Friday, October 17, 2014

WIP Blog Tour

You haven't heard from me for a while, but I did not fall off the face of the Earth, really I didn't!

There's a reason - no! - a world of reasons for my absence, and even though Volume One of my Emrysia series, Awakening, is getting lonely without Volume Two, Lament, the second "sister" is not quite ready to swim yet. She is fully written, edited and tweaked many, many times over (can I get a "put that red pen down already!"?), but she still needs a little make-up i.e. a few more chapter illustrations. Those of you with e-readers may not get to appreciate these touches, but please bear patiently: I may still release her in e-form a little earlier than the paperback edition. I'm also still working out marketing strategies - ARRRRRRGHHHHH! - the bane of self-publishing existence. But on that note.......
 

                
                               Volume One                                              Volume Two
 
 
I'm excited to take part in the 2014 Work in Progress (WIP) Blog Tour. Its a terrific idea offering authors the chance to share snippets about their upcoming projects. I'd like to thank Nan Lundeen for inviting me along. Nan's first book of poetry The Pantyhose Declarations celebrates women who "rebuff the duty train and refuse to wear pantyhose". Her more recent anthology, entitled Black Dirt Days, presents poems as a memoir of her rural Iowa upbringing in the 1950's. Both volumes resonate with humor & grit in down to earth, savory yet readable language. I can’t wait to find out what she's doing next!  You can see what she’s up to in her WIP by visiting her post for the tour here.

The rules for the tour are simple: Provide the link back to the post by the person who nominated you (see above), write a little about and give the first sentences of the first three chapters of your current Work In Progress, then nominate four other writers to do the same.

WIP tours are a fun way to stay on top of what a lot of authors are working on, and I’m delighted to give you a glimpse into what the world of Emrysia has in store next for Aryelle, Lureli and Eleanor. I should tell you, however, that even though Lament is technically written and I'm already working on Volume Three: Endurance, I'm still counting Volume Two as my work in progress since she's not "out there" yet.

So here goes:




Emrysia: Lament - Volume Two of the Three Sister Trilogy plunges into the hidden world of the Mer. As Lureli recalls the stormy events leading up to her land adventure, she and the others continue to crisscross the magical continent in a desperate detour they hope will lead toward home. But the Shadow is still growing, and fairytale endings are rare. And some homecomings don't include warm welcomes.........

Chapter 1
Lureli’s thoughts smoldered along with the dying embers of the campfire. Her servants eyed her anxiously, their unease deepening with her blackening mood.
          

Chapter 2
The hiss of a log tossed onto glowing embers startled her from her reverie. She shook her head amid a shower of sparks, freeing the vision entangled in her memory and rejoining the present. Peering sideways through the smoke, Lureli barely recognized the grizzled, gray-bearded devil who knelt stoking the fire. Tongues of flame licked the new wood greedily, accentuating the bumpy, crimson stain between the devil’s spiral horns, transforming his face into a chiaroscuro mask. His well-muscled torso was smeared with sweat and blood, his wooly lower half flecked with the same. Nodd… his name was Nodd
 
Chapter 3
Lureli didn’t catch up. In fact, she wasn’t going to follow them at all. She flopped helplessly back into the seat of her litter, tears of self-pity coursing down her cheeks unchecked. To the Abyss with all of them! She’d just sit here and dry up in the sun - what would they care? What did anyone care what happened to her now?


And, just for fun, here's a little sneak peak at Volume Three:

                                                                 
Now, some wonderfully talented authors I've tagged to join the tour (More to come!).  Have a look at their books and upcoming projects:




Janet Givens :   http://janetgivens.com


David Stahler Jr. : http://davidstahlerjr.com/

Cathy Strasser : www.cathystrasser.com