Landslide

Stevie Nicks may be one of my favorite performers of all time and my favorite song of her is Landslide.  I think that over my life the song has meant different things to me and again I find my interpretation is changing as I listen to it this morning while packing away Christmas decorations (*sigh*).  Tearing down the tree, carefully tucking away ornaments, and listening to Pandora (Beatles radio as you would have it) when Landslide comes on.  I pause and cock my head to the side.  Eyes closed and my body involuntarily swaying just slightly, I remember.  In the course of that short song I see two decades of life pass in a flurry of memories tied to that one song and when it ends a tear rolls down my cheek.  Again, the song has new meaning and I was struck with the need to share not just this moment for me but the brilliantly sweet lyrics. 

I took my love, I took it down
Climbed a mountain and I turned around
And I saw my reflection in the snow covered hills
Till the landslide brought me down

Oh, mirror in the sky, what is love?
Can the child within my heart rise above?
Can I sail through the changing ocean tides?
Can I handle the seasons of my life?
Mmm, mmm, mmm

Well, I've been afraid of changing
'Cause I've built my life around you
But time makes you bolder
Even children get older and I'm getting older too
Oh, I'm getting older too

Awh, take my love, take it down
Awh, climb a mountain and turn around
And if you see my reflection in the snow covered hills
Well, the landslide bring it down

And if you see my reflection in the snow covered hills
Well, the landslide bring it down
Oh, the landslide bring it down

~ Stevie Nicks

Now what does this have to do with Estelan?  A great many things actually.  My writing is so tied to my emotions, especially with Estelan and I have been rather emotionally numb over the past month or so and my writing has been sub par at best.  (OUCH! That bit of honesty hurts)  The fact that I could get lost in a song this morning tells me that I am turning the corner and heading into a season of productivity.  I am going to finish up my Emerald Seer Series as the ending is finally coming full circle and then it is back to Estelan.  I have tabled her for too long and she is gnawing at the back of my mind constantly, building story lines and adding characters and oh my does she have a lot in store for you all - if I can just get it out fast enough!

In the end, as this wretched year comes to a close, I am excited to head into 2013 with a head full of Estelan to balance my heavy heart.  I will have a regular schedule for the first time since May and the tools at my disposal to re-launch my writing career - a wee bit wiser and more prepared!

Happy New Year!!

Oh Estelan, where can you be?

I have neglected my blog and the world of Estelan - one of the worst things a writer can do.  While Estelan is always rolling around in the back of my mind, the plights of her people a soft cry in my ear, I have been so occupied with another story and my own personal life that she toils away waiting for me to find time to continue her story.  Fortunately, Estelan like all fantasy worlds is always there for me to pick up and set down as needed.  It is a story of paths that wind and cross, climb and descend, much like life and sometimes that means dealing with personal roadblocks to make better storylines.  This is one of those times.  2012 has not been kind to me in many ways and that means I can do nothing but look forward and keep trudging through.  That means I can look to Estelan as a therapeutic escape over the next year while my characters work out their own issues on paper in a land far from here where I have toiled long enough.

So it comes to this, in order to find my way to Estelan again, to find that place in my mind where she and her people can thrive and their stories unfold, I need to purge myself of the negativity from this year.  It has taken me some time to adopt a way to make this happen but I believe I've got it down.  Each day I will blog about two things, one negative that happened this year so that I may send it onward and upward and one positive thing in my life that keeps me moving forward and focused on the wonders of each day.  By the end of the  year I should be able to expel that negatives as I purge many things from my life in hopes of starting 2013 a lot lighter spiritually and emotionally so that I may do justice to the peoples of Estelan and release Echo Rising this coming year.

Where oh where has Estelan gone?

Though I have been terribly focused on my Emerald Seer Series, Estelan is never far from my thoughts and I have many, MANY notes for where it is going.  Every once in a while I add some passages and scenes to Echo Rising and I am ready to devote some significant attention to it.  While I had hoped to devote the second half of this year to Estelan, I just couldn't finish the project I was working on and it kep clouding my head.  So, until I can get Storm Sullivan and her posse out of my head, Estelan is a work in progress floating along the periphery, waiting and growing into something bigger with each passing day.  I still believe in Estelan, more than I have believed in anything I've written.  That is the reason it is taking so long.  I want to do my world and my characters justice.  As soon as I have snippets I will be posting them, in the meantime, know that Echo is real and on her way.

YA Promo Central Feature

Hey all!  The kind people at YA Promo Central are featuring me today!!  Check out the interview and a little bit about Estelan.  While you are there, read up on some of the other amazing YA authors out there and the fabulous works they have put out!

Interview on YA Promo Central

My Rolling Stones moment and how I got here....

You know what song I mean, right?  It's only been used so many times that many people find it cliche (which kills me!).   No, you can't always get what you want but it is true that if you try sometimes you just might find you get what you need.  I don't have what I want but tonight the Stones gave me the AHA! moment I have needed when I slipped into my nifty little VW Beetle convertible with the top down and the breeze in my hair.  How did I get here?  In the immortal words of Mandy Patinkin as the beloved Inigo Montoya - "No, there is too much.  Let me sum up."

I am a midwest gal, born and raised in the "heartland" in an intact family that took vacations together, camped in a small pop-up camper during the summer, and played sports year round.  I read a lot - and I mean A LOT - as a kid and wrote almost as much.  Though it sounds perfect, my formative years had pitfalls like everybody else but in general I was happy and my family as well.  When I went to college it was with the full support of my parents though I know now that I should have selected a different major.  Eh, I know a lot of people in the same boat.  But I did it, and I did it in three years from a type university (with a major and a minor no less).  Yes, I am bragging, it was an accomplishment and in the age of six year degrees I am extremely proud of it.  Anyway, I digress (I am a writer, so sue me!).  I finished college and found a job - several actually in various forms but none particularly fulfilling or enjoyable.  Being honest, I was miserable.  I should have gone into something creative - mistake #1 - but I was being the logical, responsible young woman my parents raised me to be.

Flash forward several years.  Here I am, married to my high school sweetheart/best friend, have two amazing kids, a dog, a house and a full time job.  Major confession time here and I am not somebody who cares to air my dirty laundry for the world to see.  This is a hard thing for me and I am not going to share all of the details but the marriage was a mess and the job was bleeding me in every other way.  I was exhausted and frustrated and at my end.   My husband was too.  Finally it hit breaking point and we decided a change was necessary - a HUGE change - so we took some losses, quit our jobs, packed the kids up and moved across the country to beautiful (glorious!) Seattle, Washington.  I fell in love the very first week.  My husband loved the city as well (especially since he has been a Seattle Seahawks fan since age 5!) and the kids blended in smashingly.  I started writing again - really writing again as in cranking out novels and novellas and building journals of future story ideas.  I even self-published and it felt wonderful.  It felt like I was home, like everything finally fit together for me and I would be able to quit the dreaded job and devote my life to writing and being a mother.   But Ryan missed his fam and friends and too soon exercised the option I had given to move back to the midwest.  I was devastated.  Actually, I am not sure that devastated covers it.  Nope, not even close.  I am not a crier by nature but I shed a lot of tears as my time to leave Seattle drew closer and closer.  I still didn't love my job (same as I had done in Ohio) but the city more than made up for it - or so I thought.


Please do not look at Ryan as the bad guy.  He had a right, I gave him the out before we moved, but it still hurt.  However, all was not lost and I clung to that.  We had a deal.  If I did this then I could quit my awful job, stay home with the kids and secure part time work so I could work on my writing.  This deal, as it turns out, was more than a fair exchange.  It took a long time to find a job - even part time - that worked with me staying home with the kids during the hours hubby works and even longer to get started.  I am still not getting the hours I want/need but I love the job.  It feels weird to type those words.  I love the job.  Now I am getting ahead of myself.  My Stones moment happened tonight and this is how it went.

This morning I woke up to my kids asking me about running, their faces hopeful and satisfied with just a hint of sleepiness.  I slipped out of bed (so not to disturb Ryan who took the day off) and dressed to run (my daughter and I are training for a 5K).  They were giddy and it was infectious.  For the first time in two weeks it was cooler and not quite so humid so the jog was pleasant for all of us.  We spent the rest of the day hanging out together, reading, doing art, and of course, I got to promote my books a bit.  I went to work for my four hour shift (still training) and learned a lot, made some sales, and drank some great tea.  When the shift was over, I clocked out, smile on my face, and headed out to my car - a Texans blue VW Beetle convertible.  Of course, given the weather I had to put the top down for the drive home.  Just as the top settled and I was putting the windows down, the Stones came on.  I realized as I drove that I got exactly what I needed - my kiddos, a job I can say I love, and my drive to write.    I think I will always pine for the mountains and lakes (and the Sound!) of Seattle, but if I keep trying and take a few losses here and there, I can find that space between perfect bliss and serene melancholy that allows me to write and love and be who I want (and need) to be.  Someday I will live in Seattle again, someday.  But for now, I am right where I need to be.

The sequel dilemma - and then some

I like to start a complete series as much as the next person.  Knowing that the end is available and ready to bring closure is an enjoyable experience and I get that.  However, I will not refuse to start a book because I know the rest of the series is not complete - I would never get to read anything from this decade!  So why is it so difficult for others to start an incomplete series and why review a work in a negative manner simple because the series is incomplete?  I guess I just don't understand how some people work.  It's fine if somebody doesn't appreciate what I write - I don't appreciate everything I have read (i.e. Moby Dick) but that is the point of having so many styles and genres, isn't it? 

So I sit here, typing this post and thinking about how I should be writing the sequel to my adult series so that I can put more work into Estelan's sequel since it is calling to me, but I have to get this line of thought out of my head.  Would you rather read a book from an unfinished series and wait for the sequel or have an author push out a less than satisfactory sequel just so you can read it?  For me, the answer is easy.  For others it may not be, I suppose.  Either way, I will be taking my time with ECHO RISING because it is important to me.  I have hundreds of other story ideas floating around in my head that really want my attention but I want to finish the Emerald Seer Series so I can put those characters to rest and then devote a lot of my time to Estelan because my heart is there, amidst the shadows of the Isthilien side and the as yet unnamed (I am still vacillating between three names) sunlit side.  I want to tell their story, to bring them to life and do right by them.  I am sorry for those who have read Estelan and walked away disappointed and dissatisfied because the series is still incomplete but I need to be true to myself, my characters, and my craft. 

I'm melting, what I wouldn't give to be in Isthile right now

In the immortal words of the wicked witch, "I'm melting, I'm melting!"  EGAD!  It is so hot and humid outside that I long for a few hours in Isthile's cool moonlight.  Change the scenery a bit and cut the humidity and it would be much closer to the other side of Estelan - still a work in progress but I am getting some great ideas from this current heat wave!

Echo Rising is still a work in progress but I have taken some time to work on settings and characters for books 3 and 4 (to be named at a later date).  I have been breaking up writing with research and development so it is slow going but epic fantasies are not built in a day!

Stay cool!!

Fabulous Four Star review from Paranormal Romance Guild

I am thrilled and grateful for the awesome review from the illustrious Penelope Adams at the Paranormal Romance Guild.  I hope you all will take a minute to check it out and rove over the rest of their site as I found several great reads there!

Paranormal Romance Guild Review for Estelan

Summer Fling

Check out this amazing blog with a few books you make recognize and several you should purchase if you haven't already!  There will be more added as time goes on so keep checking back!!!

Summer Fling

Estelan is expanding!

Estelan is now available on B&N and Smashwords!  Spread the word and get your copy today!

Echo will be Rising

So, not the most creative play on words for the sequel to Estelan, but the time is coming where I will no longer be able to suppress the story for Echo Rising.  I have been working to complete End of the Night for my Emerald Seer Series but Estelan keeps pushing into my creative mind.  Kitin and Tyla are especially forceful and I have lengthy notes dribbled across two notebooks for bits and pieces of conversations, encounters, and confrontations that have me excited.  I am not a person to detail my entire story, I can't seem to make that work because I go off track too often so this works better for me.  I know where the story is going and main points to hit along the way but I find it terribly important to follow the main characters and make sure they do not act out of character just to hit a plot point I may have mapped out months (or years) ago.  It may not be the conventional way of doing things, in fact, there is a thread on the amazon forums with a grand debate over mapping out novels, but I have to stay true to what works for me and frankly, I don't care much for the "right way" to do things.  How can there be a right or wrong way in a world so reliant on creativity? 

I digress.  This post was meant to give an update on Estelan, to assure any concerned fans that Kitin, the Twins, Tyla, Lykae, Cord and the others will be returning soon enough and I know they are eager to tell their stories before I introduce the other half of Estelan - the vast deserts and rocky cliffs of the sunlit side. 

Happy Mother's Day!!! Estelan is a free eBook on Amazon!

It's Mother's Day and I can't be with my kids today because of life circumstances (never fear, my family will be back together soon) but that doesn't mean it cannot be a wonderful day!  Pick up a new read today!

Thanks to Free Kindle Books and Tips for posting Estelan on their website!!

Tears of Crimson interview with Violet Patterson

Wondering what I've been up to?  Writing - A LOT.  However, I took a few moments - or rather my alter ego did - to chat with Tears of Crimson.  Check it out!

Tears of Crimson interview

Still on hiatus....in the meantime

I am still on hiatus from Estelan though I occasionally scribble some ideas down because I carry my characters with me wherever I may go.  In the meantime - for those 17 and older - check out the Emerald Seer Series starting with Ryder on the Storm by Violet Patterson!

Hiatus

I have been working diligently on the Emerald Seer Series and consequently not showing Estelan enough attention.  As much as I regret that, it has been an exercise in getting back on track.  The Emerald Seer Series should be caught up by the end of May and I plan to revisit Estelan this summer.  I am devoting the latter half of 2012 solely to Estelan at this point because it deserves the attention.  I have the story in my head and know where it is going. Though I have been working the Emerald Seer Series I can honestly say that there are notes and ideas coming through for Echo and I am positive it will turn into an awesome sequel!  I have had questions about where the series is going and am opting to give this limited information:

1) The series will be 5 books long with the 3rd and 4th books telling the tale of the sunlit side and the 5th book resolving everything.

2) The 3rd, 4th, and 5th books do not have working titles at this time (other than Estelan book 3, Estelan book 4, and Estelan book 5).

3) Lykae and Tyla will be reunited with the Twins (Dane and Roane) and Kitin in the sequel.

4) Some characters will come into their full power, others will be lost in one way or another.

That's all I can divulge!

Estelan is off to a slow start

Sadly, I have been quite caught up in the Emerald Seer Series and not given my due diligence to Estelan.  My heart still lies in Estelan, the story I cannot shake.  I have started one too many stories, perhaps and still have a little girl nagging at me to write her story.  I intend to finish my Emerald Seer Novella and the third installment in that series before returning to Estelan.  Echo Rising is under way but I feel the need to pause it until I can return my full attention to Estelan. 

That said, Estelan had a wonderful opening weekend (on freebie promo) and is now on promo for 99 cents for the rest of April.  I regret not being closer to a sequel at this time though it is mapped out and under way. 

Big weekend for Estelan!

After a weekend in the free kindle store I am pleased to say ESTELAN spent the majority of the weekend in the top ten for Children's Action/Adventure. I am hoping this translates. It really is more of a fantasy with heavy mythological influences but there is plenty of action and what is a quest if not an adventure? I truly believe in Estelan and hope that more people will take the time to venture there. It's available as an ebook and in paperback, already has garnered a four star review and looks awfully pretty (thanks Barbara Ivie - you did my world proud with your cover!)....pick up a copy today and see what Estelan has to offer!!

Estelan is live!

My new YA epic fantasy, ESTELAN, is now live as an eBook on amazon.com.  The paperback will be released shortly.

Happy St. Patrick's Day!!

Editing STILL

I never have enough time in a day. It never fails. I swore I would get to bed early - as in obscenely early - tonight so I would be coherent to rock a late night tomorrow and Friday. That did not happen. I am proud of doing my own edits and I believe rightly so. However, it is tedious and time consuming. This is my 6th time through Estelan. It is always different in paperback form when I read it aloud. But it works. I catch a lot of things I missed before or realize wording could be a wee bit crisper. Yes, I could pay somebody to edit my books but it us expensive to have it done "right" and I am no slouch. Most importantly, this is my baby. It is a piece of me and I do not readily share such tasks with others. It all works out in the end and I feel good about what I am putting out.

I truly hope you all enjoy the final product. Estelan's release is approaching quickly indeed!!

Teaser - Estelan

Here is an excerpt from Chapter 2.

“Let’s get you cleaned up properly M’lady.  Old Pia has the room settled with jasmine and lavender burning and fresh cloths for your wounds.  Kester’s daughter, Thia will sit with you while I run fresh waters for a bath.  Lady Kitin, please stand guard at her door, Master Kriton is working his magics around the boundaries.”

The small child, Thia, was seated on a tiny bench with a small rag doll.  Pallia studied her - thin, gaunt, somehow worn and weary, unlike any child she’d seen before.  Ah, the girl whose picture she saw on the altar downstairs.  Pallia wondered what ailed the child. Thia approached her, silent and graceful as the catlings that lived at Temple.  The child pressed her small hand ever so lightly on Pallia’s shoulder and shook her head sadly.  Thia’s gaze was piercing, full of sorrow as she shook her head again her hand firm on Pallia’s shoulder.

You are quite stronger than you appear child, be calm, I am a priestess of Muna.

The child raised an eyebrow and a chilling grin crept across her face, taking with it all innocence.  A few wild hairs fell into her face, Thia shook them away and looked into Pallia’s eyes.

I do not fear you, Prietess.  The voice in Pallia’s head was older than Thia’s should have been, wise but edged with bitterness that only a grown woman should know.

You can hear me?

The odd child nodded.

Yet you did not sip the tonic did you?

No, I have been like this always. The small creature looked at her with wide, sad, gray eyes and shook her head again, loosing more hairs in the process.  The snow white locks framed her face in a wild fray, her skin grayish and drawn over high cheekbones.  Are you brave, Lady Pallia? Do you fear what grows in the Darkness?

Pallia looked kindly at the little one and offered a weak smile.  The child simply stared back in silence.  There is nothing to fear in the dark, I have lived in it all the annuals of my life.  Do you fear the dark, Thia?

I do not speak of the dark of night, I want to know if you fear Darkness.

Pallia stared at the child, oddly unable to break eye contact.  I do not understand you, Thia.  Why do you speak in riddles?

I will show you, Lady Pallia, if you can bear it.  Look closer, my eyes are peculiar, no?

There was something odd about her eyes, gray at first look but on closer inspection they began to swirl like clouds during a storm, and then Pallia was falling….

she landed in the middle of a snow drift.  Pallia stood and brushed herself off.  She turned round and looked in every direction for some indication of where she stood.  The only light came from the moon above and it was scattered by the blowing snow, little more than an eerie glow in the blizzard.  She heard a sound and walked toward it, moving through the snow as it bit her cheeks and eyelids, the cold numbing her feet and legs.  A flicker of light became visible on the horizon, then another, and Pallia realized it was a group of torches.  Her pace increased as dreams of fire and food gave life to her near-frozen limbs.  The scene before Pallia came into focus, several strange creatures, each smaller than a child but stout and strangely dressed with some type of armor over their breasts.  She realized they were guiding people who were bound by the hands and chained at the feet.  Leading the entire procession was an enormous beast.   Pallia stopped and clasped a frozen hand over her mouth to choke back a scream.   It was larger than anything Pallia had ever seen, covered in a coarse black hair and clothed in a long robe under a metallic vest.  Upon the Beast’s head was a crown of sorts, horned and covered in black ooze that dripped into the snow with each step.  The Beast turned and shouted in a foreign tongue the people clearly did not understand; they cowered and clung to each other, near naked and emaciated.  Pallia looked over the captives for faces she might know, but none stood out.  They were all shaved bald and it was difficult to discern men from women.   Then, one person near the front turned toward her.  Pallia inhaled sharply, backpedaled in the snow and stifled another scream.  The hostage’s sunken eyes bored into hers and she knew the face - her own.  The doppelganger recognized her in turn, smiled in the most gruesome manner and yelled at Pallia “See what you have done?  This is your future now, look what you become!”

The Beast snarled at Bald Pallia, reached within his robes and withdrew a weapon – a long rope with several small silver orbs on the ends of a dozen or so tendrils.  Pallia watched in horror as the Beast raised his whip and brought it down; the tendrils ensnared her ankle and sent droplets of blood into the snow around her doppelganger.  

She screamed - it died in her throat as a door flew open and the scene vanished.  Cold sweat beads formed along her browline as Pallia took in her surroundings.  Pallid violet flicker of candlelight against caryn wood paneling, comfortable warm bed, and Thia back on her bench in the corner, playing with her doll.

Estelan has a cover!

Thanks to the fabulously talented Barbara Ivie has created the most splendid cover that portrays the spirit of Estelan perfectly.  I want to shoot out MANY thanks to my fabulous writing friends at the Writer's Pad.  Hope you all enjoy the cover, my goal is to have Estelan released in time for St. Patty's!

Weekend breaks are refreshing!

I am so excited to have my wonderful Dad in town this weekend.  We have had a great time and have some more fun planned so I am just stopping in real quick to lay down some lines and get some writing in since I have otherwise taken a break from all of my projects since Friday night.  It feels strange to not be doing much by way of writing but I feel refreshed.  Yesterday we went to see the Lorax (my daughter ADORED it and I have to say it was really good) and had a fabulous dinner at The Rock (pizza with spinach, sauteed garlic cloves, bleu cheese, and sauteed mushrooms with a fabulous chocolate porter beer!) and then relaxed at home for the rest of the evening.  It was delightful and what my "cold" needed apparently.  I am still feeling under the weather (yes, for those of you counting it has been six weeks but my doc apparently believes I am med-seeking - don't get me started - or full of it) but a little better.  Right now my daughter is sitting next to me playing Angry Birds on my Dad's iPad and Dad is getting ready for a foray into Fremont for the Sunday market.  I am rather excited for this and perhaps a side trip to the Fremont Troll.  It should be a fun outing as the sun is making its way out and the temp is rising (to a "balmy" 52 degrees).  Well, I am off again.  Back to work on Estelan tonight!

PS Dad has a rental car and it is a CHARGER.....sweet ride!

Estelan set for final edits

I am so excited to put Estelan through the final read through over the next week or so.  I am shooting for a mid-March release.  I have had some awesome beta readers and count myself VERY lucky - you  know who you are and I appreciate your input more than words can say.  Additionally, two wonderful friends collaborated on a cover for Estelan that is quite amazing :)  However, that said, I am waiting on the big reveal until closer to the release date in case anymore changes are made before then. 

I know my posts have been short and inconsistent but I am still fighting this cold and have been VERY busy with life and multiple projects.  Apologies to those following.

Estelan to be released

I have decided to release Estelan as a YA epic fantasy through Amazon soon enough.  The cover is still being put together and I want to do one more read through but I believe it is ready to go.  I intend to release the ebook and paperback at the same time so look for ESTELAN by Trace Broyles this Spring!

Estelan waiting.....

Estelan is on hold for a while.  As mentioned before I entered it into the Amazon Breakthrough Novel 2012 competition.  On February 23rd they will announce the 1000 entries that made it out of the first round.  If Estelan is selected the series will be placed on hold a little longer.  If it is not, I will be pushing forward with the self-pub of the series via Amazon.  I intend to keep everyone posted but this blog will be more silent as I push forward with the Emerald Seer Series (http://emeraldseer.blogspot.com) while waiting to hear the fate of Estelan in ABN.  My fingers are crossed as I entered it in the YA fiction category. 

Echo Rising and some decisions regarding Estelan.

After much deliberation, I have decided to name keep Echo Rising as the sequel to Estelan.  I considered going another direction and bumping Echo Rising to the third book in the series but I am finding myself in such a groove it would be a shame to disrupt it. 

Of course, I realize that only a few people have actually read Estelan (my beta readers) and that they will liekly be disappointed at my decision to make the series a YA fantasy series.  Hopefully others will be pleased with the decision. 

It feels difficult lately to post much on here about Creating Estelan since Estelan is pretty much on hold for the Amazon Breakthrough Contest and talking about Echo Rising could be pointless given that it is a sequel to a book few have read thus far.  At the same time, I do not want to give up on this blog because the process has been a huge help to me as a writer.  Hm.  Decisions, Decisions.  I must ponder such thoughts!

Estelan Update

I took a big leap.  Well, for me anyway.  I completed the edits for a 4th draft of Estelan (formerly known as Fall of Ia) and entered into the Amazon Breakthrough Novel competition.  I have opted to put Estelan out as a YA Fantasy because I think a good portion of the characters lend themselves to the YA genre moreso than the adult fantasy fiction.  It will still round out into an epic fantasy series of 4-5 books.  I am truly pleased with the outcome of Estelan and am hopeful it will be well received.  Unfortunately, the first round is judged on a 300 word or less pitch and that tends to be my downfall.  It is the main reason I opted to self publish my first two books (of the Emerald Seer Series - http://emeraldseer.blogspot.com).  I fail to see how a 300 word or less pitch can encapsulate the depth of an 80,000+ word novel told from multiple points of view.  The feedback I continue to receive is "focus on one character that links them all."  Easier said than done.  Some of the characters never meet each other (i.e. die before interacting with more than sub-characters).  In then end, I opted to go with something more general that I believe conveys the main plotline without giving away any of the plot twists.  I will know if I make the cut on February 24th, if I do not then I will be releasing Estelan as a self-pubbed work.  Until then, I will continue working on Echo Rising (sequel to Estelan) and End of the Night (third in the Emerald Seer Series).

Fingers crossed - Check
Writing cap on - Check
Hopefull - Check

Light My Fire - Emerald Seer II is a free ebook this weekend

Hey all!  In honor of the FABULOUS HOUSTON TEXANS making their first playoff appearance, I am offering Light My Fire (Emerald Seer II) as a freebie ebook on Amazon this weekend (SUNDAY and MONDAY - January 8th and 9th).  Enjoy!

GO TEXANS!