New year, new work!

Oh hello, 2016.  You probably thought you had the jump on me, didn’t you?  Well guess again!  Because of fireworks set off in a packed parking lot directly next to my house a bit prematurely, I was wide awake and adrenaline packed when you reared your head!  And this year?  Oh, it’s on. 

I’m sure many of my fans and readers have noticed, I haven’t published lately.  Since Duncan, actually, which was at the end of May in 2014.  I can provide excuses, but they’re really just that, and as much as I’d like to blame the insane amount of stress on my inability to finish my many drafts, that has literally never stopped me before.  As a matter of fact, it often used to make books come faster because that was how I coped.  For example, the Cat & the Crow was written, from the first idea to published, in a little more than two months.  The book coincided with the worst thing that I’d had to endure, so it seems that if we look at my history, I am a very prolific author if I’m going crazy and need to work some shit out on my own.   

So let’s just be honest here, why haven’t I finished anything?  I think part of my problem is that I worry people may be expecting another 777 page tome like Duncan, or a short but emotional performance like the Cat & the Crow.  And that’s stupid of me, because although there are a few things that I prefer to write about, I will never write the same book twice.  Since I’ve never given that impression I have no idea why I had this belief that everyone would expect that of me, and now I feel like a fool for procrastinating so long lol

I have a lot of books in the works, and I often change my mind regarding which one I want to finish.  Because I write on so many projects simultaneously, I now have enough written on at least four of them that I could push myself to get them done, and I feel like a coward for finding excuses to start on new ones instead of finish any of the ones I have started, so this is what I have so far.

At long last, here’s an update on my writing –

The Swordmaster Dasan series is my most popular.  I’d like to think because it’s good but the fact that the first book is free probably helps since it lets people get a sample of my crazy characters.  Anybody who had downloaded the original Swordmaster Dasan 2 from Smashwords also got a teaser for their (at that time) next book, but that book was also the very first that my beta readers gave me a red light on, because they wanted more to happen before the series ended.  That final book is still here, still completed and will be changed as needed to fit into the insane shitstorm that is my plot.  I now have at least one more book that will go between Swordmaster Dasan two and the last book, here’s a breakdown of the beginning

Swordmaster Dasan 3 –

When Loki hears that Kyo has taken a new student he risks everything for a chance to go and investigate the relationship between his sadistic Swordmaster and the seemingly perfect Prince Nikira.  He’s unsurprised that Kyo disapproves of his sudden and uninvited presence, but as the days pass, something starts to feel a bit off. 

That’s a breakdown of the first few chapters, I don’t want to give much more away.  Anyone who read Playing with Tigers may recall a mention by Kura where Loki wanted time off and, rather impressively, stole her job long enough to grant himself leave and take a vacation.  In the second Playing with Tigers, he claims that he’s the reason that the Arketh hate them, and I decided that this story really did need to make it into a book after all, so there you have it

Playing with Tigers 3-

Keel and Kaji have been trying to recover from the events that they’d suffered when Keel gets a worrisome letter from his sister, and they reluctantly decide to head north to visit his family.  Their journey coincides with the appointment of a new Headmistress and the Sahrketh’s very first Headmaster at the Palace, which leads them to the news that Kaji’s estranged sibling has been incarcerated overseas. 

That’s not an official blurb by any means, just a basic gist of the very start.  Worry not – there’s plenty of everything that was in the first two, from sex to intrigue, Sahrketh violence and Yunan humor.  The first two books are mostly done with heavy re-edits (I still missed some stuff, I’m sure…  Sorry!  -_-) but I currently plan to make the first one free after I implement updated documents, and possibly the second one as well.  No point in writing the third book if nobody’s read the first two, right? 

Duncan 2 –

The surviving cast from the first book returns in its entirety for another round of madness, starting with Duncan’s discovery that his former house isn’t as vacant as he remembered and that he’s being brought up on charges for the events that transpired in Crush. 

I had some trouble finding an appropriate villain for this one because even in a fantasy setting, everyone would have a bone to pick with Duncan, so for once my problem was that there were too many people who would want to ruin his life.  I think I picked properly, and I’m very proud to say that I even found a way for a certain someone to realistically refuse to be involved (as the involvement of a murdering sociopath who can’t die is just taking the cheap way out) that works so well I laugh and raise my cup of tea to my own cleverness.  It’s not ready for human eyes yet, as my opponent for Duncan does not give me the chills and that just won’t do.  But it’s coming along splendidly. 

Then there’s this –

Untitled book for a certain villain.

Need I say more?  ;)  He’s a bitch to write but damn, if he doesn’t end up making me proud at the end of the day. 

This picture is actually FAN ART!  Can you believe that?  That’s art from one of my amazing fans!  You can find her here, and she takes commissions!  I have dibbs on this pic though, ladies and gentlemen!  That’s actually going to be the cover for his book, since I keep staring at it and smiling.  Do not use that picture without my permission or the permission of Cheri, please and thank you. 

Annnnnd then there’s also this untitled book that I’ve been working on that I’m not sure where to start with.  It’s good?  That seems like a decent start, but as with all of my books, if I try to explain it I sound as normal as Willy Wonka.  (This is NOT an official blurb!) Here, I’ll give it a try:

Swordmaster Iyren Caro is Sahrketh, which means that when he’s really pissed off or his adrenaline spikes, he may start to show some tiger attributes.  Thankfully that hasn’t happened yet, since Sahrketh men are known to take much longer after they turn to calm down than their female counterparts.  He’s offered a mating contract by a woman so abrasive towards him that, should she spontaneously explode in his kitchen, he would be more upset that he would need to mop than by her sudden demise.  But she has gold and they both know how badly he needs it if he ever wants to do more than break up bar fights and scold the locals for traipsing over the border to cause trouble for their longest standing enemies. 

Ranger Warren Elborough is Kyathe and has spent a few years defending his community of wolf shifters from the barbaric and savage Sahrketh that they unfortunately share a border with.  While trying to prove something to one of his friends he stumbles into some trouble and ends up being abducted by slavers in the most embarrassingly simple way he’d ever heard of.  His captors thankfully don’t realize that he’s Kyathe, but every chance he has to shift and escape is thwarted until he finally comes to the realization that he’d have more luck getting back home once he’s been sold.  Only, the woman who buys him knows what he is, what that means.  To make matters worse, she’s Sahrketh, and she clearly already has a plan for him.

See what I did there?  I took two characters who can’t speak a language between them that are trained to kill each other on sight and would both be eager to do so, and then I rubbed my hands together, chuckled evilly and said, “Now touch him a little a bit.”  If you want to see how I accomplished that, it’s super fun and it’ll be ready for beta readers in a few months!  :D  I’m actually sort of proud of this one because the way that they interact… NAILED IT!  Not sure when it will be completed but it’s the closest of the bunch that have been mentioned and the draft only needs a few more chapters, some editing and ironing and then it will be ready for betas.

I think that’s about everything for this post!  As always, I adore feedback from ‘loved it!’ to ‘It’s bad and you should feel bad!’ and I can be reached through goodreads or on facebook 

Happy New Year!

S. K. <3