Party Wrap-Up

Whew! Look at the mess. Confetti everywhere. Cupcakes wrappers dangling from the ceiling fan. Crumbs in the sofa. Popcorn littering the house. I don't know what it looks like at your house, but we partied here.

Thanks for coming to my book launch party. Thanks for celebrating with me. Thanks for being great friends and offering support.

Now I'm getting all sniffly. Sorry, allergies.

Okay, one prize left - the GRAND PRIZE. Anyone who commented during the party is entered once. Anyone who leaves a comment before midnight Sunday will be entered, too, just in case you had to miss the party.

Grand prize winner will be announced Monday morning. Along with the other winners. I'll be in touch to for addresses, which is why I want your email.

What is the GRAND PRIZE? Glad you asked.

Grand prize is a whole box of stuff:
A paperback signed copy of Nexus Point (book 1)
A paperback signed copy of Priestess of the Eggstone (book 2)
A big Eggstone, 3 inches high
A round skystone, about an inch across
Your choice of a crocheted Cthulhu cat toy or a sunbonnet Cthulhu pillow
Probably some guava candy, if my kids haven't eaten them all

Check out Priestess of the Eggstone, if you haven't already.
Here's an excerpt:

A cup clattered onto the floor behind us. Leon twitched, the cold barrel of the stunner prodded my cheek. I flinched. Let Leon think I was scared, let the Patrol and Station Control think I was scared. This just might work to get me off the hook with the Patrol if I played it right.
"Who's back there?" Leon took a step to the door of the cockpit. "Get us out of here." He waved the gun nervously.
I flipped on the com, keeping half an eye on Leon as he tried to peer into the cabin without moving me out of his gun sights. My left hand crept slowly over the controls to the engine starters.
"Viya Station, this is Twinkle," I said into the mike.
"Go ahead, Twinkle," the same male voice I'd talked to earlier replied.
"Requesting immediate clearance for undocking."
Leon craned his neck farther around the door, trying to peer into the cramped cabin while still keeping the gun on me. I could have knocked him down and taken it away any time, except that wasn't what I wanted. I didn't want to spend the next six months in Patrol custody answering questions and possibly facing life in prison for smuggling. They weren't going to believe I knew nothing. Nobody was that stupid.
"Sorry, Twinkle. Viya is currently under lockdown. You will open your hatches and allow the Patrol to board your vessel."
"You don't understand," I said, lowering my voice and doing my best to sound scared. A muffled thump came from the cabin, followed by an ear-shattering scream. Jerimon had decided to play hero. I hoped the scream carried over the mike. "There's a maniac in here with a gun who is going to shoot me if I don't fly him out."
Muffled talking carried over the headset. It sounded urgent. I grinned. Leon and Jerimon smashed into the table, then crashed onto the floor.
"Twinkle, what is your status?" a new voice, a very mature, concerned voice, asked. This was too perfect.
"There is a maniac with a gun who is demanding I fly him out," I said, trying to get just the right note of panic in my voice. "You have to let me undock!"
Jerimon and Leon stumbled into the cockpit, landing across the control panels and slamming my seat against the wall. My left hand hit the starters for the engines. They came to throbbing life. The men wrestled over the gun, slamming into controls. Alarms shrieked through the cabin.
"Twinkle, what is happening now?" Whoever owned the concerned voice sounded a lot more worried. "We are showing your engines running. Shut them down immediately."
"He won't let me. He's going to take out the docks if you don't let us go!"
Leon's gun went off. The shot ricocheted through the cockpit. Jerimon jerked Leon backwards. Leon shouted incoherently and flailed at Jerimon with his free hand. More alarms beeped and shrieked. I turned up the gain on the mike to register as much noise as possible. I goosed the engines slightly just to add to the confusion.
"Shut the engines down, now!" the very worried voice ordered.
"He's going to shoot me! He's going to kill me!"
Jerimon and Leon tumbled into the cockpit, landing in the copilot's seat, Jerimon on the bottom. Blood dripped from his nose, one eye swelled shut. Leon foamed at the mouth. The two of them yelled so loudly I couldn't hear what the worried voice said. The engine warning lights edged over into yellow.
It must have sounded like total pandemonium to Viya Station because within moments the ship jerked as the emergency releases kicked us free of the station. I shoved the throttles to full, twisting the nose of the ship away from Viya. Leon landed on my lap, shoving the steering too far to the left. I elbowed him off, then corrected course.
Alarms rang in the cockpit. Jerimon shoved Leon backwards and followed, landing on top with a loud grunt.
"Twinkle, follow a course of nine three seven," the worried voice said slowly. "Can you do that?"
"He did something to the controls." I jiggled the steering in what I hoped looked like uncontrolled shifting. An ore tanker lurched into view. I swerved around it. Jerimon and Leon rolled into the wall. More alarms went off, none of them serious. I watched carefully to make sure I didn't push anything into the red.
"We're sending ships to intercept you," the worried voice said.
I shoved the throttles forward, trying to pick up speed. It was time to leave. I suddenly realized we had no course set. We couldn't jump to hyperspace without one, the ship's safety circuits wouldn't let me. I bit my tongue to keep from swearing. I twisted the ship around in a tight loop.
"Twinkle, acknowledge," the worried voice urged. "Heading nine-three-seven. Repeat, nine-three-seven."
I shifted away from that heading. I didn't want Patrol interception, not until I knew what trouble was currently sitting in my cargo bay.
Jerimon slammed Leon's hand against the floor. The gun went off. I ducked as the bolt raced over my head. It reflected off the viewscreen, bounced off the bulkhead twice, zipped past Jerimon's ear, and caught Leon straight between the eyes. Leon went limp. Jerimon yanked the gun from his hand and stared disbelievingly at it.
"What is this? You knew all about this peashooter, didn't you?" He tossed the stunner onto the bunk.
"Twinkle, respond!" the worried voice demanded in my ear.
"Dace," Jerimon said as he loomed over my chair, "what game are you playing?"
"Respond, if you can!"
I jerked the ship onto a new course, flinging Jerimon into the copilot's chair and sending Leon's limp body smacking into the wall. I pulled off the headset, punching the cutoff for the com. "Fly, unless you want to end up in prison." 

It's here! Priestess of the Eggstone officially launches today!

Party time! Throw confetti! Toot the horns! Celebrate with mounds of chocolate!

I'm so excited that Priestess of the Eggstone is officially in print. It's up on Goodreads, Amazon, the publisher's site, and all sorts of other fun places.

Today from 3-8 pm MST (2 pm PST, 5 pm EST) I'm running a party right here on this blog. Watch for posts. Anyone who comments will be entered to win fun prizes like their own personal Eggstone, or a skystone (real aventurine!), or some guava candy, or copies of my books, or crocheted Cthulhu TP cozies, or crocheted Cthulhu cat toys complete with jingle bells inside, or a bunch of other stuff. Some will be post specific, gotta comment on that post to win that prize, some will be for the whole party, and the grand prize will run until Sunday night at midnight my time. Post before that, and you are entered to win the grand prize - print copies of both books (Nexus Point and Priestess of the Eggstone), plus an Eggstone and a skystone. I may chuck in some crocheted doohickies, too.

Either way, it's going to be a fun party. To give you a headstart, I'm going to be asking for links to interviews about Priestess of the Eggstone, links to sites where the book is for sale, or links where reviews about it are posted. Think you can find some? It's a scavenger hunt and you have your first item. Ready, set, go!

Book Launch Party in 3, 2, 1...

Priestess of the Eggstone officially releases this FRIDAY! *throw confetti* I'm only a little excited, if you can't tell.

To celebrate, I'm hosting a virtual party right here on The Far Edge of Normal. There will be prizes, trivia, fun, chatting, and loads of virtual goodies. So, put it on your calendar - Friday, August 10, 3-8 pm MST. Drop by the blog, leave a comment or answer a trivia question, and you could win something fun.

I'll have details posted before Friday morning.

Nervous Butterflies

Today is the day we start ripping our kitchen apart. WOOT! I'm excited. I hate those stupid cabinets that bash me in the head every time I cook.

And in two weeks, Priestess of the Eggstone will start shipping! To tease you, here's a blurb and excerpt:

Pursued by the Targon Crime Syndicate bent on revenge, the Patrol intent on recruitment, and the Sessimoniss who want their god back, the last thing Captain Dace needs is a handsome copilot with romance on his mind.

But that’s exactly what she’s got.

She didn’t realize she was smuggling when she accepted the courier job. Now Targon wants her for stealing the shipment and the Patrol wants to arrest her. The Sessimoniss want their god back. And Jerimon’s aunt is planning their wedding.

She doesn’t know which scares her most.

Priestess of the Eggstone: The Fall of the Altairan Empire Book 2 by Jaleta Clegg
http://journal-store.com/bookstore/priestess-of-the-eggstone/
http://www.jaletac.com

Excerpt:

We rounded the last big moon into clear space. I checked the nav program one last time, to make sure we were headed the right direction before we jumped. The chatter of local pilots was steady as a background noise that dissolved into static as we passed into the moon's shadow. The ship lurched, then slowed, the engines whining.
I flipped switches, trying to find the problem. Jerimon pushed the thrusters all the way to the stops. The engine whine rose in pitch. The ship shuddered. The emergency lights flashed. Warnings hooted through the ship.
"Shut it down!" I yelled over the noise.
Jerimon stubbornly tried to pull more power from the engines. His face was pale and his chin set as he goosed the throttles. I reached across the controls to slam the switches off. Jerimon slumped in his chair, hands over his face. The engines spun down. The alarms shut up, all except one. It was a quiet, insistent beeping with a single, flashing red light.
I checked the screen, then muttered a bad word at the unknown vessel showing on the scans. "Who'd be using a tractor beam out here?"
The ship was bigger, but that didn't mean much. Anything was bigger than my ship. The scanners didn't show any ID traces from the other ship.
"Does it look like pirates to you?" Pirates weren't uncommon in this sector but Rucal had a major Patrol station out beyond the moons. What pirate would be stupid enough to operate under the Patrol's nose?
I knew of at least one, but he was in prison. I scowled at the screen. In a few moments, I wouldn't need the scanner. I could just look outside.
Jerimon dropped his hands to his lap, staring bleakly at the monitor. If he didn't know who was on that ship, I'd eat my socks—the ones I'd been wearing for three days without washing because I hadn't found the time.
"Who are they and why are they dragging us in?"
Jerimon shook his head, eyes locked on the approaching ship. He gripped the chair so hard his knuckles went white.

Gearing Up

August is almost here. Life is going to get very interesting. And very, very busy. The rest of July is booked solid. I'm going on a pioneer trek. Yep, dress up like a pioneer and pull handcarts and learn what those pioneers went through to emigrate to Utah. It's a Mormon thing. I don't have to walk the 36 miles, though. My husband and I are responsible for driving the water truck for them. No, this isn't authentic pioneer re-enactment. We don't want kids dying on the trek. I'll be out of touch for several days. I'll have to post a report when I return.

As soon as I'm back from that, I get to do food for the last camp of the summer season for the space center. Wow, that went by quick. That's eleven summers in the school kitchen, feeding Starfleet officers.

As soon as I'm home from that camp, we pack up our kitchen. Next Monday, we start dismantling cabinets. YES!!! I'm getting a new kitchen. I'm so thrilled about it. Not about losing my kitchen for a month. That will get fun with 8-10 people living here, depending on the day and week. We're cooking in a microwave, toaster, and crockpots when we cook. Dishes get done in the bathtub or on the deck in buckets. We're going to contribute to the landfill with paper dishes as much as possible. But when it's done, I will have a wonderful kitchen that works better for our family. I'll make sure I do before, during, and after photos for you.

I'm not done yet. I'm signed up for Camp NaNoWriMo for August. I've got to get writing longer works again. It's great therapy and with my kitchen torn apart, I'm going to need something besides cooking for therapy.

School starts in August, too. I've got two high-schoolers and two elementary school students to get prepped.

And finally (at least I hope that's the end of my scary list), Priestess of the Eggstone officially releases August 10. WOOT!!! Preorders are open now. 

Things I decided might push me over the edge if I kept them on my list?

SpoCon. I just can't make a trip to Spokane for a convention, not this year. I'm sad. SpoCon is a lot of fun. Anyone want to buy two memberships from me? Just drop me a line and include your email.

Cooking. No kitchen. 'Nuff said.

Sewing. Well, maybe not. Depends on whether my daughter cleans her laundry out of the room so I can get inside. It's nice to do when I get stuck in my book. Keeps my hands busy while my brain figures out how to get out of the corner I just wrote myself into.

I'd love to add cleaning the house, but if I ignore it for a month, I will be even worse. Have to keep some semblance of order.

What are you planning to do in August?