The Kickstarter for The Phobia of Renegade X, book 4 in the Renegade X series, is LIVE! It just started and will run for the next 30 days, ending on May 11th, 2017. All backers will get to read book 4 as soon as it’s done, which is expected to be in May (so, basically, when the Kickstarter ends or very soon after). The official release date won’t be until July or August, depending on when the cover art is finished. (Kickstarter backers get two ebook copies–one as soon as I’m done with no cover, and another finished copy with the cover art.)

Besides getting to read the book early, there are also a few name a character incentives (these are extremely limited and going fast–one is already gone as I write this!), and you can get this cool superhero definition mug, with the word “superhero” as defined by Damien:

You can also read the first two chapters (click the link and scroll down to the bottom), and here’s the blurb for book 4, which I can’t wait to share with everyone! (The book, I mean, not the blurb, though I am really excited to finally tell you what it’s all about.)

The Phobia of Renegade X

Damien’s always been afraid of heights, but he’s never been afraid of fieldwork or of being in the spotlight. At least, he wasn’t before the gala—the one where his grandpa nearly caused a massacre and heroes from the League almost killed his best friend. Now he finds himself dreading the very things he used to love, and all he wants is to skate by in school, avoid fieldwork, and keep a low profile.

But avoiding his fears isn’t as easy as he hopes, especially when the school decides to send him and his best friend to hunt down a dangerous criminal. And as if that isn’t bad enough, it turns out he also has to pass a flying test if he wants to make it through the school year, even though his debilitating fear of heights means it’s pretty much impossible.

In order to pass the test and catch a criminal, Damien accepts help from unlikely allies. But when his mission goes south and he accidentally lets a terrible weapon fall into the wrong hands, he’ll have to overcome his doubts and save his friends from a psychotic killer bent on using his worst fears against him.

That’s right, I have a new book coming out! In, like, three weeks-ish. I’m pretty damn proud of this one, and I think if you’re a Renegade X fan, you’ll love Dragonbound, too. It’s not about superheroes (obviously) but it does have a similar tone and humor.

Virginia St. George has never been good at following the rules. After all, she’s supposed to be a paladin. She’s supposed to have inherited magic, like her older sister, that can bind a dragon’s powers. She’s supposed to be able to wield a sword, like her best friend, and chop a dragon’s head off in one blow. And she’s supposed to be able to leave the safety of the barracks, like everybody else, but watching a dragon rip her mother apart years ago ruined that option, leaving her with an intense fear of the outside world.

 

And, above all things, she’s most certainly not supposed to talk to Amelrik, the shapeshifting dragon boy her family’s keeping locked up in the dungeon. Even if he saved her life. But if there’s one thing everyone can agree on, it’s that he’s a dangerous criminal who can’t be trusted, and that she should stay as far away from him as possible.

 

But when dragons kidnap her sister during a routine hunting mission, Amelrik offers up insider information that just might save her. That is, if anyone would listen. Now Virginia must make a choice: heed her family’s warnings and play it safe, or confront her worst fears and put her trust in a dangerous enemy. 

Though all you really need to know about it is the first line:

I want to punch everyone at this party in the face.

And I got my author copies of the audiobook, and HOLY CRAP, it’s amazing. Like, I don’t think I’m ever going to bother reading it myself now, because the narrator, Fiona Hardingham, does such an amazing job acting it all out and doing the voices and accents and stuff. So I highly recommend snagging a copy of the audiobook, which should be part of Whispersync, since it’s a Skyscape book, which I believe means you can get the audiobook for only $1.99 when you buy the ebook, which is $3.99, which is pretty good for an audiobook. I think by itself it’s around $7 or something.

I am pretty picky about narrators, and I had absolutely nothing to do with this audiobook and had no idea who was doing it or how it would turn out (completely unlike with Renegade X, where I am in charge), and I admit I was kind of… worried. But to no avail! Because it turns out it’s awesome!

I’ve had a lot of hangups the past couple years (during the worst of the chronic illness that is thankfully no longer quite so chronic) with being able to tell if what I’m writing is good at all. I mean, I know it is, but sometimes I just feel so cruddy from illness that I can’t tell, because all I feel is cruddiness, and that’s not how it’s supposed to feel when I write something awesome. But hearing my books in audio format makes me forget about all the stupid crap I was worried about that doesn’t actually matter (read: problems made up in my head) and makes me experience it how it really is. So I’m doubly glad to have such amazing narrators for my work!

And I know this post is about Dragonbound, but since I post so sporadically (I couldn’t remember the opposite word for “often,” and then I thought of that scene in Clueless), I’ll include some Renegade X update info.

So, what is happening with book 4, you ask? Lots of cool stuff! But while I’m a lot better health-wise than I was last year or even six months ago, I’m still slow. I hate admitting that, both to you and to myself, but it’s true. (I used to be a fast writer. Sometimes I still am. But probably not today.) So… I’m still working on it. I’m really hoping to have it out sometime this fall, but I can’t really say (and I’m usually wrong, so take that prediction with a grain of salt).

But speaking of amazing audiobooks, when is the audiobook for book 3 coming out?! I know, I know, it’s been, like, a year since the last audiobook came out. But it’s all dependent on when I get the next book out (because audiobooks are expensive and I have to, like, pay for it), and when my narrator is available to work on it. So take whenever I get book 4 out and add a few months to it. But it will exist! Eventually!

Is Book 4 the last one? Please say no, please say no. Nope, not the last one! I’m taking this one book at a time, I don’t have, like, some grand plan or anything, but I do know that this isn’t the end. So, yay for not having grand plans, I guess. I’ll admit I’m not very good at planning ahead, but I am good at making the current book awesome and the series continuable, so there you go.

P.S. I forgot to mention that there’s a Goodreads giveaway going on for Dragonbound right now. Skyscape is giving away 100 ebook copies, and you can go here and enter.

 This novella takes place between books 2 and 3.

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.

The ebook is available now at Amazon, Barnes and Noble,  iTunes, and Kobo. And I’m working on getting the paperback version up ASAP.

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.

Sign up for my newsletter (on the left, beneath the orange button) to be notified as soon as it comes out.

Quick update, since I’m currently battling the cold germs from hell:

All three Renegade X ebooks are on sale now through Sunday, the 29th!

Book 1 is .99

Book 2 is $1.99

Book 3 is also $1.99

P.S. the matchbook price for Book 1 is currently free, so if you’ve ever bought the paperback or hardback through Amazon, you can grab your free ebook copy while the sale is going on.

A few updates:

• I finished Dragonbound! I started this book back in 2011, put it aside, and then picked it back up earlier this year. I’ll write another post on this book and how it came to be, and the various struggles I had with it, but overall it turned out to be a really fun book to write, and I can’t wait for everyone to read it. I don’t know the release date yet, but it should be coming out sometime next year from Skyscape.
• I’ve started planning Renegade X 4 and can’t wait to start writing! I’m still missing some big important pieces, like the main plot and who the bad guy is, but I’m excited about all the other stuff I’ve figured out, and it’s all coming together. I’d meant to start this one this summer, but I delusionally optimistically overestimated when I could get Dragonbound done. (It was originally supposed to be done by July. I finished it late October…) I have adrenal fatigue and Hashimoto’s (my thyroid doesn’t work like it should), and I can’t always predict how much energy I’ll have. Some days I feel good, and some days I can’t do much of anything. (This is the main reason why there was a two-year gap between books 2 and 3.) But my health is slowly improving, and I’m going to try my best to get book 4 done a lot sooner this time.
• I’m currently working on the Renegade X holiday special. The backers of the kickstarter for book 3 got to vote on which holiday I’m writing about, and Halloween won by a landslide. As you can see below, it’s called The Haunting of Renegade X. I don’t have my official description written up yet, but I can say that it takes place between books 2 and 3, and in it, Damien is haunted by his dead ex-best friend Pete. Kickstarter backers will of course be getting this story as part of their incentives, but I’ll be putting it up on Amazon as well, so watch for that later this month. (Or, better yet, sign up for my newsletter, and I’ll let you know as soon as it’s out.)

• And, last but not least, I started working on a book about writing a few years ago (2011, actually, the year of abandoned books and no energy), and lately I’ve been thinking about picking it back up. It’s called Breaking the Rules and is meant to be an intermediate book on writing. I was always frustrated with how many books there are for beginners, but not much for when you’ve got a few books finished but aren’t, you know, there yet. And I hate rules about writing and am a big fan of breaking them, so that’s a big part of what the book’s about, too. (As you can guess from the title.) In it, I go over so-called rules like showing vs. telling, the use of the verb “to be,” and passive voice, among others, how they tripped me up when I was learning how to write, and why what everyone’s told you about them is a bunch of crap. (I hate those rules! Just mentioning them here is making me angry. Erg.) I’ve got an outline and some of it written. I think I’ll also be adding a section on writing sequels/series, since that’s something I wish more people talked about, too. But I’m also open to suggestions, SO, IF YOU HAVE A QUESTION ABOUT WRITING, or something you want me to include in this book–any “rules” you want me to talk about breaking, or if there’s some aspect of writing you’d like to hear more about from me–LET ME KNOW. You can ask here in the comments, message me on Facebook, or email me at CampChelsea@gmail.com. If I end up writing about your suggestion/answering your question, I’ll send you a free ebook copy of the finished book.

The day is finally here! At least, if you’ve been waiting for the ebook. If you’re waiting for the paperback or hardcover, those will take a little longer. (My current estimate is about one week for the paperback and two or three for the hardback.)

This book has been so long in the making, and I’m so excited to finally get to share it with everyone!

Available now at Amazon, Barnes and Noble, Kobo, or iTunes.

Damien thinks he has the whole hero thing figured out—he’s getting good grades at Heroesworth and acing all his missions—at least until he zaps an unarmed bad guy he believes tortured and murdered children. It turns out the “bad guy” was actually a superhero working with the school. The mission was staged, and Damien blew it. 

Now his best friend refuses to work with him, his dad is considering getting him professional help, and everyone’s questioning whether or not he has a future as a hero—including his grandpa, who will do anything to ensure Damien’s future lies in villainy. His grandpa creates a villain organization called the Truth, intent on exposing the way heroes really treat villains. But when the Truth launches its plan and the whole city erupts in chaos, Damien is caught between the opposing sides, and his future is anything but certain. 

With heroes and villains bent on destroying each other, it’s up to him to do whatever it takes to stop the fighting, even if it means betraying the people closest to him.

The cover for The Betrayal of Renegade X is done! It’s amazing, and it couldn’t have turned out better! The characters on the left are Gordon, Riley, and Sarah, and on the right there’s Damien’s mom, Kat, and his grandpa. And because the cover is now done, I’ll be able to release the ebook a little earlier than I’d planned. It comes out June 20th, everywhere, though in the meantime you can pre-order it on Amazon and get it the second it’s released. Click here to pre-order.

The kickstarter was supposed to be the only way to pre-order the book, but since it’s past the release date, and since there’s so much confusion over when it will be out, I want to make sure everyone has a chance to get it as soon as it’s ready. The book is up on Amazon right now with a placeholder cover, and will for sure come out June 30th. If you pre-order it, it will be sent directly to your kindle the second it comes out.

Get it here or click on the image below:

It will also be available everywhere the first two books are sold, on Barnes and Noble, Kobo, iTunes, etc., just not through pre-order.

It’s come to my attention that some of you–kind of a lot of you, actually–had signed up for the newsletter, but never got the confirmation email. Some email providers were rejecting it, so it didn’t even go into spam, but just never showed up.

So, if you signed up for the newsletter but never got anything from me, that’s why, and it’s fixed now.

I switched newsletter providers and imported everyone who signed up, confirmed and unconfirmed alike. It should all work smoothly, so that when I announce the release of book 3, everyone will actually get the notification. You can also sign up from my facebook page as well.

I tested it out, and it seems to be working, but please let me know if you have any problems with it.