Hi everyone!

Before we dive into the post, I’d like to congratulate Kelly M. for winning the UNSTRUNG giveaway that ended yesterday. I appreciate all the tweets and Facebook posts–it really worked! More than 2500 copies of UNSTRUNG were downloaded in just 5 days, with more than 1000 going on Friday. This success is due to y’all–thank you!!

Now, on with the show! I realized I hadn’t given everyone an update for a while, so this post is all about….

The remainder of 2015 and all of 2016 look to be fairly busy. Now that my health is back up to snuff (woot!) the writing bug is wide-awake in my brain, which is a good thing, considering my plate. So, what I’m working on? Well–

• The UNSTRUNG sequel, UPRISING, is about 15k words away from being a completed first draft. It needs a LOT of editing, but it’ll be a relief to have that beast down on the page. Where UNSTRUNG focused on a local problem (Triarch/Precipice), UPRISING widens the lens considerably. There’s a new cast of characters, on both sides, and bigger problems for Lexa and Quinn. Doc’s still a grumpy old man, though. Can’t go changing that, now can I? : )  UPRISING is set for release in mid-ish November, and I’m planning to have a Quinn/Jole novella out in the late spring, with the final novel out fall of next year. That timing all depends on…
• Entangled. My publisher has me very  busy right now. FINDING PERFECT is slated for a fall release, and an untitled sequel is likely for spring 2016.  And there might be more, but it’s much too early for details on that score.  I really love FP, y’all. One of my editor’s interns said it reminder her of a John Hughes movie, and I just about died, because it’s true. I didn’t have that in mind when I wrote it, but it does have that kind of vibe. Paige and Ben are one of the more fun couples I’ve written.
• Finally, the MATT ARCHER short story collection is still definitely a go. It’s release date is completely dependent on all the other titles above, but I plan to write a story here and there between projects.  I’m still taking ideas for stories, so if have one–or really want to hear an alternate POV from inside the book–give me a holler.  I also have an idea for a long novella, but that one is a little frightening to me right now, so I might need to give it more time.
• Then there’s the sekrit project.  I mentioned this one on Facebook last week. I think once I get through all the stuff on this list, it’s time to go back to it for a while. It might take me five years to finish it, but after a three year break, it’s beguiling me again. Now, some of you asked if I’d ever share a sample. I originally said now, wanting to protect a very tender, unfinished draft. However, I’ve thought about it, and decided I would–but this is a very short bit, and it’s FAR from done, so this piece might stay, and it might not.  Either way, here’s a little peek at the prologue from The Onyx Citadel:

* * *

The boy with the golden hair saw her. Marianna hadn’t been cautious enough during her approach, perhaps. Or maybe this one had some talent of sight or perception, like the Elders of his clan. Still, if she moved swiftly, she could capture him and his people wouldn’t realize he was missing until after sundown. She’d be far afield by then, away from Sivekian lands, closer to home.

The boy’s eyes were wide, his sturdy little feet planted as if held there by magic. If they were, its wasn’t her magic. Maybe something more mundane paralyzed him…maybe it was fear.

Such a small child. No more than eight or nine. His face, with its unblemished skin and round cheeks, resembled the angel carvings in the great halls of the Queen. Those faces were stone; this face was living flesh, flushed with blood and terror.

An old pain twisted in Marianna’s heart, a memory of another child, not much older. Her brother, Zendel, dead before his tenth winter. This boy was innocent, just as her brother had been. A fledgling, too young to have his wings yet, this Sivekas child could be Zendel, standing afraid at the edge of the market as the slavers made their rounds, seeking out new wares.

Life at the Onyx Citadel would steal the little boy’s beauty, as surely as his beauty stole her resolve. She could not follow her orders, not now, which left her only one honorable path.

Marianna had to die.

* * *

Well, that’s all the news fit to print! I hope you’re having a great summer, and enjoying some time outside. I’ll be locked away, typing madly. Now wonder I never get a tan…  : )