X is for…

My A to Z Challenge theme is: characters from my trilogy, From the Ashes.

X is for…

Xana Devyn

I struggle to breathe, but no air reaches my lungs. Warmth fills my chest, and I choke on the blood. Yes, it's blood, I am drowning in my own blood. My lungs convulse, I know I'm in pain, but I don't feel it. It's like I'm watching it happen to someone else.

I know my eyes are open, but I can't see.

I feel like I'm being torn in into a million pieces, but it is beautiful in the strangest of ways. Warm light flickers onto my eyelids, and I wake in my bed on Virana. Everything is glowing a little bit, like it isn't quite real.

I see Liam for the first time. He annoys the shaav out of me, but I smile at the sight of him.

Something happens, and that fades away to meeting Jaina. Then it switches again. I'm in the kitchen making cookies with my friend. The smells, the feel, everything is so real and beautiful.

By the stars, my life is beautiful.

***

I hope you liked this little except today, couldn't write too much about her. Spoilers.

Have a lovely rest of the day!

More A to Z Participants HERE.

Don't forget to check out my other blog, My Unofficial Guide To Everything. Also, From the Ashes is on sale for 99¢ in the Kindle Store, so make sure to check it out!

–Jess

V & W are for…

My A to Z Challenge theme is: characters from my trilogy, From the Ashes.

V is for…

Dezar Viraak

I used to feel guilty about murder. I was 14 when I first killed a man. He was a general with a weakness for alcohol. I didn't do it for money, I did it for revenge. He killed my mother.

I never intended to make murder my career. I was on the run from the law, working at a bar. I was 15, but I looked 18 and had a fake ID, and the owner of the bar liked that I worked hard. That's when Jamal Tel found me, and threatened to expose my true identity. We came to an agreement, if I could assassinate his political nemesis within a month, he'd pay me 10,000 Imperial Ariks. Seemed worth it.

These days I don't take a job that pays less than a million.

I completed the job in less than a week.

I had a steady job of assassination after that from many different customers. Don't know how they found me, I never asked.

If you had known me back then, you would have seen that I wasn't the killer type. Then again, no one in their right mind is. Now I do it for the money. It pays well, keeps food on the table, and helps me support my two children and the woman I love.

I don't feel guilty about it anymore. Not at all. Maybe it's a coping mechanism, but through all the madness, and all the blood, I found someone I love. Her name is Ana. Can't imagine why she loves me, she knows what I do.

Now I have a daughter and a son. My children and Ana are everything to me.

***

W is for…

(Since nothing starts with W, I'm just doing a little excerpt from Book 2, The Inferiors.)

We take the lift downstairs in silence. When we reach the bottom, I walk through the lobby and out of my apartment complex. He follows close behind me as I lead us into the pale light of the late morning.

My apartment is built on the outskirts of the Crystal City Plaza. It's a large expanse of area paved with white Tarnoshian marble. Ever few meters or so, there are gardens that line the fountains where strange, unfamiliar birds hop around and bathe in sunlight. They're smaller and more colorful than any of the birds I had known on Virana. Their songs are more intricate, and they sound more like wind chimes than birds.

Things were so different back home.

The air is more stale, the gentle breeze less…real. There is not a breath of disorder, and it makes everything feel so wrong.  

***

I hope you enjoyed my post for today!

Don't forget to visit other A to Z Challenge Participants, and my other blog, My Unofficial Guide To Everything, where I wrote a "breakup letter".

Also, From the Ashes is on sale for 99¢ this week, so make sure to check that out too!

Have a lovely day :)

–Jess

IT'S ALMOST APRIL

Okay, I am honestly freaking out a little bit because it is almost April. And I signed up for the A to Z Challenge for the first time in like four years. I have no idea how this is going to work out.

Anyway, last week I was in North Carolina for Spring Break (even though I'm not even in college). It was spring break for my siblings, so that was nice. We got to visit some cool places and see the ocean, even though it was freezing cold.

We also got to visit Roanoke Island.

If you're American or English, you probably know the story, but if you'd like to know a little more about it, I wrote a whole post on it on my new blog which is less about writing and more about a lot of random stuff, My Unofficial Guide To Everything.

This week has been so busy and a bit stressful, so I apologize for this post being so short! I love you all, and I hope you have an amazing day :)

–Jess

A to Z Challenge Theme Reveal!

My dear readers, before we get going, I'd like to make a few announcements. First of all, I have officially started a new blog! I'm not entirely sure why I started it, but I have a feeling I will be posting there more often than here. If you would like to check it out, here is a link My Unofficial Guide To Everything, and if you enjoy it please follow me!

Secondly, I apologize for posting so late today, but I'm on vacation in North Carolina so I've been a bit busy relaxing.

Now I'd like to present to you, my A to Z Challenge Theme Reveal!

And my theme is…

A short guide to: From The Ashes

For those of you who don't know me, From The Ashes is my first published novel (the sequel is on the way). So my theme is going to be all about my book so you can get a little sneak peak of the world and the characters.

Visit other participants in the A to Z Theme Reveal here.

Are you participating in the A to Z Challenge? If so, what is your theme!? Don't forget to check out my new blog My Unofficial Guide To Everything.

Have a lovely day :)

Jess