I’m dictating this while driving on Sunday out to the Faerie and Fantasy Faire, Horns and Hooves, in Sidney, BC. Absolutely marvellous so far. I had a great time Saturday, with a ton of really kid-oriented activities, which was awesome to see. Everyone was in costume, and everyone was having an absolute blast. There were large vendor displays and demonstrations, and it’s been great to see everything come together.

It’s a great step forward for having a ren faire in the Greater Victoria area, so I’m really looking forward to more events like this in the future.

In other events coming up, two weeks from now I’ll be at the Ladysmith BookFest (www.facebook.com/groups/makersandmarketsvi/posts/4416573418581385/) (April 11th 10am-3pm). If you’re following me from further up-island, that’s a nice place to touch base. I should be sharing a table with Richard Winder, who has science fiction space opera novels available, as well as his mushroom cookbook—which is quite unique and really fun. If you don’t know him, I’ve mentioned him before in the newsletter because of the scope of what he writes. He’s also a friend, and I love hanging out with him.

In other news, I seem to have found my mojo again, which is lovely, because I feel like I misplaced it two months ago. However, at this point, I’m delighted to say I’ve got writing back under my belt. After some time away, I’m promising myself to produce more consistently, while also getting a little more sleep, because that doesn't help my situation!

In other news, I'm working on a new project I can’t give you details about just yet, because it’s only at phase two of three at the moment. But a handful of Sooke Writers’ Collective members have been getting together, sharing ideas, and working on a new anthology. This is completely separate from the regular anthology, which should be launching at the end of May (and includes a short story from me! "The Fragility of Magic")

If you don't know about the annual anthology, it's a huge array of genres and styles, all polished and put together as a snapshot of British Columbia, and is released every year.
The big change for this new project is that we decided to create a shared world. Think along the lines of Thieves’ World, edited by Robert Asprin. If you’re not familiar with it, I’m rereading it right now, and it’s a lot of fun! Very short stories, all existing in the same overlapping environment: the city of Sanctuary, which has a rich history as it acts as a boiling point of cultures, people, and problems.

We’ve taken that idea and created our own world collaboratively with about twelve other authors. We’ve now finished “phase one,” and I feel confident enough to say we’ve got sufficient material and skill to move on to phase two, where the stories will overlap even more as we get to know each other’s characters and conflicts.

To say it’s been a lark would be an understatement. I’ve been getting to know new characters, including building some of my own. So far, the world we’re writing in varied enough that it’s been a real treat to stretch creatively through collaboration.

We’re aiming for publication in 2026. That timeline may shift, but at the moment, I’m genuinely excited about the project, and I need to get on my part as soon as I get home.

That's all for now! Check out the limited-time free offers below to find a new book or author! 

Honestly, I'm a bit stuck! 

The newsletter is fine: I've got a new author to share, some writing news, pictures of a kitten to share, events coming up, and deals at the bottom. But I'm not advancing too much on my current Work In Progress, Under the Jungle Canopy, so that's annoying. 

Usually, this means I'm missing a key component of the story. For To Walk into the Sands it was their clothing (go figure!). For Beyond the Southern Dunes, it was sorting out Philyre's arc. But for this one, I'm not sure what's not clicking yet. I know the plot. I know the people. I know the climate and the politics and the food... 

Maybe that's the issue. I am a discovery writer. Maybe I know too much. Planning has hurt my production!

On to more pleasant things: Events! Coming up in March is the Fairie and Fantasy Faire March 28 and 29th (two days this time!) Tickets are HERE. For fun, I'm doing a talk about Creative Fiction writing and the obstacles you might face. It's 11:30 on the Saturday so come out!

I have also just been confirmed in Ladysmith for the Ladysmith Spring BookFest April 11th from 10am to 3pm. It's free to attend as a reader and is filled with local authors! Details are HERE

I'm also at Island FanCon later in June but I'll save that for later. 

Here are the month's promotions though, and don't forget that 4 Horsemen Publications also have a deal on Murder for March. Share with a friend and buy direct for the best savings!!

Yep! Corelands is out! Now you can get BOTH books (there are only 2) of the Falling City. Bonus, it wraps up some of the Weapons of Espar series too! Did you miss your copy? Find it Here: books2read.com/Corelands

Meantime, in other news... ever wonder what it's like to be a writer? I did an interview with Michael Pearkes and he asks great questions! Check it out HERE. Or check out his page for more interviews to get insights into many other authors' processes too! The important thing is to realize that we write differently!

Also, a quick reminder (especially if you're shopping local to me...) that many of the books are now available at Terrier Books. They have an online presence as well, so if you want to support local in Sooke, BC, AND get a SIGNED copy, check them out terrierbooks.com. They ship... just saying!
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I'm also fully confirmed for the Fairy and Fantasy Faire March 28-29th as a speaker AND vendor. It's a great opportunity to catch up and snap up the latest releases. The duology Lione and Corelands are available there too!
Don't forget to follow online for more updates!

​And for fun... here are random things I did not expect to be writing during a rough idea fest for Book 3 of Sands of Nanterac..

Deals below but first...

It's winter market season! I'll be at the Sooke Community Centre Nov 29th and 30th with allll the new books. Want to reserve your copy? Drop me a line on the contact form found HERE!! 
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Did you miss Lione? It's out and the universal link is HERE

Book 2 is still on pre-order, so if you want to reserve your copy of Corelands before it launches Nov 25th, get it HERE 

Enough of the links! In other news, I'm sorry to say that 4 horsemen publications will no longer be doing audiobooks. Unfortunately, the way the subscription system works for things like Audible, there is a huge expense and no return on it for even very successful authors. And for a publisher trying to bring out as many great books as they can, it's not paying off. I'm sad as we'll lose some readers, but I'm looking into options. 

As a promo thing, the authors have done a bunch of recordings of chapter 1's (read by the authors) so look for Rydan and Lione to be featured on the 4 horsemen publications social media coming up. Having done them, I appreciate how much work goes into them! Don't know if I'll read my own any time soon fully. What do you think? Do you love author-read books or do you prefer professional narrators? Does the narrator make or break the audiobook for you? It does for me!

You'll find free books (find a new author to love!) at the bottom, plus a bit about the series and some recommended listening! Have a great November!

This post is mostly about covers. It may not seem that way at first, because I’m going to start talking about AI first...​

Before all that, quick notice that I have a BOOK LAUNCH coming up on October 4th, 2025, at the Vancouver Island Regional Library in Sooke from 1-2:30 pm. Come see me and share with a friend!!

Now, to business! It would be hard NOT to know about Artificial Intelligence in this day and age in Canada. Among writers, it has certainly spurred a lot of debate, although I can safely say that I’m on the side that writers should do writing. It may have its uses for information and research purposes, but I’m not convinced that its consequences actually outweigh even those benefits, so I don’t tend to use it. I am the person who is probably putting the "-AI" in my search so I can look at the proper sources, but that’s the science of me coming through. I don't really trust the AI summaries at this point anyway!

That said, I have used AI, at least a very rudimentary form of it: I use Grammarly fairly commonly. I use the basic version right now, although I learned a bit from the pro version. I have since dropped the pro version because, honestly, it isn't as smart as it was made out to be. I use the basic program to help me with my grammar and punctuation, ensuring that I catch mistakes that might otherwise slip through the cracks.

What I don’t do is use generative AI for my writing at all, which is when AI generates the words for you. In fact, I found the generative AI overall to be pretty useless, and in some cases, even worse than that. Wrong! I admit; I did try it for social media posts briefly. I decided it wasn't worth it.

People who have been following for long enough might remember a post I did around 2021 about "Words a knowledgeable reader might not know." Grammarly flags words that it thinks a knowledgeable audience would not know and suggests alternatives. This was completely fraught with issues because, as anyone with experience in theEnglish language knows, most synonyms are not actually full synonyms. Words are loaded with nuance,  so even if you choose a word that seems on the surface to be the same, you can alter the meaning of the sentence notably! "Red" is not quite the same as "crimson". Yes, crimson is red, but it’s not the same. So the suggestions it gave (and still does!) are often wrong!  The other reason I never took Grammarly up on those recommendations (unless I was wrong with my choice of word) was because I didn’t think that we should cater to what a "Knowledgable audience" knew or didn’tknow. I feel that we should cater to what they should or might want to know. In other words, I think people should grow by reading and not accept their current limitations.

Even ignoring all those recommendations from Grammarly (which I do), it's only about one in four corrections that I actually accept. To be fair, I write fantasy, so there are lots of terms, names, etc. that are correct the way I have written them, but Grammarly just can’t get its head around them.  So it's increasingly losing its usefulness for me. 

It's worth noting at this point that people edited all my books. Two I did myself. Professional editors have done the rest. 
Back to the point of this post: Book covers.

The covers for my next three books are not typical. I’m still enjoying the art and how this uniqueness makes them stand out, but I’m not entirely sure how they’ll fare in the mass market. And that is because they are different, very different. While it's not been said to me, I think what the publisher is trying to do is ensure it's very, very clear that this is not AI art.

I have seen the sketches and provided feedback throughout the process, so I can promise you it's not AI. Am I perfectly happy with them?  Not necessarily. But I accepted long ago that the publisher is allowed to make certain calls, including things like cover choices. I’m curious now about how they will perform and how they compare to a market that has been inundated with, to be fair, exceptionally well put together AI-generated covers.

The inside content hasn’t changed—it is the same "Me" on the page—but my covers here vary markedly from what I have ever seen before, coming out published.  I don’t think they detract from the story. I think they look a little more classic, but they are different, and I’m not sure how that will affect people's interest in the book.

What do you think?  Let me know below or send me a message from the contact page!

As always, a few freebies are coming up, and I’m going to include the links below. Get them quickly, though, because they end at the end of the month.

And if you are interested in any of these upcoming books, despite or because of their covers, take a look at the website launch pages or follow me online. To walk to the sands releases on September 25, Lione on October 25, and Corelands on November 25. Otherwise, see me out at the Christmas market, which I understand is November 29 and 30th this year!

This one is for pre-order sales!

And lastly, Review copies! Free books in exchange for a review. No sign up required!

​Well, it’s a surprise. But it’s like a big old surprise birthday party! It’s a good surprise! 
 
A bit of background first. I was told in early 2025 that readers these days like series released close together. So, although we were planning to release To Walk into the Sands next (Book 1 in a new desert-based fantasy, the Sands of Nanterac), 4HorsemenPublishing wanted a different series to go first so they could do get the whole lot out quickly because Book 2 of Sands of Nanterac wasn’t finished. They asked what else I had. I showed them Lione and Corelands. 
 
But then I got word that To Walk into the Sands was coming out September 25th, 2025! Great! I’m super excited about this new series, as it was what caught the attention of the publisher in the first place. It’s an adult otherworld fantasy with a mature near-retirement character and strong female leads that is very dear to me! 
 
At that point, I was told Lione and Corelands (which the editor had) were slated for February and March 2026, which made sense to me. I can only promote one thing at a time. 
 
But last week I got Lione’s release date. October 25th, 2025. Which is neither February, nor 2026. 
 
So since it’s now imminent, let’s talk about the Falling City for a second. This is such an old story for me, I don’t know where to start! 
 
The first thing to realize is that the order in which I published my books is not the order in which I wrote them. In fact, the first book released (Dragon’s Voice) was the LATEST book I had written at the time of its release. I followed it with Dragon’s Talon and SoulBurner, which were actually some of the oldest books. 
 
(Fun fact; the more recent the writing of the book, the less editing it required and the sooner I have been able to release them! Makes sense when you think about all I learned on my earlier works!)
 
Now the first book I finished is the Story that refuses to be written (not its real name). After that, came Dragon’s Voice. Then I was writing SoulBurner and, believe it or not, I got stuck. It wasn’t the story it is now (neither was Dragon’s Voice!) but I was writing and learning, and the characters were engaging and the story was fun! But I got stuck, even though I knew where the story needed to go. 
 
That is when my muse hit me with a (sigh… I know….) dream about a set of twins. They seemed much like my sister and I (we aren’t twins but are close). One is physically strong and tough, the other emotional and intuitive. But they were tied together by a single soul, and they were meant to change the world. 
 
I sketched them. And so I met Lania and Akara. 
 
Trouble was, it came together as a single novel at first, and whoo boy was it a doozy! I had to figure out how to split it, but for years, it just wouldn’t work. I had four uneven Acts in it, a large cast, and an immense world! I loved it for the flawed characters! It had so much more depth than anything I had written at that time. 
 
It also taught me a few important lessons that went on to influence my later writing. One was to try to write from another character’s POV. I’d gotten stuck on SoulBurner, but when I came to the part where Cairon and Gensiana meet Lania in the new book, it flowed. I learned so much more about the dynamic between the other characters, I was able to go back and finish SoulBurner! 
 
However, it was a good number of years later when I finally figured out how to adjust the enormous book that was then just called Lione. I was working through a new edit with the feedback sessions of the Sooke Writers’ Collective when it hit me. Cancel one Sovereign, fuse the character to another, and so simplify the flow between acts 2 and 3… and boom: Lione and Corelands (Book 1 and 2 of the Falling City) were finally done.
 
How long did it take? From 2001 to 2025. 
 
I write faster now. Dragon’s Voice only took 16 months from conception to completion (including professional edit) and then publication. But there is far less to fix. Lione and Corelands were the books that showed me what I wanted to do as a writer. They gave me the ‘voice’ of author-self. For that, they will always hold a special place in my heart.

​Freebies...