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Direct sales: audiobooks

As of February 16, 2024. These are the audiobooks currently available to purchase directly through MCD:

Dowser Series

Cupcakes, Trinkets, and Other Deadly Magic (Dowser 1)

Trinkets, Treasures, and Other Bloody Magic (Dowser 2)

Treasures, Demons, and Other Black Magic (Dowser 3)

Shadows, Maps, and Other Ancient Magic (Dowser 4)

Maps, Artifacts, and Other Arcane Magic (Dowser 5)

Artifacts, Dragons, and Other Lethal Magic (Dowser 6)

Champagne, Misfits, and Other Shady Magic (Dowser 7)

Misfits, Gemstones, and Other Shattered Magic (Dowser 8)

Graveyards, Visions, and Other Things that Byte (Dowser 8.5)

Gemstones, Elves, and Other Insidious Magic (Dowser 9)

Oracle Series

I See Me (Oracle 1)

I See You (Oracle 2)

I See Us (Oracle 3)

Reconstructionist Series

Catching Echoes (Reconstructionist 1)

Tangled Echoes (Reconstructionist 2)

Unleashing Echoes (Reconstructionist 3)

Amplifier Series

The Amplifier Protocol (Amplifier 0)

Demons & DNA (Amplifier 1)

Bonds and Broken Dreams (Amplifier 2)

Mystics and Mental Blocks (Amplifier 3)

Idols and Enemies (Amplifier 4)

Instincts and Impostors (Amplifier 5)

Recon Misson: Bee (Amplifier 5.5)

Endings and Empathy (Amplifier 6)

Archivist Series

Awakening Infinity (Archivist 0)

Invoking Infinity (Archivist 1)

Compelling Infinity (Archivist 2)

Conduit Series*

Awry (Conduit 1)

Coming in 2024

Misplaced Souls (Misfits 1)


Click here for the reading order of the Adept Universe, including downloads, etc.

*The Conduit Series is set in a new universe (name TBA). More info can be found on the main page for Awry and will soon be expanded upon.

Mirth, part one: Chapter One, Part One

This #TeaserTuesday excerpt is from my current WIP, the second draft of the Mirth duology, part 1. In early December 2023, I came up with an idea for what I thought would be a fun Why Choose palate cleanser set in the Conduit World – yes, apparently all the series set in the Conduit World are going to be Why Choose.

I had every intent of dashing off a fun, quick standalone book.

Well, ahem, the ‘standalone’ is now a duology. And the first book is now 100K (and counting).

So yeah, palate cleanser it may be, this is not, apparently, a short story. I haven’t set a release date yet, because I’m thinking about releasing both books back-to-back (maybe thirty days apart?). I need to get book 2 written and confirm the editor’s schedule for two books in a row before I get the preorder for Mirth 1 up. And yes, duologies traditionally end on a cliffhanger.

The Mirth duology series is set in a secondary world that shares many common traits with our own. The divergences in language, governing bodies and countries, technology, and geography are all intentional choices by the author.

[overall] Content warnings: language, death of a family member/grief, and sexual situations.

Anything in [brackets] is still being developed/decided/not quite the right word, etc.

MIRTH

“A chosen mate matching event,” I echo stupidity, swaying slightly on my bare feet. “For me.”

“You’re welcome to add names to the invitation list,” my father says, getting as pissy as he will allow himself to be even when dealing with his least favorite child.

I remember to shut my mouth at least. Gaping like a fish in his presence hasn’t been tolerated since I was two. I don’t, however, manage to uncurl my hands from the fists clenched at my sides. My perfectly French-manicured nails dig into my perfectly soft and creamy skin. I’m moments away from drawing my own blood.

Not because I’m a shifter. I might be one of the most privileged people on the planet but even I’m not lucky enough to be able to manifest claws to rend my way through the centuries of royal history suffocatingly stuffed alongside me in my father’s study.

“Add names …” I finally say through clenched teeth, scanning the leather-bound tomes and dark wood shelves spanning easily twelve feet up to the ludicrously landscape-painted ceiling. I could take two steps to the fucking window and see one of the most breathtaking mountain views in the entire world. That landscape has weathered the centuries without a constant need for weekly dusting and a special fucking varnish that only a fabricator mage is skilled enough to apply.

I’m struggling to hold onto the moment.

To hold the energy, the practically useless essence, within me. If I self-destruct here maybe I will finally do something significant with all the untapped power that resides under my skin. Maybe I’ll wipe this castle off the side of the mountain and significantly improve the vista.

Of course, that would also slaughter dozens of innocent people, and not doing so is the primary reason I hold my essence so tightly. So tightly, I barely have access to my lesser abilities. Barely have any significance in the —

My nails bite into my skin.

A chosen mate matching event.

It’s not … it’s only been five months, seventeen days, and … I glance at the ostentatious grandfather clock to my left. It towers next to the heavy dark wood door. Five months, seventeen days, and eight hours, since … since …

My father clears his throat, almost gently.

My father is not gentle. Fair-minded? Yes. Forthright? Yes. Focused, precise, and epically-powerful? Yes. Gentle? No.

I want him to yell.

I want him to break, as I’m breaking. As I’ve been breaking for almost six months.

He summoned me. I’ve been holed up in my apartments in London barely surfacing most days. But he summoned and I’m here. And I thought …

My brother’s ashes sit in a pristinely white marble urn on the mantel over the unlit fireplace just offset from my father’s huge burnished gold oak antique desk. But that’s not the prestigious placement it seems to be.

Armin wouldn’t have wanted to be trapped inside a —  

I stuff my hands in the pockets of the sweatpants that I snuck out of Armin’s rooms. Not that either of us has lived at my father’s seat of power in years. The school’s logo is emblazoned across the ass. From the depths of the pockets, I grasp my abandoned earbuds in my palms. And, for a moment, I consider pulling them out, shoving them in my ears, and blasting all the thoughts out of the forefront of my mind.

Which is my go-to response to practically anything requiring any engagement from me these days. That and audiobooks. There is nothing like an unhinged thriller to remind me how ridiculously cloistered and — 

“Mirth …” my father sighs.

I flinch at being so named, only just checking stumbling back from it.

He pinches his lips so tightly that they go white against his tanned skin. Under that tan, he’s just as naturally pale as I am. He’s just been skiing. And apparently, it’s been sunny enough to lightly streak his hair as well. Normally it’s as dark as my own. And why wouldn’t he ski? He resides in a castle in the middle of the fucking Alps and owns everything as far as an essence-enhanced eye can see.

His Royal Highness, Chancellor Bastian Wilhelm, hereditary emperor of the United European Nation, leader of the World Council. One of the most powerful awry in the world.

It’s not as if his eldest son, his fucking beloved heir with whom he shared the same epically powerful abilities, is dead.

 I grab onto the anger that flashes through me, warming me finally from within, at his lack of obvious grief. Such bright and utterly vicious ire is a completely uncharacteristic emotion for me. And with it, the bottomless well of useless essence I usually keep smothered deeply within my core, within my soul, sleepily uncurls. I struggle to get it under control so I can function, and speak, through the onslaught.

But then — finally — I’m unhinging my jaw and spitting vitriol in his direction. “Add names? To the list of assholes that you want to line up? To fuck and breed me?”

The cut crystal tumbler in my father’s hand cracks but doesn’t shatter. And not because his grip tightened. I’ve managed to get his own power to slip its own leash.

But I don’t feel any relief. I, in fact, feel even more helpless, even more out of control, now that I’ve triggered him so easily.

Standing to my father’s right, as she always is when he calls me in for one of his delightful chats, Eleanor plucks the glass from his hand before it spills a drop. Anne, on his left, instantly replaces it with her barely sipped-from, amber-liquid-filled, tumbler.

Apparently, it’s more important to make sure that nary a single drop of mage-brewed whisky hits the thousand-fucking-year-old oak desk than it is to —

“It’s time,” my father says, deliberately setting down his replacement drink instead of throwing it back.

Maybe he has the urge to drink and drink and lose himself just for a little while? Lose himself for just long enough to forget why I’ve been called home? To forget why he’s suddenly demanding that I find a match?

My brother — my father’s true heir, true in all the ways that truly mattered in this world — is dead.

All that power. All that … love and comfort, just snuffed out, stripped away by a fucking avalanche. An [epic], even unprecedented, event, yes. But what telekinetic dies while skiing, so remotely or not?

“Six months is all I get?” I say, the circumstances of my beloved brother’s death pinging around in my head along with all the unanswered questions. No, not unanswered. All the unsatisfactorily resolved questions.

The bright anger drains from me, leaving my voice sounding weak, pathetic, even to my own ears. If I could just hold on to that anger, if I could just focus it, I might be able to use it to drag myself from this abyss of grief. “Not even six months.”

My father scrubs his hand across his face in an uncharacteristic display of vivid emotion, then compounding that oddly human-like behavior he reaches up for Anne’s hand. The light blond, dark amber-eyed, tanned shifter instantly closes the slight space, slipping her bejeweled fingers into his open palm. They just hold each other lightly. Eleanor, a pale-skinned combat-grade mage with her long medium brown hair uncharacteristically loose around her shoulders, settles her hand on his shoulder.

Their combined gazes settle on me. Three against one. Pure pity etched across Anne’s face. Eleanor’s strain shows in the deepening lines across her brow and on the edges of her remarkable sky-blue eyes.

My father … my father looks … I haven’t actually shared the same space with him for over a month. We’ve barely exchanged a half dozen words since Armin’s death. He hasn’t shaved. He’s lost weight, enough for it to show in his face. The gray is deepening at his temples. But power, so much power, undeniable and everlasting, radiates from him, from his eyes. As it always does.

The violet eyes that also match my own.

Anchored on either side by his chosen mates or not, I’m looking at His Royal Highness, Chancellor Bastian Wilhelm, emperor of the European Nation and head of the World Council.

I can count the number of times he’s just been Bast in my presence on a single hand and not use my thumb — a nickname I heard murmured by Anne in an intimate moment many, many years ago.

And then I put it all together.

The abrupt, but formal, summons from my loft in London where I’ve been holed up to my father’s literal seat to power.

The informal gathering in his study.

They’d all been drinking even before I’d been escorted by a castle guard from my rooms.

The chosen mate matching event.

Only six months …

I sway, lightheaded as the realization sweeps through me viscerally. I step sideways, then practically drop into the chair that had been offered — and refused — when I entered. I always need to be on my feet for these conversations, for any conversation with my father in which I’m the sole focus. An exceedingly rare event. Even more so after my awry nature truly exerted itself at age fifteen and it became clear it wasn’t … manageable. Armin usually mitigated as much as he could between my father and me.

I’m never able to actually run, flee, of course, but I’m always primed to do so.

Even that possibility is about to be stripped from me.

And it’s not that I’m not ready.

It’s that I’m incapable.

“You’re true blooded,” my father says. “You will need multiple mates to hold the intersection point. We can find ways around the other duties if you cannot manage them as well.”

Duties. All the things that he trained Armin to do, to eventually take over. Over a decade of training just to stand at our father’s side. All the things I don’t have the intelligence, or the fortitude, or the power to —

My father clears his throat. “When the time comes.”

When the time comes.

To hold the intersection point.

– Mirth, part one (Conduit World), chapter one, part one


FYI. Awry (Conduit 1) is the first book set in the Conduit World. It is now available in eBook, paperback, and audiobook. [In case you haven’t had a chance to pick it up yet 😉 ].

Launching MCD’s Adepts discord with a Dowser Series Buddy Read!

As some of you may or may not have seen, my lovely new PA Brittany is swooping in to help take over some of the more online social aspects of my job. And now I will have no excuse but to adhere to my self-imposed social media blackouts in the morning because Brittany WILL KNOW IF I CHEAT. 😂

As a part of building (and maintaining) a core online community, Brittany has decided to launch a dedicated Discord (MCD’s Adepts)* alongside a Dowser Series Buddy read. I’m sharing the invitation here (below) on my blog so you don’t miss out (if you are so inclined to join us) but it will not be hosted here or by me specifically.

If you haven’t met Brittany yet, here is her intro post on Instagram.

Why a Discord? As I’m sure you’ve noticed, social media reach has only worsened over the last few years. Even just recently my Instagram engagement levels have seriously tanked. This is not only frustrating to me but also to readers who are actually interested in seeing posts from me! Hence the Discord. With Discord, you’re the one to log in whenever you like and poke around to read or participate in the topics that interest you. Nothing gets hidden by the social media platform and nothing gets dropped into spam/promo/junk folders.

The MCD’s Adepts discord will be run by Brittany (in conversation with me, of course). I will pop in to chat daily (in the afternoons 😉). If you’d like to be a moderator, please message Brittany (she is @Britt|MCD’sPA) via the discord. I’m not sure she is looking for anyone but she’d be happy to know you are available if she needs you.

Right now Brittany and I are the only ones over there chatting. So please join us! Brittany has set up some specific channels already, and I’m sure she would be happy to set up more if you have requests.

What is Discord? Via Wikipedia: Discord is an instant messaging and social platform, which allows communication through voice calls, video calls, text messaging, and media and files. Communication can be private or take place in virtual communities called “servers”.

Website: https://discord.com (to download the app)

Beginners Guide to Discord: https://support.discord.com/hc/en-us/articles/360045138571-Beginner-s-Guide-to-Discord

Dowser Series Buddy Read!

Brittany hasn’t read the Dowser Series yet! So she thought it would be fun to invite other readers to read along with her. She is spearheading this and there will be ‘share graphics’ and other fun things going on on my socials. But if you would like to really dig in with her and discuss then you can also join MCD’s Adepts* (discord).

I have an idea for an MCD’s Fav Things: Book Club that will also implemented through the discord server (but only once I feel like I have the time to devote to it).

Note: the Discord links expire in seven days, but just let me know if you need a new invitation.

FUN! FUN!

Last chance to grab the tenth-anniversary copies of Dowser 1.

Just a quick note for anyone who missed the Kickstarter (Jan 2023), I’ve made the last remaining* tenth-anniversary editions of Cupcakes, Trinkets, and Other Deadly Magic (Dowser 1) available for purchase.

Only 12 paperbacks (some slight foil damage on all) and 13 hardcovers (8 have some minor damage to the cover) are available. Please see the listings for more info and pictures.

Click here for the Tenth Anniversary Dowser 1 Hardcover – $75+ $25 CDN/USA tracked shipping = $100.

Click here for the Tenth Anniversary Dowser 1 Paperback – $45 + $25 CDN/USA tracked shipping = $70.

Prices in Canadian funds (as always). I hope to ship the second week in March along with the annotated copies (my highlighters ran out, so I only have four of the ten of those done right now).

*I still haven’t heard from all backers so I’m holding back a few copies in case they finally contact me.

Ongoing kerfuffle in the audiobook world …

You might be seeing posts all over social media from your fav authors and audiobook narrators about the new Terms of Use that Findaway (aka Spotify) attempted to implement (with thirty days notice) yesterday. I, among many other authors, immediately sent emails indicating that we’d be pulling our audiobooks off Findaway/Spotify if they insisted on pushing through the new terms as written (the issues are numerous so I won’t bother getting into the details here). About eleven hours later, they issued a statement that they were looking into clarifying the wording.

I’m not immediately pulling my audiobooks off Findaway/Spotify but I will remove them if they force me to do so. That will mean that my audiobooks will be pulled from all the retailers that Findaway distributes to, including Nook, Google Play, Hoopla, Spotify, etc.

And, yes, this will impact my sales. Producing audiobooks is expensive. A long-term investment. So obviously making them available to the widest range of readers is ideal. My audiobooks have brought in a significant amount of money in 2023 (though not more than I spent in 2023 😂) – from multiple channels, yes, but losing the ability to reach smaller retailers and libraries via Findaway will be unfortunate.

I will keep you all updated.

With that all said, buying audiobooks directly from me (or other authors) is the least expensive option for you that also pays me the most. Yes! It’s nice that it works out like that! Also, you own the audiobooks (and ebooks for that matter) you buy from me. If you cancel your Audible (etc) account, you can lose your audiobooks (there are ways around this, but you are technically ‘renting’ audiobooks through subscription services).

I’ve pinned a post with links to all my available audiobooks to the top of my blog (because I’m way behind in keeping my links updated on my book pages, sigh) so they are easier to find. Click here to see the list of audiobooks.

Also, in case I don’t say it enough, you all freaking rock, every book you buy from me directly or from any retailer or get at a library directly equates to me being able to make a living doing what I love to do – storytelling!! 😘 Thank you!

A shot stolen from my social media, taken Monday when I dropped off the L.E.’s of Awry at the shipping depot. Posted here because I really, really wouldn’t mind having that hot fudge milkshake to suck on right now. 😜

Quick writing update, thank yous, and other things of minor interest.

I usually write a ‘day after a new release’ post and then a ‘week after a release’ post, but alas I have done neither after the release of Awry (Conduit 1). And not because the release wasn’t a success – it really was! Thank you all so, so much. At one point, likely for a very brief moment, Awry was nestled lovingly between Yarros (Fourth Wing) and Mass (Crescent City, A Court of Thorns and Roses, etc) on the sci-fi/fantasy bestseller list on Apple Books.

Let me find the screenshot I shared on my socials.

So thank you, thank you for following me into a new universe and a slightly new format (present tense) and a slightly different tenor (the present tense comes with a certain natural intensity) and slightly new structure (an ongoing story where the overall plot is continued through several books).

[side note] And yes, the Conduit Series is a slooooow burn why choose urban fantasy romance. This means that Zaya will eventually have multiple partners/fated mates. There are REASONS (plot and story) for this choice. Yes, actual overall universe reasons. Some of you might have already figured it out. 😊

Since the release, I’m getting the sense that it is slightly disconcerting to some of my lovely readers that I appear to not be actively writing Conduit 2 (or Archivist 3, for that matter).

Yes, I’m currently deep into writing a why choose duology set in the same universe as the Conduit (not a slow burn! 😜), which I’m referring to as Mirth or Mirth 1 in my updates on Facebook and Instagram.

If you’ve been reading me since Cupcakes, Trinkets, and Other Deadly Magic (Dowser 1) (or even before) then you’ve been on this journey with me before – aka the expansion of a universe.

Opening up a new universe takes time. I’m sorry, it just does. Plus, the books that make up that universe aren’t wholly independent of each other.

For example, (as some of you have already picked up) Reconstructionist 1 was supposed to fall after Dowser 4. Yes, I already knew the entire story arc (at least in brief) of the Reconstructionist trilogy BEFORE writing Dowser 4 (in which, spoiler alert, Kett is already stalking Wisteria). And AT THE SAME TIME, I already knew the entire arc of the second Dower trilogy (Dowser 4, 5, and 6).

That’s a minimum of six books in my head at once. At least six. With each of them informing the other in some way, then – in that particular case – calling back (and forward) to the Oracle.

So … the universe of the Conduit and Mirth (so far) is the same. A slow build of slightly (in this case) entwined stories.

I’m almost finished writing the first Mirth book. And I know exactly what occurs in the second book (it’s two parts of an overarching story).

I also know all the major plot points of the next three (or four?) Conduit books. And this morning, I sharpened the structure of each of those books in a major way. A breakthrough, if you will.

[side note: I also know the plot of Archivist 3, including two major reveals that bookend that story. I also know the plot of the next three ebooks in the Misfit series and the plot of Jasmine’s first book].

BUT IT TAKES TIME TO WRITE A BOOK. Before my drug-resistant chronic daily migraine (of almost four and half years now), I might have been able to write four (average length) books a year. Now I just do my best.

[FYI I deleted a large section of this post because it went places I didn’t want to go].

I just really want to thank you for embarking on this new journey with me and to assure my lovely readers I’m working, slowly and steadily on all the books. And I promise to release them as quickly as I am able (though I might hold back Mirth 1 until I can make sure Mirth 2 is available very quickly after).

I’m dedicated to writing all through 2024 and taking better care of myself, which means there won’t be as many extras and freebies, and I will be less personally present on social media, etc, but hopefully, there will be more books!

As always, ‘shares’ and reviews are welcomed and appreciated.


[Final side note 😂] if you’ve been waiting to use a credit or your subscription to grab Awry in audio, it’s slowly appearing on all the retailers (not just direct from me) including Audible and Spotify, etc. I’ll update the links on the main page when I get a chance.

😘

Conduit 1 L.E. preorder closing

Hello, my lovely readers! Just a quick note that I will be closing the preorders for the limited edition eBook and the ‘preorder priced’ audiobook for Awry (Conduit 1) at the end of day tomorrow (Saturday, Jan 20 PST) because I’ll be delivering (via BookFunnel) the eBook and audiobook to everyone who has ordered by end of day on Sunday, Jan 21. I will also email you with instructions, etc.

The limited edition ebook contains art and extras. The audiobook is $2 less to preorder (and even more $$ if purchased through another retailer).

The preorder for the regular ebook will, of course, still be available through all retailers. And audiobook will be available directly from me (at $12CDN) and through all retailers after release day as well.

Oh, and please, please double-check your email receipts before preordering if you have any inkling that you might have already preordered. I keep coming on doubles, etc, and each refund actually costs me $$.

Thank you for all your support with this new series/new universe!! I can’t wait for you to read it!!

PREORDER LINKS

eBOOK

– PREORDER LIMITED-EDITION DIRECT FROM MCD –

– AMAZON – APPLE BOOKS – BARNES & NOBLE – GOOGLE PLAY – KOBO – SMASHWORDS –

AUDIOBOOK

– PREORDER DIRECT FROM MCD –

PAPERBACK

Available on release day from Amazon (etc).

Conduit Series: Illustration and an excerpt: Rath

‘Rath’ Guerra. Shifter. Illustration by Nicole Deal.

I unlock the door as the engines of the vehicles shut off behind me. I don’t have to look back to know that Cayley is climbing out of the car, or that Grinder has returned with Doc Z and Presh’s brother, Rath. Their life force is so robust, I don’t need eyes with which to see them. 

But I feel drawn, even momentarily compelled, to look back. Just once. 

At Rath. 

He’s so huge, easily six and a half feet, that his large bike looks regular-sized as he swings his leg off it. His hair is brown, chopped short. As he removes his helmet, he favors his left shoulder, almost imperceptibly. I can’t see the color of his eyes from this distance, but his features are broad, arresting.

– Awry (Conduit 1), Chapter 6

RELEASE DATE: JANUARY 25, 2024

PREORDER NOW

eBOOK

– PREORDER LIMITED-EDITION DIRECT FROM MCD –

– AMAZON – APPLE BOOKS – BARNES & NOBLE – GOOGLE PLAY – KOBO – SMASHWORDS –

AUDIOBOOK

– PREORDER DIRECT FROM MCD –

PAPERBACK

Available on release day from Amazon (etc).

Conduit Series: Illustration and an excerpt: Rought

‘Rought’ Guerra. Shifter. Illustration by Nicole Deal.

The engine hasn’t even died before the driver’s-side door is opening, and a male steps out — dark-blond hair, naturally tanned skin, and shoulders so broad I’m surprised that he slips out of the car so agilely. Though he is clearly a shifter.

The moment his booted feet hit the ground and the energy underpinning the property rises to ghost his footsteps, I know that he is a … presence, a power. He’s in black jeans and a light-gray henley. He lays his hand on top of the Camaro, pivoting toward me — not bothering to look at the barn or the property or anything else as he reaches to shut the car door with his other hand.

He meets my gaze. His eyes are light colored, either blue or green, but I can’t tell which at this distance.

He’s still moving, hand running across the top of the car, then down the back window, then fingers only along the trunk.

He fucking caresses the fucking car as he crosses alongside it, then continues steadily toward me. And for a moment of utter insanity, I want it to be my curves under those fingertips.

The passenger-side door thunks closed. I feel Presh’s presence as well. But I can’t tear my gaze away from the golden god in worn black jeans taking long, steady strides toward me. I’m locked in his gaze.

The nearer he gets, the more I see … in his expression, in his body language, in the way his essence entwines with that of the property. 

I’m not lightheaded.

I’m not beguiled or enchanted.

The nearer he gets, the more anchored I feel. 

Not frozen. Not overwhelmed.

I’m in this moment. Breathing it. Savoring it. As if … as if … my very soul has been starved? And he is … he is …

– Awry (Conduit 1), Chapter 10 (slightly edited for spoilers)

RELEASE DATE: JANUARY 25, 2024

PREORDER NOW

eBOOK

– PREORDER LIMITED-EDITION DIRECT FROM MCD –

– AMAZON – APPLE BOOKS – BARNES & NOBLE – GOOGLE PLAY – KOBO – SMASHWORDS –

AUDIOBOOK

– PREORDER DIRECT FROM MCD –

PAPERBACK

Available on release day from Amazon (etc).

Having a minor meltdown this afternoon. Yes, over paperbacks.

ETA: The lovely Gene and Sasha have swooped in to make sure the cover is as perfectly pretty as I want it to be (but you know still intense/forboding/striking because I’m never easy to please 😂). But I won’t be using these printers again (or possibly overseeing print runs on my own again. I’m not sure I have the temperament for it. 😜).

Having a minor meltdown over the limited-edition paperback covers for Awry (Conduit 1). The proof the printer sent (which cost me $130 BTW) (see my video a couple of weeks back) printed darker than I like. This can and does happen often, due to the printer settings, I believe. I approved the proof (the interior is lovely) but asked them to try to lighten it on their end (i.e. tweak it for their own printer settings, etc). They sent me a photo of the ‘tuned up contrast’ that they did, and it looks AWFUL.

Now, the production team must have known how awful their ‘tuned-up version’ looked, because they wouldn’t have sent me a comparison picture. And yes, I could have just said, print it like you printed the first proof (which was a little dark, lacking the great contrast of the eBook/PDF versions, but still striking), but of course, NOW I’M REALLY WORRIED.

So, more than a little freaked out, I immediately contacted the cover designer. And G&S, of course, are going to fix as much as they can on their end.

I let the printer know that the designer is doing a pass (read: to fix the PRINTER issues. Not DESIGN issues).

And … they immediately inform me that I’ll owe them another $45 for uploading a new cover and there WILL BE NO PHOTO.

Yep, they just want to print the cover without any oversight.

You know, as if their first attempt hadn’t already been an issue.

I’ve informed them back that if they want to send me $4k of books because they can guarantee that the cover looks exactly like the PDF I submit (read: like it should have the first time), then great! But, if not, then certainly they do test prints themselves, yes? Perhaps as quality control before every print run? So they must be able to take a picture and send it my way, and include that in the $45 extra fee, yes?

Haven’t heard back. I assume they’re going to sic someone higher on the food chain on me now.

Sigh.

I loathe confrontation.

I just want pretty paperbacks.

And yeah, I won’t be working with them again. This aligns with my determination to not be running a ‘store’ in 2024, so just … extra motivation to stick to my resolutions, I suppose.

Also, I’m aware that these sorts of issues stem from me defaulting to being ‘nice’ all the time (see the note about confrontation above). Instead of being (what I perceive as) picky and demanding. Because I understand that some printers just default to printing darker, etc, and I just ask them to do their ‘best’ to fix it, while also paying a nonrefundable $2k deposit because they’ve already delayed my freaking print run by two weeks.

In other news, the paperbacks are probably going to be (further) delayed.

Here’s a pretty picture to soothe us all.

Okay, to soothe me.

Okay, enough grumbling! I’ve got postcards and stickers to design/order!

Conduit Series: Illustration and an excerpt: Presh

Precious ‘Presh’ Guerra. Awry. Illustration by Nicole Deal.

“I can’t push you,” I say gently. “Some choices have to be your own. Not everything is determined by fate alone.”

Startled, her eyes flick up to meet mine. “Can you get me home?”

“I’ll die trying,” I say, aware that I’ve uttered my own destiny — a single, short thread of it, at least — as the words fall from my lips. 

I’ve never been great at keeping my mouth shut, even when I’m trying. Or ignoring a knowing even when doing so was in my best interest.

I reach for her.

She steps closer to accept my hand.

The thin threads already connecting us solidify so suddenly and sharply that it’s like a punch to the gut. I lose my breath within the momentary onslaught of sensation. It settles into an unadulterated rightness. More than a simple thread of destiny. 

I’ve never felt the like before. Even accepting my inheritance was less … steady, less resolved. But most essence-wielding is like that. Most essence, most power, grows slowly, and not necessarily steadily.

“What … what was that?” she asks in a whisper.

I meet her gaze, blinking and still feeling a little out of body. “Fate,” I whisper back. “It seems … we are meant to be here, in this moment and beyond.” 

She smiles. It’s tentative, shaky. Her grip on my hand is almost punishing.

“What’s your name, sweetness?”

“Presh …” She exhales hope along with the gift of her name, fortifying the connection between us further. Then she inhales strength — I can see it flooding through her — and gives me more. “Precious Guerra.”

I lean into her, taller by a half-dozen inches. My necklace swings forward, drawing her attention again. “Zaya Gage,” I say. Then I add, teasingly, “Granddaughter of Necessity, Daughter of Darkness and Night.” Even though I’m speaking the utter truth. As I always must when I’m about to walk the path of my own destiny. 

To my death, I had no doubt. 

Presh giggles quietly, as I’d hoped she would. Though depending on how much of the family history I’m willing to accept as pure truth, I’m not lying.

Awry (Conduit 1), Chapter 1

RELEASE DATE: JANUARY 25, 2024

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