Kate Avery Ellison's Blog, page 8
November 15, 2014
What's Coming Up Next
Hi everyone!
I wanted to give you guys some updates on what will be coming out in the next few months.
I'm making good progress on For Wreck and Remnant (Secrets of Itlantis #4) and hopefully that will be released around Christmas/New Year's.
After that, I have another novel (title TBD) that's been on my hard drive that I love very much and hope to have polished up and released. More information on that later. Hopefully that will come out in Jan/Feb if all goes well.
After that... I'm going to be taking a bit of a breather on writing and working for a tiny bit because of another work in progress I've had going on for a while. A baby! Starting in late Feb, I'm going on maternity leave for a few months.
I will be working on the sequel to A Gift of Poison as I can get to it while the baby boy is napping or being cuddled by his daddy, and of course once I come "back to work" I'll work on that in earnest. I plan to release that in 2015, maybe as early as late spring if all goes well. We'll see.
After all of that, I've got even more cool things cooking in my brain and I'm so excited to write them and share them with you all. So stay tuned! Sign up for the New Releases Newsletter if you want to stay up-to-date on all new releases, or like my facebook page, or check back with this blog.
Happy November!
I wanted to give you guys some updates on what will be coming out in the next few months.
I'm making good progress on For Wreck and Remnant (Secrets of Itlantis #4) and hopefully that will be released around Christmas/New Year's.
After that, I have another novel (title TBD) that's been on my hard drive that I love very much and hope to have polished up and released. More information on that later. Hopefully that will come out in Jan/Feb if all goes well.
After that... I'm going to be taking a bit of a breather on writing and working for a tiny bit because of another work in progress I've had going on for a while. A baby! Starting in late Feb, I'm going on maternity leave for a few months.
I will be working on the sequel to A Gift of Poison as I can get to it while the baby boy is napping or being cuddled by his daddy, and of course once I come "back to work" I'll work on that in earnest. I plan to release that in 2015, maybe as early as late spring if all goes well. We'll see.
After all of that, I've got even more cool things cooking in my brain and I'm so excited to write them and share them with you all. So stay tuned! Sign up for the New Releases Newsletter if you want to stay up-to-date on all new releases, or like my facebook page, or check back with this blog.
Happy November!
November 4, 2014
New cover
So I designed a new cover for my Frost short story "Survival Lessons." Here it is:
Also, Frost is still on sale (for a very limited time!) so grab it if you haven't!
Also, Frost is still on sale (for a very limited time!) so grab it if you haven't!November 3, 2014
SALE!
Hi everyone!
To kick off Nov, Frost (The Frost Chronicles #1) is on sale at just $0.99 for a limited time. If you haven't read it or know anyone who might want to read it, now is the time!
In the icy, monster-plagued world of the Frost, one wrong move and a person could end up dead—and Lia Weaver knows this better than anyone.
After monsters kill her parents, Lia must keep the family farm running despite the freezing cold and threat of monster attacks or risk losing her siblings to reassignment by the village Elders. With dangers on all sides and failure just one wrong step away, she can’t afford to let her emotions lead her astray. So when her sister finds a fugitive bleeding to death in the forest—a young stranger named Gabe—Lia surprises herself and does the unthinkable.
She saves his life.
To kick off Nov, Frost (The Frost Chronicles #1) is on sale at just $0.99 for a limited time. If you haven't read it or know anyone who might want to read it, now is the time!
In the icy, monster-plagued world of the Frost, one wrong move and a person could end up dead—and Lia Weaver knows this better than anyone.
After monsters kill her parents, Lia must keep the family farm running despite the freezing cold and threat of monster attacks or risk losing her siblings to reassignment by the village Elders. With dangers on all sides and failure just one wrong step away, she can’t afford to let her emotions lead her astray. So when her sister finds a fugitive bleeding to death in the forest—a young stranger named Gabe—Lia surprises herself and does the unthinkable.
She saves his life.
October 27, 2014
New Paperbacks!
Hi everyone,
If you like the feel of paper between your fingers, the paperback versions for both With Tide and Tempest and A Gift of Poison are now available for purchase!
If you like the feel of paper between your fingers, the paperback versions for both With Tide and Tempest and A Gift of Poison are now available for purchase!
October 24, 2014
And the winner is...!!
And the winner of the giveaway is...
..................................
Christine DeLong!
Christine's winning entry was a tweet. She was chosen using random.org.
Congrats, Christine, your name will be in the dedication of my next book.
..................................
Christine DeLong!
Christine's winning entry was a tweet. She was chosen using random.org.
Congrats, Christine, your name will be in the dedication of my next book.
October 21, 2014
Procrastination
My life right now whenever I go to a cafe or library to write...
October 17, 2014
Fall Creative Energy
Hi everyone!
I've been really busy with personal things for the last few months, so pretty much the only work-related stuff I've done has been working on writing projects and editing and releasing my latest book. Hopefully I can be more present online now. I'd like to blog more, for instance.
October is here, my favorite month, and it's given me a burst of creative energy. I've started making art on deviantART again. I've missed that, and it makes me really happy.
I've read a couple really good books lately, so look for my thoughts on those.
Hope you're all enjoying your fall so far.
I've been really busy with personal things for the last few months, so pretty much the only work-related stuff I've done has been working on writing projects and editing and releasing my latest book. Hopefully I can be more present online now. I'd like to blog more, for instance.
October is here, my favorite month, and it's given me a burst of creative energy. I've started making art on deviantART again. I've missed that, and it makes me really happy.
I've read a couple really good books lately, so look for my thoughts on those.
Hope you're all enjoying your fall so far.
October 15, 2014
Want your name in the dedication of my next book?
Hi readers!
I juuuuuust released a new novel in between working on my latest in the Secrets of Itlantis series. It was kind of a spur-the-moment decision for an old manuscript, and I'd like some help spreading the word about its existence. So I thought I'd have a giveaway. It's pretty simple: enter to win by doing one of the requirements, and you could be mentioned in the dedication of my next book.
Good luck, and happy reading!
a Rafflecopter giveaway
I juuuuuust released a new novel in between working on my latest in the Secrets of Itlantis series. It was kind of a spur-the-moment decision for an old manuscript, and I'd like some help spreading the word about its existence. So I thought I'd have a giveaway. It's pretty simple: enter to win by doing one of the requirements, and you could be mentioned in the dedication of my next book.
Good luck, and happy reading!
a Rafflecopter giveaway
October 14, 2014
NEW RELEASE A Gift of Poison available now!
A Gift of Poison is here!!
As the orphaned niece of a cruel lord, Briand is the scapegoat of the castle. She has few friends and even fewer options, and every day is a struggle to stay ahead of trouble caused by malicious guards and irritable castle servants.
Briand is set to be banished to the wildlands, a death sentence, when she when she accidentally unlocks a hidden power and involves herself in a rebel plot and her life abruptly changes.
Imprisoned in the company of a band of rebels, Briand must do what seems impossible: call up sleeping dragons in the north. But the fearsome Prince's assassins called Seekers are looking for her, Briand doesn't know if she can trust the mysterious, enigmatic rebel leader Kael, and there might be a traitor in the rebels' midst.
I truly love this book, you guys. I wrote it a few years ago and decided to revisit it this summer and revise it for release. I have a crush on Kael, and a deep and abiding love for a couple of the other characters that makes them some of my favorites I've ever written. This book a bit of a love letter to my teen reader self, who loved girl-power fantasy books like The Blue Sword and Crown Duel.
Also, I've enrolled it (for now) in Kindle Unlimited/Lending Library, so if you're a prime member you can read it for FREE.
As the orphaned niece of a cruel lord, Briand is the scapegoat of the castle. She has few friends and even fewer options, and every day is a struggle to stay ahead of trouble caused by malicious guards and irritable castle servants.
Briand is set to be banished to the wildlands, a death sentence, when she when she accidentally unlocks a hidden power and involves herself in a rebel plot and her life abruptly changes.
Imprisoned in the company of a band of rebels, Briand must do what seems impossible: call up sleeping dragons in the north. But the fearsome Prince's assassins called Seekers are looking for her, Briand doesn't know if she can trust the mysterious, enigmatic rebel leader Kael, and there might be a traitor in the rebels' midst.
I truly love this book, you guys. I wrote it a few years ago and decided to revisit it this summer and revise it for release. I have a crush on Kael, and a deep and abiding love for a couple of the other characters that makes them some of my favorites I've ever written. This book a bit of a love letter to my teen reader self, who loved girl-power fantasy books like The Blue Sword and Crown Duel.
Also, I've enrolled it (for now) in Kindle Unlimited/Lending Library, so if you're a prime member you can read it for FREE.
October 2, 2014
Excerpt from A Gift of Poison
Hi everyone,
I hope you are enjoying your October, wherever you are. Here in Atlanta the weather is perfect for writing--a little windy, a little cool.
I will be posting short excerpts from A Gift of Poison over the next weeks. That book comes out soon!! In the meantime, I'm still working on #4 in the Secrets of Itlantis series, For Wreck and Remnant.
Background: the main character, Briand, has been playing Dubbok again, which she is forbidden to do. She's taken before the steward by one of her uncle's men. Here's the scene.
EXCERPT:
They reached the door to the steward’s chambers. Tibus lifted one massive fist and knocked. He didn’t lessen his crushing grip on Briand's wrist. She dangled at his side like a captured rabbit.“Yes?” The muffled voice from within sounded irritated.“Excuse me, sir,” Tibus said. “There’s been a disturbance. Pieter’s niece—”It was all he got out of his mouth before the door was wrenched open, and her uncle’s steward stood there glaring at them. The words “Pieter’s niece” were always enough to catch his immediate attention, for he’d learned they might be followed by the words “stolen horses” or “knife fight” or “complete pandemonium.” Briand wanted to shrink behind Tibus, but she forced herself to stand straight as the steward leveled his gaze at her the way some men might point a sword—to ensure obedience.Kael was perhaps the youngest steward ever to command the castle, but he was also without a doubt the most feared. She heard stories whispered about him in the kitchens and on the ramparts, how he could kill a man without a sound, how he had dissenters flogged mercilessly. Now the young man himself stood before them, not much older than her cousin, Bran, slim but with the look of lean muscle to him, his thin face cold and without expression as he looked at them both over the tops of his reading glasses. Most of the serving girls in the castle said he was handsome, giggling about him as they worked, but Briand thought he was fearsome. His black hair was gathered away from his face, and his sharp gray eyes were frosty as he scanned them both, taking in the situation.Tibus waited. The men behind them waited too, shifting restlessly. No one dared make a sound with Kael’s cool gaze on them all.The steward tapped one hand against his leg. “Well? Come in, unless you want to keep standing here for the whole bailey to stare at.”Grunting, Tibus stepped over the threshold, yanking her along. She stumbled, pitching forward onto the soft carpet that covered the floor. She stuck out her other hand to break her fall, and then glared up at them both.The steward’s quarters were normally as plain as the rest of the original keep of the castle, but Kael had made efforts to improve them. The fire in the grate blazed and snapped. Drawings of airships and steamboats were tacked behind the oak desk, and embroidered tapestries covered the walls, providing color and warmth. Bri also suspected the images on the tapestries, which showed dragons disemboweling unlucky knights, served a third purpose of instilling the proper fear into those who were dragged before the steward for punishment. She stared at the lush green and gold pattern of the carpet.“Well, what happened?” the steward asked, going to his desk. He spoke with the air of a weary martyr, but she wasn’t fooled. He was angry at the intrusion, and he was hiding it behind a pretense of simple annoyance.She shifted nervously.The steward took his glasses off, folding them carefully and sliding them into a pocket on his vest. He propped both feet up and folded his hands behind his head. Beside his booted feet Briand saw the remains of a late-night dinner and a pile of parchments. A mechanical curiosity, a timepiece or other, sat half-dismantled on the desk, cogs and other bits of metal scattered across the wood as if the steward had been in the process of examining them when Tibus had knocked, even though the night was late and the fires burned low.He never slept, it seemed.Tibus cleared his throat and gave her a little shake. “This wretched girl—”“Not you,” the steward said to Tibus. He looked at Briand. “Why have you been dragged in to see me? Have you been climbing the west tower again? Or were you stealing bread like the last time?”“Dubbok,” she managed.“Gambling is reckless, irresponsible behavior.” The steward’s voice was sharp. She dropped her eyes.“The losers chased her across the ramparts and over the wall. She climbed up one of the dragon statues.” Tibus’s voice had just the barest hint of admiration now. Bless him. She wondered if the steward heard it too.“Ah. No wonder they call you Catfoot,” the steward remarked.
I hope you are enjoying your October, wherever you are. Here in Atlanta the weather is perfect for writing--a little windy, a little cool.
I will be posting short excerpts from A Gift of Poison over the next weeks. That book comes out soon!! In the meantime, I'm still working on #4 in the Secrets of Itlantis series, For Wreck and Remnant.
Background: the main character, Briand, has been playing Dubbok again, which she is forbidden to do. She's taken before the steward by one of her uncle's men. Here's the scene.
EXCERPT:
They reached the door to the steward’s chambers. Tibus lifted one massive fist and knocked. He didn’t lessen his crushing grip on Briand's wrist. She dangled at his side like a captured rabbit.“Yes?” The muffled voice from within sounded irritated.“Excuse me, sir,” Tibus said. “There’s been a disturbance. Pieter’s niece—”It was all he got out of his mouth before the door was wrenched open, and her uncle’s steward stood there glaring at them. The words “Pieter’s niece” were always enough to catch his immediate attention, for he’d learned they might be followed by the words “stolen horses” or “knife fight” or “complete pandemonium.” Briand wanted to shrink behind Tibus, but she forced herself to stand straight as the steward leveled his gaze at her the way some men might point a sword—to ensure obedience.Kael was perhaps the youngest steward ever to command the castle, but he was also without a doubt the most feared. She heard stories whispered about him in the kitchens and on the ramparts, how he could kill a man without a sound, how he had dissenters flogged mercilessly. Now the young man himself stood before them, not much older than her cousin, Bran, slim but with the look of lean muscle to him, his thin face cold and without expression as he looked at them both over the tops of his reading glasses. Most of the serving girls in the castle said he was handsome, giggling about him as they worked, but Briand thought he was fearsome. His black hair was gathered away from his face, and his sharp gray eyes were frosty as he scanned them both, taking in the situation.Tibus waited. The men behind them waited too, shifting restlessly. No one dared make a sound with Kael’s cool gaze on them all.The steward tapped one hand against his leg. “Well? Come in, unless you want to keep standing here for the whole bailey to stare at.”Grunting, Tibus stepped over the threshold, yanking her along. She stumbled, pitching forward onto the soft carpet that covered the floor. She stuck out her other hand to break her fall, and then glared up at them both.The steward’s quarters were normally as plain as the rest of the original keep of the castle, but Kael had made efforts to improve them. The fire in the grate blazed and snapped. Drawings of airships and steamboats were tacked behind the oak desk, and embroidered tapestries covered the walls, providing color and warmth. Bri also suspected the images on the tapestries, which showed dragons disemboweling unlucky knights, served a third purpose of instilling the proper fear into those who were dragged before the steward for punishment. She stared at the lush green and gold pattern of the carpet.“Well, what happened?” the steward asked, going to his desk. He spoke with the air of a weary martyr, but she wasn’t fooled. He was angry at the intrusion, and he was hiding it behind a pretense of simple annoyance.She shifted nervously.The steward took his glasses off, folding them carefully and sliding them into a pocket on his vest. He propped both feet up and folded his hands behind his head. Beside his booted feet Briand saw the remains of a late-night dinner and a pile of parchments. A mechanical curiosity, a timepiece or other, sat half-dismantled on the desk, cogs and other bits of metal scattered across the wood as if the steward had been in the process of examining them when Tibus had knocked, even though the night was late and the fires burned low.He never slept, it seemed.Tibus cleared his throat and gave her a little shake. “This wretched girl—”“Not you,” the steward said to Tibus. He looked at Briand. “Why have you been dragged in to see me? Have you been climbing the west tower again? Or were you stealing bread like the last time?”“Dubbok,” she managed.“Gambling is reckless, irresponsible behavior.” The steward’s voice was sharp. She dropped her eyes.“The losers chased her across the ramparts and over the wall. She climbed up one of the dragon statues.” Tibus’s voice had just the barest hint of admiration now. Bless him. She wondered if the steward heard it too.“Ah. No wonder they call you Catfoot,” the steward remarked.
