Sometimes, the best way
to cure writer’s block is to switch books around.
By John Irvin
Another YouTube vlog is up and running. Check out the link right here, it’s short and sweet.
So, after I published Book 3: As Flesh Rots in my Magic’s Time Split series, I was going to write the first draft of Book 6: Mountains Are Living. Well, I got about four pages into that thing and my fingers kept freezing up.
Finally, I figured, I’m wasting days I could be writing. So
I switched series. Moved back to the Ikkilion Chronicles—the exclusive serial
for my $5 backers on Patreon—and guess what, I’m moving right along with it.
Already finished one episode and working into the next.
I’m going to be ahead of schedule posting these, so
eventually, I’ll be able to take like two months off from worrying about that
end and refocus on Magic’s Time Split and Longevity.
Today’s blog will be short and sweet.
My Author Updates, I discovered, upon receiving my copy of
Book 2: Independence in the Longevity series, the cover was way too dark.
Apparently, we forgot to lighten it up. So my cover artist and I are scurrying
around trying to fix the issue.
Struggles are what life is about. Without adversity there
can be no growth.
I’m a full-fledged writer/proofreader now
And more updates, I’ve been designing the bookmarks and my
new author business cards for the GoFundMe campaign and Book Tour coming up.
They look pretty sweet to me. Check out my YouTube vlog above to go see them.
I’m also finished with the pizza delivery job, by the way.
I forgot to announce that two weeks ago!
Finally finished, working on bigger better things now.
Waiting to hear from a couple clients on a proofreading job and a ghostwriting
gig—I’m on the edge of my seat. They’re both sounding exciting so I really hope
I score on both.
That’s all for today.
Until next week, have a great life.
If you enjoyed this post, you should sign up for my
newsletter! I don’t spam and you can unsuscribe at any time. I only send out
emails on Fridays. Sign up here: SIGN UP!
I’m
also a Patreon artist–the cool thing about Patreon is it allows people to
support artists by monthly pledges which allow the artists to have more time to
work on their own passions. Here is my account: PATREON.COM. If you’d like to support me, I would
be eternally grateful!
I’ve
now been hosting a YouTube channel called John Irvin, Author Journey Series.
Check it out at YOUTUBE.COM/AUTHORJOURNEY
Time is already ticking
away, I’ve got 24 more days till Launch Day, still got a few things to take
care of before then…Can I make it?
By John Irvin
This week, I don’t have a vlog to post over on YouTube. I
decided last week to drop down to a bi-weekly posting over there. It will open
up my busy schedule a little more.
Since I’m still preparing for the GoFundMe Launch, I need
more time to work with my team and get these plans—and hopefully,
pre-pledges—set and ready for the day.
This past Tuesday, I gathered and organised a whole list of
phone numbers for so many libraries and bookstores in Pensacola, Nashville,
Denver, Los Angeles,
and Dallas.
Yesterday, I started contacting them. I’ve mostly been
focusing on actually figuring out how to get my books into their stock so I can
actually have a reason to have an Author Book Event at their sites.
Already my team member in Dallas,
Texas has been working on his side making requests for me
at his local libraries for my books. I want to send out a thank you to Calvin!
Thank you for your enthusiastic willingness to get this ball rolling.
Books on my To-Do List:
I’m also beginning the first draft of Book 6 in my Magic’s Time Split series. The title is Mountains Are Living,
The time travelling Immortals are back in this epic volume
to the alternate magic-ruled time reality. They’re about to discover the
meaning of life springing from the Swiss Alps and find connections to ancient
myths and even the very first city ever built on Earth.
Who were the ancient Immortals? Who were the gods of
primitive man? Do they truly exist or did they ever?
After finishing this first draft, I’ll be working on the final draft of Book 4, When Nights Bleed, readying it for publication this month! If you sign up to my newsletter, I’ll share its due date with you soon.
Today’s going to be a short blog, because of the many
articles on my list.
Thank you for stopping by and I look forward to talking
with you next week when I will be posting my updates over on YouTube. By the
way, find the link below and you can go ahead and subscribe to it now, that
way, you won’t miss out on any news happening along my Author Journey!
Until next week, have a great life.
If you enjoyed this post, you should sign up for my
newsletter! I don’t spam and you can unsuscribe at any time. I only send out
emails on Fridays. Sign up here: SIGN UP!
I’m
also a Patreon artist–the cool thing about Patreon is it allows people to
support artists by monthly pledges which allow the artists to have more time to
work on their own passions. Here is my account: PATREON.COM. If you’d like to support me, I would
be eternally grateful!
I’ve now been hosting a YouTube channel called John Irvin, Author Journey Series. Check it out at YOUTUBE.COM/AUTHORJOURNEY
I’m going to explain just
how I’m going to afford my first book tour, there’s quite a few details in this
post and it’s probably going to be my longest YouTube vlog, so hang tight!
By John Irvin
Today’s
blog and vlog—that’s kinda funny putting it that way—is a big one. It’s all
about the GoFundMe campaign my team and I will be launching 29 days from now!
In the video on YouTube and this blog, I’m explaining pretty much everything
about it.
I’m
excited to see how this turns out and am looking forward to your help making it
become a reality.
Without
further adieu, here is the video and the video’s script—a tad edited to fit the
blog’s parameters.
A
few weeks back, I spoke briefly on launching a GoFundMe campaign next month for
my first Author Book Tour in August of this year. Today, I’m officially
announcing it to the world AND will be explaining it in more detail.
I’ll try not to be too detailed, so I’m not keeping you from
other things. But I will ask whoever sees it, please like it and share it on
your social network accounts so we can reach as many people as possible.
I may be moving to a biweekly episode on YouTube, but I’ll
keep you updated the closer we get to Launch Day and beyond. Also, if you sign
up for my newsletter, you’ll definitely be kept up to date every Friday. Again,
you should know, you also get that free copy of Book 2: When Kingdoms Arise in
my Magic’s Time Split. So a win-win if you ask me.
My GoFundMe Campaign—why am I starting one?
One: If you know me, you know I’m actually an
introvert. It’s always hard for me to get out of my comfort zone. But success
doesn’t come to you in that zone; it comes when you step outside. So this is my
stepping outside my comfort zone. It’s time I bring my books to you, my
readers.
Two: We live in a scary age—with everything going on
in the world today, it’s hard not getting depressed—but we also live in an
amazing age of technology. Maybe 20 years ago, to start this business, I’d have
to go down to the bank and pull out a loan. Then I’d be paying out the nose for
the rest of my life, if things didn’t pan out.
Today, we have something called crowdfunding. It’s sorta like
my Patreon profile that I plug in almost every one of these videos. Only it’s
just a one time pledge for GoFundMe. I set it up and get one person to donate
$25, then the two of us reach out to two more and they donate $25 each,
eventually, we can reach the goal and everyone has only given so much.
Cool thing about GoFundMe, I can actually start with a team.
I’ve read that starting a business with a team actually grants more validation
to the business which in turn garners more success.
I have my team. I’m hoping to share pictures and even a team
video soon, so stay tuned.
So I mentioned having a goal for GoFundMe. Our goal is set at
$10,000. Yes, that seems like much, but, honestly, with enough people, we can
do that. I’ll explain the reason we’ve set the total goal at $10,000 in a
minute.
Launch Day is set for 27th of March, 2020. So we
have exactly one month to go until then. Hopefully, by the time this video is
out, I’ll have the time clock over on my website counting down. Check it out
via the link below at johnirvinauthor.com.
You may ask, if your Book Tour isn’t until August, why are
you having the campaign in March and April? Good question. The reason is to
give us enough leeway between the closing of the fundraiser and the trip so we
can ship out all the tier rewards.
Tier rewards? You’re probably wondering what that is. I’ll
explain in a minute.
Now the campaign fundraiser will last an exact 40 days—unless
we can extend it nearer to the end, if need be. So closing date is 6th
of May, 2020. That will be when we gather up our entire collection and switch
to the rewarding phase.
Now, the first question: Why are we setting our goal at
$10,000?
I actually went through and calculated out estimates for each
aspect of a Book Tour.
If you’ve been following me or checked out my books, you know
I have now published 26 books. By the time August arrives, I plan to have, at
least, 6 more books published. Now, most of my books are only in E-book format,
so they don’t cost as much. But, my main series, the Longevity series, is in
three different formats right now: Hardcover, Paperback, and E-Book. Those
covers cost, not to mention the editing.
I’m in a transition period in my business life, one in which,
I don’t have enough income to keep taking from my personal bank. Eventually the
cost minus the bills will be too much. I’m not saying this to get pity. Just
being frank.
So I’ve added in the average cost for each of the Longevity
publications, I can take care of the rest of the Magic’s Time Split series on
my own since they’re only in E-book format.
I have six more books to publish in the Longevity series. The
average cost per book publication is $200. So that equals out to $1,200.
Next on the list is my Security Guard’s Paycheck. You may
think that’s funny, but with shooting going up all over the place—I hate to put
a damper on this, folks, but it’s real life.
I’m hiring a good friend of mine, who I trust, and in order
to give him the freedom to leave his present regular job for the two week’s
this is going to take, I’m wanting to pay him $500 per week. So that’s $1,000.
I think that’s a good set price for security.
Next on the list is GAS. I’ve set that estimate at $1,000. You’re
probably screaming, What?! Why SO HIGH? I’ll show you why so high.
In each of these pinpointed cities, I will be calling a list of local bookstores to set up Author Events. This is why it’ll take two weeks to finish the Tour, if not a little longer.
A deeper explanation for the Gas bill, we’ll be taking a car
that makes 25 miles to the gallon and with prices ranging between 2.50 to 4.00,
I’m averaging that to be about 240 gallons. With the variations, I want to have
a little breathing room. Even $1,000 may not cut it. Hopefully, it will. Who
knows what gas will cost come August this year.
And, we will need a place to stay each night, right? Hotels
can range from $40 to $400 per night. So I’ve set the average hotel price at
$110 per night. Two weeks, comes out to $1,540.
Now, reality check, you can’t leave on an Author Book Tour
and not bring any books or sales stock for each event. Can you? I wouldn’t
think so. I mean, you could, but those potential readers who want to buy a
signed copy won’t be too happy. I’m going to be stocking my Author displays
with copies of all my in-print books, I have a tablet to display my E-books,
and I’d like to have catalogues and business cards and brochures, etc.
So
I’ve set that total of Stock Cost at $2,000. You never know how much all that
will come out to be.
So, on that note, and based on the ten to fifteen books I’ve
read on how to run a successful crowdfunding campaign, you always want a good
size portion of the total to be set for “Unexpected Expenses.” What if, one of
our donors pledges $200 and we have to deliver the full set of my Longevity
series and Magic’s Time Split series to him, that could get pricey, right?
Well, with that extra bit of cash at the end, we can rest assured we’ll be able
to deliver them all.
More on the donation rewards—or tier rewards—in a second.
Last pieces of the $10,000 pie will be paychecks for a
photographer and two artists. I have three friends who are members of my Launch
Team who have been amazing and awesome to volunteer their time and work to take
photos and design the t-shirts and such. I want to thank them with nice checks.
So I’ve set each of those at $250 which comes out to a total
of $750.
And ALL of that wrapped up together and tied with a ribbon
and bow adds up to $10,000!
So I’ve been talking about having a Launch Team. I just
wanted to thank each one of you for your encouragement and your willingness to
help in this endeavour. I love you, I truly do. To everyone else, there are
eight of us members in this Launch Team. Our goal is to promote, promote,
promote, and gather as many pre-pledges as possible. Over the next few weeks,
I’m going to be working with these friends in communicating and answering as
well as designing some neat ideas for the fundraiser.
I’ve got this cool idea for a teaser trailer to announce the
Launch Day when it comes out. We’ll see if we can throw it together. It’ll be
awesome if we can.
Now, for the tier reward explanation finally!
You can’t just ask people for free money, right? When it
comes to crowdfunding, that rule still applies. You should be able to honour
your donaters by giving them rewards. Most GoFundMen or any other crowdfunding
site tells their campaigners to set tiers.
A tier is basically a level. When it comes to donations,
it’s a level of amount. Say one person donates $20 and another person donates
$200 dollars, they’re both in two different levels. So each level gets a
reward, adding more rewards the higher the amount.
I’ve actually drawn out pictures for my tier rewards.
Here they are below. I’ve considered giving each tier level a title—like I do
with my two tiers over in Patreon—but I don’t think that’s necessary here.
The dollar numbers are the amount donated and the answer
after the equal signs are the rewards followed by pictoral examples.
First level:
Second Level:
Third Level:
Fourth Level:
Fifth Level:
Sixth Level:
All
right, I hope that gets you pumped and inspired. Hopefully you’ll be able to
see each picture too! As for me that’s going to have to be all the time I have
for today. Please, think about this upcoming fundraiser, think of the impact
and support you could give.
So,
please subscribe, drop by my website through the link below, subscribe for my
newsletter, shoot me a message—I try to always respond in a timely matter.
Until
next week, have a great life.
If you enjoyed this post, you should sign up for my
newsletter! I don’t spam and you can unsuscribe at any time. I only send out
emails on Fridays. Sign up here: SIGN UP!
I’m
also a Patreon artist–the cool thing about Patreon is it allows people to
support artists by monthly pledges which allow the artists to have more time to
work on their own passions. Here is my account: PATREON.COM. If you’d like to support me, I would
be eternally grateful!
I’m reading an excerpt
from the exclusive serial for my Patreon Gryphons ($5 a month backers), the
Ikkilion Chronicles.
By John Irvin
So, here’s Part 3 in my Author Reading Excerpts trilogy for my YouTube channel. It’s from the exclusive Ikkilion Chronicles—this is the only time you’ll get to hear a snippet from it, unless you go to Patreon and click the “pledge $5 a month” button.
Click the logo to check me out!
Becoming
one of my awesome supporters who helps me with my monthly finances so I don’t
have to spend as much time at my other jobs away from my writing. I want to
thank you ahead in advance for your support.
If you
can’t support financially right now, sharing this blog, or the vlog, liking
both of them, commenting on either, will help me as well. So thank you in
advance for that also!
Now, go
check out the reading:
What’s in the Works for Now?
So, if you’ve been keeping up with
both my blog and vlog, you know I’m launching a GoFundMe campaign sometime next
month. The money we bring in from this campaign will fund my first Author Book
Tour, set for August of this year!
I’ll be discussing this more in next
week’s vlog just so you know. That video I’m actually going to be sharing
across my networks and I have a Launch Team ready to share it as well.
I also would like to announce, Book
3: As Flesh Rots, is finally published! Here is the link to Amazon:
John Irvin, Author Journey Series Episode 9, Reading Excerpts Part 3
Welcome back to John Irvin, Author Journey Series, Episode 9,
Reading Excerpts Part 3.
What is
Patreon? It’s a site where artists of all types can set up a profile and share the
work with the world. People can sign up and make monthly pledges for these
artists, which gives them a chance to spend more time with their own work
rather at some dead-end job.
It’s almost like a monthly crowdfunding, one
person can pledge $5 a month so it only costs him maybe a Starbucks coffee once
a month. But then, when an artist has 100 of these backers, he’s getting $500 a
month while not costing each backer that much. I also reward my backers as does
the rest of the Patreon community, in tier levels.
My rewards are mentions in my upcoming book
dedications as well as two free e-books—one the first month and the second on
the second month—and a weekly episode in the Ikkilion Chronicles serial.
This
is an excerpt taken from Ikkilion Chronicles, Episode 2: The Great Escape:
“You
just going to watch or are you going to help like a good husband?”
Clearing
my throat, I scurry to her side, reaching for the wall. My skin brushes against
cold wet stone.
Gross.
The
moss growing between the cracks is gooey.
I
narrow my eyes in the dark. Gooey moss between the stones might actually be a
good thing. My fingers move southward as I crouch. I grin when I find what I’m
looking for.
Fea
kneels down at my side.
“Find
something?”
“Just
maybe.” I bob my head, still grinning. I trace the edge of sandstone.
There’s
a puff of air in constant stream against my fingers.
Clenching
my jaws, I push one hand against the crevice and nearly shout for joy when it
gives way.
The
stone bricks crumble, opening up into a small hand-sized hole.
I
grab both sides with my hands, ramming again. With every push, I tear the wall
to pieces until there is a gaping maw large enough for both my wife and me to
crawl through.
“You
first, my Love.” I grab Fea’s arm, ushering her forward.
Fea
bends over, scooting through the gap. Her jeans right cuff snags on a corner,
nevertheless she yanks it away, tearing a small seam.
I
drop to all fours, scrambling through after her. I notice her black leather
boots are covered in the muck of the cell.
I’ll
clean those for her if we make it out of this, I promise myself.
“This
isn’t the outside of the dungeon.” Fea squeaks. Her voice echoes in the chamber
we’ve crawled into.
I
propel myself onto my feet, surveying the room.
It’s
twice as large as our cell and a little brighter.
Where’s
the light coming from? I wonder. My cold steel eyes bounce around until I find
what I’m looking for.
A
small window lodged in the sandstone brick wall to our right.
“You
think we can reach it and get through?” Fea voices the questions in my mind.
I
shrug, tip-toeing over to the wall. Staring up at the window, I measure how
high up it is. My lips moving while I calculate, I narrow my eyes.
The
window is set twenty bricks above us. With each brick measuring maybe four
inches in height, the window is eighty inches above—or rather, five feet and
ten inches. Perfect.
“You’ll
have to climb onto my shoulders.” I inform Fea.
She
crosses her arms over her chest. “What will you do once I’m through?”
“I’ll
climb up.” I grin, trying to exude confidence. Kneeling down in front of her, I
wink. “Remind you of a day not too long ago?”
She
crinkles her nose at me, yet says nothing. Her boots rise from the floor,
planting themselves on my shoulders.
I’m
glad they’re not steel-toed. That would probably hurt.
For
her height, she barely weighs a thing. My Fea has always been about staying
healthy, keeping fit, all that good stuff—every since our engagement, she was
my go-to workout partner.
“Coming
up.” I grit through my teeth, pushing on my knees. I stretch until I’m standing
upright.
Fea
grabs the window sill. “It’s wide enough for both of us to fit through.” Her
fingers latch onto the bottom ledge.
I
hoist my shoulders, giving her a little extra boost while she pulls herself
through the escape hatch.
“So glad
someone didn’t think to put bars on that window.” I remark to no one in
particular. Turning around, I gaze toward the window, watching my wife’s butt
disappear outside. I’ve always thought she had the sexiest butt and those legs,
Mmm. Wow.
“You
climbing yet?” Fea’s voice interrupts my observations.
“Right
now.” I smirk, shaking my head. Stretching my hands above my head, I find a toe
hold at the base of the wall. My own black leather boots fit my feet nice and
snug, making it easy for me to feel my way up.
My
fingers find all the crevices while I strain my forearms, pulling the entirety
of my body weight every inch.
When
my hands reach the window, Fea reaches in and grabs a hold. She grunts and
groans while I squeeze air through my teeth.
My
head feels like it’s about to explode—climbing stone walls shouldn’t be this
hard. Finally, my shoulders fit through the window. I’ve nowhere else to go,
except out.
The
cool night breeze puffs on my face.
I
smell salt.
When
the blood stops pounding in my ears, I start to hear waves beating against a
shore nearby.
Breathing
in deeply, I crawl the rest of the way before going rigid.
If
I’d kept going forward another foot, I’d find no more brick wall beneath my
hands and knees. I’m right on the edge looking down at a drop of maybe thirty
feet.
Below,
the ground slopes for another twenty feet before diving into frothing waves.
That’s
the Utragorn Bay which leads out to the Southerly Sea.
The
West Wing of the Palace sits right on a small peninsula to the south of town,
overlooking the Bay—at a lesser life-threatening time, I’d say it was the most
beautiful view I’d ever seen.
This
side of the Palace doesn’t have the city lights in view so there were more
stars in the evening sky.
Apparently
the sun had gone down while we were still being questioned by the Witch Queen.
“There’s
a ledge heading around the West Wing.” Fea points off to her left—I do not like
how close to the edge her heels are. “If we follow it, I think I see a
staircase heading down outside the wall. Since we’re on top here, we can jump
over the gate at its top.”
“Sounds like a plan
to me.” I state. Rising to my feet, I almost trip over a dislodged piece of
sandstone.
And that’s all for today’s book reading. This completes my book reading
trilogy.
If you’re interested in supporting me, please click the link below and
it’ll take you to my Patreon site.
Come back next week to get the latest run down on my GoFundMe Campaign
Launch.
So, please subscribe, drop by my website through the link below, subscribe
for my newsletter, shoot me a message—I try to always respond in a timely
matter.
Until next week, have a great life.
If you enjoyed this post, you
should sign up for my newsletter! I don’t spam and you can unsuscribe at any
time. I only send out emails on Fridays. Sign up here: SIGN UP!
I’m also a Patreon artist–the cool thing
about Patreon is it allows people to support artists by monthly pledges which
allow the artists to have more time to work on their own passions. Here is my
account: PATREON.COM. If you’d like to support me, I would
be eternally grateful!
I want to share some
pieces of parts of me—yes, I did just say that…AGAIN.
By John Irvin
I’m
having a short book reading out of Book 1: Hidden Lake’s Light in my Magic’s Time
Split series—you know, the Perma-free book? Perma-free is exactly what it
sounds like: permanently free.
I know
some writers believe no writer should have to give away their books for free.
Others think, maybe giving away your first couple might advance you. I can see
both sides of the point of views.
So, I’m
not sure which side I’d ascribe to, except I am giving away this book for free.
It’s an e-book, so it doesn’t cost me—except for the cover art.
But
anyways, go check out the reading:
To be honest, I enjoy last week’s
reading. It was the first time I’d done that. Of course, I couldn’t see your
faces—but, I could imagine them!
I’m
finishing up reading two books.
Most avid readers admit to doing
this—I’m just being honest. But most of the time, I’m reading more than one
book. Life is just too short, you might say. Sometimes, I’ll try to force
myself to focus on one book. But that doesn’t last long.
This past month I’ve been reading Harry Potter: The Sorcerer’s Stone by J.K. Rowling, Writing the Fiction Series by Karen Wiesner, The Fire Unseen by Andrew Jaxson, and Rapture by Don Montgomery.
They’ve all been good. I finished
Rapture and Sorcerer’s Stone just recently, I’m almost finished with The Fire
Unseen.
Yes, I know, I was born at the end
of the 80s, so I should have been on the bandwagon with the kids who grew up in
the 90s and already read the Harry Potter series. Well, some of us are “late”
at things.
I must say, even though I’m 30 years
old, I still enjoyed the kid’s story. I’m looking forward to reading the rest
of the series.
But, I do want to finish the other
two first before starting a new one—we’ll see how long that lasts.
And now, the vlog transcript.
John Irvin, Author
Journey Series
Episode 8, Reading
Excerpts Part 2
Welcome back to John Irvin, Author Journey Series, Episode 8,
Reading Excerpts Part 2. With last week’s response, I’m looking forward to this
next read.
I may just enjoy reading my stories. Of course, being an
introvert and in the centre of attention has its qualms. But, right now, I
can’t see your faces, so that makes it a little easier.
Today I’ll be reading out of Magic’s Time Split, Book 1:
Hidden Lake’s Light. Next week, for Part 3, I’ll be reading an excerpt from my
Patreon exclusive series: Ikkilion Chronicles.
And now, an excerpt from Hidden
Lake’s Light. There may be some
spoilers ahead, just to warn you.
Jessica
pointed in the direction of a clump of trees off behind the City Hall cabin.
Levi followed that long, slender index finger to the site
it was directing him to. He caught his breath when he saw them—two shadows
sneaking through the trees away from the camp.
They
twisted under the lower branches, slipping through the bushes, stalking down to
the lake about fifty yards from the guards’ position.
“Who do you suppose they are?” Jessica whispered.
Levi shrugged, sliding off his perch and crouching behind
the bottom of the resting log.
Following his lead, Jessica peered over his shoulder.
At that moment, two beams of light flooded the distant
surface of the lake.
“We know for one thing, they’re not the Indians. They’re
part of our group.” Levi surmised. Eyes narrowed, he started forward.
“Where are you going?” Jessica grabbed his shirt sleeve
and tugged.
“Going to see who they are,” he looked back at her.
“It’s probably just one of the married couples wanting to
have a game of midnight
skinny-dipping.”
Levi froze.
This could be true, he mused. But why would they be
taking the flashlights into the water?
The expedition team brought waterproof flashlights
naturally, but midnight scuba
diving didn’t add up.
The two figures weren’t taking their clothes off either.
Instead, they were tromping into the water, fully-clothed, holding their lights
pointed straight ahead.
“I think it’s safe to say, they’re not skinny-dipping,”
Levi whispered in Jessica’s ear. He then started forward again, keeping low
while he charged down the shoreline.
Jessica gave a huff before taking off after her best
friend. As much as she didn’t want to meddle in other people’s business, she
had to admit, she was curious why these two decided to explore the bottom of
the lake while everyone else was asleep.
“Hurry,” Levi called back, his voice just above a
whisper. He sloshed into the waves, keeping his gaze on the two beams of light
now fading beneath the surface. “Maybe we can follow them.”
Jessica arrived at the spot, studying the shapes below.
“You really want to swim down there this late at night?
Why don’t we just wait till they come back up and ask them what the heck
they’re doing?”
“Because,” Levi bared his teeth. “That would take all the
fun out of it.”
“Well, we at least need someone still up here standing
watch.”
“Good idea,” he nodded, standing waist deep in the water
already. He turned and met her gaze. “You wait here, I’ll be back.” With that
he lowered himself until the waves rushed over the top of his head.
Letting out an exasperated breath of air, Jessica crossed
her arms, her head swiveling from side to side. Everything was too quiet for
her comfort.
A shadow stepped out of one of the tents back in the
middle of the settlement.
She knew from the tent it was Gael. Watching him stroll
up to the town’s group of out-houses, she figured he was just on a midnight visit to the john. Turning back to the lapping
waves, she could barely make out the flashlight beams.
Wow the lake is deep, she concluded. And this close to
land too.
The lights were gone in a blink.
Jessica realised her hands were clinging to her own arms,
her mouth holding her breath. She took in a steady breath, forcing herself to
remain calm, but her mind started searching the back spaces where all the
worst-case scenarios loved to wait for moments exactly like this.
“Jess?” Gael’s voice was close enough to hack away the
cobwebs stringing over her thoughts.
She turned, stopping herself before she gasped.
Gael was almost on top of her.
How had he finished his business, noticed her, then
gotten so close without her even hearing him?
“Gael,” she responded, her tone high-pitched.
“What are you doing way over here?” Both his eyebrows
were creating a semicircle disconnected in the middle over his forehead.
“Where’s Levi?” His gray eyes bounced from the point on the lake’s surface
where she’d been staring then back to her.
“Umm…” Good job, Jess. That sounded convincing.
Gael stopped within three feet of her. “Jess? What’s
going on?”
“Well…” You’re doing great. “We saw two figures go diving
down there.” She pointed to the spot where she’d last seen the flashlights.
“Levi went after them. I guess they’re at the bottom of the lake—maybe found a
cave—because I can’t see the lights anymore.”
“Why didn’t y’all let me know?” Gael’s stare was now
glued to the water.
“I don’t know,” she flapped her hands in the air. “It was
a spur of the moment decision I guess. I told him we probably should, but he
was too intent on following them.”
“I should probably go after them,” Gael breathed, he
could hear his blood taking his pulse by storm.
“I want to go with you,” she blurted out, grabbing his
shirt sleeve when he tossed off his shoes.
Taking the first two steps into the cool water, Gael
paused and met her frantic stare. He knew there would be no forcing her to
stay. With a nod, he waved in the direction of the camp.
“Wake somebody up to stand guard while we’re gone. I’ll
wait.”
Without another word, Jessica dashed back to the tents,
woke the head of the Ferris household up, and informed him what was going on in
as few words as possible. Then she stormed the shore diving into the water at
Gael’s side.
He had to grab her by the shoulders and make her look
into his eyes.
“Quietly, Hon,” his drawl would have a soothing effect on
anyone’s nerves. “We need to go in together. Take my hand, we’ll find them,
don’t worry. Levi’s fine.”
She nodded, accepting the extended hand.
The two of them tread deeper into the water—their hair
standing up on the back of their necks, sending goose bumps down their spine.
Uncertain whether it was the water’s temperature or their nerves, they pushed
on.
And that’s all for today’s book reading. Come back next week and I’ll have
the next one running.
So, please subscribe, drop by my website through the link below, subscribe
for my newsletter, shoot me a message—I try to always respond in a timely matter.
Until next week, have a great life.
If you enjoyed this post, you
should sign up for my newsletter! I don’t spam and you can unsuscribe at any
time. I only send out emails on Fridays. Sign up here: SIGN UP!
I’m also a Patreon artist–the cool thing
about Patreon is it allows people to support artists by monthly pledges which
allow the artists to have more time to work on their own passions. Here is my
account: PATREON.COM. If you’d like to support me, I would
be eternally grateful!
I want to share some
pieces of parts of me—yes, I did just say that.
By John Irvin
Today marks
my seventh episode in the YouTube vlog. I’m doing something totally different
and dangerous! I’m doing a three part book reading for my vlog over the next
three weeks.
Go check
it out:
If you’d like to read it here, I’ll
share the transcript below. Before that, I’m going to share what my daily
schedules look like and plans for the future.
I’m an
early riser.
If you read last week’s blog, you’ll
know my mornings usually start at 0430! I grab my coffee, do a little reading,
some meditation, then it’s practice a little foreign language on a neat little
app called Duolingo. After that, it’s normally time for my writing session.
From 0600 to 0700 I write in whatever book I’m working on.
Then, once the alarm blares,
interrupting my fingers from their work, I prepare for my workout regimen. I
try to do aerobics every other day and weightlifting the rest of the days. I
believe our bodies are on loan to us, it is our duty to take care of them.
Besides, being a writer, most of my
work is done sitting down—I need exercise!
After workout, the plan is to do
more work in my proofreading business—hopefully, soon, that will be my
full-time job until my author business pays enough.
Now, the vlog transcript.
John Irvin, Author Journey Series Episode 7, Reading Excerpts Part 1
Hey, welcome back to John Irvin, Author Journey Series,
Episode 7, Reading Excerpts Part 1. I’ve never actually done this, so forgive
me if I’m nervous—which I sorta am.
But I had this thought earlier, why don’t I read some brief
excerpts from these three main series of mine. I’ll probably be doing book
readings on my Book Tour, so why not give it a shot and have some practice.
So, first book I’ll be reading from is, Longevity, Book 1:
Revelation. Next week will be Part 2, and it’ll be in Magic’s Time Split, Book
1: Hidden Lake’s Light. The following week, it’ll be out of my Ikkilion
Chronicles serial for my $5 backers on Patreon.
All right, without any further due, Chapter 6—forewarning,
there are spoilers ahead.
The stench was horrible, sending tendrils of disgust into Ihon’s gut while he crawled in through the window.
Perhaps I should change into that
beast, he wondered. Sounds like a good idea, add a bit more terror into this
murderer before he meets his Maker.
With that, Ihon shoved his kilt off
and knelt down. His knuckles touching the wood floor of the bedchamber, he shut
his eyes and grimaced. In seconds, the midnight fur covered his entire
frame which was now thrice its size. The shift, though twisting and realigning
bones and muscles, did not hurt.
The only sound was the quick growl
that bellowed in the creature’s barrel chest.
Still have no idea what under the
sun and moon I am, Ihon glanced down at the long claws extending from the tips
of his fingers. But who better to bring swift vengeance to a monster than a
monster?
His teeth bared, the beast crept through the shadows.
Pitch-coloured fur blending in with the darkness around him, he paused. The
reek of unclean flesh caused his coarse snout to wrinkle.
Eyes, the colour of smoldering
darkness, glared at the hump lying beneath the animal skin blanket.
An early morning breeze whispered
through the window. It brushed the nose of the beast while he inched his way to
the foot of the large oaken bed. The wind did not seem to understand the depth
of the present situation, playing with his large wolf-like ears while they
flattened against his enormous head.
A sudden snort interrupted the quiet
night.
Ihon froze, rearing up on his hind
legs—though he looked like a hulking wolf, his beast form did retain the humanoid
postures. The tone of those back leg muscles revealed a strength that was
superhuman. This power rippled throughout the entire body—a force no normal
human being could ever hope to harness.
“I was expecting you,” the shape
beneath the blanket growled.
A hand pulled aside the covers to
reveal a grinning face half-covered in a raven-black beard.
“Smelled you coming from miles
away.”
Cutting into a snarl, Ihon lowered
his head. Glaring at the man in the bed through his thick eyebrows, he growled.
“Then you know I am here for only
one thing.”
Swinging his legs over the side of
the bed, the man held his plastered grin while keeping eye contact with the
monster.
Ihon flexed his fingers, baring his
claws, while his fangs gnashed the air.
The man stood to his feet, the grin
turned eerie as it gripped his face.
Another growl started to bellow in
Ihon’s chest when it was strangled.
His large eyes widening, Ihon
watched in shock as the murderer’s naked body started to ripple and contort.
Joints twisting, skin rolling like
liquid, the hunted villain’s body grew. Skin seeming to rip, long silver hair,
peppered with brown, drenched the naked figure.
In under a minute, Ihon blanched at
the creature now mirroring his stance—as well as his size and appearance.
Except for the coat colour and a few
miniscule facial differences—the beasts looked the same.
I’m not alone? Ihon’s mind raced
And that’s all for today’s book reading. Come back next week and I’ll have
the next one running.
So, please subscribe, drop by my website through the link below, subscribe
for my newsletter, shoot me a message—I try to always respond in a timely
matter.
Until next week, have a great life.
If you enjoyed this post, you
should sign up for my newsletter! I don’t spam and you can unsuscribe at any
time. I only send out emails on Fridays. Sign up here: SIGN UP!
I’m also a Patreon artist–the cool thing
about Patreon is it allows people to support artists by monthly pledges which
allow the artists to have more time to work on their own passions. Here is my
account: PATREON.COM. If you’d like to support me, I would
be eternally grateful!
