Happy belated New Year!
This is a commission by Eurephora that I had done last year. It is Faye, the protagonist of my long suffering Work In Progress (tentatively titled "Priestess", but will probably, most definitely, come up with a better title). I am being sarcastic of course; I am having fun writing it, when I actually get to work on it. I made some progress over the holidays but it's still not close enough to being published.
Last August, I participated in the #FantasyIndiesAugust challenge. Thought I'd post some of the snippets here that I shared there, in case you don't follow me on Twitter.
Sarika pulled me away gently and I leaned into her while I caught my breath and clutched my belly.“Was it worth it?” she asked.“It doesn’t have to be worth it in order to do it. It is my duty.”Sometimes I wondered if this was all my life was going to be. Pain and duty. Momentary feelings of having done good from helping someone other than the duke couldn’t keep me going forever. Indeed, I didn’t think my life would be long if things kept up like this. But I didn’t know any other way.-JOY DEMERS, PRIESTESS WIP, AUGUST 6, 2022
Candles, sconces and chandeliers were lit all around the hall. The duke’s family mingled around with wine glasses, dressed in finery and frills. The old duke himself stood in the center of the room. I could tell his pain was returning for he leaned on his left side and his twitching smile at our appearance was one that masked a grimace. Beside him, however, stood the peacock of a general, the man who’d ridden in on the crazy black stallion. The general’s gaze fell onto me and I nearly recoiled backward if Urdie hadn’t still locked her arm around my elbow. She brought me to her grandfather and the man of Valderon. I dropped my cane so Urdie would let me go. But no sooner had it hit the floor than the general leaned down to pick it up.“Heavy, for a simple walking stick,” he said, bouncing the cane in his grip as if to belie his statement.“It was a gift from my brothers and sisters at the Sanctuary.” I held my hand out for the cane. I didn’t always need it to help me walk, but I carried it with me all the time anyway. The general passed it over to me. His fingers brushed against my hand and I felt their coldness even though I wore my gloves. “Thank you.”“You are the priestess of San,” the general said. Up close, his eyes were dark, like pools of the blackest water. And though his expression was bemused, I felt those fathoms held many secrets.-JOY DEMERS, PRIESTESS WIP, AUGUST 13, 2022
So, that's about all the news I have for now. I hope next time I update, I'll have some good news :)
-Joy
Hey there,
A few weeks ago, I was interviewed by fellow indie author and super nice guy, PL Stuart. I talk about my inspirations and what I think grimdark is and a little about my WIP.
Be sure to check out his books while you are there. I read the first book in his Drowned Kingdom Saga last year, and I highly recommend it if you are into books with protagonists who fall into grey areas. I'm still not sure if Lord Othrun is a hero or full of himself.
That's about it!
Until next time,
Joy
Hey there!
First off, happy new year! It's been a while since I updated the site and I apologize for that. I only have a bit of news to share with you; The Darkness in the Midst series has gone wide!
Back in February, all four books in the series were pulled from Kindle Unlimited and made available at more retailers. (I apologize if you were reading the books for free on Kindle Unlimited - hopefully you saw my tweet that forewarned you of this and were able to get to them before they were pulled).
Please check out my Books2Read profile to see all the lovely places you can buy my books now - at least the e-book versions. Paperback remains exclusive to Amazon for now.
The current WIP seems to be stalled. Hopefully I can get out of the rut I am in and have something new for you this year. We'll have to wait and see for that.
Until next time!
-Joy
Hi,
Just wanted to pop in to say the results are in for my entry into SPFBO 7. Actually, the review was up a few days after my last update but I am only now getting around to posting the link here. The result is positive, but ultimately I didn't move on. Here's an excerpt of the review:
The book moves at a rapid pace, especially in the final third, and the first-person prose is easy to read and follow.
You can read the full review here.
That's really all I wanted to say. Still working on the WIP. I will update more on that when I get more done.
Have a nice day,
Joy
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