Okay, so I’m a little bit late with this installment, but to be fair (Letterkenny: to be faaaaair), there wasn’t a whole lot going on around here to report on. Also, for those of you who have been around for more than a year or two, you’ll know I absolutely hate the warmer months, and they’re my least productive. For those unfamiliar with my seasonal loathing, I have an entire tag dedicated to this, “living for September,” that you can enjoy at your leisure if you’re interested.
Suffice to say, I have significant issues with half the year and it affects me in unpleasant ways. I meant to get this out before release day last week, so now I’m playing catch-up.
And here we are.
Die Well: A Writer’s Guide to Medical Mayhem is available now for those who would like a little more accuracy writing bad things happening to your characters.
Here’s the description:
Geared toward fiction writers, this guide addresses some of the most common medical scenarios that may come up in your work and how you should deal with them so your readers don’t throw your book across the room.
Did you use an animal tranquilizer to sedate a human as it was the first thing that came up in your internet search? Did your protagonist take a fall then walk on a broken ankle without so much as a limp? Did your character pass out then get right back up like they had a nice little nap?
All of those are bad and will annoy anyone who has even a passing familiarity with medicine.
Short and to the point, this writing guide will save you hours of internet searches that will either yield some questionable results or make no sense unless one speaks Fancy Medical. Written in plain language, Die Well will help you kill your darlings with precision. Horrify your readers (and the medical professional in your life) with chillingly accurate descriptions of agony, trauma, and other things that happen when your character meets their end, or how they manage things should they survive what’s befallen them.
It’s currently only available in ebook format, but if it does well enough, I may have it formatted for print. If it does really well, there may be a second volume to go with it, as there is so much more stuff you can torment your characters with that I didn’t even approach in this short guide.
Buy It Here on the ebook platform of your choosing: https://books2read.com/diewellguide
Which brings us to the Current Project portion of this informative endeavor.
The Silverthorn Protocol draft is finished and currently with my editor for her part in the process. Folks on Patreon got to see the cover early, but now you can too!
Isn’t it gorgeous? I even have jacket copy (the bit on the back of the book that tells you the gist of the story) for it.
Lierah Orbe has been hunted all her life. Her homeworld declared planetary isolation when she was barely past puberty, and those of mixed ancestry like her were listed for termination, cleansing Acavar of alien blood and the galaxy of their presence.
Constantly changing her appearance and never staying in one place for long has kept her one or two steps ahead of Acavarian extermination teams and enterprising bounty hunters. Now on Elhor, she hides in plain sight at the largest hospital in the system working as a Conservator, helping the victims of the endless Sangue conflict recover from devastating injuries.
After one of her patients suddenly dies with no explanation, Lierah’s instincts get the better of her. Following his final hours, she enlists the help of Rorric Arian, a security officer for the health conglomerate, and together they find a hidden protocol written in the language of her forbidden homeworld, and with it a conspiracy of murder.
Determined to find out who killed her patient and why, Lierah will risk everything to end the deadly experiment and bring its perpetrator to justice – her identity, her freedom, her life…and her heart.
I’m promoting it as “Underworld meets Grey’s Anatomy. In space.” Because of course I have space vampires and space werewolves. Planned release is November 14, 2023. (Snippet available here!)
It will be up for pre-order on all platforms soon, but the ‘Zon has it up now if that’s your thing.
I have a few other things I’m poking at, but nothing you don’t already know about.
Last time I mentioned a livestreaming D&D game I play over on Twitch. It’s (currently) called Tal’Dorei South, and you can find us live every other Sunday at Border Kingdoms Adventures at 6PM Central/4PM Pacific. Shenanigans are afoot with our all-female game run by AD&D League Dungeonmaster Joe Alfano.
Our first game was on February 5, so if you want to see me mouth off to an evil baddie and pay the price, head over to Joe’s YouTube link and check us out. We’ve made it to level 2 and I am now in possession of a Vestige of Divergence (a dagger) that gives me bad dreams, and I may have died again in our last session, but I’m fine now. Except for the “waking up to the smell of death” thing.
That’s it for all the works-in-progress and current goings-on. In addition to this blog (which you can subscribe to as well *points to link on the sidebar*), I post random snippets every so often (I aim for once a month) of things I’m working on over on Patreon, so if you’re interested in those things and don’t already support me here, that might be something to think about.
If you want more than these General Updatery posts, such as an Infrequent Pen Pal letter that talks about stuff like my studio renovation and kitten escapades, or even a custom quilt made by me, toss me some pennies and all the shiny things can be yours!
Until next time.
