I am trying to do last minute edits as quickly as possible right now so I can finally, at last, get this book on the market. I had found a small continuity issue a while back but now I can't find it again to fix it and it's very frustrating. I would like to have it done in the next week and send it off to the publisher. Winter is coming and I'm feeling the writing twitch more than I did through the summer. That's how it works for me. I can never just sit and write because I need to but have to wait until the urge strikes and then roll with it. The cold tends to bring the urge. And then 9 months later I'll birth out a brand new baby book.... ugh what a gross image. #birthing a book


Chapter 38 has been published, 10 chapters to go I think, if anyone was wondering. Have a great weekend. And if you've been reading along and noticed a glitch in my timeline or plot please please please let me know before I push the send button and the error gets immortalized in print.

Have you ever been so angry that you could spit nails? That your whole heart is so full of venom that you can't help yourself but to spew really mean nasty shit onto people? It's the one emotion that really causes a person to lose control of their better judgement.  In the moment you don't care about the consequences or the aftermath, all you can see is the red fury of rage that's exploding out of every pore in your body. I can understand why some people have done really awful things when enraged. Not that it makes it o.k, but I can understand. Coincidentally, I felt like that yesterday. Astral feels that now. She has some real anger to figure out over the next little while and sometimes she doesn't handle it very well.

Enjoy the next few chapters, they're doozies. And have a great weekend everybody.

This is the official end of Part 1. And yay! Astral and Davn are together again. Finally. I love this part.


I've gone back and rewritten the prologue a bit. Remember way back in the beginning I told you I hated the prologue? Well I still do. I wish I could chuck it out, but I don't think the rest of the book would be very cohesive without it. I need to introduce Saraid in the beginning because even though she has a very small role in the book her presence is the driving force behind everything. The reader needs to know she's there, and what she is. Mostly I've added a bit to Astral's part of the prologue, expanded it a bit and added some description. I went a little cut happy when I was editing and removed a little too much from her story and I just went back and added a little back in. But,  I just did a word count and discovered that the full prologue with both Astral and Saraid's murderous beginnings is almost 15 pages! Yikes. That's a hefty prologue. *weep*

Gotta love editing right. Rewrites are the funnest thing ever. Have a great weekend everyone.

Life has been unusual the last week. First, there is a forest fire very near our house. We can see it burning on the mountain opposite us at night and smoking all day. It's pretty contained and there isn't much real danger but it still feels scary. Second, my dog tackled my legs while I was running and I smashed my phone on the ground, lost everything on it, which really has me bummed, and I hurt myself a little. Dumb dog.  Third, for the first time we are dealing with a major water shortage in our house. The reservoir is very dry and all our neighbours continue to water their grass, so when we turn on our tap to get a drink, wash dishes or bathe there is literally two drips and then nothing. Getting  our own well has skyrocketed to the top of the list of must haves. On a happy note however we have passed the dreaded 'Hay Day' where we have to get a shit load of hay for the horses for the winter and stack it in our shed. It's a hot, dusty, sweaty, itchy, tiring, miserable job that I dread every year, but it's done now and I can be happy again.

Other things have happened or are happening too. We may be getting a third horse, 'The Kid' is turning 2 next week, and I am dreaming up a business plan that may or may not work out. Here's hoping. See you tomorrow for chapter 34.

So I was on twitter and I saw this post from Baby Animals and I had a good chuckle over it. I'm going to paraphrase because their grammar didn't really make sense to me.

When you're out with your boyfriend
and you see another girl check him out.





It's funny because it's true.

I have posted this week's chapter, chapter 31, and if you are wondering how much more book there is to go, there are 56 chapters in total. Lots left still, don't worry.

I've been reading a book called White Cat by Holly Black. I'm only about 1/4 of the way through but it's good so far. Not that I have much time to read. I am so busy right now and I keep adding more things to my plate. Updating my resume and job hunting, taking computer courses online to upgrade my MS skills, working in the yard and with the horses, parenting "The Kid" obviously and planning or at least trying to plan a family trip. The heat here the last few weeks has been near unbearable, the internet was down for three days and I'm still working on getting AMARANTHINE into publishing standards.  So ya, reading is definitely on the back burner, but so far I am liking it and it's nice to read a book from a male POV, since books seem to be very heavy on the female POV these days. 


Have a great weekend.

Yesterday, I was struck quite suddenly by how boring real life is. "The Kid" was watching Hotel Transylvania for like the 20th time, and baby Mavis was learning to fly. Her dad encourages her to jump and she turns into a bat and flies away. Everyone is excited, including my toddler. He got a big happy smile on his face and was obviously thrilled at the prospect of turning into a bat and flying away. And I had a pang of sadness. I actually wanted to cry a little bit, because as an adult I know life is way more boring than anything he'll see on TV or read in a book, and I was sad for him. Is that silly?

I know I know, there are lots of terrific things in life. He can parachute, and ride roller coasters, and jump horses, and water ski and any number of fun things blah blah blah, but somehow, it's just not the same. He'll never travel in a time machine, or have a talking pig or a werewolf for a best friend. He'll never take off in a rocket and explore the galaxy, or jump into the air and fly away. I guess that's why books and TV exist; because real life is boring.

Boring jobs, boring commutes, boring meetings, boring dishes, boring laundry.We're all living it. My advice to myself is to get out more. We may never turn into a bat and fly away but we can travel the world in a car or a plane. We can climb a mountain or explore the jungle, (even as I'm saying this I still would rather go somewhere in a time machine) oh well, I guess that's what imagination is for.


****Aaaarrrggh, I want a talking pig!!

Friday again. It seems whenever I have a deadline to meet time zooms by even faster than usual. It seems like only yesterday I was posting Chapter 29.

I had a stressful day yesterday and I haven't fully recovered. I had a big fight in the street with a neighbour and now I am dwelling on it more than I should. I'm one of those people that doesn't mind having a fit when they get pissed off and I was very very pissed off. Her dog, a 150 pound mastiff, ran out onto the road and charged 'the kid' and me as we walked by. He barked and snarled and came right up within about a foot of us in an aggressive and threatening manner. When the owner came out and said if I didn't like it not to walk there anymore, I let her have it. I don't think I should be held hostage to my own property because I have a shitty neighbour with a vicious dog that she lets roam the street. Needless to say, while I think I'm right, it's a stressful situation that I would rather have gone without.

As a means of trying to calm myself I spent a little while searching horse pictures on the internet and came up with what I envision when I  write about the 3 horses in the book. Have a great weekend everybody and I'll see you all on Monday.

The first picture of the hot tempered grey stallion is Dahlby. The second picture of the bay thoroughbred with lots of chrome is Mynstral and the stolid dark chestnut gelding is Rasmussen.

I know many people don't know the colors of horses, so if you had a hard time envisioning them based on their written description. Here you are.