Tag: Ebb and Flow

Grumble Grumble Book Blurb Grumble

Posted on by karennacolcroft

I’ve spent the past couple of days struggling to write the blurb (a/k/a book description) for Storm and Shelter, which is book 3 of the Ebb and Flow series. The first draft of the book is complete and I’m working on some rewrites now prior to editing, and I want to put it up for preorder now-ish so I can include the preorder link in book 2 of the series, Future and Past, which releases April 10. In order to put the book up for preorder, I have to have the book description. And those are harder for me to write than the actual books!

 

 

(Here’s the Future and Past cover)

 

 

 

I’ve always had trouble with the blurbs. I get stuck in trying to summarize the plot rather than just giving hints to entice readers. The book description isn’t meant to be a summary of the story, and I know this, but it’s really hard for me to figure out what is “too much” summary when I’m writing the things.

Technically I could set up the preorder with just the book’s title, and fill in the blurb later, but then…why would anyone preorder it?

So I’ll keep wrangling with words trying to get this book description the way I need it to be. And meanwhile, I’ve gotten the cover for Storm and Shelter done and will be sharing it first in my newsletter, which I send out on the 2nd and 4th Thursdays of each month. Which means I’ll be sending one this coming week. If you want to subscribe and get in on exclusive excerpts and cover reveals and such, plus get the free novella Heart and Home, an Ebb and Flow prequel, visit my Free Story page.

A Love Letter to My Childhood

Posted on by karennacolcroft
The book I’m currently working on, which is book 3 in my Ebb and Flow series (a spin-off of Real Werewolves Don’t Eat Meat that takes place primarily in Nova Scotia), is rapidly becoming a love letter to the summer cottage my Canadian grandparents (my mother’s parents) owned until I was 14 or so. I spent a week or two nearly every summer visiting those grandparents, and until they sold the cottage, that time was mostly spent there. (This is a picture of a photo I took sometime around 1983 or 1984 of that cottage.)
In Ebb and Flow, one of the main characters, Malachi William Powers, is a 130ish-year-old werewolf from Lunenburg, Nova Scotia…who, in fiction-land, would be an ancestor of mine. My grandmother was a Powers; William is a name given as first or middle name to a few of my relatives on that side of the family. (I just really like the name Malachi.) Because of that, when I needed a relatively isolated place for lone wolf Malachi to live, I chose my grandparents’ cottage. I believe, though I may be incorrect, that the cottage was built by my grandmother’s father, meaning it was a Powers family cottage.
In real life, the cottage was sold when I was in my teens. I haven’t been inside since, and the exterior doesn’t resemble the cottage I remember visiting. But in fiction-land, in the Ebb and Flow series proper, the cottage’s appearance is what I recall from the late 1970s-early 1980s. In Malachi’s prequel to the series, Hooch and Howls, the cottage isn’t as clearly described but resembles what I imagine it would have looked like if it was there around 1930, when Hooch takes place.
The first two books of the series, Ebb and Flow, and Future and Past, have the Canada-set parts of the story taking place at the home of Silas Creighton, the Anax (werewolf ruler) of Canada, who lives on a private island in Mahone Bay. Creighton being another name from my childhood; though not related to me as far as I know, the Creighton family was close with the Powerses and Pykes, and as in the books, the Creightons owned the cottage next to the one my grandparents owned. (I think Creightons bought the cottage when my grandparents sold it, but again, I can’t remember for sure.) In Ebb and Flow, Malachi briefly brings his mate Quinn to the cottage just to show it to him and pick up some clothes, but we don’t get the full picture of it.
This third book, Storm and Shelter, which I’m currently working on, starts in Massachusetts, where nearly the first half of the story takes place, then goes briefly to Silas’s…and then the rest of the book takes place in and around Malachi’s cottage when Quinn finds himself unable to tolerate staying at Silas’s after the events of Future and Past. Which means I’ve spent the past three and a half weeks diving into my admittedly not entirely accurate memories of the cottage and its appearance and trying to put the description into words. I do have a few pictures of the interior and exterior of the place from my childhood, but a lot of the writing is just relying on my memory.
In my childhood, that cottage was one of my safe places. One of the places where I knew I would be treated with love, and where the parent who constantly criticized and yelled at me would be shut down by my grandparents. Where I learned how to construct a wooden bench that was so rickety that only my then-2-year-old cousin could sit on it. Where I spent hours in the sand and the salt water.
In writing this book, I’m giving my inner child back that safe place, at least for a little while, as well as giving the home in fiction-land to one of the favorite fictional couples I’ve created, Malachi Powers and Quinn Boucher. Some of the description in the first draft of Storm and Shelter will probably be cut out for length and pacing, but for now, I’m indulging it.

New Story!

Posted on by karennacolcroft

This is going to be a short entry; I’m sick (yet again…the joys of working in childcare, the kids are wonderful but also germ factories) and don’t really have the brain power for a longer entry.

I have a new short story! If you aren’t already subscribed to my newsletter, you can visit my Free Story page to sign up for the link to download Heart and Home, a prequel to Ebb and Flow. After four weeks of captivity and abuse at the hands of a sadistic Beta and his even more sadistic packmate, Quinn Boucher escapes on full moon night and runs across the U.S.-Canada border into North Dakota, where he finds sanctuary with Kinney Logan, the Beta of Prairie Pack. Kinney and the pack take Quinn in with no strings attached… but when it comes to Kinney, Quinn *wants* strings.

Anyone who’s read Ebb and Flow or Take Some Tahini knows Quinn’s backstory. While Heart and Home begins on the night of Quinn’s escape and therefore doesn’t show the abuse on-page, Quinn’s flashbacks and memories are depicted, with as much vagueness as this author could manage. The story could be triggering to those who have experienced sexual violence, so please read cautiously if you choose to read at all.

If you *are* subscribed to my newsletter, please don’t sign up again; I’ll be sending out the link to download the story in the February 13 newsletter.

Upcoming

Posted on by karennacolcroft

It’s hard to believe it will be 2025 in just a few days! While I don’t know exactly what the year holds for me–and, after the past few years, don’t want to speculate–I have made some writing and publishing plans.

On January 9, I’ll release Bring on the Broccoli (Real Werewolves Don’t Eat Meat 7). This book is the first one since book 3 that’s narrated by Kyle Slidell, the vegan werewolf who gives the series its name. I anticipate unhappy readers due to something that happens in the story, but I don’t want to give spoilers. Bring on the Broccoli is available for Amazon preorder and will be available in Kindle and paperback formats.

On April 10, I’ll release Future and Past (Ebb and Flow 2). This is, obviously, the sequel to Ebb and Flow, continuing Quinn and Malachi’s story because the two of them won’t stop “talking” to me. Quinn is sent back to Nova Scotia to be with his mate after a PTSD flashback causes him to lash out at Kyle.  Quinn worries that it’s punishment–that Tobias sent him away and won’t let him go back to the States–but it is just so he can rest and get help for his PTSD with Malachi there to support him. Future and Past is also available for Amazon preorder, because for a change I got my act together early. To lead up to this release, I also redid the Ebb and Flow cover.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

And on July 10, I’ll release Sorry about the Seitan (Real Werewolves Don’t Eat Meat 8). This one takes place around Christmas, so of course I’m releasing it in July… Tobias is already struggling, and his stress and PTSD worsen when the Alpha who took him in after he was changed at age 15 declines into severe dementia and is no longer capable of ruling his pack–which, in the werewolf world, means he can’t be allowed to live. Sorry About the Seitan also is available for Kindle preorder.

I’ll also have a release in October 2025, and at this point I’m planning on that being book 3 of Ebb and Flow, but I won’t know that for sure for a few more months.

I hope your 2024 comes to a peaceful end and your 2025 brings you all good things. And books. Lots of books.