"Swans of Westermere" Available--for FREE!

I don't know why I like Halloween best. I guess it has something to do with the fantasy involved in the costumes and the fun found in the dark lore surrounding this time of the year.

Some people go all out for Christmas, but I seem to put out extra effort for Halloween. So in addition to posting "The Witch of Mistletoe Lane" here at Wordweaver, I also rushed around to prepare a ghost story for publication.

Swans of Westermere is available at Amazon this weekend for free download. It will also be free on October 30 and 31. It's a short, spine-tingly sort of read, perfect for getting into the spirit of the season without the gore-fest or terror of pure horror. I don't write horror, but I do love the mystery in a good ghost story, so it's the latter I try to capture in Swans. I give a little more information about the story itself in this post.

The print version will become available as soon as I can approve my final proof. And of course, I prefer the print version. It's so much more attractive than the generic-looking digital version.

Anyway, if you're looking for a quick read for Halloween, consider giving Swans a shot.

image credits:

background: Kreatiques-x
tintype texture: AllThingsPrecious
swan: Drezdany
voodoo symbols: RavenGraphics
magic symbols: nomuh

Swans of Westermere, a novella

You know, it's funny. But I got to comparing this novella with Mists of Blackfen Bog. Near the same length, they are both ghost stories. The structure of the titles is similar. The biggest differences, I guess, are that Mists takes place in the world of Tanerra, while Swans takes place in our world; Mists focuses on a priestess who has lost her faith, and Swans is told from the PoV of a twelve-year-old girl.  What is it with me and ghosts and novellas? I don't even believe in ghosts, but I love writing ghost stories. They're pure fun, albeit dark fun.

So what are we looking at in this promo image? A swan, a cloudy sky reflected in a still lake, scarred shadowy edges, strange symbols, and angry crows. All but the crows show up in Swans of Westermere, though I suppose I could add some crows.

The scarred edges and antique look of the image are meant to convey the look of a tintype. Tintypes are key to the mystery surrounding the century-old curse that Jocelyn Tanner uncovers as she roams her ancestral home. It was way back in college that I studied the birth of photography, so I must've dragged this element from the dregs of my brain.

But, come to think of it, my brain was more supple eight years ago. Yep, I wrote Swans eight years ago, but it's one story I haven't been able to forget. It has all the cliched elements of a thousand other ghost stories, but there's just something I love about this tale. How can I not adore the idea of the devil being locked in a box on Grandma's mantelpiece? I mean, really. It's just too much fun.

Look for Swans of Westermere

HALLOWEEN, 2014

image credits:

background: Kreatiques-x
tintype texture: AllThingsPrecious
swan: Drezdany
voodoo symbols: RavenGraphics
magic symbols: nomuh

Burnout Blues ... A New Release!

What do you get when you write non-stop for 14 years? A little case of burnout. Yep, after fighting it for about a year now, I'm having to admit it to myself. I have burnout. It got to the point where sitting down to put two words together was comparable to climbing K2. I just wanted to sob every time I thought about writing.

So, I have taken off for two weeks, and I'm one week in and I already feel better. I tried to spend this time "writing something new," but even that proved a frustration. My husband finally said, "Stop! Don't write anything for two weeks." It's the first time I've ever felt a release from guilt during those days when the words won't come. I can breathe.

In addition to not writing, I'm having to make some other changes. Painful changes. Not only am I having to admit to burnout, I'm having to admit that I'm an addict. When burnout started taking over, gaming started compensating as an escape, until the point where it became a full-blown addiction. So during these two weeks, I've pretty much hospitalized myself in my house, and I warned my husband, "Prepare for withdrawal. It won't be pretty." It wasn't. The first two days I was a wreck. Yet I prayed fiercely through those times when I felt restless, agitated, when all I wanted to do was log in. "No," I told myself, "you desire words. You have a passion for words." I have been reading and reading and reading, even when the idea of consuming more words feels like eating another bite I can't stomach.

Strangely--and very quickly--the creative urge resurfaced. I dragged out an old story that's been haunting me lately (pun intended), one my husband keeps mentioning, even though he read it six or eight years ago. Rereading it, I decided it would be fun to have it in print, so I've been editing it and building a book cover for it. I hope to publish it sometime around Halloween--which is only fitting for a ghost story.

Here's a little promo image for it:

image credits:

background: Kreatiques-x
tintype texture: AllThingsPrecious
swan: Drezdany
voodoo symbols: RavenGraphics
magic symbols: nomuh