M.S. Metro's Blog, page 2

Excerpt from SUPERHERO DAUGHTERS: COUNTING ON HEROES

COUNTING ON HEROES, the first story in my SUPERHERO DAUGHTERS series, will be coming out later this week! Curious what it’s about? Read this excerpt to get an idea!

 

When you’re nervous as hell, sometimes the only thing that helps is a murder walk, just so you can hear your high heels click against marble.

Or maybe that’s me.

A side benefit of a murder walk: you look very regal and elegant when you open the first press conference you’ve ever given. I might be the vice-president of operations at Mills Military Technology, but normally my dad handles the press. Yeah, he’s the president of MMT, but he’s also so good at getting the press to eat out of his hand.

“Good afternoon,” I say, gripping the sides of the podium, feeling like it’s the life preserver keeping me from drowning. I allow the camera flashes to die down and hope I wasn’t squinting too much, then I smile and relax a little as I remind myself that at least I didn’t trip on my way to the podium.

“Thank you for coming to this very exciting announcement,” I begin, grateful I memorized the beginning of my speech. “For those of you who don’t know, I am Maggie Mills, Vice-President of Mills Military Technology, and it’s my pleasure to welcome you to our headquarters for a demonstration of our newest innovation.”

I pause to take a breath and a small sip of water, then smooth down my navy-blue blazer. “For centuries, man has sought the best way to protect himself on the field of battle. Chain mail, suits of armor, bulletproof vests: all have had their place in warfare. And today, we’re ready to show you the near future of combat for today’s soldier.”

Right on cue, the doors behind me open and three soldiers march out, wearing the product of five years’ of research and testing.

“Our soldiers deserve body armor that will protect them against anything they might encounter,” I say. “Not just weapons of all sizes and types, but against the elements and from their own fatigue.”

I nod to the soldier closest to me, who draws a knife and engages with the other soldiers. It’s choreographed, but in a way to let a few glancing blows land in order to demonstrate the body armor’s capabilities.

“Big deal!” a voice in the crowd calls out. “So it can stand up to knives.”

Amelia, the head of the public relations department, told me she had the perfect intern to plant in the crowd and feed me the opening for the next stage of the demonstration. And she was right: whoever it is, they truly sounded unimpressed. I hold back my grin and do my best to sell it: I let a flicker of annoyance show in my eyes, put a touch of steel in my spine, and add some ice to my voice.

“I suppose you’re right,” I acknowledge. “Let me see if we can find a real challenge.”

A voice chuckles in my ear. “Get ready, Magpie.”

I look up at the sky, almost immediately spotting the small gray dot in the sky. The dot grows larger by the millisecond, forming itself into a humanoid shape wearing a suit of armor.

With a loud boom and a swirl of wind, because he loves to show off, my father lands in front of the platform before the soldiers and me. He drops to one knee, then stands to accept the applause of the crowd.

“It’s time for Major Damage!” Dad calls out as he takes off his helmet, revealing his wide smile. It’s all I can do to not groan at the cheesy dad-joke of his superhero identity.

“Seriously, Dad, don’t you think you’re too old for that?” I ask him through the small microphone attached to my neck.

He turns and gives me his best wounded expression, one I know for a fact is modeled on Han Solo. I raise my eyebrows and gesture to the soldiers, standing at attention.

“Spoil my fun,” he mutters to me as he puts his helmet back on.

SUPERHERO DAUGHTERS!

After a marathon editing session today, SUPERHERO DAUGHTERS 1 is done! I’m very hopeful I’ll have it ready for publication by the end of the week. I’m really excited to finally be sharing this story with y’all. I’ll be releasing a few teasers this week which will hopefully get you just as excited as I am!

 

Thank you!

There was such a great response to the discount on the LOVE IS RED ebook. I’m so thrilled to have gotten some new readers–it’s really helped me as I try to form a following. Plus, it’s encouraged me to keep going! I dove back into edits on SUPERHERO DAUGHTERS 1 yesterday, and I’m pushing myself to get the edits finished in the next few days. After all, with Avengers: Infinity War coming out next weekend, what better time is there to release a romance novel about the daughter of a superhero?

I hope y’all have a great weekend!

M.S.

LOVE IS RED on sale!

Starting tomorrow at 8am PDT/11am EDT, LOVE IS RED will be on sale for the next week! You can purchase the ebook, called “a well plotted and expertly written romance” by one reader, for as little as ninety-nine cents! If you’ve put off reading, or you want to buy a copy for a friend, now is a great time to do so!

Buy LOVE IS RED, available exclusively on Amazon

What I’m Working On

The editing on SUPERHERO DAUGHTERS 1 is going slowly. My original plan was to have it edited by the end of March, and begin working on SUPERHERO DAUGHTERS 2 in April, but . . . neither of those things have happened yet. Between illness–both physical and mental–and the struggle of working a full-time job, I admit my energy level has been low.

Much of my creativity lately has been channeled into knitting. I recently learned how to knit socks, fulfilling a nearly-lifelong dream, and I’m bursting with knitting projects I want to tackle. I’m hopeful that this break from writing and editing is letting me recharge my battery–because sometimes, you just need to refill the well by not drawing upon it. You have to give yourself time to let ideas happen. I know this is contrary to a lot of advice, but it’s what works for me.

I did publish a new short story, A NAKED SPY, last week. If you’ve purchased it on Amazon, please leave a review and let me know what you liked! And if you haven’t purchased it yet, it’s available for just ninety-nine cents!

I hope everyone is having a great April, even if the weather doesn’t feel much like spring where you are. That’s what I’m experiencing here in New York!

A NAKED SPY: new short story!

Editing on my next book is taking a long time, so I revamped a story I had written before into a sexy thriller called A NAKED SPY!

[image error]As a member of the Secret Intelligence Service–MI-6 to non-spies–Jonathan Percy is rarely surprised. When he meets Vanessa Jennings, a contact with information on a little skirmish in North Africa, he pegs her as a beautiful young woman. Very quickly, he learns she’s much more. And the sizzling chemistry between them cannot be denied.

Through the streets of Paris, Jonathan tries to protect Vanessa from harm . . . until she’s forced to reveal who she truly is. Will Jonathan move on and forget this raven-haired beauty? Or will he accept he is without cover, without backup–he is a naked spy?

Available now for just 99 cents in the Kindle Store: A NAKED SPY!

LOVE IS RED, now in paperback!

Are you [image error]trying to cut down on your screen time? Do you prefer reading something that doesn’t need to be charged? Then consider purchasing the paperback version of LOVE IS RED, now available on Amazon!

Happy reading!

A snow day means . . .

Baking, knitting and writing!

I have chocolate chip cookies in the oven and bread dough rising. My newest knitting project, my second pair of socks, is coming along nicely. And best of all, I’m working hard on editing SUPERHERO DAUGHTERS 1, which is tentatively titled COUNTING ON HEROES. I’m nearly halfway through the edits and I like how the story is shaping up.

There’s also two secret projects I’m brainstorming right now, in preparation for Camp Nanowrimo! So in the next month or so, there will be some new content from me. I hope you’re as excited about that as I am!

What editing looks like . . .

I’m working on the first SUPERHERO DAUGHTERS story, and, well, there’s some pages with a little bit of red ink, and others with . . . more than a little.

For example:

[image error]

In case you were wondering, the note on the post-it says “still not right, but see how it reads once edits are made.”

Goodreads Author Page

If you’re a Goodreads fan like I am, you can now add LOVE IS RED to your shelves and visit my author page!