I’ve been tweaking the world of Hell for Hell’s Queen, coming up with the questions that have to be answered in order to make it work. I thought it would be interesting to post the thought process, and would love to hear your thoughts. I’ve never had a boring conversation when the topic has been “What happens after we die?”
Site Transition Complete… With a Caveat
While I’m building up this site and reaching new readers, I’m cutting costs by using a free web host. However, my site has been down almost as often as up during my new site development and transfer to the new host. I challenge you to find a free web host that provides good uptime and good customer service – if you do, you win the internet for the day, and a character named after you in one of my books! That said, it is possible that the site will continue to experience occasional downtime until the 60 day waiting period is up, at which time I can transfer my site to paid hosting with acceptable levels of downtime (that is, 99.95% uptime guarantee). I apologize in advance if you have trouble accessing the site, and please bear with me as I work through my growing pains.
On a more positive note, after days and days and days of working to improve the site, I am ready for the big reveal. I still have some modifications to make, but I’m comfortable enough with the design to make it public, and to get back to writing! I would love to hear your feedback on the updated site!
The Prophecy
This is the prophecy (that will be explained in the story). It was written in 1753, and gives information on the disaster Callie will be battling, the year of her birth, and the year of the disaster. I’d love to get feedback on what you think the different lines mean!
Site Maintenance
I’m transferring the hosting of crystaljag.com, so the site may be unavailable during the process. I will update when the process is complete!
Cover Option 1: The Tree, The Key & The Cross
Three days of design in Gimp, and here’s the cover for the book… what do you think?
Dragon’s Egg (Working Title)
Letha, a woman with increasingly debilitating ailments, has no memory of her noble birth as a Drakkon Queen of Edangaard, sent to Earth disguised as a human child to protect her from assassination. When a Septarian stone implant is discovered and removed following a chance car accident, her previously suppressed dragon powers are restored, and her memory of life with her natural family begins to return. Read More
Hell’s Queen
Adam Shepard, a good man, is partly responsible for the death of his beloved daughter Molly and is killed by the police as he murdered the man that kidnapped his daughter. He wakes up in Hell, believing himself to be alive and recovering from his gunshot wounds, where he is subsequently arrested, tried, and imprisoned for his crime. Read More
Stepsister (Three Truths Series, Book 1)
In every story, there are three truths. One side, the other side, and what really happened. This is the first in a series of upside-down fairy tales, focused on the “truth” about Cinderella and her stepsister, Javotte, told from the perspectives of all the main characters: Cinderella, Javotte, Cinderella’s father August, and her stepmother, Jaqueline. Read More
Dealing With Writer’s Block
I started my current novel-in-progress, currently titled “Stepsister”, in October last year. I began by prepping a partial outline, so that when November 1 rolled around, I would be ready to blast off with NaNoWriMo – 50,000 words in one month. My target was 1667 words per day.
Day one, I was off to a good start, with 1666 words. Day two: 1667 words. Day three: 566. Day four: 238.
Uh-oh.
Chapter Three: Looking into the Abyss
“And when you look long into the abyss, the abyss also looks back at you.”
– Friedrich Wilhelm Nietzsche
The next seven days were a blur of numbness and passive activity, as Dr. Jared and assorted nurses tested, poked and prodded every inch of his body; fed, medicated and cleaned him; and asked him a never-ending stream of questions formulated, he assumed, to check the effect of his wound on his memory, personality and cognitive abilities.