'The Dead Oaks: Midnight Monsters' Cover Reveal & Release Date

It's coming!  

The Dead Oaks - Book Two: Midnight Monsters will be released on Amazon on June 19th!

The Wattpad release date will be July 7th and it will be released in weekly chapter installments.

"The Dead Oaks Paranormal Society finds themselves on their first official case. A haunted house seems like a promising place to capture conclusive evidence that the paranormal is real; but like all plans, nothing goes the way that they intend.

Unwanted tagalongs, misunderstandings, and a malicious not-so-ghostly entity all collide to put the strength of Jasper and Wesley's bond to the test. This monster hunting sleepover could end their team, and possibly their lives, faster than they'd come together."

I'm thrilled to share the second novella in this YA M/M Paranormal series with you!  Obviously, I recommend reading it at midnight.  ;)

Character Highlight: Jasper Jelinek

(Fan Cast Inspiration)

Jasper Jelinek, aka "J.J.", is a supernaturally obsessed teen swathed in melancholy and misanthropy.  He only recently has begun to come out of his shell after meeting Wesley Shain.  He's one of the founders of the Dead Oaks Paranormal Society, which doesn't do much to help him dispel his unwanted local nickname "Casper".

His OOTD

What's On His Playlist

(Links to YouTube)

Contagious - Night Riots

Black Water - Of Monsters And Men

B a noBody - SOAK

The Woodpile - Frightened Rabbit

Each Coming Night - Iron & Wine

Favorite Book

Favorite Movie

You can get to know Jasper better in: 

The Dead Oakes: Ghost Stories - Available on Kindle and Wattpad

UPDATES: March 2018

I'm a few days later on my monthly update than usual due to being extremely busy and also not feeling 100% the past week.  Today has been great for catching up on things and so now I'll get you caught up!

WRITING

Life has kept me pretty tied up with tedious tasks so this morning was the first time in nearly two weeks that I'd had a chance to write.  Thankfully, though, my muse returned and I'm back to working on The Dead Oaks: Book Two.  I know I'm making you wait a long time for this one and I apologize but it's still in the works, so don't worry.  One major difference between this follow-up to the original that I can let you in on early is that the characters are becoming more of an ensemble cast, which is quite fun.  You can sample a small preview on Instagram.

I also finally made a decision about Grady's Case Files (A prequel to ROAM).  As much as I would love to turn it into a webcomic, I have to be realistic.  I don't have the time or resources to tackle a massive project like that in the way that I would want to.  So, I'm going to write it as a series of short stories for Wattpad.  I'm very excited to get started on it. (Hence Grady making an appearance on my new blog banner!)

ART

I feel like my art is always in flux.  haha  And in all honesty, I will probably stop posting about it here unless it ties into one of my books.  If you'd like to keep up with it, I post pretty regularly on my Art Account.  Mostly now, it's just a way for me to relax at the end of the day.  I do still sell my work on Etsy or Redbubble, though, if you see something you like.

PERSONAL

I did get a chance to catch up on the newest season of Voltron: Legendary Defender!  This weekend is for working on personal projects and, very importantly, relaxing.  Going to bake cupcakes and do some journaling with my daughter.  I hope you all have a great weekend!

Booklist 2017: The Song of Achilles by Madeline Miller

I recently finished reading the first book on my "Booklist" for this year.  I set a goal of 15 this time around.  Last year, I read 16 and I figured I'd just stay in the same ballpark since I tend to keep busy.  I have to say, this year's reading list already started out with a bang! (Err...Uhm...No pun intended...okay, maybe slightly intended.)  In all seriousness, though, this book is not only great; it is probably one of my favorite reads in the past couple of years.

The Song of Achilles by Madeline Miller retells the story of Achilles destiny and gives us a full and rich tale of the lifetime bond of friendship and love between himself and his best friend, Patroclus.  I think that most who enjoy Homer's Iliad and Greek mythology reimaginings will adore this fresh revival of these classic characters.  Along with providing us a deep connection to the two protagonists, through the intimate narrative of Patroclus, Miller also paints a vivid picture of all of the people, places, and deities involved.  The tone and structure of the story feels as though it could stand alongside Homer's works as canon material.  The descriptive passionate thoughts of Patroclus are raw and honest, romantic and poetic.

This book is emotional, intense, and unyielding.  It's definitely one that you won't want to put down but, when you finally do, it will assuredly be with tears in your eyes.

So, what drew me to this story originally?

The fan art.  I stumbled across it one day and the beauty of the illustrations as well as the quotes compelled me to find out more about the book.  So, I quickly looked it up and checked it out at my local library.  I tend to discover a lot of new books, shows, etc. through fan art.  I figure if someone loved it enough to take the time to illustrate it then there's a good chance it's going to be a great story.  In this case, it was an excellent one.  A tale of unconditional love and friendship that stands the test of time.

Thanks for reading and I hope you'll add this one to your Booklist this year!

~Dez~
Fan Art Credits:  kohichapeau.tumblr.com / niarchery.tumblr.com
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Book Release - The Revelation of Dacey Sinnett (Paperback)

I'm happy to announce that you can now get your hands on the paperback edition of The Revelation of Dacey Sinnett through Amazon!

I absolutely love this book cover and I'm so excited to finally have it on my bookshelf in a real, tangible, form.  There's a unique sentimental feeling that you get when you can actually hold the story that you've put so much of your own heart into.  

I've gotten a lot of great feedback and reviews from readers on this story and I just want to take a moment to say thank you!  I try to entertain but, most of all, I try to share the deepest parts of myself through my characters.  It truly means a lot to me any time I receive a message or comment about how much they are loved or how relatable someone finds them.  So thank you for all of your kind words and all of your continued support!

As always - Thanks for reading!

~Dez~

Happy New Year

(Quote from John Muir // Images found on Pinterest)

Hello 2017!  I hope you all had a wonderful holiday season!  Mine was great and extremely relaxing which was something I definitely appreciated.  Of course, "relaxing" to me is a slightly different definition than most people would have.  I did a lot of research which goes hand in hand with writing.  I also had a chance to sit down and make some long-term decisions and plans regarding the ROAM series which I'm very excited about.  I hope everyone feels refreshed starting out this new year and ready to tackle their creative and personal goals!

The Softcover edition of The Revelation of Dacey Sinnett is almost here!  I'll be reviewing a proof copy soon and if everything looks good then I hope to have them available through Amazon sometime this month.  I also plan to release Fossegrimen (short story) on Kindle early on in the year.

I have two books on Wattpad which are being updated regularly.  HUNTER and The Dead Oaks: Book One.  I'll continue to work on these in the first part of the year and then hope to finish the year out with my (ROAM) spin-off/tie-in DůO.  I can't give too much about it away but I can tell you that it will delve deeper into the Order of Azoth, Hunters, and Techno Mages.  But that's all I'm revealing for now!  I may even begin some other projects but we'll just have to wait and see how scheduling works out.  I also plan to submit some things to a few publications and enter some writing contests.

A book signing event may be in the works.  No date set yet.  Still mulling a few possibilities over.  I will keep you all posted, though!  That leads into an art-related question that I've already been asked.  Will I have any booths at conventions this year like I have the past couple of years?  I have no idea.  I haven't made any plans to and I'm still juggling the logistics of it.  Please keep in mind that everything I do to market/promote my work is 100% me, so it really just depends on time/finances.  I do love seeing you in person, though!  That's why I think perhaps a book signing might be better suited this time around.  You can always find my art online, though!

I already listed a few fun sketch cards in my Etsy shop over the holiday and I plan to list more periodically throughout the year.  I could write an entire segment on my artistic plans and because of that I'll end those musings here and save them for a future post.

 

   

Speaking of art, how awesome are these drawings of Ethan, Benny, & Dacey (ROAM), and Jasper & Wes (The Dead Oaks) from Gaby of Whimsy and Noir!  I absolutely love them!  She also runs a paranormal webcomic and has her own Etsy shop; so be sure to check her out sometime!

If you guys have any fanart or things you'd like to share from these series please send them my way so that I can include them here on the blog!

 

Thanks so much for reading and I hope you all have a fantastic year!

~Dez~

New Release & Shop Talk

I hope everyone is having a great December so far!  I just wanted to drop in and let you know that the first couple of chapters of my new YA Paranormal Fiction series, The Dead Oaks, are now available to read on Wattpad! 

SYNOPSIS:
Jasper Jelinek believes in ghosts.  Probably more than he believes in himself.  After living a life of relative solitude and misanthropy, he suddenly becomes saddled with some unexpected new friends.  Their obsession with the paranormal forces them to face the thing they've all been avoiding most:  Life.  And each of them must learn to deal with what it truly means to be haunted.


Typically, I plan to update this much like I currently do with HUNTER.  Bi-weekly, unless I have those lucky weeks with more time to work on writing.

   

Speaking of HUNTER, have you caught up to the latest chapter yet?  What did you think about that bombshell (without getting too spoilery)?  I think you will love where this story is headed.  It's probably not what anyone expected but you'll realize the clues have been there all along.  Enjoy the rest of the crazy ride!  There are a couple more books to come after this one that tie everything together, so plenty of surprises still await you.

     

As for my illustration work, (Which I generally don't talk about much on here because this blog is mostly for my books but I might start to incorporate it more.), I have some ideas lined up that I'm really excited to work on over the holidays and into the new year.  I've got a fairly solid idea of where my focuses will be.  I'm also getting my hands on some new creative tools soon and I can't wait to practice using them.  Vague, I know, but I'd rather just wait to post the results once I get to that point.

There's really only one area that I'm debating on:  What storefront to use to sell my work??  I really don't know.  Currently, I mainly use Etsy & Redbubble but they're both rather empty at the moment while I decide my next move.   Most of my sales have actually happened by people contacting me directly through DMs on social media.  So, I'm not really sure how I should move forward with that.  I am definitely going to keep using Redbubble because they give me the ability to offer products that I normally couldn't on my own; but for prints and original drawings... I'll either just stick with Etsy or maybe give Storenvy a second chance.  I know, personally, I purchase most art from Storenvy.  I've also seen people just sell their work directly on their Twitter, Instagram, or Tumblr pages.  So many options!  What do you all think?  Thoughts, opinions, preferences, experiences?  Any feedback would be great.

Until next time, here: Have some Ethan/Grady feels!

 

Thanks for reading!
~Dez~

COMING SOON: The Dead Oaks

Thank you so much for your feedback on my last blog post!  I will, indeed, go ahead and work on both of my series simultaneously.  So, with that said, I will be posting up the first chapter of my new YA Paranormal Fiction series, The Dead Oaks, very soon!  Be sure to follow me on Wattpad for update notifications so that you can be the first to know when it's available.

Thanks for reading!
~Dez~

November 2016: Updates

I hope everyone had a fang-tastic Halloween!  I also hope you all enjoyed my short story, Fossegrimen.  If you missed out on it, have no fear.  It's available to read for free on Wattpad and I will also be offering it as a free download on Kindle soon.

Thank you to everyone that has read The Revelation of Dacey Sinnett!  I'm so glad to hear how much you all have liked it.  Getting DMs and comments about which characters are your favorites and why is incredibly fun.  If you have some free time, please leave a review on either Goodreads, Amazon, or both!  It helps the book reach more potential readers on those sites and I would love to get this series into as many hands, minds, and hearts as possible.

This year I'll be participating in NaNoWriMo for the first time!  "Casually" participating, anyway.  I'm not really trying to win any awards at the moment or compete with anyone or whatnot. (Oh dear.  Now I'm starting to sound like Dr. Grady Hunter...)  Mostly, I just want to see what all the fuss is about and I'm using it to track my progress while I write HUNTER.

Speaking of- HUNTER is back on track!  Now that Dacey has been let loose into the world (Print version still to come.), I can get my main focus back to Ethan and Grady.  I think you guys will really enjoy the twist this book will bring to the series as a whole.

What else?  Oh, yes.  Commissions are now CLOSED.  If you follow my social media then you probably know I also do illustrations.  Thank you so much to everyone that ordered from me this year!  I finished up my last commission of 2016 last night and I am done.  Probably for a long time.  While making extra cash is nice, working on commissions is extremely time consuming.  After a lot of deliberation, I've decided not to accept any more for a while with one exception:  I'm still willing to collaborate with other artists so long as your idea fits my aesthetic.  Have some supernatural dapper dudes you want drawn or colored?  I'm there!  Otherwise, I'm outties for now on the illustration game.  Save for working on my own projects, of course.  I've had a number of people request more illustrations of my OCs and even, potentially, some web comic style posts.  So, if I'm going to devote time away from writing to drawing then I'd rather it be for projects in that vein.  I'm sure you all understand.  Mostly, I just want to write!!

Do we feel good and updated now?  Was that a sufficient 'Welcome-To-November' blog post?  No?  You want more?  GOOD!  I HAVE SOME MORE!

I'm looking into putting some progress bar widgets onto this blog so you can keep track of my work.  Still trying to decide exactly how I'd like to go about that so it's just a WIP at the moment.  For now, here's an old school style write up of what's to come.

UPCOMING RELEASES:
Kindle
Short Story // Dark Fantasy, Historical Fiction
'Fossegrimen' - Mid. to Late November

CURRENT PROJECT:
Novel // Paranormal Fiction, Urban Fantasy, LGBT
'HUNTER: Book II of the ROAM Series'
Status: 22,500 words of approx. 50,000

NEXT UP:
Novel // Sci-Fi, Urban Fantasy, LGBT
'DůO'
Status: Outline


That last one probably left you with more questions than answers.  ;)

Thanks for reading!
~Dez~