Devon Monk's Blog, page 9
April 24, 2020
Friday, My Friend!
Last Friday was one of those spring days you want to last forever. Blue skies, warm sun, cool breeze. Chickadees chasing each other through the budding apple trees, turtledoves cooing.
Today looks like a plugged sink. The sky is gray, the rain is gray, the sunlight is in some other state, leaving us with a thin gray smear of illumination over everything.
What Im saying, is its Oregon here today, and (heres a little secret) I love these gray rainy days just as much as the blue sunny ones.
I...
April 17, 2020
Friday Update
Hi hello! Its Friday!
We made it to the end of the week! I thought a weekly update might be fun. Sowelcome to update week #1!
I hope you are well and healthy and hanging in there. Im sending you a big (socially-distant appropriate) hug. You got this. I believe in you.
In my little corner of the world, spring is in full swing and everything is blooming. The radishes jumped the garden last year, and are now poking up everywhere in the yard. The giant rosemary we replanted and almost killed is...
October 31, 2019
Spooky Season
Happy Halloween!

We carved pumpkins and decorated the house in preparation for the little ghosts and ghoulies out wandering the neighborhood tonight.
We also put up some safety measures since we’re currently mid-dig with the basement window well we’re putting in. That means we have a Big-McLarge-Huge hole on the back side of the house. We don’t want to lose any trick-or-treaters down there.
Could we fill that hole with skeletons and other spooky stuff? Sure. But we don’t have any skeletons or spooky stuff, s...
October 21, 2019
Catching Up

*taps mic*
Hi! Hi, hi!
So, it’s been a busy summer. Or rather, it was a busy summer. One minute, it was spring and I was publishing DIME A DEMON (Myra’s book in the Ordinary Magic series) and the next minute it’s October.
WHERE DID ALL THAT TIME GO??
It went to lots of places and things. Signings, book events, writing retreats, writing, updating business processes, video filming and editing, Gencon(!), weddings, star gazing in the desert, mountain hiking, gardening, family events, birthdays, knitting.
Also, a big ole home improveme...
*tapsJuly 5, 2019
Fun Summer Beach Reads
If you’re looking for a summer beach read or two, check out the list below! Book #1 of my Ordinary Magic series, Death and Relaxation, is ON SALE (for a limited time) for .99! So if you’ve been waiting to give it a try, now’s a great time to snag it up.
Welcome to the sleepy little beach town of Ordinary, Oregon, where gods vacation, monsters roam free, and the Reed sisters have a murder on their hands.
When you dance with Death, you have to learn how to roll the bones…
Ballgowns, car...
June 2, 2019
New Release – Dime A Demon
Yes! Book #5 in the Ordinary Magic series is out now in digital format (paper format will follow in a couple weeks.)
Let’s take a look at the amazing cover by Lou Harper of Cover Affairs, shall we?

This book was a LOT of fun to write. I think it’s fast, funny, and leans a little more romance than the other Ordinary Magic books. Myra was a delight as the main character. Exploring her family “gift” of always being in the right...
March 8, 2019
Wording in the Wild

Last month, I attended the Rainforest Writers Village Retreat in Washington state’s Quinault Rainforest. The lodge and cabins dot the edge of stunning Lake Quinault. There is spotty cell service, very limited internet connection, rain, rain, and more rain (and snow!!) and lots and lots of quiet.
The writers, at all stages of craft and career, are focused on moving their writing projects forward. To show proof of that, a white board is available in the main cabin. On it is a friendly competit...
January 30, 2019
2019 Events (so far)

Some years I feel like a big ole hermit. It’s partly the nature of being a writer–quite a lot of time needs to be spent alone, working on creating words, worlds, and people who are fun to torture watch grow through adversity.
But truth be told, it’s partly because I’m an introvert. This year, I’m trying to shake things up and get out and about a little more. So I’ve said “yes” to some really fun events.
If you are a writer or a reader and want to meet me–here’s a list of places you can fin...
January 14, 2019
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...
January 4, 2019
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...