Konn Lavery's Blog: Posts from konnlavery.com, page 33

Potholes, Not Dead Ends

Three months into the new year and so much planning have
been made to pave the road for what is to come. That is a vague and quick
summary of what I have been up to for 2019. Overall my online activity has been
a bit quiet as of late; this is due to an array of reasons. To paint it with a
broad stroke: the road is filled with potholes, not dead ends.

Welcome to another edition of Unprocessed Thoughts

Life is full of various analogies such as a highway, road, river,
ocean, etc. Life can also be pretty unpredictable
and throw you under the bus without any explanation or reasoning. That’s the
funny thing about life – it isn’t biased. That means it doesn’t love, hate,
judge or favour anyone. At least that is
what I believe, and each person is entitled to their own beliefs in life. One
thing is for sure; we are here as we are
for a short period then eventually death meets us all.

Hence the Potholes, Not Dead Ends

The theme of this blog post is based on one of those life analogies though: the road. We’re all on some path going somewhere whether we know it or not. You might have an idea for what the end destination of that road might be, or maybe you don’t. That’s okay. Get ready for another cliché… it’s the journey that counts! For real though, the path you take is where you are now and says what type of a person you are.

In my case, the end destination progressively becomes less
clear. Kind of like fog on the road, making you drive a little slower, be a
little more aware of what is happening right in front of you. You also don’t know
where the hell the road is going. Thankfully a lot of the hard work that I put
in earlier this year and late last year is offering some clear direction on
where everything is going in my life. It’s like the map.

Next comes the pothole
analogy. Some scenarios came up in my personal and professional life that took
me on a ride, and I was questioning if they were going to put a stop to previously
planned things – like the Calgary Comic Expo in April, or the contract life I’ve
been living. No. Thankfully that wasn’t the case. It turned out to be some bumps
that made the road a bit unstable. The fog is still there, but that’s fine. Eventually, it will clear up, just like the potholes are slowly going away. Pretty vague
huh?

I’ve never been much for sharing every detail of my life
online, nor on the blog. The blog is about my writing journey, discovering new authors and exploring the craft. So the analogy
given for this post is to summarize what we all go through on occasion. We all
get stuck, but if you’re a writer, you’ll keep writing.

This edition of Unprocessed Thoughts is less structured than
the others, mostly because it is a bumpy ride as of late. Good things come to
those that wait though. If you haven’t caught the news, The White Hand, a
Rutherford Manor novel has finished its editing phase and will be entering
formatting – woohoo! More info on the actual release date will be coming down
the pipeline once there are more detailed finalized.

Keep watch for next week;
there’s an exciting tip-based post that will be helpful if you are self-publishing!

Beer Note: Dead Guy Ale Rogue

This beer is based on a German Maibock, sitting at a 6.8% alcohol
percentage. It isn’t hopy – because it is
a Maibock – but it has a rich, deep
flavour that gets better with each sip that you take. If you enjoy bolder beers, this is one that is worth having.

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Calgary Comic Expo 2019

YEGman, Mental Damnation and Seed Me at the Calgary Comic Expo!

I will be heading over to Calgary for the exciting yearly expo of comics and entertainment. This year I will be bringing YEGman, Seed Me Dream and Reality novels for you to CONSUME. I will also be on a couple of panels during the event. Be sure to check the panel guide to find times and days.

Where is the Calgary Comic Expo?

April 25 – 28, 2019

Calgary Stampede Park

Thurs: 4:00PM – 9:00PM, Fri: 12:00PM – 8:00PM, Sat: 10:00AM – 7:00PM, Sun: 10:00AM – 5:00PM

I’ll be in Artist Alley. Booth number TBA

See you all then!

Be sure to grab your ticket to join this exciting event of costumes and pop culture.

The post Calgary Comic Expo 2019 appeared first on Konn Lavery.

Book Signing at Westside Chapters

Head over to Westside Chapters for a meet and greet with the author!

This April 20th I will be at Westside Chapters for a signing of all five of my books. Drop in for a meet & greet the author, artwork, and of course, the books themselves.
When and Where:

Saturday, April 20th from 11:00am – 4:00pm
Westside Chapters
9952 170 St NW,
Edmonton, AB T5T 6G7

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Mercer Warehouse Haunt

Mark is stuck working late while everyone else is off to the
building’s mixer event. The office is inside Edmonton’s famous Mercer Warehouse
that is known to be haunted due to an unsettling history…

Mercer Warehouse Haunt is March’s flash fiction that brings readers into Edmonton’s Mercer Warehouse, following Mark who
witnesses the supposedly true hauntings. Experience the story in written word, audio, artwork and soundscape.

Mercer Warehouse Haunt









Office Overtime

Just one more email,
I thought while hammering away at my keyboard. The night was getting on, most
people had left the building. I was possibly
one of the last ones at the office, well that and the Startup Edmonton space on
the floor above. They often hosted events after hours for their entrepreneur
community. It was pretty cool if you were going down the businessperson route. For
me, even in a small studio, I didn’t have that go-getter attitude that everyone
seems to have around me. All I want is to clock in, do my job, and get home. I
also wasn’t a fan of the big corporate factory. So, unfortunately, I am part of
a small team, which meant overtime.

Footsteps echoed from the hallway outside the office. “Mark!”
came a man’s nasally voice, easily recognizable as my co-worker Gabe.

“Yeah?” I called out, still typing rapidly on my keyboard.

Gabe appeared from around the corner, his frizzy hair
bouncing with each step he made.

“How’s the event upstairs?” I asked, clearly able to hear the muffled voices of the people upstairs mingling. The wooden floors weren’t
that soundproof.

“Good! You should have joined. Some potential hires if we
get big enough.”

“I’m sure Todd would love to hear that.” I used my trackpad
and hit send on the email. Leaning back in my chair I pushed my glasses up and
looked at my colleague who stared back.

“They’re wrapping up the event. Alice and I thought we could
go down to Mercer Tavern for some drinks, you in?” Gabe asked.

I looked down at my computer screen to see one half of the
screen had the email software open – with over two dozen unread emails from
today. The other half had a word document I was working on before the blast of
emails arrived at the end of the workday.
As tempting as it was to go get piss-faced with my coworkers after a long shift,
I knew I shouldn’t. The fact that our office was in the same building as a pub
didn’t help the temptation. The Mercer Warehouse was a fantastic historical
structure.

“I would love to, but I got a pile of work to do here,” I
said, brushing my slicked-back hair aside. I really didn’t want to stay and
work, but I knew better.

“Save it for tomorrow!” Gabe said with a toothy grin.

“You know Todd would have my head if this briefing isn’t
written for the dev team. I got to get this done.”

Mercer Tavern Fun

Footsteps came from down the hall until a third person
entered the room. Alice, the brunette intern we hired. Damn. That’s really the
best way to describe her. I tried not to stare at her hips wrapped in a tight
skirt as she walked in. I had work-place ethics.

“Mark,” Alice said. “What are you still doing here?” she
asked in a playful tone.

I waved my hands at the laptop. “Just getting this work
done. There’s a lot we haven’t even gotten through.”

“Told you,” Gabe said. “Mark just can’t look away from that
screen.”

Alice smiled at me and shook her head. “Don’t work too late, okay?”

I smiled at her, “yeah.” As
if the pub wasn’t tempting enough, I thought. I had been so wrapped up in
work that I didn’t know Alice had stayed at the Start-Up
Edmonton event. I’d love to get her out for a drink.

A loud thud came from upstairs, causing the three of us to
jump.

“Christ,” Alice said while placing her hand on her chest.

Gabe scratched his mustache, saying, “someone has had one
too many drinks up there.”

I shook my head. “That sounded like it was on this floor.
Anyone else still here?”

“Not that I am aware of,” Alice said while waving her hand
to create a slight breeze.

“Who knows, this place is full of sounds throughout the day.
Just extra spooky at night.” Gabe said.

I unbuttoned the upper button of my shirt and exhaled,
feeling whatever heatwave Alice was getting. For whatever reason, the building’s furnace decided it was a
good idea to crank the floor with warmth. This place was getting close to being
100 years old, who knows what kind of quirks it has. Between the original brick
walls, the wood floors, elevators, various floors, and many rooms, this place was as mysterious as when my clock-out time
was going to be.

“Okay, someone blasted the heat,” Alice said waving her hand.

“Probably one of those ghosts in this building,” Gabe said.

“What?” Alice said. “There are no ghosts here.” She looked
at me for confirmation.

I shrugged at her. “I have no idea about the history of this
place.”

Gabe scratched his head. “I swear, it was something about a
fire in this place when it was a stable. Tragic.”

“A stable?” I snorted. “This is a brick building with four
floors. It doesn’t exactly look like one.”

Gabe shook his head. “Look, that is all I have been told.
People talk about it all the time here.”

“I never heard of anything like that,” I said.

“Me either,” Alice said.

“Maybe it’s just small talk,” Gabe said. “Look, it’s getting
way too hot here. I’m going for a cool drink.”

Alice nodded. “Maybe if you’re done early come find us
downstairs,” she said before turning to leave.

“Thanks,” I said.

Gabe waved goodbye at me. “Remember to lock up when you’re
done.”

“Of course. Have a drink for me!” I called out as he left
the open-space office.

Gabe gave me a thumbs up as he walked out of our office and
down the wooden hallway, leaving me with my work. At least I presumed I was
alone on the floor – what was that thud noise? I wasn’t sure if it was worth
investigating or not. Probably not. Being overworked and tired had a way of
making you paranoid. Plus, I had so much work to do that I didn’t see taking a
break was very optional. Maybe a piss break at some point. That is all.

Working Horse

I continued to hammer away at the keyboard, working on the creative-brief document for the development
team. At this point in the day, I had probably been at work for a good twelve
hours. Time seemed to pass by as an abstract concept while my eyes watched the
digital alphabet glyphs pop up on the screen with each key I pressed. When did
Alice and Gabe come by? An hour… or two hours ago? I honestly could not
remember. I entered a trance. A mundane, work trance.

I could use that beer,
I thought. The temptation of joining my co-workers at the Mercer Tavern below
was rising again. Piss break.

I got up from my seat while hitting the save button. A
stretch and bathroom break wouldn’t hurt anyone. I was making good progress and
deserved a break. Time didn’t matter at this point. No matter how late or early
I left, no one cared, as long as the work got done.

Some heavy-walker in high-heels began to stomp on the floor
above.

“Jesus,” I muttered to myself while checking the time on my
smartphone, it was just about midnight. The heat in the building hadn’t exactly cooled off either. Now that I wasn’t
glued to my computer screen, I could focus on the temperature. I was unsure if
it got hotter or if I was paying attention to it now. Regardless, I had
pit-sweats now. That’d be attractive to Alice.

I walked out of our office and down the hall towards the
restroom. All of the other office doors were now shut and locked – everyone
else had gone home for the day. I really was the last one on this floor,
possibly the building – minus the tavern below.

Another stomp came, reverbing off the empty hallway walls.
The sound was more substantial than a
high-heel, like a pole hitting the ground. It was close, more levelled than the ceiling.

That wasn’t the floor
above, I thought, knowing well off that the Startup Edmonton event ended
hours ago. It’s got to be the old pipes.

Sighing, I pushed the strange sound of my head and went for
the bathroom. On this floor, it was a shared one-stall option. Sure, there were
two stalls, but they were both in the hall, facing away from each other. This
building tended to be forward thinking and introduced shared bathrooms. I
didn’t lose my shit over it like some people. To me, when you had to go, you
had to go.

Entering the bathroom, I flicked the light on, put my phone
on the counter, and closed to door. Lifting the toilet lid with my foot, I
undid my pant buckle and took care of business. Relief. The moment passed.
Flushed. Lid dropped.

THUD!

The sound outside the bathroom caused me to jump, and I snagged my pants to keep them up.

THUD! THUD! The bathroom door pounded.
Its entire shape pushed inward with each pound it made.

“Cut it out!” I
called out. It had to be Gabe pulling some stupid prank.

THUD! THUD! THUD! Came the sound from behind the door again. The
temperature drastically increased, and I
could feel sweat dripping down my face. A snort came from out in the hall, followed
by the same thudding from earlier.

“Alright! Give me a moment,” I called out. Those drunks. I buckled up my pants and
washed my hands then swung the door open. The hall was empty. I flicked my wet
hands and glanced down both ways of the hall
to see no one.

Oneness with Mercer Warehouse

“Hello?” I called out, wiping my forehead of sweat.

Silence.

“Gabe? Alice?” I said while walking down the hall towards
the staircase. This didn’t make sense. It had to be one of them pulling some
joke on him. The floors needed a key to get in at this hour. It had to be
someone who has access to the building.

I opened to door to the stairwell and looked up and down the
steps – no one. This end of the hall was clear. I closed the door and picked up
my pace and hurried down the other end of the hallway. The heat continued to
rise, leaving me a soaking mess.

“This joke isn’t funny anymore!” I shouted while reaching
the other end of the hall. No one. Every office was locked, as it should be. I
was stumped.

“Clearly I’m working too late,” I mumbled to myself.

Despite the heat, I had to get the work done. Even though I
had a laptop, I needed the files that were on the server. There was no option
other than to work in this overheating environment.

Sighing, I returned to the office while airing out my
shirt.  I entered the office, noticing an
intense grey haze that started to gloom over the space. I took a sniff to smell
the subtle scent of smoke.

Smoke? Heat? It finally
hit me – the building was on fire. Instantly I clued in that I had left my
smartphone on the bathroom counter. Without hesitation, I rushed to leave the
office to get my cellphone. Before I
could make it to the office entrance, a large pile of wood collapsed in front
of it, blocking me inside. Intense heat, piercing flames, and smoke shot
through the cracks of the collapsed timber,
forcing me to shield myself with my arm.

A whinnying sound pierced through the sounds of flames
followed by an echoed thumping. The smoke thickened drastically, making it
difficult to see anything other than a few feet in front of me. I coughed
violently while bringing my shirt up to my face, trying to keep my head low.

Heavy trotting picked up inside the office followed by the crashing
of desks and computers. I looked up to see through the haze was the silhouette
of a massive steed stomping through the
office.

What the…? I
thought. It had to be the lack of oxygen. That was the only logical
explanation.

The creature galloped towards me, knocking over my desk and
sending my laptop to the ground. Flames burst from the animal’s nostrils and
eye sockets like some sort of hell creature. The animal neighed while its long
mane bounced with each step it made.

I jumped to the side, trying to dodge the stomping animal.
The attempt was too late. The animal reached my being and moved through me like
a spectral. It left a trail of flame with each step of the hoof as it trotted.
My face collided into the ground, face first, causing me to skid on the wood.

This can’t be it,
I thought to myself. It was the only words I could process. The rest were
memories. Reminiscences that were not my own. It was as if another entity had
pierced into my psyche and was filling my mind with visuals of farmers, horses,
and fire. Emotions of fear, agony, and distress washed over my body. The
impression of loss and confusion was all that was left. The fires around me
continued to light up until there was nothing but brightness, not even the heat
could be felt anymore. The whinnying sound of a horse echoed through my mind
followed by a heavy thud.

The poor animal.
Burned alive, I thought. The creature’s agonizing death played through my
mind. The animal’s soul was communicating with me. It was trapped within these
walls. The horse channelled through my
being. I was this animal.

An instinctual sensation pulsated through my body, and I lifted my head up. Resting on my knees, I
screeched an ear-piercing neigh as the fire began to consume my form.

Reality Check

Mark! A voice echoed my head.

“Christ, Mark!” the voice shouted once more. This time it
was more distinguishable. The sound didn’t originate in my head. No. This was
my co-worker. He was in the room with me. He was in the fire.

“Gabe!” I used all my strength to spring to my feet. “Get
out of here!” I shouted, looking towards the hallway. The office door was wide
open. There was no collapsed wood. Alice walked towards me from the doorway,
wide-eyed.

A hand touched my shoulder, causing me to flinch. “Mark,” came
Gabe’s voice. “What on earth are you screaming about?”

I looked over to see the man was beside me.

“What?” I asked, glancing around. The fires, the horse, the
smoke – all of it was gone.

“Are you okay?” Alice asked.

“I… I don’t know,” I said while wiping my face.

“You were shouting on your knees,” Gabe said while laughing.
“This briefing got you that rattled up?”

I didn’t answer, still looking around the office. Everything
was left as is. The desks were upright, and the computers were on top, unharmed.
How? I thought.

“You’re drenched in sweat,” Alice said. “Maybe you should
take the day off tomorrow.”

“Or maybe the heat hit you,” Gabe said. “Lucky we went back
up here to check on you.”

“Yeah,” I said. “It had to be the heat.” Did I just
shout like a horse? I thought, now feeling sheepish that my co-workers had
found me in such a bizarre state. I could barely process what had just happened
to me.

Sure, I could tell my co-workers that the whole floor caught
fire, wood began to collapse around me, a
horse-ghost appeared on the third floor, and channelled
its essence through me, but that was crazy. Ghosts weren’t real. At least that
is what I try to tell myself. If that were true, then what was the vision I
had? What was the sensation of oneness I had with a creature I had never met
before?

Maybe I would never have any answers. I could only accept what I saw and felt: the impression of an animal in agony, sharing it story with me of burning in the fire at the Mercer Warehouse.

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Scarlett Holloway – Savagely Sweet Romance Author of Policy of Truth

This month’s guest author is Scarlett Holloway who has now
released her debut novel, Policy of Truth.
She has grown up on the Central Coast and has always had a dream of seeing her
name on the cover of a book. She brings her past into the words in her writing,
Let’s learn more about that and welcome Scarlett Holloway to the blog!

Thank you for joining us Scarlett Holloway, can you give us a brief introduction to yourself?

–waves- I’m Scarlett, but we knew that already lol. These questions are always soooo hard, I never really talk about myself, and I’m more interested in everyone else. Hmm, I am currently living in the south, I am married and have 3 children─4 if you count the husband. I am a lover of all things cupcakes, glitter, coffee, unicorns and bunnies.

Your first novel release, Policy of Truth has just come out. Can you share with us a bit about the new book? 

Oh my. Of course. Let’s see here … The book takes place in a fictional city that I created in the Mojave, based on Edwards, Calif. It is about an all-female motorcycle club that is one of the first to wear the 1% diamond. Policy delves into their lives and how it is to go up against a male dominated world and be successful. The main character is Tamra ‘Durty’ Simons and her struggle in the club with maintaining some form of a relationship with a guy who is a plant (or spy) from their support group.  It’s about the lies told and having to find a way to overcome it and keep the love that she has tried to avoid, and found she honestly needs it.

Have you written any previous, unpublished work? If so what type of stories have you written?

Yes, I have. It’s Dark PNR that I am actually releasing March 25th. I have a cozy mystery that crosses with the motorcycle series, and I have another series that I will be releasing this year that is PNR based on an island that is inhabited solely by supernaturals.

You also have a saga in the works, can you share more about what readers can look forward to?

I do. It is a soap opera styled series that is a mixture of some night time soaps that we all have loved.

For aspiring authors, what type of advice would you give a first-time author?

Never give up. No matter what anyone ever tells you, never stop writing. Always research any publisher or agent before you submit and make sure they are a right fit for you.

Let’s thank Scarlett
Holloway for joining us again to the blog!

You can find her work on her website, amazon, and the
various links below:

Website: scarlettholloway.comAmazon:amazon.com/Scarlett-Holloway/e/B07MMG...Twitter: twitter.com/ScarlettsSongInstagram: instagram.com/ascarlettssongFacebook:
facebook.com/thescarlettholloway

The post Scarlett Holloway – Savagely Sweet Romance Author of Policy of Truth appeared first on Konn Lavery.

Dissect Your Book Reviews

Reviews. The double-edged sword that can make us authors
feel like we are soaring through the skies or it can have us feeling as if we
are crashing to the planet’s surface. Reviews are challenging to get. It can be
like pulling teeth to get honest reviews from your
readers. There are unethical ways to get
reviews. Other people do review exchanges. Sites like Amazon and Kobo change
their review policy overnight, and you
lose your reviews! When you finally get those honest reviews, they might not be
pleasant. You might get a one star or a five star. Why are the reviews so extreme and what do you do with this
information? This is why we will look at
how to dissect your book reviews.

Fast-forward on the ‘How To’

As the intro mentioned, there are plenty of ways to get reviews – which we are not here to discuss. There are many discussions about the ever-changing policies on distribution sites and methods of obtaining reviews. There is plenty of advice on how to get reviews from your readers. Let’s fast-forward to say you have reviews. What do you do with them? Are they helpful or hurtful?

Looking at Reviews

I wanted to cover the idea of
not looking at your reviews briefly. Some authors I have met do believe
that you shouldn’t look at the reviews because it will tamper with your
creativity and style. Yes, this is true. If you take the feedback on the book
to heart, you will start to change your writing style to try and appeal to an individual
or group of people that just aren’t your
audience. This is why we are going to
look at how to analyze your reviews critically.

Understanding your book’s reviews

For the sake of simplicity, we will stick with Amazon
reviews. The platform is a playing field most
people are familiar with being on. Book reviews
on Amazon can help your ranking on the chosen genres and encourage people to
read more about your book. What does the review
say to you though, as the author?

Your book’s reviews tell you a lot more information rather
than what is just on the surface, most of the time. A good review is defined by the constructive criticism it
offers. The five stars and the one stars don’t help much if there isn’t a lot
of backing information in the content itself.

Knowing What to Look For

To dissect your book reviews, you need to break down what
people are trying to say. Are they expressing their personal opinion (subjectively
analyzing) the book? Alternatively, are
they providing valuable feedback (objectively looking at the book)? If the reviewer is subjectively analyzing the book
in their review, then they are expressing their opinion, and their thoughts aren’t to be taken into full consideration. Below are
some extreme examples of subjective reviews.

Good Reviews

If you are given a
bunch of five-star reviews on your book, this can begin to look fishy to
potential readers. Especially if the reviews lack any substance other than “this
book was great!” “What a page turner!”. As lovely
as these are to the ego, they aren’t going to do you any good when it comes to
your craft. If you have good reviews, look for what they think was right in
the book and why. This will tell you far more about what you are
doing right with your audience than blanket statements about how great the book
was.

Bad Reviews

The same theory is applied
to bad reviews. In a hypothetical, simplified situation, if your erotica novel has
a one-star review that says something along the lines of “there was too much
sex.” That type of one-star review is stating
the obvious about your book. This could also
be said for books that are too scary and
are in the horror genre. That is kind of
the point of the novel.

These types of reviews might come up because someone gave
your book a chance from searches or other sources, or perhaps you gave them a
review copy. Regardless, these intense one-star reviewers are most likely not
your target audience. So, don’t take this information to heart.

What Do You Look for In Book Reviews?

Now that we have covered subjective analyzations. Objective-based reviews are very similar to creative critiques – from the design world or reading groups – they will be far more specific about what worked and what didn’t work in the book. This is why the two-to-four-star reviews can offer so much insight into you as a writer. Often there’s more thought put into them. Notice how most rating systems moved to a thumbs up and thumbs down?

Some example points to look for in a review are:

What scene did/didn’t they like, and why?What characters worked? Which ones didn’t?The book didn’t
draw them in because…The writing style
was too ___ because…

The examples above are a few which
follow the same formula: a topic and a reason.
This is the basis of any good
constructive criticism or form of a debate. The same theory applies when you dissect
your book reviews instead of reading the extreme
reviews that send you through a rollercoaster of emotions.

Keep A Thick Skin

As mentioned earlier, reading reviews aren’t something you
need to do at all. They can help if you do not have a strong peer support
group. They can also be damaging if you do not know how to navigate through the
trenches of harsh words or empty praises.

If you choose to read your reviews, read them with caution.
Learn to read past the empty statements if there is no why to their what.

Additional Thoughts?

Any thoughts on your experiences with reviews? Do you read
them? If so, are they helpful to you?

The post Dissect Your Book Reviews appeared first on Konn Lavery.

No Pain No Gain

Post number two with testing speech to text. So far, it has been a challenging experience. Like other authors say, it is a completely different way of handling your thinking process. While writing with a keyboard, you enter a trance where words are processed differently rather than when you are talking. This state of mind is something most writers are familiar with. Speech to text is not like this. I suppose is all part of the learning curve – which is one of my main writing goals for the year. As they say, no pain no gain.

Welcome to another edition of unprocessed thoughts.

Another new tool that I had obtained was the Scripture tool and that is the super powerful word processing software. I had mentioned it in the previous unprocessed thoughts and I still have yet to try it on a new manuscript. The third software I’m exploring is called Sigil. It is for formatting e-books which offers a lot of technical automation that will save you hours of time set up trying to mess around with XML and HTML. Using Sigil, I experimented with getting my books back on the iBooks. Seed Me is the first one that I am working on with revising. Just waiting to get final approval from the iTunes store, crisscrossed!

The interesting thing about any sort of creative pursuit is you are, in my opinion, always required to learn and grow. If you don’t your process will become stale and your work will remain the same. Because of this, theory, craft, and new technology are vital to continue learning so you can a better and faster writer.

Growing pains

much like exercising where you feel your muscles burn. Learning anything becomes a difficult task. Since the unprocessed series are a collection of raw thoughts my writing career. You are going to see a lot more posts about these growing pains I will go through. I simply have to remind myself to keep a no pain no gain attitude. It is easier to keep this mentality when you are exercising. The end goal is much more direct.

Keep Writing

While learning these new tools, I am still writing! They are just difficult to incorporate into my current process. Unfortunately, with my current process, I have felt that I have hit a wall and need to explore outside methods. So, keep watch on how this all goes!

Beer Note: White Wolf Witbier

Truthfully, I picked up a case of this beer when it was on sale. Turns out is an Alberta beer that is a white ale if I recall correctly. It is an easy sipping beer and is easy to down a couple. Otherwise it doesn’t have a lot of unique flavour. The design does catch my eye though (the designer in me is coming out)!

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Book Signing at Strathcona Chapters

Head over to Strathcona Chapters for the first signing of 2019!

After the first DeadbyCon, I will be having the first book store signing on March 17th at Strathcona Chapters (Whyte Ave) for a signing of all five of my books. Drop in for a meet & greet the author, artwork, and of course, the books themselves.

When and Where:

Sunday, March 17th from 11:00am – 4:00pm

Chapters Strathcona

10504 82nd Avenue,

Edmonton, AlbertaT6E 2A4

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New York Times Bestselling author Tosca Lee’s New Novel, The Line Between

Last May we had Tosca Lee join us to discuss her writing career and her novel, The Progeny. Now we welcome her back to celebrate the release of her new thriller novel, The Line Between. The Line Between is described as a frighteningly believable thriller which explores a disease re-emerging from the melting Alaskan permafrost to cause madness in its victims. Cool! Let’s welcome Tosca Lee back to the blog and learn more about her new novel.

Thank you for joining us Tosca Lee, can you give us a brief introduction to yourself?

Hi, Konn! Thank you for having me back!

I’m a bi-racial girl who loves to eat, adores her husband and four step-kids, lives on a farm where she’s allergic to everything, hates to go to bed but loves to sleep in, watches too much TV, eats too much salty food, is named after an opera, despises washing her hair, and makes stuff up for a living.

We live with a rotund black lab named Charlie, a giant German Shepherd named Timber, and a cat that drools when you pet her.

Tell us about your new novel, The Line Between, and how is it different from your previous work?

The Line Between is the story of Wynter Roth, a 22 year-old woman who’s been turned out of a self-contained doomsday cult on the American prairie. She emerges into a world poised on the brink of madness as a mysterious outbreak of rapid early onset dementia spreads across the nation. For Wynter, it seems like the apocalypse she’s been taught to fear all her life—until the night her sister shows up at her doorstep with a set of medical samples and Wynter learns there’s something far more sinister at play.

It’s a story of action, conspiracy, a touch of romance, and questions of whom—and what—to believe.

This book is different from my others in one major fact: it’s set in the Midwest where I live.

Was this novel in familiar territory for you, or did you have to push your boundaries while writing it?

In a way, it was a homecoming for me. My books have been set in Israel, Yemen, Ethiopia, future Rome, Europe… the closest to home I’d ever come was Boston. So in one sense, this is very familiar territory as it happens in Iowa, Nebraska (where I live), and Colorado. It’s about an apocalypse with rural and agricultural factors—and I’m married to a farmer.

What was the main inspiration that sparked the creation of The Line Between?

In 2017, soon after Firstborn (the sequel to The Progeny) released, I met with my publisher in New York to talk about what was next. I had a short list of favorite story concepts—the idea of a cult escapee starting over and a pandemic rising from the permafrost among six or seven others. My publisher said, “I like both of those. I think you should put them together!”

It worked out strangely well! I wish I could take credit for the combination, but it was my publisher’s idea.

What do you have in the works now? A sequel or something new?

Right now I’m working on edits for the sequel to The Line Between—A Single Light. It releases September 17 and includes my favorite fictional character I’ve ever written. I can’t wait for you to meet him!

You currently have 11 books available, what is your personal favourite?

I used to say that it’s like kids—you can’t pick a favorite. And that still holds true. Though these days it’s the one I haven’t written yet—the one you’re about to embark on.

Let’s thank Tosca Lee for joining us again to the blog!

You can find her work on her website, amazon and the various links below:

Website: www.toscalee.com
Amazon: https://amzn.to/2IoO7BZ
Twitter: www.twitter.com/toscalee
Facebook: facebook.com/AuthorToscaLee
Instagram: instagram.com/toscalee
Pinterest: pinterest.com/toscalee

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Listen to Me – Part Two

After learning about the vicious epidemic seen on television, Janet and Craig soon discover that the violence has reached Mega Speed Print. The phone lines don’t work, the law enforcement is overwhelmed. Janet and Craig are on their own.

Listen To Me – Part Two is Februarys flash fiction that continues from Listen To Me – Part One. The story brings readers into an end-of-the-world themed thriller. Experience the story in written word, audio, artwork and soundscape.

Listen to Me – Part Two









Backup

Janet and Craig stared at one another for several moments
while the sounds of screams echoed from the backroom of the print shop. Only
two rooms apart, someone’s life was being taken away from them. Their
co-workers, people who they saw every day were now fighting for their lives,
and Craig and Janet just stood in their office, listening.

What do we do?
Janet thought. She wanted to just run and
get as far away from this chaos as she could. She also knew that there wasn’t
anywhere to go. The TV showed the streets of London were far worse than the
print shop, and the police weren’t
picking up the phone.

“I want to try my mum,” Janet said, snagging the phone from
Craig’s hand.

Craig scratched his neck and looked towards the entrance of
the office room. “We might want to focus on what is right in front of us.”

Janet ignored his comment and punched the numbers of her
mum’s home line and waited. The phone rang for several moments before a crackly
old voice picked up, saying, “Hello, you
have reached the residence of Lacey Harkovitch…”

“Voicemail,” Janet muttered while pressing on the hook to
dial a new number. She had friends, ex-boyfriends,
and family. She wasn’t alone in this situation and wasn’t going to give up just
yet.

“Janet,” Craig said.

Janet punched in a number to her cousin’s and listened to
the phone ringing again.

“Janet,” Craig said once more.

Janet raised her index finger, hoping it would silence Craig
so she could try and get anyone on the line. She didn’t want to listen to whatever Craig had to say. He liked to ramble
and small talk, so it was easy for her to shut him off. The phone continued to
ring with no answer.

“No one is picking up!” Janet said. “I’ll try John,” her
voice ended in a groan. The thought of her recent ex made her sick. At this point, she was willing to try anyone. She
needed to hear a familiar voice.

“Janet!” Craig said sternly as he pressed on the hook of the
dial, preventing her from making any more calls. The change in action from
Craig caught her attention. He never acted out so intensely. He pointed to the
other room, saying, “I think whatever we saw on the telly is happening right in
the print shop. We best jet from here for our own safety.”

“I know,” Janet said.

“Then why are you still trying to dial different numbers?”
Craig asked.

“I want to know if my loved ones are safe, I think.”

“So, you tried John?” Craig asked raising his eyebrow.

Janet let out a sigh and looked to the ground. “Alright,
alright. I am scared! What the hell is going on, Craig?”

Craig pushed his glasses up with his finger, saying, “I
don’t know, but we probably shouldn’t
stick around here much longer. Whoever is out the in the backroom is still
here.” He glanced around the office room, looking at the different desks. His
eyes locked onto a hole puncher and rushed over to the desk and snagged the
office supply. “We need weapons,” he said, shaking the hole puncher, causing
paper fragments to fall out of the bottom.

“That’s not much of a weapon, Craig,” Janet said.

“Better than anything we have right now,” Craig said. “Come,
stay behind me. There’s two of us and one of them.”

The Great Escape

The man crept with caution towards the office entrance. This
was real, Craig was going to investigate. Janet had to follow. A part of her
wanted to just hide under her desk and hope for the whole damn thing to blow
over. At the same time, she couldn’t just leave Craig to fend for himself.
Whoever was out there just took out at least two people on their own, who knows
what type of madness was out there. Craig needed her to back him up.

Janet took a deep breath, thinking, you got this. She mustered up the courage and snagged her purse
from the desk, she couldn’t leave that behind. She took a step forward, feeling
every thread of the fabric of her
clothing move against her skin. The adrenaline rushed through her body and
amplified all of her senses.

The two reached the entrance, Craig took a step forward,
exposing himself to the other room. He continued to move slowly, keeping the
hole puncher held high, ready to strike. Janet entered the lobby, looking
around to see that the room was empty. No customers were in view. The chairs
were left as is. The entrance and the back room were eerily quiet. Usually, phones were ringing, clients were
talking, and the loud machinery of the printers was
going on all throughout the day. Now, there was only silence.

Janet took another step into the lobby and caught notice of a
pool of blood oozing from behind the front desk where an older lady’s hand lay limp on the ground. That
had to be Candice. The front desk monitor was missing. The keyboard, mouse and
various papers were scattered over the surface area. There was a struggle here.

Janet lightly tapped Craig’s shoulder, causing him to jerk
slightly. “Look,” she said quietly, pointing at the hand.

The two walked as one up to the counter and leaned over to
see their boss was on the ground with glass shards in her skull. Blood oozed
down her face beside the broken monitor. Her neck was red and blue, and some of her clothes were torn.

“Is she alive?” Janet asked.

Craig looked at her with a cold stare, saying nothing. His
silence was enough for her to know what he was implying. Candice, their boss, was
indeed dead.

“Should we check the back room?” Janet asked.

“Yeah, let’s see if anyone else is alive,” Craig said.

“Do you think? There was Candice, you, me, Mark, Daniel and
Dan.”

“Don’t forget about Richard.”

“Was Richard working today?”

“I believe so.”

“Okay, okay.” Janet looked at
the front entrance. “Okay,” Janet said while unbuckling her purse. She searched
through it until she located her keys, feeling them jingle in her hands. “I can
drive is around back?” Janet said.

“What for?”

“So we can approach it from the other end?”

“Maybe the killer is out back,” Craig said.

“I’d prefer if we didn’t run into them,” Janet said.

“We have to if we want to save everyone else,” Craig said.

“What is our plan here?” Janet snapped. “Honestly I want to
get my car and get the hell out of here.”

“I say we go check on the others, besides I parked in the
back,” Craig said.

“What?” Janet exclaimed.

“Hush!” Craig said.

“Why would you park in the back?” Janet asked.

“Because Candice was getting upset that the staff were
taking up all of the front parking for the customers. I was just trying to keep
the boss happy!”

A crash came from the back room, catching their attention. Craig held the hole puncher up high
and stared at the back room just behind the front desk. The printers and
shelves stacked with empty paper stocks could be seen from the doorway.

Company

“Someone is still back there,” Craig said. “Come on, let’s
go check it out.”

“Craig, no, please.
Can we just get to my car?” Janet begged.

Craig shook his head and took a step forward and then
another. Janet looked at the front entrance and then at her co-worker who
walked around the front desk, vastly approaching the back room doorway. She
couldn’t leave him behind.

“Damn you, Craig,”
Janet whispered under her breath. She hurried up to catch to Craig, carefully
creeping around the front desk and Candice’s body. Janet caught up to her
co-worker and slowed her pace to match his.

Craig glanced back at her and then forward as he stepped
into the back room. The printers were
still on, but they weren’t processing any of their jobs. The workers in the
back were nowhere to be seen.

“Let’s check behind the next aisle, where the paper is kept,” Craig said while walking towards the
next aisle, separated by shelves of paper stock and completed print jobs.

The sound of an object beating against something was now heard as they approached the new aisle.
Craig slowed his walk down as he came up against the side of the shelves, a
pace away from appearing down the hall. The
pounding was louder now. It sounded like some kind of flesh.

Janet looked at Craig and took a deep breath. She wasn’t
sure what she was supposed to expect on the other side of the shelf, but she
knew they were soon to find out.

“Careful,” Craig said. “As one.”

The two synchronized their movement, both peeking around the
shelf to see that a tall, gangly man with
dark hair was on his knees, forehead against the floor. He raised his head up slowly, blood dripping from his face, and
then slammed it back down onto the concrete, causing his face to crack and
blood to splatter onto the floor.

Friends Are Crazy

“Mark?” Craig whispered.

“Look,” Janet said, nodding to two bodies behind the man.
“Can you tell who those are?”

“That red sweater, Dan for sure. I think the other is Daniel
from his height.”

“Where is Richard then?” Janet asked.

“I don’t know,” Craig muttered.

Mark let out a loud shout and stood up from his kneeled
position. He continued to shout, throat tensing up and face squishing inward as
he clenched his fist. He repeatedly slammed his fists into his bloody face. Coating his hand in a mixture of blood and
saliva.

“Why is he doing that?” Janet asked.

“Maybe we can check the security camera? See what happened,”
Craig whispered.

“Do you know how to access them?” Janet asked.

“No, Candice always has the key. Maybe it is in her office.”

“I say the hell with
it,” Janet said. “Let’s get out of here.”

“What about Richard?” Craig asked.

“He’s not here. We checked the lobby and the back room.”

Mark let out another loud shout and picked up speed, running
in their direction.

“Look out!” Craig said, ducking back, pulling Janet with him.

The shouts grew louder as the footsteps thundered. Craig
tightened his grip on his hole puncher, ready to attack. Mark dashed from the
aisle and away from Craig and Janet, charging straight into the shelf against
the wall. His impact caused the structure to wobble and topple down onto him,
burying him in paper stock and wood. Pieces of paper flew off the shelves and
into the air, scattering in random directions. Janet and Craig took several
steps back, looking down to see that Mark was buried
entirely by the paper and shelves.

“What was that about?” Janet asked.

Craig shook his head. “He has gone completely mad. I’ve never seen anything like it.”

“Is he dead?” Janet asked, taking a step closer.

Craig grabbed her wrist. “Don’t. I think it is safe to say
he isn’t exactly conscious right now.”

A knock came from the exit leading to the lobby. The noise
caused both of them to jump, spinning
around to see a larger man with a neckbeard raise his hands up.

“Guys!’ he said.

“Richard!” Craig said while relaxing his arms. “Where the
bloody hell were you?” he asked.

“In the washroom,” he shook his head. “Jesus, what is going
on? I locked myself in when I heard all the chaos.”

“You chicken shit,” Janet cursed.

Craig and Richard look back at her, squinting at the sudden
harsh language.

“I mean, it’s good to see you,” Janet said with a forced
smile. The words even surprised Janet. She wasn’t usually one to lash out at
people. Perhaps all the chaos and stress from work and this epidemic was making
her a little loopy. Regardless, here they were, the last of Mega Speed Print.
Now they could finally leave work. It’s
not like the boss could give them grief for leaving early The country was in chaos.

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