Hearts on Fire; Draconia Rising is published!

Hello everyone, and Bright Blessings! I promised I'd write an update soon, and this one is some fantastic news! As of today, "Hearts on Fire; Draconia Rising" is finished and going through the publishing process at Barnes and Noble. I finished it two days ago actually, but my hands and my brain needed a break before I did some editing and published the work. In 772 hours the E-book version will be available to purchase and I will get everyone a link after that. the print version is being worked on, as I have to create a PDF version of my book cover and make sure all of my formattings are correct. After nearly a year of writing this one book, the Hearts on Fire Series is going to take a back seat a bit, while I work on a new "Darkened Path" installment, and begin another personal venture with my husband. We have decided to dip our toes into the Paranormal Investigation field and see where that little journey takes us. Based on how good that goes, I might write a book about that as well...

The synopsis for the newest book is as follows;

"The Second Installment of the Hearts On Fire Series take a wild turn for what may be the worst…

Can Tristan Mckinley step up to the heavy weight of becoming the newly crowned ruler of Draconia? Will Serena learn to love the man he has become? How far will the High Council go, to ensure that all of their carefully laid plans fall into place? Serena and Tristan find themselves in a twisted plot of betrayal, lies and deception involving the very people that were supposed to be their greatest source of aid. The bonds of trust and honor are tested to the limits, as they race against time to discover who is thier ally and who is the enemy.

Anna, the displaced and shamed former High Goddess of Draconia, promised revenge, and she vowed on her life to find the means to wreak havoc on the new king and his entire kingdom. From the depths of the Abyss, will come Tristan and Lucan's greatest and most lethal adversary, whom is bent on the annihlation of Draconia and all within it. The Prophesy of The Scarlet Queen is set to become a reality.

Serena,  now bequeathed the title of Queen of Draconia and Divine Mother. must now take on the challenge of her new role, and learn the tasks of strengthening her magic and her as of yet untapped full potential of her power, as the High Creator bid of her, so that her and Tristan's love can truly blossom into what it was always meant to be. The future of Draconia and of Earth lay in her womb, for she carries the divine seed of a God Incarnate. Will she and Tristan lead Draconia to its greatest rise of power, or will they lose Draconia to the depths of the Abyss?

I have another announcement as well, I have unpublished all of my books and any work of mine off of Amazon. My sales and other stats there have never taken off, and I decided it is time to search for new platforms and publishing opportunities. For now, I will publish my work with B&N and Smashwords, as I am familiar with them.  When you consistently see no results and lack of sales it is time to pull up stakes and move on to something else. Well, for now, my lovelies I have to go, as the witches work is never done. It is 5:25AM, and it's time to start a new day.

"Hearts on Fire; Draconia Rising " is nearing completion!

Hello everyone and Bright Blessings! I apologize profusely for being absent for so long. That mundane thing called "life" that we boring  humans have to slog through on a regular basis, has kept me hopping around like a deranged rabbit trying to find it's way through a maze. I have also been working diligently on making my side business, Sacred Star Herbs and Curios, more than just a part time side gig. I have had moderate success with that so far, but I would love to see it become a full time 40 hour a week endeavor. It will get there eventually, I just have to keep plugging away at it.

A slight setback in my college courses, has unintentionally given me a much needed break to get other things done that were falling behind. I intend to sort out that problem with the school, and re-enroll by the end of October. I'm not going $30K in debt just to not graduate, that would be unacceptable. I know a lot of college students burn out and just end up dropping out,and other things happen that prevent them from keeping up with their courses, and a host of other issues, but that is not me, I can't bring myself to do it. Take a break yes, drop out entirely, nope , not happening if I can avoid it.

 March 13th we adopted a sweetheart in the form of a black teenage kitty named "Grimm" from the shelter. She is supposedly about 2 years old, however her 7 pound petite frame suggests that she is not quite that old yet. "Grimm" is quite the oxymoron, as she exudes a aura of sweet innocence and   has a shy yet loving demeanor. She is sometimes still skittish,jumpy, doesn't like being held too much, and shows signs of not having such a great life before we got her. Those first couple of months were hard on my heart, watching her spook and run at the slightest thought of someone trying to snatch or chase her, she acted like my husband was out to get her, or he was going to hurt her.That lead me to believe she might have been abused or treated badly by a man or something traumatic happened to her causing some concerning PTSD type behaviors. The funny part to me is that  LOVES  my hateful mood swinging Smokey, and he in turn loves her in his own surly way. I never thought in my life that he would ever allow another cat in the house, let alone form a reasonable sort of affectionate bond with one. He will be 6 in December, so perhaps he is mellowing out in his middle aged years. In contrast , Grimm has a very quiet and squeaky voice, whereas Smoky is t times very loud and insistent. As mentioned above, Grimm weighs 7 pounds, where Smoky is now a whopping 15 pounds. I guess opposites do attract in certain ways.

So anyway back to my book update, "Hearts on Fire Draconia Rising" as we last saw, was on page 40, and I ended up introducing a rather unusual kitty. Now, after months of stops, starts, delays, and writer's block. I am happy to announce that the book is nearly finished!  This update is copied from my author Facebook Page...
" I have decided that "Hearts on Fire; Draconia Rising" is going to be sort of a cliffhanger, and the story line will resume into the next book in the series. My reason for this being that there is a lot of writing to be done, to flesh out the story and for each character their "book time". There is literally no way that I can cram it all in one book, it just will not fit, and come out even halfway decent. I abhor choppy story lines that are sparse of detail and imagination. So with that, I also wanted to announce that the current book is nearly finished! I was planning on 110-120 pages, and I am on page 95! Woop go me!" 

As you can tell, I was quite excited to announce that, and I am sure the 1,000+ people that see my page everyday were interested to know the news. There are a few "Adult" scenes between our main characters in this upcoming book, however they are very tasteful and some would call them subdued, by today's standards, where books are written with 10 sex scenes every three chapters, in almost embarrassing detail. I have seen a few that were literally two steps away from being straight up porn, and to me that is just too much.. Call me modest or a prude, but I feel that certain things should be kept somewhat clean, and not everything needs to be revealed or written about in such detail. I get that some authors probably need to have a outlet for all their suppressed, unfulfilled fantasies and such, but I am not one of them. You all remember Anna, our disgraced High Goddess? Well she has become a quite nasty and scary character, she has decided that literally there is no low she won't go, in order to achieve her end. Her time is coming, just not yet. she is essential to the developing story that will continue into book 3, so I have to keep her around and kicking for a bit longer. Tristan has his work cut out for him right now, tending to a ever worsening crises in Draconia, and Serena has stepped into a entirely new lifestyle that she never dreamed was ever possible for her. she better enjoy it while it lasts, because literally all hell is about to break loose, thanks to our nefarious Anna.

I will leave you now with those tidbits,  I will be back very soon. A new book awaits its final few pages and one more editing spree. Until then, Blessed Be, and Happy Samhain! 

  

"Hearts on Fire :Draconia Rising" Update

Hello everyone and Bright Blessings. It's been a few minutes since I was here last, and I come in to report some great news. "Hearts on Fire: Draconia Rising" is currently at 40 pages and slightly over 15,200 words as of this writing. I am quite in love with my new writing program LibreOffice 5, it makes writing so much easier to get done.

To give you all a tiny glimpse of my newest work, here is a snippet from page 7, where Tristan McKinley adopts for his daughter, a very unusual kitten...

"Thirty minutes later, Tristan pulled into his driveway, and parked in the massive three car garage. His daughter was literally bouncing up and down on the deck, as apparently grandpa had broke the news about a special present was on its way. He barely had time to get out of the car and go towards the passenger door, when an excited squeal greeted him and a tiny weight collided with his knees. Lily stared up at him with anticipation and asked “Can I see her, what does she look like, can I hold her yet?! I missed you tons, it was lonely with just Anna and Grandpa, sometimes. Anna doesn’t like to play games, and Grandpa had to work, Grandma wanted to spend all her time going to tea times and shopping. I was so bored!” Tristan grimaced at that, the poor kid hated having to sit through tea time, and shopping with his mother, he felt the same exact way.

Tristan was flabbergasted at how Lily fired off questions and seemed to not even noticed how he had changed and that he looked different. His internal questions were answered, as she looked up at him more intently and said “Did you eat a ton of vegetables and grow again? Your hair has grown out, I like it!” Lucan sniggered at the vegetable remark, and prompted him to tell her that yes he had ate tons of spinach, and wanted to try a new hairstyle. Lily was fine with that answer, and then her attention was averted, by the sight of two odd colored eyes and a patchwork coat of fur. Tristan opened the passenger door, and introduced Lily to her new protector and best friend. Tristan bit his lip, as Mischa was probably hugged a bit too tightly, and carried haphazardly towards the front door. He was glad that his mother was not home now, and she had went out with Mrs. Hammond, as he could do without having to listen to a screeching tirade for a few more minutes."


And another little teaser... from pages 19-20, where Tristan and Serena's lives change once again, leading to a rather "heated" moment...

 “My Beloved Tristan,”
“I wanted to tell you how proud I am, that I have had the honor and privilege of being your father. You have worked so hard, and become  an excellent example of our family’s legacy. Out of all of my sons, you and only you, proved to me that you are worthy of the gift I am to bestow upon you today. Please take the paperwork to our attorney tomorrow. I knew that the events that transpired today were coming, as your mother has not been herself these past few weeks, and I hurried to make sure that all that I have worked for did not come to ruin. I will return in a couple of days, as I feel that your mother may not be able to come home after her episode, therefore, I have other arrangements to be making. Please give Serena my best regards, and I hope to meet her upon my return.” 
                                                                                                                 Love Always,
                                                                                                                        Dad

Enclosed in the envelope, were the deeds to both his father’s home, and his entire business, transferred entirely to himself and Serena. Tristan had to sit down, his knees felt slightly weakened right then. At Serena’s quizzical stare, he silently handed her the letter and the paperwork, and watched her eyes grow huge, and her mouth make a silent “O” of astonishment. She and Tristan had just been given total ownership of a million dollar home, and a business that had a revenue of nearly a billion per year. All of this, on top of their royal duties, was rather the shock to take in. Serena made a point to not look directly at Tristan, while he dabbed at his eyes with a napkin. Men considered tears a bit unmanly, and most did not want to be caught showing a profound emotion.
She sat beside Tristan, laying her hand on his heavily corded arm, and asked  “You are Ok aren’t you?” Tristan silently nodded, a wavering smile touching the corners of his beautiful mouth. 

Tristan wondered what his father intended to do, now that he had relinquished his rights to everything he owned. Surely he would not just leave the country, and spend his days being a sedentary old man on a beach somewhere, like most retirees did? Either way, Tristan’s work was now definitely cut out for him. Lucan spoke up and said “ I think between all of us, this can be easily managed, you will  be surprised what having a dragon inside you will do for the stamina and ability to get things done in record time. We will find a way to streamline your work with a little boost of magic. think now would be a great time to ask the High council, about designing some extra special business equipment and management software applications that run on a totally different energy spectrum”

Serena thought about her tablet idea that she had presented to the High Elder awhile back, and said “Yes, those crystal tablets, and some other things, would make running our new business a breeze, we could have more designed, and have them set into the different departments of the business, and have them set up to run on autopilot, they can be  magically programmed to all but take orders and place shipments, and do payment information for you, all you need to do is check it once in awhile to see that the information is correct. Imagine if we introduced a product like that to the tech world, how damned rich we would be literally overnight?” Tristan had to admire his new wife’s business sense, and her ingenuity with creating innovative business solutions. Without hesitation, he tipped her heard back to where she could look into his eyes, and said “ I love you Serena.” and proceeded to kiss her soundly, that proved to be something he should perhaps have thought about first, as electric heat zinged between them like something untamed, and primitive. Serena melted like an ice cube under his kiss, and had to steady herself slightly against him, when he pulled back, she saw smoldering heat in his eyes, that made her insides feel like warm jello.  She would never get enough of his mouth, she dared not imagine the rest of what would eventually transpire, seeing as they were now married."

End of snippets....


Readers that might be pondering what has happened before all of this, need to pick up a copy of Hearts on Fire and start there, as the second book will make no sense unless you read the first. I am slowly but surely building a story arc here, with book two being the rise towards the peak of the story between Tristan, Serena, and Lucan. I'm leaning towards the 100+ page mark for book 2. It's very hard to fit a year's worth of story and dialogue into a neat 100 pages and make it appear seamless. for the moment though, I have to breeze back out, as this book isnt going to write itself. I hope to have it at least finished by the end of this month, although I hate to even contemplate a potential release date. Have a great upcoming week and I will be back soon! 

Shadows in the Night, A Novel by S.M.Phillips

"shadows in the Night" is published!

Hello everyone and Bright Blessings! I came in to announce, that I started the new year with a new book being published...that's right,"Shadows in the Night" by S.M.Phillips, is LIVE on Kindle!  Don't miss you chance to get one of the newest books of 2018! The Paperback is coming soon, when the files are done being reviewed. I will post an update as soon as I get clearance. I have to go fdor now, gotta get this shiny new book promoted to the masses!

Book Description: " What exactly is a ghost? Have you ever looked at someone who was acting rather oddly, and felt they just might be possessed? Do you need help with removing unwanted entities and energies from your home and life? This handy little novel has all the information you need, to protect yourself from negatives, summon and communicate with benign spirits, herbs, gemstones and other curios associated with spiritual properties, and tools and tricks to get you started on exploring the spirit world and gaining a deeper understanding of those unknown things that go bump in the night." 

A New Book Is Almost Completed!

Hello everyone and Bright Blessings, once again it has been too long since I have written here, and there isn't a good enough excuse or reason that I can give, that would really justify the simple fact that I have been missing for too long. I have been rather busy, but really I should make more time for my posts.
So... to update, I will announce that I am around 20 odd pages away from completing a new book. This book has been a rattling ghost in the recesses of my mind for over a year now. It was originally going to be a new "Darkened Path" installment, however I decided to change course, and make this book a stand alone novel. Somehow the content for this novel did not seem to fit in with the other "Darkened Path " books and the story arc. I need to create another biographical book for "The Darkened Path" series, as there have been some rather dramatic changes in my life that are worth writing about. So without further ado, I present the cover art for "Shadows In The Night" by S.M. Phillips...

"Shadows In The Night" concerns itself with the world of the Paranormal. I won't go into too much detail about what exactly is inside, as I want everyone to be "haunted" with the urge to find out! What I will tell you is this is a nonfiction work, and I have spent a whole year researching information and adding in my own bits and pieces of knowledge.
In other writing news, the second installment of the "Hearts On Fire" series is on hiatus. For the life of me, this book has become a stagnating pool of unwritten words stuck in my head, and I have started to type the first chapter several times, only to sit here and stare at blank word space, seemingly unable to get the words flowing. This book has so many ideas that making them flow together and appear seamless has proven to be quite a challenge. Perhaps after I get Shadows In The Night finished and published, I can start on the next book. I regret this is such a small update, but I really do have alot of other work to be finished. I shall return soon with hopefully what will be news about the newest publication date. Until then, have a blessed week!

Hearts On Fire is Finished! 9/11/2016

Hello Everyone and Bright Blessings! I came in to finally update y'all about the latest news... "Hearts On Fire" is finished and is in the editing process, and will be published by this weekend, if not sooner! I am working on editing the paragraphs so that they look accurate on Amazon's KDP  Previewer. I originally uploaded the files and then went to preview the manuscript, and found gaps, spaces, and cut off sentences all over the place which really got on my nerves, so the whole file got transferred to my old Windows program, which has always worked fine in the past. I do not like the Word Online program, it does not give me the right size of page layouts and it is a pain to work with.
So get ready to see the inferno start in the Romance and Fantasy department of Amazon, when Hearts On Fire makes it debut, as it is my intention to set the world on fire with my new book! This is a short post, meant to just be an update. I have my final college exams to do this week, and after Sept. 13th I get a break from coursework. So I will have more time to write, and do other things. Until Then, Have a great week everyone, and I will return soon.