I swear, I’m not dragging things out to torture people.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
I’ve had several people email lately and I wanted to update you…and give an excerpt.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
The update part…<\/p>\n\n\n\n
I’ve mentioned this before, so some of you likely know, but Kit’s not an easy character to write. Normally, stepping into her shoes isn’t so emotionally draining but after my brother died, my depression came and kicked me in the face harder than ever before. <\/p>\n\n\n\n
Writing entirely was nearly impossible for well over a year, save for my freelance writing.\u00a0 I finally snapped out of that but it took much longer to start writing darker books. Kit Colbana, for all her sarcasm, has a lot of darkness within her. For the sake of my own mental health, I knew it was best to let the story come naturally, which it’s finally doing.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Now it’s just a matter of having the time to do it while working around my freelance work. Unfortunately, that’s the bulk of my income after a couple of years of writing so little for myself.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
The good news is that I have more stories in my head than I can handle right now, I’ve sold three of the Kit books to a French translator and I’ve got other things in the works, so hopefully that light at the end of the tunnel isn’t a train.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cPut me through to him now<\/em>, Scott,\u201d I snarled, wishing I could reach through my car\u2019s onboard computer to grab Damon\u2019s lieutenant and throttle him.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Not that I\u2019d have an easy time of it.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Scott topped me by a good foot. I scraped over five feet with a couple of inches, but plenty of the shifters in the area towered over me. Not to mention the vampires, more than a few of the witches and plenty of humans. Hell, even in the cold, fortress-like walls of Aneris Hall where I\u2019d been raised, most of my aunts and my numerous cousins and the rest of the aneira <\/em>had topped me by several inches.<\/p>\n\n\n\n I was used to being smaller than most of the people out there. I\u2019d let my stature stop affecting me long ago.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Being shorter than most, and weaker than many just meant I\u2019d have to work harder for it.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Scott\u2019s bland hazel gaze held mine levelly, betraying nothing as he said, \u201cThe Alpha isn\u2019t available, Kit.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cMake<\/em> him available, Scott.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cKit, I realize the Alpha has a great deal of faith in me but that doesn\u2019t mean I\u2019m able to make him appear out of thin air.\u201d Scott lifted a brow. \u201cYou might need Chang for that.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n The deadpan humor was something Scott wouldn\u2019t have dared used even a few months ago\u2014and it was humor, not any attempt at disrespect. However, I recognized the dry comment for what it truly<\/em> was\u2026an attempt to direct my attention from him.<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cI\u2019m not done with you,\u201d I warned him.<\/p>\n\n\n\n If I hadn\u2019t been watching him so closely, I never would have seen the fine lines around his eyes tighten ever so subtly.<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cI\u2019m your servant, Kit, as you well know.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cShove it, Scott.\u201d I disconnected and rapidly punched in the code that would connect me to Chang, Damon\u2019s best friend and his real<\/em> top hand man. I didn\u2019t wait more than a few seconds before the screen flashed, then came to life, revealing a slim Asian man with liquid dark eyes, so deep a brown they appeared black and exquisitely honed features.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Chang was beautiful\u2014and deadly\u2014like a finely crafted blade.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Most people, like 99.99%, tread very carefully with him, even though there was something almost\u2026ethereal about the calm that hung over Chang. It was like a cloak that encompasses him and I\u2019d only seen it fractured a handful of times.<\/p>\n\n\n\n I suspected that calm came from age. He was old\u2014I\u2019d guessed that the second I meant I met him, but I\u2019d had no idea how<\/em> old. I still didn\u2019t, but I had a better idea now.<\/p>\n\n\n\n The weight of his years didn\u2019t weigh down on him, not like it did with petty mortals and mongrels like me. His age was something he carried with regal grace, elevating him to a loftier realm of existence.<\/p>\n\n\n\n I, however, was in much too bad a mood and felt like dragging him down into the muck where I was currently existed.<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cWhere the fuck is Damon?\u201d I demanded.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Chang didn\u2019t look put out by my irate tone or my foul mouth. He simply cocked his head to the side, eyes narrowing slightly. \u201cHe left word with Scott\u2014did you check with him?\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cScott<\/em> won\u2019t get him on the fucking phone,\u201d I said, my rage now starting to make my voice shake.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Chang noticed.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Of course<\/em> he noticed.<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cWhy don\u2019t you explain what\u2019s wrong?\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n I almost exploded but at the last second, I was able to stop myself, mostly because I glimpsed a rare curiosity in Chang\u2019s eyes\u2014curiosity\u2026meaning, he had no clue what was going on. That was odd. There was very little Damon didn\u2019t tell Chang.<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cBefore Damon left on whatever the hell errand<\/em> he had to do, did he put out word about interfering with my job?\u201d I demanded.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Chang blinked.<\/p>\n\n\n\n For the inscrutable shifter, it was akin to be knocked off his feet from surprise.<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cI beg your pardon?\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cThe fucking cats have interfered with two<\/em> assignments from the assembly in the past six days. I want to know why<\/em>.\u201d Anger was a hard beat in my chest, a pulse in the back of my mouth.<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cInterfered, as in they\u2019re\u2026assisting?\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cInterfered as in Shanelle showed up on the first one right as I was in the middle of talking a young vamp into returning to his House and it got bloody\u2014as in really<\/em> bloody and now the vampire is going to be probably three or four years<\/em> in healing and my client wasn\u2019t happy. And the second\u2014I was tracking down an asshole witch who was meant to stand trial for assault. I had contacts in Wolf Haven who had an idea where to look and was about ready to start making plans. That <\/em>was when I get a message that he had been located by a helpful party <\/em>who volunteered to escort him in<\/em>, but he became violent and had to be eliminated<\/em>.\u201d I paused a moment before adding, \u201cThe helpful party declined to give a fucking name<\/em>.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n Chang coughed.<\/p>\n\n\n\n I glared at him.<\/p>\n\n\n\n