I’m almost done with The Haunting of Renegade X, the novella that takes place between books 2 and 3. I’ve only got a couple more scenes to write, and with my recent health improvements, I can actually write steadily every day. Which means this story will actually be out in a few days. It should also mean fewer delays between books. Oh, and that I can function and feel like a real person. Whatever.
Anyway, here’s what it’s all about:
Damien doesn’t believe in ghosts, even when he hears the voice of his ex-best friend Pete calling to him from the Banking and Finances building, the scene of his death. His new friend Riley doesn’t believe in ghosts, either, but when Damien confides in him about what he thinks he heard, the two of them decide to investigate. On Halloween night.
A decision they come to regret as soon as Pete’s ghost traps them inside the building. It turns out Pete’s got unfinished business with Damien concerning the collapse of their friendship. Damien’s always blamed Pete for how it ended, but now Pete forces him to acknowledge the part he played in it. In order to survive the night, Damien will not only have to figure out how to fight a ghost, but he’ll have to tell the truth about his past–even when that truth threatens to destroy his new friendship with Riley.
This story started out as part of the kickstarter for book 3. For one of the stretch goals, I said I’d write a short story holiday special. Backers got to vote on which holiday the story would be about, and the votes were overwhelmingly for Halloween. When I started thinking about what this story would even be, I had no idea what I was going to do with it. I was picturing something short and light. Maybe 5k – 10k. So of course it turned into a super intense 20k novella.
I’m planning to release it both in ebook formats and in paperback, and hopefully there’ll be an audio version at some point.
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I’m glad to hear that your health has improved, I hope it wasn’t anything to serious. I look forward to reading this book when it’s done and book four, it’s been on my “need to live till 2016 list” so everything else I read seems to be drab in comparison.
I’ll probably do a full post about this soon, but here’s the gist of it:
I have an autoimmune disease (Hashimoto’s), so, kind of serious, but I’ve been struggling with it for over a decade, so it’s not anything new, either. In recent years, though, it’s gotten way worse and made it hard to function on a daily basis, and there have been long stretches of time where I haven’t been able to write at all. And when I could write, it was a huge struggle to get any words. It turns out it was all because of food allergies, and now that I’m not poisoning myself, suddenly I can actually write again. Books 2 and 3 were both delayed by over a year because of this illness, but now that I’m feeling better, there shouldn’t be such huge gaps between them.
I’m glad to hear you’re looking forward to these books! I’ve had so much fun working on Haunting, and I’m so excited to be starting book 4 (any day now, as soon as I finish this novella). I love all the things I have planned for it and can’t wait.