Finally!

It's done! Woo-hoo! 

Life threw several bends and bumps last year, which took priority over other things, like writing, and I missed my usual publication date. It took me a year and a half to finish the last book in my Lions and Lambs series. 

It is a bitter-sweet moment, time to say goodbye to characters I have spent years telling their stories. But to go on would mean repetition. 

Lions, Devils, and Lambs

They’re back.  The cult and their demon god. The sociopathic hit man. 

The criminally insane uncle. 

In this fifth and final installment of the Lion and Lamb series, bizarre phenomena and horrific crimes draw eighteen-year-old Rachael Daniels into another battle between good and evil. This time it’s even harder to determine who she can trust.

Who are the mysterious Watchers? Are they protectors or part of the cult?

The new youth pastor, Gabriel Guerrero, and his mysterious associate, Michael Blair, are hiding something.

Hundreds of lives depend on Rachael uncovering the truth and stopping the cult’s attacks. Will God step in with another miracle, or is this the one occasion evil will appear to win?

 Now also available: 

So what's next? A new genre, one I'm excited about, and not too far a stretch from my series. I've already fallen in love with these new characters and I'm having fun telling their adventures. This is a lighter venue, a pleasant change from the dark themes of the series. 

Plighted

Plighted: to solemnly pledge one’s faith or loyalty; an unfortunate, difficult, or precarious situation.

For Ilona, a Numen trothed to Elgar, one of Immara’s elite guardsmen, it means all the above.

Upon their Assembly sanctioned union, she and Elgar are sent away from her beloved Immara, land of light, in search of Lirium, the utopia of peace and healing promised to all retiring Garridin. 

Beset with challenges, misfortunes, and dangers in every land they enter, Ilona wonders if this perfect land exists outside of Immara — or if it resides only in the broken and scarred soul of the man, she’s vowed to love. 

However, an overheard conversation indicates the high commander of the Garridin’s troth to a Numen as young as Ilona, and their immediate departure from Immara, might be for other reasons.

What fate are they running from — or toward? 

To an author, writing is the same as breathing. We can't stop doing either. 

As Maya Angelou said so eloquently, "There is no greater agony than bearing an untold story inside you."

According to Alice

Once in a while, a writer creates a character so delightful the author wonders how, and from where, this creation emerged. In my newest manuscript, Without Strings, Alice Nash springs onto the page in all of her spirited glory, seemingly without any effort from me. Every detail of her spinster life was instantly there. Yet, what amazes me the most is her wit. 

No one has ever called me witty. Once in a lifetime, a great line will come to mind, usually around midnight when it does little good, and then it’s gone. So, where on earth did this witty character come from? I have no idea.

Regardless, I am enjoying writing this character more than any others to date, and I am curious to see what she will say next. 

Since this is an auspicious Friday the 13^th, with a full moon no less, I thought I’d liven up the day with a few of Alice’s quips. Enjoy! 

                                                                      

                                                                       ***

  Alice gave him her special glare, the one that could melt asphalt.

***

Alice in regard to Mary's generosity:  “She practically gives the flower shop away every day. In fact our mice are so poor they’re standing out on the corner with a please-feed-me sign.”

***

Mary: “Who would want to kill Lloyd?”

Alice: “Honey, they’re standing line.” 

***

Alice: “Yeah, and the only one who will attend the funeral is Mary. Anyone else who might show up will only be waiting for them to fill in the hole so they can set up the dance band.” 

                                                  

                                                                      

Alice is a delight to write, and I hate to think of letting her go at the end of the book. Maybe I won't have to. I am toying with the idea of a sequel. 

This is the short synopsis of the current manuscript, Without Strings:

“Give and it shall be given to you: good measure and pressed down and shaken together and running over shall they give into your bosom. For with the same measure that you shall mete withal, it shall be measured to you again.” Luke 6:38

Mary nodded. “What do you want on the card?”

Paul shrugged. “Something mushy.”

“You don’t have any idea?”

“I don’t really care.”

“I see. Then why bother with the flowers?”

“She expects it. Besides, it doesn’t really matter what the card says. She just wants something big and impressive to show off to her friends.”

 “A real gift isn’t like that.”

“And what is a real gift, Mary?”

“One wealth can’t buy, something given from the heart, without strings.”

Mary’s abusive ex-husband, Lloyd Patterson blames Mary for his rotten life, and wants her to pay up what he believes she owes him – in any way possible. His threats and actions affect everyone around Mary, even Paul. When bodies appear, Mary understands how deep Lloyd has drawn her into his dark world.

Paul has a few of his own challenges to face. While their survival depends on independent choices, those choices will determine who will be the survivor, and who will be the hero. Can they be both?