A Tale of Two Olivias

The Olivia of Forging Day was born in my head many years ago (before I had my nearly 16 year old daughter) at a tabletop post-apocalyptic Dungeons & Dragons game. Sure, there are some similarities. She has the same name. They both became Dark Elves. She had a sister named Cordelia and a brother named Leo (who was in the military), but that's about it. And I almost forgot about her flying motorcycle. That thing rocked!

I remember the original Olivia used to keep a kill count. And her favorite weapon was a Glock.

My Olivia now doesn't use guns, though her dad, a cop, did make sure she knew how to safely use a firearm. My Olivia is far more skilled at magic than old Olivia. And I didn't set out to make it that way, but my Olivia doesn't have a particularly high body count. Sure, there is a fair amount of violence in her stories, but on the way home from work today I thought about how she's been doing.

She killed one person in Forging Day, and it was self defense.
She kills dangerous slimes and critters in Family Values. Not that she doesn't intend to kill certain parties, but ...you'll see.
She doesn't actually kill anyone in California Dreaming (book 3). The old Olivia would have had a body count in this one - trust me.
Um, things get a little bloodier in book 4, Dungeon Raiders. I think people will agree with her choices, but I guess we will see when the time comes.

Old Olivia, now this was more her style.

I know we're leading up to the release day for Furious Misfortune, the companion book to Forging Day, and Family Values, the sequel to Forging Day, but I really can't wait until California Dreaming comes out too. You see Aerin, Olivia's mentor ( and she also makes an appearance in Bryan's book, Dragon's Luck) was my original Dungeons and Dragon's character from over twenty years ago.

My husband and I met playing AD&D (Advanced Dungeons and Dragons). He ran the game and I hosted the locale. Aerin, Angus, Lilah, Geneva, the kids, Cartamandua, the Llewellyns - they're all from those long ago days. Ah, if only you could see the boxes of Aerin's story. I wrote out everything longhand on tablets. I have books full of her facts and stats. I have a freaking family tree for her. I kept absolutely everything.

Yes, this is Olivia's story, but I still hold Aerin and her family dear in my heart. This was my model for Lilah. You'll meet Lilah soon enough. Don't worry.

This picture always reminded me of younger Aerin.

And so...after not blogging much, have I babbled on long enough? Believe me, I don't get tired of talking about my characters.

Until next time....

Family Values

And because I did pretty much nothing but write for a year, Family Values, the sequel to Forging Day, is due out March 1st!

All you need is love...and an exploding bluebird.

The world has settled down remarkably well in the wake of the Change that turned a full third of the Human population into Elves, Dwarves, Trolls and more. People are back at work, buses are on time, and—thankfully for Olivia Mitchell—the hospitals are learning how to care for Dark Elves. Olivia is even behaving like a responsible citizen, using her magic to help drive back the flesh-eating slime creatures and mutant coyotes emerging from the former Rocky Mountain Arsenal.

That part is easy. The rest of her life is as chaotic as ever. Her relationships are up in the air, Mikah’s parents have arrived—doing their level best to disrupt everyone’s lives—and on top of all that, Olivia just might be expecting.

Who—or what—is behind the growing disruption at the arsenal? If Olivia doesn’t want to end up a sacrifice in a fiery ritual, she’d better figure it out.

Furious Misfortune

I have release news! Furious Misfortune, the companion book to Forging Day, is due out February 16th.

The only things between the world and global apocalypse are military oddballs and mad scientists; what could possibly go wrong?

When the oddballs of Zeta Company are assigned to guard a top secret research facility they assume it’s just another in a long line of crappy punishment details. This time they’re wrong. Someone needs to salvage the situation and prevent an imminent global apocalypse. Unfortunately, they were brought to the assignment about a month too late. Now they have to win the hearts and minds of both hostile and amorous scientists. They are the only men for the job.

 The chimpanzee throws exploding poo. The tunnels are filled with flying rats and it’s almost certain they taste nothing like pumpkin pie. The Troll is a nymphomaniac. And nobody wants to milk the chupa. Zeta Company has finally found a home.

Hello 2016

I can't say that I enjoyed 2015. I'm glad it's over.

A blog seemed in order, so I thought I'd tweak it and ramble a bit.

On the good side, my first two books came out - Forging Day (book 1 in the Crucible of Change series) and Trick or Treat (as Lillian Ravenwood).
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On the bad side, my husband was diagnosed with cancer. We continue to work on his recovery.

My daughter is supposedly in 10th grade. She hasn't actually done real academics since middle school and she's on her third (and hopefully final) high school setting. How do you motivate someone to do schoolwork when they see no value in school? She's smart and creative and can be totally charming...when she wants to be. Autism + teenage girl is a stone bitch.
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And back to happier thoughts.

My co-worker is an awesome artist. He did this great cartoon for me of my daughter with her favorite best buddy - Pikachu.

This month the sequel to Forging Day is due out. It's called Family Values. Along with being a fantasy adventure story, I explore the different permutations of family - those we're born with and those we make. If it were a TV show, it would be rated TV-MA (or possibly NC-17). It's funny how graphic violence (at least here in the US) is more acceptable than graphic sex.

Anyway - 2016 is here and I have to make the best of it. My kid is doing better at this school than the last two. My husband is fighting cancer. I'd rather deal with those issues than be collecting his life insurance. The technical job in my department that I've wanted for over a year has been approved and someday may even get posted by HR. I have my fingers crossed. It would be such an amazing opportunity.

My craft business on Etsy actually made a profit for the second year in a row. It's almost like a real business. It would be doing even better if I could clone myself or spend less time playing Fallout or World of Warcraft.