AMA, Snippet, and Hello from the Writer Cave (Patreon)

The last few weeks have been a lot. (Hahahaha--the last few years, right?) But between the funeral, Smalls getting sick, his school going virtual for a week, and then vanishing to my writing retreat, my cup overfloweth.

My plan for the writing retreat was to get edits for A Little Too Familiar, the adult comedic fantasy romance thingie I'm working on, done before I left so I could finish drafting Frontier (Young adult frontier era supernatural thriller/horror type thingie). That didn't happen. Hopefully I'll finish my edits today and still get a few days to work on Frontier.

I have never had edits take me that long, and I'm deep in the phase of "this book is probably awful and will also never be finished" which I hit several times for every book I work on. It's part of my process. 

My brain is a bit of a pudding right now because I've been editing all day for four days straight.  So I don't have the bandwidth to work on Big Trouble, Little Necromancer--beyond thinking about what the next chapter will be, which is also part of the process. 

I thought as a thank you for your patience (*insert the 80's hit You're the Best Around here*), I would give you a little snippet of ALTF as well as an AMA opportunity.

I want to be clear--you are ALWAYS welcome to ask me questions on here. But some of you seem to need to be invited, like polite vampires. So here is your invite! Drop me a question in the comments and I'll answer it. If you don't want your answer to be public (or your question) you can DM me on here I think. 

Until then, here is your snippet of ALTF, featuring Declan, a werewolf on the move, and Trick, an elementist (a magic user specializing in an element, in Trick's case, fire) and Declan's good friend. Hope you like it!

Happy Friday!

-Lish

ALTF Snippet:

For a second I wondered if I’d written down the address wrong. Then I saw the grotesque door knocker and the doormat that said “Go Away” and figured I had the right place after all. I dropped my bag on the mat and was about to knock when the door swung open revealing Trick and his big shit eating grin.

“You’re here! And you’re bearded now, which is exactly what I expect from anyone coming up from Portland, but I’m going to hug you anyway.”

I hugged Trick back, instantly enveloped in the smells of clove, coffee, and fire, scents that I enjoyed on their own, but also found comforting because I associated them with Trick. He was also one of the human guys I knew that could hug without doing that awkward back-pat thing. Wolves are very touchy. We hug and comfort with touch, and it’s weird to watch humans go out of their way to avoid it. Humans were also pack animals, they just liked to pretend like they weren’t.

“You smell the same,” I said, releasing my friend, my heart feeling lighter than it had in days. I straightened up, smiling. Trick was shorter and a much smaller build than me.

“Well, that’s not creepy at all.” Trick squinted at me. “What do I smell like?”

“Like morning Goth—coffee, clove and smoke.” In Trick’s case, the smoke smell was complex—woodsmoke, but also coal, solvents, and hot steel. “Did you just come from work?”

He held the door wider for me. “Yeah, I knocked off early today so I could be here to welcome you.” He cocked his head to the side. “What does evening Goth smell like?”

“Coffee, clove, and ennui.” I picked up my bag. “The ennui is there in the morning, but it takes all day for the smell to really set in.”

“You’re seeking revenge because of the beard comment, aren’t you?”

“No, I plan on doing that later. When you least expect it.” I wiped my feet on the mat and made my way in, leaving my bag in the entryway. “It’s not like you don’t have the same exact same hipsters here as we do in Portland, you just like to make fun of Portland. It wasn’t a big fashion choice, I just didn’t feel much like shaving lately.” I hadn’t felt like doing much at all, really.

“You know, I for one am embracing it?” Trick motioned for me to take off my shoes. “I’m not saying I go for the grizzled prospector look, but I’m all for some well-maintained beardage. It looks good on you.” Trick pursed his lips, his fact thougtful. “You know, I take it all back. There is probably someone out there who can really work the grizzled prospector look. I’m going to keep an open mind on it.”

I followed him as he led me into the living room. “You’re a man of hidden depths.”

Trick flipped me off without turning around. “I’m all about depth. And if you turn that into a ‘that’s what they said’ joke, I’ll…well, I’ll probably laugh, to be honest.”

I laughed, feeling lighter than I had in days. Being around Trick always made me feel better. He was just one of those people.

“Welcome to my evil lair.” Trick waved vaguely at the house around him.