For my second signing event in 2026, I'm over the moon (with Artemis II) to get to tell you I will be at SC Comicon this weekend! Saturday and Sunday, 10-6ish, I will be in the Vendor Hall in Artist's Alley with books ready to go home with you!
I will be in space 1032 (marked on the floor map below) which is on the opposite side of the hall from last fall if you came to the one day Fall Comicon, and will have all of my Orana Chronicles epic fantasy novels, The World of Arcstone litRPG duology, and the first in the alternative fiction series Luminous Beings series, Strið.
I hope to see you, not just because my books need homes but because the line up for this Comicon is amazing! Anson Mount (Star Trek: SNW), Ron Perlman (Beauty and the Beast), Ruth Connell (SPN), Mark Sheppard (SPN, Firefly)...it's going to be amazing! Also, there will be authors I love there, including Darin Kennedy, Matthew Saunders, and the Crowded Shelf!
Well, I'm still exhausted but grinning like an idiot because I have a new found love for my litRPG series, The World of Arcstone, (Thanks to Matt Dinniman for the validation!) and I thought I'd repost a previous Music Monday with the song that inspired Em and Lex's journey in those two books: We Could Be the Same by MaNga.
(Doesn't hurt that it was a Eurovision tune, either.) Enjoy! I'm going to go take another nap to recover from Con.
I'm so pleased to announce that Storm has joined Rift in the World of Arcstone series. From the back cover:
YOU'RE ONLY AS REAL AS YOU BELIEVE YOU ARE.
Welcome to Arcstone. Game loading, please wait... Madelyne Laurent is Em, an elven warrior in the massively multiplayer online game, Arcstone. She’s made it safely back to the real world, but what does that even mean now that her father decided to stay in the game world? And who is Alex, really - is he Lex or someone altogether different and more sinister? In this Nanowrimo 2021-winning novel, Nancy E. Dunne takes us back through the monitor to the world of Arcstone, a world on the brink of a catastrophic storm. Em’s objective is clear until she again looks up into the Tyreanan Sky and treads the boards of the docks by that massive typhoon. Old longings resurface and this time it is up to more than just Em to figure out what is real...and more importantly, who?
Grab your eBook or paperback copy today, or meet me at an upcoming event to get a signed copy. I'd love to hear what you think!
So I've not really spent much time on Lex and Em over the past month since Nano ended, but as happens when you have playlists as long as mine, this song came on the other day and I remembered how perfect it is for them...for everyone in Arcstone. No spoilers, but I wanted to share the first version of this song that I ever heard, from the 2010 Eurovision Song Contest. I know absolutely nothing about the band maNga, but I do know that the sentiment of "We Could Be the Same" absolutely resonates with Rift and will in the upcoming Storm...or is that the oncoming storm? Hmm...
We Could Be The Same
by maNga
You could be the one in my dreams You could be much more than you seem Anything I wanted in life Do you understand what I mean? I can see that this could be fate I can love you more than they hate Doesn't matter who they will blame We can beat them at their own game I can see it in your eyes It doesn't come as a surprise I see you dancing like a star No matter how different we are For all this time, I've been loving you Don't even know your name For just one night, we could be the same No matter what they say And I feel I'm turning the page And I feel the world is a stage I don't think that drama will stop I don't think they'll give up the rage But I know the world could be great I can love you more than they hate Doesn't matter who they will blame We can beat them at their own game I can see it in your eyes It doesn't come as a surprise I see you dancing like a star No matter how different we are For all this time, I've been loving you Don't even know your name For just one night, we could be the same No matter what they say For all this time I've been loving you Don't even know your name For just one night, we could be the same No matter what they say All this time I've been loving you Don't even know your name For just one night we could be the same No matter what they say No matter what they say
And speaking of my current Nanowrimo project...I will have copies of the first book in the series (plus the rest of my Orana novels and Proud Racer/Clobberpaws) this weekend at the Carolina Renaissance Festival. I'm participating again in a book signing/author meet and greet event with other local Fantasy and SciFi authors. Come out and see us if you're local!!
So, I'm still thinking about Em and Alex...and Lex today. This song speaks to me when I think of them, but it also makes me think of my own expat journey. To boot, it is just beautiful, speaking of wandering and travel and new lands and home. The best line, the one that encapsulates everything I'm thinking about as I start work on the next Arcstone novel, is the chorus: "In the cathedrals of New York and Rome/There is a feeling that you should just go home/And spend a lifetime finding out just where that is."
(This live version is particularly lovely.)
Cathedrals
by Jump Little Children
In the shadows of tall buildings Of fallen angels on the ceilings Oily feathers in bronze and concrete Faded colors, pieces left incomplete The line moves slowly past the electric fence Across the borders between continents
In the cathedrals of New York and Rome There is a feeling that you should just go home And spend a lifetime finding out just where that is
In the shadows of tall buildings The architecture is slowly peeling Marble statues and glass dividers Someone is watching all of the outsiders The line moves slowly through the numbered gate Past the mosaic of the head of state
In the cathedrals of New York and Rome There is a feeling that you should just go home And spend a lifetime finding out just where that is
In the shadows of tall buildings Of open arches endlessly kneeling Sonic landscapes echoing vistas Someone is listening from a safe distance The line moves slowly into a fading light A final moment in the dead of night
In the cathedrals of New York and Rome There is a feeling that you should just go home And spend a lifetime finding out just where that is
Behind each of my novels is a spark of inspiration. The dogs, of course, are the inspiration for Proud Racer and Clobberpaws. My time gaming and the friends I made there inspired the Nature Walker Trilogy.
Rift is no different. Around the same time that I knew I wanted to take a break from the Orana Chronicles and my other projects that had stalled out, a very good friend of mine sent me a link to the video below. Before that, I had a vague idea about getting stuck in the world of the MMORPG that I play, I watched this video, and BAM there was Lex, standing in front of me and encouraging me to write how he felt about Em.
So thank you, Angel, for inspiring one of the most difficult and interesting novels I've ever written. Also, y'all...this is one of the most beautiful pieces of animation I've seen. Go to YouTube and watch the rest of the chapters in this story, and be prepared for your feels to be hit hard.
Church
by Fall Out Boy
If you were church, I'd get on my knees Confess my love, I'd know where to be My sanctuary, you're holy to me If you were church, I'd get on my knees I'd get on my knees I'd get on my knees I'd get on my knees
And take the pain Make it billboard big then swallow it for me Time-capsule for the future Trust me, that's what I will be Oh, the things that you do in the name of what you love You were doomed but just enough You were doomed but just enough
If you were church, whoo I'd get on my knees, yeah Confess my love, I'd know where to be My sanctuary, you're holy to me If you were church, yeah, I'd get on my knees I'd get on my knees, whoo I'd get on my knees I'd get on my knees
I love the world but I just don't love the way it makes me feel Got a few more fake friends And it's getting hard to know what's real And if death is the last appointment Then we're all just sitting in the waiting room I am just a human trying to avoid my certain doom
If you were church, yeah I'd get on my knees Confess my love, I'd know where to be My sanctuary, you're holy to me If you were church, yeah, I'd get on my knees I'd get on my knees, yeah, oh I'd get on my knees, ah ah ah I'd get on my knees, yeah I'd get on my knees If you were church I'd get on my knees
Confess my love, I'd know where to be My sanctuary, you're, you're holy to me, you're holy to me If you were church, yeah, I'd get on my knees, yeah
[Again, spoilers ahead for Rift, read at your own risk.]
Oh, what a tangled web. You have Madelyne, who thinks that she knows Alex. She hears his voice through her headphones every night. They share inside jokes and memories of times spent in a virtual world. He listens. He understands. He is everything she has been looking for - and suddenly she has a way to be Em to his Lex.
This song makes me think of several scenes - Em, upon arriving in Tyrael and seeing it for the first time, then Em outside the cabin, looking up at the sky. Em receiving her tattoo. Em trying to separate Lex from Alex. "I'm gonna get you out of here/if I could catapult my heart to where you are."
I know, Imagine Dragons again. Is it my fault that their music is PERFECT for the movie adaptations in my mind? Hardly.
I had all but forgotten that I had this song on my playlist while writing Rift. I mean, any time you are writing any kind of fantasy novel, a song titled Demons is bound to be in the mix somewhere. But I took a second and really listened to the words today - this is Lex, all day long. Is he a monster? Is he Alex? Is he real?
[Really spoilery bit:] Lex struggles not with a lack of memories but with memories that he can't trust. He is anyone that has a past that has been purposely (or not) forgotten, who suddenly has to deal with the recurrence of who/what he used to be. But for him, it's worse - are any of those memories, good or bad, real? Or is he just an algorithm that has become self-aware? And through all of that, he feels so bound to Em - regardless of why he feels that way - that all he can do is try to protect her.
Anyway, this song is for Lex...please enjoy this version with another contender for my fantasy movie score, Halsey.
Oh, this one is hard not to make spoilery. So hard. There are several interesting relationships in Rift, and this song - to me - speaks to all of them. I have long been a fan of Florence + the Machine, but I heard the original version of this song for the first time while writing Rift. It grabbed me around the heart and wouldn't let go - one of those times you hit repeat on Spotify, you know? Florence's voice is magical and ethereal, and this particular version reminds me of everything from how Em is in love with the night sky in Arcstone, to Valentin's terribly complicated heart. Enjoy, and make sure you look up the original and add it to your playlist. You will not be disappointed.
All This and Heaven Too
Florence + the Machine
And the heart is hard to translate
It has a language of it's own
It talks in tongues and quiet sighs
And prayers and proclamations in the grand days
Of great men and the smallest of gestures
In short shallow gasps
But with all my education
I can't seem to command it
And the words are all escaping me
And coming back all damaged
And I would put them back in poetry
If I only knew how, I can't seem to understand it
And I would give all this and heaven too
I would give it all if only for a moment
That I could just understand
The meaning of the word you see
'Cause I've been scrawling it forever
But it never makes sense to me at all
And it talks to me in tiptoes
And sings to me inside
It cries out in the darkest night
And breaks in the morning light
But with all my education
I can't seem to command it
And the words are all escaping
And coming back all damaged
And I would put them back in poetry
If I only knew how I can't seem to understand it
And I would give all this and heaven too
I would give it all if only for a moment
That I could just understand
The meaning of the word you see
'Cause I've been scrawling it forever
But it never makes sense to me at all
And I would give all this and heaven too
I would give it all if only for a moment
That I could just understand
The meaning of the word you see
'Cause I've been scrawling it forever
But it never makes sense to me at all
No, words are a language
It doesn't deserve such treatment
And all my stumbling phrases
Never amounted to anything worth this feeling
All this heaven never could describe
Such a feeling as I'm healing, words were never so useful
For the first Monday of a new month, I thought I'd leave the Orana Chronicles behind for a moment and talk about some of the music that inspired scenes in my latest release, Rift. Now, this novel is about a gamer who longs to live in her MMORPG rather than in her real-life but finds out that it may not be all it is cracked up to be.
I had a less intense opening for my first chapter, and then I heard this song by The SIDH. I turned it up, called up an image in my mind of Em in the landscape of the game, and the first scene wrote itself right in front of my eyes. The novel now opens with the main character, Madelyne, running through the game Arcstone as her avatar, Em.
I thought of how it used to feel for me to run my "toon" through those richly drawn CGI worlds in the years when I used to spend a lot of my time in several MMORPGs. There was always music playing while I was gaming, and the same was true for me writing for Madelyne/Em. Just as I would enlist Imagine Dragons for the soundtrack for the Orana Chronicles, I feel like The SIDH would be just the thing for Arcstone.
I have been invited to join the virtual vendor showcase that Greyhound Crossroads is hosting this year since their signature event, Beach Bound Hounds, was cancelled due to COVID-19. I invite you not only to grab a signed copy of the books in my back catalog, but to find unique and wonderful merchandise for you or other dog lovers in your life, while supporting the work that this group does to place retired racing greyhounds in homes in North Carolina, South Carolina, and Georgia. This opens to the public on September 4th - search FB for BBH Vendor Virtual Showcase. See y'all there!
Books available for signed paperback purchase:
Proud Racer: An American Greyhound in Yorkshire
Clobberpaws and Clobberpaws, Too!
The Nature Walker Trilogy: Wanderer, Tempest, and Guardian
Please, while I try to figure it out, enjoy this shot I sent my friend Brina of the mask her daughter made for me back at the beginning of all this.
Seriously, I know what day it is. But I was surprised yesterday by how shocked I was that this is August. I have always had trouble with estimating the passage of time and am a chronic watch looker as a result (even when I didn't have a watch, how sad is that?). So this pandemic has made that little character flaw even more vivid.
How is it August? It was just mid-March a few days ago, wasn't it? Is Christmas tomorrow?
Side note: It had better not be tomorrow because that means we skipped my birthday but in the grand scheme of things that's probably okay as it is the last one before I turn 50 so...what was I talking about?
Right. Notes from Exile. Writerly stuff. Author life. Got it. Rift continues to do fairly well and I had plans to work on the next book in that series over the summer/possibly as the November Nano, but I haven't heard from Em and Alex in a while, so they may just get put back on their shelf in my hard drive for a bit longer. What I have fallen back in love with is Gin and Sath's story - but let's be honest, I never stopped loving them.
I'm in the middle of the second draft of Guardians of Darkness, which is the next chapter for Gin and Sath, and while the story has plot holes you could drive a BUS through I'm enchanted all over again. So, I thought that I would start a new thing here at the Lettuce called Music Monday, while I'm shoveling mad amounts of literary tarmac into those chasms.
The first one is a new one for me in terms of immediately making me think of the Rajah and the Nature Walker: Ride, by Lenny Kravitz. Enjoy. (Lyrics follow the embedded video.) Next Monday, a song that reminds me of everyone's favorite villain from the Nature Walker Trilogy. Let me know in the comments here or on social media if you have a favorite character from any of my work and I will look at my playlists for that character's inspiration.
Skylar Austin and Jane Levy in "Zoey's Extraordinary Father"
So, it's week six, and today is Tuesday. My rational mind knows that. But my emotional mind has gone off the rails today. TL: DR - I watched the season one finale of "Zoey's Extraordinary Playlist" and had a visceral reaction consisting of ugly sobbing because I have not let myself feel things that were unpleasant or painful for about five years.
Lucky you, you get to come along as I not only sort this out but offer some advice so that NO ONE has to do this. Seriously, y'all, the long-suffering heroine who manages to hold it all together in the face of all sorts of awful is a trope that needs to be banished from literature, television, and movies. GONE. So many of my MCs have this either as a personality trait or a goal to work towards and it ends now. In my new series opener, RIFT, launching at the end of this month I created an MC that I didn't really connect with as much as I did with Gin from The Nature Walker Trilogy. Madelyne is honest about what she feels when she feels it. Gin (and I) worry too much about how what we are feeling will affect other people.
My father died in 2018 from complications related to Alzheimer's disease and vascular dementia. My mother died last summer after a major neurological event and about a month in hospice. During both of these events, I tried my best to be a grown-up about it. My sister is amazing - she may have had the same need to become completely unglued but you would never know it, and that is what I thought I needed to be.
I did my best to be okay, I'm okay, everything is fine. This is sad but for the best. They are finally together again. Those were the words coming out of my mouth. But what I should have done was be honest with myself about how much all of that devastated me - and I wasn't.
I watched that episode of this amazing show (seriously, if you haven't seen it GO DO THAT NOW, I will wait) knowing that it would be difficult. But it was more than that - it was painful and real, and absolutely beautiful. I cried, but more importantly, I FELT. So this blog post is more than just an ad for this show (have you watched it yet? No? WHY?), but it is an encouragement to let yourself feel what you need to feel. Go through stuff. Experience things.
The past six weeks of almost total isolation have gone by so fast and so slowly, in a way, because I'm not letting myself think about why I'm doing this. It's easy to just think about what's happening in the world, far away from my little house on my little street. What is not easy to think about is how this is affecting my relationships with people - how I'm pulling away from people that would normally be my support because I don't want to look as out of control as I feel. The first two weeks I cried every day because I was afraid. But I managed to think about it more as being safe than being stuck, and now I can't believe it's been six weeks.
You will never know how strong you can be until you are. The fact that I am still here and relatively sane is a testament to the fact that I am stronger than I ever thought I could be. The fact that, overall, I let my sister do most of the heavy lifting related to the end of both our parents' lives means that I still have work to do. But I know, with new clarity, that I can do it. I'm thankful, I'm hopeful, and I'm completely congested and horrible to look at - and I don't care.
[Disclaimer: this photo was taken in the elevator upon leaving the testing center at work last semester during final exam week, after a harrowingoverwhelming normal shift helping out.]
Has anyone seen winter break? How am I now mere hours away from being back at the DayJob for another semester? That's my first here we are again. Ready for another one?
I have a book launching at the end of this month. The. End. Of. This. Month. The second and (at least at this point) final book in the Tales from the Forest War series, SCORCH, is due to be available on Amazon (in ebook and paperback) on 31 January.
What that also means is that it should open for pre-orders on 25 January and that I need to have it ready to go by then. 19 days from today. It's in final beta now, then will have one more quick round of edits and then BAM, out into the world.
Ah, the life of an independently published author. Hot on the heels of THAT here we are again is another one - the project that I worked on during Nanowrimo 2019 has become the introductory novel in a new series and new universe - Arcstone. That first novel, Rift, is tentatively slated to be released for pre-order at the end of February because I really wanted to have it release on 29 February. So, it is in the first beta now, has a round of edits and then a second beta if I have time and then editawholelotmoreandthenBAM! Yeah, I may need to rethink that.
And, finally, here we are again, in a new year with new hope and renewed fervor and all that stuff that floods our senses and souls at 12:01am on 1st January. Or at least that is where we should be. Me? I'm still in that elevator, hoping that when the door opens, I will be on the right floor of the right building.
It turned out to be better than I could have ever thought when I started. I have been hearing about a genre that I think must be rather new - LitRPG. At Hummel Books Blog, I found this definition that I think is a good one:
“LitRPG is a subgenre of science fiction and fantasy which describes the hero’s adventures within an online computer game. LitRPG books merge traditional book-style narration with elements of a gaming experience , describing various quests, achievements and other events typical of a video game.”
Now, the work in progress still needs a bit of work, because I find myself lapsing back into the fantasy genre. All my other novels (save the dog books) are epic type fantasy novels. At the same time, I have been told that my trilogy is like a game campaign. So maybe I was always heading for this?
Now I'm off to look for comps (if I hear one more time that my story is Tron meets Read Player One, I will scream), finish writing it (November needed about another week), and get to editing. But I also should be editing Scorch and getting it off to beta readers. But for a few minutes, I'm going to enjoy that I've met Em, Alex, and Lex and wait for them to tell me the rest of their story.
Rift - the first novel in the Arcstone Series
Madelyne Laurent is a bookseller in a chain bookshop in Paris by day, but by night she is Em, elven warrior in the massively multiplayer online game, Arcstone. Her closest friend is someone she has never met in person – Alex – and she spends her days anxiously ready to log into the game with him.
A mission goes awry and Madelyne finds herself in the body of her online persona, Em. Can she find out how she ended up in Arcstone in time to get herself back out, or will she end up stuck in the game world she wanted so desperately to inhabit? And is Alex – or his avatar ‘Lex’ – trying to help her or hurt her? When a tyrant running the show inside and outside of Arcstone sets his sights on Madelyne and her father, she must make alliances to save her father’s life – and get both of them back to the real world, if she can.
Welcome to Arcstone – Game loading, please wait…
Stay tuned to my website for Rift cover reveal and more. I can't wait for all of you to meet them!
