ALACRITY Cover Reveal and Teaser!

(Well hey, look at that. I'm posting a teaser on a Tuesday! That counts for Teaser Tuesday, right?!)

Yesterday I shared the little secret I've been sitting on since Christmas-time. The glorious cover to the end of the Illumine Series. Kind of fitting it gets some time on the blog too, right? 

As of right now, Alacrity does not have a set-in-stone release date, it's definitely TBA. I'm putting this one through a series of betas and editors to make it the best of the best, while wrapping up everything in the series because this is definitely the end to it all. I do have Kayden's novella still in the works, but his story takes place long before Illumine, and the other novella highlighting on the history of Lucretia and others is also working through my brain, but that too takes place long before Illumine. So once this story ends with Alacrity, that'll be it. Don't worry, I've made sure the last book will be the biggest of them all. 

And I'm stalling. 

Here's the cover!

And because I oh-so-love you all, I might as well toss this teaser out. This is a clip from Alacrity, and was featured in the back of the Illumine Series omnibus.

___

Jayson was on Kayden faster than a missile to its target. His fingers wrapped expertly around Kayden’s neck, locking him in place against the frame of the entryway.

His voice was like acid hissing through skin. “What kind of sick game are you trying to play?”

“He’s not,” I sighed. Back pressed against the wall, I decided to do the one thing I had wanted to the night I learned the truth. “Playing a game.”

Jayson’s hands didn’t budge. “You’re kidding, right? Did you not hear what he said? This jackass said you were dead, Essallie, dead. And somehow you’re standing in our childhood home, in the kitchen we shared breakfast for years, very much not dead.”

Like a backhanded slap, his words stung my face, forcing me to blink. I could feel the nerve to snap back at him building on my tongue, but bit back. My brother was acting out of fear, a rope of panic and worry choking him for weeks since our last, tense phone call. All this time he probably tossed and turned, wondering if I was dead or alive, where I was, or if he’d ever see me again. To be so close like that to someone you love, only to have them torn from your world, it leaves a scar on your soul.

“Jayson,” I pled softly, reaching out and wrapping my hands around his. Little by little, I inched his fingers out of their iron-grasp around Kayden’s neck. “I’m right here. Let him go, and look at me.”

His neck twisted, head and eyes shifting over until they landed on my shoulder, chin, and finally landing on my eyes. One look into his shattered stare nearly brought me to my knees; my brother was broken, grappling with the thought of a dead sister.

“I’m right here, I promise,” I said, hoping the words would spark the charming, vibrant flame in his eyes. “I’m right here Jayson, alive and well. I promised you I’d come home.”

The exhale barely left his lips before he flung himself at me, crushing my shoulders and chest in a bear-hug that lifted me clean off the ground. He buried his face into my hair and shoulder, squeezing with the strength of a hundred. 

“It’s you, it’s really you,” he breathed, pulling back a fraction to stare at me in between strands of hair. “But not. You’re... different somehow.”

Killing demons, battling soul consumption, and learning you have a half-sister can do that to you. At least, that’s what I could have said, but I figured this sort of information dump needed a 12-step system.

Running my tongue over my teeth, I made sure to choose my words carefully. I gave him a faint, lighthearted smile. “Let’s say I’ve seen the world, and then some?”

He pulled back a little further, scrutinizing. “No, no. It’s more than sight-seeing. You’ve grown.”

“Taller?”

“More mature,” he substituted, half-shaking his head. “But with the way you keep blabbing, I might have to eat my words.” He paused, leaning in and sniffed. A sour look crossed his face. “Yuck! How can you not smell that? What have you been doing, rolling in rotting fish?”

I closed my eyes, sinking my teeth into my lip to keep from laughing out loud. Good to know hanging with Sirens can make one smell... fishy. 

“You like fish,” I quipped.

“Uhhh, yeah, when it doesn’t smell like it’s been decaying underwater for centuries.” He pinched his nose and took a step back. “Okay, so everything is okay, for now. I’ll forgive Kayden’s slip of tongue-”

I pointedly glared at Kayden, who did his best to look apologetic.

“-after you tell me what’s really going on, Essallie.”

Silence fell over the room. Beside me, Ari shifted uncomfortably, Kayden following. Rinae and Tegen exchanged knowing glances, a mixture of pain and sorrow. And I knew exactly why. Those who knew the truth about us typically didn’t live to see a long, healthy life. The idea of being honest to Jayson in exchange for his longevity weighed heavy on my heart. Could I really condemn him like that over a few words?

Eyes on Ari, I gave him a curt nod. “Make the vow.”

“You have my word. As long as I live.”

“What,” Jayson cut in. “Is going on?”

Looking back at my brother, the weight in my chest only seemed to multiply. I hadn’t so much as formed a single word on my lips before my eyes started to water at the corners, building with each thought. 

I placed a hand on his upper arm. “Let’s go to the living room. You’re going to need a place to sit after I tell you this.”

I Confide My Innermost Secret!

Yep, the title is true. I'm going to spill something super-secret with you guys today. But shhhh, try not to tell anyone else. Or tell them and spread the laughter!

First things first, though! I had planned this blog post originally with the intention of semi-spamming Facebook, Twitter, and everywhere else each day for the whole week. This past Saturday, February 4th, had been a little bit of a monumental day for me spiritually. And I'll explain why.

Without going into layers of detail, I lost a sibling years ago. His name was Holden, and he passed in 1999 at the age of four months. At the time I had been in second grade, just a child, but being a curious creature who knew too much for her own good at too young an age, it hit me. Hard. I missed weeks of school from the grief, and when I did return all I did was take out his picture from my pocket, stare at it and cry. It had been a breaking point for our family, but in the same breath it taught me to cherish life and to keep those who meant the world to me as close as they'd allow me.

February 3rd marks the day of his death. Every year we go to his grave and leave flowers, sometimes send balloons, leave toys, anything for a small smile in the face of something so heart-crushing. Last year was one of the more humorous years. Ice had collected so thick over the roads and layers of packed snow beneath it that we couldn't get the car up to his grave. We ended up spending about an hour breaking ice and gripping onto each other as we pulled ourselves uphill.

Every year, his death affects me. Not a day goes by that I don't think about him and the life he should have had, but in the same breath I know he's our little angel, and he shows it. One of the first times I had considered writing for a career I experienced a 'paranormal experience'. I know some believe in it and some don't. I never did until that day. Now I look for specific signs, like when a certain set of words appear to me or music specifically dedicated to him that's beyond outdated comes over the radio for no reason.

The experience I had in the middle of work a day his date of passing this past weekend reminded me that I was slacking in writing my draft for Obumbrate, and that he was watching. I'm onto you, little brother. Stop scaring me at work! That was a little something I wanted to share with all of you.

Now, that was only one part of my huge post! Part two is a round up of all the blogs I've recently found who's posted reviews on Illumine!

First is Opinionated Mama with her 4-star review!

Second is Nat & Dee's Book Nook with their 4-star review!

Third is BookStacksOnDeck with her review!

And lastly is Hopelessly Devoted Bibilophile with her review, too!

I encourage all of you to check out the blogs I've mentioned, each one is pretty unique. They all do share one thing in common, though; they're all friendly and love books! (Whoops, that was two, wasn't it?)

Okay, and now for part three of the super-awesome post! The Teaser Tuesday of Obumbrate is a small excerpt between Essallie and Kayden. Enjoy! (Please note this is from the ARC of Obumbrate, and it may not reflect word-for-word what the final product may be.)

I watched the expression in his eyes turn soft, dim glimmers of something kind shining inside them. He reached out to stroke my cheek, his thumb igniting sparks from my skin, like flicking a lighter on. "You remind me of someone." He paused. "For a second I thought...maybe part of them was reincarnated into you."

I studied him carefully, running my eyes over the cuts and burns that littered his body. He looked like a giant mess of ripped tissue paper. "Who do I remind you of?"

He shook his head, the broken look on his face nearly crippling me. Rising to his feet, he stumbled and gently swore. "Doesn't matter who. What matters is that where this person went, it isn't possible to come back."

"Don't stand up," I started to say. I'd barely made it to my feet when he spilled forward, collapsing into my arms. Adjusting my stance to save us from a spill into broken glass and blood, I muttered under my breath. "You have got to be the heaviest thing made of smoke. Ever."

Leaning off of me, Kayden grinned like a jackal, blood smeared across the bridge of his nose and cheek like blush. If we weren't in the middle of a pile of dead bodies, I might have smiled too. "Admit it," he said. "You like this. You wouldn't know what to do without me."

I ignored his words and the hammering in my chest, doing my best to keep him from dragging us to the ground. "How exactly do you get better? Because there's no way I can carry you like this forever."

For a second his gaze returned to the serious Kayden I was accustomed to. "Do you really want the answer to that?"

I locked eyes, prepared to dish the first retort on my tongue, and stopped. Even with his brooding stare my heart felt like it could explode at any moment. I didn't want to look away from him, because what if that last time I saw him was his last? If he died right now, how far did I really think I could get before I'd break down and sob? I realized that while I told Ari my scars were his to guard, Kayden had the same right, maybe even more. I couldn't see the final picture without him, couldn't stand the thought of letting him go. And yet, if I didn't...

"Essallie?" Kayden tilted his head to the side.

Something screamed inside of me to respond. Something, anything. Anything that didn't involve flinging myself into him and kissing him like I'd never see him again. I had to hate him, hate him to the very core so Ari wouldn't kill him. So my heart would survive the break. Demons and angels didn't mix, they couldn't. No amount of love could fix something like that.

And lastly- part four of the longest post I've ever created, I will be posting a video talking about the paperbacks of Illumine, a little about my terrible addiction to caffeinated beverages, and where I'm going to be this spring for a book signing event! Booyah!  

(P.S.- If you've made it this far, I commend you. Have a cookie, or a cupcake. Just don't touch my coffee.)

Five Reasons Why This Tuesday Is Awesome!

Yesterday was a little bit of a nightmare for me. Nothing had been happening writing wise. Outside it was pouring rain and too friggen cold to even enjoy it. One room of my house was hotter than the sun, the next colder than outside. Someone pointed out an oops in my book and it sent me over the edge, I slept in too late, basically the world was out to get me. And then I get this.

Yes, that is a PAPERBACK version of Illumine. Yes, it has a shiny cover. I'm actually giddy as hell for having this come in the mail so soon. It was easily 3-4 days early, so I have to give a huge kuddos to CreateSpace for the speedy shipping. As soon as I got my hands on this a switch must have flipped somewhere, because my whole night went from sobbing to huge leaps of unicorn glitter inhaled giddiness, and it's still following me this morning.

One- I got my paperback proof. 'Nuff said.
Two- Someone randomly gave me a five star review on Amazon. My heart is still fluttering from that.
Three- My 2-liter of Mountain Dew wasn't flat.
Four- Fireflight released their new CD 'NOW' for pre-order on iTunes, and I grabbed their new single 'Stay Close' with a frenzy. This song is used heavily in my writing, so it was only fitting to buy it and stop replaying the YouTube video FINALLY.
Five- Won a dozen little cheesecake bites from a local bakery called the Itty Bitty Bakery on their Facebook page last night! Uhhh, can you say YUM?! Now I just need to plan a date to go down there, pick them up, and not eat the whole box in five seconds. Ahem.

That's it for me today. But I do have a little secret coming up awfully soon, so I'd keep your eyes peeled on here. You know, if you like super cool giveaways and all. ;)

Anyone else having a super cool Tuesday?

rain rain, go away. come back when we start looking like texas. #writebootcamp

Ever notice how both the need to finish something and the time left to complete it shrink exponentially until, wham-bam, it's here? We've all been there, done that, staring at the nine-page essay for English the next morning we haven't even started, let alone thought of. Thankfully, I've been out of school for two years now, and even though I miss some of my teachers (Mrs. Kern! I'm still sending you a copy of my books each time I publish them) I definitely don't miss the homework that came with it.

Instead, I had set out to finish the first portion of my little Boot Camp challenge I've taken on both in the writing department and physically (in case you didn't see my begin proclamation to my untimely demise of an experiment, see it here!) Following both the Yoga cards and the Cardio from Self, I can already tell you two things. One, running is definitely my strength, since out of each day I chose rather to get on the treadmill for 20 minutes instead of doing something new. Two, you know you're out of shape when you're feeling it the next day and two aspirin can't help you. Anyone got novocaine?

Writing wise, I figured for this post, I'd post the first portion of Dimitri's piece from Illumine. I had every intent of posting the synopsis I'd crafted, but either the ghost of my paper-losing past has it or I'll find it hours after posting this and start swearing and kicking myself all over the place. So, I guess you can call this a bit of a Teaser Tuesday piece, too!

Her petite frame was crunched within itself, lying sideways in a splatter of blood. The viscous liquid was already drying on the front of her clothes, a inkblot butterfly forming from the mess across her chest, skin so pale it looked translucent. No human could survive that kind of blood loss and live to tell the tell. Blood covered so much it was hard to tell where the girl's fire red hair began and where her life source ended. It was a pity her life had been ripped from her fragile form. Crouching down, I gave the girl a small nudge on the shoulder, using the back of my hand to brush away the hair off her creamy skin. Fingers came in contact with searing flesh, her pulse pounding in every inch of her skin.
With a groan, she rolled over.
And I felt myself die all over again.
Those eyes. Her eyes. Brown swirls with violet bursts dancing around her iris.
It became difficult to swallow. "There's no way you can still be alive." I breathed. "I saw you die."
For a moment, she looked at me, her eyes locking with mine. I felt myself get pulled back to the first time I saw her eyes, glowing with a new, eternal life under the light of a full moon. She'd danced as if she'd never danced before, twirled with a lack of self-control to rival a child. Only to watch her burst into flames, her eyes never leaving mine as she screamed for freedom.
The girl rolled back onto her side, breaking eye contact. She groaned and dry heaved, the veins in her arms pulsating with each contraction, the blue lines covering every inch of her as a subtle glow began to shimmer on her skin. My fangs cut into the insides of my lips, instinct pushing against reasoning. I picked up the girl, racing for my car before I could even think things through. Katrina would find the Nephilim and her Watcher on her own. I was going to make history right, finally.

Anyone else have some interesting Tuesday things going on, or maybe just something awesome that happened to befall this Tuesday?

teaser tuesday!

Personal note: I am not an early blogger. Sleep, in the form of comatose like bits, means I typically don't wake up until noon, sometimes later if I know I don't have anything to do. (I know I'm not the only one who does this, not because my mother does the same thing, or because I know a few friends who do the same, too, but... I just know. ESP. Yeahhhhh.)

That being said, I figured it would be better to post my Teaser Tuesday post before everyone else passed out sometime around midnight (typically the time I start my internet trolling and Facebook gaming. Curse you and your delicious looking cupcakes, Cafe Life!) This week, since it's my first, I'm going to do two teasers; one from my work-in-progress-of-hopeful-potential-awesomesauce, Illumine, and the other from a well known author I frequently creep upon, Maggie Stiefvater. Maggie's first book, Shiver, was one of the few I took my time to stare and page through at my local B&N forever ago, completely drawn in by the simplicity of the no-fuss, beautifully crafted cover. It reminded me of those doodles and squiggles I used to make on the corners of all my notebooks and folders in High School when I couldn't focus on whatever ridiculous algebra lesson the teacher attempted to describe.

Her jacket description, courtesy of Goodreads, goes like this;

the cold.Grace has spent years watching the wolves in the woods behind her house. One yellow-eyed wolf—her wolf—watches back. He feels deeply familiar to her, but she doesn't know why.

the heat.
Sam has lived two lives. As a wolf, he keeps the silent company of the girl he loves. And then, for a short time each year, he is human, never daring to talk to Grace...until now.

the shiver.
For Grace and Sam, love has always been kept at a distance. But once it's spoken, it cannot be denied. Sam must fight to stay human—and Grace must fight to keep him—even if it means taking on the scars of the past, the fragility of the present, and the impossibility of the future.

When I read this originally, I was in my post-Twilight phase, meaning I was sucking in anything that had vampires, werewolves, magic period. Not that there was anything wrong with that, not at all. I can't tell you how many wicked books I found admist my inhaling and exisiting in B&N over the past several years (well, actually, I will tell you, it'll just take a while) but the point is, when I read the jacket to Maggie's book, I had to read more. Here's the two sentenced quote I'm capturing from Shiver for you all.

For a moment, I forgot where- who -I was. For a moment, it didn't matter.

You can't tell me that doesn't make you want to know who or what or how everything is going on. Why didn't Grace care she forgot who she was for a moment? Was she that enamored by something before her eyes? What had taken a hold on her heart so suddenly, with such an intensity? If you haven't already read the book, please do so. Paperback, ebook, I don't care, just go inhale this book like I did.

 So, there's teaser number one. And now, I have to let you all in on teaser number two. I've only had this blog for a little while now, but I've been cultivating and crafting my story for about two years now, caught between freaking the hell out about it failing miserably and so in love with it that if possible, I would have married my little hard drive by now. The love-hate relationship I have with Illumine is so intense, half of the time I don't know if I'm ever going to finish the thing. Essallie is constantly sitting in my head, chatting away about all of the elements in the story, and here I am ignoring her because I've been told somewhere that hearing voices in your head is generally the first sign of insanity. (Not that I haven't heard voices before, nah.) But about a month ago, I swallowed my pride after reading one of Veronica Roth's blog posts about jumping off the bridge already and getting it done, and I said to myself, "Okay. Let's do this. The first couple drafts of this is going to be terrible, but you know what? That's what editing is for. And friends. And coffee. And boyfriends like Tim. And movies like Titanic with a box of kleenex because honestly if I see Jack die one more time I'm just going to sob for hours."

But, I'm stalling. You'll notice I get sidetracked a lot as time goes on as I post more on this blog. I like rambling. Shiny things are beyond amusing. And Coca Cola makes me so damn hyper that most of the time I drink it and then I sprint around the house trying to keep up with my brain and it's own personal, seperate ramblings. So, before I launch into a personal essay of the pretty shiny things within my eyesight right now, let me give you just two sentences of Illumine.

I covered my mouth and screamed a name, flinging a hand out into the darkened miasma surrounding me. Death would not stop me, for death could not kill an angel. 

 

 I'm not cool enough to have a jacket description or Goodreads location for it just yet, partially since editing is a beast I'm still trying to slay off in the corner of my room, and partially because my Mother wants the computer from me to check her email. She really does need to get a smart phone so she can just check it on there and let me go back to canoodling with my hard drive in piece. That is, until we get into an arguement about how terrible my writing is, and I go back to episodes of True Blood for distraction.