Skyla Dawn Cameron

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

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Soundtrack Sunday – SOULLESS Edition

SoullessRedux-smIt’s time for the Soulless soundtrack!

I really had to dig back for this, I wrote it in 2009 or so, one computer ago. I do recall I wrote huge chunks of it over a couple of days listening to a lot of Leonard Cohen but I don’t remember which songs in particular.

Bill Withers – “Ain’t No Sunshine“
Referenced in the book and what Rafe was humming in the epilogue (as Ani was “gone”).
Wonder this time where she’s gone//Wonder if she’s gone to stay//Ain’t no sunshine when she’s gone

Eva Cassidy – “Ain’t No Sunshine“
I can’t NOT have an Eva Cassidy version of a song if I have the original.

Sarah McLachlan – “Fallen“
Heaven bend to take my hand And lead me through the fire

Evanescence – “Hello“
Don’t try to fix me, I’m not broken

Earlimart – “The World“
Oh, the world is all around us But have you noticed me?

Adele – “Make You Feel My Love“
I could hold you for a million years//To make you feel my love

Dr. John – “I Don’t Wanna Know“
And all around the cold is glistening//Making sure it keeps me down to size.

Willie Nelson – “Bird On The Wire“
Like a baby, stillborn//like a beast with his horn//I have torn everyone who reached out for me.

Eva Cassidy – “Time After Time“
If you fall I will catch you – I’ll be waiting

Ivan Neville – “Why Can’t I Fall In Love?“
This was the love theme for the book, what Rafe and Ani dance to.
I know she’s out there waiting//It’s time to fall in love//And let her know//Just how I feel//Give it up//Or give it all

Caboose

Yesterday I lost my twelve-year-old bunny.

The ex got her for my birthday all those years ago, when she was four months old. She hated me pretty much from day one.

“Skyla, you’re a crazy cat lady! All animals love you!”

No, not this one.

I spent years reading up on rabbit behavior trying to get her to like me. Eventually she reached the point where she’d take a treat from me, but that was it. She was territorial and stomped when I came near her, and often growled and tried to bite if I had my hand in the cage to clean it for any reason. And really, it was JUST me. She responded well to other humans and all other animals.

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Maybe it’s because originally we thought she was a boy and she didn’t like this.

The pet store said she was male and as she wouldn’t let me check, I assumed they were correct (they weren’t). Initially I wanted a bunny named Othello but once I got her, it became apparent that wasn’t her name. I went with Caboose from Red vs Blue, because he is one of the greatest characters ever, and I found myself calling “Caboose!” with an exasperated sigh every time she thumped at me. (Plus I was pretty sure she’d kill me with a tank if she got the chance.)

While she hated me, she LOVED the cats.

When she was little, I had a young cat who used to play with her all the time. They’d chase each other around a chair in the living room and when Caboose went back in her cage, she’d lie against the side of it and Malory would lie on the other side so they’d be back to back. Now, even in her later years, her BFF was my kitty the Doombuggy, who would curl up in the cage with her all the time.

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Even as a senior, when you’d think she’d be mellow, she never grew to like me very well, but she tolerated my presence as long as I gave her strawberry yogurt treats (and god help me if I didn’t). She was crotchety and tolerated no bullshit; if the cats got playing around her cage, she’d thump at them as if banging her cane on the floor to say “GET OFF MY LAWN.” Basically, she is what I plan to be when I’m an old lady.

The most Caboose-like moment I will ever remember is from several years ago.

It was summer and we lived in a townhouse with a small fenced-in backyard. I let Caboose out to play in the grass, and Sophie and the kitties were out as well. My ex had a young (not quite a year old) kitty who was a barn cat and an absolutely little terror.

The grass was long and I watched the kitten stalking through it, body low to the ground, heading after Caboose. Unlike some of my other cats and dog, I had no doubt the kitten would attack her–he just had that wild streak in him. I started to rise from the patio chair, ready to yell at him, as Caboose had her back to him and she’d never see him coming.

Just as he bolted through the grass, Caboose turned and darted toward him.

She ran several feet and bit him; the cat yelped, spun, and hightailed it up the fence where he stared down warily.

Caboose went back to eating grass. The kitten never went near her again.

That’s my girl.

Caboose
2003 – 2015

 

Princess Skyla

I thought the blog could use some levity after my de facto eulogy (thank you, again, to all of you who offered condolences), but I’m up to here *points to eyeballs* in work and playing catch-up, plus a new round of tests and appointments with a new doctor (WHEE, ANOTHER ONE), and I haven’t really got anything clever to say.

So anyway, as you may or may not be aware, I have always wanted to be a princess.

Correction: I always pretty much THOUGHT I was a princess. I assumed my mother was an evil witch (hi, Mom!) who locked me in a tower and was very cruel whenever she made me help with housework.

Basically, I was relatively certain this was my life, as I’m sure most children are:

It was a hard knock life, clearly.

And I assumed one day my real, extremely wealthy, probably royal family would come along and buy me things and never make me clean my room, maaaaayyyybeeeee.

Anyway, I’m thirty-two and not yet a princess, and this is probably my greatest disappointment in life (next to the fact that I don’t have any flying monkeys, as eventually I realized I am more likely to be a wicked witch anyway and, goddamn it, I WAS PROMISED FLYING MONKEYS).

A couple of years ago, I ran into a My Little Pony, however, named PRINCESS SKYLA. (I discovered this as people were hitting my site googling “princess skyla” and for a while I was excited as I thought they knew something about me that I didn’t.) Never, in my whole life, have I ever found things with my name. Mostly this is good as I like having a unique name, but you know when you go into gift shops and they have magnets and necklaces and things with your name? That never happens to me, and there has NEVER been a fictional character or toy with my name, LET ALONE A PRINCESS. I had trouble finding a MLP Princess Skyla currently available for sale, however, and never got one.

As my belated Christmas gift this year, however, Aunt Judy got me…

Princess Skyla.

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(Not a photo of MINE, who I will add later, as she’s currently chilling on my dresser with my stuffed saber-tooth cat and my cuddly Koala.)

BUT THAT’S NOT ALL.

No, Aunt Judy ALSO got me…my very own tiara. Which I promptly put on.

And did not take off again.

 


(It’s black and white because I AM A CLASSY PRINCESS.)

 

Mum continues to be horribly embarrassed, probably because she knows I’m planning to wear it the next time I buy groceries when she’s working.

I see no reason to be embarrassed; I am willing to bet everyone’s just jealous. Because I am a princess.

Goodbye, Daddy

My dad died Monday night. Today’s the funeral.

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He was not a perfect man; he had a great many flaws, and a great many demons that often got the best of him. And it left me pretty messed up for much of my life–enough that I could’ve taken (and have) dozens of books to work through it all and barely scratch the surface. To this day, the most vivid memory I have from childhood is one of terror and violence, of being six years old and scared of my own dad as he met my eyes through the spidery cracks of the windshield he was trying to kick in.

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But I also remember a man who was generous and incredibly charismatic; he could listen to you like you were the only person in the world, and like what you said actually mattered. Who fought for the underdog. Who is entirely responsible for my early love of politics (even though I fell in a different political camp than him). Who loved arguing for work and twisting other people’s words to make his own point stronger (GUESS WHO INHERITED THAT), and who I think would’ve been incredibly proud of my writing now if he’d ever read it (or at the very least, the Letters of Shame I give to those deserving). Who promised me the world and occasionally delivered the best he could of it.

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I remember the man who called me “Munchkin” and faithfully remembered every birthday and holiday, who had me excited to see him every single week when he took me out for lunch years after Mum was no longer involved with him. Who got me my first TV and Nintendo, even if he wasn’t there to play with me. Who took me to Canada’s Wonderland and rode on all the rides with me. Who got so frustrated that I had absolutely no interest in mini golf and when I insisted I MUST have won because I had the highest score. Who, upon leaving our apartment, would slow down after circling the building and wait so I could see him from Mum’s bedroom window and wave every single time, year after year, before he continued driving away.

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And almost as vividly as the trauma, I remember a man who loved his only daughter.

I was born in 1982, the year Willie Nelson’s cover of “Always On My Mind” was released, and I remember Dad saying he heard that song and thought of me, and how he hummed it and said I was always on his mind.

So this is the dad I choose to carry with me, the one I choose to remember, the one I will tell my someday-children about. Because he was capable of tremendous love and that, just as much as everything else, helped shape the person–for better or worse–whose blog and books you’re reading today.

Goodbye, Daddy.

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The “When’s That Book Coming?” Spring 2015 Edition

What’s New

Dear god, there’s actually STUFF for this update!

 

Demons of Oblivion

OblivionBoxset-KindleFirst, the Demons of Oblivion series is in paperback again.

Their covers match the ebook editions. You can find them at CreateSpace and Amazon. There aren’t currently any available in my shop–if you hate Amazon and/or want signed copies, let me know what titles you want to buy and I’ll see about ordering them, I just can’t afford to part with a chunk of change and no guarantee people will buy them right now. I already have one person interested and I hoping to get some ordered this month.

There’s also The Demons of Oblivion Bundle–the first three books and short stories, bundled as one for $9.99 (or $8.99 in my shop). It’s available everywhere.

I dislike asking for reviews, however, if you’ve read the three books in the series, please consider dropping a quick review of the bundle at Amazon.  Thank you!

Early March, I released the short story Prey. More below.

Also in February, I confirmed that, unequivocally, the Demons of Oblivion is done for good due to piracy. After Oblivion, it’s done. I’m sorry, it was a painful situation, but that’s it now (unless I decide to write future books as patron-only serials…I’ve thought about it). And because the dumb bint who killed the series is after Damaged now, it is no longer available outside of my website, as I have to protect my health and I just do not have the energy to be policing this book too. There will be a print edition soon, however, which will be for sale on Amazon (I’m currently writing a short story to be included with it to boost the page count…think Nate and Ryann Buddy Cop Movie).

To celebrate the launch of Amends (more below), there is a 99c sale for Bloodlines all month. If you haven’t read it, now’s a great time to check it out. If you HAVE, please let your friends know, or else I’ll have to feed you to Zara’s saber-tooth cat, Rodney.

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The other three novels in the series are $1 off in my online shop this month as well. (And if you want Whiskey Sour, it’ll be 99c next month, so hold on for that one.)

 

River Wolfe

rebellion-kindleI also released (briefly) free the novella Rebellion. This is a River Wolfe story, and a companion piece to the novel River. It was a five-day event and is now no longer free–you can find it for sale in my online shop as well as on Payhip in ebook, and for print collectors it’s on Amazon and Createspace. If you insist on a third-party sold version, you can pre-order it at various places, however if rampant piracy of the series crops up again, that will no longer be an option.

There’s another River-related probably-novella-because-I-suck-at-short-stories I might write after Wolfe is released, but if it eats up as much time as Rebellion did, I am not yet sure if I can afford to write it. I’m gauging interest in Rebellion to decide if the last story will be worth it.

In MOAR River news, the collector hardcover edition is now available. It’s only on Lulu and I had no option to distribute elsewhere, so I’m sorry. It contains River and Rebellion, and you can find it here.

 

Patreon Update

Prey-smThe first milestone was reached late February, which meant Prey was posted for patrons to read! This is an Alchemy Red longish-short story set after Damaged.

Thank you so much to everyone who has contributed. This now covers my monthly medication and I am sooo relieved. If you haven’t yet, please check the story out and enjoy!

And….the Amends milestone was ALSO reached! My god, you people are amazing. That means the Zara Lain serial Amends will start posting this month. I’m aiming for 2-3 chapters a month right now. It should conclude around the end of the year. If we stay at $100/month, I’ll serialize another unpublished book (likely the Livi Talbot prequel Riderch’s Sword). I am sorting out the easiest way to make the chapters available to patrons and will have the details soon.

If you have a couple bucks to spare a month and would like exclusive content plus to read other stuff early, have a look. (If you don’t, I totes understand and I still love you.)

 

What’s Upcoming

I actually don’t have any more firm dates at the moment.

 

What I’m Working On

I started the rewrites for Haunted however, as I’m prone to doing, I decided to gut the thing and rewrite it in first person, change the villain and ending, and create more work for myself. So it might be a late-summer thing, or I might set it aside to finish up Wolfe first as it’s my primary commitment, next to stuff for patrons.

Other than that, more for-pay writing, of course, and a couple of other projects. I should hopefully have a better idea of when Wolfe will release this year by the next update. There is lots of stuff going on in my personal life at the moment, so it’s a matter of “I’ll get to stuff when I get to stuff.”

As always, thank you for your support, and happy reading!

MEET SKYLA DAWN

Writer of horror, mysteries/thrillers, and urban fantasy.
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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What I’m Working On:

Re-proofing/formatting Livi Talbot 4-6 with the new covers. Writing Waverly 9 on the side.