Title Reveal and Excerpt!

I can’t take it anymore, my friends. If you follow me on my socials you’ll know I kind of already quietly dropped the Order of Crows book 3 title, but today I’m making it official. I don’t have a release date, yet, but I will have a cover very soon, and I’m working on fixing the interior file from my proof. If I can make the release happen in February, I’m going to, but I’m thinking no later than March.

Before I say anything else, I want to say this: I am extremely proud of this book. I know, I always say that when I release a book. And it’s always true. But this one is special. This is my first book 3 of any series, and the Crows series holds a place in my heart that’s separate and above the others. Back in 2010, when the first iteration of the first Crows book was published, I had no plans of there ever being a third book. I thought I could finish the story in two. Well, that was entirely wrong. Eventually, I accepted there would need to be a book 3 and, foolishly, believed it would be a trilogy. Well. Also no. But I digress. In short, this series is my adult life’s work. Because I refused to give up on it, because I put the work in to rewrite and revise all the old words I had written, I am now to this point of releasing book 3 and still actively working on book 4 (which I accidentally titled in the revision of the third book, but that’s another blog post).

So, I’m proud. To everyone who wanted more Crows sixteen years ago, sorry it took so long, but I did get there. If you’re new here, Order of Crows is an ambitious, dark, contemporary fantasy tale of a magical and divine order tasked with protecting the heart of the planar structure. They are faced with a mysterious alliance of otherworldly creatures and forced to learn how to work as a team. This story has a little bit of everything–gods, fey, angels and demons, vampires, and some beings that I simply made up. It’s a grand mix of supernatural and fantasy elements and even has a dash of forbidden love (shhh). The first two books, The Murder Meets at Dusk and The Song of the Sparrow, are available on Amazon or anywhere I happen to be.

Now, without any more wait, I present…

A Place With No Dawn

Casper Lekkas is tired. Not just tired, bone-weary to the point where he can barely stand. Wide eyes look around. It’s storming? That seems like something he would’ve noticed before now.

Where am I?

The wind is howling. There’s dirt flying all around him. Not dirt. Sand? His first instinct is to shield his face with his arms, but then he realizes none of it is hitting him. His arms slowly lower and he studies the scene.

As the sudden fear fades as quickly as it came, he can feel the storm itself. It’s incredible, top-notch pure chaos swirling around him. He reaches out a hand but he still can’t touch it.

What is this place?

He looks down. With a gasp, he sees he’s not standing. There’s no ground beneath his feet.  He’s floating or flying.

Dreaming.

The answer comes to him with startling lucidity, a quality usually lost to him in his nightmares. He has never flown before in his dreams. No, his dreams are always running, stumbling and falling, always just out of reach of the things that hunt him. This one doesn’t look like one of his. It must be, though.

Someone is screaming. Is it him? Trembling fingers brush his closed lips. It can’t be him, so who? Casper can’t see anything past his arm’s length, so he’s not sure.

The raw power of the storm calls to him. His gate opens in answer. The chaos is in his veins and his head. Magic fills him completely, and it feels so right he wants it to never end. Yet he can’t see it on his surface. Nothing comes out of him. The energy just wells up to the brink.

His hand is still reaching for something, but he can’t feel it, just as he can’t feel the skin-to-skin contact of his fingers on his lips. That’s how he knows he’s not awake. He doesn’t care. He’d stay here forever.

Someone is close, he realizes with a start. He jerks back as his eyes focus. Not someone … exactly. It’s a black equine head with long ears and a serious black eye trained on him. Casper can see the sloping neck and midnight mane. The rest of its body is obscured by the storm.

Where did it come from? Was it there moments ago?

It feels like forever of them just staring at each other. There’s some emotion in the horse’s eye, something that feels huge. Casper’s magic goes still.

“Now is not the time. Here is not the place.”

The horse doesn’t speak but Casper hears those words all around him. The hand extended before him reaches a little farther toward the horse. Awe overtakes any other emotion he was feeling.

“Who are you?” he whispers.

Casper bolts upright, gasping. Everything around him is a blur and familiar panic washes through him. He struggles against a restraint that isn’t there. His hand hits something solid. It’s the sound of glass shattering that brings him out of the fog.

It takes a while for him to still himself and, after a few paralyzed moments, he affirms that he’s breathing. The area around him is quiet, dimly lit, empty. There’s a tang in his mouth that he knows is the aftertaste of his magic.

His eyes fly open and the world comes into sharp contrast. He’s on the old couch in what was once an office in the old theater where he lives. There are no windows, nor a clock, so he’s not sure what time it is.

He doesn’t remember falling asleep here. Sometimes he goes for a couple of days before he can sleep. When he does, it’s filled with half-dreams and memories, and, always, the nightmares.

This one was different. 

His gaze rolls around the space. He’s searching for his phone but what he sees is a radius of singed material around him. The couch is dark, melted, and still smoking in one spot. The floor is sooted and the paint on the wall behind the couch has bubbles in it.

He vaguely remembers calling on his magic. It didn’t work, though. Did it? Yet he’s surrounded by evidence to the contrary. The rest of his dream goes spiraling into the unknown.

Ding.

It was the most unobtrusive notification tone on the phone. It’s still annoying. Moments later, his active thought breaks through the habitual anxiety that rises when his phone makes noise. He was looking for that, right?

Book Review: As Below by Lynzee Schott

This is an unsolicited review.

So, this year I have made it one of my goals to start picking up more indie books and to read more in general. I’ve found a lot of cool folks in the TikTok community and there’s no shortage of interesting-sounding books to choose from. One of the first books I grabbed is a dystopian standalone called As Below by Lynzee Schott. It’s also her debut novel.

The book takes place in an underwater bunker community, the remnants of a population that fled the destruction of the world above several generations previous. Our main character, Samara, is twenty-six and questioning everything about Foxtrot’s rote way of life. I really appreciate a main who’s not a teenager, and Samara feels very real. She embodies the resiliency of the human spirit even when encased in what seems like the only way for society to survive. Rebellion always finds a spark in certain hearts, especially when the inevitable corruption works its way through those at the top.

As Below is written in first-person and present tense, which if you know me at all, you know is one of my favorite combinations to write myself. So I appreciate when it’s done well by someone else. The pacing is solid and the tension–well, it’s tricky. At first, it seemed like it wasn’t quite building, but then I was wound tight without realizing it had hit me. The last third or so of the book is a gut-clencher. And the end is a straight gut punch that I didn’t see coming and wasn’t prepared for.

Lynzee has several themes that run throughout the story, like Samara’s “opposite side of the coin” personality with her twin brother, and those themes are consistent, believable, and appropriate. Not only that, the characters are well-done and the twists are twisty. A special nod to the lack of romance, even as a sub-plot. Some authors might’ve been tempted to try to fit it in despite whether it makes sense or not, and this book stands strong without it.

Overall, five stars. I definitely recommend As Below. Stay till the end.

As Below is available on Amazon.

Dirty Synth is Live!

Friends! I have been waiting to make this post. I’ve spent the last few days doing all the final things necessary to load the first Sevina Gate novella onto KDP and hit that big red publish button. Okay, the button isn’t actually red, but … you know. Not the point.

After some discussion, Derrick and I decided to skip all the hype and stuff we’re supposed to do for a release, and just quietly publish our novella. That means we’re no longer being quiet about it. Dirty Synth, Sevina Gate 1 ebook went live this afternoon. That also means it will be available on KindleUnlimited, for those who partake.

Yes, I’m aware of the AI book buddy BS that Amazon has implemented. No, I don’t like it, but authors don’t have a choice to opt out of it, and I’m not willing to pull my titles and start over. It sucks I have to make that call, but here we are. No, I don’t support AI, but at this point, I have to deal with it, at least for now.

Anyway, I digress. This is a day for celebrating. This novella has been a long time coming. A lot of life has happened since we decided to give it a go. It has taken longer than we expected and wanted. But it did happen and we are so excited.

So what is Sevina Gate? First, it’s a novella series. Each novella follows different characters who are all intertwined in the bigger picture. The setting? A world that has been piecing itself together after a mysterious and catastrophic event flooded the planet with violent and chaotic creatures, an event that destroyed technology, society, and the ecology. This story has fantasy elements and races, dystopian vibes, and a touch of a scrap punk aesthetic. Oh, and the stories are spicy. Most of them. That’s not the whole point, though, the story is pretty deep, too.

Y’all, check it out!

What a Year It Has Been

Where do I even start? It’s New Year’s Eve and I can say with a certainty, at least, that this has been a great year for me. It might be the first time in the last several years that I can say that without a moment’s hesitation. Sure, there have been some curve balls, but nothing that took my knees from under me.

I guess the beginning is obvious, back in January 2025 when I decided to get really serious about being an indie author, and to stop relying solely on online marketing and sales. The moment when I decided the mister and I should start up an LLC to funnel everything bookish away from our personal finances really set the tone. And it changed everything. It made the author road real in a way it never was in the four-ish years previous that I had been self-publishing. We decided to take a chance. We took a chunk of our savings and turned that into our business investment. Black Feather Press LLC became an entity. I am eternally grateful for his faith and support, and the belief that it wasn’t a pipe dream or waste of time and money. And, despite all the costs (table fees, inventory, cover costs, etc.) we’re ending the year in the green.

What else? The decision to start a business really stemmed from the decision to do in-person book sales events. We did six events throughout the year, one of which I was invited to attend by the organizing book store. It was certainly a learning experience that will help me choose how we will approach 2026 as far as which types of events worked, which ones we enjoyed, and which ones we probably won’t do again. I look forward to many more such events in the coming year. I’m not going to lie and say it wasn’t scary putting myself in front of readers. It was terrifying each time, yet the feeling of watching my titles walk away with people who put their faith in me at my table is indescribable.

At the end of last year, a door nudged open for me to venture into editing. It was unexpected and the circumstances weren’t necessarily the greatest, but the path has become a viable one. I’m still and always learning all the rules I’ve been disregarding as a writer for years. It’s an entirely different kind of scary being trusted with someone else’s words, but the trust was there and the response to my work was good. Once again, the faith in me has humbled me and I am incredibly grateful.

I published my sixth book this year. Six. Sometimes I forget that this is a pretty impressive achievement, because before you can publish a book, you have to write it. Some people never finish one. Not only did I publish that book, I made some major revisions for the next release and, other than fine tuning and a last edit, it’s almost ready, too. Will I hit my absolutely ridiculous self-imposed goal of publishing the two books within six months of each other? No. But I was close. Am I really losing? Also no.

Guess what? The Sevina Gate novella 1 is in its final stages before release. I can’t claim the progress on that one. Those words have been written for a while, a few tweaks and revisions aside. However, the art is all in place and the cover is finished. I am so proud of Derrick for his progress this year. He had never done official art or made a cover before, and now he has done both. I literally have the proof in my hands. I have one last round to edit the words (it hits differently when it’s in book form), and once we’re happy with the interior, I’ll format the ebook and we’ll release that baby into the wild. Stay tuned for those details. It won’t be long.

If you’ve been following my blogs at all, you know that I decided to take November and December off from most bookish things. I cannot stress how good of a decision that was. After careening through the year doing all the things, it proved to be wise to give the rest of life some room. Life took all the room I gave it and if I had still been pushing so hard, I wouldn’t be ending the year on such a positive note. Even if you believe you’re a terminator, trust me, you’re not. I surprised myself by actually adhering to my own limitations. Other than a few things for Sevina Gate and maintaining an online presence, mostly on TikTok (since I finally embraced the platform), I have done well at my period of rest. That also means I am positioned to hit the ground running in 2026. Tomorrow, I’ll start formatting Order of Crows 3. Then I’ll proof Dirty Synth (Sevina Gate). And probably I’ll write something after a couple months of not doing that, either. I’m ready. Also, I have a new goal for The Nameless to become an audiobook, also thanks to TikTok and finding the perfect narrator.

It wouldn’t be an end-of-the-year post without a copious amount of gratitude. The list of people to thank is long, so I’m not going to try to name everyone because then I’ll miss someone. But know that I see you. I appreciate every tiny shred of support–in person, online, and behind the scenes. I wouldn’t be where I am without my community. Now and always, thank you. I love you guys. If you ever show support for an indie author and you think all those little things don’t matter. Y’all, they do. So much.

Here’s to 2026. May we weather the storms with resolve. May we celebrate our successes in kind. May we love deeply and speak freely. Cheers, my friends.

Excitement for The Nameless!

Hello, friends! I feel like I’ve been MIA around here, which was at least partially expected but still not my intention. The household is mostly mended from being collectively sick but, in true life fashion, we’ve had some other unexpected moving parts to deal with. Nothing bad (maybe surprisingly), just unexpected. So we’ve been fairly busy and, once again, this is an affirmation that taking November and December as down time was wise. I do think I’ll be implementing that as a personal rule from here on out.

That means my author activity has been limited to online marketing, mostly. No events scheduled, no release scheduled (yet), and no editing jobs until after the new year. I feel a more sappy year-in-review post coming–because what a year it has been–but that’s not this post. No, this is for something else that’s extremely exciting for me.

After my awesome experience with collaborating for Human Voices Only (a day for narrators and VAs to stand against AI narration, in case you missed it), I decided to see if the amazing talent, Ash Kelley, who read from The Nameless, would be willing to let me pay him for the full first chapter. He did not disappoint. As an indie, I’m not quite set financially to commission the full audio book, however, I did think it would be nice to keep that relationship open for the future. (If any of you would like to “donate” to that cause, you can support me by buying my books, available on Amazon in paperback and ebook.) I’m really excited to share the results with you here today.

Check out ashkelleyaudio.com and his social links. Go follow. Like. Love. Share. All the buttons. Please.

Because . . . listen . . .

Back From the Brink

Ah, my friends, it has been a while since I posted. Why? Well, let me just say there’s no better affirmation for my decision to take it easy this month than the sickness that hit this house like a speeding train. It has been more than a week since and I’m still not feeling fully human. While the initial symptoms faded as would be expected, I’ve been overly drained and easily tired. I’ve mostly only accomplished going to work and the bare minimum housework required for every day functionality. We slid on out of Mercury Retrograde, but I don’t feel like the pressure has eased just yet. Good thing there’s nothing I have to do, right?

That means it’s time to reassess the horizon. I think it’s a good practice to pause and do so every once in a while. Or for me lately, as often as needed. Probably the next big mark on the calendar is Christmas. It’s a holiday that doesn’t mean much to me personally, but there are still obligations that come with it regardless of how I feel. Mainly, if you have a kid, you kind of have to participate in some regard. So here come all the things associated–tree decorating, shopping, etc. Also a random Thursday off to throw the work week out of whack. Yay?

The only book-related thing I wanted to possibly, hopefully accomplish during this time was to get Order of Crows book three formatted. I have doubts that’s going to happen by the new year, however, I did learn that I will have a little extra time off from work because New Year’s day falls in the middle of the week. So I’m eyeing that time for said formatting. It should be about a day’s worth of dedication to get it done. Having already formatted six books has its perks, no? The only reason I’m pushing to have it done by then is because I need that finished page count for cover purposes.

Once the book is formatted and I’m waiting on the cover magic, I’ll work my way through the manuscript one (maybe two) final time for fine tuning in an actual proof copy. From there, I figure out release logistics. I’m kind of leaning toward less hoopla and buildup for said release. I’m not sure yet. But it’s the third book in a series and that means there are a limited number of people who would be excited for it. The other hand thought there is that it might catch interest of readers who were previously unaware of the series. I’m not entirely sure how I feel about all of that just yet, and I don’t have to make any decisions for now. We shall see.

Bottom line is this: If I do manage to launch this book at the top of next year, I will have published two books in less than a year. Does that really mean that much in the overall picture? No. Not really. But it would mean something to me. There was a long time in which I didn’t think the Order of Crows story would be published at all, and now I have a finished third book. It feels good, y’all.

I think that’s all for now. I might need a nap after this. But I’ll be back soon.

Human Voices Only

So, my friends, if you’re not aware, today is Human Voices Only day for narrators and voice actors against AI narration. I don’t think I’ve actually touched on this subject here but I fall heavily on the anti-AI side of creative ventures. Writing, art, narration–those are arts for humans to create. I will never willingly or purposefully support the use of AI in said arts, nor will I use it myself. I’ve spent many years honing my craft and I don’t appreciate someone plugging prompts into a computer and claiming it’s the same thing. It’s not.

Anyway, if you are also unaware, loads of narrators and VAs have teamed up with authors on TikTok (and probably the other socials, too, I haven’t checked) to support human voices. They did this for free, which is just amazing, and I just happened to catch the buzz in time to get in on the fun. And fun it is.

Let me just say here that I didn’t intend to accidentally find the absolute perfect voice for Chance from The Nameless. I didn’t expect that at all, but that’s exactly what happened. I wasn’t sure what to expect through the butterflies in my gut when I sent my snippet through the email-verse, but what I got back was absolutely on the mark.

So, shout out to Ash Kelley (ashkellyaudio.com, @ashkelley and TikTok) for a banging job. Seriously, go find him on all the socials and follow that man. And listen to this little bit of perfection:

Also, take a moment today to share some of the awesome narrators and VAs and say it with me, Human Voices Only!

Sliding Into Home Base

Friends, I’m a little behind on updating this week. Sunday rest hit hard and kind of spilled over into Monday. A cold front also moved into Florida yesterday and it put me into “chill the most” mode, after errands were taken care of, of course.

I had a great time at the fall edition of the Merritt Square Mall Con. I’ll be honest, it wasn’t the greatest sales event, however, the networking and slowly becoming part of that nerd community balanced out the sales. Not every single event will have phenomenal sales, but the fun part is that those who did buy my books didn’t show up at the mall with the intentions to do so. All in all a win.

What now? Well, nothing. Not exactly nothing, but close. I’ll still be on the social media grind, mostly TikTok these days, ironically when I held out for a long time from joining that platform. I have my thoughts on Meta and it’s still all very downhill as far as I’m concerned with those platforms. This will continue to be my HQ, of course.

Anyway, I used the time between finishing my editing job and Mercury Retrograde going full swing to work through Order of Crows book three (even though I said I wouldn’t, gods help me, I couldn’t stay away). As I mentioned in the last post, I’ve been slowly ticking off obligations and not accepting new ones in my writing world, so I am set to turn on the cruise control and let it all ride for a while. Having made it through my own edits, I will move on to formatting, but not until the latest edits sit for a while. I won’t be putting any pressure on myself to do said formatting, instead I’ll do it when it feels right. I’m also thinking my last read through/edits will be done in an actual proof copy. Like I said, no rush and no pressure as far as that goes.

Also a fun fact, now that I can disengage my brain from editing mode, all my characters will be unfettered from their silence and I expect full retribution for putting them all in a corner for so long. Honestly, I wouldn’t mind to actually write. It has been a while and I don’t count writing time as actual work. I don’t know if that’s strange. But the writing is the easy and fun part, and it doesn’t count as the business side of things.

Alas, I think that’s all for now. Whoever you are, if you’re reading this, I urge you to also take some down time. Even when we think we’re machines, we still need a break. I’m the worst for adhering to that. So if I can do it, you can do it. We’re heading into the holiday season, which is stressful. Give yourself some grace. Happy Tuesday and happy Veteran’s Day with much respect.

Gearing Down

Hello, friends, and happy Monday. I hope the time change isn’t messing everyone up too badly. For me, the hardest part is telling myself that it’s the same time it has always been, we just call it something else now. I even managed to go to bed “early” last night, in other words, the same time I always do. That practice never lasts for me, but I always try to stick with it for a little while until the mental transition sets in.

What’s going on in my world? Well, I’m less than a week out for my last author hurrah of 2025. I will be vending at the Merritt Square Mall Con this Saturday from 11-5. This will be my second comic con this year and I’m excited!

I finished my second round edits for the big boy job I’ve been working on for months. Phew! That was the one I was really worried might end up pushing into Mercury Retrograde, which I really didn’t want to happen. But, with a solid dedication on my part, I finished it last week. That in itself is a victory, and I’m celebrating it. I came into this year as an editing apprentice and am going out of it as an editor. I’m not searching out those jobs, I’m not to that point yet, but I do have some probable repeat business on that horizon. So, yay!

As mentioned in my previous post, I’m slowly settling all my writerly obligations before Retrograde hits on the 9th. It’s still my plan to take November and December as author down time. Mostly. I had previously thought this meant I wouldn’t be working on Order of Crows book three (hopefully) final revisions. Now, I’m thinking that’s not true. I’ll probably still work on it, just not with a pressing sense of urgency. No, instead I’ll work on it when I can, when I feel like it, without feeling like I need to have it ready by my original goal of January. If it happens by then, great. If it doesn’t, fine. I’m the one driving this bus so I get to make the call.

I’ve had another realization since my last post. November and December are already extra as months, but I think taking the time to celebrate my wins is in order. This year has been a big one, lots of moving parts and important decisions. Who is going to celebrate that more than me? Maybe Derrick because he has been there the whole way. But beyond him? Nobody. I think it’s important to celebrate our own victories. We deserve it. So, I’ll be chilling, watching all the balls I sent rolling either gain momentum or settle somewhere new. Then we get to see what next year brings.

So, as of right now, I’m down to one major obligation, and chance to connect with readers and other creators. Then I’m coasting for a while. A huge thanks to everyone who has been enjoying the ride along with me! Every effort has been greatly appreciated. Cheers!

Oh, Yeah. Mercury.

My friends, my friends. I have realized that I have made quite the miscalculation in my immediate plans and goals. As the title says, I forgot about Mercury. What about Mercury? Retrograde. It can be a dirty word, a fighting one. Yet it’s one we can’t fight.

It was my original plan to hop over to Order of Crows book three once I’ve finished with my editing job, you know, keep the momentum going and all. I’m eyeing the timeline really hard right now, and I have a feeling that’s not going to happen. Mercury officially goes retrograde on November 9th. That’s the day after my last bookish event of the year. That also means we’re already feeling the beginning of its effects. So rather than jumping directly into my very important and hopefully last rounds of edits for Crows, I’ll be mandating some downtime for myself. Actual downtime, not just from events.

Does that mean I probably won’t hit my publishing goal for Crows? Well, probably, but if I’ve learned anything–and at my age I certainly should have learned something–it’s that I can’t push forward 100% of the time. It took me longer to accept that than it maybe should have, but I have learned. That being the case, I’m preemptively removing some of the pressure from myself in preparation.

Now, I know me. I know retrograde me. I tend to either have extreme creative bursts or I want to become a full-on hermit. I already feel myself gravitating toward staying home over going out. I want to fully dive into the book I’ve been reading (Night Angel Nemesis by Brent Weeks, 10/10 recommend all the Night Angel books). It’s coming. That’s why I am going to make a final push on finishing those edits (I’m in the homestretch so that’s doable). I’m going to show up and sell at the Merritt Square Mall Con. Then I’m going to chill so I don’t burn myself out. I recommend doing the same for all my creatives out there, for everyone, really.

I think that’s all for now. Have a great weekend, my friends! Much love and positivity!