​I've decided to get back into doing #SlapDashSat on Twitter, and I like the excerpts I came up with for it this week. I think they set the setting, tone and characters for my upcoming novel, Upholding the Covenant, pretty well.

Here they are:

1.

"I know why you're here," the Imperial ambassador said tersely. "You want to convince Karushra to rebel."

"Their allegiance is their choice," Orennian replied smoothly. "Give the same respect and protection the Empire always has, and they'll make the right choice."

---

2.

The Path-Guide accepted his offer graciously, then ordered that it be divided into two bowls. "By tradition, the guest eats first."

An act of cunning practicality, disguised as generosity. Any who sought to poison him must be prepared to poison themselves.

---

3.

A Charishi kitten bounded past Orennian on all fours. The Wandering Days, he recalled from his studies; pre-bipedal kittens went through a phase of independent exploration, with every nearby adult responsible for their safety. The child of one was the child of all.

---

4.

Screams split the air, and Ambassador Orennian lunged into a run.

He had to find the source before it was too late. He wouldn't be like the Imperial military, who ignored Charishi in distress.

He flung open the flap of the tent... and found a woman giving birth.

---

​5.

Ambassador Orennian strode slowly through the streets, head high and chin level. With every step, his back was ramrod straight, his posture perfect, his measured movements careful and smooth.

They had to be. If they weren't, the kitten on his head might fall off.

---

If you want to stay up to date on all the new excerpts and developments for Upholding the Covenant, be sure to follow me on my social media channels!

Do you love getting sneak peeks into novels, but hate downloading files?

​Then I've got something special for you:

​Excerpts of all four of my novels can now be read directly on my site, without downloading anything!

​Two of the excerpts are funny, and the other two are more eerie, ominous and poetic. Scroll down to see the descriptions of each book, and to get links to the free excerpts:

​In this humor novel for cat lovers, straight-arrow college student Sam accepts the offer of free rent in exchange for taking care of Nyla, a woman with the ears, tail and mindset of a cat.

If you own and/or love cats, this is your chance to watch someone else experience the same feline foibles and misadventures you've probably endured... and you get to laugh at it, because this time, you aren't the one who has to clean it up.

​I don't have cover art for this one yet, but you can read the excerpt by clicking the button below:
​

Note: The excerpt links all open in a new tab, so you can click on them without losing your place on this blog post. 'Cause I like to make things easy for you. ;)

​In this dark twist on the superhero genre, Alexandra deceives an alien supervillain into abducting her instead of her closest friend.

For the supervillain, the abduction was supposed to be a routine crime to lure his superpowered nemesis into combat. Instead, he finds himself in a battle of wits with a playfully snarky, insightful reporter who wants to know why he's kidnapping humans... and she won't stop teasing him and getting herself captured until she finds out.

In the excerpt, you'll watch her cheerfully sarcastic snark barrage collide with his stoic, solemn facade, and get a taste of the mysteries that Alexandra will unravel as she digs to the core of a web of lies far crueler than her own.

Amid the ruins of a destroyed building, a young woman finds a fresh corpse, a tightly-bound prisoner of war with a bloody knife beside his one free hand... and a deadly choice to make.

She knows this man is dangerous, and yet she’s drawn to him. He needs her help, and for a person who’s spent a lifetime defining herself by being strong for those who need her, that is enough.

Read the excerpt to witness their first meeting, the beginning of a journey that will end with either her saving him, or the fugitive taking her down with him.

​

I hope you enjoy these excerpts! If you do, please share them with your friends. And if one of them makes you want to see more, just purchase the book and download your copy, and you can start reading within minutes.

I'm happy to announce that the first round of editing on Catgirl Roommate is complete! :) If things go according to schedule, the final round of editing should be done within two months.

If you want to get a sneak peek into the novel, you can download a free excerpt by clicking the button below:

As I get near the end of the writing and editing stage, now I have to consider what kind of cover I want. I've been thinking of various funny scenarios the cover could portray - I want something that shows Sam's and Nyla's personalities, while giving an at-a-glance peek into the comical chaos that the Sam's life has become.

I'll probably upload some concept art in the near future, so hopefully I'll be able to get your feedback on which cover you like best.

In the meantime, enjoy your free excerpt! And if you want to pre-order your copy of Catgirl Roommate at half price, you can do so by clicking the link below:

I have something special for you today: a free excerpt from my upcoming book, Catgirl Roommate!

​In this excerpt, you'll see the bizarre and hilarious first meeting between Sam, a responsible straight-arrow college student, and Nyla, a woman with the ears, tail and mind of a cat.

She's innocent, eccentric, and entirely opposed to wearing clothes. He's persnickety, shocked, and entirely freaked out.

Grab your free excerpt to watch the fun.

“Promise you won’t tell anyone?”

When those dangerous words left her friend's mouth, Alexandra had no idea that they'd result in her telling a lie that could get her killed.

But with her childhood friend's life on the line, and a front-row seat to a battle between aliens within her reach, it was a chance she wasn't about to miss.

In fact, it was something she'd wanted for a long time.

Ever since the extraterrestrial superhero and his nemesis entered the scene, she'd suspected that hers weren't the only lies being told. Something is off about this otherworldly rivalry, and she's going to find out what.

Today, in an excerpt from Heroic Lies, a friend's perilous secret throws a mischievous reporter, an enigmatic alien villain, and a shapeshifting superhero into a room together.

Click the button below to download the excerpt and see what happens.

Great news! I'm over a quarter of the way through the second round of editing of Heroic Lies, and I expect to be done by the end of December.

In the meantime, if you're curious about the novel and you want to read an excerpt while you wait for it to come out, you can now download a free sample by clicking the button below:

In the next few months, I'll be adding a lot of new Heroic Lies-themed stuff to the site, including concept art, the book cover, and of course, the novel itself, as soon as it's ready.

I also plan to make character profiles for all three of my novels, complete with images and a chance for you to ask questions and get to know them better.

I'm excited about all the great stuff I'll be sharing with you. In fact, I'm ready to start sharing right now! You see, when I first sat down to write the first draft of Heroic Lies, I actually got stuck for a while because I had no idea what Zorei looked like. I knew all about his backstory and personality, but I wasn't sure how to describe his physical appearance.

So before I even started to write, I took some time to let my pencil and my imagination work their magic, and after some confusion and a few discarded drafts, Zorei was born. I haven't fully colored him in yet, but if you're as curious as I was to see what the antagonist of Heroic Lies looks like, here he is, in all his not-yet-colored-in glory: