Books coming your way, also Izzy had never screamed...
and she didn’t break that habit now.
And just like that, it’s the end of May.
How has your May been? I’m not going to lie, this is the first month of 2024 where I’ve accomplished NOTHING!
I blame it on life stuff - we’re currently hunting for our next home and it takes everything from you.
Still, here’s an update, and scroll down for a little peak of something completely different…
New-y News
I say not a lot has happened, but there’s so much going on in the background.
There are two Christmas romances coming out towards the end of this year 🎄
I’m working on polishing the first in my new paranormal cosy mystery series, and will be starting the second book soon. They’ll be available once I’ve gotten a grasp on the series.
The BIGGEST news is that Crash’s story is finally going to get told. I’m back working on the No Masters Or Kings series, and if you know Crash, you can probably guess her feelings on that (she still won’t shut up about it).
So while there’s nothing to shout about right now, it’s all coming.
You can still grab Beginnings, the first book in the Erica and Jess series, for 0.99 wherever you get your ebooks.
(Except on Apple, which I can’t figure out. Sorry about that.)
Reviews mean so much, and Erica and Jess have only just left the exclusivity of Amazon. They could use your help with reviews and ratings.
Thank you!
Still, I wanted to share something fun with you
I went hunting on my hard drive for my old fiction. Novels that never saw the light of day but still live in my head, ready to be rewritten one day. And I found the story of Izzy and the Devil, arguably my first complete, written book that I actually submitted to agents!
Looking back at it, I can see why it was rejected. Wow!
But the story is still fun. So here is the recently heavily-edited beginning of the book, when Izzy gets a fright.
Hit the heart or leave a comment if you’d like to know more about Izzy. Hers is a story I definitely want to revisit one day, although I’m not sure if it’s more of a light-hearted fantasy-comedy or something of a supernatural thriller.
I’ll leave you with it.
Thank you for being here, and don’t forget to subscribe if you haven’t already (and get your free fantasy novella). I’ll be more organised for June!
How’s he doing that?
Izzy sensed him before she saw him. She sat still, her hands gripping the steering wheel, her knuckles white. She swallowed hard as the calm part of her brain thought through her predicament. She was close to the door handle, it wasn’t locked. That door, on the other hand, was locked.
The car had been locked.
How had he got in?
He?
Maybe she was assuming. You should never assume. She glanced sideways at the person in the passenger seat. A man smiled warmly at her. She turned back to the steering wheel and her knuckles.
Yup. He was a he.
She coughed to clear her throat as waves of panic and hysteria swam through her, threatening to burst out in a series of embarrassing reactions. She took a deep breath and loosened her grip on the steering wheel, her right hand falling idly onto her lap. Her fingers aching for the door handle.
‘How did you get in my car?’ she asked.
Before the man could answer, Izzy had opened her door and leapt out. She ran as fast as she could across the car park, down an alleyway and then stopped, jumping from one foot to the other in thoughtful panic as she looked for somewhere to go.
The storage shed behind the restaurant!
Pulling the key from her pocket, she fumbled with the lock, ran in and shut the door behind her. Closing her eyes, she rested her back on the wooden door, trying to quietly catch her breath.
She opened her eyes to the darkness.
The man smiled at her again.
Izzy had never screamed and she didn’t break that habit now. Instead, she emitted a high-pitched yelp.
‘How?’ she gasped, her lungs aching from the adrenaline. The man smiled.
‘Hello, Isolde. Do you know who I am?’
There was a long pause.
‘Well, obviously not!’ she shouted. The man’s smile didn’t falter.
‘My name is Gabriel.’
Izzy nodded, her breathing still a little heavy as she looked him up and down.
‘And how do you know me?’
Gabriel grinned and looked at Izzy’s chest. Izzy, breath restored, felt her arms rising in defence. One hand brushed against something hard pinned above one breast. She looked down at her name tag.
‘Oh.’
‘I knew your name without looking, Isolde. I—’
‘—Please don’t kidnap me,’ she blurted, her mind racing.
Gabriel laughed.
‘There will be no kidnapping. You don’t have to do anything you don’t want to. We only ask that you consider our proposal.’
‘Proposal?’ Izzy’s hand was searching for the door handle.
Gabriel allowed a silence as he bowed his head. He looked back up at her and met her eyes.
‘Our Lord Almighty is watching you, Isolde.’
Eyes wide, Izzy swung open the door and ran as fast as she could back through the alleyway. She jumped in her car, slammed the door, had an argument with her key until it finally slotted into the ignition and reversed the car a little too quickly. The car screeched as she drove away.