While I work on finishing the first draft of Hunter, Legend of the Silver Hunter book three, other evil and nefarious plot bunnies are bouncing around in my brain. One of those is the short story, The Curse: Origin of the Vampires, which will detail the back story of where vampires in the world of the Silver Hunter come from, the on and off battles with shifters, the origin of vampire and shifter hunters, and the basis for the hierarchy among the vampire courts. I do want to give you a little bit of a sneak peek into the main vampire court of the up coming novels Lord Hunter and Lord Slayer. This is the court of the Lord of all Vampires, Cain, father of all vampires, and his successor Richard St. Martin, former hunter of both shifters and vampires.

Cain’s vampire court started off very tightly controlled under the first vampire. He ruled with an iron fist and powerful Ebony magic. His three children ruled with him when he chose to exercise power over mortals by founding the great city-state of El-Abel in the delta of the Phrat and Hidékel Rivers (Euphrates and Tigres Rivers). Eventually he left rule of the mortals to his children and allowed each of them to create three children of their own. From these nine grandchildren of Cain come the basis of the rule for each of the vampire courts. Cain’s three children were destroyed in a mage war that sparked a civilization destroying flood. After Cain found all of his grandchildren, he gave them each permission to create two children of their own but to spread themselves across the world. He also ordered them not to openly exercise their rule over mortals in their chosen territories. The nine each claimed a territory far from their original homeland and founded a clan. Every one hundred years they would gather to meet with each other and occasionally their grandfather Cain. Gradually as the members of the nine grew more ancient they took to sleeping away the centuries leaving their affairs in the hands of their children. As time passed, the fourth generation of vampires began to chafe under the rules of their sires and the now mythical Cain. They began to create children and armies of their own. They ruled as princes in the names of their creators, some openly among mortals and others in secret.

After the development of mortal vampire hunters the great courts dissolved and smaller courts became the norm. A Grand Duke, as the leaders of the courts became known as, might rule a single city, a county, a state or province, rarely will a single vampire control an entire country.

The court of Richard St. Martin is very different, a loose structure where Grand Dukes come to play out games of political power under the watchful eyes of those who directly serve the Lord of all Vampires. Very little escapes the watchful eyes of Database of the Barghest clan, spymaster of the court and those who seek to undermine the power of Richard’s court find themselves opposed by his vizier, Armand of the Bel-Kino clan. Of course even the most powerful of Grand Dukes must make their way past the most influential of Richard’s advisors, Adam FitzCaine the owner of Dante’s Inferno, the neutral ground nightclub where all may meet.

Watch for The Curse: Origin of the Vampires coming in 2016.

Abel: (Multi-color Mage) According to biblical legend the second-born son of Adam and Eve, murdered by his brother Cain. In Vampire legend Abel is one of the two mages who cast the curse, which transformed Cain into the original vampire. A multi-colored mage noted as being strongest in Silver magic. Abel’s death was revenge for his murder of Cain.

Adam: (Multi-color Mage) According to biblical legend the first man. In reality this occasional Gold magic wielder, was the first disciple of the minor Sumerian deity, Yahweh. He is the father of Cain, Abel, Seth, and their three sisters.

Aluka: (Hebrew – Leech) Slang term used by ancient vampires for the hangers-on at a vampire court.

Astryiah: An Ancient Jewish female vampire. There is conflicting information as to whether she is of the third or fourth generation from Cain. Fragmentary evidence discovered in the Dead Sea Scrolls places her in the third generation as a daughter of Nina-Ishtar.

Barghest: (Vampire Clan) A twisted and deformed vampire clan. Legends and rumors say that they were once a clan of beautiful vampires until their third generation sire offended Cain. According to legend, Cain cursed the bloodline to be as twisted and deformed on the outside as they are on the inside. Members of this clan are chosen from amongst the most beautiful, vain, and arrogant mortals. Surprisingly the few mortals who were twisted and deformed of body but good of soul suffer a reverse of the curse and become beautiful. They have an extensive information network and are legendary in their abilities to keep and collect secrets.

Beauty, House of: (Mortal Hunters) the descendants of Belle better know as Beauty from the story Beauty and the Beast. The House of Beauty are renowned shifter hunters. This family is dominated by the women of the family lead by the Huntress of the House. In the 15th century, a son of the line became the Hunter of the House but died in battle after only a few years as Hunter. In the 21st century, Kieran Samuel Belle-Cooper became the Hunter of the House of Beauty and began a new era in the family history.

Bellabarisruk: (3rd Generation Vampire) a former Chaldean nobleman and Chief of the Magi, who usurped the Babylonian throne. His usurpation brought him to the attention of Sharru-Kino the second-generation vampire king of El-Abel. Bellabarisruk was given the Gift of Cain and transformed into the first vampire of the third generation. He founded the princely Bel-Kino Clan.

Bel-Kino, Clan: (Vampire Clan) Founded by Bellabarisruk sometime after the great flood. This clan of vampires chooses only those who have proven political leadership skills. They rule over the various clans of vampires in a given city, county, province, or country depending on their age, skills, and power. Regardless of how much territory they control the leader is given the title Grand Duke or Grand Duchess and is addressed as Your Grace.

Cain: (Multi-colored Mage, First Vampire) According to biblical legend the first-born son of Adam and Eve, murderer of his brother Abel. In vampire legend and lore Cain is the first vampire. Cain was a multi-colored mage strongest on Emerald magic and a gifted healer. In trying to stop a mage duel between his younger brothers, Cain was caught between two terrible killing spells of opposing magic. Cain’s Emerald magic tried to heal him but because of the conflicting Silver and Ebony magic tearing him apart and binding him together, his own magic killed him and then brought him back in a half living state. Only the energy of the living (strongest in blood) sustains this half-life.

Cain, Cult of: An early medieval sect of heretical monks who worship Cain as the first savior of mankind. They serve as mortal eyes and ears within the most sacred of Mother Church’s sites. Members of the Cult of Cain wear a cross with a secret compartment in which is hidden a vial with a single drop of blood in it. The blood according to the sect’s traditions is the mingled blood of Cain and his brother Abel, drawn from Cain after he fed from his brother. Those who serve in the Cult of Cain wear the habits of many different monastic orders Cistercian, Dominican, Franciscan, Hospitaller, Jesuit, and some say the Templars. When the members of the cult gather for conclaves they wear, blood-red robe tied with a black, silver, and emerald rope belt, go bare-foot, and wear a cross of red stone usually garnet for the lower rank and file members and ruby for the leadership of the order.

Curse, The: The ancient magic, which transformed Cain from human to vampire. The Curse is a tragic combination of Silver, Ebony, and Emerald magic, which can only be undone by a multi-colored mage strongest in Gold magic. The Curse is tied to Cain directly and can be “gifted” to others by bringing them close to the point of death and then letting them drink the blood of one carrying the curse. Legend has it that if one were to kill Cain, they would inherit The Curse sevenfold.

Dante’s Inferno: A nightclub in the city of Boston opened in 2318 by Adam FitzCaine as neutral territory where inter-clan or inter-species business dealings can be negotiated. The nightclub takes up the top ten floors of the old Prudential building. Guest enter the first circle on the very top floor and work their way down by upgrading their membership or earning an invitation to the next level. The inferno is a sex club that caters to all tastes depending on membership and level access. The ninth circle is reserved for Grand Dukes, Pack Alphas, and mortal leaders. The tenth floor is Mr. FitzCaine’s private domain.

Dyta, Celina: (4th Generation Vampire, Barghest Clan) this ancient vampire is one of the most dangerous and powerful of her generation. A warrior queen of a proto-polish tribe, she the gift forced on her by Parthalán the 3rd generation founder of the clan. Her physical beauty was destroyed as the darkness within her soul was unleashed by the curse on Parthalán’s bloodline took full effect. The once mighty warrior queen became a twisted and horrifying hag. She began a true reign of terror earning the appellation The Crone of the North. Some believe she is the fact behind the stories of Baba Yaga and other ancient evil crones. Sometime in the late medieval period, Celina Dyta slipped into dormancy and her reign of terror ended. Rumors about her return sprang up in the mid-twentieth century when the Soviet block collapsed. It wasn’t until the late twenty-first century when the second Russian Empire rose to power in Eastern Europe that her return was confirmed. The new Czar of All the Russias, ordered her hunted down and destroyed. Her destruction is unconfirmed even though both Einar Frost and Richard St. Martin were rumored to be hunting her.

El-Abel: According to vampire legends the City of Cain located south of Ur along the coast of the Persian Gulf. Cain alone ruled the city for many mortal generations until he became lonely and granted his gift onto five of his ministers. While Cain was away visiting a vassal king, two of the five chosen tried to seize the rule of El-Abel for themselves. Cain returned and reclaimed his rule, destroyed his rebellious children and then passed the rule of El-Abel on to his three remaining children.

FitzCaine, Adam: (Suspected 3rd Generation Vampire) the owner of the infamous nightclub Dante’s Inferno in the city of Boston. Adam FitzCaine is known to be a vampire of incredible power but his generation is unknown. He does not seem to be affiliated with any of the clans and his nightclub is considered neutral territory. Vampires of almost all clans are welcome as long as they play by the rules and can afford the membership fees.

Frost, Einar: (Mortal Hunter, created by Phetra H. Novak) Einar Frost is a hunter, just like his father and his grandfather had been before him, it is in his blood. Born and raised in Sweden, Einar grew up in in the frozen wilderness hunting shifters from the time he was old enough to walk and carry a gun. The walking corpses, vampires are rare but both his father and grandfather learned the methods of sending these monsters to their final death and passed this knowledge on to Einar. Nothing else matters to Frost but the hunt. In the Scandinavian region the Frosts rivals the fame of the ancient House of Beauty in kills of shifters. The many changes over the last decades of the 21st Century have brought Frost many opportunities to expand his hunting territory, which has brought him to the attention of the ancient 5th Generation Bel-Kino Grand Duke of St. Petersburg. Frost resents the intrusion of the famous hunter Richard St. Martin into what he sees as his territory, even though the man was invited by the Czar of Russia to help remove the ancient Barghest vampire, Celina Dyta, known as The Crone of the North. Frost is human and proud of it. He has a legacy to live up to and he has no plans of fucking that up.

Gift of Cain, The: Term used by vampires to describe the transformation from mortal life to the undead life of a vampire.

Grand Duke/Duchess: Vampire ruler of a given territory be it a city, county, state, or nation. These rulers are mostly of the Bel-Kino clan, but some are from other clans. The Grand Duchess of Hollywood is a member of the Lorelei Clan.

Hubert of Liege, Saint: (Mortal Catholic Priest and Hunter) this 8th century bishop was canonized as the Patron Saint of Hunters because of his ability to detect vampires and shifters. His profound holiness kept vampires at bay and could force a shifter back into human form even in the height of their frenzy. His relics are said to cure rabies and the diseases brought by the bite of wild animals. His feast day is November 3rd.

Immertun: (3rd Generation Vampire) A gentle scholar-priest of the sect of the Babylonian goddess Ishtar, Immertun’s teaching and kind nature attracted the attention of Nina-Ishtar, the second-generation vampire vizier and consort to Shanu-Kino of El-Abel. He is thought to be the either the second or third vampire of the third generation. He is the first vampire known to have discovered a method of controlling the beastly nature of vampirism. He founded the scholarly clan Kalumtum few of whom survive today.

Izcacus: (3rd Generation Vampire originally 4th Generation) was born in Hungary shortly after the Magyar invasions of the late 9th century to a Frankish mother and a Magyar warrior. He grew up to become a fierce warrior and a mighty pagan priest. His prowess as both warrior and priest drew the attention of Bellabarisruk who gave him the Gift of Cain in the early 10th century. Izcacus chaffed under the yoke of Bellabarisruk’s rule and sought his freedom. Using his magic and the magic of his fellow shamans, Izcacus broke the controlling bond created by the drinking of his sire’s blood. Seeking a way to make himself his sire’s equal, Izcacus discovered the resting place of the third generation scholar vampire Immertun and traveled there. He drank Immertun dry, destroying the ancient vampire and taking his place and power among the third generation. Returning to his native Hungary, Izcacus gave the Gift of Cain to many of his fellow priests founding the clan that preserves the ancient shamanistic traditions and carries his name.

Izcacus: (Vampire Clan) This clan is ruled by a council of warrior-shamans of the fourth generation who choose the strongest warriors or the holiest of shaman as candidates for membership in the clan. Shamantic traditional magic is highly prized and preserved by this clan. This clan fiercely opposes the scholarly traditions of the Kalumtum clan whose founder their own clan founder destroyed to gain his power and position. They will go out of their way to destroy a member of the Kalumtum clan regardless of the sanctions, which will fall on them if the Grand Duke of the territory learns of what they’ve done. Members of the Izcacus clan take on the role of a guardian spirit to a shaman and guide him and his tribe. When a shaman comes close to the end of his days, his guardian spirit will offer him the Gift of Cain so that he might join the ancestors and take over guiding the tribe.

Kalumtum: (Vampire Clan) this clan founded by Immertun as a council of scholar-priest to act as advisors to the Grand Dukes and Grand Duchesses of the vampire world has all but disappeared following the destruction of their founder. Most of the survivors have hidden themselves in the ranks of the Bel-Kino clan. There are no known elders above the sixth generation of this clan.

Lamasthu: (3rd Generation Vampire) from ancient Babylon where she was worshipped as a demon-goddess. Her name means Daughter of Heaven. Adulteress women found to be pregnant with a child not their husbands were brought to her temple and the bastard child was sacrificed to her, often by cutting it from the womb. Lamasthu’s six fourth generation handmaidens are women whose children were sacrificed to her. The demon-goddess was chosen by the second-generation vampire general, Bel-Sharra to be his consort. Her all female clan bares her name.

Lamasthu, Clan: Since ancient Babylon this clan has been all female, beginning their founder and her six handmaidens. Each new member is a woman, whose child was considered illegitimate under patriarchal laws and force aborted or sacrificed after birth. Many of the members “died” of blood loss due to the procedure or during childbirth. Members of this clan can be found posing as midwives, nurses, doctors, paramedics, nannies, or other positions that will bring them into contact with their chosen prey or a possible convert.

Lorelei: (4th Generation Vampire, Clan Lamasthu origin) was an eighth century Germanic tribal chieftain’s daughter with a golden voice. She was known as the Siren of the Rhine because her beauty and her voice lured suitors to her father’s territory from as far way as Rome. Sadly, for Lorelei, one of her suitors refused to be rejected and raped her on the shore of the Rhine. Distressed and disgraced, Lorelei sought to drown herself in the river but was rescued by the third generation vampire Lamasthu and given the Gift of Cain. Now a vampire, Lorelei sought revenge against the man who had destroyed her mortal life. The dark magic of the change made her golden voice a deadly weapon. She sang by the shore as her rapist’s ship sailed past and her voice drew the attention of the crew away from their duties at a critical moment and the ship struck the rocks and sank. Her gift allowed her to break the bond between her and Lamasthu and the two female vampires parted ways. Lorelei traveled and eventually found a young musician whose music blended well with her voice and offered him the Gift of Cain. Together they founded a clan of vampire artists of all types. Those who saw beauty in the world should be preserved. The clan they founded took Lorelei’s name as their own.

Lorelei: (Vampire Clan) Members of this clan are gifted in the arts. They are singers, actors, musicians, painters, sculptors, or anyone of the many arts. While many are physically beautiful, not all are. The prime requirement for members of this clan is the ability to see and produce beauty in the arts. Some of those recruited into the clan have turned out to be frauds in the arts, mere posers who make up some of the most vile art critics in the business.

Hello Tracker Friends and Fans,

Today Facebook posted a memory from a year ago when I was getting ready to publish the very first version of Tracker on Smashwords. It’s hard to believe how much I’ve developed as a writer since I first released this original version of Tracker. Everything about this version of Tracker was a disaster, from the randomly grabbed pre-made base cover art to doing my own editing (There was a reason I wasn’t an English major), to not having beta-readers. All of these things were sharply pointed out to me in the very first review I received. The saving grace of the review was that the reviewer muddled through and enjoyed my twist on Beauty and the Beast, my world building and magical elements. I got 3.5 out of 5 stars and what I choose to take as constructive criticism. I was adopted by a seasoned author, Elizabeth Llewellyn​ (The Suicide Ride​ series) and her fan base The Riders. Who all helped me improve my knowledge of what was needed in the publishing world. I hired my first editor and had Tracker professionally edited or so I thought, and republished my debut novel with a new cover designed by a close friend. Still the next couple of reviews came in with great story but it needs an editor. By that time I was well into writing book two of the series, Witch, so I just let things be until I’d finished the draft for Witch. I took a look at what people were saying about the revised version of Tracker and realized I’d gotten a raw deal on the editing that had cost me a lot of money. So I researched how to find an editor and what to ask of them, something I should have done for Tracker rather than just going with the first one to reply to my e-mail request for cost of editing the manuscript. On my second foray into the game of find an editor I found three who had good references from seasoned authors. I emailed each one and asked about rates and turn around times and if they would do a free sample of a chapter so that I could see if their editing style worked with my writing style. Only one of the three responded with a yes to doing the free sample edit. (If an editor won’t do this for you cross them off of your list at once.) So I sent my sample chapter of Witch to this nice young lady and waited to see what I would get back. The first thing she sent back was a question did I want just a proofread for grammatical and punctuation errors as I’d requested or would I like a content edit with suggestions  on flow and character development or would I like both. Wow, this was a surprise, an editor who was willing to more that what I’d actually requested. I asked her to do the combined content and proofreading edits. A week later, I had my sample edit back along with notes about when I was ready she could do my edits either as a content edit, a proofreading edit, or a combo edit and fought idea of how her pricing for each variation worked depending on my final word count. I also signed up a couple of beta-readers for Witch who were familiar with the story because they’d read Tracker and loved the story. So Witch went off to content editing and beta-reading at the same time. When I got both beta-readers comments and the content edit back I worked hard taking in both comments from people familiar with the story and the questions raised by my editor who came into book two with no knowledge of what had come before.

You’ve seen my posts on some of my struggles to get Witch written in the first place. If not you can find them here on this blog. My editor’s questions were at times frustrating because she didn’t know the story and at other times so dead on I had to ask myself why didn’t I think of that. The big thing was that all of her questions and comments were constructive and suggestions I could use or not depending on how I felt about them. I used a lot of her suggestions and I read every one of her comments several times to see if I really agreed with them or not.

Finally, I sent Witch back to her for the dreaded fix my grammar and punctuation proofread. I’m a comma fiend. I grew up under the old rule of “If you paused for breath while reading it out loud it needs a comma where you paused.” I’m also terrible at keeping my verb tenses the same. So after she returned the proofed copy back to me so I could correct all the places where Mr. Art Major ruined the English language, I made all those changes and sent Witch back to a beta-reader.

The response I got from my beta-reader was I’d hit perfection and that I needed to send Tracker to this same editor and let her fix the mess the first editor had made out of it. So I went back and re-read Tracker and yes it was cringe worthy. I paid to have this done to my book? So I re-wrote some of the scenes because I’d realized how much I’d crammed into a short space of time story-wise. packed it up and sent it to my wonderful new editor and said please fix. Edit me for content, match all the formats we established in Witch for capitalizations and grammar. Hammer my old school New England usage of British spellings back in to American spellings. Give Tracker the works. And she did. Again we did two rounds, one content and one proofreading. My friend redesigned the cover once again to a newer darker version, and did the same for Witch’s cover before its release. I put the new files on Amazon, played the here’s a ton of changes I’ve made to my book game please update my readers’ copies or at least let them know an update is available. Tracker is now the story I wanted to tell when I first released the original version back on November 21, 2014.

So my advice to any writer out there wondering if all the things seasoned writers tell you is worth doing, take it from someone who graduated from the school of hard-knocks, YES IT IS WORTH IT!

Get an editor you can work with and trust!

Get beta-readers!

Get a good cover artist!

Find an author willing to mentor you!

WRITE THE STORY YOU WANT TO TELL!

 The stock art background from selfpublishbookcovers.com, this is so not what Kieran looks like. The only thing I retained from this mess was the title font and the font for my name. Below is the second version of my cover. The dark-haird model had the body type I envisioned for Kieran but his hair is much to short. Both he and the blond are stock images and are very popular with romance writers and cover artists. The final cover revision below finally nails my vision of Kieran and the blond stock model (Brian, last name unknown) who became the inspiration for Cory. This has been quite the journey and I hope that all of you will finish it out with me when I release book three, Hunter.

Hello Friends and Fans,

I thought I’d give everyone a little sneak peek into Hunter, Legend of the Silver Hunter, book three. This little unedited snapshot will give you a look at one of the reason’s Grandmother Belle is the cold-hearted woman you’ve seen in Tracker and Witch.

I have discovered a terrible secret regarding great-grandmother’s pact with the shifters of the forest. She gave her youngest sister to the leader of the pack as mate. From what I have been able to discover great-great aunt Ophelia was totally without the gift of Silver magic, a very rare thing only three generations removed from the first of our family. The most terrifying part of this pact is that it must continue each time a new huntress takes over the family. She must give a non-magical sister or cousin of the same generation to the leader of the forest pack as mate or the compact between these dark shifters and the House of Beauty will be broken. I am afraid for my twin sister for neither of us were born with the gift of Silver magic. Our eldest sister goes for the test tomorrow night and if she becomes the huntress then I fear my sweet sister is doomed to this horrid fate.

From the Second Chronicle of the House of Beauty, translated into English in the 21st century.

Interlude: The Belle Estate Fifty Years Ago

Theresa Belle stood with her oldest sister Camille, the new huntress of the House of Beauty, at the edge of a clearing deep in the dark forest on the family estate. In the center of the clearing stood a cottage, which looked like it had been built using plans from a fairy tale. Why is this here in the forest and why did Camille bring me here? Theresa wondered as her sister led her deeper into the clearing. For a brief moment, she thought she felt a tingle on her skin but it was gone before she could be certain. The door to the cottage opened and a tall, broad-shouldered man stepped out and stood waiting. Theresa felt Camille move to stand behind her and gently urging her forward.

“Camille, what’s going on? I don’t understand why you brought me out here. Please tell me what’s going on. I’m scared.”

They’d moved to within handshake distance of the man before Camille answered her sister’s questions.

“Theresa, this is Eugene leader of the forest shifters. I brought you here today to honor our family’s obligation to the compact. You will be Eugene’s mate, although you will never bare his children. This arrangement will last so long as I am the huntress or Eugene is leader of this pack.”

“What? Why? Camille, I don’t understand what you’re talking about.”

“I’m sorry Theresa, this is the way it has to be. We must all serve our function to the House of Beauty. You were born without even the potential to pass on our gift of Silver magic. When you were five, your appendix became inflamed and had to be removed, but that wasn’t all that was done. Mother ordered your ovaries removed as well. You are barren. She knew you would be the one to take, Aunt Mildred’s place.”

“Why, Camille? Why do you have to give me to a filthy shifter? Who is Aunt Mildred and why can’t she stay on doing whatever it is she’s been doing out here?”

“Aunt Mildred was mother’s eldest sister. Like you, she was born without the gift for magic. She can’t continue serving because when mother died and I came to test, Eugene snapped her neck after I killed the previous leader of the pack.”

“And this is the fate you condemn me to? So long as you live as huntress, I live as a whore for this abomination. Why don’t you kill all the shifters in this forest? Why do they exist at all, when our family is dedicated to killing their kind?”

“Because we must train against their kind if we are to kill them so that the rest of humanity doesn’t have to face their threat. Because you were born useless for any other duty, a woman not destined to be the huntress can serve. This is your fate sister. All your needs will be met and as long as you live here in this cottage the Belle side of the compact is honored and the shifters of the forest must honor their side of the bargain and leave the rest of the family in peace.”

“I may be a dark shifter but I still honor my word. I you will not have me willingly as mate, I promise I will never force you and you may live out your days a virgin.”

“What’s to keep me from just running away from here?” Theresa asked her sister.

“Magic, for starters. I know you felt it when you crossed the boundary of this clearing. The spell that guards this place prevents all shifters save the pack leader from entering but in exchange, it prevents those without magic from leaving. Get to know Eugene, sister he will be your only contact with the outside world from this day forth.”

Camille turned and strode out of the clearing hardening her heart to the pleas, cries, and screams of her baby sister. She knew the sounds of Theresa’s screams and curses would haunt her for the rest of her life.

Don’t forget that Tracker and Witch will be on sale in the US and UK  during the last week of October through the first week of November on Amazon.com and Amazon.co.uk.

If you’ve read Tracker and/or Witch, leave a review on Amazon or Goodreads. I want to hear from you.

Great News Tracker and Witch Fans!

Both books will be on sale in the US and the UK for $0.99 and £0.99.

Witch goes on sale October 25 through October 30 and Tracker will be on sale October 30 through November 4. Halloween is the perfect time of the year to pick up a paranormal romance.

If you’re a Tracker fan who loved the story even with all of the formatting and grammatical errors, you’ll be happy to know you can update your copy to the newly re-edited version. I sent Tracker off to Shannon A Thompson, who edited Witch to perfection, so that Tracker could become the perfect introduction to the World of the Silver Hunter. There’s a bonus for updating your copy as well, new content in the form of a new chapter.

I have book three, Hunter on track and the chapters outlined (something new for me), so keep watching this space for more information on pre-order and release dates.

The Buy links for Tracker are:

US – http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B00V5B3SXE?*Version*=1&*entries*=0

UK – http://www.amazon.co.uk/gp/product/B00V5B3SXE?*Version*=1&*entries*=0

The Buy links for Witch are:

US – http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B012BO02CS?*Version*=1&*entries*=0

UK – http://www.amazon.co.uk/gp/product/B012BO02CS?*Version*=1&*entries*=0

I’m not sure how more seasoned writers maintain their focus when writing the third, fourth, or sixteenth book in a series. I’m trying hard to focus on Hunter, the third and final book in my Legend of the Silver Hunter series, but I keep getting distracted by ideas for other stories. I try and just jot down notes on these other stories while drafting chapters for Hunter. Maybe, I got overly ambitious in striving to write two books in one year. I read all the articles about authors getting slammed or praised for putting out multiple books in a year and wonder where do I fall on the spectrum. I new to the field of self-publishing authors, I still work a 40 hour a week regular job, take a few freelance graphic design jobs on the side, and cram in an hour or two of writing a day.

Sometimes, I marvel at writing 3K words (my personal record is 5K in one day) and other times I think I’ve done a fantastic job if I managed to turn on the computer, open up my MS Word document and type in 100 words. I’ve been doing creative writing since I was in high school back in the early 1980s. It’s always been either for myself, for a role-playing gaming group, or a class assignment for English class. My writing, my worlds and the people who live in them have never been for anyone besides myself, other than those assignments in either high school or college.

I don’t know how many other authors feel that their writing is as much a chance to escape reality as reading a book someone else has written. I get lost in my worlds, even the ones based on our reality because there is a twist in the fabric that creates a difference, an escape from the mundane into the magical. For me characters, like my own Kieran and Cory are real people, I get to visit with and call friends or family. When I was a kid, I dreamed of exploring magical realms like Piers Anthony’s Xanth, or fighting the forces of Boscone with Kimball Kinnison of E.E. Doc Smith’s Lensmen.

While my own books are too mature in nature for children, I hope that those who have read my books found a moment of escape into a world where magic works and Happily Ever After seems like a real possibility.