Looks at date. *blinks Has it really been so long since I've updated here? Yes. Yes it has. So announcements first: 1. My IronHeart series has been acquired by Outland Entertainment! Magpie's Song and Magpie's Fall will be rereleased with … Continue ...
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Heart of the Dreaming - 5 new articles



Magpie’s Song Redeux

Looks at date.

*blinks*

Has it really been so long since I’ve updated here? Yes. Yes it has.

So announcements first:

1. My IronHeart series has been acquired by Outland Entertainment! Magpie’s Song and Magpie’s Fall will be rereleased with new covers (Feb 1 and July 7th) and Magpie’s Flight will be released in November. Audio books will be available  as well.

  1. 2.Fox & Willow To the Sea – the second volume of my webcomic with Aimo had a successful Kickstarter back in the fall and that should be released soon as well.

3. Fox & Willow – we are now doing early release pages on Tapas and Patreon. If you love the story and want to get in on the early stuff, head over to either link and check us out. 🙂

4. Profit.

Or something like that. 😉

At any rate, Magpie’s Song is up on NetGalley – so if you missed it the first time several years ago, now is your chance to read/review it. The old versions have been taken down from the various book sites, but there still may be some of the trade paperbacks kicking around, so no big deal if you run across one.

The book itself has NOT changed – if you already have a copy, you’re not missing out on anything except the fancy new cover – but please feel free to spread the word when it’s released – I would very much appreciate it.

I’ll have pre-order links and whatnot up as soon as I have them and I will do my best to keep this page updated a little more frequently.

That being said, the site is maybe having some issues, so bear with me while I try to figure that out. Comments sort of work, but don’t really show up on the web version of the site – but they do show on the mobile version so….yeah. Help.

 

 

Be Still My Dreaming Heart Giveaway

Hey, so in a nice bit of happenstance, today is the 10th anniversary of the publication of A Brush of Darkness! (I know, I know – it’s crazy to think it’s been that long – this year in particular has been downright glacial.)

BoD was my first real foray into writing with the intent of publication. It started out life as a PNR, won a few romance contests, which led to an offer of publication, which led to an agent, which led to a bigger offer of publication…it was fast and crazy and I was so grateful for the support I got from so many writer friends at the time.

(And so many fans as well – everything from art to jewelry to Hello Kitty shout-outs – it really was so amazing.)

There’s always something special about the memories of that first book – subsequent releases are still fun, but that first one is sort of like being a Velveteen Rabbit. Suddenly you’re “real” – and even though I suspect most of us creatives continue to suffer from imposter syndrome no matter how many things we make, for that one instant, you feel pretty damn good.

Part of my journey with this book and series was made with my dear friend and editor, Danielle Poiesz. She was my editor at Pocket Books – she helped me whip things into shape and has done nothing since then but help me create better stories. She is now the freelance editor/owner of Double Vision Editorial and I continue to work with her for nearly every project I have. To have that sort of professional working relationship is a true blessing and I am ridiculously grateful that I have her. (Also, go HIRE HER – she’s worth every penny!)

Recently Danielle started a side business on Etsy called Inner Peas Co. She makes soaps and bath salts and all sorts of deliciously scented things with great literary puns for names. And last week she surprised me with a set just for the Abby Sinclair series. It’s called Be Still My Dreaming Heart and they smell amazing! (I’ve been using the bath salts and the scrub like crazy – they really are great.)

So that in mind, if you’d like to get a feel for what the Dreaming Heart smells like, this is definitely the set for you. (Jasmine, among other things…)

And because this is a new year and all, I’d like to give a way an entire set to a lucky reader. (Soap, shower steamer, bath salts and scrub).

So please leave a comment below telling me your favorite scene from any of the Abby Sinclair books! I’ll keep this open until Feb 2!

(Please note: because the Pandemic postal service is a hot mess right now, this is only open to US/Canada. My apologies.)

 

 

 

EDIT: I don’t know why my comments aren’t showing, but I did get them! Winner is Barbie Atkins!!! 😀

 

No Plans

Like everything else that’s gone wrong, I had plans to write blog posts more frequently this year. I had plans to go places and do things and try to find some sort of purpose and meaning beyond whatever my everyday was.

Even today’s post was blindsided by the fact that once again, I’ve lost another friend. (So, so many people I knew, either personally or professionally are gone. Cancer or Covid, both have been utterly ruthless. My brain is numb trying to wrap itself around the fact that I’ll never see them again and just…well, it’s going to be a melancholy post instead. My apologies.)

And no, I’m not flipping off Ostara on my planner. That just happened to be the day our exchange student was made to go home during the early days of Covid and I couldn’t bring myself to write down the flight information. In hindsight, of course it made a lot of sense to send all the exchange students home – but we were getting so much information (true and false) that we couldn’t figure out what we were supposed to do. What should have been a fun second half of the year ended with our student shutting himself in his room in absolute depression for the last several days of his trip.

I don’t know really. In some ways it feels like life just…stopped after he left. Schools were closed, jobs were sent home. I went from trying to figure out 3 different sets of school activities and shuttling everyone around to going nowhere. (Job-wise…everything stayed the same for me. I was already working from home due to health reasons, so aside from the fact that all my coworkers are now in the same boat that part has blissfully remained constant. Small favors.)

I’m not even going to get into the political bullshit of this year – there’s too much to unpack and I don’t want to do it right now.

My kids stopped caring about classes, alternating between staying up all night, and half-heartedly logging in to maybe finish a test or a lesson, when they already knew none of it was going to count anyway. (It’s been a little better the second time around – schools at least are trying to have a better plan, but I’m watching my kids drown in work, no less apathetic than they were. They still stay up all night and I don’t care. As long as the work gets done and the grades stay up, they can run their own schedules as they please. So far it’s worked out – we even managed to get the eldest accepted into university for next year. so at least that’s one less thing to worry about.)

I bought like 4 or 5 different planners last month. Not sure which one I’ll use. Maybe all of them. Maybe none of them. I’m not even sure why I bought them at all, though I’m sure there’s some deep-seated urge to somehow retain control of my schedule, as though that will somehow bring a new sense of normalcy.

It probably won’t. No matter how much I write down what my plans are for a given week, it doesn’t take much to upend them. Hell, I took the last week off hoping to rejuvenate and rest and all that great stuff…and I’ve been nothing but beset by terrible headaches and fatigue. I’ve lost nearly half the week not being able to get out of bed for more than a few minutes. My exhaustion is total and I don’t know why.  (Maybe this *is* my body’s way of saying, oh, good, you have time to rest. STAY IN BED. Maybe it’s Covid. Maybe it’s just the usual chronic illness garbage.)

All my writing plans went out the window. My baking plans. My cleaning plans.

*sigh*

But that’s okay. Tomorrow is the start of a new year and hopefully better times for everyone.

That in mind, if you’d like a copy of my latest  – a hardcover edition of Came A Harper, I’m giving away a few on Patreon. You do NOT have to be a Patron – it is open to anyone. (You probably need a Patron account to leave a comment, but you don’t have to be giving us money or anything.)

Link here.

Just put down what your hopes/dreams are for 2021, or what you’re looking forward to, or share whatever makes you happy. I’ll draw two winners tomorrow.

 

See you all next year. 🙂

 

 

 

 

Fox & Willow Release Day!

So today the first volume of Fox & Willow is out in the wild!

It’s been a long time coming – Aimo and I started this little webcomic back in April of 2012 and we’re just thrilled that we found a publishing home for it at Outland Entertainment (so, so grateful they offered us a shot.)

Thanks to all our readers over the years – we are so happy you’re continuing this journey with us and we’re looking forward to bringing you the next installment. 🙂

 

You can order it here:

Outland Entertainment

Amazon

Book Depository

And if you’re so inclined, please leave us a review or pass the word – we would really appreciate it! 🙂

 

Halloween Flash Fiction

Just a quick pop in to say I’ve got a bit of Abby Sinclair flash fiction over at Funk-n-Fiction today! (Technically it was yesterday, but I forgot to post this, so here we are.) At any rate there are a whole bunch of great authors who have been posting stories there this week, so please run over and check them out – there are giveaways!

Happy Halloween! 🙂