Being social

Ack. I did it.

Posted on my FB Author Page. Threads. Insta. TikTok. 

I need a nap now. 😆

Didn't post Monday and Tuesday because I didn't have it in me. 

Officially throwing out "The Morrigan" preorder link. I've loaded the pertinents to Amazon for both eBook and paperback. Do I loathe using Amazon? 

Yes. With my entire being. 

But, for now, it is what it is. They print for me with minimal issues and in bulk. 

I always buy my own ISBNs now so I may sell my books online elsewhere. 

Broke down and made a cover for my April 2027 release, "Rabbit God."

Different, but I really do love it. 

That's all I can ask.

Left "The Gordons" in a pickle and need to help them out. But, for some reason, I'm all about doing anything but.

Shame. Shame on me.

All the shame.

And yet...still ambivalent.

While I realize I don't even need to have this finished yet, I would like to blow right through it. Sit down and type 5000-7000 words a day, which is what I did with the first four books. Literally a month and a half and done.

Am I asking too much of myself?

Aren't I always?

I have both mental and physical issues that make life a challenge. But when I work on writing, it pushes all that bullshit back.

I feel productive with a purpose and focus. 

Simply...makes me feel great. 

And I need more of THAT going on over here.

Maybe. But don't kill my vibe.

😂😌

Actual writing

Yes. I do still indulge in it. 🤣

Wrote on "The Gordons" yesterday, and I'm a bit over 37,000 words. Today is much of the same after I throw together a couple of reels. 

I'm at that in-between spot of still pushing out information about "Apollo and Hyacinthus", but will turn the corner the first of July and focus on "The Morrigan" and its impending publication. And for my darlings that preordered the second book, I love you with my soul. 

A bit about "The Morrigan." 

It's important to remember these deities are plucked from their lives and deposited in LA's yard. They are as put out as LA. Okay. Edit that. NO ONE is as put out as LA.

And the Morrigan is a death goddess. A Celtic warrior. A revered legend.

LA doesn't give a damn. She just rid herself of one deity to somehow be cursed with another?

The book is an unfolding. Two extremely stubborn and independent women who need to learn to work together to unravel the Morrigan's arrival and, LA hopes, her imminent departure.

It's rather like trying to stick two pieces of Velcro together that is all hooks. 

You're not getting anyfuckingwhere. And it's annoying as hell. 

LA Bennett is forty and completely over the interruptions and unapologetic jaunts through her life. 

Fortunately for me, she has a long road ahead of her.

Being social aka do you want me to sharpen those bamboo to a point to shove under my fingernails?

I can be social. Sometimes, I even enjoy it. Especially in relation to writing and all its foibles. I'm there. But being social? On socials??? Every fucking day? 😕

In that wide world of TikTok, Insta, Threads, and FB? HAVING to post? 

meh

However, in lieu of me buying that fantastic weekly planner, my short ass filled in the days of the week with how many times I should post on which social. It's...daunting. 

I'm the one who will buck up to societal expectations. And this planner feels like one. So I need to get around that first. I want this to be another labor of love. Something I anticipate and enjoy doing. If I become bored, woe to my weekly planner. Woe, I tell ye.

It's having to come up with videos, I think, that is the most taxing. That's quite a bit of time for me. Making the graphics. Even using the ones I have. Setting the reel. Adding music. And to do that three times a week? 

When am I supposed to write? Which is priority one around here.

This, as all other things I've done as an author, will require time and patience to get into a rhythm. Maybe I can make all the reels on one day and load them on the specified day. Or something else will come to my not-quite-awake grey matter.

The Morrigan is going through edits. She will be available for ARCs the last week of June or possibly the first week of July. She will be available 8/1/26.

FFS. I'm off to figure out this incredibly annoying part of being an Indie Author/Publisher. 

The Morrigan

I'm twitchy as hell today. 

Awesome. 😬

With all the ados...Here's the Morrigan:

When the Celtic warrior goddess the Morrigan appears in LA's yard accompanied by her unkindness of ravens, neither of them understands why she's there or why she can’t leave. The goddess's stubborn refusal to discuss her situation quickly tests LA's patience. As LA investigates, she learns that the Morrigan's fractured nature has split her into three distinct aspects, each embodying different facets of war, fate, and death. The last memory linking all of them is a young girl keening across a blood-soaked battlefield. With the help of the three aspects, LA must uncover the mystery behind the goddess's arrival and find a way to send the Morrigan home.

AVAILABLE 8/1/26

The Morrigan

I've a thing for badass deities. I'm kind of off the Greek and Roman regulars, but I'm always open to find ones I've not discovered before.

Did my ancestry DNA thing. I'm 25% Scottish. That makes sense to me. I'm drawn to visit Scotland. The highlands. The remains of castles from long ago. *swoon*

And Celtic deities?

Oh, but they are fascinating and as badass as they come.

Book 2 of "Plot Twist" is about the Morrigan and LA. And the Morrigan? Let me enlighten you. 

The Morrigan:

The Morrígan is a powerful Celtic goddess of war, fate, and death, often appearing as a shapeshifting crow or raven to influence battles and foretell doom, but also connected to fertility, sovereignty, and the land. She embodies the wilder, darker aspects of nature and destiny, inspiring fear in enemies and courage in heroes, and her presence signals imminent death, famously seen washing bloody armor. 

Often called the Triple Goddess or Phantom Queen. The Morrigan is comprised of a trio of individuals, all sisters. They can, however, each assume the mantle of the Morrigan. 

I didn't necessarily know where I wanted to go in Book 2, after Plot Twist. I already knew the main characters in Book 4, because of course I did. But 2? I'd actually put a small epilogue in Book 1 which alluded to another deity completely.

But then, as I typed the ending, and left a trail of bread crumbs for Book 2, I literally bypassed my first option and boldly typed in "The Morrigan". This book, like book 1, basically wrote itself. I've finished the two books in two months. And I've researched who will be in book 3. 

It's easy to stick to Greek and Roman with mythological retellings, but it's not fair to the reader or other cultures. We are a world. We are not only a couple of pieces.

Having said that, I nearly put Anansi as the main character of Book 3. 

Now. I watched "American Gods" for the first two seasons maybe? I watched until they killed Mad Sweeney, and then I flipped off the television (in two different ways) and never watched another episode. (Do NOT kill animals or a main character I love.)

But I digress.

Orlando Jones played Anansi. He was completely magnetic. And his charm? Oh, but he oozed it. But Anansi is too big a character for my book. I like the minor deities, for the most part. While there is sometimes a bit of source material, I can give the character a backstory of my choosing.

OH! The POWAH!

So...I searched for a minor deity with the characteristics I needed. There will ALWAYS be one. Just means you may have to dive a bit deeper.

Because all of these characters bring something out in LA that she's pushed aside or purposely hidden. And she brings something out in them they need.

Literary symbiosis.

Whew. I went off, didn't I? 😁  

I have no "calm your shit down" button. I simply escalate and go forth until it wears me out. 

But I'll wind this down by saying there are perfect pieces to fit into your works. If one fits in three out of four needs, there will be another that hits the four out of four. Keep going. 

This is the Morrigan on top my desk because I love this bitch.

A rambling post

True story...when I remember to take my ADHD med, I micro-focus. Like...I can hone in, but then it's like an addiction, and I have to absolutely lose my mind over all the questions I have.

For my fine first example:

Watching the Honey play Animal Crossings New and Improved Somethingorother. And, of course, she's swimming, and I HAVE TO KNOW how much the items are that she's bringing to the surface. Immediately sate my curiosity. But then...dun dun duuuuunnnn...I need to know how much the fish are, and who's the most expensive?

sigh

Then I hop onto FB, and someone asks about Sigourney Weaver and the use of her first name. 🎉🥳

Are you shitting me? Off I go. Because her birth name was Susan, and she chose Sigourney, which is a French name that means "The Conqueror."

I am in the groove.

Then I need to look up whether "mum" is a flower of and by itself, or is it the nickname for "chrysanthemums"? It's the latter, by the way.

That's most of my evenings in a nutshell.

Oklahoma weather is some weird-ass bullshit. Supposed to cool off a bit Wednesday, but then we're back in the sixties and seventies? I beg your finest pardon. WTF is that supposed to be? We going to rubber band back to frigid temps in a week? Is spring upon us? What the what.

My arms and legs look like kitten pin cushions. 

Thanks, Murphy. 🙄

Querying again today (said in my best sing-song voice).

And we all know how much fun I find it. 😶

At this point in time, I wish most agents would switch to Query Tracker. I'm cutting, copying, and pasting my queries, synopses, and chapters. Some through the abovementioned site, and some through personal emails. 

sigh

A lot of it is my unorganized ass, which oftentimes thinks it's organized. I keep copies of the queries. I have a folder. What more do you people want from me???

PT: the Morrigan is now sitting at 30,000 words, and I am most excited about it. It flows, sistren and brethren. It fucking FLOWS.

That's a wrap.