Upcoming books

Book one in the Generation Witch trilogy has been out for a little while now. I’m happy to say book two, still untitled, is in the works. The first draft has been completed and is waiting for some edits. Fingers crossed it will be available sometime in the fall of 2023.

Also in the works is the next Detective Hodgins books. That one is approximately one third written and should also be out this fall.

Keep your eyes on the lookout for further details. Keep up-to-date by signing up for my newsletter (link to the right) and you’ll receive a free copy of the prequel to the D.E.M.ON. Tales series I’m writing with my partner in crime, M.J. Moores.

Aurora Street Festival

Wow, it’s been a long time since posting. Tomorrow I’ll be at the Street Festival in Aurora, Ontario (north of Toronto). It’s an annual event that was disrupted during COVID. The writers group I belong to, The Writers’ Community of York Region (WCYR), will have 3 booths side-by-side and I’ll be there. The main road, Yonge Street, will be closed to traffic for the festival, which runs from 11 a.m. to 5 p.m. Thousands of people crowd the street. It’s always a fun day.

Detective Hodgins Book 4 released

Well, it’s been a long time coming, but book 4 finally made it out into the world. The Kindle version was released in January and the paperback followed in February. You can check out my Amazon author page for a full list of all the books, both in the Hodgins series, and the funny paranormal D.E.M.ON. Tales series.

Oh, I guess you’d like to know the title. Homicide on the Homestead. An elderly farmer has been found murdered in his barn and several people pop up as good suspects. With the help of his squad of constables, Hodgins has to sort through all the lies to undcover the truth.

Next on the list, United in Holy Deadlock.

National Novel Writing Month a.k.a. NaNoWriMo

Well, it’s that time of year again. I generally participate, but only in the mini-NaNo that the writing group I belong to runs. Instead of 50k words written in November, we pick our own word count. This year I’ve scaled down and am only going for 8k. I’m working on book 5 in my Detective Hodgins series. So far I’m sitting at about 2500 words. Don’t write every day. The plan was Fri to Sun, but that hasn’t worked out exactly as expected.

I’ve been distracted by finishing up the long over-due book 3 in the D.E.M.ON. Tales series. At least it will finally be released on Friday the 13th. This series is a tongue-in-cheek look at demons, criptids and mythological beasties. E-book only, but every two books will be put to print in a flip-book. Next one is schedule to be released early next year.

Happy Hallowe’en

This year October 31 will be a little different. While trick or treating isn’t banned, it’s strongly suggested to keep the kiddies at home. As an alternative, there are several suggestions being kicked around.

• A Hallowe’en hunt, Easter style
• Decorate the doors inside your house and trick or treat room to room
• Join an online painting workshop
• Pumpkin carving – you can still decorate the outside of your home

If you are going out, be sure to wear a proper mask. Hallowe’en masks are not considered COVID safe.

Time Flies

Wow, I can’t believe I haven’t posted anything since October!

 

So, what’s new? Unfortunately not a lot. Book 2 of D.E.M.ON. Tales, Bobcat Got Your Tongue, written by my co-author M.J. Moores, has been released. Book 3 seems to have stalled thanks to COVID-19. OK, maybe not completely the fault of the virus. My writing routine is to go to a local coffee shop (Cardinal Press Espresso Bar) and spend a few hours in the back writing. They had to close up, as did so many other businesses. They now have a take-out window, but it’s not the same.  Too many distractions at home to make myself write. That’s my fault I suppose. I did manage to get a little done recently, but I need to do more. And SOON. It was supposed to be released at the end of April. Book 4 was to be released end of July. I know that’s already in the works.

Regular job hasn’t changed much. Still working 3 days a week, only difference is I work from home and only go in about once a week to deal with deposits. And my days working float around somewhat. Since I moved my internet connection is much better and it no longer takes up to 5 minutes to open an Excel spreadsheet full of coding.

I think I can safety add my move to my writing procrastination. I moved Jun 8, but I’m continuing to move stuff out of the old place, which still hasn’t sold. Maybe this weekend I can  put pen to paper again? Fingers crossed.

Cover Reveal today

Today is the day to reveal the cover for a novella series I’m writing with a friend. The series is called D.E.M.ON. Tales. It’s a series of 28 e-books, A to Z plus 13 and 666. I’m writing the first book, Assassin Eco-Corpses, and MJ Moores will be doing the next one, then me, then her, etc. We’ll each have input into all stories.

Despite the name, D.E.M.ON. Tales is not horror, more an urban fantasy, tongue-in-cheek series. Think Men in Black meet Supernatural. The setting is Ontario, current time, and the HQ is in the town of Aurora, a little north of Toronto.

Assassin is scheduled to be released at Amazon on October 31. Happy Hallowe’en.  The plan is 4 per year, with a print version of each set of 4.

Blurb, which is currently in edit mode:

Corpses Gone Rogue

The D.E.M.ON. Agency grew complacent with only minor monsters and cryptids poking around over the last year. Charged with the merciless task of protecting Ontario from things that go bump in the night, these agents spent the last hundred years ridding their region of the most bad-ass demons and monsters alive … or was that dead? At least, that was their M.O. until a year ago. Now their duct cleaning front morphed into more of a full-time gig. But, when the silent alarm blinks to life in the middle of another lazy morning all hell breaks loose.

And the cover is … drum roll please.

 

 

My first time attending WOW

This past Saturday I was invited to be part of the Crime Writers’ of Canada panel at the Orangeville Library. The library runs an annual event called Words the Orangeville Way (WOW). I only knew a few of the other panelists so I met some new friends. The event was well attended and everyone was uber-friendly.

Thanks for sending the photo  Judy. Perfect timing with my name on the screen. LOL

L to R, Judy Penz Sheluk, Anita Arvast, Maggie Petru, Rosemary McCracken, me, Diane Bator

I’m still here

Wow. I didn’t realize it’d been so long since I last posted. I’ve been a little busy.

I’ve started a new series of novellas, co-writing with author MJ Moores.  It’s a tongue-in-cheek look at demons and cryptids. At the moment I’m editing the first book and the plan is to have it ready for Hallowe’en.  These will be e-books, with every 4 put together in print:  total stories –>  28.

Also on the go is Generation Witch: Rebirth. The edits are about 1/2 way done and that also needs to be ready for my editor by fall.

This weekend I’m at Ad-Astra with MJ and three other authors. I’ll try to get some pics as there will be a lot of people in costume, and they re amazing.

Ta-ta for now 🙂

10,000 Steps a Day

For the past couple of years I’ve been like many people – wearing a fitbit (or something similar). I don’t always get in 10k steps, most days barely get 5k.  I found out something interesting today while watching a BBC program I recorded.

Seems there is NO scientific reason for this number. Nothing at all. No studies, no tests. Apparently, it was invented by a Japanese company that produced a pedometer called the manpo-kei – or 10,000-step meter – at the time of the 1964 Olympics in Tokyo.

Mind Blown! Once the fitbit dies, I think I’ll go back to one of my many watches.