I hate delays. There’s really no other way to say it. With few exceptions, an unwanted delay is almost always a frustrating experience. I’d love to get into the details of why everything has taken so long, but it wouldn’t make for a particularly interesting story so I’ll spare you the details.
However, I will mention that part of the reason for the delay has to do with me being something of an idiot and overly confident. That’s usually the start of a good story, right?
I hate to disappoint, but I’m simply a clumsy oaf. Granted, I was on inline skates for the first time in over a dozen years (perhaps the LA Kings’ Stanley Cup victory inspired me to throw some skates on and grab a hockey stick, but the truth is I’ve been thinking about it for years). I was doing well despite the obvious tragic ending. Let’s just say that I need to relearn some basic skills, including spin stops. Definitely those.
A hard lesson learned is that as you get older, your body doesn’t react the same way it does when you’re young. For those of you perhaps still in your teens or early twenties, you may feel invulnerable. The mere thought of injury, outside of something heinous, never crosses your mind, and surely something as simple as falling to the ground can’t be dangerous. Add a few years to that and things suddenly change.
Your body doesn’t heal as quickly, and just as importantly, is injured more easily. Damage you could take at twenty and bounce back from in a day or two become weeks when you add a dozen or more years. It’s amazing how it happens, but that’s life.
So, as I have intimated, I suffered a bit of an injury from trying to relive my glory days of playing roller hockey. Luckily it was only a sprain, but it’s been a rather serious one that, even after a couple months, I still haven’t fully recovered from. Considering I sprained a wrist, and also considering that typing is central to being a writer (I haven’t mastered dictation and don’t want to write in longhand only to have to type it out later), I’ve been limited in what I could do.
Have I also mentioned the kitten-found-in-a-ceiling-turned-terror that temporarily joined the family at somewhere around three days old only to become a permanent fixture now at five months? No? Man… I posted a picture on twitter at the end of March and my how she has grown. CC has been an experience. She’s currently in the “let’s jump on surfaces I’m not supposed to be on and play with anything I can find, especially if it involves knocking said things under furniture” phase. I’ve never had a feral cat before, and considering she’s been raised from birth (or close enough) by humans (bottle feeding was a kick), maybe she isn’t truly feral. Just the same, she’s a strange one. But fun. And super sweet… when she wants to be.
I could go on and on with the hows and whys that have either been actual delays or make for good excuses as delay, but I probably shouldn’t. Let’s get to the meat of this post.
If you haven’t guessed by now, the picture accompanying this post is the front cover of my next book, Reborn. I’m excited about this story and the rather strange, convoluted path it has taken to get to where it is now, almost ready for you to read… after a slight delay, of course.
While Omni is a contemporary fantasy and something I’m proud of, Reborn is a dark fantasy that’s closer to what I truly love about the fantasy genre. It’s a tale of good and evil, of right and wrong, magic and swordplay, and of a quest with unlikely heroes and despicable villains.
Blood begets blood.
The land of Kallandin has suffered for centuries under the shadow of the wizard Acasul’Ra: never truly defeated, never truly banished. Convinced that Acasul’Ra’s most recent defeat almost a century ago was final, Kallandin has relaxed its guard.
Justin Detrier was there when his brother defeated Acasul’Ra, but Justin also knows that Acasul’Ra was not truly killed because the wizard has a terrible secret to his survival. The kingdom’s complacency has put everyone in danger, and no one wants to listen to the warnings of a man cursed by an evil wizard.
The magic that has sustained Acasul’Ra for centuries binds him to Justin’s family, but years of pain, suffering, and death have decimated the Detrier bloodline. Now, only Justin and one other remains, and together they’re Kallandin’s only hope. However, for a kingdom steeped in tradition, the idea of a female warrior saving the kingdom is not just laughable, but blasphemous.
The time draws near for Acasul’Ra to rise once again from his grave and come to Kallandin, and this battle will be the last for one of them. Unlikely heroes must find a way to do what countless heroes over centuries could not: kill Acasul’Ra. Permanently.
When August 31st rolls around, Reborn will be available. I hope you’ll make the time to read it.
Stay tuned for more info, teases, and possibly pictures of a real life Ceiling Cat. Also, I may get the wiki officially started. What wiki? You’ll have to wait and see.
Oh, and in the meantime? I’ll be working on the sequel to Omni. I’d love to say it’s only a couple of months away, but you know how that goes.
