Leah R. Cutter's Blog, page 6

Story Excerpt: “As Needed” by Michael A. Stackpole

Today’s excerpt is from the most excellent Michael A. Stackpole!

I first met Mike a long, long time ago, at a Worldcon in the nineties. I had recently attended Clarion West. Mike was very gracious to a complete and total newbie, sharing his wisdom of the craft and the business. I have never forgotten how kind he was to me.

So when Chuck, the owner of Bundle Rabbit, (http://www.BundleRabbit.com) suggested Mike as a possible contributor to the bundle, I was very excited about the possibility. (Not that I believe that Mike remembers me from that one brief encounter.)

When I emailed him, Mike was just as gracious as always, and agreed to contribute this fine story.

I cannot tell you how pleased I am that he agreed to participate. I hope that in some very, very small way, this is repaying his kindness so many years ago.

As Needed

A young man had scolded her, and his sharp rebuke roused the older man slouched in the dark wooden throne overlooking the glistening carpet of flesh. They looked enough alike through the eyes and jaw to be of the same blood, but else wise they were different men. The older had once been as tall and strong as the oak from which the throne had been hacked, whereas his nephew had the substance of well-boiled porridge left to congeal. The younger man dropped a hand to the hilt of the sword worn on his left hip, but the older man grasped his forearm and prevented a fatal error.

“Are my eyes failing me, Scyris, or has time forgotten you?”

“Do you wish the truth, my master, or shall I answer ‘no’ twice?”

The younger man’s nostrils flared. “Keep a civil tongue in your mouth.”

The older man’s hand tightened. “I can command her to kill, Vatarian, but I cannot stop her from killing. Such is the oath that binds us.”

“That does not give her leave to insult you.”

“I am not insulted.”

Terius Inficun released his nephew’s wrist and rose from the chair—doing his best to hide the inescapable signs of his age. Despite his efforts, she could not help but notice that the iron in his muscles had become the gray in his hair. His flesh had taken on the hue and texture of aged leather, without the reward of the rich scent. The skin around one eye drooped—but one sign of damage taken in youthful fights. Even his voice, which had always been deeply resonant, had become hoarse and tattered.

“I would never wish to insult you, my master.” She spread the homespun skirts she wore and offered a brief curtsy. It lasted too long to be playfully contemptuous, and yet the nephew clearly felt it was too short to show proper respect. She catalogued his reaction, but devoted her attention to his uncle.

The man closed his droopy eye and studied her. “You have a new face.”

She opened her arms. “And you a new home.”

“Well earned.” He chuffed out a laugh. “You probably think that of your face.”

“The previous owner had no more use for it.”

“Same for this house.”

“I am certain, my master.” Scyris bowed her head. “I should have brought you a gift to welcome you to your new home.”

“Your gift can be helping me keep it.” Terius scowled and kicked a scrawny man back into the body pit. “I needed you here sooner. I sent people to you. I expected you weeks ago. Now you’ve come, it may well be too late.”

“The urgency of your need, my master, was insufficient as defined by the magick which binds us.” Scyris raised her chin. “My sense was that you had any difficulty managed.”

Terius snorted, shooting his nephew a sidelong glance. “I had entrusted certain efforts to people. They proved fruitless.”

Vatarian opened his hands. “I did all that I could.”

“Yes, but not all that I could have—would have—had I my youth back.” Terius shook his head and raised his right hand. He flicked his thumb against a gold and jet ring encircling his finger. A tiny purple light sparked in the square stone with each click of nail against metal. “When you didn’t come, I feared our link had been broken, or that you had been slain.”

“Oaths sworn and magicks worked would inform you were I dead.” Each time his nail clicked against the ring, Scyris felt it in the armlet she wore above her right biceps. Cast from the same pool of gold, set with jet from the same stone, the ring and armlet had been ensorcelled ages ago. Through the aegis of the dark College to which Terius had given her, they’d been forever linked. “We sacrificed much, my master, so I am here.”

“My throat is dry. Wine.”

She shook her head. “Thank you, no.”

Terius snorted, then gave his nephew a backhanded slap to the chest. He pointed to a pitcher and goblets on a table near the wall. “When did you get this face?”

“Recently.” She smiled at Vatarian as he scurried to fetch wine. “That would be why some of your envoys did not find me.”

“And the others?”

“More diligent and irritatingly insistent.”

“Irritating, yes. That was communicated to me.” His thumb caressed the ring. “Will I ever see them again?”

“If they were not expendable, you’d not have sent them after me.” Scyris broadened her smile. “Now, if you had sent Vatarian…”

Terius accepted a goblet of dark wine from his nephew’s hand. “He is not expendable.”

As Needed is currently in the Middling Bundle, which is only available for a limited time. http://www.bundlerabbit.com/middlings...

Crossposted from my website. If you'd like to comment, you can do so here or there.

New Audio Book Now Available!

(What, you thought it would be all bundles all the time? Pshaw. I have news!)

Aches, Pains, and Love, by Kira Lynn, is now available in audio!

From the blurb:

Are you living with chronic pain or illness, or both? Have you given up on having an intimate, romantic relationship?

Twenty years ago, a doctor told Kira Lynne that she would never be able to have an intimate relationship due to her chronic health conditions. Having proven that doctor wrong, Kira set out to write a book for people living with chronic pain and illness who believe the door has closed on their prospects for love and relationships.

Living with chronic pain and illness can feel overwhelming, never mind adding intimacy into the mix. Yet, even though hundreds of thousands of people in North America alone suffer from such conditions, very little has been published on dating and relationships for people with chronic pain and illness. Aches, Pains, and Love addresses that need with wisdom, compassion, and humour.

This is a book about hope, especially for those who feel that a loving relationship is beyond their reach due to their health conditions. You can have a loving, fulfilling partnership when you live with chronic pain and illness. It is possible to live joyfully in spite of illness and pain, to make new friends, deepen connections, and find lasting love and companionship in an intimate relationship.

Both entertaining and practical, Aches, Pains, and Love provides a step-by-step guide to getting the love you want, regardless of your physical condition. From creating a strong personal foundation to finding prospective partners, to dating, to sex and beyond, Kira offers a host of real-life stories, frank practical observations, and specific tools that will help you decide what you really desire in a loving relationship and guide you toward achieving that happiness.

Available at your favorite retailers, including audio!

This is a new audio book published by Knotted Road Press. (The ebook and print book are published by Moppet Press.)

This is a new, exciting service that KRP is offering. I’m working with some Canadian writers to publish their audio books (for technical reasons, they can’t get into the ACX program.)

So go! Check it out!

http://amzn.to/22cTHXb

 

In addition to the bundles, I’m still offering workshops.

The next print interiors workshop starts May 10th.

At this point, we are still on schedule to start offering the covers workshop in June. (Fingers crossed everything continues to go well!)

If you’re interested, feel free to email me about it. Or visit the site:

http://krpworkshops.com/about-the-wor...

 

And yeah, there’s still that bundle. More on that later.

http://www.bundlerabbit.com

Crossposted from my website. If you'd like to comment, you can do so here or there.

Story Excerpt: “Waiting to Fly” By Sherry D. Ramsey

This is the next in the series of blog posts that I’m doing for the Middlings Bundle (http://www.bundlerabbit.com).

I don’t know Sherry personally. I met her through the owner of the Bundle Rabbit site, Chuck. However, I liked her website (http://www.sherrydramsey.com/) I also liked her voice, and her work. She graciously accepted my invitation to be in the bundle. I am looking forward to reading more of her stories in the future!

Waiting to Fly

The bright, bejeweled electronic bird circled and spun one last time above my head, then dropped like a stone. With a flourish of my right hand, I reached up and pretended to pluck it out of the air. With my left, I furtively tugged open the concealed pocket in the rear of my coat and let the gadget fall inside, drawn to the beacon nestled inside the pocket.

With all eyes in the concourse crowd transfixed on my clasped right hand, I opened it slowly, revealing that the bird had disappeared. The gathered children, who had initially looked greenish and lethargic after their recent space travel, now erupted in squeals and laughter while even the tired adults smiled and clapped. I bowed theatrically, sweeping off my tall black top hat. I deposited it with practised carelessness, open end up, on the metal decking at my feet. Then I began tidying my props, feigning indifference but listening hard for the telltale chatter of plastic credit chips landing inside. I smiled with relief as the impromptu audience showed their appreciation.

Siren is only available in the Middlings Bundle, which is only available for a limited time. http://www.bundlerabbit.com/middlings...

Crossposted from my website. If you'd like to comment, you can do so here or there.

Story Excerpt: “Siren” by Blaze Ward

Over the next couple weeks, I plan on posting excerpts from all the stories in the Middlings Bundle. (http://www.bundlerabbit.com/middlings...)

I also plan on posting a little bit about each author.

I could post a lot about Blaze Ward. As his publisher, I can’t help but be pleased with the exponential growth in his writing ability, the way he’s built himself a fan base, how he pushes himself to explore new characters, new worlds and new ideas.

As his sweetie/wife/co-conspirator (unindicted)/etc. it still amazes me that I found him, someone that I fit so well with. More than anything else he’s my partner. I couldn’t do this without him. I wouldn’t be anywhere near as successful alone.

Which brings us to Siren. Vo Arlo, badass marine from Auberon, finds himself alone and facing a puzzle. A mystery.

Why does the prettiest girl at the college start paying attention to him?

And what will it cost to figure it out?

Here’s the sample from the first chapter of Siren. Enjoy!

 

I

Date of the Republic October 4, 394 Quinta City, Quinta

The girl’s voice knocked Vo out of his reverie and brought him back to the present.

“Hey, Vo,” she called as she walked up to his table in the Student Union. “Finn tells me you used to be in the navy?”

He looked up from the woman on the screen of his portable computer and considered the girl standing across from him. The two looked nothing alike, this one a busty, beautiful brunette and the one on the screen a skinny blond that some might call homely. The only thing they had in common was height.

This one was about to plop down into one of the other chairs at his table, so her head was down. He was used to analyzing someone for risk and competence at a glance, the downside of eight years active duty as a fleet security marine. Even pretty girls in a student union hall.

What was her name? Fevre? F–something? Phoebe. That was it.

Phoebe was tall for a girl and busty in a very distracting way. He wasn’t sure she was wearing anything under that green sweater as she took off her coat and hung it from the chair across from him. The way her chest moved suggested not, but he couldn’t tell for certain and didn’t want to stare.

Vo checked the time on his personal comm as Phoebe sat, but the clock in his head was still accurate enough. He’d supposedly been reviewing his accounting homework and reading ahead, but he still had at least ten minutes before he needed to pack up and go to class.

“Still am,” he said, unable to figure out why the prettiest girl in class suddenly wanted to chat him up.

It wasn’t like he was particularly good looking. His previous bosses had frequently picked him for assignments because he was nearly two meters tall, incredibly strong, and looked like a street hoodlum. That could generally be considered an asset in his line of work.

“Are what?” she asked, perplexed as she sat down and dropped a heavy backpack of books and stuff beside her.

“I’m still on active duty,” he replied.

That didn’t help. She got an even more confused look on her face. She had really pretty green eyes.

“But you’re a student,” she said, her voice starting to edge into a whine. “You’re in my business accounting class.”

“I’m on detached duty for this semester,” he replied. “Reward from my boss, and using up all my leave, and a few other things.”

“So what ship are you on?” she inquired with a grin, leaning onto the table in a way that did distracting things under the sweater.

Vo caught his breath and brought his eyes back up to hers.

“None, right now,” he replied heavily. “The old one got decommissioned. The new one’s not done being built yet. Boss owed me a favor. Plus I’m kinda on medical rehab. It all added up to enough time to take some classes.”

“Medical rehab?”

The confusion was back.

“I got shot up pretty bad, last time out,” he said in a tone that suggested she not ask further questions. “The ship was Auberon.”

Her eyes lit up. It was a good way to distract people.

“Jessica Keller?” she probed sharply.

Vo nodded. Everyone knew RAN Auberon and her very famous Command Centurion. He could bask a little in that glory. He had actually been on Alexandria Station until about twenty minutes before the Red Admiral blew it up at Ballard four months ago.

Still, he had figured that someplace as remote as Quinta, and a college like the Quinta Colonial Institute, would have been far enough away from the main byways of the Republic. There was almost no Fleet presence here, and no Marines groundside. He could pretend to be a civilian for five months.

Or could have. He probably shouldn’t have told Finn anything, but the kid had a good heart and had been genuinely interested in the older guy in class.

Older? Gods, this girl across from me is probably younger than my youngest sister, Sonja.

“I bet you could tell me some awesome stories about her,” Phoebe said, her eyes all aglitter.

“Maybe later,” Vo shrugged. “Supposed to go get lunch with Finn after class and talk mid–terms. Then I need to write a history paper tonight.”

Vo started to gather up the things on the table. The portable computer and light–pen went into his backpack, along with an old–fashioned paper notebook barely bigger than his hand and honest–to–Creator ink pen.

“You’re leaving already?” she asked, maybe a little hurt.

Vo stood up and grabbed his jacket. Civilian attire was still alien, but Quinta had mild winters, so he didn’t need anything heavy.

“Almost time for class,” he said.

It was a good way to extract himself from a confusing situation.

Phoebe grabbed her things and stood as well.

“I’ll walk with you to class,” she announced, a queen bestowing a favor on her favorite champion.

What the hell have I done to warrant this sort of attention?

Siren is only available in the Middlings Bundle, which is only available for a limited time. http://www.bundlerabbit.com/middlings...

Crossposted from my website. If you'd like to comment, you can do so here or there.

Middlings Bundle Now Available!

 

I’ve always considered bridges to be magical places. In fantasy, they’re often portals between lands, gateways to other worlds. (My husband even proposed to me on a bridge.)

When I was a teen, I frequently walked across the Nicolette Avenue bridge in Minneapolis. There was no rail, just a large expanse of sidewalk right next to the street. It always felt daring to me—to be so exposed to all the cars. Anyone could see you. I frequently sang or danced across the bridge—showing off as only a teenager could.

As I’ve gotten older, I’ve expanded my concept of bridges beyond the physical expanse of concrete and metal, or even wood and rope, to include ideas that link major memes, or even that in between two piece of music.

As well are stories that link characters between larger arcs.

In many ways, my love of bridges was the inspiration of the middlings bundle. I wanted stories set in between things. I also wanted stories of a “middling” length—too long for short stories, but too short for a novel.

Since the advent of this new age of publishing, those middling length stories don’t have to be shunted to the side and never written because there wasn’t a market for them, or even if written, placed in a trunk and forgotten. They can be published, now. Seen and enjoyed for what they are, instead of having to be horribly carved up to fit into a smaller box, or bloated out to fill a novel.

As a writer, I write all over the map: fantasy, science fiction, mystery, horror, literary, whatever. As a reader, I’m not faithful to a particular genre either. I read it all. (I just finished reading a non-fiction book about the record industry, followed by a hard-boiled detective mystery, and am now in the middle of a high, epic fantasy novel.)

So it was important to me that this bundle represent more than one genre as well. In it, you’ll find romance, science fiction, fantasy, and superhero stories. YA as well as adult.

Hopefully, something for everyone.

One last thing—Bundle Rabbit lets you donate to charity when you buy a bundle. Our charity, The Washington State Talking Book and Braille Library, provides access to books for those people unable to read standard print material. This award-winning organization also loans magazines, music scores, and foreign language titles. It’s a lifeline to many, particularly to those who are shut-ins, the material mailed to them for free.

So come and take a bite out of the middle. If you enjoy the taste, there are trails leading in both directions for you to follow.

The initial titles in the middlings bundle (minimum of $5 to purchase) are:

• How to Babysit a Changeling by Anthea Sharp

• Forever Falls by Michael Warren Lucas

• As Needed by Michael A. Stackpole

• Heaven Painted as a Cop Car by Dean Wesley Smith

• Siren by Blaze Ward

11 For 12: If you pay the bonus price of $12, you’ll get the initial five titles, plus the following (11 in total):

• Fly Me to the Moon by Mindy Klasky

• Walking Gods by Leah Cutter

• The Possession of Paavo Deshin by Kristine Kathryn Rusch

• Waiting to Fly by Sherry D. Ramsey

• Old Man by Daniel Keys Moran

• a coupon for a FREE EBOOK from Kobo Books

The bundle is available for a limited time only, through http://www.bundlerabbit.com/the-middl.... It allows easy reading on computers, smartphones, and tablets as well as Kindle and other ereaders via file transfer, email, and other methods. You get multiple DRM-free formats (.epub and .mobi) for all books!

Why Bundle Rabbit? Get quality reads: Our curators have chosen works from excellent authors to bundle together in one convenient package.

• Pay what you want (minimum $5): You decide how much these fantastic stories are worth to you. If you can only spare a little, that’s fine! You’ll still get access to a batch of exceptional titles.

• Support authors who support DRM-free books: Bundle Rabbit is a platform for authors to get exposure for their works, both for the titles featured in the bundle and for the rest of their catalog. Supporting authors who let you read their books on any device you want—restriction free—will show everyone there’s nothing wrong with ditching DRM.

• Give to worthy causes: Bundle buyers have a chance to donate a portion of their proceeds to charity.

• Receive extra books: If you beat our the bonus price, you’ll get the bonus books!

Bundle Rabbit was created as a DIY platform for independent authors to effectively promote their books and expand their fan base, as well as enable curators to follow their own vision and create uniquely themed books. Before starting Bundle Rabbit, creator Chuck Heintzelman developed software for over three decades, for small shops as well as Fortune 500 companies.

For more information, visit the Bundle Rabbit website at BundleRabbit.com, tweet us at @BundleRabbit, or like us on Facebook–https://www.facebook.com/BundleRabbit/

Crossposted from my website. If you'd like to comment, you can do so here or there.

Buy a hat

I’ve decided that the next time a writer asks me for that one piece of advice I’d like to give every writer, I’m going to tell them this:

Buy a hat.

No, not because I have some milliner friends who need the support. But because writers, and particularly brand new beginning writers, need to understand the separation of church and state.

Your writing is not the same as your writing business.

These two things have some links between them, but I’ll say it again:

Your writing is not the same as your writing business.

When you have finished your book and it’s time to release it into the world, you must, must, must at that time take off your writing hat and put on your publishing or business hat.

Perhaps you have a pair of steampunk welding goggles instead. Or a leather workman’s apron.

Whatever metaphor or physical object works for you. For some writers, I actually would recommend that they go get a hat or something that reminds them of the difference.

I am not speaking to just indie writers here. Traditionally published writers need to make this same separation.

Writing isn’t the same as business.

I particularly want to remind writers about this when they say that publishing is hard, it takes time, that it’s boring, that marketing frightens them, etc.

If your writer is doing the publishing, absolutely they’re bored with it. All your inner writer wants to go do is go write and play.

Maybe you need more than just a hat. Maybe you need a name for your publisher. A character who you become when it’s time to do those things. Then you need to spend some time developing that second persona. That other personality (call them Ursula) who handles the marketing and publishing and business side of things.

Because Ursula loves to publish. She loves all the geeky nature of learning epubs, of designing covers, of figuring out a new marketing campaign, of getting together with other business people and talking business.

I recently spent a night talking mostly about publishing and the business side of things. At one point, someone brought up something that was about craft.

I could feel the gears in my head grinding. Ker-chunk. Ker-chunk. I actually asked the person about it, pointing out to her the shift from business to craft. I was happy to change gears, but I wanted to make sure that she realized what she was asking.

She merely repeated her question.

I still remain under the impression that the other people listening in on the conversation didn’t understand just how huge of a leap this was. They didn’t have separate hats, separate personas. They didn’t separate out writing from business.

You need separate hats.

Though I try as hard as I can, I cannot do everything. I do not have enough time.

In order to make sure that I do what’s most important for both the writer as well as the publisher, I have separate buckets of hours. The writer’s hours come earlier in the day. I make sure that I write first. Then I have hours that are for the publisher. Each set of hours is sacred to that job. I try not to steal from one set of hours to do stuff that belongs to the other persona.

It’s actually helped me feel less stressed, knowing that I only have so many hours in a day, and I can only do so much.

So buy a hat. Or a cool pair of goggles. Or a fancy tiara. Whatever it is that you need to help you separate out your hours.

Your writing is just that. Writing.

Your business is something else entirely.

Crossposted from my website. If you'd like to comment, you can do so here or there.

Cozy horror

I’ve returned from the week-long anthology workshop. My brain is still pretty mushy. I’m much better this time than I have been, coming back from other workshops. A big part of that is due to my sweetie who took care of me and played supportive spouse.

Part of it was because I slept all through all but one night, which I think is due to me now meditating frequently. Sleep has never been a great friend of mine. This change in my pattern, to actually sleeping regularly, is new to me. We’ll see how long it lasts.

On the drive home, my sweetie and I talked a bit about the workshop, what we learned, the people we’d met and helped, etc. One of the editors had commented on how I’d written some disquieting stories that year.

It made me realize that everything I’ve been writing recently has that same element, that same disquiet.

Blaze asked me if I was a horror writer, and I said no, I’m not. Not really. There usually isn’t a high body count, or blood, or even fear. It’s the cockroaches scuttling in the corner rather than the monster hiding in the dark.

According to Mark Leslie, horror isn’t a genre, but more of a feeling. And I do write with that disquiet, that feeling, that unease, a lot.

I always have. And as I grow more and more into myself, becoming more true to the artist I’ve always been, I have the feeling that there will be many more disquieting stories from me. Those are frequently my most powerful stories. I can’t be afraid to write them, to write about the moral ambiguity that fascinates me.

So we came up with the term “cozy horror.” It kind of describes what I’m doing with that sense of unease. Nothing horrible to jump out at you, but fairies in the garden who have sharp teeth.

And speaking of cozy horror…

I have a short story in a new anthology! “Horseshoes, Hand Grenades, and Magic: Where Close Counts.”

Here’s the blurb for the anthology:

They say “close only counts in horseshoes and hand grenades.” It turns out “close” counts in lots of things, especially when luck and magic get added into the mix.

Anything can happen.

Here are eleven stories exploring that interesting place where close might be close enough, as well as when it isn’t, ranging from high fantasy to the far distant corners of the galaxy.

This is the second CampCon Anthology. Many of these same authors can be found in the first anthology: Tales From An Alien Campfire.

My story, “The Blood Hound” definitely has some of those unsettling moments in it. It’s the prequel/origin story for a novel I recently completed, “The Glass Magician.”

So go! Dive on in! Enjoy these very diverse voices.

Available at your Favorite Retailers.

Crossposted from my website. If you'd like to comment, you can do so here or there.

Blogging…

There have been some wonderful blog posts done on the Women in Science Fiction site recently:

From Laura Anne Gilman, and some of her teenaged influences:

Guest Blog by Laura Anne Gilman

By Judith Tarr, and her influences:

Guest Blog by Judith Tarr

And Anthea Sharp, on loving fantasy and writing:

Guest Blog by Anthea Sharp

And last but not least, mine:

Guest Blog by Leah Cutter

Mine is about my mom, and how she influenced my reading and really, my writing as well.

All these wise words come from wise women, who have written lovely books, which you can find for just a very short time here, in the Women in Fantasy storybundle.

https://storybundle.com/fantasy

Prepare to be inspired…

Crossposted from my website. If you'd like to comment, you can do so here or there.

Three things make a post

NOTE: I am fine. Just bruised and battered.

Number 1:

I fell off a ladder this past Saturday. Got a bruise the size of my palm on my right butt cheek. My right knee was about twice the size as my left. Wrenched my right shoulder and neck pretty good.

What really impressed me is that I hit my right hand so hard my fingertips went numb for about 30 minutes after I fell.

I’ve blogged a couple of times about powering through the pain, when I just keep going no matter what.

Is this one of those times?

Oh, Hell no.

Am I still writing? Yeah, but I’m taking it easy. Taking more breaks. Resting more often. Not trying to get all the word count for the day done in one sitting.

However, I won’t be doing yoga this week. Won’t do my 20 pushups in the morning. Won’t walk my usual 10,000 steps per day.

Generally, I stand most of the day. I have two desks, one for writing, one for production work, both set up for me to stand and ergonomically work on a computer.

I am not going to be standing as much this week. I’ll stand some, but I’m also sitting a lot. Trying to be as ergonomic as possible.

Honestly, if it was just my butt and my shoulder, I might push through.

But it’s my knee. And I always try to baby my knees. It isn’t as swollen now as it was when I first fell. And that’s a trend I want to continue.

I’m still getting up and walking some, otherwise I’ll completely stiffen up like a board. I’m doing the whole RICE thing though–Rest, Ice, Compression and Elevation

This week my mantra is going to be “Have patience”. These sorts of things take time to heal. And though I want to be up and doing things right now I need to take it much more slowly this week, be patient and gentle with myself.

Number 2:

I’m taking signups for my print interiors workshop that starts March 15th. If you’re just starting to indie publish, there’s a lot that goes into creating beautiful print books. I’ll show you the basics and walk you through the steps.

If you’re more experienced and want to go those few extra steps, to make really beautiful interiors, as well as learn more short cuts, this is also the class for you.

Feel free to ping me if you have any questions.

About the Workshops

Number 3:

Women in Fantasy bundle is only going to be around for a short while! If you haven’t gotten your copy, now’s the chance to do so.

https://storybundle.com/fantasy

There have been some neat promotions around this bundle, like the BOGO sales, like Katherine’s excerpts from the books. Now, Kristine Kathryn Rusch is letting the women from the Women in Fantasy bundle blog over on her site, www.womeninsciencefiction.com

Katharine: http://www.womeninsciencefiction.com/...

Leslie: http://www.womeninsciencefiction.com/...

Robin: http://www.womeninsciencefiction.com/...

They’re all fantastic essays, pictures of why fantasy, why these women, why now.

Prepare to be inspired.

Crossposted from my website. If you'd like to comment, you can do so here or there.

BOGO!

I learned a new term this last week – BOGO – stands for Buy One, Get One (free, I’m assuming…)

So I’ve decided to put this term into use!

As some of y’all may have noticed, I’m part of a storybundle right now, the Women in Fantasy bundle. (http://www.storybundle.com/fantasy.)

My novel, “The Raven and the Dancing Tiger” is part of the extended set of books. It’s the first book in The Shadow Wars Trilogy.

From now until 12:00 Noon Pacific Time tomorrow, that is Friday, February 12th) I’m holding a BOGO sale!

Here’s how it works:

1. If you’ve bought a copy of the full StoryBundle, send an email to leah@leahcutter.com with proof of purchase—this can be a forward of the email confirming your purchase.

2. I’ll email you a link to a private page on my website, along with the password, so you can download the second novel in The Shadow Wars trilogy “The Guardian Hound”.

3. If you’ve already got a copy of “The Guardian Hound”, please let me know, and I’ll send you the files for the third book instead, “War Among the Crocodiles.” (If you already have the trilogy, let me know, and we’ll figure out something else to send you.)

For more information about “The Raven and the Dancing Tiger” and to download a free ebook sample, click here:

The Raven and the Dancing Tiger

Thank you one and all for your support! Am so excited to be part of this!

Crossposted from my website. If you'd like to comment, you can do so here or there.