Friday Feature: #Mermaid Excerpt from DESCENT

All the warmer weather lately has me thinking of spring...and the beach....and mermaids. And the fact that I have a book to finish writing in my YA series.

My Son of a Mermaid series started several years ago, with a small publisher who has since folded shop. I re-grouped and re-branded, and re-released the first two books in the series before life events slowed my progress. But I love this story, and my characters...and will keep writing.

For those of you who have seen the pretty covers, but haven't read the story, I thought I'd give you a taste. The story begins with Shea MacNamara, who thought he was a fairly normal 15-year-old farmboy from Oklahoma. His mother split when he was a baby, so he had no memories of her, but his dad was always there. Until the day a tornado ripped through their farm and destroyed everything. His dad's body was never found.

Moving halfway across the country to live with relatives he'd never met was something of a culture shock, but nothing compared to the first time he fell in the ocean...

Excerpt from DESCENT: Son of a Mermaid Book One

“I love watching the tide come in,” Hailey said. The pair sat on the edge of the dock mesmerized by the flowing water, bare feet dangling inches above the rising surface. Fishing poles and sandals lay discarded behind them on the wooden walkway. “It’s like the river went out to play in the ocean and is now rushing home for lunch.”

He elbowed her ribs. “You think about food all of the time, you know that?”

She turned and grinned. “I’m food deprived. Have I mentioned my mom can’t cook?”

“Only forty million times. And I’ve only known you about a week!” He paused, watching a seagull wheel overhead. “Finding all those wooden lures this morning made me want to go fishing. You didn’t have to tag along.”

“I wanted to.” She turned her face upward to watch the same gull. “Fishing is a good Cape Cod experience, and it gets me out of the house. Chip has been awful to live with lately.”

“He still doesn’t like it here?”

Hailey shook her head. She stood on the dock and pulled her hot pink shirt over her head, revealing a plain, black one-piece bathing suit. “C’mon, Shea, let’s jump in.” She shimmied out of her shorts, dropped the clothes in a heap on the wooden dock, and cannonballed into the river.

He shielded his face with his arm across to block the splash. “Watch it! And no, I told you I don’t know how to swim. I’ll sit here and watch you drown.”

With an exaggerated pout, she swam toward him. “It’s no fun alone. Pull me onto the dock.” He stood and bent to help her, but she tugged his arm instead.

He toppled into the river beside her. The blue-green coolness swirled as he tumbled through the water, arms and legs flailing. He struggled to hold his breath, his cheeks puffing like a chipmunk. Somehow he managed to right himself, head over kicking feet, but still he sank into the murky depths.

Millions of air bubbles traced the path of his body, the precious oxygen escaping from his clothing and through his nose. He hadn’t been kidding when he told Hailey he couldn’t swim. Suddenly, he realized he was inside a scene from one of his nightmares, except this time it was real.

He was drowning.

Eyes wide with panic, he clawed helplessly at the water. A huge school of minnows parted down the middle to swim around him, surrounding him like walls on either side of his body. Turning his face upward, he saw Hailey’s legs kicking above him as he sank further and further under the water. He had no idea the river was this deep! How would he ever get back to the surface?

His throat and lungs burned from the effort of holding his breath. Darkness pressed hard against his eyes as he sank deeper, swirls of strange colors dancing in front of him as his whole body strained against the sudden lack of oxygen.

I need to breathe, he thought desperately, his whole body feeling like it was on fire. This isn’t a dream. I’m going to die! His flailing limbs slowed their movements when his feet thunked onto the mucky river bottom.

His eyes squeezed shut, an image of his father playing in his mind. Next to his dad, he saw the face from his dreams. The blonde woman, the one he now knew was his mother. The one who looked like a mermaid. If he opened his eyes now, would she be hovering in front of him, like in the dreams? Fear of the unknown shivered down his spine and his eyes stayed closed.

Searing pain ripped through his throat, as if his entire body would explode any second from the effort of holding his breath. Finally he opened his eyes, expecting to see her there by his side. Smiling at him. Reaching for his hand, just like his dream.

Nothing.

Nothing but swaying fronds of seaweed grabbing at him, tangling themselves around his bare shins. There was no mermaid to save him.

He was going to die.

Finally, the pain overwhelmed him. He gave up trying to fight. Shea opened his mouth to exhale the stale air pounding like a jackhammer in his lungs. Large bubbles rushed to the surface in a hurry to escape. Water gushed in, filling his mouth and lungs. He struggled to breathe, but there was no air on the river bottom, only water.

Water that somehow acted like fresh air to his exhausted body.

I can breathe under water?

He took a second deep and satisfying breath. How could it be possible?

I’m breathing water! Maybe this is how drowning feels.

His head pounded and his entire body still felt like it was on fire, burning out of control. But he was breathing. Water. He sucked big mouthfuls in and out, faster and faster, realizing he wasn’t going to die after all.

Not…going…to die…

His eyes rolled backward and he drifted into shocked unconsciousness.

 Grab your copy on AMAZON

Writing Wednesday: Writing Goals and Procrastination, er, I mean Life

My goal was to have Son of a Mermaid Book 3 available this summer. It says so on my website. I've talked about it on my blog.

Today is the last day of August. The book is not finished. In fact, it's only about one third of the way complete because I needed to go back and fix a few things near the beginning, and well, then rewrite everything after that point.

Earlier in the summer, I was shooting for September. September on Cape Cod is when the natives actually get to enjoy the beaches and sidewalks without the crowds. Yes, the water is still warm and the skies are still blue and it's actually nicer than August.... no wait, I'm not supposed to give away that secret!  Well, anyway... looking at my September calendar of getting child #2 off to college - my publishing plans may not stay on track.

Life gets in the way.

Now the question is whether to put the book out in the fall, or for Christmas, or wait until next spring/summer? Hmmmm. Maybe I need to actually finish writing before making that kind of decision. I know what I want to write. It's a matter of finding the time for BICHOK: Butt in Chair, Hands on Keyboard. Well, this keyboard and not my day-job keyboard sitting next to it on my desk. That one gets far too much use.

I need a better plan. I need a better way to allocate my time. I'm hoping once child #2 is out of the house, I'll have more room to think. And write. Funny how an 18 year old can occupy almost as much brain space as a toddler. Different issues, of course, and without the diapers. No less worries.

In the meantime, I have a SHOCKING REVELATION to share with my mermaid fans. It's not anything I planned, I can assure you - the characters did this on their own, and I'm still hoping it's only a temporary thing.... I wrote my first break up scene earlier this summer.... Read on for a sneak peek - it's a tease, I know, but I need to share....

Excerpt from Deception:

Kae blinked, overwhelmed by the anger and hate she saw on Shea’s handsome face. The hard line of his jaw looked like it was carved from the same marble as the library table. The green eyes she loved so much were hard glittering rocks, devoid of any warmth or laughter. Devoid of caring or love.

She pushed back from the table, trying to add distance between them as she considered his question and the anger behind it. Before she formulated an answer, he barreled on, his tone clipped and harsh. “You need to stop visiting the dungeons. You need to stop visiting him. I forbid it.”

Her insides froze. He’d never spoken this way, not to her. Ordering her around, treating her as less than an equal. Treating her like a servant.

Like the servant she was.

She swallowed the lump in her throat. “As you wish, my Prince.”

His features immediately softened and he reached for her hand, his whisper more of a low growl that rippled along her bare arms. “Kae, that’s not what I meant and you know it. I’m not ordering you because I’m your prince. I’m asking you to listen to me because you’re my girlfriend and I… care about you. The guy is bad news. He’s manipulating you with his evil magick.”

“Not all magick is bad,” she countered, suddenly unable to meet his eyes. Panic fluttered in her belly like a swarm of angry bees. If he thought magick was truly evil, what would he think when he found out about hers? She’d been keeping this secret for far too long already. About her new abilities. About the changes Hailey experienced. All caused by magick. All caused by Zan.

“What has the sorcerer been telling you, Kae? I’m gonna bet he’s filling your head with fairytales and nonsense. Don’t ever forget he’s Demyan’s henchman, a mere lowly servant. He does what Demyan tells him to do.”

His words cut deep. The way he said “servant” felt like a physical slap. She took a deep breath and slid her hand from under his. “I guess I also need to remember that you are the master, my Prince. I was also born a mere lowly servant to your royal family, and perhaps would do best to remember my place.”

He recoiled from the table, his eyes wide with shock. He forgot to keep his voice down, drawing attention from the librarians. “That’s not what I meant at all! You know I don’t think that way! How can you even say stuff like that?”

A blue-haired librarian appeared beside the table in an instant. “I must ask the two of you to keep your voices down or leave the library at once. This is a place of study, not for argument.” The mermaid stared daggers at Kae before turning her glare on Shea. Recognition lit her face which immediately turned red with embarrassment. “Oh my Prince, I did not realize it was you. I apologize for the interruption.” She bowed deeply before swimming away as quickly as she’d arrived.

Kae flung her hands in the air. “See what I mean? You. Are. A. Prince. You can’t help it, it’s who you are. Me? I’m nobody special. Royal blood means everything around here.”

“Kae, I don’t think…”

Tears filled her eyes. “No, that’s the problem. You don’t think. But I should know better. I’m the one who was raised in the castle, I’m the one who should know the rules when it comes to royals.”

Shea stared at her, confusion on his face and his jaw hanging slightly open. “Where is this coming from? After everything we’ve been through over the last few months, why now? I thought you and I were, you know, good.”

Her eyes closed tight, squeezing the extra water out into the current. “If things were good, we wouldn’t be having this conversation. You wouldn’t be ordering me not to talk with my friend. And the entire University wouldn’t be taking bets on when you’ll find a new girlfriend. Not if, Shea. When.” She opened her eyes and stared deeply into his. “You are the heir to the throne. When it comes time for you to marry, you have to marry a princess. Everyone seems to know this except you.”

He ran both hands through his hair again and again, sending it every which way, a now familiar gesture she knew meant he was deep in thought. It tugged at her heartstrings to see him distraught, but this time she knew she was right. Her father had said it months ago, but she’d been too wrapped up in the moment to listen to his words. Too wrapped up in Shea’s kisses and hugs to realize what an impossible dream she lived. Especially now, with Zan’s magick coursing through her veins. Once Shea found out about the magick, his whole attitude would change. He would never look at her the same, and she didn’t want to wait around for that day to arrive. Better to put distance between them now.

Time to wake up. Time to get out while her heart was still – somewhat – intact.

Kae took another deep breath. “We will always be friends, my Prince. And I will always cherish the memories of our time together. But this?” She gestured back and forth across the table. “This will never work. It’s better to realize that and end it.”

Shea cleared his throat, his eyes glistening with unshed tears. “So you’re breaking up with me? Because of him?”

“No, Shea.” She took one of his strong, calloused hands in both of hers and squeezed, holding tight as if she might disappear without the connection. “We’re breaking up because we must. I will never care for anyone else the way I feel about you. And I will always be your friend.”

His laughter sounded hollow. “Friend? Now I know how Julius Caesar must have felt when Brutus stabbed him in the back. And here I thought we were more like a modern Romeo and Juliet.”

“I’ve read Shakespeare, you know. They didn’t have a happy ending either,” Kae said, her smile wry as she rubbed her thumb along his palm. She would miss this intimacy, this casual banter. But in the end, her father was right. Falling in love with a prince was only for fairytales.

* * * * *

Ready for more? Have you read this series from the beginning? Catch the first two books in the series on Amazon:

DESCENT, Son of a Mermaid Book One

DEFIANCE, Son of a Mermaid Book Two 

 

Writing Wednesday: The Dark Side of Controlling your Characters

You get to a point when you’re reading a book when you understood all the characters. Who’s the hero, who’s the heroine, who are the bad guys… You’ve got them figured out. Then someone goes and does something you totally didn’t expect. That completely changes your perception of them.

That happens to authors too.

At least, it happens to me.

In the second book of my Son of a Mermaid series, one of the key characters is the sorcerer Zan. We met him a few times in Descent, the first book, as the sidekick to Prince Demyan. He’s part of the inner circle of evil guys trying to overthrow the Atlantic kingdom, and we see the deadly consequences of his magick. The tornado that destroys Shea’s home in Oklahoma. The storm that kills Shea’s grandfather and uncle. The poison that makes its way into food at the Solstice banquet. 

Prince Demyan may have given all those orders, but Zan followed through with their execution.

In Defiance, Book Two of Son of a Mermaid, we meet Zan right from the get-go, with the first chapter in his point of view. We find out that even though the rebellion failed, he’s still in league with the evil prince and signing up for more dirty work.

When I started writing Zan, he was pretty one-dimensional. A bad guy. 

Originally, Zan was only going to narrate a few chapters, like he did in the first book, to give the reader insight into what the bad guys were up to. But as I was writing subsequent chapters, Zan’s voice kept popping up, asking me – begging me – to let him tell the scene from his perspective.

I decided to let him have a voice. And he surprised me!

Something happened to him when he went to kidnap Kae. Giving him one of the point-of-view voices let him show me what was going on inside of his head, and gave voice to his inner doubts.

Bad guys aren’t supposed to have doubts. But Zan did. He wanted to be better, to be worthy of a mermaid like Kae.

By the end of the book, he’d redeemed himself in my eyes. Even though he was originally going to die – yes, really, I planned to kill him off – I didn’t want to punish him at all. He’d done terrible things under orders from Prince Demyan, but I convinced Shea to let him off the hook… except a full pardon didn’t sit well with beta readers or with my editor.

Evil deeds demand consequences.

Zan’s character at the end of the book is not who I thought he was going to be. I gave up trying to control him and I like the way he grew up.

What do you think of characters who change and grow into something different? Or do you prefer to read characters who are black and white, with no grey wiggle-room for redemption?

 About the Book:

Shea MacNamara sank to the bottom of the ocean and survived. As the son of a mermaid, saltwater is in his blood. He discovered a whole new world under the sea, one more beautiful and complicated than he ever imagined.

But shadows and dark secrets also lurk beneath the waves.

When his girlfriend Kae is kidnapped by a powerful young sorcerer named Zan, Shea learns having royal blood means difficult choices.

All three face life and death decisions, balanced precariously between doing what they are told… and defying authority to do what is right.

Grab your copy on AMAZON or ask for it at your local booktore.