New Short Story!

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I have a new short story! YAY! YAY! YAY! Published as part of the Uncollected Anthology.

The blurb:

Tong Yi waits for something to happen—for his brother to return from the war zone, for his boss to trust him again, for his magical training to be expanded.

Something. Anything.

Then powerful wizard Uncle Bei takes him to The Sweet Shop—a magic shop more special and strange than Tong Yi has ever imagined.

Tong Yi finally returns to the war zone as well, delivering a message to a client he’d never expected.

But he must now make a decision about the war, about his place in it, about his magical training.

And everything, everything, has a price.

This “short” story (14,000+ words) is the sequel to Dancing with Tong Yi and War on all Fronts.

Available at Amazon, Kobo Books, Barnes and Nobel, and iBookstore.

This novella is ALSO part of the Uncollected Anthology series! Issue #6: Enchanted Emporiums.

Go check out the other fabulous writers and their stories!

New Short Story–War On All Fronts

War On All Fronts

YAYAYAYAYAY!! New fiction! This is actually a novella. Had really planned on it being a short story, but the story had its own ideas. AND it’s the sequel to Dancing with Tong Yi.

The blurb:

Tong Yi carries the mysterious message of Zhang Gua Loa back to his boss.

The immortal had said there would be war. But between whom? And why?

Huli Transport takes advantage of the situation to become the messenger service of choice in the war zone. They promise to remain neutral, and to deliver messages to all sides.

In the meantime, Tong Yi has battles of his own to fight, both with his older brother and his own growing understanding of magic.

But in the middle of a war, is it possible for him to remain neutral? Or has his side already been chosen for him?

Available at Amazon, Kobo Books, Barnes and Nobel, and iBookstore.

This novella is ALSO part of the Uncollected Anthology series! Issue #4: Portals and Passageways.

Go check out the other fabulous writers and their stories!

The year of the sequel

To date, 2015 appears to be the year of the sequel for me. This is a good thing. I’ve never been able to write sequels, or series. And yet, every bit of marketing advice out there says you must. I’m not sure I agree with that — I think it’s more important to write things that you love.

However, last fall, I asked the brilliant Kristine Kathryn Rusch about this. The advice she gave me was priceless: If I want to engage my butterfly brain, each book must be unique. You can’t just write the same story over and over again, or even really continue the story from one book to the next.

Since I started following that advice, I’ve been able to write more series characters. Each book is unique. I actually enjoy the challenge of that, while keeping the characters and their voices true.

So what exactly does that mean? Let me explain.

Warning – lots of pictures under the cut.