Strid: A Luminous Beings Mystery Launch Day!

It's here! It's finally here!!! The Luminous Beings series has officially begun as its first volume is published today. Click here or on the cover there to visit the book on Amazon, where it is in Kindle, paperback, and hardback format as of today! I can barely believe this day has arrived because it seems forever since Lucy and Annie first knocked on my door to tell me their story.

Several years ago, in what I lovingly call The Before Times, my sewing partner, Rennie ride-or-die, and friend Anne suggested that I should write a book about a duo that solved crime and looked steampunk-fabulous while larking about with giant hounds...not unlike those called Baskervilles. This was after I wrote a short piece about a train heist gone wrong, a mysterious woman with an Irish Wolfhound, and a gun that could shoot a rope of pure electricity rather than bullets. 

I did, and after several revisions and the decision not to include ALL the characters I came up with in one book (because that, children, is how 200k word count/800p fantasy novels are born), I managed to produce the lovely book-baby shown here. It is a steampunk-adjacent reimagining of West Yorkshire in the Edwardian industrial age, with a retelling of Irish mythology, an underwater gorge, and some very large hounds. 

Lucy and Annie Boyd were orphaned when their father and mother disappeared under strange circumstances. Annie, a tinkerer and inventor, had been working on some clockwork to help her mother after an accident in the mill - but losing her mother did not destroy her interest in creating. Lucy, a bookworm and general loose cannon, helps her sister test her creations with an eye to helping local law enforcement solve crime and clean up the village of Ingrow where they live.

How could they know that the murders at the mill were linked to ancient Celtic warring fae, who made their entrance into the human realm via the Strid, a dangerous underwater gorge in the middle of the River Wharfe?

This book is the product of a love affair with the North of England, and I hope that it will intrigue and inspire you as much as that part of the world did for me - and that you find your own Annie to round out your Lucy, and an Aoife and a Beaux to watch your back.

Just be careful where you discharge those weapons, okay?

Music Monday: Spoilers, Sweetie

Okay, this is the last Monday before Nanowrimo starts, so I'm going to share with you a cinematic trailer from a game, and I want to show you what it is like for me as a writer. Sometimes when I heard a piece of music I can SEE the story unfolding along with it. For this one, I was running errands and this piece came on and y'all...I got to a traffic light and just cried. 

I know y'all are not surprised at all...at the very least I'm sharing my crazy.  Enjoy - the video is beautifully done.

Music Monday: Unstoppable

 Going along with my love of superheroes and super ballads...this one is a great one for writing inspiration, coupled with one of the best superhero movies I've seen in ages and it doesn't even have Loki! (wrong pantheon) This isn't the original music video but it certainly fits.

Unstoppableby Sia
All smiles, I know what it takes to fool this townI'll do it 'til the sun goes down and all through the night timeOh yeahOh yeah, I'll tell you what you wanna hearLeave my sunglasses on while I shed a tearIt's never the right timeYeah, yeah
I put my armor on, show you how strong how I amI put my armor on, I'll show you that I amI'm unstoppableI'm a Porsche with no brakesI'm invincibleYeah, I win every single gameI'm so powerfulI don't need batteries to playI'm so confidentYeah, I'm unstoppable todayUnstoppable todayUnstoppable todayUnstoppable todayI'm unstoppable today
Break down, only alone I will cry on outYou'll never see what's hiding outHiding out deep downYeah, yeahI know, I've heard that to let your feelings goIs the only way to make friendships growBut I'm too afraid nowYeah, yeah
I put my armor on, show you how strong how I amI put my armor on, I'll show you that I amI'm unstoppableI'm a Porsche with no breaksI'm invincibleYeah, I win every single gameI'm so powerfulI don't need batteries to playI'm so confidentYeah, I'm unstoppable todayUnstoppable todayUnstoppable todayUnstoppable todayI'm unstoppable todayUnstoppable todayUnstoppable todayUnstoppable todayI'm unstoppable today
I put my armor on, show you how strong how I amI put my armor on, I'll show you that I amI'm unstoppableI'm a Porsche with no breaksI'm invincibleYeah, I win every single gameI'm so powerfulI don't need batteries to playI'm so confidentYeah, I'm unstoppable todayUnstoppable todayUnstoppable todayUnstoppable todayI'm unstoppable todayUnstoppable todayUnstoppable todayUnstoppable todayI'm unstoppable today

Music Monday: Still Feeling It

This song always gets me up and moving, but the lyrics sometimes weigh heavy. Here's to your Mondayest Mondays. May you boogie through them until Tuesday, at least.

Feel It Stillby Portugal
Can't keep my hands to myselfThink I'll dust 'em off, put 'em back up on the shelfIn case my little baby girl is in needAm I coming out of left field?
Ooh woo, I'm a rebel just for kicks, nowI been feeling it since 1966, nowMight be over now, but I feel it stillOoh woo, I'm a rebel just for kicks, nowLet me kick it like it's 1986, nowMight be over now, but I feel it still
Got another mouth to feedLeave her with a baby sitter, mama, call the grave diggerGone with the fallen leavesAm I coming out of left field?
Ooh woo, I'm a rebel just for kicks, nowI been feeling it since 1966, nowMight've had your fill, but you feel it still
Ooh woo, I'm a rebel just for kicks, nowLet me kick it like it's 1986, nowMight be over now, but I feel it still
We could fight a war for peace(Ooh woo, I'm a rebel just for kicks, now)Give in to that easy livingGoodbye to my hopes and dreamsStop flipping for my enemiesWe could wait until the walls come down(Ooh woo, I'm a rebel just for kicks, now)It's time to give a little to theKids in the middle, but oh 'til it fallsWon't bother me
Is it coming?Is it coming?Is it coming?Is it coming?Is it coming?Is it coming back?
Ooh woo, I'm a rebel just for kicks, yeahYour love is an abyss for my heart to eclipse, nowMight be over now, but I feel it stillOoh woo, I'm a rebel just for kicks, nowI've been feeling it since 1966, nowMight be over now, but I feel it stillOoh woo, I'm a rebel just for kicks, nowLet me kick it like it's 1986, nowMight be over now, but I feel it stillMight've had your fill, but you feel it still

Is this...Throw WAY BACK Thursday?

Y'all. Just...watch. I am enchanted. The line about being able to afford one's own sword and not needing said knight...perfection.

Music Monday: Say MY Name

I have never made my love for Tom Hiddleston's Loki a secret. Let's just start there. Loki, the Norse trickster god in their original form AND the MCU's Loki have both inspired a lot of my antagonists AND protagonists, and the Hiddleston Loki is no different. If you can listen to this song and not think of Loki...specifically that clip from ComicCon when the MCU was hyping Thor:Dark World when Hiddleston appears and interrupts a panel as Loki...

Anyway, this video, Loki || Say My Name [collab with StoryDetective], is a perfect blend of the two and I love it. Enjoy, and know that this song will be blaring every time I sit down to write.

Spectrum

by Florence + the Machine

When we first came here

We were cold and we were clear

With no colours in our skin

We were light and paper's thin

And when we first came here

We were cold and we were clear

With no colours in our skin

Until we let the spectrum in

Say my name

And every colour illuminates

We are shining

And we will never be afraid again

Say my name

As every colour illuminates

We are shining

And we will never be afraid again

Say my name

As every colour illuminates

We are shining

And we will never be afraid again

And when we come for you

We'll be dressed up all in blue

With the ocean in our arms

Kiss your eyes and kiss your palms

And when it's time to pray

We'll be dressed up all in grey

With metal on our tongues

And silver in our lungs

Say my name

And every colour illuminates

We are shining

And we will never be afraid again

Say my name

As every colour illuminates

We are shining

And we will never be afraid again

Say my name

As every colour illuminates

We are shining

And we will never be afraid again

And when we come back we'll be dressed in black

And you'll scream my name aloud

And we won't eat and we won't sleep

We'll drag bodies from the ground

So say my name

And every colour illuminates

And we are shining

And we'll never be afraid again

Say my name

As every colour illuminates

Say my name

As every colour illuminates

We are shining

And we will never be afraid again

Say my name

As every colour illuminates

We are shining

And we will never be afraid again

Say my name

We are shining

Say my name

Say my name

And we will never be afraid again

It's here! Sorta...

Strid preorder opens today!!

A magical detective tale set in Victorian Yorkshire. Irish mythology meets the Industrial North through a deadly underwater gorge. Sisters Lucy and Annie must find their roots to save West Riding from an ancient threat.

Cast your mind back to a Yorkshire that could have been...

Head to Amazon and preorder your copy today! Strid releases on 27 October and I can't wait for you to meet Lucy and Annie.