“We’ve already done stupid. We might as well add crazy.” -Personal motto borrowed from a book that I forgot which one it was…
Hey y’all, I’m Megan, author of Astolia Chronicles…and many other half finished WIPs…too many probably but I can’t stop inspiration. *shrug * I live on a 60 acre farm out in the middle of nowhere with my 6 siblings and parents as well as a plethora of animals. I enjoy, aside from burying myself in a book or writing, messing around with my violin, imagining what it will be like to finally be free of math, or just school in general, and doing somewhat idiotic things with my brothers! (the idiocy is absolutely their fault. They were the ones who influenced my life choices because they were the ones born the closest to my age. I wash my hands of the blame, I am innocent…mostly)
Now, back to the authoring part of my stressful (so stressful, I spend at least half of it worrying about who I must kill next) life. As I was saying earlier, I’m the author of Astolia Chronicles, well, at least the first book, Cursed Heir, the others are still WIPs. I’d love it if y’all took a minute to go check it out! Here’s the blurb (the thing on the back of the book)
The truth is what he wanted, what he had been begging for, yet it was always denied. First by his country, then by his loved ones.
After four years of living with those who are known for the terror they cause on both land and sea, sixteen year old Jaxton Rykar, “deceased” son of Astolia’s Prime Regent, is finally given the truth he had wanted for so long. But now that he has it, he begins to wish that he could return to the lies.His worst fear has come alive. No longer can he hide behind the peoples belief of his death. Astolia’s survival is in his hands.
Angry, betrayed and bent on revenge, Jaxton must attempt to return the crown princess to her father before civil war erupts in the kingdom. But at what cost? Every decision he makes only seems to land him in more trouble than before.
This book took about…a year to write I believe and now that it's done, all I can do is plot out the next book. It's the curse of the author, you complete a difficult extreme dedicationalness project you’ve worked tirelessly on only to find your brain instantly flooded with plans for the next stressful exciting ride through a character's world. It's traumatizing sometimes but I wouldn’t trade it for almost anything. Which brings me to the reason I write.
I write because, despite how hard it is, (and believe me its HARD, like, I can’t even tell you how many times I felt like crying when something wasn’t going right, how many times I nearly gave up.) but despite all that, I love it, and I love giving others something to enjoy that also reflects my moral beliefs between good and bad, right and wrong. I was baptized when I was eight years old and have been following Jesus ever since so I can’t tell you enough how important it is to me to at least in some way point people towards Him. It's really difficult to incorporate Christianity into the specific genre I chose to write in for this series, though, at least without it sounding cheesy and extremely preachy, which is NOT what I want, so I’ve had to delve deeply into the rights and wrongs, goods and bads, instead. It's been a good experience for me all in all and I hope that as my writing journey progresses I’ll be able to reach people with my words, whether to give them a smile, or to prick their conscience, but to always reflect the light of Christ.
Ok…now…I’ll be done with all the serious stuff and move to…*cue the drum roll * INCENTIVE.
Nobody goes to buy something, or even consider buying something without incentive. So, since I’d really appreciate it if there were a few more orders placed on my book, and maybe a few new subscribers to the Authors Collective, (please don’t judge me for my terrible supposed marketing, more like begging, skills) I will give you some incentive to go check out my book, and get others to subscribe to the Authors Collective for; updates, sneak peeks for my new releases, merch (once I get around to making it) and more!
Incentivizationalism
Ok, my incentive for you is what I call Fav Quotes, basically it's just my favorite quotes from my WIP, in this case I’m gonna give some from my published book, Cursed Heir, but in future Newsletters you’ll get quotes from whatever book I’m working on at the time! Anyways:
- Why did castles have to be so big? I inwardly wondered.
“What is it?” Ky asked suspiciously. I ignored him and gripped the hilt of my sword, walking down the closest hall, and not bothering to try to remember if it was right or not.
“Did ye git us lost?” He persisted, hurrying to catch up with me. I shook my head.
“No, the halls got us lost.” I made another turn.
“Jaxton!” Ky exclaimed, slapping a palm over his face. “Ye said ye remembered everything!”
- “He’s right Jaxton.” Ciara spoke up. “You couldn’t have known. I’m sure we’ll be able to get out of this. We did it before—”
“No, we didn’t do anything. You did something.” I interrupted. “There is a big difference. Our only chance of getting out of here is if Black somehow decides to stay here one more night and then orders the most inexperienced pirates to guard us. I think we all know that isn’t happening.”
Ciara pursed her lips.
“You’re so wonderfully positive all of a sudden, so cheerful my head is starting to hurt.” She whispered fiercely, then fell silent.
(ok, quick interlude, this next one is a long one cause it's not as good if I don’t give the whole part.)
- “Jaxton hold her fer a minute while I clean Cedar off, will ye?” He shifted River into my arms and snatched the nearly empty canteen of water off of the rock.
For half a second we just stared at each other. Me trying to grasp the fact that I was holding a baby, and River stunned that she’d been handed to a stranger. Then she began to cry, and I began to shake.
“Ky, what do I do?” I asked frantically. She began jerking and flailing in my arms. He cast me an exasperated glance.
“Can nobody take care of a baby these days?” He asked. “Put her on yer shoulder an’ pat her back.” He focused back on cleaning Cedar. “And sing.” He added as an afterthought.
I stared helplessly at the bundle in my arms, and despite my sliding grip managed to put her on my shoulder. I stood and began hobbling around and lightly patting her back. Her screams continued and each jerk sent new waves of pain up my arm.
“Shhh.” I said. “Please don’t cry, you're going to be alright.” I pleaded with her. She didn’t care a wit about my assurances and only screamed louder.
“Sing somethin’!” Ky said. I frantically racked my brain for a song that I knew.
What shall we do with a drunken sailor?
What shall we do with a drunken sailor?
What shall we do with a drunken sailor?
Early in the morning?
Way-hay, up she rises
Way-hay, up she rises
Way-hay, up she rises
Early in the morning
River began to calm after the first few words and I looked to Ky. He was watching me with an amused, you're ridiculous look.
“Ye couldn’t think of anythin’ else?” He questioned. “Only a shanty ‘bout drunk sailor’s?” He grinned. “Wait ‘til I tell Ciara, she’s gonna laugh her head off.”
I scowled darkly at him continuing to sing and in between lines I whispered. “You do that and I’ll bust your nose off.”
He shrugged, “So? At least I’ll still have my ears ta hear yer lovely voice while ye sing.” He laughed, giving me an unforgiving smirk.
And last but not least since I’ve already filled a lot of pages…
- My heart was pounding against my ribcage as a collective gasp came throughout the room. I could feel King Axel's gaze boring into me, not angry, nor even narrowed, just curious.
“Why do you not bow like the others?” He finally asked, breaking the silence. I lifted my head and locked eyes with him.
“Sir,” Another gasp rang out at my choice of title “Would you bow to another king, being a king yourself?” King Axel's blue eyes flashed with surprise and then confusion.
“Of course not, I would be respectful but I would not bow. What does that have to do with my question to you?”
I reached down and rolled up the sleeve on my arm, displaying my brand for all to see. “I am the king of the pirates. My reason for not bowing is the same as what you just described to me.”
Another gasp echoed throughout the room. I couldn’t help it, my irritation grew with each noise the snobs made. I whirled and glared at them.
“You’re so quiet I’ve completely forgotten you’re in the room, why not try to be a little louder?” My voice dripped with sarcasm. Muffled laughter echoed behind me and I turned, lifting an eyebrow at Ciara who had a hand clamped over her mouth.
Alrighty, I hope y’all enjoyed those and maybe they were enough incentive for you to at the very least read the sample of my book on Amazon, but either way, if you’ve read all the way to the end of this post, thank you! If you’d like to connect with me, email me at megankisslingwrites@gmail.com! Again, thanks for reading, and hopefully you’ll still be here by the time I get another post up!
Farewell friends, fellow authors, *clears throat * apologies, fellow artful and uniquely creative traumatizers, and anyone else who just happened to hop on to read this, until next time!
Megan
