Category: writing

Hey guys, it’s me!

Sorry to be the bearer of bad news tonight, but I’m experiencing some technical difficulties with my desktop (don’t worry, they’re going to be addressed, but not until I can get it looked at next week since it’s something that I haven’t been able to fix myself), so unfortunately the writestream I had planned for Thursday will be delayed.

I’m so sorry guys!  To make it up to you, I’m going to try to do a few more informals in September and two formal writestreams for you.

Monthly reminder to patrons:

– Because we’re at over $50 pledged a month, there will be officially official livewriting done and streamed via Twitch.  Video playbacks will be posted.

– Anyone at $10 pledged or higher gets to ask a question and have it answered in-depth in a patrons-only post.  You get one a month, so choose wisely!

– Anyone at $25 pledged or higher gets to request a scene with any of the characters I have in any of the universes I write.  You get to pick the scene and the universe – whatever I write may not end up being canon, but even alternate universes and what-ifs can be fun.  You’ll also get a signed hardcopy of the scene.  You get one a month, so choose wisely!

– Anyone at $50 pledged or higher gets to request a chapter in any active or semi-active project I’m writing, or request something for a potential new project.  You’ll also get a signed hardcopy of the chapter.  You get one a month, so choose wisely!

Thank you again to all of my patrons for your support!  Happy June.

A little sneak preview for my patrons of the opening for Awakenings Book 6, chapter 39.  Update goes live at awakenings.embklitzke.com at midnight, but everyone here gets it roughly 11.5 hours early.

Thirty-nine

My heart slammed into my throat and my fingers curled around Thom’s against my face. I could almost feel the blood draining from my face as I stared back at him, watched as he wavered on his feet, breathing hard, as pale as I knew I suddenly was. Words came as a croak. “A curse.”

He nodded almost convulsively, one hand turning to grasp mine and squeeze. “She swore on your souls that she would have her vengeance on Brighíd no matter how long it took.”

“Get Phelan,” Matt ordered. I didn’t see who he told—it didn’t matter.

“No,” I said, the word quiet but firm. “Don’t.”

“Mar,” Thom breathed.

I wrapped my arms around him and he made a weak sound of pain, leaning against me. All of his weight settled against me and I was suddenly holding him up, his nose buried in my hair above my ear.

“I couldn’t just lie there,” he whispered. He was warm, too warm. The fever was back, was worse. I swallowed hard, trying to force my heart back down into my chest, trying to ward off the growing tightness in my throat. “Not when I—”

“Shh.” I looked at him, seeing bleakness and pain in his eyes, set in dark hollows. I’d known that he’d been dreaming, that the dreams of a long-ago yesterday hadn’t stopped in the weeks since Anhur and Menhit’s attack on our walls, since Cyhyraeth’s attack on me. “Stop,” I whispered, the words for him and only him. “Thom, it’s okay. It’s okay. But I need you to calm down.”

The words were a lie, though only partially I did need him to calm down, but there was more.

I need you well. I need you whole. Whatever the camazotzi did—I need that to heal. I need you by my side and I need to stop being so damn afraid I’m going to lose you.

I needed to tell him the truth, needed to tell him what I’d started to see again, started to suspect, but I couldn’t bring myself to do it. Now wasn’t the time.

“Bring him over here, Marin,” Hecate said softly from behind me. “I’ll stay with him. If it’s her—”

“It’s not.” My voice shook. The denial in and of itself was a lie. I couldn’t know for certain that she wasn’t here, that she wasn’t coming. In my heart of hearts, I knew she’d been the one directing the camazotzi after Anhur and Menhit had quit the field that day. Either they had used her army as a diversion or she’d somehow allied with them in the hopes of assaulting me.

What was I going to do if she hit me again the way she had before? Dread coiled in my belly, forced bile up into my throat. It was a struggle to keep the fear from my face as I pressed a kiss to Thom’s lips and then helped him over to Hecate.

“Get some blankets,” I said to J.T., my voice quiet. Thom slowly eased down into a sitting position with help from Matt and I, settling next to Hecate, who still held Lin cradled in her arms. My gaze flicked toward her. “You’ll stay with him? With both of them?”

“Of course,” she said, pain flickering in her eyes. “I’m in no state to fight right now, not on the wall or on the field.”

What she left unsaid was something I heard loud and clear, though.

If we left her here to protect Thom and Lin, she would find a way to keep them safe, no matter what the cost.

Matt glanced to me. I swallowed hard and crouched to hug her tightly.

“Thank you,” I whispered.

“Protecting our family is something you never have to thank me for, Marin,” she whispered back, one arm around my shoulders in a return hug. “Go. Go. It’ll be all right.”

My eyes stung. “How do you know?”

“Because that bitch was never a match for you then,” Hecate said as I drew away. Her gaze was steady, her voice quiet. “There’s no way she’ll be a match for you now, not with everyone you have by your side and everything you know now. Faith and courage, sister. The day will be yours.”

Maybe today. But what about all the ones that come after? My lips thinned and I straightened.

From the direction of the wall came a call, then another. Matt grasped my shoulder.

“I think we’re out of time,” he said quietly.

“Aye,” I said, squeezing my eyes shut for a moment. “I think you’re right.”

Steeling myself, I turned and headed for the wall.

Decided to do an earlier morning livestream as I wrote the update for Awakenings that will go live on Monday, May 28 – Memorial Day.

This question pertains to the next officially official livestream (as opposed to the “hm, I’m writing and want to stream” livestreams) – what universe do you want to see me working in?

Options are in no particular order.

Tonight’s project was draft 4 of Epsilon: Redeemer – chapter 2.

For my patrons at $10 and above, don’t forget that you get to ask a question every month and have it answered in-depth in a patrons-only post!

For my patrons at $25 and above, don’t forget that you get to request a scene once a month in any universe I write in–and you get a signed hardcopy of that scene mailed to you.

Got questions about any of the above?  Hit me up in the comments.