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Book 2 Release: Dead Woman’s Curse

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Hello everyone!

It’s been an extremely long time since I’ve updated, but I’ve got good news! Book 2 is complete and all digital formats will be available on May 30th! The pre-order copy is now available in Amazon, Barnes and Noble, Kubo, Smashwords, and iBooks.

The print copy is in the works, and I will be sure to provide an update for when it’s available as well!

Below is the blurb!

Melanie Mendez has done the impossible: survived the Eighth Clan’s deadly plot. But now that she’s home, things have only gotten more complicated. Descendants want retribution for those who were lost during the Agora — and among the clans, the blame for that has fallen squarely on Mel. To make matters worse, she now finds she’s losing herself bit by bit: her memory, her sanity, and even her autonomy.

Meanwhile a new darkness, living and breathing, has found its way into the thick of Kale territory, leaving a trail of blood and fury in its wake. Mel’s brothers, Gabe and Victor, are hunting it, but can they track it down, and even if they do… can they stop it? Or will chaos descend across the land?

I will for sure keep you all updated in all things Book 2 related!

Slow and steady…

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Hey Everyone! Sorry, I didn’t get to post last month. It was a killer! Lots going on in the day job. I hardly had any time to think, much less post. But in case ya’ll were wondering: I’m still alive! Still kicking and screaming! It’s just been hard to juggle writing with the day job and family life. Good thing is, things are slowing down at work, so I’ll finally have some time to focus on the editing of book 2.

So, I don’t know about ya’ll but life is slowly getting back to normal in South Texas. Delta came and scared a bunch of folks, but it looks like things have kind of settled over here. Just in time, too. Cause the days are getting shorter, the weather is getting cooler, and it’s almost that time. Halloween is just around the corner. Last year, there wasn’t much to celebrate, and no one cared to risk it, but I’m thinking this year is going to be different. Either way, I’ll be out there with a bowl of candy, hoping for a good turn out.

Can you believe it’s already autumn? I can’t! I’ve been working on book 2 for awhile now and I’m sorry to say – editing is going sloooow. I had planned to shelf the novel for a few weeks, then get back to it with fresh eyes, but a few weeks turned into a few months. Don’t you hate when that happens? You blink and it’s October! And you’ve hardly accomplished anything you set out to do! Oh, well. As long as I keep moving forward. That’s all I can do. Baby steps!

Maybe one day I’ll be that independent author that pushes out three or four novels a year. But alas! That’s not me. At least not yet.

I can hope, though.

Just a rant

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Hey everyone! Looks like February flew by before I could post! There’s no excuse other than it was a crazy month. I was without electricity for a week in freezing cold weather. Then the day job had me so busy that I was all over the place. Heck! I’m surprised I still remember by name.

Anyway, I hope ya’ll are keeping safe and Covid free. I’m trying to be safe–aside from a few scares–I’ve been successful so far. But boy! I can’t wait to get vaccinated. Hopefully the president is right and we’ll have more than enough vaccine by May.

To tell you the truth–things actually are looking better here in Texas, but that’s about to change. The darn governor decided to lift the dang mask mandate and to open up to a hundred percent. Because Texans have “mastered the daily habit to avoid getting Covid.” Ha! Sure we have. It’s called MANDATORY MASKS. As in: you have to wear them even if you don’t want to.

Some folks are happy. And I get it. It sucks not doing the normal things you’d like to do. Or maybe you do those normal things, but you have to keep your distance, and only party with twenty folks instead of fifty. And you have to wear a mask, and oh God! It’s such a hardship wearing a mask everywhere. It’s so hard breathing in your stanky breath all the time. Right?

Can you tell I’m frustrated? Because I am. It’s like I can see the light at the end of the tunnel, and then some dude just decides to do something stupid that will extend the tunnel. And make things harder. But I really shouldn’t be surprised. It’s the same guy who said green energy was the reason for our power grid failing a few weeks ago. Sure, I was freezing my ass off cause the wind turbines were frozen solid. The wind turbines he neglected to winterize (as he appoints the Texas Utility Commission who oversees ERCOT). And only accounts for less than ten percent of our energy while the rest is natural gas and fossil fuel? Yeah. Okay. Sure, dude.

Anyway, rant over.

Another COVID post…

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Another month has crawled by and it seems as if things are getting worse around the country in regards to Covid. Especially in Texas which has become a hotspot–the hospitals are filling up and things are getting bad. The media is reporting that we opened too early–and perhaps we did–but I think what hurt us the most was the disregard for social distancing and wearing masks. There are so many people that just don’t care and they don’t believe in how serious the virus is. Personally, I’m just exhausted at dealing with them–their lack of respect for human life is frustrating and galling.

Even with the new Executive Order requiring face coverings–these people complain. They complain as if wearing a mask is taking away their right for life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness. The pursuit of happiness! Yeah, chew on that. A mask is keeping these people from living out their daily lives. It’s a minor inconvenience at most. And to make matters worse–they’re looking for loopholes around following the Executive Order. They have “medical issues”. The mask is suffocating, or it makes them breathe excessive amounts of carbon monoxide.

Yeah, I can’t make this stuff up.

Personally, I’ve been shut–in for the last few weeks. My family had a Covid scare a few weeks ago, and now we’re being extra careful. Nothing drives how serious this virus is until you are staring face to face with the possibility of actual exposure. It’s a rather sobering experience performing a contact tracing exercise on your own family. It’s an exercise I would rather not do again.

So, now you must be wondering: am I fearful of the virus? Am I stopping living my life because I’m afraid of getting sick of a virus that kills less than 1 percent of infected? To answer honestly–I’m cautious of the virus. I don’t want to get infected and then get someone else sick who is high risk. If that means staying away from high risk activities then that’s what I’ll do.

I’ll wear my mask. I’ll keep up with social distancing. I’ll keep my head up and stay safe.

I hope ya’ll do, too.

BLM

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Who would’ve thought that 2020 was going to be as tumultuous as it’s been? I didn’t. I was thinking COVID was going to be the largest issue we would all have to face, but unfortunately, that’s just not the case. In addition to the Coronavirus that has now killed over 100,000 Americans, now we are all dealing with the societal impact of the death of George Floyd.

It seems uneasy and disrespectful to talk about anything else. How can I talk about movies or TV shows when an African American man was murdered for all to see? The video was horrifying to watch–the gall of the police officer that knelt atop Floyd’s neck for almost nine minutes. There was no fear of reprisal or disciplinary action, or any kind of retribution as onlookers screamed in horror at his actions. There was no crack in his exterior as Floyd said he couldn’t breathe.

It’s a hard thing to watch-that video, but we all have to realize how important it is to not turn away from it. Not from the killing of George Floyd or of any other innocent black person at the hands of the police, as ugly and discomfiting as it is. Because you should be uncomfortable. You should feel something. And if you’re anything like me, you would want police reform and to end systematic racism. Black Lives Matter.

Just another update…

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Hi Everyone! I hope you all are safe and doing well. Talk about crazy times we’re living in, right? Covid has taken the world and nation by storm, and some folks are all about being safe, and others seem to be fed up with being told what to do. Some going so far as to thwart safety measures. I’m guessing they think the government and CDC doctors and other medical professionals don’t know what the hell they’re talking about. And Plandemic! Plandemic people!

Well, I think that there’s nothing hard about wearing a mask and keeping to social distancing. I don’t think it’s an infringement of one’s rights. God, talk about entitled. Whatever. Wear the damn mask and stay six feet away. Alright? Thank you.

In other less crazy news–I’ve been happily hacking away on book 2, and I feel pretty good with the way things are going. If I’m really lucky, and this pace keeps, I’m hoping to be done with the first draft in a few months. God willing! I can hope right! My writing ebbs and flows, so hopefully it keeps flowing.

Other than writing, I’ve also been doing my fair share of watching Netflix. I confess, I am no different than any other American in quarantine. And this week was all about the new season of The Last Kingdom. If you’ve never seen it, I definitely suggest you check it out–especially if you love historical dramas. It’s sort of like Vikings, but better with a more interesting lead in Uhtred, who is played by Alexander Dreymon (yeah, I’ve never heard of him either). It delves into the times of when Danes and Saxons fought and warred in Britain. Very interesting and bloody.

On the other side of the spectrum is Ozark. Most people have heard of this show–it stars Jason Bateman as a money launderer for a Mexican cartel. After his business partner steals money from the cartel, Bateman’s character is put in a bad spot. In a last ditch effort to save his life he promises to launder tens of millions of dollars in a matter of weeks. This causes him to uproot his family to the middle of Missouri. With the FBI on his heels and the cartel watching his every move he attempts to achieve his goal, all the while trying to keep his wife and kids safe. I just completed season three and the season finale blew my mind! That’s all I will say about it.

Well, that’s all from me. Ya’ll keep safe!

Happy New Year

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Happy New Year everyone! I hope you all had a good holiday. I know I did. As I mentioned in my previous post–I had two weeks off at the end of the year, and I used it wisely by relaxing, writing, spending time with family, and just pretty much recharging the batteries. All in all, I had a great vacation, and although I’m not as well-rested as I’d hoped, I do feel like getting away from the day job for a little while was exactly what I needed.

First, the writing–I’m at fifty thousand words which puts me about halfway through book 2. I also have a working title, which I will share later when I’ve wrapped up the novel. Since I had some feedback that book 1 was a little slow in the the beginning–I’ve really focused on getting the plot going a lot earlier for book 2. I’ll obviously send the draft off to a few betas when I’m done to get feedback so by the time you readers get your hands on it, the story will be nice and polished.

Writing goals for the year–well, I hope to get book 2 done. As I’ve mentioned before, I’m a bit of a slow writer and I’m so not a ten-thousand words a day person. I actually don’t count the words. I count pages. I’m actually happy if I can get a page a day during the week. With my work schedule and all the other things that come with life it can be tough, but I’ll try to get more time in to write during the weekend. At least an hour or two before bed. That’s actually the best time for me to write. I just zone out with the TV on and before I know it I’ve got ten pages.

What else did I do at the end of December–well, I saw Star Wars: The Rise of Skywalker of course! Who hasn’t watched it yet? Well, you should. It was entertaining. And if you don’t think too much about how they completely did away with the “Is Rey going to be a Grey Jedi?” and just closed your eyes and imagine a white room with no windows and then watch it–then I think you’ll enjoy it too.

And don’t compare it to the original trilogy either, cause then you’ll be disappointed. And it’s way too early in the year for that.

A little update and some streaming TV…

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Look how much time has gone by since I’ve posted! I do apologize for not posting regularly. But I do have some good news: I’ll be attending Nerdtacular 2019 on December 7-8. It’s a little mini comicon here in San Antonio. If you’re in town, come by and see me! I’ll be selling paperback copies of Dark Sun Rising and some t-shirts as well.

In other news, I’ve been slowly getting through book two–no major updates on that front. Still chipping away and trying to find time between the day job that’s been taking up so much of my mental energy. I was so hoping for the project work to cool off around this time, but nope! Looks like I’ll be working hard all the way to Christmas, but I am taking a few weeks off for the holidays, so I plan on doing quite a bit more writing then!

You know what’s also happening around Christmas? Star Wars: The Rise of Skywalker! I’m kinda looking forward to it. And, I really, really hope the trilogy wraps up nicely and leaves us all satisfied.

And speaking of Star Wars–I’ve watched the first three episodes of The Mandalorean and I’ve got to say–it’s pretty good. And not just cause there’s a Baby Yoda that is the cutest thing on streaming TV–but I pretty much love anything that broadens the Star Wars universe–and focusing on a Mandalorian, and his clan and their cultural ways is a nice way of opening the Star Wars scope. Peeling another layer off the onion, so to speak. So, if you’re a fan of Star Wars, and you haven’t checked this show out yet, put it on your To-Do list.

Well, okay folks. That’s all I have for this week!

Halloween Hijinks

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Boy, oh boy! It’s already late October–the year sure is flying by quickly. So, what have I been doing the past month you may ask? Why, drowning in the day job by working late hours so I can get a couple projects out the door. It’s been hectic! And unfortunately, it’s left little time for writing.

I don’t know about you, but during times like this, I need something to look forward to, and aside from the Holy Grail that is the three day weekend that’s coming in a few weeks, I’m also looking forward to is Halloween. To be honest, Halloween isn’t something that I get too into as an adult. I don’t really dress up, but I do give away candy.

But of course, when I was a kid, it was everything. We’d go trick or treating every year. In fact, there is one year that I think back on with amusement.

Story time!

So, one time I went trick or treating with my younger brother and his friend. I was like thirteen years old. So anyway, we went door to door getting candy as a group, cutting up and just having a good time. After awhile, it got late, and everyone went home. All the neighbors turned off their porch lights calling it a night. But we were young and stupid, without any supervision and decided to just keep walking around the neighborhood. We came across a house that belonged to someone that my brother and his friend didn’t like, and someone (I’m not sure who) suggested we egg the house.

But of course, we didn’t have any eggs. But my brother’s friend would not be deterred–instead he walked all the way back to his house to get some. He ended up sneaking a whole dozen out of the house, and I just looked at him like: “WHAT?” Cause I’d thought we’d just throw one or two eggs and get the heck out of there–no one said anything about a whole dozen.

My brother’s friend opens the container, and looks at us expectantly–like he expects us to grab and throw. And me and my brother freeze, cause we’d never egged a house nor had we done anything out of anger toward anyone before. So, it was like, “Are we really going to do this?”

We decide very quickly that we are.

The three of us grab an egg. I look at my brother and I say, “You first.” And he’s such a trooper, he agrees. He winds up and throws. The egg smacked loudly against the house–CRACK!

I’d known it was loud because it’s all I’d heard as my brother’s friend and I raced down the street as fast as we could.

When my brother caught up to us a few minutes later, well, let’s just say he was not pleased.

Six Flags and the NBA…

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We’ve had a bit of bad weather here in south Texas. It’s been raining pretty much all week except for today, so my brother decided to take a trip to Six Flags to experience all the Halloween Spectacular stuff–which is pretty fun, especially for the kiddos.

I had originally intended to go but had to pass because yesterday I spent the evening at the Navy Ball, and this old lady is tired and can’t possibly have two late nights in a row. So instead I decided to stay in and relax.

I’m also watching some NBA basketball, which is my first favorite sport after football. If anyone out there cares, I’m a huge Spurs fan. And although San Antonio traded their number one player, I’m still very hopeful that they will do well this season. And I hope that they demolish Toronto the two times this year they will play them.

In other news, its been a slow writing week. I had a lot going on in my personal life, and it has pulled me out of the mood to write. As we all know–it happens. We all go through it, but I’m hoping that things will calm down, and I can get back to trying to get some good writing done.

But if not, I’ll be wasting my time watching NBA games. Or trying to ignore my brother while he gives me a hard time for not going to Six Flags like I promised.

All in all, it’s not the worst way to waste my time.