A Weekend in Melbourne (featuring Day6 and Victorian Spinsters)

Posted under Day6, Victorian Spinster Travel on August 11th, 2018 by

Well, it wasn’t exactly a weekend (more like three days that ended on Saturday) and technically I’m not a spinster, but my three days in Melbourne has completely blown me away!

Waiting to fly!

It was only to be expected, I suppose: not only was I planning to meet up with authorly friend Suzannah Rowntree to explore gothic and art deco wonders, but I had also bought tickets to attend my first concert–Day6’s YOUTH tour stop in Melbourne. Naturally, there was also Shopping to be done.

Day One: I arrived a bit past noon and carted my little carry-on around the streets of Melbourne for about three hours in

I’M HOME!

search of cool streets, good food smells, and, ultimately, pancakes. Pancakes found, I squirrelled away a roll of kimbap for later and started to walk to my hotel now that I could check in.

In hindsight, now that I know I could have hired a locker for a while, I would have hired one for my bag and wandered sans bag, since by the time I stopped wandering around, I was further away from my hotel than I would have been had I simply walked from Southern Cross Station and straight there. After stowing said bags at the Pan Pacific–and convincing myself that an 8th floor room didn’t mean I was going to die in a hotel collapse–I visited the DFOs that were literally 30 metres from the front reception. I mean, I knew they were close, but I didn’t know how close! I had a list of things I needed to buy, and I only bought one thing that wasn’t on the list, so that was a good day.

Lovely clouds for Day Two

Day Two (the morning): This is where the fun really started!

I met up with Suzannah at Pie Face at about 9.30. Due to the circumstance of there being two Pie Face shops at Southern Cross Station, obviously we each waited in a different one, and had to message to find one another. Once together, we each discovered that our walking pace was perfectly suited to the other and agreed to be Victorian Spinsters on a walking tour for the day.

In pursuit of this goal, we went first to the ANZ bank…which doesn’t sound very Victorian Spinsterly until you find out that the bank was built in 1887 (exactly one hundred years before I was born) and is a wonder of golden gothic architecture that lends itself to the kind of gaping that causes people to accuse you of being the country cousin. Among the amazing features were old, handwritten bank notes, gold leaf fleur de lis, wall etchings, and multiple coats of arms, along with painstakingly worked pillar toppers and six granite pillars that had to be brought in by 30 horses each.

The Elusive Miss Rowntree…

Having moved on from the bank, we went to see some lovely art deco features in a few different places; however, since my phone nearly died shortly thereafter, I wasn’t able to take as many pictures as I would have liked to take. We also visited a truly gorgeous church that was well aware of its own gorgeousness (they were charging $5 just to permit people to take photos with their own equipment), and darted down a few side streets in search of mosaic tiles and bao buns.

Both bao buns and mosaics were gorgeous, and we took a break to eat and top

Mosaic!

me up on sunscreen, since I was already slightly burnt–and really, what better evidence can there be for my status as a Victorian Spinster than my ability to sunburn at a moment’s notice?

We rounded out our day at a second hand bookshop, where I managed to find some Don Marquis books (!!) and trotted back off to my hotel in delight at having found such treasures.

(I would also like to mention that I met one of Suzannah’s brothers, who works in the kind of place I thought only existed in TV land–the start up company that has the exercise balls for seats, a hanging chair, random bed, and writing on the glass walls. It’s the sort of place where people ride bikes around, you know? Delightful!)

Day Two (the evening–or, Day6): I love Day6’s music, but I was a bit nervous about going to the concert. For a start, I’m the kind of person who attracts weirdos in the street, so I was slightly concerned about being out on the city streets at 10.30; and since I have some balance issues, dark places with lots of people and loud music are usually a bad idea for me unless I have someone to cling to.

Getting ready!

I mitigated the first fear by dressing in ripped jeans and a leather jacket to try and look too mean to harass, and decided to just do my best for the second.

I was amply rewarded for my efforts by the amazing performance I was able to enjoy. The music was breathtakingly loud–and I do mean that it literally made me gasp–but since it was Day6, it was good music, and I enjoyed myself thoroughly. I was originally sad that I couldn’t get VIP tickets because I wanted a great seat; however, on the night, I could see very well, and it felt very close. I left the concert sad that I couldn’t get VIP tickets for another reason–I would have liked to have joined the Hightouch event to have expressed directly to the boys how much I enjoyed their music. I won’t forget this night out for a very long time, and when Day6 next comes to Australia, I’ll be buying a ticket, pronto.

After seeing a performance that I’ve really enjoyed, it takes a

Gasp! So soon!

while to come down from the high of being part of it–and Day6 really knew how to make me feel a part of the show, despite the fact that I was probably the oldest person there who wasn’t a parent.

From Jae’s casual joking to Young K’s amazing command of English and delightful stage presence, to the adorable and really very successful attempts SungJin, WonPil and DoWoon made in English, Day6 was an amazing stage presence. They didn’t seem arrogant, but they did seem comfortable, which was lovely to see. I really liked the fact that they thanked the parents for bringing some of the kids out.

After the concert

In short, I loved the music (already did, of course, but to hear it live…!). While Jae may be the most easily recognisable of the band, for me it was Young K who stole the show with his cheeky grin, adorable dad-dancing, and general habit of making fun of the members who were trying their best to speak English. I already admired his songwriting talents, but now he’s my firm favourite of the band.

Day Three: Coming home…

Usually when I travel, I suffer from bad home-sickness. This trip there was very little of that; I was happy in my own company (and in Suzannah’s–thanks, Suzannah!), and I felt that I could have taken a lot longer wandering around

Coming home…

Melbourne to see what there was to see. Who knows? Maybe Pet and her three psychos will visit Melbourne at some stage…

At any rate, I’m back home and working hard to have the WR(ite) Newsletter out early next week with a surprise sale on one of my books and another chapter of LADY OF WEEDS.

Why I Write What I Write (Part Two: Or, The Actual Blog Post)

Posted under A Writer's Life, Musings on July 5th, 2018 by

Okay, here is the actual blog post on Why I Write What I Write…

(…and it’s probably going to be insanely long, too; but since I’ve already apologised in advance, you have no grounds for complaint if you’re still here).

Be aware that there’s gunna be a lot of talk about God in this post, so if you’re not comfortable with that, run now.

Why do I write what I write?

To answer that, I should probably first clarify what I do write: I write fantasy (fairy tale rewrites and original fantasy), urban fantasy, scifi, and occasionally, a bit of off-beat horror. Ideally, I would love to break into Christian fiction as well; but since the writing is a lot harder to do well, I’ve given myself a few years to grow into being a writer first.

The fact that I don’t, at the moment, write overtly Christian fiction is a bone of contention to several people who don’t know me at all but feel like they should discuss the matter with me, and a few who do know me (or have known me through the years) and are honestly concerned for my soul.

I was very young when the first concerned person asked me to consider if being a writer was a profession I thought was glorifying to God, since that person considered that fiction was lying.

I gave it a lot of thought, being the unsure little person I was; and, more importantly, I prayed about it a lot. I wanted to make sure that I was doing the right thing.

And I’m glad I did. As a Christian, I want everything in my life to honour God, and writing is no exception.

Having prayed for several years about it (and writing all that time on the side while I worked), I came to be convinced that there was nothing inherently wrong with writing, and that there was nothing wrong with what I was writing in particular—or in seeking to pursue it as a profession.

I laid down several standards for myself that I didn’t want to breach, and started to write in earnest, in the best way I could.

Over the years, I’ve had many other such questions.

Why write fiction? Isn’t it just lying? What about the murders that occur in some of your books? Desensitisation?

Remember the parables? They weren’t real life stories, but they certainly weren’t lies, either. They were another way to display truth. I think most Christians would be surprised to hear them called lies.

Murders? Yes, because people do get murdered, and awful things happen. I prefer to write with a sense of hope, but that doesn’t mean that everything between the covers is going to be rosy before the happy ending.

And sometimes death is necessary. Characters who apply ruthless justice are not always comfortable to read, but to me they’re a necessary type—especially in today’s world, where only a weak, truth-avoiding kind of love seems to be seen as acceptable.

Why write fantasy? With magic? Should Christians do that?

Honestly, if I were writing hardcore witchcraft, I’d understand this accusation. I wouldn’t be comfortable writing something the Bible explicitly condemns; at least not in a fantasy setting.

But I don’t. I write fantasy books with a magical system that is something similar to the natural and scientific systems. Life with a bit…extra.

A bit extra wonder. A bit more to learn. Another level of reality.

If you’re going to write fiction, why not write Christian fiction?

Christian fiction is the hardest genre ever to do well.

Seriously.

In my formative years I was so frustrated at the lack of good Christian fiction out there. Either it was romance with a bit of God tacked on in the most superficial way possible, or it was badly written, thinly veiled preaching.

I didn’t want to write either. I wanted to write good Christian fiction; stuff where the characters act and behave according to their Christian natures, not like everyone else, with a bit of prayer tacked on.

And I didn’t want to shove message fiction and people, either. I wanted the message to come through naturally, steeped through the realistic reactions of Christians who thought like Christians and acted like Christians.

It’s hard guys. And like I said before, I gave myself a few years to get my craft up to scratch before I tried again. There are still a couple books waiting to be rewritten very soon… It’s always been my end goal to write Christian fiction (not to say that I’ll stop writing the other kinds of fiction, because I won’t; I want to WRITE THEM ALL).

And suddenly we’re back again to the question of Why do I write what I write?

I write what I write because it’s another way of displaying the truth. A decorative, subversive, winding way of displaying the truth that delights and makes people have to think.

I write what I write because I love writing fantasy. I love the way I can create a whole world, layer the magic and the political system through the whole thing. I love threading manners and morals and proverbs and culture through my worlds.

I write what I write because I love the act of creation itself. It’s something that has always fascinated me about God in particular, His creative side; and it’s something that makes me feel particularly close to Him. Like I understand a very small part of what He is. Like I’m just a little bit closer to Him as a creator, though my type of creation is so much less than His.

I write what I write because it gives me joy.

I write what I write because it gives other people joy.

I write what I write because it’s a way for me to do something with the gift God has given me.

What do I want to achieve with my writing?

I want to tell a good story. I want to write well.

I want to honour God by doing the best possible job of my writing; by giving everything I’ve got to the life path He’s given me to walk. By growing in craft and execution as much as I possibly can; by creating art that’s both beautiful and joyful.

I want to have engaging and morally good characters that resonate with people. I want to write fiction with a sense of hope, no matter what the circumstances. I want to give joy and amusement and delight.

And I want most of all, as in everything else in my life, to glorify God through my writing.

I don’t necessarily start out to write a book with Christian themes in mind (this was especially true when I first began publishing), but they somehow manage to work their way in due to my outlook on life—and, as with every other author out there, my worldview bleeds into any book I write.

No matter what you do as a person, your personal outlook and view on life will affect how you act, react, and interact.

That holds especially true for writers, since our way of life necessarily leads to outward expression of the things that are inside us. We learn as we write, we write as we learn; and everything that goes into us comes back out in our books.

Even when we don’t know it, we’re putting ourselves into our work; in the way our characters think and react; in the themes that run through our books, whether known or unknown; in the very feeling and sense that our books give.

And if it comes right down to it, I’ve had complaints from both sides of the coin on my writing—while there are people who fancy my books ungodly, there are others who object to the noblebright style of writing, the lack of swearing, and the lack of any other couples than m/f ones (not to mention the lack of sex scenes).

I’ve answered those elsewhere, but that answer basically boils down to what I tell people who are sincerely convinced that my books are ungodly.

Don’t read my books. Don’t harm your conscience on my account. If you believe, for whatever reason, that my books are evil, don’t read them. It’s not worth the harm to your conscience, and I wouldn’t want you to do it.

Finally, aside from anything fancied wrong about writing fantasy (magic, lying, etc), I’ve also had people concerned that writing itself is a bad or wasteful thing.

“Why would you waste your time? How can you honour God like that? How can you be sure you’re doing God’s will? Why can’t you do a sensible job?”

Gentle reminder right here—writing is a job. This is my actual job I’m doing here. The job I do to get paid.

I love it, but it is my job.

Imagine asking someone who works on the checkouts, “Excuse me, but are you sure you’re doing God’s will? How is this going to honour God? Are you sure you’re not wasting your talents?”

Or someone who drives a bus, “Isn’t this a waste of time when you could be serving God elsewhere?”

We all have to work. We all have a job to do.

I’m singularly blessed in that I can write for a job. I love writing. In fact, there’s very little in my life I love as much as writing, and I’m grateful every day to God (and to you guys) that I can actually make something close to a full living from doing something so amazing.

But it’s also a way of earning money. In your nine to five job, there are many chances to honour God, whether or not you’re preaching or doing missionary work. Similarly, I have opportunities each day. Those opportunities don’t go away just because my job happens to be that of being a writer.

I’m not saying you shouldn’t say something if you’re concerned for someone’s soul, or if you feel God is prompting you to speak. But bear in mind that each person stands or falls before God, and that you can’t persuade someone into your way of thinking without God changing that person’s mind.

It’s not your job to make over everyone in your image. If you’re concerned, pray for us. We can always use the prayer; we’re all growing, and learning, and trying to honour God. That shows your love for us far better than ranting at us over social media or shaking your finger in our faces.

And it leaves the work of changing hearts and minds exactly where it belongs; with God.

Why I Write What I Write (Part One: The Reason for this Post)

Posted under A Writer's Life, Growing as a writer on June 21st, 2018 by

Okay, this is gunna be a LONG blog post. I have to cover the reason for the post as well as addressing the content of the title itself, so there’s a bit of material to cover.

I apologise in advance. Maybe I’ll split it into two posts and save everyone’s eyes. (EDIT: yeah, I’m gunna do that).

On to the blog post.

It was at an extended family gathering roughly a year and a half ago; I didn’t know everyone, and not everyone knew me. My sister introduced me to someone as an author.

Their response?

“Oh, you make a living out of lying!”

I’d like to say it was the first time I’ve had a response like that, but it wasn’t. It stung, but it wasn’t the first, and it wasn’t the worst.

Nor, unfortunately, was it the last.

I’ve been accused of everything from being a liar to dishonouring God; asked anxiously if I’m sure what I’m doing is something a Christian should waste their time on; accused of writing things that belong in Dark Mofo (an outspokenly anti-christian festival that specialises in blasphemy and anything that is an art form that speaks against Christ).

The latest of these occasions came in the form of a series of Facebook private messages through my author page, and prompted me to think again about this blog post that I’d meant to write at least a year ago.

I’d recently been invited to read and speak at a Christian arts festival that I attended last year as a guest; I knew that someone had found offence with my work and was trying to insist on my not being allowed to read. When the organisers mentioned the concerns had been brought up, I asked them if they’d like me to read from a different book instead, just to keep everybody happy. There was no thought in my mind that there was anything wrong with BETWEEN JOBS, just that it was better to make life as easy for the organisers as possible. One book for another–no big deal.

Unfortunately, the person who had objected wasn’t content even with me reading from another book and approached me through FB messenger on my author page.

The first message was more or less polite, apart from an accusation and an insinuation that were something of a slap in the face. They concluded their message with a demand to know why I wrote it [BETWEEN JOBS]. Why was it necessary? They wanted to enter into a dialogue with me about how a person who seemed to be sincere about their Christian faith, could write books with magic in them.

As I read the message, I prayed for wisdom in how to respond–as a matter of fact, I’d been praying just that morning for grace to respond to unpleasant people in kindness and not in pride, so I suppose it was timely. (And lest anyone think it was an excess of godly thinking that had me praying like that, let me tell you, you’re dead wrong. It’s because I failed spectacularly badly with something slightly similar just a week ago. God being the God He is toward me, He obviously decided to repeat the lesson.)

I swallowed the hurt of the accusation and the insinuation, and tried to remember that this person had represented themselves as a Christian, and that although they had no right to dictate what I wrote, or my conscience before God, they had every right to speak up if they felt their conscience led them to say something.

I didn’t want to answer in wounded pride, or hurt someone who was genuinely concerned for my soul. So I wrote back politely, letting them know I appreciated their concern for my soul; that I was completely whole in my conscience regarding my writing; that I was indeed serious about honouring God in all that I did; that I didn’t consider by writing about magic or murder, that I was dishonouring God. I told them I had prayed for many years over my decision to write as a job, and hoped by this they would understand that although our positions differed, we would have to agree to disagree and serve God in our own ways the best we could.

The next message from this person was considerably pushier; it demanded to know was I sure I was right in my conscience, and didn’t my changing the book I was going to read from mean that I was secretly feeling guilty about the book?

It contained several guilt-inducement attempts that I recognised only through having lived with a manipulator for the past ten years. It spoke of anger that something like my work would be read in a Christian festival, and tried to insinuate that there was trouble or misunderstanding between the organisers of the festival and myself. In short, it looked like the author was trying to talk me out of attending the festival, having failed to have me disinvited by the organisers.

I replied to let them know that I wouldn’t be discussing the matter with them, since I didn’t find it a profitable use of time given our vastly differing stances, and that I wasn’t in the kind of health that made debating over the internet a pleasant or sustainable pastime.

I thanked them again for their care for my soul, and concluded with the comfort that if God saw fit to show me that I was wrong, it would be accomplished in His time and through His Spirit, and asked that they be content with that.

Their final message didn’t even attempt any concern. This time, instead of opening with anything remotely appropriate (an acknowledgement that they would honour my request, or an agreement–no matter how reluctant–to leave God’s work to God) they accused either myself or the organisers of the festival of lying, and suggested I be very sure there weren’t any problems.

Having checked with the organisers that they were still very happy to have me attend as a speaker/reader, I turned my thoughts to considering what I consider every time I experience a reaction like this: the reasons I write what I write, and what I hope to accomplish in the act of writing as well as the books produced thereby.

To Be Continued in Part Two: Why I Write What I Write, or, The Actual Blog Post…

Welcome to #CardCaper Monday!

Posted under CardCaper Monday on May 18th, 2018 by

Welcome to #CardCaper Monday! Leave your boots at the door and settle by the fire; everybody is welcome!

What is #CardCaper Monday, you may ask? It’s a pre-hastagged giveaway on my FB page that runs, somewhat predictably, every Monday for this month (and any other month in which I discover more unused, beautiful cards around my room!)

I got the idea as I was trying to think of fun giveaway ideas for my page, and came across a multitude of gorgeous cards I can never seem to resist buying, but never bring myself to write on.

This is how it works:

You’ll vote on which card is the prettiest, or most whimsical, or the most colourful. Or maybe you’ll just suggest a name, or a mythical beast for me to use.

Then I’ll write a micro story on the card and send the original to one lucky winner on my FB author page. When the winner gets the card and lets me know, I’ll post the micro story on my author page for everyone to read. The original stays with the winner.

Happy Boots! Soon to be emblazoned with the tale of a boy and his bunyip, and a bit of taxes thrown in for fun…

Which means, if you haven’t already ‘liked’ my page (and as a result, aren’t getting all the notifications), you should definitely pop on over there!

It’s Raining Men!

I select winners from the comments section of each #CardCaper post (like this one, and this one), and from people who ‘like’ the page, so your odds of winning a handwritten card are significantly higher if you like my page (that way, I can find you and message you if you win).

The first micro story, Goddess of Hinges and the Lord of Doorknobs, is already up on my author page here, so check that out!

The next #CardCaper Monday will start on Monday 21st May, with either a poll to decide which card goes out, or a question about character names, fantastic beasts, or setting.

Join in the fun!

A Different Kind of Hero

Posted under Release date is here!, The City Between on May 5th, 2018 by

This announcement on the WR(ite) Blog is long overdue–as is a blog post of any kind, in fact–but I thought you all might like to know that the A Different Kind of Hero anthology is now out, featuring another story from the City Between universe! Those of you who have already met Pet through Cloudy with a Chance of Dropbears in the Fell Beasts & Fair anthology will be glad to know that she makes another appearance in my contribution to the anthology: All the Different Shades of Blue.

 


For those of you who like your heroes struggling with their own limitations and disabilities as well as the world around them, A Different Kind of Hero is the perfect read. It’s a limited time offer, so don’t miss out!

$3.99, or free to read on Kindle Unlimited, and there are eleven amazing novellas and novellettes to be found within its pages. Below you can find the blurb, and below that, an excerpt from my own contribution.

Perfection is overrated.

From sweeping kingdoms to modern cities, a different kind of hero emerges. This hero must contend with dastardly villains, nefarious plots, and a harsher reality: disability.

-A musician with magical music … who has lost her sense of hearing
-A merman born without gills, who can’t walk on land or breathe underwater
-A 63-year-old shifter with chronic memory lapses
-A Valkyrie warrior with severely limited sight
-Two knights missing more than their limbs

These heroes and more await you in this exciting collection of eleven clean EPIC and URBAN fantasy stories featuring heroes with disabilities. Laugh, cheer, and cry along with our daring heroes as they defeat the villain and save the day. 

All the Different Shades of Blue excerpt

–oOo–

Oblivious, Pet sipped her coffee, sighing her contentment in rainbow-spangled steam. She let me work for a few minutes in silence before she asked, “Are you hurt?”

I looked instinctively at my hands. Sometimes I don’t feel it when I cut myself on the Airy side. “What? Am I bleeding?”

She stared a bit, and then grinned. “Oh! Right! Sorry. I meant the wheelchair. Did you have an accident?”

“No,” I said, and went back to my work. The spell hack hadn’t taken in any of my earlier tests, and I didn’t like that. That’s the most absurd thing about working magic through electronics—sometimes it takes up without so much as a pull, and other times it refuses utterly to work. “I was born like this.”

“Oh.” She nodded. “I thought it might be a cover.”

“A cover?” I couldn’t help smiling. Her tone was just the right mix of gusto and speculation to make me think she was the kind of human girl who snuck around the town hoping for dark deeds and nefarious characters.

“Yeah!” She nodded again, this time more enthusiastically. “A few of the merpeople I know don’t like to walk, so they go around in wheelchairs when they’re above.”

I kept smiling, but I had the distinct sensation that I couldn’t breathe. “Did you say merpeople?”

She actually shushed me. “What if someone hears you?”

“What are—What are you?”

“Me? I’m just a human.”

“That’s what I mean,” I said, frowning. My fingers hovered over the keyboard as I tried to decide where the greater part of my attention should be fixed; Pet, or my merger program. “You’re just a human. What do you know about merpeople?”

“Not a lot. I can’t breathe underwater, so I don’t meet many.”

“That’s not what I really meant.” I sat back in my chair, genuinely curious and just a little bit amused. “You’re very good at not answering questions, for a human.”

“Aren’t I!” she agreed, looking pleased and pink. “I’m getting a bit of practise, these days.

–oOo–

If you were hoping to see more of Pet and the Troika (or are new to them and want to check them out), their first adventure, Between Jobs, is up for preorder on Kindle and Kindle Unlimited right now!

Due out May 31st!

 

–oOo–

Between Jobs Official Release Date & Preorder!

Posted under Preorder, Release date is here! on April 9th, 2018 by

This last month has been a bit busy, hence the lack of blogposts on my blog. Sorry pardon…

But the good news attached to that sad lack of consistency is the fact that I’ve got an official release date for Between Jobs, the first book in my The City Between UF series. I also have the Very Official, Updated Blurb.

(Also, just quietly, if you’re not on my mailing list, now is the time to do it! I’ll be sharing the complete first chapter of Between Jobs in the second email of this month…)

Between Jobs will come out May 31st, and I’m planning to follow it with the releases of books 2 and 3 of The City Between in June and July, respectively.

When you wake up in the morning, the last thing you expect is a murdered guy outside your window. Things like that tend to draw the attention of the local police, and when you’re squatting in your parents’ old house until you can afford to buy it, another thing you can’t afford is the attention of the cops.

Oh yeah. Hi. My name is Pet.

It’s not my real name, but it’s the only one you’re getting. Things like names are important these days.

And it’s not so much that I’m Pet.

I’m a pet.

A human pet: I belong to two Behindkind fae and a pouty vampire. It’s not weird, I promise—well, it is weird, yeah. But it’s not weird weird, you know?

You can preorder here on Amazon, or just sign up to know when it comes out.

Cover Reveal & Excerpt: BETWEEN JOBS, The City Between, Book One

Posted under The City Between, Urban Fantasy on March 13th, 2018 by

I’ve already posted this cover on FB and Twitter (because, obviously, I couldn’t wait) but since I wanted to share an excerpt too, well–here we are! Between Jobs is the first book in my new urban fantasy series, The City Between. I’m hoping to publish it some time in May, with the next two swiftly following; but for those of you who are worried about not seeing the next Two Monarchies book this year, have no fear! I’m still on track to publish the fourth in that series by the end of the year, and Lady of Weeds should also be finished by the end of the year.

In the meantime, check out the gorgeous cover from Jenny at Seedlings Design Studio, along with the blurb and an excerpt!

Between Jobs

The City Between, Book One

She’s orphaned, struggling to make a living, and technically homeless. The last thing she needs is a murdered guy outside her window. Things like that tend to draw the attention of the local police, and when you’re squatting in your parents’ old house until you can afford to buy it, another thing you can’t afford is the attention of the cops.

Good thing she isn’t used to things going her way, because a hanging corpse outside her window is just the beginning of it all. Now two fae and a vampire have moved into her parents’ old house, and they’re not too thrilled to find her there.

Oh well, at least only one of them wants to kill her.

–oOo–

Excerpt

JinYeong snatched his sleeve from my fingers and dived beneath Zero’s swinging arm with a snarl. Someone said, “Idiot!” but I couldn’t be sure if it was me or Zero, because it was what I was thinking, but my voice couldn’t be that gruff.

I stayed behind Zero. Now that I wasn’t trying to hold up JinYeong I could see the full scope of the attack; there were still two men—or were they men? those four arms!—attacking Zero, and another two that JinYeong was ripping into—literally ripping into, his white shirt soaked in scarlet and his throat slick with the sheen of blood. My fingers instinctively curled themselves around one of the leather straps of Zero’s jacket, pulling me forward, pushing me back, as Zero’s footwork scuffed across the blood-slicked tiles that were somehow still grocery store tiles even though the rest of the scene wasn’t. Did he have a sword again? Where the flaming heck had it come from?

Those men, or things, or whatever—they were trying to kill me. Or maybe they were just trying to kill JinYeong. But JinYeong was tearing someone’s throat out, and really, should I be more afraid of four-armed men with knives or someone who tore people’s throats out? I stayed behind Zero anyway, slipping in the blood and clinging to that leather strap for dear life.

Two more of the four-armed men went down, JinYeong looking around in swift hunger for someone else to kill, but Zero’s arm wasn’t swinging anymore, and I wasn’t being dragged across the tiles.

Wait. Was JinYeong looking at me—

Zero said, “JinYeong.”

Those eyes flicked away from me and up to Zero’s face. “Hyung?”

“That’s enough for today.”

JinYeong’s tongue ran over his teeth thoughtfully, and this time I gripped Zero’s sleeve instead of the leather strap, glaring at JinYeong.

“Don’t hurt the pet,” Zero said. “Who do you think is going to clean the blood out of your clothes if it doesn’t?”

JinYeong seemed to consider that. He tilted his head to the side for one instant, then very deliberately wiped the blood from his face with the remainder of one formerly white sleeve.

“That’s gross,” I told him, but he only gave me the smirk that displayed one warning tooth. Great. I was sharing a house with three homicidal maniacs, and at least one of them wasn’t averse to killing me.

“You’d better do something about the blood before you go back,” Zero warned. “You can’t walk around in that when there are humans around. They’ll get agitated.”

“Back where?” I asked. That was sort of stupid: it was obvious we weren’t exactly in the grocery store anymore. But in my defence, it wasn’t as if it was actually possible for us to have left the middle of the grocery store during the fight without moving a heck of a lot more than we had.

JinYeong rolled his eyes and stripped off his suit jacket, then his bloody shirt. Zero, as if he’d just remembered I was there, clinging to his sleeve and glaring at JinYeong from behind his arm, shook me off and looked down at me in a confusion that was as sudden as it was suprising.

“Wait, what are you doing here?”

Well, that wasn’t good. He’d just seen me–just warned JinYeong not to kill me. Had one of the four-armed men clipped him around the head? I said cautiously, “You told me to come here with him and get supplies so I could cook tea.”

Zero shook his head impatiently. “Not there. Here. Hobart Between.”

“Dunno what you’re talking about; I’ve been with you the whole time. Why do those blokes have four arms? Also, why were they trying to kill us?”

JinYeong replied in Korean, and Zero agreed, “That’s right; they weren’t trying to kill you. They were trying to kill JinYeong.”

“Oh,” I said. “Nah, I understand that.”

–oOo–

Keep an eye out, guys; there will be a preorder announcement toward the end of the month! Let me know what you think–are you excited? I am!

Fell Beasts & Fair: A Noblebright Anthology

Posted under accomplishments, Awesome Authors on March 7th, 2018 by

I may have mentioned that 2018 was going to be a busy year for me…

….which is why, barely a week after the publication of Staff & Crown, I’m bringing your attention to another book that has a piece of me in it–AKA, one of my stories.

Introducing Fell Beasts & Fair; a Noblebright Anthology, from Spring Song Press. This collection of 23 stories ranging from short stories to novellettes will be out on March 20th, and it is my delight to share with you a short excerpt from my own offering (plus an excerpt from one of my favourites in the collection).

Cloudy With a Chance of Dropbears is a UF novellette that takes place in the world of the UF series I will begin publishing half way through this year, and features that most Australian of mystical creatures–the Dropbear. Below is a sample for your delectation! 

–oOo–

I went and got my own coffee before the coffee boy got back, eager to sniff out more payments that had a suspicious lack of product to go with them. I put it down on my desk and settled myself to sit down, but something sharp and hot seared my leg where my Behind Identify Card should be. I yelped and pinched it out of my pocket. Behind magic is the good stuff, but there’s nothing that melts faster than an Identify Card, magic or no magic. Something about magic and the newer human manufactured substances doesn’t blend well.

Now that I looked at the card, it was a lot blacker than it should be. Well, parts of it were blacker than they should be and it was still hot in my fingers, and now there was nothing burning in my pocket… I squinted down at it, irritated to find that my glasses weren’t around my neck, and reached for the desk where the missing glasses should have been.

My desk wasn’t there. Actually, the office wasn’t there. No wonder the ground was so squishy beneath my peg—it was real grass, not the magic-fake they put in Behind offices.

Great. Someone had relocated the office without telling me. I’d send off a pretty well loaded message as soon as I found where those goons in Location had parked it this time. I’m as security conscious as the next leprechaun, but there was no way we’d been found so soon after the last move. I looked down at my Identify card again, and it looked a bit red in the middle. Red in the middle, and if I squinted at it just right, there were words making a black scrawl in the centre of the red bit.

Kill the kid and you can come back, it said.

I snuffled a dry laugh down at it. Somebody was having a laugh. It was a bit stupid, though; kid was the word used for human children, and who was going to find a kid Behind? I looked a bit closer, and a sticky breeze swept across my forearms, raising goosebumps in spite of its warmth. That wasn’t just red behind the writing. It was Red. If somebody was having a laugh, why was my Identify Card marked Red for Deport? Deportation Red meant tried, executed, and deported. No return to Behind.

That was stupid. Someone had to be having a laugh. I was still Behind…wasn’t I? But where in Behind was I? I looked around me, dazedly taking in the dark green foliage of trees and the playground, and the half tree that someone had turned into a house—wait. The playground? Fae don’t have playgrounds. And why was the heat so heavy today? Where in Behind had access to this kind of muggy heat? Muggy…muggy heat? There’s no muggy heat Behind; too many weather mages.

“No,” I said numbly, sweat springing to my brow. “Because that means I’m—that means I’m in the human world.”

Red for Deport. I was in the human world.

–oOo–

And because I really loved the feel and characters of Alena Sullivan’s Blanche, Bear-Wife, here is a sample of that delightful read…

–oOo–

It’s during the ice storm in February that the bear first comes by. “I hate to be a bother, but it’s mighty cold out,” he rumbles apologetically, hugging his ice-crusted coat tight around his shoulders as he ducks through the doorway. “It is, that,” I admit, smiling a little crookedly and pouring a hot mug of apple cider. I reckon that’s the sort of thing a bear could drink— it’s something warm, at any rate. I set it on the counter as the bear lumbers up and takes a seat on the stool across from me, gingerly testing it against his weight before he settles properly.

Rosie nudges me, elbow bordering on painful against my ribs. “He’s a bear,” she grits out through clenched teeth.

I lift a shoulder in a shrug. “It’s cold out there.” My Gramma, who raised me, is a little old lady who believes in real Southern hospitality, in making everybody welcome and looking after them all the same. When she opened this place, it was the only joint on the street that didn’t have a sign in the window that said whites only, and she never looked twice at anybody, not for their color or their war wounds or their piercings or tattoos. She doesn’t like my tattoos much, but she loves me, with or without them, and I’m not gonna shame her by turning anybody away in this weather.

“A freaking bear,” Rosie repeats, a little louder, a little shrill, and I can feel my mouth go tight around a cringe. The bear flinches.

“That’s no call to be impolite,” I say.

–oOo–

Fell Beasts & Fair will be out on March 20th, and is available for preorder on Kindle, Kobo, iBooks, Smashwords, and B&N. Paperback will be available soon!

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