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

Something of a 2020 wrap up/2021 goals

(some pretties just because)

I'm not planning on doing a whole lot of wrapping up for 2020. It was a sucky year and honestly I don't want to relive most of it. So here is a brief summation focusing solely on the bright points of this year:

One of my best friends (Faith) got to visit me for a whole week this summer

I grew so much closer to afore mentioned friend, my other bestie (Lila) and my family over the harshness of this year, if anything it showed me what really matters and who is really there for you

I finally had time to start playing video games again (especially Skyrim) and discovered that my love of video games had not in fact diminished over the years

I discovered two of my favorite songs Bring Me Back to Life and Just One Yesterday which I then proceeded to listen to on repeat an inordinate number of times

I think I've really made a lot of progress in my art (which was one of my 2020 Goals so score there)

To illustrate here is a  group picture of some of my characters from one of my WIPs from earlier this year.

And here is a project I recently completed of my current WIP...

I also finally started digital art in the past couple of weeks, time will tell if I actually improve with that XD

I'm reading again? But I'm going to make that sound more like a question than a statement so I don't jinx myself

I learned a lot of lessons

I didn't do a whole lot of writing in the first half of this year, I think I only accomplished one of my 2020 writing goals. Stress burnt me out y'all, but over the course of the last half of the year I did manage to finally publish Of Gold and Iron and I started a new story called Rage Like the Gods that I am now 100k words into. I absolutely adore it and have so much more going on in that world right now and just really. I love this story.

My 2020 word of the year started out of as Thrive but yeah it ended up being more like Survive. Which I did. *weak cheers*

Well that's enough of 2020. Now to 2021

I'm not really going to hold onto a whole bunch of plans for 2021. Mostly my plan is to just:

Keep on steppin...

Continue to practice my art, read more, enjoy other hobbies like video games, follow my muse

And seriously, if I can get it through my thick skull, stress less.

For writing I have a slightly more mapped out plan. Loosely mapped out anyway...

It is to work on three WIPs those being:

Rage Like the Gods

An Assassin's Guide to the Gods

A Winter Dark and Deadly

I think three projects is a good stretch for me because I like having multiple projects in different stages it offers me variety when I'm hitting writer's block with one. But three projects is also much more manageable than say five projects.

When I finish RLtG and Assassin's Guide I plan on simply moving on to their sequels.

AWDAD is what I call my fast track to publishing, so instead of working on a series like I did for my other projects, when I finish this book I will move down to the next one I'm planning to publish. So after AWDAD I plan on doing Of Gold and Iron's book two Of Stars and Shadows. After OSaS will be SoS, after that MoC and on down the line and I guess we shall see how many of my backlogged projects I get done...

A year is a very long time to determine all of everything I will write so I'm keeping my schedule flexible and leaving room for new WIP ideas or possibly finally editing LoT who knows? I certainly don't.

My word of the year is probably going to be Regrow or something like that.

And that's all, bye, 2020, you won't be missed. I know a lot of people, possibly everyone had a really hard year, but I'm hoping that you also had a list of highlights. And that 2021 is kinder to us all.

Look I can explain... no wait... no I can't

 Sooooooo I'm sure of you have probably derived from the title of this post that I have decided to switch up my writing plans. Once again.

I'd blame New Years goals and resolutions, but honestly I just changed my mind XD

I'm sure some of you remember my post NaNo report where I said that I would be working on RLtG, SoS, and OSaS. Well I was right about one of those stories XD

I have a new plan now. It's a good plan too (says me the one who made said plan). I'm still working on RLtG (it's the book that stayed, although I'm sure you already could have guessed that given my obsession over this story).

The second story is why SoS and OSaS got pushed back to farther back into 2021, and that is because I decided that I really just wanted to publish A Winter Dark and Deadly first. Imma post more about that hopefully this January, I have a lot of new ideas that I can't wait to share, but that's not the purpose of this post.

This post is about the third story I shall be working on. An introduction to my new WIP. A WIP that takes place in the same world as RLtG, the first in a companion series, having nothing to do with being the chosen one. Or being very noble at all for that matter.

A book that is... well why don't you just read the blurb for yourself XD

An Assassin's Guide to the Gods

(images from Pinterest all credit to their original creators)

Once there was an inn, and it was the center of a criminal empire...

 

Elwis the Eel used to be a silver-tongued merchant with a penchant for the illegal. Now he is an assassin lord, a vampire, a necromancer, and a father. He has done questionable things to become what he is, and he will do worse to hold onto what is rightfully his. Even from the famed Thief Queen, a vampire herself who ruled a criminal empire a thousand years ago, and apparently is still alive after all this time.  All he wants is power… and maybe to rule the world, is that too much to ask?

 

Kylne wants nothing more than to make a peaceful life for herself. To settle in a small hut in the middle of nowhere with nothing more than her alchemical supplies and maybe a dog or two. Instead, she discovers two brothers driven from their home by the dark creatures known as vampires. They are willing to pay good money to get revenge on the monsters that stole everything from them. Money that Klyne could use to finally buy that better life she always dreamed of. So long as the brothers don’t accidentally get her killed first.

 

Balemila, or Mila to her friends if she has any left after making the infamous decision to become a Magicker rather than marry her fiancé, would settle for eternal fame. When she is hired by a mysterious wealthy lord to find the cure for vampirism, a task most believe to be impossible, she jumps at the chance. What she didn’t bargain for was to find herself falling for her employer, learning the truth behind his deadly secrets, or to become a vampire herself.

 

The hunt has begun. An assassin, a ranger, and a magicker, all locked in a deadly game, pitted against each other. There can only be one victor… or can there?

So story wise, it is a standalone (I've never actually written one of those yet, so that's pretty exciting). It's the first book in a trilogy, all standalones about different characters, but with connections between them.

The common factors of this series is vampirism and crime. It's definitely going to have a much darker undertone than it's cousin series RLtG.

Since this story takes place in Ruskhazar, of course I couldn't resist the opportunity to add tie ins, and even have main characters in this be side characters from the RLtG series.

Each book in this trilogy is about three main characters each. They are different characters each book, but all connected, mostly through Elwis the Eel. I decided I'd share all three books today, and share their blurbs, since they are standalones and so sharing book 2s blurb won't spoil too much of what happens in book 1, same for book 3. And also I spent forever on these blurbs and I'm mildly proud with how they turned out XD

An Immortal's Guide to Betraying the Gods

(images from Pinterest all credit to their original creators)

Once there was a queen of thieves, but then she lost everything…

 

Talmryn used to rule an empire of outcasts, a thousand years later she finds herself cruelly awakened in a new and strange world, mortal, but not helpless. She will retake her empire, but first she needs immortality. And Talmryn will only settle for the best. However, a masked stranger who appears to be looking for the same ancient bloodline as she is, quickly disrupts her plans as he appears everywhere she goes, and even threatens to steal her heart like the thief he is. And then there is the matter of her fiancé, a man she simply needs for his family heirloom and then she can kill him. But he seems to have different plans about his destiny.

 

Ragla has a new purpose in life; killing vampires. As a werewolf she is uniquely suited to hunt down the blood suckers and end their dark reign. She has lost so much, her pack, the man she once thought she would marry, everything she once believed. As a vampire hunter at least she has the chance to help innocents and fight for what is right. Joining forces with a mercenary with just as little to lose, she sets out to inflict a some pain on the creatures of night.

 

Jarena has a legacy to live up to. As the mortal daughter of an influential vampire lord and a powerful magicker, the world is at her fingertips. She can do anything, be anything she wants to be… the only problem is she has no idea what she wants. Her journey to self discovery takes a dangerous turn as she realizes that she is a little more vampire than she had first thought. Joined in her quest by a vampire girl with amnesia and an alchemist desperate to save his dying master, Jarena is going to have to figure out just what she is looking for or else risk losing it forever.

 

Immortality is complicated, especially when people are trying to kill you. The paths of these three girls are inexplicably entwined in a very deadly way. One the hunter, one the prey, and one the victim… but which is which?

A Lady's Guide to Defying the Gods

(images from Pinterest all credit to their original creators)

Once there was an assassin lord, and he had three daughters...

 

It wasn’t always easy being the daughter of Elwis the Eel, but he had given Corallin a home when the whole world turned its back on her. And she would do anything for him. Even apparently follow through with his crazy scheme to marry her off to a stranger. A mad stranger at that. A boy touched by magic and sorcery and driven to the brink of insanity because of it.

 

Worse things could be asked of Anya than marrying her best friend, the son of a wealthy merchant and business partner of her father’s, their marriage will secure Elwis the Eel’s hold over the shipping industry. And it will secure Anya’s happiness. Once her husband, Trefil will allow her to pursue her fascination with all things having to do with sorcery. Maybe she even loves him. But her fiancé is hiding something from her, something that may cost her everything.

 

Tamara is supposed to marry the heir to the Abakumov name, problem is she hasn’t decided which brother will be the heir. The older brother is kind, but the younger brother has a dark heart to match her own, and probably wouldn’t be opposed to stealing his brother’s fiancé, his inheritance, or his life. The only obstacle is the brothers’ magicker bodyguard who seems to be the only person to see beyond Tamara’s carefully crafted façade and to the vulnerable girl underneath.

 

Their husbands have been chosen for them, but when you are an assassin’s daughter, things are never so simple. True love, the sting of betrayal, or the bond between sisters… which is stronger?

And there you have it: An Assassin's Guide. I'm in love with how stabby these books are going to be, I can't wait to start book one with this new year. Or to share more about it later down the line. And for that matter I can't wait to share more about AWDAD as well...

 Today I'm here to reveal the first book Jes Drew will be releasing into the new year. And it's cover. Merry Christmas!

The next book in the Kristian Clark multiverse, only it's starring a slightly different male protagonist...

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

One Hundred Thousand

 

(images from Pinterest, all credit to their original creators)

Folks, today is a very big day because today Rage Like the Gods has reached that ever monumental 100k. It's still going strong. I have no clue how long this story is going to be, so I guess we shall just have to wait and see.

So to celebrate I thought I would share some fun aesthetics and snippets as well as the title for book two.

But first I decided to actually make a go at writing a blurb. Which isn't exactly my favorite thing to do XD Especially not for my ginormous books, in fact I would actually describe trying to describe 100k+ books in less than 300 words as quite frankly torturous and honestly I have considered trad publishing just to get someone to write my blurb for me (jk but only slightly...). I know that some people offer services to do just that, but unfortunately I am dirt broke poor, which means I have to do my own dirty work.

But anyway here was my first attempt at writing a blurb for RLtG:

Ruskhazar is a land of mountains and magic; men and elves. And it is threatened by a dark evil. The dead are rising, commanded by a band of powerful necromancers. Things that should have stayed dead now roam free. If left unchallenged this necromantic army will only grow until nothing can stop it and the living fall to their own ancestors.

The gods have chosen their champions to stop this from happening.

Unfortunately, these champions are just strangers waking up in the same jail, with no memory of how they even got there.

 

A bandit turned assassin with nothing to fight for and no one to live for.

A bard willing to do what it takes to make it in this world, stealing hearts and coin purses as he goes.

A student whose only dream is to attend the Academy of Magickers before she is married off to a stranger for her father’s political gain.

An exile from another land, determined to make it in this new land by selling her sword arm until she has a chance to reclaim the honor she forfeited.

On their shoulders rests the future of Ruskhazar.

 

When an attack from an undead kraken sets them free, these chosen ones set out on their separate paths, unaware of each other’s presence. And unwilling to save a world that never had any place for them. Instead, they find a different fate. A second chance at life. Love worth fighting for. Monsters that come in many forms. And a mad sorceress determined to save the world no matter the cost.

Now the aesthetics and snippets! (all images are from Pinterest, credit goes to their original creators)

Meruna:

“Legend has it that this college holds every book ever written. Sometimes even the original tomes, penned straight from the author’s quill.” I run my hand across the worn covers of the nearest books. “Not just the books about magic. Or even books just written in Ruskhazar. For years faithful magickers have traveled the world in service of the college in order to find these books from other lands.”

"And it takes my breath away// what you do so naturally// you are the thunder and I am the lightning/ everything comes naturally// when you're with me baby." -Naturally by Selena Gomez

Eirik:

"I can explore a castle and court Sassa at the same time. I’m good at multitasking like that. For one I can woo a woman and save a village, sing a song and rob my patron blind. I can do bad things, for a good reason. And good things for a bad reason.

I’m the masked wolf.

I’m Eirik the bard.

And somewhere buried deep down, I’m a farmer’s son but I don’t like to talk about that."

"Mama said fulfill the prophecy// Be something greater// Go make a legacy// Manifest destiny// Shooting for the Stars when I couldn't make a killing// Didn't know how but I always had a feeling I was going to be that one in a million"- High Hopes by Panic! At The Disco

Thyre:

"Oh gods.

I was bitten by a werewolf."

"Sick of all these people talking// Sick of all this noise// And there's an old man sitting on a throne there saying that I probably shouldn't be so mean// Oh all these minutes passing sick of feeling used// if you wanna break these walls down you're gonna get bruised."- Castle The Huntsman: Winter's War Version by Halsey

Dagmy:

"My heart feels weighed down by this latest development, but I cannot allow myself to despair just yet. I make a silent vow to myself. If there is a way any way at all to restore my humanity then I will take it. A way that I do not have to wear an old mat on my head, or hide my face from the sun of all things.

I will kill for it."

"We just got to stop the flood before we lose it all and drown from fear// I've survived through rain storms, sandstorms, I fought the war// Now it's time to go home// It's time to go home." - Journey (Ready to Fly) by Natasha Blume

Azern:

“I wonder when the students will start dying.”

"The fire in my heart will burn me to the ground//I did my part I tried my best// the things I'm trying to protect// always shattering to pieces in the end"- Bring Me Back to Life by HT Bristol, Charlie Bannister, Vincent Steele, Nine One One

And because I made a specifically Hers collage above here is one for the fellas:

(images from Pinterest, all credit to their original creators)

(dis picture is actually mine, spent like three weeks on it)

And finally the title for book two (you thought I had forgotten didn't you?). Without further ado...

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Rage Like the Gods book two...

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Folly of the Gods