P.M. Dooling's Blog

We are on a roll! The writing synapses are firing and I’m back to writing every day. And because of that chapter 6 is up and available!

Find it here – https://www.amazon.com/kindle-vella/story/B0B64PGF1G

This update comes a little late (apologies) BUT episode 5 is up and available to read on Kindle Vella!

Find it here – https://www.amazon.com/kindle-vella/story/B0B64PGF1G

This post is a little late…as most of my posts are…but at least this is a little bit of good news. Episode 4 of the Protectors Saga Book 6 is now available on Kindle Vella. Wow, that feels good to say. There have been a lot of roadblocks, but I keep on trucking (and writing lol) and that’s all because of you guys out there who read and enjoy theses stories. So…thank you all!

Find episode 4 here –

So…since it’s taking me absolutely FOREVER to finish book 6 in the Protectors Saga, I decided to release it incrementally on Kindle Vella. I’m hoping this will kick my writing butt into gear and help me FINALLY finish the book – and hopefully the story.

Chapters 1 – 3 have already been placed on Kindle and it’s my goal to release at least a chapter a week. Of course, for me, goals seem to get trampled easily, but I promise to try my darndest to stick with it. Anyone who has stuck with me this long, waiting…and waiting…and waiting for more Protectors – thank you! It’s because of you I keep writing this story. And you all deserve to have it finished. I appreciate you all so much!

Check out Protectors Saga: Kingdom’s Wake here –

I think this is a perfect line to describe writing – the road is long and full of thorns. It’s also a pretty good line to describe life. True, there are roses along with the thorns, sunshine and rain, beauty and tragedy. The struggle is learning how to walk the road through the thorns, when the roses have yet to bloom. All of this is a very wordy and poetic way to say – it’s a struggle.

I’ve made a few posts about how I’ve struggled with my writing lately. And by lately, I mean the past five years or so…yikes that hurts to say. My struggle has been to try and learn how to push through the thorns. And sloooooooowly I’m getting there.

I’ve written a brand new book – about Greek gods and goddesses and warriors who fight them. I’m trying to figure out what I want to do with it, and how I want to release it. But that’s on the back burner for now. And I’m working on another NEW book. Kind of an homage to the 1980s and the Monster Squad movie.

And lastly, I have not forgotten about the Protectors Saga. I could never forget about it. It’s ingrained on my very bones, and I have every intention of finishing it, no matter how long it takes. But it’s also a story that’s connected to people I love dearly and have lost, so it’s a delicate process.

But…but…but…someday this month I am planning to release a few more pages of the next book in The Protectors Saga.

So for anyone out there who is still interested in the story and have been stuck waiting – I appreciate you so much! I love for living the story! I’m sorry it’s been SO DAMN LONG! And I promise to keep trying and writing!

~Paige

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I don’t like to be kept waiting either. In fact, I hate it. So I’m so very very sorry to have kept all of you AMAZING lovelies waiting. And I mean it – you are amazing. And I can’t thank you enough for staying with me through this writing journey…a journey that can honestly feel like a task of Hercules most of the time. But you have stuck with me, and I love you for it.

So, without even further ado —- here is the FIRST CHAPTER of the PROTECTORS SAGA: BOOK 6. It’s raw. It’s rough. It hasn’t been edited properly, but it’s here…finally.

 

Chapter 1
Avery’s fist landed on the troll’s massive head with enough force to knock one of his rotting sharp teeth loose and send it flying across the small clearing, into the thick wall of forest trees.

“Where is it?!” She shouted at him, raising her fist dripping with thick blue troll blood, up as a warning of the punch that would follow if he failed once again to answer her question, “Where’s the blade?!”

The troll smiled, showing what was left of his mangled teeth, “You ain’t never gonna find it…” he pulled at the rope tying his wrists together around a sturdy tree trunk, “until it’s plunged deep in your ugly human heart!” Taking a sickly sounding snort, he spat out a great glob of mucous filled blue blood towards Avery. She dodged quickly, anticipating such a reaction, but the sound of the wet glob hitting something solid, followed by Skylar’s cry of, ‘Ewwww, gross!’, let Avery know that the troll’s disgusting insult had not been wasted.

Jade backhanded the troll across the face before he had the chance to spit anything else out at Avery, “Tell us who has the blade?” She asked, dangerously quiet, pulling her dagger from her belt and placing it at the troll’s throat. The blade dug into the bulbous fat of his double chin causing a line of blood to run down his chest. It gave Avery a slight bit of worry.

Jade never took well to Avery being threatened, especially lately. Ever since the Nexsliv blade had gone missing. Jade might be tempted to kill the troll before he gave them any information and Avery didn’t want that to happen.

“Jade!” She warned loudly, compelling Jade to ease up on her knife, “We need him alive.”

Listening to Avery, Jade backed away from the troll, but made sure to drag her knife across his wart covered green skin before she did so, slicing him deep enough to elicit a sharp grunt from the ugly beast.

“Why?”

Both Avery and Jade turned around to stare at Sasha, who had been uncharacteristically silent ever since they had caught and restrained the troll.

“Why?” Sasha asked again, folding her arms tightly across her chest, “Why do we need him alive?”

It was obvious Sasha was upset about something. She practically had steam coming out of her ears.

Wiping the troll blood off her knife onto her black leather pants, Jade said, “It’s not advanced physics, Sasha.” She sheathed her dagger, while the look on Sasha’s face only became angrier, “We need to know what he knows about the blade.”

“He doesn’t know anything!” Sasha shouted at Jade, moving her hands to her hips

“We don’t know that.” Avery told her, rubbing at the spot between her eyes that was beginning to throb.

“Yes…we do.” Sasha took a few steps closer to Avery, pointing at the hulk of a troll tied to the tree, “He doesn’t know anything. The Were Demon we tortured before him didn’t know anything.” She became increasingly heated as she continued, “The troll before him didn’t know anything, nor the Otravo Demon before him…nobody knows anything about the Nexsliv blade!”

Avery couldn’t say that Sasha was mistaken. It had been a little over three months since the blade had been stolen. A little over three months since Draven had stolen away from Avery’s side in the night and gone to the Underworld to declare himself King. It had been a little over three months since Avery’s world hadn’t just turned upside down – it had imploded in on itself.

Word had spread across all of Nightfell within days. She was sure all of Orcatia knew by now. The Protectors had lost the Nexsliv blade, one of the most powerful weapons ever to be made. A weapon that had been safely hidden away for centuries until they got their hands on it. And to make matters even more humiliating, it had been stolen right from under their noses, from their very own stronghold in their very own village.

If that wasn’t enough to make Avery want to crawl under a very large rock and stay there till she died from starvation or exposure, the news about Draven had also spread like wildfire. The secret he had managed to keep over a course of multiple lifetimes had been exposed in one night. You can’t become King of the Underworld without the rest of the world above finding out. It sent people of Nightfell into a panic, knowing their beloved King had been a half Demon, and not only a half Demon, but the son of Malvenia, the former Queen of the Underworld who had wreaked havoc upon Orcatia until the Protectors and Draven had managed to kill her.

Ferris taking over as King of Nightfell in Draven’s absence did little to ease the people’s doubts and fears. Ferris was a good man, but he wasn’t the type of man who could rule a kingdom and the people of Nightfell were well aware of that.

For the past two and a half months Ferris had begged the Protectors to come to Knighton and speak to the people to try and give them a sense of security, to try and erase some of their concerns. He felt that if anyone could give the people hope for the future, it would be the Protectors.

Gumptin had agreed with Ferris and tried to convince Avery it was a good idea, but Avery adamantly disagreed. She had told Gumptin it was Ferris’s responsibility as the new King to assure his people, but really it was because she couldn’t stomach the idea of getting anywhere near Knighton or Draven’s castle. They reminded Avery too much of Draven, and she didn’t want to think about Draven. She didn’t want to think about how he had left her. How he had abandoned her after declaring their love for each other, after making love, after Avery had come to wholly realize she could never truly separate her heart from him. He had left her and gone to the Underworld to become King of the Demons, where his humanity would be stripped from him piece by piece, day by day.

That’s what would torture her if she let herself think about it, not that he had left, but the truth that he would never again be the Draven she knew and loved. With every second that went by he was becoming further and further away from that man.

Avery couldn’t do anything about the Draven situation. She wasn’t anywhere near mentally, physically, or emotionally prepared for that. But she could do something about the blade. The Nexus blade had been stolen right out from under them and whoever had taken it had left no clues behind.

To Avery, it was obvious that whoever took it was somehow connected to the Big Bad they had been searching for, if not the Big Bad themselves, which was just slightly terrifying. Still, despite the possible danger, if Avery could solely focus on the retrieval of the Nexus blade it meant she could avoid focusing on other things. Things that wouldn’t leave her crumpled up in a pile of self pity and wasted tears on her bedroom floor for months. She couldn’t afford to waste time on grief if she was going to get done what needed to be done. Or at least, that’s what she kept telling herself.

So, she had focused on retrieving the blade. It had been her singular mission for the past three months. There wasn’t a thought she allowed in her head that didn’t have to do with the blade and catching whoever stole it. It forced her to push the other Protectors hard and she knew it. But in her mind, there was no other option.

“He might know something.” Avery motioned her head towards the troll and Sasha scoffed, scrunching up her face in irritation, “Tristan’s men said they received information that a party of trolls heading towards Darksin might know something about the blade. This was the only troll we found heading towards Darksin.”

Once word had spread that the Nexus blade had been stolen, King Tristan had offered the Protectors aid in helping to find it. He had a quarter of his army out patrolling the woods of Eternel, gathering up whatever knowledge they could and passing it onto the Protectors. Both Jade and Gumptin had been skeptical. Jade because she never liked King Tristan much, and Gumptin because he felt the King might have ulterior motives. However, unlike Jade, Gumptin felt that they should still accept Eternel’s help. Avery had agreed against Jade’s protestations.

Sasha wasn’t moved by Avery’s argument, “And where did Tristan’s men get that little tidbit of information?” She asked caustically, “Hmm?” She didn’t wait for Avery to answer, “I’ll tell you where…they tortured something evil and that something evil gave them some bogus information and then they gave that bogus information to us.”

Even though they were at least a good ten feet apart, Jade stepped in between Sasha and Avery. She had always been protective of Avery, but with everything that had gone on the last few months, she had become even more so, “Anytime you want to contribute something other than bitching, feel free, but until then…” Jade bared her teeth, “shut your mouth.”

It was easy enough for Sasha to ignore Jade. No matter how defensive she got over Avery, Sasha was well aware Jade was more bark than bite. After all, not a day had gone by in the last month where she hadn’t provoked Jade somehow, and Jade had yet to attack her…at least physically.

“I’m tired, Avery.” Sasha sighed, staring past Jade like she wasn’t even there, “We’re all tired. We’ve been out in these filthy woods, hunting down monsters who don’t know shit about the blade for five days now.” Her jaw stiffened as she glanced around the circular curtain of inky green leaves that covered the tree tall tops around them. She scrunched up her nose at the simple sight of them slowly rustling in the soft wind, “I want to go home!” Her arms fell to the side with a slap, like a petulant child about to throw a tantrum.

Avery had put all her energy, everything she had, into finding the blade. She didn’t have the stamina or the will to bicker with Sasha. If she let herself argue, let herself feel the anger and frustration, she wasn’t sure what other emotions would come out. No, Avery couldn’t go there. Not if she wanted to remain in control.

Seeing Avery’s distress, Jade once again gave Sasha a warning, “Just back off, Sasha.” She moved closer to Sasha so that she would have no other option than to pay attention to her, “I’ve had to listen to you bitch about every tiny thing for the past five days now and I’m getting sick of it.”

“You’re sick of it!” Sasha’s mouth opened in shock. There was a brief moment when it seemed for sure that she was about to argue back, but instead she took a shaky inhale and turned her face towards Avery, since Jade wasn’t willing to get out of the way, “We had a deal, Avery. I’m not the only one who’s over this wild-goose chase. Tell her Skylar.”

Skylar was still trying to wipe the troll’s bloody spit off her gray cotton vest with a piece of scrap cloth. The sputum had left a nasty blue stain on the fabric that Avery was sure would never wash out. Her surprise at hearing her name called meant she either hadn’t been paying attention to the conversation or hadn’t expected Sasha to bring her into the discussion.

“Um, well…I…” Skylar blinked, letting the dirty cloth fall from her hand, “it would be nice to be able to take a shower, maybe sleep on something that wasn’t the hard forest floor for a night.” She laughed faintly, trying to make light of the truth that she was agreeing with Sasha.

Avery was thankful for Skylar’s dislike of confrontation. It meant that no matter her opinion, she wouldn’t argue it.

“Bunny?” Sasha asked, not satisfied with just having Skylar on her side.

Bunny winced, not out of surprise, but more discomfort. She had been waiting and dreading for Sasha to bring her into the fray, “Oh, I really don’t want to be put into the middle of this.” She brought her hands up in a form of an apology to both Avery and Sasha.

“Woman up, Bunny!” Sasha griped angrily at Bunny, but kept her attention on Avery, “She was whining for over an hour last night about how you were keeping her away from the Library and her books.”

“I was not whining,” Bunny gulped, offended, “and I wasn’t specifically blaming Avery for that…and I don’t appreciate you saying I was.” Her eyes pleaded with Avery to believe her, but Avery knew Bunny well enough to know Sasha was probably telling the truth.

The Library was Bunny’s safe place. It was where she felt the most useful. She had been expressing for weeks her belief that the blade would be found through books and not patrolling the woods, beating up trolls. It didn’t bother Avery. At least Bunny wanted to find the blade. She just had a different idea for how to go about it.

Sasha waved a dismissive hand towards Bunny, “Whatever. Do you get what I’m saying, Avery?”

Avery continued rubbing at her head, “You’re saying you want to go home.”

“I’m saying we all want to go home. We’re not going to find the Nexsliv blade by beating up random trolls and everyone knows that.” She pointed at Jade, “Even your guard dog.”

“Go ahead, keep poking the bear Sasha.” Jade squared her shoulders, “See what happens.”

Jade was more bark than bite, but she could certainly bite if provoked enough.

Fighting amongst themselves wasn’t going to help find the blade. And it wasn’t helping Avery’s growing headache.

“Maybe we should all just calm down.” Skylar offered.

“I refuse to keep sleeping in the dirt and eating stale bread because you two are having boy issues.”

The troll kept laughing.

Jade reached down to her belt and pulled out her dagger.

“Jade no!” Skylar gasped, motioning for Sasha to duck.

The knife flung through the air and landed in the Troll’s skull. Skylar let out a huff of relief.

Sure, she had hit the troll, but Avery was pretty sure at least some part of Jade had considered chucking the dagger at Sasha. This was becoming too heated, too emotional…too much.

Skylar giggled nervously, “Well that escalated quickly.”

It wasn’t an uncommon thing lately. The longer they were stuck together, the quicker things escalated.

“Okay.” Avery sighed under her breath, her head in her hands.

No one heard her. Probably because Jade’s voice drowned out every other sound.

“Eryk isn’t some boy!” She spit out, “And these aren’t some stupid high school ‘issues’ we’re dealing with. I love him and he’s marrying someone else!”

Folding her arms, Sasha said under her breath, “I can’t imagine why.”

Jade reached down to the knife sheath at her waist and cursed when she realized it was empty.

“I said okay!” Avery shouted, before any blood was drawn. That’s where this argument was headed.

She didn’t want to, and if it was up to her, they’d stay out in those woods until they had they blade back in their hands, but she understood the others needed a break. And if they didn’t get one someone was likely to an extremity. Most likely Sasha. Maybe Jade. Maybe even Bunny, she was the dark horse.

Sasha’s arms fell to her side, “What?”

“I said okay. We’ll head back.”

Jade was still fuming at Sasha, “No!” She wanted to head back. She just wasn’t willing to give Sasha anything she wanted.

Avery massaged the base of her skull with her fingers, “It’s fine. Sasha’s right. We could all use a break.”

Sasha’s was dumbfounded. That made Avery feel a little better about her decision.

“Oh, thank goodness.” Bunny said calmly, no longer trying to hide her true wishes, “I can get back to the library.”

Avery didn’t want to go home, but she was warming up to the idea of being away from the other Protectors.

Jade strode over to the now dead troll. She yanked her knife out of his thick skull, leaving a trail of blue troll blood oozing down his face. She flung the excess blood on her knife off in Sasha’s direction. Sasha was still so shocked she had won the argument; she didn’t even notice. That just annoyed Jade more.

She stomped back over to Steel, purposely bumping into Sasha’s shoulder with her own. It must have been hard because it knocked Sasha out of her stupor.

Of course Sasha wasn’t going to let the bump go. Not when she was so tightly wound, “Just because fly boy isn’t giving it to you anymore doesn’t mean you get to be a bitch to the rest of us.”

Skylar groaned. They all knew Jade wasn’t going to let that go.

Jade bit down on her lip. For a second Avery thought she might try and control herself, but that hope was quickly dashed when Jade spun to face her infuriating frenemy.

“Sasha,” again she bit down on her lip, this time in anticipation, “I’m really going to enjoy this.”

Sasha smirked, daring Jade to do something. And Jade did. She punched Sasha as hard as she could, square in the face.

It had taken Avery a good five minutes of pushing and shoving to separate Jade and Sasha. And she had caught an accidental right hook from Sasha for her troubles.

The one good thing that had come from it, was now Avery’s sense of anxiety at returning to Havyn had been replaced with relief.

When they rode into the village, Gumptin came from the Library to meet them. He either had exceptional hearing, or stood peering out the window, waiting for the Protectors return. Neither would surprise Avery.

Pip ran out from inside the stables, beaming. It was a far cry from the scowl Gumptin wore.

“You are back sooner than expected.” The wizard frowned.

The only being in all Orcatia that wanted the blade returned more than Avery, was Gumptin.

Avery rubbed at the sore spot on her jaw where Sasha’s fist had landed, “I had a mini mutiny on my hands.”

Gumptin knew something about mutinies.

During the first month after the blade had gone missing, Gumptin turned into a paranoid, edgy, and in Jade’s words, ‘completely freaking crazy’ version of his old self. It was only natural. One of the most dangerous weapons on the planet had gone missing right under his nose.

He had the Protectors chasing down false leads all over Nightfell – and beyond. When they were home, he had them scouring through books in the Library for day on end. Even Bunny had gotten sick of it. And she never tired of books. Avery suspected it wasn’t the amount of time in the Library that bothered Bunny, but the amount of time in the Library with all the other Protectors. Bunny valued her studying solitude.

When they weren’t in the Library, they were training extra hard, only getting two or three hours of sleep a night. Any and everything to make them ready to face whoever was powerful enough to steal the blade.

It suited Avery just fine. Better than fine. In fact, she was thankful for it. She didn’t want time to think about what had happened. About what was lost. She didn’t want to talk or to dwell.

However, Avery was the only Protector who didn’t seem to mind not having a life.

Jade wanted a distraction from Eryk almost as much as Avery did from Draven, but her idea of distraction was playing cards, keeping Avery up all night reminiscing about the antics they used to get into on Earth, or patrolling with being forced. Not being ordered around by an angry dictatorial gnome.

One day, two and a half months ago, everything reached a boiling point. While they were unsaddling their horses, after a particularly dangerous patrol, during which Jade and Skylar had almost been frozen to death by an Ice Demon from the arctic lands of Glacies, Gumptin had ordered the girls to once again go out on patrol, without any rest. This time to hunt a Salvo Demon who had been rumored to be seen in the area near Lilydale, and just might have information on the blade…maybe…possibly.

That was when both Jade and Skylar blew up. Jade got so heated she threw Steel’s saddle, that she had been holding, with a rageful scream. There was so much force behind her throw that the heavy saddle flew into the side of the well in the center of town, knocking a few bricks from the wall. Avery was just thankful there were no villagers between Jade and the well. Accidentally killing a neighbor was not something their reputation could recover from. Especially, since losing the Nexsliv blade.

As Jade furiously tiraded on about being sleep deprived, overworked, and utterly sick of Gumptin, Skylar went into her own emotional tantrum. She began cry-yelling. Pleading to Gumptin that she couldn’t take it anymore. That her body and spirit were exhausted.

Sasha added to the uprising, pointing out that Bunny had lost over ten pounds since the blade had gone missing. A lot for her small frame. She attributed it to anxiety from the pressure Gumptin was putting them under.

Gumptin had come to expect outbursts from Jade. And even from Sasha. But Skylar’s fit of frenzy had taken him aback. She was supposed to be the easy going one. Her words shook some sense into his paranoid mind.

Since that moment, the Protectors got one day a week completely to themselves. Doing whatever they wished. He had also limited the amount of time in the Library and had lightened up on training.

Avery had argued his decision. She hated it. She couldn’t understand why the others couldn’t just put their heads down and grind. They lost the blade; it was their duty to find it.

“I told them they could have a little break.” Avery slid down from Phantom, handing over the reins to Pip.

The bushy white hair on Gumptin’s upper lip twitched back and forth, “And how long shall this break be?”

As short as Avery could make it, “A day or two.”

“And what happened to you two?” He huffed up at Jade and Sasha.

Sasha had a dried stain of dark red blood cascading down from her pink nose. Jade’s bottom lip was split and twice the size it should have been.

Jade hopped off Steel, flicking her long ponytail towards Sasha, “Therapy.”

Sasha didn’t respond. She thought of her face as a precious commodity. She wasn’t going to risk damaging it further.

“So, to clarify,” the twitching of his mustache extended to his unkempt beard, “you did not find out anything new about the blade, you returned early, and you fought amongst yourselves.”

That pretty much covered it.

Avery ignored him.

Bunny handed her reins over the new stable hand, Adan. She touched Avery lightly on the shoulder, “If you need me, I’ll be in the Library after I take a shower.”

“Oh for Wizarding sake!” Gumptin exclaimed, watching Bunny head off in the direction of her house, “Now I have to spend my day watching over her.” He shot a nubby finger at Avery, “Thank you very much!”

“She’s not a little kid.” Avery said, “She doesn’t need a babysitter.”

Gumptin coughed, “I beg to differ. Last week I found her in the locked section. It’s locked for a reason, Avery!” He swung his arms around in the air, making a locking/unlocking gesture, “She could start messing with dark forces she does not understand.”

If it meant finding the blade, Avery wasn’t going to stop her. Not that Bunny would even listen to her if she did. She may not challenge Avery like Sasha or argue with her like Jade, but in her own silent way she was just as defiant.

“Better go wait for her then.” Avery nodded towards the Library.

Gumptin turned from Avery in a snit, mumbling about disrespect under his breath.

Pip gave Avery a light tap on the arm, “Well, I’m glad yer back.”

Skylar slid off Dancer into his arms, giving him an overexaggerated kiss on the cheek. He laughed, returning her the kiss on her cheek.

Avery left them before their kisses intensified. They had been doing that a lot lately – kissing. She was glad they were happy, but seeing it only reminded her of how unhappy she was.

“Hey, Avery!” Pip called out to her, stopping her halfway to her house, “Did ya wanna come to the barn for dance practice tonight with me and Skylar?”

Skylar bobbed her head up and down in excited encouragement.

Before the blade had been stolen, Avery would join Pip and Skylar in the barn some nights as Fergus, a village farmer with a talent for the fiddle, would play his instrument and Skylar would attempt to teach Pip to dance. Emphasis on attempt. To put it kindly, he had two left feet. But that had been before the Nexsliv blade had gone missing. A lot had changed since then.

“Raincheck.” She smiled weakly.

There was only a brief glimmer of disappointment in Pip and Skylar’s faces. They hadn’t really expected her to join them, only hoped.

Avery had almost reached her front door, when Jade bounded up beside her.

“So what do you think’s for dinner tonight?” She ran her tongue along the gash on her lip, “I hope it’s not vegetable stew again. I know your mom is super proud of her vegetable garden, but after that brawl with Sasha I need some meat in my body.”

Avery hesitated to turn the knob on the door.

She couldn’t remember the last time she had been able to sleep alone. If they weren’t out on patrol, sleeping in the woods, Jade would stay over at her house. Part of her was thankful for it. The company helped keep her mind from slipping into dark thoughts. But another part of her longed for solitude. Or at least distance away from Jade’s problems with Eryk. Where Avery needed to ignore her feelings and keep them hidden deep, Jade needed to talk about and analyze hers. It was exhausting for Avery.

“I saw that your parents got back from Westop.”

Jade shrugged, “So?”

“So, you haven’t seen them in over a month. Don’t you think maybe you should go home tonight, have dinner with them, sleep in your own bed?” Avery suggested, “I’m sure they miss you.”

In truth, Avery wasn’t sure they missed Jade. Back on Earth, they had pretty much left Jade to fend for herself. They had both worked long hours and when they weren’t working they were out on the town together, enjoying their temporary freedom from the responsibilities of being parents to a Protector. That desire for freedom had appeared to transfer back to their lives on Orcatia.

Her father had been a mechanic back on Earth, learning the trade so foreign to him rather quickly. He had taken those skills back with him and begun making wooden wind-up toys that moved. He and Jade’s mother now spent most of their time travelling, selling their toys in different villages and kingdoms. Avery suspected the only reason they returned was fear of what the Elementals may do to them if they completely abandoned their parental duties.

Jade squinted her eyes at Avery, “If you don’t want me to stay over, just say so.”

Avery had to be careful, she knew how sensitive Jade could be, “It’s not that I don’t want you to, I just have this headache,” she pushed at the spot on her temple that was still throbbing form earlier, “and I really just want to crash.”

Normally Jade’s incessant chatter when she stayed over was a welcome distraction for Avery, but the closer the date got to Eryk’s wedding, the more her chatter turned to talk of him. And Avery was too exhausted to keep reminding Jade to stay away from Eryk.

Shortly after the blade had been stolen King Audwode had offered the Fairies assistance in helping track it down. On one condition. Jade had to stay as far away from their son as possible.

Jade couldn’t not talk about Eryk. It wasn’t in her nature. She used Avery as a diary and therapist. And Avery couldn’t not let Jade verbalize her feelings. It wasn’t in her nature. So, for tonight, Jade would have to stay somewhere else.

For a second, Avery was about to suggest Jade talk to her parents about her romantic troubles, but the idea of it almost made her laugh out loud.

Jade and her parents didn’t speak, not really. They exchanged pleasantries. And then Jade spent the rest of their time together zoning her parents out as they talked about their travels, their plans, their feelings, everything of theirs…nothing of Jade’s. It has always been this way. Orcatia hadn’t changed much. Only now they spent their time away traveling, instead of her father fixing cars at the garage, her mother working at the grocery store, both hitting the small-town nightlife after work.

Maybe that was why Jade relied so heavily on Avery. She was the only person Jade talked to about what really was going on in her head and heart.

“Fine.” Jade’s shoulder slumped, “I’ll let you get some sleep.”

Avery patted her temple, “Thank you.”

Jade turned, “But come two in the morning when those bad dreams hit, you’ll wish I was there.”

Avery didn’t want to admit Jade was right.

She watched Jade walk away for a bit, just to make sure she wasn’t planning on turning back around. But she didn’t. She didn’t head home either. She made a beeline straight to the town’s tavern. Avery wasn’t surprised. Back in Redemption, Jade spent a good portion of her free time in Cowboy’s Water Bar. A lot of the town regulars who frequented the place would buy her drinks, either because they lost to her at pool or because they got a kick out of the sixteen-year-old who could go toe-to-toe with seasoned pool sharks.

Here she didn’t need anyone buying the drinks for her. It seemed the legal drinking age on Orcatia was birth.

Avery shook her head and entered her house.

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Boy oh boy does if feel like its been decades since I released my last Protectors novel.

Let me start by saying – I will never be Stephen King. I will never be able to write an entire book in a few months. I believe the man either found a genie and made a wish or sold his soul, because his talent and ability is inhuman. Mine is very human. And despite the fact that I have kept my self-resolution of writing something every single day (sick days don’t count), it still takes me a good year or two or three to finish a novel. I’m a “mood” writer. I always have been. I always will be. If I’m in the right writing mood words will flow. If I’m not, I’m lucky to eek out a usable sentence.

A little while ago I gave an update about the next Protectors book, explaining that I had been having a hard time with writing it. There were some personal tragedies/hardships I dealt with right around the time I was starting the 6th book they kind of stuck with me. I maybe should have taken a little break from writing it at the time, but I love the story and wanted to finish it. Turns out, that was a mistake. I second guessed EVERYTHING. Every little writing choice. The voice of the story. It was a creative minefield. And then when I had finished, I hated it so much I deleted 60,000 words. Let me repeat, 60,000 WORDS!!!!! That turned out to also be a mistake (who would have thought), and left me in a depressive writing funk. Note to self…don’t make rash judgement choices you can’t undo without taking a few hours – days – weeks to think them over.

What happened next sort of turned things around for me – I moved on to writing another story. Yeppers, I wrote and finished a 138,000 word novel about Greek Gods (I’ll go more into that book in another post). But after I finished that story, I got back into the groove of writing the Protectors. Now it’s far from perfect or where I’d like it to be, but instead of deleting, I’m moving forward.

But even while I’m “writing forward”, I do realize this story has been a loooooong time coming. So, because all of my amazing readers have waited so patiently – and I still don’t know when the book will be done done (like I said, I’m not even close to being a Stephen King) – I have decided to release the next book in chapters on my blog. When it’s actually finished it’ll be released as a book just like the others and I’ll take down the chapters. But until then, I wanted you all to have something of that world back. So once I get the first few chapters back from my wonderful beta readers, I’ll begin posting them. Expect the first chapter sometime in the first few weeks of May.

In closing, to all my readers who keep asking about the next book and pushing me to write it…thank you…thank you…THANK YOU! You guys are the reason I haven’t given up. You’re the reason I keep typing away. You remind me just how much I love the Protectors story and all the characters. Thank you!

~Paige

Contests are a great way for writers to stretch their writing muscles and gives them the chance to possibly earn a little money and some much deserved recognition. All the contests listed below have a May deadline and are free to enter.

 Sunlight Press Essay Contest – Deadline is May 1st. Contest for Personal Essay (750-1,000 words). $100 prize and online publication. They look for lyrical writing and a compelling narrative.
 Hiett Prize in the Humanities – Deadline is May 3rd. The Hiett Prize in the Humanities is an annual award of $50,000 aimed at identifying candidates in the early stages of a career devoted to the humanities and whose work shows extraordinary promise to have a significant impact on contemporary culture.
 DSC Prize for South Asian Literature – Deadline is May 10th. The DSC Prize for South Asian Literature celebrates the rich and varied world of literature of the South Asian region. Authors could belong to this region through birth or be of any ethnicity but the writing should pertain to the South Asian region in terms of content and theme. Awards $25,000 for published novel.
 St. Francis College Literary Prize – Deadline is May 15th. The biennial $50,000 Literary Prize is sponsored by St. Francis College to offer its support and encouragement to the literary community and mid-career authors who have recently published their 3rd to 5th work of fiction.
 Black Orchid Novella Award – Deadline is May 31st. Entries must be 15,000 to 20,000 words in length. Each entry must be an original unpublished work of fiction that conforms to the tradition of the Nero Wolfe series.

The mystery should be “traditional” in flavor.

The crime must be solved using the deductive abilities of the sleuth. No coincidences.

The killer must be known to the victim. No random psycho shootings.

The characters (male or female) must have an engaging relationship.

There needs to be some wit.

The timing could be retro or current.

There should be no explicit sex or violence.

The detective could be a professional or amateur.

The setting could be NYC or Boston or wherever.

We’re not looking for anything derivative of the Nero Wolfe character, milieu, etc.
 Fred Otto Prize for Oz Fiction/Warren C. Hollister Prize for Oz Nonfiction – Deadline is May 31st. The three categories that will be judged are Fiction, Non-Fiction, and Art. All work must be related to the world of Oz. This means entries must be about or pertaining to the Land of Oz as originally created by author L. Frank Baum in the book, The Wonderful Wizard of Oz, and its sequels, Oz plays, Oz movies, Magic Land, or any other version or aspect of Oz. All work must be original and not previously published or exhibited in any form, including online and digital publication. $100 First Prize award.
 Jerry Jazz Musician Fiction Contest – Deadline is May 31st. Three times a year, Jerry Jazz Musician awards a writer who submits, in our opinion, the best original, previously unpublished work of short fiction. The Jerry Jazz Musician reader has interests in music, social history, literature, politics, art, film and theater, particularly that of the counter-culture of mid-twentieth century America. Our newsletter subscribers include publishers, artists, musicians, and fellow writers. While your writing should appeal to a reader with these interests and in these creative professions, all story themes are considered. A prize of $100 will be awarded for the winning story.
 TCU Texas Book Award – Deadline is May 31st. A prize of $5,000 is given to the author of the best book about Texas. Fiction, nonfiction, art, photography and other books will be considered; juvenile, young-adult, drama or film scripts, and self-published works are excluded.

 

Good luck and Good Writing!

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Have you finished working on that next YA Sci-Fi bestseller and are ready to start querying? I’m here to help! Or at least try to help. I’ve compiled a list of 35 agents actively seeking YA Sci-Fi manuscripts. I’m a huge fan of Science Fiction, especially in the YA genre, where I feel it’s a tad underrepresented.

Just click on the link after the agent’s name to be taken to their profile, where you can find submission guidelines and more information about what interest them.

Happy querying and GOOD LUCK!

Jennifer Udden at Barry Goldblatt Literary Agency


Moe Ferrara at BookEnds


Sarah LaPolla at Bradford Literary Agency


Marisa Corvisiero at Corvisiero Literary Agency


Jonathan Lyons at Curtis Brown


Weronika Janczuk at D4EO Literary Agency


Adam Schear at Defiore and Company


Cameron McClure at Donald Maass Literary Agency


Mike Hoogland at Dystel Goderich & Bourret


Evan Gregory at Ethan Ellenberg Literary Agency


Peter Rubie at Fine Print Literary Management


Jessica Felleman at Foundry Literary and Media


Emily Keyes at Fuse Literary


Andrea Somberg at Harvey Klinger Literary Agency


Kim-Mei Kirtland at Morhaim Literary


Claire Friedman at InkWell Management


Miriam Kriss at Irene Goodman Literary Agency


Eddie Schneider at JABberwocky Literary Agency


Kirby Kim at Janklow & Nesbit Associates


Zabe Ellor at Jennifer De Chiara Literary Agency


Sara Megibow at KT Literary


Ben Grange at L. Perkins Agency


Hannah Bowman at Liza Dawson Associates


Meredith Bernstein at Meredith Bernstein Literary Agency


Stephanie Hanson at Metamorphosis Literary Agency


Kristin Nelson at Nelson Literary Agency


Suzie Townsend at New Leaf Literary


Emma Sector at Prospect Agency


Kelly Van Sants at Red Sofa Literary


Holly Root at Root Literary


Zoe Plant at The Bent Agency


Travis Pennington at The Knight Agency


Lynnette Novak at The Seymour Agency


Brenna English-Loeb at Transatlantic Literary Agency


Alexandra Levick at Writers House

 

*please note that some of the agencies listed above have multiple agents that may represent YA sci-fi. However, you don’t want to submit to more than one agent at a time in the same agency. So make sure to read the profile and submission pages carefully to find who is right for you. Good luck! May the writing force be with you!