IWSG and the Polar Murders series

Hello, friends!! Today is the February meeting of The Insecure Writer's Support Group. The group was founded by our Ninja Captain Alex J. Cavanaugh. To view list members and this month's co-hosts, or to sign up and join the group, visit the IWSG page here.

I'm excited today as I have a new book coming out later this spring! Polar Curse, the sequel to Polar Night and Polar Day, is tentatively scheduled to be released in May. I'm so happy about it as I had reached the point where I thought this book would never be completed let alone make it out in the world.

My publisher is going to re-release Polar Night and Polar Day with new covers, so I'm also thrilled about that. I can't share the covers yet but I love them and love the ideas the artist came up with. After those two are re-launched Polar Curse will be published. The three will be marketed together as the Polar Murders series.

I can't wait to be able to share the new covers and more information about the new book, but for now I am just busy doing a happy dance with Kermit. It took me so long to write this story that I can't believe it's actually coming together now.

Happy February!

Taking the Towel Back Out & More Realms Faire Games

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Last week I wrote that I was throwing in the towel on my WIP after months of frustration with it. Apparently the WIP didn't like that idea, as right after I wrote that post I got inspired to go take the towel back out and work on the story. And to my amazement, I actually finished the first draft over the weekend! Once I started writing again I couldn't stop.

So I think that story still wanted to be told and I am more than happy to oblige it. I have tons of work to do as the first draft is garbage, but I am excited now about tackling it.

This story is a follow-up to Polar Night and Polar Day but is set in Chicago instead of in Alaska. The antagonist is a ghost this time, or a sort of ghost, who has connections to the Civil War. I came upon this photo on Twitter from the Chattanooga National Military Park this week out of the blue and it seemed like another sign that this story is meant to be finished. Isn't this a haunting shot? I love it.

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I'm looking forward to being able to share more about the story in the coming weeks.

Thanks again to everyone who left comments on my post last week. I really appreciated all of the encouragement and advice!

The Realms Faire is getting closer and I am excited to spotlight a few more games today from my fellow participants.

House Bookworm - Riddle Me This
I am a book so popular they made a movie of me. Within the what if realms I lie. Horror? Fantasy? Or am I Sci-Fi? A riddle every day during the Realms Faire for you to take your best guess and have a chance to win a prize most splendid.
For your guessing pleasure, visit Cherie Reich's blog every day November 9-13 to make a guess and be entered for a daily prize.

House of the Hero's Dilemma - hosted by Tyrean Martinson
Hero's beware! Here at the House of Hero's Dilemma, a new cliff-hanging adventure will dangle new heroes above the depths of destiny or despair. In 100 words or less, a hero will face a danger in story form.
Each day, the people of Realsmdom will decide the fate of these heroes in three sentences or less. If fateful endings are giving answer in poetic form, an extra entry for prizes will be awarded.
Daily e-book prizes will be awarded via random name-pulling from the entries. Everyone is invited to participate.
People of Realmsdom, you have the power of storytelling might to decide the fate of the would-be heroes. Will they die in glory or shame, live in victory or defeat? It is up to you.

House Waibel - The Stockade Brigade
Warrants of arrest have been issued for select authors accusing them of witchery and wizardry. The pillory has been erected and the trial dates set.
Good people of Realmsdom, I call upon you to bear witness to these trials and offer your testimony for or against the author's crimes.
Points will be awarded for wordsmithing a comment in your best Olde English afore 8 of the clock in the Eastern time on the following scale:
5-Ye speak as one from the days of Queen Bess.4-Ye could pass muster as a Ren Faire cast member3-Ye could pass as a Ren Faire attendee2-Ye wouldn't be foolin' yer mother1-Ye stand out like the sun in a cloudless sky
An e-book will be given every day to the witness who scores the most points. Fear not, your daily score will be accumulated and the person with the highest score shall receive a special prize at the end of the week. So, brush off your Olde English and prepare to testify.

For all of the info on the Realms Faire, including a full list of this year's games, visit M. Pax here. 

Polar Day Release & Wonderful Personal News

Today is release day for Polar Day and of course I'm super excited about that, but I actually have better news that I am so happy to be able to share. As many of you know my mom has been battling cancer since last summer. She had her last round of chemo in January and this week had a PET scan to assess her condition. Yesterday we learned that she is in remission! Her oncologist's office called to share the wonderful news and we couldn't be happier. I honestly did not believe she would be able to beat this at her age (she turned 87 this week) and if someone had told me back in August we would be celebrating now I would not have believed it. I was so relieved when I got the call that I almost felt like I could faint! Yesterday was such an amazing day for my family and one we will always cherish.

I know lots of people have prayed for her and sent good wishes our way and I want to send my heartfelt thanks to all of you. I will never forget the amazing support I've received from the wonderful people in this community. Thank you!

And now to the book! Polar Day is officially out now and while I am still waiting on the Kindle link and some others, you can find the paperback now here. The Kindle should be at that same link soon. The book is also on Goodreads here.

I'm doing a tour with Goddess Fish starting next week so I haven't set up a regular blog tour, but my dear friend Cathrina Constantine is sharing an excerpt from the book here. This was a fun excerpt to share as it features my favorite characters, the Polar Night duo Danny and Aleksei. :)

Other friends are sharing the blurb and book info for a mini book blast so you will see me popping up a bit the next few days.

You can read the first chapter of the book at my website here. And the Goodreads giveaway continues until February 10 if you'd like to enter to win a signed copy. Just go here to enter!

Thank you again to everyone for your support!

Polar Day Excerpt, #SpecFic Chat, and Thunderclap

My new book Polar Day will be out on February 5 and I thought I'd share a little taste of the book here today. This excerpt features Aleksei Nechayev, the antagonist of both Polar Night and The Turnagain Arm. Aleksei is a supporting player this time around, but he's still up to no good. :)

The inquisitive Fairbanks detective Danny Fitzpatrick had ruined the peaceful home Aleksei had maintained in the Arctic town of Coldfoot for decades. He enjoyed checking in on the detective and, while he couldn’t help but feel a strange fondness for the man he had chosen to let live, he always hoped to find him struggling with some new problem. He was tickled to see that this time he got his wish.
Aleksei grinned from ear to ear as he read about the mysterious fires that were plaguing Fairbanks while the city suffered through its worst heat wave in history. How fascinating! And by all accounts, the police, including the dear detective, had no idea who was starting the fires or even how they were doing it. 
Fire was one of the few things Aleksei feared and hated as much as humans did. He still remembered the time he had been nearly burned to death by a male witch not long after he’d arrived in Alaska. He couldn’t help but wonder if a supernatural force was responsible for these fires as well. Was there a witch on the loose in Fairbanks?
Since he was safe and sound on the other side of the world, Aleksei desperately hoped so. How would his favorite detective deal with a situation like that? And what of the fire starter? What was his, or her, motivation? What was the game? 
His lousy winter here in Australia had suddenly taken a surprisingly lovely turn. Clearly, the summer in Fairbanks was turning out to be more horrific than anyone there could have imagined. He couldn’t wait to see how it all unfolded. It was going to be such fun.

If you'd like another peek, you can also read the first chapter here at my website. And to enter to win a signed copy of the book, check out my Goodreads giveaway. 

Also, my writing group Untethered Realms has started a new monthly chat on Twitter: #SpecFicChat. We're talking about all things Speculative Fiction. M.Pax kicked things off on Friday with the topic "Punking it up. What’s the attraction of Steampunk?" The chat is ongoing and you can join in any time - just use the #SpecFicChat tag. River Fairchild will be hosting the next chat on Friday, February 20. If you're interested in Speculative Fiction please jump in and join us!

Finally, thank you to everyone who has supported my Polar Day Thunderclap campaign! At the time of this writing I'm at 80 supporters and only need 20 more to get my message sent out. If you haven't already and are willing to support me please do so here!

Hope everyone enjoyed the weekend and has a good week ahead! :)

Finished!

I'm doing the happy dance to end this week because I FINALLY finished my Polar Night sequel! I had reached a point earlier this month where I was very close to giving up on the whole story because I was so frustrated with it. But the idea of giving up on it gave me the kick in the pants I needed and I finally got a burst of energy to get busy and finish the story once and for all.

I have tons of revising to do, to put it mildly, but I know I will be able to do that now that I finally have the whole story in place. And I am actually excited about the revising and anxious to jump into it. Now I guess I will be hiding in my revising cave. :D

The plan at the moment is for the sequel to be published in January. It's called Polar Day and it is fitting that I finished it during the week of the summer solstice as this story takes place in the summer as opposed to the dark winter setting of Polar Night.

For the sequel, I wanted to utilize the "midnight sun" phenomenon of the Alaskan summers, and Polar Day revolves around the sun, magic, and fire.

Midnight on the Summer Solstice in Bethel, AK

I also plan to release a prequel novella which takes place during the building of the Alaskan Railroad during the late 1910s and includes the same kind of magic featured in Polar Day. I'm going to publish that myself on Kindle in the fall, assuming all goes as planned between now and then!

I'm just really excited now to dig into my revisions and also to get back into blogging and social media. I forced myself to stay off just about everything until I finished this story so now I'm looking forward to catching up. I've missed the blogosphere!

Happy Friday and weekend to all. :)

Danny and Aleksei, Comic Style

I've been a fan of Heather Holden's work ever since I discovered Echo Effect, her webcomic based on Greek mythology. So when I was catching up on the comic a few weeks ago I got the idea to commission Heather to create pictures of my Polar Night characters Danny and Aleksei.

It was a lot of fun to work with Heather and see my guys brought to life in her style. So let me introduce you to the main character and protagonist of Polar Night, Detective Danny Fitzpatrick.

He's a mess, isn't he?  Danny is overwhelmed by grief and depression when we meet him and he's run as far away from his old life as he could get by moving to Fairbanks, Alaska. He's working a dead-end job in cold cases and his primary coping mechanism for getting through the day is alcohol.

Danny doesn't seem like a good candidate to challenge Aleksei Nechayev, the book's antagonist. Arrogant, cold, and ruthless, Aleksei views people as little more than playthings for his own amusement.

 

Aleksei sees Danny as a minor nuisance and doesn't think the drunken detective is a real threat to his plans. He may be surprised.

Thanks again to Heather for working on this fun project with me! If you don't already follow the Echo Effect, check it out here. 

Sample Sunday: Polar Night Protagonist

I posted a quick intro to the antagonist for my WIP when I first wrote about my story and shared the prologue, so I thought I would share a glimpse of the protagonist now that I have made significant progress in completing my first draft. I have to admit, I've become very attached to the character as I've been writing.

His name is Danny Fitzpatrick, and he is a detective in Fairbanks, Alaska. This is a short chapter from the middle of the story.


Danny walked into his Chicago apartment and was immediately hit with the smell of something delicious. That was the norm for dinner time at his home. He didn’t know how he had gotten lucky enough to find a French chef who wanted to marry him, but he was certainly grateful.

He headed for the kitchen and the source of the yummy smell, and found Caroline at the stove, her back to him as she stirred whatever was making Danny salivate. She was dressed in her favorite attire, blue jeans and a long-sleeved t-shirt, and her brown hair fell in waves past her shoulders.

“Hi, Danny,” she said, without turning to look at him. She lifted a spoon full of broth from the pot and sipped at her creation, testing to make sure she had the taste she wanted.

Danny walked to the stove and slid his arms around her waist, kissing the back of her head. “What smells so good?”

“Coq au vin.”

"I’m guessing the vin is wine.”

Caroline nodded. “Burgundy, to be exact. And coq is chicken. Or actually rooster if you want to be precise. It was my grandmother’s recipe and I’m testing it for the restaurant.”

Danny could hear his stomach growling. “How long until I get to eat it?”

Caroline smiled and put down her spoon. She turned away from the stove and faced Danny, her arms around his neck. “Are you hungry?”

“Starving.” Danny leaned into her and kissed her lips. “I haven’t eaten since breakfast.”

“Why do you skip lunch so often? You’re too skinny as it is.”

“I can’t help it. It was a busy day.”

“Still the same case?”

Danny kissed her again and pulled away from her. He opened the refrigerator and grabbed a beer, twisting off the cap as he leaned against the sink.

“Yeah. It’s driving me nuts, I admit it. Jackson and I aren’t getting anywhere.”

“What about the FBI? Are they any help?”

“Are you kidding? When are they ever any help?” Danny shook his head. “I did talk to John Fisher today. He’s running the files I’ve got through some of their systems, but I don’t expect him to find anything we don’t already know.”

“Which is?”

“That this creep’s been raping and murdering women all over Chicago. I just can’t figure out how he manages it without leaving a shred of evidence. It’s like he knows everything we look for.”

“Maybe he watches CSI.”

Danny rolled his eyes and took a swig of beer. “God help us.” He watched as Caroline opened the refrigerator and pulled out a puff pastry. “Ooh, dessert?” he asked.

“Yeah. It’s your favorite. St. Honore Cake.”

“Let’s skip the coq au vin and move right to that.”

Caroline laughed and set the pastry on the counter. She opened the cabinet to take out her mixer, and turned to Danny, her face now pale and panic-stricken. Drops of blood began to drip from her neck.

“Caroline? What is it?”

“Help me, Danny. Please…”

The blood turned from a drip to a deluge, gushing out of her neck and turning her shirt bright red. It splattered all over Danny, instantly soaking his shirt and pants.

“Caroline!”