What you have probably all been waiting for: in which I finally talk about A Winter Dark and Deadly

 

(images via Pinterest all credit to their original creators)

Ah A Winter Dark and Deadly... a story that I know many of you have been waiting for. The full length sequel to a Snow White novella I published three years ago, then I published a prequel novella about the evil queen in early 2019. And this year is the year I'm hoping to publish A Winter Dark and Deadly.

Yup that's right, you heard me, I'm planning to finally publish this beast. I don't know when, I figure I have made you wait long enough for this story so as soon as it is publishable I'm putting it out there. No waiting till December like I had originally planned.

A Winter Dark and Deadly was originally 150,000 words long. You would think that somewhere in all of those 150,000 words I would have stumbled upon a plot but nope. No plot here my good sir, my good lady, my good friends. Only stabbing and crying.

This time around (I'm about 60,000 words through so a little over a third of the way into reworking it) I'm adding a plot, working to tighten the story up, and actually make it a little less dark. I think it would probably still be able to be counted as a dark fantasy, but this new version definitely has a lighter, more magical feel to it than the first book and the prequel had. I'm adding more to the magic system, and a lot more mythology.

Winter Cursed  and A Winter Grim and Lonely both really revolved around Elisabeth's family and showed their sides in the seven year's war. This book is more about Cedric's family.

Also there's a wyvern.

Oh and Beauty and the Beast themes. I wouldn't say this is a full on Beauty and the Beast retelling like Winter Cursed was a Snow White retelling... but it is definitely influenced by a lot of that tale. Complete with an enchanted castle, magical roses, and some hostage situations but I'm not saying who kidnaps who. You'll just have to wait and read that for yourself.

I will probably never get over just how beautiful this cover is I can't wait to finally hold it in my hands and use it as a doorstopper (jk but it's going to be like 550 pages long when everything is said and done)...

(add to Goodreads if you haven't yet)

Mirror...Mirror...

Elisabeth risked her life to defeat her stepmother and reclaim her crown, but her courtiers have a different idea of who should rule. Her twenty-first birthday is still years away, and it seems that if she does not marry they will give her throne to another regent until she comes of age.

All will fall.

However, she wonders if it will even come to that when she discovers that despite everything she has been told, her stepmother Ismena is still alive and bent on reclaiming her crown- as well as her beauty. Rumor has it that Ismena is searching for a mystical weapon in Mooraven that has the power to end them all. Elisabeth intends to find it first, but how much is she truly willing to risk to save her kingdom?

There is no fairest...

Winter is coming and with it war. However, Elisabeth’s court is determined to sit idly by and watch the threat from afar. With nowhere else to turn, she is forced to seek an alliance with the only person who can help her. Cedric saved her once, but can Elisabeth rely on him when he is obviously lying to her?

Of them all.

With a kingdom on the brink of war, Elisabeth quickly learns that there is no one she can fully trust. Not even herself with her control over her ice magic slipping and her heart yearning for the dark prince. Through it all, one thing becomes dangerously clear… the queen who has the most power is the one who will rule.

(images via Pinterest all credit to their original creators)

Another thing that I'm changing about this story is the ending. In the original version I tied everything up with a neat little bow. And it didn't make a whole lot of sense with some characters, so I'm changing up the fate of those characters.

Now don't get me wrong. Cedric and Elisabeth will get a happily ever after. There you heard it from me. And does this look like the face of a bat that would lie to you?

(from Pinterest)

*crickets sound as I wait for someone, anyone to get this reference*

But also... there is going to be a third book in this series. Now I know what you are probably thinking, "AWDAD was supposed to be the end to the saga, what is she going to put into this next book? What new and terrible things will she do to our precious characters, I knew it was suspicious of her to announce a happy ending!"

Okay maybe you aren't thinking all that...

But this book is not going to be about Cedric and Elisabeth. Their story ends in AWDAD. Book 3 isn't even going to take place in Illesya. It will be a family affair though... *chuckles ominiously*

It's going to be called A Winter Bright and Burning and it will be about Vikings and dragons and that's all I'm sharing right now. *smirks evilly*

So I hope that you enjoyed this little update about A Winter Dark and Deadly. I would love to hear any theories you have based on what I shared. Also, has AWBAB piqued your interest despite not being about your favorite snarky dark prince and princess of snow? Comment below!

I did a thing, and that thing is called Between Gods and Demigods

 22,262

That's how long this thing called Between Gods and Demigods is.

Now I know what a lot of you are thinking: What is Between Gods and Demigods? Well I'm glad you asked.

This novella is an introduction to Ruskhazar, the world of Rage Like the Gods. A prequel about the mad sorceress Azern herself, my only POV character not chosen by one of the gods. But she was chosen by a demigod... and that's what this novella is about, Azern being chosen by The Lady of Dawn, and the beginning of her visions of the future.

Also it's my first book with an elf protagonist, so that's pretty exciting. Dear past Nicki, it's finally happening. E L V E S

At this size it will be about 70 pages long (give or take though because there will be edits done in the future), and I'm planning to publish it this May. Also it is my current goal to have it illustrated...

Here's the working blurb:

Once there was a battle between gods and demigods, and the demigods lost. Now sorcery is banned and those who choose to follow the demigods are shunned, even the followers of the Lady of Dawn, the only demigod to side with her godly parents in the battle.

Azern doesn’t know much about the outside world, or anything other than the crumbling secluded temple she was raised in. Year by year goes by, and one by one the priests leave the temple never to return. As a member of the few remaining members devout to Lady Dawn, Azern is faced with a calling bigger and far more deadly than she ever could have imagined.

The demigods are awakening, and once again the Lady of Dawn calls upon her followers to aid her parents in their fight. Azern is given the task of finding and protecting those who were Chosen by the gods to save humanity. To aid her in this task she is gifted a taste of Lady Dawn’s foresight, but the first vision she ever sees of the future is about a Magicker, an injury, and a werewolf attack. Azern is convinced that she was given this vision so that she could save this Magicker’s life. Even if she must go undercover as a Magicker herself and join a mad lord in his suicidal battle against werewolves to do it. If her sorcery is discovered it could mean death. If a werewolf eats her it could mean death.

But for mortals caught in the ancient struggle between gods and demigods, death is just an occupational hazard.

(images via Pinterest)

And there you have it Between Gods and Demigods is a thing, it exists, I wrote it already. And I can't wait for you all to read it and meet these quirky characters and this icy magical world.

Cover Reveal: The Ghost of You

Today I will reveal to you the companion book to Jes Drew's upcoming story, Legends of the Master Spy, Book One: My Wife, The President.

I’m not the best of men, but I’m not the worst of them either. I’m simply a man with a hard job to do. A complicated one. A sometimes dirty one. But a duty that is absolutely necessary for the future of my nation.

And as the husband of the first ever female President of the United States, that’s a responsibility that is very close to my heart. Sort of like Arizona, not that my best friend for two decades would ever understand. Even if we are kind of married now.

There’s a lot of things she wouldn’t understand about me. But that’s okay. It’s not her job to worry about the deep state Committee that’s trying to make every politician their puppet, including her. She certainly doesn’t need to know that I’m on that Committee, or that, as my alter ego the Master Spy, I can thwart those plans. After all, that’s my job. Hers is running the free world.

But between trying to maintain three different identities, training a new henchman, hunting down the one that got away, and keeping the bad guys from hurting the woman I love, it’s all in the day’s work. The secret that gets me is my unrequited love for my best friend turned wife.

Coming January 20, 2021

Pre-Order Now for Only $0.99 

And now for the woman on the run from the hero- or villain?- in the above book, Ebony Smith gets her own series, too, launching with...

 

I never have called myself a saint. Sure, I never meant to get so sucked into the life of death and deceit that I chose, but there’s no denying what I did. I’d be the first to say I’m irredeemable.

But he saw something different in me. I don’t know what, but he believed in it. Believed in me. Until he died by the hands of a woman disguised as me.

Fleeing from my old handler, I’m never going back to that life of servitude. But before I can close the door on my days as an assassin, there’s just one more kill I need to accomplish.  Hers. I’ll make her pay for what she took from me.

There are only two complications. One, I’m artificially impregnanted with the child of the man I loved and lost. And two, my old recruit is on the hunt for me to get some revenge of his own.

But after everything I’ve been through, everything I’ve done, I know nothing can stop me now. Not even a skeleton in my closet or a ghost from my past.

Coming February 14, 2021