A Little Magic Lingers Here Tonight

As an author writing about magic I often find myself getting lost in the fantasy behind the story. Tonight I'm surrounded by the smell of Vanilla Fields. It is a perfume that I wore in college, and one that my grandmother loved on me.

The sweet smell seems to be lingering around my house, following me from room to room. Maybe I brushed against someone out shopping earlier who was wearing the scent, maybe I came across an old handbag with the lingering aroma still inside, or maybe a tiny bit of magic lives here alongside me and we're sharing a memory or two tonight.

Two steps closer

Today was a busy book day! I sat down and reviewed the Amazon agreements and signed the legal documents, so we should be good to go with the October launch and maybe even a pre order launch in late September.

I also awoke to a great surprise; I got the final manuscript back from the editor today. Diana did an amazing job catching all of my typos so I now I’ve got to finalize the manuscript for the printers!

Last bit of amazing news for this week is, the video shoot starts in 2 days! We’re working to have that posted in about 2 weeks. Keep watching the A Marked Past website!

A Marked Past: Sneak Peak

I've posted a few free sneak peak chapters of A Marked Past on LuLu.com. Take a look and let me know what you think!

From One Witch Shop to Another

This week I exchanged messages with the owner and partner of a local witch shop Esoterica. I’m sharing this because I frequented this shop while I was writing A Marked Past. I made excuse after excuse, to go into the heart of town and gaze in the windows of the little shop. I’d peer past the purple drapery wondering what could lie behind that glass, imagining the magic that lived in the large jars and little brown vials. After about 2 weeks of imagining I finally got up enough courage to go inside and wander around. The store was old, but it smelled just right, like incense and musty boxes. The fabrics in the far corner shimmered in the dimly lit lighting, catching my eyes, entrancing me, creating a perfect place for secrets.

Running my finger over the glass case that held the old jewelry I felt a chill crawl over my skin, like these stone had a history all their own. This place was eerie and quiet except for the chatter of the women in it, a tattered sign for fortune teller caught my eye and I felt a smile spread across my face. This was the coolest place ever, and it needed to be part of my story. As I moved through the aisles of herbs, my eyes roamed over tags like dragon’s blood, and dandelion root. And when no one was looking, I lifted the lids and sniffed the strange clippings, considered buying something to take home but didn’t commit.

I’m sharing this because these amazing ladies have invited me to host a book signing at their shop after A Marked Past comes out and of course I said YES!!! Thanks so much to you amazing, magical ladies. I’m looking forward to bringing you some calling cards and a poster to display very soon and to taking in the magic in your shop once again.

The New Young Adult: Cross Genre, Multi Layered Storylines

It’s Tuesday and after 10 days abroad I needed a day to myself, to coop from the time change, to not be “on” for a few hours, to just relax and catch up on the publishing world.

Reading through the agent blogs covering the BEA YA Buzz Panel made me giddy with excitement because my works actually fit the hot categories this year. I’ve been pitching my historical fantasy interlaced with magic for the past two years and no one seemed to bite but maybe, just maybe, this is my year. Publishers Weekly says this year is all about combination, multi-layered genres, dystopian futures layered with magic, witchcraft and magic with historical ties, and steampunk with romantic storylines. This has me dancing in my socks because I’ve got 2 witchcraft/historical/mystery manuscripts and one steampunk /adventure in the works. I’ve always heard it’s all about timing and hopefully mine is coming.

Multi genre makes so much sense to me because I don’t think any piece of work is purely one genre. No one writes a mystery without an element of romance, or a fantasy without a tie to historical events; it’s human nature to combine these elements. Jane Austen’s romances would not have been complete without their tie to mystery, Dickens told of misfortune that was tied directly to social demons, and more recently Stephanie Meyer entranced her readers with a fantasy so laden with romance that even I got caught up in it. As an author I think we all live and write in multi-layered, cross genre worlds and I’m so glad to see it becoming a recognized, valued segment of popular fiction.