Tag: the year is now

Workaholic Est. 0422

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Workaholic Est. 0422, making and creating!

I sort of dropped off the face of social media lately (how people manage to do ten million things and still have energy to tweet up a storm on Twitter is beyond me, and I will forever admire them for that ability!).

Here’s the scoop

I’ve been working on several exciting projects that I’m thrilled and pumped about! Believe me when I say that I’ve been working non-stop on these projects for the past few weeks!

Beneath the Red Lamp & Other Tales


The short sequel to The Year is Now (TYIN) will FINALLY see the light of day. I’m working on an ebook of short stories set in the empire before and after the events of TYIN.

Beneath the Red Lamp explores what becomes of Elly after the Battle of Pluto.

Details on when this will be released will be coming soon. I don’t like to give out dates like candy. I need to make sure that thing is polished before I let it join the dating scene 😉

*This is not the final cover, just a placeholder. 

An Actual Website

I’ve been building a website from scratch. I am PUMPED for this. I cannot wait to let you all see it!

It’s almost ready, but I plan to release it into the wild to coincide with Beneath the Red Lamp, so keep your eyes peeled. Oh, and don’t worry, The Command Deck will always be around because the blogger platform is easy to use for, well, blogging! It will be linked to the site.

Sisters

This project is my baby. I haven’t been this emotionally attached to a story for a long time. It’s set apart from the rest of my works because it does not take place in the empire. It takes place in another alternate reality, a much grimmer one than our own world and Elly’s.

*This is not the final cover, just a placeholder. 

“Sisters” as I’m calling it, is in its infancy. Yes, this will be a full fledged novel. I’m going to do something I’ve never done before and live tweet my progress on it. Follow #sisters422

With that being said, it is on the back burner right now (you have no idea how much it pains me to put it aside while I get Beneath the Red Lamp up and running! Copy-editing and formatting are the most tedious tasks ever, and I cannot have any distractions).

30 Miles to Awesomeville

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Okay, so you’ve probably noticed that I’ve been about as active as a derelict starship stuck in the neutral zone as far as blog posts go.

Yep. I moved. We are out of that tiny, one bedroom apartment and finally in our forever home. Mushy-feel-good stuff aside, It feels awesome to own our own place. You can imagine how that guzzled up my spare time, but it was worth it.

My commute to work is much longer, but I see it as an unexpected glass that is half full. It is the perfect time to edit my stories. For whatever reason, riding the highway express bus puts me in the right mindset for it. Those of you who write know what a chore editing can be and how hard it is to force yourself to do it after you get home from work. I mean, there are so many other things to do…like play games, surf the Internet, do some actual writing, read a book…

Image courtesy of Wikipedia. You can find it here.

What I’m saying is that it can feel like you’ve been put in charge of organizing a room full of tribbles by color, size, and purr pitch after they’ve had an endless night of *ahem* reproducing. You walk in with your trusty tablet and find yourself drowning in the cute little suckers.

I’ve been working on this thing since July. What you are looking at is the FINAL edit. Yes, this is a short sequel to The Year is Now. Elly is back and runs headfirst into a threat she’s never encountered before. How much more heartache can one woman take? She’s run for her life once before, but this time it won’t be enough.

Spook Yourself. Halloween is Coming.

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In just 7 days we will get to wear costumes in public without being judged for it. Want to be a badass Jedi? Do it. Craving to channel your inner witch, vampire, ghoul, or goblin? Do it. Beam us up, Scotty, because we are ready!

What are you going to be for Halloween? 
Share your awesome costume ideas on Facebook or Twitter!

The rules have changed at my work. I was told I could wear something as long as I am still in my uniform. You better believe I am going to push this to the limit! 😉 I haven’t made my final decision yet because, let’s face it, pushing the limit takes some serious brainstorming. I’m leaning towards some kind of steampunk cat (cat ears, a tiny top hat, and one of my gothic/western vests).

As for my characters, they don’t need to follow any rules!

From left to right: 
Jadelynn Jackson, Elly Reynolds, Major Pierson, and Aaron Winters*

Jadelynn: I found these adorable cat ears for only 5 credits! I don’t care what everyone at the office thinks! I’m still 12 years old at heart! *Takes selfie* 
Elly: I am the queen, and nobody can tell me otherwise. I wanted to be a witch again, but being the same thing two years in a row is lazy…Darn it. I love my witch hat!
Major Pierson: I hate you, Elly. I hate you. I hate you. This outfit is stupid. Why did I agree to this!? A jailbird!?  *Grabs a glass of whiskey* 
Aaron: … 
*Yes, that is Aaron as Thranduil. 

Oh Look, a Penny!

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Do you carry around a lucky charm, a favorite key chain, or wear a special necklace to help get you through the day?

Whether we like to admit it or not, we all have that one “lucky” little talisman we carry around in our pockets, grab before a big event, or keep in a special spot in a special place. There is some part of us that likes the idea of clutching onto hope. Even characters have secret little good luck charms!

Meet JFK JR! Elly’s lucky fifty-cent piece. Before the big incident of 2012, she carried it around in her wallet. It was one of those things she came across back in 2003, at the height of the Iraq War. Something felt weird and off when she stepped forward to board the bus that would ferry her to the airport.

Elly glanced down to see a dated piece of Americana staring up at her. A smile pleated her nervous face as she plucked it from the asphalt. In the months that followed, nerves were best dealt with by flipping the coin between her forefinger and thumb.

It had earned itself a permanent spot in her black, leather wallet when she made it back to the States. By the summer of 2012, she had almost forgotten it was there.

The empire took every thing she had on her that fated day she crossed the anomaly. The Lafayette snatched it all up before Lieutenant Braxton could log it into his system.

50¢ Facts:

Share your own lucky charms, favorite objects, and awesome objects made of pure awesomeness on Facebook! 

I’ll be there posting one of my own!

Want more US 50¢ coin facts? Head on over to Wikipedia for more info!

There are no Zombies When Adulting

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*Dusts my precious little blog off*

I’ve been sidetracked by a case of having too many ideas and only two hands to type with. Bouncing back and forth between The Maiden and a new short story I’m working on has been an wild ride of troubled characters doing dramatic things they shouldn’t be doing.

Aaron “Earendil” Winters decided he wanted to be in the limelight of a story that takes place a year after the events in The Year is Now. I have a special plans for that tale, but before I make any solid announcements, I want to make sure I have everything set in stone first. I mean, you can’t build a house on a barely there foundation.

As for my adulting life in real time? Adulting. Adulting. More adulting. There’s nothing exciting going on as of late unless you count walking around Costco and pretending it is a post-apocalyptic bunker… I am happy to report that no zombies got in. It is a Grade-A Zombie Free Zone.