had concrete writing goals. Before I discovered what I am capable of. In regards to writing, I keep stretching and growing, I'm finding my nitch, but not settling in it.

My nitch seems to be dark-ish paranormal erotica. Although, my next series I start will be something new. I am still going to write the sci-fi/fantasy. Those I will publish on smashwords and kindle with my won artwork as cover. I really need to crack that whip. However, before I do that, I do need to wait for the last round of queries to respond. My fantasy made it into semi-finals of agent contest that held mostly romance, so I know it has some real potential.

Recently, I got so tired that I couldn't edit. Then we had company over the holidays. I was busy with extra cleaning and cooking. Then my dark moments, some of which inspired the ballad in the last post, took over. I started writing it out. Releasing on twitter inspiring an alter-ego that is leading to something new and dark and I think wonderful. I shall see when it's written.

Writing is a good weapon in my arsenal against falling into situational depression and it and painting is how I keep my sanity. FYI for those who might remember, I didn't do so well last year between my brother's birthday (feb 8) and the day of his death (april 25). I'm hoping that this year, since it is second year through all of this, will be easier to cope with.

The holidays were a bit easier as I found old friends. But I found out, through some weird happenstance, that I was only moving through the motions. I don't know how much missing my brother and sadness regarding my family played into it, but I'm absolutely sure it didn't help.

So hold me accountable. Many of you follow me on twitter. My phone is supposed to receive the @mentions from those I follow. You have my permission to inundate me with comments and pointed remarks about where my writing is and where the hell am I type of tweets.

My brother's death had a great impact on me. One I will always feel. He was the tie to my adopted family. So, keep me in your thoughts as his birthday approaches. I will hopefully be out of this other dark period before that day. Or at least be writing it out of my head to leave room for the extra so it isn't so overwhelming.

Keep writing, and/or whatever it is you do to keep your mind healthy :)

I'm almost finished with the first Damian book. You remember, the one I outlined then couldn't finish? The one I threw out 60k on already? Yep, that one! I will, with any luck, finish it today and send it off to my beta reader! Yay!

Excerpt

Thanks to everyone who showed their concern and niceness regarding my daughter's well being :) Some on twitter and some here (and a couple both ways!) And to those who helped me through a rough patch yesterday. Thanks for being the bestest. Now, back to business, so to speak.

So, I'm editing, very, very, very, very, slowly. I mean, sllllllooooooooowwwwww. but it is good. Here's a quick excerpt from my paranormal, the Damian series that I am currently calling Ghost of Kristen's Past.



Before she responded, the detective's eyes glowed strangely and he turned toward the door. "Kenny is here."

Kristen could not remember the last time she had been in such a nervous state. Her mind fumbled for coherence and her body was in fight or flight mode. She mutely turned back to the door and opened it.

She was so not surprised to see Kenny coming up the walk. She let Kenny in and turned back to Detective Damian.

Kenny strode purposefully into the living room. "I'm here, obviously. What did you want?" he said abruptly as soon as he saw the detective.

"I need you to tell me everything you know. Half of Hell is after you and the other half will be once they find out that the two of you are Soulmates."



You like? That's the end of a chapter :D I really like that last line. One of my favorites. I know a book is good when I have favorites...

Happy Winter!

The last days of Nano

I DID IT!!! I made it through the hellish month, sans thyroid meds, which affects my energy and memory, and still wrote 50k!

I wrote at least 4k on other projects as well! I finished on the second to last day. Last year, I finished a while before, but kept writing until I had 64k and more on other projects.

But this year, I had to struggle to write. It has been the paranormal that has been really sticking it to me. Turning off the inner editor completely ended up being impossible, which slowed me down. And, I'm trying to write it for a specific house/editor that really liked the premis of a short story I wrote last year (one of the projects I was working on during Nano last year!) and I have really struggled with many issues, from boredom because I outlined too much detail and wasn't happy with the main character's state of being. It is a series so I felt he needed a better hook.

I finally found it, but my laptop was stolen :( I had about 100 words in seperate file on my computer from the original writing of the scene, so was able to save that. Plus, I knew how I wanted the first scene to go, so I was able to do it. I have more words that will be copied in, now that Nano is over. That way, I can work it into the scenes better.

Otherwise, I have previously thrown out like 60k words on this particular project making it hard to write with abandon as I had done the past year.

However, I did it :D

In other news, one of my twitter friends posted about a contest the Knight Agency was sponsering, It was held on the last day of Nano. I still made myself be up and commented. I was one of the first 125 so I got in. And I made the first cut. They ended up taking 175 entrants and I made the cut down to 30 finalists! I will find out sometime on the 8th if I made the next cut :D

I'm thrilled to have made this first cut. It is the fantasy story that I entered. One I have futzed with. The one I wrote my voice out of. Well, in putting my voice back in, I had an epiphany. After writing in the changes, I ignored those few weeks of Nano. When I re-read it, I really like my revisions! Not only did I put a voice back into my MS, I rearranged a couple of scenes and I like the impact.

So did The Knight Agency. Here's to hoping they keep liking it!

Day 18

I posted yesterday, really I did. However, my internet card over heated. Anyhow, My word count end for last night is 39,770! Yehaw and all that jazz. I'm terribly excited. I was so far behind this time last week (for personal goal. I don't beilve I've ever fell behind Nano's suggested numbers) and now, I will make it to 70k if I do 3k a day everyday. So that means I need a couple of 5k days to make up for Thanksgiving! lol

Also, saw a few of my Nano buddies do some awesome catch up. A few more are on their way to the goal, and a couple have finished! Funny thing is, one is a buddy from last year who had not finished at all, much less early!

I love our group of writers :D Have a great weekend. I plan on blogging this weekend, but I will be sans husband and teenager to help! Wish me luck in my writing and craft endeavors!

day 16

It's easier for me in the morning, so I may be blogging the day before's info every morning. Please note that that is MY morning. Which today is 1015 only because my husband can't be awake by himself apparently. LOL He says I simply woke up but...

Any hoot, despite many attempts at sabatoge by my 6 yo and quite a few by my other children, minor emergency of my teen (I'm all set to go, I just need my ASB. 25 bucks. Cash.), my husbands bad day at work which meant I needed to spend some extra time letting him vent, and the regular household chores, I passed my daily quota and moved into make up time.

New word count is 34,694! Can I get a big Hell yeah! (That's Word word count. Nano is about 20 words shorter. Which is weird because last year it gave me ten words more than my count. Go figure.)

Wish me luck today. Also, feel free to share your writing experiences here as each day goes by--even if you are struggling or doing Nano. Like exercising, writing is better with a buddy.

Day 15

Wow, what a day! My 2 yo is quite the handful. He has to dump out everything and anything he can get his hands on. Drinks are the worst problem. But lately, he's been having a go at the litter box. Whatever it is that gets him into the most trouble, that is what he repeats the most often.

I know, kid wants attention right? Well, sort of. He wants to get you playing with him with whatever he's not supposed to be doing (Ie turning on off TV/VCR/game system) and make you laugh. Problem is, he is so darn cute that it is hard not to!

Anyways, we played and wore him out. He's asleep right now. I'm afraid he will wake up soon :(

In the meantime, I am up past 29,600! yeah. Did a little catch up anyway. Now I'm only down 5,400 from my personal goal. Which is good! I don't remember where I was at last year, but I ended with 64k, so I'm slightly behind the pace set last year. However, this year, the story has given me fits and I'm having trouble turning my inner editor off. Means less problems editing later, but my word count is starting to suffer.

One thing that is good though, I put in a short chapter introducing the villian about four chapters sooner to up the ante a little bit. I mean, there's a murder in the first chapter, but we don't get much of a glimpse of the bad guy until later. I realised that would not do, so I put in a little voyeurism at the murder scene, and sent her off to have sex with her cohort in crime.

Here's a small excerpt from the last few days...


She felt that burning now, and touched herself quickly despite the public venue. She needed relief. She took one more look at all the faces, their fear and panic, the emergency workers who looked sickened.

Power hummed in her blood. She went around the back way and went home. He was there waiting, hard, wanting her as much as she wanted him. He was in it up to his eyeballs.

What was that called? She had seen it on television. Oh, yes, she remembered. Accessory after the fact. Same penalty. She smiled a pouty sexy smile at him. But, not as much fun.

She grabbed his hair and kissed him hard, then lost herself in the moment.

She had no idea how many witnesses were there. How many other world creatures rode the high with her.

If she had known there was a demon riding her as hard as she was riding her lust companion, that he had control over her, she would not have believed it. The power blinded her to all but her own needs and feelings.

She loved the kill. She was in control. She knew it.

The demonic laughter floating around the room was not heard by her or him. They didn't know it, but their time was up. Soon, very soon.

Day 14

Holy cow. I forgot that I had internet troubles so the friday one did not post. I completely spaced it yesterday. Was busy coming out my ears. However, despite the business of grocery shopping, clothes shopping (which I hate!), and dating and all that entails (my husband got me clothes and hair dye LOL) I still managed to write Fri-Sat. I'm just getting started for tonight, so not looking to accomplish a huge amount.

I did, however, have a good date with my husband :) We have been doing better at making time for each other than in the past decade. Maybe we will truly make it to the next decade marker.

My current word count is 26,663 and my heroine is recovering from her demon induced heart failure. What will she find out? First person she sees is the hero's mother. Will she figure out the true evil before it's too late???

Can the hero save her from a fate that makes death look like a walk in the park? Stay tuned for next time on what's my story :D

Day 10

I have a few hundred words in, even though I had to take it easy today for health reasons. I currently left my heroine with the medics rolling her in to the ER, ready to do defib. My hero following close behind, not knowing what the hell caused her to drop so badly and fast, and our detective trying to avoid being discovered by angels and demons fighting over her.

Whoo! this scene is hot. Hopefully, I don't kill it in my current lethargic mood.

Word count is roughly at 20900 thereabouts and I obviously have a good many to go. I want to be at 25k tonight. We shall see...

I think it's excerpt time. Here's a sample of the fifth chapter.



[Damian}He heard the commotion before he saw it. One EMT was holding an IV bag, the paramedic was getting ready to shock with the defibrillators. She had obviously taken a turn for the worst. He looked around for Kenny and saw him trying to look around the workers and get a glimpse Kristen.

Damian felt his heart in his throat. A large demon was fighting with an angel, moving right through everyone there. The temperature in the emergency room dropped ten degrees in a split second. People felt the cold even though they couldn't see the demon or angel the way he could.

Day 6

I don't know what to say. Uber efficient today, despite my to elementary kids trying my patience beyond belief. This on top of a horrifyng spider incident which I shall relate another time.

I made awesome dinner, steak, peppers onions, corn, cheesy mashed potatoes, beer bread. Yep, my husband had a bad day and needed some loving.
My start numbers were weird, gonna take a stab at saying about the same as what I posted last night. (I forgot to look:( and I'm crazy you know)

I erased lots of the other projects word count (seriously, lots) and made myself go until I was still over the minimum word count needed for each day. Worked out to close to 3k for me today.

I also sent off more queries. One had a mistake in it. Way bummed. Oh well. Can't ignore that part of the business as lots of agents close up after Nano.

Good news? At my current pace, I'll be done by November 17 with the minimum word count. However, I'm containing my excitement as I know that if one of the queries I have out request a partial, then I'll be putting in more editing hours. (I do not track editing hours! Why do I want to give myself that kind of headache????)

For now, my word count stands at an official 18480. I hope to write more tonight, but there it is. Here is an excerpt from my paranormal work called "Ghost of Kristen's Past"




As soon as she said the words, she felt an intense evil looking at her. She whipped her head around to face whatever was coming at her and gasped.

Its one eye was big as the palm of her hand, and its lopsided grin showed rotted teeth-like objects in what she assumed was his mouth. Fear gripped her as panic numbed her mind. It lumbered toward her and she reacted instinctively.

Her mind exploded out psychic energy, narrowed in on the Ogre's eye. She watched as a hole appeared dead center and wisps of smoke circled the eye. The Ogre dropped the club-like weapon it was carrying. It put both hands over the eye and screeched.

She had no time to savor the victory though because more were headed here way. Detective Damian stopped a large portion, but there were too many for one—person?—to fight.
She felt Kenny at her back and smiled grimly. At least he was able to fight. Maybe this one would end better than their last fight. She took a step forward and punched the next lavender creature in the eye before focusing her energy on it. The two hurt Ogres screamed and danced around in pain, getting in the way of the oncoming demons.

Kenny stepped in front of her and picked up the two dropped clubs. He handed one to her. She nodded gratefully. They stood with their backs together. They kept moving, never exposing their backs as the demons tried to encircle them.

Kristen wished for her Guardian Angel. She had lived most of her life without ever knowing that she had one, but had come to appreciate hers real quick during the first battle against the demons.

She heard her blood pumping in her ears and felt the adrenalin coursing through her. She felt like a warrior. Except for that ball of fear in her gut. Then again, maybe that is how all warriors felt. She batted at the arm of an Ogre reaching for her. Surprisingly it shattered and bits flew into the air and spun around and around.

She ducked instinctively. She grabbed at Kenny pulling him down next to her as the pieces flew by their heads. She had no idea what would happen if a piece of demonic flesh were to hit them. Furthermore, she had no wish to know!

She watched Detective Damian cut off a green demon's head with his fingernails and gulped. She never wanted to get on his bad side. The demons were hissing and snarling and she felt overwhelmed by it all. She reached back and grabbed Kenny's free hand. It helped her focus and steadied her fears. She let go of his hand and gripped her bat with both hands.

Day 3

Day 3 rocked for me. As I posted earlier, I finished my other assignment. I received news as to when my "guest blog" will be posting (Friday, I will post a link here :) and heard feedback on my Forever Nocturne story and artwork. I had a good writing day and it isn't over.

I pulled what I'd like to call reverse psychology on my characters and this story. The paranormal I've been trying to pin down for year? It's here and it rocks. Only thing is I wrote the last chapter before finishing the first chapter. Turned out to be the second to the last chapter. 5-6k words in a little over 24 hours (some last night, some this morning/afternoon) and I wrote the end. Now my characters know I'm not going to hurt them-much. And there is kissing involved. Maybe they'll get it together and tell me how they want to handle the rest of the first chapter?

See, I don't have the middle-slog problem a lot of writers seem to have. My problem is the beginning. I end up telling too much too soon. Or too much backstory that I then have to cut and add in by bits and pieces later. Nope, for me it is not the middle that perplexes me. It's how to keep the story interesting and give out the right amount of facts and backstory from the first.

I need to get back to it while I have the impetuous. So without further ado, here are my up -to-the-minute stats.

Starting count: 6112
Right this minute count: 8756
Chapters finished: 2 the LAST 2 lol.

If you haven't been following along, then you might not realize that I am well aware that my start numbers are NOT the same as my end numbers. I don't quit writing after I post. I write and write and write... you get the picture.

Oh, and in case you missed it, (or I didn't post this?) the working title for the book is Ghost of Kristen's Past :D I know I want to read it. Now, to get the words down on paper so that I can print, print, print.

PS My goal is to do a MINIMUM of 3k a day, 5 days a week. However, my long term goal is to have more than 70k written by the end of the month. This book has had many false starts and lots of research. The only thing stopping me has been this silly mental block because of a sillier outline. Now, muse, drink up and taste the Pepsi. It's time to roll out the words!