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Skyla Dawn Cameron

My characters kill people so I don't have to.

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September 16, 2019 By Skyla Dawn Cameron Leave a Comment

Solomon’s Seal Anniversary Sale

99c September 16 – 20

Kindle US | Kindle UK | Kindle CA | Kobo |
 Nook | iBookstore | Smashwords | GooglePlay | Payhip 

Solomon’s Seal released September 20 2016.

I was pretty nervous; a month earlier I concluded the Demons of Oblivion series with Oblivion and sales have been such a struggle (and piracy so high), I mostly wanted to close up shop and stop publishing. It was with a lot of trepidation I released Livi in the world, four years after I wrote the first book.

So here we are three years later with:

  • 4 novels
  • 2 novellas
  • 1 short story
  • 1 prequel novel + 1 prequel short story

…and a whole lot more to come.

Series sales themselves aren’t enough to sustain writing and publishing the books, but combined with Patreon it’s much more feasible now for me to give the series a chance to continue finding its audience. Every little bit helps–every friend you tell about the books, every sale that’s RTed, every new $1 patron.* With the release of the fourth book, I’m certainly not confident sales will ever support the writing of the series, but I’m a little more hopeful that they’ll continue ticking upward bit by bit. This leap of faith doesn’t mean Livi is off of life support, but she’s had a stay of execution (to mix my metaphors).

So if you know someone who hasn’t checked out the books yet, get them hooked with Solomon’s Seal for a buck this week only!

Thank you so much for the support the past three years, and here’s to many more.


*Stealing does not help! Those looking for torrents, free downloads, epubs, pdfs, etc: you are killing the series. I’ve canceled two due to people like you. Pledge dodgers are included in this–please don’t steal my books.

Filed Under: blog Tagged With: livi talbot

August 31, 2019 By Skyla Dawn Cameron Leave a Comment

Bits and Bobs

So…the new book is out! It was a hard one to let go of, but it’s out there now. Yay!

Some of y’all read that fast. And came looking for info about the next one. That’s my karma for doing the same thing with every Tomb Raider game, probably, but for those scouring for info: fifth book isn’t done, so I have no news! I’m still recovering from this release.

Yes, the fourth one had what I consider an emotional cliffhanger, much like Solomon’s Seal did, but it’s not a plot one so I think y’all will survive.

You have questions! I will have answers!

But mostly not until the next two books.

The only other hints I will give you is that…yes, there is fallout to explore, and yes, there are some secrets to uncover, and that is not even the half of it in that book–it’s a really big game changer with major plot/world things happening.

This was also the first song on the book’s playlist. If that tells you anything about the, uh, tone of things.

Seriously, thanks y’all for getting into the series and I’m so glad that, thus far, folks are digging the new one so much.

A few new patrons have joined as well, some to read the West prequel Tiger’s Memory. That’s awesome and I hope you enjoy it.

Unfortunately, I also had my first pledge dodger. I’ve always instituted a try-before-you-buy kind of policy, and some folks would pledge for a month, get their stuff, and then cancel–which is cool. But pledging just to get stuff and then deleting before you’re charged?

Captain America is disappointed in you.

Not cool, my dudes. That is not being a motherfucking Ferrari.

Honestly, it hurt. It hurt because Patreon is what’s allowing me to write more Livi books in the first place, and it hurt because these stories are supported by people like you, and it’s not cool for someone to take like that.

So pledge dodgers are blocked permanently, and I have switched to a charge-upfront model, where you get charged when you pledge, and then charged the first of every month afterward. I felt bad doing it, but I can’t continue with the honor system when some folks don’t have, well, honor. This is my livelihood.

Other stuff happening right now!

I did launch a new hobby project, Really Bad Vegans, with Dina James. Because we are. We’re really bad vegans. But we try.

I’m going on holidays for the last two weeks of September, and will be roadtripping with a friend. Other than Christmas when I go away, I basically don’t get, like, vacations or holidays or anything, so I’m pretty excited.

Freelancing is super busy right now (particularly leading up to my holidays, and because I’m still behind in a few things after having strep throat two months ago) and I’m booked into October now…but I can always squeeze in premade covers, so I have a sale going on until September 14th–20% off any and all premade covers. You can also buy now and have it customized later. Coupon code HOLIDAY at checkout.

I’ll have some release news for you in October for the usual quarterly state of the union, so stay tuned! August has been hella stressful, but thanks for all you do to support the books and writing of them.

I’m just gonna take a nap now.

Filed Under: blog Tagged With: livi talbot, patreon, update

August 27, 2019 By Skyla Dawn Cameron Leave a Comment

SHIVA’S BOW Release Day!

It’s here! Oh my god, I wrote this book winter/spring 2014, and I can’t believe it’s finally here.

That was the year I got extremely sick and was diagnosed late fall with an autoimmune disorder. The year after that, the first person other than me got to read it–my beta went over it…while I was at my father’s funeral. And the next person to always read my work died a month later. Then I went through other things myself that made me think I could never go back and write this series, it hurt too much.

But here we are.

This was just supposed to be a quick release post, but this book went through a lot of awful stuff with me over the years. That might be part of why it’s so hard to let it go.

Three novels (plus Tiger’s Memory), two novellas, one short story (plus Santa’s Secret) have led up to this one. I hope it entertains you and thrills you and makes you gasp and grin uncontrollably.

Happy reading. Thanks for helping to get Livi this far.

Nowhere to run. No one to trust.

For once, life is looking good for single mom and adventurer Livi Talbot.

Work is steady, her team is dependable, her daughter is thriving. And then there’s deadly operative Dale West—who sometimes turns into a tiger and always throws her off her game. Just as she’s ready to confront her growing feelings for him, he invites her on a mission for his agency that will take her team to Nepal. A recent earthquake has revealed a mysterious temple deep in the Himalayas, and the secrets within could be fatal in the wrong hands.

A supernatural weapons dealer and his army of mercenaries are at their heels to complicate things, as is someone from West’s past who makes Livi question their potential future. She’s always been slow to trust, but believing in West might be the only way they survive.

If his lies don’t get her killed first.

Kindle | Kobo | Nook | iBookstore | Smashwords | Payhip | Print

The soundtrack is here if that’s your thing.

Filed Under: blog Tagged With: livi talbot

August 25, 2019 By Skyla Dawn Cameron Leave a Comment

Soundtrack Sunday – SHIVA’S BOW Edition

I first wrote the book in 2014 so there’s a mix of older songs and more recent ones from when I was revising it. Trying to leave off repeats but check the other soundtracks for more Livi & West tunes (Civil Wars – Poison & Wine was another big one for this book again).

Pearl Jam – “Just Breathe“
Second and third chapters.
“Stay with me// Let’s just breathe” and “Did I say that I need you?//Did I say that I want you?//What if I did and I’m a fool you see“

Troels Brun Folmann – “Nepal Theme“
Misc nepali trekking and lodge stops.

Cary Brothers – “Can’t Take My Eyes Off of You“
“If you were anyone else, Olivia, I would have.”

Screaming Trees – “Look at You”
Look, it’s a good song for banter and sudden kissing, okay? (It’s also very West POV for me)
Her ghost hides/ In my mind/ In the night/ In a way she’s haunting me/I’m wanting her still and When I look at you I’ve got a second chance/ Really need to take it now

Colbie Caillat – “Killing Me Softly“
Whenever Livi’s feeling a bit betrayed or confused.

Jason Graves – “The Descent“
Snaaaakes (around 1:30).

The Wind and the Wave – “Chasing Cars” (Cover)
Second scene in ch 23. “Don’t leap,” he breathed against my skin, sending a shiver through me. Because I couldn’t promise that, I didn’t reply.
I don’t quite know // How to say // How I feel // Those three words // Are said too much // They’re not enough // If I lay here // If I just lay here // Would you lie with me and just forget the world?

Jason Graves – “Scaling the Ziggurat“
Livi climbs to the top of a temple interior.

Rachel Platten – “Fight Song”
I have this one on a loop in a lot of Livi’s books, particularly writing the first four books. I stuck it with this soundtrack because I there’s a scene where she jumps out of a helicopter and very specifically saw that moment at the 2:50-ish point in the song where it gets quiet and the chorus kicks in again.
I might only have one match//But I can make an explosion

Colin O’Malley / Troels Brun Folmann – “Croft Manor Catacombs”
Exploring the temple.

Troels Brun Folmann – “Lost City Suite”
Final temple/battle scenes.

Alex Hobbs – “Something I Need” (cover)
As I’ve said a bunch of times, “Something I Need” is very much the Livi/West series theme song, so I listen to a bunch of variations and covers during writing certain scenes. This was the during the second kiss scene before the epilogue.
This line, though: With broken words I try to say/Honey don’t you be afraid/if you’ve got nothing you’ve got us. was exactly what went through my head in the second chapter when he holds her hand at the hospital.

Survivor – “Eye of the Tiger“
You’ll see…

Lana Del Rey – “Ride“
Yeah this was some kissing and smexing in the epilogue…

Ingrid Michaelson – “Can’t Help Falling” (cover)
So the epilogue is called “A Kind of Blind Love” in reference to “I Only Have Eyes For You” (recurring song in the series), but it was this cover of Can’t Help Falling I wrote the end of the epilogue to–I almost called the epilogue “Can’t Help Falling” instead. It’s a melancholy sort of cover, almost (esp at 2:10), that hits the right emotional notes for that final scene.

Print available now and get ready for the ebook on Tuesday!

Filed Under: blog Tagged With: livi talbot, soundtrack sunday

August 18, 2019 By Skyla Dawn Cameron Leave a Comment

Bloodline Audio Sorta Re-release

Bloodlines has been in audio since 2013 but I never talk about it or advertise it for various reasons you can probably put together if following me on social media these past years. I have (somewhat quietly) been privately battling to get the terms of the contract followed for eight months now, since said contract expired. This was chronicled as a monthly writing post for my Patrons of Snark, as it does speak to knowing your rights and being tenacious about it when the other party doesn’t follow a contract.

Last month when the rights holder continued to ignore all messages from myself and ACX, ACX offered to transfer the title to my account rather than retire it entirely so I could at least earn royalties on it.

What a novel concept–earning royalties on a book I haven’t seen a report for in like two years!

There are a few hiccups–I had to have it resubmitted to iTunes and re-linked to the ebook page on Amazon–and there are various things that can’t be fixed–like the narrator misprouncing Zara’s name and the former publisher’s name on things–but at least I could correct the audio cover. Plus, of course, now I will actually make money on copies sold.

New to Audible? Head here and get started! You’ll also find it on Amazon and eventually it’ll be back at iTunes.

Will there be more audiobooks? It’s unlikely, unfortunately–I had been trying to pursue it a while ago but I grew more and more uncomfortable with the confinement of a royalty-share agreement, and I haven’t thousands of dollars to produce a book myself. I know a lot of folks prefer audio and I wish I could accommodate that, but I’m already in the red with my books given the time it takes to write them and I don’t have that kind of cash.

But hey, there’s this one!

If anyone following this also has their work still available by this company no longer in business and cannot get a response, please feel free to privately write to me and I can tell you what I did (understanding that I cannot provide legal advice).

Filed Under: blog Tagged With: audiobook, bloodlines, zara lain

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MEET SKYLA DAWN

Writer of urban fantasy, thrillers/mysteries, and horror.
Fifth-generation crazy cat lady. Bitchy feminist.
So tired all the goddamn time.

My characters kill people so I don’t have to.

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Writing Waverly 8 and revising Waverly 4.

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