I can't believe it's been so long since my last art feature!
It's been a busy few months for me - working on commissions and working full-time at the greenhouse.

In other news, for anyone in the Winnipeg - Selkirk area of Manitoba, Canada, I'll be having an author reading of my novel, Sticks and Stones, on Saturday, July 23rd, at the Gaynor Regional Family Library in Selkirk at 1:30 p.m. It's free and open to the public. Plus, there will be cookies and drinks. (The novel is now also available on the kindle, kobo, and nook platforms.)

Now, on to the art feature!
Wonderful and inspiring creations:



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Mature Content

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An open letterAn open letter to humanity,
when I look around all I see is insanity.
Unsolved problems we call laws,
Greed defiling everything with it's filthy paws.
Profit before progress is what I see,
Our current code of conduct sickens me.
Cyclical consumption bleeding the planet dry,
the last human standing will be left wondering: why, why, WHY!?
Even as our finite resources are running out,
we fail to see the root of the problem and what it's about.
Systematically pushing problems out of sight,
how can any self respecting human be part of this blight.
Each disaster should have been a lesson learned,
but we refused to stop until all fossil fuel was burned.
It was our addiction to petrochemicals that tightened the noose,
an abomination we created, nurtured and carelessly set loose.
We're barely out of the jungle yet pretend to be civilized,
democracy is what we preach yet no ideal is left uncompromised.
The one eyed man is king in the land of the blind,
so please educate yourself and open your mi Death Has Chivalry (a mockery)He comes when my shoulders are shaking, his scarf gasping between my hands.
I whirl to face him; he waits patiently with a smile.
“You think this is a game?” Betrayal is the acid in my gut as it froths into my throat: he is no longer birds and dreams, but a coyote leering behind the ribcage of a lamb, and I’m caught up in his teeth. “Here, take this back.” I throw the scarf at his feet. His perfect, pale, fair-boned feet.
He slowly stoops to pick it up. When he weaves it around his neck, it looks like he’s dancing.
He rests one hip against the kitchen’s island, pondering. “Now that’s not very nice. You took something from me,” His palm splays out beautifully across his chest, and his eyes find mine. There’s that smirk. “I’m not allowed to return the favor?”
“But you can’t give yours back!” The shriek sounds deranged as I smack my palm onto the table. There’s an eart TheAfterWhys.I know now,
that the muffled pressure in the dark space
of your car was us screaming into the silence:
I don't really know you,
but I want to.
I want to love you.
We were so so wrong for each other.
I know now,
that the drip burn of candle wax on the back of my hand
was you saying:
It hurts.
This not-quite-fitting-together,
but wanting it so much.
I know now,
that the sound of your receding footsteps
are louder than whispered cries of:
Stay. Please.
And I know why.
I know why we were silent
when we should have screamed.
I know why we could never,
would never, fit together.
I know all of the whys,
now.
After.

Hi everyone! It's my hope I can log on and catch up with my inbox tomorrow. I've been amazingly busy. I'm just popping on to post this, and then logging off to go work on commission work again. I hope you're all having a wonderful Friday, and lovely summer weather.

My dark paranormal e-book, Sticks and Stones, is having a Kindle Countdown Sale from May 5th to May 9th. So if you haven't yet bought the e-book, you can get a copy at some good saving prices!

The Kindle Countdown Sale:


From Amazon.ca:
"From the beginning chapter I was drawn in and remained totally immersed throughout the entire book. I read it in two sittings - it locked me in and would not let me go. Loved the author's brilliant descriptiveness which made me feel as if I was in the same space as the characters in every thrilling situation. A paranormal murder thriller with just the right amount of sexual content. Looking forward to more from this amazing author. Definitely a "must read"."

----

“I see everything they see. I’ve died. I’ve died more times than I can count.”

Sandra Daron knows what it’s like to die. Every time she touches someone, she experiences their last moments; burning, drowning, choking, dead.

Her visions shatter any pretense of normal she might wish she had. She’s a freak, isolated and alone in her small town junior high school. Her parents don’t care what she does or where she goes and all she wants to do is get by without being noticed.

All of that changes when a rough-around-the-edges father moves his two boys into the old house next door. The Sloans are a family in a way Sandra has never known. The brothers won’t let her hide and soon love and passion arouse the life within her to fight off the death she sees every day.

When girls in town start disappearing and Sandra becomes the next victim, she’ll learn just how far the Sloans are willing to go to save the ones they love. But something bad done for the sake of something good doesn’t make it right. Sandra might have the power to save the people in her visions, but is she willing to pay the price?

An unorthodox family brought together by a young woman’s premonitions of death, Sticks and Stones is a dark and gritty Gothic romance about roads paved with good intentions.

Comparison titles:
Beautiful Creatures by Kami Garcia and Margaret Stohl
The Lovely Bones by Alice Sebold
Flowers in the Attic by V. C. Andrews
The Mark by Jen Nadol
Fallen by Lauren Kate
The Mind Readers by Lori Brighton
Hush, Hush by Becca Fitzpatrick

It's been about a month since I've done a feature journal - so here we are. Amazing and inspiring art:



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The Kids Are HomeWe stood around her in a circle as she took her last breath. None of us could think of anything to say, but we all knew we were on our own now. She’d joined the rest of her generation, and it was up to us to finish the mission. To survive.
We were so close we decided not to jettison her body but lay her to rest in the ground like the old custom we’d only read about. It seemed like a bittersweet way to christen our new home.
Two days later, we could see the cobalt blue glow with our bare eyes. The entry sequence initiated not long after that, and we strapped ourselves in. With our hands clenched in quiet fear, we waited for our ship to performed her final act of service and bring us safely to the ground. 
The ground … our ship had only known it once before, and we knew nothing at all. What would it be like standing on dirt, seeing the stars from a fixed point in space? What would dirt feel like between our toes? Or sand or grass or mud or rock? Would they welcome <da:thumb id="544104006"/> futureThe night is a doll that wears my skull,
a loose pair of eyes that rattle like snakes,
dreams a vision too bleak for a fist -
too much for a voice.
Self loathing is a mastermind,
draped around these city lights,
a picture of a seesaw
that still gives vertigo:
hindsight, foresight, hindsight.
I teeter on my speckled legs
and feed stomachs to the bushes.


---

My e-book, Stick and Stones, is now available on Amazon Kindle.

Hello! Happy Easter, everyone!

Well, it's finally here - the launch of my gothic paranormal e-book, Sticks and Stones on Amazon Kindle! How exciting!

Tomorrow, you can come join me for the Turn on Your Kindle Event to celebrate the launch of Sticks and Stones on the evening of March 28th, 2016.

Where?
Right on the event page on Facebook: www.facebook.com/events/169277…

When?
8-10 EST
7-9 CST
6-8 MST
5-7 PST

Come celebrate, ask questions, read excerpts, and see unique character interviews. I'd love to see some of you there! And if you can't make it in time, you can post a question earlier in the day and I'll reply that evening. You also don't need to have bought a copy of the novel to attend! You can still stop by and join the party.

P.S. Today's your last day to get a copy of Sticks and Stones at 50% off: www.amazon.com/dp/B01BEQM9CU/e…. So go check it out!
Don't forget you can read the 1st chapter online @ edgewebsite.com/books/sticksan….

Hi, everyone!
First of all, apologies for not being on DA much this week. I've been getting a lot of work done - a lot of which is getting ready for the release of 'Sticks and Stones' on March 28th! (I'm so excited!)

For anyone interested, we're holding a pre-release celebration on Facebook. One new fact about the novel will be released a day!

If you want to learn more about the characters and setting behind this Gothic Paranormal, make sure to stop by. I'd love to see you there!

Just a reminder, the novel is now available on Amazon Kindle at 50% off until March 27th. And you can read the first chapter online now at the EDGE Science Fiction and Fantasy Publishing website.

Many thanks to everyone who has already given it a read and/or bought the book! I can't express how thankful I am.

I promise to catch up with DA soon. All the best! (I hope none of you got as much snow as we did over in Canada yesterday. And it was almost melted, too!)




Sticks and Stones
   Release Dates:
   Kindle Pre-Order:
      NOW thru March 27, 2016
   Kindle Exclusive E-book:
      March 28 thru June 19, 2016
   E-book Everywhere Release: June 20, 2016

“I see everything they see. I’ve died. I’ve died more times than I can count.”

Sandra Daron knows what it’s like to die. Every time she touches someone, she experiences their last moments; burning, drowning, choking, dead.

Her visions shatter any pretense of normal she might wish she had. She’s a freak, isolated and alone in her small town junior high school. Her parents don’t care what she does or where she goes and all she wants to do is get by without being noticed.

All of that changes when a rough-around-the-edges father moves his two boys into the old house next door. The Sloans are a family in a way Sandra has never known. The brothers won’t let her hide and soon love and passion arouse the life within her to fight off the death she sees every day.

When girls in town start disappearing and Sandra becomes the next victim, she’ll learn just how far the Sloans are willing to go to save the ones they love. But something bad done for the sake of something good doesn’t make it right. Sandra might have the power to save the people in her visions, but is she willing to pay the price?

An unorthodox family brought together by a young woman’s premonitions of death, Sticks and Stones is a dark and gritty gothic romance about roads paved with good intentions.