T-9 Days Until The Betrayer’s Release!

It’s only nine days until The Betrayer, Book 2 of the Baltin Trilogy, releases and I’m super stoked. It’s the follow-up to my debut novel, The Descendant, and I had even more fun writing the second story.

In the first book, I introduce Tilly Morgan and her lovable hound, Kodiak, to the reader and show the budding relationship between Tilly and Jareth. At the end of the story, the reader watches Tilly’s character beginning to grow and accepting the sudden twist thrown into her life involving Jareth.

In The Betrayer, the reader–just like Tilly–meets another alien race, the Henokans, who have pursued the Baltins and plan to make them pay for their crimes against both Henoka and Earth from the release of the Baltin plague. She’s brought underground to the Cheyenne Mountain Complex and learns at least one large group of military survived the EMP and virus. She also discovers more information about the Baltin and Henokan war in the Trappist-1 system, and the bracelet Jareth gave her at the end of book one.

Balancing the relationship between Tilly and Rhys was a fun challenge, because even though Tilly’s in love with the scoundrel, Jareth (though she refuses to admit it to herself), the reader can see major differences between him and Rhys. Rhys is extremely likable even though he’s stern and strong. It’s these differences that shed light between Jareth’s character–who’s a bit of a bad boy with a dark side, and Rhys’s persona–who’s wholesome and gentle–that causes some angsty moments with Tilly’s psyche. Of course, Tilly’s adorable mutt, Kodiak, reappears in book two, complete with his normal antics. The dog is obsessed with food, let me tell you. He even gets to sit with her in a military cafeteria and eat out of his own bowl.

The reader is also introduced to a new protagonist, Colonel Robertson. His character was fun and therapeutic to write. I really wanted to kill him in several chapters. Haha. He’s one of those people who lusts for power, and doesn’t care who he has to stomp on to reach his end goal.

Currently, I’m about seventy-five thousand words into The Redeemer, which will be the final book of the trilogy. Then, I’ll start the prequel, which will follow Tilly for two years before The Descendant. It will be a true apocalyptic, alien invasion novel, and will demonstrate why Tilly hates being alone, why she’s a little more aggressive than your normal twenty-year-old, and how she came to have such a potty mouth.

Here are the links for the books. And please, if you enjoy the stories, consider leaving a review. As authors, we rely on ratings and reviews to help readers decide if our story is something they’d be interested in picking up.

Savage Worlds Series:

The Descendant

The Betrayer

The Redeemer

The Intrusion

Writing is easy; editing is not.

Here’s a blog I wrote for my publisher, DLG Publishing Partners.

If you’ve ever wondered about the editing process, I included some tips and tricks I learned along the way.

http://dlgpublishingpartners.com/so-you-wanna-be-a-writer/

Publishing Contract Accepted!

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My manuscript was picked up by a publishing company and I’ve signed the contract! All the waiting and worrying finally paid off. I’m not sure of the publishing date yet, as my editor still needs to get back to me with edits, but hopefully this year.

I’ve had several people ask how I was able to get a traditional publisher’s attention, and I really don’t have a trick. My journey in writing started years ago when I was a teen, but fell by the wayside over the years as I took care of my family.

In 2017, I began dabbling with writing once again. I wrote and illustrated a children’s series, self-published it on Amazon, and was content for a while. Earlier this year, though, the writing bug bit again.

On a whim, after taking a required English class for a degree plan, I decided to write for myself, and if others wanted to read my stories, that would be even better. The first couple of short stories were so-so. My daughter edited one and pushed me, pointing out the plot holes and shortcomings of the story. She’s a great editor, by the way, and doesn’t let too much bias get in the way, understanding what it takes to make a good story.

Anyhow, after writing my first novella, I decided to write a full novel for young adults. My passion is science fiction, and I’ve always loved to watch a relationship develop, so I melded both genres into one. After finishing the manuscript, I submitted it to two publishing houses and opted to sign with the current publishing house. Once I receive the okay, I’ll be posting links and information about the book.

Long story short, I didn’t use any tricks to get a publishing contract–I just got lucky. Considering I just recently started writing again, and the second manuscript I’d ever written was accepted by the second publisher, it was an incredible stroke of luck.

The only trick I can think of is this: don’t give up and keep submitting. Oh, and make sure you edit your baby over and over again. Trust me, if you think it’s ready, it’s not. I STILL find errors throughout each page.