Second Volume of Grave Impressions Coming Soon!

Just to let everyone know, our friends over at Grave Impressions are releasing their second graphic novel in the series by the same name. Below is a copy of their press release announcement!

(Friendly note that I am not part of the team at Grave Impressions, I am however friends with them and it's my pleasure to signal boost this information ^__^  )

Grave Impressions to Release Second Book in February

When no one is who they appear to be, it’s not easy to trust your suspects – or your friends.

The second chapter in the noir-inspired mystery comic forces amateur detective Howard Graves to face the truth: his easy case is getting harder by the minute. And though suspicion may be part of the job, Howard doesn't suspect there's even more to this case than meets the eye – not, at least, until he encounters the one person who's going to turn this whole investigation on its head. Too bad he's doing this all as a favor, or he'd start charging a lot more.

Compared to other members of the cast, though, Howard's doing just fine.  After all, it’s tough to be a gay man in 1942, but it’s worse when your lover isn’t telling the whole truth. What’s going on with Freddy and Napoleon anyway?  What sorts of secrets are they hiding from one another?

Grave Impressions is the brainchild of Ziska, Aleksi and Nym, a trio of creators who’ve been sharing their creation on the web since October 2012 with weekly Sunday updates.  “I’m really excited to be getting into the meat of this first mystery.” Nym said. “There are a lot of twists and turns coming, so the fans better expect a wild ride!”

Slated for pre-release this February, Book 2 of Grave Impressions will 80 pages long – with twenty additional pages of content, including a book-exclusive backstory, an insight into 40’s slang, exclusive new art and much more!

Order your copy at http://graveimpressions.storenvy.com starting February 1^st! 

Penny's Tales: Jessica Walsh and Briana Lawrence stop by Penny's ...

You should visit the link below and check out our new interview over at Penny's Tales, just posted today.



Penny's Tales: Jessica Walsh and Briana Lawrence stop by Penny's ...: A Big Welcome to Jessica and Briana 1. Tell us all about yourself and what makes you tick and what do you like doing when you aren’t...

Spring Blog Hop!

I'm going to take part in my first blog hop starting in March.  This will include giveaways and mentions of other awesome books.  More details to come soon, but in the meantime you can find the banner below and on the side of my page!

Genderbent Beauty and the Beast

Original pictures by: dc9spot

So all around tumblr I've been seeing genderbent versions of Disney movies lately (where they swap the genders of the main characters) and this morning the muses would just not leave me alone.  So I wrote a little story based on these pictures. 

He first noticed her around the bookstore, her small bushy tail wagging just around the corner as he looked over the rows and rows of books and their high prices.  They all looked so lovely, but he really couldn’t afford to buy all of them, considering how rare books were.  Thumbing through the coins in his pocket, he mentally counted again how many he had.  It would have to be enough.

The owner of the bookstore was corgel, as always, and gave a wrinkled smile as the coins were exchanged for the volume and then Bel left the store.  His stomach filled with the same warm feeling he always had - a beautiful day and a new book, all he wanted to do at that moment was stop in the middle of the road and read it.  But he knew better, considering what had happened last time with Lady Gabrielle.  Bel shuddered at the memory.

Ducking down the city road, as fast as he could without drawing attention to himself - he did take the time to say hello to the baker and her husband - and soon he was out of the town.  A quick glance out of the corner of his eyes and he sighed in relief, seeing he was still being followed.  A few more steps and he was near the tree, sitting down in his favorite place and opening the book to the first page.

It always took some coaxing, but it was worth it.  He would read the first page out loud as if that were normal enough, all the while listening to the branches and leaves around him move.  After about three pages he could see her shadow inching toward him, still wary.

Upon reaching page five was when she usually stepped into view.

Her coat was matted, twisted with briars and tangled fur.  On that day in particular there were three claw marks near her ear which had dried over and badly stained the fur, but her eyes were wide and the brightest blue as ever.  He did his best not to look up as she crept toward him, her strangely human yet animalistic face watching him for any signs of danger.

A whole page before she was in front of him, a whole page for her to be calm and realize - again - that he was no threat.  No matter how many days in a row he did this, she was always cautious, and he wondered how often she’d been chased away and attacked for simply being curious.

Page eight was the best, in his opinion.  By then the story had started to pick up and at least one of the characters had stepped out, asking to be his favorite.  Page eight was when he would lift the book just slightly, leaving enough room for her to edge closer.  Page eight was when she would stop next to him and rest her furry head on his lap, the hint of a smile crossing her lips as he read.  

And that’s where she would stay, until the sun set and he could no longer read by the light of the sun, his hand stroking down her furry back and the torn remnants of a lovely yellow dress.  One day, maybe she wouldn’t be so skittish around him and he could ask who she was.  One day maybe she wouldn’t be so scared of him.  

One day, maybe, he could find out who this beastly beauty really was.

Whispering in my ear...

If you ever talk to me in person and I get into talking about my characters, I'll probably describe them as real people I've met, because that's what I'm used to and that's the easiest way for me to write them - imagine them as someone who lives down the street.

For instance, currently, I have two very real seeming characters swimming in my head.  One is Aiden (who I described in an earlier post) and the other is his boyfriend Lassie, who keep invading my thoughts.  I have them defined and I know exactly what they look like and how they interact with each other.  Unfortunately what I don't know, at the moment, is what their plot is and how to go about writing it.

Honestly, the easiest way to explain it at the moment is that Lassie - a tall and thin young man with a partially shaved head and blue hair dropping down the other side in curls - is leaning over and whispering in my ear while I'm sitting at my normal job trying to work on emails and customer requests.  He's telling me about how he runs a coffee shop with a really unique atmosphere and how Aiden is his boyfriend and they get along so well together, but he won't tell me is what happens beyond that coffee shop.  He won't even tell me if Aiden is attending classes or has a job...

It's frustrating, really.  But I'll be honest, I love it too.

Hopefully some plot will occur to me soon, because these two really really want me to write about them, and not just as side characters in a different story, as I'd originally planned. Ooops.

A 12 Day Plan of Simple Writing Exercises - Day 3

Day 3:
Write a setting based on the most beautiful place you’ve ever seen.

My feet hurt, tied in thick boots that I've tripped over far too many times to count.  The weather is hot, with the shorts and t-shirt I'm wearing feeling like concrete from the heat and sweat in the air.  My hips stopped aching a long time ago from the back pack resting there, and instead are a dull throb as I follow the ground down a winding trail made of rocks and dirt and surrounded by trees.  The edge of the trees is near and I'm not looking forward to stepping out into the direct sunlight, knowing that it'll only get hotter and we're not even halfway through the walking for today yet.

It's moments later when the trail leads us out from under the trees and I'm hit full on with the burning summer sun.  Now there are no trees and the path cuts across a clearing with patches of tall grass and a large dip of liquid blue fire in the middle of it.

(Not my picture below, but it is the actual lake)

I don't remember the last time I've ever seen a lake with water so bright.  I'm not exaggerating, the lake itself actually looked like it was made of blue fire, burning right out of the ground.  In that moment the only thing I wanted was to run over and drop into the water, complete with my hiking boots and heavy backpack, but I knew even with the warm weather the water would be freezing cold to the touch.  So instead I just stood there and stared at the blue fire in front of me, finding out only later that the name of it was Misty Moon Lake.

12 Day Plan of Simple Writing Exercises - Day 2

Day 2:
Create a character with personality traits of someone you love, but the physical characteristics of someone you don’t care for.

From my story White Noise:
Aiden is Lassie's boyfriend and very much one of the those men you see in magazines and ads.  He's tall, thin and his face is very sharp and angular, with cold blue eyes and dusty brown hair.  His expression is usually severe, due to the angles of his face, but his voice and demeanor is surprisingly calm and understanding.  If you can get past the unfriendliness of his looks, you'll actually find a person who is secure with themselves and stopped caring a long time ago what other people thought of him.  He's loving and caring around Lassie, always willing to listen to anything that comes up even if it sounds strange or unbelievable.  After all, Lassie lives in a very different world from his own, and even though he usually doesn't understand it, he at least tries and listens.

12 Day Plan of Simple Writing Exercises - Day 1

I found this little exercise online and decided that, now that I'm done rereading everything for Seeking the Storyteller, that I should get back into writing.  So here's a great way to do it.

A 12 Day Plan of Simple Writing Exercises

Day 1:
Write 10 potential book titles of books you’d like to write.

The notes in parenthesis are for me so I remember what the title is for.

1. White Noise (A possible aspects story, involving souls, a coffee shop and tattoos)
2. Key to the End (Based on an idea from high school that's been ever evolving)
3. Burning (Inspired by "Light it Up" from Fall Out Boy and the idea of dragons)
4. Beneath the Chapter (A sequel to Seeking the Storyteller)
5. Page Turner (A sequel to Seeking the Storyteller)
6. Binding the Light (A sequel to Seeking the Storyteller)
7. Cure (based on a short story call for superheroes)
8. Breaking the Night (A plot bunny I had about a world with no sun and flowers)
9. Theme of Winter (I need to rewrite a short story based on a old hotel room and a music box)
10. Aspects of Life (A very old idea that's been with me for a long time and needs to be told.  Might be tied to Key to the End and White Noise)

What do you think?  I know I haven't given that much information, but what sparks your interest?

Opinionated Cupcakes: New Year, New Book Review! by Kimmy

Whoohoo!  We've received our first review for Seeking the Storyteller!  You can read it over at the link below!

Opinionated Cupcakes: New Year, New Book Review! by Kimmy: Hey all, With the holidays over (boo) and now quickly working our way into January 2014, I have finally finished reviewing my first book o...

First Official Interview

Woke up this morning to the news that my first official interview was posted!  I'm still a bit new to this published author thing, so I'm allowed to be super excited - though truthfully I'm sure I'll be excited each time this happens.

You can check it out at the link below.  It's actually with both myself and Briana Lawrence and we share information like why we write and tips for authors and readers.

Read the interview here!

Sketches and Possible Book Items

Aside from writing, my partner/coauthor and I also do a large amount of art - most of which I won't really spam you with here.   Normally I wouldn't be sharing it here, but this piece is novel related, as we've wanted to offer special add-on pieces with our novels.

So, for Seeking the Storyteller, I've started drawing chibies of some of the characters.  For those who don't know, chibies are super deformed versions of a character who generally have large heads, little bodies and are incredibly cute.  I've sketched versions of Cyn, Haven and Mira for the novel and also plan on sketching Alix, Fagan and Dox.  I'm considering making them into keychains, stickers, bookmarks - things like that. 

Currently this is only the simple sketch.  Details and fine-tuning will be added at a later time and I'll post progress as it goes. 

Of course, any suggestions for what you'd like to see them as are very welcome!

  

If you'd like to see more of my art, you can visit my deviantart account

We will be at Anime Milwaukee this year!

Originally we'd submitted to join the convention in their artist alley (because my partner and I are also artists, aside from books) and it turns out that we were wait listed.  Since we were wait listed before, we didn't have much hope... until this week.

We got the notice this week that we will be going to Anime Milwaukee and we'll have a table.  This is perfect!  Because we should have printed versions of our book there!  So if you're in the area of Milwaukee Wisconsin around February 14th-16th, please stop by!

You can check out convention details at: http://www.animemilwaukee.com/