I thought you all would like an update on Reborn (updates on life, work, and Reborn) since I didn’t blog the last two weeks due to the holiday and travel. Let me tell you about how things are going in life and work also. And you may get a little writing teaser today too.
Update On Life
Life is great. We have been traveling a lot recently. My wife decided a few years back that we needed a camper; therefore, I bought a camper. We are set up for the rest of the month and will be coming and going. My wife is in education and is off for the summer and the kids love RVing. It’s a perfect combination. Want to see some of our traveling pictures? Check out my Instagram page.
Update On Work
I love my job. There is nothing better than being able to help someone who is ill, physically or mentally. I have always been empathetic, even as a child, and helping people is an honor. Being a nurse practitioner was a dream of mine from a young age and I get to live that dream every day.
We have been very busy recently, even with the warming weather. That is a good thing. I would rather be busy than not. I work with a great group of people. There is an old saying that says “If you love our job, then you’ll never work a day in your life.” I believe that is true.
Update on Reborn
As mentioned above, I have been very busy at work recently and we have been traveling quite a bit since school has been out. I have been editing Reborn every chance I have had, but I have been doing it on my desktop. I use Scrivener on both my desktop (Windows based) and my Macbook. Scrivener is a great word processing program that allows you to back your projects up on Dropbox so that you can work on them from any device with Scrivener installed.
The problem is that Scrivener has never updated the Windows version from Scrivener 2 to Scrivener 3. Therefore, the PC and Mac versions do not talk well to each other and any changes that I have made on the PC version will not transfer over to the Mac version when backed up.
But, there is good news. I went camping again this weekend, and I transferred the manuscript over to a Word document so that I can adjust it on either device and just transfer the file. My goal is to have it completed by the end of this month and get it out to beta readers so that it can release in August. I have put a new progress bar up on the homepage of my website. You can check it out here. I will update it every day so that you will all know how close we are to publication and I will host an online launch party when we get ready to go live.
Reborn Pre-Orders
I have been thinking about doing pre-orders for Reborn. How many of you would be interested in this? Leave a comment below or shoot me an email to let me know what you think about pre-orders. I have thought about doing a KickStarter or IndieGoGo campaign that will give away prizes including e-book and paperback versions of Reborn along with maps from the world of Aleesia for donating. This would help with the editing and publishing costs. Let me know what you think.
Sneak Peek/Conclusion
Here is a little sneak peek from Reborn. I hope you enjoy it. Soon you will be able to download a free copy of the prequel from jamesblackwoodbooks.com Hope you have enjoyed the updates on life, work, and Reborn, now enjoy the sneak peek.
Tamm parried the blow and thrust back at the Kapre’s gut. The large axe easily deflected his feeble attempt. The Kapre’s laugh bellowed over the battlefield. Its gargling speech easily lifted above the cacophony of the battle. “This is the best your humans could send? You are pathetic.”
Tamm lifted the sword back to the ready and summoned the beast to himself with his other hand. “Less talk. I would like to still get to bed early tonight. I have much to do tomorrow.”
The Kapre growled as it whirled the axe over its head and charged at Tamm. He was able to deflect the first two blows but the third sliced through the leather wrappings across his abdomen. The cut was not deep but it burned like fire. Tamm could feel the blood begin to trickle down his belly and the beast smiled when he saw the stain appear.
Both warriors flung themselves at each other, a flurry of blows traded between the two. Tamm fatigued quicker than the Kapre. He brought his hand to his abdomen, checking to see if the bleeding had slowed, and cursed the crimson flow. The Kapre roared a deafening war cry and charged Tamm again. Tamm was barely able to block the blow before the he felt a massive foot catch him in the ribs. His breath squealed as it burst from his lungs. He rolled on the ground before coming to a stop. He gasped for breath and reached out searching for his sword. It was out of his reach and the Kapre was only an arm’s reach away, lip quivering over his fangs.
Tamm clambered to his knees and looked up at the monster raising the axe above his head before he bowed his own in defeat. He heard the axe blade as it whistled toward his neck.
