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Skyla Dawn Cameron

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

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October 14, 2018 By Skyla Dawn Cameron Leave a Comment

Soundtrack Sunday – EMPEROR’S TOMB Edition

Two days! AAAHH! Still giving away postcards for preorders.

October 16, 2018

Stevie Wonder – “Don’t You Worry ‘Bout a Thing”
The book both opens and closes to this one.

Coldplay – “Fix You”
As mentioned in the FB countdown, this is Emperor’s Tomb book theme. Lyrically it covers pretty much all of the characters on this journey.

Billie Myers – “Kiss the Rain”
There are two chapters back to back, one with a brief phone call and the other with a concluding text; the section was named after this song.

Mozart – “Lacrimosa”
Someone has a breakdown and shoots someone else in the head, and this was the song for those scenes.

Bon Jovi – “Bed of Roses (acoustic)”
Right, so…I have a new character who makes me listen to a lot of rock ballads. And plays them. Sorry not sorry.

Bon Jovi – “Always (acoustic)”
See?

Aerosmith – “Crazy (acoustic)“
I’d be remiss if I didn’t mention this is sort of Iluka’s song for Livi in the series, even if not really in this book.

Fisher – “You”
Livi’s song while watching her daughter sleep.
And you//You make me run//And you//You make me want to live

Chris Cornell – “Nothing Compares 2 U”
There was almost some accidental kissing to this song and I got super annoyed. You’ll be able to tell by the chapter called “Nothing Compares”.

Junkie XL – “The Devil’s Sea“
SEA MONSTER.

Kathleen Battle – “Lovers”
Stella & Marlee.
Your voice still echoes in my heart//You are my true love

Amy Lee – “Speak to Me”
A new character Stella is driven by being haunted–haunted by hope, haunted by grief–and sustained by irrational belief. The glimpses I get of her head, this is often what I hear.
I can’t let go//You’re every part of me//The space between is just a dream//You will never be alone

The Civil Wars – “Poison & Wine”
There’s a chapter named after this song.
You only know what I want you to//I know everything you don’t want me to

Shane Alexander – “Shipwrecked”
This one wasn’t actually during any shipwrecks, but after a sea monster battle Livi is curled up in her dark cabin watching old videos (chapter title “A Ghost”) and this was the song.
Can you hear me? Is someone there//Am I losing my mind, am I losing my mind?//Am I all alone, won’t you rescue me?//Talking to myself, staring at the sea

Jack Wall – “Jade Empire Theme”
Jade Empire was one of my favourite games (every time Bioware fans eagerly await a new Dragon Age game, I sadly sit in the corner thinking about Jade Empire). This is the island-appears-from-the-mist music, and any moments that are wonder/splendor instead of terror.

Junkie XL – “Figure in the Night”
In the forest/battle the forest guardians.

Mika – “Any Other World”
I tried to live alone but lonely is so lonely, alone//So human as I am, I had to give up my defenses//So I smiled and tried to mean it to let myself let go

Colin O’Malley, Troels Folmann – “Arctic Sea – Guardians of Helheim”
The fortress/the tomb.

Hans Zimmer, Junkie XL – “Is She With You?”
There’s a pretty epic battle in the tomb that I loved writing (you’ll be able to tell when reading it), and I even threw in the line “He’s with me” as a reference.

Hurts – “Somebody to Die For”
I think it’s pretty West.
I could drag you from the ocean//I could pull you from the fire//And when you’re standing in the shadows//I could open up the sky//And I could give you my devotion//Until the end of time

Audra Day – “Rise Up”
There’s a high level of action toward the climax and I was as exhausted as the characters by the end of it. When Livi falls to her knees on the beach and reaches safety, this was the song.
When the silence isn’t quiet//And it feels like it’s getting hard to breathe//And I know you feel like dying//But I promise we’ll take the world to its feet

OneRepublic – “Heaven (acoustic)”
It could fit with Livi, yeah, but I’ve always heard this from West’s POV.
When the room don’t like us//I’ll be at your table//Yeah I’ll be sitting next to you//And when the world ain’t righteous//It’s raining Cain and Abels//I’ll be trying to dance with you and Everyone they say that we don’t work//But I could swear this is heaven yeah//Everyday I know that this might hurt but I don’t care//This is heaven yeah

Mozella – “Can’t Stop”
Pretty much Livi’s perspective on West at this point.
And I’ll be yours, just give me time//Give me time

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

October 8, 2018 By Skyla Dawn Cameron 1 Comment

One Week!

The new Livi adventure releases one week from tomorrow! I’m doing a countdown on my Facebook page with daily facts about the new book–the writing, the mythology, and whatever else I can come up with.

You have until 10/20 to get me your address for your postcard if you preorder or buy the week of release.

I’m at the point where the book is 100% done and I am just tinkering every few hours with a word here or comma there in a scene, or rereading something for the millionth time just to reassure myself it makes sense, and it’s stupid and I will probably have to be told to leave it the fuck alone, but I’m terrified I’ve missed something and everyone’s going to then tell me about it and tell me how much it sucks and I suck and and and–

I feel doubly stupid because this is a lesson I tell other writers all the time: yes, you will miss something. Yes, someone might tell you about it. Yes, someone somewhere will be right offended about a couple of typos in a 132K-word book (dear god, I hope at this point it’s only a couple). Yes, it’s entirely possibly everyone’s going to absolutely hate it (although the odds of that are admittedly fairly slim).

So?

This beast of a book was a hell of an achievement for me, nothing is ever 100% perfect, and the fact that I did 7.5 drafts and two other sets of eyes went over everything–sometimes multiple times–indicates I have thrown everything I possibly have into the novel. If everyone’s gonna hate it, changing a word or two now isn’t going to fix that.

If these sorts of anxieties get the best of you too, just remember I’ve written like forty-something novels, dozens of novellas and shorts, and released, I dunno, like thirty or forty(?) things over the years. It happens to everyone. There’s no excuse for sloppy work, but if you can look and see how much you’ve put into a project, and YOU know, personally, it’s the best you can make it…be afraid, but do it anyway. At this point, the only thing fretting over it is accomplishing is making me lose time on other projects, and fuck THAT.

Filed Under: blog

September 18, 2018 By Skyla Dawn Cameron Leave a Comment

One Month to Go

The countdown is on to the next Livi Talbot adventure: Emperor’s Tomb releases four weeks from today.

A reminder that if you pre-order or buy the week of release (print or ebook), you can forward the receipt/screenshot/etc (blank out personal info as needed) to me with your address and I’ll send you a personalized postcard from Livi late October (open international). I’ve tested out the email address a few times and it should work for forwarding, but I’ll reply with confirmation–if you don’t hear back from me, try again!

Preorder: Kindle US | Kindle UK | Kindle CA | Kobo | Nook | iBookstore | Smashwords

I’m planning a final proofread of this beast of a book early October. I have a couple of tweaks to do–there are a few lines that are bothering me, but I’m trying to give myself a bit more distance before I go back and tinker. I think I’ll need a bit of a break from Livi & co afterward, although the fifth book is in progress, the fourth is in revisions, and there’s a short novella in the works, I am exhausted. I don’t love the characters/world any less, I just need a vacation from it and come back refreshed.

There is still the Patreon postcard story in progress, and Solomon’s Seal from West’s POV for the West Is Best Club, but a few hours a month is vastly different from every waking moment being spent re-revising nearly 130K words for the bazillionth time.

Thankfully I have no shortage of things to work on, and maybe I’ll have news about something later in the year.

Speaking of vacation, I’m on my yearly week of holidays for my birthday. Nothing exciting except avoiding contact with humans, gaming (NEW TOMB RAIDER), bingeing Netflix, and doing big cleaning/purging projects. Saturday night is my birthday part–Google Hangout since most of my friends are in different timezones–and that’s about it. I’ll be back to work next Monday if the giant pile of laundry I’m tackling doesn’t kill me first.

Filed Under: blog Tagged With: livi talbot, preorder

September 10, 2018 By Skyla Dawn Cameron Leave a Comment

World Suicide Prevention Day

I usually try to post something for World Suicide Prevention Day. I like to be helpful, I like to offer people hope and support, I like to feel like I’m adding something positive to the world. I like to destigmatize mental illness and remove the shame around suicidal feelings. Even when I’m at my worst moments, sometimes trying to save the world can help you save yourself–if you can’t find a reason to keep going for yourself, knowing you’re making a difference can give you a reason to stay.

But I am…I am tired. So tired.

Sophie was my reason for getting out of bed in the morning, the focus of my entire world. Dinah was the other part of my soul, my heart. Without them, I am very lost and just…tired.

Eight years ago today, Dinah had been living under a dumpster for months, starving and afraid, until she came into my home. She was always mine, she was just waiting for me to find her–she saved my life as much, if not more than, I saved hers on World Suicide Prevention Day.

So yes, sometimes saving the world can help you save yourself; other times, it doesn’t matter. I know I make a difference. I know I save lives. I know I’m loved. I know the world at large is better with me in it, that I am a necessary light for some. But that’s not always enough to keep the darkness at bay when it’s your world that’s gone. Because I don’t always want to be necessary. I don’t want to be important. I don’t want to be Wonder Woman, I don’t want the pressure of being a light in the darkness.

I am tired and I just want MY light back again.

So sometimes it’s just the little things that act as stepping stones to get you across the water. To have small things to look forward to, and for me, that’s stories. In two days I get to play Tomb Raider and that has sustained me for five months now. I think of the handful of things I feel even a small spark of excitement about–the new season of Jane the Virgin, an upcoming book, an upcoming movie–and treasure those tiny moments as another place to land on the path ahead instead of sinking. And soon there will be a whole trail behind me even if all I can concentrate on is staying above the water in this little square area I’ve landed on right now.

For me, that little square at the moment is retreating and doing things for myself. Protecting myself, taking care of myself, not running myself ragged trying to save the world. It’s finding the small bright spots of joy that I can and holding onto them. It’s pouring everything into my release next month in the hopes that maybe it will give someone else something to look forward to, and maybe be that stepping stone to keep another person out of the water long enough to reach shore.

You, reading this right now: I know.

I know sometimes being loved isn’t enough.

I know sometimes feeling significant isn’t the cure for the prevailing sense of hopelessness.

I know sometimes you feel bad because others reach out and it doesn’t help.

I know sometimes the pressure of existing in the world for other people makes it too much to bear.

I know sometimes you are tired. So, so tired.

There is no answer or wisdom to be found here, except to tell you what you feel is valid and I know. Staying alive when you don’t want to requires a level of faith in a world designed to make you feel the opposite. It is an act of defiance, an act that sometimes defies all reason. I know and I am here with you, and I hope we can crawl from stone to stone long enough to see that faith was well-founded.

Filed Under: blog

August 26, 2018 By Skyla Dawn Cameron 1 Comment

Taking It Personally

Friday night I sat up for six hours watching as a kitten was dying.

I’d finally gone to sleep at 4am my time, and little Petal passed an hour later in the arms of her foster mom.

Trigger warning: pet loss.

I apologize for the radio silence the last day or so. On Friday evening around 6:30PM, I went in to give the Wildflowers their usual feeding. Everything was going as usual until I picked up the littlest kitten, Petal.

— BeeBeesHouse (@BeeBeesHouse) August 26, 2018

Here’s Petal’s story: she and eight other kittens were dumped in an open field only hours after their birth. Four died before they were found and brought to a shelter. [Read more…]

Filed Under: blog

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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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