Well, here we are, the start of 2020, which still feels like the death throes of 2019. Of course the Chinese New Year is January 25, so theoretically it is still 2019 and maybe things will improve then. I’m still about three months behind in my head, the fall was so stressful and I was sick for so long that it all kind of disappeared without me realizing it.
Here’s you quarterly update!
What Released
Both Lovers’ Quarrel and Emaleth’s Cat were last minute things done after the last update, and the River story had been in my head for a couple of years so I didn’t expect to finally get it written, which is why I didn’t warn about any of these things in October.
First up: Lovers’ Quarrel
This is more of a vignette than a short story, covering the direct aftermath of Shiva’s Bow and leading to the opening of Yampellec’s Idol. It was written mostly for me, but I decided to post it for all patrons at Patreon in November. It’s not available for sale but remains there exclusively.
Here’s the post announcing it.
Next: Emaleth’s Cat
A lot of my fall was taken up with very stressful, expensive pet stuff. Two younger cats to the vet with unexpected things, my elderly kidney cat died, and my kitten Shawn had some irregularities during his checkup so I ended up going ahead with a cardiac ultrasound.
He’s fine, thankfully, but combined with my other elderly kidney cat needing a check in December, I spent about $2600-ish total in three months, and I could only work part time hours in the fall due to illness, so things were pretty rough. I set up Emaleth’s Cat as a fundraiser short story, which helped a whole lot with Shawnie’s ultrasound.
He looks good, thankfully–recommended a repeat in a year to ensure some findings were incidental and not a problem, but I’m sleeping so much better. The short story was sent out to contributors and sometime in the next couple of months I’ll have it on Patreon.
And the final release: How the Werewolf Stole Christmas
This is a River Wolfe short story that takes place after River and is under the First Dates (that end badly) banner because, well, it’s a first date that ends badly.
Teenage wolf-turned-human River hates Christmas. And capitalism. And human customs.
And she’s about to combine all three in the most terrifying thing she can imagine: engaging in the human mating ritual known as a “date”. It’s against every fiber of her being, but she’ll do anything to show her mate that she cares.
Police involvement optional.
It’s available everywhere in ebook and was free on Patreon in December.
What’s Upcoming
Two things are scheduled at the moment.
On Tuesday, January 28, I’m revisiting the Demons of Oblivion world with a new Zara Lain novella, Counterpoint: ALWAYS Kill a Boy on the First Date
Snarky vampire Zara Lain decides to end a dry spell by doing something new: she asks out her saber-tooth cat’s veterinarian for drinks.
The guy is nice. The date goes well.
And then all hell breaks loose.
An old enemy is back and willing to do anything to make her save him from an assassination attempt–bribes, threats, and even making her the new target.
The day after, a new novel starts serializing on Patreon with two chapters a week–Blood Ties will run for about three months.
Elis O’Connor kills people.
“Garbage men”, to be exact—the predators, the abusers…and the occasional mansplainer. It scratches an itch and, since the death of her mother sent her spiraling, it hardly seems like the worst way to pass her time in a post-apocalyptic city crawling with demons and dimensional tears.
One thing she doesn’t do is save men.
But that’s about to change when a woman comes to her door for help finding her missing cousin. While Elis would love to send her packing, this cousin isn’t just anyone: he’s Elis’s estranged older half-brother Dev, and he’s gotten himself into trouble even the considerable magic ability they both share can’t get him out of.
The signup for Patreon is here–it’s for all supporters, $1+.
After it’s been through edits in the spring, I’ll set up preorder for a wider release this summer, date TBD.
This is all I have planned for preorder/release at this time, though other things are percolating.
What I’m Working On
Right now I’m getting this first draft of Blood Ties finished–it needed some revisions, some scenes in the middle, and the climax to be fixed up.
I’m also working on The Killing Beach–it would be nice to have that one out by fall. I did have to take a step back in the outline because as I’m writing the current scenes, some bits aren’t sitting right.
The Waverly Jones series was supposed to be a fun, cozy kind of mystery–short novels, something to work on in between Livi books. They’ve ended up much darker, much more complex, and I’ve created a whole lot more work for myself, but it’s also nice to have something else new in progress.
Yampellec’s Idol is on hold for a bit, as previously mentioned. I feel a little better than I did after that post, but a big part of that is working on other things and letting go of all that pressure. This’ll serve as a reminder that until the book is done and slotted for preorder, I won’t be updating or talking about it.
Writer of urban fantasy, thrillers/mysteries, and horror.