I tanked NaNoWriMo

Whelp, I honestly expected this. Work got the best of me. I ended up with a super low word count. Not even 20,000 words. I'm not really disappointed in myself because I worked like 60 hours over the holiday weekend alone.  Maybe next year.

Another 1,000 words down

Each little bit is bringing me closer to my goals!

I wrote the hardest scene yesterday.

Yesterday I picked up writing again for a short while and in doing so, I pushed myself. It was the hardest thing I have ever written, but it turned out so good. So emotional and raw. I had my partner read it and she even became excited for the manuscript to be finished.

I can only hope to have more days like that this month.

Word count down the drain.

Yup, this year went exactly how I figured it would.  I have no time, or energy to write. I've even lost the inspiration that I had last month. It's just buried under the pile of work stress. I normally only have about 3 hours a day to myself where I am not working or driving to and from.

It's been hard this year and to be honest to myself, I won't finish anywhere near on track. But I do still have my deadline, and a few days off coming up.

I'll be interested to see where they go.

Day 5 NaNoWriMo

Well, day 5 has come to an end and I can't say that I am proud of myself. I'm just over 3,000 words. Done with chapter one, yes, but nothing to be proud of. I am already behind, that's normal so I'm not worried, but I have a day off coming up soon. Maybe then I can get some big numbers down.

3 Pages of Plot

As part of this year's NaNoWriMo I am pulling out every trick I have. Including mapping out a plot. Took me 3 pages of hand written notes, but I am so ready to start this year's challenge.

I have a release date.

So with how excited I am about NaNoWriMo this year, I decided to mix  that with my personal goals. So sense this will be released for free in chapters, I've decided to release the entire novel as one, but for sale. Today I happily announce my release date.

MARCH 1st 2018
The Adventures of Ragnar (title subject to change )

I have a lot of work a head of me, and I can't wait.

NaNoWriMo 2017 prep

Okay, so as I'm sure you all know, November is just a few days away. Now, for the part that you might not know is that it's national novel writing month. It's a challenge to write a new book from start, to at least 50,000 words in the span of said month. I'm about to do it again.

This year, I'd be curious to see if any of you would be interested in following my personal goals and progress.

What's it about?

Glad you asked. It's a fantasy novel that follows a tribal man who's life gets turned upside down when he is sold into slave trade. His adventures only grown from there as he not only finds himself, but adventures with a band of pirates, finds love, and must make the hard choice of happiness, or to save the world.



I'm so excited for this year. I'm also already behind. Gotta finish up my character sheets!

Writers and day jobs

I was chatting with one of my writing friends and found out that as of a few days ago, he quit his day job and is writing full time. I got oddly excited at the thought, even though I have no plans of quitting my day job. I asked how long it took him to get there.

"10 years I've been writing." He answered.

I could feel my heart break.

As someone who has only recently come to the conclusion that writing is my thing, I knew it wouldn't happen overnight. On the other hand, I didn't realize that it would take so long either.

As of today I've been published for about 3 years now, and honestly even with all the progress that I have made, I don't feel like I am anywhere near where I should be.

My heart breaks again.

The numbers hurt, I won't lie. The months with .35 cent paychecks from book sales, hurts.

I keep going though. I do it for myself. For my readers. I do it for the LGBTQ persons who have not found their comfort yet.

I will write on.
I will continue my journey.

Late night character building

Yup, I work my normal job tomorrow too, but I'm not about to let that slow down. My NaNoWriMo prep!

Working on new covers.

Yup, it will be a process, and one that will take a few rounds, but I am updating my novel covers and soon I will also be starting on Blurbs. So that's super exciting.

Driving is my jam.

Some people get great ideas in the shower, I was never one of those people. My brain seems to work best when I'm sitting in the car driving, or on a bus or train. The up side of this, I drive about 2 hours everyday to and from work. (Round trip thank the gods.) The down side, it's pretty dangerous to write while trying to drive. Normally when I get to work and park, I scribble down notes like crazy. I feel like this is how all of November is going to go. I'm perfectly okay with that.

Daily tracking.

With NaNoWriMo on its way all too quick, I wanted to really start looking at my career as an author. So, how does one see progress? You track it in some way. So to give myself a visual I'll be tracking some of my selective stats over the next few months and keep more written records of my progress. I can only hope that it helps.

What are some of the things you do to view your own progress?

NaNoWriMo prep!

It's that time of year again when a ton of us make the bad decision to give up our entire month of November to write a novel. For some it's a challenge, others breeze right through it.

For me, it's always been a struggle. This will be my 4th year doing it, and I have no real hope to win. However, you can bet that I'm still going to do it.

Any excuse to write is a good one. -looks over at the pile of dishes-

Anyway! This year I really want to document my work to you all. I have a few ideas for some stories, all (cept one that I don't think I really want to do for this anyway) of these ideas will be public. I don't always post my actual work online for free, but I feel like this could be fun.

I'll for sure have more details of where it will be posted within the next week or two. For now, I must ready myself.

What's your favorite way to prep for national novel writing month?

I hate not having internet.

The title sums it all up. Yeah, sure, I can type on my phone. But it's not the same. At least not here. It also eats my limited data because this cat it too broke to get the unlimited plan. Maybe one day I can return to my love of writing.

Gullible Character - Writing Prompt

     She believed everything she was ever told. From a young age Lilly was always taught to tell the truth, she had always assumed that the rest of the world knew that as well. It was a blind faith that she had in people and grade school wasn’t much different from home. She figured sense the teachers were smart, they must know everything too and only speak the truth. Her classmates would tell her such amazing stories about Paris, or the magical creature that gave them every answer to homework. She never once thought to doubt them. She had no reason to. Her life went on around her as she kept her head up in the clouds. It suited her well.

High school started and was beyond eye opening. Lilly had many firsts in those days. Her first crush. Rayden was the star of the football team and everyone wanted him. Lilly followed her friends and listened to them talk about him. How hot he was, how someone else heard a dirty rumor about him. The girls would fly into a fit of giggles each time.

“Hey Lilly wait up!”

Hearing her name but not recognizing the voice, Lilly turned around. Her jaw almost dropped open with surprise. “Rayden, what’s up?” Her head cocked a bit as she spoke, it was an odd behavior but one that she had picked up.

Heather squealed at the news she was just told. “He’s such a player! Are you really going to go out with him?”

“Is he really?” Lilly pulled her legs up against her chest. “I don’t know who to believe, he seemed so nice and genuine.” Her brain spun as she sat there with her best friend.

Three days later Heather picked up her phone without thinking twice. She spoke into the phone, concern in her voice. “Are you okay? I didn’t hear from you after your date!” Her words flowed out at what seemed like five hundred words a minute.

Lilly on the other hand was holding herself back. Her tone was low and there was a hint of tears in her voice. “The stories were right, you were right. It was terrible.” Heather could hear the tears start to fall from her eyes.

In that moment, she believed everything that she had ever heard.  

Silver Mane- Part 4

     Alright, you all loved it and I am bringing it back, better than ever.

     Ana just escaped from being a slave only to land herself into a pack of werewolves. As if being surrounded by those monsters wasn't bad enough, but one of them is out to get her. Her only protection is the alpha who is in love with her new prize. Ana doesn't see a way out until she meets a countess in town and her world turns upside down again.


Read it here for free!

Busy Little Kitty

     Radio silence has returned to your dash due to the crazy fact that my new job has been working the heck out of me. I'm on week three and already pulling over time and working 8 days in a row. Tomorrow I have some class that I have to go to and I'm kinda excited.

     The up side of all this, is my brain is always working and I cannot wait to get myself into a better writing habit. I just need to wait until our new location is open.

I Love Being a Lesbian

     Like really, most days it's just my favorite thing to do, not even in a sexual way. I work at an AMAZING place who is very LGBT friendly. Like even worldwide awards for being in the top of it all. Anyway, I love trolling my customers some days. I work downtown Chicago between the Magnificent Mile and Navy Pier. High end kind of area, lots of tourists. It never fails there are days where one of our customers gets angry at me for following company rules, and claims something sexist, or bigoted. 

     Sadly, I'm used to this kind of behavior so it's really easy to just ignore their hate. However, this one guy, he must have been having a really bad day and when I served him his food (He ordered hot food and I made it and brought it out to him.) and he said quite loudly that he wanted a refund because a 'nasty dyke' touched his food and couldn't believe how someone could let 'those people' work there. I snickered a bit and went to give him a refund. Due to my position, I have that power. 

     I never got a chance to give him said refund. My manager was sweeping the lobby at that time and just happened to overhear the conversation. They weren't too happy and promptly kicked him out for harassment. 

     I love my job, and I love being gay. 

     A few other perks include having a super cute girlfriend. Being able to complement girls and not being called a creep. Boobs. Having super cool hair. Boobs! A feeling of security with my partner. Did I mention boobs? 

     haha in all seriousness, it's great, and I wouldn't trade it for anything in the world.

Awesome new lesfic

     I was bumming around the other day on Wattpad and came across a new favorite author. I totally got sucked into Dear Mrs. Rose within the first chapter. It wasn't a perfect book, but by the gods it was amazing.

     I personally cannot wait to read more of her work. The characters were relateable, and the situation wasn't too outlandish (like I find a lot of teacher/student fiction). It was just overall really enjoyable and I found myself really sucked into it.

     Go check out what she has! She seems to write a lot of lesfic in different genres.
     Awesome New Lesfic Author!

A Legacy of Spies by John le Carre

     John le Carre is a British author of espionage novels. After more than 25 years he's brought his spymaster, George Smiley, back to the pages of his newest book. In stores September 5th, it's something to be on the lookout for.

     "Peter Guillam, staunch colleague and disciple of George Smiley of the British Secret Service, is living out his old age on the family farmstead on the south coast of Brittany when a letter from his old service summons him to London."

'Day in June' Stays in the kids section!

The west Chicago library board agreed to keep a book called "This Day in June" on its children's shelf. They held a meeting that drew in more than 150 people. Some residents thought some of its content wasn't appropriate for young readers.

The book was written by Gayle E. Pitman and is described on the library's website as "a wildly whimsical, validating and exuberant reflection of the LGBT community, that welcomes readers to experience a prude celebration and share in a day when we are all united".

I personally haven't read it, but you can bet yourself I'm going to now! If you have read it, let me know in the comments below and tell me what you thought!

New Job

Wow, some days I still just can't believe that I've been a published author for a few years now, but I've always known that it wouldn't be enough, at least not in the beginning. So I've always had a 'day job' as well as working on my writing. 

Today is an incredible day, after working just one year at my current location, I'm now starting as a supervisor. This is great for me. It means more money, more benefits (like health insurance!), and times to come will be a lot more stable. 

So that's good. At least for me. My writing however, will more than likely take the hit. Sadly there are only so many hours in a day. 

Who know's though. This might be what I need to refocus myself. I do have that massive list of things I need to write and I'm getting more ideas every day, so I will have to get myself focused on that. But perhaps writing will go back to being something I really enjoy and can get myself into more so. Books have always been an escape from the outside world for me. My own included.

Just Desserts Re-release!

Today I'm beyond happy to announce that my original story has had a face-lift. If you have enjoyed any lesbian fiction (or lesfic) please take a few moments to check out this book. I know you'll love it.
Click here to get your hot copy today!

Realization and Self Imposed Deadlines

     I've come to the recent thought process that I should have no problem at all getting one rough draft done every two months. That's about what I did during the holiday season while working two jobs. I can then take two months to work on edits and I should be able to get at least three books out per year with those numbers. 

     Time to impose some self infliced deadlines. This will also hopefully keep me on track with updating things and keeping my 'coming soon' page current. Here is my current line up of things that have already been in the works for too long. There is no order to theses. 

-Between Heaven and Hell

-A Good Cup of Coffee

-Lionheart Abyss short collection

-Kira and Danaca Holiday Short

-Nymph-Elf Romance Short; A errotica from the Lionheart Abyss series

-Lionheart Abyss

-The Adventures of Ragnar

-Silver Mane

-Lesbian Vampire Romance

Again, all of these are in different places right now, but it feels really good to see all of my current projects. Quite a few of these have been NaNoWriMo projects and are fairly far. Some will be full length, other's shorts, still others just collections. I can't wait.
By the end of 2018 I will have at least two of these done and released. Let me know what you are looking forward to.
x

Making Friends.

     As a lesbian first and a writer second sometimes I find it hard to make new friends. Even more so sometimes it's hard to find people I could even talk to about my books. At least outside of my wife, whom I'm sure is sick of hearing about it. She's actually a really good sport about it.

     Anyway, it always amazes me when I do make a new friend even more so when said friend says they write as well. So now for the next few weeks we will swap stories over the next few weeks and if I am lucky, I'll have her as a friend for quite some time. Also I might be able to con her into being a beta for my current projects.

     It just goes to show, you never know who's in your same boat.

Nazi in America

     I can honestly say that I never thought that I would be writing those words, or any of this post to be honest. I do however, feel like it's something that I need to address. Even though I try to keep my political opinions to myself, this I believe has more than just political sustenance.

     People have died, in the past and even more currently. My heart hurts for the family of that brave woman. She deserves more than a moment of silence for her courage.

     Sadly we must move on. As LGBT, I know how the country feels. A group of people all for a new genocide. We deal with this all the time honestly, however, this is America and I damn well thought that we were making progress, not the other way around. I'm greatly disappointed in our leader for not stepping above it and handling the situation but I can also honestly say that I didn't expect anything else.

     These groups are only relevant when we fear them. That blind fear gives them power. I'm here to tell you not to give it to them. We beat them before and we will again. We will stand strong and protect one another until the end, but we will not fear, we will not run. We are brave. We are the true Americans and by the Gods of this world, we will not stand for this.

Back From Vacation

     Sorry there wasn't a warning, I had honestly taken everything with me and fully planned on working over my trip, but as you see that didn't happen. Haha

     So now I'm back, feeling refreshed and ready to rock at life again.

Love is.

Love is understanding. I can't thank you enough for that kindness.

Love is forgiving. Even when I do wrong time and again, you find it in your heart to forgive me.

Love is teaching. Every day you show me something new.

Love is learning. I've worked through my frustration to understand you.

Love is an adventure. Live it.

I love being Gay

Like really. Girls are so pretty and I just can't help myself.

It also never stop amazing me the ways that I impress them. Story time!

I'm at my day job and working with all females. No big deal, I get along great with my co-workers. This one however, super sweet girl, breaks a nail. I ask if she needs some nail glue. "Yeah." She says a little heart broken. I tell her no worries I have some in my bag, I'll go get it. Her face is priceless and her nail is saved. You don't have to want anything from a woman other than her happiness.

Transgender in the Military

     I want to take some time today and talk about something that’s pretty big right now on the internet. How our President tweeted about his opinion as if twitter was part of the Government process. He did not take those words through the white house and even his own cabinet was a bit shocked at the posts.

For those of you who haven’t seen it, I’ll give you the short version. Our President stated that the US military will no longer accept Trans because they are mentally unstable and a burden to our healthcare.

We all know that’s nothing but a pile of crap Mr. President. He never served in the army, and doesn’t seem to know anything about how the Trans people of America even effect the health care system. He has no right to ban a group of people from serving their country.

A few others have spoken up about this all backing the wonderful Trans community.

Now here comes my own personal rant about this entire thing. It’s bullshit. Our president cannot make decisions over twitter for the entire country. That’s not how this works, for starters. Second, saying that an entire group of people will be a burden on the rest? The fuck? Like our old people are not sucking the system dry as well. Like Trump going golfing every week isn’t draining our economy. Or the fact that his wife lives apart from him and needs body guards. All of course being paid for by our government.

I’d rather pay the extra few dollars a year to see a Trans person get the meds they need for a safe transition. I don’t see them as the big American burden. If they want to serve in our military and can do so physically. Let them!

Mental stability isn’t exclusive to any one set of people either. I know normal straight people, on no meds with massive anger issues, who are racist as all get out and I personally wouldn’t want them behind a trigger. But they have served. Woman, once considered to be mentally unstable for battle, are now serving and coming home to care for their family. Trans people have been serving for years and this has never been a problem before.

To sum this all up though, I doubt that the tweets have any real traction. If you let those words hurt you, then realize that you let some internet bully tell you how to feel. Together we are stronger than he will ever be.

You are loved.

You matter.

You are not a burden to us.

Stay strong. ~Skadia

Loosing Herself - Writing Prompt

     This was a quick challenge. "Microfiction" The term means small fiction. Or mini fiction. So I tried to make this as quick as I could.

     She sat on the floor, her auburn hair falling into her face. The words just didn't seem real as she read the text through tears again and again. Her bleeding heart shattered as the mirror's glass bounced across the floor. In one heartbeat, she had lost everything, including herself.

I'd Rather Be Writing

     I'd honestly rather be working on my current commission. I've been doing a lot of word sprints to kick out some decent progress on it. However, my brain has decided to fry because of the heat. It's just after one in the afternoon here and with the heat index it currently feels like 103. I'm not looking forward to going to my day job today, but such is life.

     Why am I writing this then instead of working? Because I at least wanted to get some sort of writing in. I'm also thinking about doing a new 30 day challenge. This next one might be to write a blog post every day. Maybe. Could be, or it could just be me working on more word sprints. Not to sure yet, but I would like to work on setting more goals.

I Saved My Girlfriend by Not Kissing Her

  In today’s world most of us don’t think twice about kissing out loved ones. Especially if they are about to leave for a trip or just away for a few hours. I don’t live near my girlfriend. She lives up in the city, I live outside, but we both go back and forth a lot. My day job is up there in said city, so it’s not like we don’t see one another often. The other day I was taking her to the train station, making it easy on my car instead of back and forth, and we got there early and sat in the car just talking. Sounds normal right? You would again in today’s world not think much of it. If you’re gay, or lesbian, or even trans however, you do actually think twice on things.

     I didn’t kiss her goodbye. It killed me and broke my heart, but let me tell you why.

     The entire time we sat there, two guys in a car next to us watched us. Intently. Not gesturing, not saying anything, just watching. It made my stomach knot. Fear crept into the back of my mind and warning bells went off. Something in my gut told me not to kiss her that day. Something told me not to be gay. She left on the train and I watched her walk through the doors. The moment she got through, one of the guys got out of the car and walked in after her. No bags, luggage, not even a backpack at nine o’clock at night going up to the city. It was odd. It scared me. I actually was afraid that something would happen to her.

     Did anything? No. But then again, I didn’t kiss her either.  

Not Sure Anymore

     I've been working on this blog for quite some time and while I do enjoy doing it, it's been a work in itself and one that I'm not sure where to go or what to do with it from here. I found that I don't like posting Silver Mane here, I'd rather post it on other sites where it would makes more sense. Places where you won't have to click a ton of buttons to go through the whole series. But what really to do with this. I've been here for years and I feel like it's gotten me no where. I haven't made any connections and most days recently it's been feeling like a waste of my time. Time that I could dedicate to writing more books. I just don't know right now what I want to do with this blog anymore.

Hi, My Name is Skadia and I'm a Lesbian

     This isn't how the world works, when someone introduces themselves. It is however, how the world judges. I wanted to talk a bit about how I've been seen differently as a lesbian in just every day normal life. Some of my friends can't believe when I tell them things like this, but when they see it, they all seem to understand a bit more.

     "I don't want a dyke to touch my food." So my day job when I'm not writing is working at a movie theater. I really do love my job and the company is the most accepting that I have ever worked for. Being a lesbian doesn't matter to them. They are even super cool with Trans and just about anything else short of illegal activities. I have honestly had guests waiting in line, only that when I call them they wave me off or ignore me. Only to go to someone's register next to me and gripe 'under their breath' that they cannot imagine why anyone would let 'people like that serve food'. I've even had co-workers hear people talking about the 'stupid dyke who wouldn't -insert whatever rule I followed here-' It happens, a lot more than people realize.

     "You people should all just go die." Again another extreme thing, but I've heard it more than once.

     "Fucking dykes!" This gem is generally yelled out of car windows most often while I am walking with my girlfriend just holding her hand and talking. Or playing pokemon go. Sitting too close will also get the came reaction. I've even had some homeless guy harass me just because my hair is short and for once I actually 'looked gay'. That was a long bus ride.

     I could honestly go on and on about what other's have said or done to me all over the simple fact that I love someone, but I won't. That's not the message I want to send. It's not about hate, it's about love. It's about not being alone in this world. I wanted to share these with you all because you are not alone. Don't let their words control you. Rise up. It sadly won't be going away, you will have to deal with it, so don't let words bother you. They truly don't matter. I mean come on, these people aren't paying your bills, their opinion shouldn't matter one bit. Sure, it can still hurt, but don't take these things personally. You're better than that.

     ~Skadia, the writing panther, who just happens to be gay.

Witchling Review

Witchling by Yasmine Galenorn.

     Today I want to share with you all the first book in a series that I have very much enjoyed. I sadly have not kept up with the series due to moving and lack of book stores, but I will one day catch up. -looks over at my pile of unread books- One day.

     I really enjoyed how the author made the series revolve around strong female leads. As a girl growing up, those types of books were hard to find. She also is an author who isn’t afraid to show her characters faults. I know a few series that try to idolize them or just ignore that concept. Yasmine embraces them. She lets them struggle with themselves and I personally love it. She created a well rounded world that’s believable. She’s also put many hours into the research of magic and the creatures that surround the characters as well. I know that had to have taken a lot of time.

Three magical kick-ass sisters are faced with an unexplainable murder. They have their hunches that it has something to do with Shadow Wing, the leader of the Subterranean Realms. His plan is to raze human kind to the ground, making it into his own personal playground. The D’Artigo sisters are the only ones willing to step up and stop him, or at least try to.

Some characters to watch:

Camille- A wicked-good witch who’s magic sometimes goes a little astray when she least expects it.

Delilah- A shape-shifter who shifts into a tabby cat whenever she’s under a lot of stress.

Menolly- A newly turned vampire who is still trying to get the hang of her new life.

[Click here to get yourself a copy!]

Daughter of the Bright Moon Review

Daughter of the Bright Moon by Lynn Abbey

This novel was published in 1979, and Lynn Abbey’s first published work. It was also nominated for the “Locus Award” for Best Fantasy Novel.

In a world where men rule and women are expected to be just that, ladies, Rifkind won her freedom, her war-horse, and her own sword. She is a healer who has been graced by the power of her moon goddess. Her destiny well decided for her, she must travel, with her only trusted friend Turin her war-horse, to a new world were and evil sorcerer controls the land.

I’ll try to keep my actual review on this short. It will as always have minimal spoilers if any at all and will be one hundred percent my own opinions. To start off, I will say that I greatly enjoyed this book. It took me about a week to finish and I enjoyed every moment of it. Even to the point where I was sneaking in a few pages even while on the bus on my way to my day job.

I’m going to start off with my biggest gripes about the book, and while I do so, I must keep in mind how old this one is. Yeah sure forty years doesn’t sound like a long time, but it is for a book, and how they have evolved sense then. Some of the writing was a bit confusing, lacking some words that would have been in newer books. A few places where I found myself going back to get the full picture of things and set ups. The battle’s were especially this way for me. I also felt it lacking a bit more background information that I would have personally preferred. It speaks of events that were normal for this woman’s tribe but yet they meant little to be because I felt like I was missing why they were important to her.

Now let’s move on to the things I enjoyed about it, and why you should really read this one. First off, the leading lady is amazing. Far from flawless but to headstrong to need any man. Speaking of, a bit of a spoiler here, I was so happy to see the two main characters stay friends and not hook up. Truly that in itself is an amazing point. Another aspect that truly made me enjoy this book was the research put into the main secondary character, Turin, the War-horse. Lynn made a world that was so well thought out that you understood how the powers worked within it. I always appreciate that.

While it may be a bit harder to find, for sure snag yourself a copy. Great Characters, kick ass woman who can hold her own, and a beautiful world to set it all in.  

Wonder Woman Review

    So yesterday I went for the second time to see Wonder Woman, and I still stand by my original thoughts. To put it simply, this isn’t a revolutionary movie, it isn’t perfect, but it is a damn good one. It’s also very empowering to a lot of little girls, and some older ones too. That seems like a win win to me. I promise I will not give any spoilers in this review. I’m going to look at a few key elements. Things like what I personally liked, and didn’t. The quality of the animation and story. As well as a few other key points that I feel like they are worth mentioning.

     Let’s just start off with the bad and get all that muck out of the way. I overall really enjoyed the movie, again it wasn’t flawless and I’m not claiming it was the greatest movie ever. By far DC studios greatest, but that’s not the main focus here. There was one part that really killed the entire vibe for me, as a story teller mostly. Again, I won’t give away spoilers, but I am going to describe the situation and why it bothered me so much. There was a part near the end that was a turning point for the entire movie, maybe just within the last fifteen minutes. So as a story teller, I’m expecting things to wrap up. Our main characters have their final moment, and it’s done in such a tasteful way I love it. It left things open for personal interpretation. After all, what is art supposed to do! Anyway, the film moved on from that moment only to return and repeat it. The entire scene. But wait! It didn’t just flashback to something that happened only a few moments ago, it forced something down the viewers throats. Again, prior to this each viewer could take it however they wanted to. As DC however, showed it again, with ‘new’ information to the viewer, we were then forced to all make the same conclusion. That moment, killed it all for me. We are in the biggest fight of the movie (that’s not a spoiler, it’s a super hero movie, you knew it was going to be there) and they decide to stuff character development down our throats.

     Other than that, I can’t really say that anything else ‘broke’ the movie for me. After seeing DC’s prior films, I really had some low expectations. Did it have a bit too much CG effects? Oh yeah. Did they look cheesy? Sure did. But again, this is a super hero movie. She’s an amazon running around with a shield and glowing lasso of truth. I didn’t expect it to look hyper realistic. It actually became a feature that I enjoyed. It seemed to pull her out of the world and bring back fond memories of what super hero’s meant to me when I was younger. The only other small thing that bothered me to any extent, and it bothered my girlfriend more so than me, was the sound clips. They must have spent their budget on other things because some of the sound effects were just so ‘basic horse sound #1’ kinda vibe. However, I think DC could have done far worse on this one. They at least didn’t use monster roars for wolves. Looking at you Disney. (If you haven’t seen the new remake of Beauty and the Beast, I don’t recommend you do so, just watch the original.)

     Alright, now that all that mess is out of the way let me get down to some of my personal likes from this movie. While the story was reminiscence of “Captain America” from Marvel, I only could see that in the fact that it took place during WWI. And there was a motorcycle in one scene. It didn’t feel however, like I was watching Captain America. I honestly thought that movie was beyond boring. Not bad, just not my taste, I’m also not fond of him as a character either. Princess Diana. She on the other hand rang of strength and faults. I love a character with faults. Her actress Gal Gadot played the part beautifully.

     Gal Gadot for those of you who do not know, is an Isralle actress and model. She has been in The Fast and the Furious franchise before taking up her roll as Wonder Woman.

     I also really enjoyed all the trow backs and nods to the old TV series and comics. Even some of her classic music has been updated to fit this new, wonderful, Wonder Woman. As far as the actual story line goes, there are a few moments that left me having a ‘what the heck?’ kind of moment. But those feelings normally didn’t last too long as the action kept me moving forward. The camera shots. OH MY GODS! Let me just take a moment and tip my hat to the director who made some amazing choices. Blending speeds and angles to get some really awesome kick ass scenes. Oh it made my heart melt. They did an amazing job mixing things up and really bringing you to where the action was, even if it was a little comic type extreme at times.

     DC really pushed a lot of lines with this movie. I was so happy to see many different cultures represented in this one. They night not have been massive or in depth, but they were there, each with their own skill set. I personally, like to think that it mattered. Even on the Amazon island, they had people of color and different races on their little home.

     Now one final thing I want to talk about is sex. We all know that sex sells and as a woman, I see it all the time in media. So much so that I have come to expect it. I shouldn’t, but I do. The list of the examples is way to long to even being, so I won’t. With this movie, I expected no less honestly, and I was oddly surprised. There wasn’t a single ‘money shot’. Now what could I mean by that. We all know it. That one shot that they take where it makes the female character look like a slut, an item, like nothing but eye candy. Again, we come to expect that. I was happily disappointed. They didn’t make Princess Diana sexy. She was beautiful don’t get me wrong. She was strong and powerful, and sexy, but for those reasons alone. Not because they made her. Even in some fights you could catch the ‘plush’ (I doubt it’s fat, but muscle isn’t known to move hence the term here) of her legs jiggle upon landing. In our society that’s never seen. Ever! They kept those female curves and weren’t afraid to show them. It gave a normal feel to it. It showed every little girl out there that curves are okay. Heck even as an adult I felt better about myself walking out of it.

     My final conclusion. Go see it. Give the movie a chance, it’s by far the best thing I’ve seen come from DC. It’s empowering. It’s a fun movie. Go see it, go take the kids. Let them see how strong women can be. Even if they aren’t Diana, princess of the Amazons, daughter of Hippolyta, they can be strong, they can make a difference. They too were molded from clay and brought to life by Zeus.   

Day of Remembering

     I want to step back and take a moment to talk about something. I didn't even realize we were at the one year mark of the Orlando Pulse shooting. I still remember seeing it. I remember reading the stories about the EMT's showing up and the only sound being cell phones ringing. It still brings tears to my eyes. One year ago, someone decided to take lives just because he didn't agree with how they lived. It still hurts. This month is LGBTQ Pride month, and I cannot be more proud to stand up for the rights that we have fought for. We have come so far, but we also have a long ways to go.

     Be brave, I know it's scary, and events like what happened at Pulse really drive it home on how hard some of us fight. But we can do it. Together. With love. Don't forget, you are never alone. Reach out, talk to friends, family, call a help line if you need too. I know I'm always here to talk to if you need to vent, or cry. Hit me up on Twitter or even message me on Facebook. You are loved, and you matter. Never forget.

All my love
~Skadia

Sorry

     I know that this one single word doesn't really mean much, nor does it fix anything. But you all deserve an apology. I haven't posted anything for quite some time now. And that's not fair to you all. I will however explain what has been going on that has brought my writing to a screeching halt.

     Life in general this year has been pretty rough. Early this year the love of my life walked out. She left her business, her stuff, even her cat with me. It left me pretty torn up. I've sense been dealing with it and working on getting my own life together. I realized that I lived my life for someone else, and that in the end, didn't make me happy. So on top of dealing with that mess, I have been keeping my job and working very hard towards moving up in my company. So while that's not bad news, it does keep me busy. I've also been tasked with finishing all of the commissions sense "I was the one who was paid for them". Most have been paid for well over a year or two but that's all besides the point. So I'm working my normal job away from home and trying to get those done on my days off.

     I was doing very well on writing every single day, at least one thousand words, but even that fell apart. I woke up late one morning, had an event early the next after a late night shift and it all just went downhill from there.

     In short, it seems like my life is just falling apart. I don't always have access to internet so that doesn't help with posting things. It's just crazy. I do however hope to get back on track soon. Today being a day where I'm actually writing. So I'm trying. Little steps.

"Rise from the Grave" Now out!

I'm super excited to bring you the news about my newest release. "Rise from the Grave" A short from the Lionheart Abyss series.

Valdis isn't having such a good day, and the grumpy litch from a few towns over isn't about to make it any better.

Click here to get it.

Silver Mane Part 13

     “What’s going on? Why does Kavos suddenly have such a problem with me?” Ana stood her ground and stomped her foot into the dirt, tears behind her eyes. She just finally started to feel like she was making ground with the pack and then this whole mess. He was so mad at her when really she was the one that had almost just died.

     Alice sucked in the cool evening air and sat down. Her fur kept the chill off of her. Ana was too mad to be cold, at least at this point in her range. “Sit please.”

     “I’m not your pet to command!” Ana snapped back at her.

     Alice again took another deep breath. She wasn’t the beta of the pack so there would be no rolling, but she did respect Ana as an alpha. As odd as the situation was, she really did love her alpha, and this was her choice in mates, so be it. “Forgive me Miss, I just didn’t want you to stand through a very winded explanation.” She lowered her head and didn’t look the human in the eyes.

     Ana looked at the wolf before her, her gaze softened as she noticed her body posture. The wolf kept her head down and for once Ana started to feel bad for the wolf. She decided to sit down. She was still mad about what was going on, but at least she would get some answers. If this was going to continue, she was going to leave. This wasn’t what she signed up for, again, she didn’t want any of this. She never asked to be a slave, and the tears finally burst through. “I’m sorry, this is all just too much. None of it makes sense, and I just can’t.” She buried her face in her hands and let the tears run down her face and pool in her hands.

     Alice sat there watching, she didn’t know if she should just continue or let the girl cry. Humans are so confusing to her and she cocked her head. Without thinking she scooted over to the woman and wrapped her arms around her, pulling her close to her chest. Ana snuggled into her fur and slowly stopped crying. Alice took that moment and told her a story from all too long ago.

     “Many moons ago, before the Elders created the council, before the humans made their castles there was only the night.” Her voice was calm and soothing, this was the story of their pack. One that every pup had heard at one time or another. She knew it by heart. “In the night there were monsters. Some lived in the water, some in the sky, but the ones that lived on land, fought for it. There was never enough land for each to have his own.” She took a deep breath and ran her paw through the woman’s hair. Her eyes closed as she continued the story. “There were two clans. One of fur, and one of blood. We hunted together at one point, but those days didn’t last forever. One hard winter animals became scarce. Food was limited and the two clans were getting possessive over the limited food. The blood clan turned towards humans for food. Their new prey quickly became their favorite. The humans however, entranced by their charm and beauty turned against the other creatures. They turned on the wolves that lived in the area. The fur clan was hunted, skinned and hung on walls. The blood clan, they blended in with their prey. Sense then, the two have turned against one another. They will never hunt together again.”

     Ana had found comfort in the wolf’s voice and by the end of the story her tears had stopped all together. “So that’s why you hate each other? Because vampires started killing humans and wolves though it was wrong.” Her statement showed that she was paying attention.

     “In short I suppose that would sum it up fairly well. Of course there is much more to it, but I won’t bore you with politics.” Alice looked down at the woman who had curled up in her lap. She missed her pup in that moment and her heart hurt, the sadness welled up to her eyes like it hadn’t done for many many moons.

     Ana interrupted her thought process with a simple question this time. “Why was Kavos so mad at me then?” Her brain could wrap around the concept of hating the vampire for killing people, but why be mad at her. She was in trouble and some random woman helped her.

     “The simple answer to that, is because he cares.”

     “And the longer answer?” Ana prodded.

     The wolf sucked in a deep breath while her brain tried to figure it out herself. At least how to explain it to a human. To a wolf, it was simple, but she didn’t quite think that Ana would understand it the same way. “First off, he was in a panic because he didn’t know if she has already claimed you. That would have been all sorts of bad. You would then be the most important piece in a very bloody war. Another reason I’m sure is that if anything happened to you while you were in his care, Stela would,” She tried to find the right words without telling Ana the gruesome truth. “Well, let’s just say that your she-wolf wouldn’t be so happy or forgiving about that.” She couldn’t help but laugh a little at her own wording. “Mostly though, he was scared. Scared of loosing you. Of that blood sucker stealing your would or hurting you.”

     “But she actually saved me.” Ana tried to point out, thinking that it would make the entire mess easier.

     “He didn’t know, nor do I think it matters at this point. First off, you are safe, so that’s good. Second, and the bigger of the two issues, we now know there are vampires in the area.”

     “The people in the village seemed to know her and respect her. The guy was about to hurt me, and when she stepped up in turned into a puppy.” Alice twitched at the word. “Oh sorry.” Ana laughed a bit as she wiped away her final tears.

     “Of course they do. Her family, or at least she, has been around for most of their lives. They all know her so to speak.” Alice explained.

     “Doesn’t that mean then that the town would be more accepting of the pack then?”

     “Yes and no. I doubt they realize what she is. However, it does seem that they are accepting of long living families. I don’t think our problem will be with the town. More so with them.” Alice let the silence creep over the two in the small cave. The rest of the pack should be back any moment. She pulled the exhausted Ana into her arms and against her chest and within moments the woman was fast asleep.

Rise from the Grave pre-orders open!

     That's right, pre-orders are open and it will release this Saturday (5/27) and with the pre-order it will arrive directly on your device when it goes live.

Get it first, here.

Silver Mane update

     I finally got myself back on track and am happy to announce that this Wednesday there will be another Silver Mane post. I'm also working on a few other little things that are exciting to me, so be on the lookout.

Organization

     I keep finding myself running into the same problems week after week and I can't seem to figure out how to fix it. So again, I'm going to try something. I'm a very visual person and it's how I learn easiest. So today, I gathered all my projects and mapped them out in their stages. Perfect. Now that I can see everything it helps.

I goofed again

     This shouldn't come as a surprise to anyone, but I lost track of the days again. I do have some good news about it though. I at least have the next few chapters outlined. So I'm hoping that over my next few days off that I can get those all typed up and ahead of the game.

Two Weeks!

     While I did miss a few days, today is day 14 of my daily writing. As in I have for 14 day's, wrote 1,000 words. I can't even believe it myself. Odd considering I've done NaNoWriMo for a few years now. I always come close (around 30,000 or so) I've never actually won. This little project however, is showing me what I can actually do. It's also been a wonderful help for brainstorming.

Summer Time

     It's that time of year again, school is letting out and summer starts. The downfall, that beautiful teacher that you had a crush on all year, is now gone. Your shot of getting banged on her desk, sadly gone. Here's some good news, you can go check out my series "Lesson Learned" and relive all those juicy moments. It's free for all you Amazon Prime members.

Sad news

     The day finally came where a ten hour work day derailed everything. I've cheated myself from making progress. That also sadly means that I didn't get around to finishing up this week's werewolf Wednesday  post. I am however, able to make posts easily here from my 'new' phone. So I can at least do some small things.

Almost 10,000 Words

     While I haven't been as focused on my blog as much. To be honest, I haven't really had a lot to say. At least not about any of this kinda thing. Plenty of other ranting but I don't think you all want to hear about that. Anyway! I have been happily writing at least 1,000 words a day. I just passed day nine today and it feels so good to see those numbers. I mean about 90% of them are just trash and ramblings. Heck one day I even counted down the last ten words by just writing out said words. Sad, but I at least did it. I refused to shortchange myself.

   

Silver Mane Part 12

Start Here

     Ana kept pace with the woman, the illusion never breaking as her eyes stuck fast to the ground. She fell into a rut. She knew what she was supposed to do, after all she was just a runaway slave, and you don’t go running off after someone just saves your life. The woman stopped and turned on her heel, her head held high. “Oh, I’m sorry dear, didn’t realize you were still following me. Can I help you?” There was a deep hunger in her eyes as they narrowed at Ana.

     The young girl was taken aback. She honestly didn’t know quite what to say or really what was going on. “No.” She ended up stammering out the simple word while fear welled up inside. She didn’t have to say much more because finally Kavos had caught up to her and she spotted him in the crowd. “Oh!” Her full attention turned towards him and the mysterious woman turned to look as well. She wrinkled up her nose as he came near. There was a low growl and immediately Ana realized something was off between the two. “Thank you again miss.” She bowed low trying to break the tension of the two. “This is my half brother,” it was the lie that they ran with, after all it was simple enough. “I got separated.”

     Ana was about to say more but Kavos stepped up, his chest was pushed out and every muscle was tense. “I’ll be taking her home now.” There was a growl as he wrapped his hand around Ana’s wrist. It was so tight that she began to worry that he might actually hurt her, or worse, shift back.

     The woman turned her attention to the girl. She held Ana’s gaze and spoke only to her. “If you ever get tired of running with animals, come find me again.” She smiled, it was a wicked smile. She knew everything. Even Ana could tell, but she didn’t know how.

     Kavos growled again deep in his throat and pulled Ana away before she could say anything. Her eyes were fixed on the woman as she disappeared into the crowd. As the two seemed to rush from the city. As soon as the thriving village was behind them Kavos shifted back into his wolf form. It seemed a lot less painful but it didn’t seem any more pleasant to watch. Without word or warning he grabbed at Ana. His paws gripping her shoulders hard. “Did that bitch touch you? What did she do!?” He was yelling and shaking the small woman.

     His anger scared her. Ana couldn’t understand what was going on. She couldn’t help herself and started to sob while the hulking white wolf stood there shaking her and yelling. She tried to find her voice in the madness that was going on around her. “Kavos… Stop… Please.” She could only get one word out at a time while he shook her. The pressure on her shoulders was starting to hurt and she could feel his claws digging into her skin. Tears raced down her face leaving clean trails where they went.

     “Kavos!”

     Ana melted at the voice that echoed around them. It was enough to stop the white wolf in his anger but he didn’t let her go. Either way, Ana didn’t care. Stela was there, she was safe. Her wolf was there and everything was going to be okay.

     Stela stood up on her hind legs, making herself as tall as she could and she squared her shoulders while she made her way down the small rocky ledge she had been standing on. “Let her go Kavos.” There was a bellowing growl deep within her chest. Her movements were slow but deliberate. Kavos let Ana go and took a stumbling step back as his mind returned to him. “What happened?”

     Ana ran to the alpha and threw her arms around the large wolf. Stela picked her up as if she was a child and the woman ran her hands through the animals thick fur. It was beginning to feel like home. She took a deep breath and smelled the scent of her wolf and for the first time she really started to notice her. Stela was always dark to her, but now that she looked she could see how her back was much darker than the front, save for one small patch at the base of her neck and between her shoulder blades.

     “There was an enemy in the village. She was after Ana. Or Ana was after her, I don’t know and I don’t care. All I seen was her,” His paw pointed to the woman who was curled up his alphas arm. “following a blood sucker.” He spat the last words. It was so out of character for him to be so mad, normally that was Aurel, but for some reason Kavos felt as if for the first time, this human had put him in danger.

     “Calm down Kavos. Alice, please go take Ana back to the den.” Her eyes never left her second in command. Alice stepped up and held out her arms, and Ana was dropped into them.

1000 Words a Day

     Today starts a new project for me and I'm going to see how it goes. I'm going to write 1,000 words a day. I'm going to wake up and just write 1,000 words. No matter how I feel or what I am going to do otherwise. I was reading this article about how it inspired another author and how it helped with blog posts and what not. I'm hoping to find some of the same magic. I also hope that this will get me some more ideas for these posts as well as my novels. So here's to hoping.

A Message in a Bottle

     The salt water rushed against my feet. Pulling my arm back I hurled the amber colored bottle into the salty spray. The soft plunk of it hitting the water echoed back to my ears. It reassured me that I didn’t throw like a girl, or so the saying goes. I stood there until the sun set. Every day after I returned, and waited.

     Such a small bottle it was, but it drifted for days. The tides of the world pulled it out to sea only to push it towards another chunk of land. The tiny object was at Poseidon’s mercy. However, it wasn’t the only thing adrift on the tide. “All hands on deck, we sail towards port!” The captain roared over the waves that crashed against the hull of a ship. She was different. Her boots clopped against the deck and she walked across the wooden timbers. Her eyes scanned the open water looking for any hint of land.

     “Aye Cap’n.” Loki growled as he pitched the wheel towards the now visible land mass. The rest of the crew scattered and tended their posts. The ship groaned and creaked as it pitched. The ship was tired and so was the crew. A good rest and a payday was just a few knots a head. “Hey Cap’en,” He roared over the boat to get her attention. “what’s that just off starboard?” The hulking cat took one hand off the wheel and pointed at something that was shimmering off the waters surface.

     Bella turned to see whatever he hand pointed at. She watched it flicker in the sunlight for a few moments before she could make out the shape to him. She huffed and turned back to her first mate. “That be trash Loki.” A scowl crossed her face and she walked away from the side of the ship.

     One of the younger crew members heaved himself over the ship. “There’s a paper in it Captain.” He called out.

     Bella snarled at the comment but she was too tired to care. The ocean took a toll on you while you were out and this group of men did nothing to ease it for her. “Fine, grab it, but I’ll not be sending anyone after ya if ye fall in the foam.” She meant every word. The lad would have to swim himself to shore if he lost his footing.

     The lad that spotted it took no time to shimmy himself down the side of this ship. With nimble fingers he snatched up the bottle and the message inside and hauled himself back up topside. As much as he wanted to open it, he kept the cork stuff in and handed the entire bottle over to the Captain.

     Bella took the bottle and instead of just pulling out the cork, she smashed the neck of it against the ships rail. The glass shattered and she dug out the slip of paper. It was odd. The writing was too nice to be a child’s, and the paper had such weight and texture. A heavy scent of earth and flowers, accented with a musk wafted up towards her nose. Something was odd about this. She unrolled the scrap and her eyes fell upon the short message and she smiled.

     I want to have an adventure. ~S

Silver Mane Part 11

Oh dear gods it's been over a month sense I've posted on of these. I am so sorry everyone! If you need to start over, all chapters are linked and shouldn't take long to read through. 
Start Here


     Ana glanced at her travel companion as she walked out, food in her hand. It was such a small glance, no more than if she was looking over to see what was on his plate. There of course would be a time gap from when she left and Kavos decided to leave as well, but again, it was safer that way. The girl took this opportunity to explore the town a bit more. They would be living here now and it wouldn’t hurt to get to know it a bit better. She wandered from one stall to the next looking at what each had to offer. One was filled to the brim with dried flowers. Some had been pressed into glass, others just hung in bunches. Her hand traced the one that was in the glass. It was smooth and perfectly preserved. Ana’s nimble fingers picked it up and brought it closer to her face to get a better look.

The stand keeper was less than kind. The man was massive and built like an ox. His muscles arm muscles bulged as did the veins around his neck. There was a look of anger on his face. He reached over the small wooden stand without even having to get up from his seat. His sausage like fingers wrapped around her arm, all the way around. His hand made her arm look like a twig. He pulled her into the tent and his foul breath assaulted her, even through the heavy scent of flowers. “Ye weren’t try’n ter pilfer ‘dat were ye?” His words were garbled with his heavy accent.

Ana’s blue eyes widened as she realized what this man was. He was no normal merchant, he had to have been a pirate. His face was covered with stubble and scars, his hands were well worn and his skin was as tan as Tucker’s fur was. Fear flooded her and she pulled away from him. It was no use his grip was too strong. “Let me go! I was only looking.” She tried to pull away again and it still was of no use.

“Ya look w’th yer eyes naught yer han’s.” He snarled and started to stand up.

“She’s with me.” There was a cool voice that while low, seemed to dance right around the crowd. “I would let go of her, if you know what’s good for you.” A woman walked up to the small booth. Each step was graceful and she seemed to have a power behind her.

The pirate looked up from Ana, ready to challenge whoever threatened him but as his eyes met this woman they widened and his grip relaxed at once. “Sorry Miss, didn’t know she was yer’s.”

Ana looked back at her savior and her jaw hit the floor. The woman who had defended her was beautiful. Her hair was long and jet black and her skin was flawless. It took her only a few moments though to remember what was going on around her. She went right back into slave mode. She bowed low and kissed the woman’s hand. “I’m sorry Mistress, I just thought these would look lovely in the drawing room but I wanted to make sure they were real and not some cheep fake.”

“Fake!” The man behind the stand started to rage again and when he stood his head smacked against the top of the small stand. He seemed to have more to say but it was interrupted by the pain.

Again the strange woman took control of the situation. “And she did right to me by that.” Her eyes narrowed at the pirate. She wasn’t just beautiful, she was dangerous. Again he took on a calming demeanor and sat down. “She was also correct that they would look nice in my drawing room, however, you sir have left a bitter taste in my mouth. Come girl.” She commanded and just started walking back towards the center of town. Ana could only follow her.

The vendor seemed to have calmed himself and called out to her as the women started to move. “Wait miss! I’ll ha’ve the price. What’dya say?”

The elegant woman froze and smiled. She turned on her heel and walked back to the small table and picked up the small glass plated flower. She too turned it over in her hand and looked intently at it. “Deal.” Her tone was still unamused, but at least the man had made the sale. She tossed a few coppers down onto the wood and walked away without another word. 

Kong T.V. Series?

     While I was at my day job I stumbled across some interesting news. For any of you who follow Godzilla and its franchise you’ll know that the recent Kong: Skull Island is part of a 6+ movie series. I personally was overjoyed when I found out. I’m even more excited for the next one, Godzilla: King of Monsters. But that’s not the point of this. Anyway, I was reading that there is talk about a TV series that takes place after Kong: Skull Island that will bridge it to the next movie. That for sure is something to look forward to this fall. Much better than the Unicorn Frap from Starbucks.

A bit more about "Werewolf Wednesday"

I’ve recently had an idea, and we all know that never means anything good for my scheduling, but as always, I’m going to do it anyway. #werewolfwednesday happened to be trending on my twitter feed the other day and put two and two together. “Silver Mane is werewolves, and people like those. Why not move the release date of a werewolf series, to werewolf Wednesday? This won’t change much really, just moving it to Wednesday. This also gives me a bit more time to work on the newest post for “Silver Mane” and perhaps I can even squeeze in some editing on the project.

What Will You Try to be More Patient About? -Writing Prompt-

 Leora:
     She ponders the question for a moment and shifts her weight, making her armor rub against its own steel plates. “I feel like I need to work on understanding where others are coming from. Like Poppy will sometimes do something that’s wrong, but she believes she’s doing it for the right reason. I don’t understand, and I feel like that’s something I need to work on.”

Araxie:

     She pushes her glasses up. “Sometimes my brain works too fast?” It was more of a question than an answer. “I need to once in a while slow myself down.” She shrugs at her final statement and goes quiet.

Poppy:

     She looks around, with a gleam in her eye. “Poppy is just fine the way she is.” There’s a massive smile on her face and her hair bounces while she readjusts herself on the chair.

Kenna:

      With a jab of her thumb towards herself with a grin on her face. Her tongue flipped the match in her mouth to the other side and her teeth pressed down on it. “Perhaps I shouldn’t blow up everything as a first resort.” She throws her head back and let out a laugh.

Valdis:

     Her hallow eyes scans the surrounding area. “Patient? I’ve walked this world longer than most of you have, I believe I have that I need. Now, if you’ll excuse me, I have things to be done.” She get’s up, her body looking weak, but it doesn’t hinder her gait. She walks off with a massive book in one hand and a scrawling pen in the other.  

Werewolf Wednesday

Well I kinda liked yesterday. I've been thinking and while yes there is a chapter ready for Sunday, I'm going to move "Silver Mane" posts to Wednesday. Makes it a bit more fun.

Working on Silver Mane

You've read that right! I've been hard at work over the past week getting new storyline done and I've had time to focus on getting more of "Silver Mane" done. That means that finally this Sunday it looks like there will be a new post. I'm very excited to see this come back to life.

I hope that you are all still enjoying it (even with lack of updates) and if you are, please let me know! Those little comments will help drive me to write more and have more frequent updates.

Reading List

Okay, we all know that I have a problem when it comes to books and how I have a ton that I haven’t read, and I still keep buying them. My goal earlier this year was to read more. I believe I aimed for 5 books read this year. I have one down and I have been working on reading another 3. Yes at once.

Normally I try to keep at least two books out at a time. Normally one is fiction, one nonfiction. This time, I’m not sure how it happened, but I have 3 fiction books in progress right now. One doesn’t really count because it’s a collection of Grim Brother’s tales. So it’s a compilation of a bunch of shorts. Still, I really don’t know how I do this to myself.

The other downside is that it’s getting nice outside and I don’t like walking with books in the city, however, my transit ride to work is very long, so I’ll more than likely break down and just start taking a book with me to work. Especially now that I have all of mine at home.  

Small Steps

Recently (aka over the past week) I’ve still been working towards getting myself back into the habit of writing. So far so good. I’ve even been able to make some slow progress on “Silver Mane”. Not nearly as much as I would like to, but something is better than nothing.

I also am not sure what else to be posting for these between posts. I want to work on other shorts as well and start cranking out new novels, but focusing on this defiantly takes a good chunk of time away from it. I also don’t want to lose interest in writing this blog and sharing things with you all. I just need more hours in a day it seems. Or at least more focus for those hours.

I’m also wondering if anyone would like to read small one time shorts (under 500 words) here. Not just the ongoing series, but perhaps small tidbits that will tie into novels that I am working on? Perhaps even chapter bits?

5 Simple Ways to Read More

     We all know that reading itself is pretty important, but with how busy some days can be, it's hard to get even a few pages read. It's even more annoying when you've been sucked into a book that you don't want to put down. So here's just a few little things that could help you get that book finished a week sooner.

     1. Transit.  While not everyone has public transit in their area, but it doesn't mean that you can't use that time to your advantage. While it's fairly easy to read while you're on a bus or train, you can't drive a car and read. (At least not in a safe way.) However, with audio books being fairly easy to get a hold of, use those to your advantage.

     2. Cooking. Well, with how busy we are, we normally try to make meals as simple as we can. Even something as simple as a microwave dinner. Even in those 5 minutes of cooking and cooling time, can get you in a few more pages over a week.

     3. T.V. time. How often do you find yourself flipping through channels? At least once a week, for those 20 minutes, shut it off and get a chapter in. On the next hour or half past (when most shows start) go find something to watch. If nothing is on, go back to your book.

     4. Eating. Again sometimes this isn't as easy as it could be for others, but even with a family. Get a book and while you are eating dinner have everyone read a page. It's a great way to slow down the meal (that's great for digestion!) and a way to get everyone involved and at least talking.

     5. Bedtime. Take those extra few moments before you go to bed and get some reading in. When you're last TV show goes off, go read for a bit until you feel tired, then do your normal bed time ritual.


     There you go, it's short and sweet and maybe you can get an extra little bit of reading done.

Slowly getting back on track.

     I broke my habit, and as some of my oldest followers know, I need those habits. After being sick I couldn't focus on anything. Now I'm slowly trying to get back into said habits of writing on a regular basis. I did sign up for Camp NaNoWriMo to help refocus me writing "Silver Mane".

     On the upside, I do have word that I have a few shorts coming back from my editor. So perhaps there will be some new things coming soon from me. That's a bit inspiring.


     Again sadly though I don't have another installment of "Silver Mane" this week, at least not at this past moment, but soon I'll be back on track.

Squee

     Alright, so while I can't promise much at this point, I can say this. I'm finally starting to feel better. I can actually focus and breath and not die when I walk. So maybe now I can get back to focusing on writing and working on Silver Mane, I miss it way too much.

     Until then, have a treat. Done by the amazing Cheesigator Arts

Very Sick Kitty

     So what I thought was just something minor, turned out to be a full blown sinus infection. My head has been swimming all week and that my dears is sadly why I haven't posted a thing. Even general daily things have been hard. Even just standing to do a load of dishes or to cook dinner has exhausted me. So I am very sorry for not getting things posted or worked on, but I made the crazy decision to put my own health first. Frankly, it's been boring and I doubt I'll do it again. haha