How many of you are familiar with the sensation of a true free fall? Some of you know the feeling—that heart in your throat moment that occurs when gravity sucks you towards the Earth, and the only thing slowing you is the rush of air past your body. Perhaps you know it from the drop of a roller coaster, or, for the more adventurous, maybe from a cliff jump into water, or a leap from an airplane.

     Kali, the main character in The Wormwood Trilogy, has a few moments of free fall within the pages of the story. I always do my best to describe things like this accurately. And I’m guessing you already know where this is going. Why do research alone when you can also draw on personal experience? Luckily, I’d had some!

     Of Kali's two most serious falls, one—the 'easier' one—was a tumble from a clifftop. I'd done some jumping into bodies of water from various highish cliffs and bridges, so I was familiar enough with the sensation that I could write about it. Mostly. However, I was also planning to have Kali get dropped from way up in the sky in book 2, Angel of Shadow. In the end, I decided against writing the scene that way, so Kali never experienced that massive fall. But you know who has? Me! So... perhaps I'll need to make a different character take a great tumble at another time. Cue: evil laugh! ;-)

     A number of years ago, my husband surprised me with an anniversary gift: a skydiving outing! This wasn't an ordinary skydiving excursion, either. The average height for skydiving is 10,000 feet (3048 metres). However, they had a special plane on this one day so skydivers could jump from 15,000 feet (4572 metres)—the maximum height allowed without requiring supplemental oxygen. This would give us almost a full minute of free fall before the deployment of our parachutes. As cool as that may sound, I panicked a bit when I found out what we were about to do. It turned out to be an incredible experience, though, and one I knew I'd be able to write about.

     So, how does it feel? Well, you know that crazy feeling you get when your insides seem to float up, your breath—and even your scream—seem to get stolen as you plummet through the air? Well, here's the kicker: that sensation doesn't last. I noticed it shortly after I took that first, hairbrained leap out of the plane. After the first shock of falling passed, I found I equalized almost right away. I could breathe normally. Despite falling rapidly, my heart was no longer in my throat. It was the strangest thing. The air was absolutely frigid on my skin, though. It made me think of when Superman took Lois Lane flying and how unrealistic that was. Trust me, she would have frozen up there!

     Now, don't get me wrong. The shock of falling is harsh. When I stood by that open door and the rushing wind practically pushed me over; when I leapt out over nothing and gravity grabbed my bones but seemed to forget to take my stomach; and when my breath caught as my only point of perspective—the plane—got smaller and smaller above me, I experienced all the sensations one might expect from such a crazy endeavor. Yet that was only about ten (long!) seconds of a full minute of free fall. It was after those ten eternal seconds that I could relax and take in the experience.

     Too bad for my character, Kali, that she never got to fall recreationally. Okay, wait. I’m realizing how ridiculous that sounds. Although the experience truly got the adrenalin flowing, and despite the occasional need to push boundaries, maybe Kali was right to resist any instances of free fall.

     ​Flying, however? Well, that’s a different story. Or, maybe I should say, a different newsletter!

Before anything else, I have to say it: Bouldering and rock climbing are really hard! I have nothing but the utmost respect for athletes who have honed this skill set. And no, I am not one of those people. Not by a longshot!
​
That said, I did have a few characters who were skilled at climbing, and who often needed to rely on their skills in my stories. Not only did they scale cliffs, but because the setting of The Wormwood Trilogy was in a ruined world, many high paths were unstable and treacherous to navigate. As an author, I believed that in order to 'get it right' in my stories, it was crucial that I fully understood what was involved, as well as the feelings a character would have while attempting to navigate those routes. Research was essential, but experiencing it was even better. Well, either that, or I'm just crazy.

​So, using my typical, flawed reasoning, I had to be sure I'd experimented with these things before writing about them. First up: climbing. I've only ever done bouldering and climbing in a controlled environment, such as using an indoor climbing gym and outdoor climbing walls. That was as far as my experiments got (well, in bouldering and climbing, anyway). The first, most glaring thing I discovered was that it's exhausting! I don't have the necessary upper body strength, so I got tired out at a rather embarrassing rate. In this photo, you can see that I'm about to attempt an overhang (you can tell by the pot light). Let's just say that I didn't make it any farther. Yup, that's what I get for my cocky smile! In fact, I picked up an added experiment: what it feels like to get the air knocked out of you after a fall. I was actually able to write about that sensation in my books a few times! So you know, it's all good.

​Aside from that, my other experiences with climbing taught me how important it is to plan your route before you commit, how to control your center of gravity, keep your body close to the wall and how to shift your weight so you can get to that next handhold. Although I wasn't very good at it, I could use all of this in my writing. Here's an example from Angel of Shadow: 

​And although experimenting helped me write about climbing in general terms, that was as far as I could go with it. People who climb are like crazy superheroes or something.

​As for navigating unstable paths, surprisingly, I have more experience with this than I probably should. My husband and I are both to blame, with our love of hiking and our odd fascination with exploring natural disaster aftermaths.

A few examples are: hiking through the mountains in Taiwan after a major earthquake took out roads, train tracks and trails (image right); losing our way on the Quilotoa Loop in Ecuador after heavy rains and landslides erased parts of the route (below left); and our determination to cross Ilha Grande in Brazil after rains and landslides crippled the island (below right. That's my hubby. There's actually a road buried under there somewhere).

​Not only am I awed by seeing the power of nature, my strange 'hobby' means that now I'm able to write about these ruined landscapes from memory—with some embellishments, of course. It truly helps that I've seen (and traversed!) landscapes with trees that are not only toppled, but buried in earth; fields of thick, grey ash from a volcano eruption; and high mountain paths that have crumbled to almost nothing.

​And how does one navigate crumbling trails? Well, very carefully! For one, you don't want to damage the area more. But mostly, you want to stay intact, yourself. A common misconception is to try to go quickly. This can be a mistake in most situations (although dynamic movement is better in those rare instances where you're guaranteed to slide on each step). Usually, a key component is careful—and slow—foot placement. Place your foot slowly to be sure it will 'stick' before transferring any weight. Then, incrementally shift your weight while watching that the ground will hold and your foot won't begin slipping. Repeat as necessary.

​However, sometimes you can't seem to climb at all. I remember this one hike in Ecuador when the trail in front of us had washed out some time before we had arrived. In this case, we needed to climb up a fairly small, but vertical wall of soft earth in order to get back to where the trail continued. It didn't look hard... until we tried it. It seemed like a great idea to kick in some footholds, but that didn't pan out. 

​At least I could write about what I learned there. Here's Kali in Angel of Shadow, attempting to get out of an earthy crevice:

​We learned another lesson as we tried to get up that wall of earth in Ecuador. Although there was nothing solid to hold on to, there were some roots, at least. If you want to know how that idea went, here's Kali in Wormwood:

Of course, you can tell from the picture above that personally, that my 'falling' experience only landed me on my butt! I did learn, however, that smallish roots are not secure things to hold on to—especially if the soil is soft. 
​
Speaking of falling (truly falling) does bring me to a different thing I explored on other occasions… the sensation of free fall! 

Those experiments, however, will have to be covered in my next newsletter.

I hope you enjoyed today's issue of Experiments in Kickassary!
I would LOVE to hear your thoughts.

First, thank you for responding to my poll with your suggestions and requests. I always love hearing from you! In response: First, I’m afraid speaking about the bo staff or parkour isn’t possible - I never researched or tried either. But I’m flattered that you thought I might have done these! But... flying? YES!!! Thank you to everyone who asked about it. And you’re correct; I did experiment with the feelings of free fall (skydiving) and flying (hang gliding) — even though I forgot to include them in the poll list. I’ll be sure to talk about them and share pictures in a future newsletter. And as always, I truly appreciated your kind messages and enthusiasm for my newsletters. Thank you!
​
Okay, onto the bow and arrow...

Anyway, Delaney is one of those people who goes all in on something, so naturally, he had a whole range of equipment for himself, his wife and their young boys. These images are from one of the times I went over to his house to get some hands-on experience with a range of bows, and the mechanics of setting up and shooting.

That said, through my family's careful instruction, I did improve. If you want to learn as well (perhaps to be one of those rare people with a badass hobby), there are loads of archery clubs out there that offer lessons, coaching, and a variety of ranges for practice. Just do an internet search for one near you. If you want to teach yourself, here's a WikiHow with the basic steps: https://www.wikihow.com/Shoot-an-Arrow
Happy shooting, you kickass goddess (or god)!

Ah, it's sad, but true. I suck at blogging. If there were awards for sucking at such a thing, I'd probably win. Don't throw tomatoes at me yet. Although it might have been a teensy bit of time since I last posted (2 years... cough, cough), I WAS traveling around the world for the last 9 months. Look at this pic of me in Bosnia & Herzegovina. It's proof!  AND I have some big news to share about Angel of Ashes and Dust, the final book in The Wormwood Trilogy. Hint: it rhymes with "won!" 
More coming soon!
Okay... maybe.
Maybe... 
(Psst... seriously, though. I have a newsletter. That's the best place to hear updates. As you can see, I have good "blogging" intentions, but I've kind of been neglecting this blog. You can sign up for my newsletter through the tab at the the top of the page.)

First Things First
Excuse me while I break out the champagne and streamers! WORMWOOD IS NOW AN AUDIOBOOK! I really can’t believe it.

I have a confession; up until recently, I had never listened to audiobooks. I have many friends and family members who are absolutely hooked, but for me, this was an exotic realm that seemed just a bit outside my comfort zone. After all, reading is a leisure activity that’s almost sacred to me—is there anything sweeter than relaxing under a blanket with a good book?—and I couldn’t imagine altering that experience in the slightest.

​Yes, yes… I had heard the positives: that audiobooks simply opened up more opportunities to experience amazing stories. We could listen while doing any number of mundane things, like commuting, doing housework, mowing the lawn, painting or gardening, and that listening to books suddenly made those tasks much more enjoyable. Yet despite these testimonials, I never made the leap. I’m a creature of habit, I suppose.

About a year ago, a voice artist reached out to me after reading my first book, Wormwood. She told me that while she was reading it, she couldn’t stop imagining how she would voice the story. That conversation opened up a whole new world to me. To make a long story short, that very talented voice artist, Jessica M. Hepburn, created an outstanding recording of Wormwood, which has just become available on Amazon and iTunes.

Now let me loop back to my original sentiments about audiobooks—I had always resisted them. However, because my own work was now expanding into the realm of audiobooks, I knew I must take a closer look and see what the fuss was all about. Of course, you won’t be surprised to learn that I’m now a convert! Honestly, I hadn’t realized what I was missing. With audiobooks, I’m able to add more stories and enjoyment to my life, and that hasn’t come at the expense of my “cozy blanket reading” one bit. It’s amazing.

However, there is something else that happened that I was completely unprepared for: listening to someone else read my own book. For my fellow authors out there, have you ever experienced this? I never really thought about how that would feel. I never realized that I could experience my book through the eyes of another—through the inflections of voice and the interpretations of meaning that sometimes showed a view that was so different from my own take on the story. It was jarring. Profound. Glorious. For the first time ever, I listened to my own story with unprepared wonder… and perhaps, a little as a reader might. I laughed at parts and at others, I cried. Finally, I think I know what my readers have been talking about. Finally, I believe I was truly able to experience my own story.

Thank you to voice artist, Jessica M Hepburn, for opening this door to me, and thank you, audiobooks, for all the possibilities beyond that threshold. I can’t wait to experience more of it.

   I bet you thought I'd be showing you the cover now, right? 
​Well, at the moment, I can't. But the reason why is soooo COOL! I have given a handful of blogs the exclusive right to post the cover for the next three days. And not only are they posting, but they're also sharing "Fun Facts" about the Wormwood series and the writing process; each host blog has a unique "Fun Fact"; there's a bookish scavenger hunt to find the fun fact with a hidden INSTANT WIN; and there's also a giveaway!!!
​    Take a minute to check out these blogs and if you're feeling awesome, please leave a comment, so we can support our fellow book bloggers!
Hint: if you're looking for today's instant win, read the Fun Fact in the "Dragon" blog.

ANGEL OF SHADOW'S BLURB:
D.H. Nevins hurtles you into a world of half-angels, demons and tormented love in this driving, dystopian sequel to Wormwood.
 
Half-angels, known as Nephilim, have all but destroyed the surface of the Earth. Yet for Kali Michaels, her life is now much more complicated than simply surviving.

Grappling with her own powerful identity, she worries her connection to the world of Shadows could destroy those around her. And what if she hurts Tiamat Wormwood, the Nephilim outcast who has given everything to save her? Tiamat and Kali know they have no future—not when outside forces and Kali’s own power push both the humans and the Nephilim to the brink of extinction.
​
As she fights to stop the inevitable, she is led to question who her real enemies are, and whether the ultimate threat may actually be herself.

   Wow. Is it really day 5???  THAT MEANS THE BIG REVEAL IS TOMORROW!!! Nope. Not excited at all. I have really enjoyed this event so far and have truly loved reading people's responses on the host blog sites. Thank you for getting out there and supporting our awesome bloggers!
​    Now, as much as I’d love to give you some clues about the cover and share a few sneak peaks… I can’t! And you know what? That’s a whole lotta awesome, and a big part of the fun.

Each day, leading up to the big REVEAL on Saturday, the following host blogs will post a different cover fragment. These blogs will be the ONLY online places you’ll be able to view these images. Yup, that’s pretty cool. And are you ready for the fun part? Each day, each host blog will post a unique fun fact about the Wormwood series or my writing process, and every day, one of those fun facts will include a chance to instantly win an Angel of Shadow eARC! It’s like a bookish scavenger hunt!!!

​Congratulations to Sherry AND MJ who both won yesterday's instant win!!! Bloggers are so amazing and they really make all the difference to independent authors. Your kind words have seen me through many rough spots and have spurred me on when I wanted to quit. Thank you!

​And congratulations to Nicole, who guessed that my husband's written "feedback" on my manuscripts did, indeed, include some naughty illustrations. My husband is adorable, but he is also a man child! Lol! You are yesterday's winner of an Angel of Shadow eARC (minus the dirty illustrations)!

​Congratulations also to Tuesday's winner, CGWINTER1981, who correctly guessed that the band I listened to the most while writing Angel of Shadow was SIGUR ROS. Woo hoo! For those of you who guessed Linkin Park, Muse or Wintersleep, you weren't far off. I listened to them very heavily while I wrote the first book, Wormwood. Sigur Ros, however, was definitely the most-played "writing" soundtrack for Angel of Shadow. And congratulations to Monday's winner, Marie, who correctly guessed that Wormwood's pre-apocalypse setting was based on the wilderness in Algonquin Provincial Park in Ontario, Canada.

Anyone else ready to take a peek, have fun and maybe win a prize? I know you’re curious! Please click on the links below to support our fellow bloggers and quell your curiosity at the same time. Check it out and have fun!
​And here's a hint... today's instant win is hidden in the blog with the word "ONLY" in the title!

There might be an instant giveaway each day, but why not increase your chances by also entering the RaffleCopter Giveaway here, for a chance at a physical copy of Wormwood too?  Good luck!

There is a very exciting event coming up next week and I am so pumped about it!!! Starting on Monday, select host blogs from around the world will each share a fragment from Angel of Shadow's new cover. Each day, leading up to the main cover reveal event on Saturday, December 9th, a new piece of the cover will be shared. But that's not all! There will also be a scavenger hunt with instant ARCs to be won. And we all know, even adults love scavenger hunts--especially BOOKISH scavenger hunts! You can bounce from host blog to host blog to read fun facts about the series, the writing process or the author (each host blog will have different facts), and see if you can find the instant win questions! 

Stay tuned! I will post links to the host blogs once the event begins on Monday! I hope you're as excited as I am!
​In the meantime, you can get a jump on the GIVEAWAY, which will run throughout the event.
Read on for Angel of Shadow's blurb...

D.H. Nevins hurtles you into a world of half-angels, demons and tormented love in this driving, dystopian sequel to Wormwood.
 
Half-angels, known as Nephilim, have all but destroyed the surface of the Earth. Yet for Kali Michaels, her life is now much more complicated than simply surviving. Grappling with her own powerful identity, she worries her connection to the world of Shadows could destroy those around her.

And what if she hurts Tiamat Wormwood, the Nephilim outcast who has given everything to save her? Tiamat and Kali know they have no future—not when outside forces and Kali’s own power push both the humans and the Nephilim to the brink of extinction.
​
As she fights to stop the inevitable, she is led to question who her real enemies are, and whether the ultimate threat may actually be herself.

Angel of Shadow releases January 13, and is available for pre-order at select retailers for only $2.99. Price will increase after release day. Click here to reserve your copy today!

​To help promote Angel of Shadow's release, Wormwood, the first book in the series is FREE for a limited time at all retail sites. Visit your favourite one today (direct links are on my homepage) or quick link to Amazon here.

That's all for now! Keep your eyes open for info about the fun cover reveal event (and bookish scavenger hunt!) coming next week!

First of all, before I say anything else, let me introduce Wormwood’s new cover. Oh, and before I do that, I should forewarn you that I’m a tad biased about this...

The New:

This beauty took my breath away the moment I saw it. As an author, I couldn’t ask for a better representation of my work. And I’m kind of picky—so that says a lot! The image projects a mood that reflects the feel of my story so perfectly, I knew the cover artist understood Wormwood on multiple levels. But even if we’re just talking aesthetics, well, I might be biased, but I think this is one fantastic-looking cover!

The Old:
I originally had a different cover for Wormwood. It was a simple black and white etching by Gustave Doré, depicting a fallen angel reaching towards the heavens. The sheer turmoil apparent through the angel's expression and pose not only fascinated me, but seemed a perfect depiction of the conflict raging through Tiamat, a half-angel in Wormwood. However, the etching--although classic--was hardly a trendy cover. The story itself was very well-received, but I found that people had trouble getting past the antiquated-looking cover in order to take a chance on reading what was within. My love for the cover, it seemed, was a lonely one!

The Cool How:
About a month ago, I was contacted by cover artist extraordinaire, Derek Murphy. He had read Wormwood and subsequently offered to make up a new cover for the book. Curious about the vision he had for Wormwood, I heartily agreed.
Then, as you know, the resulting cover blew my expectations out of the water! Its impact was immediate.

Why it Works:
The image depicts the book genre clearly. The colour contrast is striking, which catches the eye instantly. Plus, it’s incredibly professional.
It also fits the story.
On a literal note, the protagonist is a strong female, adept with a crossbow, yet still out of her element. However, she would never admit it. I could see this in her stance. Yet the cover holds so much more than a simple literal representation of Wormwood. Derek recreated the feel of the book perfectly. The mixture of light and darkness remind me of a review from Tome Tenders about Wormwood, which, in part, said, "The lines will be blurred between good and evil, love and hate, truth and lies, and hero and antagonist." The hazy fusion of sunlight and shadow reflect this beautifully. The unsettled, foreboding skies mirror the mood of this dark, post-apocalyptic story, and the falling feathers are a nice touch. They hint at the half-angels in the story without hitting potential readers over the head with their existence. The fact the feathers are broken and falling is also perfect, but I hesitate to say why... after all, I don't want to spoil the most exciting parts of the book!

The Alternatives:
It was exceedingly difficult to select my favourite cover. Every mock-up Derek created was incredible in its own right, and it would be a shame not to share them. So in all their glory, here are the other options he came up with.

The third one—the one with the wing obscuring the girl’s face—is so amazing, I’d very much like to use it as the cover for my sequel, Angel of Shadow. What do you think?

My Thanks:
Naturally, I wouldn’t be sharing this with you if it wasn’t for Derek Murphy. His outstanding covers and unprecedented talent can be seen on his website, CreativIndie Covers. Have a look at http://bookcovers.creativindie.com/

There’s something amazing I simply MUST share with you. The song, Leap of Faith by Orca Flights, is outstanding in its own right. But did you know that it was inspired by my novel, Wormwood? Okay, sure—perhaps you don’t see this as the latest headline news. But for an author, or for any artist who puts their heart and soul into creating something, to hear that that little piece of you, that physical creation, has inspired someone to create more art, is perhaps the purest, most flattering compliment possible. I could very well go into embarrassing detail about how I reacted when I first learned of this song. It was some months ago when the band released the original version of Leap of Faith and to my astonishment, Orca Flights actually placed the book’s name, Wormwood, in brackets beside the song’s title. And well, to be honest, when I saw the title I lost my mind ...just a little bit. =)

When the first version of Leap of Faith (Wormwood) was released on SoundCloud, Orca Flights posted this message below the song: “I wrote this song after reading ‘Wormwood’, my by far favorite novel to read! D.H. Nevins FTW (for the win). A must buy for an all-out heart-pounding adventure of love, war and the great beyond.”

A short time ago, Orca Flights reworked the song and came up with an even more fabulous version. It was just posted on YouTube a few days ago. And though it isn’t yet available for purchase, you can presently listen to it (but not download it) for free. I urge you to check it out. Not only is this tune incredible, but its rhythms, melody and note combinations seem to weave together in perfect balance, creating rare sound blends that actually seem to speak to you. In my opinion, it’s only an exceptional piece of music that can do this, yet I believe Leap of Faith accomplishes it. C’mon... you’re curious, aren’t you? So have a listen—it’s awesome!

I asked Noah Coty, Orca Flights musician extraordinaire, to share a few thoughts about the tune, Leap of Faith.

“Anything about flying inspires me because as a human, I am jealous of the angels for having wings!” And so, how did he use those feelings to put together such an incredible tune, you might ask? Noah explains, “...when writing the song, I closed my eyes and looked within for the feeling of being in the air. I tried my best to translate what I was feeling into the song. As it progressed, so did the in-flight portrayal of soaring and swooping and being aloft.”

So after the new version of Leap of Faith was completed, I couldn’t resist asking Noah if the re-made tune also had links to Wormwood. Of course, you can imagine what answer I was hoping to hear—and by hoping, I mean fingers crossed, arms crossed, legs crossed, eyes crossed...  “They are both inspired by the book!” he responded emphatically. I was sure he was grinning. Having just received some brand new equipment, Noah had a plan. “I thought I’d put it to the test and give Leap of Faith a more 360 feel.”

The song, although shared on YouTube, is not in video form. The sublime music plays over an arresting, dream-like image of ships moving in and out of a gravitationally impossible harbour. A lush, grassy bridge spans a gigantic waterfall, while beams of ethereal sunlight highlight ships sailing UP the waterfall into the great ocean beyond. Kudos goes to concept artist and illustrator JP Targete, who is a “super-talented art student,” according to Noah. I couldn’t agree more. (Click on his name to visit his site.) The image and music pair perfectly, truly taking you on a journey that’s “UP OUT OVER AND BEYOND.”

Thank you, Orca Flights, for the BEST surprise... ever.