It’s the big day, the big…big…BIG day! After three years of writing, endless revisions, beta readers, advanced readers, and stress out the wazoo, Portals is finally launched and into the world! Right now, it’s exclusive to Amazon and you can get it here. (I’ve got it on new release pricing right now, for $0.99, but that will only last a few days.)

What’s this wonderful cover holding inside? Well, since you asked…

The world sees the portals as an invasion. For Lysa, they’re an invitation.

The portals appeared without warning. Every thirteen minutes they take a thousand humans, leaving exact duplicates in their place. Now, chaos reigns and no one is sure anyone is still the person they knew. Whoever is sending the portals is destroying human society without firing a shot.

Not everyone thinks the portals are a prelude to invasion. Lysa, a student far too bright for her own good, believes the portals might even be something wonderful. There must be a logical reason for the portals, and that means something alive and thinking on the other side of those shimmering holes in our reality. Her burning curiosity leads her to do the unthinkable; she leaps through a portal meant for another.

What she finds is a galaxy teeming with life, worlds beyond imagining, and two terrible truths: Earth is in danger, and the portals are a one-way trip. Stranded in an alien civilization, Lysa will have to use her ingenuity to find a way home and warn Earth before it’s too late.

Sound good? I sure do hope so!

Now, for the confession. I’m very excited about it, but also worried beyond any measure.

When I decided to take my time with this one, I knew I was taking a huge risk and a hit. Amazon works on churn. That old saying that if you don’t publish, you perish may have been meant for scholarly pursuits, but it’s far more true on Amazon than it ever was in research circles. But, love trumps money for me, so I took the hit and stuck to my guns.

In many ways, that means I’m starting over. Amazon’s terminator-style algorithm has forgotten I exist. Factors inside the algorithm must be tickled all over again. How many reviews I get, how many are positive, how fast they happen in comparison with launch day, and how quickly people read the book once they open it will all determine if the algorithm counts Portals as a “good book.”

That will decide if it shows the book during searches, includes it in suggestions on people’s screens…and most importantly of all…if it will get a leg up in becoming “sticky.” That’s the word most authors want to hear most in reference to their books. They want sticky books. Sticky as toffee melting on your hands or pine sap in your hair.

So, there’s my confession. I’m going back to obsessively refreshing the Amazon screen now to see what happens. Let’s all keep our fingers crossed!

Into The Galaxy is coming!

The Into The Galaxy duology is just that…a two book series. And I’ve completed both books! The second volume, Portals: Saving Earth, will be available within a few weeks of the launch of Portals (editing!). After a long hiatus, (that wasn’t a real hiatus), the first new books I’ve written finally be released into the wild.

From being the seed of an idea, (and a mad dash to write down the idea before it faded), to the day of publication, three long years of work will have passed. Yes, I did create other things during this time, but the primary fuel to my creative engine has been spent here. Reactors at full ride. A new world, new galaxy, and a whole new place in your head to get lost. I sure hope you like it as much as I liked writing it.

I won’t put the blurb to the second book on this page. No spoilers. Let’s leave that one a surprise.

NOTE: I’ll put up the links when they’re officially out in the world!

Portals

The world sees the portals as an invasion. For Lysa, they’re an invitation.

The portals appeared without warning. Every thirteen minutes they take a thousand humans, leaving exact duplicates in their place. Now, chaos reigns. No one is sure anyone else is still the person they once knew. Whoever is sending the portals destroyed human society without firing a shot.

But not everyone thinks they’re a prelude to invasion. Lysa, a student far too bright for her own good, believes the portals could be something wonderful. Her burning curiosity leads her to do the unthinkable; she leaps through a portal meant for another.

What she finds is a galaxy teeming with life, worlds beyond imagining, and two terrible truths: Earth is in danger, and the portals are a one-way trip. Stranded in an alien civilization, Lysa will have to use her ingenuity to find a way home and warn Earth before it’s too late.

Girard The Guardian will be released only in the Dominion Rising box set for the foreseeable future. The book is turning out so well that I’ve been seriously inspired in the painting department. No, I’m still not very good yet, but I do keep improving. Here are my paintings of the first three main characters. I’m currently working out my sketches for the next two, Lila and Marcus.

Maybe because I’m improving, it’s also taking me a lot longer to do a painting. The last two took over a month each. I had my one year anniversary for starting drawing and painting a couple of weeks ago, and I’m still enjoying it very much. Yes, it has slowed down my writing some, but only because I don’t only sit attached to a computer for 16 hours a day. And that has improved my writing too. More time to think about it as I paint, I’m guessing. More cogitation makes for more plot and deeper plots.

Right now, the pre-order price for Dominion is just $0.99 for all 23 brand new, full length novels. Sales have been brisk! Grab it because it will be the only way to get these books for a good while (and you can’t beat the price).

Curious? Then slide on over to the sneak peek page and get a three chapter look at Girard The Guardian!

About eight months ago I decided to pick up a paintbrush and see if I could paint. Yes, I know that’s random, but I wanted to try. I’ve never been an artist or anything, so I had no idea if I could do this. This is my first painting. (All images can be clicked to open hugely into a new tab.)

Note the lack of facial features? Yeah, I wasn’t there. But I wanted to be. Here are a few more attempts.

Note the primitive and not very realistic eyes? Well, I decided there that the only way to get better was to get better…as in focus on each feature. So, I started by focusing on eyes, which are really important for making a painting connect with a viewer. I mean, you can seriously suck at many other parts of the body, but the eyes will make or break you.

These next pictures are me practicing eyes.

What really surprised me was how fast a really dedicated person can make progress. I’m not a natural artist by any means. In fact, it’s very alien to me. I’m more of a science person, yet there is something undeniably soothing and satisfying about this art stuff. I’ve still never had an art class, so I don’t even know if I’m using the right brushes or materials…or even if I’m using the brushes correctly. All this is sort of a learn-as-I-go experience.

What does that mean? I think it means that anyone at all can do this. Truly. I think any person can pick up a brush and grab their medium of choice and go to town. Very quickly you’ll discover what you like (oils-no, acrylic-no, watercolor-yes) and narrow in on your particular style.

I’m excited to see what happens next.