​ Now that my writing is back on track (knock on wood), I wanted to stop and take a moment to let you guys know what I have in the works. 
First on the docket is Faeries, Fangs, Fembots, and Fur. This will be my second anthology and it will have more than just stories set in the DarkWorld. There will be a mix of both fantasy and science fiction shorts. I am thrilled to announce that the anthology will include a story from the author, Eternity Philops.
Faeries, Fangs, Fembots, and Fur will be released on July 12th and is available for pre-order now on Amazon.
After Faeries comes the third Freaks title, Goose Creek or Bust, which will arrive in December of this year. Goose Creek or Bust will take us back to the Wolves of Goose Creek through the eyes of Still's younger sister, Maya. If you've read Ascension you'll know that Still and Maya's relationship was left a tad rocky due to the events of the book. (If you haven't read it, what are you waiting for?) Goose Creek or Bust will find their relationship on the mend, but a new set of problems will test the sisters in ways that could leave Still packless.
The first title of 2023 will come in the first half of the year. It will be the long-awaited direct sequel to Black Moon Rising, Twilight's End. Twilight's End will pick up directly after the events in BMR. We will not only find Val and Ire facing off against the Vampire Council to fight for their son, David, but we will also see them back in the FaeLands to deal with the fallout of FaeVar's actions. I know that for some, this one is long overdue. The wait won't be much longer.
2023 will also see the release of The Land of Not, the fourth Freaks title and the direct sequel to The Road the Was. The Land of Not will have an appearance from my favorite vampire/fae hybrid, Valeria Trumaine.
Aside from the third Faeries and Fangs anthology, I am unsure if any other titles will be ready for a 2023 release, but Retribution, the direct sequel to Ascension, The Sea of Is, the sequel to The Land of Not, as well as a direct sequel to Freak Among Freaks have all been outlined.
I can't wait to show you all what I have in store for my DarkWorld.
As always, thanks for the reads.

When time was young, the Morrigan foretold of their coming. A new Triad would rise that will lead the world down the Road to Was, and restore the Earth to as it was before the Great Divide. Over time the Morrigan’s prophecy became rhyme, and less and less people believed their words to be true.

The prophecy is real. Meet Theory, the first of the new Triad in April.

The Great Divide
​
The Earth as now is broken,
a glimmer of its former self.
It was one
but spells undone,
and single became triple at once.
The world of Was
long before time
was one less kind
and filled with mire.
For the former, Is
though undivided,
was a land of
mystics, magic, and fire.
Ruled by the Sidhe,
kings of Faerie and kin.
They were forces of nature.
Seasons changed at their whims.
Factioned in courts of
Light and Dark,
Summer and Winter
were the tops of the lot.
The best of the best
they saw in their own,
only worst in the other
so animosities growed.
Wars were waged.
Winters did rage
with the fury of the
Dark Court’s might.
The lands were scorched
by Light Court torches,
wielding Summer’s light.
Tenfold thousands of years,
carry on, yes they did.
But in silence
another force grew.
Though smaller in size,
and shorter of life,
and untrained in the arcane arts;
the dawn of mankind
signaled change and in kind,
opened the fair folk’s eyes.
They multiplied like the wind,
a thousand for six,
their numbers soon
flakes in a blizzard.
Thus the coming of man
signaled peace for Fae lands.
Light and Dark united as one
to hold hearth and home.
They took up the sword.
Blood rivers were wrought.
And with enchantment,
pierced mortal hearts.
But man would not fall;
their numbers a wall,
the Fae could not surmount.
So the High Court kings
pulled out of their sleeves,
a dark plan to force them out.
With the Mantle of Seasons,
and spells beyond reason,
they ripped the Was three apart.
One for Faeries and kin.
One for demon and ilk.
One for mortal born.
This they did.
But try as they might,
many bonds still held tight,
linking the realms to another.
So since time began
our world slowly mends,
healing to become whole again.
The time will come
when three will be born,
who shall travel the Road to Was.
And lead the Now
back to the Is,
that was before the Great Divide.
Sisters three they will be,
born the same of one mother,
shall be recognized as so:
One demon ilk with darkness of self.
One sidhe with elemental smarts.
One mortal born with a mask to be worn,
until the time to be, is was.
And how do we know
that their words are so,
when the Was is past, long forgotten?
The prophecy came
from the First Morrigan.
The keepers of order and right.
Though they foreshadow hope,
they issue this warning;
the Yet may still be undone.
For the Olden Sidhe kings
took an oath on all things,
that the Mantles of Seasons would rest.
Nevermore to adorn,
High Court royal arms.
A vow above all to be kept.
For the force of the seasons,
inside living beings
is the power to make three, none.
If the Mantles are worn
surely chaos will come,
and the Was could be Un.

When I first wrote Crimson Dawn, I envisioned it as an ongoing lesbian vampire series. I chose DarkLife Saga as the series’s name. If I remember correctly, the book’s first chapter was written in about an hour. Once that chapter was done, I stopped, went back, and worked on the backstory for the world that my characters inhabited. The more I wrote, I became compelled to delve into the lives of other supernatural creatures and write their stories.
​
Because of Marcus Daniels and his connections to Val, I intended for those first characters to be werewolves. But David was firmly entrenched in my thoughts, so the wolves had to wait. David’s story became Freak Among Freaks and the first YA DarkWorld story. Freaks picked up a decent audience on Wattpad, and I love YA fantasy, so I began fleshing out more of the teen side of my DarkWorld. I was so entrenched in the teen world that I outlined stories for witches and fae and was about to tackle werewolves when I got sidetracked.

That sidetrack was Black Moon Rising. I won’t rehash my struggles with BMR, but I was put off from writing for a while. When I returned, I was still wary of Val and Irulan, so it was finally time for my werewolves to shine. I knew I wanted Marcus to connect the two stories, but I wasn’t ready to tell his story. I considered telling Thade’s story, but it hadn’t come to me yet. And aside from that, I wanted another lesbian protagonist. I don’t remember the catalyst for Still’s creation, but as soon as I had her name, I knew that she would be the opposite of Val.

Where Val was accustomed to living her life in the spotlight, I wanted Still to be the anomaly. In a world where supernatural beings lived their lives in the open, Still would keep her status hidden. Where Val’s attraction to women was a revelation, Still would be an out, loud and proud member of the LGBTQ community. Once that was established, her backstory and supporting characters came quickly. Wolves of Goose Creek was born and would be an entirely new series set in the DarkWorld. Or so I thought.

After a few months of writing, I knew that line of thinking was a mistake. There was no way I would be able to keep up with separate series for each creature and do the same with the YA side. Not and keep my sanity intact. That’s when I thought about Kelly Armstrong and her Women of Otherworld books. She wrote about werewolves, witches, necromancers, and more, and they all fell under the same series title. Bazinga!

My DarkLife Saga became Tales from the DarkWorld. The YA stories would all fall in the Freaks series, and all my creatures, henceforth, would frolic together and live happily ever after. Well, not too happy because that would make for a boring story.
If you’ve read Crimson Dawn and its sequel and decide to read Ascension, you will recognize Marcus Daniel’s and get to see him in a role other than the Sentinel commander. If you haven’t read Crimson Dawn, you can jump into the DarkWorld with Ascension without any confusion. The stories are connected but not intertwined. Not at the moment.

Those stories are coming.

A timeline and reading order will be coming soon.                                                                                                                                            

It's been a while since I've written a blog post. It took me a long time to return to my novels and stories for many reasons. I stopped to focus on comics and learning the art of comic creation for a few years, which, as a 30 plus year comic lover, I had wanted to do since I was in high school. I found that I love to create comics. The world-building is just as fascinating and rewarding as the world-building I do when I write my stories.

The other reason was Black Moon Rising. I had never felt pressure when I wrote. Writing had always been a joy and an escape. But once Crimson Dawn was released and had begun to find an audience, people began to ask about the sequel. I had always planned one, and it was on my schedule, but when I write, it's like my characters talk to me, and I write because I feel compelled to share the story of whoever is talking to me at that time.

After spending so much time on Crimson Dawn, those characters were taking a break, and I was focused on other stories. But my publisher at the time began to ask me for the sequel. So then, not only did I have readers asking, I had my publisher pushing for another Val and Irulan book. So I stopped working on what I was doing and shifted to what would become Black Moon Rising.

While I love the story, I struggled to get it done. Each month that I wasn't finished, it got harder and harder to work on it. In the midst of working on it, my publisher ceased publishing fiction. My two previous works were returned to me, and I was told that I would be better off publishing myself. I was gobsmacked. Sure, I had self-published two short stories, but that was nothing like publishing a full-length novel.

To say that I felt defeated was an understatement, but I pushed through and finished the book. The version of Black Moon Rising that made its way to Amazon pains me. Reading what I made available to my readers makes me want to cry. I can do better, and I should have. But at the time, I just wanted to get something out there. I deserved every scathing review that I got. The editing is non-existent.

Black Moon Rising made me want to never rerelease another book. So I stopped writing and shifted to comics. I put it out of my mind and moved on. But I love writing. My characters and stories are my babies. I eventually came back to them, but I still ignored the mess that BMR was. I refused to look at it on Amazon or my KDP page. But I can't ignore it anymore. It's time for me to do better.
I have temporarily pulled it so I can edit it. I won't be making changes to the storyline itself. As I said, I do love the story. But it desperately needs some refining. And a new cover.
​
Black Moon Rising will be back shortly.