When I started writing If A Butterfly Don't Fly, it was supposed to be a fun stand alone story.  I wanted something different in tone and texture to my dragon books, but I still wanted that same sense of wonder and adventure.  The ideas for Underhill bloomed from that.  Underhill is the hidden world where the fae live, accessible only through a magic mushroom circle, and I really enjoyed building the magic of Underhill into a vibrant setting.  However, I knew Underhill would have to interact with the human world, so I also focused on finding out how Underhill's culture and beliefs would intersect with those of the human world.  As you'll see in If A Butterfly Don't Fly it's not always smooth, but it's always going to be fun! 

As I continued to write Butterfly, I realized Underhill needed more than one book to fully explain what it is and how it works.  The way Butterfly was written expects the reader to already have some understanding of the world of the fae, and Butterfly wasn't the appropriate vehicle to fully convey it all.  Instead, I set Butterfly aside for a while and wrote the prequel, Kelpie Blue.  When I finished Kelpie Blue and returned to Butterfly, Underhill had expanded into an even more wondrous place.  I was able to convey so much more about the fae, and about why they're in the human world, thanks to Blue and Rin in Kelpie Blue.  Merridy and Fion from Butterfly certainly appreciated all I could suddenly add to their relationship and their story, and If A Butterfly Don't Fly became one of my favorite books from then on. 

Fun Fact:
All the song lyrics in If A Butterfly Don't Fly are original.  Songs are often used in movies and TV to convey or evoke some sort of deeper reaction from the viewers.  While I can't create the heart thumping reaction of the actual sounds (like the Jaws theme song so effectively does), I tried to use the words themselves and how I inserted certain stanzas into the text to build drama or emotion.  Based on past reviews of Butterfly, I think I was pretty successful, but I'm eager to hear whether you think the same too! 

The reprint of If A Butterfly Don't Fly comes out on April 5th, but it is already available for pre-order at NSP.  If you buy with NSP, you will get your copy today.  It will be available in ebook and print from most major retailers in just three short days. 

Magnified started as an experiment.  Most of the books I write fall within the 20k to 40k word range, and I wanted to know what a story I wrote in the 60k range would be like.  I also wanted to know whether I was capable of writing a novel-length story.  From that desire, I crafted Magnified. 

Learning how to elongate the story with additional scenes of drama, pulling the story together around a pair of budding romances, and creating an enemy threatening everything they stand for was unlike anything I had ever written before.  Or since.  Magnified took a lot out of me to write, and challenged my abilities in ways I hadn't dared try before.  The results awed me, and to this day Magnified remains one of my personal favorites of the stories I've written. 

I admit, after writing Magnified I was happy to return to the world of happy dragons and simple romances, but I soon returned to the challenge to write the sequel, Justified, and will return once more to write the last book in the series, Codified.  The challenge teaches me new techniques that I then bring to my books about happy dragons, so I am pleased whenever I have the time and energy to focus on Magnified once again. 

Fun Fact: 
I wrote the prologue for Magnified first and submitted it to LT3 as a 10k word short story.  LT3 liked it, but told me it didn't have enough romance for their press.  They asked me to rewrite it and try again.  The ideas for adding werewolves and wizards to the vampires I had already introduced blossomed, and the challenge of creating a novel-length book bit me.  Over a year later, and an additional 50k words written, I resubmitted Magnified.  I told LT3 the story was a bit different to last time, and they responded with: A bit?  The rest, as they say, is history, and now NSP is republishing Magnified so a whole new set of readers can enjoy this wonderful story. 

Magnified comes out on March 1st in ebook and print at most major retailers.  You can pre-order it today from NSP and get it three days early! 

12/26/20

My next re-release with NineStar Press is a book called Kelpie Blue.  It is available for pre-order right now at NSP, and comes out on December 28th.  You can pre-order, check out the official summary, and read an excerpt HERE. 

Kelpie Blue is the first book in my Out of Underhill series, but it wasn't supposed to be.  When I first started writing about Underhill and the chaotic overlap between the worlds of fae and human, I was working on a book titled If A Butterfly Don't Fly.  Butterfly was supposed to be a stand alone novel, but after starting to dig into the story I came to a realization: there was too much content without full backstory!  Basically, Butterfly was reading like a sequel.  Luckily a happy kelpie came frolicking by at just the right time.  Blue was a loveable, flesh-eating kelpie who just wanted a hug and to maybe take a large bite out of your shoulder.  He also wanted his story, and he wanted it now.  I couldn't say no. 

Kelpie Blue took a long time to write.  I had to do a ton of research about horse racing and rearing.  I had a massive chunk of plot written and was about to move onto the next section when I thankfully took a moment to look up horse gestation and had to quickly add a few months into the story.  The Celtic magic and creatures were also really interesting.  Blue's character and personality evolved a ton the more I learned, but I also changed a lot about Rin too. 

Fun Fact: Rin's name was originally Brin.  My first editor said Brin and Blue sounded too similar, and they recommended I change one.  Brin therefore became Rin. 

Kelpie Blue will be coming out in just two days, and you won't have to wait too long until If A Butterfly Don't Fly comes out in March!  Don't forget to pre-order Kelpie Blue today at NSP, and it will be available at all major ebook and print retailers on December 28th.