Devon Monk's Blog, page 10

Looking Forward to 2019

January is here, and I’ve been making plans for the new year. What’s up in all things Monk? Well…

There will be books!

The current plan is four new novels in 2019. Two in the Ordinary Magic series, two in the West Hell Magic Series.

DIME A DEMON, book #4 of the Ordinary Magic series should be out in spring. This is Myra’s book, and it’s been an absolute cackle to write. Cover reveal is coming soon!

What about that steampunk series?

I hear you. I want to finish it too. It is firmly on the ba...

Looking Back at 2018

2018 didn’t go exactly as planned, but a lot of fun stuff happened. I started the year with surgery for a broken ankle, saw my first professional hockey game in person, attended two writing retreats, one awesome Powell’s Books signing, a local Write Here, Write Now and took a wild road trip following old Route 66 across most of America.

We also bought an old phone booth to turn into a Little Free Library, and I started restoring vintage furniture to kick off my writing office remodel. Neithe...

Holidays and other Stressful Demons

I am not nearly done with my holiday crafting (I like to make gifts for family every year) nor my holiday shopping, nor my holiday baking, nor my holiday decorating, AND IT’S THE MIDDLE OF DECEMBER, PEOPLE!  Now’s a good time to panic and start eating a lot of chocolate, right?

But I am really happy that SPARK (book 2 of my West Hell Magic series) is out in digital form, and will be in print soon. 

Another thing I’m happy about? HAZARD (book 1 of my West Hell Magic series) is on SALE for only...

New Release – SPARK

Yes! SPARK, book #2 in my West Hell Magic series, is out now. If you like your urban fantasy with a twist, have I got you covered with this hockey  magic series! Brotherhood, blood, and hockey battles–what’s not to love?

You’ve met the hockey wizard (in HAZARD, book #1) now it’s time to meet his brother, the hockey wolf shifter, Duncan Spark. Here’s the gorgeous cover:

And here’s what it says on the back: 

Duncan Spark’s life can’t get any better, but it’s about to get much worse….

         ...

Cover Reveal – SPARK

You’ve met the hockey wizard, now it’s (almost) time to meet the hockey wolf!

SPARK, book 2 of my West Hell Magic series (hockey urban fantasy) will be out Monday, December 10th–that’s in ONE week!  There are no preorder links yet. But you can join my newsletter, or my Facebook reader’s group to be notified when the links go live.

Hockey wolf shifter? Oh, yeah. This one is FUN! The amazing cover was created by the fabulous Kanaxa Designs. How gorgeous is this?

Duncan Spark’s life can’t get a...

Route 66 – Day 9

And here we are! The final day! (sorry for the delay in posting). 

The day began in Arizona, and we knew we had a lot of miles to cover. We needed to reach the Santa Monica Pier by midnight, so we could catch our plane the next morning. We were up bright and early, ate breakfast at the hotel, and packed a couple bananas, a pear, and bagels in case we didn’t have time to stop for lunch or dinner. 

Just as we were leaving town, we drove past this rabbit statue. 

With the town behind us, this w...

Route 66 – Day 8

Day Eight, last big drive day before California. We begin in Gallup, New Mexico and drove straight on to the border. Good-bye New Mexico!

Hello, Arizona! To get through Arizona, we started with this uncertain road.

It was smooth(ish) and sandy, but it was not very modern. We were casting about for landmarks, and/or help, when we saw this

Thank-you, Mr. Jones, for writing a sign and setting it on the corner! I can only imagine the rancher being so tired of Route 66 people asking for directi...

Route 66 – Day 7

We made it a week! 

Day Seven started with a debate over the cool morning temperature of 51F (10c) and the relative sanity of jumping into 61F (16c) water. We tabled the discussion until we reached the Blue Hole, a natural spring out in the middle of Santa Rosa, New Mexico. The Blue Hole is 80 feet deep (25 meters) and used by scuba divers. No, really.

We walked out to the edge of the diving platform. We had our swim suits ready, but decided a nice stroll along the spring would be bracing en...

Route 66 – Days 5 and 6

 

Day Five

We opened the curtains and were delighted to see it had sprinkled over night. The day started in Tulsa. We went to Cry Baby Hill to see the statue of old road meets new. Here’s a shot of it from atop a route 66 arch:

  

Author included for scale:

Then the skies got darker and it started raining. And raining. Like 6 inches in 6 hours raining. We got flash flood warnings on our phones and our little Jum was throwing seven-foot water spouts on each side as we drove down the narrow, o...

Route 66 – Day 4

We are starting to get the feel of Route 66. How it’s marked (or unmarked), in what condition it is most likely to be found, how tight those corners really are. Basically, if there are no painted lines, no shoulders (or shoulders that are six inches+/- higher than the road) two or fewer narrow lanes, rough concrete with potholes, with a nice helping of gravel, then we know we are on Route 66.

Our motto: If it’s easy, fast, and smooth, we ain’t on the road.

Today started in Springfield, Missou...