Release Day Eve: Lost Serenity #scifi #adventure

Happy Release Day Eve to Lost Serenity! And boy, I never thought we'd get here. It's been a long, dry, hard haul since the release of the last main book in the series - Keir's Fall back in 2017 - with the last side story - A Merry-traxian Christmas - officially released 2019.

And now the latest story comes out tomorrow, with the main book three due in edits in June and hopefully releasing later this year. So I won't be keeping you hanging for long. Because, oh yes, Lost Serenity ends with a cliff-hanger!

Now, while I didn't struggle with a title on this one, since I had a discarded one to reuse, this story brought up the issue of trigger warnings.

Now, I have certain things that I will not read and that get an author put on my DNR (Do Not Read) list instantly if there's some graphic content I haven't been warned about. And maybe that's not always the author's fault, because we can't think of everything. Plus trigger warnings vary for people, I get that. With Lost Serenity, one of the main themes in the story is something that would not cause me acute distress if I read it in another book - well, not entirely true as it would depend how invested I am in the character and how it affects them - but I am well aware that what upsets one person may be the thing that devastates another.

When I raised the discussion in an author group, there were mixed responses which didn't help me decide one way or the other. I know specific things that upset some of my author friends and have caused them to leave or never become invested in a franchise. Others think trigger warnings are unnecessary and/or overkill, and never/rarely use them. I have three books where I've warned about explicit, violent, and/or gory content because...well, they are actually things that would bother me or, as a mum, concern me if my kids were to read them (that said, two of them have read my zombie stories). But putting one on this particular story might be big spoilers. What to do?!

There was controversy on Twitter (isn't there always?!) back in January where an author not only publicly refused to put trigger warnings on their work but specifically set out an essay in their Author's Note about why they would never, and telling readers not to be a Karen. Well, I decided that's just not me. So Lost Serenity has a trigger warning and spoilers be damned...

How could a moment's anger destroy so much happiness?

It is a question that will haunt him. When an old enemy comes to Kasha-Asor to kidnap their daughter, armed with a weapon that could end everything, Keir is forced to leave an injured Quin on Lyagnius. But his quest for a cure and their missing daughter will come at a terrible cost.

Book #2.5 of the Redemption series. Releases 20th March, 2021 (pre-order available now)

Trigger warning: the loss of a child.

In the meantime, I'd be interested to know why and what trigger warnings you've put on books, or why you don't.

Critter Update

My furred and feathered friends are all doing well, though I think they'd like it to be sunnier, warmer, and dryer, much like myself. Astrid is looking particularly fed up.

Writing Update

I'm still trying to iron out some issues with a paranormal short that will be part of my holiday collection. One day I might finish the Easter one and be able to publish the set. One day... Book three of my Redemption series will go to my editor in June, come what may.

2021 - Looking Ahead #scifirom #amwriting

 

A Happy New Year to you! Not that it, apparently, has gotten off to that good a start. I must admit that on the 1st of January, I didn't foresee much to celebrate. After all, we'd just gone into yet another lockdown here in the UK and amidst a mass of uncertainty over a return to school (and so to work for me), which turned into last minute closure. Welcome to 2021 on Plague Island! 

And it's not just lockdown for us humans. We're also in the midst of an avian flu epidemic which has seen my poor girls lockdown and me scurrying to bring in bio-security for them too, with a wild bird proof run, no free-ranging, and a disinfectant footbath at their door. All in all, not the most fortuitous start to the new year. But 2020 did have some compensations...

Writing Update

2020 was many bad things for lots of people. But if it had a silver lining for me, it was managing to finish off and edit two novellas, one that released on the 21st December (Solstice on Vintro), the other due for release on the 20th March this year (Lost Serenity), thanks to the discovery that my muse is very much powered by a high level of boredom - the result of six months off work due to the pandemic. I also sent a short story to my editor, but that turned out rather problematic and is still sitting in my to be done pile, so no release date on that. I also committed to edits on book three of my main series in June...

Chook Update

Sadly, 2020 was not kind to my feathered friends. I rehomed two of my squawkier girls due to husband's anxiety. He felt much better but for quite some time it took the heart out of me and my interest in chooks. Then we lost our old matriarch Scoop - the last of our original three and forever the boss - to what I can only assume was old age. She was a majestic eight and a half years old. 

Then just before Christmas, I lost one of my three little madams - Nova. This was my first time losing a girl I had hatched myself, and at just a year and a half old and in good health (as far as I could tell). I was heartbroken. Especially as avian flu had just been called as a major incident and I'd just taken all my bio-security measures (for the first time in my nine years as a chicken keeper). Of course, I was worried she would be the first of them all, though I checked her over very carefully for any signs of the disease, and she'd shown no signs at all of being poorly. But three weeks on and the rest of my girls seem happy and healthy - after a struggle to get weight back on them after their moult, they are now quite rounded (but not fat!) and mystery girl Pixie is even laying her lovely pale blue eggs again. All seems well with my feathered fiends...

Despite government restrictions, Christmas didn't change for us - just the immediate family at home. And of course, there were geeky presents.

As for the rest of 2021, well...who knows?!