Release Date!

I began research for the book that was to become Crucible of Change: Forging Day, on March 29, 2014. I was going to self-publish, but my husband (and published author) Bryan Fields, urged me to submit to MuseItUp, his publisher, first. I was quite nervous when I sent off that email on 10/5/2014 at 12:06am. Image my amazement when I received a contract by return email on 10/5/2014 at 6:11pm!

This whole journey has been incredible to me. I want to thank Lea and MuseItUp Publishing for taking a chance on me. I can't thank them enough for giving me a platform to share Olivia's story.

My official release date is June 30, 2015. And finally! I get to share my cover. I am so impressed with my cover artist, Anna.

My book is available for preorder now. https://museituppublishing.com/bookstore/index.php/coming-soon/june-2015/forging-day-detail

Kerwhopping the Mafousle

I'd heard mention about it before, and then promptly pushed it out of my thoughts, like other mental detritus. Today, it came up again. If you hadn't heard, someone wrote an app that takes another person's ebook (digital book) and combs through the text for any words the writer of the app deems inappropriate for children. It doesn't just black out the word though - it substitutes in another word entirely.

I wrote my books using the words I wanted to use. If you don't like those words, don't read my books. Use the app and you're not reading my book; you're reading the mutated, whitewashed bastard of what I wanted to say.

My books aren't intended for children or young adults. Frankly, if you're letting your child or young adult read my stuff, you're being a little loosey-goosey in the parenting department.

If I wanted random words dropped into my stories, I'd do it myself.

Olivia swears. (Not as much as I do, but she does.) Could she use another word? Yes. does she want to? Bobtruckle no!

If you're going to run around editing someone else's book, what's next? If there's a same sex relationship, are you somehow going to tack on a Mafousle to one of the partners and change the pronouns? (Or nip a Mafousle off, for that matter.)

How about religions that don't match your own? How do you rewrite those references to protect fragile minds from the incredible diversity of the spiritual world?

How about bad guys that hurt people? They exist in the real world. You can see them on the news. Are people allowed to die or do we just subtly stop mentioning them?

Here's the clean version of my story:

There was a woman named Olivia. She and her non-gender-specific friends had some stuff happen to them. More stuff happened. There was a bad guy that hurt people. More stuff. The end.

There, wasn't that nice, clean, and boring as Banthapoodoo?

So warning, if you like your stories, clean, tame and lily white, oops.

Character Study - Olivia

My new cover art inspired me to try my hand at drawing Olivia again.

Olivia is 25 years old. She somehow managed to graduate college. She has a degree in graphic design. She shares a house on the edge of Cheesman Park with friends. After a mysterious event known as The Change, Olivia finds herself to be a Dark Elf mage, though not quite as she'd envisioned.

Here's a small excerpt as she and Berto, one of her roommates, reflect on what's just happened to them a few hours before:

“Not that I mind getting my arm fixed and not bleeding to death, but why didn’t you use the glowy-light thing like you did on Mikah? My arm is killing me and I’m completely useless like this.”

He looked troubled. “I tried. I don’t know why it wouldn’t work. I couldn’t get it to work with Mike either. And why didn’t you shoot those little balls of light like you did before?”

“I forgot. I panicked and I forgot.” We both sat there, looking glum. “Oh my god, Berto. We’re noobs. We’re not even first level adventurers. We’re those idiots trying to figure out the tutorial—and I always skip the tutorial.”

“We’d better not skip this one. Our lives might just depend on it.”

“Somehow, when I dreamed about becoming a fantasy adventurer, I was always a max level character with epic gear. Look at me. I’m wearing vendor trash.”

Countdown

It's hard to believe I'm getting close to my first book being published. I've been through the many rounds of edits and we are about there with the cover artwork (which is gorgeous!). Leading up to the release, I'm going to share some of the drawings I've done (for myself) of my characters and villains. I plan to share profiles of some of the characters, as well as different graphics I used when building the story. For now, here's a small tease.

Global apocalypse never felt so good

At twenty-five, Olivia Mitchell almost has the perfect life. She almost has a job. She almost has a boyfriend. She almost has a future. It’s a good thing she has friends. And on a sunny day in June, she and her friends watch the world step sideways into a new reality–one of magic and dreams made real.

Out of the chaos come Elves, Dwarves, Goblins, and Trolls. Olivia’s dreams transform her into a Dark Elf mage, and her new girlfriend is one sexy kitty. However, with magic came monsters, and things that draw blood in the night.

 
A werewolf is carving a path of blood and pain and murder through the park next to Olivia’s home. The old Olivia would have been hiding under her sister’s bed. The new Olivia is going hunting.

In times of trial, some people fall to their baser natures.

Some people give in to their fears.

Others - they rise to accept the challenge.

 

Adversity is the forge of the soul. For Olivia, today is Forging Day