I’m starting March off with a bang! It’s always fun to start the month off with something exciting and it feels great to get another publication under my belt. On March 2 my novella, The Prisoner of Magic, became officially available! This wasn’t a planned publication so it’s been interesting to write and get it out there so quickly. I decided a few days into February that I wanted to write a short story that I could give away for free as an intro into my series, Chronicles of Virgàm. And so, I set to work making a rough (and I emphasize rough) outline. I started the rough draft on Tuesday and completed it by Friday, six chapters of story that weaves with Book 1 far better than I planned or expected. I love where the story took me. For those of you who don’t know, I am very much what we call a panster in the writing world, someone who discovers the story as they write. (My two sentences per chapter outlines are very minimal with helping my writing and are mostly used to keep my POVs straight)

A brief overview:

The Prisoner of Magic takes place in the twenty year time gap of Book 1. The story is told from the perspective of Prince Anaros, who has been cursed with immortality by an evil witch and thrown into the dungeon to watch his people suffer for eternity. This story took me on a bit of an emotional ride, as you can imagine. Anaros bounces from sarcasm to distract himself from his predicament to deep depression, where he attempts to starve himself and becomes completely withdrawn. I admit, the story ends on a depressing note, which is not typically how I like to end my stories, but that is only because it is not truly where the story ends. To reach that happy ending, you’ll have to read The Witch of Selvenor and yes, I did that on purpose (wink, wink).

Even in six short chapters I was able to weave the story with The Witch of Selvenor. If you’ve read Book 1, you’ll likely spot the two major plot twists easily. If you haven’t, you should! I was surprised I was able to connect them as well as I did and keep things intriguing. Sometimes as a panster I surprise even myself with where the story goes and often don’t see my own plot twists coming. (It’s both amusing and frustrating!)

So, The Prisoner of Magic is published. If you’d like to read it, you have two options. First, you can get it for FREE by signing up for my monthly newsletter! Click HERE to do that. Second, if you prefer to own a copy, you can purchase it on Amazon HERE for $0.99. If you find yourself enjoying the story, leave me a review! Authors love reviews, and as a newbie, I need them!

Now let’s get down to a few more updates. Book 2 has almost finished the editing stage. (Whoohoo!) I should have the edits back sometime next week. Once I get them, I will read through the book one final time and make the last few adjustments. After that, its time to format, which I’m hoping will be much easier not that I’ve done this once and have a little experience. My original plan was to publish mid April. I still do not have a set date, but it will be April for certain. If things are moving well, it may be the first week (who knows!) so keep an eye on the website and facebook page for updates!

The rough draft of Book 3 is completed and I’ve sent it to my editor. She won’t be starting it until the end of the month and the completion date is scheduled for May. Still a long ways out, but that is where it currently stands. I’ve written about 70% of Book 4 and will probably have it finished in the next few weeks.

Meanwhile, amidst all of this my brain never shuts up. I’ve started outlining more books (slaps face). I know, I know. I should finish what I’ve started first, but it’s so hard when my imaginary friends keep talking to me. We will see where it goes, but right now it looks like a trilogy (sighs). At least it’s a spin off of the world I’ve already created, so everything goes together.

That’s all for now folks! Be sure to check the website or facebook page to stay up to date. Sign up for the newsletter to get exclusive “deleted scenes” and free entertainment!