It’s here

Twisted Magics has officially launched today. I hope you guys that have purchased a copy enjoy the story. From here on out, I’ll stop being annoying with my weekly advertisement posts.

So, a few things before I wrap this up…

I posed this question a while back that no one decided to take a guess on: Why did I choose June 21st as the release date? Answer: It’s Ketayl’s birthday. Why did I choose June 21st for her? Well, seeing as she doesn’t remember what her actual birth date is, I went with one of the days that the Summer Solstice falls on. Or rather, I suppose Lindale chose that date for her.

Now I start to wonder if other writers have made calendars with the birthdays of their characters.

Also, print copies are now available on Amazon, though I will continue to sell them through my online store for at least a while yet. Still waiting on word from my local independent bookseller if they’ll carry it in their store. And likely I’ll still keep selling copies out of the back of my vehicle like some creepy door-to-door sales person.

I hope that all of the print preorders have made it to their destinations by today. Unfortunately, USPS still fails me with their tracking. Though I was trying to keep an eye out for everyone in case something happened.

3D Mock Up

And now the information on how to get a copy of Twisted Magics!

Ebook versions are available for pre-order through Amazon, Smashwords, B&N, iBooks, and Kobo.

Print copies are available through both Amazon and my online store. If you order it through my store and would like me to sign/write something inside the book, please mark it in the special instructions.

Twisted Magics – almost there

Twisted Magics will be available in 1 week on June 21st. In the meantime, I’ve linked to several places that pre-orders can be placed below.

2016-06-13 10.31.09
Still hadn’t cleared off the table from game night.

I closed pre-orders through my online store yesterday, but after some debate, I’m going to keep taking orders through there, though I won’t be able to guarantee the book will arrive before the release date. Granted, even with sending out the pre-orders later today, I can’t guarantee that the postal service will not screw with me.

For local people in the Treasure Valley, I can easily get them to you (schedule conflicts pending). I’ll probably start keeping a box in the back of my vehicle.

So I spent a small bit of time yesterday signing and getting copies ready to go out the door. It was a quiet party of one more or less – I had a certain soon-to-be 4-year-old overly curious.

Twisted Magics will still make its way to Amazon and I’ll post a link when it becomes available. International may take a bit longer to show up depending on where you are.

3D Mock Up

And now the information on how to get a copy of Twisted Magics!

Ebook versions are available for pre-order through Amazon, Smashwords, B&N, iBooks, and Kobo.

Print copies are available through my online store. If you would like me to sign/write something inside the book, please mark it in the special instructions.

For my own entertainment

Not long ago, I was asked if I tried to pair my characters up to real life people. I don’t normally do so unless it strikes me as that person pretty much walked out of my head, but according to my character notes I’ve done that once.

I do, however, build them in video games as closely as I can. Why? It amuses me and I can run around as said character.

Let me shoKetayl Travere 06/08/2016 09:11:24w you my main. She might look a little familiar to those who have had the chance to critique/beta Twisted Magics. Don’t mind the pose too much – I was going a
little screenshot happy (finally figured it out on the PS4, though I usually play on PC) with the new patch and grabbed this from a cutscene.

Gear is usually the worst in trying to manage and I don’t get too picky about it. It changes often enough and I’m too lazy to try and build my perfect set through glamours (referring to specifically FFXIV here).

Hair styles are another one. I swear I’ve seen a bun on another race, but they haven’t given it to the female Elezen yet. The ponytail has been the hair style on her since I was able to get it. Occasionally I try something else, but always end up going back.

Why not a better shot? I haven’t taken one. At least not one that won’t spoil some of the story that my husband has yet to catch up on it at the time of this post. For now I get to sit back and rub my hands in anticipation of watching his reaction to the new story. [insert evil, maniacal laughter here]

Have I tried designing my characters in other video games that will allow it? Yes. FFXIV has gotten me the closest so far and I didn’t think to screenshot those at the time. Or if I had, I don’t remember where I hid the screenshots.

All in all, it’s just a bit of fun and purely for my own entertainment.

Twisted Magics

Twisted Magics will be available in 2 weeks on June 21st. In the meantime, I’ve linked to several places that pre-orders can be placed below.

Just as a note: I will be taking print pre-orders through my online store until the end of day on June 13th (which is pretty much when I give up playing games and writing/editing and go to bed). All print pre-orders will then be shipped on June 14th. Don’t worry though, print copies will be available through Amazon within a week after.

Now, to add to the fun, I will be taking questions from comments that I will answer in my post next week.

This past week, I called it good on completing the first draft of book 2. Now for the editing…

Other than that, I’m going to be enjoying more story to my favorite game today. Well, as much of it as there is, but the people in charge of Final Fantasy XIV have not let me down yet.

Yes, I play the game for the story, though blowing things up is fun too. The main scenario story line has had my attention since day 1 and has not let go. Especially with this expansion (now on patch 3.3), though I am still mad about what happens at the end of the Vault. They know how to hit me hard in the feels every single time and it doesn’t have to be a major event either – the quieter moments are just as impactful.

Given my quick overview of the patch notes, there will be also side story quests that I’m sure to enjoy as well. Most of them I’ll easily fall into – Hildebrand I usually need to prepare myself for. It’s one of those I want to enjoy the silliness and not be thinking about how stupid this questline is. Either way, I love that my character is a part of all of this story, shows up in cutscenes, makes the same facial expressions that likely the player is also (this aimed especially at Hildebrand) and is portrayed as the heroine that she is.

I hope everyone doesn’t mind that I deviated a bit today about gaming within a writing post, but I really am a sucker for a good story. I’m slowly working my way through a book I started way too long ago (keep getting distracted) that’s actually quite good, but I don’t want to talk about it yet. Eventually I’ll finish it, but hopefully before I go too heavily into editing mode.

3D Mock Up

And now the information on how to get a copy of Twisted Magics!

Ebook versions are available for pre-order through Amazon, Smashwords, B&N, iBooks, and Kobo.

Print copy pre-orders are available through my online store. I will begin shipping these on June 14th. If you would like me to sign/write something inside the book, please mark it in the special instructions.

It’s becoming real #IWSG

As I attempt to wrap up the first draft of book 2, Twisted Magics will be coming out later this month. To say I’m nervous would be an understatement.

I’ve ranged from wondering if anyone will enjoy it (which is stupid because my critique groups and beta readers have) to questioning myself if I can keep writing an interesting story while fighting with book 2. Yesterday I dropped off a copy for review at my local independent bookstore and will spend the next few weeks twiddling my thumbs in hope that they decide they like it enough to want to carry it.

I’m not sure what I’ll do once it is out in the world. I’ve been lurking on forums, hoping to find answers and getting conflicted information. I guess for now I’ll just roll with it and see what happens. I should have enough on my hands with trying to get book 2 in some sort of order to keep me busy. At least it is in better shape now than a month ago. Loving some of the interactions between characters.

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Twisted Magics

Twisted Magics will be available in 3 weeks on June 21st. In the meantime, I’ve linked to several places that pre-orders can be placed below.

To add to the fun, I will be taking questions from the comments that I will answer in my post next week.

I suppose I can also give an update to the next book (yeah, I know, the first one isn’t even released yet). I’m still making a mess, but it’s definitely in better shape now overall. Still haven’t fully settled on the title, but the one I’m currently using seems to have stuck. I’ll give it a little longer before officially announcing it. At least I’ll let Twisted Magics be released first.

 

3D Mock Up

And now the information on how to get a copy of Twisted Magics!

Ebook versions are available for pre-order through Amazon, Smashwords, B&N, iBooks, and Kobo.

Print copy pre-orders are available through my online store. I will begin shipping these on June 14th. If you would like me to sign/write something inside the book, please mark it in the special instructions.

This is why we can’t be evil.

Weekly, or at least when our schedules allow, a group of us get together and play Pathfinder (still use stuff from D&D 3.5 with it). Sometimes life gets in the way and we’re missing half the group.

So we’ve come up with a solution: we’ll run Pathfinder Society (PFS) modules and scenarios when we’re short and others still want to get together and play something. A few of us are contemplating going to PaizoCon next year and it would be nice to have some leveled characters to be able to take part in the higher tier adventures.

Since it was a last minute idea, I suggested we play We Be Goblins. It would be fast and easy as I have the module and it came with pre-generated characters. Everyone chooses a little evil goblin to play. They each come with their own song if you want to sing it and a questionable mix of items. Someone carried their dead, squashed, former lucky toad.

And it went downhill from there. In the most hilarious way possible, but I think there’s a reason that most of us generally don’t play evil characters. We totally lookout for ourselves and will happily stab each other in the back for a laugh. Or since I had Chuffy (the rogue) this time, steal from party members. Our healer kept getting taken down and I’d jab him with his stick (wand of cure light wounds), most of the time not passing the check to make it work. Then we’d pour a potion down him and let him take off into battle again.

Good times had by all. We did complete the module and succeeded in our task, but not without showing repeatedly why we should probably never be allowed to have an evil campaign.

Going back to the normal campaign, I have a few characters in books that I have played at the table first. I couldn’t resist using some and others I purposely brought to the table to try to figure out their personalities and abilities.

Has anyone else ever tried bringing their character to life in a roleplaying game?

Twisted Magics

Twisted Magics will be available in 4 weeks on June 21st. In the meantime, I’ve linked to several places that pre-orders can be placed below.

To add to the fun, I will be taking questions from the comments that I will answer in my post next week.

And now to answer some questions from last week…

Are there any songs that you find inspiring to your works? Do you have playlists, even if you can’t write with music playing?

Yes, and the songs that I can get attached to for a character/story tend to vary so greatly that anyone that tries to listen starts to wonder about my tastes. The next book actually got it’s title revised after listening to a particular song on repeat for long enough to annoy my husband. The only reason I haven’t officially released the name is that I’m still trying it out to see if it sticks.

With Twisted Magics, I was still trying to make character playlists rather than one for the book. I’m trying to make them for the stories now – I’ve just been incredibly lazy.

Do you ever pair up real people with how the characters look inside your head?

I’ve tried, but I haven’t had much success with it. Blame it on my gaming and the ability to try and build characters in games?

What would be the root inspiration that sent you down this path with Ketayl?

Um…barely a concept a day and a half before NaNoWriMo started one year?

The first version was honestly that. I had actually planned on not attempting NaNoWriMo anymore after 5 years in a row of not finishing the challenge when my friend Lyndsey convinced me to join her again that year. I had no hope and no plan. I picked this character that I had not tried to write for before (and she’s my oldest character, go figure) and let her unfold the world for me. I had a horrible mess of I think roughly 53K words, but within it was something that I really liked.

3D Mock Up

And now the information on how to get a copy of Twisted Magics!

Ebook versions are available for pre-order through Amazon, Smashwords, B&N, iBooks, and Kobo.

Print copy pre-orders are available through my online store. I will begin shipping these on June 14th. If you would like me to sign/write something inside the book, please mark it in the special instructions.

Hit the ground running

I don’t talk much of non-writing things here. Perhaps I’m simply not that interesting. I certainly have other interests, but those things have taken a backseat lately.

The past week or so has been hectic between my meetings, my husband’s meetings, and our daughter’s activities/events. She had her dress rehearsal a week ago and then her dance performance the next day. I’d post a picture, but I don’t want to give anyone cavities. Just imagine a half a dozen 3 and (recently turned) 4 year olds trying to stay coordinated enough to dance to “You Are My Sunshine.” And singing along with it.

She’s had other events also, but that was the big one. The one that came with the sparkly yellow dance dress and a tiara. The rest of the month is winding down, but I’m wondering what the next year will hold as I gear up for her birthday next month.

Maybe I’ll finally get some reading in soon? If I can stop editing in my limited time.

June is coming fast

Twisted Magics will be available in 5 weeks on June 21st. In the meantime, I’ve linked to several places that pre-orders can be placed below.

To add to the fun, I will be taking questions from the comments that I will answer in my post next week. I didn’t get any questions last week. /sadface

So I’ll talk about some other stuff.

What have I been doing since completing this project? Working on book 2. I’ve reworked the ending to something I’m more content with, though there is still a long way to go. I’m also working on a shorter piece that would be a good backstory for book 2 (actually, I wrote it to work out the events and how these characters interacted back then), but is way too big to end up as a prologue (I wouldn’t do that to you guys).

I’ve also been working on critiques for the past few days. I can spend quite a bit of time on a particular document and sometimes I wonder if I’ll be heard. It also follows to when I was recently asked about speaking to a group about my indie publishing experience. I worry that the particular audience will not be willing to listen to what I have to say. Now, let me clarify – I don’t expect anyone to follow exactly what I say. I am not any type of authority on the matter, but I’d like to have what I do say considered.

3D Mock Up

And now the information on how to get a copy of Twisted Magics!

Ebook versions are available for pre-order through Amazon, Smashwords, B&N, iBooks, and Kobo.

Print copy pre-orders are available through my online store. I will begin shipping these on June 14th. If you would like me to sign/write something inside the book, please mark it in the special instructions.