How I Accidentally Wrote a Love Triangle

It’s been two and a half years since my last blog post. Believe it or not, I plan to get back to writing here on a regular basis. You don’t have to believe it yet; I hardly believe it.

Since it’s almost Valentine’s Day, I thought it would be a good time to post about my accidental love triangle. I’ve never talked about this in public before.

If you’ve read Girl of Flesh and Metal, you may have noticed that Lena, the main character, has two guys with romantic interest in her. I never intended to write a love triangle. As I do with most of my stories, I sent an almost-complete version of the book to beta readers to get their thoughts.

In that version, Lena breaks up with Jackson in chapter one, meets Hunter shortly thereafter, and never looks back. My plan for the trilogy was that Jackson would retain his interest in Lena and would become a growing source of conflict.

My beta readers hated Jackson.

I always take issue with movies where the main character and their significant other break up in the beginning, and they were terrible together. I wonder how they stayed together prior to the events of the movie. How were they ever attracted to that person who is an absolute horror and obviously wrong for them? Immediately, my suspension of disbelief is tested.

I didn’t want to write that story.

When I revised the book before publication, I changed virtually every word out of Jackson’s mouth. Lena still breaks up with him, and he’s still a cocky, arrogant jerk. But he’s a cocky arrogant jerk who loves Lena, knows her well, and wants what’s best for her. My goal was to make him a believable ex-love interest.

Unfortunately, I liked the new Jackson. Suddenly, Lena had two viable love interests.

Whenever someone mentions the love triangle in the Flesh and Metal trilogy, I cringe because it was an accident. That being said, throughout the trilogy, the two boys provide thematic contrast, and I love how that worked out.

I’m not telling you how it ends.

No More Blogging, But Get Your Updates Here

I’ve pretty much given up on blogging. I think you and I would both prefer that I spend my writing time writing stories instead of blogs.

Right?

I think the best use of these posts going forward is for updates. I’ll post about cover reveals, pre-orders, releases, sales, and other news of that nature. If you’d rather hear from me more often though, subscribe to my newsletter or follow me on Facebook, Instagram, or Twitter.

Speaking of updates, here’s my tentative release schedule for 2021. Happy New Year!

February 25: Clash of Flesh and Metal (second in series)
March 27: Blood Spells (standalone YA urban fantasy)
April 26: The 5th Timeline (standalone YA science fantasy)
June 25: War of Flesh and Metal (series finale)
September-ish: Flesh and Metal: The Complete Series (omnibus edition)

Coming Soon: Clash of Flesh and Metal

2020 is hard, y’all.

My original plan was to release Clash of Flesh and Metal, sequel to Girl of Flesh and Metal, in October. Obviously, that didn’t happen.

Because 2020 is hard.

I’m now on track for February, and I’m confident enough in that timeline that… the ebook preorder is up! So consider this a combination cover reveal and preorder announcement.

Trust no one.
Especially not yourself.

Despite the warnings and the dead bodies, CyberCorp has shipped the Model One androids to its customers.

They work perfectly—except around Lena.

Each malfunction puts someone in her life at risk. But there’s never any evidence. There’s only Lena’s word that the androids are dangerous. And why would anyone believe her, with her track record?

Then the threats start: someone Lena loves will die. She can stop it, but only if she plays along with a madman’s game—only if she stops the androids and whoever is controlling them…

…before they kill again.

With even more mystery and more suspects than the first book, this second installment in the Flesh and Metal trilogy will keep you enthralled until the last word.

The State of Things: March 2020

It’s March 23.

That means there is exactly one month until Girl of Flesh and Metal hits the shelves. But if you’ve been following along you know that already.

What else is going on?

I’m revising Good Luck and Bad Juju, which is the first in a trilogy about cursed sisters. One of them has to die.

The youngest sister, Raven, sees how the curse has affected prior generations. Her mother survived, but her aunt died. Her grandmother survived, but her great aunt died. Raven sees her mother and grandmother mourn every day, and she doesn’t want that for herself.

She thinks the real curse is to be the one who lives. She’ll do anything to save her sisters, even if it costs her own life.

I’m hoping to get Good Luck and Bad Juju out this fall, and then I’ll turn my attention to some sequels! I already have outlines done for Smooth Vibes and Ill Fates, the sequel to Good Luck and Bad Juju, and for Clash of Flesh and Metal, which—you guessed it—is the sequel to Girl of Flesh and Metal.

Which one should I write next?

Cover Reveal: Girl of Flesh and Metal

I am thrilled to show you the new cover for my upcoming young adult science fiction novel, Girl of Flesh and Metal.

Thanks so much to J Caleb Design for the artwork. I came to him with little more than a description of the book and the main character, and he put together this amazingness.

Without further rambling, here it is, followed by the book description. And BONUS: It’s already up for preorder—and at a discount. If you’re so inclined, you can scroll to the bottom of this post for the link to get it now.

It was supposed to help her—not turn her into a monster.

Now, Lena’s stuck with this cybernetic arm, and her friends are terrified of her.

And maybe they should be.

The arm’s artificial intelligence takes Lena’s thoughts to the extreme. It acts when she doesn’t tell it to, even when she’s asleep.

Ever since she got the new limb, she’s been sleepwalking and waking in odd places. To Lena, this is just another example of how CyberCorp—her parents’ company and the manufacturer of the arm—screws up everything.

As the rollout of CyberCorp’s new android approaches, a murderer targets children of the company’s employees. And thanks to her sleepwalking, Lena doesn’t know what she was doing during the murders.

When the evidence points to her, Lena decides to prove her innocence—or her guilt.

You’ll love this fast-paced young adult sci-fi because the twists and turns will keep you flipping the pages.

Grab it now at the preorder price.

Cover Reveal: Good Luck and Bad Juju

It’s been a while since I published, but here is incontrovertible PROOF that I’ve been busy writing. Among the projects I’m working on is this new Young Adult Urban Fantasy trilogy.

Thanks to Seedlings Design Studio for the amazing artwork.

Here’s the cover art for the first book, Good Luck and Bad Juju, followed by a book description. I hope you’re as excited as I am for its release!

One sister must die.
The others have to live with it.

Hoodoo. Conjure. Folk magic.

Whatever you call it—in Raven’s family, it kills one girl per generation. Raven has two sisters and no plans to lose them. She refuses to become her control-freak mother or her drunk grandmother, who still grieve the sisters and daughter they lost to the curse.

Raven petitions the spirits for protective gifts: empathy for one sister, sight for the other, and Raven gets luck.

When a stranger with a dying son is caught in the petition, his gift makes him unstoppable. The more desperate he becomes, the stronger and larger he grows—and the more he loses control.

In his mind, only Raven, her sisters, and their magic stand between him and his son’s life.

The sisters have survived a hostage situation, a break-in, and countless car accidents, but this man’s uncontrolled strength and obsession are their greatest threat.

Will the girls’ gifts be enough to save them? And if not, is Raven lucky enough to be the one who dies?

You Are Enough!

For some people, the holidays are an amazing time for eating indulgent food and spending time with loving family. For other people, the holidays are hard.

Maybe you ended them feeling bad about yourself.

Quick reminder: you are enough.

As we start the countdown to the new year, a lot of you are making resolutions.

How will you be thinner, more productive, more of what all the ads tell you that you need to be?

You are enough.

You can choose, at any moment in time, to improve yourself. You don’t have to do it just because the Earth has made yet another trip around the sun.

You don’t have to do it because everyone else is doing it. You don’t have to do it for the people who focus on your imperfections instead of all the amazing things about you. And you certainly don’t have to do it just because our society is trying to suck money out of you for gym memberships, weight loss plans, hair-removal packages, or whatnot.

You Are Enough!

So get out there and make 2019 the best you can. I believe in you.

I Will Be Upgraded—And Die Hard Is a Christmas Movie

So despite not being a little old lady, I wear hearing aids, because apparently my ears are defective. In other words, I’m a cyborg enhanced with advanced hearing technology.

Those of you who don’t think this makes me a cyborg are probably the same group who don’t think Die Hard is a Christmas movie, and you really need to rediscover your joy.

Okay, I admit that one has nothing to do with the other. But I just read this article about how 62% of people wrongly think that Die Hard isn’t a Christmas movie, even though it obviously is, and I wanted to publicly point out their wrongness.

And it’s my blog, so I do what I want.

Anyway, today is my doctor’s appointment to discuss upgrading my hearing aids. In other words, I will be upgraded with new, improved super-hearing capabilities.

Now, if I could just figure out how to use this super power for the good of humanity…

How the Geminid Meteor Shower Could Give You Super Powers

First of all, I promise that not all my blog posts will be NASA-inspired, but let’s face it: NASA is awesome. Space is awesome. We are all stuck to a giant rock circling a gianter fireball that is the center of one of billions of galaxies. So basically, there’s a lot to say.

Anyway, NASA reports that tonight is the annual Geminid meteor shower, and stargazers can watch meteors streak across the sky as they enter Earth’s atmosphere.

Geminid Meteor Shower

While you’re out there admiring the marvelous spectacle, rest assured that it is exceedingly rare for people to be struck by meteorites, and try not to think about how the dinosaurs were likely wiped out by an asteroid.

Instead, think of that obviously-true story where that guy gained super powers after being hit by a meteorite. It could happen.

Right?