Taking a Break

Due to ongoing personal issues and time constraints, I will be laying low for a few weeks. The Shalia’s Diary blog will continue to be on hiatus until further notice. The Wicked Words blog will also be taking a break until October 4. During this period, I will not be on Facebook or Twitter either. Until I return, everyone take care.  See you soon!

WIP Wednesday – Clans of Kalquor 9: Alien Indiscretions

                Vax took their orders himself, gave Lindsey a kiss, and left to make their dinner.

                And what a dinner. Afterward, Cissy and Tasha agreed their meal was magnificent. Cissy went into paroxysms of delight over her bacon-wrapped ronka strips in a creamy honey and spice sauce. She followed it up with a tart pastry that reminded her of key lime pie.

                “Better than sex,” she told Vax when he came by to check on them. “I’d tell you the state of my panties right now, but that would be crude.”

                Vax’s eyes went wide. As Jessica and Lindsey howled their laughter, Tasha crossed her arms on the table and laid her head down, hiding her face as if she would die of embarrassment. However, her shoulders shook, letting Cissy know her twin laughed as hard as the other two women. Vax stammered his thanks and beat a hasty retreat.

                “You – you are terrible,” Lindsey gasped, crying just as hard as she guffawed. “My poor Imdiko. He may be scarred for life.”

                “That’s what he gets for cooking so damned good,” Cissy sighed as she spooned in the last bite of tart. “How are you not 200 pounds, woman?”

                “I work it off.” Lindsey grinned.

No release date set.

A Quick Update

Friends, it's been a tough couple of weeks. Those of you who follow me on Facebook know my mother has been in the ICU for that time. I am concentrating on family for now. That means I cannot answer comments and questions in a timely manner. Fortunately, much of the blog is pre-scheduled to go on without me, so WIP Wednesday and Weekend Wake Up Call will appear as usual.

Thanks for your understanding and patience. I'll get back to business as usual once things have calmed down around here. Until then, much love and take care.

Shalia's Diary On Hiatus

Shalia's Diary is temporarily on hiatus as I finish the next storyline. I will keep you updated as to when entries will begin again. Thanks for your patience.

WIP Wednesday – Clans of Kalquor 9: Alien Indiscretions

                Tasha wiggled her perfectly trimmed eyebrows. “I’m confirming my date with a clan tomorrow.”

                “Oh, you’re getting going right away too.  Shall we double?”

                “I doubt it.” Tasha made her snooty face, the one she used when she played at being above Cissy’s antics. “This is a more mature clan than the one you picked for a first date.  My guess is their tastes would run more operatic than that crazy tribal music concert you’re going to.  Dinner and a live theater show.”

                Cissy yawned. “How very exciting.  Are they at least cute?” She waved to forestall Tasha’s answer. “No, you wouldn’t want cute. Adorable isn’t your thing. Are they handsome, I mean?”

                Tasha closed out the computer program. “Does it matter? Looks aren’t nearly as important as what’s inside.”

                “No, it doesn’t matter.  I was just curious.”

                Tasha touched her hair, making sure it was still in its bun. “Actually, the Dramok is insanely handsome, almost the equal of Jessica’s Bevau.  He was at the party last night.  The one you were so rude to ... Councilman Diltan.”

                Cissy bit her lower lip. She remembered the dismissive look on the Dramok’s face as he eyed her clothing. I bet he’d be impressed with how I look now, the shallow jerk.

                She said, “Oh boy.  Tasha, Lindsey told me we should be careful of that one.”

                Tasha shrugged. “I thought he was quite nice.  Besides, I checked with Jessica, and she thinks Diltan is wonderful.  He often supports the measures the Imperial Clan wants, but when he doesn’t, he lets them know under no uncertain terms.”

                That didn’t sound much like the man Lindsey had described. But then, Lindsey had also admitted Diltan had changed since she'd first met him.

                He still has a thing for outward appearances. Heaven forbid he look beyond the packaging like Tasha prefers to do.

                Cissy knew she didn’t present herself as well as her twin. Most of the time, she didn’t care. However, something about the way Diltan had looked at her rankled.  Like the way he almost seemed pained by her clothing.

                She didn’t share that with her twin. Instead, she said, “I don’t know.  You and a smarmy politician?  What do his clanmates do?”

                “The Nobek is the head of their prison system.  He’s a fierce looking one, downright scary, in fact. Not pretty like his Dramok. The Imdiko is a judge of Kalquor’s highest court.”

                It was the kind of match Jessica might have wrangled for Tasha. Cissy rolled her eyes and stuck her pinky out in a pseudo-sophisticated pose. “Well, lah-dee-dah.”

                Tasha made her own snobbish face. “Lah-dee-dah is right.  While I dine on caviar and champagne or whatever the Kalquorian equivalent is, you can have the alien version of chicken wings and beer.  Let me hear you grunt, you animal.”

No release date set.

Shalia's Diary Monday Post

Home sweet home. http://shaliasdiary.blogspot.com/

Shalia's Diary Thursday Post

Remorse and rescue. http://shaliasdiary.blogspot.com/

Shalia's Diary Monday Post

Roaming the ship. http://shaliasdiary.blogspot.com/

August 2014 Update

Shalia’s Diary – It’s been a wild ride, hasn’t it? The storyline you’ve been reading wraps up this month. We’ll finally make it to the end of this dark portion of Shalia’s tale. Now for the bad news: I am nowhere near finished with the next portion of Shalia’s Diary. How far behind am I? At least six weeks – and that is a kind estimate. It could be 3 months before the blog picks up again. Blame the year and a half of re-releases slowing me up when it comes to writing Shalia’s Diary. I simply haven’t had time to devote to working on it, especially since it’s a freebie. I will keep you updated on when it will resume. Meanwhile, enjoy these last few entries that will wrap up what will eventually become Book 4.

Clans of Kalquor 4:  Alien Salvation – The rights are mine and the book with its pretty new cover is out. Once again, do not buy this re-issue if you already have it. The cover was the only thing truly changed. If you are a new reader, you can currently pick up Alien Salvation at Amazon, Smashwords, and CreateSpace (for print). Nook pulled it’s horrid formatting nightmare on me again, so either get your Nook-compatible copy from Smashwords or you can wait for Smashwords to load it to B&N. Seriously, when are they going to fix that platform?

Netherworld I:  Drop Dead Sexy – Rights revert in August.  Edits are done and the formatting is at long last fixed. No plot changes were made, but it reads MUCH better in its new incarnation. If you are a fan of the Netherworld series, with 10,000 additional words it may be worth your while to replace this one when it is re-issued.

First Mataras:  Michaela – Guess who wrote during her vacation? I have hit the 3/4 mark on the first draft ... which now stands at 103,000 words. Yes, it is another huge beast of a book in the making. Because it is going on so long, I still can’t put a release date on it. But I am daring to dream of October. Maybe.

Clans of Kalquor 5: Alien Slave – I have begun to work on edits for this one’s re-release. Its contract runs out in November. So far, so good – no major changes seem to be springing up yet. Hopefully Dani and Clan Gelan will be as kind as Clan Bacoj was.

Clans of Kalquor 9: Alien Indiscretions – I get a chance every now and then to play with this one. With everything else slowing me down, I have to think it won’t be out until 2015.

Thanks for hanging in there despite things going so slow. Take care!