Howdy gang,
I've been experimenting with saying howdy, despite owning zero cowboy hats. I'm not quite at the point where I can bring myself to say it out loud, but this is a safe space.
If you can tell, I'm in a bit of a silly mood, because I have lots going on that's making me pretty excited. Let's dive right in because there's tons of news.
First off, The Hotel at the End of Time is on sale for the rest of this week. If you ever wanted to pick up a copy, now is the time to do it. 99 cents only. It's barely like buying something.
Second, I want to share the interview I did with my spectacular editor, Alex Woodroe. We had a great talk about all things editing. It's a neat look under the covers about the editing process and how the whole thing works. Check it out.
Lastly, I'm so close to the end of book 2 gang, you have no idea. I'm doing final edits right now, with the target of being finished on July 3. Then it's one more round of final, FINAL, this-time-I-swear-I-mean-it-final edits and the book is done.
Are you curious what Vain has been up to? Well buckle up, because here's an exclusive sneak peek of chapter 1 of The Well at the Bottom of Everything:
Vain had survived things that would have killed other people.
She’d been taken to the Hotel at the End of Time and used as a human battery before escaping. She’d jumped off a roof. Blowing up the Portal should have killed her, for sure. Once, she’d even destroyed a gas station, although that was more awesome than crazy. Clearly, she was a no-nonsense, badass who could do anything. So, she could do this.
Nothing to be afraid of.
She could order coffee.
Even at eight in the morning, the coffee shop was packed with trendy idiots, and everything about the experience pushed her close to panic. The name, for example. The Wrecking Brew. Did that imply their coffee wrecked people? Or that the people making the coffee did the wrecking? Mark said it was only a stupid pun, but that was like saying it’s only a wet pool when she was asking about the crocodiles swimming in it.
Mark waited for her on the couch because instead of normal things like chairs and tables, this horrible place had couches and recliners and weird boxes. Everyone had a beard and the walls were covered in things that didn’t belong on walls like bike tires and spatulas.
She hated it here, but Mark wanted to play at dating. He wanted to play this game more and more often, whereas she preferred when he taught her to fight and working out. But he’d insisted on grabbing a coffee before meeting their friends for brunch. She swallowed her annoyance and stepped to the counter. Mark was a good guy. He showed her how to punch people. She could do this.
“Can I help you?” The perky girl behind the counter smiled like she enjoyed her job. Vain was immediately suspicious.
“Two coffees please.”
“Sure, what size? We have mediu, moyen and mittel.”
“Are those real words?”
“Yes.”
Vain waited for a further explanation. Sweat pooled in her lower back. The man behind her coughed and she nearly jumped. The perky girl offered no further details but smiled more aggressively. Vain examined the menu for clues with growing distress.
“I don’t know. The third one. Mitten. Two mitten coffees, I guess. Oh and Mark said he wants an everything bagel, but I’m not sure if he meant he wants all the bagels or if he wants everything on the bagel.”
“One everything bagel and two mittel coffees. No problem. How do you take them?”
Vain wiped her forehead. A car started outside the shop and she bit her cheek. “In my hands, please. That’s fine. Hurry.”
“Cream or sugar?”
“Yes, okay. Give me two mitten coffees with cream and sugar and all the bagels in my hands. Here is some money. I’ll be on the couch.”
There you go, everyone. From magic hotels to weird coffee shops. I really cover all the angles.
Finally, I'd like to share with you what I'm reading right now. It's a wonderful book about how to write better stories because I'm always trying to get better at this whole writing thing
It's called Story Genius and it's wonderful. Check it out here
That's it for today, everyone. Thanks for sticking around!