I’ve got a few updates for you all. The first is that Captured in Flames is now available in paperback…finally! It’s already showing on Amazon, but it may take a few days to appear on other retailers. I also just sent the necessary details to the cover designer to do the full covers for Torn in Flames and Cast by Flames. Hopefully, he’ll have those back to me soon so I can get them uploaded and approved. I know some of you have been waiting to get the rest of the series novels in hard copy. Once those are ready, I’ll announce it here on my website.
My second update is just a reminder that all the Dragon’s Breath series books are available in audio now. It’s hard to believe Aidan and Bailey’s story is complete. Still, you’ll get to see how they are doing down the line and whether their family expands further in Galadon. Speaking of the spin-off novel, it releases in ten days (April 24th)! Be sure to pre-order your copy, or you can wait until it is in Kindle Unlimited (around the 27th). Audio will likely follow a few months after that.
I’m also working on the first novel, Oaths & Vengeance, for a new Romantasy series. Those of you in my Facebook fan group have already gotten a sneak peek at the newly designed cover (which turned out amazing) and the book summary. I’ll do an official cover reveal with pre-order links later this month. Currently, I expect that novel to be out in August of this year. I’ve already written over sixty percent of the book and really love this new story. For those who are wondering, this is a slow-burn, enemies-to-lovers romance with fae, and there is plenty of spice even in the first installment. It will release wide first before moving to Kindle Unlimited.
I hope this covers everything about what is coming from me this year, but feel free to leave a comment below if you have any questions!
I’m excited to share the series finale for DOGE- Supernatural Division. Of course, it has to be dragons as the center of attention for this round. This installment is especially fun because it plays on a certain social media app that had a very notable incident recently. It will also tie up the series so you get a bit of closure. Hope you enjoy!
DOGE Supernatural Division (episode 8)
High Wizard Elron tapped his phone app, checking for messages in the DOGE Supernatural Division chat group. It was an excellent way to quickly disseminate information to all his people, and it was encrypted, so only China and Russia might be able to hack it. But surely they had better things to do with their time.
Nothing new was on there despite the fact his team should have checked in by now. They’d had a week to accomplish the task he’d given them while he’d been away on other matters, and yet, they had been silent.
HW Elron
I need a status update on Ft. Knox.
Ruby
They’re having difficulties getting inside.
HW Elron
Elaborate.
Ruby
The dragons refuse to let them anywhere near the building.
Axe
They won’t negotiate with us, sir. Max was trying to work with them, but his persistence may have been too much. They burned himto a crispafter he attempted to put a sleep spell on them.
One of his people had died, and they failed to mention it in the app? He would have noticed and responded accordingly regardless of which country he’d been located.
HW Elron
Why wasn’t I informed of his death?
Axe
We tried and couldn’t reach you.
Oh, right. He’d been quite busy, but he remembered seeing some missed calls and forgot to return them. Still, messaging him on the app would have been more expedient.
HW Elron
What else have you tried?
Axe
Many things, which resulted in us losing 2 ½ more team members.
HW Elron
What do you mean by 2 ½?
Ruby
A dragon ate one of our team member’s legs, but we were able to retrieve the victim quickly and get him to the hospital. He’s still there.
HW Elron
If they’re alive, then there is no half. And why does it sound like you were on site when this happened, Ruby?
Axe
The legs are dead and gone, sir. Pretty sure the dragon digested them, so we figured that counted as a half. There was a group vote about it.
Ruby
I needed to get out of the office for a while to avoid the protestors, and it sounded like the group needed help. Also, I’ve never seen a dragon up close. They’re impressive, though quite ferocious. The way the biggest one ate that man’s legs was most vulgar. Like they were potato chips. It was so busy chewing that we were able to run in there and grab the victim, so I suppose that worked out.
The High Wizard pinched the bridge of his nose. This was what happened when he left the country and didn’t keep close track of his people while gone. Everything went sideways.
I’ve got a new DOGE story for you all today. This is a standalone and can be read even if you haven’t checked out the others. The supernatural of the week is gargoyles, and I have to admit that after writing this, I gained a soft spot for them. I might even write a novel featuring one of them someday, but for now, I enjoyed this fun adventure with them facing off against High Wizard Elron about how his budget cuts affected them.
DOGE Supernatural Division (episode 7)
Bang, bang.
Thunk, thunk, thunk.
The noises outside stirred High Wizard Elron from sleep. He climbed out of bed and crept to the window, taking a peek. In his yard, he saw a dozen large, hulking figures. The moonlight glinted off their hard, stone-gray bodies. They had large wings, high pointed ears, horns on their head, and sharp claws protruding from their fingers. Every one of them stared at his house with bright red, glowing eyes that would frighten the most hardened soul. Lying on the ground were his security personnel.
His home was being invaded by gargoyles, of all things.
High wizard Elron quickly pulled on a dark robe and cast a protection spell around himself before making his way to the front door. His intruders were immune to most offensive magic, but they wouldn’t be able to penetrate his personal barrier.
He stepped outside and put his hands on his hips. “Why are you trespassing on my property, and what did you do to my guards?”
“We only knocked them out because they shot their puny firearms at us. It was uncomfortable, like being stung by a bee would be for you.” The largest of the gargoyles strode forward and extended his hand. “I’m Leo, and I’m here to speak with you about your budget cuts.”
Elron wasn’t about to shake hands with a rock monster, especially one that appeared to be stained with nasty excrement of some sort. “What are those white splotches on you?”
Leo grimaced and his muzzle scrunched. “Pigeon poop. It is one of the reasons we came to speak with you.”
He ran his gaze over the others, noting most of them had the same affliction.
“What do I have to do with that?” the High Wizard asked, tired and annoyed that they’d woken him at almost two in the morning for this nonsense.
“You fired the groundskeepers who washed us and kept us clean.”
Ah, yes. He remembered trimming the budget for those services because it was clearly excessive and unnecessary. “The U.S. taxpayers should not be funding showers for supernatural creatures, especially ones who aren’t even alive most of the time.”
Insulted murmurs spread through the crowd. They could be offended all they wanted, but it was true. Gargoyles mostly sat there doing nothing—not even breathing. Why should they get special treatment while being lazy?
“It’s disgusting, unsanitary, and diminishes our dignity, forcing us to sit in the hot sun all day as birds poop on us,” he said, taking a step closer so Elron could properly see the awful level of excrement on him. “People sneer and laugh when they pass us, and we can do nothing except bear the injustice. Never mind the drunken fools who pee on any of us who have the misfortune to be posted near the ground.”
They woke him to complain about this? “Clearly, you can wash yourselves, or you wouldn’t have been able to come all the way to my home.”
Some of these gargoyles looked like ones he’d seen from various cities across the country. How did they all get here? He better not find out they used government funds for their travel.
Leo lifted his arm until it almost touched his chin. “We’re not very flexible. This is as far as my arm can go in my animated form. We cannot reach our heads, backs or wings where the worst of it lands. I can’t even scratch my nose.”
Did statues even itch?
“Then wait for the next rain and that should do the job for free.”
The gargoyle growled. “In the meantime, which could be days or weeks, we must sit in filth like this. How would you feel if it was you?”
“I’m human, so it’s not relevant. You can wash each other then,” Elron said with a shrug.
Leo’s large nostrils flared. “We can only take on our animated forms on the nights of full moons. What are we supposed to do for the rest of the month?”
Oh, right. They only had from midnight to sunrise once every four weeks that they could leave their stations and move freely. The only exception being if the structure they guarded came under attack, and then they could move to defend it. Too bad they had any time off or else he wouldn’t have been disturbed at such a late hour.
“It was costing thousands of dollars a year to wash you. For centuries, gargoyles lived just fine without being regularly cleaned, so you can certainly do it now,” Elron argued, tired of the many complaints he heard about petty issues like this.
A gargoyle in the back stepped forward. He was missing his left ear, part of a wing, and a few fingers on his right hand. “Your cuts to Medicare took away the coverage for our repairs.”
“You can’t just grow those parts back?” the High Wizard asked, though he hardly saw how it mattered anyway since he couldn’t imagine stone felt pain or needed to be intact to survive.
“No, we can’t regrow it,” Leo answered for him, shaking his head. “It requires specialized care through a witch doctor who does not come cheap. In the meantime, those missing pieces cause great discomfort.”
Elron lifted a brow. “Even when you’re an unmoving statue?”
“Less then, but it still hurts. We may not appear alive to you in that form, but we are cognizant and aware so that we may do our jobs,” he said, then gestured at several more of his people to come forward. “These are others who discovered they can no longer obtain the care they need.”
Each of them was missing parts of themselves, including one who moved on half of a left foot. He wracked his brain to figure out how in the world they were covered by Medicare. Then he remembered a special fund set aside for supernatural creatures. He hadn’t seen why the government should cover them when they should just take care of each other. If the witch doctor wanted to be stingy, that was not the High Wizard’s fault. By cutting their expensive care, and that of other creatures, he’d saved the government at least five million dollars.
“Pay for your own medical expenses,” Elron said, crossing his arms.
Leo’s eyes turned an even brighter red. “As the guardians of important structures, it is required you care for us properly, or else we are no longer obligated to do our jobs and will go on strike.”
The High Wizard laughed. “Go ahead, strike away. I’m going back to bed.”
He spun around and stepped back into his home, shutting the door behind him. His wards would keep the filthy statues out. He had a long day tomorrow with more budgets to cut and needed his sleep.
***
One week later…
Elron sighed when he came home after a long trip to find all dozen statues still littered his lawn. They’d returned to their solid states that dawn after they first arrived in the most ridiculous positions. Some even had their male organs showing protruding in obscene ways. It was highly embarrassing, so he’d called about having them removed while he was out of town. The two services he’d hired, one by one, called to inform him that it couldn’t be done.
Gargoyles who did not wish to be moved were impossible to lift, even with heavy machinery. A few had fresh damage to their bodies from the attempts, but that was all.
“Go home,” he shouted at their still forms. Of course, none of them responded.
I have a few updates for you all on various matters. First, I didn’t post a DOGE Supernatural story this last Friday because I was pushing to finish revisions on Galadon. I had to give that all my spare time and attention. There will be another episode later this week, though.
In relation to that, I am now working on getting Galadon up for pre-order on all the retailers with a release date of April 24th. As soon as I have the links ready, I’ll put up a post for you all with the cover and summary included. This spin-off book has been so much fun to write as I let go of the self-imposed restrictions I tried to maintain for the main series. There are some very spicy scenes in this novel, so if you do decide to read it, don’t say I didn’t warn you. Of course, there is a plot and plenty of action, along with appearances by some of your other favorite characters.
As another distraction last Friday, Oklahoma was hit with some very high and strong winds. I kept getting news alerts that parts of Norman were getting evacuated due to uncontrollable fires breaking out. Sadly, some people did lose their homes. They were in the area closest to the Taugud fortress for my Dragon’s Breath readers. I was lucky that no fires occurred in my area of town, but I feel awful for those who were affected. Many barely got out in time, unable to grab any of their things, or in some cases even their pets.
We did have damage from the wind, though, and during one of my breaks while working on my book I looked out my kitchen window and realized my backyard fence was going down.
High Wizard Elron stared incredulously at his electric car manufacturing plant in California—or rather, what was left of it. Nearly all the buildings had been leveled the day before, and what little remained would have to be torn down. It was incomprehensible.
“Tell me again what happened,” he said to one of the managers who’d been on-site during the incident.
Jack, a middle-aged man with thinning brown hair, shook his head. “They’re saying it was likely an EF-4 tornado based on the damage, but we won’t know for sure until the experts finish their investigation.”
“Right.” Elron clenched his fists. “Since when has California ever had an EF-4?”
The manager cleared his throat. “Never, as far as I know.”
“Perhaps you should start from the beginning,” the wizard said, thinking something wasn’t right about this.
“It was the oddest thing. The weather forecast called for sunny skies, but storm clouds started rolling toward us in the late afternoon. Thunder and lightning got loud. Then, some guys ran inside, saying a tornado was heading straight for us. It moved really slowly, like it was crawling, so we were able to evacuate in time. As soon as everyone was out and far enough away, it got bigger and stronger just as it reached the plant. Then it stayed there for a few minutes, grinding down everything like a giant drill.”
Elron had spent enough time in tornado alley states to know that this was not traditional tornado behavior. They never “waited” for people to evacuate, and many people would have had to clear the numerous buildings for there to be no injuries or casualties.
He took a deep breath. “What happened next?”
“The tornado lifted back into the clouds, and about five minutes later, the storm was gone.”
The High Wizard noted most of the employee cars in the parking lot had no damage and those that did only had broken windows. “You said it took its time coming here. What other places in the area were damaged?
“None.” Jack shrugged. “Heard that it didn’t fully touch the ground until right before it struck this place.”
Now, that was too peculiar.
“But it managed to destroy the whole plant after avoiding everything else?” he asked, incredulously.
“Well…” the manager hedged. “There was one other odd thing.”
“Show me.”
Jack guided him around the piles of debris to another side of the ravaged facilities, and High Wizard Elron nearly stumbled as the “odd thing” came into view. Half a dozen nearly finished electric cars were stacked vertically on their backends like dominoes. They showed no signs of damage, and even their windows were intact. Considering all the debris scattered around them, that didn’t seem possible.
This was no natural disaster, and his insurance company would not cover the damage should it prove magic-related. This was going to cost him a fortune. Only one race of people he knew was powerful enough to pull this off and had the motive to do it. There happened to be a community of them living not far away in Santa Cruz. He needed to get his team together and formulate a plan before he visited them.
