Eye of the Tulip

Apocalypse Bulbs

Dawn of the Tulips

A Flowery Doom

Mother’s Day Breakfast

Some Random Dog

Some Random Cow

Relics from the Sawmill

The Beach

Searching for the Truth

Best. Lunch. Evar.

The Duck Who Wanted My Lunch

“Sanctuary!”

Beauty and the Beast

Obligatory Tree Shot

TongueCam

The post My Spring, In Pictures appeared first on Blood Skies.

Click on the image below to check out all the authors participating this week!

With the cover reveal for CITY OF SCARS just a couple of weeks away, it’s time to get back to some excerpts!

Much of the novel centers around the crime war between the Black Guild and the Phage, rival syndicates vying for control of Ebonmark.  Vellexa, a Bloodspeaker lieutenant in the Guild, knows how desperate the battle has become, but even she doesn’t approve of some of the methods the Iron Count is taking to deal with his enemies, especially those employed by his deadly alchemists…

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Luckily Vellexa didn’t have to see the alchemists or their foul experiments very often.  Ever since their initial success the twisted Veil engineers had been given their own space in the Cauldron to work, and they kept hidden behind locked and carefully warded doors except when they moved their goods for shipment.  The strangest sounds issued from behind the cold black portals which housed the alchemist’s chambers: liquid churning, ghostly whispers, grinding metal and the occasional cry of pain.  Vellexa passed through the tide of dismal noise as she walked down the arched stone hall.  

One of the doors popped open, releasing a cloud of yellow haze and the smell of burning alcohol.  One of the alchemists stepped out, a hideously gaunt figure dressed in tattered red robes stained with powder.  A heavy cowl and black goggles concealed most of his face, and what skin she saw was cracked and peeled and almost green from weeks of saturation in rooms filled with poisonous air.  The alchemist ignored Vellexa as he dumped a large iron bucket filled with greenish waste into a floor grate before returning to the room. 

****

Thanks for dropping by, and have a great weekend!

The post WEEKEND WRITING WARRIORS: An Excerpt from CITY OF SCARS appeared first on Blood Skies.

That much editing basically means I get to spend the next several months writhing in my own mistakes.  I’ll be like a battlefield surgeon, slashing descriptions and performing surgery on narrative passages, cutting gangrenous sections of text and amputating needless sentences.  Between now and the end of the year I’ll have edited nearly 2,000 pages.  That’s a lot of quality time spent wallowing in the filth of my own errors.

While engaged in this process I’ve started to notice some annoying trends in my writing, and I’ve compiled a list and created a memo to myself to outline these tendencies with the hopes of avoiding them in my future rough drafts.

So here, for your reading pleasure, is a To-Do List to myself for my own future reference, emphasizing those annoying habits I need to avoid.  Enjoy.

1) Stop using the word “that”.  Seriously.  You have a “that” fetish.  It’s sick.  If you erased the word “that” from all of your rough drafts you’d only have half a book left.  So knock it off.  The world will be a better place.

2) Your excessive description is at times…excessive.  You already get flak for your lengthy prose — it’s scary how much worse your rough drafts are.  Seriously, chill that shit out, Dawg.

3) Quit being unhappy with the word “said”.  This is one of those things you just need to let go.  You can’t seem to get it out of your head that “said” following a line of dialogue is one of the few words you can get away with using a million times in a novel.  There’s no need to go with alternatives like “commented”, “replied”, “interrupted”, “added”, etc.  In fact, it often detracts from the dialogue.  So stop.  Or I’ll break your knees.

4) You have a thing for trees and skies.  No matter what else is going on you seem determined to include those details.  I think you’re a $@!ing hippy.

5) You like black.  We get it.  You also like to avoid saying “black” by using words such as “ebon”, “onyx” and “pitch”.  You’re not Goth anymore, dude.  Get over it.

6) Effluvia, shadows, crunch.  I guarantee those three words will make it into each and every chapter, without fail.

7) Lame jokes.  Thank the Old Gods you edit most of them out.  Worse yet, you force your characters to say this shit out loud.  If Kane ever crosses over to the “real” world he’s liable to punch you in the eye.

8) You love the word “arcane”.  And “thaumaturgic”.  We need to come up some alternative ways to describing magic, Bro.

9) Incomplete sentences.  Not sure why.  To increase tension?  To be poetic?  Sometimes effective.  Other times.  Annoying as hell.

10) Not enough sex.  I know why you don’t include sex scenes: I’ve read your sex scenes, and they read like rejects from “Penthouse Letters”.  So while it’s probably good you don’t do it, you’d be expanding your horizons a bit if you tried.  Be brave, dude.

11) Repeated proper nouns.  Did you know you only have a handful of names you use on a regular basis?  Half of the fun of re-writing CITY OF SCARS has been coming up with new names for practically every character, since you pilfered a good 75% of them to use in the BLOOD SKIES novels.  Now Pike, Krannor, Kray, Cross, Margrave, the Eidolos, the Gorgoloth and Tega Ramsey have all had to undergo name changes and re-writes so they aren’t just clones of their newer versions.  You also love to name things “Scar”, “Ebon” and something involving “Sunset”.  I think you may have issues.

My Challenge to Writers: Confront your annoying habits.  Talk about them.  Trust me, if you find something about your own writing that drives you nuts, you’re not the only one.  And it never hurts to poke fun at yourself every once in a while. ;D

The post My 11 Most Annoying Writer’s Habits (A Rant to Myself) appeared first on Blood Skies.

The Skullborn Trilogy takes place on the world of Malzaria, a once rich and prosperous land which has fallen on hard times in the wake of the decade-long Rift War.  Thus far I’ve blogged about the setting and the magic system.  Now we’ll focus on the cast and creatures.

CHARACTERS

Azander Dane: The central figure to the story is fallen knight Azander Dane.  Once a member of the prestigious order called the Dawn Knights, Dane (as well as the rest of his comrades in arms) was disgraced after a series of mysterious events in the remote Razortooth Mountains.  Now a bitter shell of the man he once was, Dane ekes out an existence as a mercenary for hire, selling his services to the crime cartels as he drifts from one city to the next.

Ijanna Taivorkan: A Bloodspeaker of incredible power, Ijanna was raised by the mystics of Allaj Mohrter to fulfill a prophecy which will eradicate the evil left behind in the wake of the Rift War.  Unfortunately for her, living out that prophecy will spell Ijanna’s doom, and as CITY OF SCARS opens she’s trying to find an alternative to sacrificing herself.  Ijanna and Dane have something of a history, though as the novel opens their connection is unclear.

Kath Cardrezhej: A young native of Ebonmark and a member of the City Watch, Kath is recruited to assist the newly arrived White Dragon Army when the Empire of Jlantria takes over the city.  Having already been struck by a tragedy triggered by one Bloodspeaker, Kath and his family are about to find themselves in turmoil once more when Kath is unwittingly drawn into Ijanna’s fight for survival.

Aaric Blackhall: A Jlantrian Colonel appointed as Grand Marshall of Ebonmark, Blackhall has the unenviable task of establishing order while at the same time striving to reign in the power of the local crime cartels — the Black Guild and the Phage.  To complicate matters, Blackhall must also carry out a secret mission for Empress Azaean, when all the battle-weary colonel really wants to do is get home to his family.

Marros Slayne: One of Blackhall’s close friends and a former mercenary soldier, Slayne is also leader of the Black Eagles, a clandestine squad which carries out assassinations, kidnappings and other sullied assignments unsuited for the White Dragon Army.

Toran Gess: A Veilwarden of House Blue, the wryly sarcastic Gess is Blackhall’s arcane adviser, tasked with ensuring the Colonel carries out Empress Azaeaen’s special assignment.  In spite of his innocuous personality Gess is an incredibly capable and powerful mage.

Vellexa: A Bloodspeaker of some infamy, Vellexa is a representative of the Black Guild and largely responsible for the cartel’s day-to-day operations in Ebonmark, and she reports directly to the Guild’s mysterious leader the Iron Count.  Vellexa heads the search for Ijanna with the aid of her henchmen Sammeus and Cronak.

Harrick: Leader of the local cell of the Phage, an up-and-coming crime cartel and the direct opponents of the Black Guild.  Desperate to prove himself to the heads of the ruthless organization, Harrick attempts to hunt Ijanna down and deal with the Jlantrian occupiers in Ebonmark with the aid of stolen magic and mercenary soldiers.

Bordrec Kleiderhorn: One of the few independent crime lords in Ebonmark, Bordrec is bound to aid Ijanna due to a blood debt owed to her father.  Bordrec must do his best to survive the crime war between the Phage and the Black Guild while also dealing with Blackhall and the Jlantrians.

Jorias Targo: Another independent crime lord, Jorias is a brute of a man as well-known for his illegal gladiator events as he is for his infamous “werewolf serum”.

Kruje: An exiled Vossian prince, this black-skinned giant is a captive gladiator forced to fight in illegal matches just to stay alive.  Little does Kruje know the important role he’ll end up playing in Dane’s hunt for Ijanna.

CREATURES

Tuscars: Grey-skinned marauders who roam the ice-wreathed wastes called the Skull of the World, the Tuscars are ravenous barbarians who live only for destruction.  Driven by a fierce hatred of humankind and a relentless need to breed and conquer, the Tuscars are disorganized and psychotic brigands who use their massive numbers to overwhelm their opponents.  Since the end of the Rift War the Tuscars have been held to the Skull by the Jlantrian White Dragon Army, though some slip through now and again and find work as mercenaries and enforcers for crime cartels or corrupt city-states.

Voss: A race of black-skinned and black-hearted subterranean giants.  The Voss are as renowned for their arcane weapons and abilities as magical engineers as they are for their cruelty and cunning.  Overlords of the dismal underground city of Meledrakkar, the Voss provided the Blood Queen’s armies with weapons during the Rift War and worked closely with the corrupt Empire of Gallador.  Ultimately it was Vossian war machines which led to Gallador’s destruction, and other remnants of the deadly artifacts they created can still be found all across (and under) the continent.  Voss are rarely encountered above the surface.

Arkan: Mysterious denizens of the underworld, the emaciated and monstrous Arkan are a race of telepathic megalomaniacs who strive to enslave all other species.  The Arkan wage their secret war from the vast underground city of Il’drazza’kuul, a haven of slaves, twisted experiments and dark magic.  The Arkan act from the shadows, manipulating events on the surface while quietly extending their influence throughout the underground realms.  Feared and hated even by the other nefarious races, the opportunistic Arkan are just waiting for the right time to strike.

Chul: Not really monsters but humans made monstrous, the Chul are a militaristic apocalypse cult of cannibals, outcasts, psychopaths and murderers.  Led by the enigmatic Witch Mother, the Chul strive to resurrect the Blood Queen from her sealed tower of Chul Gaerog, believing when she returns Vlagoth will destroy the weak and reward her dark faithful.  The Chul operate in cells scattered across the civilized lands, secretly taking prisoners to torture and feast upon.

Trolls: Experimental cross-breeds between Voss and Tuscars, trolls are red-skinned brutes possessed of low intelligence but telepathically programmed with military cunning.  Incredibly durable and fearless, the Empire of Jlantria developed trolls for use in the Rift War, and occasionally still deploys the creatures alongside regular White Dragon soldiers to act as enforcers and heavy artillery.

The post The Characters and Creatures of CITY OF SCARS appeared first on Blood Skies.

Click on the image below to check out all the authors participating this week!

Ok, after a week off I’m back to it.  I’m buried with editing CITY OF SCARS at the moment, my epic fantasy set for release late next month.  I’ll be highlighting some of the characters and creatures on my blog next week, but in the meantime I’ll present another excerpt.

When last we checked in we’d first met Ijanna, an exiled Bloodspeaker Dane has been hired to hunt down.  This week I’ll introduce another exile in Ebonmark: Kruje, one of the black-fleshed and black-hearted giants called the Voss, who finds himself in a rather dangerous and unfamiliar situation…

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Kruje’s ebon skin was scarred and rough from months of fighting, sleeping on stone and eating trash unfit even for carrion feeders.  The iron shackles around his neck and hands grew heavier by the day, and Kruje feared he’d actually grown accustomed to this treatment, all too similar to how the Voss had treated their human prisoners during the Rift War. 

That was why he was such a prize to the humans: because he was Voss.  Humans regarded he and his kin with terror and awe, and to parade one around like a carnival prize took away their fear of him, demystified the enigma of an ancient and powerful race of giants known as much for their cruel command of arcane engineering as they were for their size and sheer brutality.

Though Kruje couldn’t speak the human’s foul tongue he saw the excitement and disdain in Maddox’s expression when he showed his captive off to his slaver friends.  Kruje was Maddox’s freak, but more importantly he was Maddox’s champion.  Kruje hadn’t seen another Voss since he’d left Meledrakkar.  It was the novelty of his existence on the surface world that Maddox really owned, and it was that which brought so many to watch the giant fight.

****

Thanks for dropping by, and have a great weekend!

The post WEEKEND WRITING WARRIORS: An Excerpt from CITY OF SCARS appeared first on Blood Skies.

Coming this Summer.

Return to the world After the Black in this collected edition of the first three novels in the Blood Skies saga — BLOOD SKIES, BLACK SCARS and SOULRAZOR — plus the original TALES OF A BLOOD EARTH and the all-new novella CRUCIFIX POINT.

Completely re-edited and featuring exciting new cover art by Barry Currey, the BLOOD SKIES OMNIBUS Vol. 1 will be a must for any Dark Fantasy or Military Sci-Fi collection!

BLOOD SKIES

Southern Claw warlock Eric Cross is a member of Viper Squad, and his mission is to pursue the renegade witch Red across the wastelands.  His hunt takes him through haunted forests and blighted tundra, into war-torn cities and to the edge of a twisted necropolis.  And before the journey is done Cross will uncover the dark origins of magic, and learn the true meaning of sacrifice…

TALES OF A BLOOD EARTH: THE EXCAVATION

In a desolate patch of remote wasteland a group of prisoners struggles to stay alive. Ordered to unearth a terrible chamber of ancient power and hounded by once-frozen vampire savages, their journey into darkness will reveal forgotten secrets of the conflict that brought The Black to our world.

BLACK SCARS

Something ancient has awoken. Primordial and wholly evil, a living shadow emerges from a prison made weak by the magical cataclysm called The Black. Now the Sleeper stalks the land in search of its old enemies, leaving a trail of madness and destruction in its wake.

CRUCIFIX POINT

Sent to investigate a series of mysterious vanishings in the wastelands, Cross and his newly-formed mercenary team find themselves drawn into an ancient conflict from which they might not escape.

SOULRAZOR

Eric Cross and his team of elite mercenaries is tasked with halting vampire activity near the remote city-state of Fane, where the Ebon Cities has teamed up with a former Revenger to search for a deadly weapon called Soulrazor.

The post Cover Reveal: THE BLOOD SKIES OMNIBUS, VOL. 1 appeared first on Blood Skies.

One of the hardest parts about writing a novel series is knowing when to quit.  It’s probably a tad early for me to blogging about this because, well…I haven’t quit, at least not yet, but it’s something that’s been on my mind as of late, since a couple of weekends ago Lib and I were discussing TV shows, philosophy and books.  Clearly, we don’t get out much.  Anyways, somehow our discussion veered onto the topic of when to stop writing a series or story.

The Blood Skies Omnibus. Coming soon (ish).

The Blood Skies series was originally going to be six books long.  That’s since changed to nine.  For a time I considered extending it to ten, but that was largely because I wasn’t sure if I’d be able to squeeze everything into Book 6 (Chain of Shadows) that I wanted to.  I’m happy to say I’ve since remedied that situation, re-thought what I wanted to accomplish, and stuck with my nine book schedule, which is good because I honestly don’t want to drag things on for too long.  (Though, to be fair, three of my books are the size of a single installment in, say, Steven Erikson’s Malazan Book of the Fallen series, so really I’m writing a trilogy…in nine parts. ;D)

As I’ve mentioned before, I’m actually not a hardcore “plotter”.  I tend to write in bullet points and allow my imagination to fill in the blanks as I go along.  Sometimes the specifics get revised a bit as I go, and sometimes an unexpected twist comes out of nowhere and alters the overall trajectory of the story.

I’ve asked readers on Twitter and on Facebook what they consider to be the ideal length of a series.  Some people prefer trilogies (I’m usually among that camp, honestly), but most answered: “Until the story is done.  Don’t drag things out.”

A. Freakin’. Men.

Now, some novel series can get away with continuing on ad infinitum.  Urban fantasy, for example, which often uses the “serial hard-boiled detective stories” as their model (think the Anita Blake: Vampire Hunter series or The Dresden Files), can carry on pretty much until the author gets bored of writing them, since aside from a few recurring sub-plots each novel is more or less its own microcosm, and it’s easy to jump into the series with almost any given book.  A series with a more connected and coherent story line, however (like Blood Skies) is more difficult to join halfway in, and the author needs to stay focused on the overall plot and determine how long it’s going to take to get to the end.

But sometimes a series just goes on for too damn long, and part of the reason is because it peaks too early.  Allow me to explain by diverging off on a different path for a moment…

In film circles there’s something known as “middle movie syndrome”.  This is where a story doesn’t feel complete because it’s a direct continuation of the first film but doesn’t actually resolve anything, leaving the door open for film #3.  The Two Towers is a classic example, since the entire Lord of the Rings film trilogy is really one gigantic movie, and Two Towers just happens to be the middle chunk.  The Empire Strikes Back is another good example, since the setup essentially mandates you saw A New Hope to understand what’s going on and then demands you see Return of the Jedi to find out how it ends.  (Hint: the Ewoks shoot Kennedy.)

Sometimes, however – and Empire is a good example of this – the reality of what happens next is nowhere near as good as our anticipation of it.  Empire (and a few examples I’ll outline below) ends on such a high note, and we’re so caught up with the characters and events, that when we find out what actually happens in the next installment it either a) doesn’t live up to our expectations, or b) just feels superfluous.  Now I’m not saying Empire should have been the last movie in the series, but it’s hard to argue that what follows in any way matched the anticipation.

Sometimes, it’s best to quit while you’re ahead.  I give you three examples, each of them about as different as can be: the television series Lost , George R.R. Martin’s Song of Ice and Fire novel series, and the film The Matrix.

Warning: spoilers ahead.  Lots of ‘em.

Lost: This show was an absolute phenomenon when it arrived on the air, and even more than Alias really made the careers of J.J. Abrams and company.  The tale of a group of (seeming) strangers trapped on a remote island with all sorts of mind-twisting mysteries surrounding them captivated hordes of fans, and entire online communities formed in an attempt to decipher all of Lost’s secrets.  Everyone wanted to know what was happening, what connections might be formed between the characters, and what more twisted secrets about the island or “The Others” might be revealed.

Lost peaked, in my opinion, with Season 3, which for those of you playing the home game opened with Jack, Kate and Sawyer as captives to Ben and The Others and concluded with the arrival of the freighter, Ben’s dire premonitions regarding the island’s fate and Jack’s mind-twisting “flashback”.  By this point, following a very popular Season One and a very unpopular Season Two, the creative team behind the show had come to understand how to balance what worked against what didn’t, and they did a nice job keeping the story rolling and maintaining the mystery without stretching out the painful melodrama that bogged down Season Two.

The Season Three finale was utterly brilliant and, honestly, could have doubled as the series finale.  Yes, it would have driven some people absolutely bonkers with all of the unanswered questions, but think about it: we saw the deaths of several major characters, we got a good clue (without a definitive conclusion) regarding the nature of Jacob, we came to know that the survivors would indeed be rescued, and we got a very strong indication that said rescue was, in the end, a very terrible thing to take place.  Yes, we’d never learn why all of the characters seemed to share so many dotted lines in their lives; yes, we’d never find out who was on the freighter, or what they were really looking for; yes, we’d never know who was in the damn coffin or why Jack was losing his mind years after they’d escaped.

Now answer me this: having watched Seasons Four through Six, do you feel more enlightened, or just let down?  Exactly.  That Season 3 finale was the zenith of the series, and as infuriating as it would have been to many of the viewers I honestly think the show would have been more fondly remembered if it had ended at that point, while it was still on top of its game.

A Song of Ice and Fire: Far be it for me to criticize a man who’s arguably one of the most talented modern fantasists around.  With the exception of the late Robert Jordan, Steven Erickson, L.E. Modesitt, Jr. and a few others, not many authors have attempted anything with the scope and breadth of A Song of Ice and Fire.  Martin’s story has captivated millions of people even without the aid of the excellent HBO series.  That being said, I have one major problem with the series: it should have ended with A Storm of Swords.

Again, let me elaborate.  Through those first three books, the main thrust of the plot is the war for the Iron Throne being waged by the Lannisters, the Starks and the Baratheons (with the heirs of the Targaeryens off in the distance).  We’re treated to a host of characters and plot lines, a tremendous amount of twists and turns, and more than a few heartbreaking moments.  There are epic battles, betrayals, and full character arcs, and by the time the end of Book Three rolls around the series has, in my opinion, peaked.  Most of the characters have completed a full cycle: they’re either at the end of their journey or at the beginning of a new one.  Daenerys has found a city where she wants to stay and a cause worth fighting for, at least for the time being.  Tyrion and Anya are both leaving for distant lands, as are Bran and Rickon.  Stannis and company have given up on the throne and gone north to do some good.  Jon is entering an important new position in his life.  And the war for the throne is more or less over, with some disastrous consequences.

Are there unanswered questions?  Hell yes!  And yet I felt at the end of A Storm of Swords that a conclusion of sorts had been reached.  I felt like if I were to leave the story I’d still have that sense of wonder, that anticipation knowing things weren’t yet complete, yet I’d be satisfied that I’d seen enough of the tale of Westeros to know there was more to that world, like I’d glimpsed into a foreign place’s true history and watched an important series of events.

Very few will disagree when I say that A Feast For Crows was a colossal letdown, though most argue it was because Martin shifted away from the main characters.  Fair enough.  How then to explain A Dance With Dragons?  Honestly, I didn’t care for it, largely because it feels tacked on, like we’re continuing on with stories that don’t need to be continued.  We’ve come to know and love these characters, and I want to remember them fondly, not as elements of a story being needlessly dragged out for the sake of commercialism.

Now that doesn’t mean the final installments in the series won’t be remarkable.  But I have to admit I’m skeptical, because what came before reached a pinnacle I doubt can be matched again.

The Matrix: The Wachowski’s groundbreaking film suffered an early peak, and, to be quite blunt, the second and third films should have never even been made.

The reason is the same as for the reasons I’ve already discussed with the other examples: the possibilities, the sense of wonder and awe and potential we felt at the end of The Matrix is vast…too vast to have ever been followed up with anything other than a good trailer.  Now I won’t argue that The Matrix Reloaded and Matrix Revolutions were terrible, because there were aspects of those films I enjoyed, but they were certainly disappointing.  Like Lost, The Matrix suffered from too much explanation – some things are better left a mystery, and over-explaining them only leads to the logic of the story being utterly picked apart.  Alfred Hitchcock referred to this as “refrigerator syndrome” – it stays fresh so long as you only keep the door open for a very short time.  If you leave the door open (i.e. examine the logic of the story too closely) it starts to go bad.  Such is the case with The Matrix, a brilliantly realized and surprisingly simplistic story whose sequels fail on almost every level to build on the promise left by the open-ended conclusion to the first film, and for a very simple reason: you can’t build on something that’s already reached its plateau.

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The trick, it seems, is to keep all things in moderation, to not let your story peak too early and, if it does, to have the good sense to bring it all to a close.  That doesn’t mean hold back: don’t ever do that.  If you have a great idea, go with it, use it, because those inspirations sometimes only strike once.  But also have the good sense to know when to end a story, money or guaranteed sales be damned.  Anything short of the whole tale is a cheat, but anything more is just a waste of everyone’s time.

The post On Writing A Series: Quitting While You’re Ahead appeared first on Blood Skies.

Click on the image below to check out all the authors participating this week!

I’m all over the map these days, juggling CITY OF SCARS, CHAIN OF SHADOWS and the BLOOD SKIES OMNIBUS.  Since Book 6 of the BLOOD SKIES series is the project that’s been slowly eating my brain lately, I’ll stick with that one for this week’s excerpt.

I can’t give too much away, but let’s just say CHAIN OF SHADOWS picks up right where THE WITCH’S EYE left off.  Here’s a glimpse of what one of the characters sees as an unimaginable evil force begins its invasion of the world After the Black.  Enjoy!

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He turned and looked down the hill.  The darkness was thickest there at the bottom.  The space where the gate had stood was now a bubbling pool of shadows.  Churning darkness exploded out like waves of greasy water.  The black was so utter and deep it pained his eyes to look at it. 

Shapes moved within the shadows, humanoid yet lupine, slithering and inconstant, monstrous things billowing darkness.  Eyes like burning moons and claws of smoke.  Limbs of breaking glass sliced through the greying air. 

****

Thanks for dropping by, and have a great weekend!

The post Weekend Writing Warriors: An Excerpt from CHAIN OF SHADOWS appeared first on Blood Skies.

Those will wait.  For now, I want to extend my condolences to the people of Boston and to those injured or killed in the bombing.  Words can’t describe the horror I feel at yet another public display of violence.

I’ll be back to posting my book-related shenanigans next week.  In the meantime, please, hold those you love close, tell them how important they are, and be thankful for every moment you have together.

The post A Moment of Quiet appeared first on Blood Skies.

Click on the image below to check out all the authors participating this week!

I’m going to switch gears this week and shift attention away from CITY OF SCARS.  As you may know, I have four major projects running at the moment (CITY OF SCARS, CHAIN OF SHADOWS, BLOOD ANGEL RISING and the first BLOOD SKIES OMNIBUS), but for the past week or so I’ve pretty much been consumed with writing the rough draft of CHAIN OF SHADOWS, Book 6 in the Blood Skies series, which sees Cross and (what’s left of) his team trapped in a distant land as they desperately try to get home to help the Southern Claw battle a deadly new enemy.

Here’s the opening to the novel.  Enjoy!

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Blood: he tastes it on his tongue, and smells it in the wind. 

His clothing is torn, and his skin is riddled with wounds.  Everything is a blur of hazed lines and blue smoke, shifting silhouettes and bleeding shadows.  He tries to rise, but his limbs fail him, and he sinks knee deep in the cold mud.

There’s something wrong with him.  His limbs are heavy, his motions sluggish and dreamlike.  He seems to move as something other than himself. 

He has become another.

****

Thanks for dropping by, and have a great weekend!

The post Weekend Writing Warriors: An Excerpt from CHAIN OF SHADOWS appeared first on Blood Skies.