Release Day: Black Magic Glitterbomb

So, it’s been a while. I’ve been fighting my mental illness pretty hard, and it doesn’t always look like I’m winning. But more on that another time. This is supposed to be a celebratory post.

Today is release day for the first book in the Atrumancer trilogy: Black Magic Glitterbomb. I was having writer’s block and my editor, the wonderful Raven McKnight, offered to send me some prompts to get the creative juices flowing again. I was originally planning on just using them for exercise purposes, but then she sent me this:

“I liked to relax over a cup of coffee and the bodies of my enemies.”

SageCHolloway_BlackMagicGlitterBomb_coversmIntriguing, right? So I wrote. And wrote. And wrote. I wasn’t planning on writing a novella, it just happened that way. And when it was done, I realized that the story wasn’t over yet – so I planned for two more.

The book is my first attempt at writing something with a supernatural touch. I like to think I’ve succeeded, but you be the judge. Here’s what it’s all about:

Benji Seung is not one of the good guys. He commands dark magic; he looks out for himself before all else; he kills rival mages and steals their coffee makers. Life is good–or at least as good as it’s going to get for a guy whose soul grows more tainted with every passing day.

Everything changes when he accidentally rescues Kit, a wide-eyed young man down on his luck and living on the streets. With serious reservations but no better options than to leave Kit at the mercy of the elements, Benji takes him in and then can only watch as ominous events around them gain traction.

With an unknown adversary gunning for him, and Kit in the line of fire, the last thing Benji should be thinking about is romance, but he finds it impossible to resist the carefree troublemaker. Together, these two fight for their lives against black magic, diabolical schemes, and evil cupcakes.

First Look At The Gift Of Gravity

The new BTS e-Mag features a Loose Id book showcase, and one of the books picked was mine. You can read the blurb and an excerpt here, on page 34. I’m really excited about this! If you don’t have the patience to flip through all those pages, the blurb is now also available on the book page, and the excerpt can be found under “Free Reads & Excerpts”.

The Gift of Gravity will be available June 21, at all the usual outlets.

Truth or Dare

Yet another Spectacularly Broken extra! My publisher, Loose Id, got some authors together to write short ficlets with characters from their books, using a Truth or Dare theme. So you get Lysander being drunk and overdramatic on New Year’s Eve, and Cai playing a game with him until he has to bring out the handcuffs again. You can find the ficlet here.

 

Reminder: Playing For The Other Team will be out January 12.

“Spectacularly Broken” Christmas Short

I wrote a little thing to celebrate the season: a 6,000 word short story set in the “Spectacularly Broken” universe. Lysander reflects upon past Christmas seasons and fellates a candy cane. Jarett has allergies, Cai spanks his boyfriend, and Finn is banned from decorating.

Without further ado, I present – Of Candy Canes and Fuzzy Handcuffs

Once I figure out a suitable cover, this will also be available for download on Smashwords, so you’ll be able to add it to your e-reader library if you like.

Cover and Blurb Reveal!

Playing For The Other Team will be out January 12th, and I just received the cover, so I figured it was time to make it official. Have a look at the cover and blurb and let me know what you think!

 

SH_PlayingForTheOtherTeam_coverlgBryson just wants to make it through the last few weeks of high school alive. Graduation is on the horizon, his grades are decent, and his biggest worries are, in order, his baseball performance, his graduation gown color, and his weird hair. Everything seems on track – until two heavy realizations hit him right in the middle of his senior prom: He’s gay, and he’s in love.

Reserved artist Jasper turns him down at first, despite his feelings for Bry, but he offers help to ensure Bryson can start the next chapter in his life as the person he was always meant to be. However, Jasper struggles with his own demons. He has commitment issues and a past which won’t let go of him, including a jealous ex-boyfriend who doesn’t take kindly to his former flame being pursued by someone else. Soon, every day spells trouble for the gifted outsider, forcing him to rely on Bryson for support.

Bryson must pull together all of his resolve to navigate the minefield with Jasper. Together, they stand against bullies, homophobes, and graduation gowns that threaten to make them look like bananas. With luck, they might just make it out in one piece.

Update On The Proofreading Mom Dilemma

You may or may not recall that my mother, who is one of my beta readers, received an edited version of my first book, with most of the naughty bits taken out. You can read about it here. A while after the book came out, we Skyped, and she casually mentioned that she used my dad’s Kindle to download and read the published version as she wanted to know what the finished product was like. And then she mentioned even more casually how much she liked it.

I have a sneaking suspicion that this might be her way of telling me that she’s okay with the gay sex.

Once More, With Feeling

Yes, you guys, I had another depression cycle hitting me right at the beginning of September, and it’s taken almost until now to fully dig my way out of it. I can say with conviction that it was no fun at all and I would as soon not do it again, please and thank you. My medication has gone through some adjustments, which will hopefully help accomplish that goal.

Of course, that means I did no writing for about two months. Now I’m finally back at it, and here’s what I’ve been up to:

 

Playing For The Other Team is in edits and has a tentative release date of mid-January 2016. I’m quite looking forward to having this one out, as I had a lot of fun writing it. Features devious little sisters, a bit of art and a bit of baseball, explicit t-shirts, and a lot of arguments about graduation gown colors.

The Gift of Gravity is the tentative title of a work in progress, something a bit more on the serious side, featuring a buttoned-up redhead and a mohawked, tattooed reptile aficionado who slowly find their way to each other as they search for a runaway transgender teen.

Then there is an as-of-yet untitled project that I just got started on. So far, there’s sarcasm, and amnesia, and spooky things happening in mirrors!

 

In other news, my toddler is toddling… and climbing everything, and tearing down any and all barriers, and foiling every freaking attempt we make at keeping him safe and away from life-threatening situations. That kid has no survival instinct. He’s probably broken and now it’s too late for a refund.